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Comment Re:Seiki +2 (Score 1) 330

by Wolfrider (#49064137) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Affordable Large HD/UHD/4K "Stupid" Screens?

> If I had to find downsides it would be no "discrete code" to switch to a particular input

--You might be able to get around this with an HDMI splitter.

http://www.amazon.com/LB1-High...

--This is the one I bought, but it's 3-input HDMI:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ...

--It works perfectly, autoswitches even when not plugged into a power strip.

Submission + - How the New York Times Gets Made - With and Without Dead Trees

Submitted by schnell
schnell writes: Popular Mechanics has an in-depth profile detailing how the US paper of record, the New York Times, gets produced on a daily basis, from the newsroom conferences to the details of running the printing presses. Interesting tidbits include the Times's R&D lab that is charged with thinking 3-5 years down the road, and develops projects regardless of their profitability (like the first Google Glass newspaper app); how the newspaper offers its reporters classes on why and "how to tweet;" and how the paper's new focus on its digital future has led it to label not just reporters but also developers, graphic designers and video editors as among its 1,300-strong team of "journalists."

Submission + - Removing libsystemd0 from a live-running Debian system (lkcl.net) 1

Submitted by lkcl
lkcl writes: The introduction of systemd has unilaterally created a polarisation of the GNU/Linux community that is remarkably similar to the monopolistic power position wielded by Microsoft in the late 1990s. Choices were stark: use Windows (with SMB/CIFS Services), or use UNIX (with NFS and NIS). Only the introduction of fully-compatible reverse-engineered NT Domains services corrected the situation. Instructions on how to remove systemd include dire warnings that "all dependent packages will be removed", rendering a normal Debian Desktop system flat-out impossible to achieve. It was therefore necessary to demonstrate that it is actually possible to run a Debian Desktop GUI system (albeit an unusual one: fvwm) with libsystemd0 removed. The reason for doing so: it doesn't matter how good systemd is believed to be or in fact actually is: the reason for removing it is, apart from the alarm at how extensive systemd is becoming (including interfering with firewall rules), it's the way that it's been introduced in a blatantly cavalier fashion as a polarised all-or-nothing option, forcing people to consider abandoning the GNU/Linux of their choice and to seriously consider using FreeBSD or any other distro that properly respects the Software Freedom principle of the right to choose what software to run. We aren't all "good at coding", or paid to work on Software Libre: that means that those people who are need to be much more responsible, and to start — finally — to listen to what people are saying. Developing a thick skin is a good way to abdicate responsibility and, as a result, place people into untenable positions.

Submission + - US Military Soon Able to Copy & 3D Print Exact Replicas of Bones & Limbs (3dprint.com)

Submitted by ErnieKey
ErnieKey writes: The US military is working with technology that will allow them to create exact virtual replicas of their soldiers. Then in case of an injury, these replicas, which are created using x-rays, MRI and Ultrasound technology, will be able to be restored for surgeons to 3D print both exact medical models for rebuilding the injured patient's body and even 3D print exact replica implants. Could we all one day soon have virtual backups of ourselves that we can access and have new body parts 3D printed on demand? It appears as though we are getting closer.

Submission + - VLC Acquiring Lots of New Features

Submitted by jones_supa
jones_supa writes: Two weekends ago an update on the VLC media player was shared during a presentation in Brussels at FOSDEM. Lead developer Jean-Baptiste Kempf covered VLC's continued vibrant development and features that are coming for VLC 2.2 along with VLC 3.0. VLC 2.2.0 will feature automatic, GPU-accelerated video rotation support, extension improvements, resume handling, support for new codecs/formats and rewrites to some of the existing formats, VDPAU GPU zero-copy support, x265 encoder support, etc. Further out is VLC 3.0.0, which is planned to have Wayland support, GPU zero-copy support for OpenMAX IL, ARIB subtitle support, HEVC / VP9 hardware decoding on Android, a rework of the MP4 and TS demuxers, and browsing improvements. The VLC FOSDEM 2015 presentation is available in PDF form. The VLC Git shortlog can be used to follow the development of the project.

Comment Re:Does It Matter? (Score 1) 288

by Wolfrider (#48976787) Attached to: VirtualBox Development At a Standstill

> The only area where it's let me down in the past was with trying to mess with iPhone firmware (such as for jailbreaking) from a Windows VM on a Linux host...don't know if it was something weird Apple was doing with USB or something else.

--Trust me - you really, REALLY do *NOT* want to be messing with firmware over a virtualized USB connection. It's not sane. Use bare-metal hardware and OS access for that!

--I'm pretty sure my Vmware Workstation VMs can't see my Nexus 7 over virtualized USB for the same reason. You're dealing with virtual hardware, it may be 98-99% comparable to the host but it's not 100%. Stuff like USB drives and printers generally work fine but some devices are different (and may not be properly tested to work over virtual links.)

Submission + - Hells Angels Are Old Pros at Encryption

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: Kate Knibbs reports at Gizmodo that the Silk Road trial is now focused on Dread Pirate Roberts' interactions with the Hells Angels, who he allegedly hired to kill a rogue drug vendor. Pretrial materials revealed that the Dread Pirate Roberts encouraged members of the Hells Angels to assassinate a drug dealer named FriendlyChemist, who owed the Hells Angels money. It's not clear whether FriendlyChemist was actually killed (or who killed him, if so) and it hasn't been confirmed that Ross Ulbricht ordered this hit as the vindictive (though polite) Dread Pirate. What we do know is that the self-identifying Hells Angels do not appreciate getting talked down to about encryption best practices. "We are familiar with PGP as we have been using it for years via email linked to our smartphones." reported Sara Jeong who has been reporting on the trial for Forbes. "Of course, in a case that rests on whether a digital identity can be definitively proven, it's not a guarantee that the "Hells Angels" that Dread Pirate Roberts spoke to were even recognized members of the storied crime organization," writes Knibbs. "This could've been a particularly intense catfish. "

Submission + - The end is reportedly near for RadioShack

Submitted by mrspoonsi
mrspoonsi writes: Reports of RadioShack's demise are nothing new, but now it seems like the electronics retailer may be done for good. Bloomberg reports that company is in talks with Sprint to hand over around half of its remaining stores to the wireless company. The rest of RadioShack's locations will close, and those that are included in the deal will be painted yellow and black. This means the shops where most of us purchased parts for a project will cease to exist. Nothing's final, and until the ink is dry, another suitor could swipe up the company and allow it to keep on chuggin' along. RadioShack is facing bankruptcy after years of declining sales, so even if Sprint doesn't agree to buy those stores, a move of some kind is imminent for the company that's been selling tech since 1921.

Comment Re:In after somebody says don't run Windows. (Score 1) 467

by Wolfrider (#48911571) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Best Anti-Virus Software In 2015? Free Or Paid?

> In the time I've not run a/v, I've never had an infection.

--If you haven't scanned your PC *at all* in that whole amount of time, you actually have NO IDEA whether you have an infection or not!! Your PC could be part of a botnet or doing something insidious deep in the background, for all you know.

--Do us all a favor and at least try scanning it once with a couple of different free utilities - you may be surprised at what you might find.

Submission + - White House Drone Incident Exposes Key Security Gap

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: The Washington Post reports that the intrusion by a recreational drone onto the White House lawn has exposed a security gap at the compound that the Secret Service has spent years studying but has so far been unable to fix. Commercial technology is available that can use a combination of sensitive radar and acoustic trackers to detect small drones, though coming up with an effective way to stop them has been more elusive. "To do something about the problem, you have to find it, you have to track it, you have to identify it and you have to decide what to do with it,” says Frederick F. Roggero. “But especially in an urban environment, it would be tough to detect and tough to defeat kinetically without shooting it down and causing collateral damage.” Most recreational drones, like the one that crashed Monday, weigh only a few pounds and lack the power to do much harm. Larger models that can carry payloads of up to 30 pounds are available on the market and are expected to become more common. The FAA imposes strict safety regulations on drones flown by government agencies or anyone who operates them for commercial purposes. In contrast, hardly any rules apply to people who fly drones as a hobby, other than FAA guidelines that advise them to keep the aircraft below 400 feet and five miles from an airport. “With the discovery of an unauthorized drone on the White House lawn, the eagle has crash-landed in Washington," says Senator Charles Schumer. "There is no stronger sign that clear FAA guidelines for drones are needed."

Submission + - EFF Unveils Plan For Ending Mass Surveillance (eff.org) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published a detailed, global strategy for ridding ourselves of mass surveillance. They stress that this must be an international effort — while citizens of many countries can vote against politicians who support surveillance, there are also many countries where the citizens have to resort to other methods. The central part of the EFF's plan is: encryption, encryption, encryption. They say we need to build new secure communications tools, pressure existing tech companies to make their products secure against everyone, and get ordinary internet-goers to recognize that encryption is a fundamental part of communication in the surveillance age. They also advocate fighting for transparency and against overreach on a national level. "[T]he more people worldwide understand the threat and the more they understand how to protect themselves—and just as importantly, what they should expect in the way of support from companies and governments—the more we can agitate for the changes we need online to fend off the dragnet collection of data." The EFF references a document created to apply the principles of human rights to communications surveillance, which they say are "our way of making sure that the global norm for human rights in the context of communication surveillance isn't the warped viewpoint of NSA and its four closest allies, but that of 50 years of human rights standards showing mass surveillance to be unnecessary and disproportionate."

Submission + - Hobbyist crashes quadcopter on White House grounds (cnet.com)

Submitted by gcalvin
gcalvin writes: A government employee came forward to the Secret Service and reported that he had crashed his DJI Phantom on the White House grounds. Media reports are unclear whether the quadcopter was FPV-capable, but most are calling it a "drone" anyway.

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