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Comment /headdesk (Score 0, Troll) 297

by Adilor (#27033977) Attached to: Analyzing Microsoft's Linux Lawsuit
Seriously? I mean, really, what's the point here? Are we that gigantic of a bigot that we have to resort to stupid little stunts like this to make ourselves feel important?

Bleh. I guess I can't say I'm surprised. "Screw the rules, I have money!" Or something like that.

Comment The 5th is almost a moot point here... (Score 1) 767

by Adilor (#27005947) Attached to: US District Ct. Says Defendant Must Provide Decrypted Data
...so forget trying to use it for defense on this. The true defense is to not make it obvious that there're encrypted files on one's disk. Seriously, the assumption that one can just take a bunch of files, put them into a painfully obvious encrypted container file, and expect it to pass a basic inspection is just stupid. If one takes the time to actually hide their secret junk in an inconspicuous location, mixed amongst other similar-looking files, then maybe you can actually pass as innocent. The problem is that the average user has too much faith in a password alone, and doesn't think to even remove any evidence that could cause them to suspect something's there in the first place.
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - China's "Shanzai" electronic mash-up desig (bunniestudios.com)

Submitted by
saccade.com
saccade.com writes: "Bunnie (of XBox hacking and Chumby fame) has written an insightful post about how a new phenomena emerging out of China called "Shanzai" has impacted the electronics business there.

A new class of innovators, they're going beyond merely copying western designs to producing electronic "mash-ups" to create new products. Bootstrapped on small amounts of capitol, they range from shops of just a few people to a few hundred. They rapidly create new products, and use an "open source" style design community where design ideas and component lists are shared."
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft phasing out ESP simulation platform? (thestandard.com)

Submitted by
Ian Lamont
Ian Lamont writes: "Overlooked in last month's news about Microsoft laying off the entire Flight Simulator dev team is the news that Microsoft's ESP development team has been gutted as well, and the future of the platform is in doubt. ESP is oriented toward industrial use, and lets companies build 3D simulations for flight and other applications. Late last year Microsoft announced big plans to expand ESP to other verticals, such as real estate, city planning, and law enforcement. That looks increasingly unlikely. Even though Microsoft declined to comment on ESP's future, companies which invested in the product are angry, judging by some of the comments on an MSDN thread. As noted by one user, "my company used it for a solution and invested time and money into getting it approved and purchased. Microsoft sure handed us a raw deal for taking a gamble on their platform.""
The Courts

Submission + - Does "Judicial Council" Order Bar TV in RI (blogspot.com)

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "When Judge Gertner ruled, in SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, that the upcoming oral argument could be streamed over the internet, she stated in her decision (PDF) that the non-binding recommendation by the 1996 Judicial Conference against cameras in federal trial courts — adopted in response to the OJ Simpson trial — had not been adopted by the 'First Circuit Judicial Council', whose rules would normally be binding. Apparently none of the counsel for any of the parties, or for any of the amici curiae, had been aware that the First Circuit Judicial Council, had, in fact, adopted the Judicial Conference recommendation banning cameras, at least according to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which has produced a copy of such a resolution (PDF) and requested that the parties submit further briefs, limited to the subject of the legal effect of that order, by March 12th. Of course whatever legal effect it has would not trump the constitutional considerations which also formed a part of Judge Gertner's decisionmaking process, but it does throw a wrinkle into the process. And you non-lawyers thought being a lawyer was easy."
Programming

Submission + - How do you keep your skills fresh?

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: With the economy down the tubes, what is the best way to keep your skills fresh? Working on open source, learning new programming languages and tech, and doing programming exercises or contests are all good options, but what is the best use of my time? What should I focus on to guard against a possible layoff or impress the companies that are hiring?
Technology (Apple)

Submission + - Powerbook Explodes in London Office (theinquirer.net)

Submitted by jamstar7
jamstar7 writes: Just when you thought it was safe to go to the office, a Powerbook exploded and caught fire in a London marketting office. The IT guy, identified only as 'IT Steve', confirms that the Powerbook was '3 to 4 years old' and that he'd heard of the battery recall, but declined to check on his office's laptops to see if they were covered.



Hey, when somebody says there's a possibility of something you own exploding and it's subject to recall, wouldn't the hot setup be to check it out?
Biotech

Submission + - Nanopore DNA Sequencing

Submitted by treddy
treddy writes: Recent advances in DNA sequencing technology have revolutionized genomics and molecular biology. This week, Oxford Nanopore published proof-of-concept of their revolutionary new DNA sequencing technology (video) that uses modified protein nanopores to sequence DNA at a rate of up to 50 nucleotides / second, far faster than currently available techniques. In their approach, DNA nucleotides are cleaved one-by-one, and pass through a nanopore spanning a lipid membrane across which an electrical volatage is applied. As the nucleotide passes through the pore, the identify of the nucleotide is identified based on the current measured across the pore. The technology is the first to eliminate the need for expensive florescent-labeled nucleotides. Perhaps more importantly, however, is the ability to directly sequence 5-methyl cytosine (a.k.a. "the fifth base"), which is crucial to our understanding of development and disease.
Software

Submission + - Is Apple Abandoning the Consumer?

Submitted by PainMeds
PainMeds writes: Author and longtime iPhone hacker Jon Zdziarski has written an article predicting that Apple will soon abandon the consumer. He cites the recent loss of AppStore developers for more open platforms, such as Android, and Apple's abandonment of Macworld as the beginnings of a cycle that will eventually end in a "big box" retail strategy for Apple. From the article, "I predict that Apple is headed in the direction of distancing themselves from both consumers and developers in exchange for the benefits that come from the volume sales generated by cheap equipment sold into cookie-cutter markets.". Towards the end of the article, Zdziarski suggests that Apple has lost its sense of innovation and has stagnated, re-selling the same products in different cases. His final prediction suggests that competitors will eventually overtake the company's mobile dominance and that Apple might lose the edge that make their hardware more "appealing" to the consumer.
Networking (Apple)

Submission + - Safari 4 Rivals Google Chrome In JavaScript Race (computerworld.com)

Submitted by
CWmike
CWmike writes: "Contrary to Apple's claims, the newest version of Safari is not the world's fastest browser, benchmark scores show. But it is dramatically faster than rivals being built by Mozilla and Microsoft. According to JavaScript rendering tests run by Computerworld, the public beta of Safari 4 is in a virtual dead heat with the most recent edition of Google's Chrome. However, it is 38% faster than the newest version of Firefox — more than three times faster than the production edition of the open-source browser — and more than five times faster than Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8. Plus, as reviewer Ryan Faas found, the new Safari 4 browser beta is innovative, fast, and fun:

...Changes to tabs and the Top Sites feature will naturally invite comparisons to Google's Chrome, which was introduced last fall and is available only for Windows. Chrome, like the new Safari, also places multiple tabs at the top of a window and offers a similar gallery view of recent sites. But simply seeing Safari's new interface as something cribbed from Chrome is a bit unfair; Apple has provided its own take on both concepts that seems inspired as much by the mobile version of Safari included on the iPhone and iPod Touch as by Google. And for a public beta — one that no one outside Apple knew was coming — Safari 4 seems stable. I've yet to come across any show-stoppers in regular use.

"
Earth

Submission + - Dell to power OKC campus with 100% wind energy 2

Submitted by wcrowe
wcrowe writes: Dell announced plans today to power its 240,000 square-foot Oklahoma City campus with 100 percent wind energy. The move is expected to significantly reduce the facility's CO2 emissions. Dell is among the first large businesses in the area to be powered entirely with renewable energy.
Google

Submission + - Google debunks Maps Atlantis Myth (blogspot.com)

Submitted by
prxi
prxi writes: "Recently news spread that Atlantis had been located on Google Maps. While quickly dismissed as another rumor, Googlers posted a blog relating to what exactly caused the strange markings to appear off the coast of Africa. In addition, they also go in depth on what would be required to obtain a detailed map of our ocean floor. Apparently it's only 200 ship years of work (Or around the cost of a modern stadium according to Google)"
Announcements

Submission + - Marvell computer smaller than an AC adapter

Submitted by KerryDancer
KerryDancer writes: Marvell http://www.marvell.com/ (NASDAQ: MRVL) today announced a tiny computer that plugs into a wall socket like a night light. The Plug Computing initiative is behind the SheevaPlug, a "high-performance, always on, always connected, and environmentally friendly computing readily available for developers and end-users...it contains a gigahertz class processor to offer PC class performance.

"The SheevaPlug development platform uses a Marvell Kirkwood processor based on an embedded 1.2GHz Sheeva(TM) CPU equipped with 512 Mbytes of FLASH and 512 Mbytes of DRAM. Connection to the home network is via Gigabit Ethernet. Peripherals such as direct attached storage can be connected using a USB 2.0 port. Multiple standard Linux 2.6 kernel distributions are supported on the SheevaPlug development platform enabling rapid application development...

"The SheevaPlug development kit is available now for $99 through www.marvell.com. All the design details and the software needed to develop applications for the SheevaPlug platform are available through the Marvell website; you can find more information at http://www.marvell.com/products/embedded_processors/developer/kirkwood/sheevaplug.jsp."
The Courts

Submission + - Court Upholds AP 'Quasi-Property' Rights on News (typepad.com)

Submitted by
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes: "A federal court ruled that the AP can sue competitors for 'quasi-property' rights on hot news, as well as for copyright infringement and several other claims. The so-called 'hot news' doctrine was created by a judge 90 years ago in another case, where the AP sued a competitor for copying wartime reporting and bribing its employees to send them a copy of unreleased news and the judge's solution was to make hot news a form of 'quasi-property' distinct from copyright in part because facts cannot be copyrighted. But now the AP is making use of the precedent again, going after AHN which competes with the AP, alleging that they're somehow copying the AP's news. The AP has been rather busy with lawsuits lately, so even though the AP has a story about their own lawsuit, we probably shouldn't link to it."

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