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Comment Re:Yep (Score 4, Insightful) 900

by Darundal (#30156020) Attached to: GIMP Dropped From Ubuntu 10.04
Why is this stupid? Most users photo editing is limited to stuff like removing red-eye. A lot of users don't even do that. Not to say that GIMP isn't good, but one does have to wonder exactly why it should be in the default install or live CD. Can you explain why you think it is borderline stupid for them to pull something out most users aren't using, especially considering they are likely to use the space for a bunch of other software that more people are likely to use (why else would they give a limited room excuse)?
The Internet

3 Strikes — Denying Physics Won't Save the Video Stars 284

Posted by Soulskill from the even-scotty-would-have-trouble dept.
Philip K D writes "Award-winning SF author and BoingBoing co-editor Cory Doctorow has an editorial in today's Times of London. Doctorow elegantly eviscerates the basic injustice posed by the imminent Mandelson '3 Strikes' law in Britain. He makes the explicit observation: 'The internet is an integral part of our children's education; it's critical to our employment; it's how we stay in touch with distant relatives. It's how we engage with government. It's the single wire that delivers freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of assembly. It isn't just a conduit for getting a few naughty free movies, it is the circulatory system of the information age.' It is worth noting that Doctorow was influential in the creation of the Creative Commons. He has enjoyed considerable commercial success for his writings, owing in no small part on his insistence that his work be made available for unrestricted electronic distribution and copying." In related news, the UK's second-largest ISP, TalkTalk, is now threatening legal action if Mandelson's plan goes through.
Security

Time Warner Cable Modems Expose Users 185

Posted by samzenpus from the protect-ya-neck dept.
eldavojohn writes "Wired is reporting on a simple hack putting some 65,000 customers at risk. The hack to gain administrative access to the cable modem/router combo is remarkably simple: '[David] Chen, founder of a software startup called Pip.io, said he was trying to help a friend change the settings on his cable modem and discovered that Time Warner had hidden administrative functions from its customers with Javascript code. By simply disabling Javascript in his browser, he was able to see those functions, which included a tool to dump the router's configuration file. That file, it turned out, included the administrative login and password in cleartext. Chen investigated and found the same login and password could access the admin panels for every router in the SMC8014 series on Time Warner's network — a grave vulnerability, given that the routers also expose their web interfaces to the public-facing internet.' If you use Time Warner's SMC8014 series cable modem/Wi-Fi router combo, watch for firmware to be released soon that they are reportedly in the process of testing."

Comment Re:IBM's hardware vendor mind is taking over (Score 5, Interesting) 863

by Darundal (#29818523) Attached to: IBM's Answer To Windows 7 Is Ubuntu Linux
I shoved my old PC out in the living room with Ubuntu preinstalled for the kids/parents, and they love it. Nobody has asked me how to do anything, and the technophobe parents (won't update an iphone, points at computer and asks what is wrong with the modem) more often than not use it as opposed to the one that is in their room on a desk right next to their bed.

Comment I don't think it is a bad thing... (Score 1) 404

by Darundal (#29731775) Attached to: Should Computer Games Adapt To the Way You Play?
...because it provides, at least for me, a challenging game experience while at the same being in line with the market trend of games that are more accessible. Accessibility these days often comes in the form of significantly reduced challenge, which leads to uninteresting games for me. At least this way, I still have something to play.

Comment Re:Troubleshooting skills. (Score 1) 829

by Darundal (#29655795) Attached to: Stargate Universe
Where are you getting the whole "asgard are ancient offshoots" thing. Sure, we may have seen a preserved asgard from way before they had modified themselves to their current state, but that doesn't mean they started out at ancient.
Television

MPAA Pushes Once Again To Close the Analog Hole 275

Posted by kdawson from the encrypted-pipe-to-your-eardrum dept.
Tyler Too writes "The MPAA is once again trying to badger the FCC into approving Selectable Output Control, which would plug the 'analog hole' during broadcasts of some prerelease HD movies. MPAA bigshots met with seven staffers from the FCC Media Bureau last week, calling the petition a 'pro-consumer' (!) move designed to 'enable movie studios to offer millions of Americans in-home access to high-value, high definition video content.' At least the studios are now acknowledging that SOC would break the functionality of some HDTVs, an admission they were previously unwilling to make: 'What's interesting about the group's latest filing, however, is that it effectively concedes that the output changes it wants could, in fact, hobble some home video systems. "The vast majority of consumers would not have to purchase new devices to receive the new, high-value content contemplated by MPAA's" request, the group assures the FCC.'"

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