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Security

IT Security Salaries Expected To Rise In 2011 60

Posted by CmdrTaco from the who-doesn't-like-some-scratch dept.
wiredmikey writes "IT security professionals in the United States can expect starting salaries to increase in 2011, according to a new salary report released today. The guide suggests larger increases in base compensation expected in high-demand segments including information security related positions. According to the report, companies are hiring security professionals to help foil fraud, prevent network breaches and comply with new regulations, to keep confidential information safe and secure."
Patents

Beware the King of the Patent Trolls 286

Posted by CmdrTaco from the lotta-fresh-air-under-the-bridge dept.
superapecommando writes "If you haven't heard of Intellectual Ventures, you may want to check this out. Set up by ex-Microsoftie Nathan Myhrvold, with investments from Microsoft among others, it is basically a patenting machine – filing and buying them in huge quantities. Note that it doesn't actually use these patents – except to threaten people with. In other words, Intellectual Ventures is a patent troll – or, rather the King of the Patent Trolls. So I was interested to come across this extremely positive blog post on the company. That it is so positive is hardly surprising, since the blog is called 'Tangible IP,' and subtitled 'ipVA's blog on adding value through intellectual property.' Nonetheless, it provides valuable insights into the mindset of fans of intellectual monopolies. Here's what it says about Intellectual Ventures: 'They are an invention house, and have adopted and reinvented leading edge patent strategies to create a portfolio of their own IP which, in its own, would be of high high worth.' They don't invent anything in the proper, deep sense of the word; they merely file and buy patents – with no intent of ever making stuff or solving real-life problems."
Programming

Recommendation Algorithm Wants To Show You Something New 90

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the try-it-you'll-like-it dept.
Several sources are reporting on a new metric that computer scientists are going after with respect to recommender systems — recommendation diversity. "In a paper that will be released by PNAS, a group of scientists are pushing the limits of recommendation systems, creating new algorithms that will make more tangential recommendations to users, which can help expand their interests, which will increase the longevity and utility of the recommendation system itself. Accuracy has long been the most prized measurement in recommending content, like movies, links, or music. However, computer scientists note that this type of system can narrow the field of interest for each user the more it is used. Improved accuracy can result in a strong filtering based on a user's interests, until the system can only recommend a small subset of all the content it has to offer."

Comment Re:You obviously know nothing (Score 4, Insightful) 296

by Shimdaddy (#30891960) Attached to: PS3 Hacked?
The difference between a computer and a ps3 is that the ps3 sells for less than it costs to make. Sony makes this money back through selling games -- claiming that there is no difference between a game console and a computer since they have equivalent parts is disingenuous. You can't have it both ways -- you either get great hardware for cheap with restrictions on it, or great hardware for a more reasonable cost and the freedom to do whatever you want with it.
Security

Blizzard Authenticators May Become Mandatory 248

Posted by Soulskill from the gotta-take-off-your-shoes-too dept.
An anonymous reader writes "WoW.com is reporting that a trusted source has informed them that Blizzard is giving serious consideration to making authenticators mandatory on all World of Warcraft accounts. The authenticators function the same as ones provided by most banks — in order to log in, you must generate a number on the external device. Blizzard already provides a free iPhone app that functions as an authenticator. The source stated, 'it is a virtually forgone conclusion that it will happen.' This comes after large spates of compromised accounts left Bizzard game masters severely backlogged by restoration requests."

Comment Re:4 tens is awfully nice (Score 1) 287

by Geraden (#30460900) Attached to: I'd prefer to allocate my work hours ...
This is why I like second shift even better than the normal day shift. I am typically up until midnight anyhow, and the ability to have a couple of daylight hours to get things done is very nice, especially in the wintertime, when it's just starting to get light at 8am, and already dark by 5pm.

Comment Re:Fedora? (Score 1) 236

by Shimdaddy (#30138886) Attached to: Fedora 12 Released
Fedora also ships with selinux enforcing by default, and was one of the first distros to do so. As far as I know, you still have to install it in Ubuntu. Also, I'm not sure what you're talking about with the "lots of daemons running and ports open" stuff -- this hasn't been my experience at all.
Intel

Intel Allows Release of Full 4004 Chip-Set Details 124

Posted by timothy from the cool-move-from-the-valley dept.
mcpublic writes "When a small team of reverse engineers receives the blessing of a big corporate legal department, it is cause for celebration. For the 38th anniversary of Intel's groundbreaking 4004 microprocessor, the company is allowing us to release new details of their historic MCS-4 chip family announced on November 15, 1971. For the first time, the complete set of schematics and artwork for the 4001 ROM, 4002 RAM, 4003 I/O Expander, and 4004 Microprocessor is available to teachers, students, historians, and other non-commercial users. To their credit, the Intel Corporate Archives gave us access to the original 4004 schematics, along with the 4002, 4003, and 4004 mask proofs, but the rest of the schematics and the elusive 4001 masks were lost until just weeks ago when Lajos Kintli finished reverse-engineering the 4001 ROM from photomicrographs and improving the circuit-extraction software that helped him draw and verify the missing schematics. His interactive software can simulate an ensemble of 400x chips, and even lets you trace a wire or click on a transistor in the chip artwork window and see exactly where it is on the circuit diagram (and vice-versa)."
Communications

New Kind of Orbit Could Ease Mars Communications 127

Posted by kdawson from the crossing-gravitational-gradients dept.
japan_dan writes "An interesting way to enable Earth-Mars communication when the Sun occludes the direct radio line-of-sight: ESA proposes placing a pair of continuous-thrusting relay satellites, using a solar electric propulsion system — one in front and ahead of Mars, the other behind and below — with both following non-Keplerian, so-called 'B-orbits'. This means the direction of thrust is perpendicular to the satellites' direction of flight, allowing them to 'hover' with both Earth and Mars in view. Quoting from the Q&A: 'We found that a pair of relay satellites would only have to switch on their thrusters for about 90 days out of every 2.13-year period, and this solution would only increase the one-way signal travel time by one minute, so it could be effective.'" Here is the paper describing non-Keplerian orbits (PDF).

Comment Re:A shot in the arm? How about cooler chips? (Score 4, Funny) 195

by Shimdaddy (#29518147) Attached to: AMD Radeon HD 5870 Adds DX11, Multi-Monitor Gaming
So, to be clear, you just want:
  • Games that are as good as StarCraft, which is a very solid contender for best game of all time
  • Computers to be as cheap as netbooks but as powerful as top-of-the-line desktops
  • Desktops that are ridiculously powerful but don't produce heat

Reasonable.
Cellphones

Snow Leopard Drops Palm OS Sync 290

Posted by timothy from the exclusivity-demands-it dept.
adeelarshad82 writes "It's been just a little over a month since Apple blocked iTunes sync with Palm Pre, and now Apple takes that strategy one step further by blocking Snow Leopard sync with Palm-OS powered smartphones. Even though Palm has officially retired Palm OS and is now focusing hard on its next-generation WebOS in the Palm Pre, the company is still selling Palm OS-powered smartphones; two current models are the Treo Pro on Sprint and the Centro."

Comment Re:Reduced Effort in World of Warcraft (Score 1) 520

by Shimdaddy (#29147185) Attached to: Ask Blizzard About Starcraft2, Diablo III, WoW, or Battle.net

This is, of course, a tactic to entice new players.

I'm pretty sure this is only partially correct. It serves two purposes: 1) It helps people who play recruit their friends. If I'm high-level, and you don't have any characters, if Blizzard can make you get to my level faster, that means the game is more fun for both of us. 2) It helps people roll new alts. You're less locked into your character if the barrier to a new, more interesting one is lower. Blizzard has also said that the newer content is better than the old content -- the designers / artists / writers / etc. have simply gotten better at making the game. Thus, they want you to spend more time in the newer areas, as they're (generally) higher quality.

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