Comment Re:Wow (Score 1) 60
Why do we think we HAVEN'T gone there already with uber secret missions?
FBI Alleged To Have Backdoored OpenBSD's IPSEC Stack 536
Aggrajag and Mortimer.CA, among others, wrote to inform us that Theo de Raadt has made public an email sent to him by Gregory Perry, who worked on the OpenBSD crypto framework a decade ago. The claim is that the FBI paid contractors to insert backdoors into OpenBSD's IPSEC stack. Mr. Perry is coming forward now that his NDA with the FBI has expired. The code was originally added ten years ago, and over that time has changed quite a bit, "so it is unclear what the true impact of these allegations are" says Mr. de Raadt. He added: "Since we had the first IPSEC stack available for free, large parts of the code are now found in many other projects/products." (Freeswan and Openswan are not based on this code.)
Fourth Amendment Protects Hosted E-mail 236
Okian Warrior writes "As reported on the EFF website, today the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that the contents of the messages in an email inbox hosted on a provider's servers are protected by the Fourth Amendment, even though the messages are accessible to an email provider. As the court puts it, 'The government may not compel a commercial ISP to turn over the contents of a subscriber's emails without first obtaining a warrant based on probable cause.'"
McDonald's Hacked and Customer Data Stolen 178
An anonymous reader writes "McDonald's servers were recently compromised and hackers were able to get access to customers' e-mail addresses, names, addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, genders, as well as certain information about their promotional preferences and Web information interests. The sites affected were: McDonalds.com, 365Black.com, McDonalds.ca, mcdonaldsmom.com, mcdlive.com, monopoly.com, playatmcd.com, and meencanta.com. The restaurant chain is warning customers to be cautious of anyone claiming to be from McDonald's contacting them by phone or e-mail, and asking for personal or financial information. McDonald's has also set up a FAQ page for affected customers with 13 questions and their corresponding answers." Update by KD : Weld Pond tweets: "Silverpop email marketer owned. Was email subcontractor for McDonalds and DevientART (13M users) and 105 other orgs."
MS Hypes Win7 Tablets For CES — Again 188
jfruhlinger writes "About a year ago at this time, we were all hearing exciting news about Windows-based tablets that Microsoft would be unveiling at CES. They would transform the industry and strangle the iPad in its cradle! Well, now the hype machine is starting again, for the same products that never materialized last year. This time around, though, the market has changed so much so quickly that Microsoft's tablet bid isn't cutting edge; as Ryan Faas points out, it's desperate."
Hidden Backdoor Discovered On HP MSA2000 Arrays 197
wiredmikey writes "A hardcoded password-related security vulnerability has been discovered which apparently affects every HP MSA2000 G3, a modular large scale storage array. According to the alert, a hidden user exists that doesn't show up in the user manager, and the password cannot be changed, creating a perfect 'backdoor' opportunity for an attacker to gain access to potentially sensitive information stored on the device, as well as systems it is connected to."
Why Special Effects No Longer Impress 532
brumgrunt writes "When an advert for toilet roll now has a CG dog in it, have we come to the point where special effects have no lasting impact whatsoever? As Den of Geek argues, 'Where we once sat through Terminator 2 and gasped when Robert Patrick turned into a slippery blob of mercury, we now watch, say, Inception and simply acknowledge that, yes, the folding city looks quite realistic.'"
Why Anonymous Can't Take Down Amazon.com 392
suraj.sun writes "The website-attacking group 'Anonymous' tried and failed to take down Amazon.com on Thursday. The group's vengeance horde quickly found out something techies have known for years: Amazon, which has built one of the world's most invincible websites, is almost impossible to crash.... Anonymous quickly figured that out. Less than an hour after setting its sights on Amazon, the group's organizers called off the attempt. 'We don't have enough forces,' they tweeted."
Comment Demographic comparison (Score 1) 589
Just to clarify - appearing green to most people is much, much more important than actually being green.
There are people living utterly sustainable lifestyle with very little societal support.
News Flash: that sort of lifestyle is more than a full-time job for an entire family.
There are people living utterly sustainable lifestyle with very little societal support.
News Flash: that sort of lifestyle is more than a full-time job for an entire family.
Comment Re:Technology is no panacea (Score 1) 319
It's coming soon, I'm sure:
Time for annual review. Do I suck? Am I hot-hot-hot? Vote now at ratemyteachers.com/teacherme.
Time for annual review. Do I suck? Am I hot-hot-hot? Vote now at ratemyteachers.com/teacherme.
Comment Re:Use iPads in the classroom, dammit (Score 2, Interesting) 319
At the risk of commenting too much, I'm also a voracious reader and have used the Nook, Kindle, and Stanza apps on my iPad since I bought it.
There is huge advantage to ease of use. I can carry an entire library in that little slice of tech. Turning pages is a twitch of a finger, highlighting at least as easy as the paper version, and notetaking has potential (once I use a wireless keyboard and can get a copy of my notes as a single document, preferably with my highlighted passages included).
Even when I take notes by hand, it's much easier to stop tapping the screen, pick up a pen, and write than to get something to hold the book open or hold it open while I write.
We really haven't begun to recast the book as a text/video/interactive medium, but that time will come - we'll have embedded videos, connections to the bulletin board, and probably even connection to other resources and the author, all from the "book page."
The danger, of course, is that I also have some cool games and a web browser on my iPad.
TL; dr: only Apple could combine the White Magic of Endless Learning with the Dark Magic of Eternal Distraction.
There is huge advantage to ease of use. I can carry an entire library in that little slice of tech. Turning pages is a twitch of a finger, highlighting at least as easy as the paper version, and notetaking has potential (once I use a wireless keyboard and can get a copy of my notes as a single document, preferably with my highlighted passages included).
Even when I take notes by hand, it's much easier to stop tapping the screen, pick up a pen, and write than to get something to hold the book open or hold it open while I write.
We really haven't begun to recast the book as a text/video/interactive medium, but that time will come - we'll have embedded videos, connections to the bulletin board, and probably even connection to other resources and the author, all from the "book page."
The danger, of course, is that I also have some cool games and a web browser on my iPad.
TL; dr: only Apple could combine the White Magic of Endless Learning with the Dark Magic of Eternal Distraction.
Comment A few observations from a real teacher (Score 4, Interesting) 319
I've taught PK through college undergraduate, in nearly every discipline.
1. Societal advances in technology have been largely an effort at efficiency.
2. Educational applications in technology are rarely about increasing efficiency in student learning, but are occasionally about increasing efficiency in materials management for the teacher. Think electronic gradebooks: the reason they are nearly ubiquitous has nothing to do with administrative mandate, but with making things easier for the teacher. It's nothing for the computer to average grades? Weighting by assignment or category? No problem. Doing this with a calculator is a much more complicated proposition.
Electronic whiteboards are catching on for preserving lecture notes, but the real revolution here has passed - it was the change from overhead projector to video projector, especially if accompanied by a document camera. I use my projector ALL THE TIME for lecture notes, video, audio, still pictures - and when I have something to show I haven't captured digitally, I use the document camera.
The web-based communication tools allow me to post assignments and lesson plans online for involved parents and absent students. Video would help this, I suppose, but my classroom thrives on interaction - being a spectator to my lectures without being able to ask questions isn't the riveting experience I wish it would be.
Email allows an asynchronous communication between all of us, as do message board style discussions. These can have value among inquisitive students.
Here's the point, though: really inquisitive students are already doing inquisitive things that eclipse their peers' knowledge without huge effort. Extraordinary students drive their own learning. If I help a student become excited about a subject, and perhaps provide some resources & guidance for their own learning and research, then I've made the most important contribution. After that, it's a different sort of guidance than the "you need to know this so you won't be stupid" sort of instruction.
Ben Carson, head of pediatric neurology at John Hopkins, wrote about figuring out that he learned best by reading, and once he did this, he stopped going to class except for tests and labs. Instead, he read books. He read the assigned material, then read the source material for the assigned material, and then probably read more on top of that.
He redefined the whole field because he knew his strengths as a learner.
Anything technology can do to help a teacher advance that sort of self-knowledge is helpful, possibly important, and maybe even essential.
But if we can't state clearly how a technology will help advance student learning (or even improve teacher efficiency), we have no business expecting teachers to use that technology in their work.
TL;dr: use the best tool for the Learning, not the best tool available.
1. Societal advances in technology have been largely an effort at efficiency.
2. Educational applications in technology are rarely about increasing efficiency in student learning, but are occasionally about increasing efficiency in materials management for the teacher. Think electronic gradebooks: the reason they are nearly ubiquitous has nothing to do with administrative mandate, but with making things easier for the teacher. It's nothing for the computer to average grades? Weighting by assignment or category? No problem. Doing this with a calculator is a much more complicated proposition.
Electronic whiteboards are catching on for preserving lecture notes, but the real revolution here has passed - it was the change from overhead projector to video projector, especially if accompanied by a document camera. I use my projector ALL THE TIME for lecture notes, video, audio, still pictures - and when I have something to show I haven't captured digitally, I use the document camera.
The web-based communication tools allow me to post assignments and lesson plans online for involved parents and absent students. Video would help this, I suppose, but my classroom thrives on interaction - being a spectator to my lectures without being able to ask questions isn't the riveting experience I wish it would be.
Email allows an asynchronous communication between all of us, as do message board style discussions. These can have value among inquisitive students.
Here's the point, though: really inquisitive students are already doing inquisitive things that eclipse their peers' knowledge without huge effort. Extraordinary students drive their own learning. If I help a student become excited about a subject, and perhaps provide some resources & guidance for their own learning and research, then I've made the most important contribution. After that, it's a different sort of guidance than the "you need to know this so you won't be stupid" sort of instruction.
Ben Carson, head of pediatric neurology at John Hopkins, wrote about figuring out that he learned best by reading, and once he did this, he stopped going to class except for tests and labs. Instead, he read books. He read the assigned material, then read the source material for the assigned material, and then probably read more on top of that.
He redefined the whole field because he knew his strengths as a learner.
Anything technology can do to help a teacher advance that sort of self-knowledge is helpful, possibly important, and maybe even essential.
But if we can't state clearly how a technology will help advance student learning (or even improve teacher efficiency), we have no business expecting teachers to use that technology in their work.
TL;dr: use the best tool for the Learning, not the best tool available.
Comment One day soon enough... (Score 1) 155
....we'll actually send someone there, and knowing how humanity can be, whoever it is will wipe the dust off the solar panels (or attach an pocket atomic battery), and with the help of a hydraulic jack, the rover will resume its mission.
We will know other things by then, but we'll still be glad for the messages it sends.
Until then, a round of applause - and heartfelt gratitude - to the team that made a 90 day mission feel like a lifetime.
We will know other things by then, but we'll still be glad for the messages it sends.
Until then, a round of applause - and heartfelt gratitude - to the team that made a 90 day mission feel like a lifetime.
Comment Re:even if this is true (Score 1) 186
Well said. Between my nook, iBooks, and Kindle apps, I think I have around 30 books on my iPad, not to mention the PDFs I carry around in GoodReader.
Submission + - Longest Tennis Game in History (go.com)
kraigory writes: John Isner (US) and Nicolas Mahut (France) are tied 59 — 59 in the 5th set of their match at Wimbledon. The match began yesterday but was suspended after the 4th set due to the setting sun. Today, after a total of 10 hours of play, the match was again suspended. They will resume tomorrow.
