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Submission + - The Physical Hacks at DefCon (physorg.com)

Submitted by

eldavojohn

on Sunday August 05, 2007 @12:00PM

eldavojohn writes: "As we all know, DefCon is occurring in Vegas this weekend but Saturday held a room that focused on possibly the oldest form of hacking — lockpicking. That's right, as software security becomes better and better, the focus may instead shift towards simple hacking tips like looking over someone's shoulder for their password, faking employment or just picking the locks to gain access to the building where machines are left on overnight. This is nothing to sneeze at, "Medeco deadbolt locks relied on worldwide at embassies, banks and other tempting targets for thieves, spies or terrorists can be opened in seconds with a strip of metal and a thin screw driver, Marc Tobias of Security.org demonstrated for AFP ... Tobias says he refuses to publish details of 'defeating' the locks because they are used in places ranging from homes, banks and jewelers to the White House and the Pentagon. He asked AFP not to disclose how it is done." I'm sure all Slashdot readers are savvy enough to use firewall(s) but do you know and trust what locks 'physically' protect your data from hacks like these?"

Submission + - New Milestone Demoscene Releases. (pouet.net) 4

Submitted by on Sunday August 05, 2007 @08:56AM

An anonymous reader writes: With over 3000 visitors one of the biggest computer festivals, the Assembly 2007, just closed doors. The event saw the release of some of the best demoscene productions of this year. Among them the first good demos for the XBOX 360, but also for platforms as obscure as the Atari VCS2600 from 1976. The main demo competition was won by Lifeforce, one of the most acclaimed demoscene demos ever. Other releases can be found here.

Submission + - Florida University forced To Idolize Jeb Bush

Submitted by Ariastis on Wednesday April 11, 2007 @04:59PM

Ariastis writes: Two weeks ago, the University of Florida voted to deny Jeb Bush an honorary degree. By a 38-28 vote, the faculty Senate rejected the former governor's nomination, citing concerns about some of Bush's education initiatives, including his dismantling of affirmative action programs in the state. Upset by this lack of Jeb Bush adoration, the conservative-controlled House Schools & Learning Council voted yesterday to force the university to rename its education school the Jeb Bush College of Education.

Submission + - why noone wants to work for apple security

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 03, 2007 @06:29PM

An anonymous reader writes: JF applied for a security job at apple that has been open since August 2005. He tells you why it has been open for so long in his blog: http://c9c3.blogspot.com/2007/04/apple-computers.h tml We all know that apple has no clue about security, but who knew it was this bad ?

Submission + - 2nd Week Of UK PS3 Launch A Near Disaster

Submitted by mrneutron2004 on Tuesday April 03, 2007 @05:42PM

mrneutron2004 writes: Wow! ChartTrack indicates PS3 sales fell 82% during week two. Is it any shock with the outrageous price? "Apparently though this was perhaps just a "release valve" on pent up demand, as Chart Track now reports an astonishing 82% decline in PS3 sales during week two. If you ask us, Sony's European market pricing is outrageous. Priced at a massive 425 English Pounds (that's a staggering $834 in U.S. Dollars) I just cant see "average Joe Consumer" buying into the PS3 in the UK with this pricing." http://www.fastsilicon.com/latest-news/2nd-week-of -uk-ps3-launch-a-near-disaster.html?Itemid=60

Submission + - US Spaceflight record Broken

Submitted by

Josh Fink

on Tuesday April 03, 2007 @01:58PM

Josh Fink writes: "Today, astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria has been living and working in space for 197 days. The previous record of 196 days was held by expedition 4 crew members Carl Walz and Dan Bursch. When Lopez-Alegria returns to Earth on April 20, he will have spent 214 days aboard the IIS. From the article:

"You know it's kind of being like Barry Bonds and...Albert Pujos playing on the same team," Lopez-Alegria, an avid baseball fan, said referring to professional ballplayers. "I have a feeling my record isn't going to last very long, and I know exactly who is going to break it."

While the US may have broken its own record, it still has a long way to go to catch up with the world record of 438 days held by Valery Polyakov, a MIR crew member. You can view the article located at space.com here."

Submission + - The Original SCO

Submitted by on Tuesday April 03, 2007 @01:53PM

An anonymous reader writes: Before Caldera came into the picture, there was The Santa Cruz Operation. As a few of you might know, there was an imfamous yearly "Follies" show put on by employees. A rich history of satire ended when the firm was sold and progressively shrunk to a hundredth of its former size. Here is a small sample that speaks of the joy and creative spirit that once characterized the company:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKQT6Y4_P3E

French Train Breaks Speed Record 612

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday April 03, 2007 @01:53PM from the zooom dept.

Josh Fink writes "A French train on the TGV line has broken the wheeled train speed record - again. At a speed of 350 miles per hour, they came close to breaking the all time record of 361 miles per hour, held by a Japanese maglev train. It was last broken back in 1990. From the article: 'The TGV, short for "train a grande vitesse," as France's bullet trains are called, is made up of three double-decker cars between two engines. It has been equipped with larger wheels than the usual TGV to cover more ground with each rotation and a stronger, 25,000-horsepower engine, said Alain Cuccaroni, in charge of the technical aspects of testing.'"

Submission + - Prototype Train Reaches 575 kph

Submitted by necro81 on Tuesday April 03, 2007 @01:45PM

necro81 writes: The NY Times is reporting that the French train manufacturer, Alstom, today demonstrated its next-generation prototype train, the V150, in a test that reached 574.8 kph (357 mph), a new rail speed record. Although the V150 is just a demonstration platform, "[h]igh-speed trains are a potentially lucrative market in developing countries — China and India are the biggest markets, with China spending about 15 billion euros a year on its rail sector, while India is looking at developing a high-speed train network."

Submission + - Raytheon builds polymorphic computer

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 20, 2007 @05:35PM

An anonymous reader writes: Raytheon have built a CPU for the DoD that can change architectures depending on what it's being used for. FTFA:

Dubbed MONARCH (Morphable Networked Micro-Architecture) and developed to address the large data volume of sensor systems as well as their signal and data processing throughput requirements, it is the most adaptable processor ever built for the Department of Defense, reducing the number of processor types required. It performs as a single system on a chip, resulting in a significant reduction of the number of processors required for computing systems, and it performs in an array of chips for teraflop throughput.
Insert Beowolf Cluster joke here.

Submission + - NFL Caught Abusing the DMCA

Submitted by

Implied Oral Consent

on Tuesday March 20, 2007 @05:33PM

Implied Oral Consent writes: "You know how the NFL puts up those notices before every game saying "This telecast is copyrighted by the NFL for the private use of our audience, and any other use of this telecast or of any pictures, descriptions or accounts of the game without the NFL's consent is prohibited"? Well, Ars Technica is reporting that Wendy Seltzer thought that that was over-reaching and posted a video of the notice on YouTube. Predictably, the NFL filed a DMCA Take Down notice on the clip. But Ms. Seltzer knows her rights, so she filed a DMCA Counter Notice. This is when the NFL violated the DMCA, by filing another Take Down notice instead of taking the issue to court — their only legitimate option, according to the DMCA. Unfortunately for the NFL, Ms. Seltzer is a law professor, an EFF lawyer, and the founder of Chilling Effects. Oops!"

Submission + - Possible massive meteorite found

Submitted by

johkir

on Tuesday March 20, 2007 @05:14PM

johkir writes: "Geologists think they may have found a meteorite the size of a small town. They were looking for oil but instead found space dust and a possible mammoth meteorite. The possible meteorite is buried deep in the ground about ten miles west of Stockton, Calif. in an area called Victoria Island. 3-D images show that the circular crater created by the rock is estimated to have been about 3 miles wide. The meteorite is also believed to have fallen to earth over 50 million years ago. Per the news feed, 'The impact would have been as powerful as 100-thousand atomic bomb blasts and would have been seen and heard for hundreds of miles.' BBC has the story, as does a local CBS affiliate (with flash video), and there is an abstract for the upcoming AAPG conference."

Submission + - RIAA "Expert Witness" Deposed by Slashdott

Submitted by Stanistani on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @02:17PM

Stanistani writes: Slashdotter Ray Beckermann NewYorkCountryLawyer yesterday grilled the RIAA's so-called expert witness in the UMG v. Lindor case. Defense Attorney Beckermann invites the Slashdot and Groklaw communities to "see the fruits of their labor."

Submission + - Stopping WGA Installation sends data to Microsoft

Submitted by

rev

on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @01:37PM

rev writes: "The new WGA Notification installation that can be installed using Windows Update sends data to Microsoft if the user decides to cancel the installation. A cookie is set that could be used to identify the host and information such as version of Windows and WGA as well as language of the operating system are transmitted. Part of the data is encrypted. (read more)"

Submission + - Script Kiddie Foils Microsoft

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 01, 2007 @08:23PM

An anonymous reader writes: A forum user (going by the handle Computer User) over at keznews has successfully created a brute force keygen for Microsoft Windows Vista. Within hours, the news had spread like wildfire to all corners of the internet, garnering public reaction ranging from disbelief to praise. Computer User shortly thereafter posted a statement of regret for 'hacking' Microsoft's unhackable validation. Sarcasm or sincerity?

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