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Comment Why let a good crisis go to waste? (Score 1) 315

Of course the U.S. Government will latch onto this, it represents an ideal opportunity to invoke the name of anti-terrorism to actively censor; just in case they haven't completely covered their bases with SOPA/PIPA.

I keep finding it ironic that we are slowly slipping back into the Alien & Sedition Acts, which came immediately following our inception as a country. Perhaps a sign that our system of government is due for rebirth?

Although I will say, I have been reassured by the recent media reports that gun purchases have skyrocketed recently - hopefully this indicates that the rugged-individualist, American-spirited Americans out there will have a little sway over the outcome of this rebirth.

Comment The FAA pops its pimple of a head into the mix (Score 1) 515

After reading this article, I'm halfway tempted to think that his incident was an elaborately orchestrated plot to facilitate a power grab by the FAA:

AMA: FAA Seeks To Restrict Model Aircraft Flight

Excursus: When the FAA was in danger of "losing 4,000 jobs", I thought to myself, "what the hell does the FAA need with 4,000 employees" - can't we deploy Skynet already?

Comment Pegboard + variety of peg hardware (Score 1) 374

For me the problem was just as much the variety of physical devices to and from which cords were running as the problem with cords themselves (i.e. modem, router, UPS, etc.). Therefore, I went and had some pegboard cut to spec and mounted it on the back of my computer desk - such that some of it is accessible from the front, as well - and bought a variety bag of pegboard hardware (hooks, etc.). I then proceeded to mount my modem, router, UPS, USB hub, speakers, etc. on there, wired everything up, and used releasable zip ties to bundle up the cords. So far it's worked very nicely, and given me more desk space.

Comment Re:G+ id policy is problematic at multiple levels. (Score 1) 560

Given the uniqueness of many African-American names, I think the incidence of this policy will largely fall on them, which one might construe as racism on Google's part. Obviously I don't see any reason to suspect racism, but there are a whole lot of political opportunists out there not quite so averse to outlandish statements as I. ;)

Comment Re:Well (Score 1) 97

What stops the Feds from simply claiming anyone they want to investigate is a "suspected terrorist" and doing all the snooping they want. Suppose the Feds simply declare that due to "secret" information, they believe that someone is a "suspected terrorist". They tap his phone, bug his car, break into his email accounts...and discover that John Doe buys personal use quantities of prescription pain meds without a prescription. (but is not a terrorist). Or some other low-end crime.

Can the Feds put John Doe into prison based on this information?

I was just about to post to this effect - you're spot on.

Biotech

Submission + - Cancer resembles life 1 billion years ago (lifescientist.com.au) 4

An anonymous reader writes: What is cancer? It's not an invader, it's spawned from our own bodies. And it bears striking resemblance to early multicellular life from 1 billion years ago. This has led astrobiologists and cosmologists Paul Davies and Charlie Lineweaver to suggest that cancer is driven by primitive genes that govern cellular cooperation, and which kick in when our more recently evolved genes that keep them in check break down. So, far from being rogue cells that mutate out of control, cancers are actually cells that revert to a more ancient level of programming, like booting in Safe Mode. The good news is this means cancers have only finite variation. Once we nut out the ancient genes, we'll know how it works, and it's unlike to evolve any new defence mechanisms, meaning curing cancer might be not quite as mammoth a task as commonly thought.
It's funny.  Laugh.

Submission + - Saudi security services detain bird for spying (bbc.co.uk)

An anonymous reader writes: The BBC reports that the Saudis have foiled an attempt by Israel to spy on their country using live Griffon vultures. The Zionist spy-masters have cleverly disguised their equipment as part of a study by Tel Aviv University to track the movements of the endangered scavenges.

This follows recent reports from Egypt, where some local officials have blamed the Mosad for shark attacks at a beach resort.

Bug

Submission + - Google Announces Fix For SMS Bug in Android (google.com)

c0mpliant writes: Google have announced a fix for the bug in the default Android SMS messaging app. The bug, which was recently discussed on Slashdot, was at first being treated with medium priority, was escalated to Critical following massive public outcry. The bug was actually two bugs, one in which the wrong message thread was opened and one in which the SMS was simply sent to another, seemingly random contact within the Android phonebook. Google have not revealed the exact cause of the error but have changed the status to "FutureRelease"

Submission + - One tip enough to put name on terrorist watch list (washingtonpost.com) 1

Frosty Piss writes: As a result of the US Government’s complete failure to investigate credible warnings about "Underwear Bomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from none other than Abdulmutallab’s father, senior American counterterrorism officials say they have altered their criteria so that a single-source tip can lead to a name being placed on the watch list. But civil liberties groups warn that it is now even more likely that individuals who pose no threat will be swept up in the America’s security apparatus, leading to potential violations of their privacy and making it difficult for them to travel. 'They are secret lists with no way for people to petition to get off or even to know if they're on,' said Chris Calabrese, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.

Submission + - Design a P2P Poker Application (sourceforge.net)

konphorm writes: I have a CS degree from a US University and am current working on my Masters. Since leaning about Bitcoin (http://www.bitcoin.org/) a Virtual P2P currency I have been obsessed with the idea of creating a Decentralized and Secure P2P poker application. Having background knowledge into modern cryptographic methods I started out fairly certain that such an application could be possible, and further research has only bolstered that confidence. Not having found any active projects resembling this idea I have since started a SourceForge Project named NinjaPoker at (https://sourceforge.net/projects/ninjapoker/).

The only way such an application can ever work or be trusted is if it is developed entirely out in the open. To that means I turn to the Slashdot community support in terms of developers and domain specific technical knowledge in addition to general feedback and comments. Some of the specific technical domains I am seeking assistance from, especially durring the initial development phase include:
-P2P Cryptographic and Authentication
-Anonymous P2P communication protocols
-Online Poker Cheating prevention

In light of recent scandals (http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/30/1932217) calling the reputation of even the major poker sites into questions, and fluctuating legal climate around the issue of online poker. (http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/02/07/2114253/Push-To-End-Online-Gambling-Ban-Gains-Steam) , (http://politics.slashdot.org/story/09/06/10/2238213/33-Million-In-Poker-Winnings-Seized-By-US-Govt) The advantages of a decentralized and secure P2P poker application that does not rely on a central bank or central authority of any kind to play, wager and transfer winnings become increasingly appealing. Not to mention that such a model lacking the associated overhead or profit motivations like the popular poker sites could stand out by not having to take any rake to support the house, meaning 100% of bets could go directly to players.

If you or anyone you know would be interested in helping with such a project I would greatly appreciate your support.*

*Serious supporters should join the SourceForge project, general suggestions and comments are perhaps best left to the moderated slashdot comments.

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I have hardly ever known a mathematician who was capable of reasoning. -- Plato

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