Feed Countering high-tech counterfeiters (com.com)
Digital technology could soon make it possible for anyone to copy and print real-looking currency. Robert Schafrik led a group seeking solutions.
Submission + - Sparring Begins Over High-Def Movie Hacks
narramissic writes: "A string of attacks on the Advanced Access Content System (AACS), which is used on both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc, is proof positive that hackers are hard at work trying to ensure that the copy-protection system on next-generation DVDs goes the way of the CSS (content scrambling system) — that is, the eventual widespread availability of software that can copy next-gen DVDs. While the 'architects of AACS learned from the mistakes of CSS and built into the system several different types of keys and the ability to change keys whenever attacks were successful,' the motivation of the hacking public is not to be underestimated. A community of people is already 'spending vast amounts of time pulling out various keys from high-definition movie discs and anticipating the next move of AACSLA and how they might get around it.'"
Submission + - How Steve Jobs Played Hardball in iPhone Birth
Carl Bialik from WSJ writes: "Apple bucked the rules of the cellphone industry when creating the iPhone by wresting control away from normally powerful wireless carriers, the Wall Street Journal reports. From the article: 'Only three executives at the carrier, which is now the wireless unit of AT&T Inc., got to see the iPhone before it was announced. Cingular agreed to leave its brand off the body of the phone. Upsetting some Cingular insiders, it also abandoned its usual insistence that phone makers carry its software for Web surfing, ringtones and other services. ... Mr. Jobs once referred to telecom operators as "orifices" that other companies, including phone makers, must go through to reach consumers. While meeting with Cingular and other wireless operators he often reminded them of his view, dismissing them as commodities and telling them that they would never understand the Web and entertainment industry the way Apple did, a person familiar with the talks says.'"
Congress Tackles Patent Reform 261
nadamsieee writes "Wired's Luke O'Brian recently reported about Congress' latest attempt to reform the patent system. In the article O'Brian tells of how 'witnesses at Thursday's hearing painted a bleak picture of that system. Adam Jaffe, a Brandeis University professor and author of a book on the subject, described the system as 'out of whack.' Instead of 'the engine of innovation,' the patent has become 'the sand in the gears,' he said, citing widespread fears of litigation. The House Oversight Committee website has more details. How would you fix the patent system?"
Journal Journal: [parenting] Immunizations 8
I guess I'll start my own tag of [parenting] to let folks know, incase they are severely brain damaged and don't want to hear about the [mis]adventures that my wife and I experience raising our son.
Todays topic: Immunizations.
