Please create an account to participate in the Slashdot moderation system

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Privacy

Submission + - Shields for Privacy in a Smartphone World (nytimes.com)

Submitted by PatPending
PatPending writes: Anytime, anywhere: co-workers, strangers, and others are using their smart phones to secretly take your photograph, record your conversations, and record videos to potentially be used against you. What can one do to protect one's right to privacy in the face of technology? (Aside from never leaving your mom's basement.)

Comment Re:Moth-eye (Score 5, Informative) 112

by PatPending (#40395709) Attached to: New Film Renders Screen Reflection Almost Non-Existent

I'll see your Wikipedia reference and raise you two USPTO patents granted to SONY for this:

8,027,090 and 7,633,045.

Note: according to another of SONY's patents, moth-eye can also be used to record info on optical media:

"Today, there are seven primary methods by which information can be recorded on optical media. All methods heat the recording layer to a certain temperature. The methods are known as ablative, alloying, bubble-forming, moth-eye, phase-change, dye/polymer and magneto-optic which cause or could cause some mechanical deformation of the substrate."

P.S.

Unlike TFA these patents include detailed drawings and SEM photographs.

P.S.S.

I remember when the authors of tech articles did this kind of background research. Sigh.
Technology

Submission + - How repurposed military tracking technology is remaking the NBA (fastcodesign.com)

Submitted by PatPending
PatPending writes: FTA:

The technology was originally developed to track missiles. Now, SportVU systems hang from the catwalks of 10 NBA arenas, tiny webcams that silently track each player as they shoot, pass, and run across the court, recording each and every move.

Their system captures the X/Y coordinates of all the players and refs--along with the X/Y/Z (3-D) coordinates of the ball--25 times every second (or 72,000 times a game). Algorithms take into account all sorts of variables to keep the system accurate, from the lines on the court to the reflections of flashing billboards. Another layer of software at a central server puts this raw data together into something meaningful. Information as specific as player ball touches and dribbles can be calculated within 60 seconds of being spotted by SportVU cams. Stats can generate these values in simple, automated reports.

On one hand, deeper data seems inevitable--and no one is disagreeing that SportVU has incredible potential with deep data--on the other, with no teams all that interested in sharing how they’re potentially innovating with that data, it’s making his job no easier. “I know for a fact some of those teams are using it quite a bit. They don’t tell me exactly what they’re doing with it. Some teams are fairly open and they ask for our help. Others are very secretive,” Kopp says. “Because, for a while, it is all about how you’re using it. Once they figure out something they think is meaningful, they don’t want anyone to get a whiff of it.”
Security

Submission + - Hacked companies fight back with controversial steps (reuters.com)

Submitted by PatPending
PatPending writes: FTA:

Frustrated by their inability to stop sophisticated hacking attacks or use the law to punish their assailants, an increasing number of U.S. companies are taking retaliatory action.

Known in the cyber security industry as "active defense" or "strike-back" technology, the reprisals range from modest steps to distract and delay a hacker to more controversial measures. Security experts say they even know of some cases where companies have taken action that could violate laws in the United States or other countries, such as hiring contractors to hack the assailant's own systems.

Other security experts say a more aggressive posture is unlikely to have a significant impact in the near term in the overall fight against cybercriminals and Internet espionage. Veteran government and private officials warn that much of the activity is too risky to make sense, citing the chances for escalation and collateral damage.

Comment Note: not for XP (Score 4, Informative) 104

by PatPending (#40262979) Attached to: Adobe Releases Sandboxed Flash Player For Firefox

From Adobe's news release:

[Emphasis added]

The restrictions we apply to this sandboxed process come from the Windows OS. Windows Vista and Windows 7 provide the tools necessary to properly sandbox a process. For the Adobe Reader and Acrobat sandbox implementation introduced in 2010, Adobe spent significant engineering effort trying to approximate those same controls on Windows XP. Today, with Windows 8 just around the corner and Windows XP usage rapidly decreasing, it did not make sense for the Flash Player team to make that same engineering investment for Windows XP. Therefore, we've focused on making Protected Mode for Firefox available on Windows Vista and later.
Google

Submission + - Google accused of invading privacy with pictures of house numbers (telegraph.co.uk)

Submitted by PatPending
PatPending writes: FTA: "Internet users are being asked to read random property numbers snapped by Google's Street View cameras, as part of new security checks.

The tests weed out "bots" by ensuring that users are human. But Google has been accused of exploiting the data submitted in by the public for commercial gain — by adding the information to its own mapping system.

Campaign groups said that the use of pictures of real house numbers presents “serious” security issues, and accused the internet company of being “underhand and crude”."

Slashdot Top Deals

Two can Live as Cheaply as One for Half as Long. -- Howard Kandel

Close