54517643
submission
netbuzz writes:
In November the tech press helped mark the 25th anniversary of the Morris Worm, the first Internet-driven worm to gain widespread media coverage and public attention. The worm also inspired five computer science graduate students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to channel their inner Clement Clark Moore and write a version of "A Visit From St. Nicholas" that only a geek would appreciate: "The Worm Before Christmas." One of the authors, now a professor at Michigan State, recalls today that "the reaction was very positive."
54191651
submission
netbuzz writes:
It’s been a year since the FCC implemented the CALM Act, a law that prohibits broadcasters from blasting TV commercials at volumes louder than the programming. Whether the ban has worked or not depends on who you ask. The FCC notes that formal complaints about overly loud commercials are on the decline in recent months, but those complaints have totaled more than 20,000 over the past year.
53886261
submission
netbuzz writes:
Police in Georgia recently arrested a man for “stealing” an estimated 5 cents worth of electricity from a school where he plugged his car in for 20 minutes during his son’s tennis match. "He broke the law. He stole something that wasn't his," says a police sergeant in Chamblee, Georgia. While not the first to face legal action for taking an unauthorized charge, publicity surrounding the arrest may spark public discussion as to acceptable practices and limits when it’s a car and not a laptop or a cell phone that needs a quick charge.
53133187
submission
netbuzz writes:
A Massachusetts police department is coming under criticism for paying $750 in Bitcoins to cyber-extortionists who used the increasingly damaging CryptoLocker ransomware to deny the department access to an unspecified number of files and photos. The police are being criticized both for failing to implement effective backup systems and sending the message that paying off the bad guys is an acceptable alternative. Says one security expert of the need to resist: “It's a pretty hard demand to make of anyone, and all but impossible to insist on for everybody, but it has to start somewhere; someone has to set a good example for others to follow.
52666849
submission
netbuzz writes:
With Twitter’s IPO looming, an independent developer who is intimately familiar with the makeup and behavior of the site’s users says his analysis of 1 million random accounts does not support the company’s claims of 215 million active monthly users and 100 million active daily users. In fact, Si Dawson, who until March ran Twit Cleaner, a popular app used to weed deadwood and spammers from Twitter accounts, puts those numbers at 112 million and 48 million, respectively, or about half of what Twitter claims.
52541453
submission
netbuzz writes:
On Nov. 2, 1988, mainstream America learned for the first time that computers get viruses, too, as the now notorious “Morris worm” made front-page headlines after first making life miserable for IT professionals. A PBS television news report about the worm offers a telling look at how computer viruses were perceived (or not) at the time. “Life in the modern world has a new anxiety today,” says the news anchor. “Just as we’ve become totally dependent on our computers they’re being stalked by saboteurs, saboteurs who create computer viruses.”
52243369
submission
netbuzz writes:
In a lawsuit filed against a former employee, EMC accuses red-hot rival Pure Storage of systematically poaching at least 30 of its best people “under suspicious circumstances,” the latest of which allegedly involved an ex-sales manager “unlawfully” absconding with 93,000 EMC customer records and other confidential company information. EMC's filing says the former employee's "unlawful conduct is part of a larger campaign by Pure Storage and numerous former EMC employees now employed by Pure Storage, to compete unfairly with EMC ..." While not addressing the specific allegations, Pure Storage CEO Scott Dietzen insists that his company plays by the rules.
51489209
submission
netbuzz writes:
Research conducted by a Yale professor using Microsoft’s “Bing it on” website would appear to debunk the software giant’s claim that its search engine is preferred by a 2-to-1 margin over Google in blind taste tests. “We found that, to the contrary of Microsoft’s claim, 53 percent of subjects preferred Google and 41 percent Bing (6 percent of results were “ties”),” says Prof. Ian Ayres. “This is not even close to the advertised claim that people prefer Bing ‘nearly two-to-one.’“ Microsoft was quick to defend itself: “The professor’s analysis is flawed and based on an incomplete understanding of both the claims and the Challenge,” says Matt Wallaert, a behavioral scientist for Bing. “The Bing It On claim is 100% accurate ”
51205321
submission
netbuzz writes:
Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has no problem calling Network Protection Sciences (NPS) a patent troll. What he does have a problem with is NPS telling a Texas court that NPS had an “ongoing business concern” in that state run by a “director of business development” when all it really had was a rented file-cabinet room and the “director” was actually the building landlord who merely signed legal papers when NPS told him to do so. Judge Alsup calls the alleged business a “sham” and the non-employee “Mr. Sham,” yet he declined to dismiss the patent infringement lawsuit filed by NPS against Fortinet from which this information emerged. Instead, he told NPS, “this jury is going to hear all of this stuff about the closet. And you're going to have to explain why ‘Mr. Sham’ was signing these documents.”
50588863
submission
netbuzz writes:
A federal appeals court in California has upheld a lower court ruling that Cisco lacks the necessary standing to seek dismissal of patent infringement lawsuits against some of its biggest customers – wireless network providers and enterprises – being brought by TR Labs, a Canadian research consortium. The appeals court agreed with TR Labs’ that its patent infringement claims are rightfully against the users of telecommunications equipment – be it made by Cisco, Juniper, Ciena or others – and not the manufacturers. “In fact, all of the claims and all of the patents are directed at a communications network, not the particular switching nodes that are manufactured by Cisco and the other companies that are subject of our claims,” an attorney for TR Labs told the court. The court made no judgment relative to the patents themselves or the infringement claims.
50530341
submission
netbuzz writes:
Nothing like they look today. There was no Twitter, Facebook or YouTube on Sept. 11, 2001. Google News was a year from launch. And while most everyone stayed glued to their TVs to watch the unfolding horror, there still was plentiful coverage online. Here's a representative sample. Included are CNN, the New York Times, FOX News, Reuters and the BBC.
50241975
submission
netbuzz writes:
Ruling that a judge erred in blocking two computer security experts from testifying that an incriminating Google Maps search record found on the defendant’s laptop was planted there, a North Carolina appeals court has ordered a new trial for ex-Cisco employee Bradley Cooper, convicted two years ago in the 2008 strangulation death of his wife Nancy. "The sole physical evidence linking Defendant to Ms. Cooper's murder was the alleged Google Map search, conducted on Defendant's laptop, of the exact area where Ms. Cooper's body was discovered," wrote the appeals court. "We hold ... that erroneously preventing Defendant from presenting expert testimony, challenging arguably the strongest piece of the State's evidence, constituted reversible error and requires a new trial."
49000801
submission
netbuzz writes:
The latest scam involving stolen and/or fake Cisco equipment may also be one of the largest, as the Department of Justice says a 43-year-old San Jose-based reseller accumulated $37 million in ill-gotten gains over a period of years that he then poured into real estate and luxury cars. The feds say the guy also used part of the loot to set up college funds for his four children. At least four other such scams have been perpetrated against Cisco in recent years, though at $37 million this appears to have been the largest.
48992355
submission
netbuzz writes:
Today marks the 14th annual System Administrator Appreciation Day – SysAdmin Day for short – and that means it’s time to pay tribute to those men and women who keep the IT trains running on time or catch all kinds of grief if they don’t. As this special day has gained heightened media attention over the years, more and more IT vendors are getting into the act by staging SysAdmin Day contests involving memes, gifs, essays and the like. This year there’s a video tribute featuring a cringe-worthy rendition of “Happy SysAdmin Day.” There might be cake. Have a good one.
48793785
submission
colinneagle writes:
A resident in the small town of Deer Trail, Colorado, recently proposed a townwide ordinance that would offer $25 licenses to hunt and shoot down drones. Announcing bluntly that "we do not want drones in this town," Deer Trail resident Phillip Steel says that, although he has never seen a drone flying in the town, if "they fly in town, they get shot down."
The proposed ordinance mandates a $25 fee for drone hunting licenses in the town and sets specific "rules of engagement" for hunting the aerial robots. However, drone hunters in Deer Trail stand to earn a $100 reward for a successfully destroyed drone, the ordinance suggests. So far, Steel's proposal has earned support from local government leaders. "Even if a tiny percentage of people get online (for a) drone license, that's cool," said David Boyd, a board member in Deer Trail, according to ABC7. "That's a lot of money to a small town like us. Could be known for it as well, which probably might be a mixed blessing, but what the heck."
The town clerk mentioned holding a town-run drone hunt, "a skeet, fun-filled festival."