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Education

Ask Slashdot: Where Should a Geek's Charitable Donations Go? 263

Posted by Soulskill from the i-accept-all-major-credit-cards dept.
An anonymous reader writes "I'm in the position to direct (or at least suggest the direction of) a fairly large amount of charitable donation on behalf of a foundation interested in promoting education. As a lifelong geek, I'd like to see some of this money directed toward organizations involved in things geeks-like (e.g. spreading technology in education to those without it, improving the use of technology for those who have it, etc.). If it was up to you, what charitable organizations would you support and why?"
Censorship

Submission + - UK MPs Threaten New Laws If Google Won't Censor Search (techweekeurope.co.uk)

Submitted by
judgecorp
judgecorp writes: "A committee of British MPs and peers has asked Google to censor search results to protect privacy and threatened to put forward new laws that would force it to do so, if Google fails to comply. The case relates to events such as former Formula One boss Max Mosley's legal bid to prevent Google linking to illegally obtained images of himself."

Comment Keep it simple (Score 1) 429

by MortenMW (#39284919) Attached to: Server Names For a New Generation
I generally just use the location and function of the server. Something like this: Country-Function-Number. So a web server in the US would be US-WEB-1 and the second database in Germany would be DE-DB-2. Makes troubleshooting and looking for a machine a bit easier.
Android

Submission + - Securing Android for the Enterprise (net-security.org)

Submitted by Orome1
Orome1 writes: While many companies use IPsec for secure remote access to their networks, no integrated IPsec VPN client is available on Android. Apple has already fixed this shortcoming in iOS, in part, because it wanted make the iPhone attractive for businesses. The Android operating system doesn’t just lack an integrated IPsec VPN client, it also makes installing and configuring third-party VPN software quite complicated. IPsec VPN clients have to be integrated into the kernel of each device, and the client software has to be installed specifically for a memory area. This means that the firmware of each Android smartphone or tablet has to be modified accordingly. Until a “real” IPsec VPN client is available, Android users can use their devices’ integrated VPN clients based on PPTP or L2TP, which is deployed over IPsec. A “real” IPsec VPN connection, however, is more secure because it encrypts data prior to authentication.
United Kingdom

Submission + - Brits Overcharging Gadgets, Wasting Electricity wo (itproportal.com)

Submitted by hypnosec
hypnosec writes: Electricity worth £134million is wasted every year due to overcharging of gadgets such as laptop computers and mobile phones, a new study has revealed. The study shed light into the fact how 20 percent of householders in the UK leave their mobile phones plugged in even when the battery is full, as they do not wish to run out of battery-life while outdoors. Worse even, 10 percent of the participants in the study admitted that they were simply too lazy to pull the plug despite knowing that it costs them money. The study shows that nine out of every 10 owners keep their devices on permanent charge, unaware of the fact that how damaging it could eventually turn out to be. According to the study, the most overcharged devices are laptop computers, mobile phones as well as iPods.

Comment Re:Supported (Score 1) 260

by MortenMW (#38341284) Attached to: Google Deploys IPv6 For Internal Network
I actually have a PowerConnect 5424 with similar problems. I have to disable STP on ports connected to non-managed switches. As its not easy to control what the user plugs into his/her port i have to disable STP on the switch. As far as I can see on the labeling its Allied Telesys, just with a Dell logo slapped on top.
Advertising

Ziff Davis Secretly Paying Sites To Track Users 53

Posted by timothy from the memo-this-user-knows-too-much dept.
First time accepted submitter jonez450 writes "Times are tough in the advertising business. But PCMag publisher Ziff Davis has come up with a new plan to gain a competitive edge: Paying other tech sites $1 CPM to place tracking code on their sites in return for data about their users via JavaScript. The company is also offering free content in return, but the 'private' Ziff Davis Tech Co-Op doesn't want anyone to know what they are up to." Update: 09/15 13:32 GMT by T : Reader jbrodkin writes in with an appreciated correction: "Ziff Davis doesn't publish PC World. they do something called PC Mag. as a former IDG employee, I can tell you there is a difference ;-)" Story has been updated to reflect -- thanks.
Privacy

EFF Says Forget Cookies, Your Browser Has Fingerprints 175

Posted by CmdrTaco from the you-are-not-unique dept.
alphadogg writes "Even without cookies, popular browsers such as Internet Explorer and Firefox give websites enough information to get a unique picture of their visitors about 94 percent of the time, according to research compiled over the past few months by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. [The Research] puts quantitative assessment on something that security gurus have known about for years, said Peter Eckersley, the EFF senior staff technologist who did the research. He found that configuration information — data on the type of browser, operating system, plugins, and even fonts installed — can be compiled by websites to create a unique portrait of most visitors. This means that most Internet users are a lot less anonymous than they believe, Eckersley said. 'Even if you turn off cookies and you use a proxy to hide your IP address, you could still be tracked,' he said."
Television

MythTV 0.23 Released 214

Posted by kdawson from the record-with-daring-and-whimsey dept.
An anonymous reader writes "After six months of our new accelerated development schedule, MythTV 0.23 is now available. MythTV 0.23 brings a new event system, brand new Python bindings, the beta MythNetvision Internet video plugin, new audio code and surround sound upmixer, several new themes (Arclight and Childish), a greatly improved H.264 decoder, and fixes for analog scanning, among many others. Work towards MythTV 0.24 is in full swing, and has be progressing very well for the last several months. If all goes according to plan, MythTV 0.24 will bring a new MythUI OSD, a nearly rewritten audio subsystem capable of handling 24- and 32-bit audio and up to 8 channels of output, Blu-ray disc and disc structure playback, and various other performance, usability, and flexibility improvements."
Books

Hacking Vim 7.2 246

Posted by samzenpus from the read-all-about-it dept.
briancarper writes "Vim is an open-source text editor with a power and flexibility matched only by the steepness of its learning curve. As the author of this book states, 'Vim Can Do Everything' but configuring it to do so is sometimes daunting. Hacking Vim 7.2 aims to help the average Vimmer get the most out of customizing Vim, for fun and productivity." Read on for the rest of briancarper's review.

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