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Submission + - Single developer owns 47k apps in BlackBerry World (paritynews.com)

Submitted by hypnosec
hypnosec writes: If you are a BlackBerry owner navigate to BlackBerry World or click on the link here and you will find that developer S4BB has developed over 47k apps for the BB platform – surprisingly most of them are just spammy apps that don’t add any value. Apps like ‘Restart Me Free’, ‘Daily Quote’, ‘Lock for SMS’, ‘Search for Amazon’, ‘Silent Foto Free’ are just a few among the thousands of apps on BlackBerry world that actually have no utility whatsoever. Considering that BlackBerry announced back in May that developers were increasingly interested in making apps for the platform and that BlackBerry World had more than 120,000 apps at the time raises questions about the authenticity of the claims and on the approval process that goes behind accepting these apps. S4BB may have a few useful apps for the platform but, it doesn’t mean that all the apps that the developer would have developed are of ‘A’ category. The damning number of apps by a single developer raises a huge question on the tactics employed by BlackBerry to raise its developer profile.

Submission + - New Drug Mimics the Beneficial Effects of Exercise (gizmag.com) 2

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: A drug known as SR9009, which is currently under development at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), increases the level of metabolic activity in skeletal muscles of mice. Treated mice become lean, develop larger muscles and can run much longer distances simply by taking SR9009, which mimics the effects of aerobic exercise. If similar effects can be obtained in people, the reversal of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and perhaps Type-II diabetes might be the very welcome result.

Submission + - Judge refuses to throw out case of man who videotaped ambulance crew (twincities.com) 1

Submitted by Bob the Super Hamste
Bob the Super Hamste writes: In a follow up to the case of the man who was charged with HIPPA violations for video taping an ambulance crew doing their job the St. Paul Pioneer Press is reporting that the trial will go forward. The charges against Andrew Joseph Henderson currently are disorderly conduct and interfering with an ambulance crew. According to Henderson he was 30 feet away from the ambulance crew and thus could not have been interfering with their work while the police claim it was 3 to 5 feed. Henderson also challenged the disorderly conduct charge which in law is defined as "offensive, obscene, abusive, boisterous, or noisy conduct that the actor knows or has reason to know would tend to alarm, anger or disturb others or provoke an assault or breach of the peace." One of the issues in the previous story was the deletion of his video recording which the police took as evidence, as stated by one police officer, which had it not been deleted would have been able to clear this issue up.

The /. article that covered the previous story is this one.

Submission + - LinkedIn 'Blacklist' Censors Thousands of Legitimate Users (boxfreeit.com.au) 1

Submitted by sholto
sholto writes: Had trouble posting to LinkedIn Groups lately? You may have been SWAMed. Back in December LinkedIn massively upgraded the power of the moderator's Block and Delete button so that if you're blocked from one group you are placed in Site Wide Auto-Moderation – your posts must be approved in every group you belong to.

The kicker: LinkedIn decided not to tell moderators about that little change, and there's no appeals process even for mistakes. SWAMed LinkedIn users aren't happy.

Submission + - More classified database revelations: PROTON, CRISSCROSS and CLEARWATER (cryptome.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Cryptome's John Young posted an anonymous communication detailing the existence of classified databases used for network analysis.

In the context of the recent DEA/NSA scandal: "When I read the description of Drug Enforcement Administrations (DEA) DEA Internet Connectivity Environment (DICE) system: the billions of records, partnership with CIA, NSA and DOD, the need to cover sources at the expense of a fair trail [sic]--- it struck me that what was described sounded more like PROTON and/or CLEARWATER."

"DICE is being used to cover PROTON and/or CLEARWATER."

These are massive databases. "...PROTON presently receives SCS collection amounting to about 1 one terabyte monthly, and that's just selectors, not content. PROTON also receives data from Computer Network Exploitation (CNE), by the now famous Tailored Access Office (TAO). Included as well is an enormous repository of Title III data from CALEA enabled domestic collection, FISA and an enormous amount of purchased data from various communications providers like Intellius."

The source continues: "I know for certain PROTON contains communications selectors on American Citizens (AMCITS) since I ran a query on a number using only a Maryland area code and a partial prefix."

Why spill the beans? "I'm providing information on both since the government is no longer under constitutional restraint and is illegitimate. Parallel Construction. You fuckers. A cornerstone of American law and western culture sacrificed for the security of the Elites."

A SIGINT Analyst job description is included which mentions experience with the databases as "Preferred" experience.

Submission + - Proxy Use Made Criminal Under CFAA (arstechnica.com) 1

Submitted by WillgasM
WillgasM writes: "Changing your IP address or using proxy servers to access public websites you've been forbidden to visit is a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act." according to a judge's broad ruling during a case on Friday involving Craigslist and 3taps. Opponents argue that this creates a slippery slope that many unsuspecting web users may find themselves upon. With your typical connection being assigned an address dynamically, is an IP ban really a "technological barrier" to be circumvented? How long until we see the first prosecution for unauthorized viewing of a noindex page?

Submission + - Magma can survive in upper crust for hundreds of millennia (washington.edu)

Submitted by vinces99
vinces99 writes: Reservoirs of silica-rich magma – the kind that causes the most explosive volcanic eruptions – can persist in Earth’s upper crust for hundreds of thousands of years without triggering an eruption, according to new University of Washington modeling research. That means an area known to have experienced a massive volcanic eruption in the past, such as Yellowstone National Park, could have a large pool of magma festering beneath it and still not be close to going off as it did 600,000 years ago. Recent research models have suggested that reservoirs of silica-rich magma, or molten rock, form on and survive for geologically short time scales – in the tens of thousands of years – in the Earth’s cold upper crust before they solidify. They also suggested that the magma had to be injected into the Earth’s crust at a high rate to reach a large enough volume and pressure to cause an eruption. But new research by UW doctoral student Sarah Gelman and colleagues took the models further and found that the magma could accumulate more slowly and remain molten for a much longer period than the models previously suggested.

Comment Re:How else... (Score 5, Insightful) 260

it seems the govt. figures we are all fucking idiots that can't be trusted with our own judgment to use anything more dangerous than a butter knife, or maybe those rounded edge scissors we all got in first grade

I think thats pretty accurate for how a very large number of people in the country should be treated. I definitely don't want a lot of people I know with a commercial laser, as I do like my eyesight. I have a 500 lumen flashlight (its really really bright in a tightly focused beam) and the number of people I told "don't point it at your face because its incredibly bright", that did exactly that is astounding. When I asked why? their response was its only a flashlight... I've seen several people do that with lasers too. Not to mention that is the governments targeted mentality with their current form of "education".

Submission + - Sugar is toxic (plosone.org) 1

Submitted by
genericmk
genericmk writes: "Using econometric models of repeated cross-sectional data on diabetes and nutritional components of food from 175 countries, this study found that every 150 kcal/person/day increase in sugar availability (about one can of soda/day) was associated with increased diabetes prevalence by 1.1% after testing for potential selection biases and controlling for other food types (including fibers, meats, fruits, oils, cereals), total calories, overweight and obesity, period-effects, and several socioeconomic variables such as aging, urbanization and income. As Mark Brittman points out in his NY Times blog This is as good (or bad) as it gets, the closest thing to causation and a smoking gun that we will see. The study demonstrates this with the same level of confidence that linked cigarettes and lung cancer in the 1960s."

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