jj13 - Slashdot User

Submission + - Sidestepping Vista's UAC

Submitted by

Ron

on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @10:02AM

Ron writes: "A security researcher has recently discovered a hole that could help Trojans bypass UAC on Windows Vista. According to his paper, and a Symantec security researcher, this effectively nullifies UAC's protection. The way it works is that the Trojan replaces shortcuts on a user's start menu or desktop with shortcuts to itself. Then, when a user thinks he's elevating his favorite program, such as World of Warcraft, he's actually elevating the malicious program. Cancel or allow?"

Submission + - Start-ups hardest hit by Microsoft patent claims

Submitted by MsManhattan on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @09:36AM

MsManhattan writes: Microsoft's patent claims will hit start-ups and other small businesses based on the open-source model the hardest, legal experts and open-source advocates say. Even if the company pursues licensing arrangements instead of legal action, as it has indicated it would prefer, "There's no way a small company ... can compete against the patent portfolio of any big company. The very people that Microsoft's trying to collect from are the people least likely to be able to pay them any significant amount of money," says Matt Asay, vice president of business development for open-source developer Alfresco Software Inc. In general, open-source supporters view Microsoft's actions this week as "an attempt to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt and make people hesitant to use open source as an alternative to commercial products" and to mask the lackluster reception for Vista, Office 2007 and other under-performing products. And some have suggested that Microsoft will suffer a backlash effect. Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, notes "The same threat ... Microsoft is holding over open-source users' heads could be turned on the software giant, which itself has used open-source or freely available technology to develop its own commercial products. In fact, there is just as much potential patent infringement in Windows than there is in open source."

Submission + - Why Microsoft will lose patent war

Submitted by

javacowboy

on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @08:45AM

javacowboy writes: "According to Roughly Drafted, Microsoft's patent war on open source will end up being counter-productive. Among the factors the author cites are the three different philosophical perspectives on operating systems and software (Windows, Linux, OS X) and the trend toward open standards in the software industry. It's a very meaty article, with lots of historical perspective and technical analysis, but is well worth reading."

Submission + - Ontario Government Bans Gov't Access To Facebook

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 07, 2007 @09:47AM

An anonymous reader writes: The Ontario Government has banned access to Facebook for thousands of government employees, arguing that it serves no useful purpose in the workplace. The move comes soon after Ontario schools began suspending students for posting derogatory comments on the social networking site.

Submission + - Improve Our Knowledge Through The Internet

Submitted by

madalinna

on Monday May 07, 2007 @09:13AM

madalinna writes: "As we all know, the Internet represents nowadays one of the most important means of communication. Its use is due to our constant need of getting new information in different fields, such as: culture and civilization, science, education. The Internet also facilitates communication between individuals, realizing virtual communities among people united by the same passions and ideas; and by doing this they overcome political, social and linguistic boundaries.

We can also use the Internet to enrich our knowledge, our culture, but, at the same time, we shouldn't forget the traditional methods of improving our knowledge. I t is said that the Internet gives us different points of view or different perspectives on how to approach a certain situation, but it's our job to establish a relation between the traditional methods of learning and the modern methods. I know that the advantages of using the Internet can be sometimes overwhelming, in a good way. The choice is ours. We can use it to enjoy ourselves or we can use it to solve our tasks, related to school. No matter what we choose, we know that we can learn a lot by connecting ourselves to the system, that is the Internet.

The Way To Improve Our Knowledge Through The Internet "

Submission + - Web site helps callers slip past the recording

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Monday May 07, 2007 @09:05AM

Anonymous Coward writes: "Ever called a big company to ask a little question only to have your call answered by a recording that prompts you to more recordings — none of which leads to an answer or allows you to speak to a real person?

This situation frustrated Boston entrepreneur and consumer advocate Paul English. English, who already headed a successful online travel business called Kayak.com and had his own blog, first noted his findings on his blog for each company's phone system that he managed to beat. The list grew longer as visitors to his site offered their horror stories and revealed their secrets to reaching a live person. The response was so great, it grew to where he created GetHuman.com. It features an alphabetized list of company names, a letter grade reflecting their level of customer service, their phone number and directions on how to get to a human being as soon as possible."

Submission + - Canadian Coin Transmitters Explained

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 07, 2007 @08:29AM

An anonymous reader writes: Some time ago, as reported on Slashdot, some US military security officials released a warning that Canadian coins contain radio transmitters, and were being secretly placed in the pockets of military contractors. The cause of the reports has now been determined — red paint. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM .20070507.wspycoins0507/BNStory/National/home The red paint was suspicious, however. It was clearly an attempt to glamourize the poppy, and in turn the drug trade.

Submission + - Professor Takes His Scholarship to YouTube

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 07, 2007 @08:19AM

An anonymous reader writes: There's a new video report about a Kansas State professor who got 2 million + hits with his video on YouTube that's basically a video version of his scholarly paper about Web 2.0. Will scholars start to make their points via online video instead of just print papers? (article)

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