Forgot your password?

Close
typodupeerror

Submission Summary: 0 pending, 72 declined, 14 accepted (86 total, 16.28% accepted)

Apple ban security expert for exposing iOS flaw-> 1

Submitted by Albanach
Albanach writes "Reuters is reporting that Apple has expelled Charlie Miller, a researcher with Accuvant Labs and highly regarded cybersecurity expert from its iOS developers' programs. The move comes after he publicly demonstrated a flaw in its iOS operating system. Miller disclosed that he had figured out a way to build apps that can secretly download other programs that are capable of stealing data, sending text messages or destroying information. After disclosing the flaw via YouTube, Apple retaliated by banning Miller from the developer program for at least one year."
Link to Original Source

Open source for severe weather warnings?

Submitted by Albanach
Albanach writes "Tornadoes have caused devastating loss of life in the United States this year. While I'm fortunate to be unaffected, I was wondering whether open source technology can help distribute severe weather warnings. While large companies can use commercial products to alert staff, tools like asterisk should allow small and medium businesses to send phone and text alerts to staff. The challenge is getting warnings in timely fashion. The National Weather Service provides XML data, however the update frequency of every few minutes could be too slow for an event like a tornado. The obvious source seems to be receiving alerts in real time from the NWS weather radio. Unfortunately I have been unable to find an open source solution that can process an audio stream, reading the SANE header and allowing for an automated response. Have any /. readers tackled this problem at work or at home?"
Apple

What happens when an App Store app has a bug.->

Submitted by Albanach
Albanach writes "Many software developers have grown accustomed to the release early and often model of software development. However, deploying rapid updates is not possible when your application first needs approval by Apple. At the weekend Friendly, one of the iPad's most popular Facebook clients, and the #9 top grossing app of 2010 was upgraded. Either as a result of this, or as a result of changes made by Facebook, users were left with a broken App. The developers claim they submitted a fixed version for approval on Saturday. They told their 3 million Facebook followers on Sunday that Apple had promised to prioritize the approval. The App has still not been approved, leaving customers with a useless App. Does Apple's slow approval process demand a return to an older model of development with longer testing phases?"
Link to Original Source
Encryption

Successful compromise of quantum encryption->

Submitted by Albanach
Albanach writes "Nature magazine is reporting that, by utilizing lasers, Norwgian 'hackers' have successfully cracked their encryption keys in a quantum encryption solution, yet left no trace of the hack. Vadim Makarov who with colleagues from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim carried out the exploit is quoted saying 'Our hack gave 100% knowledge of the key, with zero disturbance to the system.' He describes the technique as exploiting 'a purely technological loophole that turns a quantum cryptographic system into a classical system, without anyone noticing.'"
Link to Original Source

State of Virginia experiencing computer problems->

Submitted by Albanach
Albanach writes "The State of Virginia has entered the third day of ongoing computer problems, blamed on 230 crashed servers. State offices have, amongst other things, been unable to issue new driving licenses and been unable to process new jobless claims. The State has outsourced much of its IT provision to Northrop Grumman in a $2bn deal that was criticized by auditors for poor service. That deal was rewritten with the State pledging increased funds in return for improved service."
Link to Original Source

Wikileaks to publish remaining Afghan documents-> 1

Submitted by Albanach
Albanach writes "WikiLeaks spokesman Julian Assange has been quoted by the Associated Press as stating "the organization is preparing to release the remaining secret Afghan war documents". According to Assange, they are halfway through processing the remaining 15,000 files as they 'comb through' the files to ensure lives are not placed at risk."
Link to Original Source
Apple

Regulators consider Apple antitrust probe->

Submitted by Albanach
Albanach writes "Apple's recent decision requiring developers use Apple tools when coding for the iPhone and iPad has drawn the attention of Government regulators, The Reuters news agency reports that regulators in the United States are now considering an antitrust investigation into the restriction. Reuters quote David Balto, a former FTC policy director as saying "What they're (Apple) doing is clearly anticompetitive ... They want one superhighway and they're the tollkeeper on that superhighway.""
Link to Original Source
Cellphones

US cell phone plans amongst world's most expensive->

Submitted by Albanach
Albanach writes "An OECD report published today has shown moderate cell phone users in the United States are paying some of the highest rates in the world. Average US plans cost $52.99 per month compared to an average of $10.95 in Finland. The full report is available only to subscribers, however Excel sheets of the raw data are available to download."
Link to Original Source
Microsoft

Microsoft confirm job cuts->

Submitted by Albanach
Albanach writes "In a widely anticipated move Microsoft have today confirmed an immediate cull of 1,400 staff, with up to 5,000 positions to go over the next eighteen months. Microsoft are blaming the rise of netbooks and the slump in the global economy for their current woes. The jobs being cut appear to be across the company with cuts in R&D, marketing, sales, finance, legal, HR, and IT."
Link to Original Source

Dealing with the problem of pure staff accumulation, all our researches ... point to an average increase of 5.75% per year. -- C.N. Parkinson