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Movies

Ask Neil Gaiman and Amber Benson About Their Kickstarter Vampire Movie 90

Posted by samzenpus
from the ask-what-you-will dept.
Writer and novelist Neil Gaiman and Amber Benson of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame have teamed up to star in a new vampire movie called, Blood Kiss. Kickstarted by ST:TNG and Emmy-winning writer Michael Reaves, Blood Kiss is a film noir vampire movie set in Golden Age Hollywood. Of his acting debut Gaiman says, "I'm willing to pretend that the prospect of acting doesn't terrify me in order to help Michael Reaves make his film." The trio have agreed to take a break from the blood and answer any questions you have about the new project or their past work. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one per post.

+ - PhD student builds 32 node Raspberry Pi cluster ->

Submitted by JamieKitson
JamieKitson writes "The Register has a report of PhD student Joshua Kiepert's side project building a beowolf cluster of 32 Raspberry Pis. "Side project" because he built it purely to test his main thesis and wanted to avoid having to wait to use his university's 32 node xeon cluster. Cue "imagine a beowolf cluster of these" jokes."
Link to Original Source
Security

Reporters Threatened, Labeled Hackers For Finding Security Hole 119

Posted by samzenpus
from the keep-your-mouth-shut dept.
colinneagle writes "Scripps News reporters discovered 170,000 records online of customers of Lifeline, a government program offering affordable phone service for low-income citizens, that contained everything needed for identity theft . Last year, the FCC 'tightened' the rules for the program by requiring Lifeline phone carriers to document applicants' eligibility, which led to collecting more sensitive information from citizens. A Scripps News investigative team claims it 'Googled' the phone companies TerraCom Inc. and YourTel America Inc. to discover all of the files. A Scripps reporter asked for an on-camera interview with the COO of TerraCom and YourTel after explaining the files were freely available online. That did not happen, but shortly thereafter the customer records disappeared from the internet. Then, the blame-the-messenger hacker accusations and mudslinging began. Although the Scripps reporters videotaped the process showing how they found the documents, attorney Jonathon Lee for both telecoms threatened the 'Scripps Hackers' with violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)."
The Courts

Judges Debate Patents and If New Software Makes a Computer a "New Machine" 242

Posted by samzenpus
from the computer-transubstantiation dept.
First time accepted submitter ectoman writes "A third party steps into a financial transaction to make sure all parties exchange funds at the same time and as expected. Can you patent this process? What if the third party is a computer? Rob Tiller, vice president and general counsel for Red Hat, details a recent court ruling on this very matter—one that has critical implications for the future of software patents, and one that divided the judges involved. Tiller writes that: 'The judges mostly agreed that the idea of managing settlement risk with a third party was abstract such that by itself it could not be patented. They differed, though, on whether using a general purpose computer for managing settlement risk meant that the patents avoided invalidity based on abstraction.' Interestingly, some judges suggested that a computer becomes a 'new machine' every time it loads different software."
Books

Book Review: Locked Down: Information Security For Lawyers 41

Posted by samzenpus
from the read-all-about-it dept.
benrothke writes "Had Locked Down: Information Security for Lawyers not been published by the American Bar Association (ABA) and 2 of its 3 authors not been attorneys; one would have thought the book is a reproach against attorneys for their obliviousness towards information security and privacy. In numerous places, the book notes that lawyers are often clueless when it comes to digital security. With that, the book is a long-overdue and valuable information security reference for anyone, not just lawyers." Read below for the rest of Ben's review.
Book Reviews

+ - Book Review - Makers: The New Industrial Revolution, by Chris Anderson

Submitted by chantzstrong
chantzstrong writes " Makers: The New Industrial Revolution

Chris Anderson, the author of “The Long Tail”, former editor-in-chief Wired Magazine, and current CEO/Founder of 3D Robotics, titled his new book “Makers: The New Industrial Revolution”. I ignored the title – I thought would be a primer for anyone interested in 3D Printing. Not really.

If you are interested in the technical specifications of a certain printer, this is not your book. Differences between stereolithography and fused deposition modelling? Not here. Roughly 5 pages deal with the technology of 3D printing itself. What this book is — a great read for anyone interested in how 3D printing could affect one of the core of the modern age – manufacturing.

Early on, the author quotes Marx “power belongs to those who control the means of production”. This is fitting as the book is more of manifesto of a new manufacturing ethos than anything else. It is a blueprint on the future of a crowd-funded, open-sourced, creative commons, and artisanal approach to the business of making stuff.

The writing is clear and engaging. The book covers a whole lot more ground than your typical “business and innovation” book. My general experience with these books is that they state an idea, re-state for the rest of the book, supported with anecdotes for why this idea is correct, useful and/or ground-breaking. Unlike those books – Anderson’s narrative arcs from the cottage industry that supported massive factories and warehouses of Manchester during the Industrial Revolution to desktop publishing enabled by the early Macs and PCs to the current global supply chains which bring us cheap, accessible goods. It completes the arc by bringing us to his vision of future of manufacturing where web-based technologies act as an enabler for a completely new way of manufacturing.

He starts by walking us through the trials of his grandfather — a tinkerer / inventor close who actually overcame the major hurdles facing an inventor on his way to becoming an entrepreneur. In Mr. Anderson’s view, the hurdles of convincing a manufacturer to make, then market and actively sell an item keep many great products from seeing the light of day. His core thesis is that now many of these barriers are lowered, or non-existent, which will lead to a sea-change in manufacturing – an industry already multiples bigger, more pervasive and impactful than the digital economy.

This change will be brought on by the “Maker Movement “- a movement that uses digital tools to create designs, has a culture to share these designs openly and freely, and uses a common file standard to allow anyone to make these designs. An open source community (à la Linux) geared towards making things in the real world – not in Minecraft. His claim is that this will change society as much as the Industrial Revolution. He argues that that Revolution was as much due to an increase in the number of inventions and the transformation of the process of invention itself as it was to cotton, steam and coal. By combining that inventor’s ethos with the advances and changes brought on by a much more recent revolution (the web) he sees the great opportunity of the Maker Movement is to be artisanal and innovative, small yet global.

The book is more about creating an open source manufacturing industry, and explaining how a business can thrive outside of current intellectual property regimes, supply chains of specialized, low cost mass producers, and big-box retailers (and their large scale marketing campaigns). He talks about being more agile than large companies, getting products to market faster use open source R&D, and a community of rabidly (my words – not his) loyal customers.

Along the way, he pulls insights from his knowledge of the web-based communities and technologies; the book itself is a goldmine of identifying interesting players in the field. He walks through how to fund and finance in this brave new open-source world (noting crowdfunders like KickStarter), how the web enables a small entrepreneur to hook into large manufacturing firms who will make what you want, in the amounts you want, and finally walks through some of the tools you will need to start your own open-source manufacturing firm.

For me, the most intriguing part of the book was the epilogue – where he finishes with a few scenarios of what this could look like in the big picture – essentially how could the majority use this technology.

It’s this piece that I wanted answers throughout the book – Is 3D Printing for real? Why will I need a 3D Printer in my living room to print out plastic tchochkes? (def: tchochke – “trinket”Yiddish) Should I go out and buy up stock in 3D Printing so I don’t miss out on an Apple-like bonanza? Is it the next Betamax? Or will it overthrow regimes and remake the world, like Twitter or the steam engine?

To be fair, he doesn’t pretend to be looking at these issues or presenting the potential dark side of a world where plastic do-dads are even easier to obtain and dispose. He does not go into what could derail the bright future he paints. He is unabashedly, and most of the time convincingly, selling a vision of a new approach to an old industry.

And it may be that this old industry is already dying – it just doesn’t know it yet. I’m sure the bicycle industry is feeling the heat.

Seriously. They can print a bikecomplete with chain and wheels, ball bearings already in.

http://www.eads.com/eads/int/en/news/press.20110307_eads_airbike.html

Maybe the future is already here.

`````````````````` Product Details

Hardcover: 272 pages

Publisher: Crown Business (October 2, 2012)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 9780307720955

ISBN-13: 978-0307720955

ASIN: 0307720950"
Science

Narrowing Down When Humans Began Hurling Spears 201

Posted by samzenpus
from the give-it-a-throw dept.
sciencehabit writes "Archaeologists have long debated when early humans began hurling stone-tipped spears and darts at large prey. By throwing a spear, instead of thrusting it, humans could hunt buffalo and other dangerous game from a safe distance, with less risk of a goring or mauling. But direct evidence of this hunting technique in early sites has been lacking. A new study of impact marks on the bones of ancient prey shows that such sophisticated killing techniques go back at least 90,000 years ago in Africa and offers a new method of determining how prehistoric hunters made their kills."
Education

What Professors Can Learn From "Hard Core" MOOC Students 138

Posted by samzenpus
from the get-your-learn-on dept.
jyosim writes "Hundreds of people are spending 20 or 30 hours a week just taking free Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs. They're not looking for credit, just the challenge of learning. This Chronicle of Higher Ed story looks at whether these MOOC addicts think they're learning as much as they would in a traditional college course. From the article: 'Consider Anna Nachesa, a 42-year-old single mother in a village near Amsterdam who logs on to MOOCs for several hours each night after dinner with her teenage kids. She has always found TV boring, she says, and for her, MOOCs replace reading books. She is a physicist by training, with a degree from Moscow State University, and she works as a software developer. "This stuff is actually addictive," she says. In some ways the lure is like Everest: Some want to climb it to see if they can. "The Dutch have the proverb 'If you never shoot, you already missed,'" she says.'"
Security

Cyber Attack From Inside India Hits Pakistan Government 42

Posted by samzenpus
from the lets-get-ready-to-rumble dept.
judgecorp writes "Government institutions are among the targets of an attack on Pakistani bodies, which originates in India, according to reports. The campaign is using vulnerabilities in Microsoft software to install the HangOver malware, according to Norwegian security firm Norman Shark (PDF). From the article: 'In the attacks on Pakistani organizations, spear phishing emails were sent out purporting to contain information on "ongoing conflicts in the region, regional culture and religious matters," according to Norman. Norman could not provide direct attribution to the attacks, but its report did note the following: "The continued targeting of Pakistani interests and origins suggested that the attacker was of Indian origin." Snorre Fagerland, principal security researcher in the Malware Detection Team at Norman, told TechWeekEurope it appeared Pakistani government bodies had been attacked.'"
Cellphones

Jolla Announces First Meego Phone Available By End 2013 148

Posted by samzenpus
from the free-calls dept.
x_IamSpartacus_x writes "Jolla, the Finnish company that continued Nokia's work on the MeeGo mobile platform, announced details of its first smartphone on Monday. Availability for the Jolla device is expected by year end and can be pre-ordered now; the phone will be priced at no more than €399 (US $512.26). The Jolla hardware looks similar to that of Nokia's Lumia, with a clean, button-less front face that houses the 4.5-inch touchcscreen. The phone will use a dual-core processor and support 4G LTE in some regions. Internal storage tops out at 16 GB, but can be expanded via microSD card. The phone also includes an 8 megapixel rear camera with auto focus. The phone is also 'Android app compliant' which, in a move similar to that of BlackBerry, can help with available apps at launch."

+ - Jolla Announces 1st Meego/Android-App Device Available Year End 2013

Submitted by x_IamSpartacus_x
x_IamSpartacus_x writes "Jolla, the Finnish company that continued Nokia’s work on the MeeGo mobile platform, announced details of its first smartphone on Monday. Availability for the Jolla device is expected by year end and can be pre-ordered now; the phone will be priced at no more than €399 (US $512.26).
The Jolla hardware looks similar to that of Nokia’s Lumia, with a clean, button-less front face that houses the 4.5-inch touchcscreen.The phone will use a dual-core processor and support 4G LTE in some regions. Internal storage tops out at 16 GB, but can be expanded via microSD card. The phone also includes an 8 megapixel rear camera with auto focus.
The phone is also “Android app compliant” which, in a move similar to that of BlackBerry, can help with available apps at launch."
News

Interviews: McAfee Says House Fire Was No Accident 84

Posted by samzenpus
from the burning-down-the-house dept.
According to reports a bush fire burned down John McAfee's home in Belize on Thursday. The local fire department was unable to to contain the blaze and the the two main buildings were completely destroyed. Property Manager Noel Codd (who was not there at the time) estimated the value of the buildings at $250,000 each. Despite the reported cause of the fire, McAfee says that the destruction of his compound was no accident. We caught up with him to talk about why he thinks the fire was set and what he plans to do now. Read below to see what he had to say.
Yahoo!

Yahoo Pinkie-Swears It Won't Ruin Tumblr 156

Posted by samzenpus
from the you-will-be-assimilated dept.
Nerval's Lobster writes "Yahoo has agreed to acquire Tumblr for $1.1 billion. As you know, Yahoo is a major corporation with a need to monetize its assets in a way that makes its shareholders happy, leaving open the question of whether it'll alter Tumblr's DNA in order to make the latter more of a significant cash generator. But at least for the moment, Yahoo seems content to leave its new property alone. 'Per the agreement and our promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business,' read the company's press release. 'The product, service and brand will continue to be defined and developed separately with the same Tumblr irreverence, wit, and commitment to empower creators.' Tumblr CEO David Karp, who has been known to make some very anti-advertising comments in the past, will remain in place. Even so, anyone who likes Tumblr may have some cause for concern, because Yahoo has a history of making high-profile acquisitions that subsequently implode. Back in 1999, for example, it paid over $3 billion for GeoCities, another blogging network that it eventually shut down after years of failing the update the property. In 2005, it acquired popular photo-sharing Website Flickr, which it likewise allowed to languish and die. That same year it bought Delicious, a popular Webpage-bookmarking site, and did exactly nothing with it. So when Yahoo starts off its Tumblr press release with a promise not to screw things up, it's a self-deprecating nod toward all that history. New Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has been on a bit of a buying spree of late, snatching up startups such as Summly in an attempt to make her company 'cool' and relevant."
Medicine

Uptick In Whooping Cough Linked To Subpar Vaccines 271

Posted by samzenpus
from the always-buy-name-brand dept.
sciencehabit writes "Whooping cough, or pertussis, has exploded in the United States in recent years. A new study (abstract) confirms what scientists have suspected for some time: The return of the disease is caused by the introduction of new, safer vaccines 2 decades ago. Although they have far fewer side effects, the new shots don't offer long-lived protection the way older vaccines do."

This is for all ill-treated fellows Unborn and unbegot, For them to read when they're in trouble And I am not. -- A. E. Housman

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