Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror

+ - State Senator opposed to violent video games arrested for arms trafficking->

Submitted by tiqui
tiqui (1024021) writes "California State Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) has been a long-time vocal advocate for both gun control and regulation of violent video games, often speaking of his deep concerns for the victims of violence. He's just been arrested for trafficking in large quantities of fully-automatic guns (the type that have been illegal in the U.S. since the 1920's, NOT the semi-autos usually discussed) and shoulder-fired rockets. When taped discussing the arms transactions he commented “People want to get whatever they want to get. Do I care? No, I don’t care. People need certain things”. This character is not some unknown oddball, he previously ran for mayor of San Francisco and was currently running for Secretary of State."
Link to Original Source

+ - Russia Dumps US Treasury Holdings To Little Effect->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "In response to recent US sanctions, Russia has dumped its holding of US treasury bonds worth around $300 billion. Many slashdot commenters have speculated on the effects of a major world power dumping US bonds on the market. However, as reuters reports, this act had little effect on US bonds."
Link to Original Source

+ - Oppo's New Phone Is the Most Technology-Packed Smartphone Ever->

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett (1594911) writes "Oppo Electronics has taken off the wraps on its first LTE phone, and it packs more technology than most if not all laptops. The Find 7 is a 5.5" phone and is the first to support 2560 x 1440 resolution (by comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S5 has 441 PPI). 'Another striking and unique feature of the phone is its 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor,' writes blogger Andy Patrizio. 'This is Qualcomm's first chip to feature its Gobi True 4G LTE World Mode, supporting LTE FDD, LTE TDD, WCDMA, CDMA1x, EV-DO, TD-SCDMA and GSM4. Translation: this phone will work on LTE all over the world.'"
Link to Original Source

+ - WPA2 wireless security cracked

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Achilleas Tsitroulis of Brunel University, UK, Dimitris Lampoudis of the University of Macedonia, Greece and Emmanuel Tsekleves of Lancaster University, UK, have investigated the vulnerabilities in WPA2 and present its weakness. They say that this wireless security system might now be breached with relative ease by a malicious attack on a network. They suggest that it is now a matter of urgency that security experts and programmers work together to remove the vulnerabilities in WPA2 in order to bolster its security or to develop alternative protocols to keep our wireless networks safe from hackers and malware.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-03-w..."

Comment: Re: Driving is a privelege, not a right. (Score 1) 152

by bonehead (#46351655) Attached to: ICE License-Plate Tracking Plan Withdrawn Amid Outcry About Privacy

As if anyone gives a fuck where you drive.

That's far too simplistic a way to look at it.

The problem isn't anyone wanting to know where people drive. The problem is what happens when you combine this database with a few others, and the analytics that are possible.

Do some research. The level of detail of a persons life that they can identify from these "harmlessly tiny bits of information" is staggering.

Comment: Re:it's not that slow (Score 1) 513

by bonehead (#46322295) Attached to: Why Is US Broadband So Slow?

And No, your VOIP should not have QOS priority over my downloading a debian DVD.

Of course it should. VOIP is time sensitive, your iso download is not. There is a debate to be had over whether that QOS should come with an extra charge, but it should absolutely be an option. And VOIP is pretty low bandwidth, giving it priority over your download is probably going to make the difference between getting your iso in 10 minutes 53 seconds VS. 10 minutes 57 seconds.... Not really enough for anyone to throw a fit over....

The real problem is last-mile providers being monopoly providers, therefore so stingy in making prudent upgrades to the infrastructure that everything is constantly pushed so close to the limits that stuff like this start to make a noticeable difference. On an intelligently designed and provisioned network, time-sensitive traffic could be given all the QOS priority it needs without you every noticing a difference.

Comment: Re:Stranger danger hysteria (Score 1) 513

by bonehead (#46322099) Attached to: Why Is US Broadband So Slow?

All of your points are invalid.

The practicality of that depends on the weather, whether the streets between where you live and the nearest public park have sidewalks, and crime levels in your neighborhood. A lot of parents are unwilling to let their kids play outside due to stranger danger hysteria.

If you have kids and live in a neighborhood where crime level is a factor in whether you can let them go outside during daylight hours, perhaps you need to re-examine your priorities. If you by into the "stranger danger" hysteria, perhaps you need to wake up. Yes, shit happens, but if you live in a generally safe location, the risk is low. If you don't live in a generally safe location, then you're just stupid.

The practicality of that depends on whether you happen to live within walking distance of a public library branch.

No. Get a tablet. Install the various e-book apps. Kindle, Nook, etc... Pretty much every book ever published is available. 5 minutes logged in to the free WiFi at a McDonalds would let you download enough books to satisfy your reading needs for a month. Also, why walking distance? Most people have to drive to get around, and those who don't tend to live in places with very good public transportation.

In order to determine in which direction to take my next post, I'd like to know this: Do you consider people who play video games likewise "couch potatoes"? A game download can be several GB.

Of course they are. Duh...

When all else fails, read the instructions.

Close