Soloact - Slashdot User

Aussie Gov't Decides ISPs Aren't Responsible For Infected Computers 129

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday November 30 2010, @02:19AM
from the how-magnanimous-of-you dept.

c0lo writes "In a sudden outburst of common sense, the Australian senate decided that it is not the government's responsibility to force ISPs to disconnect infected computers from the Internet. Peter Coroneos, chief of the Internet Industry Association, used a car analogy that actually makes sense: 'It would be like forcing car manufacturers to take responsibility for bad drivers.'"

Microsoft Word Patent Case Going To Supreme Court 207

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday November 30 2010, @12:20AM
from the eye-for-an-eye dept.

jfruhlinger writes "Microsoft may have had to change Word after being found guilty of violating a Canadian company's patents, but it's still resisting paying for damages — and is taking the fight to the US Supreme Court. If you can't stand either MS or patents, who do you root for here?"

US Army Unveils 'Revolutionary' $35,000 Rifle 782

Posted by Soulskill on Monday November 29 2010, @10:23PM
from the don't-even-have-this-in-video-games dept.

rbrander writes "Don't call it a 'rifle,' call it the 'XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System' and get your $35,000 worth. Much more than a projector of high-speed lead, this device hurls small grenades that automatically detonate in mid-flight with 1-meter accuracy over nearly 800m. The vital field feature is the ability to explode 1m behind the wall you just lazed — the one with the enemy hiding behind it."

Peter Sunde Wants To Create Alternative To ICANN 276

Posted by Soulskill on Monday November 29 2010, @08:15PM
from the icann-see-why dept.

An anonymous reader writes "According to Peter Sunde's Twitter feed, he has been suspicious of ICANN for a long time. The non-profit corporation is tasked with managing both the IPv4 and IPv6 address spaces as well as handling the management of top-level domain name space including the operation of root nameservers. Sunde has lost a domain in the past because of the way ICANN acted. It was taken without any consultation on their part, instead the organization relied on information from recording industry group IFPI to change the domain ownership. But it seems for some reason his frustration has come to a head recently, and he has put a call out for help to create a competing root server."

Iran Admits Stuxnet Affected Their Nuclear Program 211

Posted by Soulskill on Monday November 29 2010, @07:28PM
from the they-mailed-their-reactors-to-a-nigerian-prince dept.

plover writes "According to this article in the Guardian, 'Ahmadinejad admitted the [Stuxnet] worm had affected Iran's uranium enrichment. "They succeeded in creating problems for a limited number of our centrifuges with the software they had installed in electronic parts," the president said. "They did a bad thing. Fortunately our experts discovered that, and today they are not able [to do that] anymore."'"

The 5-Year Console Cycle Is Dead 422

Posted by Soulskill on Monday November 29 2010, @06:47PM
from the trading-increments-for-subscriptions dept.

Pickens writes "The Xbox 360 recently turned five years old, and with no known successor on the horizon for the 360, PlayStation 3 or Wii, Cnet reports on the death of the 5-year console cycle — one of the video game industry's most longstanding truisms. For example, the Nintendo Entertainment System came out in 1985, followed by the Super NES in 1991, the Nintendo 64 in 1996, the GameCube in 2001, and the Wii in 2006. But now, why should console makers upgrade their offerings? Consumers are still buying their machines by the hundreds of thousands each month, and ramped-up online initiatives are breathing new life into the systems. A lot of it has to do with the fact that with the current generation of consoles, each company found a way to maximize either the technology behind the devices, or the utility to a wide range of new gamers."

Scammers Can Hide Fake URLs On the iPhone 68

Posted by Soulskill on Monday November 29 2010, @06:04PM
from the don't-believe-everything-you-see dept.

CWmike writes "Exploiting an Apple interface design, identity thieves can hide URLs on the iPhone's limited screen real estate, tricking users into thinking they're at a legitimate site, a security researcher said on Monday. Nitesh Dhanjani demonstrated how criminals can easily hide the true URL of a site from users by building a malicious Web application. 'Note that on the iPhone, this only happens for sites that follow directives in HTML to advertise themselves as mobile sites,' said Dhanjani on his personal blog and in an entry on the SANS Institute's blog. The ability to hide the address bar in iOS is by design, noted Dhanjani, who said he had reported the problem to Apple. 'I did contact Apple about this issue and they let me know they are aware of the implications but do not know when and how they will address the issue,' he said."

The Fuel Cost of Obesity 285

Posted by samzenpus on Friday August 13 2010, @12:36PM
from the 20-miles-per-cheeseburger dept.

thecarchik writes "America loves to complain about gas mileage and the cost of gasoline. As it turns out, part of the problem is us. How much does it really matter? A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a 1.1 percent increase in self-reported obesity, which translates into extra weight that your vehicle has to haul around. The study estimates that 1 billion extra gallons of fuel were needed to compensate for passenger weight gained between 1960 and 2002."

Comment: Re:When is ASCAP election time? (Score 1) 183

by Soloact on Thursday July 29 2010, @06:12PM (#33077608) Attached to: ASCAP Refuses To Debate Lessig

It isn't all of ASCAP, for it is a good organization for the Songwriters, Composers, and Publishers of songs. That part of it is running just fine. Not liking CC (and the like) is okay for a person, or even a majority of an organization.
What isn't okay, is trying to abolish such ways that writers can use to promote their works. That is one step in the wrong direction.
What Paul Williams is doing has nothing to do with file-sharing, as some tend to believe, but rather trying to get the Feds to abolish alternate licenses.

Comment: When is ASCAP election time? (Score 1) 183

by Soloact on Thursday July 29 2010, @05:42AM (#33066726) Attached to: ASCAP Refuses To Debate Lessig

When do we ASCAP members get to vote this Paul Williams (Little Enos in Smokey & The Bandit + a Love Boat appearance) out of office? Says he was elected in April of '09, and it's past April '10, so I wonder when the next election will take place. Can't wait!