bobwrit - Slashdot User

Canada's online surveillance bill: Section 34 "opens door to Big Brother"-> 0

Submitted by Saint Aardvark on Friday February 17, @03:58PM

Saint Aardvark writes "Canada's proposed online surveillance bill looked bad enough when it was introduced, but it gets worse: Section 34 allows access to any telco place or equipment, and to any information contained there — with no restrictions, no warrants, and no review. From the article: "Note that such all-encompassing searches require no warrant, and don't even have to be in the context of a criminal investigation. Ostensibly, the purpose is to ensure that the ISP is complying with the requirements of the act — but nothing in the section restricts the inspector to examining or seizing only information bearing upon that issue. It's still "any" information whatsoever." You can read Section 34 here."
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Australian police spying on web, phone usage with no warrants-> 0

Submitted by i-reek on Saturday February 18, @12:40AM

i-reek writes "Australian police, along with government agencies, are accessing phone and internet account information, outward and inward call details, phone and internet access location data, and details of IP addresses visited of Australian citizens, all without judicial warrants . In the last two years, some states have shown an increase of more than 50 per cent in these surveillance authorisations, which can be granted by senior police officers and officials instead of a magistrate or judge."
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Arizona Ponders FCC Decency Standards for the Classroom-> 1

Submitted by

einhverfr

on Friday February 17, @07:24PM

einhverfr writes "Eugene Volokh has posted an interesting discussion of a bill that has been introduced in Arizona, which would tie public school educator conduct to the FCC standards or decency for radio and television. The bill is essentially a three strikes system, firing teachers if they violate FCC standards three times.

While the goal of the bill may seem reasonable, the details strike me as silly. What do you think?"
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Fair Labor Association finds Foxconn Factory "First Class"-> 0

Submitted by Richard.Tao on Thursday February 16, @09:19PM

Richard.Tao writes "The Fair Labor Association found that Apple's plant where iPhones and iPads are far better than those at garment factories or other facilities elsewhere in the country.
Another quote: The lead investigator stated "The facilities are first-class; the physical conditions are way, way above average of the norm."
Which leaves the question, what is the acceptable norm?"
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$6 Trillion in Fake US Treasury Bonds Siezed in Switzerland-> 0

Submitted by ackthpt on Friday February 17, @11:32AM

ackthpt writes "If you're going to steal, steal big, right? Italian anti-mafia prosecutors announce seizure of $6 trillion of allegedly fake U.S. Treasury bonds, an amount that's almost half of the U.S.'s public debt. The probe focusing upon money laundering has also include financial dealings alleged to direct money to Nigerian sources to buy plutonium. Sound like a movie plot, yet? $6 Trillion, that's a lot of lettuce."
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Microsoft radically changes Windows logo-> 2

Submitted by bobwrit on Friday February 17, @08:02PM

bobwrit writes "For the first time since Windows 3.1, released in 1990, Microsoft announced today that the Windows 8 logo will no longer be a waving flag. Instead, the logo will be -wait for it- a window. It will also be a single color, instead of the classic 4 color pattern that has also been used since 1990. The logo will be a light to mid dark, in perspective, so it appears the windows are closer to you on the right side. Overall, the logo takes hints from more modern graphic design techniques."
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"User Agent" under attack?-> 1

Submitted by

jduhls

on Friday February 17, @07:46PM

jduhls writes "Correct me if I'm wrong, but this WSJ article, which was also just featured on Al Jazeera English, seems to be attacking the use of "user agent" to present one's website or web application optimally depending on the user's browser and its capabilities. Restricting this would cause a bit of a mess on the intertubes, I would think. Geocities would rise like a horrible zombie horde, too."
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Life after software development ? 0

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 17, @09:27AM

An anonymous reader writes "I've been writing database apps for various industries as the senior developer or tech lead on a given project for most of the past 20 years. The last few years have become particularly taxing as I struggle to reiterate basic concepts to the same technically illiterate managers and stakeholders who keep turning up in charge. While most are knowledgeable about the industries our software is targeting, they just don't get the mechanics of what we do and never will and after so many years, I'm tired of repeating myself. On top of this, I've spent the last decade watching with an ever increasing sense of despair as blogs like Slashdot become filled with stories about billion dollar IP legal fights, heavy-handed bullying from the world's largest IT corporations, media companies running rampant and unopposed, and government after government looking to regulate and monitor anything with an electronic pulse, and track anyone within range. I need a break. I need to walk away from it, and want to look at doing something that doesn't focus heavily on the IT industry day in, day out. The problem is I'm locked to a regional city and I've just spent the majority of my adult life coding and have no other major skills to fall back on. While I'm not keen on remaining in front of a screen, I wouldn't be averse to becoming a tech user and consumer, rather than a creator. Are there similar Slashdotters out there who have made the leap of faith away from tech jobs and into something different? If so, where did you end up? Is there a life after IT for people who are geeks at heart ? Apart from staying in my current job, is there any advice for someone who can't really risk the mortgage and kids education on a whim?"

Rumor: Xbox 720 Will Be a Touch-Controlled 3D Console-> 0

Submitted by

itwbennett

on Friday February 17, @05:03PM

itwbennett writes "Escapist Magazine says that the next Xbox console will have a touch screen controller 'with a shape closer to Sony's sleek Vita handheld / Apple's iPad than Wii U's bulky unit' and that the touch screen would be surrounded by traditional Xbox buttons. Meanwhile, Boy Genius Report has divined from a job description looking for expertise in 'state of the art 3D imaging systems' that Xbox 720 is 3D. ITworld blogger Peter Smith reminds us that 'the current Xbox 360 does support 3D though I'm not aware of anyone who uses it (someone must). My guess is that Microsoft's emphasis on 3D will depend on whether the technology ever really catches on with home audiences.'"
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Deadly H5N1 flu studies to stay secret... for now-> 0

Submitted by Edsj on Friday February 17, @03:22PM

Edsj writes "WHO spokesman said an agreement had been reached, after a debate, to keep details of the controversial work about the highly pathogenic H5N1 secret until deeper risk analyses have been carried out.

The scientists, led by Ron Fouchier, who made the study, still want to release the full paper at some future date for public viewing, but for the time being, the NSABB got what it want."
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