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The Courts

Ownder of filesoup.com Arrested->

Submitted by
ConcernedCitizen-1138
ConcernedCitizen-1138 writes ""Arrested, now on bail... guilty until I prove I'm innocent" reads the forum topic. It reads like another Orwellian Nightmare (TM), with the "suspect" arrested under "Section 109 Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988", and held without a phonecall. Halfway down there's a bonus lifted from a "members only" site that monitors F.A.C.T..

Justice is blind ... and unjust."
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Databases

Lab tech looking modernize record keeping 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Hi, I'm a simple lab technician working in a plastics lab and I want to learn how to develop a database. Currently our record keeping system involves lots of paper and wasted time. I don't think it would be a very complicated as far as databases go. For example retains (samples) of manufactured goods are stored in boxes. Each box has a number. The items in the box have two properties, a specification code and lot code. Lots are unique, specs are not. I want the ability to search for a lot and get a record which will tell me its spec and what box it's in or search for a spec and see all available lots and their box locations.

I have limited programming skills but natural ability (I took a few courses in university and I did well despite being a slack ass procrastinator and a boozer) and willingness to learn however I'm not looking for overkill (coding is something I would do for its great utility, not for pleasure). I want the quickest route to a solution that meets my needs. I'd prefer free/open source solution so if I'm able to make something worth while I can present it to my employer as something that won't cost them for software. All of our computers are mostly controlled by IT and are not going to be running anything but windows.

I think the easiest way to sidestep IT would be to use the web browser as the front end. That way I could host it myself initially to demonstrate. Am I in way over my head here or are there tools available to put something like this within reach of someone like myself? Where should I start

Thank you for your time.

Regards,

AC"
Movies

Finnish man prosecuted for discussing CSS->

Submitted by Repossessed
Repossessed writes "From Out-Law.com

A Finnish man has asked the European Court of Human Rights to defend his right to discuss encryption systems used by the entertainment industry. He says that Finland's implementation of the EU's Copyright Directive restricts his right to free speech.

The original court dismissed the case, since European law requires the DRM to be effective, but a Finnish high court reversed the ruling. An application to appeal before Finland's supreme court was also denied."
Link to Original Source

Operating Systems

Moblin 2.0 keeps getting better

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Moblin is proving itself to be a welcomed "third addition" into the operating system cadre, being comprised today of Windows, regular Linux and now Moblin Linux. Its GNOME-derived GUI has taken on a feel of its own, one which separates itself sufficiently from the traditional GUIs out there to be in a class all by itself. One of Intel's goals for Moblin was to create this new user-focused experience, one built around a powerful graphics presence. It's working."
Medicine

Scientists Identify Itch-Specific Neurons

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes "A ticklish problem in neuroscience has been that although historically many scientists have regarded itching as just a less intense version of pain and decades searching for itch-specific nerve cells have been unfruitful. Now Nature reports that neuroscientist Zhou-Feng Chen and his colleagues at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri have found the first behavioral evidence that there are separate circuits of nerve cells to convey itchiness and pain and their studies suggest that itch and pain signals are transmitted along different pathways in the spinal cord. "Most people accept that there are specific, highly specialized neurons for sensations like taste," says Chen. "But for pain and itch this is much more controversial." Two years ago, Chen's group discovered that a cell-surface protein called the gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRPR) is important for sensing itchiness but not pain in mice. When Chen and his colleagues destroyed GRPR-bearing neurons by means of a cell toxin, the mice reacted to painful stimuli just like normal mice, licking themselves and flinching or jumping in response to heat, highly irritant chemicals and mechanical pressure. But when the researchers injected the animals with chemicals that normally cause scratching, such as histamine, they barely responded and the greater the number of GRPR-expressing neurons destroyed, the more subdued was the scratching response. "This is the first behavioral evidence that there are itch-specific neurons," says Chen. "People have been looking for these for many years." Although the present research only scratches the surface, the discovery highlights a new target for therapy and opens the field for specific treatments for itch that don't affect pain."
Biotech

How do geckos decide when to grip

Submitted by
LucidBeast
LucidBeast writes "Geckos have amazing ability to grip to a surface without adhesive. A paper (pdf) by Anthony Russell of the University of Calgary in Canada and Timothy Higham of Clemson University in South Carolina explains that geckos perception of the body orientation determines whether to grip or not to grip. Interesting overview of the study can be read in Guardian."
Security

How do I detect if I am part of a botnet

Submitted by ashraya
ashraya writes "My father (Not too computer literate) has a desktop and a laptop both running windows in his network back in Hyderabad, India. I set up a Linksys router for him to use with his broadband service. For some reason, he reset the config on the Linksys, and connected it up without Wireless security, and also with the default admin password for some time. As you would expect, both the windows computers got 'slow', and the desktop stopped connecting to internet completely for some reason. As I logged in remotely to 'fix' things — I noticed on the linksys log that the laptop was making seemingly random connections to high numbered ports on various IPs. I did a nslookup on the IPs to see that they were all either in Canada or US, with comcast and other ISP addresses.

Is that a sign that the computers were in a botnet? Are the other hosts part of the botnet too?

I have since rebuilt the windows hosts, and this connections are not happening now. I have also secured the Linksys."
Censorship

Graphic Artists Condemn UK Ban on Erotic Comics

Submitted by mdwh2
mdwh2 writes "Graphic artists, publishers and MPs have condemned the UK's Coroners and Justice Bill, which will criminalise possession of sexual depictions that appear to show someone under 18 (the age of consent is 16 in the UK), as well as adults where the "predominant impression conveyed" is of someone under 18, and even if they are merely drawn as being present whilst sexual activity took place between adults. The definitions could include Lost Girls, Watchmen, and South Park. The Comic Book Alliance has launched a Petition against the law."

"If the code and the comments disagree, then both are probably wrong." -- Norm Schryer