Comment: Talk about a slanted headline (Score 1) 1
The TFA could have been written by Microkia's marketing department, so slanted it is.
+ - Google 'helpout' service: experts in your home, via a webcam->
Submitted
by
DW100
DW100 writes "Google has unveiled a service for self-appointed experts to offer advice on everything from business strategy to plumbing via webcams under a new project called 'Helpouts'. The firm admitted "helpouts may not be suitable for every occasion" but said it hoped the service would ultimately "make people's lives easier". Experts can charge for their help on a per-minute or per session setup."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
+ - Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned "Rockstar" sues Google->
Submitted
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GODISNOWHERE
GODISNOWHERE writes "So this is what "thermonuclear war" looks like.
The complaint against Google involves six patents, all from the same patent "family." They're all titled "associative search engine," and list Richard Skillen and Prescott Livermore as inventors. The patents describe "an advertisment machine which provides advertisements to a user searching for desired information within a data network."
Link to Original Source
The complaint against Google involves six patents, all from the same patent "family." They're all titled "associative search engine," and list Richard Skillen and Prescott Livermore as inventors. The patents describe "an advertisment machine which provides advertisements to a user searching for desired information within a data network."
Link to Original Source
+ - The Patent Problem Is Bigger Than Trolls
Submitted
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Bob9113
Bob9113 writes "Ars Technica reports the following: "Canada-based telecom Nortel went bankrupt in 2009 and sold its biggest asset--a portfolio of more than 6,000 patents covering 4G wireless innovations and a range of technologies--at an auction in 2011. Google bid for the patents, but didn't get them. Instead, they went to a group of competitors--Microsoft, Apple, RIM, Ericsson, and Sony--operating under the name "Rockstar Bidco." The companies together bid the shocking sum of $4.5 billion. This afternoon, that stockpile was finally used for what pretty much everyone suspected it would be used for--launching an all-out patent attack on Google and Android. The smartphone patent wars have been underway for a few years now, and the eight lawsuits filed in federal court today by Rockstar Consortium mean that the conflict just hit DEFCON 1.""
+ - SPAM: What Do We Understand By Islamic Charities
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MaryCotter
MaryCotter writes "About Two million Muslims in the UK face a moral problem assuming that they need a contract or loan and mortgages. Ordinary contracts and credits all require the installment of investment and "riba" as premium is called under Islamic law, is illegal by the Koran."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
+ - Is Choice a Problem for Android->
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mjone13
mjone13 writes "Dave Feldmen in a blog posts says that the problem Android faces is giving consumers too much choice. He cites several studies which state that consumers generally are unhappier when they have too much choice. He then goes on to talk about Android fragmentation, app developer problems and bug issues. Finally he says the people who general prefer the choice Android provides are tinkers similar to gear heads who love tinkering with their car.
Is choice really a problem for Android?"
Link to Original Source
Is choice really a problem for Android?"
Link to Original Source
+ - The Linux Backdoor Attempt of 2003
Submitted
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Hugh Pickens DOT Com
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Ed Felton writes about an incident, in 2003, in which someone tried to backdoor the Linux kernel. Back in 2003 Linux used a system called BitKeeper to store the master copy of the Linux source code. If a developer wanted to propose a modification to the Linux code, they would submit their proposed change, and it would go through an organized approval process to decide whether the change would be accepted into the master code. But some people didn’t like BitKeeper, so a second copy of the source code was kept so that developers could get the code via another code system called CVS. On November 5, 2003, Larry McAvoy noticed that there was a code change in the CVS copy that did not have a pointer to a record of approval. Investigation showed that the change had never been approved and, stranger yet, that this change did not appear in the primary BitKeeper repository at all. Further investigation determined that someone had apparently broken in electronically to the CVS server and inserted this change.
if ((options == (__WCLONE|__WALL)) && (current->uid = 0))
retval = -EINVAL;
A casual reading by an expert would interpret this as innocuous error-checking code to make wait4 return an error code when wait4 was called in a certain way that was forbidden by the documentation. But a really careful expert reader would notice that, near the end of the first line, it said “= 0” rather than “== 0” so the effect of this code is to give root privileges to any piece of software that called wait4 in a particular way that is supposed to be invalid. In other words it’s a classic backdoor. We don’t know who it was that made the attempt—and we probably never will. But the attempt didn’t work, because the Linux team was careful enough to notice that that this code was in the CVS repository without having gone through the normal approval process. "Could this have been an NSA attack? Maybe. But there were many others who had the skill and motivation to carry out this attack," writes Felton. "Unless somebody confesses, or a smoking-gun document turns up, we’ll never know.""
if ((options == (__WCLONE|__WALL)) && (current->uid = 0))
retval = -EINVAL;
A casual reading by an expert would interpret this as innocuous error-checking code to make wait4 return an error code when wait4 was called in a certain way that was forbidden by the documentation. But a really careful expert reader would notice that, near the end of the first line, it said “= 0” rather than “== 0” so the effect of this code is to give root privileges to any piece of software that called wait4 in a particular way that is supposed to be invalid. In other words it’s a classic backdoor. We don’t know who it was that made the attempt—and we probably never will. But the attempt didn’t work, because the Linux team was careful enough to notice that that this code was in the CVS repository without having gone through the normal approval process. "Could this have been an NSA attack? Maybe. But there were many others who had the skill and motivation to carry out this attack," writes Felton. "Unless somebody confesses, or a smoking-gun document turns up, we’ll never know.""
+ - Kickstarter for open source GPU->
Submitted
by
eekee
eekee writes "The targets are high, but so is the goal: developing Verilog source code for a GPU implementation. The source will be open source, LGPL-licensed, and suitable for loading onto an FPGA. The first target is for a 2D GPU with PCI interface; perhaps not terribly interesting in itself, but the first stretch goal is much more exciting: full OpenGL and Direct3D graphics."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
+ - Americans Dumber Than World Average->
Submitted
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rwise2112
rwise2112 writes "A new global report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development finds that Americans rank well below the worldwide average in just about every measure of skill. In math, reading, and technology-driven problem-solving, the United States performed worse than nearly every other country in the group of developed nations."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
Comment: Finally (Score 2) 64
Now, with 3D to add to video acceleration and fully documented power management, ADM APUs are even more the chipset of choice for netbooks and light laptops. In terms of value for money they were already hard to beat.
Comment: Re:lowered expectations (Score 1) 177
I'm sure they'll make better use of the "guy" (could be a girl) than that. It will be an ideal channel for disinformation. "Our privacy and civil liberties officer has forced us to reveal that we are scaling down our surveillance of Muslims", or "In line with the recommendations we are no longer issuing compromised SSL certificates", and so on.
In that is true, the position seems to have already been filled. I have no idea why cold fjord is advertising an opening for his own position at the NSA, unless he is overworked...
+ - U.S. Borders Are Back Doors for Device Searches->
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onehitwonder
onehitwonder writes "Newly released documents reveal how the government uses border crossings to seize and examine travelers’ electronic devices instead of obtaining a search warrant to take them, according to The New York Times' Susan Stellin. The documents reveal what had been a mostly secretive process that allows the government to create a travel alert for a person (regardless of whether they're a suspect in an investigation), then detain that individual at a border crossing and confiscate or copy any electronic devices that person is carrying. The documents come courtesy of David House, a fund-raiser for the legal defense of Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Pfc. Bradley Manning."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
+ - Skype Bypasses Windows 8.1 Lock Screen 2
Submitted
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ChristW
ChristW writes "From a blog entry on the Skype website, it is clear that "you can answer calls directly from your lock screen". So, if I lock my Windows PC and walk away, any passer by can answer my personal Skype calls."
+ - Steve Ballmer Visits Finnish Parliament-> 1
Submitted
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jones_supa
jones_supa writes "Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer met with Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen and Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen on Wednesday in Helsinki. The meeting took place at the House of Parliament, where the premier was officiating at the opening of the autumn session. 'We’re entirely committed and very fired up by the acquisition of the Devices and Services division of Nokia,' Ballmer told Yle. 'We’ve had great meetings with the folks we hope will be our new teams after the deal closes in Espoo, in Tampere, in Salo, in Oulu and we’re very excited to have Finland as the centre of all phone development at Microsoft.' Also taking part in the Helsinki meeting were outgoing Nokia CEO Stephen Elop and the company’s board chair, Risto Siilasmaa."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
Comment: Re:FRAND (Score 1) 278
Please, if you haven't followed the previous patent stories here, just google florian mueller. That guy has already admitted being on the payroll of both Oracle and Microsoft. He was debunked several times by Groklaw - here is one of them - http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20120419070127103. His "articles" have as much value as microsoft PR.
Reading (and worst, quoting) his drivel isn't reading "opposing sides", as you state. It is reading and giving support to what is basically paid PR from Microsoft and Oracle.