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A perfect domain name pops into your mind, a quick check at your registrar reveals that the domain is available, you put off the registration a few minutes and when you come back to register the domain, it's taken by someone else. How much time has elapsed between the search and the attempted registration — in one case, less than 90 seconds. Daily Domainer has an interesting story alleging that there may be a leak that allows domain tasters to intercept, analyze and register your domain ideas in minutes. "Every time you do a whois search with any service, you run a risk of losing your domain," says one industry insider. ICANN's Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC ) has not been able to find hard evidence of Domain Name Front Running but they have issued an advisory (pdf) for people to come forward with hard evidence it is happening. Here is how domain name research theft crimes can occur and some tips to avoiding being a victim.

PC Magazine reviews the $200 Linux desktop wonder sold by Wal-Mart. This desktop sold out quickly and has been cited as proof that consumers are tired of the Windows tax and ready for Linux. Not so according to PC Magazine giving the gPC a 1.5 star rating. "The gPC is not the alternative to Windows or Mac OS X it's cracked up to be; it's very frustrating to use."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2227792,00.asp

An anonymous reader writes "Not sure how long this has been going on, but verizon fios (at least here in maryland) is returning their own ip addresses for queries which should fail.

for example:
$nslookup foobar
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: foobar
Address: 63.251.179.13
Name: foobar
Address: 8.15.7.117

and if you type foobar into your web browser, it redirects to where their web search decides you wanted to go, depending on what you typed. In the past, other providers (remember the VeriSign debacle on this exact issue?) have tried this crapola and have stopped when people pointed out that messing with dns breaks things.

I just did a quick google search and found this article:
  http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20071113/143009.shtml"

An anonymous reader writes "A source to Cryptome alleges that, "Certain privacy/full session SSL email hosting services have been purchased/changed operational control by NSA and affiliates within the past few months, through private intermediary entities." Hushmail, Safe-mail, Guardster are each named.

With regard to anti-virus software it is alleged that, "Zone Alarm, Symantec, MacAfee: All facilitate Microsoft's NSA-controlled remote admin access via IP/TCP ports 1024 through 1030; ie will allow access without security flag. Unknown whether or not software port forward routing by these same programs will defeat NSA access.""
http://cryptome.org/nsa-ssl-email.htm

Nesster writes "A Silicon Valley start-up called Nanosolar shipped its first solar panels — priced at $1 a watt. That's the price at which solar energy gets cheaper than coal. So far, there have been 83 bids and the price has reached $10,300. The auction is over on December 27th at 17:13:10 PST. Essentially, they've figured out how to print solar cells on thin sheets of aluminum with a printing press."
http://www.solveclimate.com/blog/20071219/1-watt-itunes-solar-energy-has-arrived

Hugh Pickens writes "There are several drugs on the market that improve memory, concentration, planning and reduce impulsive behavior and risky decision-making, and many more are being developed. Doctors already prescribe these drugs to treat cognitive disabilities and improve quality of life for patients with neuropsychiatric disorders and brain injury and cognitive-enhancing drugs are increasingly being used in non-medical situations such as shift work and by active military personnel. Although the appeal of pharmaceutical cognitive enhancers — to help one study longer, work more effectively or better manage everyday stresses — is understandable, potential users, both healthy and diseased, must consider the pros and cons of their choices. Read the story from Nature magazine on the ethical issues raised by the use of pharmaceutical cognitive enhancers and the questions raised on how the use of cognitive enhancers should be regulated in healthy people."

janitorj writes "As I was reading the manual for my new cellular phone (yes I RTFM), I came across an FCC warning that reads "No person shall utter any obscene, indecent or profane language by means of radio communication." This just means I cannot legally curse during my phone calls, but then I started thinking about all the talk about the high stakes FCC auction for the 700Mhz band. If, as the hype suggests, a large broadband network is created on these frequencies, what will become of internet censorship? The FCC will potentially have jurisdiction over any data sent over its frequencies, so does that mean if this wireless network is created, there will be no more profanity allowed on the internet?"

It's Worth the Wait! writes "For those hoping that SP1 would speed Vista up, The Register has bad news. SP1 still hasn't fixed the file access problems and they have screenshots of Vista saying that copying 108 items totaling 168 MB will take 48167 days."
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/20/more_vista_copying_problems/

Hugh Pickens writes "Five years ago Fortune magazine published a story about dyslexic business leaders including Craig McCaw, who pioneered the cellular industry; Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways; Charles Schwab, founder of the discount brokerage firm; and Paul Orfalea, founder of the Kinko's copy chain. Now a study of entrepreneurs in the United States by Julie Logan, professor of entrepreneurship at the Cass Business School in London, has found that 35 percent of the entrepreneurs she surveyed identified themselves as dyslexic. "We found that dyslexics who succeed had overcome an awful lot in their lives by developing compensatory skills," Logan says. "If you tell your friends and acquaintances that you plan to start a business, you'll hear over and over, 'It won't work. It can't be done.' But dyslexics are extraordinarily creative about maneuvering their way around problems." Mr. Orfalea, who left Kinko's seven years ago, and who now dabbles in a hodgepodge of business undertakings, is almost proud of having dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. "I get bored easily, and that is a great motivator," he said. "I think everybody should have dyslexia and A.D.D.""

N0N0B4dD0g writes "Macworld reports that computer and electronics retailer CompUSA announced on Friday that it would start winding down its retail operations after being acquired by an investment firm, which is looking to sell the company's business and assets."
http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/12/07/compusa/index.php

Fantastic Lad writes "Candidates vying for the presidency already face intense scrutiny from voters, the media and political rivals' crack opposition research operations — but that's not enough for one doctor: he demands brain scans. In an interview with MSNBC's Tucker Carlson, Dr. Daniel Amen, a neuropsychiatrist and brain-imaging expert, says that the technology could be used to effectively vet future presidents. "For years, what I have thought about, talked about, is we should be scanning the brains of presidential candidates," said Amen. "Because a president with a bad brain can ruin life on earth...I'm sort of tired of presidents who've had a bad brain that are not leading the country in a good direction.""

A teenage suspect who secretly recorded his interrogation on an MP3 player has landed a veteran detective in the middle of perjury charges. According to the article, Detective Christopher Perino testified in April that the suspect "wasn't questioned" about a shooting in the Bronx, but then the defense confronted the detective with a transcript it said proved he had spent more than an hour unsuccessfully trying to persuade the suspect to confess--at times with vulgar tactics.

On the one hand, this supports stories we've all heard before, that suspects often get badgered in the interrogation room. On the other hand, it will be a while before anyone is allowed to carry even an MP3 player into the room with them...

Gerhardius writes "The Chalk River research reactor near Ottawa faces a prolonged maintenance shutdown and this has led to delays for medical procedures requiring isotopes in the US and Canada. The reactor produces molybdenum-99 and this decays into technetium-99m, one of the most common isotopes used for medical purposes. Some procedures, like PET scans, use differently sourced materials but many other procedures are being canceled or delayed. Does it strike anyone else as rather odd that there is a single source for such a vital medical resource?"
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=740c1754-e272-491e-9a7e-78513d914005

Controversial Miami attorney Jack Thompson faces the start of an ethics trial this morning which could get him disbarred. Have we seen the end of his shenanigans, and is he finally going to see some long-overdue comeuppance?