Comment: It's Too Long Ago (Score 2, Insightful) 309
From the Constitution: "...by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their..." The patents are from the Jurassic age, in software years.
+ - Enumerating Android installed applications without special permissions->
Submitted
by
Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "It seems like it's nothing serious but actually any app can list the other installed apps on your Android system without user consent — and it's by design.
While analyzing traffic for an Android app, we figured out that the app was sending competitor data back home, dug up a little and found some interesting design flaw on the Android platform that enforces no special permissions on retreiving installed applications list."
Link to Original Source
While analyzing traffic for an Android app, we figured out that the app was sending competitor data back home, dug up a little and found some interesting design flaw on the Android platform that enforces no special permissions on retreiving installed applications list."
Link to Original Source
+ - German Ministry of Education throws away PCs for 190,000 € due to infection->
Submitted
by
Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "German IT magazine Heise reports (original in German) that the Ministry of Education in Schwerin had a Conficker virus infection on 170 machines, that was dealt with by simply throwing them on the trash. Other German authorities have now decided that "the approach taken is not up to the principle of efficiency and economy" and that the 187,300 Euro invested in this radical form of virus removal were inappropriate. The ministry had earlier estimated the cost of cleaning their desktops and servers by more conventional means to 130,000 Euro."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
+ - National Security Draft for Fining Tech Company "Noncompliance" on Wiretapping
Submitted
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Jeremiah Cornelius
Jeremiah Cornelius writes "A government task force is preparing legislation that would pressure companies such as Facebook and Google to enable law enforcement officials to intercept online communications as they occur. "The importance to us is pretty clear," says Andrew Weissmann, the FBI’s general counsel. "We don’t have the ability to go to court and say, 'We need a court order to effectuate the intercept.' Other countries have that." Under the draft proposal, a court could levy a series of escalating fines, starting at tens of thousands of dollars, on firms that fail to comply with wiretap orders, according to persons who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. "This proposal is a non-starter that would drive innovators overseas and cost American jobs," said Greg Nojeim, a senior counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology. "They might as well call it the Cyber Insecurity and Anti-Employment Act.""
+ - Older Is Wiser: Study Shows Older Software Developers Still Learn New Tricks->
Submitted
by
Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "There's a persistent bias against older programmers in the software development industry, but do the claims against older developers' hold up? A new paper looks at reputation on StackOverflow, and finds that reputation grows as developers get older (adjusting time-on-StackOverflow), that older developers know about a wider variety of technologies, and older and younger developers seem to be equally knowledgable about most recent programming technologies. Two exceptions: older developers have the edge when it comes to iOS and Windows Phone."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
+ - Tech Talent Sortage and Guestworkers->
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mk1004
mk1004 writes "The Atlantic has an article, based upon an Economic Policy Institute report http://www.epi.org/publication/bp359-guestworkers-high-skill-labor-market-analysis/, saying that America's tech-talent shortage is a myth. As noted in the article, the current immigration bill running through the Senate would greatly increase the number of H1-B visas, solving a non-existing problem. The EPI report states that "U.S. employers have access to the world’s largest body of STEM students.""
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
+ - Why iTunes is dying->
Submitted
by
colinneagle
colinneagle writes "As the iTunes Store celebrates the 10th anniversary of a very successful run, it may have fallen too far behind competing services to survive in the next 10 years. Currently, iTunes’ share of online music sales stands at 63%, its lowest figure since 2006 and a steep drop from its peak of 69% in 2010, according to market researchers at the NPD Group. And while Spotify, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, HBO Go and all the other competitors keep signing up new customers, only rumors have emerged about an Apple streaming service, and they aren't very flattering.
Apple will reportedly use a streaming service to drive sales of songs on iTunes, and will use advertisements to help boost revenues even further. That may appease content providers, but consumers who can pay for unlimited access to Spotify's library without advertisements wouldn't even consider it.
By the time Apple does get its streaming service off the ground, customers will be too entrenched in competing services to be swayed by another that doesn't offer any advantage. As the concept of "owning" content becomes more outdated, so will iTunes."
Link to Original Source
Apple will reportedly use a streaming service to drive sales of songs on iTunes, and will use advertisements to help boost revenues even further. That may appease content providers, but consumers who can pay for unlimited access to Spotify's library without advertisements wouldn't even consider it.
By the time Apple does get its streaming service off the ground, customers will be too entrenched in competing services to be swayed by another that doesn't offer any advantage. As the concept of "owning" content becomes more outdated, so will iTunes."
Link to Original Source
+ - Poll Idea: How many times have you signed your name in the last 12 months?
Submitted
by
S'harien
S'harien writes "I realized since the internet came into its own I almost never sign my name anymore and my signature is suffering as a result. How many times have you physically signed your name in the last 12 months (on checks, contracts, bills, forms, etc.)? I was shocked to discover that I've only done it about 40-50 times in the last year, that's a marked decrease from years past."
+ - Windows Phone Overtakes BlackBerry in UK Smartphone Wars->
Submitted
by
DavidGilbert99
DavidGilbert99 writes "If may have been slow progress but Windows Phone is finally getting some traction. In the UK, France and particularly Italy Microsoft's platform has seen serious gains in the first quarter of 2013. In the UK Windows Phone's gain has been mirrored by a dramatic decline for BlackBerry, which has seen a 10% drop in market share year-on-year, despite the launch of its new BB10 platform and Z10 smartphone."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
Comment: Re:Missing in action. (Score 1) 142
Can a Pi even utilize a GigaE anywhere close to its limits? I'd think that even 100M would be idle a good percentage of the time.
Comment: Re:20 years passed (Score 1) 422
You can make the "TEH GUBMINTZERS!!!!" argument all you want. In small towns, "the government" is made up of the townsfolk, and they tend to know each other. I'm not saying that everything in small towns is unicorns and glitter, but people are likely to heed the words of the officials that they actually know if those officials say "danger Will Robinson, danger!"
Comment: Re:Loaded language? (Score 1) 374
And I've gone to the employment page on a number of web sites that didn't play well with chrome and/or Firefox. I'll reject any potential employer who can't even find the talent to build a website that's compatible with most browsers.
Comment: Re:No expectation (Score 1) 332
Oops, Cyprus.
Comment: Re:No expectation (Score 1) 332
You have whatever guarantee the law and/or lawful contract provides. If you keep your money in a bank account (not a deposit box) then you are trusting the bank's guarantee they will not tamper with your balance. In most countries, that's a perfectly reasonable thing to expect.
Obligatory "except in Cypress" comment.
Comment: Re:No expectation (Score 1) 332
I'm wondering how this compares with snail mail. If I write a letter, hold on to it a few days at my home, mail it, the recipient reads it then holds on to it for some period of time. Except in cases where the sender or recipient voluntarily gives up the information, wouldn't a search warrant be required for any government official to get the info? They must get a warrant to search either house. They can't intercept mail without a warrant either, I believe.
For email, usually a user name and password is required for you to access your email client so that you can read or send emails. That implies, even if the email is transmitted in clear text, that some sort of privacy is expected. Just like wire taps on telephones, you should need a warrant to 'tap' into the net to capture emails as they are sent. Where I'm storing the email is irrelevant; username/password is something like a locked door, or even an unlocked door. Without probable cause, the government can't just walk in.