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sveard (1076275)

sveard
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sveard (1076275)

Submitted by sveard on Friday May 30, @01:24AM
sveard writes "Revision3, the Internet television network behind popular shows like Diggnation, experienced a serious network failure over Memorial Day weekend.
A SYN flood aimed at Revision3's BitTorrent tracker clogged the company's tubes and brought down all of its web services. The traffic logs indicated that the network was getting slammed by over 8,000 packets every second. Revision3 tracked the source of the packets and discovered that the attack originated from MediaDefender.
ArtistDirect CEO Dimitri Villard and MediaDefender vice president Ben Grodsky admitted that they had been exploiting the lax security configuration of Revision3's BitTorrent tracker and using it to conduct decoying operations, but they disavowed knowledge of the denial of service attack and claimed that their servers were only pinging Revision3 once every three hours.

There's more over at Ars Technica"
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080529-revision3-ceo-blackout-caused-by-mediadefender-attack.html
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 [+] submission, entertainment, security

  Idle: Scientists Get $2m to See if Robot Can Stir Soup 2008-05-21 13:43

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday May 21, @01:43PM
A British lab has won a $2m grant to study whether or not a robot could be safely employed in a kitchen to stir soup. A lab spokeswoman said, "It will specifically look at the problems of a human and a robot working together in the same space, for example in a kitchen where the service robot is performing a task such as stirring soup, while you add cream." If there had only been an industrial revolution during the 1800s where people started working closely with machines we might have already had an answer to this daunting question.
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 [+] story, idle,
Submitted by sveard on Saturday May 10, @07:26PM
A recently-discovered flaw in Gmail is capable of turning Google's e-mail service into a highly effective spam machine. According to the Information Security Research Team (INSERT), Gmail is susceptible to a man-in-the-middle attack that allows a spammer to send thousands of bulk e-mails through Google's SMTP service without fear of detection. This attack bypasses both Google's identity fraud protection mechanisms and the current 500-address limit on bulk e-mail.
Compounding the issue is the fact that services such as Hotmail and Yahoo "trust" Gmail. This may facilitate e-mail delivery, but it also makes it easier for spammers to reach their intended targets.
More over at Ars Technica
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080510-security-flaw-turns-gmail-into-open-relay-server.html
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 [+] , spam

  Increased US Broadband Adoption Could Create 2.4 Million Jobs 2008-02-21 22:17

Posted by Soulskill on Thursday February 21, @10:17PM
from the taking-development-cues-from-kentucky dept.
Ward D points out a story about a recent study that predicts significant economic growth through increased broadband adoption in the U.S. The study is based on a program in Kentucky that has, through the increased use of broadband, "saved an average of more than $200 per person per year" on health-care services, and decreased the average amount of time residents spent driving by 100 hours per month. From Computerworld: "The Connected Nation model ... focuses more on broadband adoption and local needs than huge, government-funded programs. Several Kentucky businesses have benefited from the increased access, according to Connected Nation. Geek Squad, the Best Buy subsidiary, moved its headquarters to Bullitt County, Kentucky, in late 2006 because of the broadband availability."

  Science: Radio Telescopes on Moon to Study Cosmic Dark Ages 2008-02-21 19:09

Posted by Soulskill on Thursday February 21, @07:09PM
from the ye-olde-moone dept.
The Narrative Fallacy brings news that NASA has awarded a $500,000 grant to develop plans for an array of radio telescopes to be located on the moon. The telescopes would be used to gather data from the earliest stars and galaxies, observations of which are difficult from Earth due to the ionosphere and terrestrial broadcasts. The grant was part of NASA's sponsoring of 19 "Next Generation Astronomy Missions." Quoting: "The Lunar Array for Radio Cosmology (LARC) project ... is planned as a huge array of hundreds of telescope modules designed to pick up very-low-frequency radio emissions. The array will cover an area of up to two square kilometers; the modules would be moved into place on the lunar surface by automated vehicles. The new lunar telescopes would add greatly to the capabilities of a low-frequency radio telescope array now under construction in Western Australia, one of the most radio-quiet areas on Earth."
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 [+] story, science, nasa, moon, leavethemoonalone, thatsnomoon

  IT: More Mac Vulnerabilities Than Windows In 2007? 2007-12-18 14:24

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday December 18 2007, @02:24PM
from the dogs-and-cats-living-together-mass-hysteria dept.
eldavojohn writes "A ZDNet blog reports stats from Secunia showing OSX averaged 20.25 vulnerabilities per month while XP & Vista combined averaged 3.67/month. Is this report card's implication accurate, or is this a symptom of one company turning a blind eye while the other concentrates on timely bugfixes? 'While Windows Vista shows fewer flaws than Windows XP and has more mitigating factors against exploitation, the addition of Windows Defender and Sidebar added 4 highly critical flaws to Vista that weren't present in Windows XP. Sidebar accounted for three of those additional vulnerabilities and it's something I am glad I don't use. The lone Defender critical vulnerability that was supposed to defend Windows Vista was ironically the first critical vulnerability for Windows Vista.'"
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 [+] story, it, security, apple, haha, badtitle, flameon

  Science: Man Sized Sea Scorpion Fossil Found 2007-11-21 10:20

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday November 21 2007, @10:20AM
from the try-saying-that-four-time-frantic dept.
hereisnowhy writes "A giant fossilized claw discovered in Germany belonged to an ancient sea scorpion that was much bigger than the average man, an international team of geologists and archaeologists reported Tuesday. In a report in the Royal Society's journal Biology Letters, the team said the claw indicates that sea scorpion Jaekelopterus rhenania was almost 2.5 meters long, making it the largest arthropod — an animal with a segmented body, jointed limbs and a hard exoskeleton — ever found. In the report, the authors said the scorpion exceeds previous size records for arthropods by almost half a meter."
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 [+] story, science, fossil, radscorpions, clawshrimp, zoidberg

  Science: Backing Up Your Brain 2007-11-15 13:41

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday November 15 2007, @01:41PM
from the error-document-not-found dept.
couch_warrior writes "Microsoft is now working on a system that will back up the contents of your brain. The pilot project lacks a direct brain interface, but "MyLifeBits" will provide a simulacrum of actual memories. No mention is made as to whether Microsoft will claim to own the digital rights to the content of your life, or what license fees you will have to pay to access your own memories." Honestly this looks like a bunch of hooey to me, but I figured others would be better suited to say.
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 [+] story, science, biotech, microsoft, singularity, vaporware, hooey

  Linux: Where Does Linux Go From Here? 2007-10-22 12:42

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday October 22 2007, @12:42PM
from the many-different-flavors-of-kool-aid-to-drink dept.
With the success that Linux is currently enjoying Linux.com (also owned by SourceForge, Inc) asks the question, where do we go from here? With such a high level of success and greater corporate participation (on both the consumer and provider fronts) will the spirit of freedom and idealism remain true or will the ever-present corporate bottom line eventually take over? "Linux is surrounded by proprietary IT firms. Some of them view Linux as a profit maker, others as a threat to their profits. Both sides represent a challenge for Linux in holding to its ideals of freedom and openess. The first large IT firm to really grok Linux was IBM. It has a long and mutually beneficial association with Linux, Apache, and other FOSS projects. The company has learned the language and the mores of the FOSS world, and has made significant code contributions as part of those projects along the way."
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 [+] story, linux, linuxbusiness, ibm, everywhere, sourceforgewarning

  Hot gas in space mimics life[->] 2007-08-16 06:15 sveard

Submitted by sveard on Thursday August 16 2007, @06:15AM
sveard writes "From a space.com article:

Electrically charged specks of interstellar dust organize into DNA-like double helixes and display properties normally attributed to living systems, such as evolving and reproducing, new computer simulations show.

Studies on Earth have shown that if enough particles are injected into a low-temperature plasma, they will spontaneously organize into crystal-like structures. Computer simulations suggest that these plasma particles will bead together to form string-like filaments that then twist into helical strands resembling DNA. The computer-modeled plasma particles can also divide to form two copies of the original structure and even "evolve" into more stable structures that are better able to survive in the plasma.

"These complex, self-organized plasma structures exhibit all the necessary properties to qualify them as candidates for inorganic living matter," said V.N. Tsytovich of the Russian Academy of Science."
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070814_plasma_life.html
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 [+] submission, science, space

  USB BATTERY 2007-08-01 17:44 nycheetah

Submitted by nycheetah on Wednesday August 01 2007, @05:44PM
nycheetah writes "http://www.usbcell.com/ With over 15 billion batteries needlessly thrown away each year, and with the increasing demand for portable power by modern electronic devices — the battery has simply not caught up with the needs of modern life. Traditional rechargeable batteries have never been truly portable as they are dependent on chargers or adpators, and so most consumers prefer single use alkaline cells. With USBCELL we aim to change this balance by enabling consumers to Recharge Anywhere, without needing or carrying an external charger. With over 2 billion USB ports on modern computers and devices USBCELL can be charged easily at work, On the Go, or at home."
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 [+] submission, science, power

  OS X Leopard is Unix Certified[->] 2007-08-01 17:35 thornomad

Submitted by thornomad on Wednesday August 01 2007, @05:35PM
thornomad writes "At least Intel-based Macs will have something to hang on their monitors: Unix 03 Certification:

Apple's forthcoming release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard is the first BSD-based operating system to receive the UNIX 03 certification, placing the Mac maker among an elite group of official UNIX 03 vendors ... From a developer standpoint, UNIX 03 certification means that Leopard conforms to the Single UNIX Specification Version 3 (SUS), which outlines how components like the shell, compiler, and C APIs should function ... In becoming the first BSD-based OS to receive the UNIX 03 certification, Leopard also adds Apple to an extremely short list of official UNIX 03 OS vendors that include IBM, Sun, and HP.
"
http://www.damonjustisntfunny.com/
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 [+] submission, apple, unix
Submitted by sveard on Wednesday August 01 2007, @03:48PM
sveard writes "Parallel Processing Corporation is asking a federal judge to order Sony to destroy its remaining Playstation 3 videogame consoles, which PPC claims infringes on its patents for microprocessor technology. The lawsuit, filed last week, claims that the Cell processor developed by Sony, Toshiba and IBM, violates PPC's patent for "synchronized parallel processing with shared memory.""
http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201202099
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 [+] submission, hardware, playstation

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