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Submission + - Antivirus Founder, John McAfee arrested in Belize (channel5belize.com) 1

Submitted by rebelwarlock
rebelwarlock writes: McAfee lives in Belize and he says that he has become a target of the Gang Suppression Unit. He says the GSU came busting into his research facility in Orange Walk, killed his dog, took his passport, handcuffed him and arrested him on a bogus weapons charge. McAfee says he’s a victim because he didn’t donate money to a known U.D.P. Orange Walk politician.
Piracy

Submission + - Pirate Bay blockade begins with Virgin Media (guardian.co.uk)

Submitted by suraj.sun
suraj.sun writes: The filesharing website The Pirate Bay has been blocked to millions of UK internet users following a high court ruling earlier this week. Customers of the country's second-biggest internet service provider, Virgin Media, were on Wednesday denied access to site. Other internet providers, including BT and Sky, are expected to follow suit within weeks. Virgin Media has 21.5% of the market share, behind BT with 27.5%. The provider said in a statement: "Virgin Media has received an order from the courts requiring it to prevent access to The Pirate Bay in order to help protect against copyright infringement.
News

Submission + - Mark Lewis looking into allegations of piracy by News Corp/NDS (afr.com)

Submitted by
Presto Vivace
Presto Vivace writes: "Mark Lewis, the British lawyer famous for his work for News International phone hacking victims, is investigating claims by a client that News Corporation’s controversial security company, NDS Limited, was involved in a dirty tricks campaign in Britain to undermine a competitor’s technology. Lewis said that, “The allegations made against them are uncannily similar to what’s been alleged in Australia,” The scandals concerning News Corp continue to grow."
Privacy

Submission + - SK Communications Facing $31 Billion Payout for Massive Privacy Breach 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Taiwanese news portal 'informationsecurity.com.tw' is reporting that SK Communications, a South Korean telecommunications provider and owner of the Nate and Cyworld social networking sites, may be facing a $31 billion USD damages payout for its failure to prevent a massive hack that compromised the personal details of over 35 million users.

In July 2011 sophisticated hackers, later linked to the RSA breach and a number of other high profile intrusions, used a compromised third-party update server and trojaned software update to infiltrate the SK Communications computer network. The hackers maintained their access for multiple weeks, ultimately siphoning off sensitive user data including usernames, passwords, addresses, phone numbers, and Resident Registration Numbers (a Social Security number equivalent).

Despite the sophistication of the attack, a judge recently determined that SK Communications was at fault for failing to adequately protect the user data, awarding 1 million won (approximately $885 USD) in damages to just one affected user. If subsequent class action is similarly successful SK Communications could be facing a total payout of $31 billion USD.

Given that the same hackers successfully targeted security firm RSA (albeit with a simplistic socially engineered email) is it reasonable to expect that SK Communications could have defended itself against such a well planned and executed attack?
Politics

Submission + - Canadian scientists muzzled by government (planet3.org)

Submitted by Layzej
Layzej writes: Prior to the International Polar Year 2012 conference in Montreal, Canadian government scientists were warned not to talk to the media without governmental supervision. The message sent to scientists was clear: Big Brother is watching you. This is one of several recent examples where the Canadian government attempted to intimidate scientists into not saying anything that might be considered “off-message”. But worrying about what might or might not be off-message is not the responsibility of a scientist. Scientists should only worry about being honest about their data and how to best communicate their findings. If those findings happen to go against government policy, that should never be a scientist’s problem.
Firefox

Submission + - Mozilla Ponders Major Firefox UI Refresh (computerworld.com) 1

Submitted by
CWmike
CWmike writes: "Mozilla is working on a revamp of Firefox to synchronize its various versions — desktop, tablet, phone and Windows 8 Metro — into a single visual style, according to documents posted by members of its user interface (UI) design team. The project, which does not have a name, and the earlier blending of Mozilla's mobile and desktop design groups, is meant to bring more coherence to the various versions of the open-source browser. 'One of our major goals for the year [is] getting Firefox to feel more like one product — more 'Firefoxy' — across all our platforms, desktop to tablet to phone,' Madhava Enro of the Mozilla UI design team, said in a post to his personal blog on Tuesday. Enro posted a slideshow he and others used the week before to present their proposals at a company get-together. According to the presentation, some UI elements will be shared across all Firefox editions, among them a lean toward 'softer texture' and smoother curves in the design."
Data Storage

Submission + - Will Windows Storage Go from SAN Back to NAS with SMB 3.0? (redmondmag.com)

Submitted by msmoriarty
msmoriarty writes: According to Redmond magazine columnist Greg Sheilds, with Windows 8/Windows Server 2012, the Windows world may be moving away from SAN and back to NAS. From the article: " "Consider the high-level requirements you place on storage: excellent performance with low CPU overhead, fault tolerance, load balancing, simultaneous access by multiple cluster hosts, back-up support...Achieving all of this today with a SAN requires added protocols, techniques and management tools because today's SMB protocol doesn't support today's storage requirements. But why not just update the SMB protocol?" And that's what it appears Microsoft has done with SMB 3.0.
Patents

Submission + - Nokia sues HTC, RIM and Viewsonic (techworld.com.au)

Submitted by
angry tapir
angry tapir writes: "Nokia has filed claims in the U.S. and Germany saying that products from HTC, Research In Motion (RIM) and ViewSonic infringe a number of the company's patents. Nokia has filed actions against all three companies in Mannheim's and Munich's respective regional courts. Nokia has also filed complaints against HTC before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), the Federal District Court of Delaware and the regional court in Düsseldorf. RIM will also have to dispatch its lawyers to Düsseldorf for a Nokia lawsuit filed there, while ViewSonic's legal team have to defend the company against a suit in Delaware."
Hardware

Submission + - Former MakerBot COO creates the world's first $500 3D printer (geek.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: At first glance Sam Cervantes and his latest invention may seem questionable, but after spending some time talking with him I’m sure what he’s showing off is legit. Cervantes and his team are working on the first $500 3D printer, a device known as the Solidoodle. At the risk of sounding cliche, what you’re witnessing in the video is truly game-changing; the Solidoodle is a significant step towards making 3D printing accessible to the average consumer.
Slashdot.org

Submission + - When Was Slashdot's Heyday? 5

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In the past few years, Slashdot editors have introduced a multitude of changes to our site that have been met with mostly negative comments. Yesterday, SlashdotBI was introduced. A few weeks ago, Slashdot editors announced plans for their SlashdotTV. Slashdot's last overhaul occurred on January 25th 2011, which revamped the existing HTML and CSS code. In all of these announcements and many more, a multitude of Slashdot users have expressed concern that the site simply is not good enough as it was in the past. This concern goes back all the way to a 2000 Geeks in Space episode, where Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda asked the GIS panel: "When did Slashdot start sucking?" A lot of people reminisce about "the good old days" and how things were inherently "better" back then. My question to Slashdot users everywhere is: Is Slashdot's best years gone? When was Slashdot's heyday in terms of popularity, enjoyment, information, and intelligent discussions? How can Slashdot return back to what many users regard as their former glory?
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft updates Skype to use secure Linux servers (arstechnica.com) 1

Submitted by bigwheel
bigwheel writes: Does this seem kind of ironic? "Microsoft has drastically overhauled the network running its Skype voice-over-IP service, replacing peer-to-peer client machines with thousands of Linux boxes that have been hardened against the most common types of hack attacks, a security researcher said."
Space

Submission + - Astronomers see *another* star torn apart by a black hole (discovermagazine.com)

Submitted by
The Bad Astronomer
The Bad Astronomer writes: "A star in a galaxy 2.7 billion light years away wandered too close to a supermassive black hole and suffered the ultimate fate: it was literally torn apart by the black hole's gravity. The event was seen as a flash of ultraviolet light flaring 350 times brighter than the galaxy itself, slowly fading over time. Astronomers were able to determine that some of the star's material was eaten by the black hole, and some flung off into space. Although rare, this is the second time such a thing has been seen; the other was just last year."

Submission + - Which comic books to start my 3 yr old with? 2

Submitted by JeepFanatic
JeepFanatic writes: I've never been one to read comic books however I've always enjoyed superheros. My 3 yr old son is really into superheros (especially Spiderman) and I thought it would be a fun thing to do together to start reading comics to him. Any suggestions on comics that would be more appropriate to start him out with?
Technology

Submission + - Berkeley Student Fills Dorm with Home Automation (electronichouse.com)

Submitted by
ElectronicHouseGrant
ElectronicHouseGrant writes: "Freshman Derek Low rigged up his Berkeley dorm room with something he calls B.R.A.D., which is short for “Berkeley Ridiculously Automated Dorm.” The room includes automated lighting, drapes, music, motion detection, and more. He can control everything through voice recognition, but a wireless remote, his iPhone and his iPad are also in on the control party. Derek started the install on February 4 and finished just a few days ago."
Space

Submission + - Huge Spirals Found on Mars—Evidence of New Lava Type? (nationalgeographic.com)

Submitted by
fishmike
fishmike writes: "Hundreds of large spirals have been discovered on Mars, and scientists think the coiled features are evidence of a type of lava flow never before seen on the red planet.

If so, the spirals would suggest that volcanoes—not ice floes, as other experts believe—shaped an unusual area near the red planet's equator."

Submission + - Pandemic bird flu research published (wisc.edu) 1

Submitted by
daveschroeder
daveschroeder writes: "After a marathon debate over a pair of studies that show how the avian H5N1 influenza virus could become transmissible in mammals, and an unprecedented recommendation by the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) to block publication, and its subsequent reversal, a study by Yoshihiro Kawaoka at the University of Wisconsin–Madison was finally and fully published today in the journal Nature. The full journal article: Experimental adaptation of an influenza H5 HA confers respiratory droplet transmission to a reassortant H5 HA/H1N1 virus in ferrets."
Sun Microsystems

Submission + - Sun Cooling, Soon to Have Four Poles, Say Japanese Astrophysicists (asahi.com) 1

Submitted by Jeremiah Cornelius
Jeremiah Cornelius writes: Officials of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and the Riken research foundation said on April 19 that the activity of sunspots appeared to resemble a 70-year period in the 17th century. Known as the Maunder Minimum, temperatures are estimated to have been about 2.5 degrees lower than in the second half of the 20th century. The researchers also found signs of unusual magnetic changes in the sun. Normally, the sun’s magnetic field flips about once every 11 years. The solar observation satellite Hinode found that the north pole of the sun had started flipping about a year earlier than expected, with no noticeable change in the south pole. It's possible the north pole could complete its flip in May 2012 but create a four-pole magnetic structure in the sun, with two new poles created in the vicinity of the equator of our closest star.
Government

Submission + - Twitter Leaks Obama's Visit To Afghanistan (itproportal.com)

Submitted by hypnosec
hypnosec writes: When you're the President of the United States, sometimes certain activities you're involved in can be hard to keep secret — and yesterday was no exception, after Twitter let it slip that Obama was secretly in Kabul. On Tuesday, the White House released a fabricated itinerary — consisting of all-day meetings in the Oval Office to cover up the fact that Obama was secretly flying to Afghanistan. Whilst only a few US journalists were aware of this event, by mid-morning, a lot more people were suddenly in on the revelation courtesy of Twitter. The first tweet to let the virtual cat out of the bag was Afghanistan news site TOLOnews which reported: "United States President Barack Obama has arrived in Kabul to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai." To the innocent public, it sounds like a great opportunity for the US President to become better acquainted with Afghanistan. To the not-so-innocent public? The perfect opportunity to launch a terrorist act.
Programming

Submission + - EU Court: Programming Languages Not Copyrightable (itworld.com)

Submitted by
itwbennett
itwbennett writes: "The European Court of Justice ruled on Wednesday that the functionality of a computer program and the programming language it is written in cannot be protected by copyright. In its ruling on a a case brought by SAS Institute against World Programming Limited (WPL), the court said that 'the purchaser of a license for a program is entitled, as a rule, to observe, study or test its functioning so as to determine the ideas and principles which underlie that program.'"

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