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Ubuntu

Submission + - Electronic Frontier Foundation Demands Ubuntu To Disable Online Search (muktware.com)

Submitted by sfcrazy
sfcrazy writes: Ubuntu 12.10 met with some controversy before and after it's launch. Initially it was about the inclusion of Amazon Ads and privacy in the latest edition of Ubuntu. Now, EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation, has also raised concern around data leak and Amazon ads. EFF demands that Ubuntu should Disable "Include online search results" by default. Users should be able to install Ubuntu and immediately start using it without having to worry about leaking search queries or sending potentially private information to third party companies. Since many users might find this feature useful, consider displaying a dialog the first time a user logs in that asks if they would like to opt-in.
Transportation

Submission + - Glow-In-The-Dark Smart Highways Coming To the Netherlands in 2013 (wired.co.uk)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Netherlands is moving forward with plans to build "smart" highways that can become more easily visible or communicate weather conditions to drivers. Work will begin as early as next year. 'Special paint will also be used to paint markers like snowflakes across the road's surface — when temperatures fall to a certain point, these images will become visible, indicating that the surface will likely be slippery. Roosegaarde says this technology has been around for years, on things like baby food — the studio has just upscaled it. The first few hundred metres of glow in the dark, weather-indicating road will be installed in the province of Brabant in mid-2013, followed by priority induction lanes for electric vehicles, interactive lights that switch on as cars pass and wind-powered lights within the next five years.'
Electronic Frontier Foundation

Submission + - EFF, 9 other groups, push Open Wireless Movement (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
netbuzz
netbuzz writes: "Forging ahead with an initiative that proved controversial when introduced last year, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and nine other groups today are advancing the Open Wireless Movement to encourage ubiquitous sharing of Internet access. "We envision a world where sharing one's Internet connection is the norm," said EFF Activist Adi Kamdar, in a press release. "A world of open wireless would encourage privacy, promote innovation, and benefit the public good, giving us network access whenever we need it. And everyone – users, businesses, developers, and Internet service providers – can get involved to help make it happen.""
Bug

Submission + - Microsoft Site Loophole Lets Anyone Buy Windows 8 Pro For Just $15

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: If you bought a Windows 7 PC after June 2, you’re eligible for a discounted Windows 8 Pro upgrade for just $15. If you lie and tell Microsoft you bought a Windows 7 PC after June 2, you can also get a discounted Windows 8 Pro upgrade for just $15, thanks to a loophole in the official Windows Upgrade Offer site.
Technology

Submission + - ARM Announces 64-Bit Cortex-A50 Architecture (hothardware.com)

Submitted by
MojoKid
MojoKid writes: "ARM debuted its new 64-bit microarchitecture today and announced the upcoming launch of a new set of Cortex processors, due in 2014. The two new chip architectures, dubbed the Cortex-A53 and Cortex-A57, are the most advanced CPUs the British company has ever built, and are integral to AMD's plans to drive dense server applications beginning in 2014. The new ARMv8 architecture adds 64-bit memory addressing, increases the number of general purpose registers to 30, and increases the size of the vector registers for NEON/SIMD operations. The Cortex-A57 and A-53 are both aimed at the mobile market. Partners that've already signed on to build ARMv8-based hardware include Samsung, AMD, Broadcom, Calxeda, and STMicro."
Space

Submission + - The space sim isn't dead after all! (robertsspaceindustries.com)

Submitted by cwebster
cwebster writes: Chris Roberts' (creator of the wing commander series) new foray into PC games is officially a "go". The new game, Star Citizen, is slated to be what anyone who has played wing commander or privateer dreams it could be. Best of all, Chris cut out the publishers (EA owns the rights to WC) and is self funding this project. There are 20 days left in the funding campaign to meet the ambitious stretch goals. Contribute at kickstarter or the main site for the game.
Programming

Submission + - Closed-Source Team Development at Cost Zero (techgage.com)

Submitted by
Deathspawner
Deathspawner writes: "Many Web services provide open-source teams with an infrastructure for collaborative development, but what if you're a small team with little-to-no funding looking to develop closed-sourced software? Without fully being aware of your options, many believe that closed-source team collaboration is impossible on no budget. That's anything but the truth, however. Techgage explores how it can be done, encompassing server hosting, revision control, bug-tracking and other key development requirements."
Security

Submission + - Security researcher shares blow-by-blow account of advanced persistent threat (networkworld.com)

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: Gianni Gnesa, security researcher at Ptrace Security, based in Switzerland, shared the inside story this week at the Hacker Halted conference in Miami about a recent attack on a Swiss firm to steal important data. "Unfortunately, IDS [intrusion-detection systems] didn't detect them," he said, nothing that the hacker victimized an employee (using Windows 7) via an email sent responding to a Craiglist posting, then wormed his way into the company, hacking through a networked printer to snag sensitive data.
Microsoft

Submission + - Windows 8 Sells 4 Million Copies Since Launch (cnet.com) 1

Submitted by arctus
arctus writes: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the initial success of Windows 8 at the BUILD conference on Friday. Ballmer also noted a 670 million Windows 7 install base as another incentive for developers to begin creating Windows 8 applications. On the list of notable developers was ERP giant SAP. Developers at the conference received 100 GB of SkyDrive storage for free and a Microsoft Surface RT system
Crime

Submission + - Getty Images is stealing Creative Commons pictures. (flickr.com)

Submitted by
epSos-de
epSos-de writes: "Getty Images caused controversy for its aggressive pursuit of copyright enforcement on behalf of its photographers.

In reality Getty Images is stealing rights from photographers and publishers. Almost all of the pictures of epSos.de on Flickr were published under the Creative Commons license. Getty Images is licensing pictures from epSos.de through the Flickr account. After licensing the images they change the copyright from free to use to all rights reserved. It is a digital type of theft of free pictures.

The stolen picture is here:
www.flickr.com/photos/epsos/5394616925/

The screen-shot of the digital theft is here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/epsos/8138893914/

They will probably try to sue people for using the free picture that was published under the creative commons license first."
Encryption

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Is TSA's PreCheck System Easy to Game? (wordpress.com)

Submitted by OverTheGeicoE
OverTheGeicoE writes: TSA has had a preferred traveler program, PreCheck, for a while now. Frequent fliers and other individuals with prior approval from DHS can avoid some minor annoyances of airport security, like removing shoes and light jackets, but not all of the time. TSA likes to be random and unpredictable, so PreCheck participants don't always get the full benefits of PreCheck. Apparently the decision about PreCheck is made when the boarding pass is printed, and a traveler's PreCheck authorization is encoded, unencrypted, on the boarding pass barcode. In theory, one could use a barcode-reading Web site (like this one, perhaps) to translate a barcode into text to determine your screening level before a flight. One might even be able to modify the boarding pass using PhotoShop or the GIMP to, for example, get the screening level of your choice. I haven't been able to verify this information, but I bet Slashdot can. Is TSA's PreCheck system really that easy to game? If you have an old boarding pass lying around, can you read the barcode and verify that the information in TFA is correct?
Hardware

Submission + - New York Data Centers Battle Floods, Utility Outages (datacenterknowledge.com)

Submitted by miller60
miller60 writes: At least three data center buildings in lower Manhattan are struggling with power problems amid widespread flooding and utility outages caused by Hurricane Sandy. Flooded basements at two sites took out diesel fuel pumps, leaving them unable to refuel generators on higher levels. One of these was Datagram, which knocked out Buzzfeed and the Gawker network of sites. At 111 8th Avenue, some tenants lost power when Equinix briefly experienced generator problems.
Android

Submission + - Using magnets to interact with your tablet (makezine.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Via MAKE blogzine:
"Tangible interface designer and inventor Andrea Bianchi, along with his colleague, Ian Oakley (University of Madeira / Carnegie Mellon Europe), have come with a novel approach to interacting with a mobile device. Using the magnetometer built into most modern smartphones, Bianchi and Oakley have created a series of tangible user interface demonstrations that go beyond what’s achievable with capacitive touch displays."

Full story: http://blog.makezine.com/2012/10/29/magnetic-appcessories-with-andrea-bianchi/

Related video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BDqOXpkDoQ4
Science

Submission + - Smart Neanderthals copied human tools (nature.com) 1

Submitted by
ananyo
ananyo writes: "Fossils and artefacts pulled from the Grotte du Renne cave in central France present anthropologists with a Pleistocene puzzle. Strewn among the remains of prehistoric mammals are the bones of Neanderthals, along with bladelets, bone points and body ornaments belonging to what archaeologists call the Châtelperronian culture. Such complex artifacts are often attributed to modern humans, but a new report suggests that Neanderthals created the objects in imitation of their Homo sapiens neighbors.
The remains and artifacts were found together during excavations between 1949 and 1963, but were thought to be mixed together from different strata -so that artifacts created by modern humans were in Neanderthal layers. But if Neanderthals left the assemblage, as the researchers suggest on the basis of carbon dating, then they were capable of a degree of symbolic behaviour thought to be unique to humans."
Security

Submission + - Feds Warn as Insecure Industrial Systems Attract Hacktivists (csoonline.com)

Submitted by
CWmike
CWmike writes: "Security researchers fed up with what they see as the glacial pace with which vendors fix holes in industrial control systems have exposed vulnerabilities that raised concerns among federal officials. The latest security weaknesses, as well as troubling trends in the hacker underground, led the Department of Homeland Security to warn late last week of an increasing security risk to the control systems used by power utilities, water treatment plants and manufacturing. Friday's warning stemmed from a report of a vulnerability found in ICS equipment sold by 261 manufacturers. Researchers with security vendor Digital Bond reported that Smart Software Solutions' CoDeSys product lets anyone upload code without authentication. The software is used in programmable logic controllers (PLCs), which are computers used in control systems to automate tasks. Dale Peterson, chief executive for Digital Bond, said 3S designed the product without authentication, so the vendor knew about the vulnerability. 'They chose to design the product that way,' Peterson said Monday. Digital Bond, along with researchers from other organizations, have embarked on a research effort called Project Basecamp that is dedicated to exposing security weaknesses in ICS devices in order to prod manufacturers into fixing the problems. Many of the systems were built before the Internet was introduced in networks that also contain control systems. 'We call these insecure-by-design issues,' Peterson said. 'These PLCs that run power plants, oil pipelines and things like that were designed with no security in them and that's been allowed to continue.'"
Microsoft

Submission + - Windows Phone 8 having trouble attracting developers (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle
colinneagle writes: Microsoft has promised that cross-platform development across the 8s – from Windows 8 on a desktop to Windows Phone 8 – will be a simple matter, but that's still not enough to get some developers moving on Windows Phone 8 support. The Windows Phone platform has made a remarkable recovery since its reset with version 7. Since then, WP7 has grown to 100,000 apps.

But that pales in comparison to the 675,000 in Google Play and 700,000 in the Apple App Store. Granted, there's a ton of redundancy – how many weather or newsfeed apps does one person need? – but it points to availability and developer support. A report from VentureBeat points out what should be obvious: that while developers like Windows 8, they aren't as excited about Windows Phone 8 software because they have already made huge investments in other platforms and don't want to support another platform.

A survey by IDC and Appcelerator found 78% of Android developers were "very interested" in programming for Android smartphones, a slight drop from the 83% in a prior survey. Interest in the iPhone and iPad remained undiminished, with 89% and 88% interest, respectively.
Cellphones

Submission + - 48-Core Intel Chip Could Redefine Smartphones, Tablets (computerworld.com)

Submitted by
CWmike
CWmike writes: "Intel researchers are working on a 48-core processor for smartphones and tablets, but it could be five to 10 years before it hits the market. Having a 48-core chip in a small mobile device would open up a whole new world of possibilities. 'If we're going to have this technology in five to 10 years, we could finally do things that take way too much processing power today,' said analyst Patrick Moorhead. 'This could really open up our concept of what is a computer... The phone would be smart enough to not just be a computer but it could be my computer.' Enric Herrero, a research scientist at Intel Labs in Barcelona, explained that with the prototype chip someone could, for instance, be encrypting an email while also working on other power-intensive apps at the same time — without hiccups. Same for HD video. Intel's Tanausu Ramirez said it could also boost battery life. 'The chip also can take the energy and split it up and distribute it between different applications,' he said. Justin Rattner, Intel's CTO, told Computerworld that a 48-core chip for small mobile devices could hit the market 'much sooner' than the researchers' 10-year prediction."
China

Submission + - Individual Mac Users Targeted With Malware (itworld.com)

Submitted by
jfruh
jfruh writes: "The geek world knows that OS X's invulnerability to malware, always overstated, has long gone out the window. But there's a disturbing new trend that in specific individuals known to use Macs are subject to spear-phishing attacks that aim to put malware on their Macs. Many of the victims are associated with human rights groups, some of which promote Tibetan causes (and indeed the Dalai Lama was famously spotted with a 17-inch MacBook)."
Government

Submission + - Irked by cyberspying, Georgia outs Russia-based hacker (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "In one of the photos, the dark-haired, bearded hacker is peering into his computer's screen, perhaps puzzled at what's happening. Minutes later, he cuts his computer's connection, realizing he has been discovered. In an unprecedented move, the country of Georgia — irritated by persistent cyber-spying attacks — has published two photos of a Russia-based hacker who, the Georgians allege, waged a persistent, months-long campaign that stole confidential information from Georgian government ministries, parliament, banks and NGOs."

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