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Comment Help! (Score 2) 23

I can't express how happy I am to hear this news. It's been 26 years since I felt my legs down there. I am from India, and just another engineer in the crowd. I don't think I can afford that right now but can anyone give me directions, should I contact these people to make me the part of experiments or something? It would be great if slashdot people help me to find out a path to reach there. Thanks to the researchers who made it possible and showing a silver-lining to the people suffering from such conditions.

Submission + - Hacking a 'Smart' Sniper Rifle (wired.com)

An anonymous reader writes: It was inevitable: as soon as we heard about the computer-aimed rifles, we knew somebody would find a way to compromise their security. At the upcoming Black Hat security conference, researchers Runa Sandvik and Michael Auger will present their techniques for doing just that. "Their tricks can change variables in the scope’s calculations that make the rifle inexplicably miss its target, permanently disable the scope’s computer, or even prevent the gun from firing." In one demonstration they were able to tweak the rifle's ballistic calculations by making it think a piece of ammunition weighed 72 lbs instead of 0.4 ounces. After changing this value, the gun tries to automatically adjust for the weight, and shoots significantly to the left. Fortunately, they couldn't find a way to make the gun fire without physically pulling the trigger.

Submission + - Wired and wireless LANs in Cuba

lpress writes: Cuba has developed a hacker/maker culture out of necessity and neighborhood local area networks are one manifestation of that culture. The networks are used for file sharing, game playing, and discussion of sports, culture, technology, etc., but not politics. We all stand to benefit from Cuban innovation.

Submission + - MasterCard Releases Open API Declaration

rjmarvin writes: MasterCard has released an Open API Declaration http://sdtimes.com/mastercard-... filled with promises from MasterCard to developers using its APIs. Sebastien Taveau, chief developer evangelist at MasterCard, said that building APIs requires openness and dialogue with the developers who will be consuming it. The MasterCard Open API Declaration includes a quote from the company’s CEO, Ajay Banga, who wrote in the declaration that MasterCard is “bringing together developers and entrepreneurs using MasterCard APIs to create new applications to drive a new generation of commerce through our products, solutions and services.” The declaration https://developer.mastercard.c... contains promises such as “When a developer requests a technology feature or reports a problem, the Open API Team won’t just listen. We’ll act" and offers a road map for the MasterCard APIs and toolsets out to 2020.

Submission + - Mozilla Disables Flash in Firefox by Default

Trailrunner7 writes: As the zero days in Adobe Flash continue to pile up, Mozilla has taken the unusual step of disabling by default all versions of Flash in Firefox.

The move is a temporary one as Adobe prepares to patch two vulnerabilities in Flash that were discovered as a result of the HackingTeam document dump last week. Both vulnerabilities are use-after-free bugs that can be used to gain remote code execution. One of the flaws is in Action Script 3 while the other is in the BitMapData component of Flash.

Exploits for these vulnerabilities were found in the data taken from HackingTeam in the attack disclosed last week. An exploit for one of the Flash vulnerabilities, the one in ActionScript 3, has been integrated into the Angler exploit kit already and there’s a module for it in the Metasploit Framework, as well.

Submission + - As Cloud Growth Booms, Server Farms Get Super-Sized (datacenterfrontier.com)

1sockchuck writes: Internet titans are concentrating massive amounts of computing power in regional cloud campuses housing multiple data centers. These huge data hubs, often in rural communities, enable companies to rapidly add server capacity and electric power amid rapid growth of cloud hosting and social sharing. As this growth continues, we'll see more of these cloud campuses, and they’ll be bigger than the ones we see today. Some examples from this month: Google filed plans for a mammoth 800,000 square foot data center near Atlanta, Equinix announced 1 million square feet of new data centers on its campus in Silicon Valley, and Facebook began work on a $1 billion server farm in Texas that will span 750,000 square feet.

Submission + - Hillary Clinton takes aim at 'Uber economy' (marketwatch.com)

SonicSpike writes: In a major campaign speech in New York City, the former secretary of state didn’t mention the ride-sharing service by name. But it was pretty clear what sort of companies she was talking about when she got to how some Americans earn money.

“Many Americans are making extra money renting out a spare room, designing websites, selling products they design themselves at home, or even driving their own car,” she said at the New School.

But that sort of work comes with its own problems, she said.

“This ‘on demand’ or so-called ‘gig economy’ ... is raising hard questions about workplace protections and what a good job will look like in the future,” Clinton added.

Submission + - Rich and American? Australia wants you

An anonymous reader writes: Following the success of a millionaire visa program to attract wealthy Chinese, Australia has launched an invite-only visa program that promises citizenship to rich American entrepreneurs. To meet the requirements of the Premium Investment Visa plan Americans must first invest around 15 million Australian dollars. Reuters reports: "Investment advisors who have been briefed on the plan by government officials expressed doubts about the wisdom of targeting Americans, with several telling Reuters the more obvious place to start was Australia's Asian neighbors. After all, why would a successful U.S. entrepreneur want to invest a large chunk of cash in Australia — a country very similar to the United States, just further away from everything — in exchange for a passport that carries few additional benefits to their own? 'The U.S. has some problems that Australia doesn't have. It's got a lot more racial crimes, it's got a lot more gun-related crimes, but I don't think that is going to drive a whole bunch of ultra-rich Americans out of their country,' said Bill Fuggle, a partner at law firm Baker & McKenzie who advises wealthy Chinese migrating to Australia."

Submission + - Indian government : Too many stupid bans

vinaychittora writes: Last couple of months, Indian government is trying to censor internet, tv, movies and even standup comedy shows. Here is a list of some of the most stupid bans ever in the history.
  • The AIB Roast, which was a similar show as "Comedy Central Roast", It was broadcasted on youtube.
  • The long list of what the Censor Board thinks are cuss words, the weird part is they banned the word "lesbian".
  • Beef is banned in Maharashtra, considering the fact cow leather is allowed to use.
  • Parties in Karnataka with foreign invitees unless under police supervision.
  • India's Daughter, the BBC documentary about the brutal and notorious rape case in Delhi is banned.
  • Farewell parties in schools and colleges are banned.
  • Any TV program that discusses Hindu traditions are banned.
  • Government tried for the Internet censorship in 1998, 2003 and 2009 and Last month it happened again.
  • Cheerleaders, after parties and liquor at IPL matches are banned.
  • Fifty Shades of Grey is banned.

There are couple of more but I think it's enough to open up a debate about credibility and success of a Democracy. The science and technology are going beyond the solar system, we exploring and trying new methods, the change in the lifestyle all over the word is very rapid. Democracy works it's best by educating and training people with best practices and instruments, Not by banning things. This is not just about India but a matter of debate for all other democratic countries.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Why do mobile versions of websites suck? 4

Kelbear writes: As user traffic over mobile devices grows in leaps and bounds, it's surprising to me as a layman that so many companies still have crippled and broken mobile pages in late 2013. There must be justifiable reasons for this, so: Fellow Slashdotters, can you please share the obstacles you've seen in your own companies that have delayed or defeated efforts to develop competent mobile sites? Are the issues in obtaining or maintaining compatibility driven by platform owners like Apple and Google?

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