Comment Re:Slashdot users are niggers (Score -1, Flamebait) 94
On the contrary, they are almost certainly more white than the general population.
By that I mean, you did not get first post.
Comment Re:Good to keep in mind (Score 2) 421
Operating expenses for something like the Iraq war (or a new, unnecessary war in Iran) could be cut 100% without touching the kind of research programs you are talking about.
Comment Re:Good to keep in mind (Score 1) 421
Let the space industry become fully privatized, except for the parts which have military relevance (since the military still isn't fully privatized).
Then the invisible hand can decide optimally how we will invest in manned spaceflight. No wasted surplus labor. Right?
Comment Re:Good to keep in mind (Score 1) 421
Which are the "more controlling and hateful religions" you would like to exclude?
Comment Re:Good to keep in mind (Score 1) 421
Please consult any source, like this http://www.ontheissues.org/john_kerry.htm to see a huge pile of statements which Romney would never agree with.
You can still say there are no good options, but it isn't correct to say that there are no differences
Comment Re:Good to keep in mind (Score 1) 421
Doing it regularly has nothing to do with it, rather what is needed is a sustainable profit from doing it. That still isn't there and it won't get there by wishing hard
Comment Re:Microsoftesque? (Score 1) 352
Acer is plenty big enough to run an app store in China. Or did you forget that China is fucking huge?
Comment Re:simple answer (Score 1) 570
Sure they do, vis-a-vis their incorporeal proxies
Submission + - Australian Gov't quiety passes New Internet Snooping laws (smh.com.au)
CuteSteveJobs writes: Yesterday Australian Attorney-General Nicola Roxon passed new laws allowing the authorities to "collect and keep Australians' internet records, including their web-browsing history, social media activity and emails." Roxon said the new powers will be used to find people "engaged in forgery, fraud, child pornography, and infringement of copyright and intellectual property". Greens Senator Scott Ludlam says the laws went further than necessary, and the government had failed to explain why the far-reaching powers were needed: ''The European treaty doesn't require ongoing collection and retention of communications, but the Australian bill does." Ludlam said the new laws are a "lite" version of the laws Roxon had only two weeks ago promised to delay until after the next election. Australian human rights lawyer Jen Robinson described it as a "A sad day for civil liberties."
Submission + - Apple Yanks 'Genius' Ads For Good (ibtimes.com)
redletterdave writes: "After an extremely brief run during this year's Olympics, Apple on Thursday pulled down all three of the controversial "Genius" ads from its website and YouTube channel after receiving an unprecedented amount of criticism from fans and former employees."
Submission + - AWS Glacier storage is around 90% cheaper than S3 (planforcloud.com)
Julesndiamonds writes: "PlanForCloud, a free cloud forecasting site, tested out Amazon Glacier vs S3 and found: "If you start with 100GB then add 10GB/month, it would cost $102.60 after 3 years on AWS Glacier vs $1,282.50 on AWS S3! That makes Glacier around 90% cheaper than S3 and a great long term data-archive option if the slow retrieval time is not an issue for you."
Jon Brodkin of ArsTechnia further differentiates the two services:
"Amazon said that S3 will in many cases be the more cost-effective option 'for data that you’ll need to retrieve in greater volume more frequently' Glacier is really for the data you can't delete (perhaps for legal and regulatory reasons) but will hardly ever need.""
Jon Brodkin of ArsTechnia further differentiates the two services:
"Amazon said that S3 will in many cases be the more cost-effective option 'for data that you’ll need to retrieve in greater volume more frequently' Glacier is really for the data you can't delete (perhaps for legal and regulatory reasons) but will hardly ever need.""
Submission + - Ubi Always On Voice-Activated Android Servant PC Breaks out on Kickstarter (hothardware.com)
MojoKid writes: "Kickstarter is proving to be the place to go if you have an Android concept in need of funding. Ouya, a $99 Android console that blew by its original goal of raising $950,000 in funds and ended up with nearly $8.6 million instead, and now we're seeing similar excitement for Ubi, a ubiquitous Android PC that is always on and responds to voice commands. Ubi's developers only sought to raise $36,000 to pay the bills, lower costs, and pay for safety certifications, and with 26 days still to go, the project has more than doubled its funding goal with over $81,000 in pledges from 500 backers. From a hardware standpoint, Ubi is an Android PC that plugs into the wall like a fixture and consists of an ARM Cortex A8 processor clocked at 800MHz, 1GB of RAM, 802.11n Wi-Fi, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 4.0, various sensors (temperature, humidity, air pressure, ambient light) and a few other odds and ends."
Submission + - NASA Releases Fully Enhanced Video Of Curiosity's Descent (ibtimes.com)
redletterdave writes: "More than two weeks after the Curiosity rover successfully landed on Mars, NASA on Wednesday released a full-resolution video of Curiosity's descent to the red planet. The new video of Curiosity's descent was created from a composite of 1,054 1600 x 1200 images, which were captured by the Curiosity's onboard Mars Descent Imager (MARDI). The result features full color balance, sharpening and heavy noise reduction, and it can all be viewed in full 1080p HD."
Submission + - Private Key Found Embedded in Major SCADA Equipment (digitalbond.com)
sl4shd0rk writes: RuggedOS (A Siemens Subsidiary of Flame and Stuxnet fame), an Operating System used in mission-critical hardware such as routers and SCADA gear, has been found to contain an embedded private encryption key. Now that all affected RuggedCom devices are sharing the same key, a compromise on one device gets you the rest for free. If the claims are valid, systems in use which would be affected include US Navy, petroleum giant Chevron, and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. The SCADA gear which RuggedOS typically runs on are often connected to machinery controlling electrical substations, traffic control systems, and other critical infrastructure. This is the second security nightmare for RuggedCom this year, the first being the discovery of a backdoor containing a non-modifiable account.
Submission + - Google Building Privacy Red Team (threatpost.com)
Trailrunner7 writes: Google, which has come under fire for years for its privacy practices and recently settled a privacy related case with the Federal Trade Commission that resulted in a $22.5 million fine, is building out a privacy "red team", a group of people charged with finding and resolving privacy risks in the company's products.
The concept of a red team is one that's been used in security for decades, with small teams of experts trying to break a given software application, get into a network or circumvent a security system as part of a penetration test or a similar engagement. The idea is sometimes applied in the real world as well, in the form of people attempting to gain entry to a secure facility or other restricted area.
But Google's concept of building an internal team to look critically at engineering and other decisions in the company's products and services that could involve user privacy risks is perhaps a unique one. The company has been a frequent target for criticism from privacy advocates and government agencies regarding its privacy practices. The most recent incident was the settlement with the FTC earlier this month in a case that revolved around whether Google was circumventing the browser settings on Safari to place tracking cookies on users' machines. While not admitting any fault, Google agreed to pay the $22.5 million fine, the highest ever in such a case.
The concept of a red team is one that's been used in security for decades, with small teams of experts trying to break a given software application, get into a network or circumvent a security system as part of a penetration test or a similar engagement. The idea is sometimes applied in the real world as well, in the form of people attempting to gain entry to a secure facility or other restricted area.
But Google's concept of building an internal team to look critically at engineering and other decisions in the company's products and services that could involve user privacy risks is perhaps a unique one. The company has been a frequent target for criticism from privacy advocates and government agencies regarding its privacy practices. The most recent incident was the settlement with the FTC earlier this month in a case that revolved around whether Google was circumventing the browser settings on Safari to place tracking cookies on users' machines. While not admitting any fault, Google agreed to pay the $22.5 million fine, the highest ever in such a case.
