57048525
submission
dutchwhizzman writes:
Facebook is convincing partner mobile operators in third world countries to unlock not the entire internet, but just facebook for it's subscribers with a special "facebook only" subscription. By doing so, they are promoting a model where an ISP or operator can charge a fee per web site, instead of flat access rates to the entire network. With the recent agreement between Netflix and Comcast where netflix has to pay Comcast to provide proper service to it's already paying subscribers, we're seeing a worrisome future for flat fee data plans emerge.
56325113
submission
dutchwhizzman writes:
A journalist bought a substance known as "full size MGF" that is said to be undetectable by current doping detection methods. The substance has only been used in clinical animal trials and is supposed to reinforce muscle tissue. The press in Europe is running a big story that the drug can't be detected and people that spend 100,000 dollars will have an unfair advantage at the Winter Olympics. While current methods may not be able to detect the substance used, it is inevitable that future detection will be possible. Shouldn't the question be rephrased to "Will the samples taken from athletes at the 2014 Winter Olympics contain traces of full size MGF?"
46865281
submission
dutchwhizzman writes:
In a small town in the Netherlands, people from the hacking scene, police, cyber soldiers and several government agencies gathered to discuss their differences. (https://www.opcyberpaint.nl/ Dutch Language, as well as the video link below) This time, not only words were used, but paint ball guns were chosen to make arguments that words just could not bring across. Pictures can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/40532667@N08/sets/72157633705123865/
36912213
submission
dutchwhizzman writes:
Polish security researcher Adam Gowdiak submitted bug reports for the current Java 7 zero day exploit that's wreaking havoc all over the Internet months ago. It seems that Oracle can't or won't take such reports seriously? Is it really time to ditch Oracle's java and go for an open source VM?
29580549
submission
dutchwhizzman writes:
Kim Dotcom, Also known as the hacker Kimble, owner of MegaUpload has just been released on bail. The judge thought he wouldn't be able to flee, because he won't have access to his money. The question is now, if someone has dozens of bank accounts and a safe room, wouldn't he be burying some maple leafs around the globe as well?
28574301
submission
dutchwhizzman writes:
The surviving members of Monty Python have announced they will make a new movie. It will be titled "Absolutely Anything". Graham Chapman won't be there to join them anymore, but they think the movie will still be in the spirit of "Life of Brian", "The meaning of Life" and other movies they made in the past.
28495693
submission
dutchwhizzman writes:
Google announced they are dropping the 60 or so privacy policies their various products have and are adopting a single one. How evil will it turn out to be?
26833382
submission
dutchwhizzman writes:
Today, Tomtom, fabricator of location and route planning software and devices, announced a big reorganization. Once the biggest player in the market, TomTom is now one of the many companies offering a little box or an app that guides you to where you want to go. Also the built in navigation features of many new cars eat away at TomToms empire, it seems. Roughly 10% of the staff will have to find employment elsewhere. About half of them will be fired, the other half will not be replaced when their contracts end.
26692030
submission
dutchwhizzman writes:
Sunday December 5th, at least 45 tons of radioactive water was leaked at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear site in Japan. The water, from a purification system, may have reached the ocean, according to Tepco, the owner of the plant.
26160678
submission
dutchwhizzman writes:
This Sunday the 20th of November, Sergio Scaglietti has left us for a better place, after spending 91 years with us. He is known as the designer one of the most expensive cars in the world today, the Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa.
25055006
submission
dutchwhizzman writes:
Uturuncu is a Bolivian supervolcano. Research suggests that it has an eruption frequency of roughly 300.000 years and the last eruption was, give or take a few years, 300.000 years ago. Research suggests that it started raising in a 70 km circumference by 1 to 2 centimeters per year, making it the fastest growing volcano on the planet.
Break out the tin foil hats, and store plenty of canned beans, because it may just erupt before Yellowstone pops it's cork.
24649664
submission
dutchwhizzman writes:
At the age of 70, Dennis Richie, creator of the programming language C and one of the founders of UNIX, has passed away on October the 8th. We all benefit of the things he has done for humanity and the development of computers. May he rest in peace.
24324670
submission
dutchwhizzman writes:
Amsterdam based Usenet wholesale provider News Service Europe has been mandated by the court to remove all copyright infringing content on their servers, or face severe financial penalties. Dutch copyright MAFIAA organization BREIN has won a court case making the usenet provider responsible for the content posted on other platforms than their own.
Could this be the end of usenet as we know it, or will an appeal be won by NSE? Why didn't the judge make the provider that allowed the posts responsible? Why did the judge not honor the "cancel message" procedure that technically exists in the NNTP protocol?
23331508
submission
dutchwhizzman writes:
Today a Dutch court banned the Galaxy S, Galaxy S2 and the Ace. The ban will only apply to these devices when running Android 2.3 and is effective starting October 15th. The ban is based on apples scrolling patent and this is "fixed" in Android 3. It is expected that Samsung will upgrade to Android 3 very soon, probably before October 15th.
22544096
submission
dutchwhizzman writes:
Bill Coughran, SVP for Research and Systems Infrastructure, announced severely limiting of Google labs. They won't pull the plug completely, but the nifty features in several google apps that were available via labs, will most likely not get updated, and fewer new ones will appear.
