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Comment Re:Welcome to the club (Score 1) 112

The odds are 1 in ({number of different symbols per character} to the power of {length of ciphertext}) - 1 of it being the plaintext.
If the OTP is truely random, then a ciphertext can be decoded to any possible permutation of the same length with equal probability.

Take for example the ciphertext TIGZIFZOMASDRVBTJFVTS:

With an OTP of ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTU it decodes to THEWEATHERISFINETODAY,
while an OTP of LPOIIXMGZUQDYDBGGCHNA yields ITSRAININGCATSANDDOGS.

Without knowing the original OTP you have no way of knowing which of these decodes (or all other legible) is the correct one.
Of course many decodes will result in gibberish as well (e.g. OTP 123456789012345678901).
In this case the probability that any given message is the correct one (without being able to decide that, of course) is 1 in 7,31e+43.
Its likelier to win the lottery and be struck by lightning on the same day.

To try it out for your self look here: http://www.braingle.com/braint...

Comment OS source access is already blocked (Score 2, Informative) 51

Looks like Foundry27 is being canned:

Effective April 9th 2010, QNX Software Systems has updated its source code access policy. This FAQ has been prepared for customers, partners, and hobbyists and provides details on what has changed.
Q. What has changed under the new source code policy?

Under the new policy, QNX Software Systems will continue to make its proprietary OS and middleware source code available to qualified customers, partners, and educational institutions. However, some of this code will no longer be available to hobbyists or to the general public.

The new policy classifies proprietary QNX source code as either Open (available to anyone under an open source license), Accessible (available to customers, partners, educational institutions, and hobbyists under a new click-through agreement), or Restricted (available to customers and partners with an approved QNX Restricted Content Application).

For example, QNX Software Systems will:

* continue to provide board support packages (BSPs) as open source
* provide various libraries and utilities as Accessible source
* provide source code for the QNX microkernel as Restricted source

Does anyone have a torrent with the current source?

Space

Spectrum of Light Captured From Distant World 32

An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from Cosmos: "Astronomers have made the first direct capture of a spectrum of light from a planet outside the Solar System and are deciphering its composition. The light was snared from a giant planet that orbits a bright young star called HR 8799 about 130 light-years from Earth, said the European Southern Observatory (ESO). ... The find is important, because hidden within a light spectrum are clues about the relative amounts of different elements in the planet's atmosphere. 'The features observed in the spectrum are not compatible with current theoretical models,' said co-author Wolfgang Brandner. 'We need to take into account a more detailed description of the atmospheric dust clouds, or accept that the atmosphere has a different chemical composition from that previously assumed.' The result represents a milestone in the search for life elsewhere in the universe, said the ESO. Until now, astronomers have been able to get only an indirect light sample from an exoplanet, as worlds beyond our Solar System are called. They do this by measuring the spectrum of a star twice — while an orbiting exoplanet passes near to the front of it, and again while the planet is directly behind it. The planet's spectrum is thus calculated by subtracting one light sample from another."

Submission + - German "Die Piratenpartei" (Pirate Party) gets 2% 1

the_doctor_23 writes: "The German Piratenpartei managed to win 2% of the votes in yesterdays federal election.
While they will not be represented in parliarment due to a 5% minimum threshold,
this is none the less a remarkable feat for the young party modeled after Sweden's Piratpartiet.
According to polls the pirates attracted as many as 13% of the first time voters."
Google

Submission + - Google Deletes Rogue Ads, Dangers Persist

An anonymous reader writes: Google has removed ads that appear alongside Google search results that re-directed users to malicious sites. But, according to security experts, the fix is temporary and search engine users should not assume sponsored links are all trustworthy.

http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/004248 .html

"Search engines are just too easy a target for bad guys," says Roger Thompson of Exploit Security Labs. On April 25, Exploit Prevention Labs reported that malware distributors were using advertisements placed via Google's automated AdWords system to infect unsuspecting end-users with spyware designed to capture bank login user names and passwords.
Supercomputing

Submission + - Mouse brain simulated on computer

philippic writes: The BBC is reporting that "US researchers have simulated half a virtual mouse brain on a supercomputer. The scientists ran a "cortical simulator" that was as big and as complex as half of a mouse brain on the BlueGene L supercomputer."
Amiga

Submission + - Fred Fish Died

just another Amiga user writes: "It seems Fred Fish (Amiga Fish disks, gcc, gdb, binutils) passed away on Friday, 20 April 2007:

http://www.diveadx.com/ documents his cruises on a Nordhavn trawler.

http://www.amiga.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?p ost_id=441811&topic_id=37582&forum=22, look for the comment by his wife Michelle.

http://www.nabble.com/Fred-Fish-will-be-missed-t36 49533.html, by his son.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Fish, Wiki entry."

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