Submission + - Burma's cyber dissident bloggers break through (bbc.co.uk)
redbytezone writes: Burma's bloggers are using the internet to beat censorship, and tell the world what is happening under the military junta's veil of secrecy.
Submission + - Novell Make Linux Driver Project a Reality
apokryphos writes: "Novell have relaunched the Linux Driver Project by dedicating well-known kernel developer Greg KH to work on the project full-time. Greg KH writes:
"My employer, Novell, has modified my position to now allow me to work full time on this project. Namely getting more new Linux kernel drivers written, for free, for any company that so desires. And to help manage all of the developers and project managers who want to help out...They really care about helping make Linux support as many devices as possible, with fully open-source drivers.""
"My employer, Novell, has modified my position to now allow me to work full time on this project. Namely getting more new Linux kernel drivers written, for free, for any company that so desires. And to help manage all of the developers and project managers who want to help out...They really care about helping make Linux support as many devices as possible, with fully open-source drivers.""
Submission + - Judge Strikes Down 2 Patriot Act Provisions (nytimes.com)
An anonymous reader writes: An Oregon judge ruled yesterday that two provisions of the Patriot Act were illegal, upholding the right of people to be secure in their homes. The decision is currently being reviewed by the Justice Department, who could not be reached for comment.
Submission + - Two Patriot Act Provisions Ruled Unconstitutional
buswolley writes: Judge Ann Aiken in Federal court ruled two key provisions of the Patriot Act unconstitutional. According to the ruling, the Patriot Act provisions unconstitutionally circumvented the 4th Amendment, and removed the checks and balances provided for by our Constitution. This is a great victory for the people of the United States, and demonstrates the inherent strength of our system of government.
Submission + - Two PATRIOT Act provisions ruled unconstitutional
frdmfghtr writes: CNN is reporting that an Oregon judge has ruled two provisions of the Patriot Act unconstitutional. FTA:
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, set up to review wiretap applications in intelligence cases under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA [as amended by the Patriot Act, stated later in the article], "holds that the Constitution need not control the conduct of criminal surveillance in the United States," Aiken wrote.
"In place of the Fourth Amendment, the people are expected to defer to the executive branch and its representation that it will authorize such surveillance only when appropriate."
The government "is asking this court to, in essence, amend the Bill of Rights, by giving it an interpretation that would deprive it of any real meaning. The court declines to do so," [Judge Ann]Aiken said.
Submission + - Parts of Patriot Act ruled unconstitutional
proverbialcow writes: Two parts of the Patriot Act were ruled unconstitutional by federal Judge Ann Aiken on Wednesday. Quoth the judge, "In place of the Fourth Amendment, the people are expected to defer to the executive branch and its representation that it will authorize such surveillance only when appropriate."
The government "is asking this court to, in essence, amend the Bill of Rights, by giving it an interpretation that would deprive it of any real meaning. The court declines to do so," Aiken said.
The government "is asking this court to, in essence, amend the Bill of Rights, by giving it an interpretation that would deprive it of any real meaning. The court declines to do so," Aiken said.
Submission + - Parts of Patriot Act ruled Unconstitutional (cnn.com)
neapolitan writes: Parts of the Patriot Act have been ruled unconstitutional. This is in response to the FBI wrongly spying on an attorney, with subsequent legal action and criticism of the law that allowed the incorrect surveillance. The summary judgment of Justice Aiken is available.
From the text:
Aiken ruled that FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act], as amended by the Patriot Act, permits the government to conduct surveillance and searches targeting Americans without satisfying the probable-cause standard in the Fourth Amendment.
"Prior to the amendments [to FISA], the three branches of government operated with thoughtful and deliberate checks and balances — a principle upon which our nation was founded," Aiken wrote. But the Patriot Act, she said, eliminated "the constitutionally required interplay between executive action, judicial decision and Congressional enactment."
From the text:
Aiken ruled that FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act], as amended by the Patriot Act, permits the government to conduct surveillance and searches targeting Americans without satisfying the probable-cause standard in the Fourth Amendment.
"Prior to the amendments [to FISA], the three branches of government operated with thoughtful and deliberate checks and balances — a principle upon which our nation was founded," Aiken wrote. But the Patriot Act, she said, eliminated "the constitutionally required interplay between executive action, judicial decision and Congressional enactment."
Submission + - Verizon bans pro choice texting
fermion writes: The NYT is reporting that Verizon has banned text ads based on controversial content. While many would agree that, as a private carrier, Verizon have every right to so do, there are other concerns. For instance, from the article, "The dispute over the Naral messages is a skirmish in the larger battle over the question of "net neutrality" — whether carriers or Internet service providers should have a voice in the content they provide to customers." What makes this more interesting is these are not push messages, but messages requested for one time delivery by the customer. If Verizon is going to play Big Brother and censor customers content, perhaps that is one more reason to move to AT&T, even if it does not provide equal service.
Submission + - A Bank For Geeks
An anonymous reader writes: I just received a notice from my current bank indicating that they are forcing upon me a new privacy policy. The only reason that they've sent me this notice is because it is the law. And they're certainly meeting the absolute bare requirements for meeting the requirements of this law: I can opt-out, but only if I mail them a letter with all of my personal details, including my account numbers and social security number! As a geek, this is obviously the last straw and I'd like to make the switch to a legitimate bank. What are other geeks using?
Submission + - Sun Rocket Fallout continues
solune writes: "So...
My mom was one of the saps that got Sun Rocket when they were offering a "great" deal — a year of phone service for $100 — which helped her keep a reasonable budget and STILL call her relatives overseas.
When sun rocket imploded, she switched to Teleblend, one of the "recommended" companies. It worked well for her because she wouldn't need to switch any of her equipment.
Well, now she's back to square one — Verizon POTS. Teleblend couldn't connect her to holland, and that service ticket somehow got lost in the shuffle. She couldn't connect to her friend in FLORIDA, and THAT ticket was never serviced.
The whole teleblend experience has been nothing but hell for her. Here's the worst part, though: NOWHERE on their user pages is there a simple means to discontinue service. I've looked everywhere, but what I find is a rigamarole about how the influx of sun rocket customers is giving them problems, and they'll have it straigtened out soon.
So, here's my question: has anyone else had this sort of problem with any of the other VOIP providers (teleblend in particular) operating in the United States? Do companies really think it's good business to NOT hire extra temp workers when this sudden type of influx occurs?
And most importantly, why do companies still think it's good business to make it so hard to stop services, especially when their advertising specifically states "quit at any time?""
My mom was one of the saps that got Sun Rocket when they were offering a "great" deal — a year of phone service for $100 — which helped her keep a reasonable budget and STILL call her relatives overseas.
When sun rocket imploded, she switched to Teleblend, one of the "recommended" companies. It worked well for her because she wouldn't need to switch any of her equipment.
Well, now she's back to square one — Verizon POTS. Teleblend couldn't connect her to holland, and that service ticket somehow got lost in the shuffle. She couldn't connect to her friend in FLORIDA, and THAT ticket was never serviced.
The whole teleblend experience has been nothing but hell for her. Here's the worst part, though: NOWHERE on their user pages is there a simple means to discontinue service. I've looked everywhere, but what I find is a rigamarole about how the influx of sun rocket customers is giving them problems, and they'll have it straigtened out soon.
So, here's my question: has anyone else had this sort of problem with any of the other VOIP providers (teleblend in particular) operating in the United States? Do companies really think it's good business to NOT hire extra temp workers when this sudden type of influx occurs?
And most importantly, why do companies still think it's good business to make it so hard to stop services, especially when their advertising specifically states "quit at any time?""
Submission + - Top Copyright Official Dumped Over MPAA Conflict
An anonymous reader writes: It sounds like the stuff of TMZ.com, but the Canadian government's top
copyright policy maker has been dumped
after revelations that she was in a personal relationship with
Hollywood's top Canadian lobbyist. The development is raising
questions about how the MPAA got an anti-camcording bill passed in only
three weeks and what it means for the introduction of a Canadian DMCA.
Submission + - PC-BSD 1.4: Easy FreeBSD on Desktops (pcbsd.org)
sslo writes: PC-BSD 1.4 was released today. It adds an easy graphical installer to FreeBSD, installs a nice GUI (KDE) desktop, and supplies a handful of mainstream apps in graphical binary installation packages.
Hardware support isn't nearly all there yet, but it's whatever FreeBSD currently supports. You can help the fine people at HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) by submitting device data for additions.
The graphical binary installation packages aren't too numerous either, but mortal geeks can make them with tools and docs that the PC-BSD project offers, after some amount of head scratching, trial and error and scrabbling around. (Hint: Start by fixing some of the oldest ones that need to be updated.) Each of the PBI binaries is installed in a static location with all dependencies, so as to remain insulated against any later geeks-only update-hell issues.
With this release, PC-BSD is probably already mostly OK for casual users who have someone handy who knows FreeBSD pretty well to help with occasional support. With some more help from interested people, this might conceivably become a desktop system that your Mom could use even without a geek around the house, in a year or two.
Hardware support isn't nearly all there yet, but it's whatever FreeBSD currently supports. You can help the fine people at HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) by submitting device data for additions.
The graphical binary installation packages aren't too numerous either, but mortal geeks can make them with tools and docs that the PC-BSD project offers, after some amount of head scratching, trial and error and scrabbling around. (Hint: Start by fixing some of the oldest ones that need to be updated.) Each of the PBI binaries is installed in a static location with all dependencies, so as to remain insulated against any later geeks-only update-hell issues.
With this release, PC-BSD is probably already mostly OK for casual users who have someone handy who knows FreeBSD pretty well to help with occasional support. With some more help from interested people, this might conceivably become a desktop system that your Mom could use even without a geek around the house, in a year or two.
Submission + - MIT student arrested at Logan in bomb scare (boston.com)
digitalsushi writes: "An MIT student was arrested at Logan Airport for wearing a piece of circuit board on her shirt as a costume. Held at the end multiple machine guns by a response force, Major Scott Pare of the Mass. Police says, "Thankfully because she followed our instructions, she ended up in our cell instead of a morgue.""
Submission + - bogons, hijacked RBL domain expired (209.85.129.104)
Mateusz Harasymczuk writes: "Today I have noticed a procmail and spamassassin breakdown on my corporate server (Slackware 10), all emails were redirected to spam.rbl mailbox because of X-Blacklisted: Yes (MAILSERVER_IP listed by bogons, hijacked) header...
And it all happend because http://completewhois.com/ (bogons RBL host) domain expired today."
And it all happend because http://completewhois.com/ (bogons RBL host) domain expired today."
Submission + - Monitor Phone Calls to Tailor Ads?
Damocles the Elder writes: According to the NYTimes, a new web start-up, Pudding Media, is offering a toll-free internet phone service. The catch? They're eavsdropping on your calls to place ads.
FTA:
FTA:
Voice recognition software monitors the calls, selects ads based on what it hears and pushes the ads to the subscriber's computer screen while he or she is still talking. A conversation about movies, for example, will elicit movie reviews and ads for new films that the caller will see during the conversation. Pudding Media is working on a way to e-mail the ads and other content to the person on the other end of the call, or to show it on that person's cellphone screen.
"We saw that when people are speaking on the phone, typically they were doing something else," said Ariel Maislos, chief executive of Pudding Media. "They had a lot of other action, either doodling or surfing or something else like that. So we said, 'Let's use that' and actually present them with things that are relevant to the conversation while it's happening."
