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Submission + - The "You Wouldn't Steal A Car" DVD Anti-Piracy Ads Used Stolen Music (abc.net.au) 1

Submitted by dryriver
dryriver writes: According to ABC, back in 2006, Buma/Stemra (Dutch Music Royalties Collection Agency) approached a Dutch musician, Melchior Reitveldt, to write some music for an anti-piracy ad, with the strict proviso that this music would be played only and exclusively at a local film festival. Mr. Reitveldt wrote the music, it was played, he got paid and all was well. But then, in 2007, he bought a Harry Potter DVD and to his surprise, there was his music in the anti-piracy ad at the beginning. His composition had been taken and used without his permission. In fact, it had been illegally used on dozens of movie DVDs, both in Holland and overseas. So Mr. Reitveldt went to the Buma/Stemra music royalty collection agency to clear up this misunderstanding, and ran into a brick wall. Nothing happened for a long time, and then pathetically small refunds were offered, and then they weren't paid in full, and the delaying tactics went on and on.The breakthrough came in 2011, 5 years later, when he secretly recorded a Buma director cynically telling him that "things could be sped up" if he let them "buy the music" for 1 Million Euros. The director had to resign in disgrace. In June 2012, a court ordered Buma/Stemra to repay the money.

Submission + - Furious Kaspersky is 'disappointed and dismayed' with Microsoft (betanews.com)

Submitted by Mark Wilson
Mark Wilson writes: Claims of anti-competitive behavior are incredibly common in the world of tech; Google finds itself on the defensive on just about a weekly basis. Microsoft is certainly no stranger to accusations of anti-competitiveness, most notably for bundling Internet Explorer in older versions of Windows. But now it's Microsoft's approach to security that's in the firing line.

Eugene Kaspersky (yes, that one: the Russian security expert and CEO of Kaspersky Lab) has fired a vitriolic tirade at Microsoft in which he complains about how Windows Defender works in Windows 10. Windows 10 has been lambasted for many reasons since it launched, and things are not really improving as we near the launch of Windows 10 Creators Update. Kaspersky is so furious about the way in which Defender operates that he has written a lengthy and bitter blog post entitled: "That's It. I've Had Enough!"

Submission + - Asus Zenfone 3 Release Date, News & Update

Submitted by OrangGanteng
OrangGanteng writes: Taiwanese tech firm ASUS already introduced the Zenfone 3 lineup this summer, but people in the US have yet to know when they can get their hands on the impressive models, especially the Zenfone 3 Deluxe Special Edition. Currently, there are three Zenfone 3 variants available in the U.S. market.

The Asus ZenFone 3 (ZE552KL) is powered by 2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor and it comes with 4GB of RAM. The phone packs 64GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 128GB via a microSD card. As far as the cameras are concerned, the Asus ZenFone 3 (ZE552KL) packs a 16-megapixel primary camera on the rear and a 8-megapixel front shooter for selfies.

The Asus ZenFone 3 (ZE552KL) runs Android 6.0 and is powered by a 3000mAh non removable battery. It measures 152.50 x 77.30 x 7.60 (height x width x thickness) and weighs 155.00 grams.

The Asus ZenFone 3 (ZE552KL) is a dual SIM (GSM and GSM) smartphone that accepts Micro-SIM and Nano-SIM. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, USB OTG, FM, 3G and 4G (with support for Band 40 used by some LTE networks in India). Sensors on the phone include Compass Magnetometer, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor and Gyroscope.

Submission + - Atlas V Rocket Launches Sharp-Eyed Earth-Observing Satellite (space.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A super-powerful Earth-observing spacecraft has finally taken to the skies, nearly two months after a wildfire nixed its first launch attempt. The WorldView-4 satellite lifted off today (Nov. 11) at 1:30 p.m. EST (10:30 a.m. local time; 1830 GMT), riding a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex-3 at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base to a near sun-synchronous, pole-to-pole orbit. In addition, seven tiny cubesats were onboard in a "ridesharing" initiative. All of the cubesats manifested for the WorldView-4 mission are sponsored by the National Reconnaissance Office, the agency in charge of the United States' spy satellites, and are unclassified technology-demonstration programs. The Atlas-V that lofted WorldView-4 today had been scheduled to launch NASA's InSight Mars lander earlier this year, before issues with one of InSight's instruments delayed the Red Planet probe's liftoff until 2018. WorldView-4 is a multispectral, high-resolution commercial imaging satellite owned and operated by DigitalGlobe of Westminster, Colorado, and built by the aerospace company Lockheed Martin. Its mission is to provide high-resolution color imagery to commercial, government and international customers. Once in operation, WorldView-4 has a global capacity to image 260,000 square miles (680,000 square kilometers) per day.

Submission + - All about life around an M-class star

Submitted by RockDoctor
RockDoctor writes: Arxiv has a review article on "The Habitability of Planets Orbiting M-dwarf Stars" (PDF). Although Star Trek had a minor smattering of "M-class planets" — a designation that tells one nothing of substance, "M-class star" is a much more meaningful designation of colour, with two size classes, the dwarfs and the red giants. M-class ("red") giants are not prospective for life — it's a short duration of the life of any star that gets into that state (most won't) and it ends badly for anything not made of tungsten carbide. M-class dwarfs, on the other hand "are our galaxy’s silent majority: they constitute 70% of the stars in the Milky Way and 40% of its stellar mass budget, yet not a single M dwarf is visible to the naked eye. They span nearly an order of magnitude in mass and two orders of magnitude in luminosity. [...] As a spectral class, M dwarfs span a larger range in mass than the next three spectral classes (F,G & K) combined." But probably the most important reason for paying attention to them is their persistence — an M-dwarf of 1/10 the mass of the Sun will burn for around 1000 times the time that the Sun does. No M-dwarf has ever turned into a red giant — there hasn't been enough time.

Therefore, if humanity ever meets an alien species, the odds of them coming from an M-dwarf are already high. If humanity ever meets an alien species that has been around a billion years longer than us and has technology we can't even dream of, then the odds of it coming from an M-dwarf are overwhelmingly high. Clearly, understanding these stars, and the influences of these stars range of properties on their planets and possible inhabitants (including our distant descendants) is a good idea. And this review article will keep you up to date for your next term paper. Or for keeping your SF magnum opus somewhere with a passing acquaintance with reality.

Submission + - Blizzard Remaking Diablo For Diablo 3 Engine In The Darkening Of Tristram Update (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: It has been twenty years since the release of Diablo, and Blizzard is celebrating with some very special new content. The team is recreating the original Diablo inside Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls with its "The Darkening of Tristram" update. The Darkening of Tristram will offer a sixteen-level dungeon with the four main bosses from Diablo. The name of the bosses have not been clarified yet. There is speculation, however, that they will be the Butcher (Level 2), King Leoric (Level 3), Archbishop Lazarus (a secret lair adjacent to Level 15), and Diablo or the "Lord of Terror." The art style is reminiscent of the original game and comes with visual filters that make the game look pixelated and grainy. Frank Pearce, Blizzard's chief development officer, remarked, "we call it "glorious retrovision." He also stated that the best way to experience the update is to start the game with a fresh character, although the content will be available for all characters. The Darkening of Tristram will also appear on Diablo 3's Public Test Realm next week, though a target formal release date has not been set.

Submission + - Easy-To-Exploit Rooting Flaw Puts Linux Computers At Risk (csoonline.com)

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett writes: The maintainers of Linux distributions are rushing to patch a privilege escalation vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2016-5195, that has has existed in the Linux kernel for the past nine years and is already being exploited in the wild. The Red Hat security team describes the flaw as a 'race' condition, 'in the way the Linux kernel's memory subsystem handles the copy-on-write (COW) breakage of private read-only memory mappings.' This allows an attacker who gains access to a limited user account to obtain root privileges and therefore take complete control over the system. The vulnerability was fixed last week by the Linux kernel developers and patches for Linux distributions, including Red Hat, Debian, Ubuntu, Gentoo and Suse, have been released or are in the process of being released.

Submission + - Banking On Your Cell Phone – Is It Safe?

Submitted by Lakhsass
Lakhsass writes: Tips on Keeping Your Information Safe

There is a fear that using your cell phone to conduct your banking and credit card business may be risky. We would like to dispel any notion of a threat as long as you follow some basic rules which apply to banking on cell phones and as well as on your home computer or laptop.

Use an App Where Possible!

Most of the new smart phones, like the iPhone and the Android, have large application (apps) libraries which are created by the banks, credit card companies, and other parties interested in keeping your information safe. This is a sure way to avoid spoof emails and websites that appear to look like your bank, but are actually duplicates used to steal your information. Using this banking method is secure and usually guaranteed by your bank.

Never Click a Link in an Email!

Ever receive an email saying that your bank account password has been reset, hacked, or they need an update? Most likely, these are spoof emails which are phishing (100% fake) which are committing fraud trying to steal your information (it is a Federal crime). Banks avoid this by sending emails telling you to log into your bank account by typing the banks website address in the browser instead of using a link (in other words – they never put a link in your email). This way you are guaranteed to arrive at the correct website and not a spoof site. Spoofs occur daily all over the Internet, whether on a social network site, eBay, or your financial accounts. Avoid this by always typing in the website address of the site you would like to visit – to save time – use bookmarks.

Avoid Texting Or Emailing Your Information

There are rare instances when you need to send your sensitive bank account information to someone for a transaction, family emergency, and so forth. Either, find a quiet secluded place where no one can overhear you and speak them to the other party or family member. The other way, if necessary, is by sending two emails – never send all the information in one email. Send an account number in one and a routing number in a second email or maybe send it via text. Keeping your sensitive information in one place, whether written down or in a digital file, makes it easy for hackers to steal your information.

The key is to keep the information secret whenever possible and always make it as difficult as possible for a hacker or thief to steal. In the end, it is just knowledge on safe practices – similar to the old days before digital banking and plastic cards. It is 100% safe to bank online – just follow the above steps and preferably have an anti virus program on your computer. Lastly, change your password every few months if not more, if you use the Internet often for banking and purchases.

Submission + - Razer Buys THX: What This Could Mean for Your Future Man Cave (audioholics.com)

Submitted by Audiofan
Audiofan writes: On Monday THX announced that it was purchased by Razer, a computer gaming hardware company. Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan promises to let THX run independently. Tan added that there will be collaborations bringing together THX audio experience and Razer computer technology. But many see the deal as yet another low point for the once proud THX logo. Will this shape the future of home entertainment and leap forward Virtual Reality technologies or is it just further liquidation of a once sought after brand?

Submission + - Target Passes Walmart As Top US Corporate Installer of Solar Power (electrek.co)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Target is the top corporate installer of solar power in the USA with 147MW installed on 300 stores. Walmart is close behind with 140MW, while Ikea has installed solar on 90% of its retail locations. The Solar Energy Institute of America (SEIA) report shows over 1,000MW of solar installed in almost 2,000 unique installations by the largest corporate entities in the country. Additionally these groups have more than doubled their installation volume year on year, with 2015 seeing a total of 130MW, while 2016 is projected to be closer to 280MW. Big box retail locations offer some of the best potential spaces for solar power to be installed – on top of square, flat structures and in previously built parking lots. The average size of an installation by a company in this group is about 500kW – 75X the size of an average residential solar installation. The RE100 organization has signed up 81 global corporations (many on the SEIA list) who have pledged 100% renewable energy. “We’re incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made in improving building efficiencies and reducing environmental impact. Our commitment to installing solar panels on 500 stores and distribution centers by 2020 is evidence of that progress” – said John Leisen, vice president of property management at Target. The geographic breakdown of solar installations is based upon three main drivers – good sunlight, expensive electricity and state level renewable mandates, with Southern California having all three. The northeast USA, with its ">expensive electricity and aggressive clean energy push, has been on par with California (50% of total solar) for commercial installations. A report put together by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the World Resources Institute (WRI) breaks down the various state level laws that support corporations going green – and, without surprise, it becomes clear that the legal support of renewable energy is a definite driver.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Secure methods for baby monitoring

Submitted by Szeraax
Szeraax writes: Big time nerd, first time father (well, first and second since I just had twins!). Ideally, I can track temperature and heart rate of my new family members without causing a security nightmare on my home network. I see lots of arm bands from China that claim security, but even their documentation pictures are pure chinese screen shots. That makes me immediately leary of the device. I can use a private WLAN on my router for the devices if needed. I can connect via bluetooth on phone or computer. Is my best bet to check vitals manually and plot results in LibreOffice calc? Are there monitoring devices that totally avoid the cloud rush of today? Should I just not even waste my time with the data?

Slashdot, what advice do you have for me?

Submission + - Cryptographic proof Wikileak podesta emails have been modified? (pastebin.pl)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Downloading the raw email from wikileaks directly and running it through opendkim-msgtest will on a suprising number of "raw" emails from wikileaks indicate that the DKIM signature is incorrect. eg.

curl https://wikileaks.org/podesta-... | opendkim-testmsg

vs.

curl https://wikileaks.org/podesta-... | opendkim-testmsg

There is a list of modified emails posted on a pastebin right now http://pastebin.pl/view/351dca...

Because the DKIM header contains the checksum of the message body and is signed with the servers public key it would seem to be irrefutable proof of email tampering before the emails were given to wikileaks.

Submission + - First New US Nuclear Reactor In 20 Years Goes Live (cnn.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Tennessee Valley Authority is celebrating an event 43 years in the making: the completion of the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant. In 1973, the TVA, one of the nation's largest public power providers, began building two reactors that combined promised to generate enough power to light up 1.3 million homes. The first reactor, delayed by design flaws, eventually went live in 1996. Now, after billions of dollars in budget overruns, the second reactor has finally started sending power to homes and businesses. Standing in front of both reactors Wednesday, TVA President Bill Johnson said Watts Bar 2, the first US reactor to enter commercial operation in 20 years, would offer clean, cheap and reliable energy to residents of several southern states for at least another generation. Before Watts Bar 2, the last time an American reactor had fired up was in 1996. It was Watts Bar 1--and according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, it cost $6.8 billion, far greater than the original price tag at $370 million. In the 2000s, some American power companies, faced with growing environmental regulations, eyed nuclear power again as a top alternative to fossil fuels such as coal and oil. A handful of companies, taking advantage of federal loan guarantees from the Bush administration, revived nuclear reactor proposals in a period now known as the so-called "nuclear renaissance." Eventually, nuclear regulators started to green light new reactors, including ones in Georgia and South Carolina. In 2007, the TVA resumed construction on Watts Bar 2, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The TVA originally said it would take five years to complete. The TVA, which today serves seven different southern states, relies on nuclear power to light up approximately 4.5 million homes. Watts Bar 2, the company's seventh operating reactor, reaffirms its commitment to nukes for at least four more decades, Johnson said Wednesday. In the end, TVA required more than five years to build the project. The final cost, far exceeding its initial budget, stood at $4.7 billion.

Submission + - Wired says Google's Pixel is the best phone on the market

Submitted by swillden
swillden writes: The reviews on Google's Pixel phones are coming in, and they're overwhelmingly positive. Most call them the best Android phones available, and at least one says they're the best phones available, period.

Wired's reviewer says he used to recommend the iPhone to people, but now he says "You should get a Pixel." The Verge, says "these are easily the best Android phones you can buy." The Wall Street Journal calls the Pixel "the Android iPhone you've been waiting for." ComputerWorld says "It's Android at its best."

AndroidPolice is more restrained, calling it "A very good phone by Google." The NY Times broke from the rest, saying "the Pixel is, relatively speaking, mediocre", but I'm a little skeptical of a reviewer who can't figure out how to use a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner without using both hands. It makes me wonder if he's actually held one.

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