Comment Re:Legal Mambo-Jumbo (Score 1) 464
...a brace of contracts...
I get lost with all the legal verbiage.
Its like going to the pub and ordering a brace of lagers
Emigrating To a Freer Country? 1359
puroresu writes "I currently reside in the UK. In recent years I've seen privacy, free expression and civil liberties steadily eroded, and I can't see anything changing for the better any time soon. With people being banned from the UK for expressing (admittedly reprehensible) opinions, the continuing efforts to implement mandatory ID cards and the prospect of a Conservative government in the near future, I'm seriously considering emigrating to a less restrictive country. Which countries would you recommend in terms of freedom and privacy? Distance is not an issue, though a reasonable level of stability and provision of public services would be a bonus."
Submission + - Government Spyware Puts Chinese Computers At Risk
Ihmhi writes: China's mandatory "Green Dam Youth Escort" web filter software apparently has a series of severe flaws. In addition to not working on Linux or MacOS, traffic between the software and its servers is unencypted:
"We found a series of software flaws," explained Isaac Mao, a blogger and social entrepreneur in China, as well as a research fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society.
For example, he said, tests had shown that communications between the software and the servers at the company that developed the program were unencrypted.
Mr. Mao told BBC News that this could allow hackers to "steal people's private information" or "place malicious script" on computers in the network to "affect [a] large scale disaster."
For example, a hacker could use malicious code to take control of PCs using the software.
"Then you have every computer in China potentially as part of a botnet," Colin Maclay, also of Harvard, told BBC News.
Submission + - Black holes are bigger than we thought (cosmosmagazine.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Supermassive black holes are two or three times more massive than astronomers thought, according to a new supercomputer simulation that adds a missing ingredient: dark matter.
Astronomers have long known that dark matter makes up much of a galaxy's mass. But until now they haven't had the computing power to add dark matter into models that trace the orbits of stars within galaxies.
Now astronomers Karl Gebhardt, from University of Texas at Austin and Jens Thomas, of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Munich, Germany, have added in this missing component to a simulation of the galaxy M87, a giant galaxy about 55 million light-years away.
Astronomers have long known that dark matter makes up much of a galaxy's mass. But until now they haven't had the computing power to add dark matter into models that trace the orbits of stars within galaxies.
Now astronomers Karl Gebhardt, from University of Texas at Austin and Jens Thomas, of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Munich, Germany, have added in this missing component to a simulation of the galaxy M87, a giant galaxy about 55 million light-years away.
Submission + - Red giant Betelgeuse to become a supernova?
KindMind writes: "According to an article on Fox News, Betelgeuse may be close to becoming a supernova. From the article: "A nearby, well-known and very bright star may soon explode in a supernova, according to data released by U.C. Berkeley researchers Tuesday. The red giant Betelgeuse, once so large it would reach out to Jupiter's orbit if placed in our own solar system, has shrunk by 15 percent over the past decade in a half, although it's just as bright as it's ever been." Betelgeuse of course is known to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fans as Zaphod Beeblebrox's home system."
Submission + - China's first Mars probe ready to launch
henrypijames writes: At the Shanghai Aerospace Exhibition last week, China's first Mars probe Yinghuo-1 was the main attraction. The newly completed probe will soon be sent to Moscow for some further testing, before a joint launch with Russia's own probe Phobos-Grunt from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan this October.
Protecting the Apollo Landing Sites From Later Landings 339
R3d M3rcury writes "The Lunar X-Prize is a contest offering $20 million to the first private organization to land and maneuver a robotic rover on the moon. There is also a $1 million bonus to anyone who can get a picture of a man-made object on the moon. But one archeologist believes that 'The sites of early lunar landings are of unparalleled significance in the history of humanity, and extraordinary caution should be taken to protect them.' He's concerned that we may end up with rover tracks destroying historic artifacts, such as Neil Armstrong's first bootprint, or that a mistake could send a rocket slamming into a landing site. He calls on the organizers to ban any contestant from landing within 100KM of a prior moon landing site. Now he seems to think this just means Apollo. What about the Luna and Surveyor landers? What about the Lunokhod rovers? Are they fair game?"
Stem Cells Restore Sight For Corneal Disease Patients 223
Sean0michael writes "Australian scientists have restored the sight of three human test subjects using stem cells cultured in contact lenses. All the patients were blind in only one eye. Two were legally blind, but can now read the big letters on an eye chart. The third could read the first few lines, but is now able to pass a driver's test. The University of New South Wales reports that these patients all had damaged corneas, and the stem cells came from each person's good eye. The best part: the procedure is inexpensive, raising hopes for being able to push this to the third world sooner than other, more expensive medications."
Submission + - > 32% of Blacklist related to Child porn (wikileaks.org)
Combat Wombat writes: "WIKILEAKS EDITORIAL
The Australian government told a Senate estimates hearing this week that less than 32% of the country's secret internet censorship list is related to underage images.
During the hearing, the government also stated that the WikiLeaks publication of the list in March has now been officially referred to the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) "blacklist" is slated to form the backbone of a national, mandatory, internet censorship system.
Australia is also in talks with the US and the UK internet watch foundation to expand the blacklists via a sharing arrangement.
God I hate censorship.."
Comment Use a VPN (Score 2, Informative) 319
I just use a VPM [witopia.net] as long as it tunnels out of a US server some times it comes out via Europe though depends on server load.
Mozilla Demanding Firefox Display EULA In Ubuntu 785
TRS-80 writes "Users of the upcoming Ubuntu release, Intrepid Ibex, are being confronted with an EULA the first time they launch Firefox. Mark Shuttleworth says 'Mozilla Corp asked that this be added in order for us to continue to call the browser Firefox... I would not consider an EULA as a best practice. It's unfortunate that Mozilla feels this is absolutely necessary' and notes there's an unbranded 'abrowser' package available. Many of the comments say Ubuntu should ditch Firefox as this makes it clear it's not Free Software, hence unsuitable for Ubuntu main, and just ship Iceweasel or Epiphany, the GNOME browser." A few comments take Canonical to task for agreeing to Mozilla's demand to display an EULA without consulting the community.
Comment old tech (Score 1) 130
I had face recognition via attached web cam on my Thinkpad T30 in 2002. And ive had all the above mentioned finger print features on my Sony TZ for nearly a year.
Move along nothing to see here.
Submission + - Apple made enough iPhones
fermion writes: The New York Time is reporting that there is no market for scalped iPhones. Does this mean that, for once, a company actually wants to sell products instead of creating an artificial glut? Or does it mean that that no one really wants an iPhone? I am not going to venture a guess. On the other hand, I can't help but think Apple created this situation to artificially inflate the first weekend sales. It has become almost a tradition to stand in line for hyped consumer electronics, buy a few, and then sell the extras. This usually works because supply is often limited and second runs are often not forthcoming. By supplying sufficient initial product, and promising a second run, Apple expertly played the market. Even if a significant percentage of the phones are returned, the first weekend sales numbers cannot be rescinded. One can imagine that those numbers are going to play a critical role in European negotiations. 700K phones in a weekend might have some 'analysts' scratching their heads.
Submission + - Australian extradited for breaking US law at home
An anonymous reader writes: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/05/06/11783 90140855.html reports that an Austarlian man who has never set foot in the US and broke IP laws in Australia has been extradited to the US and faces 10 years jail.
