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The Internet

China Hijacks Popular BitTorrent Sites 174

Posted by timothy from the state-is-still-not-your-friend dept.
frogger writes "China is not new to censoring the Internet, but up until now, BitTorrent sites have never been blocked. Recently, however, several reports came in from China indicating that popular BitTorrent sites such as Mininova, isoHunt and The Pirate Bay had been hijacked. The sites became inaccessible, instead redirecting to the leading Chinese search engine Baidu."
Security

US Virtual Border Fence Doesn't Work 337

Posted by kdawson from the time-to-try-pair-programming dept.
lelitsch writes "The Washington Post reports that the initial pilot of the Virtual Border Fence planned by the DHS and subcontracted to Boeing has been a miserable failure. A lot of the points in the report have the hallmark of death-march software development projects. Some choice quotes include 'did not work as planned or meet the needs of the U.S. Border Patrol,' 'DHS officials do not yet know the type of terrain where the fencing is to be constructed,' and 'the design will not be used as the basis for future... development.' The article notes that Boeing was forced to deliver 'something' early as President Bush pushed for immigration reform in Congress in 2006. That reform effort died last year in the Senate."
Graphics

Submission + - Ray tracing for gaming explored (pcper.com) 3

Submitted by
Vigile
Vigile writes: "Ray tracing is still thought of as the 'holy grail' for real-time imagery but because of the intense amount of calculations required it has been plagued with long frame render times. This might soon change, at least according to an article from Daniel Pohl, a researcher at Intel. With upcoming many-core processors like Intel's Larrabee he believes that real-time ray tracing for games is much closer than originally thought thanks in large part to the efficiency it allows with spatial partitioning and reflections when compared to current rasterization techniques. Titles like Valve's Portal are analyzed to see how they could benefit from ray tracing technology and the article on PC Perspective concludes with the difficulties combing the two rendering techniques as well as a video of the technology in action."
Television

Submission + - Official DTV Converter Box Coupons for Americans (dtv2009.gov)

Submitted by
Ant
Ant writes: "The official Digital Television/DTV Converter Box Coupon Program, for United States/U.S., is now online. Congress created it for households wishing to keep using their analog TV sets and use over the air antennae to get TV feeds. After February 17, 2009. The Program allows American households to obtain up to two coupons, each worth $40, that can be applied toward the cost of eligible converter boxes. A TV connected to cable, satellite, or other pay TV service does not require a TV converter box from this program."
Quickies

Submission + - 100 Years of Tech in the Times Square NY's Ball (gizmodo.com)

Submitted by
Ant
Ant writes: "Gizmodo says most of us know the Times Square Ball as the symbol of the new year, fresh starts and the last moment of celebration before you puke up cheap champagne. But it's also an interesting gadget, so to speak, changing with the times alongside consumer trends. So for it's 100th birthday, Gizmodo made a mega timeline of it's history. It includes a graphical timeline. Seen on Digg. And happy new year!"
Communications

Submission + - "Perfect storm" of cliches make bad Englis (reuters.com)

Submitted by
Ant
Ant writes: "This Reuters says a "surge" of overused words and phrases formed a "perfect storm" of "post-9/11" cliches in 2007, according to a United States/U.S. university's annual list of words and phrases that deserve to be banned. Choosing from among 2,000 submissions, the public relations department at Michigan's Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie targeted 19 affronts to the English language in its well-known jab at the worlds of media, sports, advertising and politics... Seen on Blue's News."
Privacy

Submission + - Privacy International Releases 2007 Report (privacyinternational.org)

Submitted by
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes: "Privacy International has released their report on privacy for 2007, which includes a color-coded world map that highlights the countries with the best privacy laws, the privacy-hostile countries being in black. While many of the overall rankings may come as no surprise, it does highlight some of the more obscure abuses. For example, Venezuela requires your fingerprints just to get a phone and South Korea requires a government registration number linked to your identity before you can post on message boards. Makes you wonder who is Number One?"
Quickies

Submission + - Merriam-Webster named "w00t" its word of t (merriam-webster.com)

Submitted by
Ant
Ant writes: "Digg and Ripten say Merriam-Webster named "w00t", the word of the year (2007) after thousands searched and picked. The article also lists the other nine words. The selected world hasn't found its way into a regular Merriam-Webster dictionary yet — but its inclusion in the online Open Dictionary, along with the top honors it's now been awarded — might just improve its chances. This year's winning word first became popular in competitive online gaming forums as part of what is known as l33t ("leet," or "elite") speak — an esoteric computer hacker language in which numbers and symbols are put together to look like letters. Although the double "o" in the word is usually represented by double zeroes, the exclamation is also known to be an acronym for "we owned the other team" — again stemming from the gaming community. W00t!"
Quickies

Submission + - For Sleepy Drivers, Coffee vs. Napping (nytimes.com)

Submitted by
Ant
Ant writes: "A New York Times blog says that sleepy drivers, who don't want to stop their journey, have two choices: pull over and take a short nap or load up with caffeine to stay awake. It asks what's the better option? French researchers decided to find out, testing the driving performance of two dozen sleep-deprived motorists... Seen on Blue's News."
Quickies

Submission + - Study Shows Why the Flu Likes Winter (nytimes.com)

Submitted by
Ant
Ant writes: "The New York Times (no log in should be needed) says New York/NY researchers believe they have solved one of the great mysteries of the flu: Why does the infection spread primarily in the winter months? The answer, they say, has to do with the virus itself. It is more stable and stays in the air longer when air is cold and dry, the exact conditions for much of the flu season. Seen on Blue's News."
Quickies

Submission + - 10 Reasons Bad Employees Don't Get Fired (careerbuilder.com)

Submitted by
Ant
Ant writes: "MSN Careers says you may have wondered, "Why don't they just fire this person?" for employees doing bad jobs. Firing someone may seem easy in theory, but it is often a last resort for an employer. A bad employee's supervisor may know that the employee isn't performing up to snuff, but that supervisor — or the company — may have what they consider to be a good reason for not firing the employee. Whenever you encounter someone who you think deserves to be fired — either in your own workplace or elsewhere — consider if any of the following might be the reason the bad employee is still on the job..."

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