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Submission + - Wikileaks: "No regrets - we are changing the game" (thelocal.de)

Submitted by praps
praps writes: In a remarkably open interview, Wikileaks spokesman Daniel Schmitt says that he has no regrets about releasing 92,000 classified US documents on the Afghanistan war, although he acknowledges the "possibility that someone might be harmed". Schmitt claims that the site is "changing the game" of journalism, but admits to some disappointment that the New York Times didn't even link to Wikileaks after getting all the material for free. And there are some interesting insights into the way the organisation works — not least that everyone involved is living on savings.

Submission + - WikiLeaks Gets A Funding Model: Flattr, A Pirate B (techcrunch.com)

Submitted by
climenole
climenole writes: "Flattr is another Sweden-based outfit with close links to The Pirate Bay as the the brainchild of a group of people formerly associated with The [infamous] Pirate Bay, including Peter Sunde. Flattr has a micropayments business model based on the idea of people tipping content they like, Digg or perhaps Facebook Like buttons — but this time with real money. As a result, WikiLeaks Afghan War Diary, which has made headlnes around the world, is currently pulling in hundreds of Flattrs, with most of them anonymous."
Apple

Submission + - Apple sues "inferior quality" iPod, iPhone and iPa (appleinsider.com)

Submitted by
climenole
climenole writes: "Apple has take a number of accessory makers to court, filing a complaint that says "many are of inferior quality and reliability, raising significant concerns over compatibility with and damage to Apple’s products."

The suit, detailed in a report by Bloomberg, cited an example of a user who complained that a battery charger actually drained the battery rather than replenishing its charge."

Submission + - Film studios don't want to sue downloaders anymore (itnews.com.au)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Lawyers for the film industry have submitted that it is "not desirable" to sue individual internet users alleged to have infringed copyright on day one of an appeal in a high-profile court case in Australia that got underway earlier today. The Hollywood studios have claimed that Australian laws mean they don't have to sue the "primary infringer" of copyright — the individual user — but that an alternative person can be held responsible. The film industry wants to make internet service providers responsible for the actions of users on their networks. It lost the original court hearing last year but lodged an appeal.
IBM

Submission + - The Mainframe: Dead Or Alive? (blogspot.com)

Submitted by FlorianMueller
FlorianMueller writes: When the EU Commission launched its antitrust investigation against IBM last week, some were wondering whether there would still be mainframes around when the case is settled. But not so fast: eWEEK Europe just conducted a poll on mainframe spendings, and 30% of the respondents even plan to increase their mainframe capacities. At a recent presentation of the new mainframe generation, an IBM executive boldly said: "Western civilization runs on this system." So does IBM, owing 25% of its revenues and more than 40% of its total profits to the mainframe business. Mainframe software is a $24.5 billion market, twice as big as the Linux market. 200-300 billion lines of legacy code (much of it in COBOL) are still in use. So it's not just Microsoft and patent activists who take an interest in this.

Submission + - United States to legislate on web accessibility (webdragon.com.au)

Submitted by webdragonau
webdragonau writes: The US Department of Justice has finally decided to be explicit about how the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to websites. At present, it's not known which reference standard will be used (WCAG 2.0, Section 508, etc). Here's hoping that this becomes more than just a step in the right direction, and gives both corporations and consumers a clear guide for expectations.

Submission + - Astrophotography Equatorial Mounts

Submitted by Timoris
Timoris writes: With the Perseids approaching rapidly, I am looking for a good beginner's motorized Equatorial mount for astrophotography. I have seen a few for $150 to $200, but apperently the motor vibrations makes for poor photographs. Orion makes good mounts, but are out of my price range ($350) and the motor is sold separately, adding to the price half over again. Does anyone have any good experiance with any low mid priced mounts?
The Internet

Submission + - BIND to remove DNS Neutrality (circleid.com)

Submitted by alphatel
alphatel writes: In a recent post, Paul Vixie, founder of ISC and author of MAPS (the original email RBL), has proposed a new method for BIND which "rates" domains. Opening with "Most new domain names are malicious", DNS queries would be sent to 'cooperating good guys' which can be used to filter out entire blocks of TLDs or country codes. In this new "Response Policy Zone" (DNS RPZ) method, all queries which fail to meet an unknown standard are redirected. As most people are familiar, elsewhere almost always winds up being the DNS host's advertising channel rather than the trash heap. Those fighting for net neutrality have denounced the change but ISC is already publishing a patch and would "like to hear from content providers who want to be listed by ISC as having reputation content available in this format, and also recursive DNS vendors whose platforms can subscribe to reputation feeds in this format. An online registry will follow."

Submission + - Amazon EC2/S3 vs. traditional Webhosting? 3

Submitted by Tasha26
Tasha26 writes: I was recently asked to name a good webhosting site (and the friend didn't want GoDaddy for some reason), but then I wondered how an Amazon EC2/S3 solution compares (in price or advantage) over traditional web-hosting? Maybe there's a study on it or someone has experience of running a site from Amazon. I looked at the Amazon pricing but it turns out to be a structure: I/O connections, bandwidth, S3, EC2... even if you don't use S3 but your Firefox S3 app. pings to it, you get billed. Too many variables for a straightforward comparison. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks.
Microsoft

Submission + - What Can Save Steve Ballmer? (conceivablytech.com)

Submitted by peterkern
peterkern writes: Is it just me or is there much more chatter about Steve Ballmer and reasons why he should quit? You typically read about the failed product launches, the Vista disaster and WP7, which is way too late. But there is another angle, which is quite interesting. Ballmer has never grown out of the shadow of Gates and was not able to create his own legacy. Perhaps it takes a rockstar to lead Microsoft and not just a monkey dance. It may be impossible to be CEO of Microsoft without transforming the company entirely. If you think about, you can already feel sorry for the one who will have to succeed Steve Jobs.
Transportation

Submission + - If You Don't Want Your Car Stolen, Make It Pink (familyhomesecurity.com) 1

Submitted by pickens
pickens writes: A study in the Netherlands illustrates car thieves’ preferences. From 2004-2008, the most commonly colored vehicle stolen was black. This may be because black vehicles look more luxurious. Following close behind black were gray/silver automobiles. Of the 109 pink cars in the study, not one was stolen. A bright and uncommon color, like pink, may be as effective deterrent as an expensive security system. Ben Vollaard, who conducted the research, wrote, “If the aversion to driving a car in an offbeat color is not too high – or if someone actually enjoys it – then buying deterrence through an uncommon car color may be at least as good a deal as buying deterrence through an expensive car security device.”
Privacy

Submission + - Beware: govts are tapping your 3G calls (zdnet.com.au)

Submitted by joshgnosis
joshgnosis writes: ZDNet Australia reports that an increasing number of governments around the world are using interceptors that can push 3G calls back down to the much less secure 2G in order to tap into the calls. "People have this misconception that if they're using a 3G phone their call cannot be intercepted because the 3G network provides them with a bit more security", says Les Goldsmith, CEO of call interceptor distributor ESD Group.
Science

Submission + - Anti-teen 'mosquito' device bannable (nzherald.co.nz)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A device that uses high-frequency sound to disperse teenage gangs is illegal under human rights law and is degrading and discriminatory to youngsters, a report claims.

An investigation by the Council of Europe found the controversial "mosquito" device should be banned in Britain because it violates legislation prohibiting torture.

It found that "inflicting acoustic pain on young people and treating them as if they were unwanted birds or pests, is harmful [and] highly offensive".

The report also expressed concern its use could constitute a health hazard and lacked adequate medical research.

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