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The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Our ATM is broken, so you go to jail? (myway.com)

Submitted by Actually, I do RTFA
Actually, I do RTFA writes: A short while ago, slashdot featured an article about possible criminal prosecution for people who took advantage of faulty slot machine software. At the time, many people drew an analogy to an ATM that dispensed too much money. Well, apparently, that too may result in criminal charges. Interestingly, although they suspect that someone may have tampered with the ATM, they are considering charging anyone who withdrew money from the ATM.

This also provides an interesting rejoinder to 'if they can build a secure ATM, why cannot Diebold build a secure electronic voting machine.'
GNUStep

Submission + - Etoile Project releases Mac-like environment (etoile-project.org)

Submitted by pschmied
pschmied writes: Today the Étoilé Project released v0.2 of its Desktop Environment. Not only does Étoilé share user interface similarities with Mac OS X, Étoilé enjoys some source-level compatibility with Mac OS X as well. Many Slashdotters undoubtedly remember NeXT, the revolutionary computer / development environment that gave rise to the first web browser and later became the foundation of Mac OS X. Étoilé uses the FSF's own implementation of the NeXT development environment, GNUStep, making this a close technological relative of OS X. Screenshots and a source tarball are available.
Security

Submission + - DBA Sells more than 8.5 Million Consumer Records (beskerming.com)

Submitted by
SkiifGeek
SkiifGeek writes: "One of the most significant insider thefts to take place in recent months has worsened, with the DBA responsible for selling consumer records from Fidelity National now accused of selling more than 8.5 million records, according to SEC filings from last week.

Combined with the Fox / ZDNet disclosure, the breach of more than 10 million records have been reported for just July alone."
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Man burns opponent's house for calling him "ne (theglobeandmail.com)

Submitted by
prostoalex
prostoalex writes: "The Globe and Mail is reporting on a feud between two members of a picture-sharing site that motivated one of the opponents to drive down to Texas from Virginia, meanwhile taking photos of his trip and sharing them on aforementioned picture-sharing site, to burn the victim's house down: "Investigators say Tavares boiled over when Anderson called him a nerd and posted a digitally altered photo making Tavares look like a skinny boy in high-water pants, holding a gun and a laptop under a "Revenge of the Nerds" sign. Tavares obtained Anderson's real name and hometown from Anderson's Web page about his Museum of Horrors Haunted House. Tavares took leave from his post as a weapons systems operator at the AEGIS Training and Readiness Center in Dahlgren, Va., and started driving. Investigators say he told them he planned to point a shotgun at Anderson and shoot his computer.""
Windows

Submission + - Hacking kiosks and ATMs with Windows sticky keys

Submitted by
pestilence669
pestilence669 writes: "An alarming number of kiosks and ATMs (like the V-Com units in 7-11) run Windows XP. I've recently made it a hobby to play minesweeper and surf the web on these units. Most, if not all, are connected to the Internet. BitTorrent from an ATM? It's easier than you think! Gaining control is as simple as five keystrokes.

The companies that build ATMs and kiosks seem to know nothing about keyboard shortcuts. If there's a keyboard attached, you can bet that they removed the TAB key to prevent ALT+TAB abuses. Little do they know, ALT+TAB is not the only way to lose focus for an application.

If you're a fast typer like me, you've probably been greeted with the Microsoft sticky keys dialog. It asks you if you want to enable "sticky keys." It's a usability feature that helps disabled individuals type with one hand. Sadly, it's pseudo-enabled by default since this dialog box appears. Most people don't know it, so it's ready to be abused on just about every production XP-based kiosk or ATM (with keyboard).

All that needs to be done: hit the SHIFT key five times. SHIFT is guaranteed to be included in even the most restrictive keyboard layouts. In almost every instance, the sticky keys dialogs appears. As the kiosk or ATM application looses focus, you'll be presented with the XP start menu in the background. Many of these machines use a complete install with Minesweeper, Hearts, Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. Fun!!!

I've made it a regular habit to browse Slashdot, send email, and surf blogs from just about any kiosk that I find. Whenever my wife uses the bathroom at Dave & Busters, I'm reading blogs in the lobby. Whenever I'm at 7-11, I'm surfing with the ATM.

What's really scary about all of this is how easy it is to install executable code onto these devices. They're on the Internet and they have local storage. As far as I can tell, in my own experience, there are no restrictions in place. What's to stop someone from installing their own COM/ActiveX "helper" object and intercepting all HTTP/bank traffic?"
Power

Submission + - Toyota Unveils Plug in Hybrid Prius (extremetech.com)

Submitted by phlack
phlack writes: Toyota has announced a plug in hybrid vehicle, based on their popular Prius. So far, it will only have a range of 8 miles on the battery (13km). They are going to test this vehicle on the public roads...a first for the industry.
The Almighty Buck

$60 Games Are Here To Stay 361

Posted by Zonk from the damn-you-tantalizing-game-titles dept.
Next Generation explores the price jump for 'next generation' titles, looking into the success of the $60 price point for videogames. They have a copious number of graphs and charts to support their findings: "Even without Guitar Hero II, prices in 2007 are still at historically high levels. In January, fully four of the top 10 games sold for $60 or more. In February, that jumped to five $60 games, and the average rose accordingly. While there were four $60 games in March, they shared the top 10 with two Nintendo DS games which brought the average down sharply. This happened again in March -- the month of Pokemon -- and also in May."
Portables

Submission + - Where is Dell's Customer Service? 1

Submitted by IceDiver
IceDiver writes: What's up with Dell?

The company claims to be trying to pay more attention to their customers, with initiatives like Ideastorm and Ubuntu and bringing back XP, but I have seen little sign of real improvement. Let me explain.

I am in the market for a new notebook and, after doing a great deal of research, I decided that the Dell Inspiron 1521 was the best fit for my needs within my budget. I tried to order one. Since Vista is not an option for me (forbidden at work) I asked for XP as my OS. Dell told me that was not an option on the 1521 and suggested several other machines that I had already decided not to buy because they were either a) lacking features or b) much too expensive. I then tried to order the 1521 with no OS only to be told that this was not an option available for any machines in Canada, where I am located. Ubuntu, too, is not an option. Disappointed, I decided not to buy at that time.

Today, I saw an ad for the 1521 at $100 off the price of a week ago. "Great!" I thought, "That will pay for my copy of XP!" I tried to order, only to discover that, though the specs of the laptop state it can take up to a 2.2GHz CPU, no CPU upgrade options were available on the advertised special. I called Dell to try to get the CPU I wanted, only to be told that I would have to pay full list price ($889 for the same base machine) and upgrade from there. I asked why, and was told that the advertised special was a "standard" machine, and no options were available because of this fact.

This excuse is complete nonsense. Other items on the advertised special have upgrade options available: RAM, display, webcam, wireless card, hard drive, battery, and more. This hardly makes the 1521 special a "standard" machine with no available options.

I can only conclude that Dell's attempts to improve customer relations are a sham. Sure, the claims Dell makes are great PR, but it seems the reality is lacking.

Sure, Dell offers Ubuntu — but not on the hardware you want.

Sure, Dell offers Win XP — but not on the hardware you want.

Sure, Dell offers a no OS option — but (you guessed it!) not on the hardware you want (or, apparently, outside the USA).

Sure Dell offers CPU upgrade options — but you have to pay more for your laptop, and then pay more again for the upgrade.

Sure, Ideastorm is a great idea — but Dell doesn't seem to be doing much with the suggestions.

Is anyone else having problems with Dell? Does the Slashdot crowd have any ideas for me?

Programming

Submission + - AjaxLife, Second Life-via-Web hack, goes BSD (blogs.com)

Submitted by
wjamesau
wjamesau writes: "Last week, a 15 year old British girl named Katharine Berry created AjaxLife, a groundbreaking hack that lets you access some functions of Second Life via the Web. (This is possible because Linden Lab open sourced their client viewer in January.) This week, she's released the source code under a limited BSD license. Up to now, accessing SL requires a separate client download and a powerful graphics card; now, things are likely to get very interesting very fast."
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - 5 USB Thumb-Drive Software Tricks

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Want to run software off of your thumb-drive without using Sandisk's proprietary U3 platform? Then see Put Your USB Drive To Work: 5 Strategies For Going Mobile. The tips, of middling but useful technical intensity, include where to get robust encryption for your thumb drive for free (hint: Try TrueCrypt); where to find free application suites and individual apps (try the OperaUSB browser); and how to run a standalone operating system off your USB drive. For the latter, the article shows how to use BartPE, a utility that builds a copy of Windows's Preinstallation Environment from an existing Windows install. With tools like this, do you think USB drives are about to finally fulfill their promise as mobile repositories which make the concept of maintaining separate PCs at different locations obsolete?
Microsoft

Ubuntu Linux Validates As Genuine Windows 401

Posted by kdawson from the it-was-the-wine-talking dept.
bobbocanfly writes "Another crack in the Windows Genuine Advantage wall. A user at UbuntuForums.org managed to validate an Ubuntu installation as a genuine copy of Microsoft Windows and get to the download page of Windows Defender, using IE4Linux and Wine. (Here is an OGG video of the process.) Along with the advancement of LiveCD technology, this could spell the end of Microsoft's control over who gets their updates."
Software

Submission + - Linux Desktop - Is it an Option for Normal Users? (techsupportalert.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Linux has long held the promise of offering normal users an alternative to Windows. With the arrival of the high priced Windows Vista Support Alert subscriber "Briard" decides to put 12 Linux distros to the test. (March 2007)
Privacy

Submission + - Disney asks visitors to give them the finger

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: My sister recently returned from Disney World with her family and told me about a ticket ID system now in place that requires adults to have their fingerprints scanned to enter any park in addition to presenting their tickets. My sister, who's normally very "go with the flow" was very surprised and concerned about this practice asking me, the family geek, about the possible implications. What do you think?

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