Comment Re:Pity the (2) fools. (Score 4, Interesting) 164
It is even more fun now that you can vote up/down certain search result. I already voted your site up, I wonder how many votes it would take to get your site above theirs.
Comment Re:This Just In (Score 1) 767
If the general public were half as smart as we give them credit for the world would have never seen Napoleian, Cesar (well actually the Romans solved that problem on their own), Castro, Hugo Chavez and more.
The others are fair enough, but what's dog food got to do with it?
Dog food? Didnt his whispering work?
Submission + - FCC Gives Five Days Notice for Media Hearing (crosscut.com) 2
NewsCloud writes: "FCC chairman Kevin Martin moved forward his plan for public hearings on media consolidation rules as reported by Slashdot earlier by granting just five days notice for the hearing in Seattle tonight. Prior to serving as FCC chair, Martin was Deputy General Counsel to Bush-Cheney 2000 and the Bush-Cheney recount team in Florida."
Submission + - Digital mutiny: 2,000 page iraq leak (wikileaks.org)
An anonymous reader writes: Looks like them wikileaks guys are finally putting something out there.
from the site:
This spectacular 2,000 page US military leak consists of the names, group structure and equipment registers of all units in Iraq with US army equipment . It exposes secretive document exploitation centers, detainee operations, elements of the State Department, Air Force, Navy and Marines units, the Iraqi police and coalition forces from Poland, Denmark, Ukraine, Latvia, Slovakia, Romania, Armenia, Kazakhstan and El Salvador. The material represents nearly the entire order of battle for US forces in Iraq and is the first public revelation of many of the military units described. Among other matters it shows that the United States has violated the Chemical Weapons Convention.
from the site:
This spectacular 2,000 page US military leak consists of the names, group structure and equipment registers of all units in Iraq with US army equipment . It exposes secretive document exploitation centers, detainee operations, elements of the State Department, Air Force, Navy and Marines units, the Iraqi police and coalition forces from Poland, Denmark, Ukraine, Latvia, Slovakia, Romania, Armenia, Kazakhstan and El Salvador. The material represents nearly the entire order of battle for US forces in Iraq and is the first public revelation of many of the military units described. Among other matters it shows that the United States has violated the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Submission + - Establishing user identity on free sites.
RPalkovic writes: "I'm in a bit of a predicament. I am an administrator of a smallish online game with free registration. We're running into a problem where users are violating the terms of service by creating and using multiple accounts, but since we do not collect any personal information, nor would we have a way to verify it if we did, we're running into problems enforcing the "one account per user" section of the terms of service.
We've tried tracking IP addresses and letting people know that if they are caught sharing in game transactions with anyone they've shared an IP address with will result in termination of their account. We've also given them a list of anyone who've they've shared an IP address with.
The problem with this method is that several of our players play in internet cafes, or at school, and we've even run into people who live in different countries who end up sharing an IP address because they use the same proxy server.
We tossed around the idea of changing the terms of service to limit players to one account per computer, but that would impact single computer households and would require the installation of an ActiveX control (or similar) to gather an NIC's mac address or somehow generate a unique hash based on the hardware configuration.
We also tossed around the idea of only allowing registration via Major ISP's or pay for e-mail providers, but that hampers those that ONLY play at an internet cafe or school network, as they may not have a non-free e-mail address.
Our main goal is to keep the site free, with a secondary goal of preventing any single user from having more than one account.
Have any other SlashDotters found a creative way to prevent users from having more than one account to an online service without charging a fee for registration, or being forced to verify user identity?"
We've tried tracking IP addresses and letting people know that if they are caught sharing in game transactions with anyone they've shared an IP address with will result in termination of their account. We've also given them a list of anyone who've they've shared an IP address with.
The problem with this method is that several of our players play in internet cafes, or at school, and we've even run into people who live in different countries who end up sharing an IP address because they use the same proxy server.
We tossed around the idea of changing the terms of service to limit players to one account per computer, but that would impact single computer households and would require the installation of an ActiveX control (or similar) to gather an NIC's mac address or somehow generate a unique hash based on the hardware configuration.
We also tossed around the idea of only allowing registration via Major ISP's or pay for e-mail providers, but that hampers those that ONLY play at an internet cafe or school network, as they may not have a non-free e-mail address.
Our main goal is to keep the site free, with a secondary goal of preventing any single user from having more than one account.
Have any other SlashDotters found a creative way to prevent users from having more than one account to an online service without charging a fee for registration, or being forced to verify user identity?"
Submission + - ISO Paralyzed by OOXML
Broken Standards writes: "For all intents and purposes, the ISO has been completely paralyzed. The ISO is no longer able to reach an agreement on any standard because all those new members who joined just to approve OOXML cannot be bothered to vote on anything else. Per ISO rules, any standard where more than half those eligible are non-voters, not even bothering to return an "abstain" vote, fails automatically. So the ISO is completely paralyzed, unable even to amend their voting rules, until the new members eventually get kicked out for inactivity. Hopefully, they will learn from this and forbid those inactive members from rejoining later."
Submission + - Bungie argues 640p is enough for anyone. (bungie.net) 2
AHuxley writes: "Smart people in the Beyond 3D forums have found that
Bungie's Halo 3 did meet the HD resolution of 720p.
Some math and Photoshop showed that Halo 3 was near 624p.
Bungie sees this as a "distracted conversation" in a short statement about "640 pixels", "lighting"
and "interweb detectives"."
Bungie's Halo 3 did meet the HD resolution of 720p.
Some math and Photoshop showed that Halo 3 was near 624p.
Bungie sees this as a "distracted conversation" in a short statement about "640 pixels", "lighting"
and "interweb detectives"."
Submission + - Police issue Death Threats to Man with Camera 9
An anonymous reader writes: Cops in St. Louis have taken objection over a local man filming their abuses of power, and have responded with death threats, and stalking. The guy they're harassing installed a pretty neat video system in his car after having received a speeding ticket that he that was unfair. What he ended up catching on tape was far worse than a speeding ticket. Luckily the news has picked up on it, so he is probably out of immediate danger.
Submission + - "Chroot Is Not and Never Has Been a Security T (kerneltrap.org)
Hyena writes: Linux guru Alan Cox is quoted as saying 'chroot is not and never has been a security tool' in a KernelTrap article summarizing a lengthy thread on the Linux Kernel mailing list. The discussion began with a patch attempting to 'fix a security hole' in the Unix chroot command, trying to improve the ability of chroot to contain a process. When it was pointed out that people have been using chroot as a security tool for years, another kernel hacker retorted, 'incompetent people implementing security solutions are a real problem.' A quick search on the terms 'chroot+security' quickly reveals that many people have long thought (wrongly) that chroot's purpose was for improving security.
Submission + - Microsoft "Stealth Update" not harmless at
DaMan writes: According to WindowsSecrets.com, the super-secret stealth Update that Microsoft released back in August isn't as harmless as Microsoft claims:
ZDNet's Hardware 2.0 has independently confirmed that this update adversely affects repaired XP installations:
The trouble occurs when users reinstall XP's system files using the repair capability found on genuine XP CD-ROMs. (The feature is not present on "Restore CDs.") The repair option, which is typically employed when XP for some reason becomes unbootable, rolls many aspects of XP back to a pristine state. It wipes out many updates and patches and sets Internet Explorer back to the version that originally shipped with the operating system.
ZDNet's Hardware 2.0 has independently confirmed that this update adversely affects repaired XP installations:
This issue highlights why it is vitally important that Microsoft doesn't release undocumented updates on the sly. Even the best tested update can have unpleasant side-effects, but if patches are documented properly and released in such a way that users (especially IT professionals) know they exist, it offers a necessary starting point for troubleshooting.
Submission + - College Fires Teacher Who Says Bible Isn't Literal (desmoinesregister.com) 1
Stanislav_J writes: A community college instructor in Iowa claims he was fired after he told his students that the biblical story of Adam and Eve should not be literally interpreted.
Steve Bitterman, 60, said officials at Southwestern Community College sided with a handful of students who threatened legal action over his remarks in a western civilization class Tuesday. He said he was fired Thursday.
"I'm just a little bit shocked myself that a college in good standing would back up students who insist that people who have been through college and have a master's degree, a couple actually, have to teach that there were such things as talking snakes or lose their job," Bitterman said.
One expects to read about this sort of thing at church-affiliated schools, but at a state-run community college? Are we really reaching a point in this country where everything said and taught in an academic setting must be weighed against the possibility of offending Christian fundamentalists? Are supposedly secular educational institutions more and more downplaying or even censoring truth and reality at the behest of a group of people who believe that ancient mythology negates and supercedes the disciplines of science, history, and reason?
Steve Bitterman, 60, said officials at Southwestern Community College sided with a handful of students who threatened legal action over his remarks in a western civilization class Tuesday. He said he was fired Thursday.
"I'm just a little bit shocked myself that a college in good standing would back up students who insist that people who have been through college and have a master's degree, a couple actually, have to teach that there were such things as talking snakes or lose their job," Bitterman said.
One expects to read about this sort of thing at church-affiliated schools, but at a state-run community college? Are we really reaching a point in this country where everything said and taught in an academic setting must be weighed against the possibility of offending Christian fundamentalists? Are supposedly secular educational institutions more and more downplaying or even censoring truth and reality at the behest of a group of people who believe that ancient mythology negates and supercedes the disciplines of science, history, and reason?
Submission + - MediaDefender Leaks Saga : unexpected outcomes (p2pnet.net) 4
ShakaZ writes: Following the leaks of all the internal emails and later the source code of all the anti-p2p software of MediaDefender, the boss and an employee of the company have been arrested by the LA police. They are charged for illegal uploading with intent to deceive, bandwidth theft, and grievous misrepresentation.
More handcuffs there : http://www.p2pnet.net/story/13397
Due to the released emails, ThePirateBay have proof of infrastructural sabotage, denial of service attacks, hacking and spamming, for which they filed a complaint to the Swedish police. 10 companies of the music, movie and gaming industries are listed in the complaint.
More pirates here : http://thepiratebay.org/blog
More handcuffs there : http://www.p2pnet.net/story/13397
Due to the released emails, ThePirateBay have proof of infrastructural sabotage, denial of service attacks, hacking and spamming, for which they filed a complaint to the Swedish police. 10 companies of the music, movie and gaming industries are listed in the complaint.
More pirates here : http://thepiratebay.org/blog
Submission + - Oneline HTML can crash IE 6 and 16% still using it (hyperphp.com) 4
devkhadka writes: "A Japanese blogger who goes by the name Hamachiya2 has discovered a single line of HTML and CSS that crashes IE 6. The line is:
<style>*{position:relative}</style><table><input></table>
you can click here to try it out. The code is rendered correctlyin Firefox, Safari and Opera (didn’t get a chance to tryany other browsers, butpresumably they work too). But in IE 6 it raises a fatal error in mshtml.dll.but From my surverydone by Devkhadka Tech centre for nerds shows stil there are 16.28 % of the users using IE 6.
See the detail of the survey"
<style>*{position:relative}</style><table><input></table>
you can click here to try it out. The code is rendered correctlyin Firefox, Safari and Opera (didn’t get a chance to tryany other browsers, butpresumably they work too). But in IE 6 it raises a fatal error in mshtml.dll.but From my surverydone by Devkhadka Tech centre for nerds shows stil there are 16.28 % of the users using IE 6.
See the detail of the survey"
Submission + - Bioshock requires valid uninstall to be reinstalle (kotaku.com)
Trillian_1138 writes: "Many /. readers have undoubtedly been following the development of Bioshock, particularly with the release of the game for Windows and XBox 360 in the US earlier this week. However, 2K Games recently revealed that the game not only requires an Internet connection during PC installation (disappointing, but not shocking) but during uninstallation. That is, if the game does not 'deauthorize' with 2K servers, the SecuROM DRM system in place will prevent the game from being installed on more than two total computers without 'officially' uninstalling the game from at least one of them. From the Kotaku article, a 2K rep has said the game only needs to be connected to the Internet to install and uninstall, not to play."
Submission + - Bioshock PC is defective by design 4
ringbarer writes: Kotaku reports that the long-awaited spiritual successor to System Shock has a few shocks for any PC gamers who want to buy it. Customers are discovering that the 'SecuROM' anti-copying technology will only permit them to install the game twice, after which the DVD becomes nothing more than an expensive coaster. As PC Gamers are renowned for rebuilding and reinstalling their machines on a regular basis, it is clear that this will only hurt legitimate players.
