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Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Outlaws 3rd Party IM Clients

An anonymous reader writes: With the latest update to the MSN Instant Messenger client, now called Windows Live Messenger, Microsoft has required all users to sign a new contract which among other things forbids the use of 3rd party instant messenger clients to connect to the MSN messenger service, such as the AJAX Meebo client, Gaim, and Trillian among others. Worth noting, they do provide a list of authorized 3rd party clients, such as Yahoo Messenger, that are allowed access to the service.

Excerpt: "In using the service, you may not use any unauthorized third party software or service to access the Microsoft instant messaging network currently known as the .NET Messenger service."
Mozilla

Submission + - Firefox javascript/cookie vulnerability uncovered

mybecq writes: Michal Zalewski has uncovered and disclosed a serious vulnerability (BugZilla: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=37044 5) in Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.1, whereby a javascript string containing '\x00' (escaped NUL character) can cause Firefox to allow malicious sites to manipulate cookies for third-party webpages.

A demonstration of the vulnerability is available. The vulnerability requires javascript and session cookies to be enabled to be able to be exploited.
Programming

Submission + - Employer Ratings for Coders, by Coders

witten writes: "Coderific is new site for software developers where you can actually write reviews of your employers. The scores for the reviews are totaled up, and lists are generated for the best employers and the worst employers. Additionally you can look up employers based on geographical area, so the next time you're moving to a new area you can find out about the best companies to work for. There currently aren't very many entries on certain employers, but some do have enough reviews to give you a good idea of problems to look for."
HP

Submission + - 14 HP Company Secrets from a former employee

rob101 writes: A former Hewlett-Packard worker could barely wait for their non-disclosure-agreement to end so they could spill 14 company secrets to The Consumerist. Full article at the Consumerist. This article details secrets about HP printers, how to get past the voice prompt system, HP cartridges and warranty information.
Movies

Submission + - The Top 12 Movies that Were Ahead of Their Time

Alex Billington writes: "What makes a movie years down the road be referred to as ahead of its time? It's the visual effects and technical achievements that the filmmakers implemented, from the miniatures in Star Wars to the time-freezing camera system in The Matrix, these movies were vastly ahead of their time. FirstShowing.net has comprised a comprehensive list of the top 12 movies in history that were ahead of their time, ranging from Psycho and 2001 to The Matrix."
Google

Submission + - Turns Out Google Really Does Listen

SamThomp writes: "There's a perfect Google underdog story going on right now. It goes like this: A college student named Aaron Stanton has an idea he thinks Google will love. He tries to get in touch via phone, e-mail, and their web forms with no luck. Then, spurred by his father nearly dying of an embolism near Christmas, he takes a chance and flies to Mountain View, CA without an appointment, intending to sit in their lobby "like a spoiled child" until he gets a chance to meet with someone. He's been there about three days, now.

Here's where it gets interesting. He creates a website called CanGoogleHearMe.com, and uses Google Video to document his journey in hopes that it might be seen by someone at Google and they'll show pity. At first he's turned away (links to Google Video) at the door and doesn't get a chance to talk to anyone. Then, apparently someone in Google does notice the website and it spreads — word of mouth — inside of Google like wildfire; 600 people visit the site in two hours from inside of Google's headquarters at Mountain View.

Then, late last night — three days into his trip — the guy gets an e-mail with the subject line, "We can hear you :)" that says they're willing to listen to him. No meeting for sure yet, but a step in the right direction.

It's like "actual" reality TV. :) If you're looking for an interesting story to pay attention to for the week, it'll be interesting to see how this turns out. So far, Google seems to be living up to their image of being a large company that's open to ideas. As far as I'm concerned, best of luck to them both."
Encryption

Submission + - TSA can't figure out security certificates

markgo2k writes: "The Washington Post reports that TSA has taken a new website live that people who are wrongly on the famous "no-fly" list can protest their status. Unbelievably, the website uses a self-signed certificate (and some have reported that you can submit forms insecurely as well). Perhaps contractor (Desyne Web Services, Inc. www.desyne.com) nor whoever was managing them ever actually tested the site or figured that flashing red certificate error warnings were something that might not be okay on a site that asks for name, address, height, weight, date of birth, hair color, eye color, passport number, birth certificate, drivers license number, military id number..."
Communications

Submission + - Text Messaging Device for the hearing impaired

spaceball1 writes: I was in the army and I did serve in Iraq — one of the side effects being some permanent hearing loss. I now wear hearing aids all of the time in both ears. Talking on a cell phone has become nearly impossible. I have considered moving to a device more geared towards text messaging but they are all very expensive and have a lot of the features that a cell phone user needs. Are there any devices out there that anyone has found that are geared only towards simple text messaging? The No-Frills-Cell-Phone concept has been largely ignored in the US; does a No-Frills-Text-Messaging device exist?
Programming

Submission + - Breaking into the C++ software engineer field

An anonymous reader writes: I have been working for about 4 years (mostly with Microsoft SQL Server and some VB.NET) but it is my desire to get a job as a software engineer doing C++ or even C. The only interviews I seem to get are those for Microsoft Jobs, which of course do want to hire me. Once I did get an interview for a real software engineering job, when switching my last job, but by the time the company got back to me with a decision (over a month and a half) I had already accepted another job.

I have seen many posts saying specific language skills aren't important but it is important to get a candidate who can think. I have also seen that some interviewers will have candidates write sample code...but all of these assume you get the interview. How can I even get the interviews so that I will have a shot at proving my worth and being hired?

I do know both C and C++ very well (intermediate level), but since I have never worked at a job using them, recruiters and human resources do not seem to care. They only care about skills they read in the bulleted point of work experience. Also, I refuse to lie on my resume, so I will not say I did something for work experience when I did not.

Finally, I think that if I do want to be really good at development in C and C++, doing it in my own time (which is less and less) is nowhere near as effective as doing it in my daytime job for 8-10 hours a day.

So short of lying, how can I score the interview for C and C++ programming jobs (while most of them not only want work experience, they are citing 5+ years of C++ experience, plus usually other misc skills as well (XML, Oracle, Java, etc.). Most of the other misc skills (short of Oracle) are easy to learn (XML is relatively simple, Java is similar to C++/VB.NET [and I know an older version...so it is just learning the new stuff]). Oracle would take some doing, but SQL Server is somewhat similar (TSQL -> PL/SQL, SQL, relational database skills, PRO*C is just embedding SQL in the host program, etc.). I have seen some C/C++ jobs up for months, so it would make sense that the month or two I spend learning the additional technologies while putting a dent in the work they have to be done, is better than not filling the job and having the work undone, isn't it?
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Amazon asserts right to adjust prices after sale

An anonymous reader writes: On December 23, Amazon advertised a "buy one get one free" sale on DVD boxsets, but did not test the promotion before going live. When anyone placed two boxsets in their cart, the website gave a double discount — so the "grand total" shown (before order submission) was $0.00 or something very small. Despite terms stating that Amazon checks order prices before shipping, Amazon shipped the vast majority of orders. Five days later (December 28), after orders had been received and presumably opened, Amazon emailed customers advising them to return the boxsets unopened or customers' credit cards would be charged an additional amount. (You can read more threads about this here and here.) Starting yesterday, Amazon has been (re)charging credit cards, often without authorization. On Amazon's side, they didn't advertise any double discount, and the free or nearly-free boxsets must have cost them a mint. But with Amazon continually giving unadvertised discounts that seem to be errors, is "return the merchandise or be charged" the new way that price glitches will be handled?
It's funny.  Laugh.

Submission + - Genes Linked to Teen Delinquency

sporkme writes: "An Australian study has found a link between antisocial behavior and specific genes, independent of parents' emotional influence.

"Our data shows that marital conflict is not a major culprit," said epidemiologist Nick Martin, from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research. "Rows have often been blamed for ratbag behaviour but we've got no evidence to suggest that they are the problem." Researchers, including several from the US, studied 1,045 pairs of twins and their children to see whether the link between parental fighting and kids' conduct problems was genetic or environmental. They found that children of an identical twin had the same levels of behavioural problems regardless of whether it was their parent or their parent's identical sibling that had marital rows.
The study was published in the journal Child Development, which is available by subscription."
Graphics

Submission + - PCIe Cabling Spec Allows External Graphics Cards

writertype writes: The PCI Express SIG released its Cabling 1.0 spec on Wednesday, which translates the PCI Express protocols found within motherboards into a cable that takes PCI Express outside the box, ExtremeTech reports. PCI SIG executives specifically mention that the spec was designed to allow external PC graphics solutions, making things like SLI cooling all that much easier. An important step forward for the PC, I think.
Media

Submission + - Nay on DRM: The Economist agrees with Jobs

redelm writes: The Economist, arguably the world leading business newspaper/magazine has picked up on Steve Jobs Appleblog for DRM-free Music. Also as discussed on /. This article agrees with Jobs and gives him much broader exposure beyond the technical community. Perhaps to influence some lego/politico decision makers who have no idea what DRM is!
Media (Apple)

Submission + - DVD jon on Job's "give up DRM if I could"

Whiney Mac Fanboy writes: ""Dvd" Jon Johansen has posted several sceptical blog entries reacting to Steve Job's blog posting about DRM. One post questions Job's misuse of statistics that attempts to prove consumers aren't tied to iPods through ITMS.

Many iPod owners have never bought anything from the iTunes Store. Some have bought hundreds of songs. Some have bought thousands. At the 2004 Macworld Expo, Steve revealed that one customer had bought $29,500 worth of music.
The other question's the DRM-free in a heartbeat claim. There are apparantly, many Indie artists who would love to sell DRM-free music on iTunes, but Apple will not allow them.

It should not take Apple's iTunes team more than 2-3 days to implement a solution for not wrapping content with FairPlay when the content owner does not mandate DRM. This could be done in a completely transparent way and would not be confusing to the users.
"
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - Half-Life 2: Episode 2 delayed to end 2007

Wowzer writes: "EA and Valve today announced the naming and product configurations of Half-Life 2's The Black Box and The Orange Box, while at the same time confirming another worldwide release date delay from summer 2007 to winter 2007. From the article: "The Black Box will ship for the PC, and includes Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2. The Orange Box will ship for the PC, PS3 & Xbox 360, and includes all the content of The Black Box, plus the original Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One." If you thought the delay was the only bad news, then artwork fans haven't seen the ugly new boxart yet."

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