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Networking (Apple)

Submission + - U.S. Army says Mac OS is alternative to Windows XP

Submitted by
Reverend Darkness
Reverend Darkness writes: "It seems that the boys at Cupertino are keeping the news that the U.S. Army has deemed the Mac OS worthy of "peer" status with Windows XP rather quiet.

The caveat?

They install a third party Active Directory client,ADmitMac for CAC, to make sure that they meet the minimum security requirements... requirements that Apple simply cannot meet."
Input Devices

Submission + - Fewer Calories Mean Healthier Monkeys

Submitted by
lylet
lylet writes: "So this NYT article in Tuesday's Paper "One for the Ages: A Prescription That May Extend Life" explains some research about calorie intake as it relates to aging. I like the graphic with the serving sizes, but think that if the 3,000 calorie guy cut out the bacon, butter, half of the fries, and the skeezy looking cafeteria dinner, he might just be ok. What is a good (and do-able) 1800 or 2000 calorie day for a male? Toast, fruit, salad with chicken, fruit, and then a normal, but small dinner perhaps. And why are the monkeys scowling? I'll bet it's because they have to eat those little pellets, and one of them is hungry."
Software

Submission + - becoming a software developer affordably

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: How is it possible to break into the programmer field to become a software developer? Most job ads I see, even for junior positions, are asking for 2-4 years experience in each technology listed (and list a giant laundry list). Generally HR drones filter me completely out of the running. I interviewed with one place and was offered the job, but they clearly stated they wanted to underpay me and I was expected to work a lot of overtime. The good places to work just don't seem interested in interviewing me. My work experience is mostly with databases, so DBA jobs are pretty easy, however it is my dream to become a superb software developer and in order to accomplish this goal I need to practice the craft all day at work. I have a college degree in computer science with a 4.0 GPA however that doesn't seem to help me be any closer to becoming a software developer. It is looking like a big waste of time where I should have been developing instead of going to college.

Is there a way to find such a job without having to go down to making 30,000 per year? Currently I make 70,000 per year and I do need the money as I have a family to support. I figure I can go down to 65,000 (in the New York/Northern NJ area). What I really want is a good job to break me into the field of programming (any object oriented language at this point .NET, Java, C++, etc.) so that I can get object oriented development/design experience. People can suggest open source projects, but ultimately a little programming in your spare time is no substitute for doing it full time and working on a really large system. In order to become really good it is necessary to practice 40+ hours per week.
Security

Submission + - Old bugs blight shiny new browsers

Submitted by
magmf
magmf writes: ""An old security bug provides a way to crash Firefox 2.0, security researchers have discovered. The memory corruption vulnerability involving the handling of JavaScript code has been known about since June 2006 and Firefox version 1.5.0.7 was supposed to fix the problem. Despite this, Firefox 2.0 remains vulnerable to this issue. Due to code reuse, other Mozilla products are also likely to be affected, a posting on Bugtraq warns. The flaw might be used to inject hostile code into vulnerable systems, but so far nothing more dangerous than an ability to crash the browser has been demonstrated."
Read More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/30/ie_firefox _vulns/
And i found this link http://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/ffoxdie_orig.html to test the this flaw in brazilian website UnderLinux"
Linux Business

Submission + - Corporate users embrace desktop Linux

Submitted by
JCaruso
JCaruso writes: "Is the corporate world ready for Linux on the desktop? This article presents some places that are. From the article: "People have to justify Windows to get it, and even then I challenge them a bit," says Dave Jenkins, the CTO for Backcountry.com. Nearly 70% of the online retailer's 200 or so desktops are Linux, including multiuser machines stationed in the company's warehouse. Those on Windows desktops typically need it to support Excel and the macros that run only inside that spreadsheet."
Republicans

Submission + - Bush Administration Closing EPA Libraries

Submitted by JerkyBoy
JerkyBoy writes: There is an interesting article at Salon titled, "Brownout at the EPA," where it is noted that the Bush administration has slashed the EPA budget by $100 million, forcing the closure of the EPA library headquarters and three regional branches. Additional closures are likely to follow, essentially crippling the EPA through a denial of information access. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility site have note that "[s]huttering the EPA libraries means that: Tens of thousands of unique holdings will be boxed up and inaccessible for an unknown period; Public access to EPA holdings will cease; and EPA scientists, enforcement agents and other specialists will have a much harder time doing their jobs."
Enlightenment

Submission + - Dump jock vs. smart homeboy ?

Submitted by
Rhabarber
Rhabarber writes: "Back in 2003, Paul Graham wrote in his essay Why Nerds are Unpopular: 'All other things being equal, [most kids] would have preferred to be on the smart side of average rather than the dumb side, but intelligence counted far less than, say, physical appearance, charisma, or athletic ability.' Notoric geeks would go even further and claim a reverse correlation between mental and physical strengths suggesting you to concentrate on the one you're better in. Vayman and Gomez-Pinilla argue in their recent review Revenge of the 'Sit'... published in Journal of Neuroscience Research (subscription required) that regular physical activity (and fasting btw.) may be an evolutionary programmed necessity for our body and brain to deliver full performance. They write: 'To take the metaphor of the sea squirt, we can visualize an extreme example of this connection between motricity and mentality. The sea squirt is a marine creature that starts life as a motile larva, equipped with a rudimentary brain-like ganglion of about 300 neurons. After swimming to its final habitat destination it puts its roots down. Once it becomes a sessile organism, it has no further use for a 'brain', and so the cerebral ganglion breaks down.' A more general (and publicly available) write up on the topic was published by sciencenews.org (Part 1 and Part 2) in February. So let's drop dr. pepper and the pizza, suspend WoW for an minute, eat a carott and run around the block :-O"
Music

Submission + - MySpace to use Audio Fingerprinting

Submitted by
dptalia
dptalia writes: "MySpace is going to start implementing audio fingerprinting to prevent copyrighted material from appearing on its site. MySpace will start using this technology to review all uploads and prevent "inappropriate" material from ever seeing the light of day."
Communications

Submission + - Internet Governance Forum Meets this week

Submitted by
dptalia
dptalia writes: "Here we go again. The first UN Internet governance forum is meeting this week in Greece. One of the issues expected to rear it's ugly head is American control of ICANN. also to be discussed is censorship, non-english access, and spam. Representatives from countries, as well as companies such as Microsoft and Sun are attending."
Security

Submission + - Voting machines rejected for Dutch elections

Submitted by Arleo
Arleo writes: Newvote voting machines have been disapproved by the Dutch government just three weeks before national elections will take place. For years now Nedap voting machines are used in large parts of The Netherlands. This year electronic voting should be possible everywhere in The Netherlands. NewVote-voting machines were purchased at SDU. The "we don't trust voting machines" committee agitates against the use of both the Nedap machine and the NewVote machines during the national elections. The committee, with famous Dutch former hacker and activist Rop Gonggrijp amongst it's members, has proven how insecure both the Nedap and the Newvot voting machines are. The Nedap reverse engineering project has shown that votes are not anonym because radio signals from the votig machine can be intercepted (scientfic articl , movie). The Dutch government has tested the SDU NewVote voting machines and have rejected them because radiation from the machines can be intercepted and analyzed from dozens of meters. Question is when will the Nedap machines be rejected as well.
Programming

Submission + - Why Software SUCKS

Submitted by jcatcw
jcatcw writes: In an excerpt from Why Software SUCKS, David Platt says that programmers err when they design software by forgetting that ordinary users aren't like them — people who like complexity and sometimes trade control for ease of use. Too often they also force users to understand the internals of the computing environment. In a podcast interview, Platt gives users a five step process for improving software quality: buy good software, tell manufacturers about problems, use public ridicule, read reviews from those you trust, and organize.
Media

Submission + - Alienware Releases Official Letter

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Over at FastSilicon.com, they have contacted Alienware regarding the hardware blackmail story posted today on Slashdot. An official statement from Alienware has been released, and can be read Here It seems Mat Bettinson with Alienware is in the center of this mess, and from his emails, I doubt he'll with them after today. Hardware editors take pride in helping readers make the best purchasing decisions, and must always remain unbiased. To have a company bully publications, and literally ask for favorable reviews of their products, is both unprofessional and corrupt.
The Internet

Submission + - Is Denmark closing the internet?

Submitted by eklux
eklux writes: A danish court has just ruled that the danish internetprovider Tele2 must prevent its users from accessing the russian musicsite www.allofmp3.com.

Here I have translated some of the danish judgement:

- "As in the law of copyright (ophavsretsloven) 2, stk. 2, copymaking is regarding any direct or indirect, temporary or permanent og whole or partial copymaking in any way and in any form ... The court finds on this backgrund, that also the temporary and random settlement of the musicwork in form of electrical signals, as carried out in the different routers under the datapackets transmission via the internet, is covered by the law of copyright (ophavsretsloven) 2."

This means that the internetproviders can be held responsible for any copyrighted material going through their routers.

Think about it. If I buy any copyrighted music from the internet, my data passes a lot of routers on its way from the server to me. So, as these routers now is holding copyrighted material, they are breaking the law.

Is Denmark trying to sensor or close the internet?

This story conserns the whole of EU, since this judgement follows directives from EU, and could have a huge impact on the internet as we know it.

Here's an english source to the story.

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