dberstein - Slashdot User

Submission + - Security risks encircle Wi-Fi at RSA conference

Submitted by

Frosty Piss

on Monday March 19, 2007 @01:11AM

Frosty Piss writes: "When top security gurus gathered in San Francisco last month for the RSA Conference, a Boston company decided to point its radar toward the airwaves and see how much of the show's wireless activity it could see. What they found was that many of these experts had not taken the basic precautions to protect their online activity while using public Wi-Fi. The Boston hackers could eavesdrop on more than half of the wireless traffic of conference attendees. Amit Sinha, chief technology officer of AirDefense found that 56 percent of 623 devices — laptops, cell phones, personal digital assistants and PCs — were susceptible to attacks. Read about it in the Seattle Post Intelligencer."

Submission + - Confess your 'CrackBerry' addiction, win a prize

Submitted by jcatcw on Thursday March 15, 2007 @04:17PM

jcatcw writes: CrackBerry.com, the new Web site for BlackBerry users, launched a contest this week that may be the ultimate catch-22 for addicts of the handheld systems. The grand prize rehab vacation to a yet unnamed exotic location will be awarded on June 1. But the winner can only accept the vacation if he or she first promises to take a first step toward recovery — leave the BlackBerry at home.

Web Censorship on the Increase 132

Posted by Zonk on Thursday March 15, 2007 @03:57PM from the xxx-xxxx-xxx-xxxx-xxxxxx dept.

mid-devonian writes "Close on the heels of the temporary blocking of YouTube by a Turkish judge, a group of academics has published research showing that Web censorship is on the increase worldwide. As many as two dozen countries are blocking content using a variety of techniques. Distressingly, the most censor-heavy countries (which includes China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Burma and Uzbekistan) seem to be passing on their technologically sophisticated techniques to other areas of the world. 'New censorship techniques include the periodic barring of complete applications, such as China's block on Wikipedia or Pakistan's ban on Google's blogging service, and the use of more advanced technologies such as 'keyword filtering', which is used to track down material by identifying sensitive words.'"

Journal Journal: DefectiveByDesign.org to Deliver Open Letter to Steve Jobs

Journal by cparker15 on Thursday March 15, 2007 @03:45PM

DefectiveByDesign.org, the Free Software Foundation's campaign against DRM, has written an open letter to Steve Jobs regarding his recent public statements about DRM. The campaign's organizers are asking for more signatures before the letter is delivered to Mr. Jobs on April Fool's Day. From the letter's introduction:

Submission + - Cingular/ATT, Sprint, Quest Block Conference Calls

Submitted by

IAmTheDave

on Thursday March 15, 2007 @03:35PM

IAmTheDave writes: "Cingular/AT&T has blocked calling access to a free conference calling service, FreeConference.com, with varying stories as to why. With Sprint and Quest following Cingular/AT&T shortly thereafter, the CEO of FreeConference.com claims that the service carriers are blocking the free conference calling service to illegally stifle competitors of their similar pay-for services. An email mailed out to my employer — users of FreeConference.com — state that "This appears to be a coordinated effort to force you to use the paid services they provide, eliminating competition and blocking your right to use the conferencing services that work best for you." The email urges users to contact the FCC, state Attorney Generals, and their providers directly. On the flip side, Quest Communications filed a lawsuit in Iowa claiming that several companies in Iowa, FreeConference.com being one, (along with sister companies hotlivesexchat.com and callchinaforfree.com) are fraudulently and illegally routing calls that end up holding the carrier responsible for long distance fees. AT&T filed suit shortly thereafter as well."

Journal Journal: Fuck you SUV with the Bush/Cheney '04 sticker! 2

Journal by Servo on Thursday March 15, 2007 @03:21PM

Driving to work yesterday (in my new Prius), and I get cut off by some sort of huge SUV with Bush/Cheney sticker on the back.

Hey driver of said vehicle... would you mind taking a long walk off a short pier? Just because I drive a hybrid car doesn't mean you get to be a prick. I bought the car because its 1) geeky from a technology standpoint and 2) gets better gas mileage for my 110 mile round trip everyday.

Submission + - Military system offers worldwide cell phone access

Submitted by

coondoggie

on Thursday March 15, 2007 @03:20PM

coondoggie writes: "U.S. soldiers stationed in remote regions of Iraq and Afghanistan can flip open their Razr or LG mobile phones and place calls, thanks to a new portable cellular communications system from LGS, the U.S. government marketing arm of Alcatel-Lucent. LGS announced its Tactical Base Station Router (TacBSR), which was developed by Bell Laboratories, in February. The TacBSR is a single box that provides instant commercial cellular communications and serves as a gateway between cellular and VoIP networks. The TacBSR is available for U.S. government customers only. Applications include field deployments, disaster recovery, reverse 911, and search and rescue operations. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/031507-milit ary-systems-provide-instant-cell-phones.html"

Submission + - The story of your life, now available online

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 15, 2007 @03:17PM

An anonymous reader writes: Juliet LaVia of Burbank, Calif., recently got a call from someone named John whose voice she couldn't place. After an awkward silence, she learned he was a college acquaintance from some 15 years ago who said he found her home phone number online. Since the dawn of the Internet, it's been possible to plug a name into a search engine to see what turns up. And for years, background-checking services have sold expensive online services for looking up personal information such as criminal records, marriage records, addresses and phone numbers. But now, directory companies and several start-ups are offering new people-search services that are more comprehensive and useful than the classic Google search at a fraction or none of the cost of a traditional background check.

Submission + - Cancer stem cells in breast cancer challenged

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Thursday March 15, 2007 @03:16PM

Anonymous Coward writes: "A Dana-Farber Cancer Institute study challenges the hypothesis that "cancer stem cells" — a small number of self-renewing cells within a tumor — are responsible for breast cancer progression and recurrence, and that wiping out these cells alone could cure the disease. Read More"

Submission + - 30 inch Monitor = More Productivity & Efficien

Submitted by Dogggis on Thursday March 15, 2007 @03:11PM

Dogggis writes: Report shows how a 30 inch screen offers measurable productivity and efficiency gains.. As we have discussed many times before, the additional "screen real estate" is a very good way to boost overall productivity, even in very common tasks that have little or nothing to do with highly specialized professional applications....Productivity gains were present in not only professional design and publishing, digital imaging, and digital video, but also in general productivity and office applications such as word processors and spreadsheets. Cumulated productivity gains linked to a large, high-resolution display can lead to a return on investment (ROI) of several thousand dollars per year. http://www.gizmag.com/go/6972/

Submission + - Genes Transfer is Common Between Organisms

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Thursday March 15, 2007 @03:10PM

Anonymous Coward writes: "Two new studies by University of California, Berkeley, scientists highlight the amazing promiscuity of genes, which appear to shuttle frequently between organisms, especially more primitive organisms, and often in packs. Read More"

Submission + - Cause Of Early Blindness Linked To Tissue Defect

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Thursday March 15, 2007 @03:05PM

Anonymous Coward writes: "Researchers at Texas A&M University are shedding light on a rare form of early blindness, identifying the cells involved and paving the way for possible therapies to treat or even prevent what is currently an incurable disease. Read More"

Submission + - Is a Dell and Apple partnership possible?

Submitted by

thschmid

on Thursday March 15, 2007 @02:47PM

thschmid writes: "Reading a story on Yahoo! Finace, I was wondering what the /. community thought about Dell selling systems based on OS X? Michael Dell made a comment about a year ago that he would love to do just that. Dell also seems to be in dire need to boost their image, especially since HP took over the #1 spot in sales.
Personally, I would love to see this happen."

Submission + - Etch: release date lost in the future?

Submitted by

ThunderHammer

on Monday March 12, 2007 @05:57PM

ThunderHammer writes: "January and February are long gone with always more than 100 release critical bugs. Only in the last few weeks an energic drop can be seen and brings a little more hope (at the moment is anywhere near 70 bugs). Long development cycle often involve (long) delays and is, in general, a good paradigm for stability, testing and reliability but doesnt look like an unprofessional "when it's done" approach? Do fixed deadlines make sense in cases like this?"

Submission + - Google assists Indian goverment censorship

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 12, 2007 @05:35PM

An anonymous reader writes: Google's Orkut has made a deal to provide IP addresses of posters of content deemed objectionable by Bombay police. They object to, among others, posts against certain Indian personalities, young women admiring Indian mobsters, and, amazingly, "anti-Indian words" (!).

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