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Power

Submission + - UK company creates free energy

Submitted by
PhilHibbs
PhilHibbs writes: "The Daily Mail and Wired Blog Gadget Lab are reporting on an apparent free-energy device from British company Ecowatts. Scientists are "still not clear about the science involved here, because the physics and chemistry are very different-to everything that has gone before", but independent tests carried out by Jim Lyons at the University of York "were getting 150 to 200 per cent more energy out than we put in, without trying too hard." It "involves passing an electrical current through a mixture of water, potassium carbonate (otherwise known as potash) and a secret liquid catalyst, based on chrome." So, stick that in your pipe and... get hot water out of it, I suppose. Maybe."
The Internet

Submission + - 10 HTML pages your site and everyone else needs

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: This back to the basics article might seem obvious to many, but, you'd be surprised how many websites we visit ignore providing the basic files that users anticipate finding and that tell both humans and machines what your website is all about. Stop doing your site and users wrong and start providing the keys to your kingdom.
Music

Submission + - Johnny Cash Pardoned for Picking Flowers (pitchforkmedia.com)

Submitted by Chunt
Chunt writes: Life in Mississippi 42 years ago was a little different than in these modern times. For example, in Starkville, home of Mississippi State University, the Man in Black was arrested for picking flowers and breaking curfew after her performed a show at the university on May 11, 1965. The city and county have now posthumously pardoned Mr. Cash for his petty crimes. Check out the Pitchfork article for their analysis, and, for those interested, there is also audio of Mr. Cash's account of that night, along with a snippet of the song he wrote about it, as well as a website for the forthcoming Flower Pickin' Festival in his honor.
Security

Submission + - TD Ameritrade customer details stolen by spammers

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In an announcement sent out via email at 10AM EST, TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (part of TD Bank Financial Group) sent an announcement to it's customers saying it "..has discovered and eliminated unauthorized code from its systems that allowed access to an internal database. The discovery was made as the result of an internal investigation of stock-related SPAM. .... Information such as email addresses, names, addresses and phone numbers was retrieved from this database and affects TD AMERITRADE retail and institutional clients. While more sensitive information like account numbers, date of birth and Social Security Numbers is stored in this database, there is no evidence that it was taken." The investigation was performed by ID Analytics which claims to have "...found no evidence of identity theft related to TD AMERITRADE clients as a result of this issue" At the time of writing, there are no details available on the number of people affected by the breach, who was responsible, or how the breach occurred.
Security

Submission + - Company flashes personal aircraft, future jetpack (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "German researchers this week showed off their Gryphon personal strap-on jet wing that lets the pilot scream through the air at about 135MPH. The Gryphon features a six-foot wing and hand-held rotary controls for the rudder. The system includes onboard oxygen and helmet that features a heads-up display. Researchers say the final version of the flying wing will contain an electronic system that will take care of some of the steering for the pilot which today can be a little tricky, researchers say. The company also plans to add small jets to the wing making it a true jetpack in the future. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/19485"
Microsoft

Submission + - Windows Updates without users' permission/knowledg (microsoft-watch.com) 1

Submitted by
javipas
javipas writes: "A recent discovery on Windows Secrets and Microsoft Watch has revealed a new tactic used by Microsoft. The Windows Update component acts even when automatic updates are turned off, and without users' knowledge or permission. The study's conclusion: though the programs updated do not pose a risk for users, Microsoft behaviour shows a potential danger for IT professionals. But this is not the important fact. What about users rights? Windows' EULA doesn't reflect this, but Windows Update Privacy Statement gives explicit permission to such tasks."
Space

Submission + - Cassini's Spectacular Iapetus Flyby

Submitted by cupofjoe
cupofjoe writes: The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is reporting on the Cassini spacecraft's recent close flyby of the Saturnian moon Iapetus, highlighting images taken from distances 100 times closer than the Voyager 2 flyby in 1981. Near real-time images were shown to Cassini mission team members in a presentation at JPL yesterday, during which a pre-recorded message from Arthur C. Clarke was played to the audience. Clarke wished them luck on the flyby, reminding all present that he had included a pretty accurate description of Iapetus in the original 1968 text of "2001: A Space Odyssey", years before Voyager made its flyby. The images are pretty spectacular, trumping the mosaic shot during Cassini's New Years' 2004 flyby — no sign of the Star Gate, though.
The Internet

Submission + - German ISP blocks online pornography (heise.de)

Submitted by huha
huha writes: German ISP Arcor has recently begun blocking access to foreign online pornography pages. According to the German IT news portal Heise, this is a voluntary action taken due to legal actions from a German porn site operator. The blocks will be in effect until the legal dispute is settled. The dispute concerns having the ISP block sites not meeting German standards for age verification for viewing certain content, e.g. online pornography.
Sci-Fi

Submission + - Madeleine L'Engle, 1918 - 2007

Submitted by mosel-saar-ruwer
mosel-saar-ruwer writes: Madeleine L'Engle Camp Franklin passed away, on Sept. 6, aged 88, at Rose Haven nursing home, in Litchfield, Connecticut. Even before we discovered Tolkien, CS Lewis, or Robert Heinlein, many /.-ers' first exposure to Science Fiction and Fantasy was surely L'Engle's 1962 novel, A Wrinkle in Time. The Washington Post has an obituary, and the New York Post's John Podhoretz relates his childhood memories of life at 924 West End Avenue with Mr. & Mrs. Franklin.
Security

Submission + - Hackers using YouTube to spread latest Trojan

Submitted by thefickler
thefickler writes: Social engineering attacks are showing a strong rise this Summer. The latest trick is manipulating YouTube users to infect their PCs with a Trojan known as the Fake Codec. For most media, a certain codec is required to encode and decode a digital stream such as audio or video. When a user tries to view a video that requires a specific codec, they'll usually get the message, "Codec not found" or "The proper codec to play this media is not installed." Some sites will usually direct you to another website to download the codec; however, an increasing trend in late August is for hackers to direct users to download a fake codec, which will in turn install malicious software on the user's machine.
Databases

Submission + - Are Relational Databases Obsolete?

Submitted by jpkunst
jpkunst writes: Computerworld reports that Michael Stonebraker, who co-created the Ingres and Postgres technology as a researcher at UC Berkeley in the early 1970s, argues in The Database Column that the current major relational DBMSs (DB2, SQLserver, Oracle) "should be considered legacy technology, more than a quarter of century in age and 'long in the tooth'.". His prediction is "that column stores will take over the warehouse market over time, completely displacing row stores".
Sci-Fi

Submission + - Science Fiction Writers write DMCA Takedowns (boingboing.net)

Submitted by
TheGreatGraySkwid
TheGreatGraySkwid writes: "With an ironic lack of forward thinking, the Science Fiction Writers of America (or, more specifically, their Vice President Andrew Burt) have issued scattershot DMCA takedown notices against numerous items on the document-sharing site Scribd, many of which were not infringing on SFWA copyrights in any way. It appears that a simple keyword search for prominent science fiction names (like "Asimov" and "Silverburg") was used to determine which documents were to be singled out. Included in the documents was Cory Doctorow's "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom," which is freely available at any number of places. Doctorow is up in arms over at BoingBoing, with several other Science Fiction notables speaking up in the comments."
The Internet

Submission + - VirtualEarth Exposes Nuke Sub's Stealth Propeller (nwsource.com)

Submitted by
NewsCloud
NewsCloud writes: "The Seattle Times reports that a local blogger Dan Twohig highlighted photos on Microsoft Virtual Earth of stealth nuclear submarine propeller technology (alternate) taken by aircraft while the submarine was in dry dock in nearby Bangor. Says Twhohig,

You can also use the zoom in and out keys and move around the Bangor Sub Base taking a close up look at the bunkers and magazines where they keep the nuclear weapons. You would think the US government would keep better tabs on this stuff.
Microsoft said it would blur the image if requested (but not this one). This is the same nuclear base the Navy has been petitioning to use trained dolphins and sea lions to patrol."
Encryption

Submission + - Art Theft Prevention?

Submitted by
Skye-of-Cydonia
Skye-of-Cydonia writes: "Recently, I seem to have been a target for art theft, having mysteriously discovered various pieces of my DeviantART gallery — usually digital art — scattered across the internet. I logged onto my account this morning to find a note: a notice that now, my work is being sold on eBay, without my permission. Obviously this is illegal, and against UK, Ireland and International law, so I took the action of reporting it to eBay in the hope that it will be sorted. Although, that might not stop them entirely from perhaps submitting it elsewhere — perhaps in places that I am unaware of. I was wondering, Slashdot, if there is perhaps a way that I could prevent this — or digitally alter my artwork to be 'encrypted' to some extent. The only issue with prevention of my work being stolen like that, is that people will not be able to view it where submitted. I've already altered all of the work in my DeviantART gallery to contain watermarks, so that they cannot be used. But that doesn't stop them from stealing work from my website, Moons of Mars. I'd hate to have to upload everything again and place watermarks on all of my work — so perhaps there might also be a way that I could do something much easier. I'm not entirely sure what to expect as a response, or suggestion, but right now, I'm desperately in need of a way of securing my art from further theft like this, and I'll blindly take any offers."

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Somebody ought to cross ball point pens with coat hangers so that the pens will multiply instead of disappear.

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