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Submission + - Why Your BlackBerry Causes Nearby Speakers to Buzz

Submitted by

AZA43

on Wednesday May 30, 2007 @11:37AM

AZA43 writes: "Ever wondered why your BlackBerry — or other mobile device — causes nearbly speakers and electronics to buzz like a swarm of disgruntled honey bees? Ever wondered what handset makers and cell phone carriers think about the buzzing and whether or not they're doing anything about it? Or why some phones seem to cause more buzzing than others? I did, and I asked Research In Motion (RIM) for information on the subject. Duncan Bradly, RIM's global intelligence director, let me in on where RIM stands on the issue, what they're doing about it and even offered up a few ways you can muffle the sound — though he cautions against them since they'll void warranties. Check it out."

Submission + - First Nations want cellphone revenue

Submitted by Peacenik45 on Wednesday May 30, 2007 @11:33AM

Peacenik45 writes: The CBC is reporting that First Nations in Manitoba want compensation for every cell phone signal that passes through their land because it violates their airspace. The Assembly of Maintoba Chiefs recently resolved to negotiate revenue sharing with Manitoba Telecom Services. Ovide Mercredi of the Grand Rapids First Nations says "When it comes to using airspace, it's like using our water and simply because there's no precedent doesn't mean that it's not the right thing to do." This move may inspire First Nations in other provinces to follow suit.

Submission + - IAMT, a Centrino backdoor?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 30, 2007 @11:28AM

An anonymous reader writes: Intel is heavily promoting what it calls "active management technology" (AMT) in the new chips as a major plus for system administrators and enterprise IT.
Understood to be a sub-operating system residing in the chip's firmware, AMT will allow administrators to both monitor or control individual machines independent of an operating system.

Additionally, AMT also features what Intel calls "IDE redirection" which will allow administrators to remotely enable, disable or format or configure individual drives and reload operating systems and software from remote locations, again independent of operating systems.
Both AMT and IDE control are enabled by a new network interface controller.
"We all know our [operating system] friends don't crash that often, but it does happen," Tucker said.
here's the link to the story

Submission + - Acer Abandons Notebook Customers

Submitted by

kadar.zsolt

on Wednesday May 23, 2007 @12:47PM

kadar.zsolt writes: "Several months after the Microsoft Windows Vista release computer manufacturer Acer still lacks driver support for many, otherwise Vista capable notebook families. The missing ATI and Synaptics touchpad drivers on the manufacturer's website are just the tip of the iceberg: several Travelmate (2300, 3200, 4000, and 4500) and Aspire (1680) models do not appear to be battery enabled due to the absence of drivers for key ACPI subsystems. Users have reported that Windows Mobility Center will not start (presents "Windows Mobility Center is available only on mobile PCs error message.") and remaining battery life information is not available on these systems. The problem persists since Vista RC1 was made available and was reported to Acer Customer Support (Germany, Hungary, and Australia) and Microsoft TechNet as well. Acer Customer Service has made a promise to provide Vista drivers by the end of April but did not deliver in this timeframe. Microsoft has not identified the source of the compatibility issue yet. On the TechNet forums other Toshiba and Benq models appear as having identical issues."

Submission + - A Better Open Source Webmail?

Submitted by

CandyMan

on Sunday May 20, 2007 @07:14AM

CandyMan writes: "Recently I have been forced to go back to a certain open source webmail (name withheld to protect the touchy), and I can't say I would recommend it to anyone. For emergencies maybe, but not for daily use. Lightning-quick full-text indexing and Javascript UI tricks in Gmail and Yahoo! mail have spoilt me forever, and I guess that most webmail users out there would feel the same. Old-style html-only webmail applications just don't cut it anymore. Which is your favourite webmail client? Is it a bare-bones html-only application, or does it have a fancier interface?"

Submission + - dell installs ubuntu, sells windows

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 20, 2007 @06:18AM

An anonymous reader writes: the fact: dell said they will install ubuntu on their desktops, to give a coiche to the costumers.
real fact: dell still sells you windows, but they just delete it and install ubuntu, or just delete everything. thats right, you still give money to microsoft: dell is basically saying "since we don't know if you will install a pirated copy of windows, we still sell you windows (xp), but we don't give you the licence, since you don't want it" ... O_o

just try asking them what price difference is there between a notebook with windows and the very same notebook without anything.

-sorry, the article i linked below is in italian, and i couldn't find the translation...
http://gizmo2.dyndns.org/?p=29#comment-27

Submission + - Microsoft McCarthyism and the Linux Patents

Submitted by

Tod Landis

on Thursday May 17, 2007 @06:46PM

Tod Landis writes: "From Larry the Open Source Guy's blog: So, stop me if you've heard this one already: In the 1950s — February 9, 1950 to be exact — Sen. Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin made a speech in Wheeling, W. Va., in which he said he had a list of 205 names of State Department employees "that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party." Fast forward 57 years and we have "Tail Gunner Steve" Ballmer with Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith, playing McCarthy's Roy Cohn legal sidekick in this modern drama, saying that the GNU/Linux operating system violates 235 Microsoft patents. Which are they? Microsoft won't say. McCarthy never named the names...Full story here "

Submission + - Facebook wants to collect users' email passwords

Submitted by ScottSCY on Saturday May 12, 2007 @11:12PM

ScottSCY writes: It seems that Facebook has added a new feature that allows users to find friends in their email address books who have accounts on Facebook. The only thing you have to do is provide them your email address (they take gmail, yahoo, msn, aol, and more) and your email account password. They will then retrieve your address book. Clearly this is a huge security issue, but don't worry, Facebook says "Facebook won't email anyone without your permission, and we won't store your email or password." Well that's a relief.

Submission + - Memory leak patterns in JavaScript

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 07, 2007 @09:47AM

An anonymous reader writes: Plugging memory leaks in JavaScript is easy enough when you know what causes them. This article walks you through the basics of circular references in JavaScript and explain why they can cause problems in certain browsers, especially when combined with closures. After seeing some of the common memory leak patterns you should watch out for, you'll learn a variety of easy ways to work around them.

Submission + - Voting Machines Hinder French Elections

Submitted by

eldavojohn

on Monday April 23, 2007 @05:31PM

eldavojohn writes: "The electronic voting machine has claimed another victim. Some French voters have reportedly turned away in disgust after facing up to two hours in lines to use the machines. On top of that, the article reports, "Researchers at Paul Verlaine University in Metz said that trials on two of the three machines used in France showed that four people out of every seven aged over 65 could not get their votes recorded." This article concentrates primarily on usability & efficiency but surprisingly mentions little (aside from user trust issues) about security that the machines implemented or whether it was satisfactory. I think all three aspects are of grave importance to anyone aiming to produce voting machines. The manufacturer of these particular machines is France Élection."

Feed Satellite duo takes first 3D images of the Sun (pheedo.com)

From feed by nsfeed on Monday April 23, 2007 @05:12PM

NASA's twin STEREO spacecraft snap the first 3D portraits of the Sun, revealing holes and loops in the Sun's outer atmosphere

Submission + - US Financial Institutions Reject SenderID

Submitted by

Jonathan Riddell

on Monday April 23, 2007 @05:09PM

Jonathan Riddell writes: "The self-described 'braintrust' of the US financial services industry published a set of Email security recommendations last week. There is a long discussion on "Sender Authentication" that goes into great detail on both Sender Policy Framework and Microsoft's attempt to 'improve' it, SenderID. Interestingly enough, in the recommendations section the word SenderID does not appear at all.

Microsoft will no doubt say that because they leverage SPF records (a practice the SPF community is not to fond of the recommendation for US financial institutions to publish SPF records is really an endorsement of SenderID. Of course, by that definition it is impossible to support SPF and not also Microsoft's patented derivative. The SPF project announced that they really like the recommendations. Nothing heard from Microsoft."

Submission + - Why are T1 lines still expensive?

Submitted by badfrog on Monday April 23, 2007 @04:51PM

badfrog writes: Over the last 10 years, DSL and cable modem has upped its speed (although in some instances only slightly) and dropped its price. However, the price of a T1 has stayed almost exactly the same. If you had asked me 10 years ago, I would have predicted any geek that wanted to would have fiber or their own T1 line to the house by now. What is with this sad state of affairs that a 'business class' 1.544Mbit connection is hundreds of dollars more than a 6Mbit cable connection? Is it a legitimate case that a high upload rate should increase cost so significantly?

Submission + - Your GPS may be too trusting

Submitted by

mi

on Sunday April 22, 2007 @10:01AM

mi writes: "Many GPS devices today will try to scan the FM bands for traffic advisories in the area to display on their screens. The signals, however, are neither authenticated nor encrypted, and one can — with commonly available electronics — construct a device to broadcast bogus advisories. Possible codes range from "bullfight ahead" to "terrorist attack"..."

Feed Linux goes to Wall Street, puts on a show (newsforge.com)

From feed by nffeed on Sunday April 22, 2007 @09:32AM

The 5th annual Linux on Wall Street conference takes place in New York City on Monday, April 23. Organizers say the slated presentations will reinforce what bank, investment firms, and other financial institutions and others in the financial market have already learned: that Wall Street is ready for open source solutions.

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