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Mozilla

Submission + - Firefox Adblock May Be Theft (iht.com)

Submitted by
cthulu_mt
cthulu_mt writes: "The International Herald Tribune reports "Adblock Plus threatens the online revenue model" based on a move by several small website to block users of the Firefox browser. On the grounds that Firefox users are stealing their content by running Adblock Plus a popular Firefox extension. In some cases users of the browser are redirected to the web page Why Firefox is Blocked; which goes on to say; "Software that blocks all advertisement is an infringement of the rights of web site owners and developers. Numerous web sites exist in order to provide quality content in exchange for displaying ads. Accessing the content while blocking the ads, therefore would be no less than stealing.""
Yahoo!

Submission + - Yahoo! pleads guilty in Chinese journalist case (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by
freakxx
freakxx writes: " Yahoo! pleads guilty of supplying information to the Chinese government, which has lead to imprisonment of many journalists and pro-democracy activists in China, including Shi Tao and Wang Xiaoning.

In its 40 page response of the lawsuit filed by World Organization for Human Rights, Yahoo! acknowledged releasing information to the Chinese government. It further argues that it had to comply with the local law and it was compelled by the Chinese authorities to hand-over the information. Many people have criticized this decision saying that the organization has failed to keep up with ethics and it has more responsibilities towards international laws and humanity."
Biotech

Submission + - Mitochondria may hold secret to preventing death

Submitted by
H_Fisher
H_Fisher writes: "Research into mitochondria — small parts within a cell that have their own DNA — are a cause of cellular death, Newsweek reports. The article from the most recent edition of the magazine, entitled "The Science of Death: Reviving the Dead," reports on people who have recovered from sudden death due to cardiac arrest through the use of medically-induced hypothermia. The cooling process may help stop the death of brain and heart cells caused by the mitochondria once they are deprived of oxygen. The next step: figuring out how to keep the brain from dying, and arguing for or against "the view that the mind is more than the sum of the parts of the brain, and can exist outside it.""
Businesses

Submission + - Career change into programming or IT?

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: How viable is a career change into software engineering or IT later in life? I've been something of a hobbyist most of my life and have started to wonder if I should jump in as a new career. I'm getting close to 40 and have a bachelors degree in physics. I only make about $50K a year, and in my industry now I will cap out at $55K to $60K.

What would be the best approach to making the switch? I only have a couple of CS classes as most of the stuff I have learned was on my own, so should I take some more classes? How about programming certs, do they help at all? What's the best way to get my foot in the door.
Announcements

Submission + - Ginormous is officially a word (fresnobee.com)

Submitted by oatec
oatec writes: It's no longer slang, along with a list of 100 other words being added to Merriam-Webster. Can you hear a news anchor using "Ginormous" in a sentence and not being laughed off the set?
Microsoft

Submission + - Anti MS OOXML campaign gathers pace (pcpro.co.uk)

Submitted by
pieterh
pieterh writes: "PC Pro reports that "More than 20,000 people have put their names to a web petition opposing Microsoft's attempts to have its new Office file format accepted as an international standard." Microsoft insists that opposition to OOXML is "a blatant attempt to use the standards process to limit choice in the marketplace" and rejects the argument that because the ODF format has already been accepted as a standard, that precludes any alternative. Tom Robertson, Microsoft's GM for Interoperability & Standards says that it's important to recognise that ODF and Open XML were created with very different design goals: ODF is closely tied to OpenOffice and reflects the functionality in that product."
Privacy

Submission + - Is Your Inkjet Printer Spying on You? 1

Submitted by ulysses38
ulysses38 writes: Seeing Yellow is a site that the good folks at the MIT Media Lab put up to inform consumers that printer manufacturers are embedding personal information in output from inkjet printers. Nope, I am not kidding.

From the site "When you print on a color laser printer, it's likely that you are also printing a pattern of invisible yellow dots. These marks exist to allow the printer companies and governments to track and identify you — presumably as a way to combat money counterfeiting. When one person asked his printer manufacturer about turning off the tracking dots, Secret Service agents showed up at his door several days later."
Businesses

Submission + - 1st Asian Nation to Adopt Open Software Standards

Submitted by
em8chel
em8chel writes: "Japan has adopted a policy under which government ministries and agencies will solicit bids from software vendors whose products support internationally recognized open standards and thus becomes the first country in Asia to embrace the open software Standards, The OpenDocument Format Alliance (ODF Alliance) says in a press release (PDF).

"By giving preference to open software formats such as ODF, it is saying that information should be competitively priced, innovative, and easily available to the widest range of people, now and in the future. We hail Japan for its diligence and vision," congratulates Marino Marcich, ODF alliance Managing Director.

"Securing open standards based interoperability is critical to accelerate innovation. The interoperability framework will propel healthy competition and open up more opportunities for small and medium siye companies in Japan", says Masayuki Hayase of Justsystems Corporation.

The new guidelines are available (in Japanese) from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry."
Security

Submission + - Greek spies plant rootkit in a phone exchange (ieee.org)

Submitted by
http://www.cgisecurity.com
http://www.cgisecurity.com writes: "A highly sophisticated spying operation that tapped into the mobile phones of Greece's prime minister and other top government officials has highlighted weaknesses in telecommunications systems that still use decades-old computer code. The spying case, where the calls of around 100 people using Vodafone's network were secretly tapped, remains unsolved and is still being investigated. Also complicating the case are question marks over the suicide in March 2005 of a top engineer at Vodafone Group in Greece in charge of network planning. A detailed writeup can be found at http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/jul07/5280"
Spam

Submission + - FBI: More spam prosecutions coming (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "The FBI has 70 active investigations into spam-related crimes, and the Internet community can expect many more prosecutions from spam and botnet activities in the coming months. Those were the two main messages delivered today by the FBI at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's Spam Summit in Washington, D.C. In addition to targeting "bot herders," criminals who control botnets, the DOJ will begin targeting "bot brokers," the people who negotiate the sale of botnet resources. "We're going to start pegging them with some criminal liability. There is a lot of money getting exchanged here," A DOJ executive said. http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/1748 5"
Privacy

Submission + - Credit industry opposes anti-ID theft method (yahoo.com)

Submitted by
athloi
athloi writes: "Lawmakers across the country — pushed by consumer advocacy groups — are mounting a counterattack. They have passed laws that allow consumers to freeze their credit, a surefire way to prevent thieves from opening new accounts or obtaining a mortgage in a consumer's name. Under a freeze, a consumer cuts off all access to his credit report and score, even his own. All lenders require that information, so no one can borrow money in the consumer's name until he or she lifts the freeze. It's simple, and it works. So, of course, it's under threat from the Consumer Data Industry Association, which represents the Big Three credit bureaus. They make millions gathering and selling consumer data. Freezes cut into that business.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20070703/cm_usato day/aweaponagainstidentitytheft"
Censorship

Submission + - "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" student loses SCOTUS r (go.com)

Submitted by Fudgefactor7
Fudgefactor7 writes: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Monday that students can face limits on their rights to free speech. Schools can rein in students' speech if it can be interpreted as promoting illegal drug use, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the court's opinion. The case stemmed from an incident in January 2002 in which a crowd of students, townspeople and teachers gathered on a public street in Alaska across from a high school to watch the Olympic torch relay pass in front of them as part of a parade in support of the upcoming Winter Olympic Games. Student Joseph Frederick wanted to make a statement about his First Amendment rights in front of the television crews covering the event. As the crowd thickened, he unfurled a banner with the message "Bong Hits 4 Jesus."
The Media

Submission + - Congress considering more low power FM stations (reclaimthemedia.org)

Submitted by Skapare
Skapare writes: According to a ReclaimTheMedia article The Local Community Radio Act of 2007 [PDF] would remove the artificial restrictions imposed on LPFM by a 2000 law passed at the urging of corporate radio giants and NPR, claiming that small community stations would interfere with the signals of larger stations. If passed, this bill will pave the way for educational groups, nonprofits, unions, schools and local governments to launch new local radio stations across the country. More coverage is at Prometheous Radio Project, Free Press, and Expand Low-Power FM. More info via Google.

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