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Security

Submission + - How to suck at Information Security? (sans.org)

Submitted by wiedzmin
wiedzmin writes: Great entry in today's SANS Internet Storm Center Handler's Diary — How to suck at Information Security. My favorite points include:
  • Assume the users will read the security policy because you've asked them to.
  • Assume that policies don't apply to executives.
  • Make someone responsible for managing risk, but don't give the person any power to make decisions.
  • Expect end-users to forgo convenience in place of security.
  • Say "no" whenever asked to approve a request.
  • Stop learning about technologies and attacks.
  • Hire somebody just because he or she has a lot of certifications.
  • Don't cross-train the IT and security staff.
  • Expect your users to remember passwords without writing them down.

Very entertaining and informative read with total of about 4 dozen points. Now if I could only find a way to get management to read it.
Medicine

Submission + - Coffee can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease (theage.com.au) 1

Submitted by
Amenacier
Amenacier writes: "Recent studies by Finnish and Swedish researchers have shown that drinking moderate amounts of coffee can reduce the risk of people getting Alzheimer's disease. The reason for this is as yet unknown, although it has been hypothesised that the high levels of antioxidants found in coffee may play a role in preventing dementia and Alzheimer's. Alternatively, some studies have shown that coffee can protect nerves, which may help prevent Alzheimer's. Other studies have shown that coffee may also help to protect against diabetes, another disease which has been shown to have links to Alzheimer's disease. However, researchers warn against drinking too much coffee, as 3 cups or more may cause hallucinations."
Programming

Submission + - Can we create fun games automatically? (blogspot.com) 1

Submitted by
togelius
togelius writes: "What makes games fun? Some (e.g. Raph Koster) claim that is fun is learning — fun games are those which are easy to learn, but hard to master, with a long and smooth learning curve. I think we can create fun game rules automatically through measuring their learnability. In a recent experiment we do this using evolutionary computation, and create some simple Pacman-like new games completely without human intervention! Maybe this is the future for game design? (Blog post, paper)."
Social Networks

Personality Testing For Employment 581

Posted by kdawson from the strongly-disagree dept.
Thelasko writes "While I was in college, I had the opportunity to take an elective course in Industrial Psychology. One section of the course covered hiring practices and the validity of 'personality testing' to screen applicants (Google link for non-subscribers). The Wall Street Journal has a long article discoursing on how such tests are used in today's economy. While personality tests may be designed to uncover underlying personality traits such as honesty, critics claim that the tests instead reward cheaters." The article talks mostly about the tests' use in winnowing candidates for retail positions — deciding whom to interview. Anybody encountered them in an IT or more technical context?
The Military

Submission + - US Air Force Seeks Air Force One Replacement

Submitted by Tyketto
Tyketto writes: The United States Air Force has taken the first public step in the search for a replacement of the Boeing VC-25, also known as Air Force One, saying that it is no longer cost effective to operate and modernize the two 19 year old VC-25s, which are converted Boeing 747-200s. Airbus has already submitted data for the A380, and while Boeing has had the Air Force One contract for nearly 50 years, delays with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Boeing 747-8, and the KC-X Tanker competition may see the USAF look to Europe for its next presidential aircraft.
Sci-Fi

Submission + - Synchrotron gets sci-fi writer in residence (www.cbc.ca)

Submitted by
kandela
kandela writes: "CBC News is reporting that Nebula and Hugo award winning author Robert J. Sawyer is to become the first ever writer in residence at the Canadian Light Source synchrotron facility (see also their media release).

Sayer will spend two months at the facility, where he is hoping to be inspired by the everyday grind of scientists, "I spent a lot of time visiting science labs over the years, but it's always the VIP tour," he said in an interview Wednesday. "You are in and you are out in a couple of hours, and everyone has shown you all the things they want you to see but none of the day-to-day grind of the work as well. I want to get the flavour of that."

As a scientist who has worked at synchrotron facilities (and occasional sci-fi writer myself (page 4)), I'm excited to see what a professional can do with that environment for inspiration."
Data Storage

Submission + - USB 3.0 is ten times faster; get it in 2010 (blorge.com)

Submitted by
thefickler
thefickler writes: "Seagate and Symwave are jointly demonstrating the first consumer applications of USB 3.0 at CES, showing a Seagate FreeAgent drive running through a Symwave USB 3.0-compatible storage controller device. According to Symwave, this will result in 'speeds previously unattainable with legacy USB technology.' Which means, if you understand PR-write, it will be much faster."

Comment Re:Science, or practice? (Score 2, Insightful) 232

by Amenacier (#26380637) Attached to: More Brains Needed
They're not just used for scalpel practice - they're used for anatomical studies so that when your surgeon is opening you up, they know what all your organs actually look like and don't spend half an hour playing "find the body part we want". In order to be successful in dissection and surgery, you need to have practice on real flesh, because it's never as neat as the plastic models of the body would make you think.
Security

Submission + - Trojan Virus Insists "Downloading is wrong.

Submitted by
NoisySplatter
NoisySplatter writes: "Ernesto, founder of TorrentFreak.com, reports that a new trojan, "Troj/Qhost-AC", has been found distributed on The Pirate Bay.

The virus was disguised as a serial key generator and the offending torrent has since been removed, but the source has not been identified. Troj/Qhost-AC makes changes to the user's hosts file that redirect The Pirate Bay, Suprbay, and Mininova to 127.0.0.1. In addition to making three of the most popular torrent sites inaccessible the virus also plays a sound file saying, "downloading is wrong".

It looks like someone has finally stepped up to the plate to challenge Madonna for the title of "Most Obnoxious Anti-Piracy Stunt". Of course this could just be the software industry's attempt at outdoing the RIAA and MPAA."
Education

Are My Ideas Being Stolen? If So, What Then? 508

Posted by timothy from the patent-your-own-idea-stealer dept.
BinaryGrind writes "I just got started taking Computer Science classes at my local university and after reading Universities Patenting More Student Ideas I felt I needed to ask: How do I tell if any of my projects while attending classes will be co-opted by my professors or the university itself and taken away from me? Is there anything I can do to prevent it from happening? What do I need to do to protect myself? Are there schools out there that won't take my work away from me if I discover TheNextBigThing(TM)? If it does happen is there anything I can do to fight back? The school I'm attending is Southern Utah University. Since it's not a big university, I don't believe it has a big research and development department or anything of that ilk. I'm mostly wanting to cover my bases and not have my work stolen from me."

Comment Re:Cure? (Score 3, Interesting) 72

by Amenacier (#26310919) Attached to: Test For Prostate Cancer Gene Soon To Be Available
Carrying the mutant genes in question (such as the ones that give a predisposition to breast cancer or prostate cancer) is not a sure sign that you will actually contract that cancer. Virii are part of a biological system, and as such are not immune from natural forces such as mutation rates - while DNA replication and other cellular mechanisms are designed to maintain the integrity of the genetic information, the processes are not perfect. So is it worth taking a risk to fix an allele that predisposes you to cancer with a treatment that may induce cancer itself?

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