33429609
submission
Peetke writes:
The Dutch House of Representatives unanimously accepted motion to urge the Cabinet to reject ACTA (if they ever get the change to do so; it may already end in the European Parlement). Additionally an even stronger motion was accepted to reject any future treaty that may harm a free and open Internet. This is a good day for the Internet.
33428047
submission
MBAFK writes:
My coworker Geoff and I have been taking power meters home to see what the true cost of PC gaming is. Not just the outlay for hardware and software but what the day-to-day costs really are. If you assume a 20 hour a week habit and using $0.11 a KWH. Actually playing costs Geoff $30.83 a year. If Geoff turns his PC off when he is not using it he could save $66 dollars a year. Turn off your PC when you aren’t using it. The environment will thank you and so will your wallet.
33298397
submission
Trailrunner7 writes:
Yahoo on Wednesday launched a new browser called Axis and researchers immediately discovered that the company had mistakenly included its private signing key in the source file, a serious error that would allow an attacker to create a malicious, signed extension for a browser that the browser will then treat as authentic.
The mistake was discovered on Wednesday, soon after Yahoo had launched Axis, which is both a standalone browser for mobile devices as well as an extension for Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer. Yahoo is touting the browser's predictive search capability, which will guess what the user is trying to search for as she is typing and bring up thumbnail images of potential matches.
But that's not the thing that got the most attention. Within hours of the Axis launch, a writer and hacker named Nik Cubrilovic had noticed that the source file for the Axis Chrome extension included the private PGP key that Yahoo used to sign the file. That key is what the Chrome browser would look for in order to ensure that the extension is legitimate and authentic, and so it should never be disclosed publicly.
33277619
submission
alphadogg writes:
An Ohio startup company has raised $200 million to fund gigabit-per-second broadband projects in six university communities across the U.S., the company announced Wednesday. Gigabit Squared will work with the University Community Next Generation Innovation Project (Gig.U), a coalition of 30 universities focused on improved broadband, to select six communities in which to build the ultra-fast broadband networks, they said. The two organizations will select winning communities between November and the first quarter of 2013, Mark Ansboury, president of Gigabit Squared, said. The new project comes at an important time, when many commercial broadband providers have stopped deploying next-generation networks, said Blair Levin, executive director of Gig.U and lead author of the FCC's 2010 national broadband plan.
33132697
submission
medv4380 writes:
38 Studios, run by Curt Shilling, is having a hard time paying its bills and employees. The gaming community hasn't been happy with 38 Studios since issue with an Online Pass for Single Player Content discussed previously here. For Curt to rant against Obama and welfare addiction makes it seem like the pot has been calling the kettle black since he received a $75 million dollar loan from Republican Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee. When 38 Studios defaults RI will have to cover the loan and interest of nearly $100 Million.
32911549
submission
Sparrowvsrevolution writes:
A DC appeals court has ruled that the National Security Agency doesn’t need to either confirm or deny its secret relationship with Google in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and follow-up lawsuit filed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center. The NSA cited a FOIA exemption that covers any documents whose exposure might hinder the NSA’s national security mission, and responded to EPIC with a "no comment." Beyond merely rejecting the FOIA request, the court has agreed with the NSA that it has the right to simply not respond to the request, as even a rejection of the request might reveal details of a suspected relationship with Google that it has sought to keep secret.
Google was reported to have partnered with the NSA to bolster its defenses against hackers after its breach by Chinese cyberspies in early 2010. But to the dismay of privacy advocates who fear the NSA's surveillance measures coupled with Google's trove of data, the company has never explained the details of that partnership.
32910515
submission
Gunkerty Jeb writes:
Senator Al Franken (D-MN) is demanding answers to questions about the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) practice of gathering data from wireless providers in order to monitor individuals’ movements using mobile phone location data.
32899357
submission
dartttt writes:
Florian Echtler has developed an open-source driver for the Microsoft Surface 2.0 touch screen. According to him, the open source implementation works surprisingly well on Ubuntu 11.10. The process requires you to boot Linux on your Surface 2.0 in the first place. However, it can be done by just booting Ubuntu from a USB hard disk without modify anything on the original Win7 installation.
32778127
submission
Qedward writes:
Chief operating officer Kevin Turner says Microsoft will be “carbon neutral across all our direct operations including data centres, software development labs, air travel, and office buildings” from July 1, the start of the 2012 fiscal year.
Turner added: "We are hopeful that our decision will encourage other companies, large and small, to look at what they can do to address this important issue.
32773943
submission
hypnosec writes:
A new type of wallpaper, which has been developed by scientists from the "institut polytechnique Grenoble INP" and the "Centre Technique du Papier", will go on sale in 2013 after a Finnish firm, Ahlstrom acquired the license. What looks like a bog standard wallpaper roll actually contains silver particles that allows it to filter out up to three different frequencies simultaneously. It is not the first time that such a technology has surfaced. Back in 2004, BAE Systems was tasked by Ofcom to come up with a similar solution based on what was then called a stealth wallpaper. It used copper instead of silver and blocked Wi-Fi signals while letting GSM, 4G and emergency calls through. Back then though, a square meter cost £500 whereas the Wi-Fi wallpaper devised by the French researchers should be priced reasonably, with costs matching those of a "classic", mid-range wallpaper according to M. Lemaître-Auger, from Grenoble INP.
