SUPAMODEL - Slashdot User

Trojan Found At Torrent Sites Insists "Downloading Is Wrong" 345

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday January 10, 2009 @02:13AM from the attack-of-conscience dept.

NoisySplatter writes "Ernesto, founder of TorrentFreak, reports that a new trojan, 'Troj/Qhost-AC,' has been 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 redirects The Pirate Bay, Suprbay, and Mininova to 127.0.0.1. In addition to making three popular torrent sites inaccessible, the virus also plays a sound file that says: '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."

Improving Wikipedia Coverage of Computer Science 186

Posted by kdawson on Saturday November 29, 2008 @02:32PM from the accused-of-original-research dept.

Pickens writes "MIT computer scientist Scott Aaronson has an interesting post on how to improve Wikipedia's coverage of theoretical computer science. Aaronson writes what while Wikpedia will never be an ideal venue for academics because 'we're used to (1) putting our names on our stuff, (2) editorializing pretty freely, (3) using "original research" as a compliment and not an accusation, and (4) not having our prose rewritten or deleted by people calling themselves Duduyat, Raul654, and Prokonsul Piotrus,' he identifies twenty basic research areas and terms in theoretical computer science that are not defined on Wikipedia, and invites readers to write some articles about them. Article suggestions include property testing, algorithmic game theory, derandomization, sketching algorithms, propositional proof complexity, arithmetic circuit complexity, discrete harmonic analysis, streaming algorithms, and hardness of approximation. One commenter suggests that professors should encourage students to improve the Wikipedia articles about topics they are studying. 'This will help them understand the topic and at the same time improve Wikipedia.'"

Comment Re:Anonymity and reliability are directly at odds (Score 4, Informative) 200

by SUPAMODEL on Wednesday October 22, 2008 @04:38AM (#25465779) Attached to: Damning Report On Sequoia E-Voting Machine Security

This weekend, I voted in an election in the place where I live in Australia. I used one of their electronic voting things. Note that voting is compulsory here. I walked in, they use a computer to work out that I had not gone to another area where I could vote. They then gave me a card with a barcode on it, which is randomly picked up from a pile. It is not associated with my name in any way. The only association was "yes, this person has elected for electronic voting", but no barcode info was recorded. I then go to the system, swipe the barcode. The barcode thing had an approximately 70 character string underneath it. I think it was a hash or something to verify that a) the barcode related to the electorate that the voting booth was related too and b) that it was issued from this site. Each barcode had a different identifier. I then vote for the candidates as I wish. The system would not allow you to make an invalid vote (we use a preferential system here; needed to vote in order of preference of at least 7 candidates, 35 on the ballot paper in total). I did this, and hit the button to let me review it. The system then displays the preference information you've put in. You have to swipe your barcode again to verify that it is the correct one. If it would not swipe, or you needed help, you could hide the vote on the screen and get an election official to help. Once the barcode is swiped, my vote was stored in the system. I then had to place the barcode into the ballot box that paper voters would place their completed ballots in. My vote would not have been counted from the system if my barcode had not been present. Would I prefer an open system? Yes, most definitely, and I have written my comments to those running the election. I would have preferred it to print out a completed ballot paper I could check and lodge that. I think it covers most of the fraud. Is the number of barcodes equal to the number of voters? If not, then fraud has been commited by someone trying to stuff the ballot box. My name is not in any way associated with my vote, but it is counted if the barcode is placed into the ballot box. The barcode also could not be used at different voting booths, even in the same electorate (at least that is my understanding). So, for me, I think the issue of nontraceability and fraud prevention is somewhat solved by this system. Fraud could still occur in how the system records the vote, but at least you are given ample opportunity to see if your candidates have been correctly preferenced. Also, if it fucks up and you aren't happy with it, at any time you can say "no, clear my vote", your barcode is torn up, and you can do it by paper. I think that should always be an option.

Single Neuron Wired To Muscle Un-Paralyzes Monkeys 180

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday October 15, 2008 @08:55PM from the gentlemen-we-can-rebuild-him dept.

GalaticGrub writes "A pair of paralyzed monkeys regained the ability to move their arms after researchers wired individual neurons to the monkeys' arm muscles. A team of researchers at the University of Washington temporarily paralyzed each monkey's arm, then rerouted brain signals from a single neuron in the motor cortex around the blocked nerve pathway via a computer. When the neuron fired above a certain rate, the computer translated the signal into a jolt of electricity to the arm muscle, causing it to contract. The monkeys practiced moving their arms by playing a video game."

Giant Rock Growing in Mount St. Helens' Crater 144

Posted by Zonk on Friday May 05, 2006 @05:17PM from the ch-ch-ch-chia dept.

An anonymous reader writes to mention a CNN article about the huge geological formation growing in Mount St. Helens' crater. From the article: "The fin-shaped mass is about 300 feet tall and growing 4 feet to 5 feet a day, said Dan Dzurisin, a geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey. The rock in the crater began growing last November, steadily moving west and pushing rock and other debris out of its way as it goes." Scientists think the mountain will eventually replace the lave dome blown out by the original 1980 eruption.

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