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Comment WTF? (Score 2, Insightful) 168

by Sharkyfour (#46379447) Attached to: Damming News From Washington State

I know this is going to kill my karma, but WTF?? That is the most poorly written article I've ever seen on here and I'd wager that most would find it completely off-topic for the site. Combined with the new commenting system, and I think my days here are over. It's been a fun ride, but adios Slashdot.

Comment Curriculum Department (Score 1) 243

by Sharkyfour (#32596866) Attached to: Where Does IT Fall Within Your Organization?

Where I currently work, the IT department falls under the supervision of the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction.

The last place I worked, the IT department split off at the VP level, with the head being the VP of Information Resources and Technology, who reports directly to the President/COO (Who is also part-owner).

Comment Re:Real Reason is Game Disks Are More Valuable (Score 1) 183

by Sharkyfour (#32096064) Attached to: One Year Later, USPS Looks Into Gamefly Complaint

On a related topic, UPS and FedEx delivery vehicles get ticketed all the time. Can USPS delivery vehicles be ticketed? -some people have told me that they can't, since they're exempt.

My wife is a school bus driver and she's told me before the only vehicle who is not required to stop for the flashing red lights is a postal truck. They're federal government vehicles and as such they're exempt from state traffic laws, including stopping for a school bus loading/unloading children.

Security

Submission + - Fingerprints at School 2

Submitted by
Inda
Inda writes: "My daughter, 7, is about to start at a new school that likes to think they excel in technology. They use an interesting system for checking out library books using a single thumb print. When I first heard this, alarm bells rang. The way I understand it, once a fingerprint is compromised, it is compromised forever.

I'm told the children enjoy using the fingerprint system and I would not want to single my daughter out as being different. The alternative to fingerprints are library cards, with barcodes, that are scanned manually.

I am not confident that the school's security is up to scratch. Their website is poorly written in FrontPage by the headmaster, all the staff use the Comic Sans MS font; I'm sure you get the picture. At the end of the day, they're teachers, not security experts. Security is not my field of expertise either.

Should I be concerned? Have I been reading Slashdot too long? Should I put the tinfoil hat down?"
Privacy

Submission + - FBI remotely installs spyware to trace bomb threat (com.com)

Submitted by
cnet-declan
cnet-declan writes: "There have been rumors for years about the FBI remotely installing spyware via e-mail or by exploiting an operating system vulnerability from afar — and now there's confirmation. Last month, the FBI obtained a federal court order to remotely install spyware called CIPAV (Computer and Internet Protocol Address Verifier) to find out who was behind a MySpace account linked to bomb threats sent to a high school near Olympia, Wash. News.com has posted a PDF of the FBI affidavit, which makes for interesting reading, and a summary of the CIPAV results that the FBI submitted to a magistrate judge. It seems as though CIPAV was installed via e-mail, as an article back in 2004 hinted was the case. In addition to reporting the computer's IP address, MAC address, and registry information, it also gave the FBI updates on which IP addresses the user(s) visited. But how did the FBI get the spyware activated and past anti-virus defenses? Two obvious ways are for the Feds to find and exploit their own operating system backdoors, or to compromise security vendors..."

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