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Comment !secure-by-design (Score 1) 264

by VxSote (#26490645) Attached to: Wireless Internet Access Uses Visible Light, Not Radio Waves
There are a number of lines in TFA that imply that such technology is going to somehow give better security to wireless communications, but apparently people are forgetting that basically if you can see it, you can copy it:

Information Leakage from Optical Emanations specifically addresses devices that accidentally leak information, but the same principles will apply to information that is deliberately transmitted (in the visible spectrum, or otherwise).

It might not be as easy as eavesdropping on your neighbor's wifi, but the bottom line is that the physical transmission of information in both cases (wifi and visible/optical) is observable from a distance, and therefore both mediums face the same problems in terms of security.
The Courts

Open WAP = Probable Cause? 466

Posted by CmdrTaco from the summon-sam-waterston dept.
RockoTDF writes "A court in texas has ruled that an open WAP is not a sufficient defense against child pornography charges, a ruling which could carry over to p2p users. In addition, it appears that an open WAP could be seen as probable cause by law enforcement."
Communications

Are Mobile Phones Wiping Out Bees? 419

Posted by Zonk from the oh-i-hope-this-isn't-a-late-april-fools-joke dept.
Mz6 wrote with a link to an article on The Independent site about a most unusual scientific theory. "Some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause massive food shortages, as the world's harvests fail. They are putting forward the theory that radiation given off by mobile phones and other hi-tech gadgets is a possible answer to one of the more bizarre mysteries ever to happen in the natural world — the abrupt disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops."
Toys

World's First Lego Autopilot 108

Posted by CmdrTaco from the because-you-can dept.
zlite writes "What's the best way to create a UAV for less than $1,000? Use the new Hitechnic gyro sensor for Mindstorms NXT to create a Lego autopilot! This one can turn a R/C plane into a drone, keeping the aircraft level and returning it to the launch area. Add a Bluetooth GPS module and a microcam and you've got a fully autonomous surveillance platform."
Entertainment

Captain America Dead at 66 327

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the not-bad-for-a-66-year-old dept.
jas_public writes to mention ABC news is reporting that comic book super hero Captain America has apparently tackled his last mission. "It ends a long run for the stars-and-stripes-wearing character, created in 1941 to incarnate patriotic feeling during World War II. Over the years, an estimated 210 million copies of "Captain America" comic books, published by New York-based Marvel Entertainment Inc., have been sold in a total of 75 countries. But resurrections are not unknown in the world of comics, and Marvel Entertainment editor in chief Joe Quesada said a Captain America comeback wasn't impossible."
The Courts

Can You Be Sued for Quitting? 1057

Posted by Cliff from the you-can-be-sued-for-anything dept.
An anonymous reader asks: "I work at a large hosting company in Texas, and recently decided to go work for a smaller competitor. I had a great relationship with my employer and wanted to leave on good terms, and I hadn't signed any non-compete or employment agreements . I felt my old company had just gotten too large and I didn't like working there anymore, so I gave them two weeks notice in writing. They were really upset when I insisted on leaving and one week into my last two weeks the V.P. of Sales told me the company was suing me for leaving, and they were also suing my new employer for hiring me. I was shocked, and they then escorted me out of the building. Has anybody ever heard of this happening? Do they have any legal basis for suing me?" It shouldn't have to be said that seeking professional legal representation, in such a situation, is the first thing one should do.
The Almighty Buck

Taxing Virtual Gaming Assets 454

Posted by Hemos from the someday-the-ride-will-be-over dept.
rijit writes " It appears very likely that taxation of online games assets is inevitable. Quote: 'That's because game publishers may well in the not too distant future have to send the forms — which individuals receive when earning nonemployee income from companies or institutions — to virtual world players engaging in transactions for valuable items like Ultima Online castles, EverQuest weapons or Second Life currency, even when those players don't convert the assets into cash.' "

CSIRO Wireless Patent Reaffirmed In US Court 147

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the i-was-here-first-nyah-nyah dept.
An anonymous reader writes ""The CSIRO has won a landmark US legal battle against Buffalo Technology, under which it could receive royalties from every producer of wireless local area network (WLAN) products worldwide." From the article: "The patent, granted to CSIRO in 1996, encompasses elements of the 802.11a/g wireless technology that is now an industry standard. It stems from a system developed by CSIRO in the early '90s, 'to exchange large amounts of information wirelessly at high speed, within environments such as offices and homes,' said a CSIRO spokeswoman."

Global Warming Debunker Debunked 676

Posted by kdawson from the you're-getting-warmer dept.
Earlier this month we ran an article linking Christopher Monckton's attempt to discredit global warming. The submitter asked plaintively, "Can anyone out there go through this piece and tell me why it might be wrong?" George Monbiot has now done so. From the article: "This is a dazzling debunking of climate change science. It is also wildly wrong... In keeping with most of the articles about climate change in [the Sunday Telegraph], it is a mixture of cherry-picking, downright misrepresentation, and pseudo-scientific gibberish. But it has the virtue of being incomprehensible to anyone who is not an atmospheric physicist... As for James Hansen, he did not tell the US Congress that temperatures would rise by 0.3C by the end of the past century. He presented three possible scenarios to the US Senate — high, medium, and low. Both the high and low scenarios, he explained, were unlikely to materialise. The middle one was 'the most plausible.' As it happens, the middle scenario was almost exactly right. He did not claim, under any scenario, that sea levels would rise by several feet by 2000." And on the political front, the only major ally for Pres. Bush's stand on global warming, Australia's Prime Minister John Howard, is now willing to look at carbon trading.

Shuttle Launch Delayed 146

Posted by Zonk from the it's-raining-in-space dept.
fizzix writes "Weather has delayed the launch of Discovery to tomorrow (Sunday the 2nd), but not everyone thinks it is ready to go. CNN reports both the chief engineer and the chief safety officer gave it a 'no go' for launch. Despite their reservations, barring inclement weather the shuttle is planned to liftoff at 3:26 ET." Update: 07/02 05:00 GMT by Z : I said launch not lauch. Fixed headline.

WA Law Means Linking to Gambling Websites Illegal 300

Posted by Zonk from the don't-click-the-bad-links dept.
tpoker writes "Following a previous story on Washington State making online gambling a felony, the Seattle Times reports that the first legal salvos have begun. 'The first casualty in the state's war on Internet gambling is a local Web site where nobody was actually doing any gambling. What a Bellingham man did on his site was write about online gambling. He reviewed Internet casinos. He had links to them, and ran ads by them. All that, says the state -- the ads, the linking, even the discussing -- violates a new state law barring online wagering or using the Internet to transmit 'gambling information ... Telling people how to gamble online, where to do it, giving a link to it -- that's all obviously enabling something that is illegal.'"
Upgrades

Journal Journal: Troll Slaying Roundup 3

Journal by Troll Blacklist
I apologize for the time between entries, but as many of you know, CmdrTaco has now all but eliminated trolling on Slashdot - and deserves our thanks for all his hard work! However a recent upsurge in trolling over the last four months has created some changes in the Master Troll Blacklist, and I'll document some of these changes for you now.
  • Fortknox - Beloved by many, Josh Marotti recently announced that he is in fact a

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