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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 25 declined, 26 accepted (51 total, 50.98% accepted)

Earth

Submission + - Political Idealogy Shapes How People Perceive Temperature (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "In what likely isn't that much of a surprise, a study has shown that political ideology shapes how we perceive temperature changes (but not drought/flooding conditions). (An abstract of the study is here. 8,000 individuals were asked about temperatures and drought/flood events in recent years, then their political leanings. Answers regarding drought/flood events tended to follow the actual changes in conditions, while answers regarding temperature tended to follow people's political beliefs."
Facebook

Submission + - Facebook Loses Users, Users Happier With Google+ (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "Facebook has lost what (by the standards of their userbase) is a modest number of users over the last six months, perhaps being one of the causes of a fall in their stock price. In the meantime, a study shows that (both) Google+ users are more satisfied with the site than Facebook users, who are (understandability) upset about the number of recent UI changes, the amount of advertising, and other elements, according to a statement accompanying the study. Figures also show dramatic growth in Google+ usage."
Security

Submission + - Niagra Framework Leaves Government, Private Infrastructure Open to Hacks (washingtonpost.com)

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "Tridium's Niagra framework is a 'marvel of connectivity,' allowing everything from power plants to gas pumps to be monitored online. Many installations are frighteningly insecure, though, according to an investgation by the Washington Post, leaving both public and private infrastructure potentially open to simple hacks (as simple as a directory traversal attack)."
Java

Submission + - JQuery 2.0 will Drop Support for IE 6, 7, 8 (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "The developers of JQuery recently announced in a blog entry that JQuery 2.0 will drop support for legacy versions of Internet Explorer. The release will come in parallel with version 1.9, however, which will include support for older versions of IE. The versions will offer full API compatibility, but 2.0 will 'benefit from a faster implementation that doesn’t have to rely on legacy compatibility hacks.'""
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Kills Windows Gadgets via Security Update (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "Microsoft has taken the unusual step of killing the Windows Gadgets feature completely via a security update. According to an advisory issued Tuesday, an attacker could take over a user's system if they are logged in as admin and they install a vulnerable gadget. Microsoft has pulled the plug on its official Gadgets Gallery and is offering a Fix-it that completely disables the Windows Sidebar and Gadgets. Researchers Mickey Shkatov and Toby Kohlenberg are scheduled to give a presentation on the vulnerability at the upcoming Black Hat conference called We Have You By the Gadgets."
Communications

Submission + - Software-Defined Radio: The Apple I of Broadcast? (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "A company called Per Vices has introduced software-defined radio gear that Ars Technica is comparing to the Apple I. Why? Because software radio can broadcast and receive nearly any radio signal on nearly any frequency at the same time, and thus could "revolutionize wireless." The Per Vices Phi is one of the first devices aimed at the mass hobbyist market to take advantage of this technology."
Advertising

Submission + - Skype to Feature Giant Ads (arstechnica.com) 1

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "Microsoft is inserting a new "feature" into Skype calls. Giant ads. They are actually calling them "Conversation ads" because they hope the ads (as large as the picture of the person that you are talking to) will 'spark additional topics of conversation that are relevant to Skype users and highlight unique and local brand experiences.' The ads, of course, are tailored to each individual user and the opt-out process is less than easy."
The Internet

Submission + - UN Takeover of Internet Must be Stopped, US Warns (cnet.com) 1

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "In a rare show of bipartisan agreement, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle warned this morning that a United Nations summit in December will lead to a virtual takeover of the Internet if proposals from China, Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia are adopted. Called the World Conference on International Telecommunications, the summit would consider proposals including "[using] international mandates to charge certain Web destinations on a 'per-click' basis to fund the build-out of broadband infrastructure across the globe" and allowing ""governments to monitor and restrict content or impose economic costs upon international data flows." Concerns regarding the possible proposals were both aired at a congressional hearing this morning and drafted in a congressional resolution (pdf)."
Government

Submission + - Comptroller Accuses HP of Overcharging NYC $163m on 911 System (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "New York City comptroller John Liu has accused HP of overcharging New York City $163 million on upgrades to its 911 system. According to a statement put out by Liu, an audit of the project revealed that HP did not perform up to spec on the contract between April 2005 and April 2008 and did not bill the city correctly for time and materials on its portion of the contract to upgrade the 911 system. According to Liu's reading, the contract was supposed to cost no more than $378 million over five years, but the in January the city projected it would have already spent $307 by mid-April and had to award Northrop-Grumman an additional $286m to do a second part of the original contract, ballooning the cost to $632m, and Liu's office is now estimating that cost overruns beyond this could be as high as an additional $362m. NYC's deputy mayor for operations was quoted defending the contract."
Botnet

Submission + - White House Announces Initiative to Fight Botnets (bloomberg.com)

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "ISPs and financial-services companies would share data about computers made into botnets under a pilot program announced today by the Obama administration. From the article: "the voluntary principles include coordinating across sectors and addressing the problem globally." The White House is also backing a bill proposed by Joe Lieberman that would put the Department of Homeland Security in charge of cybersecurity of vital systems such as power grids and transportation networks."
The Internet

Submission + - Dot-Word Bidders in Last Minute Dash (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "Dot-word bidders are in a last-minute dash for domain names as the organization has revealed its timetable for the controversial new TLDs. The organization will close its TLD Application System (TAS) at a minute before midnight tonight (23.59 GMT, 19.59 ET, 16.59 Pacific). The TAS was originally supposed to close on April 12 but the deadline was extended twice because of a security bug. The winners for domains will be selected (intially) by a "widely derided mechanism" of "digital archery" in which every bidder will be assigned a date and time and then be asked to login to a secure website and hit a submit button as close to that time as possible."
Blackberry

Submission + - RIM May Need to Write Off $1 Billion in Inventory (bloomberg.com)

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "Blackberry maker Research in Motion may need to write off more than $1 billion in inventory, according to Bloomberg. The potential "writedown" comes after RIM took a $485 million pretax charge to write down the value of its PlayBook inventory in December. RIM has said it aims to save $1 billion in operating costs this fiscal year by cutting its number of manufacturing sites and is “reviewing its organizational efficiency” across the company, which may lead to job cuts of 2,000-3,000. Its shares have tumbled 75 percent over the past year and are down 90 percent from their all-time high."
Microsoft

Submission + - Free Desktop Software Development Dead in Windows 8 (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "Microsoft has decided to restrict Visual Studio 11 Express, the free-to-use version of its integrated development environment, to producing only Metro-style applications. Those who would like to produce conventional desktop applications or command line -based applications are stuck with Visual Studio 2010 or buying the full version. Microsoft announced the Visual Studio 11 lineup last week."

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