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Comment Finger mouse? (Score 1) 47

by boef (#41679007) Attached to: Magic Finger Turns Any Surface Into a Touch Interface
From the description it sounds pretty much like the handheld device I use that turns 'any surface into a touch screen'. Now it could just be my general germ phobia, but I go out of my way to avoid touching most surfaces in public.. so I am not convinced on that side either. That said, if it will make me more productive by replacing the mouse mentioned above and without interfering with typing, I will give it a try. Am I hopeful? Nope.

Comment Re:Nice strawman (Score 2) 326

by boef (#41322333) Attached to: House Approves Extending the Warrantless Wiretapping Act
I often wonder why people still refer to the USA as 'the land of the free' or even to their president as the 'leader of the free world'. Don't get me wrong; As a non-American I have great respect for the tradition and history of freedom of the country

The issue I think Americans should be concerned about is the fact that countries Poland, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, United Kingdom all have something in common (well, the list is quite long and can be found here )
They are ALL ranked higher than 'The land of the Free' when it comes to freedom of press... and without press freedom, and journalists calling you on your shit - instead of just dishing out celeb gossip and reality TV updates - you are on a slippery slope.
China

Submission + - Backdoor Found in China-Made US Military Chip 5

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Information Age reports that the Cambridge University researchers have discovered that a microprocessor used by the US military but made in China contains secret remote access capability, a secret "backdoor" that means it can be shut off or reprogrammed without the user knowing. The "bug" is in the actual chip itself, rather than the firmware installed on the devices that use it. This means there is no way to fix it than to replace the chip altogether. "The discovery of a backdoor in a military grade chip raises some serious questions about hardware assurance in the semiconductor industry," writes Cambridge University researcher Sergei Skorobogatov. "It also raises some searching questions about the integrity of manufacturers making claims about [the] security of their products without independent testing." The unnamed chip, which the researchers claim is widely used in military and industrial applications, is "wide open to intellectual property theft, fraud and reverse engineering of the design to allow the introduction of a backdoor or Trojan", Does this mean that the Chinese have control of our military information infrastructure asks Rupert Goodwins? "No: it means that one particular chip has an undocumented feature. An unfortunate feature, to be sure, to find in a secure system — but secret ways in have been built into security systems for as long as such systems have existed.""
Microsoft

Submission + - Startup Saves $100,000 by NOT supporting Internet Explorer (internetnews.com) 2

Submitted by darthcamaro
darthcamaro writes: Guess what — you don't have to support Microsoft's IE web browser any more to build a successful website. In fact, you might just be able to save yourself a pile of cash if you avoid IE altogether. That's the story in Canada's National Post today and to make this even sweeter — no one complained about the lack of IE support either.
Hardware

Submission + - "Inexact" chips save power by fudging the maths (pcpro.co.uk)

Submitted by Barence
Barence writes: Computer scientists have unveiled a computer chip that turns traditional thinking about mathematical accuracy on its head by fudging calculations. The concept works by allowing processing components — such as hardware for adding and multiplying numbers — to make a few mistakes, which means they are not working as hard so use less power and get through tasks more quickly. The Rice University researchers say prototypes are 15 times more efficient and could be used in some applications without having a negative effect.
Ubuntu

Submission + - Ubuntu 12.04 LTS out - Unity gets a second chance (aboutlinux.info)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: So how does Ubuntu Precise Pangolin (12.04) fare ? I will say exceptionally well. Unity is not the same ugly duckling it was made out to be. In Ubuntu 12.04, it has transformed into a beautiful swan. As Ubuntu 12.04 is a long term release, the Ubuntu team has pulled all stops to make sure the user experience is positive.

Ubuntu 12.04 aka Precise Pangolin is definitely worthy of running on your machine.
Android

Submission + - Cybercriminals exploit Björk's Biophilia app to compromise Androids (symantec.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The crocked Russians who put out fake versions of Angry Bird Space and Instagram for Android last week have competition. Bipphilia, an musical experiment by Bjork into the world of apps has been ported to Android as a Trojan. To make things worst, last year at the launch of the app, Bjork was quoted in an interviewing inviting pirates/hackers to attempt to port her code over from iPhone to other platforms.
Science

Submission + - Organics can't match conventional farm yields (nature.com)

Submitted by scibri
scibri writes: A comprehensive analysis published in Nature (abstract) suggests that organic farming could supply needs in some circumstances. But yields are lower than in conventional farming, so producing the bulk of the globe’s diet will still require chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

The meta-analysis reviewed 66 studies comparing the yields of 34 different crop species in organic and conventional farming systems. The researchers included only studies that assessed the total land area used, allowing them to compare crop yields per unit area. Many previous studies that have showed large yields for organic farming ignore the size of the area planted — which is often bigger than in conventional farming.

Crop yields from organic farming are as much as 34% lower than those from comparable conventional farming practices, though in some cases, notably with strawberries and soybeans, the gap is as small as 3%.
Math

Submission + - How Windows FreeCell Gave Rise To Online Crowdsourcing (gameological.com)

Submitted by TPIRman
TPIRman writes: In 1994, a physics doctoral student named Dave Ring assembled more than 100 math and puzzle enthusiasts on Usenet for what became one of the earliest online 'crowdsourcing' projects. Their goal: to determine if every hand in Windows' FreeCell solitaire game was in fact winnable, as the program's help file implied. Their efforts soon focused in on one incredibly stubborn hand: #11,982. They couldn't beat it, but in the process of trying, they proved the viability of an idea that would later be refined with crowdsourcing models like Amazon's Mechanical Turk.
Intel

Submission + - Expect "hundreds" of thunderbolt devices, says Intel (pcauthority.com.au)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Thunderbolt ports have been spotted on a PC motherboard, but the reality is that the technology is far from mainstream outside of Apple products. Which is why it is interesting to hear Intel predict that "a hundred" Thunderbolt devices are expected to be on the market by the end of the year. The comment was made this week at Intel's presentation at IDF in Beijing. Ultrabooks with Thunderbolt are expected to appear this year.

Comment On the other hand... (Score 1, Redundant) 466

by boef (#39285211) Attached to: School District Sued By ACLU Over Student's Free Speech Rights
I agree that NO ONE should be able to force you to hand over your account details... I think they should have just had her Facebook account suspended for breaking the T&C's. I could of course be wrong, but don't have to agree that you are over 13 years of age (she was not) when you create a Facebook account?
The Media

Rob Malda (CmdrTaco) Joins the Washington Post 232

Posted by Soulskill from the that-name-sounds-familiar dept.
kodiaktau writes "Slashdot founder and long time cat herder Rob Malda joins the Washington Post per an announcement today. According to the press release, he will be the Chief Strategist and Editor-at-Large working for WaPo Labs." Rob has a more detailed description of the job on his blog: "Don Graham is trying to accomplish something that is a bit of a cliche these days: A startup inside an established corporation. A group that can exist at a nexus between newspapers, websites, cable networks, and TV stations and think about the big picture and the future without the normal burdens associated with a business operating at a large scale. ... They are actively iterating and experimenting in many directions, with strong support from the top of the organization. ... Washington Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli assures me that I'll also be working with the newsroom where I can contribute words, ideas, and tools that will improve the experience of the journalists doing work that I personally believe transcends the bottom line."

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