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Comment same in many US states (Score 1) 150

In many US states including IL it is illegal to record conversations without consent of both parties. AFAICT this includes both phone and in-person.

A while back I had the idea that it would be fun to do undercover exposes on scam companies, by getting employed and gathering hidden camera/audio footage. Unfortunately I think there would be legal problems here.
Education

Finding a Research Mentor? 162

bsomerville writes "As an aspiring social scientist preparing to apply to Ph.D. programs, I'm keen to find a faculty mentor somewhere in North America who shares my research interests. This is more difficult than I thought it would be. While links to program websites are readily available, I'm surprised to find no comprehensive collection of faculty research interests in my field (clinical psychology). Instead this information is buried several levels down in each university website. Is this a common problem across all fields? Is there some inherent reason why no wiki-type Web resource exists to meet this need? It seems like a text-searchable database could be built fairly quickly and maintained by users, saving countless aspiring grad students thousands of clicks through university websites."
Google

Pedestrian Follows Google Map, Gets Run Over, Sues 699

Hugh Pickens writes "The Toronto Star reports that a Utah woman is suing Google for more than $100,000 in damages, claiming its maps function gave her walking directions that led her onto a major highway, where she was struck by a car. Lauren Rosenberg sought directions between two addresses in Utah about 3 kilometers apart and the top result suggested that she follow a busy rural highway for several hundred meters. The highway did not have sidewalks or any other pedestrian-friendly amenities, and Rosenberg was struck by a car. Rosenberg filed suit against both the driver of the car that struck her and Google, claiming both carried responsibility in her injury. Her lawyers claim Google is liable because it did not warn her that the route would not offer a safe place for a pedestrian to walk. Google has pointed out that the directions Rosenberg sought come with a warning of caution for pedestrians, but Rosenberg claims that she accessed the Maps function on her Blackberry mobile device, where it did not include the warning."
Communications

Quantum Teleportation Achieved Over 16 km In China 389

Laxori666 writes "Scientists in China have succeeded in teleporting information between photons farther than ever before. They transported quantum information over a free space distance of 16 km (10 miles), much farther than the few hundred meters previously achieved, which brings us closer to transmitting information over long distances without the need for a traditional signal."
Image

Oil Leak Could Be Stopped With a Nuke 799

An anonymous reader writes "The oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico could be stopped with an underground nuclear blast, a Russian newspaper reports. Komsomoloskaya Pravda, the best-selling Russian daily, reports that in Soviet times such leaks were plugged with controlled nuclear blasts underground. The idea is simple, KP writes: 'The underground explosion moves the rock, presses on it, and, in essence, squeezes the well's channel.' It's so simple, in fact, that the Soviet Union used this method five times to deal with petrocalamities, and it only didn't work once."
Image

TSA Worker Jailed In Body Scan Rage Incident 352

A TSA worker in Miami was arrested for aggravated battery after he attacked a co-worker for making fun of the size of his genitals. Rolando Negrin walked through one of the new body scanners during a recent training session and a supervisor started making fun of his manhood. From the article: "According to the police report, Negrin confronted one of his co-workers in an employee parking lot, where he hit him with a police baton on the arm and back."

Comment only unpatched Broadcom NetXtreme w/ circumstances (Score 3, Informative) 49

The summery left that out.

4. How can I find out if my machine is vulnerable?

Any computer using Broadcom NetXtreme chips with ASF activated and configured is vulnerable. Users of such computers should apply the official patches (see 6). Other vendor cards and other cards models are not impacted by this vulnerability. Machines using Broadcom NetXtreme chips when ASF has never been configured (Requires to launch the Broadcom ASF configuration tool) are not vulnerable but patching is highly recommended.

5. How can I protect my computers from such an attack?

If your computer is vulnerable to this attack you can either (in order of preference):

  • 1. apply the vendor patch (see 6) ;
  • 2. deactivate ASF. This should be done using the Broadcom ASF Configuration tool and not by turning off ASF in the BIOS of the machine;
  • 3. configure all your network packet-filters to filter UDP ports used by ASF (623 and 664).

Please note that some operating systems actually deactivate ASF at boot time. Some operating systems or hypervisors might also take advantage of hardware technologies such as Intel Vt-d and AMD I/OMMUs that would limit the impact of the attack.

Displays

2010 — the Year AACS and HDMI Kill Off HD Component Video 424

For home theater buffs who want (or already have) a high-def system using component-video connections, time may be growing short. Audiofan writes with this story, which begins: "Digital HD (high definition), like that enabled through HDMI and Blu-ray, is awesome. It offers amazing picture and audio quality. It allows you to conveniently connect one single cable to provide both picture and sound. It is royally going to screw up a lot of homes next year. Wait, what was that last part? After December 31, 2010, manufacturers will not be 'allowed' [to] introduce new hardware with component video outputs supplying more than an SD resolution (480i or 576i). Should this go through as planned, it's going to disable or throw a wrench in a lot of existing custom installations as soon as the end of this year." The AACS in the headline stands for Advanced Access Content System, the industry scheme to block "the analog hole" by controlling content from storage media to eyeballs.
The Media

Linux Action Show Returns 61

BJ writes "The Linux Action Show, the Linux-podcast to end all Linux-podcasts, is returning with their 11th season after over 7 months off the air. Kicking it all off with a live streaming event this Saturday at 5pm. Topics are set to include: Maemo/Moblin merging into Meego, Open Source Nividia drivers with 3D, KDE 4.4 and much, much more."

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