Comment Re:10.10? (Score 1) 291
According to the Ubuntu Wiki, they're planning to do this.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MaverickReleaseSchedule
Of course, we'll see how things actually turn out... but a 10.10.10 launch would be cool.
Comment Re:Lets look at this (Score 1) 398
I think your criteria for deciding it is "inferior" may be a little unclear. When the plane crashed into the Hudson river recently, Twitter and TwitPic had some of the first information about the event. With the recent political unrest in Iran, Twitter is the most common tool to get information out.
Millions of people could be using something else.
Like what? Facebook? The Internet is what gives the average person a voice, and Twitter is what collects those voices together.
I guess you don't use Twitter, but that doesn't mean nothing good can come of it. Sure, there will be people who post drivel (and probably a LOT of these people), but there are legitimate uses, and because of that, I think it deserves its place in world communications.
Inside the AP's Plan To Security-Wrap Its News Content 138
suraj.sun writes with an excerpt from this story at Ars Technica that the "Associated Press, reeling from the newspaper apocalypse, has a new plan to 'wrap' and 'protect' its content though a 'digital permissions framework.' The Associated Press last week rolled out its brave new plan to 'apply protective format to news.' The AP's news registry will 'tag and track all AP content online to assure compliance with terms of use,' and it will provide a 'platform for protect, point, and pay.' That's a lot of 'p'-prefaced jargon, but it boils down to a sort of DRM for news — 'enforcement,' in AP-speak."
Comment Re:Price? (Score 1) 185
Hi there. Could you direct me towards where I can buy a barcode scanner for $4.99? Cheers.
Alas, but you have eyes. Barcodes have the numbers written below them, and, if the barcode lines are somehow mutilated, I've seen cashiers type in the numbers. I'd say that's a free barcode scanner. As for QR codes, some cell phones can read them (for free).
The GP has a point, if you can't easily read what's inside the bokode, it isn't going to replace the barcode. The MIT students are smart, though, so I'm sure they'll figure out that problem.
Comment Re:Standard Practices (Score 5, Informative) 225
Basically, I would NEVER allow remote web management of a device if it's on the internet.
Good idea, but this is a critical exploit because hackers can make an img tag load the malformed URL. If they can trick you into viewing that image, then your router will be compromised from your computer on the network. Disabling the external management will prevent internet users from compromising your router, but it is still vulnerable to local threats, as executed through the CSRF method.
Secret US List of Civil Nuclear Sites Released 167
eldavojohn writes "Someone accidentally released a 266-page report on hundreds of sites in the US for stockpiling and storing hazardous nuclear materials for civilian use. While some ex-officials and experts don't find it to be a serious breach, the Federation of American Scientists are calling it a 'a one-stop shop for information on US nuclear programs.' The document contains information about Los Alamos, Livermore and Sandia, and opinions seem to be split on whether it's a harmless list or terrorist risk. One thing is for sure: it was taken down after the New York Times inquired to the Government Accountability Office about it."
Looking Back At the Other Kind of Virus 147
Slatterz writes "All this panic over a strain of flu got these people thinking about some of the more virulent computer pandemics that have hit in recent years. While a computer virus pales in seriousness to a human outbreak, malware attacks can still take a huge toll on businesses throughout the world. This list of the top ten worst viruses includes some interesting trivia, including ARPANET's Creeper virus in 1971, how early attempts at copy protection resulted in Brain, and MyDoom's denial of service attack on SCO."
Time Warner Transfer Caps May Inspire Fair-Price Legislation 382
Time Warner's recently announced plan to expand their broadband transfer caps to new markets drew heavy criticism, which prompted their attempt to smooth things over with a ridiculously expensive "unlimited" plan. That wasn't enough for New York Representative Eric Massa, who now says he will draft legislation to "curb tiers, particularly in areas where a broadband provider owns a monopoly on service." Massa said, "Time Warner believes they can do this in Rochester, NY; Greensboro, NC; and Austin and San Antonio, Texas, and it's almost certainly just a matter of time before they attempt to overcharge all of their customers," adding, "I believe safeguards must be put in place when a business has a monopoly on a specific region."
Comment Re:lawmakers (Score 1) 284
the real problems with the economy can be attributed to the creation of the Federal Reserve (putting banks in charge of the economy in the first place), and the dissolution of the gold standard (allowing the Fed to create as much money as it wants, without creating actual wealth to accompany it).
[citation needed]
Open Source Shooter Nexuiz 2.5 Released 309
Michael writes "A new version of Nexuiz, a GPL-licensed, first-person shooter, has been released. There are over 3,000 changes in Nexuiz 2.5, including new maps, new game-modes, enhanced graphics, new audio, and other major changes. Phoronix has posted a preview of this Nexuiz 2.5 release, with screenshots showing the impressive graphics and how it has raised the bar for open-source gaming. Details about the Nexuiz project are available at SourceForge."
Phoenix Police Seize PCs of a Blogger Critical of the Department 515
logicassasin sends in a story about a blogger in Phoenix, AZ, who runs a site that is critical of the local police department. The police recently raided his home and seized his computer hardware. "Jeff Pataky, who runs Bad Phoenix Cops, said the officers confiscated three computers, routers, modems, hard drives, memory cards and everything necessary to continue blogging. The 41-year-old software engineer said they also confiscated numerous personal files and documents relating to a pending lawsuit he has against the department alleging harassment — which he says makes it obvious the raid was an act of retaliation." A local publication quotes Pataky saying, "We have heard internally from our police sources that they purposefully did this to stop me... They took my cable modem and wireless router. Anyone worth their salt knows nothing is stored in the cable modem."
Comment Re: brilliant and dangerous? (Score 1) 1134
Having Asperger's isn't a good excuse to do a poor job or to be anti-social, or unprofessional. [snip] I don't take the idea, that I have a disability so you need to deal with my Crap mentality, it is basically reinforcing that they can behave badly, without having them work on improving themselves.
With all due respect, Asperger's is not a choice for those who have it - it's them. They can't control who they are or what they do any more than the severely autistic can see their own situation or you can drastically change who you are (even though your personality may be a little more socially acceptable). If you were arguing against hiring autistic adults, perhaps there is an objective argument there. But, please, do not expect miracles from people with untreatable medical conditions.
Submission + - Combining BitTorrent with darknets for P2P privacy (washington.edu) 3
CSEMike writes: "Currently popular peer-to-peer networks suffer from a lack of privacy. For applications like BitTorrent or Gnutella, sharing a file means exposing your behavior to anyone interested in monitoring it. OneSwarm is a new file sharing application developed by researchers at the University of Washington that improves privacy in peer-to-peer networks. Instead of communicating directly, sharing in OneSwarm is friend-to-friend; senders and receivers exchange data using multiple intermediaries in an overlay mesh. OneSwarm is built on (and backwards compatible with) BitTorrent, but includes numerous extensions to improve privacy while providing good performance: point-to-point encryption using SSL, source-address rewriting, and multi-path and multi-source downloading. Clients and source are available for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows."
Microsoft Surface To Coordinate SuperBowl Security 218
suraj.sun writes to tell us that in preparation for nearly a quarter of a million people descending on Tampa for the Super Bowl, the Tampa authorities are deploying new tech for security communications and response. All of the incidents and communications will be plotted and tracked on a new implementation of Microsoft's Surface. Hopefully it wont have to reboot after every new incident report. "The Microsoft Surface device will display a Microsoft Virtual Earth map of the entire region tracking events, incidents, resources and tasks in real-time using its unique large display, multi-user, multi-touch and interactive capabilities, also allowing it to communicate with remote devices and PCs. With a quick hand-gesture, the map can zoom in and display a 3D image of the city, including detailed views of buildings and streets and real time resource tracking."
Comment Re:Not good enough (Score 1) 663
What about bouncing between Dvorak and QWERTY? I assume that you've had to type on a keyboard other than your own on more than one occasion.
I've used the Dvorak layout for about 6 months now (this post is being typed with it) and I can say that this is basically a moot point.
I haven't typed with it for nearly as long as with Qwerty, but I am fast enough at typing to not feel burdened by my slow speed. The worst part is during the initial period when you're learning Dvorak and you can't type fast in either.
Honestly, now, I don't even think about which keymap I'm using... sometimes I'll be typing with Qwerty without noticing. The biggest problem is punctuation and keyboard shortcuts, for me, at least.
