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Comment OSU Open Source Lab (Score 1) 263

by gchaix (#41383763) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Where Should a Geek's Charitable Donations Go?
The OSU Open Source Lab is a donation-funded organization that supports the open source software community by providing project hosting, development, and mirrors for many open source projects. Apache, the Linux Foundation, Drupal, Busybox, Plone, PHPbb, Sahana, OpenMRS, and many others rely on the OSL for some or all of their infrastructure. http://osuosl.org/donate Full disclosure: I work for the OSL.
Government

Submission + - US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau embraces FOSS, publishes on github (consumerfinance.gov)

Submitted by
gchaix
gchaix writes: "The US Federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has publicly embraced open source software and has begun posting its code to GitHub.

From the fine article:

Until recently, the federal government was hesitant to adopt open-source software due to a perceived ambiguity around its legal status as a commercial good. In 2009, however, the Department of Defense made it clear that open-source software products are on equal footing with their proprietary counterparts.

We agree, and the first section of our source code policy is unequivocal: We use open-source software, and we do so because it helps us fulfill our mission.

Open-source software works because it enables people from around the world to share their contributions with each other. The CFPB has benefited tremendously from other people’s efforts, so it’s only right that we give back to the community by sharing our work with others.

This brings us to the second part of our policy: When we build our own software or contract with a third party to build it for us, we will share the code with the public at no charge. Exceptions will be made when source code exposes sensitive details that would put the Bureau at risk for security breaches; but we believe that, in general, hiding source code does not make the software safer.

More coverage here: http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/09/u-s-consumer-financial-protection-bureau-gets-open-source-publishes-on-github/"
Security

Submission + - Interview With TSA Screener Reveals 'Fatal Flaws' (wordpress.com)

Submitted by OverTheGeicoE
OverTheGeicoE writes: Jonathan Corbett, creator of the video showing that TSA's body scanners can't see metal objects on our sides, has a new video out. This time he's interviewing an experienced TSA screener identified only as 'Jennifer,' and her allegations point to 'fatal flaws' in TSA and its procedures. Worse, TSA's screeners are well aware of these flaws. According to 'Jennifer,' body scanners frequently fail to detect objects on passengers, and this flaw is well known to the screeners on the job. People with visible items in their pockets can pass through scanners without detection, even when the items are simulated weapons or explosives. 'Jennifer' also alleges that training for screeners is severely lacking. Screeners are directed to operate body scanners, even the X-ray scanners, without any training whatsoever. The manual of standard operating procedures often can't be found at the checkpoints, let alone read. 'Jennifer' was so alarmed by what she experienced that she wrote her congressional representative to complain. She was ultimately fired as a result, effective today.

Submission + - Kubuntu to be Sponsored by Blue Systems (h-online.com) 1

Submitted by
JRiddell
JRiddell writes: "Kubuntu, the KDE flavour from Ubuntu, has found a new sponsor in Blue Systems. They will be providing more resources than were available by previous sponsor Canonical. The project will remain much the same, community led, KDE focused, Ubuntu flavour. With the new independence it can branch out into new markets such as a Kubuntu Active flavour for tablets."

Comment Re:How did they hack it? (Score 1) 312

by gchaix (#37270792) Attached to: Kernel.org Compromised

How did the so called user account compromise result in root access? Care to explain?

I'm not privy to the details, but I expect disclosure will be forthcoming as soon as they've traced and patched whatever vulnerability was exploited.

Comment Re:How did they hack it? (Score 4, Informative) 312

by gchaix (#37270576) Attached to: Kernel.org Compromised

The post on kernel.org states that it was possibly due to a compromised user account. They stated that they discovered it through some errors related to Xnest /dev/mem and that they captured some of the exploit code. I believe they're still looking at everything to figure how how the intruders got in and what they touched.

Kudos to the kernel.org team for their prompt action and immediate disclosure.
Facebook

Submission + - Social media a threat to undercover cops (techworld.com.au)

Submitted by
angry tapir
angry tapir writes: "Facebook has proven to be one of the biggest dangers in keeping undercover police officers safe due to applications such as facial recognition and photo tagging, according to a adjunct professor at ANU and Charles Sturt University. Mick Keelty, a former Australian Federal Police (AFP) commissioner, told the audience at Security 2011 in Sydney that because of the convergence of a number of technologies undercover policing may be "impossible" in the future."
Electronic Frontier Foundation

Submission + - The EFF reflects on ICE seizing a Tor exit node (eff.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Senior staff attorney at the EFF, Marcia Hofmann gives more information on the first known seizure of equipment in the US, due to a warrant executed against a private individual running a Tor exit node. 'This spring, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) executed a search warrant at the home of Nolan King and seized six computer hard drives in connection with a criminal investigation. The warrant was issued on the basis of an Internet Protocol (IP) address that traced back to an account connected to Mr. King's home, where he was operating a Tor exit relay.' The EFF was able to get Mr King's equipment returned, and Marcia points out that 'While we think it's important to let the public know about this unfortunate event, it doesn't change our belief that running a Tor exit relay is legal.' She also links to the EFF's Tor Legal FAQ. This again brings up an interesting dichotomy in my mind, concerning protecting yourself from the Big digital Brother: Running an open Wi-Fi hotspot, or Tor exit node, would make you both more likely to be investigated but less likely to be convicted of any cyber crimes.
Science

Submission + - Imaging the Molecular Orbitals of Pentacene (aps.org)

Submitted by eparker05
eparker05 writes: Researchers at University of Liverpool have used a scanning tunneling microscope to image the aromatic molecule pentacene. Not unexpectedly, the resulting images showed an astonishingly close correlation to the theoretically predicted molecular orbitals. This incredible set of images reminds me of the group that imaged a single carbon atom in 2009.
Education

Submission + - More Schools Go to 4 Day Week to Cut Costs 1

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Time Magazine reports that as schools return to session in South Dakota, more than one-fourth of students in the state will only be in class from Monday through Thursday as budget constraints lead school districts to hack off a day from the school week. Larry Johnke, superintendant of the Irene-Wakonda school district, says the change will save his schools more than $50,000 per year and in order to make up for the missing day, schools will add 30 minutes to each of the other four days and shorten the daily lunch break. “In this financial crisis, we wanted to maintain our core content and vocational program, so we were forced to do this,” says Johnke. Experts say research is scant on the effect of a four-day school week on student performance but many of the 120 districts that have the shortened schedule nationwide say they've seen students who are less tired and more focused, which has helped raise test scores and attendance while others say that not only did they not save a substantial amount of money by being off an extra day, they also saw students struggle because they weren't in class enough and didn't have enough contact with teachers. "Teachers tell me they are much more focused because they've had time to prepare. They don't have kids sleeping in class on Tuesday," says LaKeisha Johnson, a parent in Peach County Georgia, who sends her fourth-grade daughter to the Boys & Girls Club on Mondays. "Everything has taken on a laser-light focus.""
Patents

Submission + - Samsung cites Kubrick film in Apple patent case (cnet.com)

Submitted by suraj.sun
suraj.sun writes: In its ongoing legal battle with Apple, Samsung has returned fire against Apple's motion for a preliminary injunction that aims to bar some of its phones and Galaxy Tab in the US.

In a new filing, picked up by intellectual-property tracking blog Foss Patents, Samsung has opposed the preliminary injunction Apple filed for in early July. While the document is sealed at the moment, Foss points to one of the non-sealed exhibits Samsung is using to go up against Apple, which cites Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey" as clear evidence that tablets were an idea long before Apple's 2004 patent design filing:

        Attached hereto as Exhibit D is a true and correct copy of a still image taken from Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey." In a clip from that film lasting about one minute, two astronauts are eating and at the same time using personal tablet computers. The clip can be downloaded online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ8pQVDyaLo. As with the design claimed by the D'889 Patent, the tablet disclosed in the clip has an overall rectangular shape with a dominant display screen, narrow borders, a predominately flat front surface, a flat back surface (which is evident because the tablets are lying flat on the table's surface), and a thin form factor.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ8pQVDyaLo

CNET News: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20096061-248/samsung-cites-kubrick-film-in-apple-patent-spat/
Cellphones

Submission + - Verizon Makes It Easy To Go Over Your Data Cap (itworld.com) 1

Submitted by
jfruhlinger
jfruhlinger writes: "Verizon Wireless has revamped its video service; many Android phones can now stream a full episodes from a number of current TV shows. You can even choose to just buy access for a day if you don't see yourself using the service often. Sounds great, right? Well, except for the part where all of Verizon's current smartphone plans have data caps — and the new service makes it awfully easy to go over them and incur overage charges."
Privacy

Submission + - Judge Nixes Warrantless Cell Phone Loc Data (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by poena.dare
poena.dare writes: The government sought warrantless access to 113 days of location data for a Verizon Wireless customer. On Monday, a judge refused the request, ruling that cell phone users have an expectation of privacy in location information. "There is no meaningful Fourth Amendment distinction between content and other forms of information, the disclosure of which to the Government would be equally intrusive and reveal information society values as private," said Judge Nicholas Garaufis. Privacy advocates in DC will be cheering as soon as they climb out from under their desks!
Privacy

Submission + - Facebook Tweaks Site To Clarify Who Can See What (computerworld.com)

Submitted by
CWmike
CWmike writes: "Facebook is making a series of design changes to the site to make it clearer to users who can see the content that they post, an issue Google has been criticizing Facebook about since it launched its own social network, Google+, in June. 'You have told us that 'who can see this?' could be clearer across Facebook, so we have made changes to make this more visual and straightforward," Facebook said in a blog post on Tuesday. The main change is that Facebook will now display the intended audience for a photo, a text post, a tag or any other piece of content right next to it, or 'inline.' Until now, those controls have been on a separate Settings section of the profile. 'Your profile should feel like your home on the web — you should never feel like stuff appears there that you don't want, and you should never wonder who sees what's there.' Another change Facebook is introducing is allowing users to modify the audience of a post after it's published, which they couldn't do before."

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