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OS X

Microsoft Responds To "Like OS X" Comment 505

Posted by samzenpus from the imitation-is-the-greatest-form-of-flattery dept.
Z80xxc! writes "After a comment by a Microsoft employee claiming in an interview that 'what we [Microsoft] have tried to do with Windows 7... is create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics,' the Windows 7 team has issued an official rebuttal, saying that the comment came from an employee who was 'not involved in any aspect of designing Windows 7,' and that it was 'inaccurate and uninformed.'"
Social Networks

Twitter Offline Due To DDoS 398

Posted by CmdrTaco from the hate-when-that-happens dept.
The elusive Precision dropped a submission in my lap about a DDoS taking down Twitter running on CNet. It's been down for several hours, no doubt wreaking havoc on the latest hawtness in social networking. Won't someone please think of the tweeters? Word is that both Facebook & LiveJournal have been having problems this AM as well.
Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer 6 Will Not Die 531

Posted by timothy from the when-undead-is-a-compliment dept.
caffeinejolt writes "Despite all the hype surrounding new browsers being released pushing the limits of what can be done on the Web, Firefox 3 has only this past month overtaken IE6. Furthermore, if you take the previous report and snap on the Corporate America filter, IE6 rules the roost and shows no signs of leaving anytime soon. Sorry web developers, for those of you who thought the ugly hacks would soon be over, it appears they will linger on for quite a bit — especially if you develop for business sites."

Comment Re:The title should read... (Score 1) 203

by mad_robot (#27238939) Attached to: UK Gov. Clueless About Own Internet Blacklist

No, really, they're all clueless. Just a few months ago the IWF created a furore by blacklisting a page in Wikipedia because it contained a suggestive image. The way they went about it was seriously flawed. Specifically:

  • The blacklisted URL was that of the HTML page linking to the image. IIRC, the image itself was still freely accessible.
  • The blacklist was unable to trap simple modifications to the URL (e.g. replacing an individual character with its escaped hex equivalent)
  • The same page was still available on Wikipedia's secure servers, Google's cache and various other places.
  • Blocked URLs are routed through the IWF's proxy servers, but because they obviously don't know anything about XFF headers, it was impossible for Wikipedia to identify genuine traffic for the entire period this block was in place.

And all that over a 30-year-old image that had never been ruled illegal anywhere. They're all morons.
Data Storage

Single Drive Wipe Protects Data 625

Posted by CmdrTaco from the two-wipes-are-better-than-one dept.
ALF-nl writes "A forensics expert claims that wiping your hard drives with just one pass already makes it next to impossible to recover the data with an electron microscope." But that's not accounting for the super secret machines that the government has, man.

Comment Re:Nokia did that already (Score 1) 258

by mad_robot (#26437371) Attached to: Microsoft Tag, Smartphone-Scannable Barcodes

Why?

  • Because airports have these screens installed anyway
  • Because not all your passengers have mobile phones
  • Because some of your passengers are technologically illiterate
  • Because one bit of chewing gum stuck to your poster could ruin things
  • Because people are already used to seeing departure information on TV screens

Take your pick

Comment Re:Nokia did that already (Score 1) 258

by mad_robot (#26431481) Attached to: Microsoft Tag, Smartphone-Scannable Barcodes

I can see a bunch of useful applications for stuff like this: - Flight Arrival/Departure Info: tags can be posted at easily visible locations around the airport with a sign "scan here for arrival/departure info".

What's wrong with a big TV screen showing a list of flight arrival/departure times? Wouldn't that make life just a little bit easier?
Cellphones

Microsoft Tag, Smartphone-Scannable Barcodes 258

Posted by kdawson from the cue-cat-lives dept.
dhavleak writes "Microsoft Research has come up with Microsoft Tag: '...just aim your camera phone at a Tag and instantly access mobile content, videos, music, contact information, maps, social networks, promotions, and more. Nothing to type, no browsers to launch!' Device support is fairly extensive (iPhone, WinMo, BlackBerry and more), and tag scanning appears to work quickly and reliably from different distances and angles. Long Zheng has an overview on his site. The Tag is similar to a barcode, but has obvious visual differences — colored vs. black and white, and triangles vs. squares or lines. The technology looks interesting, but will it get the adoption necessary to be successful? What applications do you see for such technology?"
Privacy

UK Police To Step Up Hacking of Home PCs 595

Posted by kdawson from the must-be-ok-if-the-good-guys-do-it dept.
toomanyairmiles writes "The Times of London reports that the United Kingdom's Home Office has quietly adopted a new plan to allow police across Britain to routinely hack into people's personal computers without a warrant. The move, which follows a decision by the European Union's council of ministers in Brussels, has angered civil liberties groups and opposition MPs. They described it as a sinister extension of the surveillance state that drives 'a coach and horses' through privacy laws."

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