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Intel

Submission + - Intel Gigabit NIC Packet of Death (krisk.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: All it takes is a quick Google search to see that the Intel 82574L ethernet controller has had at least a few problems. Including, but not necessarily limited to, EEPROM issues, ASPM bugs, MSI-X quirks, etc. We spent several months dealing with each and every one of these. We thought we were done.

Using Ostinato I was able to craft various versions of this packet — an HTTP POST, ICMP echo-request, etc. Pretty much whatever I wanted. With a modified HTTP server configured to generate the data at byte value (based on headers, host, etc) you could easily configure an HTTP 200 response to contain the packet of death — and kill client machines behind firewalls!
Science

Submission + - Scientists Play World's Oldest Commercial Record (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: The scratchy, 12-second audio clip of a woman reciting the first verse of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star doesn't sound like much. But the faint, 123-year-old recording—etched into a warped metal cylinder and brought back to life after decades of silence by a three-dimensional (3D) optical scanning technique—appears to belong to the first record intended for sale to the public. Made for a talking doll briefly sold by phonograph inventor Thomas Edison, the early record is the oldest known American recording of a woman's voice and may be the oldest known record produced at Edison's laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey.
(Sound file in story)
Linux

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Easiest Linux Distro 3

Submitted by anymooseposter
anymooseposter writes: My mom is taking a computer class at the local Community College. she asks:

"Hi So,.............what do you know about Linux. I need to download a Linux OS and try it out for class. The assignment is to use an OS different from what you normally use. Well, since I use Windows and OS X, the assignment suggests Linux. But, my question is, what is the easiest version based on Linux for me to put on CD and try? I saw several on the web. Any thoughts off the top of your head."

Her only computers are a new iMac, and a recent HP laptop. What Linux Disto would be easiest to set up without having to resort to dual booting and/or driver issues?
IOS

Submission + - Jailbreakme.com 3.0 Activated (jailbreakme.com)

Submitted by Beardydog
Beardydog writes: Jailbreakme.com has been officially updated, providing the first public method for jailbreaking the iPad 2, and the easiest method for jailbreaking most other iOS devices. The jailbreak works with iOS 4.3.3, and it is recommended that users update before a new release from Apple closes the vulnerability exploited by the jailbreak.

Submission + - Patent Troll Goes After Notebook Cooling (conceivablytech.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: If you are manufacturing notebooks and you are using hardware that needs to be cooled down occasionally, you may be in the crosshairs of IPventure, which claims patent rights to an approach that is common in all notebooks today. For now, the company appears to be establishing its case by suing Fujitsu and Lenovo over the use of its invention in the Lifebook and Thinkpad series of products.

Comment VoIP Security Matters Now More Than Ever (Score 1) 1

by mercutioviz (#36629716) Attached to: Why VoIP Security Matters To You
With governments wanting back doors and master decryption keys for voice traffic there is ever more reason to be vigilant. How many of us really believe that Microsoft *won't* be happy to let any government spy on Skype users? I doubt the patent they've applied for is "just for defense" in the patent wars... -MC

Comment Re:Who will all just plug their ears (Score 1) 361

by mercutioviz (#35582364) Attached to: Sludge In Flask Gives Clues To Origin of Life
Free will is indeed at the core of the issue. If we're uncreated - simply a wonderful cosmic accident in a small corner of the universe - then we are just fancy robots. If we were created with some sort of predetermined outcome then we are just fancy robots. However, if we were created AND we have free will then the issue is a lot more interesting. Life would definitely have more meaning if we were more than the product of mere chance.

The question I recommend we all consider is why. If we're just the fancy robots, why do we react with such revulsion to things like the Holocaust or the recent tsunami in Japan? Why do we hate to see other people suffer and die? In short, why do we have a conscience? Does it serve an evolutionary purpose, and if so, from what is it and from what did it evolve?

I'm open to reasonable answers to these questions from all sides of the debate...
Image

Program Uses GPS To Track Sex Offenders 338

Posted by samzenpus from the where-do-you-think-you're-going dept.
43 sex offenders in Pennsylvania's Allegheny County are wearing GPS monitoring devices as part of a pilot program designed to keep track of their movements. If the offender moves into an "exclusion zone," police are called. “Exclusion zones for example [are] schools, daycares, playgrounds, facilities where children congregate for those sex offenders,” John Hudson, a security consultant, said. “We’ve identified in their red zones. If an offender with a device goes into one of the red zones, an exclusion zone, we’ll be notified immediately.”

Comment Re:Well, duh. (Score 1) 207

by mercutioviz (#34385092) Attached to: Microsoft Word Patent Case Going To Supreme Court
Agreed. The patents that i4i has are dangerous. They never should have been granted and certainly should have been revoked based on obviousness alone. It's easy to root against Microsoft's bad corporate behavior and also against just about anything Ballmer says. However, this is one of those rare instances where MS is actually on the right side and if they win then we all benefit.

That all being said, I have no confidence in the SCOTUS or the USPTO. The former is full of smart people who don't have even a rudimentary grasp of technology issues and the latter is full of total retards.

-MC
Image

Woman Trademarks Name and Threatens Sites Using It 273

Posted by samzenpus from the keep-my-name-out-of-your-mouth dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Be careful mentioning Dr. Ann De Wees Allen. She's made it clear that she's trademarked her name and using it is 'illegal... without prior written permission.' She even lists out the names of offenders and shows you the cease-and-desist letter she sends them. And, especially don't copy any of the text on her website, because she's using a bit of javascript that will warn you 'Copyright Protect!' if you right click on a link."

Comment We do HD in FreeSWITCH all day, every day (Score 1) 228

by mercutioviz (#33514654) Attached to: Lo-Fi Phones and the Future
The FreeSWITCH developers are on an audio conference call all day long. Most of us use G.722 at 16k or G.722.1 at 32k. When someone calls in on a cell phone (GSM) or land line (PCMU, aka G.711u) the difference is more than remarkable. When you are on a nice headset in 16k (or higher) all day long then you begin to appreciate how horrible the legacy stuff really is. The sad part is that G.711 takes 64kbps for an audio signal at 8kHz. We do lots of codecs that are higher quality and use much less bandwidth. For example, we can get a single channel of 48kHz CELT audio in 64kbps. (If you have a nice headset and your partner does as well then you will find it almost eerie how crisp and clear the sound is!)

People who are content with G.711 and GSM need to ask themselves why. Is "good enough" really good enough? I've heard this from the Asterisk camp on more than one occasion: "You'll never need more than 8kHz audio!" I strongly disagree with that assertion. After using FreeSWITCH for the past few years I really appreciate the value of HD VoIP. I could not imagine telecommuting and being stuck on a crappy 8kHz connection all day, listening to other people on a crappy 8kHz connection.

If you haven't checked out HD VoIP then you owe it to yourself to see what's out there.

-MC

Just an interesting side note: in our conference we often play sound bites. We have a sound bite of crickets chirping - the sound that gets played when someone asks a question and no one answers. :) Interestingly, you can't hear the crickets on an 8k connection! Just thought I'd share that tidbit.

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