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Comment Re:Excellent Presentation (Score 1) 291

by npcompleat (#30211056) Attached to: English Shell Code Could Make Security Harder

I'm surprised that they don't seem to be aware of the EICAR test file. From Wikipedia "The EICAR test file (official name: EICAR Standard Anti-Virus Test File) is a file, developed by the European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research, to test the response of computer antivirus (AV) programs. ... The file is simply a text file of either 68 or 70 bytes that is a legitimate executable file ..."

The actual test file contents are "X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*". It's a COM file that when run will print "EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!"
Space

Study Hints At Time Before Big Bang 408

Posted by kdawson from the other-side-of-the-looking-glass dept.
canadian_right informs us that scientists from Caltech have found hints of a time before the Big Bang while studying the cosmic microwave background. Not only does the study hint at something pre-existing our universe, the researchers also postulate that everything we see was created as a bubble pinched off from a previously existing universe. This conjecture turns out to shed light on the mystery of the arrow of time. Quoting the BBC's account: "Their model suggests that new universes could be created spontaneously from apparently empty space. From inside the parent universe, the event would be surprisingly unspectacular. Describing the team's work at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in St Louis, Missouri, co-author Professor Sean Carroll explained that 'a universe could form inside this room and we'd never know.'"

Goodbye Cruel Word 565

Posted by Zonk from the it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night dept.
theodp writes "The problem with Microsoft Word, writes the NYT's Virginia Heffernan, is that 'I always feel as if I'm taking an essay test.' Seeking to break free of the tyranny of Microsoft Word, Heffernan takes a look at Scrivener and the oh-so-retro WriteRoom, which she and others feel jibe better with the way writers think. 'The new writing programs encourage a writerly restart. You may even relearn the green-lighted alphabet, adjust your preference for long or short sentences, opt afresh for action over description. Renewal becomes heady: in WriteRoom's gloom is man's power to create something from nothing, to wrest form from formlessness. Let's just say it: It's biblical. And come on, ye writers, do you want to be a little Word drip writing 603 words in Palatino with regulation margins? Or do you want to be a Creator?'"
Education

Submission + - Schools warned off Microsoft deal .. (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by
rs232
rs232 writes: ""The UK computer agency Becta is advising schools not to sign licensing agreements with Microsoft because of alleged anti-competitive practices"

"the problem was that Microsoft required schools to have licences for every PC in a school that might use its software, whether they were actually doing so or running something else""
Censorship

Submission + - AMD's New DRM

Submitted by
DefectiveByDesign
DefectiveByDesign writes: "Remember how AMD said they'd make use of ATI's GPU technology to make better technology? Well, not all change is progress. InfoWorld is reporting that AMD plans to block access to the framebuffer in hardware to help enforce DRM schemes, such as allowing more restricted playback of Sony Blu-Ray disks. They can pry my print screen key out of my cold, dead hands."
Operating Systems

Submission + - GPL Code Found In OpenBSD Wireless Driver

Submitted by NormalVisual
NormalVisual writes: The mailing lists were buzzing recently when Michael Buesch, one of the maintainers for the GPL'd bc43xx Broadcom wireless chip driver project, called the OpenBSD folks to task for apparently including code without permission from his project in the OpenBSD bcw project, which aims to provide functionality with Broadcom wireless chips under that OS. It seems that the problem has been resolved for now with the BSD driver author totally giving up on the project and Theo De Raadt taking the position that Buesch's posts on the subject were "inhuman".
Power

Wireless Power Now A Reality 197

Posted by Zonk from the just-think-of-the-possibilities dept.
SlashRating©
35
slashdottit! tm
CSMastermind writes "CNN is reporting on a breakthrough technology. A startup called Powercast has developed and patented a device, the size of a dime and costing 5$ to make, which allows power to be transmitted wirelessly. The device has already gained FCC approval and the company has inked deals with the likes of Phillips. From the article: 'Powercast says it has signed nondisclosure agreements to develop products with more than 100 companies, including major manufacturers of cell phones, MP3 players, automotive parts, temperature sensors, hearing aids, and medical implants. The last of those alone could be a multibillion-dollar market: Pacemakers, defibrillators, and the like require surgery to replace dead batteries. But with a built-in Powercast receiver, those batteries could last a lifetime. '"
Patents

Submission + - Linked List Patented in 2006

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Congratulations are in order to Ming-Jen Wang of LSI Logic Corporation who, in patent #10260471 managed to invent the linked list. From the abstract, "A computerized list is provided with auxiliary pointers for traversing the list in different sequences. One or more auxiliary pointers enable a fast, sequential traversal of the list with a minimum of computational time. Such lists may be used in any application where lists may be reordered for various purposes." Good-bye doubly linked list. We should also give praise to the extensive patent review performed by Cochran Freund & Young LLP.
Television

Journal Journal: The co-inventor of the TV remote, Robert Adler, passed away

Journal by mennucc1
CNN reports that Robert Adler, who co-invented the device that made the couch potato possible, died Thursday at 93. Adler was a prolific inventor, earning more than 180 U.S. patents. He was best known for his 1956 Zenith Space Command remote control, which helped make TV a truly sedentary pastime. Few people today would imagine that that remote was ultrasound
Security

Submission + - Chinese Cyber Attacks on DOD Networks

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "As seen in: SANS NewsBites Vol. 9 Num. 14 The Naval Network Warfare Command says Chinese hackers are relentlessly targeting Defense Department networks with cyber attacks. The "volume, proficiency and sophistication" of the attacks supports the theory that the attacks are government supported. The "motives [of the attacks emanating from China] ... include technology theft, intelligence gathering, exfiltration, research on DOD operations and the creation of dormant presences in DOD network for future action." http://www.fcw.com/article97658-02-13-07-Web&print Layout"
Businesses

Submission + - Comparison of Working at the 3 Big Software Giants

Submitted by
castironwok
castironwok writes: "Finally, everything you've ever wanted to know about being an employee at Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo. Tastyresearch describes his (or her) past few years interning and working at the three companies. Things I didn't know from before: Bill Gates wears old shoes, Google's internal security watches you like a hawk, the office styles of each company, and how to fill your suitcase with Google T-shirts. He calls the few select companies the 'prestigious internship circle', noting "once you have worked at one, it's a lot easier to get into another". But what *I* really want to know now, is who has a more equal male-female ratio?"

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