Comment 54Mbps (Score 1) 496
54Mbps should be enough for anybody.
IE8 Update Forces IE As Default Browser 311
We discussed Microsoft making IE8 a critical update a while back; but then the indication was that the update gave users a chance to choose whether or not to install it. Now I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes in with word that the update not only does not ask, but it makes IE the default browser. "Microsoft has a new tactic in the browser wars. They're having the 'critical' IE8 update make IE the default browser without asking. Yes, you can change it back, but it doesn't ask you if you want IE8 or if you want it as the default browser, it makes the decisions for you. Opera might have a few more complaints to make to the EU antitrust board after this, but Microsoft will probably be able to drag out the proceedings for years, only to end up paying a small fine. If you have anyone you've set up with a more secure alternative browser, you might want to help check their settings after this."
Obama Appoints Non-Tech Guy As CTO 252
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "President Barack Obama has named his chief technology officer, and the appointee is not a Silicon Valley name like so many predicted. He is Aneesh Chopra. As the Secretary of Technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia, his job has been to 'leverage technology in government reform, promote Virginia's innovation agenda, and foster technology-related economic development with a special emphasis on entrepreneurship.' But Chopra's not a tech guy. Before he got his secretary job in 2005, he was a managing director at the Advisory Board Company, a public-market health care think tank, as well as an angel investor."
O'Reilly Radar is running an article discussing why Chopra is a good choice for federal CTO.
Comment Re:Mod parrent flamebait (Score 1) 913
I was referring specifically to his claim that he shouldn't have to pay so much of his hard-earned money. My response was that it's not all that much, especially since most people pay a similar amount, and what he gets in return probably warrants the payment.
Obama Proposes High-Speed Rail System For the US 1385
fantomas writes "The BBC reports that 'US President Barack Obama has announced his "vision for high-speed rail" in the country, which would create jobs, ease congestion and save energy.' Can rail work in the land where the car is king? Would you travel on the new high speed lines?"
Comment Re:Sales TAX? VAT???? (Score 1) 913
Here's a shocker: whether you tax income or consumption, you're taking the same amount of money out of the economy. The only difference is who you're taking it from. So you should do whichever one is easier and that has the degree of progressivity or regressivity that you want (if you're concerned with that at all). And keep in mind that taxes are made to be spent, so what comes out of the economy as taxes goes right back in again and ends up as somebody's income (maybe even yours!). Society is no poorer, it's just that someone different holds the loot.
Comment Re:Missing option: (Score 3, Insightful) 913
The average total effective tax rate (federal income, payroll, state and local taxes property sales etc.) for billionaires is around 31%. Are you telling me you get taxed more than Bill Gates?
But OK, I'll indulge. Let's abolish taxes. No more army. No more navy. No more state or local police. Or justice system. Now try holding onto all your hard-earned cash. Do you prefer paying 30% of your income to your federal, state and local governments or to a private security firm that may or may not just take your money and run (then you'll have to hire another firm to go track them down!).
See? The social contract isn't such a bad deal after all.
Comment Re:Business focus, not consumer focus... (Score 1) 913
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/just-how-progressive-is-the-tax-system/
Total taxes paid (federal, state and local including payroll, sales, property, etc.) for bottom quintile: 18.7% of income.
18.7% of income is not no taxes.
The average for the highest incomes is around 31% of income. That includes the top 1% of earners.
A Monster LED Array For Irresponsible Fun 225
Tesladownunder writes "This huge LED is on steroids and then some. It is intended for use as a streetlight. It has a 7000 lumen output at 100W and will burn a hole in a CD case without focusing. And that's without the infrared that a halogen or discharge lamp has. Very efficient and low maintenance. Stronger than HID car headlights or a 500W halogen. Hit the site for lots of data and pics of it in action including burning and irresponsible bicycle luminosity. You'll want one to attach to your keyring, too."
Zombie Macs Launch DoS Attack 757
Cludge writes "ZDNet has a story (and several related articles) about how Symantec has discovered evidence of an all-Mac based botnet that is actively involved in a DOS attack. Apparently, security on the exploited Macs (call them iBots?) was compromised when unwary users bit-torrented pirated copies of iWork 09 and Photoshop CS4 that contained malware. From the article: 'They describe this as the "first real attempt to create a Mac botnet" and note that the zombie Macs are already being used for nefarious purposes.'"
Cutting Steel With Flaming Bacon Weapons 73
Ed Pegg writes "Theo Gray demonstrates the Bacon Lance, a flaming meatsword that can cut through steel. Yes, with some ordinary bacon, and some pure oxygen, it's possible to cut through security doors. Form the article, 'I recently committed myself to the goal, before the weekend was out, of creating a device entirely from bacon and using it to cut a steel pan in half. My initial attempts were failures, but I knew success was within reach when I was able to ignite and melt the pan using seven beef sticks and a cucumber.' This comes out right after his profusely illustrated book of science experiments, Mad Science."
Creating a Low-Power Cloud With Netbook Chips 93
Al writes "Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have created a remarkably low-power server architecture using netbook processors and flash memory cards. The server design, dubbed a 'fast array of wimpy nodes,' or FAWN, is only designed to perform simple tasks, but the CMU team say it could be perfect for large Web companies that have to retrieve large amounts of data from RAM. A set-up including 21 individual nodes draws a maximum of just 85 watts under real-world conditions. The researchers say that a FAWN cluster could offer a low-power replacement for sites that currently rely on Memcached to access data from RAM."
Comment Re:There is a way, kind of: PIR (Score 1) 266
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homomorphic_encryption:
Homomorphic encryption schemes are malleable by design and are thus unsuited for secure data transmission.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malleability_(cryptography):
security against adaptive chosen ciphertext attacks (CCA2) is equivalent to non-malleability
Time Warner Shelves Plans For Tiered Pricing 210
The FNP writes "Time Warner has postponed their plans to test tiered data caps in Greensboro NC, Rochester NY, San Antonio TX, and Austin TX. This announcement comes shortly after the media started reporting on Eric Massa's opposition and protests planned for this Saturday outside of Time Warner's offices in Greensboro and Rochester." There's also a good piece at Ars on the fall of the current tiered-pricing plans.
Encrypted But Searchable Online Storage? 266
An anonymous reader asks "Is there a solution for online storage of encrypted data providing encrypted search and similar functions over the encrypted data? Is there an API/software/solution or even some online storage company providing this? I don't like Google understanding all my unencrypted data, but I like that Google can search them when they are unencrypted. So I would like to have both: the online storage provider does not understand my data, but he can still help me with searching in them, and doing other useful stuff. I mean: I send to the remote server encrypted data and later an encrypted query (the server cannot decipher them), and the server sends me back a chunk of my encrypted data stored there — the result of my encrypted query. Or I ask for the directory structure of my encrypted data (somehow stored in my data too — like in a tar archive), and the server sends it back, without knowing that this encrypted chunk is the directory structure. I googled for this and found some papers, however no software and no online service providing this yet." Can anyone point to an available implementation?
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