thinktank2 - Slashdot User

Submission + - Nokia Plan B Was Just a Hoax All Along (engadget.com) 1

Submitted by suraj.sun on Wednesday February 16, 2011 @11:01PM

suraj.sun writes: There's been a lot of chatter about a "Nokia Plan B" ( http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/02/15/1635200/Nokia-Shareholders-Fight-Back ) over the past 48 hours — the site was put up by "nine young investors" who outlined an audacious plan to rally shareholders, get themselves elected onto Nokia's board, and radically change the company's direction by firing Stephen Elop and committing massive resources to MeeGo.

There's just one problem, though: the "nine young investors" don't really exist — according to the last tweet on the @NokiaPlanB Twitter account, it was all a hoax perpetuated by "one very bored engineer who really likes his iPhone." Ouch. That explains why the now-defunct site abruptly gave up the cause this morning after just 36 hours of existence.

Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/16/nokia-plan-b-was-just-a-hoax-all-along/

Comment Re:Long term, not a good idea... (Score 1) 198

by thinktank2 on Wednesday February 16, 2011 @09:07PM (#35227292) Attached to: Man Open Sources His Genetic Data

Thank for this information, it got me interested to read more on this. It's a shame this is something we should all have known but only a few know about. HeLa was used for testing polio vaccines, sent on spacecrafts to study the effect on human cells and is still being used by researchers 60 years after her death. The sad irony: even as HeLa cells are being sold commercially by bio-tech companies for hundreds of dollars, there is very little recognition for Henrietta Lacks and her aging sons don't have the money to afford health insurance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRrNjHYxP_o

Submission + - Attack Extracts SSL Key From Phone Signal (threatpost.com)

Submitted by Trailrunner7 on Wednesday February 16, 2011 @08:30PM

Trailrunner7 writes: Researchers have discovered that some of the more popular smartphone platforms leak sensitive data during payment transactions that could allow criminals to spoof a victim's phone and make purchases with the victim's account.

The conditions that enable this kind of attack are not the result of any vulnerability in a specific phone or application or cryptographic algorithm. Instead, they derive from the fact that smartphones and other devices use more power during certain operations, including cryptographic computations. As a result, researchers at Cryptography Research have developed an attack that enables them to monitor the wireless signal of a smartphone, map the variations in the signal and then identify the part of the signal that includes the cryptographic key that's used during a secure mobile payment operation.

"In general, if you can extract the key from a payment device, you can clone it and you can control the balance. You can mimic the user," said Ben Yun, vice president of technology at Cryptography Research. "It's not that the system itself is flawed, it's that the implementation of the crypto needs to be done very carefully."

Comment The Real Cause of Nokia's Crisis (Score 1) 424

by thinktank2 on Tuesday February 15, 2011 @01:47PM (#35212126) Attached to: Nokia Shareholders Fight Back

Nokia ignored America

Comment Choice Paralysis? (Score 2) 475

by thinktank2 on Sunday February 13, 2011 @02:12PM (#35193138) Attached to: Why Nokia Is Toast

I disagree. Even though Nokia has different models they all have been consistent in the user interface. If I had been a user of a relatively cheaper model, I will feel completely at home when I upgrade to a better model. With their different models, buyers are given some choices. Pick your own combination of features and the price. How can that be a bad thing?

Comment Where's the link to Mozilla labs blog post? (Score 1) 111

by thinktank2 on Friday February 04, 2011 @04:57AM (#35101636) Attached to: Chromeless Supplants Mozilla's Prism Project

Why are slashdot stories linking to web sites that aren't directly related to the story? This story would have been better linked to the blog post at Mozilla Labs: https://mozillalabs.com/blog/2011/02/prism-is-now-chromeless/

Submission + - Wikileaks Nominated for 2011 Nobel Peace Prize 3

Submitted by mvar on Wednesday February 02, 2011 @10:47AM

mvar writes: Whistle-blower site WikiLeaks has been nominated for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize by a Norwegian politician who cited its role in freedom of speech, news agency NTB reported Wednesday. "WikiLeaks is one of this century's most important contributors to freedom of speech and transparency," parliamentarian Snorre Valen said in his nomination. Valen cited WikiLeaks role in disclosing the assests of Tunisia's former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his nearest family, contributing to the protests that forced them into exile.

Comment ClickTale is doing this for sometime now (Score 1) 116

by thinktank2 on Monday January 31, 2011 @12:05PM (#35057112) Attached to: Researchers Track Mouse Movements and Hesitations

ClickTale is already doing this sort of mouse movement tracking as part of its web analytics service.

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