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Operating Systems

Slackware 14.0 Arrives 183

Posted by timothy from the significant-digits dept.
First time accepted submitter SgtKeeling writes "After 5 release candidates, a new version of Slackware has been released. From the website: 'Yes, it is that time again! After well over a year of planning, development, and testing, the Slackware Linux Project is proud to announce the latest stable release of the longest running distribution of the Linux operating system, Slackware version 14.0! We are sure you'll enjoy the many improvements. We've done our best to bring the latest technology to Slackware while still maintaining the stability and security that you have come to expect. Slackware is well known for its simplicity and the fact that we try to bring software to you in the condition that the authors intended. We will be setting up BitTorrent downloads for the official ISO images. Stay tuned to http://slackware.com/ for the latest updates.'"
Cellphones

Submission + - Many More Android Apps Leaking User Data (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: After developing and using TaintDroid, several universities found that of 30 popular free Android apps, half were sharing GPS data and phone numbers with advertisers and remote servers. A few months ago, one app was sending phone numbers to a remote server in China but today the situation looks a lot more prevasive. In their paper (PDF), the researchers blasted Google saying 'Android's coarse grained access control provides insufficient protection against third-party applications seeking to collect sensitive data.' Google's response: 'Android has taken steps to inform users of this trust relationship and to limit the amount of trust a user must grant to any given application developer. We also provide developers with best practices about how to handle user data. We consistently advise users to only install apps they trust.'
Google

Submission + - Google to leave China on April 10 (cnet.com)

Submitted by tsj5j
tsj5j writes: Google is expected to announce on Monday that it will withdraw from China on April 10, according to a report in a Beijing-based newspaper that cited an unidentified sales associate who works with the company.
"I have received information saying that Google will leave China on April 10, but this information has not at present been confirmed by Google," the China Business News quoted the agent as saying. The report also said Google would reveal its plans for its China-based staff that day.

Comment Parkinson's laws (Score 5, Insightful) 398

by vurtigalka (#30280644) Attached to: Harvard Says Computers Don't Save Hospitals Money
Results like these shouldn't surprise anyone aware of Parkinson's laws. From Why it is Important that Software Projects Fail:

The boundless creativity of politicians and bureaucrats to develop new and more complex regulation is bounded only by the bureaucracy's inability to implement them. The absolute size of the bureaucracy is constrained by external factors, so the only effect of automation can be to increase bureaucratic complexity.

Parkinson's laws are as valid and insightful as always. If someone by chance have missed them, here they are:

Parkinson's First Law:
Work expands or contracts in order to fill the time available.

Parkinson's Second Law:
Expenditures rise to meet income.

Parkinson's Third Law:
Expansion means complexity; and complexity decay.

Parkinson's Fourth Law:
The number of people in any working group tends to increase regardless of the amount of work to be done.

Parkinson's Fifth Law:
If there is a way to delay an important decision the good bureaucracy, public or private, will find it.

Parkinson's Law of Delay:
Delay is the deadliest form of denial.

Parkinson's Law of Triviality:
The time spent in a meeting on an item is inversely proportional to its value (up to a limit).

Parkinson's Law of 1,000:
An enterprise employing more than 1,000 people becomes a self-perpetuating empire, creating so much internal work that it no longer needs any contact with the outside world.

Parkinson's Coefficient of Inefficiency:
The size of a committee or other decision-making body grows at which it becomes completely inefficient.

Comment Re:ok (Score 1) 203

by vurtigalka (#30244028) Attached to: Apple Newton vs. Apple iPhone

You do realise that the marketshare you linked to is for the US only? The situation looks different when considering the world smartphone market. Just sayin...

Worldwide it got 31%, about the same as Symbian. GP's point still valid.
Security

Mac OS X Users Vulnerable To Major Java Flaw 306

Posted by kdawson from the write-once-own-everyone dept.
FruitWorm writes in with word of a vulnerability in Java that has been patched by everyone but Apple. "Security researchers say that Mac OS X users are vulnerable to a critical, 6-month-old, remote vulnerability in Java, a component that is enabled by default in Web browsers on this platform. Julien Tinnes notes that this vulnerability differs from typical Java security flaws in that it is 'a pure Java vulnerability' and doesn't involve any native code. It affected not only Sun's Java but other implementations such as OpenJDK, on multiple platforms, including Linux and Windows. 'This means you can write a 100% reliable exploit in pure Java. This exploit will work on all the platforms, all the architectures and all the browsers,' Julien wrote. This bug was demonstrated during the Pwn2own security challenge this year at CanSecWest, but the details were not made public at that time. Tinnes recommends that Mac OS X users disable Java in their browsers until Apple releases a security update."
Earth

Quantum Mechanics Involved In Photosynthesis 137

Posted by samzenpus from the spooky-cycle dept.
Kristina at Science News writes "We all learn about photosynthesis in school: sunlight in, plant food out. Not well understood is how this process achieves its initial and uniquely high efficiency in capturing the energy of a photon. Quantum mechanics may be at work in the electron transfer process inside chloroplast, giving electrons the chance to consider many paths at once before choosing the best one."

Comment Translation (Score 1) 1

by vurtigalka (#27684151) Attached to: Judge biased in The Pirate Bay case ?
Loosely translated from the article:

Svenska fÃreningen fÃr upphovsrÃtt (SFU) (Swedish association for intellectual property)
Here the judge is a member on his spare time. Henrik Pontén, Peter Danowsky and Monique Wadsted are also members. The association is "a meeting place for qualified intellectual property discussions"

Svenska fÃreningen fÃr industriellt rÃttsskydd (SFIR) (Swedish association for industrial legal protection)
The association deals with issues on patents and copyright but has also pushed for stronger intellectual property rights. The judge is member of the board of directors.

Stiftelsen .SE (The foundation .SE)
A work the judge has on the side. One of his colleagues is Monique Wadsted, representing the American movie industry.
Technology

The Beginnings of Apple Computer 181

Posted by Soulskill from the as-yet-unripe dept.
John Burek points out an article written by Stan Veit, former editor-in-chief of Computer Shopper magazine, and one of the first retailers to deal with the fledgling Apple Computer in the late 1970s. Veit describes his introduction to the Apple I and his early interactions with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak as they developed their early models. Quoting: "After Woz hooked his haywire rig up to the living-room TV, he turned it on, and there on the screen I saw a crude Breakout game in full color! Now I was really amazed. This was much better than the crude color graphics from the Cromemco Dazzler. ... 'How do you like that?' said Jobs, smiling. 'We're going to dump the Apple I and only work on the Apple II.' 'Steve,' I said, 'if you do that you will never sell another computer. You promised BASIC for the Apple I, and most dealers haven't sold the boards they bought from you. If you come out with an improved Model II they will be stuck. Put it on the back burner until you deliver on your promises.'"
Transportation

London's Oystercard Gets New Contract, But Same Suppliers 143

Posted by timothy from the captain-amazing-wears-no-glasses dept.
nk497 writes "Over the summer, the London travelcard ticketing system — called Oyster — fell over twice, forcing the transport authority to offer free travel to the six million Londoners using the system. After that, it cut its contract with the supplier of the system, a consortium called TranSys. But now, Transport for London has signed a new contract to replace the TranSys one — with the same two companies that made up the TranSys consortium. Sure, that should fix everything."

Microsoft, Yahoo Finally Merge IM Networks 299

Posted by timothy from the intarweb-communications-changed-4evr dept.
WinBreak writes "Marketwatch is reporting that, nine months after their announcement, Microsoft and Yahoo! are finally ready to roll out beta IM clients of MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger that will be able to talk to each other." The Windows Live Ideas and Yahoo! Messenger pages have more information; the companies say that the resulting user community will be the world's largest, at around 350 million accounts, and that they'll be using SSL to encrypt the traffic between the systems.

Slashdot CSS Redesign Winner Announced 882

Posted by CmdrTaco from the don't-need-me-any-more dept.
The winner of the contest is Alex Bendiken. He will receive a new laptop as well as bragging rights as the creator of the new look of Slashdot. You can see his winning design in a near complete form now. Feel free to comment on any compatibility issues. We plan to take this live in the next few days. There will undoubtedly be a few minor glitches, but please submit bug reports and we'll sort it out as fast as possible. Also congratulations to Peter Lada, our runner up. He gets $250 credit at ThinkGeek. Thanks to everyone who participated- it was a lot of fun.

Linux Snobs, The Real Barriers to Entry 1347

Posted by CmdrTaco from the you-all-know-them dept.
McSnarf writes "It's not Windows. It's not distro wars. Sometimes it's just the arrogant attitude that keeps people from switching from Windows. 'As I spoke to newbies, one Windows user who wanted to learn about Linux shared the encouraging and constructive note (not) he received from one of the project members. The responding note read: "Hi jackass, RTFM and stop wasting our time trying to help you children learn.""

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