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Comment Re:Contact the Linux Foundation (Score 1) 266

by we3 (#46608103) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: How To Handle Unfixed Linux Accessibility Bugs?

I'd probably start by filing a bug report with your distro, it sounds like something release critical. They likely have someone who will be able to fix this bug, and who will be able to get it upstream. They also will be better equipped to test this as they're putting together all the pieces in a distro. They are also probably more end user oriented.

Submission + - Fog clears around encrypted email provider Lavabit court documents (nytimes.com)

Submitted by snowtigger
snowtigger writes: The New York Times reports that on Wednesday, a federal judge unsealed documents in the case (covered here), allowing the tech entrepreneur to speak candidly for the first time about his experiences. Among other things, a court order required provide the F.B.I. with “technical assistance,” which agents told him meant handing over the private encryption keys, technically called SSL certificates, that unlock communications for all users.

Comment Re:Why bother? (Score 2) 131

by we3 (#44551031) Attached to: GNUstep Kickstarter Campaign Launched

I'll take a quick stab at answering your question.

They're not trying to duplicate Mac OS X. The project started before that, to clone nextstep, or the api's at least, which were at one point being billed as a cross platform framework called openstep.

I assume these guys liked Objective-C(which came from nextstep) and liked openstep and you know then the whole thing took on a life of its own.

Now they could stick with the state of openstep when NeXT shutdown, or they could go off on thier own, or they could bring in the new stuff from Mac OS X(which is descended from nextstep).

They seem to want to the last one.

Comment Re: This is why encryption isn't popular (Score 2) 399

by we3 (#44529483) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: How Do I Request Someone To Send Me a Public Key?

No, the key would actually be generated on the card, as it has its own cryptographic processor, and cpu. Its called a smart card.

I have no idea if they are actually doing this, as I am not estonian and am completely unfamiliar with thier ID card issuing process, but he seems to be implying that they do.

Remember, there are two ways to get a key on a smartcard. You can have it generate a key(which CAN be signed without the key leaving the card), or you can generate the key externally and then import it.

Submission + - Looking for non-US based email providers 2

Submitted by jlnance
jlnance writes: I don't particularly like the NSA looking over my shoulder. As the scope of its various data gathering programs comes to light, it is apparent to me that the only way to avoid being watched is to use servers based in countries which are unlikely to respond to US requests for information. I realize I am trading surveillance by the NSA for surveillance by the KGB or equivalent, but I'm less troubled by that.

I searched briefly for services similar to ymail or gmail which are not hosted in the US. I didn't come up with much. Surely they exist? What are your experiences with this?

Submission + - Microsoft handed the NSA access to encrypted messages (theguardian.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Secret files show scale of Silicon Valley co-operation on Prism
  Outlook.com encryption unlocked even before official launch
  Skype worked to enable Prism collection of video calls
  Company says it is legally compelled to comply

Submission + - OpenPOWER: an open development alliance based on IBM's POWER microprocessor (ibm.com)

Submitted by praveenkumar
praveenkumar writes: Google, IBM, Nvidia and a couple of other partners have joined hands in working on a next-generation data center development group — the OpenPOWER Consortium. Its an open development alliance based on Big Blue's POWER microprocessor architecture and will include technologies spanning advanced server, networking, storage and GPU acceleration. Initially, IBM will opensource its POWER firmware and will work with Nvidia to integrate the CUDA GPU and POWER ecosystems.

Submission + - Australian state bans IBM from all contracts after payroll bungle (delimiter.com.au)

Submitted by renai42
renai42 writes: If you don't follow Australian technology news, you're probably not aware that over the past few years, the State of Queensland massively bungled a payroll systems upgrade in its Department of Health. The issues resulted in thousands of hospital staff being underpaid or not paid at all, and has ballooned in cost from under $10 million in budget to a projected total cost of $1.2 billion. Queensland has now banned the project's prime contractor, IBM, comprehensively from signing any new contracts with any government department, until it addresses what the state says are IBM's project governance issues. Kind of a big deal for Big Blue. And it's happened before — the US EPA did the same in back 2008.

Submission + - Former NSA chief warns of cyber-terror attacks if Snowden apprehended (theguardian.com)

Submitted by Okian Warrior
Okian Warrior writes: The Guardian is reporting Michael Hayden speculating that hackers and transparency groups arre likely to respond with cyber-terror attacks if the United States government apprehends whistleblower Edward Snowden. From the story: "If and when our government grabs Edward Snowden, and brings him back here to the United States for trial, what does this group do? Nihilists, anarchists, activists, Lulzsec, Anonymous, twentysomethings who haven't talked to the opposite sex in five or six years.

Submission + - MIT Students Release Code To 3D-Print High Security Keys (forbes.com)

Submitted by Sparrowvsrevolution
Sparrowvsrevolution writes: At the Def Con hacker conference Saturday, MIT students David Lawrence and Eric Van Albert released a piece of code that will allow anyone to create a 3D-printable software model of any Schlage Primus key, despite Schlage’s attempts to prevent the duplication of the restricted keys. With just a flatbed scanner and their software tool, they were able to produce precise models of Primus keys that they uploaded to the 3D-printing services Shapeways and i.Materialise, who mailed them working copies of the keys in materials ranging from nylon to titanium. Primus high-security locks are used in government facilities, healthcare settings, and detention centers, and their keys are coded with two distinct sets of teeth, one on top and one on the side. That, along with a message that reads "do not duplicate" printed on the top of every key, has made them difficult to copy by normal means. With Lawrence and Van Albert's software, anyone can now scan or take a long-distance photo of any Primus key and recreate it for as little as $5.

Submission + - US Phone companies provided call metadata VOLUNTARILY for 4 years 2

Submitted by Bruce66423
Bruce66423 writes: According to http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-surveillance-architecture-includes-collection-of-revealing-internet-phone-metadata/2013/06/15/e9bf004a-d511-11e2-b05f-3ea3f0e7bb5a_story_1.html p.2
the Bush administration,took “bulk metadata” from the phone companies under voluntary agreements for more than four years after 9/11 until a court agreed they could have it compulsorily.

Comment Smart Grids? (Score 1) 121

by we3 (#43622699) Attached to: The Smart Grid Has Arrived

In Illinois were getting a "Smart Grid" which is supposed to make ComEds system more efficient. So of course that means we need to pay up front for the new meters and our electricity rates are going up. Yays for efficiency.

Comment Re:Congressional Campaign Donations Caucus (Score 1) 150

by we3 (#43000957) Attached to: U.S. Reps Chu and Coble Start Intellectual Property Caucus

aww crap, now i had to read the linked story and press release. They make it sound like they're starting a lobbying firm. I didn't think they'd be that blatant. I just assumed it'd all be implied.

On a funnier note, isn't it great how they used the word craftsmanship along side intellectual property.

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