Wednesday, November 30, 2011

[Slashdot] Stories for 2011-11-30

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Slashdot Daily Newsletter

In this issue:
* Paper On Super Flu Strain May Be Banned From Publication
* Europe's Largest IT Company To Ban Internal Email
* 'Alternative Medicine' Clinic Attempts To Silence Critics
* Study Hints That Wi-Fi Near Testes Could Decrease Male Fertility
* A Floating Home For Tech Start-ups
* Reading, Writing, Ruby?
* Does Telecommuting Make You Invisible?
* iPhone Auto-Combusts On Australian Airplane
* Ask Slashdot: Networked Back-Up/Wipe Process?
* Physicist Uses Laser Light As Fast, True-Random Number Generator
* CyanogenMod 9 Working On the Nexus S
* Facebook Denies Disputed Page To Both Mercks
* EU Court Adviser Says Software Ideas Can't Be Copyrighted
* Judge Orders Hundreds of Websites Delisted From Search Engines, Social Networks
* Printers Could Be the Next Attack Vector
* Amazon Releases Kindle Source Code
* Facebook Settles With FTC, Admits Privacy Violations
* Scientists Cryo-Freeze Coral Reef
* <em>Legend</em>: Tabletop Gaming For a Good Cause
* Behind the Government's Rules of Cyber War
* A 3D Display You Can Touch
* Google Researchers Propose Plan To Fix CA System
* Microsoft Working On Kinect 2
* Tower To Be Built By Flying Robots
* RIM To Offer Multiplatform Device Management

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| Paper On Super Flu Strain May Be Banned From Publication
| from the secret-dolphin-plot-to-overthrow-opressors dept.
| posted by Unknown Lamer on Monday November 28, @20:20 (Medicine)
| with 719 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/0015216/paper-on-super-flu-strain-may-be-banned-from-publication?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pierre Bezukhov writes with this excerpt from an article at Doctor
Tipster: "A Dutch researcher has created a virus with the [0]potential to
kill half of the planet's population. Now, researchers and experts in
bioterrorism debate whether it is a good idea to publish the virus
creation 'recipe'. However, several voices [1]argue that such research
should have not happened in the first place. The virus is a strain of
avian influenza H5N1 genetically modified to be extremely contagious ...
created by researcher [2]Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus Medical Center
Rotterdam, Netherlands. The work was first presented at a conference
dedicated to influenza that took place in September in Malta."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/0015216/paper-on-super-flu-strain-may-be-banned-from-publication?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.doctortipster.com/6952-dutch-researcher-created-a-super-influenza-virus-with-the-potential-to-kill-millions.html
1. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/sci_tech/debate-rages-over-new-bird-flu-research-some-argue-its-not-safe-to-publish-134409543.html
2. http://www.erasmusmc.nl/MScMM/faculty/CVs/fouchier_cv?lang=en

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| Europe's Largest IT Company To Ban Internal Email
| from the 140-characters-or-die dept.
| posted by Unknown Lamer on Tuesday November 29, @08:07 (Businesses)
| with 540 comments
| https://slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/0232205/europes-largest-it-company-to-ban-internal-email?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]Hugh Pickens writes writes "Thierry Breton, CEO of [1]Atos, Europe's
Largest IT Company, [2]wants a 'zero email' policy to be in place in 18
months, arguing that only 10 per cent of the 200 electronic messages his
employees receive per day on average turn out to be useful, and that
staff spend between 5-20 hours handling emails every week. 'The email is
no longer the appropriate (communication) tool,' says Breton. 'The deluge
of information will be one of the most important problems a company will
have to face (in the future). It is time to think differently.' Instead
Breton wants staff at Atos to use chat-type collaborative services
inspired by social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter as
[3]surveys show that the younger generation have already all but scrapped
email, with only 11 per cent of 11 to 19 year-olds using it. For his part
Breton hasn't sent a work email in three years. 'If people want to talk
to me, they can come and visit me, call or send me a text message.
[4]Emails cannot replace the spoken word.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/0232205/europes-largest-it-company-to-ban-internal-email?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://hughpickens.com/
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atos
2. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8921033/Staff-to-be-banned-from-sending-emails.html
3. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/21/technology/21email.html
4. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204452104577060103165399154.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 'Alternative Medicine' Clinic Attempts To Silence Critics
| from the my-science-can-beat-up-your-science dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday November 29, @15:07 (Medicine)
| with 373 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/1919231/alternative-medicine-clinic-attempts-to-silence-critics?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Asmodae writes "Stanislaw Burzynski runs a clinic specializing in an
alternative cancer treatment called 'antineoplaston therapy,' and charges
thousands of dollars for the privilege. Unfortunately, there's no
scientific support for such treatment, and skeptics all over the web are
[0]raising red flags and trying to warn potential patients away. This
includes high-school blogger Rhys Morgan, who has [1]received legal
threats from Burzynski's clinic for his efforts. Phil Plait summarizes
the situation thus: 'In general, it���s a little unusual, to say the least,
for a team doing medical research to sue someone for criticizing them.
That���s because real science thrives on criticism, since it���s only through
critiques that the potential errors of a particular method can be
assessed ��� that���s why research is supposed to be published in
peer-reviewed journals as well. Suing is the antithesis of that idea. ...
I���ll note that the clinic has threatened to sue multiple people,
including [2]Peter Bowditch and [3]Andy Lewis, two other bloggers who
have criticized antineoplaston therapy.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/1919231/alternative-medicine-clinic-attempts-to-silence-critics?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/11/28/alternative-cancer-clinic-threatens-to-sue-high-school-blogger/
1. http://rhysmorgan.co/2011/11/threats-from-the-burzynski-clinic/
2. http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles/comment/burzynski.htm
3. http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2011/11/the-burzynski-clinic-threatens-my-family.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Study Hints That Wi-Fi Near Testes Could Decrease Male Fertility
| from the does-not-bode-well-for-me dept.
| posted by timothy on Tuesday November 29, @09:31 (Medicine)
| with 290 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/141215/study-hints-that-wi-fi-near-testes-could-decrease-male-fertility?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pierre Bezukhov submits news of a report that "a laptop connected
wirelessly to the internet on the lap near the testes [0]may result in
decreased male fertility," writing "'[The scientists who conducted the
research] placed healthy sperms under a laptop running a Wi-Fi
connection. After four hours, the Wi-Fi exposed sperms showed 'a
significant decrease in progressive sperm motility and an increase in
sperm DNA fragmentation' compared to healthy sperms stored for the same
time in the same temperature away from the computer. That is, the sperms
exposed to Wi-Fi were less capable of moving towards an egg to fertilize
it and less capable of passing on the male's DNA if it does fertilize an
egg.' The scientists blamed the damage on non-thermal electromagnetic
radiation generated by the Wi-Fi." However, the experiment was based on
sperm outside the body; the researchers (here's [1]the abstract from
their study) note that "Further in vitro and in vivo studies are needed
to prove this contention."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/141215/study-hints-that-wi-fi-near-testes-could-decrease-male-fertility?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/257538/20111128/wi-fi-near-testes-decrease-male-fertility.htm
1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22112647

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| A Floating Home For Tech Start-ups
| from the arrr-me-hearties dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday November 29, @14:25 (Businesses)
| with 269 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/1815253/a-floating-home-for-tech-start-ups?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]JoeMerchant writes "Max Marty, founder of Blueseed, thinks immigration
laws in the U.S. make it too difficult for entrepreneurs from other
countries to come to the U.S. and develop new technologies. In order to
solve this, he's trying to buy a large ship he can anchor off the coast
of California, in international waters, [1]which he can then turn into a
start-up incubator, fostering a 'year-long hack-a-thon.' From the
article: 'With a B-1 visa, visitors can freely travel to the United
States for meetings, conferences, and even training seminars. B-1 visas
are relatively easy to get, and can be valid for as long as 10 years.
Blueseed plans to provide regular ferry service between the ship to the
United States. While Blueseed residents would need to do their actual
work���such as writing code���on the ship, Marty envisions them making
regular trips to Silicon Valley to meet with clients, investors, and
business partners. With the ship only 12 miles offshore, it should be
practical to make a day trip to the mainland and return in the evening. A
B-1 visa also permits overnight stays.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/1815253/a-floating-home-for-tech-start-ups?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://5050by2150.wordpress.com/
1. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/11/startup-hopes-to-hack-the-immigration-system-with-a-floating-incubator.ars

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Reading, Writing, Ruby?
| from the scanning-skimming-scheming dept.
| posted by Unknown Lamer on Monday November 28, @22:25 (Education)
| with 266 comments
| https://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/0110241/reading-writing-ruby?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]itwbennett writes "A BBC article outlines a [1]push to make software
programming a basic course of study for British schoolchildren in hopes
that Britain could become a major programming center for video games and
special effects. Can [2]earlier exposure to better technology courses
[3]reverse the declining enrollment in university computer science
courses and make coding cool?"

Discuss this story at:
https://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/0110241/reading-writing-ruby?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.itworld.com/
1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15916677
2. http://norvig.com/21-days.html
3. http://www.itworld.com/software/228381/new-school-curriculum-reading-writing-programming

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Does Telecommuting Make You Invisible?
| from the near-enough-sometimes dept.
| posted by timothy on Tuesday November 29, @13:02 (Businesses)
| with 257 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/1634258/does-telecommuting-make-you-invisible?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]jfruhlinger writes "Telecommuting provides many joys, including the
ability to stay in your pajamas all day and the chance to work with a cat
on your lap. But it does have some major drawbacks, perhaps none so
serious as the fact that, if your co-workers are for the most part in an
office, [1]they can forget you exist ��� which means you don't get credit
for your work as you deserve."

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/1634258/does-telecommuting-make-you-invisible?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://jfruh.com/
1. http://www.itworld.com/career/228425/does-telecommuting-make-you-invisible

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| iPhone Auto-Combusts On Australian Airplane
| from the shield-your-iballs dept.
| posted by timothy on Tuesday November 29, @10:12 (Australia)
| with 231 comments
| https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/1430210/iphone-auto-combusts-on-australian-airplane?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First time accepted submitter thegreymonkey writes "Last Friday, an
iPhone [0]caught fire on flight ZL319 operating from Lismore to Sydney.
This incident is under investigation from Australian Transport Safety
Bureau (ATSB) and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). This
accident might be related to the iPhone battery again." Whether it
"caught fire" may be a matter of semantics; as reported in the above
linked story and by Network World (hat tip to reader alphadogg), though,
the iPhone "[1]started glowing red and emitting dense smoke."

Discuss this story at:
https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/1430210/iphone-auto-combusts-on-australian-airplane?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.yasstribune.com.au/news/national/national/general/red-hot-smoking-iphone-selfcombusts-on-airliner/2374595.aspx
1. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/112811-exploding-iphone-253507.html?hpg1=bn

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Ask Slashdot: Networked Back-Up/Wipe Process?
| from the can-you-put-it-in-worm-form dept.
| posted by timothy on Tuesday November 29, @11:40 (Businesses)
| with 227 comments
| https://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/154242/ask-slashdot-networked-back-upwipe-process?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "I am required to back up and wipe several
hundred computers. Currently, this involves booting up each machine,
running a backup script, turning the machine off, booting off a pendrive,
and running some software that writes 0s to the drive several times. I
was wondering if there was a faster solution. Like a server on an
isolated network with a switch where I could just connect the computers
up, turn them on and get the server to back up the data and wipe the
drives." How would you go about automating this process?

Discuss this story at:
https://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/154242/ask-slashdot-networked-back-upwipe-process?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Physicist Uses Laser Light As Fast, True-Random Number Generator
| from the everything-is-better-with-lasers dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday November 29, @17:14 (Encryption)
| with 208 comments
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/216258/physicist-uses-laser-light-as-fast-true-random-number-generator?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]MrKevvy writes "An Ottawa physicist is using laser light to create
truly random numbers much faster than other methods do, with obvious
potential benefits to cryptography: 'Sussman's Ottawa lab uses a pulse of
laser light that lasts a few trillionths of a second. His team shines it
at a diamond. The light goes in and comes out again, but along the way,
it changes. ... It is changed because [1]it has interacted with quantum
vacuum fluctuations, the microscopic flickering of the amount of energy
in a point in space. ... What happens to the light is unknown ��� and
unknowable. Sussman's lab can measure the pulses of laser light that
emerge from this mysterious transformation, and the measurements are
random in a way that nothing in our ordinary surroundings is. Those
measurements are his random numbers.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/216258/physicist-uses-laser-light-as-fast-true-random-number-generator?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. mailto:mrkevvy@gmail.com
1. http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/GENERATING+RANDOM+NUMBERS/5779618/story.html

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| CyanogenMod 9 Working On the Nexus S
| from the is-it-better-than-android-1.6 dept.
| posted by Unknown Lamer on Monday November 28, @19:35 (Android)
| with 207 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/28/2342208/cyanogenmod-9-working-on-the-nexus-s?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]MrSeb writes with an article in Extreme Tech about progress toward
getting an [1]AOSP build working on the Nexus S. From the article: "Over
the past week, ROM Manager extraordinaire Koush has been [2]frantically
working on making a working build of CyanogenMod 9 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
for the Samsung Nexus S. The custom ROM, which is [3]built purely from
the Android Open Source Project, has now [4]reached 'alpha 11.' All major
features are present and no significant bugs remain. It's too early to
say that the build is ready for prime time or mission-critical work ��� the
final release of CM9 is due in the new year ��� but it's certainly stable
enough for daily use. The most significant feature, if you can call it
that, is that Koush's build of ICS is really very smooth ��� it's as nimble
as Gingerbread, if not more so. Unlike the previous, non-CM build that
was released last week, this alpha build of CM9 has every feature
enabled, including Google Wallet, and setting a mobile data limit. As
usual, the custom ROM is pre-rooted, has ROM Manager installed, and
absolutely no bloatware. "

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/28/2342208/cyanogenmod-9-working-on-the-nexus-s?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://mrseb.co.uk/
1. https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/2328232/android-ice-cream-sandwich-source-released
2. http://www.extremetech.com/computing/106809-cyanogenmod-9-ice-cream-sandwich-for-nexus-s
3. https://github.com/CyanogenMod/android_device_samsung_crespo/commits/ics
4. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1356228

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Facebook Denies Disputed Page To Both Mercks
| from the virulent-pox-on-both-your-houses dept.
| posted by timothy on Tuesday November 29, @10:56 (Facebook)
| with 187 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/1446232/facebook-denies-disputed-page-to-both-mercks?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]itwbennett writes "In follow-up to yesterday's story about how Merck
in Germany is threatening [1]legal action to take its vanity Facebook URL
back from Merck U.S., Facebook apologized for its 'administrative error'
in reassigning the URL but said that if the two companies can't play
nice, [2]no one will get the URL."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/1446232/facebook-denies-disputed-page-to-both-mercks?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.itworld.com/
1. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/28/2320218/merck-threatens-merck-with-legal-action-over-facebook-url
2. http://www.itworld.com/legal/228563/facebook-denies-disputed-page-both-merck-companies

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| EU Court Adviser Says Software Ideas Can't Be Copyrighted
| from the perhaps-a-bot-but-not-robotic dept.
| posted by timothy on Tuesday November 29, @12:21 (EU)
| with 175 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/165236/eu-court-adviser-says-software-ideas-cant-be-copyrighted?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]bhagwad writes "The EU continues to ooze common sense as a court
insists that [1]software functions themselves cannot be copyrighted.
Drawing a box or moving cursor are examples. To quote: 'If it were
accepted that a functionality of a computer program can be protected as
such, that would amount to making it possible to monopolize ideas, to the
detriment of technological progress and industrial development.'" Note
that this is a "non-binding opinion by Yves Bot, an advocate-general at
the Luxembourg-based EU Court of Justice," and that the court "will rule
on the case next year."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/165236/eu-court-adviser-says-software-ideas-cant-be-copyrighted?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.bhagwad.com/blog/
1. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/29/us-court-copyright-sasinstitute-idUSTRE7AS0QO20111129

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Judge Orders Hundreds of Websites Delisted From Search Engines, Social Networks
| from the what-on-earth dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday November 29, @17:58 (Google)
| with 169 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/2217232/judge-orders-hundreds-of-websites-delisted-from-search-engines-social-networks?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "A federal judge has ruled that a number of a
websites trafficking in counterfeit Chanel goods can have their domains
seized and transferred to a new registrar. Astonishingly, the judge also
ordered that [0]the sites must be de-indexed from all search engines and
all social media websites. Quoting the article: 'Missing from [1]the
ruling is any discussion of the Internet's global nature; the judge shows
no awareness that the domains in question might not even be registered in
this country, for instance, and his ban on search engine and social media
indexing apparently extends to the entire world. (And, when applied to
US-based companies like Twitter, apparently compels them to censor the
links globally rather than only when accessed by people in the US.)
Indeed, a cursory search through the list of offending domains turns up
poshmoda.ws, a site registered in Germany. The German registrar has not
yet complied with the US court order, though most other domain names on
the list are .com or .net names and have been seized.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/2217232/judge-orders-hundreds-of-websites-delisted-from-search-engines-social-networks?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/11/us-judge-orders-hundreds-of-sites-de-indexed-from-google-twitter-bing-facebook.ars
1. http://www.scribd.com/doc/73773870/Chanel-Inc-v-Does-11-Cv-01508-KJD-PAL-D-Nev-Nov-14-2011

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Printers Could Be the Next Attack Vector
| from the pc-load-letter-what-does-that-mean dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday November 29, @13:44 (Printer)
| with 152 comments
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/1752231/printers-could-be-the-next-attack-vector?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New submitter rcoxdav writes "Researchers have found that the upgradeable
firmware on some laser printers can be easily updated and compromised.
The updated firmware could then be used to do anything from
[0]overheating the printer to compromising a network. Quoting: 'In one
demonstration of an attack based on the flaw, Stolfo and fellow
researcher Ang Cui showed how a hijacked computer could be given
instructions that would continuously heat up the printer���s fuser ��� which
is designed to dry the ink once it���s applied to paper ��� eventually
causing the paper to turn brown and smoke. In that demonstration, a
thermal switch shut the printer down ��� basically, causing it to
self-destruct ��� before a fire started, but the researchers believe other
printers might be used as fire starters, giving computer hackers a
dangerous new tool that could allow simple computer code to wreak
real-world havoc.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/1752231/printers-could-be-the-next-attack-vector?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://redtape.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/29/9076395-exclusive-millions-of-printers-open-to-devastating-hack-attack-researchers-say

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Amazon Releases Kindle Source Code
| from the use-the-forks-luke dept.
| posted by timothy on Tuesday November 29, @08:49 (Android)
| with 127 comments
| https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/137246/amazon-releases-kindle-source-code?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]MackieChan writes with a piece of news that slipped past earlier this
month: "Barnes & Noble receives a lot of credit from the slashdot
community for [1]standing up to Microsoft and for allowing the nook to be
[2]so easy to root, but perhaps [3]Amazon releasing the [4]source code to
the Kindle will help it gain back supporters it lost after [5] remotely
removing ebooks."

Discuss this story at:
https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/137246/amazon-releases-kindle-source-code?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://programdotrun.com/
1. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/15/171201/barnes-noble-names-microsofts-disputed-android-patents
2. http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/06/11/2259240/now-you-can-use-the-nook-touch--as-a-kindle
3. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/11/amazon-releases-kindle-fire-source-code.html
4. http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200203720
5. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/07/17/2138213/amazon-pulls-purchased-e-book-copies-of-1984-and-animal-farm

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Facebook Settles With FTC, Admits Privacy Violations
| from the present-your-wrist-for-a-slapping dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday November 29, @16:32 (Facebook)
| with 125 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/2042223/facebook-settles-with-ftc-admits-privacy-violations?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]Animats writes "Facebook has agreed to [1]settle Federal Trade
Commission charges that it deceived consumers by telling them they could
keep their information on Facebook private, and then repeatedly allowing
it to be shared and made public. The settlement is soft on Facebook;
there are no fines or criminal penalties. According to the FTC, in
December 2009, Facebook 'changed its website so certain information that
users may have designated as private ��� such as their Friends List ��� was
made public. Facebook didn't warn users that this change was coming, or
get their approval in advance.' Among the other [2]complaints (PDF),
'Facebook represented that third-party apps that users' installed would
have access only to user information that they needed to operate. In
fact, the apps could [3]access nearly all of users' personal data ��� data
the apps didn't need.'" The settlement demands that Facebook avoid any
new deceptive privacy claims, and also that users must give explicit
permission for changes to be made to their privacy preferences. Facebook
will be audited every two years for the next two decades to make sure
they're holding up their end of the settlement. In a lengthy statement on
Facebook's blog, Mark Zuckerberg [4]acknowledged that they'd made
mistakes.

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/2042223/facebook-settles-with-ftc-admits-privacy-violations?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.sitetruth.net/
1. http://ftc.gov/opa/2011/11/privacysettlement.shtm
2. http://ftc.gov/os/caselist/0923184/111129facebookcmpt.pdf
3. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/10/18/143252/top-facebook-apps-violate-privacy-terms
4. http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=10150378701937131

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Scientists Cryo-Freeze Coral Reef
| from the zombie-coral-overruns-the-earth dept.
| posted by Unknown Lamer on Tuesday November 29, @00:40 (Earth)
| with 120 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/0320239/scientists-cryo-freeze-coral-reef?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "Due to rising ocean temperatures, scientists
from the United States and Australia are attempting to [0]freeze coral
eggs and sperm in cryogenic suspension so that the endangered species can
be preserved. Once frozen, the species may later be [1]grown in a lab and
implanted in reefs. This could be the only way to ensure the survival of
certain endangered species at [2]The Great Barrier Reef."

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/0320239/scientists-cryo-freeze-coral-reef?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://inhabitat.com/scientists-planning-to-cryo-freeze-coral-samples-to-preserve-endangered-species/
1. http://www.pri.org/stories/science/environment/video-cryogenics-may-be-the-key-to-saving-australia-s-great-barrier-reef-7172.html
2. http://inhabitat.com/australias-great-barrier-reef-to-be-protected-by-the-worlds-largest-marine-reserve/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| <em>Legend</em>: Tabletop Gaming For a Good Cause
| from the chaotic-good dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday November 28, @23:28 (Role Playing (Games))
| with 79 comments
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/11/28/2231215/legend-tabletop-gaming-for-a-good-cause?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]danaris writes "On Friday, Rule of Cool gaming released [1]Legend, a
d20-derived tabletop roleplaying game system designed to be easy to
learn, easy to play, and just really fun. As the names suggest, they
recognize that people in an RPG frequently want to be playing epic
characters with cool abilities, so they provide that ��� while making sure
all such characters are reasonably well balanced against characters and
monsters of the same level. For a nice overview of the system, there's a
[2]review up on RPG.net by one of the playtesters, and [3]another review
by a moderator from Reddit's RPG section. The game is initially being
distributed as a pay-what-you-want benefit to the [4]Child's Play
charity, with all proceeds (not just all profits) going to the charity."

Discuss this story at:
https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/11/28/2231215/legend-tabletop-gaming-for-a-good-cause?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://danarismaccom/
1. http://www.ruleofcool.com/
2. http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/15/15453.phtml
3. http://www.oldschool.geek.nz/2011/11/25/legend-the-rpg/
4. http://childsplaycharity.org/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Behind the Government's Rules of Cyber War
| from the defining-preemptive-retaliation dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday November 29, @18:43 (Security)
| with 76 comments
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/2259214/behind-the-governments-rules-of-cyber-war?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wiredmikey writes "Deciding when [0]malware becomes a weapon of war that
warrants a response in the physical world ��� for example, a missile ��� has
become a necessary part of the discussion of military doctrine. The
Pentagon [1]recently outlined (PDF) its working definition of what
constitutes cyber-war and when subsequent military strikes against
physical targets may be justified as result. The main issue is
attribution of cyber attacks. The Department of Defense is working to
develop new ways to trace the physical source of an attack and the
capability to identify an attacker using behavior-based algorithms. 'If a
country is going to fire a missile at someone, it better be sure it has
the right target,' said one expert. A widely held misconception in the
U.S. government is our offensive capabilities provide defensive advantage
by identifying attacker toolkits and methods in foreign networks prior to
them hitting our networks. So when do malware and cyber attacks become a
weapon or act of war that warrant a real-world military response?"

Discuss this story at:
https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/2259214/behind-the-governments-rules-of-cyber-war?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.securityweek.com/behind-governments-rules-cyber-war
1. http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2011/0411_cyberstrategy/docs/NDAA%20Section%20934%20Report_For%20webpage.pdf

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| A 3D Display You Can Touch
| from the lasers-through-the-looking-glass dept.
| posted by Unknown Lamer on Tuesday November 29, @05:14 (Graphics)
| with 61 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/0413257/a-3d-display-you-can-touch?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

mikejuk writes "Are we getting closer to really effective volumetric 3D
display technology? A new display, designed in Russia, [0]uses cold fog
and a laser projector to create a volumetric 3D image that you can touch.
A tracking device (no, it's not a Kinect) is used to detect the user's
hand and [1]moves the virtual objects in response. There have been cold
fog 3D displays before, but this one has a reasonable resolution and
looks near to being a finished product that could be on sale soon.
Estimated price? Between $4000 and $30,000."

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/0413257/a-3d-display-you-can-touch?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.i-programmer.info/news/144-graphics-and-games/3397-solid-3d-projection-that-you-can-touch.html
1. http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/11/23/move-over-kinect-%E2%80%94-displair-from-russia-is-a-gesture-interface-in-thin-air/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Google Researchers Propose Plan To Fix CA System
| from the put-a-plus-one-button-on-it dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday November 29, @18:17 (Google)
| with 61 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/2226211/google-researchers-propose-plan-to-fix-ca-system?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trailrunner7 writes "The security industry has no shortage of hard
problems to solve, but the one getting the most attention right now is
finding a way to improve, or ideally, replace, the CA infrastructure. The
latest in what has become a series of recent proposals to help shore up
the certificate authority system comes from a pair of Google security
researchers who have [0]laid out a plan for providing auditable public
logs of certificates as well as proofs for each certificate issued. The
system [1]proposed by Google's Adam Langley and Ben Laurie (PDF)
comprises three separate ideas, but relies on the creation of a publicly
viewable log of every public certificate that's issued by a CA. There
could be any number of public logs of these certificates, but the logs
will be structured so that they are append-only. The entries in the logs
will be the end certificates in the issuance chain. In addition to the
logs, the proposal includes the use of proofs that are sent with each
certificate to the user's browser. Laurie and Langley haven't defined
exactly what the proof would look like, but suggest that it could be an
extra certificate or a TLS extension."

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/2226211/google-researchers-propose-plan-to-fix-ca-system?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. https://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/google-researchers-propose-new-plan-shore-ca-system-112911
1. http://www.links.org/files/CertificateAuthorityTransparencyandAuditability.pdf

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Microsoft Working On Kinect 2
| from the xbox-paint-my-house dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday November 29, @17:37 (Input Devices)
| with 60 comments
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/2151243/microsoft-working-on-kinect-2?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]itwbennett writes "Eurogamer published a piece on a rumored Kinect 2
system that will most likely launch with the next iteration of the Xbox
line, which might be sometime between late 2012 and 2014. Eurogamer says
[1]this new Kinect won't be hobbled by the limitations of the USB 2.0
port that the current Kinect uses; instead the hardware will be designed
to give the new Kinect a faster pipeline to the system's internals. What
this means, says blogger Peter Smith is that 'not only can Kinect 2
[2]read finger movements (high on the wish-list for the current hardware)
but it can read lips, too. I don't think they mean this in the sense that
it can extrapolate what you're saying from your lip movements, but that
it can tell who in a room is speaking by matching lip movement to audio
input.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/2151243/microsoft-working-on-kinect-2?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.itworld.com/
1. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-11-25-kinect-2-so-accurate-it-can-lip-read
2. http://www.itworld.com/personal-tech/228615/microsoft-rumored-be-working-kinect-2-whether-you-want-it-or-not

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Tower To Be Built By Flying Robots
| from the quadrocopter-bots-to-unionize dept.
| posted by Unknown Lamer on Tuesday November 29, @03:19 (Robotics)
| with 58 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/0432203/tower-to-be-built-by-flying-robots?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zothecula writes with an excerpt from an article in Gizmag: "The FRAC
Centre in Orl��ans, France will for the first time host an exhibition to
be [0]built entirely by flying robots. Titled '[1]Flight Assembled
Architecture,' the six meter-high tower will be made up of 1,500
prefabricated polystyrene foam modules. The installation involves a
[2]fleet of quadrocopters that are programmed to interact, lift,
transport and assemble the final tower, all the time receiving commands
wirelessly from a local control room."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/0432203/tower-to-be-built-by-flying-robots?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.gizmag.com/flying-robots-to-build-6-meter-tower/20639/
1. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://www.frac-centre.fr/public/actualit/ftat01fr.htm%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3D5K0%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:it:official%26prmd%3Dimvns&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=fr&twu=1&u=http://www.frac-centre.fr/public/actualit/ftat01fr.htm
2. http://www.dezeen.com/2011/11/24/flight-assembled-architecture-by-gramazio-kohler-and-raffaello-dandrea/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| RIM To Offer Multiplatform Device Management
| from the if-you-can't-beat-'em,-manage-'em dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday November 29, @15:51 (Blackberry)
| with 46 comments
| https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/1931237/rim-to-offer-multiplatform-device-management?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aryden sends this quote from an IDG News report: "Research In Motion is
[0]taking on mobile device management for Android and Apple iOS devices
as well as its own products, introducing the BlackBerry Mobile Fusion
product, on Tuesday. BlackBerry Mobile Fusion is designed to simplify the
management of phones and tablets that run RIM's current BlackBerry OS and
the emerging BBX platform, which is based on the QNX software that
currently powers RIM's PlayBook tablet. But Mobile Fusion will [1]also
manage devices using the two biggest mobile OSs, Android and iOS."

Discuss this story at:
https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/11/29/1931237/rim-to-offer-multiplatform-device-management?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/112911-rim-to-offer-multiplatform-device-253515.html?hpg1=bn
1. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-29/blackberry-maker-rim-plans-iphone-android-e-mail-support.html


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