EMA(TM) analysts explore four use cases for Gazzang ezNcrypt deployment.
Responsible for the protection of sensitive information? Wonder which
way to turn when it comes to simple, transparent and unified data
encryption? See what EMA (TM) has to say about data security with ezNcrypt.
http://p.sf.net/sfu/gazzang-sdnews
======================================================================
Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* US Senator Proposes Bill To Eliminate Overtime For IT Workers
* Chrome Becoming World's Second Most Popular Web Browser
* Ask Slashdot: To Hack Or Not To Hack?
* Web Usage-Based Billing On Its Way
* Kyoto Protocol Renewal Efforts Struggling
* The Strange Birth and Long Life of Unix
* AT&T Issues Scathing Response To FCC Report
* Napster Being Shut Down
* Genome Researchers Have Too Much Data
* Ice Cream Sandwich Ported To X86
* Video Game Consoles Are 'Fundamentally Doomed,' Says Lord British
* Gene Therapy Approach 'Completely' Protects Mice From HIV Infection
* Patriot Act Clouds Picture For Tech
* Voyager Probes Give Us ET's View
* Periodic Table To Welcome Two New Elements
* World of Commodore 2011 December 3rd In Toronto
* Quantum Entanglement of Macroscopic Diamonds
* Researchers Find Big Leaks In Pre-installed Android Apps
* GNOME Shell Extensions Are Live
* UK Recruiting Codebreakers Via Social Networks
* How Tech Vendors Help Governments Spy On Their Citizens
* Using Toads to Predict Earthquakes
* San Francisco Team Wins DARPA's De-Shredding Contest
* How a Computer Game Is Reinventing the Science of Expertise
* FCC OKs On-Body Medical Networks
* Was Conficker Stuxnet's Trojan?
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| US Senator Proposes Bill To Eliminate Overtime For IT Workers
| from the us-senator-also-can't-seem-to-get-her-email-anymore dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 02, @09:30 (Businesses)
| with 1040 comments
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/1350229/us-senator-proposes-bill-to-eliminate-overtime-for-it-workers?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New submitter Talisman writes "Kay Hagan (D) from North Carolina has
[0]introduced a bill to the Senate that [1]would eliminate overtime pay
for IT workers." The bill is targeted at salaried IT employees and those
whose hourly rate is $27.63 or more. It seems comprehensive in its
description of what types of IT work qualify ��� everything from analysis
and consulting to design and development to training and testing. The
bill even uses "work related to computers" as one of the guidelines.
Discuss this story at:
https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/1350229/us-senator-proposes-bill-to-eliminate-overtime-for-it-workers?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s112-1747
1. http://www.standalone-sysadmin.com/blog/2011/11/usa-computer-professionals-update-act/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Chrome Becoming World's Second Most Popular Web Browser
| from the now-stop-hijacking-my-middle-click dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 02, @10:55 (Chrome)
| with 435 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/152227/chrome-becoming-worlds-second-most-popular-web-browser?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]redletterdave writes with news that Google Chrome is in the process of
[1]surpassing Firefox to become the second most popular web browser.
Pinpointing the exact time of the change is difficult, of course, since
different analytics firms collect slightly different data. The current
crop of media reports were [2]triggered by data from StatCounter, which
shows Chrome at 25.69% and Firefox at 25.23% for November. [3]Data from
Net Applications shows Firefox still holding a 4% lead, but [4]the trends
suggest it will evaporate within a few months.
Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/152227/chrome-becoming-worlds-second-most-popular-web-browser?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. mailto:davesmith229@gmail.com
1. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204012004577071933883857786.html
2. http://gs.statcounter.com/
3. http://www.netmarketshare.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=1&qpcustomb=0
4. http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-57334418-264/chrome-usage-within-striking-distance-of-firefox/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Ask Slashdot: To Hack Or Not To Hack?
| from the ethics-and-responsibilities dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 02, @16:34 (Privacy)
| with 411 comments
| https://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/2124215/ask-slashdot-to-hack-or-not-to-hack?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
seeread writes "I discovered how to hack into and secure user accounts of
a rising mobile payment start-up. Account info includes credit card
details and usage. The company has big name financial backing and an IRL
presence, but very few in-house developers, and they don't seem terribly
concerned about security. Good samaritan that I am for now, I sent them
an e-mail explaining the lapse on their part, but the responses I have
received thus far are confused, aloof and unconvinced. So, I am
wondering: what is the appropriate next step? Should I do a proof of
concept? Should I go to the investors, or should I post about it
somewhere? The representatives haven't been too receptive, despite the
fact that their brand seems to be at risk, not to mention all of those
users' credit cards. I almost feel like it's my responsibility to blow
them out of the water if they have made it this far while compromising
such trusted data. And although I would love to be in the paper, this
hack is just too easy for it to be respectable, though I am sure the FBI
could still be interested in all those credit card numbers."
Discuss this story at:
https://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/2124215/ask-slashdot-to-hack-or-not-to-hack?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Web Usage-Based Billing On Its Way
| from the enjoy-feeding-that-meter dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 02, @08:49 (The Almighty Buck)
| with 376 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/1332253/web-usage-based-billing-on-its-way?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
tripleevenfall writes with this excerpt from SFGate: "The days of
watching movies on the cheap via the Web may soon be over. Time Warner
Cable and U.S. pay-TV companies are on the verge of [0]instituting new
fees on Web-access customers who use the most data. ... U.S. providers
have weighed usage-based plans for years as a way to squeeze more profit
from Web access, and to counter slowing growth and rising program costs
in the TV business. While customer complaints hampered earlier attempts,
pay-TV companies are testing usage caps and price structures that point
to the advent of permanent fees. ... Cable's best option is to find ways
to profit from the online shift, said [analyst Craig Moffett]. If the
companies were to lose all of their video customers, the revenue decline
would be more than offset by lower programming fees and set-top box
spending. 'In the end, it will be the best thing that ever happened to
the cable industry,' Moffett said."
Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/1332253/web-usage-based-billing-on-its-way?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/01/BU7A1M6257.DTL&tsp=1
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Kyoto Protocol Renewal Efforts Struggling
| from the fizzle-sounds-better-than-countered-upon-resolution dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 02, @11:37 (Earth)
| with 346 comments
| https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/161230/kyoto-protocol-renewal-efforts-struggling?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]Hugh Pickens writes "Economics trumps the environment. The emission
targets set by the Kyoto Protocol will expire next year, and negotiators
are fighting to keep UN climate talks on track while efforts to save the
Euro [1]push the struggle to save the planet down the priority list. In
the United States, seen as the biggest single obstacle to a new global
climate deal, academic opinion says an 'iron law' means economics trumps
the environment in times of crisis. Meanwhile, some leading voices on
climate science have suggested the Kyoto Protocol be put to pasture,
since [2]clinging to hopes of a renewal of that agreement does more harm
than good in achieving meaningful dialogue on how to fight climate
change. When the agreement was negotiated in the 1990s, the world was
more clearly divided into 'rich and poor' countries. However, China and
India have seen unexpectedly strong economic growth since then, and
currently make up 58 per cent of global emissions. 'Against this
backdrop, it is no surprise that countries such as Japan, Canada and
Russia adamantly refuse to assume new binding targets unless the other
major economies at present outside Kyoto's reach ��� most notably, the
United States and China ��� do so as well,' writes Elliot Diringer,
executive vice-president of the U.S.-based Center for Climate and Energy
Solutions. '[3]And for now, the odds of that happening are nil.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/161230/kyoto-protocol-renewal-efforts-struggling?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://hughpickens.com/
1. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/01/climate-mood-idUSL5E7MT5A020111201
2. http://www.c2es.org/press-center/op-ed/letting-go-of-kyoto
3. http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/canada/Science+journal+recommends+letting+Kyoto/5791372/story.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| The Strange Birth and Long Life of Unix
| from the not-quite-over-the-hill dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 02, @13:45 (AT&T)
| with 250 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/1845253/the-strange-birth-and-long-life-of-unix?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
riverat1 writes "After AT&T dropped the Multics project in March of 1969,
Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie of Bell Labs continued to work on the
project, [0]through a combination of discarded equipment and subterfuge,
eventually writing the first programming manual for System I in November
1971. A [1]paper published in 1974 in the Communications of the ACM on
Unix brought a flurry of requests for copies. Since AT&T was restricted
from selling products not directly related to telephones or
telecommunications, they released it to anyone who asked for a nominal
license fee. At conferences they displayed the policy on a slide saying,
'No advertising, no support, no bug fixes, payment in advance.' From that
grew an ecosystem of users supporting users much like the Linux
community. The rest is history."
Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/1845253/the-strange-birth-and-long-life-of-unix?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/software/the-strange-birth-and-long-life-of-unix/0
1. http://minnie.tuhs.org/dmr/cacm.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| AT&T Issues Scathing Response To FCC Report
| from the we-strongly-disagree dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday December 01, @20:26 (AT&T)
| with 210 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/12/01/2350223/att-issues-scathing-response-to-fcc-report?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An anonymous reader writes "AT&T has issued [0]a scathing letter in
response to the FCC's decision to release a staff report on its findings
surrounding AT&T's planned $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA. 'We
expected that the AT&T-T-Mobile transaction would receive careful,
considered, and fair analysis,' Jim Cicconi, AT&T Senior Executive Vice
President of External & Legislative Affairs, said. 'Unfortunately, the
preliminary FCC Staff Analysis offers none of that.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/12/01/2350223/att-issues-scathing-response-to-fcc-report?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.bgr.com/2011/12/01/att-issues-scathing-response-to-fcc-report/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Napster Being Shut Down
| from the seth-green-unavailable-for-comment dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 02, @12:20 (Businesses)
| with 203 comments
| https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/1624244/napster-being-shut-down?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]helix2301 writes "Napster was one of the earliest and most popular P2P
music-sharing services. After a long legal battle that saw Napster slowly
gutted in the face of infringement lawsuits, it was reinvented as a
legitimate music download service. [1]The resurrected Napster is now
being shut down. Rhapsody has completed its purchase of Napster and
[2]will be absorbing its subscribers and assets."
Discuss this story at:
https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/1624244/napster-being-shut-down?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.helixzone.net/
1. http://techland.time.com/2011/12/02/napster-is-no-more/
2. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57335330-93/rip-napster-again/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Genome Researchers Have Too Much Data
| from the we-should-try-storing-it-in-dna dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 02, @14:28 (Biotech)
| with 203 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/1913230/genome-researchers-have-too-much-data?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An anonymous reader writes "The NY Times reports, '[0]The field of
genomics is caught in a data deluge. DNA sequencing is becoming faster
and cheaper at a pace far outstripping Moore's law. The result is that
the ability to determine DNA sequences is starting to outrun the ability
of researchers to store, transmit and especially to analyze the data.
Now, it costs more to analyze a genome than to sequence a genome. There
is now so much data, researchers cannot keep it all.' One researcher
says, 'We are going to have to come up with really clever ways to throw
away data so we can see new stuff.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/1913230/genome-researchers-have-too-much-data?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Ice Cream Sandwich Ported To X86
| from the ice-cream-party dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday December 01, @22:54 (Android)
| with 190 comments
| https://slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/0057238/ice-cream-sandwich-ported-to-x86?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]angry tapir writes "Google's open-source Android 4.0 operating system
for smartphones and tablets [1]has been ported to work with x86
processors. The port means that tablets with Android 4.0 based on x86
chips could be on the horizon. Intel is the top x86 chipmaker, and the
company has already said it is working with Google to bring Android 4.0
to smartphones and tablets."
Discuss this story at:
https://slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/0057238/ice-cream-sandwich-ported-to-x86?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.techworld.com.au/
1. http://www.techworld.com.au/article/409081/google_android_4_0_ported_x86_processors
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Video Game Consoles Are 'Fundamentally Doomed,' Says Lord British
| from the depends-on-your-timescale dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 02, @18:26 (Cellphones)
| with 185 comments
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/2232246/video-game-consoles-are-fundamentally-doomed-says-lord-british?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zacharye writes "Microsoft sold nearly one million Xbox 360s last week
alone, but we're [0]nearing the end of the road for video game consoles
according to one industry visionary. Richard Garriott, known for having
created the fantasy role-playing franchise Ultima, says converged devices
such as computers, smartphones and tablets [1]will soon render dedicated
game consoles obsolete: '... the power that you can carry with you in a
portable is really swamping what we've thought of as a console.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/2232246/video-game-consoles-are-fundamentally-doomed-says-lord-british?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.bgr.com/2011/11/30/video-game-consoles-are-fundamentally-doomed-ultima-creator-says/
1. http://www.industrygamers.com/news/game-industry-legends-richard-garriott-de-cayeux/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Gene Therapy Approach 'Completely' Protects Mice From HIV Infection
| from the earning-their-cheese dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 02, @10:13 (Medicine)
| with 175 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/144246/gene-therapy-approach-completely-protects-mice-from-hiv-infection?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pierre Bezukhov writes "Scientists from the California Institute of
Technology have come up with a gene therapy approach that has proven
effective in [0]protecting mice (with humanized immune systems) against
HIV infections. They used a genetically altered virus to infect muscles
cells and deliver DNA codes of potent antibodies isolated from the blood
of human HIV victims ([1]abstract). The muscle cells then began to
manufacture the antibodies in quantities that [2]proved 'completely
protective' against HIV infection. By contrast, traditional vaccines have
not worked against HIV, as scientists have failed to find a molecule that
induces the immune system to produce enough potent antibodies. The
difficulties stem from the fact that HIV disguises some of its external
structures from the antibodies."
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/144246/gene-therapy-approach-completely-protects-mice-from-hiv-infection?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.nature.com/news/gene-therapy-can-protect-against-hiv-1.9516
1. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature10660.html
2. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/259071/20111130/gene-therapy-approach-completely-protects-mice-hiv.htm
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Patriot Act Clouds Picture For Tech
| from the your-data-is-safe-except-from-us dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 02, @15:10 (Cloud)
| with 168 comments
| https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/1923207/patriot-act-clouds-picture-for-tech?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harperdog writes "Politico has a piece on [0]how the Patriot Act is
interfering with U.S. firms trying to do business overseas in the area of
cloud computing. Here's a quote: 'The Sept. 11-era law was supposed to
help the intelligence community gather data on suspected terrorists. But
competitors overseas are using it as a way to discourage foreign
countries from signing on with U.S. cloud computing providers like Google
and Microsoft: Put your data on a U.S.-based cloud, they warn, and you
may just put it in the hands of the U.S. government.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/1923207/patriot-act-clouds-picture-for-tech?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=07AF525E-2E47-4383-8545-7C3430B0DC35
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Voyager Probes Give Us ET's View
| from the a-different-look dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Friday December 02, @01:52 (Space)
| with 151 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/0243246/voyager-probes-give-us-ets-view?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]astroengine writes "For the first time, scientists have been [1]able
to measure a type of radiation streaming out from the Milky Way that in
other galaxies has been linked to the birthplaces of young, hot stars.
There was no way to make our own galaxy's measurement of the radiation,
known as Lyman-alpha, until the Voyager probes were about 40 times as far
away from the sun as Earth ��� any closer and the solar system's own
emissions drowned out the fainter glow from the galaxy."
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/0243246/voyager-probes-give-us-ets-view?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.astroengine.com/
1. http://news.discovery.com/space/voyager-probes-solar-system-radiation-et-eyes-111201.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Periodic Table To Welcome Two New Elements
| from the spellchecker-database-grows-by-two dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 02, @15:29 (Science)
| with 141 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/1935219/periodic-table-to-welcome-two-new-elements?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
adeelarshad82 writes "Chemistry's periodic table [0]can soon welcome
livermorium and flerovium, two newly named elements, which were announced
Thursday (Dec. 1) by the [1]International Union of Pure and Applied
Chemistry. The new names will undergo a five-month public comment period
before the official paperwork gets processed and they show up on the
table. [2]Three other new elements just recently finished this process,
filling in the 110, 111 and 112 spots."
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/1935219/periodic-table-to-welcome-two-new-elements?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.livescience.com/17287-element-names-flerovium-livermorium.html
1. http://www.iupac.org/web/nt/2011-12-01_name_element_114_116
2. http://www.livescience.com/16887-elements-copernicus.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| World of Commodore 2011 December 3rd In Toronto
| from the playing-it-old-school dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday December 01, @19:38 (Amiga)
| with 140 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/12/01/2318234/world-of-commodore-2011-december-3rd-in-toronto?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]Leif_Bloomquist writes "The Toronto PET Users Group (TPUG) is pleased
to announce the [1]World of Commodore 2011. TPUG would like to invite
everyone to join us for a weekend of all things Commodore. There will be
information about and displays of a variety of Commodore computers,
demonstrations of new hardware and software projects using Commodore
equipment, screenings of Commodore related videos, vendors selling the
latest hardware and software available for Commodore computers as well as
classic hardware, accessories, applications, games and much more."
Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/12/01/2318234/world-of-commodore-2011-december-3rd-in-toronto?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.tpug.ca/
1. http://tpug.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75&Itemid=79
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Quantum Entanglement of Macroscopic Diamonds
| from the simultaneously-a-girl's-best-friend-and-not dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 02, @15:51 (Science)
| with 132 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/1928241/quantum-entanglement-of-macroscopic-diamonds?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New submitter ananyo writes "A pair of diamond crystals has been linked
by quantum entanglement ��� one of the first times that [0]objects visible
to the naked eye have been placed in a connected quantum state. 'This
means that a vibration in the crystals could not be meaningfully assigned
to one or other of them: both crystals were simultaneously vibrating and
not vibrating ([1]abstract). Quantum entanglement ��� interdependence of
quantum states between particles not in physical contact ��� has been well
established between quantum particles such as atoms at ultra-cold
temperatures. But like most quantum effects, it doesn't tend to survive
either at room temperature or in objects large enough to see with the
naked eye.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/1928241/quantum-entanglement-of-macroscopic-diamonds?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.nature.com/news/entangled-diamonds-vibrate-together-1.9532
1. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/334/6060/1253.abstract?sid=3e228e8d-5dbc-4279-99ce-7a4a15fa51e5
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Researchers Find Big Leaks In Pre-installed Android Apps
| from the secure-your-leaking-data-with-large-bucket dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 02, @13:00 (Android)
| with 127 comments
| https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/1637249/researchers-find-big-leaks-in-pre-installed-android-apps?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An anonymous reader sends this quote from an article at Ars Technica:
"Researchers at North Carolina State University have uncovered [0]a
variety of vulnerabilities in the standard configurations of popular
Android smartphones from Motorola, HTC, and Samsung, finding that [1]they
don't properly protect privileged permissions from untrusted applications
(PDF). In a paper just published by researchers Michael Grace, Yajin
Zhou, Zhi Wang, and Xuxian Jiang, the four outlined how the
vulnerabilities could be used by an untrusted application to send SMS
messages, record conversations, or even wipe all user data from the
handset without needing the user's permission. The researchers evaluated
the security of eight phones: the HTC Legend, EVO 4G, and Wildfire S; the
Motorola Droid and Droid X; the Samsung Epic 4G; and the Google Nexus One
and Nexus S. While the reference implementations of Android used on
Google's handsets had relatively minor security issues, the researchers
were 'surprised to find out these stock phone images [on the devices
tested] do not properly enforce [Android's] permission-based security
model.' The team shared the results with Google and handset vendors, and
have received confirmation of the vulnerabilities from Google and
Motorola. However, the researchers have 'experienced major difficulties'
in trying to report issues to HTC and Samsung."
Discuss this story at:
https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/1637249/researchers-find-big-leaks-in-pre-installed-android-apps?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://news.hitb.org/content/researchers-find-big-leaks-pre-installed-android-apps
1. http://www.csc.ncsu.edu/faculty/jiang/pubs/NDSS12_WOODPECKER.pdf
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| GNOME Shell Extensions Are Live
| from the building-a-patchwork-gnome dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 02, @17:40 (GNOME)
| with 94 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/229251/gnome-shell-extensions-are-live?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DrXym writes "GNOME Shell has been criticized for certain shortcomings
when compared to GNOME 2.x. Chief amongst them was that 2.x offered panel
applets whereas 3.x is seemingly lacking any such functionality. What
most people don't know is that GNOME Shell has a rich extension framework
similar to Mozilla Firefox add-ons. Now, [0]the official site to install
extensions has [1]gone live. So if you yearn for an application menu, or
a dock, or a status monitor, then head on over. Extensions can be
installed with a few clicks and removed just as easily."
Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/229251/gnome-shell-extensions-are-live?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. https://extensions.gnome.org/
1. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/desktop-devel-list/2011-December/msg00010.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| UK Recruiting Codebreakers Via Social Networks
| from the mysterious-stranger-list dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Friday December 02, @04:56 (Advertising)
| with 81 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/0257206/uk-recruiting-codebreakers-via-social-networks?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]Demerara writes in with a story about a unique [1]codebreaking
competition sponsored by the UK government. "UK intelligence agency
[2]GCHQ has launched a code-cracking competition to help attract new
talent. The organization has invited potential applicants to solve a
visual code posted at an unbranded standalone website. The challenge has
also been 'seeded' to social media sites, blogs and forums. A spokesman
said the campaign aimed to raise the profile of GCHQ to an audience that
would otherwise be difficult to reach. 'The target audience for this
particular campaign is one that may not typically be attracted to
traditional advertising methods and may be unaware that GCHQ is
recruiting for these kinds of roles,' the spokesman said."
Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/0257206/uk-recruiting-codebreakers-via-social-networks?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. mailto:ronan@mcdis.com
1. http://www.canyoucrackit.co.uk/
2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15968878
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| How Tech Vendors Help Governments Spy On Their Citizens
| from the let-me-count-the-ways dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 02, @17:18 (Government)
| with 66 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/223209/how-tech-vendors-help-governments-spy-on-their-citizens?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]jfruhlinger writes "Most Slashdotters ��� even those living in
democratic countries ��� would probably be unsurprised to know that their
governments are spying on them. But most people are not aware of how
complicit security vendors, who publicly work to protect the public from
such electronic eavesdropping, [1]are complicit in such monitoring. All
this and more is revealed in the latest Wikieaks document dump, the
[2]Spy Files."
Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/223209/how-tech-vendors-help-governments-spy-on-their-citizens?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://jfruh.com/
1. http://www.itworld.com/security/229897/security-vendors-help-covert-agencies-spy-their-own-citizend-wikileaks
2. http://wikileaks.org/the-spyfiles.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Using Toads to Predict Earthquakes
| from the what-does-the-toad-think? dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Friday December 02, @00:08 (NASA)
| with 65 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/030244/using-toads-to-predict-earthquakes?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ClockEndGooner writes "The BBC is reporting that a team led by Dr.
Friedemann Freund from NASA and Dr. Rachel Grant from the UK's Open
University have found that 'animals may sense chemical changes in
groundwater that occur when an earthquake is about to strike.' Just prior
to the quake that struck L'Aquila, Italy in 2009, Grant observed [0]a
mass toad exodus from a colony she was monitoring as part of her PhD
project, and [1]her published results prompted NASA to contact her as
they found that highly stressed tectonic plates released a greater amount
of positively charged ions that affected the water quality, which was
sensed by the toads. According to NASA's Freund, 'Once we understand how
all of these signals are connected, if we see four of five signals all
pointing in [the same] direction, we can say, "ok, something is about to
happen."'"
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/030244/using-toads-to-predict-earthquakes?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/15945014
1. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2010.00700.x/abstract
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| San Francisco Team Wins DARPA's De-Shredding Contest
| from the california-v-greenwood-1988 dept.
| posted by timothy on Friday December 02, @18:45 (Encryption)
| with 59 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/2334236/san-francisco-team-wins-darpas-de-shredding-contest?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New submitter [0]karlnyberg writes with an update to the recently
announced [1]de-shredding challenge posted by DARPA: "The team 'All Your
Shreds Are Belong To U.S.' has correctly solved all five puzzles, and the
Challenge has now ended. You may view the winning team's submissions as
well as the complete puzzle solutions by [2]following the links on our
homepage. We recognize that many of our participants have devoted
countless hours to painstakingly piecing our puzzles back together, and
we truly appreciate everyone's efforts. Hopefully you enjoyed the
Challenge and learned something new along the way. We certainly did!"
Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/2334236/san-francisco-team-wins-darpas-de-shredding-contest?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. mailto:karl@nyberg.net
1. http://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/10/27/1923219/darpa-reconstruct-shredded-docs-win-50k-usd
2. http://www.shredderchallenge.com/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| How a Computer Game Is Reinventing the Science of Expertise
| from the so-many-volunteers dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 02, @16:56 (Real Time Strategy (Games))
| with 43 comments
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/2131201/how-a-computer-game-is-reinventing-the-science-of-expertise?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An anonymous reader writes "Cognitive scientists at Simon Fraser
University and UCSD are beginning to [0]use StarCraft 2 replays to study
the development of expertise and the cognitive mechanisms of
multitasking. Unlike similar expertise studies in chess that consider
roughly a dozen players, these studies include thousands of players of
all skill levels ��� providing an unprecedented amount of data on how
players move from 'chumps to champions.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/2131201/how-a-computer-game-is-reinventing-the-science-of-expertise?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| FCC OKs On-Body Medical Networks
| from the can-you-feel-the-waves? dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Friday December 02, @08:07 (Medicine)
| with 39 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/046245/fcc-oks-on-body-medical-networks?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]itwbennett writes "On Wednesday the FCC [1]approved the use of medical
micropower networks (MMNs) in four blocks of the 400MHz spectrum band
despite [2]opposition from broadcast engineers who say they are concerned
about interference. MMNs can be used to bypass areas of the nervous
system that have been impaired by strokes or spinal cord or brain
injuries."
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/046245/fcc-oks-on-body-medical-networks?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.itworld.com/
1. http://www.itworld.com/it-managementstrategy/229293/fcc-oks-body-medical-networks
2. http://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/23/2233247/bionic-implants-and-spectrum-clash
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Was Conficker Stuxnet's Trojan?
| from the malware-voltron dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 02, @18:03 (The Military)
| with 38 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/2224256/was-conficker-stuxnets-trojan?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rambo Tribble writes "Reuters has published a provocative article
describing the findings of cyberwarfare expert John Bumgarner, a former
Army intelligence officer. His contention is that [0]Conficker identified
targets, then opened the door for Stuxnet. 'His analysis challenges a
common belief that Conficker was built by an Eastern European criminal
gang to engage in financial fraud. The worm's latent state had been a
mystery for some time. It appears never to have been activated in the
computers it infected, and security experts have speculated that the
program was abandoned by those who created it because they feared getting
caught after Conficker was subjected to intense media scrutiny. If
confirmed, Bumgarner's work could deepen understanding of how Stuxnet's
commanders ran the cyber operation that last year sabotaged an
underground facility at Natanz, where Iranian scientists are enriching
uranium using thousands of gas centrifuges.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/12/02/2224256/was-conficker-stuxnets-trojan?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/02/us-cybersecurity-iran-idUSTRE7B10AP20111202
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