[Slashdot] Stories for 2007-11-12
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Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* US Bot Herder Admits Infecting 250K Machines
* Cosmic Rays From Galactic Black Holes
* US Internet Control To Be Topic #1 In Rio
* Hidden Music Claimed In Da Vinci Painting
* NBC Direct Launches With Free Downloads
* Bill Would Tie Financial Aid To Anti-Piracy Plans
* Tracking People Using Bluetooth
* Microsoft’s Treatment of Google Defectors
* 5 Cool Wireless Reseach Projects
* Predator-Style Helmets Allow Pilots to See Through Planes
* How Not to Build a Cellphone
* OpenDocument Foundation Closes
* US Official Urges Americans To Reconsider Privacy
* Google’s Shadow Over Firefox
+—————————–
| US Bot Herder Admits Infecting 250K Machines |
| from the security-consultant-gone-wild dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Saturday November 10, @19:39 (Security) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article
+—————————–
[0]AceCaseOR writes “In Los Angeles criminal court, security consultant
John Schiefer, 26, has [1]admitted infecting the systems of his clients
with viruses to form a botnet containing a maximum of 250,000 systems.
Schiefer used his zombies to steal users’ PayPal usernames and passwords
to make unauthorized purchases, as well as to install adware on their
computers without their consent. Schiefer agreed to plead guilty to four
felony charges of accessing protected computers to commit fraud,
disclosing illegally intercepted electronic communications, wire fraud,
and bank fraud. He will be sentenced Dec. 3 and faces up to 60 years in
prison and a fine of $1.75 million.”
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comment
Links:
0. http://moc.liamgtaesac.rednaxe
1. http://www.latimes.com/busines
+—————————–
| Cosmic Rays From Galactic Black Holes |
| from the thought-it-was-settled dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Saturday November 10, @21:34 (Space) |
| http://science.slashdot.org
+—————————–
dork writes in with word of a study that contradicts, at least for the
highest-energy events, the [0]recent conclusion that cosmic rays are
probably formed in supernova remnants. The Pierre Auger Observatory in
Argentina has announced that [1]active galactic nuclei are the most
likely candidates for the source of the [2]highest-energy cosmic rays
that hit Earth. The researchers found that the sources of these highly
energetic events are not distributed uniformly across the sky, linking
their origins to the locations of nearby galaxies hosting active nuclei
in their centers. These galaxies are thought to be powered by
supermassive black holes that are devouring large amounts of matter. The
exact mechanism of how particles get accelerated to energies 100 million
times higher than achievable by the most powerful particle accelerators
on Earth is still unknown. The observatory has made 1% of its events
available through a public [3]online event display.”
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org
Links:
0. http://science.slashdot.org
1. http://www.auger.org/news
2. http://astro.uchicago.edu
3. http://augersw1.physics.utah
+—————————–
| US Internet Control To Be Topic #1 In Rio |
| from the because-it’s-my-ball-that’s
| posted by kdawson on Saturday November 10, @23:31 (The Internet) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl
+—————————–
Crazy Taco writes “It looks as though the next meeting of the UN’s
[0]Internet Governance Forum is about to descend into another heated
[1]debate about US control of key Internet systems. Although the initial
purpose of this year’s summit was to cover such issues as spam, free
speech and cheaper access, it appears that nations such as China, Iran,
and Russia, among others, would rather discuss US control of the
Internet. In meetings leading to up to the second annual meeting of the
IGF in Rio de Janiero on Monday, these nations won the right to hold an
opening-day panel devoted to ‘critical Internet resources.’ While a
number of countries wanting to internationalize Internet control simply
want to have more say over policies such as creating domain names in
languages other than English, we can only speculate what additional
motives might be driving nations that heavily censor the Internet and
lock down the flow of information across it.”
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments
Links:
0. http://www.intgovforum.org/
1. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap
+—————————–
| Hidden Music Claimed In Da Vinci Painting |
| from the tinfoil-palletes dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Sunday November 11, @02:30 (Music) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article
+—————————–
[0]snib sends us to CNN for coverage of an Italian musician and computer
technician who claims to have uncovered a [1]hidden musical score in
Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Last Supper.” Giovanni Maria Pala published this and
other findings about the ‘Last Supper’ painting in his book The Hidden
Music, released in Italy Friday. “[This raises] the possibility that the
Renaissance genius might have left behind a somber composition to
accompany the scene depicted in the 15th-century wall painting. ‘It
sounds like a requiem,’ Giovanni Maria Pala said. ‘It’s like a soundtrack
that emphasizes the passion of Jesus.’”
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comment
Links:
0. mailto:admin [Email address: admin #AT# snibworks.com - replace #AT# with @ ]
1. http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD
+—————————–
| NBC Direct Launches With Free Downloads |
| from the tv-for-some dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Sunday November 11, @04:40 (Television) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl
+—————————–
thefickler writes “It’s here, and it’s no joke. NBC has [0]launched NBC
Direct where most shows can be watched online and some shows are
available for full episode downloads. This comes after NBC decided to
pull out of iTunes.” For now it’s Windows only, XP or Vista, IE 6 or 7.
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments
Links:
0. http://tech.blorge.com/Structu
+—————————–
| Bill Would Tie Financial Aid To Anti-Piracy Plans |
| from the finest-congress-money-can-buy dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Sunday November 11, @07:56 (Education) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org
+—————————–
[0]theodp writes “The MPAA is applauding top Democratic politicians for
introducing an anti-piracy bill that threatens the nation’s colleges with
the [1]loss of a $100B a year in federal financial aid should they fail
to have a technology plan to combat illegal file sharing. The proposal,
which is embedded in a 747-page bill, has alarmed university officials.
‘Such an extraordinarily inappropriate and punitive outcome would result
in all students on that campus losing their federal financial aid —
including Pell grants and student loans that are essential to their
ability to attend college, advance their education, and acquire the
skills necessary to compete in the 21st-century economy,’ said university
officials in a letter to Congress. ‘Lower-income students, those most in
need of federal financial aid, would be harmed most under the
entertainment industry’s proposal.’”
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org
Links:
0. mailto:theodp [Email address: theodp #AT# aol.com - replace #AT# with @ ]
1. http://www.news.com/Democrats
+—————————–
| Tracking People Using Bluetooth |
| from the turn-your-bluetooth-off dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday November 11, @08:59 (Privacy) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org
+—————————–
[0]damdam writes “A Dutch guy seems to have set up a small [1]network of
bluetooth scanners. He has all the information logged to a central
database and you can search it over the web. On his website it says “Some
of these matches were only minutes apart. Therefore I could even
calculate the approximate speed of someone moving from one location to
another.”. There are also some interesting statistics on his site showing
traffic volume in his hometown (based on bluetooth signals) and he even
lists popularity of certain Nokia phones. It’s interesting to see how
much information an individual can gather using old equipment.”
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org
Links:
0. mailto:damsca [Email address: damsca #AT# yahoo.com - replace #AT# with @ ]
1. http://www.bluetoothtracking
+—————————–
| Microsoft’s Treatment of Google Defectors |
| from the well-that’s-just-not-cool dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday November 11, @10:09 (Microsoft) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl
+—————————–
[0]Miguel de Icaza (Note, this Miguel is not the Ximian developer, just
someone whose small life is fulfilled by trolling under someone else’s
name) writes “Here is a story revealing just [1]how threatened Microsoft
is by Google. While senior partners can expect [2]the full chair
experience, some lowly staffers who are putting in their notice are being
[3]escorted off campus immediately. Why? Because they’ve put in their
notice to join Google. In Microsoft’s eyes, Google is Enemy No. 1. Anyone
leaving Redmond for the search leader is a threat. Not because they’ll
scurry around collecting company secrets — as if Google’s interested in
Microsoft’s ’90s-era technologies. Departing employees, however, might
tell other ‘Softies how much better Google is. If an employee is leaving
for Amazon.com or another second-tier employer which doesn’t make
Microsoft so paranoid, they’ll probably serve out the traditional two
weeks of unproductive wrapping up. So if you’re planning on leaving
Microsoft for Google, pack up your belongings and say goodbye to friends
ahead of time. There’ll be no cake and two weeks of paid slacking for
you.”
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments
Links:
0. http://slashdot.org/~Miguel+de
1. http://valleywag.com/tech
2. http://www.theregister.co.uk
3. http://selberg.org/2007/11/06
+—————————–
| 5 Cool Wireless Reseach Projects |
| from the welcome-to-sunday-morning dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday November 11, @11:13 (Wireless Networ|
| http://hardware.slashdot.org
+—————————–
Bob B writes “Including an effort by MIT researchers to [0]exploit dense
urban networks of existing Wi-Fi access points to create municipal
wireless networks rather than relying on EarthLink and cities to fund and
build such wireless projects. Secure tunneling is the secret sauce for
making it work and not making wireless AP owners liable for miscreants
who might use the bandwidth, the researchers say.”
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org
Links:
0. http://www.networkworld.com
+—————————–
| Predator-Style Helmets Allow Pilots to See Through Planes |
| from the also-makes-you-look-super
| posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday November 11, @12:18 (The Military) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl
+—————————–
nitroy2k writes “It is only the neck and shoulders that prove there is a
human being in there somewhere. And this isn’t any Star Trek or Final
Fantasy kind of trick, but the [0]next generation of RAF fighter pilots’
look, which kinda makes you wish you were in the army.” And you thought
Air Wolf had badass headgear.
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments
+—————————–
| How Not to Build a Cellphone |
| from the now-seriously dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday November 11, @13:25 (Cellphones) |
| http://mobile.slashdot.org
+—————————–
Jamie found an NYT story about a new [0]t-mobile Shadow phone which
starts off by talking about how Apple is changing the phone game by
wrestling power from the carriers, and then discussing what could be a
reasonable piece of hardware. And then how it is wrecked by software. The
phone has wait screens, a task manager, odd error messages etc. Makes for
an amusing read.
Discuss this story at:
http://mobile.slashdot.org
Links:
0. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11
+—————————–
| OpenDocument Foundation Closes |
| from the to-bed-without-your-supper dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Sunday November 11, @14:41 (Software) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl
+—————————–
[0]Munchkinguy writes “First, they [1]dropped support for their namesake
OpenDocument Format and declared a switch to the W3C’s ‘Compound Document
Format.’ Then, W3C’s Chris Lilley clarified that CDF ‘was not created to
be, and [2]isn’t suitable for use as, an office format.’ Now, the
Foundation has mysteriously [3]closed up shop, leaving the following
message: ‘The OpenDocument Foundation, Inc. is closed. We sincerely wish
our friends and associates in the OpenDocument Community all the best and
much success going forward. Good-bye and good luck.’”
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments
Links:
0. mailto:munchkinguy [Email address: munchkinguy #AT# hotmail.com - replace #AT# with @ ]
1. http://slashdot.org/article.pl
2. http://www.consortiuminfo.org
3. http://opendocumentfoundation
+—————————–
| US Official Urges Americans To Reconsider Privacy |
| from the we’re-from-the-government-and
| posted by kdawson on Sunday November 11, @15:49 (Privacy) |
| http://politics.slashdot.org
+—————————–
[0]Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, a deputy
director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that
government and businesses properly safeguards people’s private
communications and financial information. “Protecting anonymity isn’t a
fight that can be won. Anyone that’s typed in their name on Google
understands that,” said Kerr. Kurt Opsahl of the EFF said Kerr ignores
the distinction between sacrificing protection from an intrusive
government and voluntarily disclosing information in exchange for a
service. “There is something fundamentally different from the government
having information about you than private parties. We shouldn’t have to
give people the choice between taking advantage of modern communication
tools and sacrificing their privacy.” Kerr’s comments come as Congress is
taking a second look at the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act,
requiring a court order for surveillance on U.S. soil. The White House
argued that the law was obstructing intelligence gathering.
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org
Links:
0. http://www.guardian.co.uk
+—————————–
| Google’s Shadow Over Firefox |
| from the first-hit-is-free dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Sunday November 11, @17:46 (Mozilla) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl
+—————————–
[0]eldavojohn writes “The Mozilla Foundation’s chief executive now earns
roughly half a million in pay and benefits. With $70 million in assets,
the Foundation gave out less than $300,000 in grants to open source
projects in 2006. And in 2006 [1]85% of their $66 million in revenue came
from Google. When these figures first came to light, people worried
whether Firefox was becoming a pawn in Google’s cold war with Microsoft.
The Foundation [2]addressed these fears and largely laid them to rest;
but now the worry is that, even though it’s clear that the community’s
code is what makes Firefox successful, Mozilla may be becoming
dangerously reliant on Google’s cash.”
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments
Links:
0. mailto:my/.username@ [Email address: my/.username #AT# - replace #AT# with @ ]@@gmail.com
1. http://www.news.com/8301-13580
2. http://www.mozilla.org/foundat
Copyright 1997-2006 OSTG. All rights reserved.
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