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Mon, December 03, 2007 11:06:24 PMFrom:
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[Slashdot] Stories for 2007-12-04
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Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* All US Border Crossings Now Require A 'Terrorist Risk Profile'
* SixApart Sells LiveJournal to Russian Media Company
* OLPC Lawsuit-Bringer Has Past Fraud Conviction
* Facebook Beacon Privacy Issues Worse Than Previously Thought?
* FCC May Move to Cap Cable Company Size
* Firefox Security Head Says Microsoft Obscures OS Holes
* Open Source Hardware Gift Guide
* The First 100 Dot Coms Ever Registered
* Governments Prepare for Cyber Cold War
* A Look at Microsoft's Security War Room
* Dinosaur Fossil Found With Preserved Soft Tissue
* $999 For a Complete DNA Scan, Worth it?
* Chimps Outscore College Students on Memory Test
* Samsung to Produce Faster Graphics Memory
* NJ Blogger Fights for Anonymous Free Speech
* Peru Orders 260K OLPCs, Mexico to Get 50K
* Security in Ten Years
* FCC Chairman Tries For More Media Consolidation
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| All US Border Crossings Now Require A 'Terrorist Risk Profile' |
| from the just-wow dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday December 02, @20:32 (United States) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/02/2356202 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
conlaw writes with a somewhat intimidating Washington Post article. "The
federal government disclosed details yesterday of a border-security
program [0]to screen all people who enter and leave the United States,
create a terrorism risk profile of each individual and retain that
information for up to 40 years ... The risk assessment is created by
analysts at the National Targeting Center, a high-tech facility opened in
November 2001 and now run by Customs and Border Protection. In a
round-the-clock operation, targeters match names against terrorist watch
lists and a host of other data to determine whether a person's background
or behavior indicates a terrorist threat, a risk to border security or
the potential for illegal activity. They also assess cargo."
Discuss this story at:
nla_internal_2168459.jpg 0. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/02/AR2006110201810.html?nav=hcmoduletmv
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| SixApart Sells LiveJournal to Russian Media Company |
| from the new-boss-same-as-old-boss dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday December 02, @23:53 (The Internet) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/03/0457206 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]molrak writes "[1]SixApart tonight announced [2]the sale of
journal/blogging service Livejournal to Russia-based SUP. Original LJ
founder Brad Fitzpatrick [3]has chimed in on the situation: 'This is
pretty cool because - They're ridiculously excited about LiveJournal, and
have been for awhile (they previous purchased advertising rights in
Russia, but ended up doing a bunch of Russia-specific LJ development as
well). They want to throw a lot of resources at LiveJournal in terms of
product development and engineers. "LiveJournal.com, Inc." now stands
alone again, focusing on nothing but LJ. Sounds like I'll have more LJ
influence (via new role as advisory board member) than I've had
recently.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/03/0457206
Links:
0. http://www.molrak.com/
1. http://www.sixapart.com/
2. http://news.livejournal.com/104520.html
3. http://brad.livejournal.com/2351564.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| OLPC Lawsuit-Bringer Has Past Fraud Conviction |
| from the dodgy-suit-need-to-buy-a-better-one dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Monday December 03, @01:15 (Patents) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/03/0526202 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
d0ida writes "The Boston Globe has up an article about [0]LANCOR's
lawsuit over the design of the OLPC's keyboard. 'Negroponte said the
lawsuit is without merit, because OLPC [1]uses a keyboard programming
technique developed in 1996, long before the Nigerian patent was filed.
The founder of Lagos Analysis Corp., Ade Oyegbola, was convicted of bank
fraud in Boston in 1990 and served a year in prison. Oyegbola insists his
Nigerian patent is legitimate and said he plans to file a
copyright-infringement lawsuit against OLPC in an American court.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/03/0526202
Links:
0. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/28/0319211&tid=155
1. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2007/12/01/one_laptop_per_child_orders_surge/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Facebook Beacon Privacy Issues Worse Than Previously Thought? |
| from the can't-win-guys dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Monday December 03, @03:20 (Privacy) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/03/0656205 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Further developments in the [0]Facebook
Beacon affair ... According to PC World, a Computer Associates researcher
claims that Beacon, when installed on participating sites, [1]is sending
data about users' activity back to Facebook, even when a user is logged
out of Facebook - despite Facebook's claims to the contrary."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/03/0656205
Links:
0. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/30/1422255&tid=267
1. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140182-c,onlineprivacy/article.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FCC May Move to Cap Cable Company Size |
| from the maybe-we-could-get-decent-service-again dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Monday December 03, @05:24 (Communications) |
| http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/03/073219 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]explosivejared writes "The FCC is making plans to bring back [1]the
concept of a 'size limit' on cable operators. 'FCC Chairman Kevin Martin
has enough support on the five-member commission to pass a measure that
would bar cable companies from owning systems that have more than a
30-percent share of U.S. multichannel video subscribers ... the FCC could
have a difficult time defending the 30-percent cap in court. The move
comes six years after a federal appeals court threw out an identical FCC
rule on the grounds that the agency did not have enough evidence to
justify it."
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/03/073219
Links:
0. mailto:hagan.jared@NoSpAm.gmail.com
1. http://www.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUSN3042292920071130
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Firefox Security Head Says Microsoft Obscures OS Holes |
| from the a-feudin-and-a-fussin dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Monday December 03, @07:42 (Security) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/03/0717229 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]theranjan writes "When a Security Strategy Director at Microsoft
decided to compare Internet Explorer security vulnerabilities with those
of Mozilla Firefox, he may have forgotten that the Head Security
Strategist of Mozilla was a former MS employee. In a rebuttal of the
study, which finds IE more secure than Firefox, Mozilla said that the
number of vulnerabilities publicly acknowledged [1]was just a 'small
subset' of all vulnerabilities fixed internally. The vulnerabilities
found internally are fixed in service packs and major updates without
public knowledge. 'For Microsoft this makes sense because these fixes get
the benefit of a full test pass which is much more robust for a service
pack or major release than it is for a security update. Unfortunately for
Microsoft's users this means they have to wait sometimes a year or more
to get the benefit of this work. That's a lot of time for an attacker to
identify the same issue and exploit it to hurt users.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/03/0717229
Links:
0. http://freewebsoftwarereviews.blogspot.com/
1. http://blog.mozilla.com/security/2007/11/30/critical-vulnerability-in-microsoft-metrics/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Open Source Hardware Gift Guide |
| from the well-now-there's-an-idea dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday December 03, @08:30 (Christmas Cheer|
| http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/03/1311207 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]ptorrone writes "Looking to give gifts this year that are open source?
Here's MAKE Magazines [1]"Open Source Hardware" gift guide. Open source
3D printers, TV-turn-off devices, iPod chargers, music players, Wi-Fi
companions, educational electronic kits and more. Each of the kits,
projects and open source hardware gifts in this guide represents more
than just a holiday gift, it's a change to support this nascent open
hardware movement."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/03/1311207
Links:
0. http://ptampmakezinecom/
1. http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/12/open_source_hardware_gift.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The First 100 Dot Coms Ever Registered |
| from the bet-mine-isn't-in-there dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday December 03, @09:13 (The Internet) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/03/1319215 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
roman1 submitted an interesting list containing [0]the first 100 .com
domains registered. Many of the names you haven't heard of, many you
have. What was interesting to me is that it took 2 years just to get 100
domains on-line.
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/03/1319215
Links:
0. http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/first71.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Governments Prepare for Cyber Cold War |
| from the lots-better-than-my-proposed-warm-war dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday December 03, @10:00 (Security) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/03/148233 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]superglaze writes "ZDNet UK has an analysis piece on [1]the growing
threat of a "cyber cold war". It's got some interesting examples and it
seems everyone is up to something. "...attacks are not limited to any
particular countries, or by alliances between countries, according to
cyberwarfare watchers. In the McAfee report, Johannes Ullrich, chief
technology officer for research organization the Sans Internet Storm
Center, said that most countries hack each other regardless of any
supposed allegiances. Alan Paller, director of research at security
training organization the Sans Institute, concurred. "All nations are
doing it to each other. I don't know of any country not doing it," he
said. "If it's not for normal espionage, it's for economic espionage.
It's a very broad set of countries [involved].""
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/03/148233
Links:
0. mailto:superglaze@hotmail.com
1. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39291200,00.htm
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| A Look at Microsoft's Security War Room |
| from the but-can-they-call-jack-bauer dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday December 03, @10:41 (Security) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/03/1451252 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Josh Fink writes "C|Net has an interesting piece about [1]Microsoft's
Security War Room, or rather, shall I say rooms. This room came about
when Microsoft's security chief, Mike Nash, had issues finding open
conference rooms. The response; a dedicated room only for him and his
staff to handle emergencies. "And while he was at it, why not have two?
That way, the folks working on fixing a security crisis could have a
little breathing room from those drafting the public and customer
communications around the issue. ""
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/03/1451252
Links:
0. mailto:josh@joshfink.net
1. http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9827124-56.html?tag=cd.blog
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Dinosaur Fossil Found With Preserved Soft Tissue |
| from the begun-the-clone-wars-have dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday December 03, @11:23 (Science) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/03/1544258 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
damn_registrars writes "A fossilized hadrosaur has been uncovered in
South Dakota that has [0]preserved soft tissue. This is described as a
"mummified" dinosaur, and allows for a look at the skin and musculature
of some parts of this animal. The find was reported by a 24 year old Yale
graduate student of paleontology."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/03/1544258
Links:
0. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/02/AR2007120202280.html?hpid=topnews
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| $999 For a Complete DNA Scan, Worth it? |
| from the something-to-think-about dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday December 03, @12:03 (Science) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/03/1615249 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]DoroSurfer writes "ZDNet is reporting that 23andme.com will open its
doors on Monday, allowing you to send them a cheek swab and have [1]your
DNA analyzed for $999 (plus shipping, of course... ;)). So what's a
thousand bucks buy you? They can tell you your ancient ancestry, They can
tell you what diseases you're predisposed to, They give you a "Gene
Explorer" that allows you to do a search in your genome to find out if
you have a certain gene (e.g., you just heard on the news that Gene XYZ
has been linked to Alzheimer's Disease)."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/03/1615249
Links:
0. http://24hourforums.com/
1. http://blogs.zdnet.com/Google/?p=813
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Chimps Outscore College Students on Memory Test |
| from the well-when-the-rewards-are-bananas dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday December 03, @13:11 (It's funny|
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/03/1646246 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
AP's Malcolm Ritter reports that young chimpanzees were better at
[0]remembering a series of numbers flashed on a screen, than the Japanese
college students used as a control group. Scientists plan to repeat the
experiment using 5th graders against the great apes.
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/03/1646246
Links:
0. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071203/ap_on_sc/chimp_memory_1
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Samsung to Produce Faster Graphics Memory |
| from the faster-and-cheaper dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday December 03, @14:17 (Graphics) |
| http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/03/176239 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Samsung has announced a [0]new line of GDDR5 chips that will supposedly
be able to deliver data at speeds of up to 6 Gbps. In addition to faster
data delivery the new chips also claim to consume less energy than
previous versions. "Samsung said the new chips consume 1.5 volts, making
them about 20 percent more efficient than GDDR 3 chips. Samples of the
GDDR 5 chips began shipping to graphics-processor makers last month, and
Samsung plans to begin mass production of the chips during the first half
of next year. GDDR 5 memory should first appear in high-end gaming
systems where users are willing to pay a premium for better graphics.
Samsung did not disclose pricing for the chips.
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/03/176239
Links:
0. http://www.nytimes.com/idg/IDG_002570DE00740E18482573A600102650.html?ex=1354424400&en=a4d93838fc68fd1c&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NJ Blogger Fights for Anonymous Free Speech |
| from the let's-out-people-in-witsec-next dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday December 03, @15:20 (The Courts|
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/03/1825228 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Ponca City, We Love You writes "A New Jersey blogger is [1]fighting
for his right to blog anonymously and the Electronic Frontier Foundation
(EFF) has asked a Superior Court judge in New Jersey to preserve the
blogger's free speech rights as he faces legal threats from local
government officials. On June 13, 2007, the New Jersey Township of
Manalapan filed a malpractice suit against its former attorney Stuart
Moskovitz, alleging misconduct regarding the Township's purchase of
polluted land in 2005. The decision to file suit was met by a lively
debate in the regional press and among local bloggers. One blogger who
was particularly critical of the Township was [2]datruthsquad. Attorneys
for the Township issued a subpoena to Google demanding that the identity
of this anonymous critic be turned over, along with datruthsquad's
contact information, blog drafts, e-mails, and 'any and all information
related to the blog.' Despite repeated requests from EFF to explain how
this could be anything other than an attempt to out a vocal critic,
attorneys for the Township have refused to withdraw the subpoena and
informed EFF that it can go to court to object to the subpoena. In a
motion to quash the subpoena, [3]EFF has asked the court to block the
township [PDF] in its attempt to uncover the identity of 'daTruthSquad'
and allow the blogger to continue to write about this or any other issue
without being forced to identity him or herself."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/03/1825228
Links:
0. http://poncacityweloveyou.com/
1. http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2007/11/28-1
2. http://datruthsquad.blogspot.com/
3. http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/manalapan/motiontoquashmpa-signed.pdf
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Peru Orders 260K OLPCs, Mexico to Get 50K |
| from the see-we're-not-scared dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday December 03, @16:19 (Education)|
| http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/03/1833254 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]eldavojohn writes "Perhaps in response to recent news that the lawsuit
against the OLPC may be a scam, Peru's government has announced they
[1]want 260,000 OLPCs and a Mexican billionaire by the name of Carlos
Slim has also asked for 50,000 that he wishes to distribute in Mexico.
Things are looking good for the OLPC."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/03/1833254
Links:
0. mailto:my/.username@@@gmail.com
1. http://www.news.com/Peru-signs-up-for-260,000-OLPC-laptops/2110-11746_3-6221061.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Security in Ten Years |
| from the wild-world-of-conjecture dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday December 03, @17:11 (Security) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/03/1840243 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Schneier has posted a conversation between himself and Marcus Ranum,
Chief Security Officer for Tenable Network Security, Inc. looking at
[0]where security is headed. "[...] at a meta-level, the problems are
going to stay the same. What's shocking and disappointing to me is that
our responses to those problems also remain the same, in spite of the
obvious fact that they aren't effective."
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/03/1840243
Links:
0. http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/12/security_in_ten.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FCC Chairman Tries For More Media Consolidation |
| from the playing-monopoly dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday December 03, @18:13 (Media) |
| http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/03/2029241 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "FCC chairman Kevin Martin wants to relax
rules on how many media outlets one company can own in one market.
Democratic commissioner Copps wants to rally the public to [0]stop media
consolidation. He says he's 'blowing a loud trumpet' for a 'call to
battle' to stop the FCC from giving big media a generous Christmas
present."
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/03/2029241
Links:
0. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/12/03/media_consolidation/index.html
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