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Tue, August 26, 2008 11:35:38 PMFrom:
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Subject:
[Slashdot] Stories for 2008-08-27
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Domain Names. Take One.
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Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* Websites Still Failing Basic Privacy Practices
* LHC Fully Documented Online
* IE8 Will Contain an Accidental Ad Blocker
* Software Quality In a Non-Software Company?
* Terror Watchlist "Crippled By Technical Flaws"
* Fuel-Cell Car Racing Series Aims To Spur Green Motoring
* California's Wireless Road Tolls Easily Hackable
* New Evidence Debunks "Stupid" Neanderthal
* Google Drops Bluetooth API From Android 1.0
* Gamepark Holdings Officially Announces the WIZ Handheld
* Scientists Discover Cows Point North
* Web Fraud 2.0 — Point-and-Click Cracking Tools
* Examining Portal's Teleportation Code
* Paralyzed Man Walks Again Using Exoskeleton
* MapReduce Goes Commercial, Integrated With SQL
* TELUS Forcing Customers Off Unlimited Plans
* Phil Zimmermann Replies To CNet On Biden
* Psystar Will Countersue Apple
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| Websites Still Failing Basic Privacy Practices |
| from the after-all-these-years dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Monday August 25, @21:58 (Privacy) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/25/2251212 |
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DigitAl56K writes "Large companies still can't seem to get the basics of
privacy and security on the Web pulled together. Today I went to enter a
[0]competition from Duracell to win a Nintendo Wii by filling out an
online form. It requires entering your full name, address, and date of
birth, and then proceeds to submit it via an unencrypted HTTP POST. The
ultimate irony is the message at the bottom of the page that reads: 'Trust
is a cornerstone of our corporate mission, and the success of our
business depends on it. P&G is committed to maintaining your trust by
protecting personal information we collect.' Which websites have you
found to be lacking in their basic privacy practices?"
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/25/2251212
Links:
0. http://duracell.com/Wii
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| LHC Fully Documented Online |
| from the twenty-seven-kilometers-of-documentation dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Monday August 25, @23:51 (The Internet) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/0028205 |
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Physicser writes "Want to read every single technical detail of the
[0]design and construction of the Large Hadron Collider and its six
detectors? The whole shebang ?€? seven reports totaling 1600 pages, 115 MB,
with contributions from 8000 scientists and engineers ?€? [1]has been
published electronically by the Journal of Instrumentation, free to read
without a subscription."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/26/0028205
Links:
0. http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/breaking/2008/08/25/free-online-full-documentation-for-the-large-hadron-collider/
1. http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/-page=extra.lhc/jinst
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| IE8 Will Contain an Accidental Ad Blocker |
| from the inprivate-blocking dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday August 26, @02:39 (Privacy) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/0046203 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
JagsLive sends in a Washington Post blog post reflecting on one
privacy-enhancing feature of the upcoming Internet Explorer 8, the
so-called "[0]InPrivate Blocking" that has privacy advocates quietly
cheering, and advertisers seriously worrying. Here is [1]Microsoft's
description of the feature. From the Post: "The advertising industry is
bracing for trouble from the next version of Microsoft's Internet
Explorer, details of which were announced today, because it will offer a
feature that blocks some ads and other content from third-parties that
shows up on Web pages. A Microsoft spokesman said that the feature, to be
known as 'InPrivate Blocking,' was never designed to be an ad blocker,
though 'there may be ads that get blocked.' Instead, it was designed to
stop tracking 'pixels' or pieces of code that could allow third-party
sites to track users as they move around the Web."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/26/0046203
Links:
0. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2008/08/accidental_ad_blocker.html
1. http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/08/25/ie8-and-privacy.aspx
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Software Quality In a Non-Software Company? |
| from the tail-that-wags-the-dog dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday August 26, @05:23 (Software) |
| http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/0113221 |
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Nicros writes "I work for a publicly traded biotech company that happens
to write software that is, in fact, kind of critical for the business ?€?
without it no data would ever be read from our instruments, and no
analyses would be performed on that data. The problem is that as a
'biotech' company, we are not taking software quality seriously. We have
no senior management with any history of commercial software development
?€? our C level has really no clue whatsoever what software really is, much
less what is going on in software development. All of our quality
processes are related to manufacturing our system (not software), so we
are constantly forced into ad-hoc development since there is no real
process for our development. Repeated requests to hire someone with some
real commercial software development experience have gone unanswered. I
have been to the CEO directly one-on-one and although he agreed this was
an issue, thanked me, and said he would look into it, that was the end of
it. He has bigger things to worry about. So the question: Is this just a
fact of life and I need to deal the best I can? What else can I do to get
some attention on software quality in the company?"
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/26/0113221
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Terror Watchlist "Crippled By Technical Flaws" |
| from the little-bobby-datas-we-call-him dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday August 26, @08:08 (Government) |
| http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/0131221 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "The database used by the
government to generate lists like the No-Fly List is '[1]crippled by
technical flaws,' according to the chairman of a House technology
oversight subcommittee. And the upgrade may be worse than the original.
Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) says that 'if actually deployed, [the upgrade]
will leave our country more vulnerable than the existing yet flawed
system in operation today.' It seems that the current database doesn't
have any easy way to do plain-text matching, forcing users to enter SQL
queries. That might not sound so bad until you learn that the database
contains 463 poorly indexed tables. How long until there's a terrorist
named [2]Robert'); DROP DATABASE; ?€??"
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/26/0131221
Links:
0. http://www.eff.org/support
1. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080825-terror-watchlist-upgrade-is-imploding-legislator-charges.html
2. http://xkcd.com/327/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Fuel-Cell Car Racing Series Aims To Spur Green Motoring |
| from the li-ion-batteries-of-course dept. |
| posted by timothy on Tuesday August 26, @09:01 (Transportation) |
| http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/1232206 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Anonymous Cow writes "The world's first international fuel-cell
powered motor racing series [1]kicked off in Rotterdam over the weekend.
The organisers hope that '[2]Formula Zero,' like Formula 1, can become a
forum for competing technology as much as anything else, helping green
consumer cars to become better."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/26/1232206
Links:
0. http://technology.newscientist.com/
1. http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn14596-formula-zero-kart-race-could-drive-fuel-cell-technology.html
2. http://www.formulazero.nl/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| California's Wireless Road Tolls Easily Hackable |
| from the no-sir-I-was-in-seattle-at-the-time dept. |
| posted by timothy on Tuesday August 26, @09:54 (Security) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/1335257 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Nate Lawson, a researcher at RootLabs, [0]has
found a way to clone the wireless transponders used by the Bay Area
[1]FasTrak road toll system. This means you can copy the ID of another
driver onto your own device and, as a result, travel for free while
others foot the bill. Lawson also raises the interesting point of using
the FasTrak system to create false alibis, by overwriting one's own ID
onto another driver's device before committing a crime. Luckily, Lawson
wasn't sued before he could reveal his research, unlike [2]those pesky
MIT students."
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/26/1335257
Links:
0. http://technologyreview.com/Infotech/21301/
1. http://www.bayareafastrak.org/
2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/09/1812256&tid=153
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| New Evidence Debunks "Stupid" Neanderthal |
| from the new-yorker-redrawing-decades-of-cartoons dept. |
| posted by timothy on Tuesday August 26, @11:30 (Science) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/1524214 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]ThinkComp writes "In what could possibly be a major blow to a
scientific consensus that has held for decades, recent research suggests
that the traditional conception of Neanderthals being "stupider" than
Homo sapiens may in fact be misleading. As [1]articles [2]about [3]the
[4]research [5]findings state, 'early stone tool technologies developed
by our species, Homo sapiens, were no more efficient than those used by
Neanderthals.' The data used in the study is [6]available on-line along
with a visual description of the process used."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/26/1524214
Links:
0. http://www.thinkcomputer.com/
1. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080825203924.htm
2. http://news.scotsman.com/uk/Stone-me--he39s-smart.4424738.jp
3. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1605164.ece
4. http://scienceblogs.com/gnxp/2008/08/refuting_evolutionary_material.php?utm_source=sbhomepage&utm_medium=link&utm_content=channellink
5. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/why-neanderthal-man-may-not-have-been-as-stupid-as-he-looks-908628.html
6. http://www.thinkcomputer.com/research/index.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Google Drops Bluetooth API From Android 1.0 |
| from the first-draft dept. |
| posted by timothy on Tuesday August 26, @12:22 (Cellphones) |
| http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/168251 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Ian Lamont writes "Google has [1]dropped Bluetooth and the
GTalkService instant messaging APIs from the set of tools for Android 1.0,
but says that handsets using the Android OS will work with other
Bluetooth devices such as headsets. According to a [2]post on the
official Android developer blog, Google dropped the Bluetooth API from
the mobile OS because 'we plain ran out of time.' The GTalkService API
was removed because of security concerns that included the possibility of
applications revealing more details about users than they might want to
let out, such as their real names and e-mail addresses."
Discuss this story at:
http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/26/168251
Links:
0. http://www.thestandard.com/people/i-lamont550036
1. http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/08/26/google-drops-bluetooth-gtalkservice-apis-android-1-0
2. http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2008/08/some-information-on-apis-removed-in.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Gamepark Holdings Officially Announces the WIZ Handheld |
| from the no-more-aa-goodness dept. |
| posted by timothy on Tuesday August 26, @13:15 (Handhelds) |
| http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/170222 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Croakyvoice writes "[0]Gamepark Holdings, the makers of the [1]GP2X
Console, have today [2]announced the successor, which is called the WIZ.
The new GBA Micro-sized console features a touchscreen, Linux OS, an Arm9
533MHZ 3D processor with 64MB of ram and will have commercial games on
sale at launch in October. Best of all for fans of [3]homebrew and
emulation on the GP2X, all that needs to be done is recompiling of
sourcecode."
Discuss this story at:
http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/26/170222
Links:
0. http://www.gp2xwiz.co.kr/
1. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/18/0534238&tid=184
2. http://gp2x-emulation.dcemu.co.uk/the-wiz-coming-in-october-533mhz-homebrew-handheld-141970.html
3. http://archive.gp2x.de/cgi-bin/cfiles.cgi
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Scientists Discover Cows Point North |
| from the throw-away-your-compass dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Tuesday August 26, @13:44 (Science) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/1514226 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Dr Sabine Begall and colleagues from the University of Duisburg-Essen
have discovered that [0]cows tend to point north. The researchers studied
deer in the Czech Republic and looked at thousands of images of cattle on
Google Earth. The animals tended to face north when eating or resting.
"We conclude that the magnetic field is the only common and most likely
factor responsible for the observed alignment," the scientists wrote in
an article. I guess cows will become the must-have item for long-distance
hikers now. Having an edible compass would come in handy if you get lost.
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/26/1514226
Links:
0. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2623809/Cows-point-north-thanks-to-in-built-compasses.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Web Fraud 2.0 — Point-and-Click Cracking Tools |
| from the getting-too-easy dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday August 26, @14:08 (Security) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/1735212 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "The Washington Post's Security Fix blog is
running a fascinating series that peers inside some of the [0]Web-based
services cyber crooks are using to ply their trade: from masking their
identity, to defeating CAPTCHAs, to creating counterfeit documents and
validating stolen credit and debit cards. Everyone familiar with this
space hears about these kinds of tools and services all the time in the
abstract, but the Post blog includes screen shots and background details
on the popularity of the services and how each one is helping to bring
cyber crime that much closer to the realm of even the most newbie scam
artists." Many of these tools require a working knowledge of Russian.
Wouldn't surprise me to learn that Chinese-language tools exist too.
Discuss this story at:
nla_internal_3407729.jpg 0. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/web_fraud_20/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Examining Portal's Teleportation Code |
| from the wall-to-wall-coverage dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday August 26, @14:55 (Games) |
| http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/1728252 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Gamasutra is running a story deconstructing [0]the mechanics of Portal's
teleportation programming. They present a snippet of Portal's code and a
downloadable demo. They ran another article in this series earlier this
year with an analysis [1]Mario Galaxy's unique take on physics. We've
discussed [2]the development of Portal in the past. "Teleport mechanics
in video games are nothing new. Puzzles from the original Gauntlet were
memorable -- and more than likely, that wasn't the first game to use
teleportation as a gameplay mechanic. The difference between Portal and
all those that came before it is that Portal's teleportation acts as a
frictionless tube between point A and point B. Physics are still hard at
work inside the frictionless tube. Instead of simply repositioning an
object from point A to point B, the player enters point A with full
velocity and exits point B with the same speed, but moving in a new
direction." Update: 8/26 at 19:37 by SS: Dan notes that the code was not
directly from Portal; it was written to approximate Portal's physics.
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/26/1728252
Links:
0. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3770/games_demystified_portal.php
1. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3593/games_demystified_super_mario_.php
2. http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/01/159234&tid=206
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Paralyzed Man Walks Again Using Exoskeleton |
| from the somewhere-there-is-a-crime-happening dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday August 26, @15:55 (Robotics) |
| http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/1854219 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]dominique_cimafranca notes a story up at the Daily Mail in the UK
about a partially paralyzed man who is able to [1]walk again using an
exoskeleton frame. The article goes a bit far in comparing the device to
Robocop, but it does show pictures of the man, paralyzed for the last 20
years, regaining some use of his legs. Quoting: "The device, called
ReWalk, is the brainchild of engineer Amit Goffer, founder of Argo
Medical Technologies, a small Israeli high-tech company. Something of a
mix between the exoskeleton of a crustacean and the suit worn by Robocop,
ReWalk helps paraplegics ?€? people paralyzed below the waist ?€? to stand,
walk and climb stairs. The system, which requires crutches to help with
balance, consists of motorized leg supports, body sensors and a back pack
containing a computerized control box and rechargeable batteries."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/26/1854219
Links:
0. http://villageidiotsavant.blogspot.com/
1. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1049215/Paralysed-man-walks-thanks-Robocop-style-exoskeleton.html?printingPage=true
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| MapReduce Goes Commercial, Integrated With SQL |
| from the patterns-in-the-data dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday August 26, @16:48 (Databases) |
| http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/205226 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]CurtMonash writes "MapReduce sits at [1]the heart of Google's data
processing ?€? and Yahoo's, Facebook's and LinkedIn's as well. But it's
been [2]highly controversial, due to an apparent conflict with standard
data warehousing common sense. Now two data warehouse DBMS vendors,
[3]Greenplum and Aster Data, have announced the [4]integration of
MapReduce into their SQL database managers. I think [5]MapReduce could
give a major boost to high-end analytics, specifically to applications in
three areas: 1) Text tokenization, indexing, and search; 2) Creation of
other kinds of data structures (e.g., graphs); and 3) Data mining and
machine learning. (Data transformation may belong on that list as well.)
All these areas could yield better results if there were better
performance, and MapReduce offers the possibility of major processing
speed-ups."
Discuss this story at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/26/205226
Links:
0. http://www.dbms2.com/
1. http://www.dbms2.com/2008/08/26/known-applications-of-mapreduce/
2. http://www.dbms2.com/2008/01/18/the-great-mapreduce-debate/
3. http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/25/1215257&tid=221
4. http://www.dbms2.com/2008/08/25/mapreduce-links/
5. http://www.dbms2.com/2008/08/26/why-mapreduce-matters-to-sql-data-warehousing/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| TELUS Forcing Customers Off Unlimited Plans |
| from the can't-eat-all-that dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday August 26, @17:42 (Cellphones) |
| http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/2037207 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Canadian telco TELUS sold a bunch of
(expensive) Unlimited EV-DO aircard accounts last winter and are now
summarily canceling them or forcing people to switch to much less
valuable plans. TELUS is citing 'Violations,' but their Terms Of Service
(see #5) are [0]utterly vague and self-contradictory. The TELUS plans
were marketed as being unlimited, without the soft/hard caps that the
other providers had at the time. They were purchased by a lot of rural
Canadians who had no other choice except dialup. Now TELUS is forcing
everyone to switch from a $75 Unlimited plan to a $65 1GB plan, and
canceling those who won't switch. Have a look at the [1]thread at
Howardforums, a [2]discussion of the TELUS ToS (in red at the bottom), an
[3]EV-DO blogger who's been a victim, a post at [4]Electronista, and of
course [5]Verizon getting fined for doing the same thing! Michael Geist
has [6]taken an interest as well."
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/26/2037207
Links:
0. http://www.telusmobility.com/about/mike_pcs_pt_policy.shtml
1. http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?p=11591072%23post11591072
2. http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?p=11588707#post11588707
3. http://evdo-novascotia.blogspot.com/
4. http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/08/25/telus.pushes.ul.data.users/
5. http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2007/oct/oct23a_07.html
6. http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/3322/196/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Phil Zimmermann Replies To CNet On Biden |
| from the setting-the-record-straight dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday August 26, @18:38 (Democrats) |
| http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/2126214 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
A couple of days ago we discussed a CNet article on the [0]tech voting
record of Joe Biden, Barack Obama's running mate. [1]Philip Zimmermann,
who was mentioned in that piece, sends the following note to set the
record straight. "In his 23 August opinion piece in CNet, Declan
McCullagh [2]wrote on Joe Biden's suitability as the Democratic VP
nominee, Declan quotes me, creating the impression I criticized Biden for
some legislation that Biden introduced in 1991. Declan's quote from me is
out of context because it does not make it clear that I never mentioned
Biden in my original quote at all when I wrote about Senate Bill 266.
Second, Declan's quote is drawn from remarks I wrote in 1999. Declan
seems to be trying to draft me in his opposition to Biden, and, by
extension, makes it seem as if I am against the Democratic ticket. I take
issue with this." Read below for the rest of Phil's comments.
This story continues at:
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/2126214
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/26/2126214
Links:
0. http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/24/1332259&tid=225
1. http://philzimmermann.com/
2. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10024163-38.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Psystar Will Countersue Apple |
| from the take-that dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday August 26, @19:31 (The Courts) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/2148250 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader sends us to CNet for news that Apple clone maker
[0]Pystar plans to countersue Apple. We discussed [1]Apple's suit last
month. "Mac clone maker Psystar plans to file its answer to Apple's
copyright infringement lawsuit Tuesday as well as a countersuit of its
own, alleging that Apple engages in anticompetitive business practices.
Miami-based Psystar... will sue Apple under two federal laws designed to
discourage monopolies and cartels, the Sherman Antitrust Act and the
Clayton Antitrust Act, saying Apple's tying of the Mac OS to
Apple-labeled hardware is 'an anticompetitive restraint of trade,'
according to [an] attorney... Psystar is requesting that the court find
Apple's EULA void, and is asking for unspecified damages."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/26/2148250
Links:
0. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10026033-37.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
1. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/07/15/1739202&tid=123
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