http://slashdot.org/firehose.pl News for nerds, stuff that matters en-us Copyright 1997-2009, Geeknet, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2009-12-28T11:33:05+00:00 Geeknet, Inc. help@slashdot.org Technology hourly 1 1970-01-01T00:00+00:00 http://a.fsdn.com/sd/topics/topicslashdot.gif http://slashdot.org/firehose.pl //slashdot.org/submission/1140902/Chinese-pirates-launch-Ubuntu-that-looks-like-XP?from=rss Just as the title suggests: Ylmf, famous for pirating Windows XP, have just released a version of Ubuntu that looks JUST like Windows XP. Really, really similar. Apparently because Microsoft were cracking down on the actual Windows XP pirating — though, I think they will still suffer for ripping off the GUI _exactly_. Anonymous Coward 2009-12-27T23:35:53+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1140572/Star-Trek-Synthehol-beta-goes-into-development?from=rss Researchers at the Imperial College London have announced development of an alcohol substitute that has many of the same properties as the Sythehol from the series Star Trek in that one will get a buzz from it but will not end up with a hangover. In addition you will have the option of getting immediately sober if you so desire it. Let's hope this is not the typical vaporware. It is not that I really want a drink of Synthehol but with its release I assume Romulan Ale won't be far behind. Ada_Rules 2009-12-26T17:00:35+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1139436/Voyager-Makes-an-Interstellar-Discovery?from=rss The solar system is passing through an interstellar cloud that physics says should not exist. In the Dec. 24th issue of Nature, a team of scientists reveal how NASA's Voyager spacecraft have solved the mystery. azoblue 2009-12-23T20:10:06+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1139918/NetBIOS-Design-Allows-Traffic-Redirection?from=rss Security researchers at SkullSecurity released research demonstrating how the NetBIOS protocol allows trivial hijacking due to its design; they have demonstrated this attack in a tool called 'nbpoison' (in the package 'nbtool'). If a DNS lookup fails on Windows, the operating system will broadcast a NetBIOS lookup request that anybody can respond to. One vector of attack is against business workstations on an untrusted network, like a hotel; all DNS requests for internal resources can be redirected (Exchange, proxy, WPAD, etc). Other attack vectors are discussed here. Although similar attacks exist against DHCP, ARP, and many other LAN-based protocols, and we all know that untrusted systems on a LAN means game over, NetBIOS poisoning is much quieter and less likely to break other things. iago-vL 2009-12-24T16:51:41+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1139506/Cygwin-17-Released?from=rss The 1.7 branch of Cygwin, the Unix-like environment for Windows, has reached stable status after about 3 1/2 years of effort. Among many other changes, this release drops support for Windows 9x. Since the NT API and NT-based versions of Windows are more capable and somewhat less of a mismatch with POSIX (for instance, they include a security model), this has allowed for code path simplifications, better performance (particularly noticeable with pipe I/O), better security, and better POSIX compatibility. jensend 2009-12-24T00:23:19+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1140776/German-Wikipedia-reaches-1M-article-milestone?from=rss The German Wikipedia, the second largest language edition behind the English Wikipedia just reached it's 1,000,000 article milestone. Combined with 3.1M English articles and 240 other language editions, this adds up to a total of 14 million Wikipedia articles.Interestingly, there is a request for deletion on the 1Mth article. German Wikipedia has been criticized for its rules on notability, which are stricter than on the English Wikipedia. Quality though, is often considered to be higher on the German Wikipedia. saibot834 2009-12-27T12:59:06+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1140600/How-to-teach-a-12-year-old-to-program?from=rss I've got a much younger brother who I'd like to teach how to program. When I was younger, you'd often start off with something like BASIC or Apple BASIC, maybe move on to Pascal, and eventually get to C and Java. Is something like Pascal still a dominant teaching language? I'd love to get low-level with him, and I firmly believe that C is the best language to eventually learn, but I'm not sure how to get him there. Can anyone recommend a language I can start to teach him that is simple enough to learn quickly, but powerful enough to do interesting things and lead him down a path towards C/C++? thelordx 2009-12-26T19:55:38+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1139980/Really-misleading-ads-from-broadband-providers?from=rss From the I-really-wish-they-asked-me-before-getting-into-that-contract department: Gizmodo has put together a good compilation of the — seemingly almost criminally — misleading (largely plain wrong) advertising from our favorite local monopolies. My personal favorite is from At&t which states you need 3 mbps to use social networking sites like facebook (an accurate but still absurd requirement might be a something to effect of needing a multiple core processor if you allow of the javascript & flash to run on said sites) Bourdain 2009-12-24T20:37:24+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1140332/Prevent-my-hosting-provider-from-rooting-my-server?from=rss I have a heavily-hit public server (web, mail, cvs/svn/git, dns, etc.) that runs a few dozen OSS project websites, as well as my own personal sites (gallery, blog, etc.). From time to time, the server has "unexpected" outages, which I've determined to be the result of hardware, network and other issues on behalf of the provider. I run a lot of monitoring and logging on the server-side, so I see and graph every single bit and byte in and out of the server and applications, so I know it's not the OS itself.When I file "WTF?" style support tickets to the provider through their web-based ticketing system, I often get the response of "Please provide us with the root password to your server so we can analyze your logs for the cause of the outage." Moments ago, there were 3 simultaneous outages, while I was logged into the server working on some projects. Server-side, everything was fine. They asked me for the root password, which I flatly denied (as I always do), and then they rooted the server anyway, bringing it down and poking around through my logs anyway. This is at least the third time they've done this without my approval or consent.Is it possible to create a minimal Linux boot that will allow me to reboot the server remotely, come back up with basic networking and ssh, and then from there, allow me to log in and mount the other application and data partitions under dm-crypt/loop-aes and friends?With sufficient memory and CPU, I could install VMware and run my entire system within a VM, and encrypt that. I could also use UML, and try to bury my data in there, but that's not encrypted. Ultimately, I'd like to have an encrypted system end-to-end, but if I do that, I can't reboot it remotely without entering the password at boot time. Since I'll be remote, that's a blocker for me.What does the Slashdot community have for ideas in this regard? What other technologies and options are at my disposal to try here (beyond litigation and jumping providers, both of which are on the short horizon ahead). hacker 2009-12-26T03:47:06+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1140856/NY-Times-LA-Times-Call-for-Amazon-Tax-Collection?from=rss Recalling that CEO Jeff Bezos originally explored placing Amazon.com on an Indian Reservation near San Francisco to "have access to talent without all the tax consequences," the NY Times argues it's time to put an end to the e-tailer's 'entity isolation' tax-avoidance games. The LA Times chimes in, saying Amazon's claims that collecting sales tax constitute an undue burden are 'worth a horselaugh', noting that Amazon boasts it has no problem keeping track of millions of unique products. theodp 2009-12-27T19:19:55+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1138922/Amazon-Kindle-proprietary-format-broken?from=rss The Register reports that the proprietary document format used by Amazon's Kindle and the Amazon online store have been successfully reverse engineered, allowing these DRM protected documents to be converted into the open MOBI format.Users of alternative E-book readers rejoice. Anonymous Coward 2009-12-23T01:47:16+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1139780/All-GPLed-Code-Removed-from-MonoDevelop?from=rss A few days ago, Miguel de Icaza wrote on his blog that the whole MonoDevelop is now "free" of GPL-licensed code. "MonoDevelop code is now LGPLv2 and MIT X11 licensed. We have removed all of the GPL code, allowing addins to use Apache, MS-PL code as well as allowing proprietary add-ins to be used with MonoDevelop (like RemObject;s Oxygene)." A move that may be seen as quite controversial. rysiek 2009-12-24T11:29:29+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1140898/GNU-Emacs-switches-from-CVS-to-Bazaar?from=rss GNU Emacs, one of the oldest continuously developed free software projects around, has switched from CVS to Bazaar. Emacs's first first recorded version-control commits date from August, 1985. Eight years later, in 1993, it moved to CVS. Sixteen years later, it is switching to Bazaar, its first time in a decentralized version control system. If this pattern holds, GNU Emacs will be in Bazaar for at least thirty-two years... kfogel 2009-12-27T23:17:29+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1140278/Soviet-Scientist-Turns-Foxes-Into-Puppies?from=rss In the 1950s, Soviet scientist Dmitri Belyaev set out to breed a tamer fox that would be easier for their handlers in the Russian fur industry to work with. Much to the scientist's shock, changes no one had expected emerged after just 10 generations. The foxes began behaving playfully, were smaller in size, and even changed color — much like dogs. gamebittk 2009-12-25T18:32:20+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1139586/US-Patent-Office-Tightens-Software-Patents?from=rss A decision from a key panel at the Patent Office builds on last year's Bilski decision to place new limits on software patents. Just running some algorithm on a PC and claiming that you've built a patentable "machine" may not work any more. Anonymous Coward 2009-12-24T05:16:12+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1139582/isoHunt-guilty-of-inducing-infringement?from=rss The MPAA has won a summary judgment against torrent indexing site isoHunt for inducing copyright infringement. Michael Geist notes that "[t]he judge ruled that the isoHunt case is little different from other U.S. cases such as Napster and Grokster, therefore concluding that there is no need to proceed to a full trial and granting Columbia Pictures request for summary judgment." Attorney Ben Sheffner, who worked on the case for Fox, explains some of the implications, noting that "the most significant ruling in the opinion was the court's holding that the DMCA's safe harbors are simply not available where inducement has been established." This case could have implications on other indexing sites, and creates a gap in the DMCA safe harbor provisions that could have far-reaching implications on other sites. roju 2009-12-24T05:04:16+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1139978/Testing-network-changes-when-no-test-labs-exist?from=rss The ugly truth is that many network guys secretly work on production equipment all the time, or test things on production networks when they face impossible deadlines. Management often expects us to get a job done but refuse to provide funds for expensive lab equipment, test circuits and for reasonable time to get testing done before moving equipment or configs into production. How do most of you handle such situations, and what recommendation do you have for creating a network test lab on the cheap, especially when core network devices are vendor-centric, like Cisco? vvaduva 2009-12-24T20:08:44+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1139482/Comcast-pays-for-blocking-large-file-transfers?from=rss Comcast Corp. has agreed to pay up to $16 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the cable TV operator of delaying transfers of large movie and music files despite promises of unfettered Internet access. hessian 2009-12-23T22:36:48+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1138850/BBCs-plan-to-kick-freeopen-source-out-of-UK-TV?from=rss Generally speaking, the BBC isn't allowed to encrypt or restrict its broadcasts: the licence fee payer pays for these broadcasts. But the BBC has tried to get around this, asking Ofcom for permission to encrypt the "metadata" on its broadcasts – including the assistive information used by deaf and blind people and the "tables" used by receivers to play back the video. As Ofcom gears up to a second consultation on the issue, there's one important question that the BBC must answer if the implications of this move are to be fully explored, namely: How can free/open source software co-exist with a plan to put DRM on broadcasts? bluec 2009-12-22T22:45:33+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1140010/Software-fraudster-fooled-CIA-into-terror-alert?from=rss The Register, citing this Playboy article, reports that a Nevada man named Dennis Montgomery was able in 2003 to connive his way into a position of respectabilty at the CIA on the basis of his company's claimed ability, using software, to "detect and decrypt 'barcodes' in broadcasts by Al Jazeera, the Qatari news station." Montgomery was CTO of Reno-based eTreppid Technologies, which produced bucketloads of data purported to represent "geographic coordinates and flight numbers." All of which, it seems, were hokum, finally debunked in cooperation with a branch of the French intelligence service — but not, says the article, before the fabricated information, chalked up to "credible sources," was used as justification to ground some international flights, and even evacuate New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. timothy 2009-12-25T00:11:53+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1138674/Congressman-wants-critic-blogger-sent-to-jail?from=rss Florida Rep. Alan Grayson wants to see one of his critics go directly to jail, all over her use of the word "my" on her blog. In a four-page letter sent to Holder, Grayson accuses Langley of lying to federal elections and requests that she be fined and imprisoned for five years. Her lie, according to Grayson, is that she claims to be one of his constituents. Langley, Grayson says, is misrepresenting herself by using the term "my" in the Web site's name. vvaduva 2009-12-22T16:12:11+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1138846/Comcast-Pays-Out-16Million-in-P2P-Throttling-Suit?from=rss Comcast has settled out of court to the tune of $16 million for P2P throttling class action lawsuit in Pennsylvania. You may be eligible for up to $16 restitution if 'you live in the United States or its Territories, have a current or former Comcast High-Speed Internet account, and either used or attempted to use Comcast service to use The Ares, BitTorrent, eDonkey, FastTrack or Gnutella P2P protocols at any time from April 1, 2006 to December 31, 2008; and/or Lotus Notes to send emails any time from March 26, 2007 to October 3, 2007.' $16 million seems a bit on the low end and it's too bad this was an out of court settlement instead of solid precedence for your right to use P2P applications and traffic. It's not clear on how this affects the slough of other Comcast P2P throttling suits or if they are included in this settlement or even if this satiates the FCC. eldavojohn 2009-12-22T22:41:19+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1139188/Telepathic-typing?from=rss "Why bother to type a document using a keyboard when you can write it by simply thinking about the letters?" asks this article. A brain wave study presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society shows that people with electrodes in their brains can "type"... using just their minds. The study involved electrocorticography — a sheet of electrodes laid directly on the surface of the brain after a surgical incision into the skull. ("We were able to consistently predict the desired letters for our patients at or near 100 percent accuracy," explains one Mayo clinic neurologist.) And besides typing, there's new brain wave applications that can now turn brain waves into music and even Twitter status updates — by thought alone. destinyland 2009-12-23T11:39:42+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1139388/Why-Coder-Pay-Isnt-Proportional-to-Productivity?from=rss John D. Cook takes a stab at explaining why programmers are not paid in proportion to their productivity. The basic problem, Cook explains, is that extreme programmer productivity may not be obvious. A salesman who sells 10x as much as his peers will be noticed, and compensated accordingly. And if a bricklayer were 10x more productive than his peers this would be obvious too (it doesn't happen). But the best programmers do not write 10x as many lines of code; nor do they work 10x longer hours. Programmers are most effective when they avoid writing code. An über-programmer, Cook explains, is likely to be someone stares quietly into space and then says "Hmm. I think I've seen something like this before." theodp 2009-12-23T17:49:24+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1140878/Whats-Happened-In-Mobile-Over-The-Past-Ten-Years?from=rss recombu.com has an article examining what's happened in mobile over the past ten years, including BlackBerry launching its first smart phone in 2002, Motorola launching the Razr in 2004 and Apple launching the iPhone in 2007. As a commenter points out, the first camera phone (Sharp J-SH04), which was released in 2000, featured a 110,000-pixel (0.11MP) CMOS image sensor, and a 256-colour (8 bit) display. "How things have come along!" Ten years is a relatively short amount of time and things have indeed "come along" so one can only imagine what the next ten years hold. andylim 2009-12-27T21:23:23+00:00