[Slashdot] Stories for 2010-07-31
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Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* 2 Chinese ISPs Serve 20% of World Broadband Users
* 1-in-1,000 Chance of Asteroid Impact In<nobr> <wbr></nobr>... 2182?
* 'Bizarre' Nanobubbles Found In Strained Graphene
* British ISPs Favour Well-Connected Customers
* Microsoft Unveils Street Slide Map UI
* High-Frequency Programmers Revolt Over Pay
* Mars Site May Hold 'Buried Life'
* To Ballmer, Grabbing iPad's Market Is 'Job One Urgency'
* Happy System Administrator Appreciation Day
* BlindType — the Amazing Keyboard of the Future
* China's Firewall Stymies Google; Users Confused
* Copyright Troll USCG Violates Copyright
* The Science of <em>Caddyshack</em>
* Dell and HP To Sell Oracle Operating Systems
* Woman's Nude Pics End Up Online After Call To Tech Support
* An iPhone App Store That Apple Doesn't Control
* New Mars Rover Rolls For the First Time
* What's Wrong With the American University System
* Tribalism Is the Enemy Within, Says Shuttleworth
* Google Adds Licensing Server DRM To Android Market
* ISC Offers Response Policy Zones For DNS
* Justice Department Joins Fraud Lawsuit Against Oracle
* How Should a Non-Techie Learn Programming?
* DefCon Contest Rattles FBI's Nerves
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2 Chinese ISPs Serve 20% of World Broadband Users |
| from the easier-to-choke-down-on dept. |
| posted by timothy on Thursday July 29, @22:46 (The Internet) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/07/29/2345248/2-Chinese-ISPs-Serve-20-of-World-Broadband|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
suraj.sun writes with this excerpt from Ars Technica: "If you need a
reminder of just how big China is—and just how important the Internet has
become there—consider this stat: between them, [0]two Chinese ISPs serve
20 percent of all broadband subscribers in the entire world and both
companies continue to grow, even as growth slows significantly in more
developed markets. Every other ISP trails dramatically. Japan's NTT comes
in third with 17 million subscribers, and all US providers are smaller
still. 'The gap between the top two operators and the world's remaining
broadband service providers will continue to grow rapidly,' said
TeleGeography Research Director Tania Harvey. 'Aside from the two Chinese
companies, all of the top ten broadband ISPs operate in mature markets,
with high levels of broadband penetration and rapidly slowing subscriber
growth.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/29/2345248
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| 1-in-1,000 Chance of Asteroid Impact In<nobr> <wbr></nobr>... 2182? |
| from the sorry-kids dept. |
| posted by timothy on Friday July 30, @01:57 (Earth) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/0213222/1-in-1000-Chance-of-Asteroid-Impact-In-|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]astroengine writes "Sure, [1]we're looking 172 years into the future,
but an international collaboration of scientists have developed two
mathematical models to help predict when a potentially hazardous asteroid
(or PHA) may hit us, not in this century, but the next. The rationale is
that to stand any hope in deflecting a civilization-ending or
extinction-level impact, we need as much time as possible to deal with
the threatening space rock. ([2]Asteroid deflection can be a
time-consuming venture, after all.) Enter '(101955) 1999 RQ36' — an
Apollo class, Earth-crossing, 500 meter-wide space rock. The prediction
is that 1999 RQ36 has a 1-in-1,000 chance of hitting us in the future,
and according to one of the study's scientists, María Eugenia Sansaturio,
half of those odds fall squarely on the year 2182."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/0213222
Links:
0. http://www.astroengine.com/
1. http://news.discovery.com/space/future-hazard-1-in-1000-chance-of-asteroid-impact-in-2182.html
2. http://news.discovery.com/space/top-10-asteroid-deflection.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 'Bizarre' Nanobubbles Found In Strained Graphene |
| from the put-them-in-very-small-asylums dept. |
| posted by timothy on Friday July 30, @05:04 (Science) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/0257230/Bizarre-Nanobubbles-Found-In-Strained-G|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
schliz writes "Physicists have observed [0]'bizarre' behaviour in
graphene electrons that they say could make the material even more
suitable to replace silicon in future electronic devices. When strained
in a particular manner, [1]nanobubbles formed on a sheet of graphene,
within which electrons came to occupy particular, quantum energy levels
rather than the usual, continuous range of energies in unstrained
graphene. By controlling electrons' energy levels, researchers could
control how easily they moved through graphene — in effect, controlling
their conductivity, optical, or microwave properties."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/0257230
Links:
0. http://www.itnews.com.au/News/221379,graphene-nanobubbles-could-improve-switches-sensors.aspx
1. http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2010/07/29_graphene.shtml
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| British ISPs Favour Well-Connected Customers |
| from the thumb-on-the-scale dept. |
| posted by timothy on Friday July 30, @08:12 (Advertising) |
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/008259/British-ISPs-Favour-Well-Connected-Customer|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
scurtis writes "An insider has told eWEEK Europe that some Internet
service providers in the UK [0]only sign-up customers who can be
guaranteed a good service, in order to improve average speed claims. The
revelation comes after the regulator Ofcom [1]criticised broadband
service providers earlier this week for not delivering the speeds
promised to consumers. Meanwhile, TalkTalk's chairman Charles Dunstone
has argued that [2]Ofcom could be doing a lot more to push BT — as the
operator of the copper infrastructure — to improve maintenance of the
lines and its communication with fellow service providers."
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/008259
Links:
0. http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/insiders-hit-back-at-ofcom-broadband-criticism-8690
1. http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/ofcom-slams-isps-for-misleading-broadband-speeds-8639
2. http://www.talktalkblog.co.uk/2010/07/27/broadband-speed-%E2%80%93-the-facts/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Microsoft Unveils Street Slide Map UI |
| from the how-it-ought-to-be dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Friday July 30, @08:58 (Microsoft) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/122222/Microsoft-Unveils-Street-Slide-Map-UI |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
theodp writes "For show-and-tell at SIGGRAPH 2010, [0]Microsoft Research
brought Street Slide, 'a multi-perspective street slide panorama with
navigational aides and mini-map.' Very slick ([1]demo video). Technology
Review explains that Street Slide [2]stitches together slices from
multiple panoramas, making it possible to see all the shops on a street
at once. Someone using Street Slide's panoramic view can slide along the
facades looking for places of interest (perhaps guided by logos or ads at
the bottom), and zoom back in to a classic Bing Streetside bubble view at
any time."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/122222
Links:
0. http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/kopf/street_slide/index.html
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-_T949uSwU
2. http://www.technologyreview.com/web/25880/page1/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| High-Frequency Programmers Revolt Over Pay |
| from the crying-all-the-way dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Friday July 30, @09:43 (Businesses) |
| https://developers.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/1223224/High-Frequency-Programmers-Revolt-Ov|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Programmers who design and code algorithms
for investment banking are [0]unhappy with their salaries. Many of them
receive a low 6-figure salary whereas their bosses — who manipulate these
algorithms and execute the trades — often earn millions. One such
anonymous programmer points out that he was paid $150,000 per year,
whereas the software he wrote was generating $100,000 per day."
Discuss this story at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/1223224
Links:
0. http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/28/high-frequency-trading-personal-finance-programmer-pay.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Mars Site May Hold 'Buried Life' |
| from the is-that-calcium-carbonate-or-are-you-just-glad-to-see-me dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Friday July 30, @10:24 (Mars) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/1240250/Mars-Site-May-Hold-Buried-Life |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
sridharo sends in a report from the BBC that researchers have identified
[0]ancient rocks from Nili Fossae that could contain fossilized remains
of life. These rocks are very similar to Pilbara rocks in northwest
Australia. The rocks are estimated to be up to four billion years old,
which means they have been around for three-quarters of the history of
Mars. "[Many] scientists had hoped that they would soon have the
opportunity to get much closer to these rocks. Nili Fossae was put
forward as a potential landing site for NASA's ambitious new rover, the
Mars Science Laboratory, which will be launched in 2011. ... But Nilae
Fossae was eventually deemed too dangerous a landing site and it was
finally removed from the list in June of this year." The research, led by
a scientist from the SETI Institute, was published in the journal Earth
and Planetary Science Letters.
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/1240250
Links:
0. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10790648
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| To Ballmer, Grabbing iPad's Market Is 'Job One Urgency' |
| from the slate-envy dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Friday July 30, @11:11 (Microsoft) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/1257201/To-Ballmer-Grabbing-iPads-Market-Is-Job-On|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Barence writes "Microsoft's [0]Steve Ballmer has vented his frustration
at the success of the iPad and said developing a Windows alternative is
'job one urgency.' 'Apple has done an interesting job of putting together
a synthesis and putting a product out, and in which they've... they sold
certainly more than I'd like them to sell, let me just be clear about
that,' Ballmer told analysts. The Microsoft boss said the company plans
to deliver a range of tablet formats in the next year, some based on
Intel's next-gen Oak Trail processor. 'It is job one urgency around here.
Nobody is sleeping at the switch. And so we are working with those
partners, not just to deliver something, but to deliver products that
people really want to go buy.'" In Microsoft's vision, slates will run a
derivative of Windows 7.
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/1257201
Links:
0. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/359887/ballmer-urgently-wants-to-launch-ipad-killer
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Happy System Administrator Appreciation Day |
| from the how-about-some-green-appreciation dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Friday July 30, @11:50 (Networking) |
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/1316236/Happy-System-Administrator-Appreciation-Day |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
ArbiterOne writes "The 11th Annual [0]System Administrator Appreciation
Day is today. Celebrated worldwide on the last Friday of July, this day
honors those who fight in the digital trenches to keep the Net alive.
OpenDNS offers [1]a way to remind your boss about the holiday, while
another blogger [2]shares war stories. The startup Ksplice has created an
[3]homage to these heroes in the style of Choose Your Own Adventure."
Reader Netbuzz submits a sobering look at the profession from Network
World, which notes, "In the past year, [4][sysadmins'] pay has dropped,
and more of their positions are being farmed out to temporary workers."
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/1316236
Links:
0. http://sysadminday.com/
1. http://www.opendns.com/feedback/boss_reminder/
2. http://blogs.artvoice.com/techvoice/2010/07/29/friday-is-international-system-administrator-day/
3. http://blog.ksplice.com/2010/07/choose-your-own-sysadmin-adventure/
4. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/073010-system-admin-day.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| BlindType — the Amazing Keyboard of the Future |
| from the do-what-i-mean dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Friday July 30, @12:13 (Input Devices) |
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/161240/BlindType-mdash-the-Amazing-Keyboard-of|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
kkleiner writes "BlindType has [0]created a new touchscreen keyboard
program of the same name that changes size, orientation, and position to
match your wandering fingers as they type. BlindType also features some
of the most impressive typing correction software I've ever seen. The
result is a practical touchscreen interface that knows what you meant to
type, even if you make mistakes. Lots of them. In fact, you can type
without looking at the screen at all."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/161240
Links:
0. http://singularityhub.com/2010/07/29/exclusive-i-used-blindtype-virtual-keyboard-of-the-future/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| China's Firewall Stymies Google; Users Confused |
| from the death-by-a-thousand-disruptions dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Friday July 30, @12:34 (Google) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/1421249/Chinas-Firewall-Stymies-Google-Users-Confus|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
eldavojohn writes "[0]Massive confusion occurred last night for Google's
Chinese search engine and ad services when Google's automated reporting
system [1]claimed that everything was blocked in China. The problem was
that most users experienced no outage despite Google's reports and
[2]Google has backpedaled on those reports. Google explained that their
tool for detecting blockage is not 'real-time': 'Because of the way we
measure accessibility in China, it's possible that our machines could
overestimate the level of blockage. That seems to be what happened last
night when there was a relatively small blockage. It appears now that
users in China are accessing our properties normally.' The WSJ blogger
notes, 'Beijing may not need to cancel Google's license. Death by a
thousand disruptions could be just as effective.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/1421249
Links:
0. http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/07/30/google-china-confusion-%E2%80%93-again/
1. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/google-search-engine-is-blocked-in-china/
2. http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15634004
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Copyright Troll USCG Violates Copyright |
| from the do-as-i-say dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Friday July 30, @13:14 (Crime) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/1458200/Copyright-Troll-USCG-Violates-Copyright |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
omarlittle writes "The US Copyright Group — a company owned by
intellectual property lawyers, which has been in the news for
[0]threatening downloaders of the movie Hurt Locker — has apparently
[1]stolen their site from a competitor. At one point, even the
competitor's phone number and copyright statement were copied word for
word on USCG's 'settlement' website. The competitor is reportedly going
to send a Cease & Desist."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/1458200
Links:
0. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/03/30/2352256/New-Litigation-Targets-20000-BitTorrent-Using-Downloaders
1. http://torrentfreak.com/u-s-copyright-group-steal-competitors-website-100730/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The Science of <em>Caddyshack</em> |
| from the it's-in-the-hole dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Friday July 30, @13:28 (It's funny. Laugh.) |
| https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/1643230/The-Science-of-Caddyshack |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]astroengine writes "[1]Thirty years after the release of the cult
classic comedy Caddyshack, Discovery News has geeked out and gone on the
hunt for [2]any trace amount of science they can find in the movie
(video). From gopher territoriality to seismic deformation, from pool
poop bacteria to the color of lightning, it turns out there's quite a lot
of science to talk about..."
Discuss this story at:
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/1643230
Links:
0. http://www.astroengine.com/
1. http://www.pgatour.com/2010/r/07/26/caddyshack-intro/
2. http://news.discovery.com/videos/earth-the-science-of-caddyshack.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Dell and HP To Sell Oracle Operating Systems |
| from the cross-contamination dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 30, @13:55 (Oracle) |
| https://developers.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/1730259/Dell-and-HP-To-Sell-Oracle-Operating|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]angry tapir writes "Oracle has announced that rival hardware vendors
Dell and Hewlett-Packard intend to [1]certify and resell its Solaris and
Enterprise Linux operating systems as well as Oracle VM on their x86
servers. The announcement '[2]demonstrates Oracle's commitment to
openness,' company co-president Charles Phillips said in a statement."
Discuss this story at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/1730259
Links:
0. http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/
1. http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/355052/dell_hp_resell_oracle_operating_systems/
2. http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/server-os/2010/07/30/oracle-signs-solaris-deals-with-hp-and-dell-40089696/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Woman's Nude Pics End Up Online After Call To Tech Support |
| from the how-was-your-service-today? dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Friday July 30, @14:31 (The Internet) |
| https://idle.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/1741239/Womans-Nude-Pics-End-Up-Online-After-Call-|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Tara Fitzgerald [0]couldn't find the nude pictures she planned on sending
to her boyfriend, but instead of just taking more, she decided to see if
a Dell tech support call could fix her problem. Apparently the tech
support guy found them. Unfortunately, he then put them up on a site
called "bitchtara."
Discuss this story at:
http://idle.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/1741239
Links:
0. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/scavenger/detail?entry_id=68992
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| An iPhone App Store That Apple Doesn't Control |
| from the mr-jobs-tear-down-that-wall dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 30, @14:38 (Iphone) |
| https://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/1812200/An-iPhone-App-Store-That-Apple-Doesnt-Con|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
waderoush writes "Princeton's Ed Felten has [0]criticized the iPhone and
iPad as Disneyland-like 'walled gardens' and says there's no way the
iTunes App Store can 'offer the scope and variety of apps that a less
controlled environment can provide.' Now there's a central marketplace
where developers can sell iPhone-optimized apps without going through
Apple's gatekeepers. Launched today, it's called [1]OpenAppMkt and it's a
showcase for mobile Web apps — not just the type seen back in 2007-2008,
before the advent of the App Store, but also for new games and other apps
developed using HTML5/CSS/JavaScript (in some cases, the same apps
compiled and sold as native iPhone apps). Xconomy has a
[2]behind-the-scenes interview with OpenAppMkt's creators, who say
they're not out to compete with the native App Store, but that developers
deserve new ways to reach users."
Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/1812200
Links:
0. http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/felten/ipad-disneyland-computers
1. http://www.openappmkt.com/
2. http://www.xconomy.com/national/2010/07/30/openappmkt-the-return-of-the-iphone-web-app/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| New Mars Rover Rolls For the First Time |
| from the keep-them-doggies-rollin dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 30, @14:56 (Mars) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/1834216/New-Mars-Rover-Rolls-For-the-First-Time|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]wooferhound writes "Like proud parents savoring their baby's very
first steps, mission team members gathered in a gallery above a clean
room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to [1]watch the Mars Curiosity
rover roll for the first time. Engineers and technicians wore bunny suits
while guiding Curiosity through its first steps, or more precisely, its
first roll on the clean room floor. The rover moved forward and backward
about 1 meter (3.3 feet). Mars Science Laboratory (aka Curiosity) is
scheduled to launch in fall 2011 and land on the Red Planet in August
2012. Curiosity is the largest rover ever sent to Mars. It will carry 10
instruments that will help search an intriguing region of the Red Planet
for two things: environments where life might have existed, and the
capacity of those environments to preserve evidence of past life."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/1834216
Links:
0. mailto:tim@NOsPAm.wooferhound.com
1. http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1026
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| What's Wrong With the American University System |
| from the not-enough-belushi dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 30, @15:17 (Education) |
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/1825203/Whats-Wrong-With-the-American-University-S|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
ideonexus writes "The Atlantic has an excellent interview with Andrew
Hacker — co-author with Claudia Dreifus of a book titled Higher
Education? — covering [0]everything that's wrong with the American
university system. The discussion ranges from entrenched tenured
professors more concerned with publishing and parking spaces than quality
teaching; to 22-year-old students with unrealistic expectations that some
company will put them in a management position after graduating with
six-figures of debt; to football teams siphoning money away from academic
programs so that student tuitions must increase to compensate. It really
lays out the farce of university culture and reminds me of everything I
absolutely despised about my college life. Dreifus is active in the
comments section of the article as well, lending to a fantastic
discussion on the subject."
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/1825203
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Tribalism Is the Enemy Within, Says Shuttleworth |
| from the can't-we-all-just-get-along dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 30, @15:57 (Open Source) |
| https://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/1855203/Tribalism-Is-the-Enemy-Within-Says-Shuttl|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]climenole points out a post from Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth
about [1]internal strife in the free software community. He wrote,
"Tribalism is when one group of people start to think people from another
group are 'wrong by default.' It's the great-granddaddy of racism and
sexism. And the most dangerous kind of tribalism is completely invisible:
it has nothing to do with someone's 'birth tribe' and everything to do
with their affiliations: where they work, which sports team they support,
which Linux distribution they love. ... Right now, for a number of
reasons, there is a fever pitch of tribalism in plain sight in the free
software world. It's sad. It's not constructive. It's ultimately going to
be embarrassing for the people involved, because the Internet doesn't
forget. It's certainly not helping us lift free software to the forefront
of public expectations of what software can be."
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/1855203
Links:
0. mailto:climenole@gmail.com
1. http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/439
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Google Adds Licensing Server DRM To Android Market |
| from the do-androids-dream-of-electric-rights dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 30, @16:39 (Cellphones) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/1943208/Google-Adds-Licensing-Server-DRM-To-Android|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
eldavojohn writes "According to AfterDawn, [0]Google has given app makers
the option to use a license server as DRM to ensure the user has paid for
an app before they can download it. Reportedly, the Market app will
communicate with a Google license server using RSA encryption. It is
important to note this is only available for non-free apps (built with
SDK 1.5 and later), and it was instituted to provide a better solution to
the old and widely criticized copy protection scheme that was susceptible
to Android app piracy (like [1]sideloading). For better or for worse,
Android's Marketplace appears to now have an optional, phone-home form of
DRM." Following news of the new licensing service, Hexage Ltd, makers of
a popular Android game called Radiant, released the data they had
collected on piracy of Radiant over a 10-month period beginning last
October. A series of charts shows [2]total users, [3]paid users and the
[4]piracy rate, by region.
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/1943208
Links:
0. http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2010/07/30/google_adds_phone_home_drm_to_android_market
1. http://hothardware.com/News/Google-Implementing-Licensing-Server-To-Protect-Android-Apps-From-Piracy/
2. http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?chxr=0,0,25000&chxt=y&chbh=a&chs=440x220&cht=bvg&chco=224499,3072F3,76A4FB,7777CC,BBCCED&chds=0,25000,0,25000,0,25000,0,25000,0,25000&chd=t:24768%7C12131%7C9289%7C3837%7C488&chdl=North+America+(24768)%7CEurope+(12131)%7CAsia+(9289)%7COceania+(3837)%7CSouth+America+(488)&chtt=Total+Users
3. http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?chxr=0,0,15000&chxt=y&chbh=a&chs=440x220&cht=bvg&chco=224499,3072F3,76A4FB,7777CC,BBCCED&chds=0,15000,0,15000,0,15000,0,15000,0,15000&chd=t:14074%7C3617%7C241%7C317%7C10&chdl=North+America+(14074)%7CEurope+(3617)%7CAsia+(241)%7COceania+(317)%7CSouth+America+(10)&chtt=Legal+Users
4. http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?chxt=y&chbh=a&chs=440x220&cht=bvg&chco=224499,3072F3,76A4FB,7777CC,BBCCED&chd=t:43.18%7C70.18%7C97.41%7C91.74%7C97.95&chdl=North+America+(43.18%25)%7CEurope+(70.18%25)%7CAsia+(97.41%25)%7COceania+(91.74%25)%7CSouth+America+(97.95%25)&chtt=Piracy+Rate
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ISC Offers Response Policy Zones For DNS |
| from the cleaning-up-the-e-streets dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 30, @17:22 (Networking) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/2031254/ISC-Offers-Response-Policy-Zones-For-DNS |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
penciling_in writes "ISC has made the announcement that they have
developed a technology that will allow 'cooperating good guys' to
[0]provide and consume reputation information about domains names. The
release of the technology, called Response Policy Zones (DNS RPZ), was
announced at DEFCON. Paul Vixie explains: 'Every day lots of new names
are added to the global DNS, and most of them belong to scammers,
spammers, e-criminals, and speculators. The DNS industry has a lot of
highly capable and competitive registrars and registries who have made it
possible to reserve or create a new name in just seconds, and to create
millions of them per day. ... If your recursive DNS server has a policy
rule which forbids certain domain names from being resolvable, then they
will not resolve. And, it's possible to either create and maintain these
rules locally, or, import them from a reputation provider. ISC is not in
the business of identifying good domains or bad domains. We will not be
publishing any reputation data. But, we do publish technical information
about protocols and formats, and we do publish source code. So our role
in DNS RPZ will be to [1]define 'the spec' whereby cooperating producers
and consumers can exchange reputation data, and to publish a version of
BIND that can subscribe to such reputation data feeds. This means we will
create a market for DNS reputation but we will not participate directly
in that market.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/2031254
Links:
0. http://www.circleid.com/posts/20100728_taking_back_the_dns/
1. ftp://ftp.isc.org/isc/dnsrpz/isc-tn-2010-1.txt
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Justice Department Joins Fraud Lawsuit Against Oracle |
| from the just-tell-them-it-was-for-national-security dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 30, @18:03 (Government) |
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/2051249/Justice-Department-Joins-Fraud-Lawsuit-Aga|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
suraj.sun writes with news that the US Department of Justice has
[0]joined a lawsuit alleging Oracle of overcharging the federal
government for its software products. Quoting: "In a nutshell, the
lawsuit argues that Oracle's government customers — a wide array of
agencies, including the State Department, the Energy Department, and the
Justice Department itself — got deals 'far inferior' to those the
enterprise software giant gave to its commercial clients. The allegations
stem from a software deal between Oracle and the federal General Services
Administration that the Justice Department says involved 'hundreds of
millions of dollars in sales' and that ran from 1998 to 2006. Under the
contract, Oracle was [1]required to inform the GSA when commercial
discounts improved and to offer those same discounts to government
buyers. Oracle misrepresented its true commercial sales practices and
thus defrauded the US, the lawsuit contends.
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/2051249
Links:
0. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-20012193-92.html
1. http://developers.slashdot.org/story/10/06/16/1929246/US-Sues-Oracle-Over-Alleged-Overcharging
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| How Should a Non-Techie Learn Programming? |
| from the at-gunpoint-is-not-a-valid-answer dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 30, @18:45 (Programming) |
| https://ask.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/2150208/How-Should-a-Non-Techie-Learn-Programming |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
CurtMonash writes "Nontechnical people — for example marketers or small
business owners — increasingly get the feeling they should know more
about technology. And they're right. If you can throw up a small website
or do some real number-crunching, chances are those skills will help you
feed your family. But how should they get started? I started a thread
with the question on [0]DBMS2, and some consistent themes emerged,
including: Learn HTML + CSS early on; Learn a bit of SQL, but you needn't
make that your focus; Have your first real programming language be one of
the modern ones, such as PHP or Python; MySQL is a good vehicle to learn
SQL; It's a great idea to start with a project you actually want to
accomplish, and that can be done by modifying a starter set of sample
code (e.g., a WordPress blog); Microsoft's technology stack is an
interesting alternative to some of the other technology ideas. A variety
of books and websites were suggested, most notably MIT's [1]Scratch. But,
frankly, it would really help to get more suggestions for sites and books
that help one get started with HTML/CSS, or with MySQL, or with PHP. And
so, techie studs and studdettes, I ask you — how should a non-techie go
about learning some basic technological skills?"
Discuss this story at:
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/2150208
Links:
0. http://www.dbms2.com/2010/07/29/how-should-somebody-teach-themselves-programming-skills/
1. http://scratch.mit.edu/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DefCon Contest Rattles FBI's Nerves |
| from the par-for-the-course dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 30, @19:34 (Security) |
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/07/30/2230224/DefCon-Contest-Rattles-FBIs-Nerves |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]snydeq writes "A DefCon contest that invites contestants to trick
employees at 30 US corporations into revealing not-so-sensitive data has
[1]rattled nerves at the FBI. Chris Hadnagy, who is organizing the
contest, also noted [2]concerns from the financial industry, which fears
hackers will target personal information. The contest will run for three
days, with participants [3]attempting to unearth data from an undisclosed
list of about 30 US companies. The contest will take place in a room in
the Riviera hotel in Las Vegas furnished with a soundproof booth and a
speaker, so an audience can hear the contestants call companies and try
to weasel out what data they can get from unwitting employees." The group
organizing the contest has [4]established a strict set of rules to ensure
participants don't violate any laws.
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/07/30/2230224
Links:
0. http://www.infoworld.com/
1. http://infoworld.com/d/security-central/defcon-hacking-contest-rattles-nerves-fbi-security-groups-289
2. http://www.social-engineer.org/blog/general-blog/social-engineering-fact-fiction/
3. http://www.social-engineer.org/blog/defcon-social-engineering-contest/
4. http://www.social-engineer.org/blog/social-engineering/social-engineer-org-ctf-update-awareness-abounds/
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