The Breach Stops Here!
Learn how Fixed Disk Encryption can help secure data at rest
and reduce the chances of data reaching the wrong eyes. Examine
the first data center disk encryption solution based on the TCG
industry security protocol.
http://p.sf.net/sfu/desktopithub
======================================================================
Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* Windows 7 To Sell In UK For Half the US Price
* Australian Police Database Lacked Root Password
* Advice On Creating an Open Source Textbook?
* How To Build a 100,000-Port Ethernet Switch
* Japanese Political Candidates Go Dark Online
* Opting Out of the Google Books Settlement, Pro & Con
* URL Shortener tr.im To Go Community-Owned, Open Source
* Behind Menuet, an OS Written Entirely In Assembly
* Schneier On a Generation Gap In Privacy
* Judge Rules To Reveal Anonymous Blogger's Identity Over Insults
* Average Gamer Is 35, Fat and Bummed
* How the Pirate Bay Will Be Legalized
* Is Typing Ruining Your Ability To Spell?
* The Decline of the Landline
* Flickr Yanks Image of Obama as Joker
* 'Awful' Internet Rules Released
* "Hidden" PayPal Fees Inciting Community Unrest
* Network Adapter Keeps Talking While a PC Is Asleep
* Pidgin Adds Google Talk Voice and Video Support (and a Vulnerability)
* Prototype Motherboard Clusters Self-Coordinating Modules
* SSN Overlap With Micronesia Causes Trouble For Woman
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Windows 7 To Sell In UK For Half the US Price |
| from the but-wait-you-also-get dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday August 18, @20:17 (Windows) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/08/18/1931242/Windows-7-To-Sell-In-UK-For-Half-the-US-Pr|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "In the UK, a full version of Windows 7 Home
Premium is going to [0]cost less than half the price Americans will have
to pay, and in fact less than Americans have to pay just for the
upgrade-only edition. Full details and prices were published in an
article on CNet, in which it was concluded that, at least for the time
being, Microsoft is honoring the prices it set for the now-discontinued
European version of Win7, which did not contain Internet Explorer 8 and
was only available as a full-install edition."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/18/1931242
Links:
0. http://crave.cnet.co.uk/software/0,39029471,49303374,00.htm
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Australian Police Database Lacked Root Password |
| from the kick-me dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday August 18, @22:02 (Security) |
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/09/08/18/2119254/Australian-Police-Database-Lacked-Root-Passw|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Concerned Citizen writes "The [0]Australian Federal Police database has
been hacked, although 'hacked' might be too strong a word for what
happens when someone gains access to a MySQL database with no root
password. Can you be charged with breaking and entering a house that has
the door left wide open? Maybe digital trespassing is a better term for
this situation. 'These dipshits are using an automatic digital forensics
and incident response tool,' the hacker wrote. 'All of this [hacking] had
been done within 30-40 minutes. Could of [sic] been faster if I didn't
stop to laugh so much.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/18/2119254
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Advice On Creating an Open Source Textbook? |
| from the not-for-mammon-alone dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday August 18, @23:47 (Books) |
| https://ask.slashdot.org/story/09/08/18/2137216/Advice-On-Creating-an-Open-Source-Textbook |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Occamboy writes "I wrote a slightly successful (30,000+ copies sold)
computer communications textbook a number of years back that was
published via the traditional textbook publishing route. The royalties
were nice, but, frankly, the bigger money came from the boost in my
professional standing (I'm a practicing engineer, not a professor). I
also felt bad when the publisher hiked the price dramatically every year
because students were stuck once a professor adopted a text ��� $50 for a
smallish paperback seemed very high (although I like to think what they
learned was worth it!). I'm thinking of writing another textbook, this
time about the practice of software engineering in critical systems,
using the experience I've gained in the decades I've spent developing,
and managing the development of, software-driven medical devices. Poking
around on the Net, I've found several intriguing options for distributing
open source texts, such as [0]Flatworld Knowledge, [1]Lulu, and
[2]Connexions. This concept of free or inexpensive texts intrigues me ���
the easy adoption and lack of price-gouging. Do any Slashdotters have
experience with this new paradigm? Any suggestions or experiences to
share from authors, students, and/or professors, who've written, read, or
adopted open source or low-cost texts from any source?"
Discuss this story at:
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/18/2137216
Links:
0. http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/
1. http://www.lulu.com/
2. http://cnx.org/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| How To Build a 100,000-Port Ethernet Switch |
| from the stretching-the-fabric dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Wednesday August 19, @02:34 (Networking) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/08/18/1951204/How-To-Build-a-100000-Port-Ethernet-Switch|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
BobB-nw writes "University of California at San Diego researchers Tuesday
are presenting a [0]paper (PDF) describing software that they say could
[1]make data center networks massively scalable. The researchers say
their PortLand software will enable Layer 2 data center network fabrics
scalable to 100,000 ports and beyond; they have a prototype running at
the school's Department of Computer Science and Engineering's Jacobs
School of Engineering. 'With PortLand, we came up with a set of
algorithms and protocols that combine the best of layer 2 and layer 3
network fabrics,' said Amin Vahdat, a computer science professor at UC
San Diego. 'Today, the largest data centers contain over 100,000 servers.
Ideally, we would like to have the flexibility to run any application on
any server while minimizing the amount of required network configuration
and state... We are working toward a network that administrators can
think of as one massive 100,000-port switch seamlessly serving over one
million virtual endpoints.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/18/1951204
Links:
0. http://cseweb.ucsd.edu/~vahdat/papers/portland-sigcomm09.pdf
1. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/081709-portland.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Japanese Political Candidates Go Dark Online |
| from the sounds-relaxing-actually dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Wednesday August 19, @05:21 (The Internet) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/08/18/2143243/Japanese-Political-Candidates-Go-Dark-Onli|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
maximus1 writes "A 59-year-old election law [0]prevents Japanese
candidates from blogging and twittering during the campaigning window.
So, on Tuesday, 1,370 Japanese will stop all online activity. Candidates
get a brief slot on public television, usually in the early or late-night
hours when few are watching, to make their pitch. The rest of the time is
spent campaigning in neighborhoods, walking through the streets, and
making speeches outside railway stations. If opinion polls are to be
believed, the Aug. 30 election could be the law's last stand. Voter
turnout among the young is poor, and some believe it's because the
old-fashioned method of campaigning has failed to energize a population
that is surrounded by digital media from the day they are born. 'The
Internet must be made available for election campaigns as soon as
possible,' the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's second-largest newspaper, wrote in
a recent editorial."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/18/2143243
Links:
0. http://www.itworld.com/legal/74834/day-blogging-stopped
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Opting Out of the Google Books Settlement, Pro & Con |
| from the orphans-got-rights dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Wednesday August 19, @08:08 (Google) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/08/19/0039254/Opting-Out-of-the-Google-Books-Settlement-|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Here are diametrically opposing view on what authors should do about the
upcoming deadline to opt out of the [0]Google [1]Books [2]settlement.
[3]Miracle Jones writes "The William Morris Agency has [4]come out
strongly against the Google Books settlement for its clients, citing the
fact that the settlement creates a non-competitive marketplace for a
whole new product (orphan books), in addition to containing provisions
that will make it impossible for writers to remove books from the
database after 27 months have passed: 'We believe that the license being
given to Google to publish and display with impunity out-of-print
"orphan" works (where the rights owner is unknown and estimated by the
Financial Times to be between 2.8 and 5 million books out of 32 million
books protected by copyright in the United States) will open the door to
establishing Google as the most comprehensive database, potentially a
monopoly, with unfair bargaining power.'" On the other side of the
debate, [5]James Gleick writes "With the deadline approaching for 'opting
out' of the Google Books settlement, the [6]Authors Guild has posted an
aggressive explanation of who it thinks should do that: no one. Not a
single author in the world, it argues, stands to benefit from removing
himself or herself from the class. This comes as part of a new set of
'Answers' meant to push back against what the authors group thinks is
widespread confusion about the settlement; they also address questions
about just what kind of money we might be talking about, and what kind of
control authors will have over Google's use of their work."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/19/0039254
Links:
0. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/28/145249&tid=332
1. http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/31/1719204&tid=14
2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/03/1628233&tid=172
3. mailto:ticktickticktick.gmail@com
4. http://www.fictioncircus.com/news.php?id=436&mode=one
5. http://around.com/
6. http://authorsguild.org/advocacy/articles/should-i-opt-out.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| URL Shortener tr.im To Go Community-Owned, Open Source |
| from the keeping-up-with-the-twitses dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Wednesday August 19, @08:52 (The Internet) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/08/19/120206/URL-Shortener-trim-To-Go-Community-Owned-Op|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Death Metal sends word that the owners of URL-shortening service tr.im
are in the process of releasing the project's source code and [1]moving
it into the public domain. This comes after reports that the service may
shut down and that they were entertaining offers from prospective buyers.
From a post on the site's blog: "It is our hope that tr.im, being an
excellent URL shortener in its own right, can now begin to [2]stand in
contrast to the closed twitter/bit.ly walled garden: it will become a
completely open solution owned and operated by the community for the
benefit of the entire community." They plan to complete the transition by
September 15th, and the code will be released under the MIT license. In
addition, "tr.im will offer all link-map data associated with tr.im URLs
to anyone that wants it in real-time. This will involve a variety of
time-based snapshots of aggregated destination URLs, the number of tr.im
URLs created for any given destination URL, and aggregate click data."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/19/120206
Links:
0. http://www.anus.com/metal
1. http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=2F1591FF-1A64-6A71-CED7C26BFC04B3B7
2. http://blog.tr.im/post/165049236/tr-im-to-be-community-owned
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Behind Menuet, an OS Written Entirely In Assembly |
| from the keep-it-simple dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Wednesday August 19, @09:34 (Operating Systems) |
| https://developers.slashdot.org/story/09/08/19/1259210/Behind-Menuet-an-OS-Written-Entirely|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]angry tapir writes "[1]MenuetOS is an operating system written
entirely in assembly language. As a result it's extremely quick and
compact (it can even fit on a floppy disk, despite having a GUI). It can
run Quake. Two of the developers behind MenuetOS took time out to talk
about what inspired them to [2]undertake the daunting task of writing the
operating system, the current state of Menuet and future plans for it."
Discuss this story at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/19/1259210
Links:
0. http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/
1. http://www.menuetos.net/
2. http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/article/315421/we_talk_developers_behind_menuetos_an_operating_system_written_entirely_assembly_language
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Schneier On a Generation Gap In Privacy |
| from the get-off-my-lawnbook dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Wednesday August 19, @10:17 (Privacy) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/08/19/1325233/Schneier-On-a-Generation-Gap-In-Privacy |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
goompaloompa writes "In the Japan Times, Bruce Schneier writes that a
passing conversation online is not what it may seem and that
[0]maintaining your privacy is becoming even more difficult as social
media and cloud computing become the norm. Furthermore, while users in
Japan may think they are secure, their level of protection may vary when
the computers that store their data are overseas. At the root of the
problem is a new generation gap: old laws incapable of covering
current-day scenarios. Quoting: 'Twenty years ago, if someone wanted to
look through your correspondence, they had to break into your house. Now,
they can just break into your ISP. Ten years ago, your voicemail was on
an answering machine in your office; now it's on a computer owned by a
telephone company. ... We need comprehensive data privacy laws,
protecting our data and communications regardless of where it is stored
or how it is processed. We need laws forcing companies to keep it private
and delete it as soon as it is no longer needed, and laws giving us the
right to delete our data from third-party sites. And we need
international cooperation to ensure that companies cannot flaunt data
privacy laws simply by moving themselves offshore."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/19/1325233
Links:
0. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nc20090819a1.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Judge Rules To Reveal Anonymous Blogger's Identity Over Insults |
| from the truth-no-longer-the-best-defense-to-libel dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Wednesday August 19, @10:59 (Privacy) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/08/19/1342248/Judge-Rules-To-Reveal-Anonymous-Bloggers-Id|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Several readers have written to tell us of a ruling in the New York
Supreme Court which will allow model Liskula Cohen to [0]find out the
identity of an anonymous blogger who posted some of her photos with
captions including the words "psychotic," "skank," and "ho." The site was
part of Blogger.com, and Google has already complied with a request for
the author's IP address and email. "[Cohen's attorney] said that once his
legal team tracks the e-mail address to a name, the next step will be to
sue Cohen's detractor for defamation. He said he suspected the creator of
the blog is an acquaintance of Cohen. The blog has not been operational
for months. The unidentified creator of the blog was represented in court
by an attorney, Anne Salisbury, who said her client voluntarily took the
blog down when Cohen initiated legal action against it. ... the judge
quoted a Virginia court that ruled in a similar case that nameless online
taunters should be held accountable when their derision crosses a line.
'The protection of the right to communicate anonymously must be balanced
against the need to assure that those persons who choose to abuse the
opportunities presented by this medium can be made to answer for such
transgressions.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/19/1342248
Links:
0. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/08/18/new.york.model.blog.lawsuit/index.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Average Gamer Is 35, Fat and Bummed |
| from the fun-also-causes-cancer dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Wednesday August 19, @11:42 (Medicine) |
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/09/08/19/1516215/Average-Gamer-Is-35-Fat-and-Bummed |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
kamapuaa writes "According to a study published in the upcoming October
issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the average US
video game player is [0]35 years old, overweight, and tends toward
depression. Specifically, female video game players tended towards
depression, while males tended towards large BMIs. While the study itself
points to several conclusions, one researcher noted: '... habitual use of
video games as a coping response may provide a genesis for
obsessive-compulsive video-game playing, if not video-game addiction.'"
On the flip side, the Washington Post is running a story about [1]the
mental health benefits of playing video games.
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/19/1516215
Links:
0. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32463904/ns/technology_and_science-games/
1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/17/AR2009081702114.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| How the Pirate Bay Will Be Legalized |
| from the by-nobody-going-there-anymore dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Wednesday August 19, @12:26 (Media) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/08/19/1618224/How-the-Pirate-Bay-Will-Be-Legalized |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Death Metal sends along this excerpt from Torrentfreak about how
Global Gaming Factory, the company who is buying The Pirate Bay, plans to
change the site in order to avoid the wrath of the entertainment
industry: "In a letter addressed to [shareholders], the company confirms
that the new Pirate Bay will become a pay site, while revealing some
additional details on how GGF plans to legalize it. To please the
entertainment industry, GGF will install a system that will allow the
copyright holders to [1]either authorize the 'illegal' torrent or have it
removed from the site. If the copyright holder chooses the first option,
they will be compensated every time the file is downloaded. In addition,
the board says that it will pay penalties if it has to. 'The holder will
be able to leave the file and obtain compensation or ask for removal of
the file. GGF will also pay any penalties that may arise,' the GGF board
announced."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/19/1618224
Links:
0. http://www.anus.com/metal
1. http://torrentfreak.com/how-the-pirate-bay-will-be-legalized-090819/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Is Typing Ruining Your Ability To Spell? |
| from the my-spellchecker-sure-thinks-so dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Wednesday August 19, @13:10 (Ask Slashdot) |
| https://ask.slashdot.org/story/09/08/19/1653210/Is-Typing-Ruining-Your-Ability-To-Spell |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]NSN A392-99-964-5927 writes "My handwriting abilities have
deteriorated over the years. Putting a real pen to paper, I get
frustrated over how to spell correctly, as I am so accustomed to using a
keyboard and knowing where the letters are. Having spoken to a few
friends, I've found that this has become apparent to them, too. I've
noticed that my grammar is also affected; maybe this is because I spent
too much time on IRC and lowered my standards. Hand-written words are now
becoming obsolete. There is often no need to think about writing anymore,
or about how something is spelled. Are other Slashdotters having the same
problem? (I'm used to Telex machines, which should give you an indication
of how old I am.)"
Discuss this story at:
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/19/1653210
Links:
0. mailto:lynx@constructiontalking.com
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The Decline of the Landline |
| from the daddy-what-were-buggywhips? dept. |
| posted by timothy on Wednesday August 19, @14:01 (Communications) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/08/19/1736242/The-Decline-of-the-Landline |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Death Metal writes "The phone network is thus not just a technical
infrastructure, but a socioeconomic one. The more Americans abandon it to
go mobile-only or make phone calls over the internet, [1]the more fragile
it becomes: its high fixed costs have to be spread over ever fewer
subscribers. If the telephone network in New York State were a
stand-alone business, it would already be in bankruptcy. In recent years
it has lost 40% of its landlines and revenues have dropped by more than
30%."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/19/1736242
Links:
0. http://www.anus.com/metal
1. http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14213965
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Flickr Yanks Image of Obama as Joker |
| from the such-treatment-is-only-for-the-old-boss dept. |
| posted by timothy on Wednesday August 19, @14:49 (Censorship) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/08/19/1836210/Flickr-Yanks-Image-of-Obama-as-Joker |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "An interesting article yesterday about the
unmasking of the recent creator of the controversial and iconic
Obama/Joker image that has been popping up around Los Angeles with the
word Socialism under it. [0]The Los Angeles Times has identified the
images' creator as Firas Alkhateeb. Even more interesting though is the
fact that after getting over 20,000 hits on the image at Flickr, Flickr
[1]removed the image from Alkateeb's photostream, citing 'copyright'
concerns. The image in question is clearly both an independent derivative
work and unquestionably a parody of the President and Time Magazine which
would be covered under fair use. It has appeared on many other sites
without issue on the Internet." According to the same reader, "Flickr
also [2]recently nuked an entire user's photostream over negative
comments on President Obama's official photostream."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/19/1836210
Links:
0. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/08/obama-joker-artist.html
1. http://thomashawk.com/2009/08/flickr-censors-political-image-critical-of-president-obama.html
2. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/scavenger/detail?entry_id=41498
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 'Awful' Internet Rules Released |
| from the do-your-wuerst dept. |
| posted by timothy on Wednesday August 19, @15:40 (The Internet) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/08/19/1926219/Awful-Internet-Rules-Released |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
maximus1 writes "NetChoice, a trade group that identifies and fights
threats aimed at online communities and e-commerce, released iAWFUL, a
list of America's [0]10 worst legislative and regulatory proposals
targeted at the Internet. At the top of the list is a Maine law that
would require e-commerce sites to get parental approval before collecting
minors' personal information. According to the NetChoice site, 'lawmakers
approved the measure [1]despite the fact that Web sites have no means to
confirm such consent, and would be effectively forced to stop providing
valuable services like college information, test prep services, and class
rings.' Coming in second on the [2]iAWFUL list is a city ordinance that
would hit Internet users with an extra tax on hotel rooms. Scheduled to
take effect in September, the new tax is aimed at consumers who use the
Internet to bargain hunt for expensive NYC hotel rooms."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/19/1926219
Links:
0. http://www.itworld.com/internet/74927/trade-group-releases-new-list-awful-internet-laws
1. http://www.netchoice.org/press/misguided-marketing-restriction-and-online-travel-tax-top-list-of-worst-internet-legislation.html
2. http://www.iawful.com/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| "Hidden" PayPal Fees Inciting Community Unrest |
| from the everyone-wants-a-cut dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday August 19, @16:22 (The Almighty Buck) |
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/09/08/19/2011258/Hidden-PayPal-Fees-Inciting-Community-Unre|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Several sites are reporting on the addition of [0]extra fees to PayPal
that are just starting to become common knowledge. While PayPal has
certainly had their fair share of controversy, the new "transaction fees"
that promise to affect the entire customer base are already well on their
way to becoming another. "For example, a personal account sending another
personal account money for a one-time payment for, say, mowing your lawn
was not previously charged any fees on either side, but is now charged
the usual transaction fee (the sender gets to decide who pays). The only
way to avoid this is by selecting 'gift' when making the transfer ���
something you can't do if you're following through on a purchase or
invoice from someone. And, if you fall into this category (which many
people do), it's likely that you had no idea about the changes until just
now."
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/19/2011258
Links:
0. http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/08/internet-waking-up-to-paypals-quiet-massive-fee-hike.ars
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Network Adapter Keeps Talking While a PC Is Asleep |
| from the would-make-me-feel-better-about-keeping-a-server-on dept. |
| posted by timothy on Wednesday August 19, @17:00 (Networking) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/08/19/2021210/Network-Adapter-Keeps-Talking-While-a-PC-I|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Al writes "Researchers at Microsoft and the University of California,
San Diego have developed a [1]network adapter that lets a computer enter
sleep mode without disrupting the network connection. The adapter, dubbed
Somniloquy (meaning to talk in one's sleep), consists of a gumstix
running embedded Linux, 64MB of RAM and a 2G SD memory card, connected
via USB. The adapter keeps the network connection going and the
researchers have also developed a simplified IM client and bittorrent
client that carry out more complicated tasks autonomously, only waking
the computer if, for example, an actualy IM is received or a download is
completed."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/19/2021210
Links:
0. http://www.technologyreview.com/
1. http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/24001/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pidgin Adds Google Talk Voice and Video Support (and a Vulnerability) |
| from the hey-sometimes-stuff-happens dept. |
| posted by timothy on Wednesday August 19, @17:46 (Communications) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/08/19/2128210/Pidgin-Adds-Google-Talk-Voice-and-Video-Su|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
ottothecow writes "While various attempts at video and voice support have
been in the pipeline since long before GAIM became Pidgin, fully
functioning support over XMPP is on its way. Lifehacker reports that
[0]Pidgin 2.6 adds voice and video support for GChat (and presumably any
other XMPP network) for Mac and Linux. Windows still has a few bugs but
they are being worked on. Pidgin 2.6.1 is only available as source at the
moment (but [1]precompiled versions are available at getdeb.)" Less
happily, an anonymous reader writes "A [2]remote arbitrary-code-execution
vulnerability has been found in Libpurple (used by Pidgin and Adium
instant messaging clients, among others), which can be triggered by a
remote attacker by sending a specially crafted MSNSLP packet with invalid
data to the client through the MSN server. No victim interaction is
required, and the attacker is not required to be in the victim's buddy
list (under default configuration)."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/19/2128210
Links:
0. http://lifehacker.com/5340632/pidgin-26-adds-google-talk-video-and-voice-support
1. http://www.getdeb.net/app/Pidgin
2. http://www.coresecurity.com/content/libpurple-arbitrary-write
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Prototype Motherboard Clusters Self-Coordinating Modules |
| from the your-mother's-so-modular-she-broke-up-with-herself dept. |
| posted by timothy on Wednesday August 19, @18:35 (Hardware Hacking) |
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/08/19/2153203/Prototype-Motherboard-Clusters-Self-Co|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "A group of hardware hackers has created a
motherboard prototype that uses [0]separate modules, each of which has
its own processor, memory and storage. Each square cell in this design
serves as a mini-motherboard and network node; the cells can allocate
power and decide to accept or reject incoming transmissions and programs
independently. Together, they form a networked cluster with significantly
greater power than the individual modules. The design, called the
Illuminato X Machina, is vastly different from the separate processor,
memory and storage components that govern computers today."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/19/2153203
Links:
0. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/08/modular-motherboard/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| SSN Overlap With Micronesia Causes Trouble For Woman |
| from the not-my-problem dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Wednesday August 19, @19:35 (Government) |
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/09/08/19/2220209/SSN-Overlap-With-Micronesia-Causes-Trouble|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
stevel writes "Holly Ramer, who lives in Concord, NH, has never been to
the Federated States of Micronesia, but debt collectors [0]dun her
mercilessly for unpaid loans taken out by a small business owner in that
Pacific island nation. Why? Micronesia and other countries in the region
have their own Social Security Administrations which gave out numbers to
residents applying for US disaster relief loans. The catch is that the
Micronesian SSNs have fewer digits than the nine-digit US version, and
when credit bureaus entered these into their database, they padded them
out with zeros on the front. These numbers then matched innocent US
citizens with SSNs beginning with zeroes, as many in northern New England
do. The credit bureaus say to call the Social Security Administration,
the SSA says call the credit bureaus, the FTC says they can't help, and
nobody is taking responsibility for the confusion."
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/19/2220209
Links:
0. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hy-198lZYAltwbqaBxHgUY7damuwD9A437HG0
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