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:
* Code-Breaking Quantum Algorithm On a Silicon Chip
* PageRank Algorithm Applied To the Food Web
* Amazon Offers To Return Pulled Orwell Ebooks
* Kepler Mission Could Detect Exomoons
* Re-Examining the Immersion Factor For First-Person Shooters
* Court Allows Microsoft To Sell Word During Appeal
* Former Intel CEO Andy Grove Wants Struggling Industries To Stop Slacking
* Mozilla To Protect Adobe Flash Users
* Nokia Fears Carriers May Try To Undermine N900
* All-You-Can-Eat College For $99-a-Month
* Mach 6 Test Aircraft Set For Trials
* Kernel 2.6.31 To Speed Up Linux Desktop
* ELF Knocks Down AM Towers To Save Earth, Intercoms
* Microsoft Attacks Linux With Retail-Training Talking Points
* Recovery Tool Includes Leak of Palm's WebOS 1.2
* Meet Uzbl — a Web Browser With the Unix Philosophy
* Wordpress.org Warns of Active Worm Hacking Blogs
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Code-Breaking Quantum Algorithm On a Silicon Chip |
| from the one-small-chip-for-man dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Friday September 04, @20:06 (Security) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/09/09/04/229204/Code-Breaking-Quantum-Algorithm-On-a-Sil|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Urchin writes "[1]Shor's quantum algorithm, which offers a way to
crack the commonly-used RSA encryption algorithm, has been
[2]demonstrated on a silicon chip for the first time. The algorithm was
first demonstrated on large tabletop arrays 3 years ago, but the photonic
quantum circuit can now be printed relatively easily onto a silicon chip
just 26 mm long. You can see [3]the abstract from the team's academic
paper in the journal Science; the full text requires a subscription."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/09/04/229204
Links:
0. http://www.newscientist.com/
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shor's_algorithm
2. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17736-codebreaking-quantum-algorithm-run-on-a-silicon-chip.html
3. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/325/5945/1221
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| PageRank Algorithm Applied To the Food Web |
| from the dodo-got-googlebombed dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Friday September 04, @22:05 (Biotech) |
| https://search.slashdot.org/story/09/09/04/2251244/PageRank-Algorithm-Applied-To-the-Food-W|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader brings word of a new application for PageRank,
Google's link analysis algorithm: [0]monitoring the food web in an
ecosystem. A team of researchers found that a modified version of
PageRank can [1]predict with great accuracy which species are vital to
the existence of others. Quoting: "Every species is embedded in a complex
network of relationships with others. A single extinction can cascade
into the loss of seemingly unrelated species. Investigating when this
might happen using more conventional methods is complicated, as even in
simple ecosystems, the number of combinations exceeds the number of atoms
in the universe. So, it would be impossible to try them all. Co-author
Dr. Stefano Allesina realized he could apply PageRank to the problem when
he stumbled across an article in a journal of applied mathematics
describing the Google algorithm. 'First of all, we had to reverse the
definition of the algorithm. In PageRank, a web page is important if
important pages point to it. In our approach, a species is important if
it points to important species.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://search.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/09/04/2251244
Links:
0. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8238462.stm
1. http://www.ploscompbiol.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pcbi.1000494
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Amazon Offers To Return Pulled Orwell Ebooks |
| from the act-of-contrition dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday September 05, @00:10 (Books) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/09/05/0037217/Amazon-Offers-To-Return-Pulled-Orwell-Ebook|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Back in July, Amazon faced public outrage over their decision to
[0]delete ebook copies of 1984 and Animal Farm from the Kindles of
customers who purchased them. Shortly thereafter, CEO Jeff Bezos
[1]offered an apology, acknowledging that Amazon handled the situation in
a "stupid" and "thoughtless" manner. Now, they're offering something more
substantial: [2]anyone who had an ebook deleted can now have it restored,
apparently with annotations intact. Any customer who isn't interested in
a new copy can get either an Amazon gift certificate or a check for $30.
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/09/05/0037217
Links:
0. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/07/17/2138213/Amazon-Pulls-Purchased-E-Book-Copies-of-em1984em-and-emAnimal-Farmem
1. http://slashdot.org/story/09/07/27/0541212/Jeff-Bezos-Offers-Apology-For-Erasing-1984
2. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/technology/companies/05amazon.html?ref=technology
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Kepler Mission Could Detect Exomoons |
| from the that's-no-exomoon-hurrrr dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday September 05, @02:11 (Space) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/09/09/05/0048216/Kepler-Mission-Could-Detect-Exomoons |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Lord Northern writes "According to several news sources, NASA's Kepler
mission is said to be [1]able to detect habitable moons orbiting planets
in other star systems. Kepler is a space telescope designed to detect
exoplanets. Its mission will have it orbiting the Sun for 3.5 years,
after which we'll be able to tell if any of our neighboring stars
actually have planetary systems around them. However, apparently we will
be able to detect not only exoplanets, but also exomoons orbiting those
exoplanets. The Kepler team came to that conclusion after running a
computer simulation which found that the telescope was [2]sensitive
enough to detect the gravitational pull of an orbiting moon (PDF). This
means that the data expected by the end of the mission is going to be
very rich, and it is said that moons as small as 0.2 times the mass of
earth could be detected. Further details about [3]the Kepler mission are
available from NASA."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/09/05/0048216
Links:
0. http://lastdrake.com/
1. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1747458/kepler_could_detect_habitable_exomoons/
2. http://xxx.lanl.gov/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0907/0907.3909v2.pdf
3. http://kepler.nasa.gov/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Re-Examining the Immersion Factor For First-Person Shooters |
| from the be-one-with-the-rox dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday September 05, @03:31 (First Person Shooters (Games)) |
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/09/09/05/0231205/Re-Examining-the-Immersion-Factor-For-Fir|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An opinion piece on Gamasutra looks into the common perception that a
first-person view provides a much more immersive experience in shooters.
The author argues that this concept needs to be reconsidered, as
[0]immersion nowadays is more dependent on what you see, rather than how
you see it. The question is further complicated by ever-improving
technology and new control schemes. "It's important to realize that
making a first-person game almost necessarily means making a game for the
dedicated gamer. Innovations on the interface side could help lower the
casual block, perhaps through the Wii, Project Natal, or the PS3's new
motion controller. Regardless, it will take a lot of work and concerted
effort to penetrate the casual audience with a first-person camera. The
question is whether we even need to, when there are so many camera
systems that games have yet to fully explore."
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/09/05/0231205
Links:
0. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24513
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Court Allows Microsoft To Sell Word During Appeal |
| from the back-in-the-saddle dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday September 05, @05:14 (Microsoft) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/09/05/0112254/Court-Allows-Microsoft-To-Sell-Word-During-|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader sends along this update to the ongoing patent battle
between Microsoft and i4i involving XML formatting in Word. "Microsoft's
motion to stay an injunction has been granted; the US Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit [0]has allowed the company to keep selling Word
as it appeals a [1]patent ruling from last month. The injunction had an
effective date of October 10, but the motion to stay blocks the
injunction until the appeal process is complete. If upheld, the
injunction wouldn't stop existing users from using Word, but it could
prevent the software giant from selling Word 2003 or Word 2007, the most
common versions of Word currently on the market, and would require the
company to significantly tweak Word 2010, which is slated for the first
half of next year. The victory is a small one for Microsoft; the company
still has the whole appeals process to go through. 'We are happy with the
result and look forward to presenting our arguments on the main issues on
September 23,' a Microsoft spokesperson told Ars. 'Microsoft's scare
tactics about the consequences of the injunction cannot shield it from
the imminent review of the case by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeal on
the September 23 appeal,' said i4i chairman Loudon Owen in response to
the court's decision."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/09/05/0112254
Links:
0. http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/09/court-allows-microsoft-to-sell-word-during-appeal.ars
1. http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/08/12/1129230/US-Court-Tells-Microsoft-To-Stop-Selling-Word
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Former Intel CEO Andy Grove Wants Struggling Industries To Stop Slacking |
| from the and-get-a-haircut dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday September 05, @08:16 (Businesses) |
| https://slashdot.org/story/09/09/05/0242216/Former-Intel-CEO-Andy-Grove-Wants-Struggling-In|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
lousyd writes "Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel and current instructor at
Stanford Business School, has a message for industry. He believes that
health care and energy, especially, could learn a lesson from computing's
[0]innovative and relatively government-free history. He asks students to
imagine if mainframe vendors had asked government to prop them up in the
same way that General Motors recently was. On the issue of computer
patents, he insists that firms must use their patents or lose them: 'You
can't just sit on your a** and give everyone the finger.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/09/05/0242216
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Mozilla To Protect Adobe Flash Users |
| from the helping-those-who-don't-help-themselves dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday September 05, @09:17 (Mozilla) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/09/05/1157222/Mozilla-To-Protect-Adobe-Flash-Users |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]juct writes "Beginning with versions 3.5.3 and 3.0.14 of Firefox,
Mozilla is going to [1]check the version of installed Adobe Flash
plug-ins and warn users if it discovers an outdated version with
potential security holes. Mozilla confirmed this new security feature and
said that the Flash version check was part of a wider commitment to '[2]protect
users from emerging threats online.' Just recently, a study confirmed
that [3]80 per cent of users surf with a vulnerable version of Adobe's
plug-in."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/09/05/1157222
Links:
0. mailto:ju@heisec.de
1. http://www.h-online.com/security/Mozilla-to-protect-Adobe-Flash-users--/news/114157
2. http://blog.mozilla.com/security/2009/09/04/helping-users-keep-plugins-updated/
3. http://www.h-online.com/security/80-per-cent-of-users-surf-with-vulnerable-versions-of-Flash--/news/114090
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Nokia Fears Carriers May Try To Undermine N900 |
| from the but-the-carriers-are-usually-so-helpful dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday September 05, @10:15 (Cellphones) |
| https://linux.slashdot.org/story/09/09/05/1330256/Nokia-Fears-Carriers-May-Try-To-Undermine|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Nokia is worried that [0]networks may reject
selling the N900 because it won't allow them to mess with [1]the
operating system. Nokia has previously showed the N900 [2]running a root
shell and it appears to [3]use the same interface for IM and phone
functions. Meanwhile, Verizon is claiming that '[4]exclusivity
arrangements promote competition and innovation.' Is it too late to
explain to people why $99+$60/month is not better than $600+$20/month?"
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/09/05/1330256
Links:
0. http://www.mobilenewscwp.co.uk/News/314511/nokia_networks_may_reject_n900.html
1. http://maemo.org/intro/
2. http://flors.wordpress.com/2009/08/27/software-freedom-lovers-here-comes-maemo-5/
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au_uRmoy8Fs
4. http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/18/1240218/Verizon-Offers-Compromise-In-Exclusivity-Debate?art_pos=13
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| All-You-Can-Eat College For $99-a-Month |
| from the om-nom-nom dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday September 05, @11:18 (Education) |
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/09/09/05/1431212/All-You-Can-Eat-College-For-99-a-Month |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]theodp writes "Writing in Washington Monthly, Kevin Carey [1]has seen
the future of college education. It costs [2]$99-a-month, and there's no
limit on the number of courses you can take. Tiny online education firm
StraighterLine is out to challenge the seeming permanency of traditional
colleges and universities. How? Like Craigslist, StraighterLine threatens
the most profitable piece of its competitors' business: freshman
lectures, higher education's equivalent of the classified section. It's
no surprise, then, that as StraighterLine tried to buck the system,
[3]the system began to push back, challenging deals the company struck
with accredited traditional and for-profit institutions to allow
StraighterLine courses to be transferred for credit. But even if
StraighterLine doesn't succeed in bringing extremely cheap college
courses to the masses, it's likely that another player eventually will."
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/09/05/1431212
Links:
0. mailto:theodp@aol.com
1. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/feature/college_for_99_a_month.php
2. http://www.straighterline.com/straighterline-for-99/
3. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/03/31/forthays
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Mach 6 Test Aircraft Set For Trials |
| from the fly-her-apart-then dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday September 05, @12:20 (The Military) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/09/05/1517256/Mach-6-Test-Aircraft-Set-For-Trials |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]coondoggie writes "The aspiration that jets may someday fly at over
six times the speed of sound took a very real step toward reality
recently, as the US Air Force said it successfully married the test
aircraft, known as the X-51A WaveRider, to a B-52 in preparation for a
Dec. 2 flight test. The X-51A flight tests are intended to demonstrate
that the engines can [1]achieve their desired speed without
disintegrating. While the X-51 looks like a large rocket now, its
applications could change the way aircraft or spaceships are designed,
fly into space, support reconnaissance missions and handle long-distance
flight operations. At the heart of the test is the aircraft's
air-breathing hypersonic scramjet system."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/09/05/1517256
Links:
0. mailto:mcooney@nww.com
1. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/44966
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Kernel 2.6.31 To Speed Up Linux Desktop |
| from the zoom-zoom dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday September 05, @13:24 (X) |
| https://linux.slashdot.org/story/09/09/05/161230/Kernel-2631-To-Speed-Up-Linux-Desktop |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Dan Jones writes "As the Linux community [0]looks forward to another
kernel release, the kernel hackers have been working on improving the
memory management so that the [1]X desktop responsiveness is doubled
under high memory pressure. The result is an improved desktop experience.
Benchmarks on memory-tight desktops show clock time and major faults
reduced by 50 per cent, and pswpin numbers (memory reads from disk) are
reduced to about one-third. Another [2]improvement coming with 2.6.31 is
kernel mode-setting support for ATI Radeon graphics cards, enabling
faster user switching and a more seamless startup experience. Peripheral
developments that will also improve the Linux desktop experience include
support for the new USB 3.0 specification and a new Firewire stack. Even
minor Linux releases have heaps of new features these days!"
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/09/05/161230
Links:
0. http://lkml.org/lkml/2009/8/27/386
1. http://www.techworld.com.au/article/317416/kernel_2_6_31_speed_up_linux_desktop
2. http://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_2_6_31
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ELF Knocks Down AM Towers To Save Earth, Intercoms |
| from the damn-right-wing-nutjobs dept. |
| posted by timothy on Saturday September 05, @14:27 (Communications) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/09/05/1755238/ELF-Knocks-Down-AM-Towers-To-Save-Earth-In|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
ScentCone writes "The ELF (Earth Liberation Front) [0]has claimed
responsibility for destroying the primary AM towers used by radio station
KRKO in Washington state. From their statement: 'AM radio waves cause
adverse health effects including a higher rate of cancer, harm to
wildlife, and that the signals have been interfering with home phone and
intercom lines.' The poor intercom performance must have been the last
straw."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/09/05/1755238
Links:
0. http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/04/washington.towers.terrorism/index.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Microsoft Attacks Linux With Retail-Training Talking Points |
| from the only-barely-worth-refuting dept. |
| posted by timothy on Saturday September 05, @15:26 (Linux Business) |
| https://linux.slashdot.org/story/09/09/05/195219/Microsoft-Attacks-Linux-With-Retail-Traini|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
DesiVideoGamer writes "Over at [0] Overclock.net, a user has posted
[1]screen-shots from Microsoft's 'ExpertZone' training course entitled
'Linux vs. Windows 7.' This course is available to BestBuy employees and
will make them eligible for a $10 copy of Windows 7 upon completion." The
screenshots linked show at least some creative interpretations of the
state of Linux vs. Windows on a wide range of things, from media playback
and video conferencing to ease of updates to (of all things) keeping your
PCs "safer." Most of the claims, though, aren't concrete enough to be
perfectly refuted. Writes DesiVideoGamer, "I think I now know why, when I
enter BestBuy, the employees say the odd lies that they do."
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/09/05/195219
Links:
0. http://overclock.net/
1. http://www.overclock.net/windows/569458-microsoft-attack-linux-retail-level-probably.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Recovery Tool Includes Leak of Palm's WebOS 1.2 |
| from the are-any-modern-leaks-accidental? dept. |
| posted by timothy on Saturday September 05, @16:37 (Bug) |
| https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/09/09/05/2037219/Recovery-Tool-Includes-Leak-of-Palms-Web|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]El Royo writes "Today, [1]Palm leaked version 1.2 of the webOS
operating system that powers the Palm Pre. According to PreCentral, the
new version was [2]inadvertently included in a recovery tool Palm makes
available. New features include support for the forthcoming App Catalog
changes, copy and paste from Web sites, improved e-mail search and faster
boot times."
Discuss this story at:
http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/09/05/2037219
Links:
0. http://pre101.com/
1. http://www.palm.com/
2. http://www.precentral.net/webos-12-accidentally-leaked
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Meet Uzbl — a Web Browser With the Unix Philosophy |
| from the simple-if-you-know-how dept. |
| posted by timothy on Saturday September 05, @17:45 (The Internet) |
| https://linux.slashdot.org/story/09/09/05/2142235/Meet-Uzbl-mdash-a-Web-Browser-With-the-Un|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
DigDuality writes "[0]Dieter@be over at Arch Linux forums, a release
engineer for Arch Linux, got [1]inspired by this post. The idea? To
create a browser based on the Unix philosophy: 'Write programs that do
one thing and do it well, programs that work well together, programs to
handle text streams because that is a universal interface,' among other
points. The result? A fast, low-resource browser named [2]Uzbl, based on
[3]WebKit, which passes the Acid3 Test with a perfect score. The browser
is controlled (by default) by vim-like keybindings, not too dissimilar to
[4]vimperator for Firefox. Things like URL changing, loading/saving of
bookmarks, saving history, and downloads are handled through external
scripts that you write (though the Uzbl software does come with some nice
scripts for you to use). It fits great in a tiling window manager and
plays extremely well with dmenu. The [5]learning curve is a bit steep,
but once you get used to it, it's smooth sailing. Not bad for alpha
software. Though built for Arch, it has been [6]reported to work on
Ubuntu."
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/09/05/2142235
Links:
0. http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=70700
1. http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=67463
2. http://www.uzbl.org/
3. http://webkit.org/
4. http://vimperator.org/
5. http://tuxtraining.com/2009/09/05/uzbl-and-uzbl_tabbed-py-a-browser-that-adheres-to-the-unix-philosophy
6. http://blog.duwanis.com/past/2009/5/17/installing_uzbl_on_ubuntubased_distros/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Wordpress.org Warns of Active Worm Hacking Blogs |
| from the in-this-case-the-worms-are-actually-human-beings dept. |
| posted by timothy on Saturday September 05, @18:53 (Security) |
| https://developers.slashdot.org/story/09/09/05/2210237/Wordpressorg-Warns-of-Active-Worm-Ha|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Erik writes "[1]Wordpress, the popular open-source Content Management
System (CMS) for many thousands of bloggers worldwide, [2]is under attack
from a 'clever' worm that automatically compromises unpatched versions of
the Wordpress system. The particularly nasty bug crawls the web for
vulnerable Wordpress installations, installing malware, deleting content,
and generally wreaking havoc wherever it can. Today, Wordpress founder
Matt Mullenweg eloquently implored Wordpress bloggers to update more
frequently. Originally, updating the Wordpress system was a rather
laborious process; however, newer versions offer fast and simple
one-click upgrades. The two most recent versions of Wordpress (2.8.3 and
2.8.4) cannot be attacked by the worm discovered this week, and blogs
hosted at Wordpress.com are also apparently immune."
Discuss this story at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/09/05/2210237
Links:
0. http://www.eriklove.com/
1. http://www.wordpress.org/
2. http://wordpress.org/development/2009/09/keep-wordpress-secure/
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