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Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* Chinese Censor-Beating Software Resembles Malware, But Isn't
* The Story of a Simple and Dangerous OS X Kernel Bug
* Nokia Makes LGPL Version of PyQt
* Lori Drew Cyberbullying Case Dismissed
* Spammers Use Holes In Democrats.org Security
* Musician Lobby Terms Balanced Copyright "Disgusting"
* Where Have You Gone, Bell Labs?
* Personalized In-Game Advertising In Upcoming Titles
* Laughing Gas Is Major Threat To Ozone Layer
* Wind Farms Can Interfere With Doppler Radar
* Cato Institute Critique of Software Patents
* Australian Defence Force Builds $1.7m Linux-Based Flight Simulator
* TwIP - An IP Stack In a Tweet
* Skype Trojan Can Log VoIP Conversations
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Chinese Censor-Beating Software Resembles Malware, But Isn't |
| from the good-to-know dept. |
| posted by timothy on Saturday August 29, @22:49 (Censorship) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/08/30/028203/Chinese-Censor-Beating-Software-Resembles-Ma|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]coondoggie writes "Software designed to beat Chinese censorship may
behave in ways that seem suspect, but it is [1]all part of the
application's strategy to fool the Great Firewall of China, according to
one programmer of the software. 'There are many built-in tricks that do
all kinds of things to confuse the firewall,' says David Tian, a
scientist for NASA who works spare-time on UltraSurf, the free software
designed to promote unrestricted Internet access for citizens of China
persecuted for being members of Falun Gang, the religious group the
Chinese government is trying to suppress."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/30/028203
Links:
0. http://networkworld.com/
1. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/082809-chinese-anticensorship.html?hpg1=bn
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The Story of a Simple and Dangerous OS X Kernel Bug |
| from the chink-in-the-armor dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday August 30, @01:39 (Bug) |
| https://developers.slashdot.org/story/09/08/30/0424248/The-Story-of-a-Simple-and-Dangerous-|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]RazvanM writes "At the beginning of this month the Mac OS X 10.5.8
closed a [1]kernel vulnerability that lasted more than 4 years, covering
all the 10.4 and (almost all) 10.5 Mac OS X releases. This article
presents some [2]twitter-size [3]programs that trigger the bug. The
mechanics are so simple that can be easily explained to anybody
possessing some minimal knowledge about how operating systems works.
Beside being a good educational example this is also a scary proof that
very mature code can still be vulnerable in rather unsophisticated ways."
Discuss this story at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/30/0424248
Links:
0. http://razvan.musaloiu.com/
1. http://apple.slashdot.org/story/09/08/05/2335209/Mac-OS-X-v1058-Ready-For-Download
2. http://twitter.com/razvanm/status/3152648774
3. http://butnotyet.tumblr.com/post/175132533/the-story-of-a-simple-and-dangerous-kernel-bug
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Nokia Makes LGPL Version of PyQt |
| from the if-not-one-way-then-another dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday August 30, @04:43 (Programming) |
| https://developers.slashdot.org/story/09/08/30/0823206/Nokia-Makes-LGPL-Version-of-PyQt |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
EtaCarinae writes "Nokia didn't succeed in convincing [0]Riverbank to
change its licensing terms on [1]PyQt, and so decided to create their own
LGPL'ed version of it. From the FAQ at [2]the PySide site: 'Nokia's
initial research into Python bindings for Qt involved speaking with
Riverbank Computing, the makers of PyQt. We had several discussions with
them to see if it was possible to use PyQt to achieve our goals.
Unfortunately, a common agreement could not be found , so in the end we
decided to proceed with PySide.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/30/0823206
Links:
0. http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk/
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyqt
2. http://www.pyside.org/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Lori Drew Cyberbullying Case Dismissed |
| from the neither-vindication-nor-absolution dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday August 30, @08:01 (The Courts) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/08/30/0448217/Lori-Drew-Cyberbullying-Case-Dismissed |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Trepidity writes "About seven weeks after the judge [1]tentatively
overturned Lori Drew's guilty verdict for 'cyberbullying' following her
online harassment of a teenager that was linked to [2]the teenager's
suicide, the case was finally [3]officially dismissed. In a [4]32-page
opinion [PDF], the court avoided a minefield of possible [5]follow-on
effects that civil-liberties groups had warned of by holding that merely
violating a website's Terms of Service cannot constitute 'unauthorized
access' for the purposes of the [6]Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18
U.S.C. 1030)."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/30/0448217
Links:
0. http://www.pfstuff.com/
1. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/07/02/2017217&tid=61
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Megan_Meier
3. http://volokh.com/posts/1251601962.shtml
4. http://volokh.com/files/LoriDrew.pdf
5. http://www.eff.org/cases/united-states-v-drew
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Fraud_and_Abuse_Act
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Spammers Use Holes In Democrats.org Security |
| from the hello-sir-madam dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday August 30, @09:17 (Democrats) |
| https://politics.slashdot.org/story/09/08/30/126259/Spammers-Use-Holes-In-Democratsorg-Secu|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Attila Dimedici writes "According to Cloudmark, [0]419 spammers are
[1]using the democrats.org website to relay email and bypass spam filters.
'The abuse, which dates back at least to the beginning of this month,
helps evade filters that internet service providers employ to block the
messages. ... The messages were sent courtesy of [2]this page, which
allows anyone with an internet connection to send emails. The PHP script
employs no CAPTCHA or other measure to help ensure there is a real human
being behind each email that gets funneled through the service. The
service allows messages to be sent to 10 addresses at a time and even
provides a way for people to import contacts they have stored in their
address book.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/30/126259
Links:
0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_419_spam
1. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/08/28/democratic_party_419_abuse/
2. http://www.democrats.org/page/invite
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Musician Lobby Terms Balanced Copyright "Disgusting" |
| from the less-than-impressed dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday August 30, @10:35 (Government) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/08/30/1332243/Musician-Lobby-Terms-Balanced-Copyright-Dis|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "While most of the attention at Thursday's
Canadian copyright town hall was on the recording industry's strategy to
[0]pack the room and exclude alternate voices, the most controversial
activity took place outside the hall. It has now been revealed that
[1]security guards threatened students and a Member of Parliament for
distributing leaflets, and the American Federation of Musicians termed
the MP's leaflet, which called for balanced copyright, 'disgusting' and
[2]demanded a retraction and apology. At this point, such an admission
[3]seems unlikely."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/30/1332243
Links:
0. http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4329/125/
1. http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4332/125/
2. http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4334/125/
3. http://www.boingboing.net/2009/08/29/american-copyright-l.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Where Have You Gone, Bell Labs? |
| from the i'm-guessing-china dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday August 30, @11:51 (Businesses) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/09/08/30/1512213/Where-Have-You-Gone-Bell-Labs |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]theodp writes "Name an industry that can produce 1 million new,
high-paying jobs over the next three years, challenges BusinessWeek. You
can't, because there isn't one. And that's the problem. So what's the
answer? [1]Basic research can repair the broken US business model, argues
BW, saying it's the key to new, high-quality job creation. Scientific
research legends like Bell Labs, Sarnoff Corp, and Xerox PARC are
essentially gone, or shadows of their former selves. And while IBM,
Microsoft, and HP collectively spend [2]$17B a year on R&D, only [3]3%-5%
of that is for basic science. In a post-9/11 world, DARPA's mission has
shifted from science to tactical projects with short-term military
applications. Cutting back on investment in basic science research may
make great sense in the short term, but as corporations and government
make the same decision to free-ride off the investments of others,
society suffers the 'tragedy of the commons,' wherein multiple actors
operating in their self-interest do harm to the overall public good.
We've reached that point, says BW, and we're just beginning to see the
consequences. The cycle needs to be reversed, and it needs to be done
quickly."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/30/1512213
Links:
0. mailto:theodp@aol.com
1. http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/09_36/b4145036681619.htm
2. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_36/b4145044687973.htm
3. http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/09_36/b4145040683083.htm
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Personalized In-Game Advertising In Upcoming Titles |
| from the brought-to-you-by-frungy-the-sport-of-kings dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday August 30, @13:08 (Privacy) |
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/09/08/30/1618218/Personalized-In-Game-Advertising-In-Upcom|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Scythal writes "In-game advertising provider Massive Inc., [0]acquired by
Microsoft in 2006, has [1]signed up or renewed contracts with several
publishers, notably EA, Blizzard Entertainment, THQ, and Activision.
Eagerly anticipated games like Need for Speed: Shift will feature the
technology that continuously collects 'anonymous' information about
users, sends them to the Massive database for analysis, and downloads
advertisements to be shown in the game. All that happens insidiously,
without the users' explicit consent and out of their control, which
raises further concerns about privacy, security and quite frankly,
customer abuse. Would you feel concerned about software that collects
personal information and sends it so that you get more personalized ads
in a game you paid for?" (More, below.)
This story continues at:
https://games.slashdot.org/story/09/08/30/1618218/Personalized-In-Game-Advertising-In-Upcoming-Titles
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/30/1618218
Links:
0. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/may06/05-04MassiveIncPR.mspx
1. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25055
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Laughing Gas Is Major Threat To Ozone Layer |
| from the damn-you-street-racers-damn-you dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday August 30, @14:06 (Earth) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/09/08/30/180225/Laughing-Gas-Is-Major-Threat-To-Ozone-La|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Hugh Pickens writes "The Christian Science Monitor reports that
according to new research, [1]nitrous oxide, the colorless,
sweet-smelling gas with a long history as a medical and dental anesthetic
is the [2]next big threat to Earth's protective ozone layer. Its role in
destroying ozone has long been recognized, as well as its role as a
heat-trapping greenhouse gas but the new study puts nitrous oxide's
ability to deplete ozone into numbers comparable to those used for other
[3]ozone-depleting gases covered by the 1987 Montreal Protocol. The
researchers note that the health of the ozone layer has been improving
since the adoption of the protocol and that nitrous oxide looms large
today as an artificial destroyer of the ozone layer, in part because the
emissions of other harmful chemicals have been so sharply reduced."
(Continues.)
This story continues at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/09/08/30/180225/Laughing-Gas-Is-Major-Threat-To-Ozone-Layer
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/30/180225
Links:
0. http://hughpickens.com/
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrous_oxide
2. http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/08/27/the-next-major-threat-to-the-ozone-layer-nitrous-oxide/
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Protocol
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Wind Farms Can Interfere With Doppler Radar |
| from the whiteout-on-the-right-parts-of-the-screen dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday August 30, @15:10 (Power) |
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/08/30/193227/Wind-Farms-Can-Interfere-With-Doppler-R|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]T Murphy writes "Wind farms [1]can appear like storms or tornadoes on
Doppler radar when placed too close to the radar. Tornado alley is a good
area for wind farms, and good terrain for the turbines is also ideal for
Doppler radar. With many new farms being constructed, the problem is
growing. A false tornado warning was issued in Kansas by a computer,
although canceled by a meteorologist aware of the problem- there are
fears that false positives will grow. Worse would be a tornado ignored as
a wind turbine. While meteorologists are trying to work with wind farm
owners to shut off the turbines during bad weather, they have no control
over the placement or operation of the turbines. Efforts are being made
to improve detection technology to avoid further problems."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/30/193227
Links:
0. mailto:murph89@gmail.com
1. http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=316752
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Cato Institute Critique of Software Patents |
| from the oprah-favre dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday August 30, @16:16 (Patents) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/08/30/1948206/Cato-Institute-Critique-of-Software-Patents|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]binarybits writes "I've written an article for the free-market Cato
Institute about how patents impede innovation in the software industry.
It points out that people tend not to realize how vast the software
industry is. It's not just Google and Microsoft; [1]virtually every
organization has an IT department producing potentially-infringing
software. Organizations as diverse as J. Crew and the Green Bay Packers
have been sued for patent infringement. It's crazy to expect all these
organizations to worry about potential patent infringement. Hopefully the
Supreme Court's Bilski decision will lead to new limits on software
patents."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/30/1948206
Links:
0. http://timothyblee.com/
1. http://www.cato.org/tech/tk/090828-tk.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Australian Defence Force Builds $1.7m Linux-Based Flight Simulator |
| from the send-some-love-to-flightgear dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday August 30, @17:15 (The Military) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/08/30/214236/Australian-Defence-Force-Builds-17m-Linux-B|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
scrubl writes "The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has revealed its latest
flight simulator [0]runs on SUSE Linux-based clusters of Opteron servers
and uses an open source graphics platform. The Defence Science and
Technology Organisation's (DSTO) Air Operations Simulation Centre in
Melbourne creates virtual words that allow pilots to experience
real-world combat situations without leaving the ground. The visuals
software was written in OpenGL, using commercial and open source scene
graph engines and making 'heavy use of OpenGL Shader Language programs.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/30/214236
Links:
0. http://www.itnews.com.au/News/154262,defence-spends-17m-on-ultimate-linux-flight-simulator.aspx
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| TwIP - An IP Stack In a Tweet |
| from the small-is-good dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday August 30, @18:21 (Networking) |
| https://bsd.slashdot.org/story/09/08/30/2212238/TwIP---An-IP-Stack-In-a-Tweet |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Adam Dunkels writes "Inspired by the Twitter-sized program that
[1]crashes Mac OS X, I just wrote a really, really rudimentary IP stack
called twIP, small enough to fit in a [2]Twitter tweet. Although twIP is
very far away from a [3]real [4]IP [5]stack, it can do the first task of
any IP stack: respond to pings. The entire source code can be found [2]in
this 128-character-long tweet. For those who are interested in low-level
network programming, a [6]code walkthrough with instructions on how to
run the code under FreeBSD is available here. The FAQ: Q: why? A: for
fun."
Discuss this story at:
http://bsd.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/30/2212238
Links:
0. http://www.sics.se/~adam/
1. http://developers.slashdot.org/story/09/08/30/0424248/The-Story-of-a-Simple-and-Dangerous-OS-X-Kernel-Bug
2. http://twitter.com/adunk/statuses/3646637058
3. http://www.sics.se/~adam/uip/
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LwIP
5. http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/15/1839209&tid=94
6. http://www.sics.se/~adam/twip.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Skype Trojan Can Log VoIP Conversations |
| from the sans-malice-would-be-a-useful-thing dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday August 30, @19:24 (Communications) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/08/30/238249/Skype-Trojan-Can-Log-VoIP-Conversations |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Slatterz writes "Security giant Symantec claims to have found the public
release of source code for a Trojan that targets Skype users.
Trojan.Peskyspy is spyware which [0]records a voice call and stores it as
an MP3 file for later transmission. An infected machine will use the
software that handles audio processing within a computer and save the
call data as an MP3. The file is then sent over the internet to a
predefined server where the attacker can listen to the recorded
conversations."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/30/238249
Links:
0. http://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/154401,skype-trojan-can-log-voip-conversations.aspx
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