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[Slashdot] Stories for 2011-08-09

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Slashdot Daily Newsletter

In this issue:
* S&P's $2 Trillion Math Mistake
* Drought-Stricken Texas Town Taps Urine For Water
* Are Google's Best Days Behind It?
* Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
* RIM Helping UK Police Track Down Rioters
* Science Fair Entry Shuts Down Airport Terminal
* What If Android Lost the Patent War?
* Lightning Strike KOs Amazon, Microsoft EuroClouds
* Guide To Building a Cable That Improves iOS Exploits
* Intel Details New Ultrabook Reference Designs
* Start-Up Claims Immortality For Data With 'Stone-Like' Disc
* Building a Better 'Anonymous?'
* Build Your Own Camera, Launch It Like a Grenade
* Power Companies Brace For Solar Storms
* Cisco, US DOJ Fire Another Salvo At Peter Adekeye
* Ask Slashdot: How To Combat IP-Based Censorship?
* AMD Enters Desktop Memory Market
* Khronos Releases OpenGL 4.2 Specification
* Bletchley Park Finds a Saviour In Google
* Facebook Now Using Natural Language Processing
* Syrian Hackers Deface Anonymous' Social Network
* Mars Rover Opportunity Set To Roll Into Its Ultimate Crater
* The Fate of the First Known Black Hole
* NCSA and IBM Part Ways Over Blue Waters
* North Korea Accused of Hacking Online Games For Profit
* Game Publisher Following Pirates To Find a Market
* Analyzing Culture With Google Books

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| S&P's $2 Trillion Math Mistake
| from the show-your-work dept.
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday August 08, @08:55 (Government)
| with 959 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1249256/SampPs-2-Trillion-Math-Mistake?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last friday Moody's S&P announced that they had [0]downgraded the U.S.'s
credit rating (leading to a pretty huge discussion on Slashdot I might
add). Since then more interesting news has come out, suraj.sun writes "In
a document provided to Treasury on Friday afternoon, Standard and Poor's
(S&P) presented a judgment about the credit rating of the U.S. that was
based on a $2 trillion mistake. After Treasury pointed out this error ��� a
basic math error of significant consequence ��� S&P still chose to proceed
with their flawed judgment by simply changing their principal rationale
for their credit rating decision from an economic one to a political one.
S&P incorrectly added that same $2.1 trillion in deficit reduction to an
entirely different baseline where discretionary funding levels grow with
nominal GDP over the next 10 years. Relative to this alternative
baseline, the Budget Control Act will save more than $4 trillion over ten
years ��� or over $2 trillion more than S&P calculated. S&P [1]acknowledged
this error ��� in private conversations with Treasury on Friday afternoon
and then publicly early Saturday morning. In the interim, they chose to
issue a downgrade of the U.S. credit rating."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1249256/SampPs-2-Trillion-Math-Mistake?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/08/06/0428246/United-States-Loses-SampP-AAA-Credit-Rating&tid=61
1. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903366504576491421339802788.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

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| Drought-Stricken Texas Town Taps Urine For Water
| from the it's-important-to-stay-hydrated dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday August 08, @11:38 (Earth)
| with 282 comments
| https://idle.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1451246/Drought-Stricken-Texas-Town-Taps-Urine-For-Water?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "Texas is in the midst of a drought so severe
that local water management teams have decided to [0]distribute reclaimed
wastewater (aka urine). The Colorado River Municipal Water District in
West Texas has broken ground on [1]a $13 million plant that will capture
treated wastewater and ready it for redistribution. After being run
through microfilters and undergoing reverse osmosis, slimy sewage is
cleansed with peroxide and ultraviolet light. This intense process
ensures that any pharmaceuticals and carcinogens are removed, and that
the H2O stands up to drinking water regulations."

Discuss this story at:
https://idle.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1451246/Drought-Stricken-Texas-Town-Taps-Urine-For-Water?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://news.discovery.com/earth/urine-sewage-water-supply-recycling-drought-110805.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1
1. http://inhabitat.com/drought-stricken-texas-town-turns-urine-into-tap-water/

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| Are Google's Best Days Behind It?
| from the aren't-they-always dept.
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday August 08, @10:34 (Google)
| with 256 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1415203/Are-Googles-Best-Days-Behind-It?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]snydeq writes "InfoWorld's Neil McAllister questions whether slowing
product development, legal woes, and rising bureaucracy will [1]signal
trying times ahead for Google. 'With Google's rapid growth have come new
challenges. It faces intense competition in all of its major markets,
even as it enters new ones. Its newer initiatives have often struggled to
reach profitability. It must answer multiple ongoing legal challenges, to
say nothing of antitrust probes in the United States and Europe. Privacy
advocates accuse it of running roughshod over individual rights. As a
result, it's becoming more cautious and risk-averse. But worst of all, as
it grows ever larger and more cumbersome, it may be losing its appeal to
the highly educated, impassioned workers that power its internal
knowledge economy.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1415203/Are-Googles-Best-Days-Behind-It?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.infoworld.com/
1. http://www.infoworld.com/d/the-industry-standard/are-googles-best-days-behind-it-168900

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| Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
| from the can-i-play-the-piano-any-more dept.
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday August 08, @13:00 (Sci-Fi)
| with 230 comments
| https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1623224/Review-Rise-of-the-Planet-of-the-Apes?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
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The original Planet of the Apes had a lot going for it: a compelling
lead, an interesting story, a convincing world, a couple of good quotable
catch phrases, and of course the not-really-all-that-surprising twist
ending. Of course, it was a bit cheesy too. Different trailers for 'Rise
of the Planet of the Apes' had me concerned and excited: was it going to
be a Sci-Fi film, or an action film? I am pleased to announce that it is
mostly the former and it's totally worth checking out. Read on for my
brief review.

This story continues at:
https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1623224/Review-Rise-of-the-Planet-of-the-Apes?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email

Discuss this story at:
https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1623224/Review-Rise-of-the-Planet-of-the-Apes?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

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| RIM Helping UK Police Track Down Rioters
| from the there's-an-app-for-that dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 08, @15:45 (Blackberry)
| with 230 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1858203/RIM-Helping-UK-Police-Track-Down-Rioters?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
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[0]jfruhlinger writes "Protests against a police shooting in the poor
London neighborhood of Tottenham [1]escalated into rioting and looting
this past weekend. Initial reports have it that the activity was
coordinated not by Twitter or Facebook but by the relatively old-tech
method of BlackBerry messaging. Now the official Twitter account of RIM's
UK division has announced that it is '[2]engaged with the authorities to
assist in any way we can,' which presumably means that it's [3]handing
over messages sent by rioters. Is BlackBerry being a responsible part of
British society, or is it overstepping its bounds?"

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1858203/RIM-Helping-UK-Police-Track-Down-Rioters?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://joshreads.com/
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Tottenham_riots
2. http://twitter.com/#!/UK_BlackBerry/status/100568526640787456
3. http://www.itworld.com/mobile-wireless/191381/will-rim-help-british-police-id-blackberry-users-who-rioted-looted

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| Science Fair Entry Shuts Down Airport Terminal
| from the baking-soda-volcanoes-impress-the-stewardesses dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 08, @17:47 (Security)
| with 226 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/2110210/Science-Fair-Entry-Shuts-Down-Airport-Terminal?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
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OverTheGeicoE writes "A graduate student was returning home from a
science fair in Omaha with his [0]handmade entry in his carry-on luggage.
When the TSA discovered it, they [1]shut down the airport terminal for
several hours, until they could determine it was harmless. All of this
[2]has happened before, and all of this will happen again, so before you
fly with your homemade [3]Minty MP3 player, make sure you take a look at
[4]TSA Blogger Bob's warning or it could wind up [5]looking like this."

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/2110210/Science-Fair-Entry-Shuts-Down-Airport-Terminal?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8MVIuMqo1pBY3OQ_hUktwHRXw_jxmbdNofofbhvXLj54bLLh3Hg3MZTFTolsxXQO4E0Sp90q8yapIbw9hzAO2rPZ99158isUv-CAhYeosisR736lOpbWdqY3y8-BxPJXiw1g7kgW9bDXO/s1600/SCIENCE%252520PROJECT.bmp
1. http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/science-project-closes-omaha-airport-terminal/296e460844bb4747b1a188f751d3d096
2. http://blog.tsa.gov/2009/03/traveling-with-homemade-gadgets.html
3. http://www.ladyada.net/make/minty/
4. http://blog.tsa.gov/2011/08/wierd-science-traveling-with-homemade.html
5. http://www.tsa.gov/blog/uploaded_images/Device-Fragments-740516.JPG

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| What If Android Lost the Patent War?
| from the technically-just-a-police-action dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 08, @14:23 (Android)
| with 222 comments
| https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1741235/What-If-Android-Lost-the-Patent-War?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
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adeelarshad82 writes "The patent system is certainly complex, especially
when it comes to smartphones. The Financial Times estimates that as many
as 250,000 patents are at stake in a smartphone. Industry titans like
Microsoft, Nokia, and Apple have tens of thousands of patents each, but
Google's portfolio is reportedly on the low end ��� 'under 1,000.' Taking
advantage of the opportunity, Apple has its patent strategy aimed
squarely at the number one rival to its iOS mobile operating system,
Android, which is now [0]embedded in 40 percent of all U.S. smartphones
compared to Apple's 26.6 percent. Apple's lawyers have been aggressively
suing Android manufacturers [1]HTC and [2]Samsung for various
technologies, from the 'look and feel' to how it connects to broadband
networks. A recently published article takes a deep dive into [3]the
lawsuits' possible outcomes and their effect on end users."

Discuss this story at:
https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1741235/What-If-Android-Lost-the-Patent-War?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2390480,00.asp
1. http://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/07/12/0144237/Apple-Wants-To-Block-Some-HTC-Products-From-US-Under-Tariff-Act-of-1930
2. http://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/04/18/2053241/Apple-Sues-Samsung-Over-Galaxy-Phones-and-Tablets
3. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2390536,00.asp

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| Lightning Strike KOs Amazon, Microsoft EuroClouds
| from the this-basket-of-eggs-is-highly-conductive dept.
| posted by timothy on Sunday August 07, @23:03 (Cloud)
| with 180 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/0056252/Lightning-Strike-KOs-Amazon-Microsoft-EuroClouds?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1sockchuck writes "A lightning strike has caused [0]power outages at the
major cloud computing data hubs for Amazon and Microsoft in Dublin,
Ireland. The incident has caused downtime for many sites using
[1]Amazon's EC2 cloud computing platform and Microsoft's BPOS (Business
Productivity Online Suite)."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/0056252/Lightning-Strike-KOs-Amazon-Microsoft-EuroClouds?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2011/08/07/lightning-in-dublin-knocks-amazon-microsoft-data-centers-offline/
1. http://status.aws.amazon.com/#EU_block

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| Guide To Building a Cable That Improves iOS Exploits
| from the slurping-assistant dept.
| posted by timothy on Monday August 08, @05:09 (Australia)
| with 177 comments
| https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/042236/Guide-To-Building-a-Cable-That-Improves-iOS-Exploits?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]mask.of.sanity writes "An Aussie network engineer has published a
[1]guide to building [2]a serial cable connector that allows access to a
secret kernel debugger hidden within Apple iOS. The debugger was a
dormant iOS feature carried over from Apple OS, and [3]seems to serves no
function other than to allow hackers to build better exploits. The cable
needs an external power source and a jailbroken device to access the
debugger." We've [4]mentioned Pollock's serial adapter kit before, modulo
the kernel debugging abilities.

Discuss this story at:
https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/042236/Guide-To-Building-a-Cable-That-Improves-iOS-Exploits?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. mailto:pauli.darren@gmail.com
1. http://resolvehax.blogspot.com/2010/10/iphone-serial-port.html
2. http://www.scmagazine.com.au/News/266133,diy-cable-to-build-better-ios-exploits.aspx
3. http://blackhat.com/html/bh-us-11/bh-us-11-briefings.html#Esser
4. http://slashdot.org/story/10/11/03/0325209

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| Intel Details New Ultrabook Reference Designs
| from the smaller-is-better dept.
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday August 08, @09:50 (Intel)
| with 177 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1345254/Intel-Details-New-Ultrabook-Reference-Designs?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
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[0]MojoKid writes "Earlier this year, Intel unveiled its plan to redefine
the concept of a PC around an ultra thin-and-light chassis reminiscent of
the Macbook Air and with a standard CPU TDP of just 15W. Intel has
unveiled the reference [1]specs for ultra-notebook products they're
calling 'Ultrabooks.' The cheaper ultra-notebook model will be 21mm thick
with a BOM (bill of materials) between $475-650. A second, thinner model
(18mm thick) will have a BOM between $493-710. Unlike netbooks,
Ultrabooks will target the full range of consumer notebooks with screen
sizes ranging from 11-17 inches. Reports are surfacing that the new
systems will eschew the use of module-based components in favor of
directly soldering certain components to the motherboard. Other findings
indicated that Intel and its partners have researched alternatives to an
aluminum-based chassis with materials like fiberglass expected to
dominate the segment."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1345254/Intel-Details-New-Ultrabook-Reference-Designs?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://hothardware.com/
1. http://hothardware.com/News/Intels-Ultrabook-Reference-Design-To-Be-Cheaper-Than-The-Macbook-Air/

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| Start-Up Claims Immortality For Data With 'Stone-Like' Disc
| from the load-up-the-station-wagon-with-these dept.
| posted by timothy on Monday August 08, @19:09 (Media)
| with 159 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/2222208/Start-Up-Claims-Immortality-For-Data-With-Stone-Like-Disc?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]CWmike writes "Start-up Millenniata and LG plan to soon release a new
optical disc and read/write player that [1]will store movies, photos or
any other data forever. The data can be accessed using any current DVD or
Blu-ray player. The M-Disc can be dipped in liquid nitrogen and then
boiling water without harming it. It also has a [2]Defense Department
study (PDF) backing up the resiliency of its product compared with other
leading optical disc competitors. The company would not disclose what
material is used to produce the optical discs, referring to it only as a
'natural' substance that is 'stone-like.' Like DVDs and Blu-ray discs,
the M-Disc platters are made up of multiple layers of material. But there
is no reflective, or die, layer. Instead, during the recording process a
laser 'etches' pits onto the substrate material."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/2222208/Start-Up-Claims-Immortality-For-Data-With-Stone-Like-Disc?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://twitter.com/mikeatcw
1. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9218881/Start_up_to_release_stone_like_optical_disc_that_lasts_forever
2. http://millenniata.com/wp-content/uploads/m-disc/mdisc_china_lake_study.pdf

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| Building a Better 'Anonymous?'
| from the start-by-photocopying-drivers-licenses dept.
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday August 08, @11:28 (Security)
| with 107 comments
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1519234/Building-a-Better-Anonymous?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "A hacktivism panel at the DefCon hacker
convention was conspicuously missing its star member Aaron Barr, who
dropped out under legal pressure from his former company HBGary Federal,
debated [0]how Anonymous could channel its efforts for the greater good.
Members of Anon attending the discussion chimed in, too."

Discuss this story at:
https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1519234/Building-a-Better-Anonymous?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.darkreading.com/security/attacks-breaches/231300360/building-a-better-anonymous.html

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| Build Your Own Camera, Launch It Like a Grenade
| from the sorry-about-the-eye dept.
| posted by timothy on Monday August 08, @02:11 (Hardware Hacking)
| with 106 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/0354228/Build-Your-Own-Camera-Launch-It-Like-a-Grenade?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]angry tapir writes "Meet the Firefly. Israeli defense contractor
Rafael Armament Development Authority calls it a 'revolutionary concept
in tactical intelligence,' but really it's [1]a wireless camera that's
shot 500 feet in the air by a grenade launcher. And if a couple of
hackers at the Defcon hacking convention get their way, soon anyone will
be able to buy this type of military grade technology for only US$500."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/0354228/Build-Your-Own-Camera-Launch-It-Like-a-Grenade?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.computerworld.com.au/
1. http://www.techworld.com.au/article/396350/build_your_own_camera_launch_it_like_grenade/

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| Power Companies Brace For Solar Storms
| from the but-the-ice-cream-is-dripping-everywhere dept.
| posted by timothy on Monday August 08, @08:09 (Communications)
| with 103 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/0321231/Power-Companies-Brace-For-Solar-Storms?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]Hugh Pickens writes "Three large explosions from the sun over the past
few days have prompted U.S. government scientists to caution users of
satellite, telecommunications and electric equipment to prepare for
[1]possible disruptions over the next few days that could affect
communications and GPS satellites, leave thousands without power for
weeks to months, and might even produce an aurora visible as far south as
Minnesota and Wisconsin. 'The concern is if the electric grid lost a
number of transformers during a single storm, replacing them would be
difficult and time-consuming,' says Rich Lordan, senior technical
executive for power delivery and utilization at the Electric Power
Research Institute (EPRI). The largest solar storm in recorded history
was in 1859, when communications infrastructure was limited to
telegraphs. Some telegraph operators reported electric shocks, papers
caught fire, and the [2]Northern Lights appeared as far south as Cuba and
Hawaii. The first of the three solar explosions from the sun already
passed the Earth on Thursday with little impact and the second is passing
the Earth now and 'seems to be stronger.' "We'll have to see what happens
over the next few days," says space weather scientist Joseph Kunches.
'[The third storm] could [3]exacerbate the disturbance in the Earth's
magnetic field caused by the second (storm) or do nothing at all.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/0321231/Power-Companies-Brace-For-Solar-Storms?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://hughpickens.com/
1. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2011/08/110803-solar-flare-storm-electricity-grid-risk/
2. http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/23oct_superstorm/
3. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/06/us-utilities-noaa-solarstorms-idUSTRE7746UA20110806

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| Cisco, US DOJ Fire Another Salvo At Peter Adekeye
| from the when-in-doubt-double-down dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 08, @13:42 (Crime)
| with 82 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1716243/Cisco-US-DOJ-Fire-Another-Salvo-At-Peter-Adekeye?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

theodp writes "Citing the [0]widespread practice of sharing passwords for
expediency's sake, Cisco's Chief Security Officer [1]proclaimed in 2007
that people 'need to be held accountable for their risk-taking,' noting
that CEO John Chambers drives home the point that 'information security
is everybody's responsibility' at Cisco. But instead of accepting
responsibility after a Cisco employee provided his ID and password to
ex-Cisco engineer Peter Alfred-Adekeye, the networking giant sic'ed the
Feds on Adekeye, who was [2]slapped with a five-count indictment by a
Federal grand jury last week. Adekeye's crime, according to [3]the Court
filing, was using the login credentials the Cisco employee provided him
with 'in excess of the specific use granted by the Cisco employee.' For
his five downloads of different versions of Cisco IOS ��� four of which
were launched within a 15-minute period in 2006 ��� the government is
seeking a penalty of 5 years imprisonment for Adekeye, a $250K fine, and
3 years supervised release. It's the latest salvo fired in the [4]war
Cisco and US prosecutors have waged against Adekeye since he [5]filed an
antitrust suit against Cisco in December 2008."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1716243/Cisco-US-DOJ-Fire-Another-Salvo-At-Peter-Adekeye?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns170/ns896/ns895/white_paper_c11-499060.html
1. http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/docs/gov/RiskManagement_Dec07.pdf
2. http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_18618018?nclick_check=1
3. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B-VQYa94fZpfZDY4MGQ1YjItYmEyZS00MGI4LWE0N2EtMmMzZmY0NTE5MTdj&hl=en_US
4. http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/07/22/0048231/Peter-Adekeye-Freed-Judge-Outraged-At-Ciscos-Involvement
5. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/35852

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| Ask Slashdot: How To Combat IP-Based Censorship?
| from the tactical-nuclear-strikes dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 08, @16:26 (Censorship)
| with 74 comments
| https://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1922248/Ask-Slashdot-How-To-Combat-IP-Based-Censorship?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
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An anonymous reader writes "For a while now there has been a lot of buzz
on a new [0]proposed censorship scheme in Turkey. The government wants to
crack down on [1]freedom of speech and other rights by preventing us from
accessing any websites it deems unsuitable. The reasons for that could be
criticism of the government, pornography and basically anything a
politician might dislike (YouTube is blocked for example ��� I'm not sure
about Google, etc., because I'm bypassing the filter). Right now the
state is using DNS-based filtering which can be circumvented with
[2]OpenDNS or proxy services which everybody knows about in Turkey. On
August 22, however, a new scheme will go into effect that uses IP-based
filtering. Bypassing this by any means is illegal, but I wanted to get
some opinions on how this could be done without having to set up a [3]VPN
server outside of Turkey and using it as a private proxy."

Discuss this story at:
https://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1922248/Ask-Slashdot-How-To-Combat-IP-Based-Censorship?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.techeye.net/internet/turkey-marches-against-further-web-censorship
1. http://www.iposgoode.ca/2011/06/internetfilteringinturkeycensorshipgonetoofar/
2. http://www.opendns.com/
3. http://www.bestvpnservice.com/blog/tools-how-to-bypass-turkey-internet-ban-censorship

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| AMD Enters Desktop Memory Market
| from the and-now-for-something-a-little-bit-different dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 08, @14:44 (AMD)
| with 62 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/187230/AMD-Enters-Desktop-Memory-Market?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

siliconbits writes "AMD has quietly released [0]a new range of memory
products and recycled the Radeon brand, which moves from graphics
processing units to memory modules. According to the product page, AMD
Radeon for systems are 'ideally' suited for the company's APU and CPU
solutions and have been 'tested to the highest industry standards on AMD
platforms.' Three different categories are currently on offer, roughly
matching AMD's APU/CPU product categories; Entertainment, Ultra Pro and
Enterprise. Oddly enough, the company is offering only 2GB modules with
data rates at 1333.33MT/s and 1600MT/s, with 9-9-9 and 11-11-11 timings
for the first two product ranges respectively."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/187230/AMD-Enters-Desktop-Memory-Market?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.itproportal.com/2011/08/08/amd-launches-retail-radeon-memory-brand/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Khronos Releases OpenGL 4.2 Specification
| from the onward-and-upward dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 08, @17:30 (Graphics)
| with 62 comments
| https://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/2048201/Khronos-Releases-OpenGL-42-Specification?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]jrepin tips news that the Khronos Group has [1]announced the release
of the OpenGL 4.2 specification. Some of the new functionality includes:
"Enabling shaders with atomic counters and load/store/atomic
read-modify-write operations to a single level of a texture (These
capabilities can be combined, for example, to maintain a counter at each
pixel in a buffer object for single-rendering-pass order-independent
transparency); Capturing GPU-tessellated geometry and drawing multiple
instances of the result of a transform feedback to enable complex objects
to be efficiently repositioned and replicated; Modifying an arbitrary
subset of a compressed texture, without having to re-download the whole
texture to the GPU for significant performance improvements; Packing
multiple 8 and 16 bit values into a single 32-bit value for efficient
shader processing with significantly reduced memory storage and
bandwidth, especially useful when transferring data between shader
stages."

Discuss this story at:
https://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/2048201/Khronos-Releases-OpenGL-42-Specification?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://slashdot.org/~jrepin
1. http://www.khronos.org/news/press/khronos-enriches-cross-platform-3d-graphics-with-release-of-opengl-4.2-spec

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Bletchley Park Finds a Saviour In Google
| from the breakin-da-code dept.
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday August 08, @12:12 (Google)
| with 56 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1613216/Bletchley-Park-Finds-a-Saviour-In-Google?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

hypnosec noted that Google has stepped up to try to help [0]fundraising
for Bletchley Park. From TFA: "The point is that all of us have heroes.
At Google our heroes are Alan Turing and the people who worked on
breaking the codes at Bletchley Park. It was probably the most inspiring
and uplifting achievement in scientific technology over the last hundred
years. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that without Alan
Turing, Google as we know it wouldn't exist."

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1613216/Bletchley-Park-Finds-a-Saviour-In-Google?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/8683638/Google-backs-Bletchley-Park-restoration-project.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Facebook Now Using Natural Language Processing
| from the skynet-enters-rem-sleep dept.
| posted by timothy on Monday August 08, @19:58 (Cloud)
| with 52 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/234218/Facebook-Now-Using-Natural-Language-Processing?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "Facebook has added a new type of story to its
News Feed today: if more than one of your friends post about the same
topic, and it has a Page on the social network, the posts will be grouped
under a Posted About story, [0]even if your friends don't explicitly tag
the Page. It turns out Facebook is using natural language processing on
status updates as well as the headlines of posted links to figure out if
a topic mentioned has a corresponding Page, and then searches to see if
your other friends have done so as well."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/234218/Facebook-Now-Using-Natural-Language-Processing?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/facebook/facebook-using-natural-language-processing-to-group-posts-link-to-pages/2380

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Syrian Hackers Deface Anonymous' Social Network
| from the turnabout-is-fair-play dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 08, @18:28 (Social Networks)
| with 43 comments
| https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/2135228/Syrian-Hackers-Deface-Anonymous-Social-Network?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]CWmike writes "After the hacking gang Anonymous took credit for
[1]defacing Syria's Ministry of Defense website, a Syrian group
retaliated on Monday by [2]posting gruesome photos on Anonymous'
embryonic social network. The defacement of AnonPlus ��� the site Anonymous
[3]set up last month when it was booted off Google+ ��� did not include the
name of the group responsible. The University of Toronto's Citizen Lab,
however, credited the AnonPlus defacement to the 'Syrian Electronic Army'
in a [4]message posted to Twitter. 'In response to your hacking to the
website of the Syrian Ministry of Defence, the Syrian people have decided
to purify the internet of [y]our pathetic website,' the defacement read."

Discuss this story at:
https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/2135228/Syrian-Hackers-Deface-Anonymous-Social-Network?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://twitter.com/mikeatcw
1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/faster-forward/post/anonymous-strikes-again-takes-over-syrian-defense-ministry-web-site/2011/08/08/gIQA7KpH2I_blog.html
2. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9218981/Syrian_hackers_retaliate_deface_Anonymous_social_network
3. http://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/07/17/1150256/Anonymous-Creates-Its-Own-Social-Network
4. http://twitter.com/#!/citizenlab/status/100615949329235968

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Mars Rover Opportunity Set To Roll Into Its Ultimate Crater
| from the opportunity-knocks-on-endeavour's-door dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 08, @15:03 (Mars)
| with 40 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1837254/Mars-Rover-Opportunity-Set-To-Roll-Into-Its-Ultimate-Crater?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]coondoggie writes "NASA's Mars rover Opportunity will likely [1]peer
over the rim of its ultimate destination this week, the huge [2]Endeavour
crater. According to a NASA post late last week, Opportunity was [3]only
about 120 meters from 'Spirit Point,' the first landfall on the rim of
Endeavour crater."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1837254/Mars-Rover-Opportunity-Set-To-Roll-Into-Its-Ultimate-Crater?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. mailto:mcooney@nww.com
1. http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/nasa-mars-rover-will-roll-its-ultimate-crater
2. http://marsrover.nasa.gov/mission/tm-opportunity/index.html
3. http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00003134/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| The Fate of the First Known Black Hole
| from the black-holes-and-revelations dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 08, @18:47 (Space)
| with 34 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/2149256/The-Fate-of-the-First-Known-Black-Hole?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

sciencehabit writes "Cygnus X-1 bears its name because it was the first
source of x-rays found in the constellation Cygnus. In 1971, astronomers
discovered that the x-rays came from the direction of a bright blue star
whirling around a mysterious dark object. They speculated that the x-rays
were resulting from material being torn away from the bright star and
falling onto the dark object, perhaps a black hole. This year,
astronomers established that Cygnus X-1 [0]does indeed harbor a black
hole, a dead star whose great gravity lets nothing, not even light,
escape. Now that result has [1]inspired a forecast for the system's
future: The black hole will swallow even more mass from an unfortunate
star circling it, then [2]likely dash away on its own when its companion
explodes."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/2149256/The-Fate-of-the-First-Known-Black-Hole?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://arxiv.org/abs/1106.3690
1. http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/08/the-fate-of-the-first-black-hole.html?ref=hp
2. http://arxiv.org/abs/1107.4106

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| NCSA and IBM Part Ways Over Blue Waters
| from the back-to-the-amd-k6-2-for-now dept.
| posted by timothy on Monday August 08, @19:30 (IBM)
| with 33 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/2257259/NCSA-and-IBM-Part-Ways-Over-Blue-Waters?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "IBM has [0]terminated its contract with NCSA
for the petascale Blue Waters system that was expected to go online in
the next year. The reason stated was that NCSA found IBM's technology
'was more complex and required significantly increased financial and
technical support by IBM beyond its original expectations.' The IT
community is now wondering if NCSA will be renting out space in the new
data center that is being built to house Blue Waters or if they will go
with another vendor."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/2257259/NCSA-and-IBM-Part-Ways-Over-Blue-Waters?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.ncsa.illinois.edu/BlueWaters/system.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| North Korea Accused of Hacking Online Games For Profit
| from the crime-in-the-21st-century-is-so-lame dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 08, @18:06 (Government)
| with 26 comments
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/2129237/North-Korea-Accused-of-Hacking-Online-Games-For-Profit?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

According to South Korean authorities, North Korean computer experts were
tasked with [0]raising money by attacking the servers of popular online
games and using automated software to accumulate in-game enhancements
they could sell to legitimate players. "In a little less than two years,
the police said, the organizers made $6 million. The North Korean
computer experts were each required to send at least $500 a month back to
the Pyongyang government, the police said. It remained unclear how much
of the rest of their profits they pocketed for themselves, given
different layers of party and military officials involved in a typical
illicit operation. What appeared clear from the case, the police said,
was that North Korean agencies, increasingly hamstrung by international
sanctions, were exploring any new means to raise cash for Mr. Kim and
prove their loyalty."

Discuss this story at:
https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/2129237/North-Korea-Accused-of-Hacking-Online-Games-For-Profit?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/world/asia/05korea.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Game Publisher Following Pirates To Find a Market
| from the give-the-people-what-they-want dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 08, @16:12 (China)
| with 24 comments
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/195240/Game-Publisher-Following-Pirates-To-Find-a-Market?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RossR writes "A Chinese multiplayer online game company is taking note of
the success of 'private servers' running pirated and altered versions. In
moves that show some common sense, when a pirate server is taken down
Shanda Games sees it as a sign of a underserved market. Properly licensed
servers are occasionally installed for the geographic location previously
covered by the unlicensed servers. Shanda is taking it a step further by
developing a new platform that would [0]allow for the flexible rule
changes favored in the hacked versions. Also of interest is the article's
reference to the escalation of cyber attacks between private server
providers."

Discuss this story at:
https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/195240/Game-Publisher-Following-Pirates-To-Find-a-Market?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/08/05/shanda-co-opting-china%E2%80%99s-online-game-pirates/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=chinablog

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Analyzing Culture With Google Books
| from the unavoidable-selection-bias dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 08, @17:08 (Google)
| with 15 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1932247/Analyzing-Culture-With-Google-Books?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harperdog writes with this excerpt from Miller-McCune: "I would not call
myself a Luddite ��� I use digital resources all the time, in my research
and my teaching. I have hundreds of PDFs of books I have downloaded from
a variety of online sources ��� Early English Books Online, Eighteenth
Century Collections Online, Gallica (the digital service of the French
National Library), and yes, Google Books ��� that I use in my research. But
when I read the Science article ([0]abstract), I was immediately struck
by what seems to me to be a fundamental flaw in its methodology: [1]its
reliance on Google Books for its sample. Google Books has focused on
digitizing academic libraries. I would argue that books found in academic
libraries are not necessarily representative of cultural trends across
society. As any historian knows, every scholarly library is different and
every library has its biases.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/1932247/Analyzing-Culture-With-Google-Books?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/331/6014/176
1. http://www.miller-mccune.com/media/culturomics-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-34742/


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