Omss Politics: Jul 16, 2011

The Trick for your Brain to Learn a New Language Fast

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[Slashdot] Stories for 2011-07-16

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Slashdot Daily Newsletter

In this issue:
* TSA Announces Pilot of Trusted Traveler Program
* Apple Patents Portrait-Landscape Flipping
* Cut Down On Nukes To Shave the Deficit
* The History of Ethernet
* Wired Releases Full Manning/Lamo Chat Logs
* The Science Behind Fanboyism
* Can <em>Minecraft</em> Change the Gaming Industry?
* Open Radeon 3D Driver Runs At 60~70% of Proprietary Driver Speed
* Internet Use Found To Affect Memory
* Mozilla BrowserID: Decentralized, Federated Login
* Green Card Lottery Judgment Favors Mathematical Randomness
* New Virus Jumps From Monkeys To Lab Workers
* Microsoft Social Media Site Accidentally Revealed
* SpaceX Dragon As Mars Science Lander?
* Exploiting the iPad's Glowing Keyboard
* Hotmail To Ban Common Passwords
* AMD Bulldozer Information and Benchmarks Leaked
* Study: Ad Networks Not Honoring Do-Not-Track
* Microsoft's Looming 'Single Windows Ecosystem'
* Ubisoft Hops On the Online Pass Bandwagon
* Ford Demonstrates Networked Cars
* Apple Hopes To Drop Samsung As Chip Supplier
* Vodafone Femtocells Rooted, Secret Keys Exposed
* Banks' Big Upgrade: Meet Real-Time Processing
* Visual Hash Turns Text Or Data Into Abstract Art
* Man Builds Turbine Powered Batmobile
* Marooned Off Vesta
* Researcher Finds Dangerous Vulnerability In Skype
* How Analytics Are Shaping Social Games

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| TSA Announces Pilot of Trusted Traveler Program
| from the another-day-at-the-theater dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @12:50 (Privacy)
| with 362 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1551203/TSA-Announces-Pilot-of-Trusted-Traveler-Program?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]Bob the Super Hamste writes "CNN reports that the TSA has announced
the [1]pilot of their trusted traveler program. This is the program where
an individual gives up additional information to the government and then
gets expedited security. The pilot program will only be available to
certain frequent fliers on Delta passengers flying out of Atlanta and
Detroit, and to American Airlines passengers flying out of Miami and
Dallas. Plans are in the work to expand this to other airports and other
airlines as well."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1551203/TSA-Announces-Pilot-of-Trusted-Traveler-Program?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://ocdcc.blogspot.com/
1. http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/07/14/tsa.trusted.traveler/index.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Apple Patents Portrait-Landscape Flipping
| from the video-is-unrelated dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday July 14, @20:36 (Displays)
| with 343 comments
| https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/07/14/2330230/Apple-Patents-Portrait-Landscape-Flipping?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

theodp writes "On Tuesday, the USPTO granted a patent to Apple for
[0]Portrait-landscape rotation heuristics for a portable multifunction
device ([1]USPTO), which covers 'displaying information on the touch
screen display in a portrait view or a landscape view based on an
analysis of data received from the one or more accelerometers.' Perhaps
the USPTO Examiners didn't get a chance to review the [2]circa-1991
Computer Chronicles video of the Radius Pivot monitor before deeming
Apple's invention patentable. Or check out the [3]winning touchArcade
trivia contest entry, which noted the circa-1982 Corvus Concept sported a
15-inch, high-resolution, bit-mapped display screen that also flipped
between portrait and landscape views when rotated, like our friend the
iPhone. Hey, [4]everything old is new again, right?"

Discuss this story at:
https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/07/14/2330230/Apple-Patents-Portrait-Landscape-Flipping?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2011/07/apple-wins-two-original-iphone-patents-regarding-rotation-heuristics.html
1. http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=7,978,176
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh5175Q4Vgo
3. http://toucharcade.com/forums/showpost.php?p=48683&postcount=23
4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVasewV7OpA

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Cut Down On Nukes To Shave the Deficit
| from the but-then-we'd-need-to-spend-more-on-nukes dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @14:14 (The Military)
| with 318 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1727204/Cut-Down-On-Nukes-To-Shave-the-Deficit?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]Hugh Pickens writes "Joe Cirincione writes in the Atlantic that the US
government is set to [1]spend almost $700 billion on nuclear weapons over
the next 10 years, roughly as much as it spent on the war in Iraq over
the last decade. Most of the money will be spent without any clear
guidance on how many weapons we need and for what purpose. As long as
nuclear weapons exist, we will need some to deter nuclear threats from
others, but do we really [2]need to duplicate the entire nuclear triad
for another 50 years? 'The Pentagon budget includes funds to develop a
new fleet of 12 nuclear-armed submarines with an estimated cost of $110
billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Also planned is
$55 billion for 100 new bombers, and a new missile to replace the
recently upgraded 450 Minutemen III intercontinental ballistic missiles.
... The consensus among military officials and bipartisan security
experts is that nuclear reductions enhance US national security,' writes
Cirincione. As the Nuclear Posture Review says, 'Our most pressing
security challenge at present is [3]preventing nuclear proliferation and
nuclear terrorism, for which a nuclear force of thousands of weapons has
little relevance.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1727204/Cut-Down-On-Nukes-To-Shave-the-Deficit?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://hughpickens.com/
1. http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/07/how-to-shave-a-bundle-off-the-deficit-spend-less-on-nukes/241844/
2. http://www.slate.com/?id=2058737&onswipe_redirect=no
3. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20001879-503544.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| The History of Ethernet
| from the facilitating-the-internets dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @10:49 (Networking)
| with 304 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1428228/The-History-of-Ethernet?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Z34107 tips an article at Ars about [0]the history of ethernet, from its
humble beginnings at Xerox PARC in the mid-'70s, to its standardization
and broad adoption, to the never-ending quest for higher throughput.
Quoting: "It's hard to believe now, but in the early 1980s, 10Mbps
Ethernet was very fast. Think about it: is there any other 30-year-old
technology still present in current computers? 300 baud modems? 500 ns
memory? Daisy wheel printers? But even today, 10Mbps is not an entirely
unusable speed, and it's still part of the 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet
interfaces in our computers. Still, by the early 1990s, Ethernet didn't
feel as fast as it did a decade earlier. Consider the VAX-11/780, a
machine released in 1977 by Digital Equipment Corporation. The 780 comes
with some 2MB RAM and runs at 5MHz. Its speed is almost exactly one MIPS
and it executes 1757 dhrystones per second. (Dhrystone is a CPU benchmark
developed in 1984; the name is a play on the even older Whetstone
benchmark.) A current Intel i7 machine may run at 3GHz and have 3GB RAM,
executing nearly 17 million dhrystones per second. If network speeds had
increased as fast as processor speeds, the i7 would today at least have a
10Gbps network interface, and perhaps a 100Gbps one."

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1428228/The-History-of-Ethernet?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/07/ethernet-how-does-it-work.ars/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Wired Releases Full Manning/Lamo Chat Logs
| from the crossed-fingers-legally-binding dept.
| posted by timothy on Friday July 15, @08:06 (The Media)
| with 282 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/000213/Wired-Releases-Full-ManningLamo-Chat-Logs?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]bill_mcgonigle writes "After more than a year, Wired has finally
released the (nearly) full [1]chat logs between Adrian Lamo and Bradley
Manning. Glen Greenwald provides [2]analysis of what Wired previously
left out. Greenwald writes: 'Lamo lied to and manipulated Manning by
promising him the legal protections of a journalist-source and
priest-penitent relationship, and independently assured him that their
discussions were "never to be published" and were not "for print."
Knowing this, Wired hid from the public this part of their exchange,
published the chat in violation of Lamo's clear not-for-publication
pledges, allowed Lamo to be quoted repeatedly in the media over the next
year as some sort of credible and trustworthy source driving reporting on
the Manning case.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/000213/Wired-Releases-Full-ManningLamo-Chat-Logs?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://blog.bfccomputing.com/
1. http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/07/manning-lamo-logs
2. http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/07/14/wired/index.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| The Science Behind Fanboyism
| from the wile-e-coyote-was-a-slave-to-brain-chemistry dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @10:07 (Science)
| with 255 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1331243/The-Science-Behind-Fanboyism?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

crookedvulture writes "We've all encountered fanboys. They lurk on
messageboards and in comment threads, ready to trumpet the benefits of
their product or brand of choice with Cheeto-stained fingertips. And it's
not their fault. This analysis of the scientific research on the subject
reveals that [0]our brains unconsciously develop an affinity for products
we choose over similarly attractive alternatives. Duh, right? But what's
really interesting is that this affinity exists not just among adults,
but also children, monkeys, and even amnesic subjects with no memory of
their original choices. We're all hard-wired to be fanboys, it seems.
Some of us just do a better job of overcoming our subconscious
tendencies."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1331243/The-Science-Behind-Fanboyism?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://techreport.com/discussions.x/21294

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Can <em>Minecraft</em> Change the Gaming Industry?
| from the can-it-kill-dlc dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @06:29 (Games)
| with 239 comments
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/0646209/Can-Minecraft-Change-the-Gaming-Industry?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "Is Minecraft really changing the gaming
industry fundamentally? This author certainly thinks so, and even goes so
far as to consider Minecraft's world manipulation [0]a paradigm shift
along the lines of 3D-gaming during the early '90s. 'Every block in the
game is available to pick up and reallocate. We can tear down and build
up. The neat thing is that future games does not need to be as liberal,
but they will need to consider how they can make the environment a hell
of a lot more manipulable. Now, this is quite a bit too simplified and
the vast majority of games must not feature a shovel worthy of digging to
the center of the earth, but giving the user power over everyday things
(still in game worlds) will be a worthy challenge to consider.'"
Minecraft may give us [1]power over everyday things in the real world,
too.

Discuss this story at:
https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/0646209/Can-Minecraft-Change-the-Gaming-Industry?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://scalar.tumblr.com/post/7626666201/minecraft-and-the-new-paradigm
1. http://www.gamepron.com/news/2011/07/12/3d-printer-creates-real-world-minecraft/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Open Radeon 3D Driver Runs At 60~70% of Proprietary Driver Speed
| from the makes-me-think-about-another-desktop-box dept.
| posted by timothy on Friday July 15, @08:33 (AMD)
| with 214 comments
| https://linux.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/047213/Open-Radeon-3D-Driver-Runs-At-6070-of-Proprietary-Driver-Speed?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "[0]AMD's Radeon HD 6000 series open-source
Gallium3D driver for Linux is now working and running at 60~70% (in some
cases, 80%) of the speed of the official proprietary 'Catalyst' driver.
This is a big speed improvement in Mesa/Gallium3D compared to the times
when the performance was crippling or even just a few years ago when AMD
didn't support open-source drivers. When will NVIDIA change ways?"

Discuss this story at:
https://linux.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/047213/Open-Radeon-3D-Driver-Runs-At-6070-of-Proprietary-Driver-Speed?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amd_hd6000_open&num=1

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Internet Use Found To Affect Memory
| from the i-wonder-if-internet-use-affects-memory dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @14:54 (Medicine)
| with 180 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1834247/Internet-Use-Found-To-Affect-Memory?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "The rise of Internet search engines has
[0]changed the way our brain remembers information, according to a new
study out of Columbia University ([1]abstract). 'We are reorganizing the
way we remember things,' said the study's lead researcher. Because search
engines like Google and Bing are so easily at hand, [2]we feel less need
to remember details that can be easily looked up. One possible upside:
'Perhaps those who teach in any context, be they college professors,
doctors or business leaders, will become increasingly focused on
imparting greater understanding of ideas and ways of thinking, and less
focused on memorization. And perhaps those who learn will become less
occupied with facts and more engaged in larger questions of
understanding.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1834247/Internet-Use-Found-To-Affect-Memory?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/15/health/15memory.html
1. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2011/07/13/science.1207745#aff-2
2. http://scienceblog.com/46299/search-engines-supplanting-our-memory/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Mozilla BrowserID: Decentralized, Federated Login
| from the grand-unified-login dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @08:48 (Mozilla)
| with 172 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1216222/Mozilla-BrowserID-Decentralized-Federated-Login?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "Mozilla Labs has just [0]launched the
prototype of its BrowserID project and the accompanying [1]Verified Email
Protocol standard. Basically, BrowserID is [2]a browser-based federated
login provider like Facebook Connect, but without the privacy leaks.
Fundamentally, BrowserID is public key encryption. You register an email
address with your browser, which is then confirmed with a standard 'click
here to confirm' email. A public/private key pair is then generated; your
browser keeps the private key, and your email provider keeps the public
key. Now, when you visit Facebook (or any site that supports BrowserID),
your browser gives Facebook your email address and an identity token
signed with your private key. Facebook queries your email provider for
your public key, decrypts your identity token, and logs you in �� voila,
secure, private, browser-based logins. Oh, and the prototype is written
in HTML and JavaScript �� so it works across every modern browser, too."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1216222/Mozilla-BrowserID-Decentralized-Federated-Login?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://identity.mozilla.com/post/7616727542/introducing-browserid-a-better-way-to-sign-in
1. https://wiki.mozilla.org/Labs/Identity/VerifiedEmailProtocol
2. http://www.extremetech.com/internet/90070-browserid-for-firefox-ie-and-chrome-does-away-with-usernames-and-passwords

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Green Card Lottery Judgment Favors Mathematical Randomness
| from the asd8n3q2-asj9qujj8^JVBn-as&h32 dept.
| posted by timothy on Friday July 15, @19:00 (Math)
| with 157 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/2251206/Green-Card-Lottery-Judgment-Favors-Mathematical-Randomness?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

guusbosman writes "Yesterday a district court in Washington, D.C. issued
its ruling in a case that [0]boiled down to the definition of 'strictly
random.' In the 2011 drawing of the U.S. 'Green Card Lottery,' a computer
programming error was made and two weeks after the official drawing of
the lottery the Department of State [1]closed the website and voided the
results. A lawsuit sought an injunction claiming that, while the process
was not mathematically random, it was random in the dictionary definition
of 'without definite aim, direction, rule or method.' The court,
analyzing language from the State Department's regulations, and examples
from laws on casinos and the like, rejected that and came out in favor of
a mathematical definition of randomness. The lottery is voided and the
results of the new drawing came out today at noon EST."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/2251206/Green-Card-Lottery-Judgment-Favors-Mathematical-Randomness?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.guusbosman.nl/2011/07/15/court-ruling-strictly-random
1. https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/05/13/2249256/Algorithm-Glitch-Voids-Outcome-of-US-Green-Card-Lottery

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| New Virus Jumps From Monkeys To Lab Workers
| from the thanks-for-that dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @12:08 (Medicine)
| with 152 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1445255/New-Virus-Jumps-From-Monkeys-To-Lab-Workers?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

sciencehabit writes "It started with a single monkey coming down with
pneumonia at the California National Primate Research Center in Davis.
Within weeks, 19 monkeys were dead and three humans were sick. Now, [0]a
new report confirms that the Davis outbreak was [1]the first known case
of an adenovirus jumping from monkeys to humans. The upside: the virus
may one day be harnessed as a tool for gene therapy."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1445255/New-Virus-Jumps-From-Monkeys-To-Lab-Workers?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1002155
1. http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/07/new-virus-jumps-from-monkeys-to-.html?ref=hp

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Microsoft Social Media Site Accidentally Revealed
| from the keeping-up-with-the-googses dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @09:27 (Microsoft)
| with 127 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1230204/Microsoft-Social-Media-Site-Accidentally-Revealed?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]BogenDorpher writes "Looks like Microsoft is trying to steal the
spotlight from Google �� a new social media site from the company [1]was
accidentally revealed. The site, branded 'Tulalip,' was not functional,
and it was taken down shortly after its discovery. It [2]appears to be a
'social search' service. Microsoft says it went live by accident, and was
simply an '[3]internal design project.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1230204/Microsoft-Social-Media-Site-Accidentally-Revealed?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.winbeta.org/
1. http://www.winbeta.org/?q=news/microsoft-social-media-site-tulalip-accidentally-revealed
2. http://fusible.com/2011/07/new-microsoft-social-search-service-called-tulalip-revealed-on-socl-com/
3. http://www.socl.com/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| SpaceX Dragon As Mars Science Lander?
| from the get-your-dragon-to-mars dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @11:28 (NASA)
| with 127 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1439236/SpaceX-Dragon-As-Mars-Science-Lander?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FleaPlus writes "Besides using the SpaceX Dragon capsule to deliver
supplies to the ISS this year and astronauts in following years, the
company wants to use Dragon as a platform for [0]propulsively landing
science payloads on Mars and other planets. Combined with their upcoming
[1]Falcon Heavy rocket, 'a single Dragon mission could land with more
payload than has been delivered to Mars cumulatively in history.'
According to CEO Elon Musk, SpaceX is working with NASA's Ames Research
Center on a mission design concept that could launch in as early as 5-6
years."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1439236/SpaceX-Dragon-As-Mars-Science-Lander?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/07/13/7078446-spacex-chief-sets-his-sights-on-mars
1. http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/space/rockets/tech-behind-new-spacex-falcon-heavy-rocket-5518955

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Exploiting the iPad's Glowing Keyboard
| from the easy-solution-turn-off-screen dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday July 14, @23:22 (Handhelds)
| with 126 comments
| https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/0316210/Exploiting-the-iPads-Glowing-Keyboard?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

nonprofiteer writes "Earlier this week, a South African security
researcher released shoulderPad, an app that's designed to [0]auto-snoop
on iPad users' passwords by watching their touchscreen keyboards. When a
user types on an iPad's touchscreen, each key glows blue for a fraction
of a second after it's struck, a helpful bit of feedback for any virtual
keyboard. ShoulderPad's image recognition algorithms, based on Open CV's
open source image recognition software, look for that flash of blue. 'At
any distance, if the blue is distinguishable, shoulderPad can detect that
keystroke,' says Meer."

Discuss this story at:
https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/0316210/Exploiting-the-iPads-Glowing-Keyboard?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://blogs.forbes.com/andygreenberg/2011/07/13/hackers-app-automates-over-the-shoulder-ipad-spying/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Hotmail To Ban Common Passwords
| from the 123456-iloveyou-letmein-$catname dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @14:33 (Communications)
| with 123 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1737245/Hotmail-To-Ban-Common-Passwords?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]Time and [1]again, when security breaches reveal large numbers of user
passwords, analysis shows there are particular passwords commonly used by
a significant percentage of the userbase. Now, an anonymous reader tips
news that [2]Hotmail is trying to do something about it. "We will now
prevent our customers from using one of several common passwords. Having
a common password makes your account vulnerable to brute force
'dictionary' attacks, in which a malicious person tries to hijack your
account just by guessing passwords (using a short list of very common
passwords). ... Common passwords are not just 'password' or '123456'
(although those are frighteningly common), but also include words or
phrases that just happen to be shared by millions of people, like
'ilovecats' or 'gogiants.'" This comes alongside a new feature that lets
users send a report indicating a friend has had their account hacked.

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1737245/Hotmail-To-Ban-Common-Passwords?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://it.slashdot.org/story/10/12/14/1529232/The-Top-50-Gawker-Media-Passwords
1. http://it.slashdot.org/story/10/01/21/1313235/Analysis-of-32-Million-Breached-Passwords
2. http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_live/b/windowslive/archive/2011/07/14/hey-my-friend-s-account-was-hacked.aspx

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| AMD Bulldozer Information and Benchmarks Leaked
| from the just-a-pinch-of-salt-between-cheek-and-gum dept.
| posted by timothy on Friday July 15, @02:11 (AMD)
| with 119 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/0524248/AMD-Bulldozer-Information-and-Benchmarks-Leaked?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]MojoKid writes "With Bobcat and Llano launched, AMD has one more major
product overhaul set for this year. The company's Bulldozer CPU will
launch in the next few months, and after years of waiting, enthusiasts
and IT industry analysts are both curious to see what AMD has in its high
performance pipeline. According to recently leaked info, one of the new
AMD octal-core processors will be an [1]AMD FX-8130P running at 3.2GHz
base speed, with what's reported as a 3.7GHz Turbo speed, and a 4.2GHz
clock speed if only half the CPU's cores are in use." Writer Joel Hruska
justly points out that measures based on unofficial data and unreleased
chips are subject to all kinds of potential errors, not to mention
Photoshop.

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/0524248/AMD-Bulldozer-Information-and-Benchmarks-Leaked?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://hothardware.com/
1. http://hothardware.com/News/New-Bulldozer-Benchmarks-Leak-Mostly-Miss-the-Mark/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Study: Ad Networks Not Honoring Do-Not-Track
| from the show-of-hands-who-is-surprised dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @13:32 (Advertising)
| with 117 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1639206/Study-Ad-Networks-Not-Honoring-Do-Not-Track?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]itwbennett writes "According to [1]a new study from Stanford
University's Center for Internet Society, almost half of the Network
Advertising Initiative (NAI) members that Stanford studied [2]left
tracking cookies in place after a Web user opted out of targeted ads.
NAI's executive director said that with no consensus on what do-not-track
means, ad networks continue to gather data for business reasons other
than providing targeted advertising. 'Under the NAI self-regulatory code,
companies commit to providing an opt out to the use of online data for
online behavioral advertising purposes,' Curran said. 'But the NAI code
also recognizes that companies sometimes need to continue to collect data
for operational reasons that are separate from ad targeting based on a
user's online behavior.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1639206/Study-Ad-Networks-Not-Honoring-Do-Not-Track?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.itworld.com/
1. http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/node/6694
2. http://www.itworld.com/government/183399/study-ad-networks-not-honoring-do-not-track-promises

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Microsoft's Looming 'Single Windows Ecosystem'
| from the it-slices-it-dices-it-bluescreens-occasionally dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @18:18 (Microsoft)
| with 98 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/2110219/Microsofts-Looming-Single-Windows-Ecosystem?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]jfruhlinger writes "Xbox on Windows 8? A shared PC-tablet OS? Hints
have been coming fast and furious from Microsoft about what their
next-generation OS strategy will look like. It may be that at its heart,
Microsoft is doing what it should have been doing for the last 5 years:
[1]building a set of modular OS components for different platforms that
work together when need be, rather than a group of competing and
incompatible OSes with superficially similar branding. In other words,
the company may be getting out of its own way, at last."

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/2110219/Microsofts-Looming-Single-Windows-Ecosystem?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://joshreads.com/
1. http://www.itworld.com/windows/183745/microsofts-mysterious-single-windows-ecosystem-makes-more-sense-you-think

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Ubisoft Hops On the Online Pass Bandwagon
| from the stop-pretending-this-adds-value-for-customers dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @17:50 (Businesses)
| with 94 comments
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/2122208/Ubisoft-Hops-On-the-Online-Pass-Bandwagon?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joining the likes of [0]THQ, [1]Electonic Arts, and [2]Sony, Ubisoft has
now [3]announced plans to launch the "Uplay Passport," a $10 fee charged
to buyers of used games if they want to play them online. They say the
program "will begin in the coming months and will be included in many of
Ubisoft's popular core games. In each new copy of a Uplay
Passport-enhanced game will be a one-time use registration code that,
when redeemed, provides access to Uplay Passport content and features.
The code can be found on the insert card inside the game box. Gamers can
identify Uplay Passport-enhanced games by looking for the logo on the
back of the box."

Discuss this story at:
https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/2122208/Ubisoft-Hops-On-the-Online-Pass-Bandwagon?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.shacknews.com/article/67030/homefront-to-feature-thqs-online
1. http://games.slashdot.org/story/10/05/11/0457231/EA-Introduces-Online-Pass-To-Get-In-On-Used-Games-Market
2. http://games.slashdot.org/story/11/07/08/0459214/Sony-Introduces-PSN-Pass-To-Fight-Used-Game-Sales
3. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/35900/Report_Ubisoft_Introducing_Its_Own_Online_Pass_System.php

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Ford Demonstrates Networked Cars
| from the p2p-road-rage dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @16:52 (Cloud)
| with 87 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/2020228/Ford-Demonstrates-Networked-Cars?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "Ford is touring U.S. cities demonstrating a
technology that appears to closely resemble [0]a private dynamic network
among multiple cars. The cars connect to each other via short-range Wi-Fi
(which actually has a reach of half a mile) and enables vehicles to
exchange location and movement data. Being aware of each other's location
and movement direction enables them to help drivers avoid collisions,
especially in situations where obstacles cannot be identified fast
enough. The technology could be available for consumers as soon as 2013."

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/2020228/Ford-Demonstrates-Networked-Cars?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.conceivablytech.com/8426/products/first-look-fords-cloud-car-is-impressive

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Apple Hopes To Drop Samsung As Chip Supplier
| from the why-do-mommy-and-daddy-fight dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @17:34 (Patents)
| with 80 comments
| https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/213244/Apple-Hopes-To-Drop-Samsung-As-Chip-Supplier?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

danomac writes "Apple is [0]testing out new chip suppliers, trying to
[1]find a supplier other than Samsung. Apple is currently suing Android
phone manufacturers, and Samsung is [2]included in the lawsuit. 'Apple
faces several hurdles should it want to make a switch to TSMC, including
patents and chip design issues as well as a push by Samsung to retain the
business. ... Analysts and other sources had previously said TSMC, the
world's largest contract chip maker, was set to become a supplier of a
next-generation processor chip to Apple, likely starting next year.
However the chip may not be called the A6, as some reports have
indicated, the sources said. TSMC is an obvious candidate to win
processor business from Apple as it has budgeted $7.8 billion this year
to update technology and add capacity. It also has experience with the
architecture of British chip designer ARM Holdings Plc, widely used by
Apple to make power-efficient mobile chips."

Discuss this story at:
https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/213244/Apple-Hopes-To-Drop-Samsung-As-Chip-Supplier?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/15/us-tsmc-apple-idUSTRE76E0MZ20110715
1. http://www.dailytech.com/Report+Apple+Hopes+to+Drop+Samsung+Tests+TMSC+Chips/article22166.htm
2. http://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/04/18/2053241/Apple-Sues-Samsung-Over-Galaxy-Phones-and-Tablets

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Vodafone Femtocells Rooted, Secret Keys Exposed
| from the password-too-weak-try-another dept.
| posted by timothy on Friday July 15, @05:02 (Security)
| with 73 comments
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/0150229/Vodafone-Femtocells-Rooted-Secret-Keys-Exposed?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]AmiMoJo writes "Hackers [1]have discovered the root password for
Vodafone femtocells, devices that provide the user with a mobile phone
signal piggybacked onto their home broadband. The root password was
'newsys.' Once root access is obtained, phones can be forced to connect
to the cell and private keys captured, allowing the user to spoof the
victim's phone and potentially make calls or send texts on their account,
not to mention eavesdrop."

Discuss this story at:
https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/0150229/Vodafone-Femtocells-Rooted-Secret-Keys-Exposed?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://mojoworld3net/
1. http://thcorg.blogspot.com/2011/07/vodafone-hacked-root-password-published.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Banks' Big Upgrade: Meet Real-Time Processing
| from the we'll-probably-arrive-at-the-singularity-to-make-a-buck dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @17:14 (The Almighty Buck)
| with 71 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/2051204/Banks-Big-Upgrade-Meet-Real-Time-Processing?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]CWmike writes "It has been years since the banking industry made any
large investments in core IT systems, but some of the largest financial
services firms in the U.S. are now in the midst of rolling out
multi-million dollar projects, say industry experts. About a decade ago,
they began replacing decades-old Cobol-based core systems, with open,
Web-enabled apps. Now, they are [1]spending more than $100,000,000 to
replace aging systems, converting to real-time mobile applications for
retail services such as savings and checking accounts and lending
systems. The idea behind [2]going real-time: Grab more business �� and
money �� from customers. 'Five of the top 20 banks are engaged in some
sort of core banking replacement and we expect to see another three or
four in next 12 months,' said Fiaz Sindhu, who leads Accenture's North
American core banking practice. 'They're looking at those upgrades as a
path to growth.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/2051204/Banks-Big-Upgrade-Meet-Real-Time-Processing?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://twitter.com/mikeatcw
1. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9218398/U.S._banks_changing_out_core_systems_for_real_time_processing
2. http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/07/24/1253227/Stock-Market-Manipulation-By-Millisecond-Trading

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Visual Hash Turns Text Or Data Into Abstract Art
| from the picasso-on-security dept.
| posted by timothy on Friday July 15, @19:44 (Graphics)
| with 67 comments
| https://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/2324212/Visual-Hash-Turns-Text-Or-Data-Into-Abstract-Art?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Makoss writes "Normal cryptographic hash functions turn any input text or
data into a compact set of bits; useful for computers, not useful for
humans. Visual hash functions turn data into graphical representations
which are more easily recognizable and memorable to humans. You've seen
[0]Identicons and other simple geometric image generators already, but
[1]Vash takes the technique beyond basic geometry and produces some
really striking images."

Discuss this story at:
https://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/2324212/Visual-Hash-Turns-Text-Or-Data-Into-Abstract-Art?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identicon
1. http://www.thevash.com/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Man Builds Turbine Powered Batmobile
| from the building-a-better-bat dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Friday July 15, @16:32 (Transportation)
| with 60 comments
| https://idle.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1858258/Man-Builds-Turbine-Powered-Batmobile?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]hasanabbas1987 writes "Casey Putsch, the famous car restorer, puts a
new meaning to the word 'Fanboy' as he builds [1]a Batmobile and powers
it with a Boeing turboshaft engine taken from a drone helicopter.
According to Casey this is the only one of its kind and even Bruce Wayne
would've been proud of his work. Internal mods include an iPad in the
dashboard which serves as an avionics system and GPS coordinates."

Discuss this story at:
https://idle.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1858258/Man-Builds-Turbine-Powered-Batmobile?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. mailto:h.abbas1987@gmail.com
1. http://www.kbiii.com/putschracing/?p=50

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Marooned Off Vesta
| from the pebble-in-a-dark-sea dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @16:14 (NASA)
| with 52 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/199225/Marooned-Off-Vesta?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]mcgrew writes with this quote from an AP report: "After four years
sailing through space, the Dawn spacecraft was [1]expected to slip into
orbit late Friday around a giant asteroid to begin a yearlong
investigation into the origins of the solar system. It is the first of
two scheduled tour stops for the NASA probe that almost never made it to
the launch pad. Because of its stunted growth, Vesta holds 'a record of
the earliest history of the solar system,' said the mission's lead
scientist Christopher Russell of the University of California, Los
Angeles." [2]Dawn's mission homepage has all the information and pictures
collected so far. On July 9th, it snapped [3]our best look to date at the
~530-kilometer-wide [4]Vesta, from 40,000 kilometers away. When it
arrives, it will take observations from successively lower orbits, the
final one being only 460km above Vesta's surface. Next May, Dawn will
break orbit and head to [5]Ceres. (mcgrew adds, "The submission's title
is [6]a nod to Isaac Asimov. Lets hope Dawn doesn't get marooned!")

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/199225/Marooned-Off-Vesta?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://slashdot.org/~mcgrew/journal
1. http://news.yahoo.com/dawn-craft-circle-giant-asteroid-1st-stop-092215445.html
2. http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/
3. http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/dawn-image-070911.jpg
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4_Vesta
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_(dwarf_planet)
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marooned_Off_Vesta

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Researcher Finds Dangerous Vulnerability In Skype
| from the so-we-blame-microsoft-right dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @15:33 (Bug)
| with 39 comments
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1846255/Researcher-Finds-Dangerous-Vulnerability-In-Skype?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

alphadogg writes "A security consultant has [0]notified Skype of a
cross-site scripting flaw that could be used to change the password on
someone's account, according to details posted online. The consultant,
Levent Kayan, based in Berlin, [1]posted details of the flaw on his blog
on Wednesday and notified Skype a day later. He said on Friday he hasn't
heard a response yet. The problem lies in a field where a person can
input their mobile phone number. Kayan wrote that a malicious user can
insert JavaScript into the mobile phone field of their profile." Skype
has [2]confirmed the flaw, but calls it 'minor,' saying it only affects
people who communicate with a potential attacker on a regular basis. A
fix is planned for next week.

Discuss this story at:
https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/1846255/Researcher-Finds-Dangerous-Vulnerability-In-Skype?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/071511-researchers-finds-dangerous-vulnerability-in.html
1. http://www.noptrix.net/advisories/skype_xss.txt
2. http://blogs.forbes.com/andygreenberg/2011/07/15/simple-skype-bug-lets-hackers-hijack-contacts-accounts/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| How Analytics Are Shaping Social Games
| from the stay-away-from-my-dopamine-receptors dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday July 15, @18:39 (Advertising)
| with 19 comments
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/2136232/How-Analytics-Are-Shaping-Social-Games?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Data mining and customer tracking are familiar concepts from online
advertising, but an article at the Guardian examines how metrics and
analytics are [0]becoming a big part of the social games people play as
well. This merging of games and advertising sounds just as distasteful as
you might expect: "Whereas traditional games are about creating big
macro-environments for player exploration, freemium is about
micro-managing every step the player takes toward actually buying
something. 'A developer can build 'funnels' that depict the player
actions leading to a financial conversion like purchasing extra content
or virtual merchandize,' says Justin Johnson, CTO of Playmetrix, another
British company specialising in game analytics. 'It's then down to the
developer to use this analysis to improve conversion by removing
obstructions and bottlenecks that may be inherent in the design.' ...
It's a strange business. In the free-to-play universe, every player
action is a potential metric in a revenue model. In-game behaviour is an
algorithm that needs to be unraveled and de-coded. Developers have to
operate like a sort of secret police agency, effectively bugging players
�� the Playmetrix software allows them to embed 'call backs' into their
game code that trigger when players do something of interest. This is all
visualised via graphics and charts so activities become infographics.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/07/15/2136232/How-Analytics-Are-Shaping-Social-Games?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2011/jul/14/social-gaming-metrics

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