Comment Re:Sneakers (Score 1) 893
That and Three Days Of The Condor are some of favorites.
Submission + - Homeland Security Stole Michael Arrington's Boat (uncrunched.com) 2
An anonymous reader writes: Michael Arrington, founder of TechCrunch, lives near Seattle and bought a boat there. He ordered it from a company based near him, but across the border in Canada. Yesterday, the company tried to deliver it to him, and it had to clear customs. An agent for the Department of Homeland Security asked him to sign a form. The form contained information about the bought, including its cost. The price was correct, but it was in U.S. dollars rather than Canadian dollars. Since the form contained legal warnings about making sure everything on it is true and accurate, Arrington suggested to the agent that they correct the error. She responded by seizing the boat. 'As in, demanded that we get off the boat, demanded the keys and took physical control of it. What struck me the most about the situation is how excited she got about seizing the boat. Like she was just itching for something like this to happen. This was a very happy day for her. ... A person with a gun and a government badge asked me to swear in writing that a lie was true today. And when I didn’t do what she wanted she simply took my boat and asked me to leave.'
Submission + - For Businesses College Degree Is the New High School Diploma
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "The NY Times reports that a college degree is becoming the new high school diploma: the new minimum requirement for getting even the lowest-level job with many jobs that didn’t used to require a diploma — positions like dental hygienists, cargo agents, clerks and claims adjusters — increasingly requiring a college degree. From the point of view of business, with so many people going to college now, those who do not graduate are often assumed to be unambitious or less capable. “When you get 800 résumés for every job ad, you need to weed them out somehow,” says Suzanne Manzagol. A study by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce found that more than 2.2 million jobs that require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree have been created (PDF) since the 2007 start of the recession. At the same time, jobs that require only a high school diploma have decreased by 5.8 million in that same time. “It is a tough job market for college graduates but far worse for those without a college education,” says Anthony P. Carnevale, co-author of the report. “At a time when more and more people are debating the value of post-secondary education, this data shows that your chances of being unemployed increase dramatically without a college degree.” Even if they are not exactly applying the knowledge they gained in their political science, finance and fashion marketing classes, young graduates say they are grateful for even the rotest of rote office work they have been given. “It sure beats washing cars,” says Georgia State University graduate Landon Crider, 24, an in-house courier who, for $10 an hour, ferries documents back and forth between the courthouse and his company's office."
Submission + - AL-Qaeda's 22 tips and tricks to dodge drones (ap.org) 3
Dr Max writes: Ever wondered how AL-Qaeda operate under the ever watchful eye of the US army? Well here is a list of 22 of there tips and tricks on pulling a fast one. Most of it consists of the obvious like stay in the shadows, or under thick trees, with zero wireless communication; However there is also some less obvious solutions like the $2595 Russian "sky grabber" which can track the drones, or covering your roof and car with broken glass (not really sure why). They also claim good snipers can take out the reconnaissance drones which fly at a lower level. Now the question is, will all this still be relevant during the robo-apocalypse?
Submission + - The Deat of Slashdot (dailycaller.com) 2
OhSoLaMeow writes: From the Daily Caller:
"A recently introduced bill in the Illinois state Senate would require anonymous website comment posters to reveal their identities if they want to keep their comments online. The bill, called the Internet Posting Removal Act, is sponsored by Illinois state Sen. Ira Silverstein. It states that a “web site administrator upon request shall remove any comments posted on his or her web site by an anonymous poster unless the anonymous poster agrees to attach his or her name to the post and confirms that his or her IP address, legal name, and home address are accurate.”
This could be the death of Slashdot: No more ACs.
"A recently introduced bill in the Illinois state Senate would require anonymous website comment posters to reveal their identities if they want to keep their comments online. The bill, called the Internet Posting Removal Act, is sponsored by Illinois state Sen. Ira Silverstein. It states that a “web site administrator upon request shall remove any comments posted on his or her web site by an anonymous poster unless the anonymous poster agrees to attach his or her name to the post and confirms that his or her IP address, legal name, and home address are accurate.”
This could be the death of Slashdot: No more ACs.
Submission + - DRM Lawsuit Filed By Independent Bookstores Against Amazon, 'Big Six' Publishers (huffingtonpost.com)
concealment writes: "Three independent bookstores are taking Amazon and the so-called Big Six publishers (Random House, Penguin, Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan) to court in an attempt to level the playing field for book retailers. If successful, the lawsuit could completely change how ebooks are sold.
The class-action complaint, filed in New York on Feb 15., claims that by entering into confidential agreements with the Big Six publishers, who control approximately 60 percent of print book revenue in the U.S., Amazon has created a monopoly in the marketplace that is designed to control prices and destroy independent booksellers."
The class-action complaint, filed in New York on Feb 15., claims that by entering into confidential agreements with the Big Six publishers, who control approximately 60 percent of print book revenue in the U.S., Amazon has created a monopoly in the marketplace that is designed to control prices and destroy independent booksellers."
Submission + - RIAA: Google Failing to Demote Pirate Websites (slashdot.org)
Nerval's Lobster writes: "The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) claims that Google has failed in its attempt to lower the search-results rankings of so-called “pirate” Websites. “We have found no evidence that Google’s policy has had a demonstrable impact on demoting sites with large amounts of piracy,” read the report’s summary (PDF). “These sites consistently appear at the top of Google’s search results for popular songs or artists.” Last August, Google indicated that it would start lowering the search-result rankings of Websites with high numbers of “valid” copyright removal notices. “This ranking change should help users find legitimate, quality sources of content more easily—whether it’s a song previewed on NPR’s music website, a TV show on Hulu or new music streamed on Spotify,” Amit Singhal, Google’s senior vice president of Engineering, wrote in a corporate blog posting at the time. Google, which receives millions of copyright removal notices every month, also offers a counter-notice tool for those who believe their Websites have been unfairly targeted for copyright violations."
Submission + - White House Petition To Make Unlocking Phones Legal Passes 100,000 Signatures
An anonymous reader writes: A White House petition to make unlocking cell phones legal again has passed the 100,000 signature mark. Passing the milestone means the US government has to issue an official response. On January 26th, unlocking a cell phone that is under contract became illegal in the U.S. Just before that went into effect, a petition was started at whitehouse.gov to have the Librarian of Congress revisit that decision. "It reduces consumer choice, and decreases the resale value of devices that consumers have paid for in full. The Librarian noted that carriers are offering more unlocked phones at present, but the great majority of phones sold are still locked."
Submission + - NASA's basement nuclear reactor (gizmag.com)
cylonlover writes: If Joseph Zawodny, a senior scientist at NASA’s Langley Research Center, is correct, the future of energy may lie in a nuclear reactor small enough and safe enough to be installed where the home water heater once sat. Using weak nuclear forces that turn nickel and hydrogen into a new source of atomic energy, the process offers a light, portable means of producing tremendous amounts of energy for the amount of fuel used. It could conceivably power homes, revolutionize transportation and even clean the environment.
Submission + - Dealing with an Advanced Wi-Fi Leech? 8
An anonymous reader writes: Recently, I had found out (through my log files) that my wireless router was subject to a Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) brute force PIN attack. After looking on the Internet and discovering that there are indeed many vulnerabilities to WPS, I disabled it. After a few days, I noticed that I kept intermittently getting disconnected at around the same time every day (indicative of a WPA deauthentication handshake capture attempt). I also noticed that an evil twin has been setup in an effort to get me to connect to it. Through Wi-Fi monitoring software, I have noticed that certain MAC addresses are connected to multiple WEP and WPA2 access points in my neighborhood. I believe that I (and my neighbors) may be dealing with an advanced Wi-Fi leech. What can I do in this situation? Should I bother purchasing a directional antenna, figuring out exactly where the clients are situated, and knocking on their door? Is this something the local police can help me with?
Submission + - iOS Developer Site at Core of Facebook, Apple Watering Hole Attack (threatpost.com)
msm1267 writes: The missing link connecting the attacks against Apple, Facebook and possibly Twitter is a popular iOS mobile developers’ forum called iphonedevsdk which was discovered hosting malware in an apparent watering hole attack that has likely snared victims at hundreds of organizations beyond the big three. It's not clear whether the site remains infected, but researcher Eric Romang dug into the situation and determined that the site was hosting malicious javascript that was redirecting visitors to another site, min.liveanalytics. That site had been hosting malware as of Jan. 15.
Comment Re:Panasonic Web Cam (Score 1) 272
*break in
Comment Panasonic Web Cam (Score 1) 272
I had two breaking attempts last year. After the first attempt, I had my landlord install better locks, and I also made my own security solution. Being in an apartment, I can't get a major brand alarm system (that comes with a three year contract)
So, I bought a Panasonic BL-C230A web camera. I made custom mobile page on a website, which I use to arm and disarm my "alarm". I've also setup the panasonic camera to visit a URL every time it detects motion. If the alarm is armed and it receives a visit on this URL, it will send me a text message and an email letting me know that it has detected motion. I also have it uploaded an image to an offsite FTP server whenever it records motion (which is somewhat bandwidth intensive). However, I can pull up a website and see every recent event that happened in my apartment.
I also contemplated using Tropo as an alerting system for phone and SMS. Doing so would even let me setup a call tree and all that. I never got around to implementing it but it seems like it would have worked well for this.
Also, I tried a D-Link model before the Panasonic webcam. The Panasonic ended up being the best camera for this solution though. The huge feature is the infrared motion sensor. Most webcams seem to detect motion by a determining a change in the image. However, if anything causes the change shift quickly, these give off a false positive. Which is not a great thing for an alarm to do several times a day. A few other nice features are the FTP capability, visiting a webpage when motion is detected, PTZ, and external inputs and outputs (for example, you could use these for a door open/close sensor or a siren).
Comment Re:Simple enough (Score 1) 789
You hear stories about this all the time. And I'm sure they were true. With the computerization of vital records, this is now nearly impossible. Back in the day, each state used to keep its own birth and death records in sepearte files and did not cross-reference them. However, today, it is easy for the government to verify if a death certificate has been issued for a birth certificate before issuing you new credentials.
Feds Bust Cable Modem Hacker 658
Several readers noted the indictment of hardware hacker Ryan Harris, known as DerEngel. Harris wrote the 2006 book Hacking the Cable Modem, explaining how to get upgraded speed or even free Internet service by bypassing the firmware locks on Motorola Surfboard modems. He has run a profitable business at tcniso.net since 2003, selling unlocked cable modems. (The site is now offline.) Harris has been charged with conspiracy, aiding and abetting computer intrusion, and wire fraud. Wired quotes Harris's reaction: "I read the indictment — it's complete bull****. I'll tell you right now I'm not going to plead guilty."
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Memory fault -- brain fried
