628572
submission
StonyandCher writes:
Sweeping reforms will make it easier than ever for law enforcement to intercept communications if amendments to the Telecommunications (Interceptions) Act are agreed upon by a Senate standing committee.
The Australian government is pushing a bill to force all telecommunications providers to facilitate lawful data interception across fixed and mobile telephone systems, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Instant Messaging (IM) and chat room discussions.
This follows from a story earlier this week where the Australian government is legislating to allow employers to snoop on employees' email and IM conversations.
424406
submission
StonyandCher writes:
Finally staff have realised that Blackberry devices can strip away a balance between your work and social spheres, and have expressed fears about these devices taking over their lives.
An Australian federal government department stalled the distribution of a new fleet of BlackBerries following fears the devices would have a negative impact on the work/life balance of staff. Staff expressed fears about BlackBerries contributing to a longer working day and felt it was going a step too far because mobile phones are adequate for out-of-office contact.
The Blackberries were purchased for the Minister for Environment, Water, Heritage and Arts, Peter Garrett, as well as 40 other executives including senior departmental staff. However, access to the new devices was delayed after concerns were expressed about the BlackBerries infringing on the work/life balance of staff.
According to a source within the department, who requested anonymity, there are a number of government decision-makers that believe executive staff should rarely be contacted after-hours and if necessary can be contacted by mobile phone.
284683
submission
StonyandCher writes:
Here is an interview with Richard Stallman about a range of free software topics including GPLv3 and comment on the Microsoft patent issue. Stallman has a go at Linus Torvalds even suggesting that if people want to keep their freedom they better not follow Torvalds.
From the interview:
"Stallman: The fact that Torvalds says "open source" instead of "free software" shows where he is coming from. I wrote the GNU GPL to defend freedom for all users of all versions of a program. I developed version 3 to do that job better and protect against new threats. Torvalds says he rejects this goal; that's probably why he doesn't appreciate GPL version 3. I respect his right to express his views, even though I think they are foolish. However, if you don't want to lose your freedom, you had better not follow him."
264401
submission
StonyandCher writes:
Sony has created a battery that produces electricity by breaking down sugar. The bio cell, which measures 39 millimeters cubed, delivers 50mW (milliWatts) — a world record for such a cell, according to the company. http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;2134686 198
242403
submission
StonyandCher writes:
As part of its drive to reduce road deaths and injuries, Nissan Motor has installed in a car three prototype high-tech systems designed to stop drink driving.
The first attempts to directly detect alcohol in the driver's sweat and gear shift lever. A second system in the car uses a camera mounted in front of the driver to monitor eye movement. If the driver is drowsy it triggers the seat belt to tighten and this movement will hopefully snap the driver out of their drowsiness or prompt them to take a rest. A third system monitors the path of the vehicle to ensure it's traveling in a straight line and not weaving about the road, as is common with a drunken driver.
237997
submission
StonyandCher writes:
What is CIPAV? CIPAV, which stands for "Computer and Internet Protocol Address Verifier," is secret surveillance software that the FBI used last month to help identify whoever was e-mailing bomb threats almost daily to a Washington high school. The software collects a wide range of information from the target PC and sends it back to control — in this case, the FBI — and automatically records every outbound communication, though not the contents of said communication. If that sounds like a bot, well. ...
An affidavit by an FBI agent last month revealed some of the workings of CIPAV. In this article, Computerworld attempts to dissect CIPAV's purpose and raises a number of questions such as: What happens to the data the CIPAV collects? Does the CIPAV capture keystrokes? Can the CIPAV spread on its own to other computers, either purposefully or by accident? Does it erase itself after its job is done?
233161
submission
StonyandCher writes:
SugarCRM is to adopt version 3 of the GNU general public license for the next release of its open-source CRM software after coming under pressure from its user community to move away from its own Sugar Public License.
"We just think it's a great license," said John Roberts, SugarCRM CEO and cofounder. "It's more copyleft, more liberal and less restrictive than our current license." He added that when the beta version of Sugar Community Edition 5.0 ships within two weeks, it will be licensed under GPLv3.
Who will be next to follow?
227111
submission
StonyandCher writes:
A retired spammer is looking to make money from a tell-all book rather than fleecing people dependent on pharmaceuticals and people with gambling problems. In this Computerworld article, "Ed," a retired spammer, predicts the spam problem will only get worse, aided by consumers with dependencies and faster broadband speeds.
From the article: He sent spam to recovering gambling addicts enticing them to gambling Web sites. He used e-mail addresses of people known to have bought antianxiety medication or antidepressants and targeted them with pharmaceutical spam. Response rates to spam tend to be a fraction of 1 percent. But Ed said he once got a 30 percent response rate for a campaign. The product? A niche type of adult entertainment: photos of fully clothed women popping balloons.
"Yes, I know I'm going to hell," said Ed.
225929
submission
StonyandCher writes:
The beef over news of a worm targeting Macs, and the identity of the researcher who claimed to have created the malware, took an even stranger turn Wednesday as death threats were allegedly posted to his or her blog, which was then reportedly hacked.
In a posting, InfoSec listed comments he refused to allow to be posted to the blog. Including this gem:
"I dare you to demonstrate this at Defcon you ***** Microsoftie. We will drag you out, put a bullet in you, and bury your body so deep it will take a nuclear blast to find your body." — Anonymous
219191
submission
StonyandCher writes:
IBM is making it easier to utilize its patented intellectual property to implement nearly 200 standards in SOA, Web services, security and other spaces.
Under a pledge issued by the company Wednesday, IBM is granting universal and perpetual access to intellectual property that might be necessary to implement standards designed to make software interoperable. IBM will not assert any patent rights to its technologies featured in these standards. The company believes its move in this space is the largest of its kind.
Among the technologies included on IBM's list, are various standards pertaining to SOAP, SAML, XML Schema, and Service Component Architecture.
"These are what I could call the core infrastructure standards that people now use around such things as SOA," said Bob Sutor, IBM vice president of open source and standards. Web 2.0 applications also could be developed, for example. The company seeks to spur development of software that leverages these standards.
