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Comment Re:In before Fuck Beta (Score 1, Interesting) 164

by Kell Bengal (#46194533) Attached to: German Domain Registrar Liable For Copyright Infringement
Serious question: is this a feasible approach? If we can cash them out on a firesale and restore the site back to the ownership of someone who gives a damn, is it worth the psychic damage of giving these fuckers our money? I know Hackaday tried to go private with a kickstarter but failed... could Slashdot have more success?
Cellphones

California Bill Proposes Mandatory Kill-Switch On Phones and Tablets 341

Posted by Soulskill from the they-forgot-pagers dept.
alphadogg writes "Politicians and law enforcement officials in California will introduce a bill on Friday that requires all smartphones and tablet PCs sold in the state be equipped with a digital 'kill-switch' that would make the devices useless if stolen. The bill is a response to a rise in thefts of portable electronics devices, often at knife or gunpoint, being seen across the state. Already half of all robberies in San Francisco and 75 percent of those in Oakland involve a mobile device and the number is rising in Los Angeles, according to police figures. The trend is the same in major cities across the U.S. and the California bill, if it passes, could usher in kill-switch technology nationwide if phone makers choose not to produce custom devices for California. California Senate bill 962 says all smartphones and tablet PCs sold from Jan. 1, 2015, should have 'a technological solution that can render the essential features of the device inoperable when the device is not in possession of the rightful owner.'"
HP

Not Just Healthcare.gov: NASA Has 'Significant Problems' With $2.5B IT Contract 176

Posted by Soulskill from the moving-at-the-speed-of-government dept.
schwit1 writes "According to the Inspector General, NASA and HP Enterprise Services have encountered significant problems implementing the $2.5 billion Agency Consolidated End-User Services (ACES) contract, which provides desktops, laptops, computer equipment and end-user services such as help desk and data backup. Those problems include 'a failed effort to replace most NASA employees' computers within the first six months and low customer satisfaction,' the report states (PDF). It adds that NASA lacked the technical and cultural readiness for an agencywide IT delivery model and did not offer clear contract requirements, while HP failed to deliver on multiple promises."

Comment Re:We are not an audience (Score 1, Insightful) 112

by Kell Bengal (#46184515) Attached to: Australia's Bureau of Meteorology Dumps Water Data Project

WE HEAR YOU We did tell you we wanted feedback.

If they hear our feedback, and yet do nothing to address it, then it is clear that they do not care about our opinions. If they were truly listening to the user base, there would be a simple story announcing "BETA is over - we were wrong, forgive us." At this point, that is what it will take.

Comment Re:What that tells me is the spoiled children (Score 1) 2219

by Kell Bengal (#46183339) Attached to: Slashdot Tries Something New; Audience Responds!
I respectfully disagree. I expect good changes would be welcome (or at least go unnoticed) by the denizens - lord knows /. classic could do with some bugfixes. Instead, we have change that is roundly regarded as being negative.

You can call it childish, but I think we have good justification for caring about the quality of Slashdot as a community forum. Failing to acknowledge negative changes would be negligent of us and risk the demise of something we value. You can stand by silently if you want, but we won't.
Security

NBC News Confuses the World About Cyber-Security 144

Posted by samzenpus from the think-of-the-athletes dept.
Nerval's Lobster writes "In a video report posted Feb. 4, NBC News reporter Richard Engel, with the help of a security analyst, two fresh laptops, a new cell phone, and a fake identity, pretended to go online with the technical naiveté of a Neanderthal housepet. (Engel's video blog is here.) Almost as soon as he turned on the phone in the Sochi airport, Engel reported hackers snooping around, testing the security of the machines. Engel's story didn't explain whether 'snooping around' meant someone was port-scanning his device in particular with the intention of cracking its security and prying out its secrets, no matter how much effort it took, or if the 'snooping' was other WiFi devices looking for access points and trying automatically to connect with those that were unprotected. Judging from the rest of his story, it was more likely the latter. Engel also reported hackers snooping around a honeypot set up by his security consultant which, as Gartner analyst Paul Proctor also pointed out in a blog posting, is like leaving the honey open and complaining when it attracts flies. When you try to communicate with anything, it also tries to communicate with you; that's how networked computers work: They communicate with each other. None of the 'hacks' or intrusions Engel created or sought out for himself have anything to do with Russia or Sochi, however; those 'hacks' he experienced could have happened in any Starbucks in the country, and does almost every day, Proctor wrote. That's why there is antivirus software for phones and laptops. It's why every expert, document, video, audio clip or even game that has anything at all to do with cybersecurity makes sure to mention you should never open attachments from spam email, or in email from people you don't know, and you should set up your browser to keep random web sites from downloading and installing anything they want on your computer. But keep up the fear-mongering."
Crime

NYPD Is Beta-Testing Google Glass 158

Posted by samzenpus from the watching-you-better dept.
Presto Vivace writes "The New York City Police Department is trying to determine how useful Google Glass would be for law enforcement. From the article: 'The New York City Police Department's massive and controversial intelligence and analytics unit is evaluating whether Google Glass is a decent fit for investigating terrorists and helping cops lock up bad guys, VentureBeat has learned. The department recently received several pairs of the modernist-looking specs to test out. "We signed up, got a few pairs of the Google glasses, and we're trying them out, seeing if they have any value in investigations, mostly for patrol purposes," a ranking New York City law enforcement official told VentureBeat.'"
Government

These Are the Companies the FAA Has Sent notices To For Using Drones 136

Posted by samzenpus from the you're-grounded dept.
Daniel_Stuckey writes "Just as soon as the Minnesota-based Lakemaid Beer company excited everyone by delivering beer to ice fisherman with drones, the Federal Aviation Administration ruined their fun by demanding that they cease operations. But Lakemaid isn't the only company that's been harassed by the agency. Since 2012, the agency has sent official notices to 13 companies for the commercial use of drones."

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