89105847
submission
netbuzz writes:
In March 2015, RSA Conference organizers made news by contractually insisting that vendors pitch their security wares without the help of “booth babes,” a first such ban for the technology industry. Next week’s event will be third under the new rules. With the use of "booth babes" long a source of contention – and some would say embarrassment – implementation of the ban has gone smoothly, according to RSA. “Overall I would say this has been received well by our exhibitors. Several have thanked us for having a policy.”
86278005
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netbuzz writes:
A Cisco bug report addressing “partial data traffic loss” on the company’s ASR 9000 Series routers contends that a “possible trigger is cosmic radiation causing SEU soft errors.” Not everyone is buying: “It IS possible for bits to be flipped in memory by stray background radiation. However it's mostly impossible to detect the reason as to WHERE or WHEN this happens,” writes a Redditor identifying himself as a former Cisco engineer. As for Cisco, the company says it can’t confirm this particular instance of cosmic meddling, but contends that it is certainly possible and is a problem they’ve been working on since 2001.
84703645
submission
netbuzz writes:
Golfer Jordan Spieth announced this morning that he will not play in the Olympics, citing Zika, meaning the world’s top four players in his sport have now opted out of going to Brazil. They’re self-employed and answer to no one. But what of the rank-and-file employees who work for major technology companies sending large contingents to Brazil? Are they being asked – or compelled — to ignore the risks? Conversely, could women of child-bearing age be denied the opportunity to go at an employer’s discretion? Major vendors like Cisco and GE say they’re not making anyone go, though at least one expert says that doing so wouldn’t necessarily be a violation of employment law.
82766647
submission
netbuzz writes:
Stung by a ferocious backlash on social media, AMC Entertainment this morning took to Twitter itself to announce that it will not be experimenting with “texting friendly” movie theaters, a trial balloon floated only days ago by the company’s boss. “NO TEXTING AT AMC. Won't happen. You spoke. We listened,” the company said.
81174977
submission
netbuzz writes:
While antivirus software pioneer John McAfee is in the media spotlight here for his long-shot Libertarian presidential run, law enforcement authorities in Belize and the FBI have just this week reportedly questioned one of his ex-girlfriend’s as they continue to investigate the 2012 murder of McAfee’s American neighbor. That probe prompted McAfee to flee Belize and eventually land back in the United States. McAfee has steadfastly denied any involvement in the murder.
75436777
submission
netbuzz writes:
Slashdot on Saturday highlighted a story by Pro Publica and the New York Times that used Snowden documents to reveal previously unknown details of the “highly collaborative” relationship between AT&T and the NSA that enabled the latter’s controversial Internet surveillance program. An aspect of the story that received only passing mention was how the reporters connected an acronym for an obscure proprietary network configuration – SNRC — to AT&T and the NSA in part through a 1996 story in the now-defunct print version of Network World. In essence, that acro proved to be a fingerprint confirming the connection — and its match was found thanks to Google Books.
71616481
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netbuzz writes:
That online gamers have been victimized has unfortunately allowed us to see what “swatting” looks like from the perspective of the target: terrifying and potentially deadly. A similar type of criminally unnecessary SWAT scene played out Saturday night when a caller to police in Hopkinton, Mass., claimed to be holed up in the town’s closed public library with two hostages and a bomb. The library stands within eyesight of the starting line for the Boston Marathon. An editor for Network World, there by happenstance, watched for two hours, and, while it was a hoax and no one was hurt, his account highlights the disruption and wastefulness these crimes inflict.
71310847
submission
netbuzz writes:
In what may be a first for the technology industry, RSA Conference 2015 next month apparently will be bereft of a long-controversial trade-show attraction: “booth babes.” New language in its exhibitor contract, while not using the term 'booth babe," leaves no doubt as to what type of salesmanship RSA wants left out of its event. Says a conference spokeswoman: “We thought this was an important step towards making all security professionals feel comfortable and equally respected during the show.”
70948533
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netbuzz writes:
On March 15, 1985, Symbolics, Inc, maker of Lisp computers, registered the Internet’s first dot-com address: Symbolics.com. Sunday will mark the 30th anniversary of that registration. And while Symbolics has been out of business for years, the address was sold in 2009 for an undisclosed sum to a speculator who said: “For us to own the first domain is very special to our company, and we feel blessed for having the ability to obtain this unique property." Today there’s not much there there.
63386947
submission
netbuzz writes:
The Wikimedia Foundation this morning reports that 50 links to Wikipedia from Google have been removed under Europe’s “right to be forgotten” regulations, including a page about a notorious Irish bank robber and another about an Italian criminal gang. “We only know about these removals because the involved search engine company chose to send notices to the Wikimedia Foundation. Search engines have no legal obligation to send such notices. Indeed, their ability to continue to do so may be in jeopardy. Since search engines are not required to provide affected sites with notice, other search engines may have removed additional links from their results without our knowledge. This lack of transparent policies and procedures is only one of the many flaws in the European decision.”
60547413
submission
netbuzz writes:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is calling it “a crushing blow for copyright trolls:” A federal appeals court today has for the first time ruled against what critics call a shakedown scheme aimed at pornography downloaders and practiced by the likes of AF Holdings, an arm of notorious copyright troll Prenda Law. The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit called the lawsuit “a quintessential example of Prenda Law’s modus operandi” in reversing a lower court ruling that would have forced a half-dozen ISPs to identify account holders associated with 1,058 IP addresses.
59794445
submission
netbuzz writes:
The worst of DRM is set to infest law school casebooks. One publisher, AspenLaw, wants students to pay $200 for a bound casebook but at the end of class they have to give it back. Aspen is touting this arrangement as a great deal in that the buyer will get an electronic version and assorted online goodies once they return the actual book. However, law professors and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are calling it nothing but a cynical attempt to undermine used book sales, as well as the first sale doctrine that protects used bookstores and libraries.
59576143
submission
netbuzz writes:
Three years ago today, software consultant Sohaib Athar was working on his laptop at home in Pakistan when he tweeted: "Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event)." And then: "A huge window-shaking bang here in Abbottabad Cantt. I hope it’s not the start of something nasty :-S." It was for Osama bin Laden. Today Athar says, “People do bring it up every now and then.”
59215077
submission
netbuzz writes:
A band called netcat is generating buzz in software circles by releasing its debut album as a Linux kernel module (among other more typical formats.) Why? “Are you ever listening to an album, and thinking ‘man, this sounds good, but I wish it crossed from user-space to kernel-space more often!’ We got you covered,” the band says on its Facebook page. “Our album is now fully playable as a loadable Linux kernel module.”
54191651
submission
netbuzz writes:
It’s been a year since the FCC implemented the CALM Act, a law that prohibits broadcasters from blasting TV commercials at volumes louder than the programming. Whether the ban has worked or not depends on who you ask. The FCC notes that formal complaints about overly loud commercials are on the decline in recent months, but those complaints have totaled more than 20,000 over the past year.
