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Comment Re:Welcome to the club (Score 1) 112

by the_doctor_23 (#51149247) Attached to: 'Unauthorized Code' In Juniper Firewalls Could Decrypt VPN Traffic

The odds are 1 in ({number of different symbols per character} to the power of {length of ciphertext}) - 1 of it being the plaintext.
If the OTP is truely random, then a ciphertext can be decoded to any possible permutation of the same length with equal probability.

Take for example the ciphertext TIGZIFZOMASDRVBTJFVTS:

With an OTP of ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTU it decodes to THEWEATHERISFINETODAY,
while an OTP of LPOIIXMGZUQDYDBGGCHNA yields ITSRAININGCATSANDDOGS.

Without knowing the original OTP you have no way of knowing which of these decodes (or all other legible) is the correct one.
Of course many decodes will result in gibberish as well (e.g. OTP 123456789012345678901).
In this case the probability that any given message is the correct one (without being able to decide that, of course) is 1 in 7,31e+43.
Its likelier to win the lottery and be struck by lightning on the same day.

To try it out for your self look here: http://www.braingle.com/braint...

Comment OS source access is already blocked (Score 2, Informative) 51

by the_doctor_23 (#31794774) Attached to: BlackBerry Maker To Buy QNX For RTOS & Dev. Suite
Looks like Foundry27 is being canned:

Effective April 9th 2010, QNX Software Systems has updated its source code access policy. This FAQ has been prepared for customers, partners, and hobbyists and provides details on what has changed.
Q. What has changed under the new source code policy?

Under the new policy, QNX Software Systems will continue to make its proprietary OS and middleware source code available to qualified customers, partners, and educational institutions. However, some of this code will no longer be available to hobbyists or to the general public.

The new policy classifies proprietary QNX source code as either Open (available to anyone under an open source license), Accessible (available to customers, partners, educational institutions, and hobbyists under a new click-through agreement), or Restricted (available to customers and partners with an approved QNX Restricted Content Application).

For example, QNX Software Systems will:

* continue to provide board support packages (BSPs) as open source
* provide various libraries and utilities as Accessible source
* provide source code for the QNX microkernel as Restricted source

Does anyone have a torrent with the current source?
Space

Spectrum of Light Captured From Distant World 32

Posted by Soulskill from the what-are-you-made-of dept.
An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from Cosmos: "Astronomers have made the first direct capture of a spectrum of light from a planet outside the Solar System and are deciphering its composition. The light was snared from a giant planet that orbits a bright young star called HR 8799 about 130 light-years from Earth, said the European Southern Observatory (ESO). ... The find is important, because hidden within a light spectrum are clues about the relative amounts of different elements in the planet's atmosphere. 'The features observed in the spectrum are not compatible with current theoretical models,' said co-author Wolfgang Brandner. 'We need to take into account a more detailed description of the atmospheric dust clouds, or accept that the atmosphere has a different chemical composition from that previously assumed.' The result represents a milestone in the search for life elsewhere in the universe, said the ESO. Until now, astronomers have been able to get only an indirect light sample from an exoplanet, as worlds beyond our Solar System are called. They do this by measuring the spectrum of a star twice — while an orbiting exoplanet passes near to the front of it, and again while the planet is directly behind it. The planet's spectrum is thus calculated by subtracting one light sample from another."
Google

Submission + - Google Deletes Rogue Ads, Dangers Persist

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Google has removed ads that appear alongside Google search results that re-directed users to malicious sites. But, according to security experts, the fix is temporary and search engine users should not assume sponsored links are all trustworthy.

http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/004248 .html

"Search engines are just too easy a target for bad guys," says Roger Thompson of Exploit Security Labs. On April 25, Exploit Prevention Labs reported that malware distributors were using advertisements placed via Google's automated AdWords system to infect unsuspecting end-users with spyware designed to capture bank login user names and passwords.

Feed Viacom Promises To Be More Mindful Of Fair Use On YouTube (techdirt.com)

From feed by techdirtfeed
When Viacom took down 100,000 videos from YouTube claiming they were infringing, one problem was that there were a number of false positives where they forced videos offline that weren't infringing at all. In one case, the EFF and others sued over the removal of a parody of the Colbert report, and Viacom bizarrely claimed that it hadn't sent a takedown about it despite a ton of evidence that it had. Eventually Viacom admitted that it had, in fact, accidentally sent the takedown. In response, the company has convinced the EFF to drop the lawsuit after promising to manually review all videos before sending takedown notices, training those who review the videos to understand fair use and publicly stating that it has no problem with videos that are "creative, newsworthy or transformative" and are "a limited excerpt for non commercial purposes." In other words, it's basically everything the EFF wanted, and now we'll see if Viacom lives up to the promise.

Feed Infrascanner: the handheld NIR hematoma detector (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Handhelds

As technology continues to make doctors' lives a bit easier (not to mention saving a few in the process), we've got yet another device that can detect a potentially fatal problem long before mere humans can figure it out. The Indian-based Infrascanner is a "handheld, non-invasive, near-infrared (NIR) based mobile imaging device used to detect brain hematoma at the site of injury" within the most important stage of pre-analysis. The device could also aid in the decision to proceed with "other tests such as head Computed Tomography (CT) scans" when not "facilitating surgical intervention decisions." While the methods behind the scanning are quite sophisticated, the unit uses diffused optical tomography to convert the light differential data seen in the local concentrations of hemoglobin into "interpretative scientific results." Potentially best of all, however, is just how close this thing is to actually hitting hospital wards, as it's simply missing the oh-so-coveted FDA stamp of approval before it can see commercial use.

[Via MedGadget]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Feed Senators Worried About Abuses Of Student Loan Personal Info (techdirt.com)

From feed by techdirtfeed
Students who borrow money to pay for school are no strangers to junk mail and telemarketing calls from loan companies. Now, some senators are concerned that the companies are getting their marketing and contact information from a government database of borrowers to which they shouldn't have access. Borrowers' records in the database are only supposed to be accessed by companies that have their permission, or that have a financial relationship with them, but the amount of solicitations and marketing materials many students receive from a wide array of companies makes it fairly obvious that this isn't the case. This story comes amid a wider scandal in the student-loan industry, with officials from several schools accused of receiving kickbacks from loan companies, and allegations of lax oversight from a government department stacked with ex-employees from the companies they're supposed to be watching over. But the security hole is also representative of the government's lack of interest in protecting personal data. If federal and state governments can't be bothered to secure the information, it's probably unreasonable to expect them to do anything to make sure the private sector takes security seriously either.
Education

Submission + - 22 Dead In Virginia Tech Shooting

Submitted by nexuspal
nexuspal writes: 22 confirmed dead at Virginia Tech. Shooter killed some at residence hall then two hours later killed others in classrooms. Worst school shooting in US history. CNN Link

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It was pity stayed his hand. "Pity I don't have any more bullets," thought Frito. -- _Bored_of_the_Rings_, a Harvard Lampoon parody of Tolkein

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