Please create an account to participate in the Slashdot moderation system

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
Google

Submission + - Google Drive has been revealed! (google.com) 2

Submitted by lemmen
lemmen writes: As widely expected, Google Drive has launched officially today. Google Drive is free for the first 5GB while you can get an upgrade to 25GB for only $2.50 a month.

Google Drive is available for:
- PC and Mac
- iPhone and iPad (coming soon)
- Android devices
Piracy

Call of Duty: Black Ops the Most Pirated Game of the Year 5

Posted by Soulskill from the five-button-discount dept.
Torrentfreak reports that after calculating download frequency for pirated copies of popular video games, Call of Duty: Black Ops has won the dubious honor of being the most pirated game of 2010. The PC version of the game was torrented roughly 4,270,000 times, and the Xbox 360 version was downloaded an additional 930,000 times. (The most pirated Wii game was Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Dante's Inferno somehow managed to accrue the most downloads of Xbox 360 games.) Fortunately for Activision, the game has still made over $1 billion in sales, and its 20,000,000+ players have racked up over 600,000,000 man-hours of play time since the game's launch in early November.
Security

Submission + - NSA Develops USB Storage Device Detector 1

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "Bob Brewin writes on NextGov that the National Security Agency has developed a software tool that detects thumb drives or other flash media connected to a network. The NSA says the tool, called the USBDetect 3.0 Computer Network Defense Tool, provides "network administrators and system security officials with an automated capability to detect the introduction of USB storage devices into their networks. This tool closes potential security vulnerabilities; a definite success story in the pursuit of the [Defense Department] and NSA protect information technology system strategic goals." The tool gathers data from the registry on Microsoft Windows machines (PDF) and reports whether storage devices, such as portable music or video players, external hard drives, flash drives, jump drives, and thumb drives have been connected to the USB port. "I have a hunch that a bunch of other agencies use the detection software," writes Brewin, "so before you stick a thumb drive into your government computer to copy a 100 slide PowerPoint brief, beware that Software Big Brother may be watching.""
Government

Submission + - Feds Question Big Media's Piracy Claims (cnet.com)

Submitted by WrongSizeGlass
WrongSizeGlass writes: CNET is reporting that the GAO's study (summary; highlights [PDF]; full report [PDF]) of big media's piracy claims raised some questions. "After spending a year studying how piracy and illegal counterfeiting affects the United States, the Government Accountability Office says it still doesn't know for sure." "The GAO said that most of the published information, anecdotal evidence and records show that piracy is a drag on the U.S. economy, tax revenue and in some cases potentially threatens national security and public health. But the problem is, according to the GAO, the data used to quantify piracy isn't reliable."
Cellphones

Submission + - Cell Phones to Sniff Out Deadly Chemicals 1

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "Science Daily reports that Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate's Cell-All is an initiative to equip cell phones with a sensor capable of detecting deadly chemicals. A chip costing less than a dollar would be embedded in cell phones and programmed to either alert the cell phone carrier to the presence of toxic chemicals in the air, and/or a central station that can monitor how many alerts in an area are being received. While one alert might be a false positive, hundreds would indicate the need for evacuation. "Our goal is to create a lightweight, cost-effective, power-efficient solution," says Stephen Dennis, Cell-All's program manager. Does this always-on surveillance mean that the government can track your precise whereabouts whenever it wants? On the contrary, DHS says Cell-All will operate only on an opt-in basis and will transmit data anonymously. "Privacy is as important as technology," says Dennis. "After all, for Cell-All to succeed, people must be comfortable enough to turn it on in the first place." Dennis hopes to have 40 prototypes in about a year, the first of which will sniff out carbon monoxide and fire and commercialization may take several years."
Science

Submission + - Recession proof -- red light ticket revenue (nbc-2.com)

Submitted by NicknamesAreStupid
NicknamesAreStupid writes: A Fort Meyers news station reports a nerdy husband getting his wife out of a red-light ticket by proving the light was set with too short of a yellow. Then he goes out and proves that nearly 90% of the lights are set an average of about 20% too short. Is this an local incident, or have local governments nationwide found a new revenue source? What puzzles me is how a single picture can tell if you ran a light. If you are in the intersection before the light turns red, you have not run it, even if it takes a little while to clear it (say to yield to an unexpected obstacle). Wouldn't you need two pictures — one just before the light went red showing you are NOT in the intersection, and another after the light went red showing you in the intersection?
Businesses

GameStop, Other Retailers Subpoenaed Over Credit Card Information Sharing 117

Posted by Soulskill from the you-can-trust-us dept.
New York State's Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, has subpoenaed a number of online retailers, including GameStop, Barnes & Noble, Ticketmaster and Staples, over the way they pass information to marketing firms while processing transactions. MSNBC explains the scenario thus: "You're on the site of a well-known retailer and you make a purchase. As soon as you complete the transaction a pop-up window appears. It offers a discount on your next purchase. Click on the ad and you are automatically redirected to another company's site where you are signed up for a buying club, travel club or credit card protection service. The yearly cost is usually $100 to $145. Here's where things really get smarmy. Even though you did not give that second company any account information, they will bill the credit or debit card number you used to make the original purchase. You didn't have to provide your account number because the 'trusted' retailer gave it to them for a cut of the action." While there is no law preventing this sort of behavior, Cuomo hopes the investigation will pressure these companies to change their ways, or at least inform customers when their information might be shared.

Comment Re:MMS is pretty pointless after all (Score 1) 153

by wizzard2k (#29548205) Attached to: MMS Arrives For the iPhone — Will It Crash AT&T's Network?

I've been noticing similar effects with VZWATT for years. Glad to know its not just me. Also, sending from ATT, VZW friends usually get my texts, but sometimes successive texts in a row get delayed or not delivered until a new outgoing text is sent.
Email from the phone is more reliable.

Comment Re:Bush Admin Lying Sacks of Shit (Score 1) 222

by countertrolling (#29546297) Attached to: Senate To Reconsider Wiretap Immunity

You would not have been able to say the same about Gore or Kerry.

You don't know that at all. Maybe you weren't around when a democrat sent us into a war of independence in Vietnam. Also based on what turned out to be false information. And another thing, Gore had Lieberman on his ticket. A man every bit as bad as Cheney. And look at your patriot act there. Lieberman's name is all over it. When it comes to the middle east, Lieberman is just as hawkish as Israel's Lieberman (look him up). I am willing to bet he would have shown some real "shock and awe" if he had his chance. And Kerry? Please! After promising not to send our boys to die in a "senseless war", he would find a way to do just that, just like Johnson.

Slashdot Top Deals

People are always available for work in the past tense.

Close