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feeds | grep links > Sponsor a Valve on Colossus, Security Updates for Debian 5.0 Lenny End, Iran Blocks HTTPS, and More

Thomas Gideon — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:54:26 +0000

Sponsor a valve on Colossus, Slashdot
No further updates for Debian 5.0 Lenny, The H Security: News and Features
Iran blocks HTTPS, cutting off Gmail, Yahoo and other major sites, ReadWriteWeb
As Iran Cracks Down Online, Tor Tests Undetectable Encrypted Connections, Forbes via Slashdot
WebKit dominance threatens the open web, The H Open Source: News and Features
SF trade publication Locus Magazine goes digital, DRM-free, BoingBoing

feeds | grep links > Canonical Support for Kubuntu to End, Chrome Dropping Online Certificate Checks, Legalities of Autonomous Vehicles, and More

Thomas Gideon — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:40:17 +0000

Canonical ending support for Kubuntu, reassigning lead developer
Ryan Paul at Ars Technica had news that at first deeply saddened me. I am a long time KDE user and have really enjoyed having a ready made remix of Ubuntu with KDE as the stock desktop environment. The details matter as they usually do. KDE as a project is independent of Canonical and as far as I am aware is still very active and healthy; the announcement is just about the KDE based remix. The remix won’t end necessarily either, it will just be up to the community to support it past the upcoming 12.04 release of Ubuntu. Paul thoughtfully includes a link where anyone, like me, interested in supporting Kubuntu and KDE can learn more.
Google wants to do away with online certificate checks
The H Security posted a story where the particulars are again important to read closely. Chrome will continue to have a means of dealing with revoked certificates and other changes affecting the primary security mechanism in web browsers. They are disabling a channel they deem to no longer be working well and instead will use the same mechanism through which the browser updates itself to distribute notices requiring changes to each browser’s database of trusted certificates.
Navigating the legality of autonomous vehicles
Autopia at Wired.com has an excellent piece by Tom Vanderbilt digging into the legal questions that arise from Google’s research efforts into self driving cars. Questions like these are only going to get more pressing. They fascinate because they are no longer purely the realm of science fiction. I can easily imagine the case where one of the existing cars able to self park is involved in an accident and begs interesting questions of fault and liability.
LibreOffice developer shows prototype Android and HTML5 ports, Ars Technica
Google ‘Solve For X’ Website Goes Live, Slashdot
KDE publishes a book for beginner developers, KDE.news via Slashdot
Red Hat appoints Robyn Bergeron first female Fedora project leader, Slashdot
Google Makes Its Chrome Browser Mobile, NYTimes.com

feeds | grep links > First 3D Printed Pirate Bay Ship, Open Source Bill in NH, Google Pulls CDMA Support for Dev Phones, and More

Thomas Gideon — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:00:49 +0000

First downloaded and 3D printed Pirate Bay ship arrives, TorrentFreak
New Hampshire passes ‘Open Source Bill’, Slashdot
Google pulls support for CDMA devices
Slashdot has the pertinent details but doesn’t provide a lot of context. I did some further reading in my limited time, today, and it isn’t that you won’t be able to get CDMA phones running Android. Rather the support in question is for the stock experience, developer phones Google has featured at their regular conferences. Removing support for Android on any CDMA phone or network would be astonishingly short sited in the US. I’m less sure how this will affect others who have bought these phones simply to use rather than for development except they are unlikely to notice the missing documentation and resources meant for developers.
Microsoft publishes fancy-pants heterogeneous parallel GPGPU C++ AMP specification, Ars Technica
Boffins embed electronics into fibres, The Register
Embodiment, computation and the nature of artificial intelligence, Technology Review
Open source players share their experiences in CC-BY-SA book, The H Open Source: News and Features

The Copyfight for the Week Ending 2/5/2012

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:31:28 +0000

What you should know about ACTA and your rights, ReadWriteWeb
Thousands take to the streets to protest ACTA, Michael Geist
As Anonymous protests, Internet drowns in inaccurate anti-ACTA arguments, Ars Technica
NY Times endorses anti-piracy alternative, The Hill’s Hillicon Valley
Please keep the ACTA debate fact-based, Techdirt
Shoe on the other foot: RIAA wants to scrap anti-piracy OPEN Act, Ars Technica
Beyond ACTA: next secret copyright agreement negotiated this week–in Hollywood, Ars Technica
MEP says ACTA goes too far, Michael Geist
Canadian music industry lobby: put SOPA into C-11 or stand with illegal sites, Michael Geist
ACTA on the edge in Europe? Poland suspends ratification, Greece gets hacked, Ars Technica
Slovenia’s ambassador apologizes to her children and her nation for signing ACTA, calls for mass demonstrations in Ljubljana tomorrow, Boing Boing
London’s anti-ACTA demonstration on Saturday 2/11, Boing Boing
Bulgarian MPs wear Anonymous/Guy Fawkes masks to protest ACTA, Techdirt

Following Up for the Week Ending 2/5/2012

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:30:55 +0000

The man Microsoft accuses of creating the Kelihos botnet has contacted the BBC to say he is “shocked and surprised” by the accusation and will prove his innocence., Ars Technica
‘Super Wi-Fi’: Super, but not Wi-Fi, PCMag.com via Slashdot
Red Hat quietly joins the OpenStack effort, ReadWriteWeb
Carrier IQ concerns prompt disclosure bill from Markey, Post Tech at The Washington Post
Reprieve: MegaUpload’s data safe for two more weeks, Media Maverick at CNET News via Groklaw NewsPicks
House lawmakers request briefing on Google privacy policy changes, The Hill’s Hillicon Valley
Apparently Veoh isn’t dead enough for Universal Music; asks for rehearing of its bogus copyright lawsuit, Techdirt
Can Reddit write legislation, too? Proposes the ‘Free Internet Act’, Techdirt
10-Year Gary McKinnon Case To End This Year, Slashdot
Tenative ruling against Kaleidescape in DVD CCA case, Slashdot
Dutch ISPs refuse to block Pirate Bay, Slashdot
Motorola slices out Razr smartphone bootloader lock, The Register Hardware
“Mobile Device Privacy Act” would prevent secret smartphone monitoring, Ars Technica
Why the Raspberry Pi won’t ship in kit form, Slashdot
EFF: One way or another, we’re getting that Megaupload data back, ReadWriteWeb
Megaupload’s hosting company teams up with EFF to identify legal files, Ars Technica
Pirate Bay founders’ prison sentences final, supreme court appeal rejected, TorrentFreak
Pirate Bay verdict signals threat of huge new anti-piracy campaign, TorrentFreak
Busting myths about our approach to privacy, Google Public Policy Blog
Feds arrest streaming site operator for copyright infringement, TorrentFreak
Google asks court not to enjoin ReDigi, Slashdot
Microsoft commits to OpenStack and OpenNebula Hyper-V support, Update at The H Open Source: News and Features
EFF ready to sue if “innocent customers” can’t get Megaupload data back, Ars Technica
ACTA update II, Open Enterprise
Anonymous pokes fate bear, leaks FBI conference call about Anonymous, Ars Technica
Thanks to DRM, some Ubisoft games won’t work next week, Slashdot
Apple updates iBooks Author EULA to clarify restriction on format, not content, Ars Technica

Quick Security Alerts for the Week Ending 2/5/2012

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:29:42 +0000

The world’s first computer password? It was useless, too, Ars Technica
Hackers pounce on just-patched Windows Media vulnerability, ZDNet
When viruses infect worms, Slashdot
Stealing smartphone crypto keys using plain old radio, NetworkWorld via Slashdot
Antiphishing standard in the works from Google, Facebook, others, InSecurity Complex at CNET News
Landing another blow against email phishing, Google Online Security Blog
Samba update closes DoS hole, The H Security: News and Features
Android games contain malware, The H Security: News and Features
Massive compromise of WordPress sites leads to Phoenix exploit kit, threatpost
Hacker’s demo shows how easily credit cards can be read through clothes and wallets, Forbes via Slashdot
Video: new banking trojan caught breaking CAPTCHA, threatpost
FFmpeg 0.10 “Freedom” released – Update, The H Security: News and Features
Security hole in Sudo’s debug option closed, The H Security: News and Features
Dropping the F-BOMB at ShmooCon, GeekDad at Wired.com
Hacker extracts RFID credit card details, The H Security: News and Features
Mozilla closes critical holes in Firefox, Thunderbird and SeaMonkey, The H Security: News and Features
Dubious Android apps may not be malware–just ads, InSecurity Complex at CNET News
Apple releases Mac OS X 10.7.3, The H Security: News and Features
Driving up the cost of exploit development becomes a key defensive strategy, threatpost
HTC Android phones expose Wi-Fi passwords to apps, The H Security: News and Features
Hackers stole data from VeriSign in 2010, InSecurity Complex at CNET News
New Trojan routes your bank’s calls to CROOKS, The Register
Google now scanning Android apps for malware, InSecurity Complex at CNET News
How to identify fake Facebook accounts, InSecurity Complex at CNET News
Teen finds bugs in Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft code, InSecurity Complex at CNET News
Critical PHP vulnerability being fixed – Update , The H Security: News and Features
State of SCADA security ‘laughable’, researchers say, threatpost
Apple FileVault cracked in under an hour by forensics biz, The Register

feeds | grep links > Innovation without Age Limits, Self-Assembling Nanorods, Open Source Laser Sintering, and More

Thomas Gideon — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:44:15 +0000

Innovation without age limits, Technology Review
Self-assembling nanorods , Berkeley Lab News Center via Slashdot
An Open Source Laser Sintering 3D Printer, MAKE
ALMA consortium develops tool chain for embedded multi-core processors, The H Open Source: News and Features
Google to censor Blogger blogs on a ‘per country basis’, Threat Level at Wired.com
Computer program reconstructs heard words from brain scans, Slashdot

feeds | grep links > Sinclair ZX81 in Lego, Opening Proprietary Code, Yes Men to Key Note HOPE 9, and More

Thomas Gideon — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:09:25 +0000

Sinclair ZX81 made out of Lego, Slashdot
Pandora’s Box 2.0: Opening proprietary code, The H Open Source: News and Features
The Yes Men to keynote at HOPE Number Nine, 2600 NEWS via BoingBoing
‘World Shaker’ crossbreeds processor with memory chip, Wired Enterprise at Wired.com
Firefox 10 arrives with new dev tools and full-screen API, Ars Technica

feeds | grep links > Improved 3D Printing for Spindly Designs, Challenges for Out of Work Aging Techies, Jailbreaking the Internet, and More

Thomas Gideon — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:00:24 +0000

Fused filament printing with water-soluble support
Make shows off a clever 3D print of an approximation of a Hilbert curve that uses two extuders, one of which uses a water soluble feedstock. I first heard about something like this at the wonderful talk on 3D printing at Ohio Linux Fest but I suspect this is still a pretty clever improvement in the area of using extrusion based printers to produce designs that have a good deal of negative space and otherwise would be unprintable except in a powder bed.
Old techies never die; they just can’t get hired
Aaron Glantz at the New York Times describes the continuing problems faces by aging technologists even in the heart of Silicon Valley where many firms have continued to hire despite the recent economic woes. Glantz leads with one hurdle that is arguably legitimate, the constant moving target of the skills hiring managers want and need. Glantz discusses hardware engineers being in an understandable hard spot post lay off when all the openings are software jobs. Even within software, the incessant pressure to keep skills current can lead to a similar hill that it isn’t always feasible to climb. Worse, the article continues to dig into the sort of ageism that has long been rumored in the industry, unmasking many of the veneers companies try to draw over practices that, in my experience, are actually incredibly short sighted given what more experienced technologists have to offer not just in a proven track record of getting things done but generally a greater emotional maturity.
Jailbreaking the Internet: For freedom’s sake
Writing at InfoWorld’s The Deep End, linked to by Slashdot, Paul Venezia draws parallels between the popularity of jail breaking locked down devices and the possible response to the sort of locked down Internet the entertainment industry is trying to craft through policy like SOPA, PIPA and ACTA. I think tools like MafiaaFire and the anti-SOPA browser extensions that cropped up last week substantiate Venezia’s optimism that not only will the net route around this legislatively wrought damage but hackers increasingly will follow established models of usable, accessible circumvention tools.
Flaw in YouTube takedown process exposed, Slashdot
Git 1.7.9 offers more secure modification requests, The H Security: News and Features
The sinister sons of SOPA, Alt Text: Underwire at Wired.com
Mozilla questions web orthodoxies with ‘Pancake’, Webmonkey at Wired.com
New KDE tablet to liberate Linux enthusiasts from walled garden, Ars Technica

The Copyfight for the Week Ending 1/29/2012

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:05:11 +0000

There is still quite a bit of discussion and fall out after the protests that stalled out SOPA and PIPA. I am heartened to see attention being directed back at ACTA and TPP. Hopefully the awareness raised by the blackout will bring many more voices into the debates around these trade agreements that include measures just as troubling and are being crafted in an equally unilateral manner, excluding the public interest.

If the feds can shut down Megaupload, why do we need SOPA?, Ars Technica
The Pirate Bay press release on SOPA: we are the new Hollywood, Techdirt
Petition: investigate Chris Dodd for fraud, Boing Boing
House Democrat pulls support for SOPA, The Hill’s Hillicon Valley
After terrific year, music biz demands that world adopt “SOPA plus”, Ars Technica
Sen. Ron Wyden: PIPA/SOPA is a Congressional wake-up call, Epicenter at Wired.com
The President’s challenge: What more does government want — or deserve — from the tech world?, Boing Boing
EMI boss opposes SOPA, says piracy is a service issue, TorrentFreak
Sen. Leahy will look at anti-piracy alternative, The Hill’s Hillicon Valley
Does DNSSEC really interfere with SOPA/PIPA?, threatpost
The TPP impact on New Zealand’s Public Domain, Michael Geist
Public interest groups speak out about next week’s secret meeting in Hollywood to negotiate TPP (think international SOPA), Techdirt
White House petition to end support for ACTA, Boing Boing
Polish government reconsiders ACTA, Michael Geist
Stop ACTA: secretive treaty will bring in the worst of SOPA through trade obligations, Boing Boing
UK signs ACTA as activists urge resistance, Networking at ZDNet UK via Slashdot
The ACTA fight returns: what is at stake and what you can do, Michael Geist
Opponents protest signing of ACTA without adequate debate, Ars Technica
Polish politicians don Guy Fawkes/Anonymous masks to protest ACTA signing, Techdirt
EU ACTA Chief Resigns, Slashdot

Following Up for the Week Ending 1/29/2012

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:59:51 +0000

Selling used iTunes tracks? ReDigi insists it’s legal, Ars Technica
FileSonic has disabled file sharing in wake of Megaupload takedown, Ars Technica
NinjaVideo.net founder gets 14 months – security, NinjaVideo.net, legal, intellectual property, copyright, Security at Techworld via Groklaw NewsPicks
Megaupload drops lawsuit against Universal Music, Slashdot
EU proposes “right to be forgotten” by internet firms, BBC News
MegaFallout: shutdown of MegaUpload spooks other services, ReadWriteWeb
More Megaupload fallout: FileServe shutters file-sharing service, Ars Technica
MegaUpload loses top lawyer after ‘outside’ pressure, TorrentFreak
Two more arrested in connection with Megaupload, threatpost
In a switch, Google Plus now allows pseudonyms, NYTimes.com
New Righthaven offers hosting service “with a spine”, Boing Boing
Google+ pseudonym policy lets Google reject names that aren’t “established”, Ars Technica
Ordering defendant to decrypt hard drive did not violate her Fifth Amendment rights, Internet Cases via Groklaw NewsPicks
MIT App Inventor software now available to all, SlashGear
Meganomics: The future of “Follow-the-money” copyright enforcement, TorrentFreak
Google works on Internet standards with TCP proposals, SPDY standardization, Ars Technica
Study does not show that disconnection threats terrorized France into using iTunes, Boing Boing
Disappointing ruling in compelled laptop decryption case, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Google’s privacy changes worry Rep. Markey, The Hill’s Hillicon Valley
Legality of mobile phone tracking still unclear despite Supreme Court GPS decision, Threat Level at Wired.com
Google’s new privacy policy could anger FTC, Ars Technica
Jailbreaking could soon become illegal again, GizmoCrazed via Slashdot
‘Super Wi-Fi’ blankets first county in U.S., Technology Review
Pirate Party of Catalonia wants to sue FBI, in Spain, over Megaupload seizure, Ars Technica
Twitter uncloaks a year’s worth of DMCA takedown notices, 4,410 in all, Ars Technica
Megaupload users revolt, threaten to sue U.S. authorities, ReadWriteWeb
AT&T threatening to raise rates after merger failure, Slashdot

Quick Security Alerts for the Week Ending 1/29/2012

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:59:00 +0000

‘Citadel’ trojan touts trouble-ticket system, Krebs on Security
DreamHost nightmare attack sparks passwords reset, The Register
Linux root exploit due to memory access – Update 2, The H Security: News and Features
Authentication by “Cognitive Footprint”, Schneier on Security
New malware protection using big data analytics from Sourcefire, ReadWriteWeb
Fake iPhone Camera+ app allowed in app store, threatpost
I spy your company’s boardroom, Threat Level at Wired.com
Microsoft: Worm operator worked at antivirus firm, Krebs on Security
Hackers manipulated railway computers, TSA memo says, Slashdot
Pwn2Own 2012 Set To Reveal More Browser Vulnerabilities Than In the Past, Slashdot
10K reasons to worry about critical infrastructure, Threat Level at Wired.com
Chrome 16 update closes security holes, The H Security: News and Features
Opera 11.61 fixes XSS vulnerability, The H Security: News and Features
Critical flaw discovered in Symantec’s pcAnywhere, The H Security: News and Features
Multiple bugs haunt WordPress setup, threatpost
Poison Ivy variant changes benign code to malicious after download, threatpost
Linux vendors rush to patch privilege escalation flaw after root exploits emerge, Techworld via Slashdot
Hawaii bill would require internet data retention for two years, threatpost
Malware poses as phony Google+ plug-in , threatpost
FFmpeg 0.10 “Freedom” released, The H Security: News and Features
Railroad Association says hack memo was inaccurate, Threat Level at Wired.com

feeds | grep links > Roundup of Quantum Research Developments, Arguing Whether 3D Printing Will Go the Way of VR, Algorithm Complexity of Classic Games, and More

Thomas Gideon — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:04:43 +0000

Serious flaw emerges in quantum cryptography, Technology Review
A quantum speed limit: how fast does quantum information flow through a lattice?, Ars Technica
Scientists shift electron orbits for atomic storage and quantum computing, The Register
Pac-Man is NP-hard, Slashdot
… And Scrabble proved PSPACE-complete, Technology Review
Why 3-D printing will go the way of virtual reality, Technology Review
Why 3-D printing isn’t like virtual reality, Technology Review
Insane English copyright ruling creates ownership in the idea of a photo’s composition, Boing Boing
WordPress plugin unblocks censored sites, including The Pirate Bay, TorrentFreak
Twitter to block tweets locally, not globally, InSecurity Complex at CNET News
A guide to finding interesting public domain works online, Open Knowledge Foundation Blog

feeds | grep links > Another Play to Teach Kids Programming, Ubuntu’s Latest UI Experiment, 3D Printable Catalog Launches on The Pirate Bay, and More

Thomas Gideon — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:54:55 +0000

Why we should teach kids to code, www.kernelmag.com via Slashdot
Beyond the desktop: Ubuntu Linux’s new Head-Up Display, ZDNet
The Pirate Bay wants you to really download a car, TorrentFreak
Graphene may exhibit exotic superconductivity, Ars Technica
Jim Henson short explains “Data Communications” for Bell execs, 1963, Boing Boing
Mozilla releases Rust 0.1, the language that will eventually usurp Firefox’s C++, ExtremeTech via Slashdot
Drive-by gun scans prompt privacy questions, Technology Review
Pirate Party releases book of pirate politics, Slashdot
Google issues new privacy policy for 1 unified Google experience, ReadWriteWeb

feeds | grep links > SCOTUS on Rules Requiring Warrants for GPS Tracking, Dan Bull’s Rap on MegaUpload Shutdown, Tabletop PC That Knows Users by Their Shoes, and More

Thomas Gideon — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:05:41 +0000

Supreme Court holds warrantless GPS tracking unconstitutional, Ars Technica
United States v. Jones is a Near-Optimal Result, Freedom to Tinker
Why the Jones Supreme Court Ruling on GPS Tracking Is Worse Than It Sounds – Rebecca J. Rosen, Technology at The Atlantic
New single from activist rapper, Dan Bull, on shutdown of MegaUpload, Dan Bull
Tabletop computer knows you by your shoes, Technology Review
Firefox goes 2-digit, time to check your UA sniffing scripts, Mozilla Hacks
Startup Makes ‘Wireless Router for the Brain’, Technology Review
Mobilizing the Public Against Censorship, 1765 and 2012, Technology at The Atlantic

SOPA/PIPA for the Week Ending 1/22/2012

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:25:09 +0000

Undoubtedly coverage of progress on SOPA and PIPA will slacken now that both bills have been shelved and many, prematurely, are calling this week’s black out a victory. As news stories inevitably taper off, I will fold them back into the existing series of blog posts where appropriate. I hope to see, and will be adding my voice to, a sustained call for more constructive engagement between technologists of all stripes and policy makers.

The President’s post-SOPA challenge: all right, you come up with a solution!, ReadWriteWeb
Reeling MPAA declares DNS filtering “off the table”, Ars Technica
MPAA issues statement slamming SOPA/PIPA “blackout” protests as “dangerous gimmick”, Boing Boing
“Least restrictive means”? One way that SOPA could die in court, Ars Technica
Why one game developer is skipping E3 to start an anti-SOPA crusade, Ars Technica
A history of IP violence: how SOPA’s and PIPA’s sponsors have waged war on the Internet, Ars Technica
When a petition isn’t enough: SOPA protestors raise money to hire lobbyist firm, Ars Technica
Even without DNS provisions, SOPA and PIPA remain fatally flawed, Ars Technica
Five key senators abandon online piracy bills amid Web protests, The Hill’s Hillicon Valley
More senators dropping off as co-Sponsors of PIPA, Techdirt
Boehner: Piracy bill lacks consensus, The Hill’s Hillicon Valley
PIPA support collapses, with 13 new Senators opposed, Ars Technica
Hollywood fights Internet protests with… TV ad, billboard, radio spot, Ars Technica
Post-SOPA: the path forward for addressing piracy, Ars Technica
SOPA backer reassures his troops: “Facts will overcome fears”, Ars Technica
Internet SOPA/PIPA Revolt: Don’t declare victory yet, Threat Level at Wired.com
Senator Ron Wyden To The Internet: Thank You For Speaking Up… But We’re Not Done Yet, Techdirt
SOPA/PIPA aren’t a failure to understand the Internet; they arise from self-interested fear of free speech, Boing Boing
First Dem reverses course on piracy bill, The Hill’s Hillicon Valley
SOPA getting a face-lift: how evil will it be?, Threat Level at Wired.com
Senate leaders from both parties back away from PROTECT IP, Ars Technica
At GOP debate, all four candidates oppose SOPA, Ars Technica
Reid shelves PROTECT IP Act in response to “recent events”, Ars Technica
Internet wins: SOPA and PIPA both shelved, Ars Technica
How the Internet blackout affected congressional support for PIPA/SOPA, Boing Boing
SOPA goes back to the drawing board, PIPA postponed, Slashdot

Following Up for the Week Ending 1/22/2012

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:22:37 +0000

US copyright lobby wants Canada out of TPP until new laws passed, warns of no cultural exceptions, Michael Geist
ACS: Law solicitor Andrew Crossley suspended by SRA, BBC News
EU To Sign ACTA Later This Month, Slashdot
Securely booting Linux a “difficult” proposition, The H Open Source: News and Features
Megaupload wasn’t just for pirates: angry users out of luck for now, Ars Technica
Megaupload details raise significant concerns about what DOJ considers evidence of criminal behavior, Techdirt
Second NinjaVideo admin jailed for copyright infringement, TorrentFreak
Capitol Records moves for preliminary injunction in ReDigi case, Recording Industry vs The People
Is Megaupload back? [UPDATED], Mashable
Anonymous tricks bystanders into attacking Justice Department, Threat Level at Wired.com
Anonymous changes DDoS tactics in Megaupload retaliation, threatpost

Quick Security Alerts for the Week Ending 1/22/2012

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:21:38 +0000

Koobface malware traced to 5 Russians, Slashdot
Phishers are posing as Facebook security on chat, InSecurity Complex at CNET News
Customer data exposed in Zappos.com breach, The H Security: News and Features
Critical hole in McAfee products still open after more than 180 days, The H Security: News and Features
Zappos says hackers did not access payment data, ReadWriteWeb
NSA releases security-enhanced Android, The H Security: News and Features
Attack tool published for WiFi setup flaw; Cisco issues warning, ZDNet
Quotation mark parsing flaw makes IE users vulnerable to attack, threatpost
Linux developers fix a homemade network problem, The H Security: News and Features
Google launches QR code-based login security measure, ReadWriteWeb
Apache Tomcat developers advise updates to avoid DoS, The H Security: News and Features
Google launches Good to Know campaign for web safety, ReadWriteWeb
McAfee software lets scammers hijack PCs to send spam, InSecurity Complex at CNET News
Google fixes Checkout bug that leaked customer data, InSecurity Complex at CNET News
Critical hole in McAfee products still open after more than 180 days, Update at The H Security: News and Features
Elevating privileges via Windows installers, threatpost
New stealthy botnet Trojan holds Facebook users hostage, The Register
Ready-made Microsoft Windows zero-day?, ZDNet
McAfee to plug ‘spammer’ hole this week, InSecurity Complex at CNET News
Koobface C&C goes silent after alleged controllers exposed, The H Security: News and Features
Bot blackmails Facebook users, The H Security: News and Features
OpenSSL fixes DoS bug in recent bug fix, The H Security: News and Features
Why Google hasn’t fixed Chrome’s password “glitch”, ReadWriteWeb
X.org server allows anyone to unlock computer, The H Security: News and Features
Researchers spot scammers using fake browser plug-ins, ZDNet
Research: Spammers actively harvesting emails from Twitter in real-time, ZDNet
Dreamhost FTP/Shell Password Database Breached, Slashdot
Researchers Find Slew of Flaws In SCADA Hardware, Software, Slashdot

feeds | grep links > Yet Another Overbearing Apple License, New and Faster Fourier Transform, MS Gamifies Visual Studio, and More

Thomas Gideon — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:04:46 +0000

The unprecedented audacity of the iBooks author EULA, venomous porridge via Groklaw NewsPicks
The faster-than-fast Fourier transform, MIT via Slashdot
Microsoft keeps it old-school with a pricey text adventure game, Visual Studio 2010, Ars Technica
VGA, DVI display interfaces to bow out in five years, Components, NPD Group at Techworld via Slashdot
New Google users now forced to join Google+, ReadWriteWeb
Pick up the pitchforks: David Pogue underestimates Hollywood, Clay Shirky

feeds | grep links > Democratizing Lobbying, Sound of Tree Growth Rings, SCOTUS Diminished Public Domain Again, and More

Thomas Gideon — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:17:34 +0000

We are the lobbyists
Jeff Jarvis on his blog, BuzzMachine, tries to make sense of the effects of yesterday’s blackout by suggesting that netroots action like this is democratizing lobbying. I think that is too facile a notion, thought to be fair he only proposes it in response to another commentator whining that users on the net should hire lobbyists like corporations. Whether you agree with Jarvis or those on the other side who think mass, de-centralized, virtual protest is dirty pool, I believe we may be on the cusp of a change for the better, with regards to the public interest being heard in a new way. Much work remains to be done in terms of education to avoid passion outracing sense.
Play the rings of a tree trunk like a record
Cory at BoingBoing linked to an art project that uses a PlayStation Eye camera and Ableton Live to “play” the rings of a thin section of tree trunk. The last interesting sonification I saw was some time ago but this immediately put me in mind of other projects that have translated information into music with intriguing results. In this case, the information is the environmental and historical information the tree encodes into its growth rings over its lifetime.
Supreme Court rules Congress can re-copyright public domain works
David Kravets, repsoted at Ars Technica from Wired, has what is actually a follow up but I want to highlight as another dash of cold water to temper yesterday’s perceived victory against SOPA and PIPA. The ruling is in response to a plea from those benefiting from public domain works, protesting Congress’ interpretation of a treaty obligation. The upshot is the highest court in the land has indeed affirmed that once again Congress is well within it rights of expanding copyright at the expense of the public domain, our shared cultural heritage.
SOPA isn’t dead, it’s back on
Cory at Boing Boing emphasizes a point Mike Masnick at Techdirt made on the announcement of changes to the DNS blocking provisions. The bill isn’t dead until it is withdrawn from both chambers of Congress. The bill’s sponsor clearly isn’t ready to call it quits, yet.
Mozilla demos MediaStream Processing, audio mixing in Firefox, Ars Technica
Megaupload shut down by feds, seven charged, four arrested, Ars Technica
UPDATE: Anonymous takes down DoJ, UMG website–attack on Whitehouse.gov underway, Ars Technica

feeds | grep links >Re-write of JQuery Optimized for Mobile, Public.Resource.org YouTube Account at Risk, OpenStreetMap Vandalism Alleged to Originate from Google, and More

Thomas Gideon — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:26:02 +0000

JQ.Mobi is a mobile-optimized HTML5 rewrite of the JQuery framework, ReadWriteWeb
Paul Brownstein Productions claims YouTube ownership of US government movie, could have Public Resource’s YouTube account killed, Boing Boing
OpenStreetMap claims map vandalism traced to Google IP range, The H Open Source: News and Features
Facebook, Google Argue Against Web Censorship In India, Slashdot
Notes on reducing Firefox’s memory consumption, Slashdot
Free PDF of the first Diesel Sweeties comic collection, Boing Boing

SOPA, PIPA for the Week Ending 1/15/2012

Thomas Gideon — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 01:07:57 +0000

Looks like some reason for cautious optimisim. I’ll be discussing the removal of DNS blocking from SOPA in the next newscast. In particular note the warning from Mike Masnnick at Techdirt, that the removal of the same provisions from PROTECT IP are merely a delay not a real, permanent victory.

Issa calls hearing on Domain Name Service, search engine blocking for Jan. 18, The Hill’s Hillicon Valley
“Nerds” Finally Get Their SOPA Hearings Over Technical Impact… But Not At The Judiciary Committee, Techdirt
Reddit successfully pressures Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to back off support of SOPA, www.reddit.com via BoingBoing
Co-chair of Congressional cybersecurity caucus says SOPA would interfere with online security, Techdirt
“Rogue” Attorney General spreads MPAA-fed SOPA propaganda, TorrentFreak
Fighting Internet piracy: CES takes on SOPA vs. OPEN debate, Ars Technica
Reddit to black itself out next week in protest of SOPA, Technology at The Atlantic
Desperation of SOPA/PIPA supporters on display at CES, Techdirt
Soapy: an even better anti-SOPA browser plugin, Boing Boing
Wyden, Issa, CEA prepare for critical battles against SOPA and PIPA, Ars Technica
Jon Stewart promises to read up on SOPA, have “the Internet” as his guest, Ars Technica
Leahy preparing amendment to online piracy bill, Post Tech at The Washington Post
Senator Leahy hopes to rush through PIPA by promising to study DNS blocking… later?!?, Techdirt
Internet blacklist power to be stripped from Senate’s PROTECT IP Act, Ars Technica
Cheezburger sites join Reddit in January 18th blackout, Techdirt
Even Without DNS Blocking, the Protect IP Act Could Still Stifle Innovation, ReadWriteWeb
Don’t be fooled: Leahy is NOT removing DNS blocking provisions, merely delaying them, Techdirt
Under voter pressure, members of Congress backpedal (hard) on SOPA, Ars Technica
Obama administration joins the ranks of SOPA skeptics, Ars Technica
SOPA delayed; Cantor promises it won’t be brought to the floor until ‘issues are addressed’, Techdirt

Following Up for the Week Ending 1/15/2012

Thomas Gideon — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 01:06:00 +0000

Microsoft reinvents wi-fi for white spaces, Technology Review
TPP’s Copyright Term Extension Would Keep Some Canada’s Top Authors Out of Public Domain For Decades, Michael Geist
Raspberry Pi Gertboard in action, Slashdot
Finnish ISP forced to block the Pirate Bay, Slashdot
ICE propaganda film pats itself on the back for censoring the web; promises much more to come, Techdirt
Finnish ISP ordered to block access to Finnish EFF site as part of Pirate Bay censorship campaign, Techdirt
Forget SOPA: Copyright owners must build a better BitTorrent, Ars Technica
Raspberry Pi bids for success with classroom coders, BBC News
Ubuntu to move to rapid release Firefox for 10.04 and 10.10, The H Open Source: News and Features
TPP’s other copyright term extension: protection of sound recordings would nearly double in duration, Michael Geist
Boston PD admits arrest for cell phone recording was a mistake, Ars Technica
Website censored by feds takes up Lamar Smith’s challenge: heres’ your ‘hypothetical’, Techdirt
AP finally launches NewsRight… and it’s Righthaven Lite?, Techdirt
Raspberry Pi: We’ve started manufacture!, Raspberry Pi via Slashdot
MPAA attacks Ars for “challenging efforts to curb content theft”, Ars Technica
Music industry sues Irish government for piracy, Slashdot
Is Microsoft blocking Linux booting on ARM hardware?, Open Enterprise
Pirate Bay to abandon .torrent files for magnet links, Ars Technica
Copyright Wars escalate: Britain to extradite student to US over link site, Ars Technica
Righthaven’s lawyers now targets of State Bar investigation, Ars Technica
Microsoft says no to disabling UEFI Secure Boot on ARM, ReadWriteWeb

Quick Security Alerts for the Week Ending 1/15/2012

Thomas Gideon — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 01:05:31 +0000

Virtual sweatshops defeat bot-or-not tests, Krebs on Security
Part virus, part botnet, spreading fast: Ramnit moves past Facebook passwords, Ars Technica
Android users hit by scareware scam, ZDNet
Exploit code released for ASP.NET flaw, threatpost
“Remove Facebook Timeline” themed scam circulating on Facebook, ZDNet
Smart meter SSL screw-up exposes punters’ TV habits, The Register
Zeus returns: FBI warns of ‘Gameover’ ID-theft malware, ZDNet
Did Symantec source code hack reveal Indian phone surveillance?, The H Security: News and Features
Researcher releases new version of P0f fingerprinting tool, threatpost
Microsoft fixes BEAST SSL bug in January patch Tuesday, threatpost
“Critical” Windows Media flaws put millions at risk, ZDNet
Adobe plugs critical Reader X security holes, ZDNet
Latest Snort provides alarm for industrial control systems, The H Security: News and Features
PHP 5.3.9 released with hash DoS fix, The H Security: News and Features
Comcast completes DNSSEC deployment, The Official Comcast Blog via Slashdot
Microsoft readying real time hosted threat intelligence feed, threatpost
Attackers reused Adobe Reader exploit code from 2009 in extremely targeted hacks, threatpost
Malicious software attacks security cards used by Pentagon, NYTimes.com
Hackers can spy on BlackBerry PlayBook connections, ZDNet
Oracle to patch 79 DB server vulnerabilities, ZDNet
American Express fixes critical security vulnerability, The H Security: News and Features
Facebook security phishing attack in the wild, threatpost
Smashing the Linux heap, threatpost
Passwords not going away any time soon, Slashdot
Phishers are posing as Facebook security on chat, InSecurity Complex at CNET News
Mozilla: We’re about to grab more data about you, but here’s how we’ll keep it safe, ReadWriteWeb

feeds | grep links > World’s Largest Quantum Computation, Reviving the Cray 1-A, Can Email Save the USPS, and More

Thomas Gideon — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:29:36 +0000

World’s largest quantum computation uses 84 qubits, Technology Review
Reviving the Cray-1A supercomputer, GeekDad at Wired.com
Can email save the U.S. Postal Service?, ReadWriteWeb
British schoolchildren to get programming lessons, Slashdot
The art of 3-D printing, Technology Review

feeds | grep links > Advantage of Throwing a Version Away, Software Crumple Zones, Another Record Label Suit, and More

Thomas Gideon — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:26:56 +0000

How “throwing one away” makes open source better
Glyn Moody on the Open Enterprise blog at ComputerWorld UK explains the revealing motivations behind the fork of CouchDB by its original creator. He puts into a very clear context of evolutionary software development occasionally needing a punctuated equilibrium, where some vestigial version if completely discarded in order to leap frog progress in the right direction. I am certain there are other examples from the FLOSS world where the opportunity for this sort of forking and subsequent community adoption is very possible.
Software crumple zones, O’Reilly Radar
Capitol Records sues ReDigi in federal court in Manhattan, Recording Industry vs The People
New pilot project allows collecting society SACEM members to use Creative Commons licenses, Creative Commons
They did it: Google personalizes search & it is not evil, ReadWriteWeb
“Firefox for Enterprises” begins with Firefox 10, Update at The H Open Source: News and Features

feeds | grep links > Smartphone That Knows You’re Angry, OLPC’s $100 Tablet, Dual Extruding and Bigger Model from Makerbot, and More

Thomas Gideon — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 01:24:12 +0000

A smart phone that knows you’re angry
As Duncan Graham-Rowe at Technology Review explains, what is novel in this prototype developed by Samsung is that it is essentially driven by software. Detecting the emotional state of the user doesn’t rely on any extra sensors rather using heuristics such as typing speed. The accuracy is fairly low but I think that’s the least concern. Despite an all software approach meaning this could be used in existing phones for more helpful interfaces, I suspect it could also make its way into advertising and other online spaces where it is more likely to end up a nuisance than of any help.
OLPC presents the XO-3 “$100 tablet”
The H Open Source was one of several outlets with details from the demonstration of OLPC’s new tablet. I cannot help but feel this will be an also ran rather than a first of class innovation like the original XO that could be argued as the catalyst for the netbook category. Given the consistent emphasis by OLPC on education markets, especially in the developing world, I think the ability to customize the tablets is not going to help adoptiong except of course amongst developed world geeks interested in hacking on the devices, much like its predecessors.
The MakerBot Replicator(TM)
Bruce Sterling in his Beyond The Beyond blog at Wired shares the announcement of Markebot’s latest 3D printer. The larger printing platform and dual print heads were shown off earlier in a demo unit but happy to see the features make their way into the product line. Bruce’s commentary is priceless and bang on, especially in terms of this being just another step, as exciting as it is on its own, in the evolution of consumer accessible additive manufacturing.
Firebug 1.9 illuminates Firefox from all sides, The H Open Source: News and Features
Ubuntu TV unveiled, PC Pro via Slashdot
Aussie Brains Move Chip Design to Quantum Realm, Wired Enterprise at Wired.com
Donald Knuth Turns 74 Tomorrow, ReadWriteWeb
Python for Android launched, The H Open Source: News and Features
CES 2012: Intel demos gesture, BBC News

Following Up for the Week Ending 1/8/2012

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 22:49:31 +0000

Website blocking law implemented by new Spanish government, TorrentFreak
UK album sales fell in 2011 but digital downloads rose, BBC News
Google leaves App Inventor in limbo, Slashdot
Alan Turing commemorative stamp, Boing Boing
Hollywood union members sign petition asking MPAA, Hollywood unions to stop supporting PIPA/SOPA, Techdirt
Another candidate campaigning against SOPA supporter: Jack Arnold, Techdirt
Mozilla rings in new year with 2.0 license overhaul, Linux and Open Source at ZDNet
Website links house of commons IP addresses to BitTorrent downloads, Michael Geist
Judge doesn’t care about Supreme Court GPS case, Slashdot
Sweet irony: Righthaven sued by company it used to sue others, Ars Technica
Judge sets date for Google v Oracle showdown, The Register
US Threatened To Blacklist Spain For Not Implementing Site Blocking Law, TorrentFreak
As SOPA looms, survey suggests most Americans are media pirates – and proud of it, threatpost
Find out where your legislators stand on SOPA, PIPA, ReadWriteWeb
The new politics of Silicon Valley: Revenge of the nerds, Politics and Law at CNET News h/t @marvin_ammori
Righthaven fails to show up in court as ordered… when confronted says it got confused over the date, Techdirt
SOPA-supporting news outlets aren’t covering SOPA [STUDY], ReadWriteWeb
Twitter ordered to turn over data on WikiLeaks backers, ReadWriteWeb
NinjaVideo “queen” gets 22 months in jail, owes $200,000 to Hollywood, Ars Technica
E-ballot device for presidential vote has bugs, report confirms, InSecurity Complex at CNET News
Lawmakers intent on approving SOPA, PIPA, Slashdot
Rep. Lamar Smith decides lying about, insulting and dismissing opposition to SOPA is a winning strategy, Techdirt
OLPC XO-3 To Debut At CES, Starting Under $100 (But Not For You), Slashdot

Quick Security Alerts for the Week Ending 1/8/2012

Thomas Gideon — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 22:48:52 +0000

New Year’s resolution: full disk encryption on every computer you own, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Pharma Wars: ‘Google,’ the Cutwail Botmaster, Krebs on Security
New clickjacking scam uses Facebook, Javascript, our primate brain to spread, threatpost
Apple iOS 5.0.1 hacked, untethered via two security holes, ZDNet
Time stamp bug exposes photos on locked iPhone, InSecurity Complex at CNET News
XSS bug found in WordPress 3.3, threatpost
WordPress 3.3.1 closes XSS hole, The H Security: News and Features
Lilupophilupop SQL injection attack tops 1 million infected URLs, threatpost
EFF raises concerns about the new AOL Instant Messenger, Electronic Frontier Foundation
New form of online banking fraud, ReadWriteWeb
Diebold Marries VMs with ATMs to Secure Banking Data, Slashdot
New version of OpenSSL fixes six flaws, threatpost
New Ramnit variant is stealing Facebook credentials, threatpost
Patch Tuesday heads-up: Windows security holes, ZDNet
Apple patent filing: Password recovery via power cables, ZDNet
Adobe heads-up: Critical Reader/Acrobat patches on deck, ZDNet
Symantec confirms ‘segment’ of source code was stolen, NYTimes.com

feeds | grep links > Transparency in the Food Industry, Citizen Journalists Experimenting with Cheap Drones, 3D Printing in Ice, and More

Thomas Gideon — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:23:56 +0000

Will the food industry ever swallow transparency’s bitter pill?, Techdirt
Livestreaming journalists want to occupy the skies with cheap drones, Threat Level at Wired.com
Building a 3-D printer for supercool ice objects, Magazine
Ohm’s law survives to the atomic level, Slashdot
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg takes coding course, BBC News
Are Brain Teasers Good Hiring Criteria?, Slashdot
Gigabit Wi-Fi chips emerge, will power super-fast home video streaming, Ars Technica