funsec mailing list archives
Roundup
From: "Dude VanWinkle" <dudevanwinkle () gmail com>
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2006 17:03:56 -0600
Here are some interesting articles I ran across today, hopefully they are entertaining and fun. If not, rather than making you delete a whole bunch of emails, now its bundeled into one handy keystroke ------------------------------- http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060406-6536.html <EFF Rules, or at least tries to> EFF files suit against AT&T over NSA Spying The lawsuit alleges that AT&T Corp. has opened its key telecommunications facilities and databases to direct access by the NSA and/or other government agencies, thereby disclosing to the government the contents of its customers' communications as well as detailed communications records about millions of its customers, including the lawsuit's class members. The lawsuit also alleges that AT&T has given the government unfettered access to its over 300 terabyte "Daytona" database of caller information--one of the largest databases in the world. Moreover, by opening its network and databases to wholesale surveillance by the NSA, EFF alleges that AT&T has violated the privacy of its customers and the people they call and email, as well as broken longstanding communications privacy laws. Why AT&T? Because they are now the largest telecom firm in America. The EFF's complaint points out that the company handles more than 300 million voice calls each day, passes more than 4,600 TB of data along its backbone, and carries 18 billion minutes of of international calls each year. They are also the largest DSL provider in the US, meaning that without their cooperation, the NSA would have significantly less data to work with. A successful case against the company would probably convince other firms to stop aiding the NSA, if for no other reason than to avoid class-action lawsuits and massive fines. (more at http://news.com.com/2061-10796_3-6058346.html?part=rss&tag=6058346&subj= news) ------------------------- http://www.betanews.com/article/Apple_Software_Adds_Windows_to_Mac/11442 46634 <Too late for the $13,000 prize tho> In a stunning move, Apple on Wednesday officially sanctioned the running of the Windows XP operating system on Intel-based Macs through the release of a software package. Called Boot Camp, the 86MB beta product provides a dual-boot sequence and the drivers necessary to run Windows. "Apple has no desire or plan to sell or support Windows, but many customers have expressed their interest to run Windows on Apple's superior hardware now that we use Intel processors," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. ----------------------- http://www.lazydrinker.com/ <To Appease Gadi> Computerized Cocktails Anyone? There are few better examples of technology serving mankind than The Lazy Drinker. It looks like your average ice chest, but it's actually a computerized cocktail maker. The unit has a capacity for 16 ingredients and ice; you supply the CO2 and a PC or Mac (in beta). The accompanying software has a database of 5,000 drinks and extra large on-screen buttons, which will be a godsend after that third mojito. Sure, it costs $750, but we're betting by the end of summer this thing pays for itself. And if on your drunken rampage, you want to avoid these: http://images.dailytech.com/nimage/1045_large_taser.jpg Wear one of these: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=1660 Hmm, Might go well with the bionic trousers... ------------------------- http://techdirt.com/articles/20060405/0227225.shtml <RIAA, helping the children again>. RIAA Suggests MIT Student Drop Out Of School To Pay Fine from the educating-the-youth-of-America dept The RIAA has made quite the business out of shaking down folks they accuse of uploading music. This has been covered at length before, but they basically send a "settlement offer" with each lawsuit. The offer says (more or less) "pay $3500 and this goes away." They also make it clear that just taking the case to court will likely cost more than $3500 in legal fees, suggesting it's not even worth fighting it -- which in some parts of the world sounds very much like extortion. Plenty of people have done the math and suggested that this little business of suing their biggest fans has turned into a nice little profit center for the industry. Digg is pointing to the case of one woman, a student at MIT, who is trying to talk to the RIAA after being offered just such a settlement. When she points out that she's a poor college student, the RIAA rep kindly suggests that perhaps dropping out of school will make it easier to pay off the fine. Now, from the story, it's unclear whether or not the student is guilty of uploading files. If she did it, then it's certainly her responsibility to face whatever punishment comes her way. However, on the spectrum of punishment fitting the crime, does it seem reasonable to ask a student to give up her college education for the sake of paying off the recording industry for the "crime" of helping others find music they might like? ------------------------------------ http://www.physorg.com/news63539267.html DNS is, well.. DNS <annoying pop-up site warning> .mobi "Many Internet sites are grounded in desktop PC-oriented services and were not designed with a mobile phone in mind, which has led to less than ideal performance for consumers," MTLD Chief Executive Officer Neil Edwards said at the CTIA show in Las Vegas. "The dot-mobi sites are tailor-made for browsing and navigating on the mobile phone, making a far better experience." By creating a specific phone domain, Edwards said, his company has established a baseline of best practices and open-standard rules for a population of new Web sites. Edwards said the domain would tap into the growing number of consumers with mobile Internet access, which is expected to top 1.3 billion by 2008. -------------------- http://ioerror.livejournal.com/303774.html <Top CNN.com screen grab of the day> http://www.boingboing.net/2006/04/05/erm_watch_what_kind_.html ------------------- http://www.newscientisttech.com/article.ns?id=dn8961&feedId=online-news_ rss20 for the daily science quota Genetically modified viruses that assemble into electrodes could one day revolutionise battery manufacturing. Researchers in the US have created viruses that automatically coat themselves in metals and line up head to tail to form an efficient battery anode - the negatively charged component that channels electrons to generate current. These nanowires could be used to make revolutionary new forms of lithium-ion batteries, the researchers say. "Now it's simply a matter of designing the other components, and we'll be able to form batteries by simply pouring all the ingredients together and letting them self-assemble," says Angela Belcher, a biological engineer at MIT who led the research. "Plus we can make them at room temperature in very safe conditions, instead of the high temperatures and dangers usually associated with battery production." -JP _______________________________________________ Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts. https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.
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