Source: http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N29/maseeh.html
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Sunday, July 31, 2011
Borges to manage Maseeh Hall
As of July 1, Rui Borges is officially the new house manager of Maseeh Hall, MIT?s newest undergraduate dorm. For the past 10 years, Borges has served as the house manager of Simmons Hall. In an email to Simmons residents, he said that he will miss everyone at Simmons and is looking forward to the new challenges he will face as manager of Maseeh Hall. Over the next few weeks, he will be working closely with Nika L. Hollingsworth, who was named as his successor as house manager of Simmons Hall. Hollingsworth has spent the past two and a half years as assistant manager of the Warehouse, one of MIT?s graduate dormitories. Rounding out the house team at Maseeh will be Suzanne Flynn and Jack Carroll, formerly of the Phoenix Group, who will now be the Housemasters of Maseeh Hall.
Scumbags get sneaky with new self-robbery trojan
Can't be bothered to steal your cash themselves
Malware-peddling scumbags have developed a particularly sneaky banking Trojan that attempts to trick victims into transferring funds into bank accounts controlled by cybercrooks or their partners.?
Source: http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2011/07/29/tricky_banking_trojan/
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Verizon Wireless Approves $10 Billion Payment to Co-Owners
Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. wireless carrier, approved a $10 billion distribution to owners Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group Plc, the first payout of that kind in more than five years.
Survey alleges IE users have lower IQs
Is there a correlation between choice of web browsers and intelligence? Yes, says AptiQuant, a self-described "Psychometric Consulting company" based here in Vancouver. The firm collected online IQ test results from 100,000 users across the States, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand, and it correlated the test results with web...
Source: http://techreport.com/discussions.x/21377
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News App Tackable Encourages Citizen Journalism
While studying journalism at the University of Massachusetts, my favorite course was Citizen Journalism and the Web. In the course, taught by Professor Jill Lang, we studied the emerging trend of citizens reporting on issues at the micro-level. Professor Lang predicted citizen reporting would become a functional segment of the journalism field, and in 2011...
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Hackers Could Open Convicts' Cells In Prisons
Hugh Pickens writes "Some of the same vulnerabilities that the Stuxnet superworm used to sabotage centrifuges at a nuclear plant in Iran exist in the country's top high-security prisons where programmable logic controllers (PLCs) control locks on cells and other facility doors. Researchers have already written three exploits for PLC vulnerabilities they found. 'Most people don't know how a prison or jail is designed; that's why no one has ever paid attention to it,' says John Strauchs, who plans to discuss the issue and demonstrate an exploit against the systems at the DefCon hacker conference next week. 'How many people know they're built with the same kind of PLC used in centrifuges?' A hacker would need to get his malware onto the control computer either by getting a corrupt insider to install it via an infected USB stick or send it via a phishing attack aimed at a prison staffer, since some control systems are also connected to the internet, Strauchs claims. 'Bear in mind, a prison security electronic system has many parts beyond door control such as intercoms, lighting control, video surveillance, water and shower control, and so forth,' adds Strauchs. 'Once we take control of the PLC we can do anything (PDF). Not just open and close doors. We can absolutely destroy the system. We could blow out all the electronics.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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FBI, police go high-tech to fight crime
In an age when the biggest cases can often hinge on the smallest pieces of evidence, some bits no bigger than a fingernail-sized microchip, the FBI's Regional Computer Forensics Laboratories are fast becoming crucial law enforcement tools.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43955940/ns/technology_and_science-security/
3 Terrific Tools for Social & Mobile Viewing Audiences
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your st…
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/%7Er/Mashable/%7E3/1p_LCR3hLEQ/
Saturday, July 30, 2011
LightSquared and Sprint, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G
Record pre-pay card with $4.5bn on it issued
Sprint has agreed to run LightSquared's US Long Term Evolution (LTE) fourth-gen mobile network operation, in exchange for $9bn cash and roaming rights, while LightSquared customers will be able to use Sprint's 3G network in a deal benefiting everyone except Clearwire.?
Free Whitepaper: Implementing Energy Efficient Data Centers
Source: http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2011/07/29/lightsquared_sprint/
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Cambridge Audio Azur 751BD 3D Blu-ray player
Anglophile audiophile attraction
Review There?s a renaissance in audiophile grade Blu-ray players happening at the moment. Arcam?s exotic BDP100 got the ball rolling, and now the Oppo BDP-95EU, Marantz UD7006 and this here Cambridge Audio Azur 751BD are hot on its heels. ??I must confess to being excited. While I like cheap-as-chips electronics as much as the next guy, nothing stokes my system-lust quite as much as a black tie disc spinner.?
Why People Pay More For Access To Infringing Content
It's kind of funny to see the entertainment industry make totally contradictory statements about cyberlockers and usenet access providers in talking about infringement. On the one hand, they complain about how it's "impossible to compete with free" because "pirates just want everything for free." But, at the same time, they whine about how cyberlockers and usenet services often charge people for access, thus making them commercial enterprises who (according to the industry) "profit from piracy." But those two things seem somewhat contradictory. If people who engage in unauthorized file sharing only want stuff for free, then why do they pay these providers to get access? And if it's impossible to compete with free, then why does it look like these services have successfully done so? Correspondingly, why doesn't the industry open up its own competitors?
All of this comes to mind as Glyn Moody points us to an "open letter" that Mark Goodge wrote to UK Culture Minister Ed Vaizey, in response to Vaizey's statement that the blocking of access to Newzbin2 wasn't a big deal, because users should simply go to services that offer "legal access to movie downloads at reasonable prices."
However, as Goodge points out, he knows people who pay more for access to Usenet than it would cost to pay for a competing legitimate offering. And the reason is because their infringing activity has nothing to do with just "wanting everything for free," but wanting more convenience, more selection and fewer restrictions:
Tragically, the entertainment industry instead looks to politicians and the courts to block consumers from doing what they want, and then pretend it's for consumers' own good.
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All of this comes to mind as Glyn Moody points us to an "open letter" that Mark Goodge wrote to UK Culture Minister Ed Vaizey, in response to Vaizey's statement that the blocking of access to Newzbin2 wasn't a big deal, because users should simply go to services that offer "legal access to movie downloads at reasonable prices."
However, as Goodge points out, he knows people who pay more for access to Usenet than it would cost to pay for a competing legitimate offering. And the reason is because their infringing activity has nothing to do with just "wanting everything for free," but wanting more convenience, more selection and fewer restrictions:
The reason people will pay for Usenet+Newzbin is that they want to be able to obtain movies in a format that suits them, not a format which suits the provider. They want to be able to download them and watch them whenever they want, not have to be online in order to stream them (assuming, of course, they’ve got enough bandwidth to stream movies anyway). They want a download service that gives them the same ownership and flexibility as buying DVDs. And they want to be able to obtain the movies they want to see without artificial geographic restrictions.In other words, they're happy to pay... if only the industry would offer it to them in the manner that customers want. This isn't a surprise. For years, studies have pointed out that those who infringe really tend to be unserved consumers, who aren't getting the offerings in the form that they most want it. Smart companies realize that this is a form of (free) market research, and look for ways to better satisfy their customer base.
So, apart from the fact that it simply isn’t true that services such as Lovefilm are a suitable solution, it’s pretty clear that there’s a whole untapped market here for legitimate online purchase of movies via download. People are willing to pay, and willing to pay a fair amount -- provided that what they get in return is what they want.
At the moment, the only people making any money out of this market are those involved in infringement. As long as the movie industry maintains its outdated business practices and carries on treating its (potential) customers as the enemy, that’s how it will stay. Blocking Newzbin may result in a short-term drop in the number of people getting movies via Usenet, but it won’t lead to an increase in people getting them via legitimate means until there are suitable alternatives which provide the same level of convenience and functionality.
Contrary to popular belief, most people who “pirate” movies are not doing it for financial reasons. They’re doing it simply because nobody is offering them a product that they want to buy.
Tragically, the entertainment industry instead looks to politicians and the courts to block consumers from doing what they want, and then pretend it's for consumers' own good.
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Homeland Security Finally Admits To Latest Domain Seizures; Arrests Guy For Selling Unauthorized 'Sons Of Anarchy' T-Shirts
A few weeks back, we wrote about a bunch of new domain seizures by Homeland Security's ICE division, and wondered why ICE hadn't said anything publicly about them. Well, it's finally put out an announcement about these domain seizures, including the fact that it had the operator of one site arrested for selling counterfeit Sons of Anarchy apparel. That guy, Ryan Breen, now faces 10 years in jail and fines up to $2 million. It seems there's a fair bit of irony in the fact that DHS/ICE is so thrilled about busting a guy selling apparel for a TV show that plays up an outlaw motorcycle gang known for its illegal weapons trafficking. Let's celebrate the gun runners... and punish the guy who made some t-shirts with 10 years in jail, huh? I have to admit that I'd much rather see Homeland Security and ICE actually focus on protecting the country, rather than some guy in upstate NY selling some t-shirts to fans of a TV show. And, of course, once again, it appears that most of the domains seized were taken without any notice, without any opportunity for the domain holders to respond. ICE has made it abundantly clear that they don't care about due process or the First Amendment in seizing domains, and frankly I find that a lot more troubling than some guy selling t-shirts online.
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Stealth Social Mobile Startup just.me Raises $600K From Google Ventures, SV Angel And Others
just.me, a stealth startup playing in the social and mobile spaces, has just raised $600,000 in seed funding from a list of all star investors including Google Ventures, True Ventures, SV Angel, Betaworks, Don Dodge, Patrick Gannon, Michael Parekh, Steve McArthur, and Four Horsemen LLC. just.me was founded by Keith Teare, a serial entrepreneur and a co-founder of TechCrunch. Teare previously co-founded RealNames Corporation, and The EasyNet Group. 
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/8DDjNPiU0_I/
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Angry Birds Rio catapults into webOS App Catalog
After having been available for iOS and Android for around a couple of weeks, Angry Birds Rio, the latest edition of the casual gaming megahit, has finally reached webOS as well.
Angry Birds Rio has two episodes that contain over 60 new levels at the moment, but episodic updates are promised to arrive throughout this year. Let's not forget that Angry Birds Rio brings the biggest change to the franchise yet -- you no longer aim for little green pigs. This time, in fact, your anger is directed at monkeys who are to blame for holding other fowl hostage in cages.
Buy Angry Birds Rio for webOS for $1.99 from the webOS App Catalog
Angry Birds Rio catapults into webOS App Catalog originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/08/angry-birds-rio-catapults-into-webos-app-catalog/
Pregnancy announcements added as a new option on Facebook
Have you finished telling all the important people in your life about the birth of your next child? Now you can tell all the unimportant friends on Facebook the same thing.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/%7Er/digitaltrends/%7E3/sca-nAu56As/
Old Photos of Superheroes
Creative photo manipulations by Agan Harahap depict superheroes and villains during World War II.
The artist inserted popular fictional characters into old photographs.
Spider-Man in 1944
Superman in 1945
Batman in 1944
Joker in 1941
Darth Vader in 1943
Flash in 1945
Darth Vader in 1945
Captain America in 1941
For more cool photos, check out: Looking Into the Past
The artist inserted popular fictional characters into old photographs.
Spider-Man in 1944
Superman in 1945
Batman in 1944
Joker in 1941
Darth Vader in 1943
Flash in 1945
Darth Vader in 1945
Captain America in 1941
For more cool photos, check out: Looking Into the Past
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/toxel/~3/FP6SvANxFpY/
Friday, July 29, 2011
Reports Claim That Pakistan Is Trying To Ban Encryption Under Telco Law
As various governments have tried to clamp down, censor and/or filter the internet, all it's really done is increase interest and usage of encryption tools such as VPNs. Every so often we have commenters who insist that outlawing encryption is the obvious next step for governments, though that suggests an ignorance of the practical impossibility of truly banning encryption -- which, after all, is really just a form of speech. The US, of course, famously toyed with trying to block the export of PGP in the 90s, but finally realized that it would likely lose big time in a court battle. While I could certainly see some politicians here trying to ban certain forms of encryption, I couldn't see any such effort being successful long term.
In other countries, however, they seem ready to make a go of it. Privacy International is reporting that Pakistan is trying to ban the use of encryption, including for VPNs, as part of the implementation of a new telco law (pdf) which requires telcos to spy on their customers. Obviously, encryption makes that tougher, so the response is just to ban it entirely.
But here's the big question: can any such ban really be effective? I mean, if you and I agree on using a simple cipher between us, that's "encryption," but is indistinguishable from "speech" in most contexts. That means any such ban on encryption is effectively and practically useless the moment it goes into effect. There will always be incredibly simple ways around it. Trying to ban encryption is like trying to ban language. You can't reasonably do it.
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In other countries, however, they seem ready to make a go of it. Privacy International is reporting that Pakistan is trying to ban the use of encryption, including for VPNs, as part of the implementation of a new telco law (pdf) which requires telcos to spy on their customers. Obviously, encryption makes that tougher, so the response is just to ban it entirely.
But here's the big question: can any such ban really be effective? I mean, if you and I agree on using a simple cipher between us, that's "encryption," but is indistinguishable from "speech" in most contexts. That means any such ban on encryption is effectively and practically useless the moment it goes into effect. There will always be incredibly simple ways around it. Trying to ban encryption is like trying to ban language. You can't reasonably do it.
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You can now rent Adobe Photoshop for $35 per month, CS 5.5 available soon
Adobe Photoshop can be yours for $35 per month if you agree to rent it for 12 months, or $49 per month if you require its services for a shorter period. Dreamweaver can be had for even cheaper, at just $19 per month. The entire Master Collection is still rather expensive, though, at $125 per month.
Today, Adobe also ushered in the release of Creative Suite 5.5, and simultaneously upped its release cycle from 18 months to 24 months. This means, if you rent Photoshop for two years, it's actually the same cost as buying it outright. There's no rent-to-own option, though -- so you wouldn't have access to the cheaper upgrade price once Creative Suite 6 rolls around next year. Still, if you need access to Photoshop, After Effects or Premiere for a one-time project, the new rental scheme could be exactly what you're looking for.
In other news, Adobe has announced that it will be launching three rather exciting iPad apps that work in conjunction with Photoshop: Eazel, Nav, and Color Lava. Eazel lets you five-finger paint on your iPad, and export the result into Photoshop; Nav acts as some kind of workspace, brush and menu extension, and the hopefully named Color Lava is a paint mixing palette. The apps are expected to appear in the App Store in the next 30 days.
You can now rent Adobe Photoshop for $35 per month, CS 5.5 available soon originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/11/you-can-now-rent-adobe-photoshop-for-29-per-month/
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Couchbase goes 2.0, pushes SQL for NoSQL
Couchbase has big plans to take NoSQL mainstream. It unveiled two today: Couchbase 2.0, which combines the Membase Server key-value store with the CouchDB document database in a single product, and UnQL, an open query language designed to bring uniformity to the diverse NoSQL landscape.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OmMalik/~3/CjLa-Gf4UCU/
Redbox hits 1.5 billion DVD, Blu-ray rentals
The company says that it's also bringing video game rentals to 5,000 more kiosks around the U.S.
Gay marriage should not be made legal
OPINION EDITOR
It is unfortunate that there is such a growing stigma attached to arguing against gay marriage ? at least here in the liberal bastion that is Massachusetts. If one is opposed to legalizing gay marriage, it is automatically assumed that the opposition rests on a basis of hate, homophobia, or other such negative motivations. There are, in fact, legitimate, substantive reasons as to why gay marriage should not be legalized.Source: http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N29/normandin_cp.html
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Yahoo, Alibaba, Softbank come to agreement (AP)
AP - Yahoo, Japan's Softbank and the Chinese Internet company Alibaba Group have agreed on a compensation plan involving the Web payment service Alipay.
Can news publishers learn anything from Netflix?
Netflix is using price hikes to manage the transition of users away from the physical product and towards digital streaming. While there are some similarities between that and the newspaper business, publishers shouldn't get their hopes up too much about copying the Netflix model.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OmMalik/~3/2MzlbQpTMXc/
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Facilities may move
EDITOR IN CHIEF
The people who keep MIT running day-in, day-out are looking for a new home. The Operations group of MIT?s Department of Facilities is mulling use of the former California Products Corporation?s property at the corner of Waverly St. and Putnam Ave., just northwest of West Campus. At a June 22 meeting, MIT officials pitched the idea to residents of Cambridgeport ? the neighborhood where this property currently lies dormant.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Windows Phone Mango RTM
Fox delays streaming TV shows on the Web, Mad Men hits Netflix streaming, and Microsoft releases the first major update to Windows Phone codenamed Mango.
Source: http://news.cnet.com/1606-2_3-50108625.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
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TaskRabbit iPhone app lets you crowdsource your tasks
TaskRabbit is a unique service that lets busy people offload their tasks to those willing to do them. It costs a small fee, but you can have your groceries delivered, laundry done and dogs walked before you return home from a busy day at work.
When it launched, the service was web-based only, but TaskRabbit recently developed an iPhone app that lets you manage your tasks on the run. You can create a new task, monitor the progress of a task and even price a task using information based from the TaskRabbit service. It lets you add descriptions using a voice recording or images so the person completing your task knows exactly what to do.
It's an interesting use of modern technology that melds your mundane routine with the power of the crowd. And it's now on the iPhone.
[Via TechCrunch]
TaskRabbit iPhone app lets you crowdsource your tasks originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2011/07/28/taskrabbit-iphone-app-lets-you-crowdsource-your-tasks/
App waits on hold so you don't have to
Calling a company's customer service number and finding yourself stuck on hold for a while can be absolutely frustrating. How are you supposed to go about your day when you have to clutch a phone to your ear and hope you'll hear a human voice on the other end of the line soon?
Source: http://gadgetbox.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/07/28/7188597-app-waits-on-hold-so-you-dont-have-to
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Google TV price slashed to $99 as Logitech stumbles
More bad news for Google TV: Device maker Logitech got more units sent back from consumers during the most recent quarter than it actually sold. It now wants to get rid of its massive inventory with a big price cut to $99, down from $249 originally.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OmMalik/~3/PzoauQjIRuw/
Banshee music player now works in Windows, supports Amazon MP3 downloads
The most notable new feature is support for the Amazon MP3 store -- you can buy and download music from within Banshee -- but unfortunately it's only available in the Linux build at the moment (OS X and Windows support are planned, however). There have also been some significant improvements to artist, album, and queue interactions -- and yes, you can finally right click a track, album or artist and select 'play after' to insert it into the queue.
Beyond actual playback, the user interface has been tidied up -- it now looks a whole lot smarter -- and the Ubuntu One Music Store and SoundMenu extensions have been made official. For a complete list of changes, additions and bug fixes, check the change log.
When Windows support initially appeared in February, we found it rough around the edges and fraught with stability issues. With version 2, Banshee for Windows is still a bit unstable, but it's shaping up to be a good alternative to Winamp, iTunes, or whatever other music library manager you use. It's almost as attractive as its GNOMEish brother, too!
Download Banshee 2 for Linux and Windows (Mac OS X coming soon)
Banshee music player now works in Windows, supports Amazon MP3 downloads originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 11:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Institute Double Take
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Orange skies in the early morning are a spectacular view. In the month of June, the sun rises over the dome, while in the winter, it rises between the Hancock Tower and Prudential Center �? quite a dramatic shift. The key challenge while taking this picture was the dynamic range ? the sun is much brighter than its surroundings, and even more so when it rises higher. With a few iterations in the manual mode (and the knowledge of post-processing freedom), one can take a picture that is uniformly illuminated.
Stack Overflow DevDays is Back!
Stack Overflow DevDays, the universe's best conference series for coders, is back, and it's bigger than ever!
Here's the idea behind DevDays. You're a developer. You'd love to learn all the latest hot new technologies. Things like DVCS, HTML 5, Node.js, CSS3, Hadoop, etc. The stuff the cool kids are all talking about on the playground while you're stuck in the basement somewhere grinding away on Java Enterprise Visual Basic.
The idea behind DevDays is a fast, high-bandwidth, fire hose tutorial on at least ten interesting concepts. We'll assume that you're a developer, you know what a loop is, but each tutorial starts at the ground level and gives you a whirlwind tour through a technology by showing you actual code. Every presenter launches an editor and writes code from scratch and shows you what it does. There are almost no prepared PowerPoint slides with ten bullet items each containing 10 words explaining the ROI benefits of some new technology. There are not even any PowerPoint slides with cats and pandas doing hilarious things, such as this one:
Yes, DevDays contains precisely NO funny pictures of cats. We might have Jon Skeet with a sock puppet, though:
(That was Jon Skeet and Tony the Pony from London DevDays 2009.)
What we have instead is some great presenters from the community who will write code and compile code and explain it all while you watch, and you'll come away knowing enough about each new technology to know what it's good for, what it's not so good at, how to do the basics, and how to learn more. Bottom line: it's the best possible way to spend two days and learn as much as you would learn in two years of reading Twitter.
We have FOUR, yes FOUR different DevDays conferences coming up this fall. Each one is its own production, and they're all going to be spectacular. If you came to DevDays last time, prepare to get blown away. This time everything is DOUBLE. Two days instead of one. Better food and coffee. Better locations. Bigger screens to make it easier to follow along. 
Lots of social activities. And, for the first time ever, we'll be visiting one city in Australia (shown at right), for an antipodean increase of infinity percent.
Anyway, registration is now open. The schedule is:
- October 12-13 San Francisco
- October 25-26 Sydney
- November 14-15 London
- December 15-16 Washington, DC
There are two! special! bonuses! you should know about before you choose a city:
- In San Francisco, the day after the conference (October 14), Server Fault is holding a one-day High Scalability conference. You may want to go to both for a full three days of amazing amazingness... if you think your heart can handle the excitement.
- In Washington, the day before the conference (December 14), we're have a big open source hackathon. The entire Stack Exchange dev team will be on hand and it'll be a lot of fun.
So, go, sign up now. You can save $100 using discount code JOELONSOFTWARE.
Need to hire a really great programmer? Want a job that doesn't drive you crazy? Visit the Joel on Software Job Board: Great software jobs, great people.
Source: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2011/06/27.html
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