DSL Router Patch Hides Backdoor Instead of Closing It; Google Says Better to Be a 'B' CS Grad Than an 'A+' English Grad

'The Door Problem' of Game Design | U.S. Population Acceptance of Science Is Erratic To view a web version of this message, click here Send this message to a friend DSL Router Patch Hides Backdoor Instead of Closing It Google Says Better to Be a 'B' CS Grad Than an 'A+' English Grad 'The Door Problem' of Game Design U.S. Population Acceptance of Science Is Erratic Netflix Plans Monthly Price Increase Hot Comment: "Outsourcing kills experience..." From the Vault: Old-School Coding Techniques You May Not Miss Watch It: Print Lives: New Linux Mag Launches Poll Booth: How much use would you get from a 1 gigabit Internet connection? Sponsored Resource: Lessons from Successful Mobile Initiatives DSL Router Patch Hides Backdoor Instead of Closing It A security researcher has identified an intentional backdoor in a module by Sercomm used by major router manufacturers. But rather than actually closing the backdoor, the patch just altered it so that the service was not enabled until you knocked the portal with a specially crafted Ethernet packet. Sound Off>> Google Says Better to Be a 'B' CS Grad Than an 'A+' English Grad Laszlo Bock, who is in charge of all hiring at Google, recently told the New York Times that he advised a student to stick with a more difficult course load "because it signals a rigor in your thinking" and that they are better off being a "B" student in CS than an "A+" student in English. Sound Off>> 'The Door Problem' of Game Design Game design is one of those jobs everybody thinks they can do. After all, they've played a few games, and they know what they liked and disliked, right? How hard could it be? Well, professional game designer Liz England has summed up the difficulty of the job and the breadth of knowledge needed to do it in what she calls "the door problem." Sound Off>> U.S. Population Acceptance of Science Is Erratic Most Americans agree that smoking causes cancer, but when it comes to the Big Bang, they put a big question mark on the concept, according to results of a recent Associated Press-GfK poll. To the public "most often values and beliefs trump science" when they conflict, said a prominent scientist.  Sound Off>> Netflix Plans Monthly Price Increase Investors welcomed Netflix's announcement of an increase of $1 or $2 a month. The company suffered from a consumer exodus and stock plunge after it announced an unpopular price increase in July 2011. The new price hike will allow Netflix to increase spending on original content, attracting more customers, analysts said. Sound Off>>  Outsourcing kills experience "It isn't education, it's the lack of experience. We've outsourced so many of the entry level jobs, where are the young people supposed to learn? That's the real cost of outsourcing...without an entry-level position and ability to learn how to troubleshoot, there's no place for kids to learn how to do their jobs. Most of the really good systems engineers I know started on the help desk, worked desk-side support and then did infrastructure support (servers/network/storage/security). They understand that their jobs still come down to delivery of solutions to the end-user. They understand that the end-user doesn't care what backend BS broke, it's just that they can't do their job. We're missing that at the mid-level...and most of the really great infrastructure people are in their 40's now." --by slayer991 Read More>>   Old-School Coding Techniques You May Not Miss Five years ago, Esther Schindler noted that despite its complexity, the software development process has gotten better over the years. Today's dev tools automatically perform complex functions that once had to be written explicitly. And most developers are glad of it. But she asked several longtime developers for their top old-school programming headaches to add to her list. Working with punch cards? Hungarian notation? Read More>> Print Lives: New Linux Mag Launches Despite the widely held belief that physical publications are a thing of the past, Linux fans now have a new magazine to thumb through. Graham Morrison, one of the creators of the recently launched Linux Voice says that when you have a tight, niche community (like Linux users and developers) you have an opportunity to make a successful magazine for that community. Watch the Video>>   How much use would you get from a 1 gigabit Internet connection? Lots -- I push a ton of bits almost constantly Some -- I saturate my connection on a regular basis Little -- It would come in handy once in a great while None -- My current connection handles my needs just fine None -- I don't *need* it, I just *want* it I just want to upgrade my telegraph Cast Your Vote>>   Lessons from Successful Mobile Initiatives Whether you have embraced it or not, mobile is already part of your business. To remain relevant, IT must reinvent itself and become more of a technology advisor and less of a technology traffic cop. Download this white paper and learn how progressive organizations everywhere use mobile technology to reduce support costs, improve service quality and eliminate expense leaks. Learn More>>   Follow Slashdot on Twitter and Facebook. 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