New Online Tracking That's Virtually Impossible to Block; China Plans 'Higgs Factory,' World's Biggest Particle Collider

Don't Kill Net Neutrality on Our Behalf, Say Deaf Advocacy Groups | Google Offers $1M Prize for a Better Power Inverter To view a web version of this message, click here Send this message to a friend New Online Tracking That's Virtually Impossible to Block China Plans 'Higgs Factory,' World's Biggest Particle Collider Don't Kill Net Neutrality on Our Behalf, Say Deaf Advocacy Groups Google Offers $1M Prize for a Better Power Inverter Netflix Reduces DVD Processing Without Lower Prices Hot Comment: "Put your tin foil away. People at institutions like Carnegie..." From the Vault: Stephen Hawking Warns: Abandon Earth Or Die Watch It: Meet the LibreOffice Community Outreach Herald Poll Booth: What percentage of your media consumption is streamed? Sponsored Resource: Conquer the Top 5 Data Protection Challenges New Online Tracking That's Virtually Impossible to Block A new research paper discusses a form of online user fingerprinting and tracking for the web using the HTML 5 <canvas>. Fingerprints are difficult to block because they can't be prevented by using standard web browser privacy settings or using anti-tracking tools. The researchers found canvas fingerprinting computer code on 5 percent of the top 100,000 websites. Sound Off>> China Plans 'Higgs Factory,' World's Biggest Particle Collider Working with international collaborators, scientists at the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) in Beijing are planning to build a "Higgs factory" by 2028 -- a 52-kilometer underground ring that would smash together electrons and positrons, according to Nature. It would dwarf CERN's 27-kilometer Large Hadron Collider. Sound Off>> Don't Kill Net Neutrality on Our Behalf, Say Deaf Advocacy Groups Verizon lobbied fiercely against network neutrality and even invoked services for the deaf, blind, and disabled to argue their case. But now advocacy groups for deaf people have filed comments with the FCC saying they don't agree with Verizon's position, according to an Ars Technica report. Sound Off>> Google Offers $1M Prize for a Better Power Inverter With the Little Box Challenge, Google (and IEEE, and a few other sponsors) is offering a $1 million prize to the team that can "design and build a kW-scale power inverter with the highest power density (at least 50 Watts per cubic inch)." Going from cooler-sized to tablet sized, they say, would make whole lot of things better, and the prize is reserved for the best performing entrant. Sound Off>> Netflix Reduces DVD Processing Without Lower Prices Nom du Keyboard, who reports getting confirmation that Netflix has ceased processing DVD returns on Saturdays nationwide after noticing a drop in DVD service, wrote, "Now with them only working 5 days and many U.S. Post Office holidays, they're still getting the same money for significantly less." Sound Off>>  Re:What? "Put your tin foil away. People at institutions like Carnegie Mellon's Software Engineering Institute typically work on grants and funding that come with conditions, such as the funder owns the material or can dictate its dissemination. It sounds like the researchers discovered something they thought interesting, looked around and decided BlackHat would be a good place to present, then the lawyers pointed out that they hadn't yet received the required permissions per the funding agreement/grant so they have backed off for now. An NSL is a directive to disclose info that may include the requirement not to reveal the disclosure occurred. An NSL is not a way to simply order someone to be quiet." --by dunkindave Read More>>   Stephen Hawking Warns: Abandon Earth Or Die Four years ago, famed theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking told Big Think, "It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster on planet Earth in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand, or million. The human race shouldn't have all its eggs in one basket, or on one planet. Let's hope we can avoid dropping the basket until we have spread the load." Read More>> Meet the LibreOffice Community Outreach Herald Timothy Lord caught up with LibreOffice Community Outreach Herald Robinson Tryon at Texas Linux Fest to discuss what's going on these days with LibreOffice and its parent organization, The Document Foundation. Watch the video>>   What percentage of your media consumption is streamed? 0% - 20% 20% - 40% 40% - 60% 60% - 80% 80% - 100% Way more than my DVD collection would suggest Cast Your Vote>>   Conquer the Top 5 Data Protection Challenges Today's datacenters face a gauntlet of challenges including protection of physical and virtual environments, fast recovery of data, reducing backup times and storage requirements, server consolidation, and disaster recovery. Find out how to conquer these types of challenges in this white paper. Learn More>>  Follow Slashdot on Twitter and Facebook. To unsubscribe, click here or send an email to: unsubscribe-213087@elabs10.com To ensure delivery of this newsletter to your inbox and to enable images, please add slashdot@newsletters.slashdot.org to your e-mail address book or safe senders list. Slashdot | 594 Howard Street, Suite 300 | San Francisco, CA 94105 To view our Privacy Policy click here.

 

Microsoft Says Reusing Weak Passwords Is a Good Idea; Congress Passes Permanent Ban on Internet Access Taxes

Pseudonyms Now Allowed on Google+ | Blogger Fined for Negative Restaurant Review To view a web version of this message, click here Send this message to a friend Microsoft Says Reusing Weak Passwords Is a Good Idea Pseudonyms Now Allowed on Google+ Congress Passes Permanent Ban on Internet Access Taxes Blogger Fined for Negative Restaurant Review Comcast Customer Service Cancellation Call from Hell Hot Comment: "The industry does not want independent software developers. The industry wants.." From the Vault: Google Engineer Blasts Complexity of Java, C++ Watch It: Why Google's New Cardboard Is Significant Poll Booth: The debate over climate change is... Sponsored Resource: Security in a Faster Forward World Microsoft Says Reusing Weak Passwords Is a Good Idea Microsoft researchers have determined that reuse of the same password for low security services is safer than generating a unique password for each service. Not only do they recommend reusing passwords, but reusing bad passwords for low risks sites to minimize recall difficulty. Sound Off>> Pseudonyms Now Allowed on Google+ When Google+ launched, it received criticism for requiring that users register with their real names. Now, Google has finally relented and removed all restrictions on what usernames people are allowed to use. The company said, "We know that our names policy has been unclear, and this has led to some unnecessarily difficult experiences for some of our users." Sound Off>> Congress Passes Permanent Ban on Internet Access Taxes In 1998, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a law that temporarily banned all taxes imposed by federal, state, and local governments on Internet access and Internet-only services, a ban that has been faithfully renewed every year since. Now the U.S. House has passed a permanent version of the ban. Sound Off>> Blogger Fined for Negative Restaurant Review In another case in which a business who received a negative review online decided to retaliate with legal complaints, a French food blogger has been fined $2,040 in addition to $1,360 for court costs. The blogger said, "Recently several writers in France were sentenced in similar proceedings for defamation, invasion of privacy, and so on. ... I don't see the point of criticism if it's only positive." Sound Off>> Comcast Customer Service Cancellation Call from Hell The Verge and other sources report on how AOL's Ryan Block ultimately succeeded in cancelling his Comcast account over the phone, but not before the customer service representative pressed him for eight solid minutes to explain his reasoning for leaving "the number one provider of TV and Internet service in the country." Comcast has since issued an apology. Sound Off>> Re: Slew of missing business applications "The industry does not want independent software developers. The industry wants teams of full-time employees. Software suffers from the smartest cow problem (it only takes one cow to figure out how to open the gate in order for all the other cows to pass through). For example, once one company creates a really good word processor, we don't need ten more to compete with them. The result is..." --by Anonymous Coward Read More>>   Google Engineer Blasts Complexity of Java, C++ Four years ago, Google distinguished engineer Rob Pike ripped the use of Java and C++ during his keynote at OSCON, saying that these "industrial programming languages" are way too complex and not adequately suited for today's computing environments. Read More>> Why Google's New Cardboard Is Significant Google has introduced Cardboard, its cheap-and-cheerful (it's made of cardboard, after all) approach to nearly instant VR viewing. As noted by commenters, there are older, slicker, and cheaper options. The Google person behind Cardboard VP Clay Bavor, whose day job is overseeing Google apps, says you are welcome to make your own Cardboard from scratch instead of buying one (or a kit) from someone else, and of course you can write all the software for it you like. Timothy Lord caught up with Clay at the recent Google I/O. Watch the Video>>   The debate over climate change is... Entirely scientific Mostly scientific and partly political Evenly scientific and political Mostly political and partly scientific Entirely political Mostly idiots yelling Debate? I hadn't noticed... Cast Your Vote>>   Security in a Faster Forward World The online security threat landscape has dramatically evolved -- starting at the network layer and moving to applications. As organizations increasingly move their operations online, they need a Web site protection service that can safeguard their Web sites and applications, business or customer data, and brand image. Find out how you can protect your organizations' Web presence. Learn More>> Follow Slashdot on Twitter and Facebook. To unsubscribe, click here or send an email to: unsubscribe-213087@elabs10.com To ensure delivery of this newsletter to your inbox and to enable images, please add slashdot@newsletters.slashdot.org to your e-mail address book or safe senders list. Slashdot | 594 Howard Street, Suite 300 | San Francisco, CA 94105 To view our Privacy Policy click here.

 

World's Best Living Programmers; Phone Wiping Fails to Completely Delete Your Personal Data

Python Surpasses Java as Top Learning Language | TSA Prohibits Taking Dead Devices onto Planes To view a web version of this message, click here Send this message to a friend World's Best Living Programmers Phone Wiping Fails to Completely Delete Your Personal Data 'Normal Humans' Excluded from Software Development Python Surpasses Java as Top Learning Language TSA Prohibits Taking Dead Devices onto Planes Hot Comment: "Microsoft has been writing poor quality software for my entire life. The best..." From the Vault: Any 'Pretty' Code Out There? Watch It: Will Google's Dart Kill Javascript? Poll Booth: My most recent energy-saving bulbs last ... Sponsored Resource: Top 8 Considerations to Enable and Simplify Mobility World's Best Living Programmers itwbennett writes, "How do you measure success? If it's by Stack Overflow reputation, Google engineer Jon Skeet is the world's best programmer. If it's winning programming competitions, Gennady Korotkevich or Petr Mitrechev might be your pick. But what about Linus Torvalds? Or Richard Stallman? ITworld's Phil Johnson has rounded up a list of what just might be the world's top 14 programmers alive today." Sound Off>> Phone Wiping Fails to Completely Delete Your Personal Data Antivirus company Avast bought 20 used Android phones off eBay, and used some basic data recovery software to reconstruct deleted files. From just those 20 phones, researchers pulled over 40,000 photographs, including family pictures of children and ... personal pictures. They also recovered hundreds of emails and text messages, over a thousand Google searches, a completed loan application, and other personal information. Sound Off>> 'Normal Humans' Excluded from Software Development Jonathan Edwards posted an interesting rant about how the culture of programming unfairly excludes some groups. He writes that "The way things are today if you want to be a programmer you had best be someone like me on the autism spectrum who has spent their entire life mastering vast realms of arcane knowledge -- and enjoys it. Normal humans are effectively excluded from developing software." Sound Off>> Python Surpasses Java as Top Learning Language The most popular language used to introduce U.S. students to programming and computer science is now Python, which narrowly edged out Java from the top spot, according to a recent survey posted by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Java has been the dominant introductory teaching language over the past decade. Sound Off>> TSA Prohibits Taking Dead Devices onto Planes The U.S. Transport Security Administration has said that new security procedures on flights coming to the U.S. now include not allowing uncharged cell phones and other devices onto planes, adding that during  security examinations, officers may ask owners to power up their devices. "Powerless devices will not be permitted on board the aircraft. The traveler may also undergo additional screening," the TSA said. Sound Off>> Bad programming "Microsoft has been writing poor quality software for my entire life. The best programmers do not go to work for Microsoft. Maybe that was the case in the early 90's but it hasn't been true for decades. To make matters worse, Microsoft does a lot of its programming in..." --by jgotts Read More>>   Any 'Pretty' Code Out There? Seven years ago, andhow wrote,"Getting to know a piece of software well enough to ascertain its quality takes a long time, so I submit to the experience of the readership: what projects have you worked on which you felt had admirable code, both high-level architecture and in-the-trenches implementation?" Read More>>  Will Google's Dart Kill Javascript? Google Web engineer and Chrome Developer Advocate Seth Ladd talks to Timothy Lord about open source Web programming language Dart. The goal of Dart is  to "ultimately to replace JavaScript as the lingua franca of web development on the open web platform," according to Wikipedia. A bold aim, indeed, and not one that everyone agrees with. See what Seth has to say. Watch the Video>>   My most recent energy-saving bulbs last ... 2 months or less 2-4 months 5-8 months 9-14 months 15-23 months 2-3 years More than 3 years Never had one fail Cast Your Vote>>    Top 8 Considerations to Enable and Simplify Mobility IT departments have a huge opportunity to make their enterprises more agile, cost efficient and competitive by embracing the opportunities available through mobile devices and constant connectivity. Supporting a more mobile workforce and customer base is a necessity. Learn More>>   Follow Slashdot on Twitter and Facebook. To unsubscribe, click here or send an email to: unsubscribe-213087@elabs10.com To ensure delivery of this newsletter to your inbox and to enable images, please add slashdot@newsletters.slashdot.org to your e-mail address book or safe senders list. Slashdot | 594 Howard Street, Suite 300 | San Francisco, CA 94105 To view our Privacy Policy click here.

 

Google Censors BBC Article Under 'Right to Be Forgotten'; Microsoft Opens 'Transparency Center,' Expands Encryption

Massive Retro Arcade Collection Discovered After Building Purchase | Amazon Sues Ex-Worker Who Jumped to Google To view a web version of this message, click here Send this message to a friend Google Censors BBC Article Under 'Right to Be Forgotten' Amazon Sues Ex-Worker Who Jumped to Google Microsoft Opens 'Transparency Center,' Expands Encryption TWC Customers Beg Regulators to Block Sale to Comcast Massive Retro Arcade Collection Discovered After Building Purchase Hot Comment: "From the article, it seems like the only ISP that was named in the Snowden leaks..." From the Vault: Has Any Creative Work Failed Because of Piracy? Watch It: Lessig Answers Your Questions About His Super-PAC Killer Poll Booth: On 4th of July... Sponsored Resource: Defending Against AppDoS Attacks Google Censors BBC Article Under 'Right to Be Forgotten' In 2007, BBC economics editor Robert Peston penned an article on the massive losses at Merrill Lynch and the resulting resignation of their CEO Stan O'Neal. This week, the BBC was notified that the 2007 article will no longer appear in some Google searches made within the European Union, apparently as a result of someone exercising their new-found "right to be forgotten." Sound Off>> Amazon Sues Ex-Worker Who Jumped to Google Amazon is suing a former employee of its cloud services division after he took a similar position at Google. The interesting aspect of the lawsuit is that Google is choosing to vigorously defend the lawsuit, so this is a case of Goliath vs. Goliath rather than David vs. Goliath. Sound Off>> Microsoft Opens 'Transparency Center,' Expands Encryption Microsoft has opened a "Transparency Center" at its Redmond campus where governments that use Microsoft software can come to review the source code in order to make sure it's not compromised by outside agencies. The company also announced security improvements to several of its cloud products. Sound Off>> TWC Customers Beg Regulators to Block Sale to Comcast Ars Technica reports that New York is shaping up as a major battleground for Comcast's proposed $45.2 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable (TWC). Hundreds of the 2.2 million TWC customers in the state have called on the New York Public Service Commission to block the merger. Sound Off>> Massive Retro Arcade Collection Discovered After Building Purchase After a grandmother bought an old building in Chiba, which is just outside of Tokyo, her family discovered that the first two floors used to be a game center in the 1980s. Whoever ran the center left all the classic arcade cabinets behind when it closed, but it's the game boards that they contain that's the most exciting discovery. Sound Off>> How are they going to get proof? "From the article, it seems like the only ISP that was named in the Snowden leaks as being a target of NSA/GCHQ data collection was Belgacom, a Belgian ISP. I'm not sure how the law works in the UK, but in the US, all of the suits against the NSA so far have failed because the NSA can refuse to provide evidence. The only ISP they have direct evidence for is Belgacom, which does not appear to be a plaintiff in this lawsuit. If GCHQ can withhold evidence, how do they plan to prove that they were targeted?" --by Joe Gillian Read More>>   Has Any Creative Work Failed Because of Piracy? Four years ago, Andorin asked the community, "Does anyone know of any creative works that were provably a financial failure due to piracy? The emphasis on 'provably' is important, as some form of evidence is necessary. Accurately and precisely quantifying damages from p2p is impossibly hard, of course, but answering questions like this may lead us to a clearer picture of just how harmful file sharing really is." Read More>> Lessig Answers Your Questions About His Super-PAC Killer Lawrence Lessig's Mayday PAC, the crowdfunded "Super PAC to end all Super PACs," aims to raise money to elect candidates who would pass campaign finance reform. Supporters of the ambitious effort include Internet and coding luminaries who span the political spectrum. You recently sent in your questions of Lessig about his goals and hopes for the super PAC. He answers them in this two-part video with Timothy Lord.  Watch the Video>>   On 4th of July: I watch amateur fireworks I watch professional fireworks I set off amateur fireworks I set off professional fireworks I set off *homemade* fireworks I mostly care about the food Why should I care about the 4th of July? Cast Your Vote>>   Defending Against AppDoS Attacks Application Denial of Service (AppDoS) attacks introduce another level of complexity to keeping critical web applications available and operational. Defending against AppDoS requires a multi-faceted approach and requires significant collaboration between development, operations, and security. Get tips and recommendations on how to defend against these attacks in this white paper. Learn More>>   Follow Slashdot on Twitter and Facebook. To unsubscribe, click here or send an email to: unsubscribe-213087@elabs10.com To ensure delivery of this newsletter to your inbox and to enable images, please add slashdot@newsletters.slashdot.org to your e-mail address book or safe senders list. Slashdot | 594 Howard Street, Suite 300 | San Francisco, CA 94105 To view our Privacy Policy click here.