Latest Opera browser gets vocal. A new version of Opera's internet browser includes voice control and can read highlighted text. [BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]

 

1:08:34 PM    

 

South African newspaper reports that the US warns American Rastas about Ethiopian drug laws. How did I find out? RSS, of course. [Scripting News]

 

1:05:15 PM    

 

Car RFID Security System Cracked. jmichaelg writes "The NY Times reports that the security chip in new auto keys has been cracked. A team at Johns Hopkins have found a method to extract the 30 bit crypto key that tells your car that the physical key in the ignition switch is the correct key. Texas Instruments has sold some 150 million security chips that are stored in the car key. The devices are credited with reducing car thefts of some car models by 90%. Stealing a crypto key requires standing next to the victim and broadcasting a series of challenges to the key and capturing the responses. The team claims an iPod-sized device would suffice to steal the crypto key in under a second. They advise wrapping your keys in foil when you're not using them. TI admits the team has cracked their code but denies there's any problem." [Slashdot]

 

1:03:59 PM    

 

..errr, it is not always all that serious, now is it?  Monkeys Pay for Monkey Porn. An anonymous reader writes "Give a monkey some spending money, and he'll blow it on pictures of women monkeys. He'll also pay to see dominant monkeys. But you'll have to pay him to look at inferior monkeys. That's the upshot of a study out of Duke that was designed to explore the 'social machinery of the brain with an eye toward helping autism patients.' Next up -- seriously -- the researchers want to run the same test on Joe Sixpack (sans the monkey business)." [Slashdot]

 

1:02:54 PM    

The event of the Web is such a large step that we struggle to grasp it...as landscape architects we need to understand that ignorance of this media/social/business dynamic is ignorance of the future of our profession!!!   Sir Tim Berners-Lee Named Greatest Briton. mOoZik writes "BBC News is reporting that Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the World Wide Web, has been named the Greatest Briton of 2004. Berners-Lee had this to say about the honor: 'I am very proud to be British, it is great fun to be British and this award is just an amazing honour.'" [Slashdot]

 

1:00:37 PM    

 

Study: More identity theft off-line than online. Although federal regulators warn that the Internet is the thriving frontier for identity theft, almost three-quarters of the thefts of personal data from scams in 2004 occurred off-line, according to a study by Javelin Strategy & Research. [Computerworld News]

 

12:56:33 PM    

 

Report: Major Windows security update foiled. Security firm says it has found a way to beat memory protections in Windows XP Service Pack 2. Is Microsoft back to square one? [CNET News.com]

 

12:55:19 PM    

 

When I see an academic paper with its own domain and a note that the paper "does not provide information that might allow its work to be duplicated" (for the good of the public, naturally), I am immediately reminded of Michael Crichton's lecture about politics masquerading as science. [Hack the Planet]

 

12:54:30 PM    

 

Microsoft Claims Linux Security a Myth. black hole sun writes "Microsoft bigwig Nick McGrath claims that Linux security is highly exaggerated, and that the open source development model is 'fundamentally flawed.' The gist of his argument appears to be his claim of lack of accountability among distributors, coupled with generic statements short on facts. 'Who is accountable for the security of the Linux kernel? Does Red Hat, for example, take responsibility? It cannot, as it does not produce the Linux kernel. It produces one distribution of Linux.' He goes on to say that 'Linux is not ready for mission-critical computing. There are fundamental things missing,' pointing out the lack of a development environment and no single 'sign-on system' giving reference to Microsoft's foundering .Net passport program." I guess Linux can only aspire to the greatness of Windows when it has such secure applications as Outlook and Internet Explorer. Historically those have been proven to be of a caliber all their own. [Slashdot]

 

12:50:45 PM    

 

Sometimes it is hard to understand how the Internet and its World Wide Web can impact our business world...this is one of those stories...WIRED: Why Wilco Is the Future of Music. Lawrence Lessig. The band Wilco and its quiet, haunted leader, Jeff Tweedy, is something different. After its Warner label, Reprise, decided that the group's fourth album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, was no good, Wilco dumped them and released the tracks on the Internet. The label was wrong. The album was extraordinary, and a sold-out 30-city tour followed. This success convinced Nonesuch Records, another Warner label, to buy the rights back - reportedly at three times the original price. The Net thus helped make Wilco the success it has become. But once back in Warner's favor, many wondered: Would Wilco forget the Net? [Tomalak's Realm]

 

11:28:29 AM