Slashdot Mirror

circletimessquare writes "Interesting and timely. A short piece at CNN talks about the software helping to track down the sniper currently terrorizing the Washington DC area. It was the doctoral thesis of a cop, Kim Rossmo, who developed it while walking the beat in Vancouver and reading about the hunting patterns of African lions. Googling, I found an older but deeper piece which mentions more of the tech behind the software, called Rigel. That led me to the website of ECRI, the company that makes Rigel. More good tech there."

Do you want an i-Opener, and for how much? Are space-vehicle rescues "your thing"? Does your cute iMac suffer from a video-game-violence deficiency? Do your Web habits stray to courtroom and crime-scene voyeurism? Do you think that online privacy agreements must of needs outlive the dot-com-ephemera which offer them? If Yes to any or all, you've come to the right place.

Money changes everything. After numerous writeups about the hacking potential of their iOpener device, Netpliance changed their service model and even the design of the product itself. Sounds like that wasn't enough: Cy Guy writes: "Netpliance has announced that they are raising the price of the i-Opener from the introductory price of $99 to $399 (neither price reflects the $21.95/month cost of Netpliance's Internet service which must be used with the device.) In a c|net interview Netpliance president Kent Savage dismissed hacker modifications to the device as a factor in the price increase." As Ioldanach puts it, "Think its 'cause they finally realised it was cheaper to raise prices then 'hack-proof' their product?"

What I'd like to see is Netpliance package the LCD and CPU of the i-Opener and sell those packages to OEMs, so they could create custom housings, new uses, etc -- after all, lots of people would like a small LCD X-terminal.

MacGuyver, The A-Team, NASA ... Grave writes: "Looks like NASA got DS1 functioning again. A probe that was almost entirely made up of experimental technologies can be salvaged, yet two hopefully-soon-to-be-routine flights to Mars can't be. Ah, well, at least we know that Ion Engines are workable. Bring on the TIEs!"

TRUSTe dusts off the white hat for a bit? Last week, a story appeared which noted the alarming news that failed web-merchant Toysmart planned to sell its customer information in an effort to recover some money. According to this Standard story, "The nonprofit organization TRUSTe announced Friday it is planning to file a brief in bankruptcy court that will decide whether Toysmart.com can sell its customer lists." Jamie raises two points to consider:

1. Time will tell what effect (if any) TRUSTe's planned brief will have on the Toysmart bankruptcy proceedings.
2. The company that bought Boo.com insists they will continue to honor the old privacy policy for old customers.

Maybe we could combine this with 'Survivor'? jgalvin222 writes "APB Online, Inc. has filed for bankruptcy. This web site is known for offering in-depth breaking news, tons of information on ongoing investigations, and you can listen to live police scanners. This web site will surely be missed, and if you read the article, you can see that some of their techs have volunteered to post crime and safety articles over the next couple of weeks - without pay. If anything, you should peruse their video library, some of the clips are both amusing and interesting."

The Devil will find work for idle hands to do. Ryan writes: "Here is something to keep us Mac fans happy. Go2Mac reports that Diablo II has gone gold for Mac version, making this one of the quickest PC to Mac conversions ever." Here is the official announcement from Blizzard.

Do you want an i-Opener, and for how much? Are space-vehicle rescues "your thing"? Does your cute iMac suffer from a video-game-violence deficiency? Do your Web habits stray to courtroom and crime-scene voyeurism? Do you think that online privacy agreements must of needs outlive the dot-com-ephemera which offer them? If Yes to any or all, you've come to the right place.

Money changes everything. After numerous writeups about the hacking potential of their iOpener device, Netpliance changed their service model and even the design of the product itself. Sounds like that wasn't enough: Cy Guy writes: "Netpliance has announced that they are raising the price of the i-Opener from the introductory price of $99 to $399 (neither price reflects the $21.95/month cost of Netpliance's Internet service which must be used with the device.) In a c|net interview Netpliance president Kent Savage dismissed hacker modifications to the device as a factor in the price increase." As Ioldanach puts it, "Think its 'cause they finally realised it was cheaper to raise prices then 'hack-proof' their product?"

What I'd like to see is Netpliance package the LCD and CPU of the i-Opener and sell those packages to OEMs, so they could create custom housings, new uses, etc -- after all, lots of people would like a small LCD X-terminal.

MacGuyver, The A-Team, NASA ... Grave writes: "Looks like NASA got DS1 functioning again. A probe that was almost entirely made up of experimental technologies can be salvaged, yet two hopefully-soon-to-be-routine flights to Mars can't be. Ah, well, at least we know that Ion Engines are workable. Bring on the TIEs!"

TRUSTe dusts off the white hat for a bit? Last week, a story appeared which noted the alarming news that failed web-merchant Toysmart planned to sell its customer information in an effort to recover some money. According to this Standard story, "The nonprofit organization TRUSTe announced Friday it is planning to file a brief in bankruptcy court that will decide whether Toysmart.com can sell its customer lists." Jamie raises two points to consider:

1. Time will tell what effect (if any) TRUSTe's planned brief will have on the Toysmart bankruptcy proceedings.
2. The company that bought Boo.com insists they will continue to honor the old privacy policy for old customers.

Maybe we could combine this with 'Survivor'? jgalvin222 writes "APB Online, Inc. has filed for bankruptcy. This web site is known for offering in-depth breaking news, tons of information on ongoing investigations, and you can listen to live police scanners. This web site will surely be missed, and if you read the article, you can see that some of their techs have volunteered to post crime and safety articles over the next couple of weeks - without pay. If anything, you should peruse their video library, some of the clips are both amusing and interesting."

The Devil will find work for idle hands to do. Ryan writes: "Here is something to keep us Mac fans happy. Go2Mac reports that Diablo II has gone gold for Mac version, making this one of the quickest PC to Mac conversions ever." Here is the official announcement from Blizzard.

Do you want an i-Opener, and for how much? Are space-vehicle rescues "your thing"? Does your cute iMac suffer from a video-game-violence deficiency? Do your Web habits stray to courtroom and crime-scene voyeurism? Do you think that online privacy agreements must of needs outlive the dot-com-ephemera which offer them? If Yes to any or all, you've come to the right place.

Money changes everything. After numerous writeups about the hacking potential of their iOpener device, Netpliance changed their service model and even the design of the product itself. Sounds like that wasn't enough: Cy Guy writes: "Netpliance has announced that they are raising the price of the i-Opener from the introductory price of $99 to $399 (neither price reflects the $21.95/month cost of Netpliance's Internet service which must be used with the device.) In a c|net interview Netpliance president Kent Savage dismissed hacker modifications to the device as a factor in the price increase." As Ioldanach puts it, "Think its 'cause they finally realised it was cheaper to raise prices then 'hack-proof' their product?"

What I'd like to see is Netpliance package the LCD and CPU of the i-Opener and sell those packages to OEMs, so they could create custom housings, new uses, etc -- after all, lots of people would like a small LCD X-terminal.

MacGuyver, The A-Team, NASA ... Grave writes: "Looks like NASA got DS1 functioning again. A probe that was almost entirely made up of experimental technologies can be salvaged, yet two hopefully-soon-to-be-routine flights to Mars can't be. Ah, well, at least we know that Ion Engines are workable. Bring on the TIEs!"

TRUSTe dusts off the white hat for a bit? Last week, a story appeared which noted the alarming news that failed web-merchant Toysmart planned to sell its customer information in an effort to recover some money. According to this Standard story, "The nonprofit organization TRUSTe announced Friday it is planning to file a brief in bankruptcy court that will decide whether Toysmart.com can sell its customer lists." Jamie raises two points to consider:

1. Time will tell what effect (if any) TRUSTe's planned brief will have on the Toysmart bankruptcy proceedings.
2. The company that bought Boo.com insists they will continue to honor the old privacy policy for old customers.

Maybe we could combine this with 'Survivor'? jgalvin222 writes "APB Online, Inc. has filed for bankruptcy. This web site is known for offering in-depth breaking news, tons of information on ongoing investigations, and you can listen to live police scanners. This web site will surely be missed, and if you read the article, you can see that some of their techs have volunteered to post crime and safety articles over the next couple of weeks - without pay. If anything, you should peruse their video library, some of the clips are both amusing and interesting."

The Devil will find work for idle hands to do. Ryan writes: "Here is something to keep us Mac fans happy. Go2Mac reports that Diablo II has gone gold for Mac version, making this one of the quickest PC to Mac conversions ever." Here is the official announcement from Blizzard.

rares passed on to us this story from APBNews.com which ought to give pause to all readers: It seems that in Illinois, a revised set of guidelines for professional conduct of police (the guidelines are here in PDF) was issued by the state's Supreme Court. Though the guidelines are not state law, they have led to a sudden drop in the availability of formerly routine information available to the public, including newspapers, about police activities. Question is, whose rights are being respected here, and whose lost? What other formerly public information might soon be at risk -- and should all of it have been public in the first place? Interestingly, the word "censorship" appears only twice in the article.

rares passed on to us this story from APBNews.com which ought to give pause to all readers: It seems that in Illinois, a revised set of guidelines for professional conduct of police (the guidelines are here in PDF) was issued by the state's Supreme Court. Though the guidelines are not state law, they have led to a sudden drop in the availability of formerly routine information available to the public, including newspapers, about police activities. Question is, whose rights are being respected here, and whose lost? What other formerly public information might soon be at risk -- and should all of it have been public in the first place? Interestingly, the word "censorship" appears only twice in the article.

Under a little-known but important law allowing public oversight of the judicial branch, APBNews has sent in a request for the financial disclosure statements of the nation's 1600 federal judges. Presumably because the records would be published on the internet, a judge has barred their release, citing security reasons. "In one case, a federal judge in Arkansas heard an appeal in a pollution cleanup case involving General Electric and DuPont, ruling in favor of the companies. Meanwhile, the judge's wife owned more than $15,000 in GE and DuPont stock."

Under a little-known but important law allowing public oversight of the judicial branch, APBNews has sent in a request for the financial disclosure statements of the nation's 1600 federal judges. Presumably because the records would be published on the internet, a judge has barred their release, citing security reasons. "In one case, a federal judge in Arkansas heard an appeal in a pollution cleanup case involving General Electric and DuPont, ruling in favor of the companies. Meanwhile, the judge's wife owned more than $15,000 in GE and DuPont stock."

wtpooh writes "There ia a story over at Salon magazine about the continuing investigation into the Columbine killings. Pretty much everything we've been told by the media about the killers is wrong: They were probably not gay, they were not anti-jock, anti-god, or anti-black, and they were certainly not part of the Trench Coat Mafia, which was almost nonexistent at the time of the shooting. Essentially, the confused memories of the eyewitnesses and the overzealous reporting of the media fed off each other, turning rumors into facts." Considering the number of Slashdot pixels that have already been devoted to the Columbine massacre, this story is well worth a look. Quite an interesting perspective, not only on the massacre, but on the way the news media covered it. Updates: a story at apbnews.com refutes much of the Salon story above; Salon runs excerpts from Harris's diary.