Slashdot Mirror

Researchers from BYU recently took a survey of internet users (PDF), mostly from the U.S., to determine how they balanced opinions of security and privacy. They found, perhaps surprisingly, that over 90% of users are fine with somebody snooping their encrypted traffic, so long as they were informed of the snooping. Most of them also supported legislation requiring notification and/or consent. "Most respondents also agreed that employers should be able to monitor the encrypted Internet connections of employees even without notification or consent, especially when an employee used a company computer. There was less agreement when it came to employees using personal devices; approximately a third of respondents opposed surveillance in that case."

That said, "Despite accepting surveillance in a number of situations, 60 percent of respondents said that they would react negatively if they discovered that a network they currently use employed TLS proxies." The study also found 4.5% of participants were "jaded" toward the state of privacy and security on the internet, feeling that their traffic is already monitored, and that the government would circumvent whatever technologies we put in place to protect it. The researchers say this group "once cared about these issues but has lost all hope and has largely given up on ever achieving a secure world."

Zothecula writes "Scientists at Brigham Young University (BYU) have developed an algorithm that can accurately identify objects in images or videos and can learn to recognize new objects on its own. Although other object recognition systems exist, the Evolution-Constructed Features algorithm is notable in that it decides for itself what features of an object are significant for identifying the object and is able to learn new objects without human intervention."

An article in The New York Times highlights two growing collections of words online that effectively bypass the traditional dictionary publishing system of slow aggregation and curation. Wordnik is a private venture that has already raised more than $12 million in capital, while the Corpus of Contemporary American English is a project started by Brigham Young professor Mark Davies. These sources differ from both conventional dictionary publishers and crowd-sourced efforts like the excellent Wiktionary for their emphasis on avoiding human intervention rather than fostering it. Says founder Erin McKean in the linked article, 'Language changes every day, and the lexicographer should get out of the way. ... You can type in anything, and we'll show you what data we have.'

An anonymous reader writes "A team of Brigham Young University students recently smashed the world land speed record for electric vehicles by hitting a top speed of 175 miles per hour in their self-built electric car. The car, named 'Electric Blue,' reached high speeds thanks to lithium iron phosphate batteries and its streamlined design, which is capped by a tail fin for speed and agility."

natharward writes "A new development in nano-level diagnostic tests has been applied as a lab on a chip that successfully screened viruses entirely by their size. The chip's traps are size-specific, which means even tiny concentrations of viruses or other particles won't escape detection. For medicine, this development is promising for future lab diagnostics that could detect viruses before symptoms kick in and damage begins, well ahead of when traditional lab tests are able to catch them. Aaron Hawkins, the BYU professor leading the work, says his team is now gearing up to make chips with multiple, progressively smaller slots, so that a single sample can be used to screen for particles of varying sizes. One could fairly simply determine which proteins or viruses are present based on which walls have particles stacked against them. After this is developed, Hawkins says, 'If we decided to make these things in high volume, I think within a year it could be ready.'"

Beezlebub33 writes "A new petition has been filed under the GSNO (Generic Names Supporting Organization) of ICANN to create a new constituency the CyberSafety Constituency. Existing constituencies include 'Commercial and Business,' 'gTLD,' 'Registrars,' 'Non-commercial,' etc. The new proposed one on CyberSafety is in the 'interest of balancing free speech and anonymity with the values of protection and safety in developing Internet policy within ICANN.' If that doesn't raise red flags all by itself, consider that the person submitting it is Cheryl B. Preston. She's listed in the petition with the organization Brigham Young University, but she's part of CP80. She's suggested limiting content on port 80 to the 'right' things, and other stuff can go on other ports, so it can be appropriately filtered by the authorities. Guess who gets to decide what goes on which ports?"

Viltvodlian Deoderan asks: "So, Spotlight for Mac OS X Tiger is very cool. I can now let my innate ability to disorganize things shine through. However, when using my PowerBook unplugged, it seems that my battery lasts a noticeably less time. A close reading of Ars Technica's description of how spotlight works suggests that this is due to keeping the index file up-to-date on disk. Has anyone else noticed the same thing? Does someone have a better explanation for why my battery seems to drain out, prematurely? Is there some way real-time indexing can be turned off to conserve power?"

dritan writes "News.com is reporting that a theme park in Florida is tagging all members of your group when you enter. The park has kiosks throughout the park that let you find the other members of your group in "real time." The park's web site makes it seem that you will only be able to find members of your group, instead of seeing everyone in the park. Slashdot has previously reported about tagging kids with RFID in order to keep track of them."

dritan writes "News.com is reporting that a judge has tossed out a privacy lawsuit against Northwest airlines. The plaintiffs claimed that their privacy was violated when Northwest gave their information to the government. From the judge: 'Although Northwest had a privacy policy for information included on the Web site, plaintiffs do not contend that they actually read the privacy policy prior to providing Northwest with their personal information. Thus, plaintiffs' expectation of privacy was low.' Do you always read the privacy policy?" If you haven't read a particular EULA, does that mean it doesn't apply either? Here is the Judge's order (PDF).

Percy_Blakeney writes "After realizing how noisy his computer was, a professor at BYU has created a new CPU fan that uses small microphones and speakers to cancel out its own noise. It isn't perfected yet -- it only nixes the whine, not the whoosh -- but it looks like it could be promising, especially given the professor's background: making jet engines quieter."

mahonri5 writes "Miniture spy planes, developed by BYU and the Air Force, weighing only 3 oz, and having a 24 foot wingspan. Launched by throwing them into the air. And if that wasn't cool enough, you can fly them by laptop, PDA, or voice command. It does all the dirty work of flying on board, and you just tell it where to go. Best part, they've already been deployed. More at some Utah newspapers: here(1), here(2), or here(3)."

mahonri5 writes "Miniture spy planes, developed by BYU and the Air Force, weighing only 3 oz, and having a 24 foot wingspan. Launched by throwing them into the air. And if that wasn't cool enough, you can fly them by laptop, PDA, or voice command. It does all the dirty work of flying on board, and you just tell it where to go. Best part, they've already been deployed. More at some Utah newspapers: here(1), here(2), or here(3)."

eaglebtc writes "After reading the previously-posted article on cdfreaks.com about the rapid erosion of cheap CDR's, I found another equally scintillating write-up about the economics of music CDs written by Richard Menta, founder of MP3 Newswire. Sure, we've all heard the whining about how CDs are so expensive, but Mr. Menta takes a unique perspective on the issue by comparing the RIAA to DeBeers. He argues that both companies control distribution of products in their respective markets with an iron fist, and by so doing can artificially raise prices. Coincidentally, the bubble is beginning to burst in both markets: the RIAA is fighting against the uprisings of P2P software, and the diamond cartel's lawyers are losing sleep over the $5 diamonds produced in a lab."

akahige writes "Forbes has a fairly detailed story about the sordid history of The Canopy Group and all the various companies they've sued -- Microsoft (who they beat) and CA (this case is still pending), among them. Before joining Caldera, Darl McBride sued IKON Office Solutions, for whom he worked -- and won. And it also seems that a bunch of Canopy power players also sit on SCO's board of directors. The short summary is, 'these guys are professional litigious bastards -- be exceptionally wary.'" A local user's group is planning a protest for tomorrow. Reader myst564 writes: "After reading all of this SCO press I remembered that SCO once offered up all of their 'Ancient UNIX' (their words, not mine) source to the world while retaining all copyrights (i.e, no OSS license). Interestingly enough it WAS located here but isn't any longer: SCO's Ancient Unix. What's more you can read about the original release here at: Linux Today. I downloaded the source myself way back then but never did anything but delete it! Anyway, check out this comment. It's interesting that this was predicted in 2000!"

Bradley Chapman writes "I found this interesting story from Discovery News about our ties with chimpanzees. Excerpts: 'Chimpanzees share 99.4 percent of functionally important DNA with humans and belong in our genus, Homo, according to a recent genetic study. Scientists analyzed 97 human genes, along with comparable sequences from chimps, gorillas, orangutans and Old World monkeys (a group that includes baboons and macaques). The researchers then took the DNA data and estimated genetic evolution over time. They determined that humans and chimps shared a common ancestor between 4 and 7 million years ago. That ancestor diverged from gorillas 6 to 7 million years ago.'" Genus is the next step up from species, if you recall your taxonomy. Humans are the only living species in genus homo, currently.

graveyhead asks: "Inspired by a recent Slashdot article, I came across this fantastic package from the fine students in the Configurable Computing Laboratory at BYU: JHDL, which is a set of open source FPGA CAD tools. I am writing a proposal for a prototype system and I have a requirement for a 32 or 64 bit PCI card compatible with JHDL. I do not require any IP cores (which Xilinx seems to want to sell me hundreds of 'em), since our project uses its own custom cores. Also, I will not be building additional hardware around the FPGA processor, so the package needs to be fully self-contained. I simply need the ability to use JHDL to program the FPGA device over PCI under Linux, execute my circuit with parameterized values, and return the result. I found these boards, but I'm not sure which is appropriate or compatible, or if there are better alternatives that I am not finding in a similar price range (up to USD2000). Preferably, I want a chip with lots (1-10M+) of programmable gates."

graveyhead asks: "Inspired by a recent Slashdot article, I came across this fantastic package from the fine students in the Configurable Computing Laboratory at BYU: JHDL, which is a set of open source FPGA CAD tools. I am writing a proposal for a prototype system and I have a requirement for a 32 or 64 bit PCI card compatible with JHDL. I do not require any IP cores (which Xilinx seems to want to sell me hundreds of 'em), since our project uses its own custom cores. Also, I will not be building additional hardware around the FPGA processor, so the package needs to be fully self-contained. I simply need the ability to use JHDL to program the FPGA device over PCI under Linux, execute my circuit with parameterized values, and return the result. I found these boards, but I'm not sure which is appropriate or compatible, or if there are better alternatives that I am not finding in a similar price range (up to USD2000). Preferably, I want a chip with lots (1-10M+) of programmable gates."

tiltowait writes In response to the incredulity expressed in this story about the technical prowess of libraries, I'd like to present a short essay titled "Librarians: We're Not What You Think" - read on for more. Update: 10/20 18:15 GMT by M : The author has also put up his essay on his own webpage. From the spinster librarian in It's a Wonderful Life to the crochety archivist in Attack of the Clones, librarians are often portrayed (in everything from movies, musicals, children's books, literature, science fiction, comics and cartoons to pornography - yes, pornography) as something less than noble or admirable. The perception of librarians has been a popular topic recently, with several articles focusing on the fringe-type librarians (ska, rockabilly, bellydancing, modified, bodybuilding, laughing, and lipstick). Although something of an anti-stereotype, these people illustrate the range of librarian personalities.

Many people may hold the image of a librarian as a shushing school marm who does little more than stamp and shelve books because that's all they've seen librarians do. Well think again - that's about as inaccurate as believing that Alan Greenspan is nothing more than a glorified bank teller. The job titles may change but the mission of the profession remains the same: organize information and help people find it. Libraries have been around a lot longer than the Internet, and even library technology can hold its own with the best out there. For example, Google's savvy results ranking was hardly the birth of citation analysis (next up: metadata - cough, cataloging, cough), and there are enormous library systems that also predate the Internet.

Although library geeks and technology nerds may have contrary images, in today's world the boundary between the career of the librarian and the information technologist is disappearing. Librarians today not only administer Web servers and dynamic databases to help manage large digital collections and thousands of electronic resources, they teach people how to use library systems. And just as enlightened computer engineers are advocates of noncommercial software and campaign for online rights, the library profession has a long history of staunchly defending freedom - from book burnings to the FBI's Library Awareness Program to the latest copyright battles and almost all other current issues in intellectual freedom.

Check out LISNews.com (recognize the format?) and some library blogs if you're interested in reading more about real librarians.

riclewis writes "Hannibal from Ars Technica offers an explanation of some of the internals of the new IBM chip. It's certainly more powerful than anything on the desktop now, but by the time it's released a year from now, it looks to be middle-of-the-pack (which could still be a step up for Apple...) This excitement over the early release of hardware specs kinda reminds me of all the hype surrounding the Sony's Emotion Engine when it was introduced a couple years ago. In fact, some are suggesting the PPC 970 chip might be closely related to the PS3's 'Cell' processor..."

nm1m writes "For decades, millions of physicians have advised their patients to take acetaminophen - the drug behind "aspirin-free" pain relievers like Tylenol - without understanding how or why the popular medicine works. Now, a professor at Brigham Young University has discovered what could be the enzyme the drug attacks to relieve pain."

nm1m writes "For decades, millions of physicians have advised their patients to take acetaminophen - the drug behind "aspirin-free" pain relievers like Tylenol - without understanding how or why the popular medicine works. Now, a professor at Brigham Young University has discovered what could be the enzyme the drug attacks to relieve pain."

nm1m writes: "For the last few months I have been following with some interest a few stories (story link may not work) in the school newspaper about a new structural technology being developed at BYU. It is called PYRAmatrix, and is 12 times stronger than steel, yet less than 10 percent the weight of steel. A 47 foot cylinder of this stuff, 16 inches in diameter and weighing just 47 pounds, can support almost 4 tons. It seems to have obvious applications in aerospace, electricity utility poles, radar and communication towers, and just about any structure that needs exceptional strength. An interesting press release with facts and figures can be found here. Photos can be found here." The link worked for me -- and reminded me of the plastic-walking scene in Sabrina .

nm1m writes: "For the last few months I have been following with some interest a few stories (story link may not work) in the school newspaper about a new structural technology being developed at BYU. It is called PYRAmatrix, and is 12 times stronger than steel, yet less than 10 percent the weight of steel. A 47 foot cylinder of this stuff, 16 inches in diameter and weighing just 47 pounds, can support almost 4 tons. It seems to have obvious applications in aerospace, electricity utility poles, radar and communication towers, and just about any structure that needs exceptional strength. An interesting press release with facts and figures can be found here. Photos can be found here." The link worked for me -- and reminded me of the plastic-walking scene in Sabrina .

nm1m writes: "For the last few months I have been following with some interest a few stories (story link may not work) in the school newspaper about a new structural technology being developed at BYU. It is called PYRAmatrix, and is 12 times stronger than steel, yet less than 10 percent the weight of steel. A 47 foot cylinder of this stuff, 16 inches in diameter and weighing just 47 pounds, can support almost 4 tons. It seems to have obvious applications in aerospace, electricity utility poles, radar and communication towers, and just about any structure that needs exceptional strength. An interesting press release with facts and figures can be found here. Photos can be found here." The link worked for me -- and reminded me of the plastic-walking scene in Sabrina .

FurBurger writes: "Another interesting article from Discover.com on NeuroComputers . 'Although scientists have developed software that attempts to mimic the brain's learning process using only the yes-no binary logic of digital computers, all the connections in a personal computer are wired back at the factory. Breaking a single one of these connections usually crashes the computer.' (a la Windows =))" The promise of neuron-based computers is greater flexibility and fault tolerance, with components that require very little power. Or, as FurBurger puts, it, "Watch out, Transmeta!" Mike also points to a June article on the BBC about the same group and their "leech-ulator."

First off, some star wars: kit sent us a link to Star Wars Pez and Bartman sent us a link to a cheesy Redneck Jedi joke page. Next, JoshH sent us a link to a page tracking the Stock of Linux companies. rde sent us proof (albeit somewhat flimsy) that ancient Slashdot readers Lived on Mars (requires registration). d sent us a link to superbad which is at least as bad as you might think. Super too. Finally, Marc Merlin sent us a link to his LWCE Picture Page which includes a peak at the Slashdot Booth. Oh, and if you can see this and are logged in to your Slashdot account, check out this page to beta test some stuff that should be finished by monday.

Josh H. writes "VMware will said they will debut a product at Demo99 that lets the user run multiple OS's here. If this thing really works like they says it does, this could means no more reboots to change OS's for those of us running dual-boots."

VanL writes " A previously unknown company has come up with a supercomputer design using programmable logic components. If this is right, this might be another case of a garage inventor changing the computing paradigm. In the meantime, they are claiming incredible things from their demo computer: It is the worlds fastest computer (3-4x faster than IBM's Pacific Blue, and 10x faster than a Cray); it is fault-tolerant enough that you could shoot a bullet through it and it would keep on working; it will run any operating system out-of-the-box; and it is the size of a normal desktop computer and runs off household current. They call it HAL. ;) Check out the press release, a news story, and a more detailed description of the company and the technology here."

VanL writes " Looks like episodes 7,8, and 9 are not to be. Lucas told Vanity Fair that he plans to quit after the prequels are done." Related news for Dutch Trekkies below. In a related story Merijn Broeren wrote in to tell us " More geeky news for Dutch viewers. There will be a Star Trek Movie marathon next week (16 January), an all night Trek fest, with 4 shows after each other. The first three you can choose between the 8 old movies, then in three rooms at once the new Insurrection. 1400 trekkies will attend!" More info in Dutch (which I can't read).

VanL writes "Scientists have just found a way to grow a carbon lattice on glass. So what? Well, the possible applications for this new technique include super-flat, super-light monitors without the drawbacks usually associated with LCDs. See more here. "

So it's thursday night, my last exam is neatly folded up and sitting next to my back pack. I've got my pipe, a beer and my laptop, and my email box is flooded. So now I play catchup on a week of sluffing off. Hit the link below to read a list of cool stuff that I really want to mention... First, James Morris sent me Top 0x10 Signs You're an Internet Nerd. It's pretty funny.

Alexei V. Novikov wrote in to tell us about a Linux index ala Yahoo that he's been working on. You can see it here. He's looking for people to help make it grow.

Patrick Berry sent us a link to a Cartoon about a geek. I kinda dig it.

Todd Martin wrote in to tell us that LCDProc has been updated Here. It looks like I will be getting at least one of these, so look forward to a Slashdot Headline client for it *grin*.

Lastly we have a Stupid JavaScript Trick that you can check out Here. It's actually a nearly playable side scroller Mario-esque game, written entirely in JavaScript. Thanks to Garrett LeSage for hooking us up with it.

Now I bid you farewell. One of my roommates has ordered a shot of whiskey to all of the living room inhabitants. The laptops are all shoved aside as Rob grab's his Cartman Shot Glass and a bottle of Jim Beam.