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Lord Prox writes "The long wait is over, the sequel to Ghost In The Shell is here in theaters!. Titled Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence for the US market and seems to be available in a reasonably wide distribution for anime. There is also a trailer available."

Lord Prox writes "The long wait is over, the sequel to Ghost In The Shell is here in theaters!. Titled Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence for the US market and seems to be available in a reasonably wide distribution for anime. There is also a trailer available."

joke-boy writes "AP reports that as part of the CANSPAM legislation, the FTC has issued a report recommending placing taxpayer-funded 6-figure bounties on spammers, much like the bounties placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted."

lucabrasi999 writes "Yahoo is running a Reuters story in which Arthur Thompson, the head of the NASA 'rover' missions, says that people could be landing on Mars in the next twenty or thirty years. If that is true, I estimate that within 50 years, Mars will need women."

horos2c writes "Well, it looks like perl6 has reached the point where development on the compiler has started. The perl6-compiler list has been started, and has a total of 55 messages so far, as of this posting, and there's a large thread on perl6's current status."

Alec Kryten writes "Here is a book that introduces and teaches a fascinating new sport for the hacking hobbyist which doesn't necessarily involve computers. Steel bolt hacking is the art of competition lock picking that is beginning to make its mark on computer people and other geeks around the world. At DefCon this year I picked up a book titled Steel Bolt Hacking, which teaches the basics of lock picking. I bought it because I watched the lock-picking contest during the DefCon Convention and thought that I might want to participate in next year's lock-picking events." Read on for Alec's review of the book. Steel Bolt Hacking author Douglas Chick pages 114 publisher TheNetworkAdministrator.com rating 8 out of 10 reviewer Alec Kryten ISBN 0974463019 summary How to pick locks, crack combinations for LP sports groups

The beginning of the book discusses the origins of lock-picking sporting groups, crews in the U.S and Europe, competition around the country, and how to become a part of a lock-picking group. One of the groups out of Colorado Springs, DC719, are a bunch of computer geeks that have taken up the art of lock picking and sponsor a lock-picking contest every year at DefCon. According to Mr. Chick, computer people are the fastest group to pick up the art of lock picking. (I must warn you though, there are also a lot of disclaimers about the author not being responsible for the misuses of the information contained in this book.)

The book is fully illustrated with pictures of different types of lock picking instruments, tools to make your own picks as well as padlocks, deadbolt, and combination locks. There are pictures of locks that have been cut open and even how to crack push-button combination locks. (You know, the kind you find on the door to a server room.) I have to say, for a little book, (114 pages) it is brimming with valuable information for a beginner. What I didn't realize was that software isn't the only thing that has security vulnerabilities; mechanical things like padlocks and deadbolts do as well. What was scary to learn is how easy cheap locks can be picked, and that 80 percent of all locks used are cheap locks. Expensive locks are just likely to take a little longer.

I liked that the book didn't exaggerate. It didn't tell me that I was going to be a master lock picker after only a few tries. It took a little time, practice and sore fingers, but after a couple weeks of practice, I could pick every lock in my house. And as a computer person, I liked all of the jargon that was used to explain locksmith techniques. There was also enough humor to keep the book interesting; it's difficult to read any type of textbook and still maintain a reasonable interest. The illustrations are good and there is a resource section to purchase the tools you need from the Internet.

What I didn't like about the book: The most annoying point, I felt, is the considerable redundancy in methods between different types of locks to be picked. Also, the book suggests that there might be a lock-picking group in every city in the U.S., when in fact I am having a difficult time finding one in my are. And I live near D.C. -- You'd think there would be one on every corner around here. I think that the sport is still in its infancy and Mr. Chick is hoping his book will draw more people to it. The author put his e-mail address on the back of the book. He hasn't responded to my e-mail yet, but I suppose that he's probably a busy man.

All in all, I found the book informative, entertaining and worth the purchase price of 19.99.

You can purchase Steel Bolt Hacking from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

AlphaJoe writes "In regards to remaking War of the Worlds, Steven Spielberg has apparently been beaten to the punch by an English rival, director Timothy Hines, as being reported by SF Crowsnest. Principal photography has already been completed, and a Spring 2005 release date is anticipated. The English version is staying true to the original story, which was set in the late 1800's, where as Spielburg's version will be drastically modified to a more modern version. Hines feels there will be room for both films to exist, as they will be drastically different in story and scope."

siriuskase writes "Is it too much to ask of our technology/math skills to award electorial votes in proportion to the popular vote? Colorado might be up to the task. From the article: On Nov. 2, voters will consider a proposal to immediately scrap the state's winner-take-all electoral vote system and allow candidates to keep a proportion of the delegates they win. In theory, a candidate could win 55 percent of the statewide vote and get only five of the state's nine electoral votes. If the proposal had been in place four years ago, Gore would have earned enough electoral votes to go to the White House. "

rkroetch writes "NDS, STMicroelectronics and Thomson have announced they will develop a new anti-piracy technology called SVP (Secure Video Processor). This will require a special SVP processor in the box to play the encrypted video signal. All those licensing fees for our DVD-ROMs for nothing?"

cbrocious writes "Yahoo! News is reporting a mushroom cloud over North Korea that occured on Thursday in Yanggang province near the border with China. 'The explosion in Kim Hyong Jik county blasted a crater big enough to be noticed by a satellite, the source said.'"

DarthVeda writes "There are some surprising new findings that suggest the first inhabitants of America may have come from down under rather than Siberia. The research is based off of 'distinctive' skulls that predate known Native American skulls. The researchers intend to use extracted DNA to help prove their findings."

scubacuda writes "Yahoo! reports that PayPal is taking an aggressive stance against gambling, adult, and non-prescription drug sites: anyone caught using PayPal for these purposes will be charged $500. Eric Jackson, a former PayPal executive and author of the new book 'The PayPal Wars,' calls the new policy 'draconian' and says it is likely a two-fold strategy to discourage certain behavior while heading off regulators."

prostoalex writes "The Wi-Fi Alliance approved Wi-Fi Multimedia (WMM) technology that allows packet prioritisation to the multimedia data streamed wireless LANs. Broadcom already announced that one of their access points and one reference design are WMM-certified. Other news outlets report that WMM will accelerate Wi-Fi adoption in consumer electronics and mobile devices."

aisaac writes "An article in today's NYT comments intelligently on filesharing. Key points: downloading music is not illegal, peer-to-peer enables this useful and legal activity, and a list of good places to find good music online (including the American Memory Collection at the Library of Congress. The Induce Act is briefly mentioned without analysis, but the article does not mention that some of the Act's sponsors and cosponsors have expressed a willingness to consider ammendments to restrict the application of the Act. (This according to a letter I received from Senator Sarbanes.) Let's keep the pressure on!" A Congress call-in day is being organized.

loid_void writes "Leave it to Reuters to report that the run-up to the U.S. presidential election is casting the spotlight on a new crop of Web sites for political-minded singles who are seeking Mr. or Ms. Right... or Left. But as such sites make small gains in the polls, another debate is brewing among singles in this politically divided nation: Is it better to find a like-minded mate or to cross party lines in the search for true love? Reached last week on his cell phone at the Republican National Convention in New York, Brian Barcaro said he does not interparty date and has no plans to start... let the debate begin!"

gmletzkojr writes "Yahoo! News has a story about a robot built to walk on water, much like small insects, bugs, and of course, Jesus. The current robot is only a prototype, but more 'useful' robots are already being imagined." This puts into practice what scientists learned just last year.

gmletzkojr writes "Yahoo! News has a story about a robot built to walk on water, much like small insects, bugs, and of course, Jesus. The current robot is only a prototype, but more 'useful' robots are already being imagined." This puts into practice what scientists learned just last year.

doormat writes "DirecTV plans on launching four Ka-band satellites by 2007. This means local HiDef channels over satellite for the biggest markets by the end of 2005, with room for 500 HD channels. Plus 1000 more HD local channels and 150 national HD channels by the end of 2007. Thats a total bandwidth of 34Gbit/s, which is about 10 times the bandwidth they currently have in the Ku band (the band they use now for direct-to-home TV service). The bandwidth crunch for satellite providers is over, and the Ka band is the answer."

Twirlip of the Mists writes "Last night, CBS News released a set of memos dated 1972 and 1973 that are purported to raise questions about President Bush's National Guard service. Some are saying those memos might have been produced with a computer. Blogger Scott Johnson ran with the story first this morning, raising questions about the typography of the memos. Blogger Charles Johnson (no relation) went one step further, actually reproducing one of the memos in its entirety using Microsoft Word's default settings. Matt Drudge is running the story now with a link to a CNS News article that includes quotes from typography experts at font foundries Afga Monotype and Bitstream. There's a round-up of key facts about the story on this blogger's web site." The experts in the CNS News story and others could come to no conclusion, and even if the documents are not originals or photocopies of originals, that doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't faithfully retyped copies of originals. CBS continues to assert the documents are authentic.

kwings writes "SF Gate (via the AP) is reporting that your pal, Ken Jennings has been beaten after his 75th(!) game. I fully expect Mr. Trebek to hold a wake, or to keep calling the champion 'Ken' for the rest of the season. :) Since they're only up to airing game 41, it will be an interesting few months (or 34 shows)."

Last night, the Pentagon revealed that new records of President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard have been found, due to a FOIA request. This morning sees a New York Times column (free reg. req.), and a detailed "reexamination of the records" by the Boston Globe. Tonight, 60 Minutes II airs an interview with the man who got Bush into the Guard (though my TiVo says otherwise for some reason).

LVRyan writes "The AP via Yahoo is reporting on Nevada's new touchscreen voting machines that also leave a full paper trail. They were used in Tuesday's primaries with few problems. I had a chance to use the machine myself, and was happy with the clear verification the paper trail provides for the voter and in the case of a recount. No hanging chads here!"

moby11 points to this Reuters story carried by Yahooo!; it begins "California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said on Tuesday he would sue electronic voting machine maker Diebold Inc. on charges it defrauded the state with false claims about its products."

WhiskerBiscuit writes "The boys at Am I Hot or Not have started a sweepstakes to encourage people to register to vote. According to this blogger's analysis, the contest should encourage disempowered people to register (subject to the constraint that poor people don't have computers). The organizers have cleverly split the prize between a lucky winner and whoever happens to have referred them, providing a selection advantage for viral dispersal of the meme."

vook writes "Long the most common way to store letters, homework and other computer files, the floppy disk is going the way of the horse upon the arrival of the car: it'll hang around but never hold the same relevance in everyday life. "

nev4 writes "Reuters (via Yahoo News) reports that Grigori Perelman from St. Petersburg, Russia appears to have solved the Poincare Conjecture. The Poincare Conjecture is one of the 7 Millenium Problems (another is P vs NP, also covered on /. recently). Solving a Millenium Problem carries a reward of $1M, but apparently Perelman isn't interested..." nerdb0t provides some background in the form of this MathWorld page from 2003.

maggeth writes "In an update to a previous story, NASA damage assessment teams have begun work at the Kennedy Space Center, which was hit by Hurricane Frances. It appears that there was no damage to any of the space shuttles, according to the first word from NASA. Although more details still are to be released, we know that Frances died down in strength before making landfall, limiting the amount of wind damage." Reader knix writes, though, that "It looks like NASA did have quite a bit of damage from Hurricane Frances," pointing to an AP story which adds some detail, and noting that besides a knocked over Mercury-Redstone rocket, the massive VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) had 1000 panels missing after the storm hit. According to the AP, "The holes left by the missing panels created 40,000 square feet of 'open window' on two sides of the building."

editingwhiz writes "IT Manager's Journal business columnist Melanie Hollands is confused about Intel's mid-quarter financial update. The world's leading chipmaker warns that it has a major overage in inventory resulting in a gross margin reduction because its fabrication process is too darn efficient."(The gross margin reduction) is due to better-than-expected manufacturing efficiencies ... which have, in turn, resulted in more chips than needed," the company said. Huh? (ITMJ is part of the OSTG network.)" Actually, it makes sense - if you make too many chips that you don't sell, you increase costs, but without any increase in revenue.

Delta Vel writes "First discovered by a Japanese amateur astronomer on July 31, this Type II supernova was imaged by Hubble on August 17th. The newly named SN 2004 dj, the closest supernova to be observed in over ten years, is about 11 million light-years away in the spiral galaxy NGC 2403. Looks like they goofed in one of the images, though--the arrow points to a different bright spot on the before-and-after image than it does on the main and annotated images." Reader Saeed al-Sahaf writes "Today, astronauts Gennady Padalka and Mike Fincke popped open the hatch on the Russian side of the ISS spacecraft and quickly stepped through the fourth and final spacewalk of their six-month mission. Their mission? Install three antennas and replace a 2-foot-square Russian pump panel. But of course, because it isn't a part or our Mission to Mars, it is still too dangerous work on the Hubble Telescope, which after all, is only used for science."

RaisinBread asks: "I may have an opportunity in the future to work for a decent-sized city. As such, I will likely work there for a short time to see how I fit before taking the job. After speaking to the City Manager about possibilities, he wondered what ideas I might have for potential projects. I have my own ideas, however I'd like to poll Slashdot on the following issue: What is on your wishlist for services you wish your own city would offer online? What existing services do you like or dislike?"

tekiegreg writes "It looks like the first black box test for auto insurance companies is underway. While this may be a privacy issue, it can also make better drivers out of everyone if insurance rates are adjustable based on the way everyone drives. This was covered on Slashdot before however this seems to be one of the first workups, that can even include tests on speed and braking, not just location."

tekiegreg writes "It looks like the first black box test for auto insurance companies is underway. While this may be a privacy issue, it can also make better drivers out of everyone if insurance rates are adjustable based on the way everyone drives. This was covered on Slashdot before however this seems to be one of the first workups, that can even include tests on speed and braking, not just location."

JOhn-E G writes "In a recent article from the New York Times it seems that airlines and cellphone makers are working towards allowing cellphones to be used on airplanes during flight. (free reg. required) Currently the plan is to have a mini cell tower, a picocell, on the plane that would intercept all the calls from people in the plane and relay them to satelites or ground towers. The FAA, FCC, and the airlines really want to be absolutely sure that there will be no interference anywhere. The article also says that cell use may still be banned during landings just to be safe. Changes would start in 2006."

geomon writes "This afternoon, SCO will host a conference call where they will present '04 third quarter financial data. The news isn't expected to be comforting to SCO investors as they are coming up a bit short; earnings and dividends will take a substantial hit. The only bright spot for the company is the settlement with BayStar, a deal that will leave most of the cash they received from the investment house in the hands of SCO management, if only for a short time." Reader ak_hepcat writes "Groklaw has posted the text for the latest IBM memorandum in its case against SCO. In a nutshell, IBM accuses SCO of not only wrangling the legal process to keep delaying the eventual resolution of this case, but they go so far as to pull the curtain away and show that this table never had any legs to begin with. I'm no marksman, but I can tell when something is full of holes."

geomon writes "This afternoon, SCO will host a conference call where they will present '04 third quarter financial data. The news isn't expected to be comforting to SCO investors as they are coming up a bit short; earnings and dividends will take a substantial hit. The only bright spot for the company is the settlement with BayStar, a deal that will leave most of the cash they received from the investment house in the hands of SCO management, if only for a short time." Reader ak_hepcat writes "Groklaw has posted the text for the latest IBM memorandum in its case against SCO. In a nutshell, IBM accuses SCO of not only wrangling the legal process to keep delaying the eventual resolution of this case, but they go so far as to pull the curtain away and show that this table never had any legs to begin with. I'm no marksman, but I can tell when something is full of holes."

pinkUZI writes "Intel will announce that it has crammed 500 million transistors on to a single memory chip, shrinking them in size by 30%. " The tech details are sadly lacking in the article - but I'm sure those will follow. Indeed, the Yahoo piece gives the details that "...has created a fully functional 70 megabit memory chip with transistor switches measuring just 35 nanometers."

dorkus123 points out this Palm Beach Post story which begins "An administrative law judge over-ruled an administrative decision Friday that the 15 counties that use touch-screen voting systems must be able to perform manual recounts in extremely close elections." Prior to this, counties using touch-screen voting were exempt from a requirement requiring that certified voting machines be amenable to manual recounts. wierzpio adds a link to the AP's similar story.

minus_273 writes "MSNBC is currently running a story on the front page reviewing the new HP Linux laptops. In a story titled 'H-P's first Linux laptop a winner', the article provides a brief look at the accomplishments and some of the shortcomings of the nx5000; a new inexpensive HP business laptop that comes with SUSE installed. The author seems extremely happy about how everything just works out of the box and mentions the significance of the product. Could HP+SUSE go the way of Apple+BSD and become an option for those that want friendly non-windows laptop? Releasing an easy to use Linux system is a good first step." We mentioned this laptop a few weeks ago.

DominoTree writes "The RIAA, a trade group representing the U.S. music industry has filed a new round of lawsuits against 744 people it alleges used online file-sharing networks to illegally trade in copyrighted songs, it said on Wednesday."

Lullabye_Muse writes "Yahoo! reports that telecoms in Europe and U.S. are losing in response to people switching their home phones for cellphones and dial up to cable modems. More info on specific VoIP discussed in latter part of article. The trend seems to becoming widespread, I guess 10 years and all the old wires are gonna start to be taken down."

longlanekid writes "Though HP has apparently designed a great program for slowing the spread/proliferation of virii and reducing the impact of DoS attacks, it's all being shelved due to Windows incompatibilities."

Buzz Skyline writes "Several groups representing the nation's scientists, engineers, and doctors are inviting presidential candidates Kerry and Bush to participate in a "Virtual Town Hall" meeting, according to an Associated Press article that appeared in USA Today. Planned topics include stem cell research policy and technical research funding. More information is available at HiTechTownHall.org. Kerry's people say he is eager to take part, but Bush has yet to respond."

KilgoryTrout writes "A 'super-Earth' planet was identified in orbit around mu Arae, a star 50 light years away. It orbits at 2 AUs and surface gravity is 14gs. Two gas giants have been detected in orbit about the star. Space.com's article suggests that it is a failed gas giant's rocky core."

VanessaDannenberg asks: "Four months ago my fiancé and I bought a 1997 Thunderbird, which came with a few aftermarket mods. Of particular interest is this strange radio-related gadget that was attached to the windshield above the mirror. It has two 5-pin ports on it (as pictured) which accept a flat cable that runs under the car's headliner. I can't tell where that cable ends, but I figure it's a laptop interface (RS232?). Has anyone seen this thing before? What does it do?"

snoopsk writes "An appeals court ruled that Yahoo is not protected from French legal attacks due to Nazi-related items sold on Yahoo's auction site. Backed by the ACLU, Yahoo intends to defend its First Amendment rights should a French court try to enforce French anti-hate laws. This case could have huge implications for free speech online if the French courts are successful in forcing Yahoo to remove this content.
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WhatAmIDoingHere writes "The Motion Picture Association of America has sued two chip manufacturing companies for selling integrated circuits to manufacturers that produce non-approved DVD players."

There's an origami convention convention underway in Japan this weekend, with some truly impressive pieces on display. There's an AP story, but words don't do it justice. See the personal site of one of the professional paper-folders, or photos taken at a previous convention, or just discover the essence of origami.

DSLAMngu writes "Freshman students at Duke University received their complimentary/paid for (however you want to look at it) iPod portable music players on Thurday. This deal was previously mentioned on /. here. After waiting in line, I eventually got my Duke-engraved iPod at about 9:00 PM with the rest of the freshmen at Brown dorm. I've written about the experience at my blog, and also included a copy of the Program Agreement and some photos of what the students received."

Guinnessy writes "Last March, NASA carried out the world's first test flight of a scramjet-powered aircraft. The Industrial Physicist has the latest results from this test. According to the article scramjet-powered missiles and aircraft could be in mass production as early as 2010. This piece is also a good introduction for those unfamilar with scramjet technology."

TopShelf writes "Today's first-day trading gains for Google may not have just been the result of ambitious day-traders. This story from CBS Marketwatch alleges that Google deliberately set the $85 IPO price well below the true clearing price of their Dutch Auction, and issued fewer shares than expected, perhaps with the intent of limiting supply and assuring themselves a nice runup during the first trading day. In the story's informal survey, winning bidders only received 75% of the shares they should have."