Group items tagged

"Computer security researchers who expose hackable vulnerabilities in digital products face plenty of occupational hazards: They can have their work censored by threats of lawsuits from the companies whose products they hack, or they can even be criminally indicted if their white-hat hacking runs afoul of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. But one still-mysterious encounter between security researchers and the law points to a newer, equally troubling possibility: They can have their work subpoenaed in a criminal investigation and used as a law enforcement tool."

"Computer security researchers who expose hackable vulnerabilities in digital products face plenty of occupational hazards: They can have their work censored by threats of lawsuits from the companies whose products they hack, or they can even be criminally indicted if their white-hat hacking runs afoul of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. But one still-mysterious encounter between security researchers and the law points to a newer, equally troubling possibility: They can have their work subpoenaed in a criminal investigation and used as a law enforcement tool."

"Linux has always had a reputation for being difficult to use. Consequently, when developers began improving users interfaces, they concentrated on what they imagined that new users needed. They rarely had the actual opportunity to observe new users, but the new user they imagined became a standard figure among developers, often surviving to this day."

"After the Paris attacks late last year, we noted that it was clear that they were evidence of an intelligence community failure, rather than an "encryption" problem -- which kind of explained why the intelligence community quickly tried to blame encryption. But, as we noted, most of the attackers were already known to the intelligence community and law enforcement -- and there's still little evidence that they used any encryption. "

"After the Paris attacks late last year, we noted that it was clear that they were evidence of an intelligence community failure, rather than an "encryption" problem -- which kind of explained why the intelligence community quickly tried to blame encryption. But, as we noted, most of the attackers were already known to the intelligence community and law enforcement -- and there's still little evidence that they used any encryption. "

"from the time-for-a-change dept Here on Techdirt we've written many times about the problematic nature of drug patents. They are harmful both directly, in terms of the price distortions they cause and seek to spread to new markets, and indirectly, through the lobbying that the pharma industry deploys to strengthen and extend them, notably in trade agreements such as TPP and TAFTA/TTIP. "

"from the time-for-a-change dept Here on Techdirt we've written many times about the problematic nature of drug patents. They are harmful both directly, in terms of the price distortions they cause and seek to spread to new markets, and indirectly, through the lobbying that the pharma industry deploys to strengthen and extend them, notably in trade agreements such as TPP and TAFTA/TTIP. "

Community and commitment to open source matter most "At the most recent Apple World Wide Developers Conference, Apple announced they would "open source the next version of its programming language Swift." This minimally means they will publish the source code to Swift using an Open Source Initiative (OSI) approved open source license. That's all really."

"At the most recent Apple World Wide Developers Conference, Apple announced they would "open source the next version of its programming language Swift." This minimally means they will publish the source code to Swift using an Open Source Initiative (OSI) approved open source license. That's all really."

"The impact of technological change on culture, learning, and morality has long been the subject of intense debate, and every technological revolution brings out a fresh crop of both pessimists and pollyannas. Indeed, a familiar cycle has repeat itself throughout history whenever new modes of production (from mechanized agriculture to assembly-line production), means of transportation (water, rail, road, or air), energy production processes (steam, electric, nuclear), medical breakthroughs (vaccination, surgery, cloning), or communications techniques (telegraph, telephone, radio, television) have appeared on the scene. The cycle goes something like this. A new technology appears. Those who fear the sweeping changes brought about by this technology see a sky that is about to fall. These "techno-pessimists" predict the death of the old order (which, ironically, is often a previous generation's hotly-debated technology that others wanted slowed or stopped). Embracing this new technology, they fear, will result in the overthrow of traditions, beliefs, values, institutions, business models, and much else they hold sacred. The pollyannas, by contrast, look out at the unfolding landscape and see mostly rainbows in the air. Theirs is a rose-colored world in which the technological revolution du jour is seen as improving the general lot of mankind and bringing about a better order. If something has to give, then the old ways be damned! For such "techno-optimists," progress means some norms and institutions must adapt-perhaps even disappear-for society to continue its march forward. Our current Information Revolution is no different. It too has its share of techno-pessimists and techno-optimists. Indeed, before most of us had even heard of the Internet, people were already fighting about it-or at least debating what the rise of the Information Age meant for our culture, society, and economy."

does Kurtopia need someone to mow the lawn?

no, but we do need someone to take our throm-dib-u-lator apart though

"This site is about using the principles of Open Source software development to shape the world and the society we live in. I propose that wherever possible work is organized using these ideas and mechanisms. Whenever something is needed by an individual or a group, they will start a project and make it happen, no matter whether it is a children's playground in their neighbourhood or a law affecting the region they live in. This way, work is done by those who need the results and they are motivated as in open source projects."

"Life is full of bugs. No matter how carefully planned, no matter how much time went into design, any project is going to have unforseen issues when the rubber hits the road in the implementation stage. And that's okay. Perhaps the best measure of resiliency for any organization is not how well they handle things when everything is functioning as planned, but rather, how they handle the speed bumps when they come along"

"As smart devices advance, they deliver more detailed, actionable data, but it's doubtful whether they will actually make any significant difference in our lives."

"Hack-A-Week is an event my team at Red Hat runs every year to encourage innovation. During that week engineers can work on any project they choose. After the week is over, each engineer gives a short presentation on what they worked on. Some examples are:"

"As 2015 draws to a close, it is time to share a list of the best 20 Free and Open Source Software I found during this year. Some of these programs may not be new in that they weren't released for the first time in 2015, but they are new and have been helpful to me. It is in the spirit of sharing that I'm writing this article hoping you find some of these programs useful as well."

"Jul 06, 2016 By Doc Searls in Community Identity kernel Privacy I believe the best and worst thing about Linux is its hard distinction between kernel space and user space. Without that distinction, Linux never would have become the most leveraged operating system in the world. Today, Linux has the largest range of uses for the largest number of users-most of whom have no idea they are using Linux when they search for something on Google or poke at their Android phones. Even Apple stuff wouldn't be what it is (for example, using BSD in its computers) were it not for Linux's success. "

" ...For some, the freedom enjoyed by using Linux is the freedom from vendor lock-in or high software costs. Most would call this a practical consideration. Others users would tell you the freedom they enjoy is software freedom. This means embracing Linux distributions that support the Free Software Movement, avoiding proprietary software completely and all things related. In this article, I'll walk you through some of the differences between these two freedoms and how they affect Linux usage. ...."

"by Richard Stallman There are organizations that proclaim support for free software or the GNU Project, and teach classes in use of nonfree software. It's possible that they do some other things that really support free software, but those classes certainly don't. On the contrary, they work directly against the free software movement by promoting the use of the nonfree software. That increases the magnitude of the practical problem it is our mission to correct."

"Organizations of all kinds have long struggled to accurately measure the performance of individual members. The typical approach is to assess an individual's performance against a metric usually tied to whether or not they performed a task and the amount of output they generated by doing so. There's a lot riding on these assessments:"

"But what about the kinds of jobs where measuring someone's "output" isn't about counting the number of widgets they produced, but rather it's about how they managed a team or influenced others or helped people collaborate better? While it might be easy to measure someone's output on an assembly line, how do we decide how well a manager manages or a leader leads?"

[... So armed with some information and just as much misinformation, I set out to study the options open to us Linux users. I mean, in my heart of hearts, I didn't think that virus and malware threats are near as prevalent on Linux as they are on Windows, but it turns out that several antivirus companies did not agree, to the point that they created antivirus programs for Linux too. ...]

"What OpenAI Will Do OpenAI's researchers will be encouraged to publish their work, and any patents awarded will be shared with everyone. They will collaborate freely with both institutions and corporate entities. Today's AI systems are outstanding when it comes to pattern recognition problems, but they're limited to those. OpenAI plans to work to remove those constraints until computers eventually can reach human performance on virtually every intellectual task, Brockman and Sutskever wrote. Doing so correctly could be of huge benefit -- or it could cause incalculable harm. OpenAI's investors consider it important to have a leading research institution that "can prioritize a good outcome for all over its own self-interest," they said. "

"Fri, 09/12/2014 - 02:51 -- Umar Farooq There two different types of values Define Cultural Values Cultural values are hereditary and form core of the culture. List of cultural values include customs, rituals conventions, styles and fashions which are remain in the core culture. The values hold supreme position among them. These values give a shape to the culture and the society. These are very difficult to change because they remain in embedded of social institutions and the social norms. These are the ideals of society. These are remain in the memory of our elders, in old books, in religious and ethical literature. These are sometimes, referred as the values of the old people or the values of the past. They can -be said as the traditions of our life. The deviation from cultural values creates serious social problems. If these are ignored in social life there will be a gap between 'two generations and the son will be separated from his father. But it happens seldom in rapidly changing societies. The neurotic conditions develop due to dissatisfaction in social conditions which lead to frustration."

"Anybody who has been paying attention to the net over the last week or so will certainly have noticed an abundance of articles with titles like "How to hack any Linux machine just using backspace". All this press does indeed highlight an important vulnerability, but it may not be the one that they think they are talking about."