Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner passenger jet may have a serious security vulnerability in its onboard computer networks that could allow passengers to access the plane's control systems, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

The computer network in the Dreamliner's passenger compartment, designed to give passengers in-flight internet access, is connected to the plane's control, navigation and communication systems, an FAA report reveals.

How f*#king stupid can people be?

How about we put the controls for all of the nuclear power plants on the Internet? Oh, wait, we've already done that!

grrrr, just makes me want to give up.

FAA: Boeing's New 787 May Be Vulnerable to Hacker Attack

The 2GB and 4GB versions will be available early in 2008; 8GB and 16GB versions are expected out later in 2008 or in 2009. All versions are designed to work within the new Intel "Menlow" platform (which includes the "Silverthorne" processor and the "Poulsbo" chip set) for mobile devices, Larson said.

Larson said the new drive will be used in laptops, PDAs, GPS devices, digital phones, gaming machines—the whole gamut of IT devices.

"We project that we'll be producing 64GB versions of this by 2010," Larson said. "NAND is really at the gates to replace disk hard drives, although this will still take some time."

How come when I read this do I start to think about the "Terminator" movie series?

Intel Unveils Low-Power SSD for Portable Devices

unmanaged wrote:

The individual AMT law, intended in 1969 to affect only the wealthy, has not been updated to account for inflation. It is now affecting 21 million middle-income earners – exemptions for this demographic have expired. Congress is currently debating re-authorizing these exemptions, so the law is in limbo. Once the law is approved, the IRS could take seven weeks to start processing returns, delaying refunds for those who file early.

Damit... I hate the IRS and our silly d*&^% wagging government... I will never be rich so this does not really apply to me ...

Really, what is "wealthy"?

If you are earning 100,000/year, is that wealthy?

Take a look at the info below:

Inflation in my adult years increased average prices 1,000% or more -
example 1: a postage stamp in the 1950s cost 3 cents; today's cost is 41 cents - 1,266% inflation;
example 2: a gallon of 90 Octane full-service gasoline cost 18 cents before; today it is $3.05 for self-service - 1,870 % inflation;
example 3: a house in 1959 cost $14,100; today's median price is $213,000 - 1,400% inflation;
example 4: a dental crown used to cost $40; today it's $1,100 - 2,750% inflation;
example 5: an ice cream cone in 1950 cost 5 cents; today its $2.50 - 4,900% inflation;
example 6: monthly government Medicare insurance premiums paid by seniors was $5.30 in 1970; its now $93.50 - 1,664% inflation; (and up 70% past 5 years)
example: several generations ago a person worked 1.4 months per year to pay for government; he now works 5 months.
And in the past, one wage-earner families lived well and built savings with minimal debt, many paying off their home and college-educating children without loans. How about today?

taken from http://mwhodges.home.att.net/inflation.htm

RE: File Early, Get F&*^ED!

OpenDNS protects more than a million people a day across hundreds of thousands of schools, businesses and homes as they navigate the Internet. We block phishing sites and give you the power to block adult sites, proxies and individual domains.

If you're wanting to control where your children go, this isn't a "fix-all" solution, however, OpenDNS does fix url typos, help reduce the internet phishing sites that come into your home network and generally work very quickly and efficiently.

Best of all, it's free. I've been an OpenDNS member for over a year, and love it. It's worth a look.

I say so. :)

OpenDNS | Providing A Safer And Faster Internet

Slovak and Hungarian police seized enriched uranium that could be used in a "dirty bomb" when they arrested three traffickers in a joint operation, officials said Thursday.

"According to preliminary information, the material could have been used to make a so-called dirty bomb," Slovak deputy police president Michal Kopcik told a news conference in Bratislava.

The traffickers wanted 1.6 million dollars for the 481.4 grammes of material, Kopcik said. It contained uranium-235, the type used in nuclear reactors and nuclear warheads, and the naturally occuring uranium-238.

So it begins... (again)

AFP: Slovak police say 'dirty bomb' uranium seized

The city has issued a "request for qualifications" from companies interested in supplying "duodote auto injection nerve agent antidotes" needed to increase the "chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive preparedness" for Chicago's first responders. The kits would be used if "nerve agent or other weapons of mass destruction" were used in an attack on the city, the bid documents state.

Kevin Smith, of the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications, refused to say how many antidotes the city was seeking to buy with federal funds. He would only say they'll be an improvement over the current version.

This is just me speculating, but "what does Chicago know that we don't" comes to mind...

It's either they are the "hotbed" of terrorist targets, or some other driver is causing Chicago to run out and spend their taxpayer dollars on Nerve Agent Antidote. (which, by the way, is an oxymoron. Nerve Agent effects are permanent.)

City upgrading stockpile of nerve agent antidote :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Metro & Tri-State

One of the nation's most aggressive attempts to limit the mobility of convicted sex offenders was struck down yesterday, as the Georgia Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the state's law restricting where they may live.

...

"It is apparent that there is no place in Georgia where a registered sex offender can live without continually being at risk of being ejected," the ruling said.

The Georgia law had been considered one of the most comprehensive in the nation, not only for the breadth of its residency limits but also because it covered even the mildest types of sex offender, such as those convicted of having consensual sex acts as high school students.

Finally, some sanity out of the Georgia lawmakers...

Georgia Court Rejects Law on Sex Offenders - washingtonpost.com

ubernoir wrote:

Human skin cells have been reprogrammed by two groups of scientists to mimic embryonic stem cells with the potential to become any tissue in the body.

The breakthrough promises a plentiful new source of cells for use in research into new treatments for many diseases.

I've since read this link, and several others, found it highlighted in my local paper today, and I pray that this is the next step forward in engineering cells to provide replacement organs without having to deal with the religious right, and their agenda.

I'm very interested to see if brain neurons can be re-grown to assist Alzheimer patients regain their memories...

This is nothing short of amazing... and I'm glad to see these advances...

RE: BBC NEWS | Health | Skin transformed into stem cells

In order to transition NetBank accounts over to ING DIRECT, a system conversion will be taking place. Any balance that you have in your NetBank account(s) at the end of the day on December 7th 2007 will be converted to an ING DIRECT account(s).

As a result of the conversion:

* All NetBank ATM and VISA® Check card(s) will be de-activated effective November 23rd 2007.
* Bill Payments will no longer be processed effective December 7th 2007. Any bill payments with a scheduled date after December 7th 2007 will not be made. Please do not schedule any new payments to be made after this date as they will not be processed.
* To help ensure you receive all your bills in paper form and make your payments on time, we encourage you to deactivate all Electronic Bill Presentments you may currently have set up.
* NetBank paper checks will no longer be processed after March 1st, 2008. For your convenience, any outstanding paper checks written against your NetBank account(s) prior to December 8, 2007 will continue to be accepted and processed through March 1, 2008.
o Prior to December 8th, 2007, all paper checks will be cleared against your NetBank account(s).
o After December 8th, 2007, all paper checks will be cleared against the new ING DIRECT account(s) that is established for you.

So, the reason I opened a netbank account about 5 years ago, was to use a Visa Check Card. Since that time, my credit score dipped from a few mistakes on my part.

Now, ING won't keep me on as a customer.

I just spoke to them, they pulled my credit and informed me that I cannot be a customer of theirs.

When I called and requested a copy of the credit report, they told me that they don't have it and that I would have to contact Equifax to obtain it. I informed them that I have the right to see the data that they used to make the underwriting decision per the FCRA, and this fell on deaf ears.

So, the long story short, ING doesn't want anyone with less than a 700 point FICA score, yet another in the long line of capitalist giants that has destroyed something good.

ING, fuck you and thanks for nothing... I'm firing you now.

Decius wrote:
It did not "just work." Within a few minutes I'm googling around for long winded explanations of how I have to configure this and compile that and download this other thing in order to get this OS working on this extremely ubiquitous hardware.

This HOWTO describes how to get Wifi working on your Dell Inspiron E1505/6400 laptop using Ndiswrapper.

Im sorry, but if in 2007 you STILL have to compile something in order to get a basic thing like wireless networking working on an extremely popular hardware platform, LINUX WILL NEVER BE SUCCESSFUL ON THE DESKTOP.

I would concur with your perception. I installed Ubuntu Gutzy Gibbon on my new Lenovo T61, and sorry to say, it just works.

I don't see a need to move to a proprietary laptop (osx) to run an operating system. If I was closer in miles, I'd volunteer to fix it for you. I love my Ubuntu, and at work, all the mac users are jealous of the graphics that I have, compared to the $$$$ they shelled out to get a mac.

RE: Ubuntu sucks, nothing has changed.