CommentRe:remove battery? (Score 1)139

by phasm42on Wednesday April 21, 2010 @12:59PM (#31925784) Attached to: Legal Spying Via the Cell Phone System

Is it true that the gubmint can track the location of my cellie even when it's off? Or do I really need to disconnect the battery?

It's theoretically possible since it's a soft power-off. Hypothetically, the phone could still be operating while giving the appearance of being turned off. By the same token, it could be taking pictures and transmitting audio even when you're not on a call and not using the camera, or even when "off". Whether this is ever actually done, I don't know.

xkcd, Devotion To Duty167

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday February 22, 2010 @12:39PM from the a-different-breed dept.

xkcd really hit the nail on the head today.

CommentRe:Just Like When He Led Microsoft (Score 1)841

by phasm42on Thursday February 05, 2009 @10:26AM (#26736689) Attached to: Bill Gates Unleashes Swarm of Mosquitoes

He only pretended to release a jar of mosquitoes. Which is actually kinda disappointing.

CommentRe:bullshit (Score 1)625

by phasm42on Tuesday January 20, 2009 @12:56PM (#26530403) Attached to: Single Drive Wipe Protects Data

A format does not wipe

I think this is worth repeating. There is a common misconception that while a quickformat does not wipe the drive, a regular format does. Both types of formats only write enough information to initialize the filesystem, and leave other sectors untouched. The only difference is that a regular format verifies the readability of all (or at least most) sectors within the partition before initializing the filesystem.

CommentArticle summary (Score 4, Insightful)785

by phasm42on Wednesday December 31, 2008 @11:07AM (#26279837) Attached to: Microsoft Zunes Committing Mass Suicide

Micro$oft 30Mb Zune

Nice to see the editors are on the job.

CommentRe:I thought VMWare already did that (Score 4, Interesting)374

by phasm42on Monday December 22, 2008 @01:10PM (#26202275) Attached to: VirtualBox 2.1 Supports 64-Bit VM In 32-Bit Host

I have a Core2 Duo running 32-bit Windows, with 64-bit Ubuntu Linux running in VMWare Server. I've been doing this for nearly two years now, no problems at all.

Printers Vulnerable To Security Threats173

Posted by kdawson on Thursday January 18, 2007 @12:18PM from the infected-my-what? dept.

jcatcw writes "Networked printers are more vulnerable to attack than many organizations realize. Symantec has logged vulnerabilities in five brands of network printers. Printers outside firewalls, for ease of remote printing, may also be open to easy remote code execution. They can be possible launching pads for attacks on the rest of the network. Disabling services that aren't needed and keeping up with patches are first steps to securing them." From the article: "Security experts say that printers are loaded with more complex applications than ever, running every vulnerable service imaginable, with little or no risk management or oversight.... [N]etworked printers need to be treated like servers or workstations for security purposes — not like dumb peripherals."

Submission+-Wii outselling PS3 in Japan

Submitted by saintory on Wednesday January 10, 2007 @09:24AM

saintory writes: Apparently the Japanese console consumers are sinking their teeth into the modest Wii and are not as interested in the power-packed PS3. According to the article:
Enterbrain... said that about 980,000 Wii units had been sold as of the end of 2006, while Sony Computer Entertainment had sold only 460,000 of its PlayStation 3 consoles, signifying a clear win for Nintendo.