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Xerox WorkCentre PJL Daemon Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

As a kid, I used to go to a lot of amusement parks. I actually spent a couple summers at a camp that basically drove around the east coast from amusement park to amusement park. After a while, you become pretty familiar with the "standard" rides -- and while different amusement parks have different themes, the rides follow a basic theme, and that's actually a good thing. You do see variations on those themes, as different providers differentiate and tweak different designs to make them better and even more enjoyable. But, these days, that's becoming more and more difficult because, you guessed it, amusement park ride-makers are using patents to stop competitors.

Reader Jerry S points us to the story of how Cedar Point, one of the more famous amusement parks around (yeah, I went there too) might run itself into a legal fight because it wants to buy a ride called the Wind Seeker, made by Dutch firm Mondial. The only problem is that competing ride maker Funtime Group, from Australia, makes a ride called the StarFlyer, on which they hold a patent (7666103), and they say that the Wind Seeker infringes. Also, Funtime claims that it'll be suing Cedar Point -- though, oddly, it has no plans to sue Mondial.

Now this is actually a case where Mondial admits, straight up, that it came up with this ride as a response to StarFlyer, saying they were getting requests from customers for a ride like StarFlyer, but which functioned better in more windy conditions (hence the name Wind Seeker, perhaps). And this is exactly how innovation is supposed to work. You have one product that doesn't fully meet the needs of clients, even if it has some nice features, and so competitors come along and tweak it and innovate... and the originator is supposed to come along and innovate on top of that as well. Sitting back and threatening to sue for patent infringement isn't innovation at all.

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[ GLSA 201009-06 ] Clam AntiVirus: Multiple vulnerabilities

[SECURITY] [DSA-2105-1] New freetype packages fix several vulnerabilities

[security bulletin] HPSBMA02574 SSRT100038 rev.1 - HP ProLiant G6 Lights-Out 100, Remote Management, Denial of Service (DoS)

Re: etax 2010 failure to validate remote ssl certificate properly

News, Infocus, Columns, Vulnerabilities, Bugtraq ...

eldavojohn writes "News is out of BP's report on the gulf spill that shifts some of the blame on to other companies like Transocean that worked with BP in erecting the Deepwater Horizon rig. If you were affected by the spill, you might find the video, executive summary and 193 page report an interesting read. The summary outlines six or seven major failures in safety and engineering that all built up to the deaths of eleven workers and widespread contamination of the gulf. From incorrectly using seawater instead of drilling fluid to misinterpreting pressure test results, this report is just BP's side of the story as the blowout preventer has been pulled up and is still on its way to NASA where it will be analyzed by government investigators who will be able to compile their own report."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

I'll have a post forthcoming sometime soon about a very interesting book on the value of companies being able to imitate and build on the work of others, but there are times when you can see it in action. Jack Everitt points us to a short, but fascinating blog post by a guy working with contract manufacturers in China. While there, he went around looking at some of the gray-to-black market products built in China with no regards for intellectual property laws and found some unique, but interesting combinations: Walk around the electronics markets in Shenzhen and you'll see these devices. I saw a great iRobot-branded iPad knock-off with the Android character on it, which was a pretty excellent combination of three brands.

But here's one I really liked: the G1-on-the-outside + iPhone-on-the-inside smartphone. Of course, the traditionalists will be horrified at this sort of blatant "copying," but these kinds of "mashups," while certainly not legal, are actually an interesting way to experiment and potentially innovate, by not being hindered and held back by artificial rules that block such interesting combinations. As the blogger notes: It's easy to dismiss these products as the work of cheats and counterfeiters, but that is only half the story. A lot of innovation is occurring in the Pearl River Delta, unencumbered by law and protocol. As an entrepreneur here in the USA, it is fascinating to observe this kind of hardscrabble creativity playing out in different ways in different places. I think this even undersells the importance of understanding what's going on here. China is an increasingly important player in the technology space -- and, yes, much of the work they do today is imitation and copying, but it certainly isn't always that way, and it won't be in the future. Because these firms are able to experiment and innovate, where firms in other countries are blocked, just watch and see how future generations of innovation from China will come out ahead. They have the opportunity to experiment and increment and (most importantly) learn from what happens when you do that -- while those of us elsewhere are held back for no good reason at all.

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Young people at The University of Baltimore will be able to study the zombie condition thanks to the newly available English 333. Students in the class will watch 16 classic zombie films and read zombie comics. Instead of writing a final research paper they may write a script or draw storyboards for their own zombie movie. Unfortunately the class doesn't seems to cover brain appreciation.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Jamie is helping bring our childhood fantasies/nightmares to life with a link that says "Andrei Rhode, a researcher involved with the project, said that existing optical tweezers are able to move particles the size of a bacterium a few millimeters in a liquid. Their new technique can move objects one hundred times that size over a distance of a meter or more."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader writes "European Parliament today adopted Written Declaration 12/2010 which basically tells the Commission to all but drop the negotiations. From the article: 'Citizens from all around Europe helped to raise awareness about ACTA among Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) by collecting, one by one, more than 369 [of the MEPs'] signatures. With Written Declaration 12/20103, the European Parliament as a whole takes a firm position to oppose the un-democratic process of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), and its content harmful to fundamental freedoms and the Internet ecosystem.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

With Kinect set to launch in North America on November 4, Microsoft has announced a bundle that will see the controller-free device bundled with an Xbox 360 and a game. The bundle will be available at launch and will cost $399.

In addition to the Kinect hardware, you'll get a shiny new 250GB 360 slim and a copy of Kinect Adventures. With the 250GB 360 model retailing at $250 and Kinect soon to be available for $150, the bundle offers up modest savings for those buying their first 360. It might also be a good option for those who have an older 360 model and are looking to upgrade. Of course, it's not the only option available, as Microsoft has already previously announced a 4GB 360/Kinect bundle that will cost $299.

When Kinect launches later this year, a total of 15 games will be available, including Kinect Sports, Kinectimals, and Harmonix's Dance Central. If you don't feel like waiting for your motion controls, the PlayStation Move will be available later this month.

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With Kinect set to launch in North America on November 4, Microsoft has announced a bundle that will see the controller-free device bundled with an Xbox 360 and a game. The bundle will be available at launch and will cost $399.

Image courtesy Joystiq

In addition to the Kinect hardware, you'll get a shiny new 250GB 360 slim and a copy of Kinect Adventures. With the 250GB 360 model retailing at $250 and Kinect soon to be available for $150, the bundle offers up modest savings for those buying their first 360. It might also be a good option for those who have an older 360 model and are looking to upgrade. Of course, it's not the only option available, as Microsoft has already previously announced a 4GB 360/Kinect bundle that will cost $299.

When Kinect launches later this year, a total of 15 games will be available, including Kinect Sports, Kinectimals, and Harmonix's Dance Central. If you don't feel like waiting for your motion controls, the PlayStation Move will be available later this month.

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[ GLSA 201009-05 ] Adobe Reader: Multiple vulnerabilities

Even with Craigslist censoring itself due to ridiculous public pressure, and even though it's pretty clear that this action will only make things much worse for victims, the so-called "public interest groups" that pushed this misguided media campaign against Craigslist still don't think they've done enough damage. They sent me press releases three times yesterday patting themselves on the back for Craigslist censoring itself and then demanding that it do even more. This is unfortunate, no matter how you look at it. These groups can't seem to admit that blaming the tool rather than the actual people involved only makes the problem worse. Their inability to recognize the basic consequences of moving this activity to other forums that don't cooperate with law enforcement and make it much harder to stop these activities is really quite upsetting. Blaming the tool providers for the actions of users doesn't stop the actions, at all. It just makes it that much harder to do anything. People patting themselves on the back for getting Craigslist to censor itself are worsening the problem they think they're solving.

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Tootech writes "Julian Assange has requested a new lawyer to represent him during a rape investigation in Sweden because his previous brief, Leif Silbersky, was not engaged enough with the case. Assange wants Bjorn Hurtig to represent him as authorities continue to investigate the allegations, according to AP. Assange told Sweden's TV4 that he had never blamed the CIA for the "smears""

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Amazon has bought AmieStreet.com, the indie music site that became known for starting its song prices at zero and increasing them with each download. Amie Street, Inc. (which remains independent) said that it plans to shift its focus onto its own social music streaming service, Songza.com.

Amie Street launched in July 2006 as a bit player in the online music scene. At that time, it was one of the only services that offered DRM-free MP3s, and the pricing structure was very attractive to those looking to explore new music. Songs started out free, but as more and more people bought a particular song, the price would go up a few cents, with a cap of 99¢ per download.

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Amazon has bought AmieStreet.com, the indie music site that became known for starting its song prices at zero and increasing them with each download. Amie Street, Inc. (which remains independent) said that it plans to shift its focus onto its own social music streaming service, Songza.com.

Amie Street launched in July 2006 as a bit player in the online music scene. At that time, it was one of the only services that offered DRM-free MP3s, and the pricing structure was very attractive to those looking to explore new music. Songs started out free, but as more and more people bought a particular song, the price would go up a few cents, with a cap of 99¢ per download.

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sciencehabit writes "To find out if certain dance moves are more attractive to women than others, researchers recruited a bunch of college guys and used motion-capture to create avatars of them dancing. When women watched the avatars (2 videos included in story), the men they found most attractive were those who kept their heads and torsos moving without flailing their arms and legs. The researchers say dancing is thus an honest signal to women of the man's strength and health, just as it is in crabs and hummingbirds, who also move in special ways to attract mates."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.