US Alleges Full Tilt Poker Was Ponzi Scheme

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21 September 2011
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The US Justice Department on Tuesday accused poker celebrities Howard Lederer and Christopher Ferguson among other executives of a major poker website of defrauding poker players out of more than $300 million.

The US Attorney in the Southern District of New York filed a motion Tuesday to amend an earlier civil complaint to allege that Mr Ferguson, Mr Lederer and two other directors for the website, Full Tilt Poker, operated what the Justice Department says was a Ponzi scheme that allowed the company to pay out $444 million to themselves and other owners, which included other famous poker players — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Computer Gamers Help Solve AIDS Protein Problem

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20 September 2011
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At last, there is hard evidence that video gamers can help save the real world. A group of scientists, after failing to solve the crystal structure of a protein involved in AIDS, challenged players of the protein-folding game Foldit to try.

The players were able to create what the scientists described as models of sufficient quality for the scientists to complete the structure.

The scientists hail from the University of Washington, A. Mickiewicz University in Poland, the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The crowdsourcing effort is described in a research paper, Crystal Structure of a Monomeric Retroviral Protease Solved By Protein Folding Game Players, published in the current issue of Nature — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Domain name record smashed after schoolboy error

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16 September 2011
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The record for the most expensive .com.au domain name was broken today after the owner of investmentproperty.com.au let the name expire and it was snapped up at auction for $125,000.

Mark Lye, CEO of Netfleet, the domain name aftermarket where the name was sold, said the final price was quite exceptional but the previous owners who let it expire would be kicking themselves.

It’s a schoolboy error really for a domain of that value to not renew it in time, he said — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Dab hands: Sydney duo revolutionise fingerprint technology

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16 September 2011
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It takes half a day for forensic scientists to recover fingerprints at a crime scene — but a new innovation by Australian researchers could cut it down to just seconds using a cheap, handheld device.

Forensic science honours students — Adam Brown and Daniel Sommerville — at Sydney’s University of Technology found they could identify fingerprints on porous materials such as paper just by heating it — doing away with the need for chemicals.

The technology has been developed into a cheap, portable device by UK forensic equipment company Foster + Freeman and is being trialled by law enforcement organisations and militaries across the world — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Trolling: Who does it and why?

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16 September 2011
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An internet troll has been jailed for mocking dead teenagers on various websites. Public figures, including Stephen Fry and Miranda Hart, have also been victims of trolling. So what is it and why do people do it?

For some the word derives from a fishing term for towing bait behind a boat, for others it comes from the Norse monsters. But today trolling is more likely to involve a keyboard and mouse than a trawler, and if not a monster, it is a very modern menace.

Opponents might characterise it as the internet equivalent of road rage, vandalising a grave, or kicking a man when he’s down.

Trolling is a phenomenon that has swept across websites in recent years. Online forums, Facebook pages and newspaper comment forms are bombarded with insults, provocations or threats. Supporters argue it’s about humour, mischief and freedom of speech. But for many the ferocity and personal nature of the abuse verges on hate speech.

In its most extreme form it is a criminal offence. On Tuesday Sean Duffy was jailed for 18 weeks after posting offensive messages and videos on tribute pages about young people who had died. One of those he targeted was 15-year-old Natasha MacBryde, who had been killed by a train. I fell asleep on the track lolz was one of the messages he left on a Facebook page set up by her family — via redwolf.newsvine.com

NASA unveils its chosen Shuttle successor

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16 September 2011
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NASA has announced plans for a massive rocket based on recycled space shuttle technology, intended to launch manned missions beyond Earth orbit in decades to come.

The Space Launch System (SLS) will make use of a central first stage equipped with no less than five shuttle main engines (the now-retired orbiter spaceplanes mounted only three) flanked by strap-on solid boosters of the same kind which used to be attached to the shuttle’s disposable fuel tank. These might be replaced in time by liquid-fuelled models. Rather than bringing the central engines back for re-use, however, the SLS will discard them every time it is launched.

If at first you can’t afford it …

A similarly disposable and likewise liquid-fuelled upper stage will employ J-2X engines derived from the Apollo programme which sent men to the Moon in the 1960s and 70s. NASA thinks that the first SLS test flight might come as early as 2017, and that an initial ability to hoist 70 tonnes into orbit could be gradually increased to 130 tonnes, somewhat more than the mighty Saturn Vs of yesteryear — via redwolf.newsvine.com

PayPal to move into the shop – without cards or NFC

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16 September 2011
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PayPal is consigning the shop till to the dustbin in a way that could completely wipe Visa and MasterCard out of the shopping equation.

The website is gearing up to allow punters to pay for products in-store by scanning barcodes with a mobile, and allow payments to be authorised with a phone number — among other new features.

Merchants will be able to push location-based adverts and vouchers, and the site will offer a buy-now-pay-later service. What’s more, there’s no demand for an NFC chip.

Some strategic start-up acquisitions, including the snapping up of BillMeLater.com and shop search website Milo.com, have given PayPal the firepower to break into these new areas — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Tomboy: Simple note taking

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14 September 2011
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If you’re looking for a utility that’s more powerful than a text editor but lighter on the system than one of the more robust web-enabled utilities, consider Tomboy, a free, open-source note taking utility that supports Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. Tomboy supports linked notes, easy editing and quick search, and even syncing notes to Ubuntu One so they’re accessible on other systems

theSkyNet launched, set to spread online

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14 September 2011
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Western Australian researchers today switched on a citizen science project dubbed theSkyNet, hoping that it will spread to computers throughout Australia.

Despite the similarity in name between the artificial intelligence software from the Terminator series, theSkyNet has no possibility of becoming self-aware and destroying humanity. Rather, its purpose is to use the combined computing power of personal computers to help analyse and interpret radio signals received from space.

Science and Innovation Minister John Day, who was one of the first to log on to theSkyNet, said that, by connecting hundreds and thousands of computers together through the internet, it will be possible to simulate a single machine capable of processing signals from space, so they can be used by scientists to support their work — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Internet troll jailed after mocking deaths of teenagers

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14 September 2011
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An internet troll who posted videos and messages mocking the deaths of teenagers, including a girl hit by a train, has been jailed.

Sean Duffy, 25, targeted Facebook tribute pages and posted videos on YouTube taunting the dead and their families.

Among his victims was Natasha MacBryde, 15, who died instantly when hit by a passenger train near her home in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.

The day after Natasha’s death in February, Duffy posted comments including I fell asleep on the track lolz on the Facebook tribute page created by her brother James, 17.

Four days later he created a YouTube video called Tasha the Tank Engine featuring her face superimposed on to the front of the fictional engine — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Filesharing service sues Warner Bros for copyright fraud

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14 September 2011
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The battle over software and video piracy took a turn yesterday when a Florida file hosting service sued Warner Brothers for allegedly engaging in copyright fraud and abuse of anti-piracy laws. Hotfile accuses the Warner Bros of using the hosting company’s anti-piracy tools to remove titles the studio doesn’t own, including open source software. Hotfile is asking a court to make it whole for the losses they claim Warner Bros caused.

The suit is in response to a ruling in a related case. This spring, Warner joined with four other studios and the Motion Picture Association of America to sue Hotfile for facilitating illegal file transfers. Two weeks ago, a judge ruled that Hotfile must release detailed information about its users and affiliates. Hotfile’s countersued yesterday, alleging copyright fraud — via redwolf.newsvine.com

DomainCrawler

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13 September 2011
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The DomainCrawler project started in October 2006 when Rickard Vikström had a vision of creating a database with domain/SEO-related information that, in contrast to other sites, also focused on a wide variety of ccTLDs.

During about a years time, we accumulated a large list of domain names and developed tools to gather information about them. In November 2007 we launched version 1.0 which was a really limited version compared to the services which we offer now

Anti-Piracy Lobby Misleads Aussie Press for Three-Strikes Campaign

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13 September 2011
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Undeterred by a stream of negative PR from recent WikiLeaks revelations, the anti-piracy lobby machine once again scored favourable headlines in Australia today. In its push to get ISPs onboard for a three-strikes system to warn copyright infringers, lobby group IPAF released a study that reveals how immensely effective this would be. However, the entire press release is a cheap marketing trick with mispresented research results that actually prove the opposite.

The MPA(A) is trying to get a tight grip on piracy in Australia, mainly through affiliate groups such as AFACT. Recently published cables by Wikileaks revealed how Hollywood is secretly pushing their agenda down under.

After the failed attempt at making ISP iiNet responsible for the copyright infringements of its file-sharing customers, the anti-piracy lobby groups are now once again calling for a three-strikes system. Today a new study surfaced which, on the surface, suggests that these warnings would be very effective as a deterrent — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Jelly batteries: Safer, cheaper, smaller, more powerful

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12 September 2011
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A new polymer jelly could be the next big step forward for lithium batteries.

The jelly replaces the volatile and hazardous liquid electrolyte currently used in most lithium batteries.

Researchers from the University of Leeds hope their development leads to smaller, cheaper and safer gadgets.

Once on the market, the lithium jelly batteries could allow lighter laptop computers, and more efficient electric cars — via redwolf.newsvine.com

I Don’t Care About Your Profits, And It Enrages Me That You Think I Should

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12 September 2011
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Every time changes to the copyright monopoly are considered, the profits of major entertainment industry companies are at the centre of the discussion. Even the people who fiercely defend the right to share information freely are going to extreme lengths to argue that this will not hurt the revenues of the copyright industry. But why are these profits even relevant? Why should we care about the profits of these companies?

It is almost apologetic. Apologetic for defending the civil rights that our ancestors fought, bled and died to give us, their children and grandchildren.

Thinking about what hurts and doesn’t hurt sales misses the point entirely. A corporation’s profits must never be at the centre of policymaking, much less the centre of determining what fundamental civil liberties we have as free citizens — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Senator Introduces Online Security Bill

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11 September 2011
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Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, introduced a new bill Thursday that aims to protect citizens’ personal information from online data breaches. The bill would also punish companies that are careless with customers’ information.

The goal of the proposed law is essentially to hold accountable the companies and entities that store personal information and personal data and to deter data breaches, Senator Blumenthal said in a phone interview. While looking at past data breaches, I’ve been struck with how many are preventable.

The new bill, called the Personal Data Protection and Breach Accountability Act of 2011, comes at a time when online privacy and security are hot topics in Congress. The White House has also been involved in discussions around new online privacy rules and legislation — via redwolf.newsvine.com

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