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Next-Gen JavaScript Interpreter Speeds Up WebKit
Posted: June 3rd, 2008, 8:48pm CEST by timothy
Tags: programming
JavaScript is everywhere these days. Now WebKit, the framework behind (among others) Safari and Safari Mobile, as well as the yet-unreleased Android, is getting a new JavaScript engine called Squirrelfish, which the developers claim provides massive speedups over the previous one. The current iteration of the engine is "just the beginning," they claim; in the near future, six planned optimizations should bring even greater speed. With JavaScript surviving as a Web-page mainstay despite many early gripes, and now integral to some low-powered mobile devices, this may mean many fewer wasted seconds in the world. -
Sony Announces "Qore" Playstation Bundle
Posted: June 3rd, 2008, 8:21pm CEST by ScuttleMonkey
Tags: sony
Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced a new subscription-based, multimedia, Playstation bundle that promises to feature developer interviews, game previews, demos, betas, and add-ons all delivered in high definition. Supposedly hitting the streets on June 5th, "Qore," seems an awful lot like paying to get more advertising. Hopefully the playable gems make this (admittedly cheap) service worth it.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Apple Releases Mac OS X Leopard Security Guide
Posted: June 3rd, 2008, 3:49pm CEST by timothy
Tags: security
Wormfan writes to share ZDNet's brief mention of and a link to "Apple's release of a ~250 page PDF of security best-practices and tips to protect Mac OS X Leopard clients. The guide is aimed at experienced users, Apple says, familiar with the Terminal application and its command-line interface."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Schneier Asks Why We Accept Fax Signatures
Posted: June 3rd, 2008, 3:31pm CEST by timothy
Tags: security
Bruce Schneier's latest commentary looks into one of my pet peeves: faxed signature requirements. He writes "Aren't fax signatures the weirdest thing? It's trivial to cut and paste -- with real scissors and glue -- anyone's signature onto a document so that it'll look real when faxed. There is so little security in fax signatures that it's mind-boggling that anyone accepts them. Yet people do, all the time. I've signed book contracts, credit card authorizations, nondisclosure..." It's amazing how organizations are sometimes willing to accept low-quality, unverified scans delivered over POTS as authoritative, when they won't take the same information in a high-resolution scan delivered over (relatively secure) email.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Behind the Scenes At Sony's NOC
Posted: June 3rd, 2008, 9:03am CEST by kdawson
Tags: rpg
VonGuard writes "Earlier this year, I spoke to Mark Rizzo, the man who manages the people who run Sony's online game servers. Rizzo learned the ropes of MMO hosting back on Ultima Online, and we chatted about where the tough problems were then versus now. Rizzo compares the operation to a 24/7 scientific simulation, albeit with some sassier and more involved end-users. His favorite innovation since those early days? Rapidly provisioning and deploying Linux installations tailor-made to their purposes. Here's my article on Rizzo and his band of 50-some-odd sysadmin-cum-dungeon-masters, written for the new newspaper The Systems Management News."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Researchers Simplify Quantum Cryptography
Posted: June 3rd, 2008, 6:32am CEST by kdawson
Tags: security
Stony Stevenson writes "Quantum cryptography, the most secure method of transmitting data, has taken a step closer to mainstream viability with a technique that simplifies the distribution of keys. Researchers at NIST claim that the new 'quantum key distribution' method minimizes the required number of detectors, the most costly components in quantum crypto. Four single-photon detectors are usually required (these cost $20K to $50K each) to send and decode cryptography keys. In the new method, the researchers designed an optical component that reduces the required number of detectors to two. (The article mentions that in later refinements to the published work, they have reduced the requirement to one detector.) The researchers concede that their minimum-detector arrangement cuts transmission rates but point out that the system still works at broadband speeds."Read more of this story at Slashdot.