What’s happening in the world

At least, here are a few choice picks from a myriad of news articles.

There has been a massive cyber theft of sensitive data from the Pentagon.  They suffered the attack, one of the largest cyber thefts the Pentagon has experienced, this past March.  24,000 files containing Pentagon data were taken from a defense industry computer network.  William Lynn, the deputy secretary of defense, is not commenting on what type of data was stolen, but he announced in a speech that the Pentagon is certain that a foreign government is behind the attack (and they believe they know which one, though they aren’t making public accusations).  I think the Pentagon seriously needs to update its methods to the era in which we live.  Much of their defense is outsourced to private contractors, and even information that’s kept strictly within the Pentagon is still, clearly, at risk.  I’m not sure of the best way for the Pentagon to safeguard themselves, other than to perhaps keep real hackers on staff to continually test for weaknesses and then fix them.  http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/14/pentagon-discloses-largest-ever-cyber-theft/

Google and Oracle are at each others’ throats over Android and Java.  Oracle is claiming that, by acquiring Android, Google developed and launched a platform that infringes Oracle’s copyrights and patents.   According to Oracle, Java is a “mobile operating system competitor to Android”, and since Google’s platform and Dalvik VM is allegedly based on Java-derived technologies, Google is violating Oracle’s intellectual property.  Oracle is asking for the deposition of Larry Page, the CEO of Google, because of his involvement in Google’s acquisition of Android Inc.  They’re also suing for $2.6 billion in damages.  As a note, I don’t know much about this suit or about Oracle’s real relation to Android Inc, but a quick search on Wikipedia showed that Dalvik VM is unlike Java VMs in that it is a register-based architecture rather than a stack machine.  Also, according to Google, Dalvik bytecode is different from Java bytecode.  I’m wondering how much claim Oracle really has to Dalvik; where does intellectual property begin and end in the world of programming?  http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20079744-17/oracle-asks-to-depose-larry-page-over-android-suit/

Also, some random fun stuff about the TSA.  First, a D.C. court of appeals has ruled that the TSA’s installation of the full-body scanners (the ones that take naked pictures of you) without public comment was in violation of federal law.  The Obama administration argued that the “TSA was exempt from laws requiring federal agencies to first notify the public and seek comments”.  I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t feel comfortable with any agency, privatized or government-sponsored, being exempt from laws. (http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20079829-281/appeals-court-tsa-must-rethink-airport-body-scans/)  Second, some random woman turned the tables on the TSA and groped a TSA-member’s breast. (http://www.myfoxny.com/dpps/news/woman-arrested-for-groping-tsa-agent-07152011_14151365).  Third, (and this is sorta old news), a TSA employee has been arrested for child pornography.  He was a passenger screener (let’s hope not an operator of those nasty body scanners that were deemed unlawful).  I’m so glad that the Obama administration argued for the TSA’s exemption from the law, especially considering the upstanding men and women that the agency employs. (http://wishididntknow.com/2011/04/23/tsa-passenger-screener-arrested-for-child-pornography/)

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