Blast Magazine» Computers

Startup Leap Motion brings “Minority Report” motion controls to computers

Andy Breeding — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:51:13 +0000

We’ve all wanted it. The ability to use our computers with just hand gestures. Flip through our emails, photos or documents with a simple hand swipe motion. While Microsoft’s Kinect makes this possible, the precision is not quite there, anyone with a Kinect for their Xbox 360 will attest to that.

Startup company Leap Motion has announced their Leap motion control device. according to the company, they claim to offer controls 200 times more accurate than anything out on the market. How this device works is the usb thumbdrive sized device projects a 8 cubic feet of 3D interactive space that will recognize pretty much any motion. Scrolling with your index finger, zooming in on a photo with a pinch, even using a pen to draw or sign with the precision of doing the same action on a piece of paper.

Te fact that Leap can do all of this in such a small, portable package is amazing in its own right. To add the fact that the device is only $70 makes pretending to be Chief John Anderton a lot easier to do anywhere you go. At the very least, Leap will make it easier for people with arthritis or other ailments that prevent them from physically typing or clicking a mouse.

Leap Motion is taking pre-orders right now for Leap. They are limited, though, so if you really want one you better head over to their site and place your order before it is too late.

Google refines searching, adds a “human touch” to results

Andy Breeding — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:46:55 +0000

Google search has always relatively lead to the thing people look for on the first page results. After the announcement on Wednesday, Google would like to refine those results even more.

Knowledge Graph is said to help with this by understanding more about the relationships and deeper connections of search terms . For example, looking up “basketball” in Google sends back the traditional links to the generic term but now with Knowledge Graph, people, places or things that are closely associated with the search term will appear in a column on the right side. For basketball, we get back the people related to the term like Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, each with a little blurb about their bio.

In the blog posting, we also get info that Google’s Knowledge Graph pulls from sources such as Freebase, Wikipedia, the CIA World Factbook and hints at another source but doesn’t say much about it. The easy guess would be the numerous amounts of data collected over the years from everyday usage of searching on Google. Impressive numbers such as Knowledge Graph containing over 500 million objects and more than 3.5 billion facts about and relationships between those objects leads us to believe so.

Some U.S. English users should start seeing Knowledge Graph in action as early as today. More users and languages should be rolled out gradually although we don’t know how soon. It will also be available on smartphones and tablets.

Senators attack Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin for dodging taxes by renouncing US citizenship

Andy Breeding — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:55:51 +0000

You can now add “renounce my U.S. citizenship” to the list of ways to avoid paying taxes but maybe not for long.

Reuters is reporting that Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin has two US senators accusing him of dodging taxes on Facebook stock-market profits. With the plans that Facebook has to raise billions of dollars in an initial public offering on Friday, Saverin would have to pay a hefty sum estimated to be $67 million.

Saverin relocated to Singapore for “business reasons” (Singapore has no capital gains tax)

We’re sure once we hear Saverin’s side, through his spokesman of course, we will still find that he is avoiding taxes, plain and simple. Even if he is being truthful about all of this, everything points to Saverin wanting to avoid cutting a multi-million dollar check to the US government.

One could say that since he was given a college education here and that he would have never meet Mark Zuckerburg if it wasn’t for the government letting him become a citizen here, thus having the good life with his ~~millions~~ billions. One could also say that the government is too hard on its citizens and taxes are too high. Either way, Senator Bob Casey (D-Penn.) said Thursday, “We simply cannot allow the ultra-wealthy to write their own rules.”

Not to be outdone, Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said, “It’s infuriating to see someone sell out the country that welcomed him and kept him safe, educated him and helped him become a billionaire.”

Of course that says nothing about the banks that took taxpayer bailouts so they could lay off workers and levy new fees against account holders. We’ll leave that one alone, right senator?

Pinterest gains $100 million in funding, bringing e-commerce with the help of Rakuten

Andy Breeding — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:03:48 +0000

I seem to know a lot of people that send me cute pictures of cats with a funny caption or some new recipe that I will end up ruining in the kitchen anyhow. All of these come from the site Pinterest.com. Apparently, numerous people love the cat pics so much that Rakuten, a company that has the largest e-commerce site in Japan and among the world’s largest by sales has raised $100 million in a funding round that had existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, and FirstMark Capital and a number of other angel investors participating as well.

Over at AllthingsD, they’re reporting that Rakuten will invest upwards of $50 million and that this funding will bring Pinterest’s value to $1.5 billion.

That is a huge step up from $200 million the company was worth last October.

“Our goal is to help people discover things they love, by connecting people through their shared interests. Bringing Rakuten on board gives us an amazing opportunity to move a step closer to this goal.” co-founder and CEO of Pinterest, Ben Silbermann, said in a statement.

Having the backing of an e-commerce company as large as Rakuten, we will likely see monetization of most functions of Pinterest, which is good for me since I can finally purchase a frameable picture of the cat who loves his couch.

Easy Reader Contest — Verbatim’s New Store ‘n’ Go V3 USB 3.0 Drives

John M. Guilfoil — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:52:00 +0000

We have a handy giveaway for you this week — something that we know everyone wants, needs, and continually buys.

Verbatim, the global leader in data storage, is allowing Blast to give away two of its brand new 16GB New Store ‘n’ Go V3 USB 3.0 Drives.

The V3 drives are twice as fast as an older USB 2.0 solution, though they still work in any USB port.

All you have to do is comment on this story, follow @blastmagazine on Twitter, and Tweet a shout out to us in order to be entered. We’ll pick TWO winners on Friday morning, before we start #freegamefriday up all over again!

Product Features and Specifications

USB 3.0 Interface for faster data transfer on USB 3.0 equipped pc’s.
New retractable design, shields USB connector in transit
Compatible with all USB ports (including USB 2.0/1.1)
8GB -64GB Capacities
Available in 7 trendy colors

The Green Geek gives cyber security advice

Anonymous — Tue, 15 May 2012 06:08:15 +0000

In the spirit of The Avengers we have our own superhero — a superhero of computer and IT policy. This article is written — in true superhero fashion — anonymously, by The Green Geek, whose real name you may never know.

Join together with the Green Geek in the struggle against evil vector forces that willingly destroy your computer and information security. Vectors in cyber space are villains who would maim your digital dignity, steal your identity, invade your privacy, destroy your data, and ruin your gadgets. If you let them.

What threats put you at risk? What can you do about it? Defend yourself with this Five-Point Plan from The Green Geek:

5. Value your privacy.

If you think privacy is no big deal, think again. You disclose a birthday here, a school there, you friend your mother’s mother on Facebook, expose your address or phone. Here and there you leave puzzle pieces that let us assemble your whole story.

Villains can steal your identity - costing you much time and money. Stalkers can find you. Weirdos want to know you. Friends have Too Much Information. Employers can and will use what you say against you.
Be in control. You rule the computer not the other way around. Draw a line in the sand where you will not cross for sharing private information. Use factual security questions that only you know the answer to. Do you really need 1000 people to wish you happy birthday online? Tell us about your vacation when you get back, but don’t tell the world beforehand when your house is empty. If you use f-bombs, serial date, and drink, do we have to see you share that? Do you need to save all the web searches you ever made?

4. ”Don’t talk to strangers.” Vectors include viruses, malware, botnets, robots, scam artists, and worse. This is huge.

Look before you click. Only open messages and emails from senders you recognize. Someone is fishing for a sucker to bite their bait, in the form of fraudulent email. This is called “phishing“. Various sources estimate spam email takes up 90-94% of ALL email! Their purpose is to get you to look, buy, send money, accept a virus, or join a global botnet. Recognize fake and unwanted messages by their familiar but wrong sender address and weird titles. Report spam to help email vendors improve spam filtering.
Only click on links from a source you trust. Inspect hyperlinks before you click on a hyperlink, which displays one thing but underneath is the real link.
Don’t respond to emotional appeals or act on wishful thinking. What is real and hidden in the picture? Yeah, you’re lonely AND beautiful, you believe in love; or that car is a bargain! But if it is too good to be true, then it’s probably not. Some emails are written by robots. Some generic messages say nothing specific that can’t be said to everyone.
Never enter your password in response to links in an email.

3. Lock your doors, literally and figuratively.

Prevent the entry of illicit vectors into your space by limiting access. Consider security like an onion. At the center of the onion is treasure, payload, your precious stuff. How easy is it to peel off the layers of security, if any?

Physical access - How safe are your things, from smartphone to PC? Stuff should not be available for just anyone to touch. Keep these objects physically secure, not left laying around. Same as you would protect a wallet. Not left in public bathrooms, unlooked cars, or on the hood of your car.
Device access - How safe are your data files and screen displays? What if someone has access to your smartphone or PC? Require a screenlock. You should provide a uniquely personal password, finger-swipe, or biometric to see further. If you share the device or PC with other guests, then create a guest portal, so that your user session is separate from theirs.
Network security - How safe is your connection to a network for internet access? Beware of Wifi and untrusted networks, where your internet traffic travels on the information superhighway in full view, unencrypted for network admins or sniffers to capture. Be safe and sure, use your own encrypted 4G or 3G air card or USB modem. This is handy for reliable internet access anywhere anytime, and you not only don’t have to compete amongst an entire coffeehouse full of net surfers for bandwidth, but you also have the peace of mind that that your communications are safe.
Software reliability - Does your software scan for malicious vectors before you open or download objects? When you use the “cloud” – all the services are provided online via the internet on a web site or web server – make sure there is rigorous protection against vectors. Good cloud service providers will filter virus vectors from reaching your PC or device. so that you either don’t download or get your data ruined by vectors. You want to use email software that filters spam well, for example Google Mail (gmail.com).
Device defense is 1st and last - We’ve peeled the onion back. The above inevitably fail, because new vectors can sneak through until discovered. Keep your device up-to-date with the latest: operating system; web browser; anti-virus/anti-malware software; and storage encryption.
Microsoft Windows vulnerabilities created a multi-billion $$ spinoff industry just to create and administer the IT security. This gave Apple one leg up to bring to market OSX or iOS which were more closed and designed for better security. The Google browser Chrome is touted for its security. Samsung Galaxy Android and Apple iPad/iPhones are now offering the NIST FIPS 140-2 standard encryption for storage.
If you login to use software (such as email and banking), the appearance of the “padlock” icon in the browser means the network traffic is encrypted using SSL and therefore unreadable.

2. Trust NO ONE to store your credit card.

Online shopping is great. We save gas and time by browsing online, and the item is shipped faster than you can shake a green fist. Unfortunately some companies, to which we entrust our identity or financial credentials, are themselves negligently lax when it comes to IT security.

DO NOT STORE CREDIT CARDS in online accounts with any vendor. Rather [tediously, yes], enter the credit card information for a one-time purchase each time you make a purchase. This is not risk-proof either, but incrementally better than storing your credit card like a sitting duck waiting for a hunting season.
LIMIT CREDIT CARDS that you use online to a very short list. If something goes wrong you can more easily assess and contain the damage.
READ YOUR STATEMENTS. We are unaware until a breach goes public. Take for example, the intrusion to Global Payments servers in March 2012 that was not reported publicly for nearly one month. Global Payments coordinates the steps involved in authorizing the charge and submitting the transaction details for VISA and Mastercard. When you hear news about credit card theft, check your statements and activity ASAP.

1. Protect your passwords.

Some of the most famous security intrusions come from hacking passwords, but your defense in this regard is totally within your control.

Use strong passwords. A strong password is a character string generally not found in any dictionary for any language. Use a combination of Upper- and lower-case letters, mixed in with numbers and special characters. Create acronyms out of phrases.
Use different passwords for different accounts, and change the password every 60-90 days. Yes, with all your stuff in the cloud, we’re talking about a load of passwords.
Assess your risk, and firewall your passwords. Risk means the probability of something bad happening, and the impact if it did. It’s not kosher but the Green Geek does classify different accounts by degree of risk, and ramps up the security of passwords appropriately. For example, to comment on news or blogs, the Green Geek is known to reuse a password or two… For anything with private or banking information, the passwords are inscrutable. By “firewalling” passwords, there should be no crossover from an unimportant account to an important account.
Use Multi-Factor Authentication! DO IT! Multi- or two-factor/two-step authentication (“MFA” or “2FA”) adds an extra step when you enter your user password, to ensure you are who you are. When you enable MFA, you define a “token” such as a phone; and when you try to login with your username and password, you will receive a message with a code (voice or text) on your phone or token. You enter this code along with the password. If your software provider, bank, or credit card company offers this option then use it (e.g. offered by Google Mail)!

“Social engineering” in IT security refers to the ability to hack based on using known info about a person, in order to crack the security procedures for forgotten passwords, or to guess or reset their passwords. While very common, social engineering can be reduced with the above privacy practices and password discipline. MFA stops social engineering dead in its tracks. Here are three epic social engineering stories:

In 2008, when Sarah Palin was running for VP, someone hacked her Yahoo Mail and reset her password by correctly guessing Palin’s birthday and her security questions: “Where did you meet your spouse?” (Answer = Wasila High) Half the planet knows Palin’s bio; she compromised her own security when Palin chose that question.
In 2009, the corporate email, business plans, and files of Twitter.com were hacked, when someone first hacked the wife of Twitter’s founder, and used the same passwords to gain access to the Twitter company.
In 2011, the firm HBGary which specializes in corporate and government IT security got totally pwned and humiliated, when after bragging about exposing the hacker vigilante group, Anonymous, they were cyber attacked by Anonymous.

“I can explain it to you but I can’t understand it for you.” We can’t defend Stupid. But it’s not that hard. This Five-Point Plan breaks it down for you. The takeaway here is to learn from others’ mistakes, and get comfortable with security awareness.

Read more about internet crime at the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. If you are a victim of internet crime, file a complaint with the FBI. Crime or vulnerability that puts the nation at immediate risk should be reported to the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT).

What is your best tip for keeping all of your devices protected? Comment below and you’ll be entered to win a $400 Amazon gift card from Kaspersky Lab.

One way to protect all of your devices is with Kaspersky ONE Universal Security. Download your FREE trial today.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Kaspersky Lab. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules.

Cloud computing has a substantial footprint

E - The Environmental Magazine — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 18:31:20 +0000

Greenpeace wants companies like Apple, Amazon and Microsoft to make smarter, cleaner energy choices now that "cloud computing" services have ratcheted up power consumption considerably. (Media credit/Wichary via Flickr)

Leading tech companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft are now offering unprecedented amounts of data storage and access to “apps” on huge Internet-connected servers, saving consumers and businesses the hassle of installing and running programs and storing information on their own local computers.

This emerging trend, dubbed “cloud computing,” means that these providers have had to scale up their power consumption considerably, as they are increasingly responsible for providing more and more of the computing horsepower required by the world’s two billion Internet users. No doubt, sharing such resources on centralized servers is more efficient than every individual and business running their own versions separately. In fact, the research firm Verdantix estimates that companies off-loading data and services to cloud servers could save $12 billion off their energy bills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 million metric tons within the next decade. But for the greenhouse gas savings to be realized, the companies offering cloud computing services need to make the right energy choices.

Greenpeace has been tracking sustainability among tech companies for over a decade, and recently released a report, “How Green is Your Cloud?” assessing the green footprint of the move to cloud computing. According to the analysis, some of the major players (Google, Facebook and Yahoo) have gone to great lengths to ensure that significant amounts of the power they need come from clean, green sources like wind and solar. But Greenpeace chastises others (Apple, Amazon and Microsoft) for relying on so-called “dirtier” sources of power, such as coal and nuclear, to run their huge data centers.

“When people around the world share their music or photos on the cloud, they want to know that the cloud is powered by clean, safe energy,” says Gary Cook, a Senior Policy Analyst with Greenpeace. “Yet highly innovative and profitable companies like Apple, Amazon and Microsoft are building data centers powered by coal and acting like their customers won’t know or won’t care. They’re wrong.”

Greenpeace’s report evaluates 14 major tech firms and the electricity supply chains in use across more than 80 different data centers that power cloud-based services. Some of the largest data centers are in buildings so big they are visible from space and use as much power as 250,000 European homes. If the cloud were its own country, says Greenpeace, it would rank 5th in the world in electricity consumption.

“Companies like Google, Yahoo and Facebook are beginning to lead the sector down a clean energy pathway through innovations in energy efficiency, prioritizing renewable energy access when siting their data centers, and demanding better energy options from utilities and government decision-makers,” reports Greenpeace. But unfortunately the majority of the industry is not marching in step. As such, Greenpeace is calling on all tech companies with cloud services to develop siting policies based on access to clean energy sources, invest in or directly purchase renewable energy, be transparent about their energy usage, share innovative solutions so the sector as a whole can improve, and demand that governments and utilities increase the percentage of clean, green power available on the grid.

CONTACTS: Verdantix, www.verdantix.com; Greenpeace, www.greenpeace.org.

Update: About 6 million Gmail users lost service Tuesday for about an hour

John M. Guilfoil — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:23:52 +0000

Update — 4 p.m.

Google says it has fixed an error which put about 6 million Gmail users in the dark Tuesday afternoon for about an hour.

According to the computer conglomerate, the outage affected less than 2 percent of users, though there was no discernible geographic pattern.

Gmail has more than 350 million active users.

Original story

According to multiple reports, scattered outages of Gmail, Google’s email service, are going on.

CNET reports that Google is investigating the outage, but has not determined a cause.

“We’re investigating reports of an issue with Google Mail. We will provide more information shortly,” Google said in a statement today.

The Google Apps Status Dashboard confirms a “service disruption” of the email service.

Many users are getting the following message when they try to log-on:

We’re sorry, but your Gmail account is temporarily unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience and suggest trying again in a few minutes.

Apps like Google Docs and Google+ are also down for the users who are unable to access Gmail.

The issue does not appear to be Geographic, as scattered users in the Boston area report outages, while others say they have no issues at all.

We will bring you more as this story develops.

Facebook buys Instagram for $1 Billion

Bill Peloquin — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 20:55:28 +0000

Today was a historic day for Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, as it marked the first time that the social site has acquired another hugely-popular (and possibly one day competitive) website or program. Through a statement posted to Facebook today, Zuckerberg announced that the popular mobile photo-sharing app Instagram will soon become an integrated part of Facebook. Instagram is a popular smart phone app that allows users to instantly edit and share photos that they take with their cell phones. From Zuckerberg’s statement:

“I’m excited to share the news that we’ve agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook. For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.”

Before Instagram fans everywhere get upset about it, both Zuckerberg and Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom have assured users that much of the program will remain the same and that it will still be possible to use and enjoy the app without any relation to Facebook. In fact, Zuckerberg has promised to maintain Instagram’s ability to post to social networks other than Facebook, such as Twitter. Writes Zuckerberg:

“We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.”

So any anti-Facebook Instagram users out there can breathe a sigh of relief. Still, this important acquisition by Facebook begs the question: if the company can spend $1 billion (in cash and stock) to buy Instagram, what up-and-coming program or website can’t the company buy? Could this be the beginning of a spending spree, in which Facebook ends up snatching up every promising social-media style website that pops up? Zuckerberg tried to put the kibosh on that sentiment as well:

“This is an important milestone for Facebook because it’s the first time we’ve ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don’t plan on doing many more of these, if any at all.”

Each day it seems more and more that the end goal for Facebook is to allow users to do everything on the internet without ever leaving the social networking site. Recently, the site made it possible to stream some movies straight from Facebook.

Rumors of a new Google may be old news

Brittney McNamara — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 02:56:26 +0000

Google may be overhauling its search engine technology in a big way, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The popular search tool might begin to rely on something called “semantic search,” which finds that actual meaning of words. Keyword searches, which it uses now, won’t be abandoned in the overhaul but will be used in unison with the new technology. Google will also provide more answers and facts on its own, rather than linking to other sites, the Journal reports.

However, Search Engine Land refuted the rumors, claiming that Google already uses this technology, and it would not be new.

Google did not respond to questions from PCMag, or the Journal, and the source of the rumors is unknown so far. The news is believed to have stemmed from a Journal interview with Google executive Amit Singhal, in which he said the future of Google searches will “better match search queries with a database containing hundreds of millions of entities’ – people, places, and things – which the company has quietly amassed in the past two years.” He claimed the searches will be more intune with how people think.

PC sales reported to increase 4.4 percent in 2012

Ivan Favelevic — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 21:00:56 +0000

Ultrabooks such as the Asus x21 are said to boost PC sales this year as competition grows in the tablet market.

According to Gartner Inc., PC shipments are expected to grow 4.4 percent over last year. That would total the number of units sold worldwide to 368 million.

The rise of ultrabooks in 2012 is said to be the main drive in sales as the year proceeds.

Consumers are more likely to pick up the super-light, super thin notebooks with the new promises of higher performance.

“PC shipments will remain weak in 2012,” said Ranjit Atwal, a research director at Gartner, in a prepared statement. “The real question is whether Windows 8 and ultrabooks will create the compelling offering that gets the earlier adopter of devices excited about PC again.”

Windows 8 is set to launch later this year. The new OS by Microsoft will feature a style reminiscent of tablets rather than traditional PC’s, prompting the company to unify its mobile phone services with its PC users.

However, these same tablets are said to be bringing the majority of the competition to the PC market. Atwal said that the PC market will need to play “catch up in bringing a new level of innovation that consumers want to see in the devices they purchase.”

Forbes reports that Apple Inc. remains the fastest growing PC vendor in the US while Lenovo is the fastest growing vendor in the world. Nonetheless, the top stop in both US and worldwide is held by Hewlett-Packard Co.

Sales of PC’s are said to reach more than 400 million by the end of 2013.

Megaupload.com shutdown by the federal government

Brittney McNamara — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:41:08 +0000

On Thursday, the day after many websites blacked out in protest of SOPA, the government shut down one of the most popular file-sharing websites. Along with shutting it down, a federal indictment accused the owners of Megaupload.com of facilitating millions of illegal downloads.

Megaupload, a Chinese based company, is accused of costing copyright holders at least $500 million. The United States had jurisdiction because some files were being hosted by leased servers in Ashburn Va.

The shutdown came on the heels of a hacker attack that shutdown the Justice Department’s website and other federal sites. Officials declared the shutdown of the Justice Department’s site “a malicious attack,” according to the Boston Globe. A hacker group known as “Anonymous” took credit for the attack.

According to the Globe, a Justice Department statement said that Kim Dotcom, 37, and three other employees were arrested in New Zealand on Thursday in relation to Megaupload. Three more defendants have not yet been apprehended. Dotcom, who had his name legally changed from Kim Schmitz, is the founder, former CEO and current chief innovation officer of the file-sharing website. The others arrested are Finn Batato, 38; Mathias Ortmann, 40; and Bram van der Kolk, 29.

“This kind of application of international criminal procedures to Internet policy issues sets a terrifying precedent,” said The Electronic Frontier Foundation that defends free speech and digital rights, according to The Globe. “If the United States can seize a Dutch citizen in New Zealand over a copyright claim, what is next?”

Before it was shutdown, Megaupload posted a statement that declared the SOPA bill a huge breach of copyright laws.

“The fact is that the vast majority of Mega’s Internet traffic is legitimate, and we are here to stay. If the content industry would like to take advantage of our popularity, we are happy to enter into a dialogue. We have some good ideas. Please get in touch,” the statement said, The Globe reports.

Megaupload had the support of celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys and Kanye West. These endorsements were unusual because the entertainment industry usually condemns the downloading of illegal material, as they lose money from it.

The company cited Swizz Beatz, a musician, as its CEO, but he declined comment to the Boston Globe.

The former website, which was listed at one point to be the 13th most visited website, is charged with copyright infringement, conpiracy to commit money laundering and racketeering.

Thai floods resulting in massive hard drive shortages

John M. Guilfoil — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:20:30 +0000

Hope you’re all set with your storage needs.

The heavy rains that fell in Thailand this fall have led to serious flooding. The floods forced many of the world’s hard drive-producing factories to temporarily shut down.

The factory closures have affected several companies, including Western Digital and Seagate and some 40 percent of world hard drive manufacturing.

You can expect hard drive shortages. A few of the hard drives we’re tried to review this month — or include in gift guides — could not be sent to us because some companies have suspended their review programs.

With PC sales already slowing, this could have huge implications for the industry.

Interestingly, solid-state hard drive manufacturing was not affected, which may also lead to this medium taking off more and more.

Edit Huddle: A small tech tool with huge potential

Fatima Shahzad — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 19:34:17 +0000

A huge news event just broke and you’re having one of those moments that all writers alike wish for: clarity of thought and direction in your writing. As you’re typing away your thoughts, excited to hit the seductive “publish post” button after you’ve proofed your piece a bit, a familiar nagging at your gut tells you that you may have some typos due to how fast you did all this.

Now, there’s a solution to that feeling: Edit Huddle.

Edit Huddle is a tool that helps writers and bloggers stop worrying about having several rounds of proofing before publishing a post. In a fast-moving Internet age, when people are racing to chime in on current events on blogs, worrying a little bit less about simple typos is a precious tool.

Founder of Edit Huddle, Imran Ahmad, a ’14 MBA candidate at UChicago Booth School of Business, describes Edit Huddle as “a tool to help bloggers stop worrying about petty edits or people flooding their comment stream focusing on grammar, spelling, or other issues that hurt discussion.” Ahmad says the goal of the tool is ”to allow bloggers to privately get specific editorial feedback on their blogs.”

So how does Edit Huddle work?

As described by the Edit Huddle team, “Readers simply highlight the text they want to edit and identify what type of error it is. That information goes directly to the blogger in a series of charts that allow them to sync directly with WordPress and other sites to seamlessly fix any potential errors.” One useful detail to note is the proposed integration of the Edit Huddle tool as a button on popular blogging sites.

Ahmad and his team, including Adam Bain, Pradeep Maddineni, Kunal Shah, took part in a Hackathon as part of the 2011 Chicago Social Development Camp. Ahmed formed a team and over the course of 36 hours and developed Edit Huddle. Ahmad’s team was selected as the winner for best design and won second place out of a field of around 30 entries.

When asked how he came up with the idea, Ahmad recounts the simple way it happened while he was reading a TechCrunch article online. Ahmad saw an error and wasn’t able to easily report it to the writer. Ahmad asked himself why there wasn’t a simpler way for the blogger to be notified about the error?

Ahmad explains, ”I kept seeing blogs with basic errors. The wrong use of “your”, factual misstatements and even simple spelling errors. With thousands of readers reading your blog, lots of people identify the same issues.”

Following the “Fix It” mentality that Edit Huddle brings to the blogging world, Ahmad says, ”I decided that it was high time we used the power of the crowd to provide private feedback directly to the bloggers so that they can make the changes and not be worried about people flooding the comments section with grammatical issues.”

The Edit Huddle team is currently at Startup Weekend Chicago making progress on their company. So far, the team has contacted over 1,000 bloggers and has collected numerous survey responses gauging the need for a tool like Edit Huddle.

Rachel Hyman, part of Edit Huddle marketing, reports that Seth Kravitz, co-founder of Technori and avid blogger, stated that “This is something we would definitely use on our website…I love the simplicity of your implementation.”

Hyman also reports that Alec Wilhelm from The Next Web has also demonstrated significant interest in Edit Huddle’s progress.

The team plans to launch the tool live on 8 blogs by Sunday, just in time for their presentation at Startup Weekend Chicago, competing with 9 other teams at the Excelerate Labs headquarters.

If you are a blogger or just someone interested in this tool, here are a few things you can do to get in the Edit Huddle loop: Check out Edit Huddle’s page and contact Rachel Hyman if you are interested in beta testing. Also, complete this one-minute survey and connect with Edit Huddle on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

As a blogger that gets bogged down by perfecting grammar and spelling at the cost of interrupting my thought-flow, this is a tool I’m looking forward to having at my disposal. And since I wrote this article so fast and I’m sure there are typos galore, I wish Edit Huddle’s “Fix It” button for your grammatical-error-induced annoyance to let me know.

InMotion Hosting apologizes, says it “understands” method used by TiGER-M@TE

John M. Guilfoil — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 13:12:43 +0000

InMotion, in an email to users, said Sunday that the homepage defacement attack launched by the southeast Asian hacker TiGER-M@TE was not meant to do permanent or catestrophic damage to the hundreds of thousands of websites that were hit.

“We understand the method the attacker used to accomplished this and the main exploit path was through an internal management server that can control Cpanel on other servers. The management server was used to change passwords on the Cpanel servers then login with those passwords,” said Todd Robinson, president of the hosting company.

The defacement attacked worked by replacing index files in all public_html directories with the attacker’s own branded index.php. InMotion does not believe that any data was stolen or that any passwords were compromised.

“It does not appear that gaining passwords was a goal or was accomplished, just password changes were used. Access to the management server was gained from an exploited customer’s server that was within our network,” Robinson said. “Though our team moved quickly to disable the internal management server and limit the exposure of the servers to this attack when it began, it
was a very serious breach and could have been much worse if the hacker had intended to do more harm.”

This does fit the modus operandi of TiGER-M@TE, who often claims to hack for fun or just to prove that “it can be done.”

Blast Magazine’s network of websites were defaced during the attack on InMotion, as was the offical City of Providence website.

InMotion took responsibility for failing to prevent the damage. Some estimates have the attack hitting more than 500,000 websites, making it historic in its proportions if not in its level of damage.

“Please accept our apologies as we go through this process,” Robinson said. “We are very aware of our failure in this situation and we will provide more details when we have completed the work of recovery.”

InMotion Hosting servers hacked by TiGER-M@TE — Blast affected

Blast Magazine Newsroom — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 17:30:52 +0000

For several hours Sunday morning, Blast Magazine and many other websites in the InMotion Hosting network were attacked by a hacker called TiGER-M@TE.

InMotion, where Blast hosts one of its servers, acknowledged the breach.

“At around 4 a.m. EST, our system administration team identified a website defacement attack affecting a large number of customers. We are still investigating, but it appears that files named index.php have been defaced. We are evaluating how this has occurred and our security team will have more information shortly,” InMotion said in a statement. “While we review this issue, cPanel and SSH access has been disabled on various platforms. For additional security, we are rotating passwords on a number of accounts.”

It is unclear how many sites were hit, but it is likely hundreds, if not thousands.

This morning, the Blast homepage was briefly replaced by a black background with the red letters “Hacked” (See photo below) and all of our blogs and articles were unreachable.

This appears to be the same hacker who successfully attacked Google previously. The Hacker News interviewed TiGER-M@TE, who claimed to be hacking since 2007, working alone, and only using private exploits and zero-day attacks.

In an online posting, TiGER-M@TE claimed responsibility for launching the homepage defacement attack.

“While we can respect TiGER-M@TE’s abilities, we are disappointed that our websites were hit,” said Blast Magazine editor-in-chief John M. Guilfoil. “What truly concerns me, however, is that InMotion Hosting appeared woefully unable to prevent or defend against this kind of attack, even though homepage defacements have been going on seemingly forever. We will consult with InMotion on Monday and plan to press the company to be more proactive in its security if InMotion values its customers.”

Court reinstates $675,000 judgement against Joel Tenebaum

Andrew Wood — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:43:57 +0000

Tenenbaum and Nesson (JoelFightsBack.com)

In a decision sparse in terms of legal precedence, Joel Tenenbaum, the Boston University student involved in a civil suit with the Recording Industry Association of America, again finds himself staring down the barrel of a six figure judgment. This comes on the heels of a decision by a Federal Appeals Court to reverse former District Court Judge Nancy Gertner’s ruling that Tenebaum’s fine be reduced from $675,000 to $67,500.

Now he owes $675,000 again.

Gertner felt that the jury’s initial ruling was excessive, and therefore a violation of due process. While the appeals court did not directly address the constitutional issues raised by Gertner, they took issue with her “disregard for procedure” in reducing the fine levied against Tenebaum. The appeals court cited that Gertner, in lieu of an arbitrary reduction, should have proposed a figure that the Record Companies could settle on or choose to decline; the latter resulting in a second trial.

The constitutional gray area brought into the spotlight by Gertner’s decision seems to form the foundation of the argument launched by Charles Nesson, a Harvard Law Professor, and his team of law students aiding him Tenebaum’s defense. Nesson and his team seem intent on promoting the idea of the Copyright Statute being vulnerable in its application upon individual file sharers who have no intent to profit from their infringement, a point brought up by Tenebaum in his own defense.

Jason Harrow, one of the students aiding Nesson, stood before the First Circuit Court of Appeals and argued that so few cases of this nature had been filed because “no one thought the statute would apply to consumers like this.” The Judge quickly dismissed this notion by stating that “the literal language of the statute does not include an exception for consumers.” She also pointed out that Congress could have easily written in this exemption had it been their intent for the statute to be interpreted thus. However, Harrow still argued that the statute should be fairly interpreted in order to suppress any constitutional red flags, and that Congress did not necessarily intend for the copyright laws to be enacted in a way that gave leeway to such “absurd results.”

The actual body of the Copyright Law of the United States reads that, “In a case where the copyright owner sustains the burden of proving, and the court finds, that infringement was committed willfully, the court in its discretion may increase the award of statutory damages to a sum of not more than $150,000.” As a result, Tenebaum, who is considered a willful violator responsible for 30 separate infringements, faced a maximum settlement of $4.5 million.

Tenebaum is grateful that the judgment did not reach this multi-million dollar ceiling, saying “That to me sends a message of ‘we considered your side with some legitimacy’”. However, he has also noted that even the significantly smaller figure set by Nancy Gertner, and recently overturned by the appeals court, will result in his filing for bankruptcy.

This is the first case of its kind to reach the Federal Appeals Court, although a similar case involving Minnesota mother, Jammie Thomas-Rasset, is also destined to appear before a Federal Court after three years of circulation in the legal system.

DNS problems may be affecting Comcast and other broadband customers

John M. Guilfoil — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 06:11:33 +0000

We reported on this type of problem back in November. A problem with domain name servers may be negatively affecting Comcast internet customers.

Four days ago, a broad DNS attack was reported that hit the sites of UPS, Acer, and others in a coordinated attack that may have been carried out by Turkish hackers. That was a hack on the NetNames DNS provider.

TechCrunch.com also reported at 11:30 p.m. Thursday that Microsoft services, including Hotmail, SkyDrive, and Office 365 were all down because of a DNS problem. Service was restored about four hours later.

Tonight, some Comcast customers in Boston have reported that “the lights are on” on their cable modem, but websites will not load. Changing the DNS servers on your router and/or computer to Google’s public DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 as secondary) just as we recommended in November, seemed to fix the problem. Make sure you restart your computer or other device before trying to get back online.

Are you having/did you have Internet problems? Let us know where/when by commenting on this story!

Google will forfeit $500 million in Canadian pharmacy advertising scandal

John M. Guilfoil — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:40:50 +0000

Advertising giant and search engine default Google has agreed to forfeit $500 million in proceeds it received from allowing Canadian pharmacies to illegally target American consumers for prescription drugs, the Justice Department announced.

“The Department of Justice will continue to hold accountable companies who in their bid for profits violate federal law and put at risk the health and safety of American consumers,” said Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole, in a statement. “This settlement ensures that Google will reform its improper advertising practices with regard to these pharmacies while paying one of the largest financial forfeiture penalties in history.”

Google had sold the ads through its AdWords network.

The news was announced at press conference Wednesday morning in Providence.

As a general rule, the shipment of prescription drugs from foreign pharmacies to people inside the United States violates the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and in the case of controlled prescription drugs, the Controlled Substances Act, according to federal officials.

According to the statement, Google knew as early as 2003 that it was usually illegal for its Canadian pharmacy advertisers to ship drugs to the US.

Besides the patent illegality of it, federal regulators obviously take no steps to verify the legitimacy or chemical makeup of foreign drugs.

“This investigation is about the patently unsafe, unlawful, importation of prescription drugs by Canadian on-line pharmacies, with Google’s knowledge and assistance, into the United States, directly to U.S. consumers,” said U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha. “It is about taking a significant step forward in limiting the ability of rogue on-line pharmacies from reaching U.S. consumers, by compelling Google to change its behavior. It is about holding Google responsible for its conduct by imposing a $500 million forfeiture, the kind of forfeiture that will not only get Google’s attention, but the attention of all those who contribute to America’s pill problem.”

The Boston Globe reported that in May Google noted in a regulatory filing that it had set aside $500 million to settle a Justice Department investigation of “certain” advertisers.

Hewlett-Packard ends tablet and smartphone business

Brittney McNamara — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 02:23:05 +0000

Hewlett-Packard Sr. VP of Global Marketing from wireimage.com

Hewlett-Packard will end its tablet computer and smartphone businesses, and may sell its PC business as well.

The company has been rumored to have been in talks about selling its PC business, but the smartphone announcement came as a surprise especially since HP recently paid $1.8 billion to smartphone maker Palm in 2009.

HP is the biggest maker of PCs and printers, but has been trying to expand and focus more on technology services.

Will Adobe Edge finally supplant Flash?

Acquanetta Ferguson — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 20:26:31 +0000

The question is less of a “HTML5 conquer Flash?” and more of a “WHEN will HTML5 take over?”

A preview version of the Adobe Edge development tool was released yesterday by Adobe Systems, and it promises to help web developers create animation and other such things on the Internet without Flash.

Edge, which can be downloaded from the Adobe Labs site, is ready and available for developers now. This is a way to let you know that that the company is attempting to move away from Flash, and is focusing its efforts on HTML5, which can create some of the same effects, but without the plug-in.

Edge is actually in the early stages of development, much earlier than the beta stage, because HTML5 is evolving and it supports the browsers that are up and running now.

Doing this will allow Adobe to address any issues that may arise from developers testing the new features of HTML5 and deal with it not rather than later.

Edge will also be focused on the mobile Web, such as Apple, Android and Blackbery OS systems, but not to worry as the tools will also work well with traditional desktop browsers that support HTML5 which would be Internet Explorer 9, Firefox, Safari, and Google Chrome.

Edge utilizes the same language that longtime Flash programmers are accustomed to, which promises a familiar transition. It uses the timeline development metaphor that will be familiar to longtime Flash programmers.

As of now no word on what this will cost or when this will be released, but Adobe seems determined that HTML5 will take over for Flash.

“Dear #Netflix” trending on Twitter after rate changes

Acquanetta Ferguson — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 14:28:23 +0000

If you are a customer of Netflix, then you would have received an email yesterday that explains that the service will now separate their services into two payment structures. Here is a copy of an email I received:

We are separating unlimited DVDs by mail and unlimited streaming into two separate plans to better reflect the costs of each. Now our members have a choice: a streaming only plan, a DVD only plan, or both.

Your current $14.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs will be split into 2 distinct plans:

Plan 1: Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month

Plan 2: Unlimited DVDs, 2 out at-a-time (no streaming) for $11.99 a month

Your price for getting both of these plans will be $19.98 a month ($7.99 + $11.99). You don’t need to do anything to continue your memberships for both unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs.

These prices will start for charges on or after September 1, 2011.

You can easily change or cancel your unlimited streaming plan, unlimited DVD plan, or both, by going to the Plan Change page in Your Account.

We realize you have many choices for home entertainment, and we thank you for your business. As always, if you have questions, please feel free to call us at 1-888-357-1516.

–The Netflix Team

The reaction to this?

Well if you are on Twitter, the trending topic for the past two days has been “Dear #Netflix,” where people from around the world have voiced their displeasure at the 60 percent price increase. Some are quite funny, some sad, while others lament the fact that the streaming service, which is the cheapest option, does not have as good a selection as the DVD’s they offer.

Here are a few dissatisfied customers from twitter:

@ChrisThomas:

Dear @Netflix: Not cool. Sincerely, Me and everyone else who have loyally paid you $ for years. P.S. Please fix it.

@adkalmanack:

Dear #netflix, You can’t double the price of a product without providing more value. Bad business move — #redbox here we come.

With that said, will you continue on with Netflix? Leave your comments below!

Microsoft trying to kill off XP

Acquanetta Ferguson — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 21:19:50 +0000

Microsoft announced that as of Monday they have sold 400 million Windows 7 licenses worldwide since its release in October 2009.

While that is great news for the company, they also discussed their Windows 8 OS during a Worldwide Partner Conference, but only briefly, as more will be revealed later on in the year.

Why all the fanfare over Windows 7? Besides the growth, the company also wants people to ditch XP for 7, because Microsoft announced that customers now have 1,000 days until the company stops supporting Windows XP.

According to Erwin Visser, senior director for the Windows Commercial Product Marketing team “Windows XP served us well, but in the ten years since it launched, the world has changed. It’s time to retire Windows XP and move to Windows 7 to take advantage of the last decade of innovation in areas such as security, performance and more natural, intuitive interface.”

How will this work, since the two OS are not really compatible with each other? Microsoft lauded the cloud-based service Intune can help users manage and secure their computers from any location.

“Windows Intune has proven to be the comprehensive solution [partners and customers] need, giving them cloud services for PC management and security and upgrade rights to Windows 7 Enterprise (and future versions of Windows) from a single, simple subscription,” said Visser.

It sounds like Microsoft is trying to help the demise of XP by providing tools to help people make the transfer.

Many XP users stuck with the venerable operating system after downgrading from the failed Windows Vista a few years ago.

Six unofficial rules to live by when using Facebook

Amanda Strong — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:20:26 +0000

Over 700 million users on Facebook have faced this dilemma … confirm or ignore a friend request. We’ve all been there, weighing the options of allowing yet another friend into our lives. Some may be nonchalant about adding friends, “the more the merrier.” Other users may be more selective, only allowing “specific” friends into their lives. One thing they all have in common… there aren’t many rules when it comes to Facebook.

Social networking is a huge force to be reckoned with. We are consumed by posting on news feeds, giving status updates, and sharing pictures with our “friends.” But what does all of this mean? More than you think… here are six (unofficial) rules for using Facebook.

1. Know your friends. First and foremost, would you randomly walk up to a total stranger, and show them a picture of your adorable and innocent children?

Most likely not, yet people accept friend requests from friends of friends they barely know, or strangers who happen to know someone they’ve met once. Participating in the world of social networking doesn’t mean you have to throw all your regular rules out the door. Just because you can’t see the predator at the door doesn’t mean they aren’t lurking in cyberspace when your safety guard is down. When you’re chatting with someone, are you chatting with a true “friend?” Think about the person you’re adding, and who’ll be seeing the most intimate details of your life. Posting your husband will be out of town for a couple days is probably not the best idea, but numerous times a day, people do share this type of information. Would you post a huge note on your front door reading, “My husband is not home, he’s away on business until Friday?”
Common sense and knowing who you’re friends are will help keep you and your secrets safe within your inner circle of friends.

2. Know what matters to you. People often join Facebook on a whim, but don’t really grasp the enormity of what social networking has become. Why are you choosing to be a member? Do you want to catch up with old friends? Do you want to share your life with everyone you know, or are you just nosy and want to snoop around and not participate? If you’ve identified yourself as at least one of these people, than you’re a step ahead of everyone else. Always remember the real reason you joined a social networking site in the first place. If you start straying from that truth and allow outside influences to distract you, your judgment can become clouded. Stick with what matters and be honest with yourself. If you own your actions and the way you handle yourself on Facebook, you’re less likely to run into trouble.

3. Know what to share. Who are your “friends?” Do you care who sees your posts or pictures? If the answer is no, than go about your day but still have your eyes wide open for your sake. For people who want to share their information and details of their life with just “friends,” think before posting or downloading. Once you click the button, there’s really no turning back. Yes, you can delete your post or pictures, but who is to say someone hasn’t already taken your words or photos and saved them to their account or computer? An innocent post or picture can be timeless in the world of social networking. Don’t take the power of social media lightly.

4. Know if you want to please people. Are you “liking” everything in sight? Do you encourage and comment on “friend’s” posts constantly? Do you say things you really don’t mean, because you don’t want to hurt someone else’s feelings? Facebook and social networking can mirror high school, the days where acceptance and fitting in were staples in the world of adolescence. Fast-forward five, ten, or twenty years. If you had the chance to do anything over or be someone else, would you? Being true to who you are is probably one of the best gifts you can give yourself. Don’t sell out or pretend to be someone you’re not, and sacrifice a part of you for that acceptance. Try not to compromise yourself for people who you didn’t really care for in the first place.

5. Know to anticipate the “what ifs.” No one really thinks confirming a friend is difficult, but it’s not as innocent as it seems. What if your ex friends you out of the blue? Do you confirm them as a friend? What if you’re married? Do you tell your mate your ex has friended you…or is it none of their business? What if your spouse finds out you confirmed an ex without disclosing or discussing it first? What if you aren’t prepared to allow someone back into your life? Temptation has never been this close. With a click of a button, you can see what your ex is doing at that very moment and instantly communicate with a person you haven’t seen in years. Are you prepared for what comes next? Curiosity can lead to the “what ifs” being answered, even if they aren’t necessarily good.

6. Know your boundaries. How far is too far? You’re married but speak with an old friend, sharing more intimate thoughts with that person than your significant other. An emotional connection can lead to something more dangerous … a physical affair. Can a friendship with an ex be platonic? Is discussing intimate topics, meeting for coffee or dinner, and becoming more secretive and withdrawn from your significant other crossing the line? Can you look in the mirror, and know you’re not doing anything wrong? Temptation and availability can cloud someone’s judgment, leading to mistakes and regret. When have you gone too far? Difficult questions that should be answered before it’s too late.

Today, Facebook and other social networking sites are under a microscope. Without established rules, people are making mistakes and paying for them. Have you encountered anything in life that hasn’t had some form of rules or regulations? Temptation is a driving force within social media. People simply can’t help themselves, but what are the consequences? Recent scandals show no one is immune to scrutiny and the negative spotlight that comes from making a social media blunder, so to all of you addicted to social media, remember to use with caution!

Google launches social network

Acquanetta Ferguson — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:12:49 +0000

Google has never been accused of sitting idly by, what with it still being the number 1 search engine across the world, and constantly trying to branch out into other fields that are already dominated by other juggernauts like Skype and Facebook.

On Google’s blog, they have just announced a new social media function called Google+ which is trying to incorporate your online world and real world experience into one.

Google+ is actually several different social media ideas to get you involved with the people in your network, both on and off line.

+Cirlcle is a way to connect with a select few people in your social network of friends. Instead of blasting the world you interact with a “circle” of friends with the same likes.
+Sparks delivers a feed of highly contagious content from across the Internet. On any topic you want, in over 40 languages. Simply add your interests, and you’ll always have something to watch, read and share—with just the right circle of friends. This sounds like it would be the equivalent of Twitter and Facebook combined.
+Hangouts By combining the casual meetup with live multi-person video, Hangouts lets you stop by when you’re free, and spend time with your Circles. Face-to-face-to-face. In other words, this would be the equivalent of Face Time on a phone or Skype.
+Mobile has three counterparts such as +location, +instant upload, +huddle. Each of these make your phone a way to connect with your circle online offline, by giving your location where they could join you for fun, by checking out a photo you just took, and by coordinating with a meetup that you’ve planned.

As you can see Google+ is not only stepping into the social media landscape, it is trying to carve out its own niche as well. It is combining several popular medias such as Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter and Skype. Why use all four when you can have it all in one place?

Want to get in on the action? Right now it is currently available in the Android Market and will be available at some point in the future on other platforms.

Skype layoffs prove even rich people can have a bad day

Acquanetta Ferguson — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:00:43 +0000

Sometimes even executives have a bad day at the office. Skype, the video chat service that allows you to talk to anyone around the world with a computer, a camera and a microphone, is closing in on a deal with Microsoft and fired several executives to make a sweeter deal with the company this past Monday.

Why? Well according to Bloomberg, firing them now, before the deal is final will actually reduce the actual value of their payouts. Ouch. Talk about company sincerity.

Skype even let go Allyson Campa who just started with the company when they acquired Qik to boost their already popular video chat service.

If the execs had stayed around until after the deal closed with Microsoft, then their stock options would be worth more, so Skype and Microsoft save money by firing them now, Bloomberg reported.

The acquisition was approved on Thursday, by the Department of Justice $8.5 billion.

Winklevoss twins drop Facebook suit

Brittney McNamara — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 10:21:55 +0000

A judge ruled against the twins who waged the legal battle against Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, made famous by the movie “The Social Network,” on Wednesday, ending the case.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss originally agreed to a $65 million settlement in 2008, but then tried to undo the deal.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the duo and they denied a trip to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Their stock is now worth more than $100 million, according to Boston.com.

NFC is here — is contactless payment the future of commerce?

Philip Dall — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 19:08:15 +0000

As recently as March this year VISA and Mastercard trialled a new wireless payment technology called Near Field Communication (NFC). It would allow customers to pay for products by simply waving a handheld in the vicinity of a receiver, revolutionizing the way we shop, but how long will consumers have to wait before this futuristic alternative to plastic hits the streets? Well in short, it’s already here.

NFC is a short-range (approximately 10cm) wireless technology that uses electromagnetic radio fields to transmit data a short distance from a transmitter to a receiver. The transmitter would be a mobile phone that could be activated and simply waved in the vicinity of a device that effectively acts as an electronic checkout to offer fast payment for goods and services.

One of the hurdles NFC needs to overcome before it becomes commonplace is security, and IBM has already voiced its concerns about how it could lead to increasing interest by malicious parties. Americans seem less skeptical however – a recent survey by research specialist Compete1 reports that one in four are prepared to pay for groceries with a phone, and one in five are happy to pay for clothes, coffee, cellphone top-ups and the like.

And there’s certainly an incentive from the retail side as well – Juniper Networks, BullGuard technology partner , suggest that NFC will bring in $50 billion over the next three years.

The Wall Street Journal reports that New York will be the first to adopt the technology, with retail partners such as Macy’s, American Eagle Outfitters and Subway already on board.

At the forefront of this rollout is Google, which has teamed up with MasterCard and CitiGroup to produce the service. It’ll work via Google Wallet2, an app that allows customers with compatible phones to begin using NFC. To address security concerns, a dedicated chip called the Secure Element, separate from a phone’s memory, uses MasterCard’s secure encryption technology to protect credentials as they are transferred. In addition, PIN code authorization is required to carry out a transaction in the same way as a regular card. While Google has obviously gone to great pains to secure users of the Wallet, how effective those measures actually are remains to be seen – rule of thumb is that storing credit card details anywhere with online access leaves those details open to hackers.

To encourage consumers to use the service Google plans to work in a series or promotions and discounts from associated retailers offering money off vouchers and loyalty schemes – similar to the one currently offered by Starbucks, that are sent to a phone and can be instantly redeemed in store.

You’ll need an NFC enabled phone to get involved. The Nexus S 4G, available on Sprint, is the only Google Wallet enabled phone currently, but an increasing number of new handsets are looking to include the technology as standard, suggesting that NFC is likely to become widespread much sooner than many of us could have predicted.

Zuckerberg wants Facebook opened to kids under 13

Acquanetta Ferguson — Mon, 23 May 2011 15:55:52 +0000

The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, wants kids under 13 to be allowed on Facebook, saying the youngsters should be allowed, for educational purposes, to access his social network.

In theory this sounds like a great idea, especially as children are the future and definitely more savvy when it comes to computers and the internet, but some groups — and law — would disagree with the plan.

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) bans sites from collecting information from kids under 13. Parental groups also worry that child predators out there could possibly be detrimental to this plan.

Zuckerberg is tech savvy as well as business savvy, and opening the flood gates to children would certainly be good for Facebook’s bottom line, but at the same time, the question reamins: how can he stop those who are still out there waiting for something like this? For parents of younger children, they may not want their kids online.

What do you think of the idea? Comment below!

Netflix reaches agreement with Miramax for digital distribution

Acquanetta Ferguson — Tue, 17 May 2011 14:04:10 +0000

Netflix has finally come to an agreement and will start streaming Miramax movies in June. This deal so far is only for U.S. members to watch instantly. No word yet on when and if available to outside the U.S.

This is the very first time that Miramax titles would be available through a digital subscription service, making Netflix the clear winner in this deal.

So what are you getting for your subscription service? Among the many award-winning, fan favorite and commercially successful movies are: “Bad Santa,” “Chasing Amy,” “Cinema Paradiso,” “Clerks,” “Cold Mountain,” “The English Patient,” “From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Good Will Hunting,” “Kill Bill Volumes” I and II, “Muriel’s Wedding,” “The Piano,” “Pulp Fiction,” “Reindeer Games,” “Shakespeare in Love,” and many of the “Halloween,” “Scary Movie,” “Scream” and “Spy Kids” movies.

Is this a deal-maker for you? Share your comments below!

What’s up with Google Music Beta?

Acquanetta Ferguson — Tue, 10 May 2011 21:39:17 +0000

Google is becoming more of an internet giant everyday it seems. Today they announced their launch of something new called Music Beta. It is a service that will allow users to upload their music to the site where they would then be able to stream it. What do you think of this new service being provided by the company? Want to get in on this service? Since it is in a beta format, they is accepting request at music.google.com

But according to Billboard, this is not what the company wanted. They actually wanted deals with the major music labels to effectively offer a service to people but per Zahavah Levine, representative for the Google who was part of the negations process lays blame for the company not getting what they want.

“We’ve been in negotiations with the industry for a different set of features, with mixed results,” she told Billboard the night before the announcement was made. “[But] a couple of major labels were less focused on innovation and more on demanding unreasonable and unsustainable business terms.”

What did Google actually want? They wanted “to offer a scan-and-match style locker service — where instead of uploading different copies of the same track to store in a locker for each users, the service would scan users’ libraries and match the songs they own to a centralized server, paying rightsholders for each stream.”

All of this was to coincide with Google’s music player app which will be available for Android smartphones. With so many services offering similar options, is Google becoming a bit greedy in its need to expand in every market? Or is their room for what they are offering?

Microsoft to buy Skype for $8.5 billion

John M. Guilfoil — Tue, 10 May 2011 14:30:34 +0000

In its largest purchase ever, Microsoft said Tuesday that it will purchase Skype SA for $8.5 billion.

Skype, the mega-popular Internet telephone and video chat service, gives Microsoft 170 million people in its user database, with users spending 207 billion minutes of voice and video airtime in 2010, Microsoft said in a statement.

“Skype has been a pioneer in creating rich, meaningful connections among friends, families and business colleagues globally,” the statement said. “Microsoft has a long-standing focus and investment in real-time communications across its various platforms, including Lync (which saw 30 percent revenue growth in Q3), Outlook, Messenger, Hotmail and Xbox LIVE.”

Skype will become a new business division of Microsoft, while bringing its services to Xbox, Kinect, Windows Phone and a variety of other Microsoft devices and services.

“Skype is a phenomenal service that is loved by millions of people around the world,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, in the statement. “Together we will create the future of real-time communications so people can easily stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues anywhere in the world.”

Skype CEO Tony Bates will become president of the Microsoft Skype Division, reporting directly to Ballmer.

“Microsoft and Skype share the vision of bringing software innovation and products to our customers,” said Bates. “Together, we will be able to accelerate Skype’s plans to extend our global community and introduce new ways for everyone to communicate and collaborate.”

Skype was founded in 2003 and purchased by eBay in 2005 and then by another investment group in 2009. The majority of its users are in Europe, and country-to-country calling is its most popular service.

Google Talk video chat will appear on Android devices

Acquanetta Ferguson — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:01:42 +0000

Google has announced that it will begin to start rolling out the new Google Talk video chat on Android devices.

If you have an Android phone or device you will be able to video or voice chat with anyone who has compatible devices such as an Android tablet or using Gmail with Google Talk on their computer. This will work over and 3G or 4G data network or over Wi-Fi.

The way this will work is in your Google Talk friends list, a video or voice chat button will appear next your contacts and all you have to do is touch the button and you will be able to connect with them.

If say you needed to check something while you were chatting, the video pauses automatically so that way you can go back to the phone’s home screen or even another app.

The feature will be added to the Nexus S devices in the next few weeks and will be eventually be added to other Android 2.3+ devices.

del.icio.us purchased by YouTube founders

Acquanetta Ferguson — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 02:13:13 +0000

Today it was announced that YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steven Chen have purchased the social bookmaking site Delicious from Yahoo, which acquired the site back in 2005.

Per the press release, Delicious will become part of AVOS, a new Internet company. Current users using Delicious will continue to use the service, but it will now be easier and more fun to save and share what is already on the web.

“We’re excited to work with this fantastic community and take Delicious to the next level,” said Chad Hurley, CEO of AVOS. “We see a tremendous opportunity to simplify the way users save and share content they discover anywhere on the web.”

“We spoke with numerous parties interested in acquiring the site, and chose Chad and Steve based on their passion and unique vision for Delicious,” said John Matheny, SVP of Communications and Communities at Yahoo!

The YouTube founders plan to work closely with the community over the next few months to develop innovative features to help solve the problem of information overload. “We see this problem not just in the world of video, but also cutting across every information-intensive media type,” said Chen.

Could this mean that sites like Digg and Reddit are not that far behind as being sold off as well? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Facebook Deals another contender for Groupon’s customers

Acquanetta Ferguson — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:09:25 +0000

It seems that Google is not the only kid who wants a piece of the “deals” block. In breaking news via Mashable.com Facebook is now getting into the coupon deals business.

This news follows on the heels of Google’s big announcement, and like the other coupon deal sites (Groupon and Livingsocial), Facebook will also offer enormous deals at huge percentages off “unlimited bowling with six friends for an evening for $60 (75 percent off)” and “luxury winery tour and 25 percent off all wine purchases for $50.”

Facebook Deals will launch Tuesday five cities starting only: San Francisco, Austin, Dallas, Atlanta and San Diego, and since it is Facebook, the deals will appear on the user’s newsfeed as well as via email.

This will make Deals more of social thing because the idea is once people start engaging and using the deals, they will then share those deals with their friends and so on.

Google launches direct Groupon competitor

Acquanetta Ferguson — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 22:45:52 +0000

(Mashable)

Google has added another service to its growing list of things they offer: Google Offers.

It is a direct competitor for Groupon, which was ridiculed earlier this year for the poor taste in super bowl commercials, but it also put them on the map of coupons and offers.

With an already growing number of sites offering similar or the same thing (such as LivingSocial ect.) can Google Offer really offer anything new to the table?

Mashable first reported the news.

Google tried to buy Groupon for $6 billion just months ago. Groupon declined the offer and is preparing to launch an IPO at about $15 billion.

Well it appears that since Google couldn’t buy them, then creating their own service is one way of trying to beat them at their own game.

Can Google succeed? Or will Groupon or even LivingSocial, who already have an established customer base, will they still continue to succeed with the giant that is Google?

Amazon platform: Should social media’s sites look for a new alternative?

Acquanetta Ferguson — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 22:27:18 +0000

This week, many social media platforms were dead. No life. Just a screen that screamed server is down will be up later. Or the connectivity was so slow maybe having a message that the server was down would have been better.

In this day and age, social media is not a byword but the end all be all for so many businesses and people that having a well known server host like “Amazon’s AWS services, which together comprise the company’s cloud computing platform” go down for a good portion of day is not a good thing.

If you use foursquare, you could not check in to get your points. No mayorship or badges unlocked.

If you use paper.li the new kid on the social media block, then you were not able to see your own newspaper full of tweets or Facebook feed with the most popular stories of the previous day.

The list goes on and on with people not being able to get their social media fix.

As of today though, per mashable.com, the servers, while not full capacity, some of the big sites are viewable and working fine.

Could this happen again? And should some of these sites look for other alternatives?

Sony Creative to announce groundbreaking film and sound software at 2011 NAB Show

Molly J. Coombs — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 14:08:20 +0000

Independent film production took another giant step forward this week at the National Association of Broadcasters Show, with a pair of software debuts from Sony Creative Software sure to make waves in both the professional and consumer markets.

In the area of film editing, Sony’s debuted Vegas Pro 10.0d, an innovative program that boasts extensive post-production capabilities. An update to the already successful Vegas Pro 10 series, the non-linear video editing software expands into the burgeoning fields of 3D film and Blu-ray disc storage.

“The new enhancements in Vegas Pro 10.0d … provide cutting edge tools that equip industry professionals with improved capabilities to produce quality work at a greater efficiency,” said Dave Chaimson, vice president of global marketing for Sony Creative Software, in a press release Monday. These improvements include streamlined closed captioning embedding, as well as support for Advanced Micro Device (AMD) graphic chipsets – an upgrade that allows for faster project rendering. Additionally, the software features a new burning capability that allows for complete high-quality 3D Blu-ray film creation.

Vegas 10.0d has adopted Open Computing Language (OpenCL) – a cross-platform programming framework that has become an industry standard in recent years – a decision that Manju Hegde, the corporate vice president of the AMD Fusion Experience Program, sees as “key to advancing innovation, helping creative professionals to rely on and fully leverage available computing power on a common industry platform to bring inspiration to reality.”

Registered Vegas Pro 10 users can enjoy the 10.0d upgrade, which also includes improved audio track workflow and support for 3D Multiview Video Coding (MVC) and Multi Picture Object (MPO) file formats, free of charge starting in late April. The full suite will retail with a suggested price of $699.95.

On the sound-editing front, Sony Creative announced a high-quality sound effect series developed in partnership with acclaimed production studio The Detroit Chop Shop. The series spans a range of genres – from Action to Nature, from Transportation to Explosions & Impacts – in 10 volumes. Delivered in broadcast standard 24-bit/48 kHz sound, the effects are encoded with metadata, allowing for full searchability in standard search engines like Google and Bing.

Already an industry standard, The Detroit Chop Shop’s partnership with Sony Creative will “ensure parity for producers working with high-impact sound in the broadcast and film industries,” said Chaimson. The series is now available, retailing for $99.95 for individual titles or $799.95 for all 10 volumes.

Both products will be available for download from www.sonycreativesoftware.com or for purchase at retailers worldwide.

iPad 2 unveiled, comes to America March 11

Joe Sinicki — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 16:40:56 +0000

In a move that surprised pretty much no one, Apple officially unveiled the iPad 2 to the world yesterday. What may surprise you though is that the new models release date, March 11, is just days away.

While the new model doesn’t feature anything revolutionary, it does feature an impressive feature set that improves on the original. iPad 2 features a 33% thinner frame than it’s predecessor; going from 13.4 mm to just 8.8 mm (which makes the iPad 2 smaller than even the iPhone 4). The iPad 2 also fixes what many thought was one of the original’s biggest flaws by making the unit 15% lighter.

On the tech side the iPad 2 features a brand new dual core processor known as the A5. Accodring to Apple, the new processor is twice as old as the original and allows the graphics performance to run remarkably better. As expected, the new model also comes packed with many of the features that the rest of the iOS family can already claim, including front and rear facing cameras that allow for face time and the ability to shoot videos in 720p (and yes, this iPad will have an HDMI output) along with the gyroscope technology seen in the iPhone 4.

What hasn’t changed? The pricing structure. Just like the original model, iPad 2 will retail for $629-$829 depending on the model.

Life in the automated age: A lesson from Watson’s “Jeopardy!” victory

Molly J. Coombs — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:35:40 +0000

As the world watched IBM supercomputer Watson wipe the floor with veteran Jeopardy champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, much was made of the impact this victory could have on society. With robots already replacing humans in assembly lines and factories internationally, this demonstration of a computer’s ability to learn over time and understand the nuances of language – including puns and jokes — raises the spectre of intelligent machines taking over even more advanced jobs.

According to Martin Ford, author of “The Lights in the Tunnel: Automation, Accelerating Technology and the Economy of the Future,” it is already happening.

Ford, a graduate of the University of Michigan, boasts more than 25 years in the field of technology and has seen the ever-growing influence of automation firsthand. Since starting his own business over 15 years ago, Ford has watched his company’s technology rapidly progress. “Even as a small business, I see the impact,” Ford said in a phone interview Wednesday. “Everything used to be done by telephone, the software sent by mail. Now we have the Internet.”

Beyond its social significance, the increase in automation at his own software company inspired Ford to explore the ramifications of burgeoning technology on the economy. “At the rate at which technology is advancing, repetitive, routine jobs are likely to get automated in the next 10 to 20 years,” Ford explained, and he doesn’t believe it will stop there. As an intelligent computer like Watson demonstrates, increasingly sophisticated machinery could soon replace humans in more and more complex, analytical fields.

“There is a limit to (human) capability. If you’re working at McDonalds, you’re probably not going to get a PhD,” Ford said, adding that as robotic intelligence is developed, it will begin to push against that capability. When machines grow beyond simple physical tasks to the skilled, mental work of middle- and high-level jobs, the dwindling opportunities for workers will continue to drag the economy deeper into recession. As Ford explains it, in a mass-market economy like the United States, the problem is simple: “There will be fewer and fewer people with the discretionary income to participate in the economy. You can’t drive the economy like that.”

Ford’s solution is unorthodox at best – he promotes a model of progressive taxation and the payment of a basic income to all citizens, whether they work or not – and a far cry from our modern capitalism. “It’s a radical idea in terms of politics,” he acknowledges, noting that the current conservative policies that seek to de-fund social welfare programs are “accelerating the process.” With automation gaining ground all fields of employment, Ford feels that economic change is all but inevitable and the government must prepare for the eventuality that technology may one day have the ability to put any American worker out of his job.

There is perhaps no greater evidence of this than Watson’s staggering win, which demonstrated computing ability far beyond even the sizable skill of Deep Blue, the IBM computer that defeated famed chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov in 1997. “The technology is pretty amazing,” Ford stated. “I’ve never seen a machine, a computer, handle language in this way.” But it is more, he insists, than mere understanding. Ford emphasized Watson’s machine learning as the true secret to its success: “A machine that can get better and better – it’s proven that its operating at a championship level. There are big implications for the future in that.”

Indeed, as companies like Google continue to develop supercomputers of their own, the expansion of automation seems increasingly likely. “We’re going to see it in the coming year,” Ford said, predicting that these types of technology will begin to encroach on higher skill jobs. “It’s going to be a huge issue for us as a society,” he stated.

As Watson and his contemporaries are designed to perform ever more complicated tasks, the impact on the economy looks increasingly bleak. With robots performing more jobs once reserved exclusively for college graduates, Ford predicts that the displacement of workers will only continue to grow: “It is unclear where the jobs of the future are going to come from.”