Archive for August 8th, 2008

Motorola declares white space device testing successful

Aug 8, 2008 Blogs, Technology

Filed under:

Motorola is claiming success in the latest round of FCC white space device testing, countering Microsoft’s numerous failed attempts. “It worked as well as we said it would,” said Motorola’s Steve Sharkey. So there. Motorola’s device is mostly based on its geolocation capabilities, which in addition to its “sensing” tech allow it to know where which spectrum is being used by digital TV in that particular area and avoid it proactively. Sharkey calls the tech “absolute, solid protection,” which should make members of the white space coalition happy — though we haven’t heard positive word from Philips, Adaptrum and InfoComm yet, who were also testing devices alongside Motorola, but aren’t using the geolocation technology. That, and the FCC has the final word on all of this, so we’ll just have to wait for that word from on high before we start riotous, interference free partying in the streets.

[Via dailywireless.org]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Tags: , ,

Facebook Security Advice: Never Ever Enter Your Passwords On Another Site, Unless We Ask You To

Aug 8, 2008 Blogs, Technology

After the recent outbreak of a worm that hacked user Facebook accounts and disseminated through users contacts, Facebook responded with a post with advice to users on general tips about web security. Facebook head of security Max Kelly, a former FBI computer forensics examiner, wrote a blog post with advice to Facebook users including:

As a Facebook user you can help us protect you by doing the following things:

* Report any spam message or posting you see. The more reports we get, the easier it is for us to respond decisively.

* Never share your Facebook password with anyone. Never. No Facebook employee will ever ask for it, and no one else should know it. If you are ever prompted to log in to Facebook, make sure it’s from a legitimate Facebook web address. If something looks or feels off, go directly to www.facebook.com to log in.

Never entering your credentials on a non-Facebook site is very good advice, which most users should know by now and should adhere to. The problem is that Facebook do not seem to support these same principals when it comes to a users credentials from other sites, such as a users Google username and password, which Facebook requests when a user imports their contacts. The screenshot below is from Facebook, its the feature where a user can login to their Google, Hotmail or Yahoo account, from within the Facebook site, to retrieve their contacts.

This very feature directly contravenes what Facebook has stated in its own good security advice. While the message below the box does state that they do not store passwords, the point is more that the practice of users directly entering credentials from another site is a very poor design decision and generally very poor practice. Each one of the sites that Facebook integrates with supports oAuth or a similar authentication protocol that does not require the user to enter both their username and password. Better yet, most of those services also provide an API where the user can grant permission to Facebook to only access their address book, and not their whole email and certainly not every other service tied into it.

The Facebook security team have stated what is good practice on their blog, perhaps its time for them to direct their energies internally and evangelize support for oAuth and other open data formats as both a more secure and conveniant mechanism for data exchange.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Tags: , ,

CEO: Fully Merged Sirius XM Devices To Hit Shelves In Q1 2009 [Xm Sirius]

Aug 8, 2008 Blogs, Technology

When Sirius and XM finished their merger dance it was said that they would be able to offer interoperable radios—that is units that work with the full lineups of both XM and Sirus—within a year of the merger. Then they told the FCC they’d have devices within nine months. Now Mel Karmazin, CEO of the new merged company, has said that we can expect merged receivers “a number of months” before that deadline, likely in the first quarter of 2009. This is both good and bad news for the consumers. It’s good because they’ll get the full benefits of the merged systems, but it’s bad because to get those benefits they’ll have to purchase another receiver. Karmazin also said that “a la carte” radios—those that would offer a full lineup of either XM or Sirius and individual channels from the other service—will be here for the holidays, but we’d hold off.[OrbitCast]


Tags: ,

Rackspace IPO: Wall Street does cloud computing

Aug 8, 2008 World News

Shares of the San Antonio, Texas-based hosting company fell 20 percent Friday on its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Tags: , ,

Samsung Working With Apple To Optimize Solid State Drive Performance In Snow Leopard [Ssd]

Aug 8, 2008 Blogs, Technology

Samsung has been pioneering efforts to improve performance of SSDs in operating systems, working with Apple to integrate ZFS reading and writing to the next version of OSX Server. This means a 128-bit file system with faster data throughput and lots of other fun things that make servers run better. This also means Apple is taking SSD technology seriously, as it has already dropped the price of the SSD upgrade for the MacBook Air—the only current MacBook to ship with an SSD option—to $599 from $999. We likely won’t see SSDs across the MacBook lines yet, but this means it could be in the cards. [MacRumors]


Tags: ,

How Stuff Works Hosting Detailed Guide To Batman’s Tumbler [Batman]

Aug 8, 2008 Blogs, Technology

If you’re a fan of the current crop of Batman movies (you probably are) then you either love or hate the new Batmobile, affectionately known as the Tumbler. If you’re in the love camp, then you can now find out everything you’d want to know about the four prop cars they built for the films, including what engine they have and how they were constructed. The in-depth guide is even broken down into categories like the history of the project to how the makers modeled the shape, and makes a perfect Friday evening read. [How Stuff Works via Jalopnik]


Tags: ,

Artificial pancreas developed, twice as cool as your boring real one

Aug 8, 2008 Blogs, Technology

Filed under:

We’ve never really found much use for our pancreas. It doesn’t comes up in conversation, and tends to be a bit of a non-entity when it comes to our social life. Still, some people have a bit more trouble with their pancreai, and for those folks the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is working on an artificial pancreas to do the job. It’s based around existing technology for monitoring and moderating blood sugar levels, but “closes the loop,” scratching out human error by feeding monitoring data, computer predictions and insulin injections into one system that doesn’t require human intervention. To start out, the foundation plans on creating a product aimed at regulating blood-sugar overnight, and then from there move on to a ’round the clock device.

[Via Protein Feed]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Tags: , ,

The Perks Of Being The MySpace CEO Include, Apparently, Paris Hilton

Aug 8, 2008 Blogs, Technology

Facebook may be the king of the Silicon Valley crowd, but Paris Hilton apparently prefers MySpace. 42 year old MySpace cofounder and CEO Chris DeWolfe has been dating 27 year old Paris Hilton for at least a few weeks, sources close to the company confirm. We first got wind of this when we saw DeWolfe in a random video clip with Hilton from last month (see below). He’s also been throwing parties in the Hamptons, and Hilton has been at all of them.

Now we’ve got a source in New York that’s confirming the two are dating. DeWolfe is hosting yet another party tonight in the Hamptons, and Hilton will reportedly be there as his date.

This is a brilliant marketing move for MySpace (or for Hilton?). Or maybe they actually like each other. All we’ve confirmed is that they are definitely dating.

As far as we can tell DeWolfe still has a wife (but is reportedly separated) and Hilton still has an official boyfriend, but whatever, this is Hollywood. Best of luck to both of them.

var x17video_id = “philton071508.mp4″;

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Tags: , ,

Freewheeler Speaker Can Be Rolled Around: Yeah, That Makes it Worth $21,000 [Home Entertainment]

Aug 8, 2008 Blogs, Technology

The Freewheeler speaker features a frequency response of 52 - 21,000 Hz, a 112dB output, a built-in FM receiver, a battery life of 8 hours and a wireless range of 656 feet— but I’m having trouble figuring out what makes it worth $21,000. Is it the fact that it is roughly the size of a Mazda Miata tire (only thicker) and can be rolled around? Because I’ll be dammed if I’m paying that much for something I have to push. Still, 8 morons spent $1000 bucks on that stupid iPhone app so there is no telling what people will drop big money on.

[Made in Design via Technabob]


Tags: ,

Why Netshare Is Probably Not Coming Back to the App Store [IPhone Apps]

Aug 8, 2008 Blogs, Technology

After Netshare was pulled for the second time from the App Store, there was a glimmer of hope it might return after the developer finally got in touch with Apple. Enter AT&T and their terms of service: “Plans (unless specifically designated for tethering usage) cannot be used for any applications that tether the device…to Personal Computers (including without limitation, laptops), or other equipment for any purpose.” There is no tethering plan for the iPhone. And that’s where it gets messy.

The obvious question is “Why doesn’t AT&T just offer a tethering plan, so everyone’s happy?” Trying to get a straight answer on this question is like interrogating a leprechaun about the current location of Elvis. Here’s AT&T’s official party line from an AT&T spokesman: “The iPhone is not intended to be used as a tethering device and we have no plans to offer separate tethering plans for it.” Pushed on NetShare specifically, he added that

“Apple runs the app store, so you’ll have to ask them about the availability of this and other apps. For customers looking for a smartphone with tethering capabilities, AT&T has a number of other options to choose from.”

The implication—though AT&T won’t come out and say it—is that the decision to not allowing tethering is actually Apple’s after all—besides, why wouldn’t AT&T want to hit you for another $30 a month (or more if you go over their tethering plans’ 5GB cap)?

We’re still trying to get the very bottom of who’s calling the shots on tethering being a no-no, but in the meantime, don’t hold your breath for NetShare to show its pretty face back in the App Store. If you managed to snag it before it got yoinked, be careful, you don’t want your account terminated. (P.S. if you’re an international reader and NetShare is still available where you’re at, let us know.) [Wired]


Tags: ,

Apple releases 2.1 Beta 3 to developers

Aug 8, 2008 Blogs, Technology

Filed under: ,

Check your email, iPhone developers. Apple has released iPhone OS 2.1 beta 3. The description of changes is typically cryptic:

“iPhone OS 2.1 beta 3 is now available and is to be used for testing only. View the Pre-Installation Advisory for iPhone OS 2.1 beta 3, Readme, and Release Notes before installing the new versions of the iPhone OS and SDK. As a reminder, pre-release software is Confidential Information and is subject to the terms outlined in your Registered iPhone Developer Terms and Conditions with Apple.”

Of course, we don’t know what’s been changed in this release. Note that iPhones updated to OS 2.1 beta 3 cannot be restored to an earlier version of the OS, and apps developed a beta OS 2.1 cannot be submitted to the App Store.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Tags: , , ,

Yahoo And Google Now Let You Opt Out Of Ads (Because It’s Better Than Letting You Opt In)

Aug 8, 2008 Blogs, Technology

All of a sudden, Yahoo and Google want to make it easy for you to opt out of their ad targeting on both their sites and across the Web. Yahoo announced a new one-click opt-out policy today, and Google made it possible to opt out of both Google and Doubleclick ad targeting with one click yesterday.

At least Yahoo was honest enough to come out and say that the new policy was a direct response to Congressional scrutiny over the intrusiveness of online advertising and behavioral targeting. Google’s announcement was buried in a blog post about Doubleclick cookies.

The truth is that both Yahoo and Google would rather take symbolic action themselves than be forced to take a more draconian one later. Who’s going to bother to opt out of ad targeting? Some people will, but the vast majority of people probably won’t. What would really mess up Yahoo’s and Google’s advertising ROIs is if Congress mandated that ad-targeting (via cookies) be opt-in. They’d surely get even fewer people opting in for those cookies than they will now get opting out. I know I’m too lazy to do either.

But if you don’t want those cookies, you can decline Yahoo’s here and Google’s here

(Flickr photo by scubadive67).

.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Tags: , ,

Defcon opens with a bang, contests, and intrigue

Aug 8, 2008 World News

Hacking conference begins with the usual lockpicking contests, software hacks, and target shooting, but also three fewer journalists.

Tags: , ,

IFC expands music programming with Pitchfork pact

Aug 8, 2008 Technology

NEW YORK (Billboard) - This fall, the Independent Film Channel will be running more music-related programming — on-air and online — than at any time in its 14-year history.

Tags: ,

Home Theater Hunting Sim Offers Duck Hunt Without The Damn Dog [Video Games]

Aug 8, 2008 Blogs, Technology

I like Duck Hunt, but I don’t like being mocked by an overweight dog because I’m not the next Solid Snake with a light gun. Laser Shot’s HT Complete home theater hunting sim offers all the game hunting one can handle without causing self-esteem issues. Sure, it costs $2000 for the laser camera detection kit, fake handgun, fake rifle and 15 different hunting sims ($3000 w/projector, plus an extra $1700 if you buy the shotgun and crossbow addons), but what’s more enjoyable than delivering a face full of lead to a gazelle? Amiright or amiright? [Laser Shot via BallerHouse]


Tags: ,