gnu / linux

Symantec declares PCAnywhere safe with latest security patch

2012-01-31T12:22:00.000-08:00

Symantec declares PCAnywhere safe with latest security patch: A week after urging customers to disable PCAnywhere in light of the theft of the product's source code, Symantec is now dubbing the product safe as long as users apply the latest security patch.

The Blobz Guide to Electric Circuits

2012-01-31T12:19:00.000-08:00

The Blobz Guide to Electric Circuits:

'via Blog this'

Linux Mint 12 Offers a Traditional Gnome Feel | Linux Journal

2012-01-31T09:20:00.000-08:00

Linux Mint 12 Offers a Traditional Gnome Feel | Linux Journal:

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5 Best Tax Preparation Tools | Digg Technology

2012-01-30T12:09:00.000-08:00

5 Best Tax Preparation Tools | Digg Technology:

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The dark side of shiny Apple products - CBS News

2012-01-29T13:25:00.000-08:00

The dark side of shiny Apple products - CBS News:

'via Blog this'

The Best Wi-Fi Articles for Securing Your Network and Optimizing Your Router - How-To Geek

2012-01-29T11:10:00.000-08:00

The Best Wi-Fi Articles for Securing Your Network and Optimizing Your Router - How-To Geek:

'via Blog this'

SwitchMe For Android Dual-Boots Your Device Using Multiple Profiles, Saves On Battery Life And More | TalkAndroid.com

2012-01-28T12:55:00.000-08:00

SwitchMe For Android Dual-Boots Your Device Using Multiple Profiles, Saves On Battery Life And More | TalkAndroid.com:

'via Blog this'

Distributed Denial of Service: Finally Getting the Attention It Deserves

2012-01-28T12:17:00.000-08:00

Distributed Denial of Service: Finally Getting the Attention It Deserves:

'via Blog this'

Twitter Censorship Policy Ignites Global Outrage

2012-01-28T10:39:00.000-08:00

Twitter Censorship Policy Ignites Global Outrage: NEW YORK — Twitter, a tool of choice for dissidents and activists around the world, found itself the target of global outrage Friday after unveiling plans to allow country-specific censorship of tweets that might break local laws. It was a stunning role reversal for a youthful company that prides itself in promoting unfettered expression, 140 characters at a time.

Updated Debian 6.0: 6.0.4 released

2012-01-28T07:36:00.000-08:00

Updated Debian 6.0: 6.0.4 released: The Debian project is pleased to announce the fourth update of its
stable distribution Debian (codename ).
This update mainly adds corrections for security problems to the stable
release, along with a few adjustments to serious problems. Security advisories
were already published separately and are referenced where available.

Linux Forums - Basic Backup Script in BASH

2012-01-27T12:12:00.000-08:00

Linux Forums - Basic Backup Script in BASH:

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Watching: Super Bowl ad pokes fun at Siri in Kim's Picks @ TVKim

2012-01-26T09:05:00.000-08:00

Watching: Super Bowl ad pokes fun at Siri in Kim's Picks @ TVKim:

'via Blog this'

BBC News - Bill Gates tells school pupils about giving it all away

2012-01-25T19:19:00.000-08:00

BBC News - Bill Gates tells school pupils about giving it all away:

'via Blog this'

27,000 Google Chromebooks headed to U.S. schools

2012-01-25T08:24:00.000-08:00

27,000 Google Chromebooks headed to U.S. schools: Google has found allies in three school districts that will bring the browser-based laptops to thousands of students. At least some of those kids not-so-secretly covet tablets, though.

Troubleshooting faulty network connectivity, part 2: Essential network commands « Doug Vitale Tech Blog

2012-01-25T08:07:00.000-08:00

Troubleshooting faulty network connectivity, part 2: Essential network commands « Doug Vitale Tech Blog:

'via Blog this'

Optimising Website Performance on Apache with Cache Control Settings | Jumping Bean - Your Java and Linux Company

2012-01-24T09:46:00.000-08:00

Optimising Website Performance on Apache with Cache Control Settings | Jumping Bean - Your Java and Linux Company:

'via Blog this'

Developer Stephen Erickson Open-Sources BusyBox Installer App | TalkAndroid.com

2012-01-23T10:03:00.000-08:00

Developer Stephen Erickson Open-Sources BusyBox Installer App | TalkAndroid.com:

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Evi - Apps on Android Market

2012-01-23T09:15:00.000-08:00

Evi - Apps on Android Market:

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Sopa protest not over - Wikipedia

2012-01-19T07:57:00.000-08:00

Sopa protest not over - Wikipedia: Wikipedia insists its protest over US anti-piracy legislation will continue, while UK interests say they are watching the situation "closely".

AT&T Hikes Prices On Wireless Data Plans - Update - NASDAQ.com

2012-01-18T19:35:00.000-08:00

AT&T Hikes Prices On Wireless Data Plans - Update - NASDAQ.com:

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XMLHttpRequest Level 2 Draft Published

2012-01-18T16:19:00.000-08:00

XMLHttpRequest Level 2 Draft Published:

The Web Applications Working Group has published a Working Draft of XMLHttpRequest Level 2. The XMLHttpRequest specification defines an API that provides scripted client functionality for transferring data between a client and a server. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

Mark Zuckerberg finally comes out against SOPA

2012-01-18T12:11:00.000-08:00

Mark Zuckerberg finally comes out against SOPA: In a Facebook post and his first tweet in nearly three years, Zuck made one thing clear: He doesn't like either SOPA or PIPA and wants them defeated.

Even Woz Thinks the Android Bests the iPhone - The Daily Beast

2012-01-17T12:15:00.000-08:00

Even Woz Thinks the Android Bests the iPhone - The Daily Beast:

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How to Alleviate Disk Space Pressure Caused By a Large Windows Component Store (WinSxS) Directory

2012-01-16T10:07:00.000-08:00

How to Alleviate Disk Space Pressure Caused By a Large Windows Component Store (WinSxS) Directory:

'via Blog this'

Troubleshooting Error 800B0100, CBS_E_IDENTITY_MISMATCH, during Service Pack 1 installation on Windows 7 or Windows 2008 R2 - The Windows Servicing Guy - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

2012-01-16T10:06:00.000-08:00

Troubleshooting Error 800B0100, CBS_E_IDENTITY_MISMATCH, during Service Pack 1 installation on Windows 7 or Windows 2008 R2 - The Windows Servicing Guy - Site Home - TechNet Blogs:

'via Blog this'

Sopa plans set to be shelved as Obama comes out against piracy legislation

2012-01-16T09:25:00.000-08:00

Sopa plans set to be shelved as Obama comes out against piracy legislation:

Congress ready to drop Sopa vote after White House says it would not support legislation that threatens openness of internet
Congressional leaders are preparing to shelve controversial legislation aimed at tackling online piracy after president Barack Obama said he would not support it.
California congressman Darrell Issa, an opponent of Sopa, the Stop Online Piracy Act, said he had been told by House majority leader Eric Cantor that there would be no vote "unless there is consensus on the bill."
The news is a major blow for Sopa's backers in Hollywood, who had enjoyed broad support in Congress. But the Motion Pictures Association of America, one of the bill's biggest sponsors, said it would continue to press for new laws. "The failure to pass meaningful legislation will result in overseas websites continuing to be a safe haven for criminals stealing and profiting from America," the MPAA said in a blogpost.
The White House came out firmly against Sopa at the weekend.
"Let us be clear – online piracy is a real problem that harms the American economy, threatens jobs for significant numbers of middle-class workers and hurts some of our nation's most creative and innovative companies and entrepreneurs," the White House said in its first official comment on Sopa and a rival bill, Protect IP, now known as the Enforcing and Protecting American Rights Against Sites Intent on Theft and Exploitation Act, or the e-Parasite act.
But the White House said it would not support legislation that "reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risks or undermines the dynamic, innovative global internet."
The two bills aim to tackle online piracy by preventing American search engines like Google and Yahoo from directing users to sites distributing stolen materials. The bills would also allow people and companies to sue if their copyright was being infringed.
The White House expressed concern about both these elements and about passing legislation that threatened the openness of the internet. In the online statement it said any new legislation must be "narrowly targeted".
"Any provision covering internet intermediaries such as online advertising networks, payment processors, or search engines must be transparent and designed to prevent overly broad private rights of action that could encourage unjustified litigation that could discourage startup businesses and innovative firms from growing," said the White House.
The Obama administration also came out firmly against any plans to target the Domain Name System (DNS), a foundation of internet security, in order to tackle sites accused of piracy. Any proposed legislation "must not tamper with the technical architecture of the internet," said the White House.
The move effectively scuppers Sopa for now, and puts pressure on legislators ahead of a Senate vote on the e-Parasite act scheduled for January 24.
In a statement, Issa said: "While I remain concerned about Senate action on the Protect IP Act, I am confident that flawed legislation will not be taken up by this House."
The tech community has fought hard to stop Sopa. Websites including Reddit and possibly Wikipedia had been planning to "go dark" on Wednesday in protest of the proposals. And the White House move will be a major blow for the bills' supporters.
This weekend Rupert Murdoch – whose News Corporation includes the Hollywood studio 20th Century Fox, took to Twitter to attack the Obama administration for its criticism of Sopa.
"So Obama has thrown in his lot with Silicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy. Plain thievery," Murdoch wrote in a series of tweets that accused Google of hosting pirated material and selling advertising against it. Google dismissed his claims as "nonsense".
Art Brodsky, director for Public Knowledge, a Washington-based public interest group that has campaigned against Sopa, said: "You can't view this bill in isolation; it's part of a continuum. They will try to muddle through with something."
But he said the White House statement was "very helpful" and it was clear that any legislation that tried to make wide-ranging changed to the internet would now face tougher opposition.

Dominic Rushe

SE Android released: Build your own NSA approved Android device today

2012-01-16T09:09:00.000-08:00

SE Android released: Build your own NSA approved Android device today:

On January 6, the US National Security Agency (NSA) released the first public release of the Security Enhanced (SE) Android Project, a program designed to find and plug security holes and risks in the Android flavor of Linux. SE Android is based on the NSA’s SELinux, first released in 2000.

SELinux started as a string of security patches to the Linux kernel along with a few utilities to help with access control and damage confinement. One of the key differences between the base Linux kernel and SELinux is the switch to Mandatory Access Control (MAC), a change from the Discretionary Access Control (DAC), which allows users to elevate their permissions to run certain commands as if they were the root user of the system. MAC can be configured system-wide and only allows users minimum access required to do their jobs. This level of security keeps programs and daemons from causing more harm than they would normally be able to if they become compromised. Individual applications can also be “sandboxed,” which means they are kept away from other applications running, isolating them in case one becomes compromised.

As of the 2.6.0-test3 kernel, SELinux was compiled into the base Linux kernel, and no longer requires separate patches or updates. This merging occurred in August of 2003, and SELinux has also seen contributions from Network Associates, Secure Computing Corporation, Trusted Computer Solutions and Tresys.

SE Android was first publicly described at Linux Security Summit 2011. In essence, the NSA is attempting to bring the same access control and damage mitigation measures found in SELinux to the Android Open Source Project. In the Security Summit presentation, a number of known security vulnerabilities were demonstrated and tested against a version of Android running SE Android controls. All exploits failed unless specifically tailored to the particular system, and even in those cases the exploit’s effectiveness was much reduced.

Going forward, the SE Android Project team is looking to incorporate SE Android into Application Layer Security, so it is able to thwart unauthorized access and compromised programs at the application layer instead of only battling at the kernel level.

There’s a lot to do to get SE Android built into the current Android tree, but it certainly seems like the right way to go. With the explosion of applications in the Android market, and some question of why certain applications need access to user information such as the user’s contact list or the ability to access the internet or telephone application when it’s not a facet of the application itself, SE Android controls would be a welcome addition to security-minded Android users. Government entities may find a security-hardened mobile phone operating system enticing to use, as well.

The need for security on the internet and in the mobile space has never been more important. SE Android is looking to bridge the current gap between Android and a secure experience for always-connected communication devices. SE Android won’t make malware a thing of the past on its own, but it will certainly be a welcome edition in the fight against malicious hackers.

Israel hit by cyber-attacks on stock exchange, airline and banks

2012-01-16T08:34:00.000-08:00

Israel hit by cyber-attacks on stock exchange, airline and banks:

Palestinian hackers suspected of infiltrating websites of three high street banks, El Al and Tel Aviv exchange
Hackers disrupted online access to the Tel Aviv stock exchange, El Al airlines and three banks on Monday, in what the government described as a cyber-offensive against Israel.
The attacks came just days after an unidentified hacker, proclaiming Palestinian sympathies, posted the details of thousands of Israeli credit card holders and other personal information on the internet in a mass theft.
Stock trading and El Al flights operated normally despite the disruption, which occurred as Israeli media reported that pro-Palestinian hackers had threatened at the weekend to shut down the Tase stock exchange and airline websites.
While apparently confined to areas causing only limited inconvenience, the attacks have caused particular alarm in a country that depends on high-tech systems for much of its defence against hostile neighbours. Officials insist, however, that they pose no immediate security threat.
"They have demanded an apology for Israel's defensive measures," the deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, said on his Facebook page, alluding to the conflict with Palestinians.
"I am using this platform to send a clear message that ... they will not silence us on the internet, or in any forum."
The First International Bank of Israel (FIBI) and two subsidiary banks, Massad and Otzar Hahayal, said their marketing sites had been hacked but that sites providing online services to clients were unaffected. Israel's third-largest bank, Discount, said it had been spared attack, but that it was temporarily shutting down foreign access to its website as a precaution.
The Tel Aviv stock exchange website could only be accessed intermittently, but screen-based trading was not hit. "There has been an attack by hackers on the access routes to the website," said Orna Goren, deputy manager of the exchange's marketing and communications unit. "The stock exchange's trading activities are operating normally."
El Al said it had taken precautions to protect the company site and warned of possible disruptions to its online activity.
There was no claim of responsibility for Monday's incidents. However, the Islamist group Hamas, which governs Gaza, welcomed the attacks as a blow against the Jewish state, which it refuses to recognise.
"This is a new field of resistance against the occupation and we urge Arab youth to develop their methods in electronic warfare in the face of (Israel's) crimes," aHamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in Gaza.
The Israeli information minister, Yuli Edelstein, told a conference in Tel Aviv that the cyber-attacks were part of a wider move to smear the country's reputation and "threaten Israel's economic stability and security".
"It's another episode in the war our enemies are conducting as a campaign of delegitimisation to hit our pockets and lifestyle," he said, in reported comments confirmed by his spokesman.
"Israel must use all measures at its disposal to prevent these virtual dangers from turning into real threats and to prevent with all its force attacks against it and its institutions. Today it's credit card theft and toppling websites, and tomorrow it could be theft of security information and harm to infrastructure."
Israel opened an agency to tackle cyber-attacks earlier this month. A founding member of the unit, Isaac Ben-Israel, said the country's most vital systems were already protected, but that incidents like the ones seen recently would only increase.
"As long as the systems are not guarded, any hacker anywhere in the world can break into them and do damage," Ben-Israel said on Israel Radio. "I believe that, done right, in a year or two, we will be able to wipe out all these hackers' threats."

Creeping Fascism: If We Don't Kill NDAA/SOPA/EEA/Keystone XL Pipeline They Win ...

2012-01-16T07:42:00.000-08:00

Creeping Fascism: If We Don't Kill NDAA/SOPA/EEA/Keystone XL Pipeline They Win ...: This is a heads-up reminder that NDAA 2012, SOPA, PIPA, EEA and the accelerated approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline were all thrown at us AFTER 17 September 2011, ie “Day One” of Occupy Wall Street and the global Occupy movement. ...
See all stories on this topic »

BBC News - Amazon-owned Zappos warns users after cyber-attack

2012-01-16T07:19:00.000-08:00

BBC News - Amazon-owned Zappos warns users after cyber-attack:

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New Chinese malware attacks Department of Defense

2012-01-14T09:46:00.000-08:00

New Chinese malware attacks Department of Defense: Access cards are often used in governmental departments for both physical access as well as access to protected information. A new strain of malware called Sykipot is infecting US government access cards, and AlienVault has traced the virus back to China. Access cards are often used in governmental departments for bot.

IPv6-Only Is Becoming Viable

2012-01-13T16:51:00.000-08:00

IPv6-Only Is Becoming Viable:

An anonymous reader writes "With the success of world
IPv6 day in 2011, there is a lot of speculation

about IPv6 in 2012. But simply turning on IPv6 does not
make the problems of IPv4
exhaustion go away. It is only when services are usable
with IPv6-only that the internet can clip the ties to the IPv4 boat
anchor. That said, FreeBSD, Windows,
and Android

are working on IPv6-only capabilities. There are multiple
accounts of IPv6-only
network

deployments. From those, we we now know that
IPv6-only is viable in mobile, where over 80% (of

a sampling of the top 200 apps) work well with
IPv6-only. Mobile especially needs IPv6, since their are only
4 billion IPv4 address and approaching 50
billion mobile devices in the next 8 years. Ironically,
the Android test data shows that the apps most likely to fail are
peer-to-peer, like Skype.
Traversing NAT and relying on broken IPv4 is built into their method
of operating. P2P communications was supposed to be one of the
key improvements in IPv6."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

MyFord Mobile app makes wireless keyfobs look like antiques

2012-01-12T18:49:00.000-08:00

MyFord Mobile app makes wireless keyfobs look like antiques:

Finally, to help drivers cope with the limitations of an EV's range (or “drive with confidence” in Ford parlance), Ford has included a route planning app that integrates the range of the Focus. Tell it you want to go to the hardware store, for instance ...
See all stories on this topic »

Digitaltrends.com

FreeBSD 9.0 Released

2012-01-12T16:10:00.000-08:00

FreeBSD 9.0 Released:

An anonymous reader writes "FreeBSD 9.0 has been released. A few highlights include: A new installer, bsdinstall(8) has been added and is the installer used by the ISO images provided as part of this release, The Fast Filesystem now supports softupdates journaling, and Kernel support for Capsicum Capability Mode, an experimental set of features for sandboxing support."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

US killer spy drone controls switch to Linux • The Register

2012-01-12T10:31:00.000-08:00

US killer spy drone controls switch to Linux • The Register:

'via Blog this'

Google TV is Back, With Friends

2012-01-12T08:55:00.000-08:00

Google TV is Back, With Friends: Google TV is making a return this year, with partnerships announced with LG, Samsung, Vizio, and other companies.

Mint With Cinnamon: A New Sweet Spot for Desktop Linux?

2012-01-12T08:40:00.000-08:00

Mint With Cinnamon: A New Sweet Spot for Desktop Linux?:
Well CES is nearing its conclusion for another year, winding down an event that may well have brought Linux more mainstream attention than any other in the show's four-decades-long history. Much of that heightened focus has been due to the widely trumpeted Ubuntu TV debut, of course. There's no doubt Ubuntu has had its share of the limelight this past week, but it's another Linux distro entirely that's captured many bloggers' attention. Linux Mint, that is -- and its tantalizing new desktop environment, Cinnamon.

The ultra-connected car of the future | Marketplace from American Public Media

2012-01-11T10:01:00.000-08:00

The ultra-connected car of the future | Marketplace from American Public Media:

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Get a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7-inch tablet with 3G for $255

2012-01-11T08:28:00.000-08:00

Get a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7-inch tablet with 3G for $255: Sprint's 3G service is optional, but even without it, the Tab packs plenty of Android power.

AMD Demos Trinity Processor for Notebooks, Ice Cream Sandwich On X86 Tablet

2012-01-11T07:46:00.000-08:00

AMD Demos Trinity Processor for Notebooks, Ice Cream Sandwich On X86 Tablet: We’re still fighting our way through the insanity that is the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, but wanted to take a break to share some more juicy news with you all. We just got out of a meeting with the folks at AMD in which they showed us some current and future APU offerings, new I/O technology, and provided a bit of info...

CES: Energy-saving gadgets, appliances debut

2012-01-11T07:39:00.000-08:00

CES: Energy-saving gadgets, appliances debut: At this week's International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, entertainment products such as splashy ultra-thin TVs, 3-D cameras and super-fast ...

Dell goes aluminum, carbon fiber with XPS 13 Ultrabook

2012-01-10T17:38:00.000-08:00

Dell goes aluminum, carbon fiber with XPS 13 Ultrabook: Dell's got a new Ultrabook on the way that makes use of aluminum and carbon fiber. Announced at CES tonight, Dell's taking orders in February.

Mozilla to build slow-paced Firefox for conservative users

2012-01-10T12:35:00.000-08:00

Mozilla to build slow-paced Firefox for conservative users: For those not eager to test and certify new versions of the open-source browser every six weeks, Mozilla has committed to the annually-updated ESR version.

2012 CES: NPR Launches Ford Sync AppLink News App, First for Major News Outlet

2012-01-10T12:16:00.000-08:00

2012 CES: NPR Launches Ford Sync AppLink News App, First for Major News Outlet: National Public Radio and Ford recently revealed their first digital progeny that aims to ease news gathering for Ford Sync AppLink users. It’s AppLink’s first dedicated news application to come from a major news outlet. As you may know, Sync is a voice-interactive system that allows for the controlling of various vehicle, phone, and music [...]

Get a 24-inch ViewSonic monitor for $149.99

2012-01-10T12:07:00.000-08:00

Get a 24-inch ViewSonic monitor for $149.99: This spacious LCD comes with DVI and VGA inputs, built-in speakers, and a three-year warranty. It won't last long!

Glympse - Share Your Where

2012-01-08T14:23:00.000-08:00

Glympse - Share Your Where:

'via Blog this'

Acer taps the cloud to set its Ultrabooks apart

2012-01-08T14:22:00.000-08:00

Acer taps the cloud to set its Ultrabooks apart: Acer Chairman J.T. Wang took no time to talk up AcerCloud, a service it helped create through its prior acquisition of iGware.

Google Chrome Finally Gets Malware Download Protection

2012-01-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

Google Chrome Finally Gets Malware Download Protection: The new version of Chrome will at last include filtering against inadvertently downloading malware executables.

Leaked Memo Says Apple Provides Backdoor To Governments

2012-01-08T11:17:00.000-08:00

Leaked Memo Says Apple Provides Backdoor To Governments:

Voline writes "In a tweet early this morning, cybersecurity researcher Christopher Soghoian pointed to an internal memo of India's Military Intelligence that has been liberated by hackers and posted on the Net. The memo suggests that, "in exchange for the Indian market presence" mobile device manufacturers, including RIM, Nokia, and Apple (collectively defined in the document as "RINOA") have agreed to provide backdoor access on their devices.
The Indian government then "utilized backdoors provided by RINOA" to intercept internal emails of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a U.S. government body with a mandate to monitor, investigate and report to Congress on 'the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship' between the U.S. and China. Manan Kakkar, an Indian blogger for ZDNet, has also picked up the story and writes that it may be the fruits of an earlier hack of Symantec. If Apple is providing governments with a backdoor to iOS, can we assume that they have also done so with Mac OS X?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

CES: Vizio Introduces Its First Desktops and Notebooks

2012-01-07T10:34:00.000-08:00

CES: Vizio Introduces Its First Desktops and Notebooks: The brand synonymous with cost-effective HDTVs is jumping into the PC making game with five new desktop and notebook products.

OpenSSL fixes six security holes | ZDNet

2012-01-07T07:13:00.000-08:00

OpenSSL fixes six security holes | ZDNet:

'via Blog this'

Iran Blocks Facebook and Twitter, Prepares Its Own Internet

2012-01-06T20:21:00.000-08:00

Iran Blocks Facebook and Twitter, Prepares Its Own Internet: Iran is testing its domestic Intranet, a “Halal” network that will restrict citizens from penetrating foreign sites.

Ford opening Silicon Valley lab

2012-01-06T12:55:00.000-08:00

Ford opening Silicon Valley lab:

Ford released this graphic highlighting its new lab's proximity to tech companies.

(Credit:
Ford)

Today Ford Motor announced it would open a research lab in the San Francisco Bay Area, as part of the Ford Research and Innovation division.

For the last few years, Ford has emphasized its focus on technology, so it only makes sense that the company, based in the Detroit area since 1903, would open a facility in the Bay Area. According to Ford, the lab will take advantage of its proximity to high-tech companies and local universities to drive innovation in Ford vehicles.

The lab will have a broad agenda, from clean drive systems to in-car connected services. Partnerships with app developers will also likely be a major task for the lab, as Ford has just begun to offer app integration in Sync.

"An open attitude to new ideas is critical to solving the transportation, environmental, and societal challenges we expect in the future," said Paul Mascarenas, Ford chief technical officer and vice president of Research and Innovation. "With increasing pressures from urbanization and the need to reduce energy use, we're going to see energy storage, wireless connectivity, sensing systems, and even autonomous vehicles as key parts of the solution."

From a graphic released by Ford, the lab lo... [Read more]

That stolen Symantec source code? It's for older enterprise products

2012-01-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

That stolen Symantec source code? It's for older enterprise products: Antivirus vendor says the hacked source code was for the outdated Symantec Endpoint Protection 11.0 and Symantec Antivirus 10.2. Rest easy, Norton consumers--for now, anyway.

BBC News - Worm steals 45,000 Facebook passwords, researchers say

2012-01-05T12:10:00.000-08:00

BBC News - Worm steals 45,000 Facebook passwords, researchers say:

'via Blog this'

News and Events - Bracketron Unveils Eco-Friendly Line of Mobile Device Chargers That Automatically Eliminate Vampire Power | Bracketron

2012-01-05T12:07:00.000-08:00

News and Events - Bracketron Unveils Eco-Friendly Line of Mobile Device Chargers That Automatically Eliminate Vampire Power | Bracketron:

'via Blog this'

Linux 3.2 kernel released: What you need to know

2012-01-05T12:04:00.000-08:00

Linux 3.2 kernel released: What you need to know:

After a long delay due to kernel.org being hacked in August 2011, Linux 3.2 has finally been released. It’s a whopper of a release with optimizations and tweaks in nearly every facet of the OS; here’s the rundown of what’s new inside and why you want to upgrade to it.

First and foremost, the Intel GPU (graphics processing unit) DRM/KMS driver has been optimized to use Intel’s RC6 graphics power-saving feature. In a nutshell, that means that battery life on Ubuntu laptops is going to get a lot better with the Precise Pangolin (12.04) release of Ubuntu. DRM (the Direct Rendering Manager) and KMS (Kernel Mode Setting) aren’t things that a general or even hardcore user needs to concern themselves with, but, basically, it’s the pieces of the graphics puzzle that deal with handling the memory management of the drawing, backgrounding and re-drawing of applications as you minimize and switch between applications. The actual power savings are going to differ from machine to machine, but every machine should see improvement.

Canonical’s Ubuntu has taken this power saving a step further with its PMUtils crowdsourcing initiative. If you are a confident command line interface Linux user, please go take part. Your data will help battery management everywhere.

Another improvement to the 3.2 kernel is in the networking TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) stack. The WiFi drivers have been improved, and PRR (Proportional Rate Reduction) support has been introduced to the kernel. What this means is that your browsing experience will be faster as transmission rates will be adjusted in a more timely fashion to recover from throttling and other bottlenecks you may encounter along the way to your destination. File transfers should see the same efficiency boost, speed-wise.

Some filesystem optimizations have been included too, designed to make Linux more scalable in large storage configurations, especially on enterprise systems. Reliability and ease-of-management options are included, as well as larger allocation blocks in the EXT4 filesystem to speed up disk access for sharing files and drives across operating systems like Windows via Samba. If you run a Linux file server at home or in the workplace, this is welcome news.

Finally, it should be mentioned that code has been introduced to assist with system throttling when writing large amounts of data to slow drives, making the user experience snappier when you have to move large amounts of data to and from drives or removable media. Syncing your MP3 device shouldn’t reduce your machine to a stuttering crawl so much with the enhancements.

There are many more optimizations coming with the 3.2 kernel that deal with large-scale servers and storage solutions (thin provisioning and the Btrfs filesystem to name a couple) that aren’t mentioned here, as well as a number of tweaks and services that are outside the scope of desktop or small business computing. The information above is what you need to know as a general or fairly hardcore Linux user.

Want to try it out now? You don’t need to wait until an official release. Ubuntu’s 12.04 (Precise Pangolin) is available now and comes with the 3.2 kernel; download the (beta) daily build. If you just want to upgrade your existing system to 12.04, just open a terminal and type out “sudo do-release-upgrade -d”. That will grab the proper libraries and run through installation for you. Alternately, if you like using a nice GUI with your upgrades, you can type “sudo update-manager -d” and you will see that an upgrade is available to you (pictured right).

All in all, this is one of the larger kernel improvements that we’ve seen, with many improvements under the hood. Have you upgraded to the 3.2 kernel? What’s your experience been?

Read the complete Linux 3.2 changelog

Acer brings out $330 Android tablet | Marketplace from American Public Media

2012-01-05T10:20:00.000-08:00

Acer brings out $330 Android tablet | Marketplace from American Public Media:

'via Blog this'

CCC | Chaos Computer Club analyzes new German government spyware

2012-01-05T10:10:00.000-08:00

CCC | Chaos Computer Club analyzes new German government spyware:

'via Blog this'

It's CES Early! Lenovo Trots Out ThinkPad Ultrabook, X1 Linux Hybrid - TIME

2012-01-05T08:24:00.000-08:00

It's CES Early! Lenovo Trots Out ThinkPad Ultrabook, X1 Linux Hybrid - TIME:

TIME

It's CES Early! Lenovo Trots Out ThinkPad Ultrabook, X1 Linux Hybrid
TIME
If you'd rather have the option to choose AMD Fusion or Intel Core processors, there's the E-series lineup in both 14- and 15-inch flavors, packing integrated or discrete GPUs, “fast boot up,” up to 1TB of storage (plus a solid state option), ...
Lenovo unveils new ThinkPads including X1 Hybrid and T430u UltrabookSlashGear
Lenovo pre-CES barrage: ThinkPad Ultrabook, Thunderbolt and a hybrid laptopCNET Asia
Lenovo reveals hordes of laptops for CESInquirer
TechSpot -Digit -The Verge
all 93 news articles »

Get a flexible USB adapter for $2.98 shipped | The Cheapskate - CNET News

2012-01-03T09:55:00.000-08:00

Get a flexible USB adapter for $2.98 shipped | The Cheapskate - CNET News:

'via Blog this'

Wikipedia fundraiser ends with $20M in the bank

2012-01-02T20:21:00.000-08:00

Wikipedia fundraiser ends with $20M in the bank: Those intriguing fundraiser banners have finally disappeared from the pages of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia.

The site's fundraising efforts for the year have ended, and the Wikimedia Foun...

Make Self-Extracting Archives with makeself.sh | Innovations Technology Solutions | Blog

2012-01-02T16:37:00.000-08:00

Make Self-Extracting Archives with makeself.sh | Innovations Technology Solutions | Blog:

'via Blog this'

Android Was 2011's Open Source Story of the Year

2012-01-01T17:05:00.000-08:00

Android Was 2011's Open Source Story of the Year:

'via Blog this'

McDonald's Wi-Fi More Popular Than Big Macs?

2011-12-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

McDonald's Wi-Fi More Popular Than Big Macs?: A staggering 500 gigabytes of data a day in exchange for some crappy
coffee and Big Macs?

Where Do Your Elected Officials Stand on SOPA?

2011-12-31T09:56:00.000-08:00

Where Do Your Elected Officials Stand on SOPA?: SOPA Track is a new website which allows you to find out where your elected officials stand on the Stop Online Piracy Act.

Malicious QR Code Use On the Rise

2011-12-30T10:19:00.000-08:00

Malicious QR Code Use On the Rise:

New submitter EliSowash writes "Malware developers are increasingly using QR Codes as an attack vector. 'The big problem is that the QR code to a human being is nothing more than "that little square with a bunch of strange blocks in it." There's no way to tell what is behind that QR code.' The advice we've always given to the computer user community is 'don't click a link in an email if you don't know who it's from or where it goes' — so how do we protect unsuspecting users from QR codes, where you can't see the destination at all?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Wi-Fi Protected Setup PIN brute force vulnerability - my-guides.net

2011-12-29T12:13:00.000-08:00

Wi-Fi Protected Setup PIN brute force vulnerability - my-guides.net:

'via Blog this'

Free Wi-Fi Coming To Japanese Vending Machines

2011-12-28T20:10:00.000-08:00

Free Wi-Fi Coming To Japanese Vending Machines:

cylonlover writes "Free Wi-Fi is on its way to some Japanese vending machines. Working much like a mobile hotspot at your local coffee shop, people located near the machines would be able to connect to the internet for 30 minutes at a time and surf the web. The service is available to anyone, to use with any smartphone, tablet, or computer and does not require the purchase of a drink from the machine."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

OpenXcom next version teaser - open source xcom | Gaming On Linux

2011-12-28T17:46:00.000-08:00

OpenXcom next version teaser - open source xcom | Gaming On Linux:

'via Blog this'

Can 17,000 patents help Android win a legal Cold War?

2011-12-28T17:45:00.000-08:00

Can 17,000 patents help Android win a legal Cold War?:

'via Blog this'

Today's Top Stories: GoDaddy Woes, Twitter Lawsuit, No-Glasses 3D

2011-12-28T08:37:00.000-08:00

Today's Top Stories: GoDaddy Woes, Twitter Lawsuit, No-Glasses 3D: Company Sues Former Employee for Value of Lost Followers, Reddit Community Launches Another Anti-Go Daddy Campaign, No-Glasses 3D

Linux Controversies of 2011: Linux Mint is the Most Popular Distro - InternetNews.

2011-12-27T12:42:00.000-08:00

Linux Controversies of 2011: Linux Mint is the Most Popular Distro - InternetNews.:

'via Blog this'

How to control your Android device through your browser - my-guides.net

2011-12-27T12:15:00.000-08:00

How to control your Android device through your browser - my-guides.net:

'via Blog this'

$25 Linux PC 'Raspberry Pi' to Go in Production Early Next Year ~ Ubuntu Vibes

2011-12-26T12:03:00.000-08:00

$25 Linux PC 'Raspberry Pi' to Go in Production Early Next Year ~ Ubuntu Vibes:

'via Blog this'

Tech guru accidentally broadcasts explicit sex chat to massive online audience

2011-12-25T09:48:00.000-08:00

Tech guru accidentally broadcasts explicit sex chat to massive online audience: Leo Laporte, a man who has based his name and career around his web-savvy, accidentally revealed steamy texts to his lover during a recent broadcasts.

7 Best Free Android Home Computer Emulators - Linux Links - The Linux Portal Site

2011-12-25T08:17:00.000-08:00

7 Best Free Android Home Computer Emulators - Linux Links - The Linux Portal Site:

'via Blog this'

Linux-Powered Christmas Display Puts Rudolph To Shame

2011-12-24T17:42:00.000-08:00

Linux-Powered Christmas Display Puts Rudolph To Shame: xmas2003 writes "Over at Linux.com, Zonker writes about Alek's Controllable Christmas Lights for Celiac Disease.

This annual Internet tradition uses a hi/low-tech combo of LAMP'ed Redhat Web Servers, a 7+ year old Thinkpad running Unbuntu for the X10 control, and an old-school webpage design that could be politely described as Web 0.0 — wait until you see the animated cursor — D'OH! The site is free (and totally fun) as it also raises awareness and donations for Celiac Disease — over $70,000 to the University of Maryland.
Nifty pictures of the crazy christmas display can be seen on the Christmas Blog (notice Clifford Stoll's The Cuckoo's Egg in post #220) plus watch videos of it in action with comedic history'
Nothing quite says Christmas like a giant, inflatable HULK wearing a Santa Hat... along with three wise men of Elmo, SpongeBob, and Homer Simpson. The Slashdot Effect of turning 21,000 Christmas lights ON & OFF this evening should provide quite a Christmas Eve show to Alek's neighbors... and also the International Space Station."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Tweak Your Ubuntu Unity Desktop With MyUnity

2011-12-23T17:21:00.000-08:00

Tweak Your Ubuntu Unity Desktop With MyUnity:

'via Blog this'

U.S. Congress Authorizes Offensive Use of Cyberwarfare

2011-12-23T12:52:00.000-08:00

U.S. Congress Authorizes Offensive Use of Cyberwarfare:

smitty777 writes "Congress has recently authorized the use of offensive military action in cyberspace. From the December 12th conference on the National Defense Authorization Act, it states, 'Congress affirms that the Department of Defense has the capability, and upon direction by the President may conduct offensive operations in cyberspace to defend our Nation, Allies and interests, subject to: (1) the policy principles and legal regimes that the Department follows for kinetic capabilities, including the law of armed conflict; and (2) the War Powers Resolution.' According to the FAS, 'Debate continues on whether using the War Powers Resolution is effective as a means of assuring congressional participation in decisions that might get the United States involved in a significant military conflict.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

How hackers gave Subway a $3 million lesson in point-of-sale security

2011-12-22T07:54:00.000-08:00

How hackers gave Subway a $3 million lesson in point-of-sale security:

'via Blog this'

Chinese Hackers Break Into U.S. Chamber of Commerce

2011-12-21T20:30:00.000-08:00

Chinese Hackers Break Into U.S. Chamber of Commerce:

'via Blog this'

Music Player Amarok 2.5 Released

2011-12-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

Music Player Amarok 2.5 Released:

jrepin writes with this quote from an article at The H:
"The Amarok development team has released version 2.5 of its open source music player and organizer, code-named 'Earth Moving.' Among the changes highlighted by the developers are re-written support for USB mass storage devices, GPodder.net podcast synchronization and an integrated Amazon MP3 store. The GPodder.net support includes the ability to browse directly from Amarok through the list of recommended podcasts on GPodder.net. Users of playlists on Amarok will find the new playlist functionality in 2.5 such as the ability to use formatted strings in Playlist layout items as prefixes and suffixes, dragging and dropping tracks in an empty area in the list of playlists to create a new playlist, and, in that same empty area, the addition of a new 'create new playlist' action."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Rugged box computer features AMD processors, M12 Ethernet ports - News - Linux for Devices

2011-12-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

Rugged box computer features AMD processors, M12 Ethernet ports - News - Linux for Devices:

'via Blog this'

Google’s self-driving car will use road-based QR codes to get directions

2011-12-20T13:03:00.000-08:00

Google’s self-driving car will use road-based QR codes to get directions:

What business is Google in? Collecting patents may be the overarching line of business. Google just got another patent, for its self-driving car project, this one for a method of shifting between self-driving and autonomous driving mode when it comes time to find a parking space. It shifts when it encounters a landing strip with information on parking. The info could be a QR code or some kind of radio communication to an onboard transceiver or a connected cellphone.

The patent was issued Dec. 13, 14 months after Google first disclosed its self-driving car. The patent is for “transitioning a mixed-mode autonomous vehicle from a human driven mode to an autonomously driven mode. Transitioning may include stopping a vehicle on a predefined landing strip and detecting a reference indicator.” In one scenario, it appears, a driver is looking for a parking space and drives over a giant QR code on a street or in a parking garage. The QR code might either have exact directions to a specific parking spot, or it might link to a parking garage database of which parking slots are open.

Google’s search is excellent at taking vague or unfocused queries and giving you good information online. This Google patent app, most commentators agree, is so vague it leaves you guessing exactly what they’re up to, sort of the opposite of what Google usually does. For instance, the cited indicator may be a big QR code in the road; it could be short-range radio such as DSRC (dedicated short range communications) that in a decade or so might be employed by cars to warn each other that they’re braking or shifting lanes or running a yellow light. Google doesn’t say QR code; it uses the term “reference indicator.”

Google isn’t the first to find parking spaces. Ford has it already with automated parking assist: Drive along the street slowly and sonar from front-rear-side sensors already on the car measure openings and tell you if there’s enough room to park the car you’re driving. It’s spot-on accurate (other than not being able to recognize parking spaces with fire hydrants) and it’s almost self-driving. You stop the car, put it in reverse, and Ford drives the car into the parking space in about 10 seconds. You do have to apply the brakes at the end.

This patent isn’t critical to self-driving cars. But it suggests that as Google builds a patent portfolio in the autonomous driving arena, some will be useful to a mainstream automaker doing its first self-driving car, and Google might want to engage in a little horse-trading: access to the Google patents in exchange for Google getting access to your dashboard and infotainment system.

See details on Patent 8,078,349, via TechRadar

eRecyclingCorps turns old phones into store credit

2011-12-20T12:38:00.000-08:00

eRecyclingCorps turns old phones into store credit: Kleiner Perkins invests $35 million in eRecyclingCorps, which takes back old phones at carrier stores and gives consumers a credit on the spot.

Yo Amazon: Please don’t hijack the web on Kindle Fire

2011-12-19T19:01:00.001-08:00

Yo Amazon: Please don’t hijack the web on Kindle Fire: Amazon’s Kindle Fire, arguably considered a successful 7-inch tablet, is locked down more than people might think. When trying to browse the Google Android Market website in the Fire’s web browser, the device instead opens up Amazon’s Kindle Fire application store.

Want Google Wallet? No need to root your Galaxy Nexus

2011-12-19T19:01:00.000-08:00

Want Google Wallet? No need to root your Galaxy Nexus: Early adopters with a Galaxy Nexus can now add Google Wallet software without rooting their handset. The older method of a hacked installation on a phone with root access is no longer needed, because a Wallet installation file has surfaced on the web.

BBC News - Twitter gets $300m Saudi cash injection

2011-12-19T07:31:00.000-08:00

BBC News - Twitter gets $300m Saudi cash injection:

'via Blog this'

HP Claims New Wireless Mice Last Two Years on a Single Charge

2011-12-18T17:07:00.000-08:00

HP Claims New Wireless Mice Last Two Years on a Single Charge: The braggadocios Energy bunny likes to beat his drum and tell everyone he can keep going and going and going, but would you have guessed Hewlett-Packard would emerge as the real battery life master? HP just announced a couple of new wireless mice that, amazingly, are supposed to last two years or longer on a single charge, or so the company...

Most Highly Recommended Books About Linux | TechSource

2011-12-18T15:52:00.000-08:00

Most Highly Recommended Books About Linux | TechSource:

'via Blog this'

Inside Facebook · Facebook White Hat Program Now Offers Bounty for Disclosing Security Bugs

2011-12-17T16:23:00.000-08:00

Inside Facebook · Facebook White Hat Program Now Offers Bounty for Disclosing Security Bugs:

'via Blog this'

How Does the CIA Keep Its IT Staff Honest?

2011-12-17T11:38:00.000-08:00

How Does the CIA Keep Its IT Staff Honest?:

Tootech points out this story for anyone who's been curious about getting that top-secret clearance and the promise of a cushy pension from the CIA, as a reward for decades of blood-curdling, heart-pounding, knuckle-whitening IT service: "Be prepared to go through a lot of scrutiny if you want to work in the Central Intelligence Agency's IT department, says chief information officer Al Tarasiuk. And it doesn't stop after you get your top secret clearance. 'Once you're in, there are frequent reinvestigations, but it's just part of process here,' says Tarasiuk, who also gets polygraphed regularly, though he won't be more specific. For those senior IT managers who are the 'privileged users,' meaning system administrators, 'there is certainly more scrutiny on you,' Tarasiuk says. 'It's interesting: there's so much scrutiny that a normal person might not want to put up with that. But it's part of the mission.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Command Line Magic - SusoSight

2011-12-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

Command Line Magic - SusoSight:

'via Blog this'

US watchdog bans photoshopping in cosmetics ads

2011-12-16T12:14:00.000-08:00

US watchdog bans photoshopping in cosmetics ads:

In an interesting move that should finally bring the United States’ fast-and-loose advertising rules and regulations into line with the UK and EU, the National Advertising Division (NAD) — the advertising industry’s self-regulating watchdog — has moved to ban the misleading use of photoshopping and enhanced post-production in cosmetics adverts.

The ban stems from a Procter & Gamble (P&G) CoverGirl ad that photoshopped a model’s eyelashes to exaggerate the effects of NatureLuxe Mousse Mascara. There was a footnote in the ad’s spiel about the photo being manipulated, but according to the director of the NAD, that simply isn’t enough: “You can’t use a photograph to demonstrate how a cosmetic will look after it is applied to a woman’s face and then — in the mice type — have a disclosure that says ‘okay, not really.’” The NAD ruled that the ad was unacceptable, and P&G has since discontinued it.

So far, so sensible — but some further words from the NAD ruling pose some tricky questions about the continued use of any post production in advertising. Citing a similar situation in the UK, where ads featuring very enhanced versions of Julia Roberts (pictured above) and Christy Turlington were banned, the NAD questions whether photoshopping is necessary when “professional styling, make-up, photography and the product’s inherent covering and smoothing nature” are already at use. In other words, it sounds like Photoshop is the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Where does this leave other forms of advertising? The human face (and the multi-billion-dollar cosmetics industry) is obviously a touchy subject, but looking at the bigger picture, almost all television, film, and print advertising uses a combination of “professional styling” and post production to make something look better than it actually is. Will Burger King have to replace those impossibly juicy burgers that hang above the counter with something altogether less plastic and more real? What about those video game ads that don’t feature actual gameplay — and have tiny-font warnings to that effect — will they be banned too? Extrapolating outwards, what about photographers who photoshop their work? Or people who photoshop themselves before placing an image on a dating website?

The underlying problem, of course, is that humans are incredibly sensitive to visual stimuli — and multiple trillion-dollar industries, including advertising, cosmetics, movies, and TV, all stand to gain by making their products look more appealing. There is a reason that digital manipulation and post production is so prevalent, after all — and indeed, it could even be argued that non-manipulated images now look ugly to our eyes. Can you imagine if, over night, all of your favorite Hollywood stars suddenly turned ugly — turned real? Perhaps, then, a ban on photoshopping in the cosmetics industry is a good starting point to slowly and safely bring us back to reality.

UEFIBooting - Community Ubuntu Documentation

2011-12-15T12:37:00.000-08:00

UEFIBooting - Community Ubuntu Documentation:

'via Blog this'

7 Music Player Apps for Android That Rock | Tech Drive-in

2011-12-15T12:19:00.000-08:00

7 Music Player Apps for Android That Rock | Tech Drive-in:

'via Blog this'

Brin says SOPA puts U.S. on par with oppressive nations

2011-12-15T10:36:00.000-08:00

Brin says SOPA puts U.S. on par with oppressive nations: The Google co-founder posts a note on Google+ blasting the controversial anti-piracy legislation, saying it won't accomplish its goals and will limit free speech.

Get an Acer Iconia 10-inch tablet for $249 shipped

2011-12-15T06:23:00.000-08:00

Get an Acer Iconia 10-inch tablet for $249 shipped: While supplies last! And if I know my tablets, they won't last long. Plus: return of the $129 Barnes & Noble Nook Color!

Get a 15.6-inch Core i3 laptop for $329.99

2011-12-14T08:32:00.000-08:00

Get a 15.6-inch Core i3 laptop for $329.99: This Gateway system is new, not refurbished, meaning you're getting Core i3 power for a dual-core price.