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South Korea plans to roll out 5G soon which will enable the user to download FULL Length movies in a second. Read full ArticleDennis Rodman will be thrilled ! !Quote from: patio on January 22, 2014, 06:35:18 AM

Dennis Rodman will be thrilled ! !

Dennis Rodman will be thrilled ! !

Sources connected with Rodman -- the ones who convinced him he needed to check into rehab after his controversial TRIP -- tell TMZ, from the minute Rodman landed in North Korea he was plied with alcohol.

Rodman claims his bizarre -- arguably unpatriotic comments -- were the result of alcohol abuse and he says the pressure he FELT before doing his disastrous interview is why he landed in rehab.

But people close to him say ... the mucky-mucks in the North Korean government were more than happy to supply Rodman with endless amounts of alcohol ... to the point his mind was poisoned.

Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2014/01/20/dennis-rodman-north-korea-alcohol/#ixzz2rA9iXF9O

... 5G is a term used in some research papers and projects to denote the next major phase of mobile telecommunications standards beyond the current 4G/IMT-Advanced standards ...

Rodman did in fact visit S.Korea and tried out his diplomatic skills...
He was subsquentially ignored...

Now back to topic. Here in USA many of us only get 3G and AT&T is still talking about their 4G expansion.

Microsoft’s customers FLOCKED to game CONSOLES and cloud software last quarter, helping Steve Ballmer deliver results that topped PROJECTIONS in his last months as chief executive officer.

Revenue climbed 14 PERCENT to a record $24.5 billion in the fiscal second quarter, which ended Dec. 31, Microsoft said in a statement Thursday. ANALYSTS had predicted on average $23.7 billion in sales, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The shares rose.

Full article: http://www.dallasnews.com/business/technology/headlines/20140124-microsoft-posts-record-sales-as-ballmer-prepares-to-exit.ece

9 Million in bitcoin thrown away on hard drive to landfill....OOOOPS!!!
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/9m-bitcoin-haul-buried-u-160800943.html

Can you imagine knowing that you found a computer tossed out there and brought it home to salvage it back to working condition, and then you format the hard drive to build like new, and then you find out now that the system you found thrown away was worth $9 Million until formatted. LOL

I have grabbed systems out of the trash before and never took the time to check the hard drives for important data because all systems I am given or find for free thrown away I format the hard drive first thing and then test it with Linux or install whatever Windows VERSION is licensed to the original build. Formatting someone elses drive to wipe it of data when they threw it away is the right thing to do vs look all over it for private info etc. I have no INTEREST in other peoples data! So if I found this system, I would have blown away the bitcoins!! Bitcoins are hilarious.



Quote from: BC_Programmer on November 30, 2013, 01:54:39 AM

Bitcoins are hilarious.

many people will state something like yourself, Calum, "oh you guys are just jealous".

That's not what I was saying at all.

There are legitimate uses for Bitcoin, people can invest in it and gamble that the price will increase without using it for nefarious purposes.

Some stores do take Bitcoin as payments, and it's easy enough to turn BTC into cash, Amazon vouchers, etc. Certainly it's not as popular a payment option as Visa or anything, but it's becoming more popular as the days go by.

but so can cash, which is just as anonymous.

Investing in BTC is one reason to want to buy or mine them, same as investing in any stock market where the value can fluctuate, sometimes hugely. Of course if there's no way to spend them at all then the system is flawed and will eventually crash, because investors alone can't hold up a market like that forever, if everyone buys some and sits waiting for the value to increase then it's just not sustainable, but investing is certainly something that does go on and is one reason for someone to buy Bitcoins.

. A million dollars would be nice but based on what I can learn about where you can spend bitcoin (there are like 10 places in the world that accept it, it's hardly something you can use in place of a credit or debit card)

Woah woah woah, there are way more than just 10 places that accept bitcoin.

This is just a small portion of the places you can spend bitcoin: https://www.spendbitcoins.com/places/

You can even buy cars with BitCoins: http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/buying-digital-car-digital-money-tesla-s-bought-bitcoins/

Woah woah woah, is this your first experience with hyperbole?

The fact that it needs a list at all proves exactly my point.

At one dealership.

Irrelevant.

You are correct that it cannot yet be used in place of other method of payment, but you are not correct that there are only 10 places in the world that accept it. That's all I was trying to point out.

borderline trolling.

so it's only a matter of time before there is some massive crash brought on by yet another case of market engineering.

The FBI has ARRESTED five people in connection with what it says are several hacking-for-hire websites.

Two men have been charged with running and three others with being customers of websites that allegedly offered to obtain access to email accounts.

The swoop against the sites was co-ordinated with POLICE forces in Romania, India and China.

Six other alleged administrators of such sites were arrested as part of the overseas element of the operation.

Mark Anthony Townsend and Joshua Alan Tabor, both of Arkansas, have been charged with operating the needapassword.com website that, according the FBI, charged people to find passwords for about 6,000 email accounts.

If the two are found GUILTY they face up to five years in jail for computer fraud offences.

The other three people have been charged with paying, between them, more than $23,000 (£14,000) to SIMILAR hacker-for-hire websites outside the US to find passwords for a wide variety of email accounts.

Paying a hacker to act on your behalf is a "misdemeanour offense" and if found guilty each defendant could go to a FEDERAL jail for 12 months.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25911727

One of some recent articles:
Quote

iOS 8.0.2: Problems Still Exists, Security Flaws Added

Those iPhone users who have upgraded their OS to iOS 8.0.2 were suffering from folds of problems. There were existing BUGS such as wrecked TOUCH ID and new bugs were seen in the software.

iOS 8 came out last Sept. 17, but users who have experienced the OS have quickly complained that they can no longer use the Wi-Fi feature and the batteries were easily drained.

On Sept. 25, the company issued their initial update on iOS 8.0.1, but they had to pull it off after they have heard that a new bugs were preventing the users from making use of the Touch ID to log on to their phone, and it made an ADVERSE effects to its mobile connectivity.
.... {more}
http://www.hallels.com/articles/8258/20141004/ios-8-0-2-problems-still-exists-security-flaws-added.htm

Last week we uncovered a large-scale malvertising attack INVOLVING Google’s DoubleClick and Zedo that affected many high-profile SITES.

Unfortunately, another incident where DoubleClick is part of the advertising chain has happened again.

Upon our discovery we immediately notified Google so they could shut this down.

Although DoubleClick is not directly responsible, the publisher is trusting them to only allow ‘clean’ ads.

Many popular sites were caught in the cross-fire including examiner . com. The power of malvertising attacks is that they can be widespread in an INSTANT by LEVERAGING the advertising networks’ infrastructure.

Malicious ads are displayed to millions of visitors who do not actually NEED to click them to get infected.


Full story: https://blog.malwarebytes.org/malvertising-2/2014/09/googles-doubleclick-ad-network-abused-once-again-in-malvertising-attacks/

Mozilla is promising a lot of content for small cash. From the looks of it, it works like most every streaming stick.
Full Story
Retail it's $25.00...Mozilla isn't promising anything. The author apparently didn't read the Kickstarter page. A company named Matchstick.TV developed this device that uses Mozilla software.

The device sounds interesting but I already have a Chromecast which I don't use since I got a Roku. The Roku cost 3X what the Chromecast did but has hundreds of apps available while the Chromecast has about 2 dozen. The Roku is a much more polished and usable product.

This new device is aiming too low by comparing/modeling itself to the Chromecast.

I'll stick with my Roku.Quote

The device sounds interesting but I already have a Chromecast which I don't use since I got a Roku. The Roku cost 3X what the Chromecast did but has hundreds of apps available while the Chromecast has about 2 dozen. The Roku is a much more polished and usable product.

I assume from what you said that you were using a Windows laptop to "cast" to the CC using the Chrome browser.

Full title is:
Apple Is Buying Fewer Samsung Chips For iPhone 6 And That's A Problem For Samsung
http://www.ibtimes.com/apple-buying-fewer-samsung-chips-iphone-6-thats-problem-samsung-1694572
Quote

Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are going to have a big impact on Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., but not in the way you might think. That's because Samsung not only competes against Apple with its Galaxy S5 and Note 3, but Samsung makes the A-series chips that MAKE Apple's smartphones run.
But teardowns performed on Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus revealed that Apple is tapping a much wider number of chipmakers for its smartphones, which is bad news for Samsung. "Will it hurt Samsung? No doubt about it," Roger Entner, mobile analyst at Recon Analytics, said.
...
Fortunately for Samsung, it has taken time for Apple to DIVERSIFY its chip suppliers because the components themselves are highly specialized. Diversification takes some time and that’s what we’re seeing. "It’s for the good of Samsung that [diversification] hasn’t happened as quickly," Entner said. "It gives them a BUFFER."

Someone call Eric Idle and Michael Palin...

I was hoping that somebody was going to say something.. British humour and especially parody is some of the best in the world. Geek you are very much mis-informed.

News About Fake Microsoft Support

It has been going on for awhile, but it now getting some attention.Warn your FIENDS and family.
Zero-day opens the way to hack back against fake Microsoft tech support ...

Quote

...fake tech support people making unsolicited phone calls with intentions of exploiting technically-challenged victims. Microsoft has long warned consumers about scams involving phony Microsoft tech support; it generally involves some jerk who claims to be from Microsoft...

Solid-state drives may still be a lot more expensive than hard disk drive units, but they are getting better because the NAND chips they are made of are getting cheaper. That's why Transcend has high HOPES from 2014.

Phase change memory is one of a number of alternative memory structures that’s been proposed as a replacement for NAND. Phase change memory works by rapidly heating chalcogenide glass, shifting it between its crystalline and amorphous state.

Reported by the BBC.
Quote

Apple has released a tool to remove U2's new album from its customers' iTunes accounts six days after giving away the MUSIC for free.
Some users had complained about the FACT that Songs of Innocence had automatically been downloaded to their devices without their permission.
It had not been immediately obvious to many of the account holders how to delete the tracks.
The US tech firm is now providing a one-click removal button.
"Some customers asked for the ability to delete 'Songs of Innocence' from their library, so we set up itunes.com/soi-remove to let them easily do so. Any customer that needs additional HELP should contact AppleCare," SPOKESMAN Adam Howorth told the BBC.

According to the IBTimes, around five million Google Account credentials have been leaked online by hackers, with around 60 percent of the compromised accounts judged to still be active.

What actually appears to have happened is that somebody rolled up lots of older DATA dumps originating from various causes (such as phishing and / or password reuse) and released it all in one go, posting it to a Bitcoin forum.

I am very surprised at this!

It seems kind of late to be making an offer on this since it has been out this long. I feel that the market is saturated with people who already bought the game, as well as multiple platform licenses like myself. My family owns 2 copies of the game plus my DAUGHTER also has fun with the demo version for PC. The 2 licensed copies are for Kindle Fire and Play Station 3.

I just dont see Microsoft making a profit on the game itself at this price tag. If anything it might be a way to LEVERAGE people into buying a portable MS device, but still... if you already have 2 copies + a demo for PC, do you really need a 3rd licensed platform copy. Are there any other games from Mojang that are a must have?

Also has Microsoft ever bought a game and made a newer version of it better?


http://time.com/3318135/microsoft-minecraft/Quote from: DaveLembke on September 10, 2014, 03:18:44 PM

I just dont see Microsoft making a profit on the game itself at this price tag.

This is on CNN and other places.
Apple's new products in 90 seconds
Quote

At the At the WWDC 2014 developers conference Apple announced new operating systems for desktop and mobile along with apps to monitor your health and control your home. developers conference Apple announced new operating systems for desktop and mobile along with apps to monitor your health and control your home.

This Is How Apple Pay Works
Sep. 9, 2014, 2:19 PM
Apple announced two new devices today, the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus. Both phones have a new payment feature, Apple Pay, that aims to make plastic credit cards OBSOLETE.
"Apple pay will forever change the way all of US buy things ... it's what makes the iPhone 6 the biggest advancement in the history of iPhones," Tim Cook said at Apple's conference.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-apple-will-finally-kill-credit-cards-with-the-iphone-6-2014-9#ixzz3CsDCIDZI

Since June, Facebook, which has about 1.3 billion monthly users worldwide, has served up an average of a billion video views a day, two-thirds of them on mobile devices. About 100 million new videos are uploaded EVERY MONTH. While that is a SMALL fraction of YouTube’s traffic, it is up significantly from just a few MONTHS ago.

Did your cousin buy a PC from China?
This is based on an article in WSJ. I changed the title. To get your attention.
The more proper title is:
China Passes U.S. as World's Biggest PC Market
If the following is true, there will be a shift is the world popsition of the USA in PC global market.
Quote

The shift underlines rapid industry changes in the PC industry world-wide. Consumer demand for PCs has soared in emerging markets, while it has faltered in developed markets. Meanwhile, the rise of smartphones and tablet computers, most notably Apple Inc. 's iPhone and iPad, has raised concerns that purchases of such products could eat into demand for traditional desktop and laptop PCs. Reflecting those challenges, Hewlett-Packard Co. , which is the world's biggest PC maker but has lost popularity with Chinese consumers, last week said it is considering a sale or spinoff of its personal-computer business.

Did your cousin buy a PC from China?

Judge fro yourself what this means.
Google on:
Gigabit Power line Network
..and find this:
Amazon sells D-link Gigabit Power line wall-wort.
Wait! there is more. Tom's hardware just posted this:
ZyXEL has World's First Gigabit Powerline Adapter
If they just now invented it, how can Amazon be selling a D-link model?
Oh, the D-link does 500 600 Mbps over a power line in your home.

The Zytel PR is found in the usual place. Like Facebook
ZyXEL Claims World's First Gigabit Power line LAN.

Do you believe this? Is it true?
Really? Data at 600 Mbps now a Gigabit?
{Maybe data is faster over a power line?}




Of course I believe it, no reason really why they can't do it... Be interesting to see what they real world performance is like as if it could actually get close to gigabit in a real world scenario that would save a lot of regular consumers having to run ethernet cables in order to get maximum speed.

When that D-Link says Gigabit I think it is referring to the Ethernet interface on the device being Gigabit (which of course it must be since the next step down would be 100mbps which would be too SLOW). The device will still only be able to send the data through the wiring at 600mbps - Just seems to be a bit of tricky marketing to me. The ZyXEL on the other hand would be able to move data through the mains wiring at gigabit speeds.

Quote from: Geek-9pm on August 28, 2014, 03:02:55 PM

{Maybe data is faster over a power line?}

What this means is that anyone who operates such a device, by using it, has agreed to be responsible when it comes to any interference that the device under question causes - that is, if someone complains that said device causes interference to them, it is incumbent on the owner of that device to mitigate that interference - even if it means that you have to stop using it! The second part means that if radio operation causes the device to not work properly - such as when a Ham operator transmits - that the user of that device has no legal recourse when it comes to stopping such operation as this agreement also stipulates that they are using it at their own risk.

They can call it GigaBit til they are blue in the face...
Fact is power line speeds are atrocious...

You missed the point...PowerLine connections basically suck...
Try one...you'll see.

Does anybody ever need a gigabit at home?

But think it odd tart Gigabit is now the buzz word.

For some time China has been making technical progress in many areas. Could they create a world class OS that would compete with WINDOWS, Mac OS or Linux? Yes, they can and it looks like they may already be there. This has the potential to undermine the major software companies of the western world.
Not a joke! China already has millions s of people who speak and write Engloish. They have more English speakers than some states of the USA. So they could produce a new OS ALL in English and sell it cheaper that Apple or Microsoft.

Here is a story just released a few days ago.
Is China's New Computer Operating System a Threat?
Quote

Its first step was to stop government agencies from using Microsoft's most recent Windows 8 on their machines. But its latest project, to replace Windows altogether puts China into a new category as challenging US dominance in the ultra-sensitive computer operating system league. Controlling computers today is part and parcel of political POWER, and China understands this. That's why China is not only replacing Windows, but it wants to get rid of Apple's iOS and Google's Android too.

Certainly China will emerge as a heavy weight challenger to the likes of Microsoft, Google and Apple.

The idea that they would be able to competently create a English-Language OS is pretty laughable though.

an operating system developed by academics at the National University of Defense Technology in the People's Republic of China since 2001. It is named after the mythical beast qilin.

...
The first versions were based on FreeBSD and were intended for use by the Chinese military and other government organizations. With version 3.0 Kylin became Linux-based, and there is a version called NeoKylin which was announced in 2010.
In 2013, it was announced that a new Linux-based operating system with the same name would be released using Ubuntu. The first version, Ubuntu Kylin 13.04, was released on 25 April 2013

Ubuntu Kylin is an official Ubuntu subproject whose goal is to create a variant of Ubuntu that is more suitable for Chinese users using the Simplified Chinese writing system. The project provides a delicate, thoughtful and fully customised Chinese user experience out-of-the-box by providing a desktop user interface localised into Simplified Chinese and with software generally preferred by many Chinese users.

Yes, that is the RIGHT headline.
It was just posted by the Wall STREET Journal.
Quote

As videogames become a SPECTATOR sport, Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -0.29% just bought the world's largest arena.
The e-commerce giant said MONDAY it agreed to acquire Twitch Interactive Inc., a POPULAR Internet video channel for broadcasting, and watching, people play video games, for about $970 million in cash.

This has been CONFIRMED from other sources.
Quote

By Jane McCallion

Posted on 22 Aug 2014 at 09:45

Microsoft is getting ready to launch a Wi-Fi streaming dongle, an FCC filing suggests.

The FCC Wi-Fi certification document (PDF) names the product simply as "Miracast Dongle" and categorises it as a media adapter.

The device, codenamed HD-10, uses 2.4GHz Wi-Fi only, much LIKE Google's Chromecast, and is certified for 802.11bgn Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, WPA Personal and WPA2 Personal connectivity.

Read more: Microsoft working on Miracast Dongle streaming hardware | News | PC Pro http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/390379/microsoft-working-on-miracast-dongle-streaming-hardware#ixzz3BHybOSqm

Digitimes Research: GTAT estimated to supply up to 1.35-2.25 MILLION 5.5-inch iPhone sapphire covers in 2014
Acer unveils 8-core 4G LTE smartphone in Taiwan
Peripheral chip makers preparing inventories for 100 million new iPhones
Samsung reportedly resumes supply of mobile RAM for new iPhone

... says that following three solid years of growth, the impact of a slowing demand was exasperated with the traditionally slower first half retail cycle, and the fact that longer upgrade cycles are impacting new sales with the market now “in a lull as customers wait for a reason to upgrade”.
And, while Google’s Android tablets just outsold Apple’s iPad over the first half of the year, Telsyte says it EXPECTS the trend will likely reverse in the second half. It also says that Windows-based tablets are gaining ground in the market...

First read this article in Time magazine at work yesterday. Decided to share it for anyone who hasnt heard of this potential problem.

To think that a single USB stick can be infected and its hidden from antivirus's due to that its a firmware exploit of USB flashable devices, and consecutive devices plugged in could be reflashed with the evil flash.

I would think that you would know you had a problem possibly when the data you had on your flash DRIVE got wiped out as a result of the flash update to its firmware. Not sure if the data would reside through a firmware flash to still be able to be correctly and flawlessly indexed etc. It would be neat to play with this in a CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT, although you would pretty much have to take a hammer to all flashable devices in the end as for it appears to act like a fire that cant be put out with a water cure, but the only means to stop if from spreading is to cut off its ability to spread to other sticks/fuel...

http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/07/this-thumbdrive-hacks-computers-badusb-exploit-makes-devices-turn-evil/That link DaveLembke gave is a must read for anybody who buys USB sticks.
Just a part of it:
Quote

Now, white-hat hackers have devised a feat even more seminal—an exploit that TRANSFORMS keyboards, Web cams, and other types of USB-connected devices into highly programmable attack platforms that can't be detected by today's defenses.

Quote

The company announced this morning that Seattle is ONE of 10 new cities where they'll be ROLLING out super fast FIBER to the home. We've heard that before.

In a remarkable announcement today, CenturyLink, formerly known as “the TELEPHONE company”, says it will bring gigabit Internet service VIA a fiber-to-the-home network to Seattle. ...

By Jim Lynch, ITworld | Mobile & Wireless, Android
August 07, 2014, 3:16 PM — Stolen or lost phones have been a BIG headache for some Android users. There's almost nothing worse for some folks than realizing that their phone is no longer in their possession and that they have no idea where it went. Now Google has released an update to its Android Device Manager that may help RECOVER lost or stolen Android phones.

For the Full Story , do a search on:
IBM Unveils a ‘Brain-Like’ Chip

Or click on this Google Search

So, should I wait to buy a new PC?

This story is in the mass media here in the USA.
Quote

On Thursday they announced the results of 10 years of research and $53 million in DARPA funding. The COMPANY's new brain-inspired chip ACHIEVES unparalleled LEVELS of power and efficiency, and IBM claims it may change the fundamental methods of computing.

Just now mass media is reporting many computers are taking 'hits' for some sort of foul play by bad GUYS. Is this just normal paranoia ? Is it jus a diversion AWAY from more important news?
You decide:
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2014/08/06/Malware-Threat-US-Government-Computers
The Malware Threat to U.S. Government Computers

http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/symantec-kaspersky-china-govt-ban/
Kaspersky Lab Hit Back at Chinese Government Ban Claims

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/china-bans-two-us-and-russian-cybersecurity-firms-from-government-contracts-9646431.html
China bans two US and Russian cyber-security firms from government contracts

http://www.politico.com/morningcybersecurity/0814/morningcybersecurity14903.html
More than 1 billion passwords stolen by Russian hacker GANG –

As of today, August 6, these stories are no more than two days old. All are about threats to both personal , business and government computers.
The CH News Editor position is still open if anyone is interested...

This research could impact future CPU design.
Quote

Graphene is a pure carbon material that’s just one atom thick. It’s 100 TIMES stronger than steel, incredibly light, and it’s super-efficient at conducting heat and electricity. It’s a true wonder-material, but now there’s a new wonder-material in town: carbyne ** . ...
Researchers at Rice University in the US have been investigating the potential of carbyne, and through computer MODELLING discovered...

Q Is Quantum Physics used in manufacturing CPUs?
A Well, they are not using it, but taking into account.
Tunneling is one of the most important:
1) As gate oxide thickness is just 1-2nm, electrons can tunnel through it -> power consumption increases (or transistor might turn itself on if gate is not connected at the moment). So if you replace usual SiO2 with high-K dielectric (like HfO2) you would be able to increase gate oxide thickness (=dramatically reduce tunneling) but electromagnetic field will remain the same (i.e. transistor would work exactly as with thin oxide)
2) Flash memory directly rely on quantum tunneling effect - electrons into strong electromagnetic field tunnel right into middle of dielectric, and form 'trapped' charge, which may stay there for years.

A NEW law imposing restrictions on users of social media has come into effect in RUSSIA.

It means bloggers with more than 3,000 daily readers must register with the mass media regulator, Roskomnadzor, and conform to the regulations that govern the country's larger media outlets.

Internet companies will also be required to allow Russian authorities access to users' information.

One human RIGHTS group called the move "draconian".

The law was approved by Russia's upper house of parliament in April.

It includes measures to ensure that bloggers cannot REMAIN ANONYMOUS, and states that social networks must maintain six months of data on its users.

The information must be stored on servers based in Russian territory, so that government authorities can gain access.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28583669

ZeroAccess Botnet - Found this in todays e-mail from ZoneAlarm. Strange that it was posted on 6/18/2014, and just FINALLY got it in e-mail from ZoneAlarm on 7/29/2014. But since the POTENTIAL threat still remains I figured I'd post to share this.

http://www.zonealarm.com/blog/2014/06/zeroaccess-botnet-is-it-preparing-its-next-attack/DaveLembke, goo tip. Thanks.

The end of the article talks abut prevention. It seems you have to click on something to get infected. So the PREVENT is to be very careful.
Quote

Prevention:
Similar to social engineering, THINK before you click. That email notifying you of suspicious activity with your bank account may send you into panic mode, but that is exactly what cyber criminals are banking on. Avoid CLICKING on links or attachments in emails from unknown senders. Even if the sender is someone you know, check to see if the email is something they actually sent. It could be that their email account had been compromised.

Not a hack. It is the law now in the USA. (Almost)
Quote

Want to LEGALLY unlock your phone from its network? The US Senate says that's A-OK. Bill passed. Now there's just niggling to sort out

The five largest US wireless carriers agreed to this, but only once a USER has finished paying off a two-year contract.

If you have an account at CNET/Download.com it is time to change your password.

CNET attacked by Russian hacker group

Quote from: Seth Rosenblatt - CNET.com

A representative from the group calling itself W0rm told CNET News in a Twitter conversation that it stole a database of usernames, emails, and encrypted passwords from CNET's SERVERS.

W0rm is claiming that the database of stolen information includes data on more than 1 million users.

A CBS Interactive spokeswoman SAID that "a few servers were accessed" by the intruder. "We identified the issue and resolved it a few DAYS ago. We will CONTINUE to monitor," for potential impact, she said.

This was reported on 15 May 2014 by Kaspersky
Attack of the Clones: Fake AV
Quote

Fake apps that claim to protect mobile devices

The first fake app was discovered in Windows PHONE Store. This in itself was unusual because scammers tend to target users of Android – via Google Play – DUE to the platform’s popularity. The app in question went by the name of Kaspersky Mobile. The fact there is no such program in Kaspersky Lab’s product line suggests the fraudsters didn’t expect anyone to notice the discrepancy. Another interesting feature of this particular app was the fact users had to pay for it. This meant its CREATORS immediately started making money WITHOUT having to devise additional SCAMS such as demanding payments to remove “malware” that had supposedly been detected on users’ computers.

A few months back I started to NOTICE some odd changes at the FileHippo website that just didn't seem to fit and made me suspicious. Today my suspicions are confirmed. FileHippo is turning to adware and will be using download wrappers.

Source: Take care, FileHippo starts offering downloads via Installers!

FileHippo has turned to adware and no LONGER TRUSTWORTHY.

For UNALTERED software installers use www.majorgeeks.comI stopped usin it a year ago...I liked the update checker. Several months ago it became unusable and they never fixed it. They also started posting spammy "news" articles. An obvious SEO tactic that I wouldn't expect from them. It all makes sense now.Yepper....we seen it before eh ? ?Well if it's any consolation you can totally trust me not to spam you guys. I'll continue to link you to Quality *SPAM* just like always. P.S. I enjoyed your reviews...that is before they were pulled...This is REALLY bad news. Filehippo was great for finding older versions of programs for testing and other purposes.

Still, downloaders are not that bad. Usually you can run them on a VM and then take the file you actually need after it is downloaded. This is how I download stuff from CNET. I hate CNET, but sometimes you can't find another source.Therre's still SourceForge...

Source: Ars Technica “Weaponized” exploit can steal sensitive user data on eBay, Tumblr, et AL.

Quote from: ArsTechnica.com

A serious ATTACK INVOLVING a widely used Web communication format is exposing millions of end users' authentication credentials on sites including eBay, Tumblr, and Instagram, a well-respected security researcher said Tuesday.

An INTERESTING ARTICLE about LEGAL HACKING here.

The Symantec REPORT is 18 pages in PDF.
It CLAIMS MALWARE from overseas will target the electrical grid and other energy sources. The DHS of USA takes it seriously.
Threat Against Western Energy

No, this is not a re-hash of things ALREADY covered elsewhere. Look at it. Some of it is different. It just might work. MAYBE. Let's hope it does.
Microsoft's New Plan to Stop Cybercrime
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The operation, which began on Monday under an order issued by a federal court in Nevada, targeted traffic involving malicious software known as Bladabindi and Jenxcus, which Microsoft said work in similar ways and were written and distributed by developers in Kuwait and Algeria.

It is the FIRST high-profile case involving malware written by developers outside of Eastern Europe, ACCORDING to Richard Domingues Boscovich, assistant general counsel of Microsoft's cybercrime-fighting Digital Crimes Unit.

"We have never seen malware coded outside Eastern Europe that is as big as this. This really demonstrates the globalization of cybercrime," said Boscovich, whose team at Microsoft has disrupted NINE other cybercrime operations over the past five years, all of which it believes originated in Eastern Europe.

Quote from: Geek-9pm on JULY 02, 2014, 09:23:09 PM

Best anti-theft is to never let you iPhone or Smartphone out of sight.

Maybe something like a auricular implant. Part of the phone to be inside the head of the OWNER.

The attackers forced Mr Kumaran to put his finger on the security panel to START the vehicle, bundled him into the back seat and drove off.

But having stripped the CAR, the thieves became frustrated when they wanted to restart it. They found they again could not bypass the immobiliser, which needs the owner's fingerprint to disarm it.

They stripped Mr Kumaran naked and left him by the side of the road - but not before cutting off the end of his index finger with a machete.

The Assassin's Creed IV: BLACK Flag "Time Saver" packs aren't expensive—$1 for the Collectibles Pack and $2 for the Resources Pack—but it's the principle of the thing that's so outrageous, at least among those who remember that cheat codes used to be free. Yet according to Ubisoft Vice President of Digital Publishing Chris Early, there was no outrage. "There was no resistance," he told GamesIndustry. "Maybe there were 12 guys somewhere who said something, but WHATEVER. As a WHOLE, there wasn't a problem."

Early sees that lack of resistance as a sign that the industry is figuring out how to best HANDLE post-release monetization of games. He said that DLC and season passes are "pretty much accepted" these days, because publishers have been able to make players feel like they enhance the game rather than leave them at a disadvantage if they don't pay for it. He also touched on what many people see as a potential problem with microtransaction-based games, even though in his eyes it's a positive development

Full story: http://www.pcgamer.com/uk/2014/07/04/ubisoft-vp-says-gamers-are-growing-more-comfortable-with-dlc-and-digital/

The NSA has been targeting the Tor anonymising system to spy on its users, suggests a report.

GERMAN public broadcaster ARD said two Tor servers in Germany were actively being watched by the US spy agency.

Citing information given by official sources, ARD said almost anyone searching for Tor or installing it could be watched by the NSA.

Tor hides users' location and identity by randomly bouncing data through some of the machines making up the network.

Data is encrypted during the hops to better conceal who is visiting which page.

Information passed to ARD suggests the NSA has tapped into traffic to and from two German directory servers used by Tor to scoop up the IP addresses of people who visited it.

Data passing in and out of these servers was vulnerable because it was unencrypted. Other directory servers might also have been watched.

The addresses the NSA grabbed were monitored via an analysis system it developed called XKeyscore, said ARD. XKeyscore works by snooping on information passing through the few exchanges around the world where data hops from one ISP to another.

Data grabbed from these sources was used to build up a a PROFILE of the web browsing habits associated with those IP addresses.

Sites offering several other anonymising and privacy tools were also watched, said the ARD report.

"XKeyscore is an analytic tool that is used as a part of NSA's lawful foreign signals intelligence collection system," a spokeswoman for the NSA told news SITE Ars Technica. "Such tools have stringent oversight and compliance mechanisms built in at several levels.

"All of NSA's operations are conducted in strict accordance with the rule of law," she said.

Full STORY: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28162273

Yes, the story cam out in May. But it is remarkable still.
http://www.crn.com/news/applications-os/300072703/linus-torvalds-receives-ieees-computer-pioneer-award.htm
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Linus Torvalds has been given the 2014 IEEE Computer Society Computer Pioneer Award, 20 years after the release of the Linux kernel 1.0 that he developed as a University of Helsinki STUDENT in his native COUNTRY of FINLAND. In the two decades that followed, shock waves spread far beyond the humble Linux kernel, spawning a worldwide open-source development movement that today shows no signs of slowing.
The IEEE Computer Society recognizes industry figures in a broad array of categories, including technical and pioneering achievements, and entrepreneurial activities
...

While Linus HAS had recognition from many others over the years, I find it odd that it took IEEE this long to declare him a computer pioneer.

There's a group of people at Microsoft who are like internet superheroes on a mission to protect the world from evil hackers. And this week, that group CONVINCED a judge to turn over a CHUNK of the internet to their control, and then MESSED up that control, bringing websites down for "millions" of people.
Read Full StroryPCdoc, That is some STORY. It gets complicated. Quote from: Geek-9pm on July 04, 2014, 11:09:07 AM

PCdoc, That is some story. It gets complicated.

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...not exactly the kind of attention John Legere had in mind. Over the past year-and-a-half, T-Mobile's OUTSPOKEN CEO has been hammering away at RIVALS
...
On TUESDAY, the Federal TRADE Commission inflicted its own pain on T-Mobile, and as much as the hundreds of millions of dollars potentially at stake, the damage to T-Mobile's reputation COULD conceivably hit the company harder.

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The huge volume of e-mails and public comments over the proposed rule creating Internet fast lanes and slow lanes crashed part of the Federal Communications Commission's aging COMPUTER system earlier this month, an agency official confirmed Thursday.

Spokeswoman Kim Hart said the FCC's 17-year-old public-comment system couldn't handle the overwhelming electronic responses.

The 36-hour crash came days after HBO comedian John Oliver - FORMERLY of The Daily SHOW with Jon Stewart - PERFORMED a 13-minute on-air rant on the FCC's open-Internet proposal as bad for consumers and told his audience to SHOOT comments to the FCC.

A group of 40 UK-based tech firms has developed a way to help apps and machines communicate in a bid to spur on smart cities and smart homes.

Hypercat is a new specification that effectively acts as an address book for data hubs holding INFORMATION transmitted by net-connected devices.

It would allow an app to ask a hub what types of data it holds and what permissions it needs to access them.

The idea is to reduce the need for human intervention.

At the moment a person needs to write an application programming interface (API) to specify how the software components of one system should interact with another.

A recent example of this is Google's Nest division releasing APIs to allow the software that controls its smart thermostat to interact with the software used by Jawbone's Up wristbands.

But as the number of net-connected OBJECTS climbs higher - including everything from lamp posts to WASHING machines - the consortium behind Hypercat suggests it would be more efficient to allow the systems to have a standard way of consulting each other, rather than requiring new APIs for each case.

Instead of insisting that each company organises its data in the same way - an approach the consortium accepts would be DOOMED to failure - it decided instead to build a layer on top of the databases the services already hold.

The result, Hypercat, is described as being an open, lightweight hypermedia catalogue format.

Full story: HTTP://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28041736