Techno-News Blog

May 17, 2011

Google unveils first Chrome powered laptops

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By Maggie Shiels, BBC

Google has unveiled the first laptops that will run on its Chrome operating system. The machines, made by Acer and Samsung, will go on sale next month. Unlike conventional computer systems which use installed software like Microsoft Word, Chrome is built around web-based applications such as Google Docs. Some analysts have questioned whether users will want laptops that rely so heavily on an internet connection. However, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, hailed the technology as a “new model of computing”.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13362111

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Twitpic angers users over copyright grab

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by the BBC

Picture posting service Twitpic has apologised for seeming to claim copyright on every image users upload. A row blew up over photographs on Twitpic following changes made to the service’s terms on 10 May. Many users cancelled their Twitpic accounts because the changes implied that the site was claiming the right to sell pictures without permission. Twitpic defended itself and said the new rules were intended to protect users’ photos from abuse by the media.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13372982

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Facebook exposed in Google smear campaign

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by the BBC

It has been revealed that Facebook embarked on a smear campaign against rival Google. The social network has admitted that it hired a PR firm to plant anti-Google stories related to user privacy. The details came to light when one blogger approached by PR firm Burson-Marsteller published the e-mail exchange. Burson had been touting stories on behalf of an unnamed client about the Google service Social Circle.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13374048

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May 16, 2011

Google’s Android Rampages Beyond Mobile

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by Tom Simonite, Technology Review

What started as an OS for cell phones is fast becoming able to control a whole lot more. The Google keynote at its I/O event started with boasts about how many Android devices have shipped–100m, almost all of them phones. Almost everything else said and demoed on stage underlined the fact that Android is about to extend its robotic tentacles far beyond just mobile devices. Those tentacles look set to tweak the technological noses of a slew of other companies and products that might have reasonably thought themselves beyond Android’s reach.

http://technologyreview.com/blog/editors/26751/?p1=blogs

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New offerings from Gigabyte and Sony enter the tablet market

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by David Zax, Technology Review

A pair of new tablets have been announced, and another one nears a U.S. launch date, expanding the field of competition against the iPad. Engadget notes that Gigabyte’s S1080 tablet is likely to come to a store near you soon. The FCC recently came across one Stateside and cracked it open for a look under the hood. The Windows 7 slate appeared in Taiwan not long ago, so its specs are no secret. It has a dual core Atom N550 processor, a 10.1-inch touchscreen with 1024×600 resolution. It has a curiously old-school twist to it: even though it has a touchscreen, there are also tactile mouse buttons and an optical mouse that can be operated by your thumbs. There’s a good-sized hard drive–320 GB–an SD card reader, Ethernet port, and other features outlined in a recent press release.

http://technologyreview.com/blog/guest/26748/?p1=blogs

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Apple and Google Defend Their Handling of Data

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By Erica Naone, Technology Review

Apple and Google are scrambling to regain trust after revelations about the way smart phones and tablets handle users’ location data. In a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing held today, representatives from Apple and Google stressed that their companies had streamlined and clarified their handling of location-based data. But a key unanswered question is how they’ll let third-party app providers share that information.

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/37554/?p1=A4

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May 15, 2011

Is IT Our Best Defense Against Climate Change?

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by Christopher Mims, Technology Review

Information technology is essential to modern society because it makes us adaptable — and that’s precisely what the 21st century will require. The good news is that, aside from things like the thousands of miles of fiber optic and cable broadband we’ve buried in the ground or suspended from telephone poles, most of the world’s information technology infrastructure is relatively easy to replace — at least for now. That’s the conclusion of a new study commissioned by the UK government in hopes of determining what effects climate change will have on local as well as global IT infrastructure. The report’s basic conclusion is that, compared to the cost and difficulty of armoring our shorelines, moving our coastal cities inland, and hoping our energy and and transport infrastructure isn’t done in by extreme weather, the direct consequences of climate change for our increasingly dematerialized society are trivial.

Eigengestures And Minority Report-style Computer Interfaces

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Eigengestures And Minority Report-style Computer Interfaces

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by the Physics arXiv blog

What’s the best way to control a computer using 3D gestures? One answer is that the best gestures are the most natural ones. But that leaves a puzzle: how do you determine the most natural gestures? Today, Piotr Gawron and pals at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Gliwic, give us an answer of sorts. They’ve created a database of 3D human hand gestures and then “solved” the database to find a kind of ideal gesture. They began with a subject wearing a motion-capture glove and then measured the way the glove moves while making 22 common gestures such as the A-OK sign, a walking motion with two fingers, shoving away an imaginary object and so on.

http://technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/26742/?p1=blogs

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A Touch Screen that Plays Sticky

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By Kurt Kleiner, Technology Review

An experimental touch screen that uses variable friction to make different areas feel sticky or rough could point the way to a new paradigm in interfaces. The touch screen uses high-frequency vibrations to create a thin layer of air between the glass and the user’s finger. The finger slips easily over the layer of air but catches slightly on the glass when the vibrations are turned off. Varying the vibrations as the user’s finger moves can cause different parts of the screen to feel slick or sticky. “It adds a feeling of realism,” says Vincent Lévesque, a computer scientist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. “It’s more physical. It feels like there are real buttons that actually exist.”

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/37546/?p1=A5&a=f

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May 14, 2011

UN must not underestimate cyber threats, says Estonian leader

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by the Press Trust

Cyber threats can cross borders and wreak havoc, not just in information technology circles, but in communities, Estonia’s President warned at the General Assembly today, calling for enhanced global cooperation to tackle the problem. “Concurrently with the rapid development of computer technology we are witnessing alarming signs of more sinister developments: cyber attacks are growing more complex and their use is increasing in frequency,” Toomas Hendrik Ilves told the Assembly’s annual high-level debate. He called on governments and the private sector to join forces to boost their ability to respond to cyber threats.

http://www.presstrust.com/node/714289

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CNBC’S CODE WARS: AMERICA’S CYBER THREAT WILL PREMIERE MAY 26TH

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By: Jennifer Dauble, CNBC

CNBC’S CODE WARS: AMERICA’S CYBER THREAT will premiere Thursday, May 26th at 9pm ET. The documentary will repeat that evening at 10pm ET, 12am ET, and 1am ET. The show will also repeat at 10pm ET on Sunday, May 29th. Code Wars: Inside the Cyber Threat Cyber-criminals have brought the websites of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the New York Stock Exchange, and the South Korean government to a halt. After hackers breached Sony’s PlayStation Network, the company reported that the personal information of 77 million of its customers – including their credit card data – was jeopardized. In China and Russia, cyber warriors are at the ready, poised to strike with the newest form of warfare, where conventional rules don’t apply.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/42680623?par=ft

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Cyber threats skyrocket in volume, sophistication

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by The Philippine Star

Symantec Corp. announced the findings of its Internet Security Threat Report, Volume 16, which shows a massive threat volume of more than 286 million new threats last year, accompanied by several new mega trends in the threat landscape. The report highlights dramatic increases in both the frequency and sophistication of targeted attacks on enterprises; the continued growth of social networking sites as an attack distribution platform; and a change in attackers’ infection tactics, increasingly targeting vulnerabilities in Java to break into traditional computer systems. In addition, the report explores how attackers are exhibiting a notable shift in focus toward mobile devices.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=684004

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May 13, 2011

Password-storing service may have been hacked

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By Amy Gahran, CNN

Virtually every online service requires users set up an account protected by a password, and the conventional wisdom is that you shouldn’t use the same password for multiple accounts. This makes services that help users generate and store strong passwords very appealing. LastPass, one of the most popular password-storing services, announced Wednesday that it may have been hacked. The company is now asking many of its users to change what its marketing has been touting as “the last password you’ll ever need.”

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/05/05/last.pass.gahran/index.html

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Facebook paying users 10 cents to watch certain ads

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By Todd Wasserman, Mashable

Facebook on Thursday introduced a program that, in effect, offers consumers a financial incentive to watch ads on the site. Facebook will now reward users who watch certain ads on the site with Facebook Credits, which can be redeemed to purchase goods on Facebook Deals, the company’s new Groupon-like daily deals service. The incentive, however, is not huge. Initially at least, the average ad will yield one credit, which is the equivalent of 10 cents. The ads will mostly be in games. CrowdStar, Digital Chocolate and Zynga are among the participating game publishers. Facebook is working with Sharethrough, SocialVibe, Epic Media and SupersonicAds to serve ads on the program as well as TrialPay, which will provide analytics.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/05/06/facebook.ads.mashable/index.html

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Chocolate bathroom? Translation tools for travel

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by Eric Mack, CRAVE Cnet news.com

After Google failed to deliver, I turned to a handful of apps with offline translation database access. The first few were lackluster, wonky, or had too few words in their database, and then I found Jibbigo. Available for Android and iOS for free, you pay to download each pair of languages that you need to work in ($5 for English and Spanish, $28 for Japanese and English, for example). It quickly became my go-to tool for translating on the fly to augment my gringo Spanish. Some things just don’t translate.

http://news.cnet.com/chocolate-bathroom-translation-tools-for-travel/8301-17938_105-20059300-1.html?tag=topStories2

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May 12, 2011

Sony Networks Lacked Firewall, Ran Obsolete Software: Testimony

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By: Fahmida Y. Rashid, eWeek

Sony could have prevented the breach if they’d applied some fundamental security measures such as deploying network firewalls and using fully updated Web applications, according to testimony before a Congressional committee. Sony failed to use firewalls to protect its networks and was using obsolete Web applications, which made the company’s sites inviting targets for hackers, a Purdue University professor testified May 4 to a Congressional committee investigating the massive data breach of the Sony game and entertainment networks. Sony disclosed on April 26 that thieves had stolen account information of up to 77 million users on the PlayStation Network and Qriocity. A week later, the company admitted on May 2 that the Sony Online Entertainment gaming service had also been breached, affecting an additional 24.6 million users.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Sony-Networks-Lacked-Firewall-Ran-Obsolete-Software-Testimony-103450/?kc=rss

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75 Percent of Physicians Prefer Apple iPad, iPhone: Survey

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By: Brian T. Horowitz, eWeek

With the rapid growth of mobile devices in health care, 75 percent of doctors in the United States own some form of Apple device (iPhone, iPad, or iPod), according to a new study by Manhattan Research. A new survey by Manhattan Research reveals that 75 percent of physicians in the United States have purchased an Apple mobile device such as an iPad, iPhone or iPod. The firm has completed its “Taking the Pulse U.S. 11.0” survey, an annual report that examines how physicians are using technology. It studies physicians’ use of the Web, mobile devices and other technology tools. For the survey, Manhattan Research interviewed 2,041 U.S. doctors in the first quarter of 2011 on the phone or online.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Health-Care-IT/75-Percent-of-Physicians-Prefer-Apple-iPad-iPhone-Survey-494578/?kc=rss

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Americans More Anxious About All Kinds of Security: Survey

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By: Fahmida Y. Rashid, eWeek

Americans are more concerned than ever about all aspects of their personal security, online and offline, but it’s not entirely clear why, according to a recent survey from Unisys. Approximately half of the respondents polled were seriously concerned about viruses, spam and the safety of online shopping, according the latest Unisys Security Index survey. The biannual survey, released May 4, gauges consumer opinion on four areas of security: financial, Internet, national and personal safety.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Americans-More-Anxious-About-All-Kinds-of-Security-Survey-243175/?kc=rss

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May 11, 2011

Unthinking Machines

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by Stephen Cass, Technology Review

Some of the founders and leading lights in the fields of artificial intelligence and cognitive science gave a harsh assessment last night of the lack of progress in AI over the last few decades. During a panel discussion—moderated by linguist and cognitive scientist Steven Pinker—that kicked off MIT’s Brains, Minds, and Machines symposium, panelists called for a return to the style of research that marked the early years of the field, one driven more by curiosity rather than narrow applications.

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/37525/?p1=A4&a=f

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Microsoft Patents 3D Desktop to Compete With Apple

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by Christopher Mims, Technology Review

In a TR exclusive, a patent reveals one possible way Microsoft’s future OSes will add depth to their interface. If you thought Apple’s purported 3D interface was intriguing, wait until you see Microsoft’s. Demonstrating that you’re never too lumbering to jump on the never-quite-realized 3D desktop bandwagon, the Redmond, WA company’s plans were just made public in a patent granted on a “Method and Apparatus for Providing a Three-Dimensional Task Gallery Computer Interface.”

http://techreview.com/blog/mimssbits/26737/?p1=blogs

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Facebook Could Be Planning a Visual Dashboard of Your Life

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by Christopher Mims, MIT Technology Review

Ever wondered just how much coffee you drank last year, or which movies you saw, and when? New Web and mobile apps make it possible to track, and visualize, this personal information graphically, and the trend could be set to expand dramatically. This is because Facebook recently acquired one of the leading personal-data-tracking mobile apps and hired its creators. The social-networking giant could be gearing up to offer users ways to chart the minutiae of their lives with personalized infographics.

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/37531/?p1=A1&a=f

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