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physorg.com, April 24, 2009
Personal computers may soon save large amounts of energy by "sleep talking." Computer scientists at UC San Diego and Microsoft Research have created a plug-and-play hardware prototype for personal computers that induces a new energy saving state known as "sleep talking." Normally PCs can be in either awake mode—where they consume power even if they are not being used, or in a low power sleep mode—where they save substantial power but are essentially inactive and unresponsive to network traffic. The new sleep talking state provides much of the energy savings of sleep mode and some of the network-and-Internet-connected convenience of awake mode.
UC San Diego computer science Ph.D. student Yuvraj Agarwal presented this work on April 23, 2009 at the USENIX Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation (NSDI 2009). Computer scientists at UC San Diego and Microsoft Research in Redmond, Washington and Cambridge, UK collaborated on this project and the NSDI 2009 paper, "Somniloquy: Augmenting Network Interfaces to Reduce PC Energy Usage."
"Large numbers of people keep their PCs in awake mode even though the PCs are relatively idle for long blocks of time because they want to stay connected to an internal network or the Internet or both," said Agarwal. "I realized that most of the tasks that people keep their computers on for—like ensuring remote access and availability for virus scans and backup, maintaining presence on instant messaging (IM) networks, being available for incoming voice-over-IP (VoIP) calls, and file sharing and downloading—can be achieved at much lower power-use levels than regular awake mode," said Agarwal.
Following this realization, the team built a small USB-connected hardware and software plug-in system that allows a PC to remain in sleep mode while continuing to maintain network presence and run well-defined application functions. It supports instant messaging applications, VoIP, large background web downloads, peer-to-peer file sharing networks such as BitTorrent, and remote access. The computer scientists say their system is easily extensible to support other applications.
click here to read the full article
Saturday, April 25, 2009
'Sleep talking' PCs save energy and money
Former Facebook exec Owen Van Natta to be MySpace CEO
AP, GMANews.TV, April 25, 2009
NEW YORK – With MySpace falling behind Facebook as the world's largest online social network, MySpace tapped a former Facebook executive Friday as its new chief executive.
Owen Van Natta, 39, replaces Chris DeWolfe, a co-founder of MySpace, who stepped down as chief executive Wednesday. News Corp., which owns MySpace, said Van Natta's new role begins immediately.
Van Natta faces the lofty task of reinvigorating MySpace at a time when Facebook is growing at a faster clip and Twitter, the short messaging site, is grabbing scores of headlines and celebrity attention. While MySpace is still the largest social network in the United States, it has only 130 million users worldwide, compared with more than 200 million for Facebook.
Even so, MySpace may be making more money, at least for now. Research firm eMarketer estimates that the company brought in $585 million in U.S. ad revenue last year, nearly three times that of Facebook. A big chunk of that, however, comes from an ad-sharing deal with Google Inc. that expires next year. Neither Beverly Hills, California-based MySpace nor Palo Alto, California-based Facebook discloses how much money they make.
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TWU shuts down, secures computer system after student finds way to access adviser reports
By CANDACE CARLISLE, Denton Record-Chronicle, dallasnews.com, April 25, 2009
DENTON – Josh Ingram and other Texas Woman's University criminal justice students gathered around his laptop Wednesday afternoon on campus, unable to believe the information Ingram had accessed.
The 24-year-old junior discovered an online loophole where he could look up any student record he wanted through the university's Degree Audit Report System. And Ingram thought he had the ability to change grades with the help of a drop-down menu.
But TWU officials said Friday that no one ever had the ability to change grades and no identifying information was in jeopardy.
The Degree Audit Report System isn't the university's official record, but it is a copy for students to track their degree completion, said a university official. The loophole discovered this week gave students access to the adviser's portion of the report system, said Robert Placido, associate vice president of information technology services.
click here to read the full article
Friday, April 24, 2009
Cross-town rivals, Time Warner, Frontier go their own ways on fees
By Peter Svensson, AP, The Advocate, April 24, 2009
Time Warner Cable Inc., long based in Stamford, is testing a new way of charging for Internet use -- by the amount of traffic rather than solely based on download speed.
But now that it's expanding its trial into Rochester, N.Y., it's run into a problem: The local phone company, also headquartered in Stamford, refuses to play ball.
Frontier Communications Co., whose DSL broadband service competes with Time Warner Cable's modems, has shelved its own plans to introduce metered billing.
With Time Warner Cable facing the fury of consumers and threats of legislation, Frontier said it won't sell Internet service with "tiers" of usage, much like the minute allowance of a cell phone plan.
click here to read the full article
Google's Similar Images: Teaching computers to see
David Sarno, LATimes.com, April 24, 2009
This week, Google unveiled an odd but interesting new feature of its image search capabilities. Similar Images lets the user look for images that are visually close to a target image without being exactly the same. Playing around with the tool lets you see just how far the science of "computer vision" has come. Fundamentally, digital images are nothing more than patterns of lines and colors -- but Google has somehow taught its search engine to look at those patterns and decide which images a human would consider similar.
Try typing in "ferrari." The engine will return a page of listings, many of which have a "similar images" link below them. If you find one you like, you can click it, and be returned a page of images that are startlingly similar without being identical.
This is neat for Ferrari 360 fans who like to surf through pages and pages of car photos. But, in general, there aren't many reasons why you'd want to have a few hundred pictures of the same thing.
That's why it's better to think of the similar image search as a way to find similar things, rather than similar pictures of the same thing. If you're shopping for diamond rings, for example ...
click here to read the full article
Lip-reading computer can distinguish languages
by Mark Rutherford, CNET News, April 24, 2009
Watch what you say. Scientists in England have developed a computer that can not only read lips, but can tell the difference between languages.
Researchers at the University of East Anglia's School of Computing Sciences developed the technology by statistically modeling the lip motions of 23 bilingual and trilingual speakers. The resulting system is able to identify the language spoken by an individual with "very high accuracy," according to the university. Identifiable languages included English, French, German, Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese, Italian, Polish, and Russian.
What gives you away? The movement of your articulators--when you wag your tongue, jaw, and lips, you are generating the measurable characteristics of visual speech, the recognition of which is known as lip reading. Computer vision has already been used in lip reading, or "feature extraction," but this is the first time computers have been "taught" to recognize different languages, according to UEA (PDF).
click here to read the full article
NJ senator proposes Internet safety program
BETH DeFALCO, AP, philly.com, April 24, 2009
RIDGEWOOD, N.J. - A U.S. senator from New Jersey is proposing a federal grant program to research and educate children about Internet safety.
Democrat Bob Menendez hopes educating teens, teachers and parents will stop children from sending explicit photos of themselves and others over cell phones and the Internet.
The four-year grant proposal, which is expected to be introduced next week, would authorize $25 million to $35 million each year toward Internet safety programs. The grants would be awarded on a two-year basis and administered by the Department of Justice.
Menendez discussed his proposal Friday at the George Washington Middle School in Ridgewood, one of the first in the state to start a peer-to-peer program called Teenangels, in which 13- to 18-year-old volunteers spread the word about safe Internet surfing practices.
click here to read the full article
Yahoo to Shutter GeoCities Internet-Hosting Service
By Brian Womack, Bloomberg News, MercuryNews.com, April 23, 2009
Yahoo, cutting jobs and closing businesses to stem profit declines, will shut down its GeoCities free Web-hosting service after paying about $3 billion for the unit in 1999.
GeoCities isn't accepting new accounts and will close later this year, Yahoo said on its Web site. GeoCities, Yahoo's second-biggest acquisition behind Broadcast.com, lets users design personal Web sites to show off photos, promote local clubs or publicize business services.
CEO Carol Bartz is trimming costs as Yahoo copes with a slowing online-advertising market. The company said this week it will cut about 700 jobs, or 5 percent of the total, after eliminating about 1,600 in the fourth quarter. Yahoo may shutter or farm out more products, Bartz said this week.
"We are increasing investment in some areas while scaling back in others," Kim Rubey, a Yahoo spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. "We continue to evaluate our portfolio of products and services on a regular basis, and plan to share details of further changes with our consumers and partners in the months ahead."
Yahoo pointed GeoCities users to its paid Web-hosting service. The company will give users more details on saving GeoCities' data later this year.
Other services Yahoo has closed include travel-search site FareChase and online storage service Briefcase.
click here to go to the original article
Thursday, April 23, 2009
RefWorks Launches RefMobile
Information Today Inc., April 23, 2009
RefWorks-COS (www.refworks-cos.com), a business unit of ProQuest, LLC (www.proquest.com), announced the launch of RefMobile, a new interface that enables students and researchers to use the RefWorks web-based research management service from anywhere, via web-enabled mobile phones, smartphones, and personal data assistants (PDAs). The RefMobile interface gives users immediate access to the most commonly used RefWorks functions, including searching their entire RefWorks databases, viewing references by folders, adding and removing references from folders, creating new folders, and adding comments to Notes fields.
Users can also efficiently import new references to their RefWorks account using the new SmartAdd feature. With SmartAdd, users simply enter basic identifying information for a publication, such as ISBN, digital object identifier (DOI) number, partial title, or author and publication year, and SmartAdd searches the internet for the reference and imports it to RefWorks.
In addition to the mobile interface release, RefWorks-COS also made a number of other feature enhancements, including the ability to include OpenURL links in bibliographies. Any RefWorks output style can now be configured to include dynamically created OpenURL links in bibliography formatting, using the Output Style Editor. A complete listing of all the new features available in the April release can be found at www.refworks.com.
click here to go to original article
Motorola's WLAN Solution Empowers Researchers at Stony Brook University's Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology
Motorola, Inc., EarthTimes, April 23, 2009
802.11n wireless LAN network delivers high throughput, resiliency and security required for leading research in innovative wireless technologies and business applications
SAN JOSE, Calif., April 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola, Inc., today announced that New York's Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT) at Stony Brook University has deployed a Motorola 802.11n wireless LAN (WLAN) network at the Center's new research and education facility. The network leverages Motorola's award-winning RFS7000 wireless switches and tri-radio AP-7131 802.11n access points (AP) to deliver reliable and secure connectivity required by CEWIT's faculty and students to conduct next generation research in radio frequency identification (RFID) for asset tracking, wireless medical technologies, and wireless sensor networks for smart grid applications.
"We chose to partner with Motorola because of the company's continued innovation in wireless technologies, their experience and expertise in designing and deploying wireless networks and the rich feature set of their WLAN portfolio," said Dr. Satya Sharma, Ph.D., executive director, CEWIT. "Motorola's 802.11n wireless network will help us significantly expand the size and scope of our research, enable advanced studies on new video, voice, data and locationing applications, and accelerate the commercialization of innovative solutions."
Established in 2003, the Center is a partnership between the State of New York and industry-leading businesses. Its new facility, located in the Stony Brook University Research and Development Park, provides researchers with 100,000 square feet of additional lab space, allowing the Center to stay on the leading edge of wireless and information technology research while expanding into new technology areas.
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Google to make Gmail one-stop online communication tool
Warwick Ashford, ComputerWeekly.com, April 23, 2009
Google plans to develop Gmail into a service that will allow users to manage all their internet communications, including alerts and chat sessions.
"We would like mail to cover a broader part of the communications spectrum," Sam Schillace, director of engineering at Google, told Computer Weekly.
"At present, e-mail sits in the middle of the communications spectrum that goes from static web pages to dynamic chat sessions, but we would like to extend that," he said.
Schillace also sees the opportunity to extend Gmail coverage of the spectrum of communications that goes from personal to professional.
click here to read the full article
Time Warner Cable wants legislation to eliminate competition
Peter Smith, ITworld, April 23, 2009
We've talked at length about the high costs of its proposed Tier-based broadband pricing plans, and it did back down from those (for now) after public pressure and a bit too many glances from government officials. Then came the rumors that, since they couldn't push the tiered pricing through, they were scrapping plans to roll out much faster DOCSIS 3.0 equipment in those test areas (at the same time that Comcast is actively rolling out DOCSIS 3.0 with plans to have 65% of its customers on the higher speed gear by the end of 2009).
Now comes TWC's third strike. In Wilson, NC, there's a city-owned and operated cable service called Greenlight which is offering higher speed internet and better tv channel selection than TWC does, for less money. Greenlight came into being when the City of Wilson approached TWC and local DSL provider Embarq and requested faster service for the area. TWC refused the request. And so Greenlight was born.
Now Time Warner Cable and Embarq are upset that they've got competition, and rather than try to go head to head with Greenlight on price and service, they've instead been lobbying the state government of NC to pass laws to put Greenlight out of business. And apparently they're having some success, as the NC State Senate have proposed bills that would do TWC's bidding. DailyTech has all the details on the story, and Brian Bowman, Public Affairs Manager for Wilson, has set up a blog to disseminate information about the situation. I love the blog's tagline: Broadband IS an essential utility - just like clean water and good roads. Rock on, Mr. Bowman.
click here to read the full article
Congress to hold hearing on cable advertising
AP, TMCnet.com, April 23, 2009
PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Cable operators will sit in the hot seat Thursday as Congress reviews their plans to roll out targeted advertising amid fears that consumer privacy could be infringed if the companies were to track and record viewing habits. The House subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet will hold a hearing that will look at new uses for digital set-top boxes, the devices that control channels and perform other tasks on the TV screen. Cable TV companies plan to use such boxes to collect data and direct ads more targeted to individual preferences.
Broadband in S. Dakota to get boost
Brenda Wade Schmidt, ArgusLeader.com, April 23, 2009
Virginia-based DigitalBridge Communications plans to expand its broadband services in South Dakota's underserved areas.
That would bring portable, less expensive wireless access to people beyond Sioux Falls, where the company has operated for the past nine months as BridgeMAXX, said Bill Wallace, DigitalBridge chairman...
...The broadband service, called WiMAX 4G, allows people to have wireless Internet anywhere within the coverage area, about 15 square miles from one tower, Wallace said.
"It enables someone to take a laptop and hook it up to the Web with real good speeds anywhere," he said. Consumers probably would pay $30 to $35 a month for the service.
click here to read the full article
YTLE & Samsung Begin Implementation of Nationwide Mobile Internet Network
Seoul (Korea Newswire) April 23, 2009 - YTL e-Solutions Berhad, a subsidiary of YTL Corporation Berhad, today entered into a contract with Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. for the implementation of a nationwide mobile internet network.
Under the arrangement, SAMSUNG will provide a comprehensive WiMAX network solution including WiMAX base stations, end-to-end IP Multimedia Service (IMS) solutions, and a range of Mobile Internet Devices (MID).
With this contract SAMSUNG will be supplying not only network equipment, but more importantly, the world’s 1st WiMAX-enabled handsets. These handsets will allow subscribers to have access to a high-quality, converged voice and high-speed broadband network all over the country.
Leveraging on its partnership with CLEARWIRE and CISCO, this contract completes YTLE’s comprehensive network, offering an all-IP (Internet Protocol) converged mobile internet service which includes high-speed data, messaging and voice.
click here to read the full article
Search for "me" on Google
Brian Stoler, Official Google Blog, April 21, 2009
It's no secret that from time to time many of us have searched on Google for our name or someone else's. When searching for yourself to see what others would find, results can be varied and aren't always what you want people to see — whether it's someone else with your name, or the finishing time from that 5K you ran back in 2002. We want to make that better and give you more of a voice.
To give you greater control over what people find when they search for your name, we've begun to show Google profile results at the bottom of U.S. name-query search pages. These results offer abbreviated information from user-created Google profiles and a link to the full profiles. We've also added links so it's easy to search for the same name on MySpace, Facebook, Classmates and LinkedIn.
Don't have a Google profile? Just search for [me] and follow the instructions at the top of the page to create one. In just a few minutes, you can create a public profile that represents you and that appears when people search for your name on Google. Check out www.google.com/profiles to learn more.
click here to go to original article
Recovery of Digital Sector calls for new strategies says ITU
International Telecommunications Union, eGov monitor, April 23, 2009
ITU’s concerns have grown rapidly in recent years to go beyond fixed and mobile telephones to issues concerning internet bandwidth and the increased convergence of devices, applications and services that “facilitate seamless communications in a multi-protocol, multi-vendor environment,” according to the Union, which is sponsoring the three-day Forum.
This phenomenal growth of the sector, highlighted by mobile subscriptions reaching the 4 billion mark at the beginning of this year, prompted ITU’s Plenipotentiary Conference in 2006 to convene the WTPF to review emerging directions.
WTPF-09 focuses on key policy issues that will guide future regulatory and standardization efforts worldwide in the areas of new technologies and networks, communications security and regulations to bolster interconnection between different networks and types of communications, the Union said.
A Strategic Dialogue on ‘Confronting the Crisis’ opening yesterday ahead of the WTPF, moderated by TV anchors Stephen Cole and Vasco Trigo, and focused on how investment and financing in ICT can make a critical difference in the current recession.
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Experts: Malicious program targets Macs
By John D. Sutter, CNN.com, April 22, 2009
Mac computers are known for their near-immunity to malicious computer programs that plague PCs.
But that may be changing somewhat, according to computer security researchers. It seems that as sleek Mac computers
"The bad guys generally go toward the biggest target, what will get them the biggest bang for their buck," said Kevin Haley, a director of security response at Symantec
Until recently, the big target always was Microsoft Windows
But blogs are buzzing this week about what two Symantec
This Trojan horse program, dubbed the "iBotnet," has infected only a few thousand Mac machines, but it represents a step in the evolution of malicious computer software, Haley said.
click here for full article
MySpace co-founders stepping aside as growth slows
By John Letzing, MarketWatch, April 22, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- News Corp. said Wednesday that MySpace co-founders Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson are stepping aside, as the online social networking service they helped build into a phenomenon has begun to suffer in comparison to rival Facebook Inc.
DeWolfe is resigning his role as chief executive, while Anderson is shifting from president to an unspecified "new role," according to a company statement.
DeWolfe will continue serving on the board of MySpace China and as an advisor to the company, according to the statement.
Anderson, meanwhile, is in discussions with News Corp. Chief Digital Officer Jonathan Miller about "assuming a new role in the organization."
click here to read the full article
Microsoft exec: Internet still not safe enough
by Ina Fried, CNET News, April 21, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO--Microsoft's operating systems are still vulnerable to attacks, but more often than not it's older versions that are taking the big hits.
That was the message from Scott Charney, corporate vice president in Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing group, when he sat down with me on Tuesday. We chatted about the latest threats, including Conficker. The much-maligned Windows Vista
"Some of those widespread exploits take advantage of older platforms," Charney said in an interview, following his keynote speech at the RSA 2009 conference here.
With Windows 7, Microsoft is trying to take security into a few more areas, such as extending encryption to removable devices.
click here for full article & video
Free Press Urges Congress to Investigate Internet Pricing Schemes
Despite lower costs, AT&T and Time Warner Cable hike prices for consumers
Free Press, April 22, 2009
WASHINGTON -- Today, Free Press called for an investigation into controversial pricing schemes from Internet service providers like Time Warner Cable, AT&T and wireless carriers in a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
AT&T and Time Warner Cable are currently testing a new billing model in Beaumont, Texas, where consumers pay large fees for exceeding a low monthly Internet usage limit. AT&T's trial also includes Reno, Nev. Though presented as a means to address a very small number of heavy bandwidth users, these pricing plans would impact large numbers of consumers.
The new pricing scheme is questionable given declining company costs. Today, AT&T reported the lowest capital expenditures since 2006, despite a significant uptick in new broadband subscribers. Time Warner Cable similarly reported that costs declined due to "a decrease in per-subscriber connectivity costs" while high-speed Internet subscribership increased.
"It makes no sense that many consumers are being asked to pay more for Internet access at exactly the time that costs are going down and profits are up," said Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press. "We are not persuaded by the arguments from network owners that these new penalties are necessary. Implementing new fees that will limit the growth of Internet video smacks of anti-competitive activity. It will discourage use and innovation on the Internet, right at the time we need this sector to help pull our country out of recession."
The letter urges Congress to investigate the impact of these new pricing practices on consumers, innovation and competition. Specifically, Free Press is concerned that nationwide implementation of anti-competitive pricing schemes will deter Internet adoption, stifle video services and other innovative applications, and chill economic growth.
Read the letter at http://www.freepress.net/files/FP_metering_letter.pdf
As Costs Fall, Companies Push to Raise Internet Price
By SAUL HANSELL, New York Times, April 19, 2009
Internet service providers want to end the all-you-can-eat plans and get their customers paying à la carte.
But they are having a hard time closing the buffet line.
Faced with rising consumer protest and calls from members of Congress for new regulations, Time Warner Cable backed down last week from a plan to impose new fees on heavy users of its Road Runner Internet service.
The debate over the price of Internet use is far from over. Critics say cable and phone companies are already charging far more than Internet providers in other countries. Some also wonder whether the new price plans are meant to prevent online video sites from cutting into the lucrative revenue from cable TV service.
click here to read the full article
Cops Hunting Monster-Botnet Builders
by Tucker Reals, CBS News, April 22, 2009
The FBI and British law enforcement authorities are trying to hunt down hackers responsible for the largest botnet (robot network) ever known to the IT world, according to a California-based Internet security company.
Finjan's Chief Technology Officer has told the Financial Times that six people based in Ukraine are suspected of compromising 1.9 million computers worldwide in just two months — many of them in the U.S.
"With this many computers affected, everyone was there on the list – the U.S. Federal government, big universities, very large public companies," the Chief Technology Officer Yuval Ben-Itzhak told the FT.
London's Metropolitan Police department confirmed to CBS News on Wednesday that their e-crime unit was investigating a botnet created by Ukrainian hackers. The Met would not say what other agencies they are working with, but they do often work with other agencies on cases involving international cyber-crime, including the FBI.
click here to read the full article
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Spies hack into U.S. military computers
UPI.com, April 21, 2009
WASHINGTON - Spies hacked into U.S. military computers, copying data that could threaten the effectiveness of U.S. fighter jets, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
In recent months, the newspaper said, someone was able to get into Pentagon's $300 billion Joint Strike Fighter project and take several terabytes of information concerning design and electronics systems. Officials told the Journal it could make it easier for America's enemies to defend against the F-35 Lightning I fighter jet.
The Journal reported the Air Force's air-traffic-control system also was breached in recent months.
click here to read the full article
The Latest Microsoft Security Intelligence Report
The Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR) provides an in-depth perspective on the changing threat landscape including software vulnerability disclosures and exploits, malicious software (malware), and potentially unwanted software. Using data derived from hundreds of millions of Windows users, and some of the busiest online services on the Internet, this report also provides a detailed analysis of the threat landscape and the changing face of threats and countermeasures and includes updated data on privacy and breach notifications. The sixth volume of the report is now available:
SIR Volume 6 (July through December 2008) and Key Findings Summary (available in 10 languages)
Security Intelligence Report Volume 6 Highlights - Video (10 minutes)
Infections by rogue security software (sometimes called “scareware”) spiked dramatically worldwide in the second half of 2008. Watch as Vinny Gullotto (General Manager, Microsoft Malware Protection Center) and Tim Rains (Group Product Manager, Trustworthy Computing) discuss this threat and analyze the key trends from volume 6 of the Security Intelligence Report.
Vinny and Tim show - SIR Volume 6
click here to read the full article
Monday, April 20, 2009
How To Make Microsoft Office 2007 Look Like Office 2003
By Saikat Basu, makeuseof.com, April 20th, 2009
I remember the first time I set my eyes on Microsoft Office2007. It was love at first sight because everything seemed so stylish. At second sight, I found myself a bit lost among the buttons of the new Ribbon menu. I knew there was a bit of a learning curve ahead of me. Though I mastered it in a short while, I must confess that it did take some getting used to. That was me…but then there were some (and still are) who found the learning curve a bit steeper. Accustomed to the older pre-2007 classical interface, they thrashed about with the new one. Baffling for most, I guess.
Necessity is the mother of invention and so someone thought up UBitMenu (and thankfully made it free!)
UBitMenu is a small add-in for Microsoft Office 2007 (Excel, Word, and PowerPoint) and it brings back Office2007 back into your grasp by giving the menu - the Office2003 makeover. It gets added on as an additional menu tab in the three Office 2007 applications.
click here to read the full article
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Pirated iWork 09 Creates Mac Botnet
Lisa Spangenberg, examiner.com, April 18, 2009
Back in January a pirated version of Adobe Photoshop for Mac OS X was released with a Trojan payload. Now, that Trojan has been revised, and it's been inserted into a pirate, illegal unlicensed installer for iWork 09. According to Symantec researchers Mario Ballano Barcena and Alfredo Pesoli, researchers who have published an article in Virus Bulletin (available only by subscription) there are now two separate variants of the malware, that Trojan has created a Mac zombie botnet. Zombie botnets are impromptu networks created by infected computers. The computers' owners are usually unaware that their computers have been corrupted by Trojans and other malware to create networks controlled by a stranger or group of malicious strangers who use the botnet to attack others in a variety of ways, including sending spam and creating DOS attacks. I note that it is not the first Mac botnet (see this), though it is being reported as such.
In the current incarnation, the modified iWork 09 installer installs an illegal copy of iWork in addition to two malicious files called OSX.Trojan.iServicesA and OSX.Trojan.iServicesB. These are installed in addition to the full software package. the Trojan exploits PHP and iServices. This article has some suggestions for removal. When the Trojans were first identified in January, most commercial anti virus applications were updated with tools to spot and remove the Trojan. SecureMac provided an iservices Trojan Removal tool that will check a Mac for infection, and then remove the appropriate files. Keep in mind, however, that there have already been variants of the Trojan.
click here to read the full article
Local man trades in UPS uniform for self-owned computer repair business
Megan Trotter, Herald-Citizen Staff, April 19, 2009
COOKEVILLE -- Dustin Randolph of Cookeville had worked with UPS for nearly 13 years, managing the daily IT operations at the facilities in Cookeville, Sparta and Tullahoma when he decided it was time for a change.
"Recently at UPS I had the opportunity to leave early and I jumped all over it," he said.
He decided to open his own business, Cookeville Computers, with his wife Kara. Now he spends his days doing computer repair, building Web sites and designing graphics while Kara helps with the business aspect.
click here to read the full article
Protests Continue Over Time Warner's Internet Plan
Jason Frazer, rochesterhomepage.net, April 18, 2009
click here for video
Their chants were heard down Mount Hope Avenue today.
These protesters say the Internet is a necessity, not a privilege. It's why they walked over a mile today, protesting Time Warner's Internet Pricing Plan.
"We dispute that it wont affect the majority of people especially as the Internet continues to grow," says Phillip Dampier of Stopthecap.com
Several weeks ago, Time Warner announced they'd begin test marketing tiered pricing. Under the plan, customers would be charged based on how much they use the Internet. But after public outcry from customers and pressure from state legislators, the plan was scrapped this week.
"Then I got home and I read the press release from Time Warner which says anything but. That this project has been shelved. Its just a hold," says Dampier.
click here to read the full article
Saturday, April 18, 2009
US looks to hackers to protect cyber networks
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, AP, April 18, 2009
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wanted: Computer hackers.
Buffeted by millions of digital scans and attacks each day, federal authorities are looking for hackers — not to prosecute them, but to pay them to secure the nation's networks.
General Dynamics Information Technology put out an ad last month on behalf of the Homeland Security Department seeking someone who could "think like the bad guy." Applicants, it said, must understand hackers' tools and tactics and be able to analyze Internet traffic and identify vulnerabilities in the federal systems.
And in the Pentagon's budget request submitted last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates hung out his own help-wanted sign, saying the Pentagon will increase the number of cyber experts it can train each year from 80 to 250 by 2011.
Amid dire warnings that the U.S. is ill-prepared for a cyber attack, the White House conducted a 60-day study of how the government can better manage and use technology to protect everything from the nation's electrical grid and stock markets to tax data, airline flight systems, and nuclear launch codes.
click here to read the full article
Networks In Motion Wins Mobile Incubation Week, Microsoft’s “American Idol” For Mobile Applications
by Robin Wauters, TechCrunch, on April 18, 2009
There’s a good chance you didn’t even know it was going on, but last week Microsoft hosted a competition for mobile application developers on its Silicon Valley Campus in Mountain View, and yesterday announced Networks in Motion as the winner.
The startup was one of six finalists - selected out of a pool of 50 applications - invited by Microsoft to come present ideas for applications running on Windows Mobile and get certified for the upcoming Windows Marketplace for Mobile, which is supposed to become the big, central commerce and distribution point for WinMo apps that is currently lacking.
The company is widely expected to introduce the latest iteration of Windows Mobile at next month’s TechED 2009 conference in Los Angeles (11 May), although devices running Windows Mobile 6.5 won’t start shipping until after the Summer. Microsoft’s current numeric dominance on the smartphone OS market is getting some serious heat from Apple and its iPhone / App Store (which is about to hit 1 billion downloads), and is going to be facing even more stiff competition on the mobile application front from RIM / Blackberry, Nokia and Google Android in the coming years.
click here to read the full article
Friday, April 17, 2009
Time Warner Cable drops plan to charge heavy Internet users more
'Consumption-based billing' -- up to $150 a month -- may be considered again, the company says.
David Lazarus, latimes.com, April, 17, 2009
Time Warner Cable Inc. announced Thursday that it would shelve plans to begin charging Internet customers as much as $150 a month for heavy usage.
However, the company said it could resurrect the notion of "consumption-based billing" after "further consultation with our customers and other interested parties."
"For right now, it's off the table," said Alex Dudley, a Time Warner spokesman.
As I wrote in my Wednesday column, Time Warner had planned to introduce “tiered pricing” for Internet use in New York and North Carolina this summer, with other states to follow.
click here to read the full article
Friday, April 10, 2009
Conficker Worm Awakens, Downloads Rogue Anti-virus Software
By Brian Krebs, voices.washingtonpost.com, April 10, 2009
Today, however, that mystery evaporated, as anti-virus companies reported seeing Conficker systems being updated with SpywareProtect2009, a so-called "scareware" product that uses fake security alerts to frighten consumers into paying for bogus computer security software.
According to Kaspersky Labs, once the scareware is downloaded, the victim will see the usual warnings, "which naturally asks if you want to remove the threats it's 'detected'. Of course, this service comes at a price - $49.95." Kaspersky reports that the rogue anti-virus product is being downloaded from a Web server in Ukraine.
This development adds an interesting wrinkle. The first version of Conficker contained within its genetic makeup instructions telling infected systems to visit a site called TrafficConverter.biz. As I noted last month, this was a site where distributors of rogue anti-virus products would go for the latest programs and links to the latest download locations. Many affiliates were making six-figure paychecks each month distributing this worthless software by various means, all of them extremely sneaky if not downright illegal.
In its bi-annual security report released this week, Microsoft cited rogue anti-virus as one of the most prolific and fastest-growing threats facing Windows users today.
click here to read the full article
Santa Cruz County in a black hole amid phone, Internet outage
By J.M. BROWN, San Jose Mercury News, April 10, 2009
SANTA CRUZ -- Santa Cruz County woke up to a rude reminder Thursday of just how reliant society has become on the Internet, cell phones and even less modern technology, like hard phone lines.
A large portion of the South Bay and adjacent coastal region -- including most of Santa Cruz, San Benito and southern Santa Clara counties -- were transformed into a virtual black hole after vandals severed fiber optic cables underground. Authorities did not immediately identify suspects in the overnight vandalism, but AT&T announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of those responsible.
Hundreds of thousands of AT&T, Verizon, Nextel and Sprint customers with land lines, cell phones and Internet service were affected.
Reminiscent of the hours after an earthquake, widespread communications interruptions baffled emergency service providers, businesses and residents as cell phone chatter, Web surfing, ATM, credit card and other electronic data sharing came to a screeching halt overnight.
click here to read the full article
Time Warner: Unlimited Internet for $150 Per Month
Time Warner, criticized for the cost of its broadband services, has slightly altered prices
Michael Barkoviak, DailyTech, April 10, 2009
Time Warner Cable, under pressure because of low bandwidth caps for high prices, has altered its tiered Internet plan, including a new unlimited bandwidth plan.
"With regard to consumption-based billing, we have determined that as broadband usage and penetration grow, there are increasing differences in the amount of bandwidth our customers consume," Time Warner Cable COO Landel Hobbs recently wrote. "Our current pricing plans require all users to pay the same amount, whether they check e-mail once a month or download six movies a day."
Bandwidth limit of the plans used in Texas eventually were raised from 5 to 40GB per month up to 10 to 60GB per month with prices of $25 to $65 per month, depending where the subscriber lives. A new 100GB is now available for $75 per month. Additional data costs $1 per extra GB used in the plan, up to $75 extra. This puts an unlimited cap at $150 per month, with users free to use as much data as they wish.
The company is now testing broadband caps in New York, Texas and several other states, though there has been a bit of unrest regarding the issue. New York Congressman Eric Massa said he "firmly opposes capping Internet usage," saying it's just an attempt for the ISPs to increase costs of Internet connections.
click here to read the full article
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Conficker worm sends instructions to grow botnet
CBC News, April 9, 2009
The Conficker worm has begun to update the machines it has infected with a new set of instructions to spread to other machines, security experts say.
Security researchers tracking the worm said some of the infected computers began receiving instructions on April 7 from other infected machines. Conficker is able to send updates to computers it has infected either by directing the computers to visit websites or through a peer-to-peer network of infected machines.
Last week Conficker had computer and internet organizations worldwide up in arms against it because it was known that a variant of the worm would begin accelerating the speed with which it reached out to websites on April 1.
It was thought the worm might send out instructions that day, but instead it appears to have waited a week before doing so, and rather than sending the instructions through a website, it sent them over the peer-to-peer network.
click here to read the full article
click here to find out how to detect & remove Conficker / Downadup
France Rejects Internet Piracy Bill
Hilary Lewis, The Business Insider, April 9, 2009
France's high-profile piracy bill that would have cut off Internet access for users who repeatedly downloaded pirated music and movies was defeated by the National Assembly today after few lawmakers showed up to vote on the measure.
The bill, which passed the lower house of the National Assembly last week, was seen as so likely to pass that few legislators actually showed up for today's vote, leading the proposal to be defeated by a narrow 21-15 vote.
Supported by the film and music industries, including U2's manager Paul McGuinness, the law would have established the world's first government agency to track and punish Internet pirates. Under the legislation, those who download illegal content would receive e-mail warnings for their first two offenses, a certified letter for their third and would have their Internet connection cut off for any additional illegal downloads.
The government plans to resubmit the measure to both houses of parliament after legislators return from Easter break on April 27.
click here to go to original article
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
France empowers film industry vigilantes
Robert L. Mitchell, Computerworld Blogs, April 8, 2009
Here we go again.
Following on the news last week that a pirated version of the upcoming X-men movie hit the Web last week (It quickly became the "most pirated film ever)," France has announced new and draconian measures to clamp down on Internet piracy.
Its “Création et Internet” proposal, passed by Parliament today, would empower the film and music industry to monitor download activities of its citizens. "The law empowers music and film industry associations to hire companies to analyze the downloads of individual users to detect piracy, and to report violations to a new agency overseeing copyright protection."
What a novel idea. It certainly went over well in the United States.
click here to read the full article
FCC studies goal of nationwide affordable, fast Internet
By Leslie Cauley, USA TODAY, April 7, 2009
The Federal Communications Commission Wednesday begins work on a national broadband plan, with the goal of ensuring that all consumers have access to services that are fast and affordable.
The public will be able to submit comments to the FCC for 60 days, with another 30 days for reply comments. The agency will take them into consideration as it crafts the USA's first national broadband plan.
The plan, due to Congress by Feb. 17, 2010, could have a profound impact, says Ben Scott, public policy director of Free Press, a media advocacy group.
"It could be a very important document that guides the future of telecommunications regulation and the future of the Internet," he says. "Or it could be a glorified study."
click here to read the full article
click here for the FCC's Broadband site
click here for FCC's Broadband Recovery Initiatives site
click here for NTIA Broadband Opportunities Program
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Internet-wide Problem to Be Revealed at Conference
Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service, PC World, April 07, 2009
Organizers of next week's Black Hat Europe conference are promising a security presentation that could impact anyone who uses the Internet, but no details have been released yet.
They say the presentation, due to take place April 16, will be as important as the one from security researcher Dan Kaminsky at a Black Hat's conference last July about a widespread flaw in the DNS (Domain Name System).
Kaminsky's research prompted a massive, industry-wide effort to patch DNS servers vulnerable to a dangerous attack that could redirect Web surfers to fraudulent Web sites even if the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) was typed in correctly, among other attack scenarios.
Black Hat's Europe conference, in Amsterdam, will also feature cutting-edge presentations on security problems in Apple's OS X operating system, the OpenOffice.org productivity suite and SAP software. Also, six new vulnerabilities will be revealed, along with 12 tools for security pros.
Details of some of the presentations are available on Black Hat's Web site along with recent audio interviews with some of the presenters.
click here to read the full article
Associated Press accuses online news outlets of 'misappropriation'
The news service will try to create a system for tracking the use of its content online.
By David Sarno, Los Angeles Times, April 7, 2009
Plucking the already tense string that binds new media and old, the Associated Press announced an initiative Monday to protect online versions of its news content from what it called "misappropriation" by a variety of online news outlets.
At its annual meeting in San Diego, AP Chairman Dean Singleton said the news syndicate would pursue "legal and legislative remedies" against entities that it believes are unfairly borrowing its content.
"We can no longer stand by and watch others walk off with our work," he said.
At the heart of the AP's complaint are websites -- not named by Singleton -- that provide editorial services to users by picking out and featuring the day's most important, interesting or sensational stories.
click here to read the full article
Skype Fuels FCC Fight for an Open Wireless Internet
By Patricia Resende, Top Tech News, April 6, 2009
Skype's free iPhone application is stirring up debate again. Available on Apple's App Store on March 31, the app first stirred debate after being blocked by Deutsche Telekom in Germany. Now Skype is fueling debate on network neutrality.
Skype's Voice over Internet Protocol app gives users Skype calling and instant messaging on Apple iPhones and second-generation iPod touches. The application, which saw more than one million downloads in the first two days after being made available, allows users to make calls on the iPhone over a Wi-Fi connection but not on AT&T's 3G cellular network.
The limitation, which has been formally imposed by Apple's App Store policies, has caused groups such as the Free Press to ask the Federal Communications Commission to investigate whether Apple and AT&T are breaking federal rules. The Free Press wants the FCC to clarify whether its Internet Policy Statement for an open Internet applies to wireless service providers who also offer broadband Internet access service.
click here to read the full article
Monday, April 6, 2009
How the Internet Got Its Rules
By STEPHEN D. CROCKER, New York Times, April 6, 2009
Op-Ed Contributor, Bethesda, Md.
TODAY is an important date in the history of the Internet: the 40th anniversary of what is known as the Request for Comments. Outside the technical community, not many people know about the R.F.C.’s, but these humble documents shape the Internet’s inner workings and have played a significant role in its success.
When the R.F.C.’s were born, there wasn’t a World Wide Web. Even by the end of 1969, there was just a rudimentary network linking four computers at four research centers: the University of California, Los Angeles; the Stanford Research Institute; the University of California, Santa Barbara; and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. The government financed the network and the hundred or fewer computer scientists who used it. It was such a small community that we all got to know one another.
A great deal of deliberation and planning had gone into the network’s underlying technology, but no one had given a lot of thought to what we would actually do with it. So, in August 1968, a handful of graduate students and staff members from the four sites began meeting intermittently, in person, to try to figure it out. (I was lucky enough to be one of the U.C.L.A. students included in these wide-ranging discussions.) It wasn’t until the next spring that we realized we should start writing down our thoughts. We thought maybe we’d put together a few temporary, informal memos on network protocols, the rules by which computers exchange information. I offered to organize our early notes.
click here to read the full article
click here to read & get more information about the Request For Comments (RFCs)
Exclusive First Take: SheevaPlug computer makes unique NAS solution
by Dong Ngo, CNET News, April 6, 2009
I blogged about Marvell's SheevaPlug computer awhile ago, and Monday I got to do some exclusive hands-on testing with the first prototype of the machine.
This is a very simple and ultracompact computer that has 1.2GHz CPU, 512MB of flash memory storage, and 512MB DRAM under the hood. The only peripheral connections it supports are a USB 2.0 port and a Gigabit Ethernet port. The prototype comes with a 8GB ScanDisk thumb drive as its external storage, which makes it a very unique network-attached storage (NAS) solution.
The biggest difference with the SheevaPlug NAS is the fact that once plugged in, the storage is immediately available via both the Internet and the local network.
click here to read the full article
Sunday, April 5, 2009
J:Com 160 Mbps Internet Service Upgrades Cost Company Just $20 per Household
Japan's J:Com provides broadband service upgrades at bargain basement prices
Brandon Hill, DailyTech, April 5, 2009
Last week, DailyTech brought you news that Time Warner Cable (TWC) is extending its metered internet service to markets in Austin, San Antonio, Rochester, and Greensboro. TWC is choking customers' monthly bandwidth to 5GB, 10GB, 20GB, and 40GB at prices ranging from $29.95 to $54.95 per month.
The highest priced tier, 40GB/$54.95, offers customers download speeds of 16 Mbps.
Over in Japan, however, customers are seeing download speeds ten times that limit at comparable prices. According to a recent article from the New York Times, J:Com -- Japan's largest cable provider -- is touting its 160 Mbps consumer broadband service. The interesting piece of information to take away is that J:Com's cost to upgrade its systems to handle the 160 Mbps speeds was just $20 per household.
click here to read the full article
Net users vent frustration at Time Warner
By Joe Killian, News-Record.com, April 5, 2009
Time Warner has chosen the Triad area as one of four test markets for its new tiered pricing system. In the fall, new customers and those at the end of their contracts will get new plans that treat their Internet use much like cell-phone use. The company will begin charging users for all the data transmitted over their cable lines — everything from Web pages to photos, songs and videos.click here to read the full article
The plans range from $29.95 to $54.90 a month and will limit usage to five, 10, 20 or 40 gigabytes of data per month. Going over those caps will cost $1 for each gigabyte.
“Even the highest cap of 40 gigs is just ridiculous,” Polinsky said. “They’re designed so that customers will go over.”
To prove her point, Polinsky downloaded a free program called Freemeter on Thursday night. The program allowed her to monitor her data usage on what she thought of as a light night — watching some “ER” online, a few YouTube clips, sending a couple of e-mails before bed. That activity took about 45 minutes, she said. It cost her almost a gig in data usage.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Study: Web browsing at work leads to increased productivity
BY DAVID YOUNG, coloradoan.com, April 4, 2009
The University of Melbourne last week released a study that shows people who use the Internet for personal reasons at work are 9 percent more productive than those who do not.click here to read the full article
The study isn't a license to browse e-Bay all day or instant message friends, but Brent Coker, from the University of Melbourne Department of Management and Marketing, reports workers who engage in "Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing" for less than 20 percent of their total time at work are more productive than those who don't.
The report says companies are spending millions on software to block their employees from watching videos on YouTube, using social networking sites like Facebook or shopping online under the pretense that it costs millions in lost productivity; however that’s not always the case.
Friday, April 3, 2009
A Computer for the Price of a Cell Phone
Netbooks Offer More Access for Less, but Have Limited Memory and Processing
By BECKEY WORLEY AND KI MAE HEUSSNER, abcnews.go.com, April 3, 2009
Getting a laptop for the price of a cell phone may sound far-fetched, but it has become a reality, thanks to test offers from companies like AT&T for netbooks the new class of small no-frills portable computers.
The newest round of netbooks exemplify the term inexpensive. For $50 users in Atlanta and Philadelphia can purchase one of these mini-computers from AT&T as long as they sign up for two years of high-speed Internet service.
"This is something new in the united states. I mean, we've seen this with the cell phone model: Pay for the service, get a free cell phone, but with laptops, this is new," said Tom Merritt, executive editor of C-NET-TV.
click here to read full article
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Leffingwell chastises Time Warner for Internet pricing plan
Austin Business Journal, April 2, 2009
Austin City Council member and mayoral hopeful Lee Leffingwell issued a statement Thursday admonishing Time Warner Cable for its plan to introduce a new tiered pricing system for Internet customers that he says could stifle the economic recovery of Austin.
Time Warner, the region’s dominant cable provider and one of the largest Internet providers, says it will change its Internet pricing structure later this year and begin charging customers for the bandwidth they use. Customers would sign up for a particular plan based on their expected usage and would be charged money if they go over their allotment.
“This approach, and Time Warner’s specific plan, should be of grave concern to Austin,” Leffingwell said in his statement. “Right now we need to be encouraging, rather than stifling, economic recovery and growth in Austin. This plan moves us in the wrong direction.”
click here to read the full article
Time Warner Cable Expands Internet Usage Pricing
The newly spun-off cable company will impose premium rates on big users of broadband in Web markets in Texas, New York, and North Carolina
By Tom Lowry, Business Week, March 31, 2009
Web users, the meter is running. In a strategy that's likely to rankle consumers but be copied by competitors, Time Warner Cable (TWC) is pressing ahead with a plan to charge Internet customers based on how much Web data they consume. Starting next month, the company will introduce tiered pricing in several markets.
In April, Time Warner Cable will begin collecting information on its customers' Internet use in the Texas cities of Austin and San Antonio and in Rochester, N.Y. Consumption billing will begin in those cities later this summer. In Greensboro, N.C., the billing changes will begin sooner. Spun off from Time Warner (TWX) this month, Time Warner Cable had been testing a plan to meter Internet usage in Beaumont, Tex., since last year.
By charging a premium to the heaviest broadband users, much the same way cell-phone providers collect fees from subscribers who exceed their allotted minutes, Time Warner would upend a longstanding pricing strategy among Internet service providers. Typically, phone and cable companies charge flat fees for unlimited access to the Web. "We need a viable model to be able to support the infrastructure of the broadband business," Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt says in an interview. "We made a mistake early on by not defining our business based on the consumption dimension." Time Warner Cable has 8.4 million broadband customers.
click here to read the full article
New Alesis AM3 Stereo USB Microphone Records Straight To Computer
AM3 is the First Handheld Stereo USB Microphone
Alesis.com
Cumberland, R.I. (April 1, 2009) – Alesis, the world’s leading manufacturer of professional audio equipment and studio electronics, announces the AM3, the world’s first handheld stereo USB microphone. The AM3 will make its debut in Alesis' stand, B 21 in Hall 5.0 at Musikmesse, April 1 - 4, 2009. Held in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Musikmesse is the world's largest fair for musical instruments, live music and the music business.
The AM3 is a stereo condenser microphone that enables users to record stereo audio directly onto their computers. Perfect for portable stereo recording, musicians, journalists and other audio enthusiasts will find the AM3 convenient and easy to use.
The AM3 features a dual-capsule condenser microphone design that enables users to record detailed stereo audio. The microphone’s wide 30 – 20,000 Hz frequency response rivals that of far more expensive microphones. Its analog-to-digital conversion creates a studio-ready stereo signal at 16-bit, 44.1 or 48kHz resolution and sample rate. The body of the AM3 features a gain control for adjusting the input trim with no computer control required.
click here to read the full article
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
In Challenge to Microsoft, PC Makers Test Laptops Running Google Software
By JUSTIN SCHECK and NICK WINGFIELD, Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2009
Hewlett-Packard Co. and other PC makers are considering using free software developed by Google Inc. to run some small computers, a move that would open a new front in the battle between the Internet giant and Microsoft Corp.
PC makers are testing Google's Android operating system—which has so far been used to power mobile phones—for use in new models of so-called netbooks, inexpensive laptops that have become the fastest-growing segment of the PC industry.
Google, which dominates Internet search, already challenges Microsoft on other fronts, including with its free word-processing and spreadsheet software, neither of which has succeeded in denting Microsoft's Office suite. The effort to move Android to netbooks targets Windows, which generated more than 60% of Microsoft's operating profit in its last fiscal year.
click here to read the full article