29 August 2013

Syrian Hackers, New York Times, Melbourne IT, how it happened

We are seeing more and more attacks against Registrars (e.g., Network Solutions fended off an attack last month) -- that's what happened  to the New York Times and its registrar, Melbourne IT --

How Syrian Hackers Found the New York Times's Australian Weak Spot
Businessweek
A hacking attack launched by the Syrian Electronic Army may have targeted the New York Times and other U.S. media companies, but the weak link was Melbourne IT, a domain registrar that directs Internet traffic to the companies' servers. How can ...

Details Behind Today's Internet Hacks | CloudFlare Blog: "The New York Times has confirmed publicly that their registrar was hacked, allegedly by the Syrian Electronic Army. While we've been in contact with MelbourneIT, we don't yet have details on how the attack was accomplished. We do know that the attacker was able to update the name servers for NYTimes.com without authorization, effectively hijacking the site."

One looks at the headline below and the obvious meaning -- Windows 8.1 is DOA -- "dead on arrival" (more of the Ballmer "legacy"):
Windows 8.1 is officially finished, but everyone has to wait until October 18th | The Verge: "Microsoft is confirming today, after recent reports, that the company has completed Windows 8.1 and is releasing it to manufacturing (RTM). The finalization of the Windows 8 update means that hardware partners can now ready systems running Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 for release on October 18th. For existing Windows 8 users, the update will be made available broadly on October 18th — with most regions getting access to a digital upgrade copy on October 17th via the Windows Store."

Jack Dorsey’s Plan to Save America’s Struggling Cities - Businessweek: . . . Square’s always been about providing tools to sellers of all types and sizes. We’re always building up a sense of community around these sellers, no matter how big or small they are. One of the things I think has diminished in this country over the past 15 years is that sense of community, that fabric between sellers, between merchants. Let’s Talk is a venue to start having these conversations again. . . .

BlackBerry Is A Failed State: "BlackBerry, as BlackBerry users know it, is finished. The company that was almost single-handedly responsible for the creation of always-on mobile culture but stopped short of winning the smartphone race is facing some grim options. The company, now, is a shadow of its former self; soon, it will be lucky if it’s still recognizable as a company at all."

Nintendo releasing new handheld game device, cheaper Wii U for holidays
Reuters
By Malathi Nayak. SAN FRANCISCO | Wed Aug 28, 2013 8:49pm IST. SAN FRANCISCO Aug 28 (Reuters) - Japanese game maker Nintendo Co will launch a new and inexpensive handheld gaming device and offer a $50 price cut for its 32GB Wii U console ...

Nintendo Cuts Price of Wii U Game Console by $50
ABC News
Nintendo Co. announced Wednesday that it is cutting the price of its Wii U video-game system as it braces for the fall release of competing consoles from Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo will reduce the price of the Wii U deluxe set from $349.99 to $299.99, ...

Google Slashes Price On Nexus 4 Smartphone
InformationWeek
Google made its Nexus 7 tablet available in the United Kingdom Wednesday. It can be purchased directly from the U.K. Google Play Store website. It costs £199 for the 16-GB model and £239 for the 32-GB model. In the U.S., the Nexus 7 runs $229 and $259 ...

Fixing the company car
Fortune
FORTUNE -- Clément Gires believes the company car model is broken, and he's hoping that former Microsoft Windows boss Steven Sinofsky can help him fix it. Gires is co-founder of Local Motion, a Silicon Valley startup that was originally formed to develop ...

The Governments That Want Facebook and Twitter to Hand Over Data
Mashable
Facebook, for the first time, has detailed how many user data requests it receives from each country. And since Twitter does the same thing, we can compare the two rivals by a curious but revealing metric: how much governments want their data. Overall, data ...

Material, a sexy Flipboard competitor, comes to the iPhone
VentureBeat
While there are quite a few news-reading apps out there and Flipboard holds the dominant position, Material sets itself apart with design and intelligent curation. As I wrote previously when Material debuted at CES 2013 in January, the app recommends news ...

Parallels Access brings Mac and Windows programs to Apple's iPad with full ...
Apple Insider
Parallels, the company known for its virtualization software, rolled out a new iPad app and subscription service on Tuesday called Parallels Access that promises to run both Mac and PC programs on Apple's tablet with near-native performance. Parallels ...

Mind meld? Scientist uses his brain to control another guy's finger
NBCNews.com
University of Washington researcher Rajesh Rao, left, plays a computer game with his mind. Across campus, researcher Andrea Stocco, right, wears a magnetic stimulation coil over the left motor cortex region of his brain. Stocco's right index finger moved ...


Bookmaker handicaps Microsoft CEO race
Computerworld
Computerworld - Adding insult to injury after Wall Street boosted Microsoft's stock price when CEO Steve Ballmer announced he would retire, now a U.K. bookmaker is taking bets on Ballmer's replacement. ... a 127-year-old bookmaking conglomerate that ...

Apple Eases Restrictions On Selling Products Headed to Iran
Wall Street Journal (blog)
“We've been told by the U.S. government that most Apple products are covered by regulatory changes announced by the Treasury Department,” she said, referring to a decision to ease restrictions on selling a broad array of communications equipment such ...

Google Slashes Price On Nexus 4 Smartphone
InformationWeek
Google made its Nexus 7 tablet available in the United Kingdom Wednesday. It can be purchased directly from the U.K. Google Play Store website. It costs £199 for the 16-GB model and £239 for the 32-GB model. In the U.S., the Nexus 7 runs $229 and $259 ...

Apple says tempered e-book penalties still go too far
CNET
Apple says tempered e-book penalties still go too far. After the Justice Department revised proposals to reform Apple following its e-books conspiracy conviction, the company calls the latest remedies a "broadside" favoring rival Amazon. Joan E. Solsman.

Microsoft: The insiders who could be CEO
Chicago Tribune
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp has a stable of senior executives who could be contenders to succeed Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, even though outsiders have sparked the most discussion so far. After Ballmer's surprise announcement on Friday that ...

Google Palestine gets hacked by Palestinian protesters with a somewhat ...
New York Daily News
Google's Palestine domain (google.ps) was hacked Monday morning by anti-Israel protesters but the message they left, more than anything else, proved that GoogleTranslate could use some work when it comes to Palestinian-to-English translations.

Nokia, Microsoft Plan New Windows RT Tablets
InformationWeek
Undeterred by the failure of Microsoft's Surface tablets, Nokia is reportedly planning to announce a Windows RT tablet in less than a month. Microsoft is also evidently looking to debut new hardware, and indications suggest the company is preparing to ...

Apple Said to Plan First Tokyo Retail Store Since 2005
Bloomberg
Apple Inc. (AAPL) plans to open a store in Tokyo's upscale Omotesando shopping district as early as March, adding its first outlet in the city in years as Japan's economy recovers, according to a person familiar with the plan. Construction is scheduled ...

Apple buys Swedish compression firm AlgoTrim
ZDNet
While confirming to Rapidus he now works for Apple, Holstberg declined to comment on the acquisition to the publication. According to AlgoTrim's website, its imaging codecs are used in Google's Gallery app while other compression technology are used to ...

Developers flay Microsoft for withholding Windows 8.1 RTM
Computerworld
Today, however, Microsoft confirmed that although Windows 8.1 has reached the RTM milestone and been passed to computer- and tablet-making OEMs, subscribers to MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) will not get the final code until the public does on Oct ...

Apple Acquires Swedish Firm AlgoTrim, A Company That Does ...
By Darrell Etherington
Apple has acquired AlgoTrim, a Swedish startup that builds codecs and designs solutions that maximize performance of data, mobile imaging, video and computer graphics while minimizing memory requirements, according to a new report by ...
TechCrunch » Europe

Latest Apple TV Update Breaks PlexConnect Client - Mac Rumors
By Jordan Golson
Keep the walls up, Apple. Because of Apple's shortsightedness, Google will own the living room market in a couple of years, just like it took over the smart phone market. I will just go back to using my HTPC for now, but really hope that within a few months that $35 Chrome dongle I bought "just ... Apple today responded (via GigaOM) to the Department of Justice's revised proposal accusing Apple of implementing in-app purchase rules to spite Amazon, stating that the DOJ is simply.
MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors...

Google Chops Price of Nexus 4 by a Third, to $199 - AllThingsD
By Ina Fried
Google announced the move in a tweet late Tuesday, saying it had cut the price by 25 percent or more in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany, Spain, Korea and the U.K.. The move comes as both Samsung and Apple are gearing up for fall ...
AllThingsD

New Nexus 7 Lands In Europe and Japan on Google Play
By Kaylene Hong
Google's new Nexus 7 is now available for direct purchase from Google Play in the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Japan, Phandroid reports.
The Next Web

Ford S-Max Concept previews new look, technology for Euro seven ...
By Damon Lowney
Ford's S-Max Concept is sharply styled and loaded with technology, such as seats with a heart-rate monitor.
Autoblog

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