Geek-Weekly

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Category: News

Computer / Mobile / News

iOS 5 review

Source: Engadget

By posted Oct 12th 2011 2:00PM

Now well into its fifth year of life, iOS has always been known for its exceptional polish — and also, its glaring feature holes. But, just like clockwork, each year since its 2007 debut, those shortcomings have been addressed one by one in a sweeping annual update. In 2008, the platform was opened up to developers giving us the App Store, 2009 saw the introduction of copy and paste — which we’d argue is still the best implementation to date — and last year “multitasking” finally made a presence. So what has Apple chosen to rectify in 2011? Well, for starters, notifications gets a complete overhaul with Notification Center, tethered syncing dies at the hands of iCloud and messaging gets a do-over with the birth of iMessage.

If you recall, we first got acquainted with iOS 5 in May after downloading the developer preview, but how does the final release stack up? And does it have the chops to compete with the latest from Mountain View and Redmond? After drudging through seven betas, we’re ready to conquer all that the final release has to offer, so join us, if you would, past the break.



 

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Computer / GEEK / News / Video

Tribute Videos to Steve Jobs



Albert Einstein once said that

“Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius-and a lot of courage-to move in the opposite direction.”

and Steve jobs had that courage thank you


GEEK / News

Remembering Steve Jobs

Today is a sad day not just to the Apple followers but too many of us in the tech community. It is hard to deny the impact that Apple and Steve Jobs has had on our lives. Take a moment today to think about how and where Apple was in your life.

For me I look back and I am sure to some degree I take these things for granitite. I remember back in grade school using an Apple computer to control a “turtle” to draw shapes and pictures. The school years would come and go and Apple computers would do everything from, teach me how to type and to find out where in the world Carmen Sandiego was. While in my senior year of high school I would get to use the Macintosh classic II. This little black and white system would be the first system I would use to design or create on. Sure I have a PC at home but it was what this MAC had to offer that kept my interest. Years later the iPod was the new Walkman and having that ability to take all my music with me would change the way I would view convenience.

Today with the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad Apple has created the foundation of a new more “connected” information age and although I do not consider myself a Mac user I will take a moment of silence for the MAN and the company that have influenced so many over the years.

Mobile / News / Video

Some HTC Sense devices found to contain security vulnerability

Source:

HTC users, take note: a new security flaw has been found in some Sense-enabled handsets that allows apps with Internet permissions to gain some sensitive data on your handset that’s being collected by an HTC logging app. According to the folks at Android Police, newer HTC phones running Sense (like the ThunderBolt and EVO 3D) include an app called HTCLoggers that collects data like phone numbers in your call log, email addresses, and GPS location info and then sends all of that back to HTC. Users are given the option to not have the data sent to HTC upon first setup of a Sense device, but that doesn’t stop the HTCLoggers app from gathering the info in the first place.

The problem is that HTC’s app is built in such a way that any other app that requests Internet access could gain access to the data inside HTC’s logs. Because of this, it would be possible for someone to create a malicious app that asks for permission to access the Internet and then specifically gathers the data from this HTC app and sends it back to their own server.

HTC has responded to the issue, saying, “HTC takes our customers’ security very seriously, and we are working to investigate this claim as quickly as possible. We will provide an update as soon as we’re able to determine the accuracy of the claim and what steps, if any, need to be taken.” Android Police points out that owners of a rooted device can remove HTC’s logging app right now, but those of you that aren’t currently rooted can’t do much about the issue until HTC takes action.

Although HTC’s logging app doesn’t collect things like passwords, it’s still a little unsettling to know that a malicious app could gain access to some of your data because HTC’s software doesn’t block any ol’ app from accessing it. When we hear more from HTC on the matter, we’ll be sure to pass it along. Until then, be careful about which apps you download, and make sure to avoid anything that you feel is suspicious (which you should be doing anyway). Be safe out there, folks! A video of the vulnerability in action is below.

 


News

Facebook is tracking you!

Source: Gizmodo

It’s no secret that Facebook and privacy have had some issues. Take today, for example. Thanks to a modified cookie, Facebook knows where you are online—even when you’re not logged into Facebook.

So says hacker Nik Cubrilovic anyway, after he discovered during a series of tests that Facebook alters its tracking cookie code the moment you log out, instead of deleting them. Then, when a user being tracked in this manner heads to a web site that contains a Facebook button or widget, the browser continues to send “personally identifiable information” back to Facebook.

“With my browser logged out of Facebook, whenever I visit any page with a Facebook like button, or share button, or any other widget, the information, including my account ID, is still being sent to Facebook,” Cubrilovic wrote in a blog post describing the find today.

For the pissed off amongst you, VentureBeat provides this HackerNews tip:

To block Facebook from following you, you need to delete all Facebook-related cookies after logging out. You may also be able to use AdBlock Plus to block Facebook, with the following rules, as reported on Hacker News:

News / TV & Movies

Netflix to become Qwikster?

So I wake up to see this letter from Netflix…

“I messed up. I owe you an explanation.

It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. Let me explain what we are doing.

For the past five years, my greatest fear at Netflix has been that we wouldn’t make the leap from success in DVDs to success in streaming. Most companies that are great at something – like AOL dialup or Borders bookstores – do not become great at new things people want (streaming for us). So we moved quickly into streaming, but I should have personally given you a full explanation of why we are splitting the services and thereby increasing prices. It wouldn’t have changed the price increase, but it would have been the right thing to do.

So here is what we are doing and why.

Many members love our DVD service, as I do, because nearly every movie ever made is published on DVD. DVD is a great option for those who want the huge and comprehensive selection of movies.

I also love our streaming service because it is integrated into my TV, and I can watch anytime I want. The benefits of our streaming service are really quite different from the benefits of DVD by mail. We need to focus on rapid improvement as streaming technology and the market evolves, without maintaining compatibility with our DVD by mail service.

So we realized that streaming and DVD by mail are really becoming two different businesses, with very different cost structures, that need to be marketed differently, and we need to let each grow and operate independently.

It’s hard to write this after over 10 years of mailing DVDs with pride, but we think it is necessary: In a few weeks, we will rename our DVD by mail service to “Qwikster”. We chose the name Qwikster because it refers to quick delivery. We will keep the name “Netflix” for streaming.

Qwikster will be the same website and DVD service that everyone is used to. It is just a new name, and DVD members will go to qwikster.com to access their DVD queues and choose movies. One improvement we will make at launch is to add a video games upgrade option, similar to our upgrade option for Blu-ray, for those who want to rent Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 games. Members have been asking for video games for many years, but now that DVD by mail has its own team, we are finally getting it done. Other improvements will follow. A negative of the renaming and separation is that the Qwikster.com and Netflix.com websites will not be integrated.

There are no pricing changes (we’re done with that!). If you subscribe to both services you will have two entries on your credit card statement, one for Qwikster and one for Netflix. The total will be the same as your current charges. We will let you know in a few weeks when the Qwikster.com website is up and ready.

For me the Netflix red envelope has always been a source of joy. The new envelope is still that lovely red, but now it will have a Qwikster logo. I know that logo will grow on me over time, but still, it is hard. I imagine it will be similar for many of you.

I want to acknowledge and thank you for sticking with us, and to apologize again to those members, both current and former, who felt we treated them thoughtlessly.

Both the Qwikster and Netflix teams will work hard to regain your trust. We know it will not be overnight. Actions speak louder than words. But words help people to understand actions.

Respectfully yours,

-Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO, Netflix”

News

Millions in California, Arizona and Mexico Without Power

Source: Gizmodo

Millions of residents in California, Arizona and Mexico are without power right now. There’s no word on the cause yet, but officials say that the lights may not be back on until Friday.

A California nuclear plant has been shut down as a precaution, and the cities of Phoenix and San Diego are, essentially, a giant mess. While we don’t know what caused this yet (weather and a downed line are both being put forward as possibilities) that an outage could affect such a large area is yet another argument that our nation’s grid is in serious need of improvement.

News / Video

Nike goes Back to The Future!


 

So Nike goes Back to The Future! Yeah I’m a child from the 80’s and I remember thinking that these were by far the coolest shoes that the future could bring. As much as this brings me back to my childhood I am now 37 years old and having colored LED’s on my shoes is just not cool any more. However if you are planning on camping outside your local retailer this holiday season then guess again. There will only be 1500 that will be auctioned off on EBAY where all of the proceeds will go to the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

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