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Communications

Large Web Host Urges Customers to Use Gmail 436

Posted by timothy from the conceding-loss dept.
1sockchuck writes "LA hosting company DreamHost, which hosts more than 700,000 web sites, is encouraging its customers to use Google's Gmail for their e-mail, rather than the DreamHost mail servers. DreamHost is continuing to support all its existing e-mail offerings, but said in a blog post that email is "just not something people are looking for from us, and it's something the big free email providers like Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google can do better." DreamHost addresses a question about Google that has vexed many web hosting companies: is Google a useful partner, or a competitor that intends to make "traditional" web hosting companies obsolete? In this case, partnering with Google offers DreamHost a way to offload many of its trouble tickets, reducing the support overhead. Is Google starting to make web hosts less necessary?"
Google

First Sight of Google Android 166

Posted by kdawson from the it's-little-it's-lovely-it-lights dept.
CorinneI writes "At the Mobile World Congress show, four mobile processor vendors demoed pre-production devices running versions of Google's Android OS — a Linux-based, open operating system for mobile phones that will sport Google applications. The biggest surprise of the demos was how well Android runs on slow devices. 'TI showed Android on a Motorola Q-like QWERTY handheld with its 200 Mhz OMAP 850 platform, where the user interface felt smooth and fast, even with little Apple-like animated transitions between screens.' HTC, Motorola, LG, and Samsung all belong to Google's Open Handset Alliance"
Education

Where Are Tomorrow's Embedded Developers? 245

Posted by kdawson from the not-like-embedded-reporters dept.
An anonymous reader writes "In a similar vein to the previous discussion about the New York professors taking Java to task for damaging Computer Science education, Mike Anderson of the PTR group wonders why it's so hard to find good embedded developers these days. 'As for today's CS programs, it seems that long gone are the computer architecture classes, writing code in assembly language (or even C at this point) and engineering software economics. In fact, a large number of CS majors apparently believe that everything can be implemented in a virtual machine and that both memory and [CPU] cycles are infinite.'"
Security

Submission + - Vonage, Gobe7 have major security holes (fiercevoip.com)

Submitted by
tburton
tburton writes: "VoIP Security firm Sipera has claimed Vonage, Globe7 and Grandstream users are vulnerable to identity theft, eavesdropping and other exploits from hackers. The Texas-based security lab said among other threats, unwitting VoIP users face eavesdropping, spam, spoofing and denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. Vonage is the largest pure play VoIP operator in the U.S. with more than 2.5 million customers. Globe7 is London based, and claims to be the top global VoIP operator. Grandstream operates mostly in the North American market."
Software

Submission + - HP Charges Customer to Install XP Driver

Submitted by beetlejuice321
beetlejuice321 writes: HP states I have to pay, in order to install my personal copy of Windows XP on a new computer.

I just bought a Compaq SR5130NX at the store today. Unfortunately some of my programs are uncomputable with the preinstalled OS "Vista". I have a purchased copy of Windows XP Pro, and I called HP tech support for assistance downloading a compatible driver for it. I am simply trying to download a SATA driver for Windows XP on a ASUS M2N68-LA motherboard in order to complete the installation. Asus does not have this driver on their website because HP contracted Asus to build this board, and appears to support all drivers themselves.

The XP driver for this computer appears to be missing from HP's website. I called HP and talked to a technician who was more then unhelpful. I was then clearly told that I could have the XP driver for a minimum cost of $59 from "HP level 5 support"!

After complaining about how unappropriated it is to charge customers to install their pre-purchased software on an HP computer by withholding the drivers, I was then given the number for Microsoft and told to call them for help. After reminding the technician that Microsoft does not provide drivers for computer hardware (this is the manufacturer's responsibility). I was promptly greeted with a "Thanks for calling HP..." statement, and hung up on.

I have read on Slashdot computer manufacturers are still aggressively supporting XP, but I would really like to know why HP would refuse to provide drives without a cost, is there any logic behind this thinking?
Security

Submission + - Exploit Makes Vonage Hackable (sipera.com)

Submitted by
LegoDoug
LegoDoug writes: "According to Reuters, over a month ago, Sipera Systems of Richardson, Texas, notified Vonage Holdings that hackers possessing a Vonage phone subscriber's name and telephone number could intercept Internet phone calls via an exploit.

Further details in a Sipera press release reveal that Vonage users are vulnerable to VoIP identity theft, eavesdropping, and other exploits, apparently via weaknesses in the VoIP Motorola Phone Adapter (VT 2142-VD) and Vonage's own service implementations. These weaknesses can allow hackers to take over a user's phone service via a 'registration replay attack, allowing them to make and receive calls as the victim. Due to lack of encryption on VoIP traffic, users are also open to eavesdropping. Further, hackers can "send multiple SIP INVITE messages to a user, an Internet version of 'ringing the phone off the hook,'" essentially a DoS attack."
Security

Submission + - Federal security systems get help (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "Securing Federal information systems is obviously a large and challenging enterprise. Just last week a study said despite improved efforts data on Federal PCs and laptops is still vulnerable to theft or loss a year after the officials in the face of the Veteran's Administration laptop loss scandal promised improvements. But more help is on the way. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) today issued a new version of a draft guide for assessing the effectiveness of security controls in federal information systems. The content of the new guide is expected to be incorporated into automated tools that support the information security programs of federal agencies. http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/1606 7"
Software

Submission + - How Apple will convert HFS to ZFS (storagemojo.com)

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: The biggest problem with a new file system like ZFS is the conversion. Backup and restore? I don't think so. StorageMojo has a quick overview of the recent Apple patent application "Converting file-systems that organize and store data for computing systems". You don't move the files, you just change out the file system underneath them. Very neat.

The money quote:

The converter reads the existing file system to find out where all the files are on disk. Then it creates a new set of data structures, such as a catalog and file extents, for the new file system. After verifying the new data structures, the converter can then replace the first file system by modifying the disk's partition map and and overwriting the volume headers of the first file system.
The patent talks about embedding the converter in iTunes, but StorageMojo speculates Apple may be playing a deeper game to ultimately challenge Windows on non-Apple hardware.
Patents

Submission + - USPTO Calls BS on 1-Click Patent Claims

Submitted by
theodp
theodp writes: "Seeking to extend the reach of CEO Jeff Bezos' 1-Click patent, Amazon ran into a very unimpressed USPTO examiner who rejected all 75 of the e-tailer's new claims, repeatedly invoking terms like 'obvious' and 'old and well known' to dismiss the purported inventions. Amazon has taken the unusual step of requesting an Oral Appeal to plead its case and also canceled and refiled its 1-Click claims in a continuation application, not unlike a popular stalling tactic employed by skilled lawyers. As it touted the novelty of 1-Click to Congress (PDF) last fall, Amazon didn't mention the examiner's rejection as it insisted that 'still no [1-Click] prior art has surfaced' to a Committee whose members included Rick Boucher (VA) and Howard Berman (CA), recipients of campaign contributions from a PAC funded by Amazon execs and their families."

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