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Security

Submission + - Apple Ships Vulnerable Flash Plugin (threatpost.com)

Trailrunner7 writes: The Adobe Flash Player plugin that was included in yesterday's Mac OS X software update contains multiple vulnerabilities that expose users to malicious hacker attacks. Apple shipped a new Flash Player plugin (10.0.45.2) in the Mac OS X patch bundle but that version became outdated on June 10th when Adobe shipped Flash Player 10.1.53.64. The Flash Player 10.0.45.2 software contains 32 vulnerabilities, most rated "critical." At least one of those flaws have been exploited on the Windows platform.
Security

Submission + - iPad hacker gets arrested (washington.ar.us) 4

An anonymous reader writes: One of the members of the security team responsible for the recent iPad security breach was arrested today in the state of Washington. Charged for possession of controlled substance Escher Auernheimer AKA Weev will be heard in court on the 18th of this month.
Security

Submission + - Do cyber vigilantes make computing world safer? (infoworld.com) 1

tsamsoniw writes: Fed up with companies failing to address security holes fast enough, white hats are turning up the pressure by quickly making the vulnerabilities public. First Goatse Security made public thousands of email addresses of iPad users that it swiped from AT&T's Web site — after AT&T failed to disclose the data theft fast enough. Next a Google security engineer publicized an exploit for Windows XP — which is now being used widely — after deciding Microsoft was moving to slowly to fix the problem. In both cases, the Goatse and the security engineer are claiming they did what they did for the greater good: Though their actions put users at risk, it forces the offending companies to worker faster to fix the problem. Do the ends justify the means?

Submission + - Firefox flagsThe Pirate Bay as an attacker site (thepiratebay.org) 3

Pharago writes: Firefox has started to report its users that a particular set of webpages from The Pirate Bay web have been reported as attackers and it is actively blocking access to them, forcing the user to choose to ignore the advertency or get out of the site.
Security

Submission + - Newsweek Reports Zombie Invasion (praetorianprefect.com)

danielkennedy74 writes: Newsweek.com becomes the latest in a long list of sites that will reveal an Easter egg if you enter the Konami Code (, , , , , , , , B, A, enter) correctly. The Konami Code is a cheat code that appeared in many of Konami’s video games, starting in around 1986 (my favorite places to use it were Contra and Life Force, 30 lives FTW). Ostensibly this is probably something that was included by a developer unbeknownst to the powers that be at Newsweek, similar to an incident that happened at ESPN involving unicorns last year.
Power

Bill Gates's New Version of the Einstein Letter 407

dcblogs writes "In 1939, Albert Einstein sent 'F.D. Roosevelt, President of the United States,' a letter with a warning about Germany's interest in a new type of energy with potential for use as a powerful bomb. The letter also outlined the competitive threat posed by Germany and steps for improving US research efforts. Last week, Bill Gates, along with GE's CEO and others, met with President Obama to deliver their own message: that of the top 30 companies in the world working on alternative energy, only four are in the US. Similar to Einstein's point and recommendations, Gates and his allies are asking the US to view the alternative energy push as a competitive threat posed by other nations, particularly China, which may be doing a better job in bringing its engineering talent and money to bear on this problem."
Hardware

Submission + - Set free your inner jedi or pyro... (dailytech.com)

sirgoran writes: We've all thought about being the hero fighting off evil doers and saving the day ever since we first saw Star Wars. The folks at Wicked Lasers have now made that a little closer to reality with their latest release. A 1Watt blue diode laser that can set skin and other things on fire. From an article at daily tech they talk about the dangers of such a powerful laser. "And here's the best (or worst) part — it can set people (or things) on fire. Apparently the laser is so high powered that shining it on fleshy parts will cause them to burst into flames. Of course it's equally capable of blinding people." The thing that caught my eye was the price, $200.00! I wonder if they'll be able to meet the demand since this will be on every geeks Christmas list...
Image

The White House Listed On Real Estate Website 123

Forget visiting the White House, if you have $10 million you can own it. At least that is the price for the president's home on the real estate website Redfin. From the article: "Obviously this is an error. It looks like Redfin software pulled an example listing from the website Owners.com by mistake. That example listing was the White House. We have e-mailed Redfin for comment." I know it's historic but it still looks a bit on the high side according to the comparables in the area.
Books

Submission + - Apple Censors "Ulysses" App in Time For Bloomsday (fictioncircus.com)

Miracle Jones writes: "Apple has censored a "Ulysses" comic book app — just in time for "Bloomsday" — because of a picture of Buck Mulligan's stately, plump cartoon penis. Not since Amazon removed digital copies of "1984" from people's Kindles while they slept has there been such a hilarious episode in the ongoing slapstick farce "Let's See What Happens When Corporations Become Publishers.""

Submission + - iPad customers forced to buy unnecessary add-ons (smh.com.au) 1

CuteSteveJobs writes: Australian iPad buyers have been forced to buy all manner of unnecessary add-ons including screen protectors, docking stations, covers, chargers and extended warranties due to a reported Official Apple policy. Shoppers reported sales assistants said it was “company policy” or “Apple policy” to sell the devices only with accessories, or not at all. A store manager for Authorised Apple Reseller JB Hi-Fi said it was “a bad policy but it was Apple’s policy and they couldn’t sell one without it”. Other customers were told they must "buy a Telstra SIM because the iPad is locked to Telstra", even though it wasn't. The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission and Consumer affairs are investigating the complaints.

What's the point of having Authorized Apple Resellers in this environment? Is it Official Apple policy? Don't look for any help from Apple; An Apple spokeswoman said "she could not comment on company policy", but did offer "consumers could buy iPads directly from us" without any add-ons.

Microsoft

Submission + - Poor Windows users (dedoimedo.com)

climenole writes: "I came across an email sent by a security vendor, reminding me, no urging me with the liver-transplant sort of urgency, to renew my subscription to their product, lest my pixels perish. I spent a minute or two staring at the email, thinking about all the poor souls out there who do not have the comfort of being a geek and who may actually take the advertisement seriously.

And then I decided to write this article. And maybe a few people will heed it and make some good."

Windows

Submission + - Flash on Windows Phone 7 devices? (reportech.net) 1

TalTara writes: While Microsoft downplays the possibility of Flash on Windows Phone 7 devices, Adobe seems to support the Windows Phone 7 operating system with its new Flash 10.1 — "Target mobile operating systems for Flash Player include: Android, Microsoft Windows Phone 7" (Picture — http://bit.ly/bVxSsM). This could mean we will see the first WP7 devices with flash support, a thing maybe Microsoft wants to surprise us with?
Games

Submission + - Gamers Don't Always Get What They Want (goozernation.com) 1

kube00 writes: Gamers don't always get what they want especially when it comes to games being released. Screen shots, interviews, videos and years of development mean nothing if the game is canceled. Goozernation takes a look back at some of the most notorious game cancellations including Starcraft Ghost, Sonic Xtreme, Thrill Kill, Star Fox 2, and asks why were these great games canceled?
Iphone

Submission + - Apple Eases Restrictions On iPhone Developers (macrumors.com)

WrongSizeGlass writes: MacRumors has a story on a report by Apple Outsider's Matt Drance that Apple is easing their restrictions on interpreted code used in iPhone development, a change which allows game developers in particular to continue to use interpreted languages such as Lua in their App Store applications. The change comes alongside Apple's further modifications of its iOS developer terms that again allow for limited analytics data collection to aid advertisers and developers, but appear to shut out non-independent companies such as Google's AdMob from receiving the data.

It's not enough of an 'about face' to let Adobe or Google back in the picture but they've backpedaled enough to let the little guys squeeze through.

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