Crypto-currency Security under Scrutiny

Reports that $500,000 worth of Bitcoin currency was stolen from one user's computer this week has highlighted the poor security of the digital cash and the systems available for managing it. For the currency to gain large-scale popularity, it may need to create or work with financial institutions?making Bitcoin less distinct from the conventional currencies some users hope to supplant.

To use Bitcoin, a person downloads the official software client, which connects over the Internet to a global network of other copies of the program. Together, these implement the mathematical scheme that ensures that bitcoins can be transferred, created, and verified without any need for a central authority such as a bank (read TR's explainer on how Bitcoin works).

That official client stores the security needed to use a stash of bitcoins with minimal security, in an unprotected file known as wallet.dat. In a forum post this week, a bitcoin user whose screen name was "allinvain" claimed that a remote attacker gained access to his or her wallet file and stole over 25,000 bitcoins. The value of a single bitcoin at the time of writing (just over $19) makes the alleged heist worth nearly $500,000, although in practice converting such a large number of bitcoins at once would be tricky. It is impossible for the alleged victim to know who stole the money because the cryptographic architecture of Bitcoin is designed to preserve the anonymity of people transferring the currency. Today the security company Symantec reported it had caught a piece of malicious software that infects computers over the Internet and attempts to steal wallet files.

The vulnerability highlighted by the controversy is very real, says Jeff Garzik, one of the lead developers of the official Bitcoin client and one of a few individuals who are the closest thing the currency has to official spokespeople. Today, anyone able to access the machines of Bitcoin users, either directly or remotely?via malicious software?can grab their wallet files, he acknowledges.

An upgraded version of the client, which will encrypt a person's wallet and ask for a password each time it is accessed, will be released in "just a week or two," says Garzik.

Yet users will still essentially be maintaining their own bank vaults on their computers. "[Wallet encryption] does nothing against many modern malware techniques, such as keystroke logging," says Garzik. He advises Bitcoin users to keep encrypted backups of their wallet files away from the Internet, for example on a USB stick, since the file is needed only when sending money to others.

This may be an option for technically minded early adopters. But if the currency is to be used more widely, a new generation of simple and secure tools for using bitcoins is needed, says Amir Taaki, who leads a U.K.-based consultancy of software developers working on a range of technologies for use with Bitcoin, which operates the exchange site Britcoin.

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Weiner Resigns in Chaotic Final Scene

Mr. Weiner made the decision after long and emotional discussions with his political advisers and his wife, Huma Abedin, whom friends described as devastated by the behavior of her husband of 11 months, and worried about the couple?s financial future.

In a chaotic four-minute news conference at a senior center in his district, Mr. Weiner, 46, strained to be heard as a small group of hecklers hollered vulgar questions at him and called him a ?pervert? while puzzled elderly constituents looked on.

?I am here today to again apologize for the personal mistakes I have made and the embarrassment I have caused,? Mr. Weiner said.

A seven-term Democrat, Mr. Weiner had hoped his declaration last weekend that he would seek mental health treatment and take a temporary leave from Congress would ease the pressure from Democratic leaders for him to step down. But their demands only grew louder as revelations about his conduct continued.

?I am announcing my resignation from Congress, so my colleagues can get back to work, my neighbors can choose a new representative and most important so that my wife and I can continue to heal from the damage I have caused,? Mr. Weiner said at the news conference.

Ms. Abedin was with Mr. Weiner at his Queens apartment as he prepared to make his statement, but did not appear at his side at the event.

The announcement brought swift relief to his Democratic colleagues, who had become increasingly uneasy as details emerged about Mr. Weiner?s online contacts with women ? including his sending of explicit photos of himself to them over Facebook and Twitter. Democratic leaders had prepared to hold a meeting on Thursday to determine whether they should strip Mr. Weiner of his committee assignments, which would have severely impaired his effectiveness.

Mr. Weiner reached his decision late Wednesday, and seemed at peace with it, after days of appearing frazzled and torn, a person who spoke to him said. He began telling his most trusted advisers on Wednesday night, then held a conference call with his entire staff, informing them that it no longer seemed fair to his constituents and his colleagues for him to remain in office.

At about 8:45 p.m., he called Representative Steve Israel of New York, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, who was attending a White House picnic on the South Lawn, alongside hundreds of lawmakers enjoying hamburgers and patriotic music from the United States Navy Band.

Mr. Israel, after hearing the news from Mr. Weiner, sought out Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, in the crowd and handed his cellphone to her so Mr. Weiner could tell her his plans himself.

Ms. Pelosi had taken an aggressive posture with regard to Mr. Weiner, including the rare step on Saturday of calling for him to leave the House. On Thursday morning, she released a statement saying he had ?made the right judgment in resigning.?

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo must now call a special election to fill the vacancy created by Mr. Weiner?s departure. But the Ninth Congressional District, which covers Queens neighborhoods like Forest Hills and Howard Beach as well as Brooklyn sections like Midwood and Mill Basin, is a likely target for elimination as state lawmakers redraw district lines for 2012.

The scandal that upended Mr. Weiner?s career erupted late last month after a photograph of the congressman wearing tight-fitting underpants was sent to a college student in Washington State. Mr. Weiner initially denied having anything to do with it, saying his Twitter account had been hacked. But during an emotional news conference on June 6, he admitted that he had lied, and that he had in fact sent the image and had had inappropriate online exchanges with at least six other women.

As the story engulfed him, Mr. Weiner spoke regularly with advisers and Ms. Abedin, a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was traveling on a 10-day trip to North Africa and the Middle East.

The decision to step down was ultimately Mr. Weiner?s, but Ms. Abedin supported it, convinced that the embarrassing disclosures would not stop until he left office, according to friends who have spoken to her.

Michael Barbaro, Matt Flegenheimer and Ashley Parker contributed reporting.

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The Risks of Telecommuting

Letting employees work at home and in coffee shops, trains, or anywhere else with Internet access cuts costs and increases productivity, but it also poses significant security risks. Many computer security experts say companies don't do nearly enough to reduce the chance that an employee will lose data or intellectual property while outside the office.

Many organizations protect their networks with firewalls that restrict access to particular resources, a step akin to putting a lock on a door. Many also have virtual private networks (VPNs) that encrypt data traveling from the corporate networks to remote employees. But just how effective this is depends on how access to the VPN is granted; given that basic passwords can be guessed or "phished" out of employees, it's safer to add an additional step.

For some organizations, that step involves hardware tokens?small devices that generate one-time passwords every so often?or software equivalents. (Recent hacking attacks on token provider RSA, which led to a follow-up hack on Lockheed Martin, do not appear to have permanently undermined the underlying cryptographic technology used in RSA's tokens.) When used correctly, VPNs with strong authentication procedures are difficult to hack, even over public Wi-Fi networks where eavesdroppers otherwise sniff out traffic easily.

But securing data requires more than setting up firewalls and VPNs. Although "social engineering" attacks, in which a victim is tricked or forced into giving up passwords or other sensitive information, are not unique to telecommuters, the scams can be harder to pull off in the face of the organizational security an office offers, says Steven Chan, a research fellow and chief software architect with MIT's engineering systems division. To approach an employee who handles sensitive information, "you can pretend that you're a bike courier or FedEx guy, but you still have to get past the security guard, receptionist, and so on," Chan says. People who work alone are more vulnerable.

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Weiner Resigns in Chaotic Final Scene

Mr. Weiner made the decision after long and emotional discussions with his political advisers and his wife, Huma Abedin, whom friends described as devastated by the behavior of her husband of 11 months, and worried about the couple?s financial future.

In a chaotic four-minute news conference at a senior center in his district, Mr. Weiner, 46, strained to be heard as a small group of hecklers hollered vulgar questions at him and called him a ?pervert? while puzzled elderly constituents looked on.

?I am here today to again apologize for the personal mistakes I have made and the embarrassment I have caused,? Mr. Weiner said.

A seven-term Democrat, Mr. Weiner had hoped his declaration last weekend that he would seek mental health treatment and take a temporary leave from Congress would ease the pressure from Democratic leaders for him to step down. But their demands only grew louder as revelations about his conduct continued.

?I am announcing my resignation from Congress, so my colleagues can get back to work, my neighbors can choose a new representative and most important so that my wife and I can continue to heal from the damage I have caused,? Mr. Weiner said at the news conference.

Ms. Abedin was with Mr. Weiner at his Queens apartment as he prepared to make his statement, but did not appear at his side at the event.

The announcement brought swift relief to his Democratic colleagues, who had become increasingly uneasy as details emerged about Mr. Weiner?s online contacts with women ? including his sending of explicit photos of himself to them over Facebook and Twitter. Democratic leaders had prepared to hold a meeting on Thursday to determine whether they should strip Mr. Weiner of his committee assignments, which would have severely impaired his effectiveness.

Mr. Weiner reached his decision late Wednesday, and seemed at peace with it, after days of appearing frazzled and torn, a person who spoke to him said. He began telling his most trusted advisers on Wednesday night, then held a conference call with his entire staff, informing them that it no longer seemed fair to his constituents and his colleagues for him to remain in office.

At about 8:45 p.m., he called Representative Steve Israel of New York, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, who was attending a White House picnic on the South Lawn, alongside hundreds of lawmakers enjoying hamburgers and patriotic music from the United States Navy Band.

Mr. Israel, after hearing the news from Mr. Weiner, sought out Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, in the crowd and handed his cellphone to her so Mr. Weiner could tell her his plans himself.

Ms. Pelosi had taken an aggressive posture with regard to Mr. Weiner, including the rare step on Saturday of calling for him to leave the House. On Thursday morning, she released a statement saying he had ?made the right judgment in resigning.?

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo must now call a special election to fill the vacancy created by Mr. Weiner?s departure. But the Ninth Congressional District, which covers Queens neighborhoods like Forest Hills and Howard Beach as well as Brooklyn sections like Midwood and Mill Basin, is a likely target for elimination as state lawmakers redraw district lines for 2012.

The scandal that upended Mr. Weiner?s career erupted late last month after a photograph of the congressman wearing tight-fitting underpants was sent to a college student in Washington State. Mr. Weiner initially denied having anything to do with it, saying his Twitter account had been hacked. But during an emotional news conference on June 6, he admitted that he had lied, and that he had in fact sent the image and had had inappropriate online exchanges with at least six other women.

As the story engulfed him, Mr. Weiner spoke regularly with advisers and Ms. Abedin, a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was traveling on a 10-day trip to North Africa and the Middle East.

The decision to step down was ultimately Mr. Weiner?s, but Ms. Abedin supported it, convinced that the embarrassing disclosures would not stop until he left office, according to friends who have spoken to her.

Michael Barbaro, Matt Flegenheimer and Ashley Parker contributed reporting.

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The Old Republic: All I Want is the Cutscenes

The Old Republic: All I Want is the Cutscenes

Posted on 13th Jun 2011 at 07:29 by Clive Webster with 21 comments

The latest trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic has been released and it?s freaking awesome. This follows previous cut-scene and video releases that have been similarly impressive, engaging and enjoyable. However, with the game looking a bit duff, I?m wondering if Electronic Arts, Bioware and LucasArts could be persuaded into releasing a cut-scene-only version? I?d happily pay to watch a short film made from them.



If you?re not sure what I?m on about, have a look at the Star Wars: The Old Republic intro cinematic (watch it in fullscreen mode) above, then the other trailers (not the gameplay videos) and come back.

See what I mean? They?re much more reminiscent of the original trilogy than the rubbish prequel films. There?s a focus on people that you readily recognise and empathise with overcoming obstacles; the classic setup for injecting drama and interest into a scene or story. Furthermore, there?s absolutely no mention of trade disputes, midi-sodding-chlorians or annoying lizard-rabbits.

In fact, some of the intros' cinematic characters are really close to those of Episodes IV to VI. There?s a dependable droid that happily receives rushed instructions, and it?s on a ship with dingy, circular corridors and laser-cannon pods. Then there?s the pilot of this ship ? he?s instantly introduced as a likeable yet roguish smuggler, and his attire hardly suggests otherwise. He even seems to steal Han?s dialogue: his is the fastest ship in the fleet, even though it might not look like much. All we need is a co-pilot with a shaving phobia and we?re done.

But who cares if Bioware is borrowing heavily from the source material to produce something this fun? Arguably, the mistake that George Lucas made with his prequels was refusing to follow his own conventions. We wanted a bit more of the same please, not some confused reinterpretation of the Universe we?d spent the last however many years discussing in detail.

So when the ?trader? ship blasts through the Imperial turbo laser, rushes through its guts, and then hits its hyperdrive, we?re cheering on the crew. When the Jedi master Force-pulls the second lightsaber to him, we?re given a moment to consider the great duel that?s about to ensue.

Even the cutting and pacing between the personal fight between Jedi and Sith and the action on the not-Millenium Falcon is so reminiscent of The Empire Strikes Back that it can?t fail to make Star Wars fans happy. The trailer even conveys emotion brilliantly ? Malcus exudes rage as he stalks towards the Jedi master and bats away his defence, while you can read the thoughts of his Padawan perfectly well after his death.

So please, can we just have the cinematics to watch, and leave the MMO to WoW deserters? Please?

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India's $35 tablet expected to launch this month

It's been a while since we've heard any major news about India's ambitious $35 tablet, but a new report suggests that it's finally inching toward reality. According to the Times of India, the controversial project is approaching the finish line with 100,000 units expected to ship this summer, starting this month. The government is expected to deliver 10,000 tablets to IIT Rajasthan in late June, while another 90,000 units will be rolled out over the next four months.

The launch price is reportedly set at 2,200 rupees, which is approximately equivalent to $49. Although that's higher than the initial $35 target, the government reportedly plans to cut the price in half with subsidies. Assuming that information is accurate, students might be able to purchase the tablet for less than we originally thought. Regardless, it's not such a bad deal at $49, especially considering most of us doubted the device would even see the light of day.

Named "Sakshat," the slate was first announced last summer and was delayed this January following complications with its primary hardware vendor, HCL Infosystems. Designed for academic use, Sakshat features a 7-inch touchscreen, support for video conferencing, 32GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, a USB port, Wi-Fi connectivity, and enough horsepower to play YouTube videos. To keep costs in check, the device utilizes Linux and other open source software.

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Source: http://www.techspot.com/news/44297-indias-35-tablet-expected-to-launch-this-month.html

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FYI Fly?s Embeddable Calendar Makes Events Look Incredible

Got a website that could benefit from a calendar and event management utilities, but everything you?ve seen out there looks like rubbish?

That?ll change when you look at F.Y.I. Fly?s new and completely free Event Calendar. It?s designed so well you?ll forget that calendars are, at the end of the day, quite boring things.

The app features Facebook integration and is in fact Facebook driven, so you?ll need to authorize it using your Facebook account. It?s also got inline event management features, facilities for your community to share photos and discuss events and works great on mobile devices.

Take a look for yourself. Here?s the screen for creating a calendar event:

And here?s what an event looks like once you?ve created it:

Of course, embedding is one of the great features of this app since the alternatives are all so disgustingly ugly, but you don?t need to use or even have a website to make use of Event Calendar. You can simply create the event and share it with all those who might be interested in attending on Facebook.

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Source: http://thenextweb.com/dd/2011/06/17/fyi-flys-embeddable-calendar-makes-events-look-incredible/

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The Risks of Telecommuting

Letting employees work at home and in coffee shops, trains, or anywhere else with Internet access cuts costs and increases productivity, but it also poses significant security risks. Many computer security experts say companies don't do nearly enough to reduce the chance that an employee will lose data or intellectual property while outside the office.

Many organizations protect their networks with firewalls that restrict access to particular resources, a step akin to putting a lock on a door. Many also have virtual private networks (VPNs) that encrypt data traveling from the corporate networks to remote employees. But just how effective this is depends on how access to the VPN is granted; given that basic passwords can be guessed or "phished" out of employees, it's safer to add an additional step.

For some organizations, that step involves hardware tokens?small devices that generate one-time passwords every so often?or software equivalents. (Recent hacking attacks on token provider RSA, which led to a follow-up hack on Lockheed Martin, do not appear to have permanently undermined the underlying cryptographic technology used in RSA's tokens.) When used correctly, VPNs with strong authentication procedures are difficult to hack, even over public Wi-Fi networks where eavesdroppers otherwise sniff out traffic easily.

But securing data requires more than setting up firewalls and VPNs. Although "social engineering" attacks, in which a victim is tricked or forced into giving up passwords or other sensitive information, are not unique to telecommuters, the scams can be harder to pull off in the face of the organizational security an office offers, says Steven Chan, a research fellow and chief software architect with MIT's engineering systems division. To approach an employee who handles sensitive information, "you can pretend that you're a bike courier or FedEx guy, but you still have to get past the security guard, receptionist, and so on," Chan says. People who work alone are more vulnerable.

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Source: http://feeds.technologyreview.com/click.phdo?i=016d4e641d3eb5a23e5e1d4f24b470e4

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Rise of the "Hybrid" Mobile App

When Lotte Card, one of South Korea's biggest credit card companies, wanted to create an augmented-reality app earlier this year, it faced a familiar conundrum: whether to develop a sophisticated custom app for each major mobile platform out there or produce a single less-capable Web app that works on any device via its browser. In the end, the company decided to do a bit of both.

With the help of development partner Worklight, Lotte's programmers created hundreds of HTML-based pages using standard tools?HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript?and then wrapped them up in native iOS and Android code so that the resulting bundle could be delivered, just like any other app, via the Apple and Android app stores.

The key advantage of Web apps over native mobile apps is cross-platform compatibility. They run in the standards-compliant browsers that are available on Android, Apple, BlackBerry, and Windows mobile devices, so (in theory at least) they have to be built only once. The disadvantages are that they lack access to such features of a device as the camera and the address book, they can't use some of user-interface elements that are native to each platform, and they can't be downloaded from Apple's App Store or the Android Market.

Most native apps can tap into the device's browser, in order to grab content from the Web. As the variety of mobile platforms grows, more companies may be drawn to using this capability, creating hybrid apps that use Web technologies but can be distributed via the usual app stores.

"The slickness of the user interface a developer can achieve in the native [app] model just isn't worth the extra spending compared to the very nice level of user-interface experience they get from the hybrid option," says Ron Perry, CTO of Worklight. Worklight uses the open-source PhoneGap platform to help developers package Web apps within native apps so that they can be downloaded from app stores.

The primary competitor to PhoneGap is Appcelerator's Titanium Studio, a development environment that takes a slightly different approach. Instead of showing Web content within an app, this platform recompiles a Web app's (JavaScript) code into native code that can access all the device-specific user-interface elements of iOS, Android, and BlackBerry's platform. (It is not yet compatible with Windows Phone.)

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Source: http://feeds.technologyreview.com/click.phdo?i=ff91b93618d4feba0215ba021400d20a

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FYI Fly?s Embeddable Calendar Makes Events Look Incredible

Got a website that could benefit from a calendar and event management utilities, but everything you?ve seen out there looks like rubbish?

That?ll change when you look at F.Y.I. Fly?s new and completely free Event Calendar. It?s designed so well you?ll forget that calendars are, at the end of the day, quite boring things.

The app features Facebook integration and is in fact Facebook driven, so you?ll need to authorize it using your Facebook account. It?s also got inline event management features, facilities for your community to share photos and discuss events and works great on mobile devices.

Take a look for yourself. Here?s the screen for creating a calendar event:

And here?s what an event looks like once you?ve created it:

Of course, embedding is one of the great features of this app since the alternatives are all so disgustingly ugly, but you don?t need to use or even have a website to make use of Event Calendar. You can simply create the event and share it with all those who might be interested in attending on Facebook.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials

Source: http://thenextweb.com/dd/2011/06/17/fyi-flys-embeddable-calendar-makes-events-look-incredible/

the game tv show lasso of truth terrence j most popular thanksgiving side dish the game bet lights out nyc school closings scelestious stephanie seymour and son david nelson