Remote Control Printers

Security researchers at Columbia University have accused HP of selling printers with a flaw that could let hackers gain remote control over the devices. Once compromised, the access can be used to steal personal information, attack networks, and even set printers on fire by feeding them a continuous stream of instructions designed to heat them up.

The researchers, funded by government and industry grants, reported the flaw to federal officials and HP this month, and gave a demonstration to MSNBC, which has an extensive article on the subject today. HP told MSNBC that it is reviewing the details, but denied that the problem is as extensive as claimed by Columbia PhD student Ang Cui and Professor Salvatore Stolfo.

Activision's Star Wars

Star Wars: The Old Republic will soon become the latest in a long line of online games attempting to tackle the behemoth that is World of Warcraft, but Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick doesn't seem too worried. In fact, he believes that The Old Republic may not even be profitable for EA.

During the recent Reuters Media Summit, Kotick reportedly questioned whether or not the much-hyped Star Wars MMO would be able to steal subscribers from WoW. He also explained that due to the licensing fees for the Star Wars name, which is owned by LucasArts, he's unclear how profitable the game will be.

Hundreds of sites "de-indexed" from Google, Facebook

After a series of one-sided hearings, luxury goods maker Chanel has won recent court orders against hundreds of websites trafficking in counterfeit luxury goods. A federal judge in Nevada has agreed that Chanel can seize the domain names in question and transfer them all to US-based registrar GoDaddy. The judge also ordered "all Internet search engines" and "all social media websites"explicitly naming Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Bing, Yahoo, and Google to "de-index" the domain names and to remove them from any search results.

Facebook privacy issue and FTC

Mark Zuckerberg has admitted Facebook has made "a bunch of mistakes" on privacy and agreed to overhaul its policy to make all major changes opt-in, following American regulatory criticism.He also admitted that the site's executives "can always do better" on the controversial issue.His comments came after the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accused Facebook of systematically invading user privacy on seven specific counts, including when the social network had changed settings to make more of its users' information publicly visible.

AT&T to ship the LG Nitro

                                                                               LG Nitro smartphone

AT&T will launch the LG Nitro HD smartphone over its LTE network on Dec. 4 in stores and online for $249.99 with a two-year contract.

The device will be AT&T's third LTE smartphone after the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket and HTC's Vivid. AT&T's 4G LTE network is available in 15 cities, but the carrier is also upgrading its HSPA+ network for more widespread 4G service.

AT&T called the Nitro the "ultimate high-performance superphone," and the phone does indeed measure up to (and sometimes beat) the top smartphones on the market. One important feature is the 4.5-in. AH-IPS (Advanced High-Performance In-Plane Switching) touch-screen display with a 1280 x 720 pixel resolution that AT&T called "true HD."

How to bulletproof your website

'Tis the season to begin ramping up online shopping activity, and for retailers that means doing all they can to ensure their websites are up, highly available and able to handle peak capacity. Looming in many IT managers' minds is the cautionary tale of Target, whose website crashed twice this fall after it was inundated by an unprecedented number of online shoppers when the retailer began selling clothing and accessories from high-end Italian fashion company Missoni.

"We are working around the clock to ensure that our site is operating efficiently and delivering an exceptional guest experience that's reflective of Target's brand,'' said a Target spokesperson in an email, but declined to give specifics on the measures the company has taken.

Facebook denies disputed page to both Merck companies

Facebook may take away the disputed page on Facebook from both Merck in Germany and Merck in the U.S., if the two companies do not come to an agreement, a person familiar with the situation said Monday.

The page Facebook.com/Merck was not accessible by late Monday, and the Merck U.S. page had moved to another location on the social network.Germany's Merck KGaA threatened legal action after it said it lost its Facebook page apparently to rival Merck & Co. in the U.S.

Intel Ivy Bridge

More information seems to be trickling through to the media about Intel's new Ivy Bridge range of CPUs, including tech specs and provisional release dates.

Intel Ivy Bridge processors are due to take over from the current range of Sandy Bridge processors with socket 1155 chipsets, like the Core i7 2600K or the i5 2500K. Performances aren't likely to be pushed through the roof in this new generation of CPUs, but power use is expected to be trimmed and performance optimised thanks to Intel's special 3D Tri-Gate transistors. Plus, the integrated graphics unit apparently offers higher performances than the current HD 2000 and HD 3000 systems.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448

NVIDIA's latest Fermi-derived graphics card is here, and it's carrying one key message; the GTX 560 Ti 448 should offer almost all the performance of a GTX 570 at a lower price point.

Our review of Gigabyte's card has shown that the product has promise - and it's great for high-quality 1080p gaming - but the GTX 560 Ti 448 will need to be priced just right in order to make any sense at all.

It's a steal at close to £200, but at £240 or beyond, you could pick up a GTX 570 with all 480 cores intact (models from KFA2 and MSIare readily available). So, how much exactly can you expect to pay for the GTX 560 Ti 448? To get an early idea, here's a snapshot of what was available at 4pm on launch day.

Survey on top smartphone market

China has overtaken the United States to become the world's largest smartphone market by volume although the US still leads in terms of revenue, a market research firm said Wednesday.

Strategy Analytics said that smartphone shipments hit 24 million units in China during the third quarter of the year compared to 23 million units in the United States.

Earloomz has Star Trek Bluetooth Headsets

Whenever I write about a product related to a popular science-fiction franchise, I usually have a long list of jokes or puns that I can use.

For example, I could say “Live Long and Prosper” with this Star Trek Bluetooth headset, but that is actually the name of the model that you see here. I will go with the next choice as it is “logical” (think Mr. Spock) that someone would make a Bluetooth headset with a Star Trek logo.

After all, Star Trek is considered by some to be “Geek Mecca”, and this is an actual quote from Wil Wheaton, who played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek, The Next Generation. It just makes sense to put Star Trek on a piece of tech and expect sales from geeks who love both tech and Star Trek.

So how is the Bluetooth headset? It is really going where most Bluetooth headsets have gone before, with its one-button controls, USB recharging, 120 hour standby time, and Bluetooth v2.1+EDR. I got a chance to try it out, and it didn’t really stand out from other Bluetooth headsets that I have tried. This is not a negative review, as I am saying that it can do its job.

Tribute to technology icon Dennis Ritchie

Dennis M. Ritchie, co-creator of  UNIX and father of the  C programming language, died this past weekend after a long illness. It's no exaggeration to say that without Ritchie, modern computing would not be what it is today.

Often known as "dmr," Ritchie was born in Bronxville, NY in 1941. He studied at Harvard University, initially focusing on physics. Ritchie said that he entered computing because "my undergraduate experience convinced me that I was not smart enough to be a physicist, and that computers were quite neat."

"As a result, C became in effect a universal assembler: close enough to the machine to be cost effective, but far enough away that a C program could be compiled for and run well on any machine." Brian Kerninghan

Ritchie joined Bell Labs in 1967 and worked with a group of developers, including Ken Thompson, to create UNIX, the first version of which was released in 1969. Initially called UNICS (following a system called MULTICS) was written in a low-level assembly language by Thompson. According to Thompson, Ritchie's contribution to UNIX was "mostly on the language and the I/O system."

Pakistan's IT sector boast up to 120% Foreign Direct Investment growth

Professionals from the industry say that foreign companies are seeking joint ventures with local firms, and some are considering setting up their own outlets to tap local talent.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Pakistan’s IT sector has seen a 120% growth, with a $9.4 million investment in the first four months of the 2011-12 fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) statistics have revealed.

The investment stood at $6.5 million in software development, $1.8 million in IT services and $1.1 million in hardware services.

Cyber Spies and Online Security

Many security pundits persist in calling the latest celebrity malware, Duqu, the “Son of Stuxnet”. However, Duqu seems to resist that tag at every turn even while showing the designer-like qualities characteristic of nation-state adversaries. While security pundits debate in conspiratorial tones over who’s responsible for the latest threat against critical infrastructure, Duqu is quietly and efficiently siphoning off reams of data, much like other well-known exfiltration agents used by advanced persistent threats.

People are searching for definitive signs that we are on the brink of Cyber War with a faceless enemy, warning of critical infrastructure weakness and looming cyber-to-physical terrorism — and perhaps that is one eventuality. 

Robot Guards

A South Korean prison will begin a month-long trial to see if robots make good prison guards. (Image Credit: Asian Forum For Corrections)

The BBC reports that a jail in Pohang, South Korea, will soon begin a one-month trial of three new robots, which will be there in a support capacity to monitor for “abnormal behavior.” The robots, which stand about five feet tall, were developed by the Asian Forum for Corrections. The robots are wheeled, and equipped with cameras and other sensors to monitor the inmates.

Genes Controlled By Computer

In a joint effort, researchers at U.C. San Francisco and ETH Zurich have developed a method that enables them to precisely control gene expression in individual cells of yeast. Their research,published in Nature Biotechnology, represents an interesting step forward in genetic engineering.

Here’s the basics of how it works: the researchers expose the yeast to a red light. This changes the shape of a protein called phytochrome, a common regulator that’s found in quite a few species. Exposure to light changes the shape of the phytochrome, which allows it to turn a gene on, so the gene will produce its particular protein. The phytochrome can then be exposed to a different shade of red light to turn the gene off.

Australia Could Be A Geothermal Powerhouse

This map shows the geothermal potential over the entire country of Australia. According to an analysis by Hot Dry Rocks, a geothermal consulting group, and Google, just 2% of Australia’s geothermal potential could generate ten times more electricity than its total coal and gas electricity production today. (Image credit: Hot Dry Rocks)

Last week, geothermal consulting company Hot Dry Rocks released a geothermal map of Australia that shows the country’s incredible potential for tapping its geothermal energy supplies. The map, which was developed in conjunction with Google.org, shows that if Australia were to only use 2% of its geothermal potential using today’s technology, it could produce 395,092 MW – about ten times more than Australia’s total coal and gas production.

Apple the leader in PC sales

LOS ANGELES — Apple Inc. may want to change its mind on the "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" question.

If the company decides to apply the "PC" label to its own computing devices, it may soon find that it is the world's largest personal computer vendor.

It takes a little semantic contortion, but if the iPad tablet — or any tablet — counts as a personal computer, Apple is on track to sell more PCs than computing giants such as Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. by the middle of next year, research firm Canalys said.

Why Facebook's Seamless Sharing is Wrong

Facebook recently instituted a new program that makes it easy for 3rd party websites and services to automatically post links about your activity elsewhere back into Facebook and the newsfeeds of your friends. It's called Seamless Sharing (a.k.a. frictionless sharing) and there's a big backlash growing about it, reminiscent of the best-known time Facebook tried to do something like this with a program called Beacon. The company has done things like this time and time again.

Critics say that Seamless Sharing is causing over-sharing, violations of privacy, self-censorship with regard to what people read, dilution of value in the Facebook experience and more. CNet's Molly Wood says it is ruining sharing. I think there's something more fundamental going on than this - I think this is a violation of the relationship between the web and its users. Facebook is acting like malware.

It's doubly bad because while the particular implementation of this feature has been executed so poorly, the fundamental ideas behind it have a lot of potential to deliver far more value from Facebook and the web to all of us. Facebook is experimenting with a trend that countless organizations will engage in soon: leveraging our passively created activity data. Why do they have to be so creepy about it though?

Computer Repair Home for Technology

If you’re looking to compete with the big guys, such as Geek Squad or AT&T’s ConnectTech, by starting your own PC repair business (and leverage a well-respected franchise), you might want to consider Computer Troubleshooters for starters. The franchisor was recently rated the highest in customer satisfaction by Franchise Business Review, a leading market research firm. Business owners rated the franchise on several criteria, such as financial opportunities, training and support, as well as overall franchisee satisfaction, according to the report.

Data centre inaugurated

Karachi—Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Dr. Mohammed Yaseen, has said PTA is fully committed to the task of regulating, issuing new licenses and to introduce new spectrums and technologies. However, the private sector also has an important role by investing in ventures.

This he said while addressing an inaugural ceremony of Data Centre established by leading Telecom company Transworld in Karachi. The event was attended by executives of telecom industry, mediapersons and employees of the company.

The Reason Behind iPhone's wifi sync with iTunes doesn’t work better?

When Apple announced it’s new iOS 5, I was excited to hear it would include wireless syncing for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

I’m a podcast addict, which means having to hook my iPod Touch up to my computer at least once a week to make sure I’ve got up-to-date episodes of all my favourites. The idea of being able to get new episodes wirelessly sounded like a dream.

Unfortunately, while iOS 5 does include wireless syncing with iTunes, it really, really sucks.

The first, and biggest, problem with wireless syncing is that it only works if your computer is turned on and iTunes is loaded up. In other words, you have to basically do all the steps you did before to start syncing except for the very last one: plugging in the cable.

Get More Thinner iPad

Source: Wikipedia

Apple is dealing Sharp into its iPad and iPhone business in a big way, Peter Misek, at Jefferies & Co., writes in a note to investors Tuesday.

Misek believes Sharp began production of high resolution displays for the next iPad two weeks ago, and that Sharp will help build displays for the next-generation iPhone 5.

While the iPad dominates the tablet computer market, dirt-cheap alternatives introduced by Amazon and Barnes & Nobel could claw away customers where offerings from Hewlett-Packard and Dell have failed to slow the iPad momentum.