Android on More Devices than Windows in 2016
October 26th, 2012Via: Reuters:
Google’s Android operating system will be used on more computing devices than Microsoft’s Windows within four years, data from research firm Gartner showed on Wednesday, underlining the massive shift in the technology sector.
At the end of 2016, there will be 2.3 billion computers, tablets and smartphones using Android software, compared with 2.28 billion Windows devices, Gartner data showed.
That compares to an expected 1.5 billion Windows devices by the end of this year, against 608 million using Android.
Android, which reached the market only in 2008, has risen fast to be the dominant smartphone platform, controlling two-thirds of that market. It has taken the No. 2 spot in the fast-growing tablet computer market.
SSL Vulnerabilities Found in Critical Non-Browser Software Packages
October 26th, 2012Via: Threat Post:
The death knell for SSL is getting louder.
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and Stanford University have discovered that poorly designed APIs used in SSL implementations are to blame for vulnerabilities in many critical non-browser software packages.
Serious security vulnerabilities were found in programs such as Amazon’s EC2 Java library, Amazon’s and PayPal’s merchant SDKs, Trillian and AIM instant messaging software, popular integrated shopping cart software packages, Chase mobile banking software, and several Android applications and libraries. SSL connections from these programs and many others are vulnerable to a man in the middle attack.
“This is exactly the attack that SSL is intended to protect against,” according to the research paper “The Most Dangerous Code in the World: Validating SSL Certificates in Non-Browser Software.“ It does not involve compromised or malicious certificate authorities, nor forged certificates, nor compromised private keys of legitimate servers. The only class of vulnerabilities we exploit are logic errors in client-side SSL certificate validation.”
Jimmy Savile: ‘Other People May Have Acted with Him’
October 26th, 2012Via: New York Times:
The number of people who said they were sexually assaulted by Jimmy Savile, one of Britain’s most popular television hosts, expanded to 300 from 200 in just the last week, and other people may have acted with him, the Scotland Yard officer heading the investigation said Thursday.
The officer, Cmdr. Peter Spindler, described Mr. Savile, who died last October at 84, as “undoubtedly” one of the most prolific sex offenders in recent British history, during a 50-year career as a self-styled pied piper for the young, the sick and the lonely. Commander Spindler said that in preliminary telephone interviews with 130 of the potential victims, 114 of them had accused Mr. Savile of criminal behavior ranging from “inappropriate touching” to rape. Of the 300 complainants, he said, all but 2 have been female.
Commander Spindler said the “vast majority” of the accusations logged by the police were against Mr. Savile alone, with the remainder involving Mr. Savile and others or episodes in which the entertainer was not implicated. Although the commander specified that investigators had found no evidence of a “pedophile ring,” as some published accounts in Britain have suggested, he said that a number of “living people” were under investigation.
Australia: Banksia Financial Group Collapses
October 26th, 2012Via: Perth Now:
RETIREES, schools and sporting clubs are in shock and fearful about the fate of their investments following the collapse of Banksia Securities.
Thousands of people hundreds of millions of dollars in losses after the shock collapse of Banksia Financial Group. Receivers McGrathNicol took charge of the non-bank financial firm, based in Kyabram in central Victoria, and froze investments on Thursday after the Banksia board found the company faced insolvency.
Peter Morrison: Margaret Thatcher’s Top Aide
October 26th, 2012Via: International Business Times:
The politician implicated in an alleged child sex ring at 10 Downing Street was Sir Peter Morrison, one of Margaret Thatcher’s closest advisers, IBTimes UK can reveal.
Morrison was the mystery “senior aide” MP Tom Watson alluded to at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). Watson’s allegation of a paedophile ring close to Downing Street stunned the House of Commons.
Morrison was a Conservative politician who acted as Thatcher’s parliamentary private secretary while she was prime minister. He also masterminded her failed bid to hold on to the leadership in 1990.
Morrison left office in 1992 and died in 1995.
The sexual tastes of the prime minister’s trusted adviser were an open secret in some quarters but were concealed by a police cover-up and threats of libel by Morrison himself, according to a former editor of the Sunday Mirror, Peter Connew.
Simon Heffer wrote in the Daily Telegraph in 2009: “At least one member of Mrs Thatcher’s first cabinet was homosexual. Her last parliamentary private secretary, Sir Peter Morrison, was a constant trial to the whips, who were afraid that his late-night cruises around and skirmishes in Sussex Gardens would come to the attention of the press.”
Connew told IBTimes UK that he saw first-hand how efforts to name and shame Morrison were hampered.
Morrison, the MP for Chester, was arrested more than once for pestering young boys in public toilets for sex, said Connew. When police officers tried to charge him, the cover-up began.
With ‘Safe Haven,’ Desktop Weaponeers Resume Work on 3D-Printed Guns
October 25th, 2012Via: Wired:
Three weeks after a group of desktop gunsmiths had its leaded 3D printer seized by the digital manufacturing firm that owned it, the weaponeers have quietly restarted plans to build a gun entirely of printed parts. The group has also begun expanding their operation with outside help, including space for ballistics testing provided by a mysterious firm involved in the defense industry.
Cody Wilson, founder of the Wiki Weapon project, tells Danger Room that the unnamed company’s owner “wanted to offer me a safe haven, basically.” Wilson describes the company as a “private defense firm” in San Antonio, Texas, but the company’s owner is wary of negative publicity and Wilson doesn’t want to reveal the firm’s name without consent.
“We’ve got basically a space where we can do experiments. Ballistics, basically. So it’s not quite a range — we’ve got a range — but we’ve got floor space where we can literally test the guns and set up instrumentation,” Wilson says.
A second unnamed company has also stepped in to volunteer manufacturing space. That company works with 3D printers and is based in a light industrial district in nearby Austin, where Wilson lives.
Adding Values to Banking
October 25th, 2012If you find yourself thinking, “I know all of this,” as Kristen Christian is speaking, fast forward to the segment with Peter Blom at 24:00.
Via: Radio New Zealand:
The shockwaves from the global financial crisis of 2008 continue to be felt around the world and the banking profession has rarely be held in such low regard but there are some financial institutions that have benefited from the crisis. Chris Laidlaw talks to Kristen Christian the founder of Bank Transfer Day which has seen six million Americans switch from mainstream to community-owned banks; and Peter Blom the CEO of Triodos Bank and the chair of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values talks to Jeremy Rose about the idea of sustainable banking.
September Earnings
October 25th, 2012Earnings for September totaled $1594.28, which is a great result! Thanks to everyone who sent contributions and conducted business via Cryptogon’s affiliate links.
Speaking of affiliate links, I have a new affiliate relationship that might be of interest to the couple of hundred of you reading in New Zealand: Living Foods Lifestyle.
We had been ordering raw bee pollen from the U.S. because we couldn’t find anything like that in New Zealand. All of the bee pollen products available here are in a dried out, crunchy form that is very definitely not as good as the raw/soft stuff. But who knows what percentage of that U.S. pollen contains GMO??? Fortunately, I found a fantastic high pollen count honey from, you guessed it, Living Foods Lifestyle here in New Zealand:
I’ve eaten a lot of honey over the years, but I’ve never seen or tasted anything like this. If you’ve ever eaten raw/soft bee pollen, you’ll recognize that distinct taste when you eat this honey. You might be familiar with raw honey, but this is very different from regular raw honey. Regular raw honey looks clean and filtered compared to this stuff. I hope you’ll give some a try to show your appreciation to Living Foods Lifestyle for making such a special product in New Zealand.
The Germans Are Coming for Their Gold
October 25th, 2012
Via: CNBC:
A German federal court has said that country’s central bank should conduct annual audits and physically inspect its gold reserves worldwide, including gold in the custody of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In addition to the FRBNY, Bundesbank gold is stored in London, Paris and Frankfurt.
For decades, the Bundesbank has relied on written confirmation of its gold holdings in London, Paris and New York. According to the report from the German audit court, the last time Bundesbank officials physically inspected the central banks gold holdings was, well, never.
(It should be stated that the folks at FT Alphaville quote a report saying an inspection took place in 1979/1980.)
Interestingly enough, the Bundesbank is apparently quite happy with taking the word of other central bankers about the existence, location and size of its gold reserves. It put out the word that it disagrees with the Audit Court, which only has advisory power and cannot force the Bundesbank to follow its recommendations, about the need for inspections. Nonetheless, the Bundesbank is actually going to follow the recommendation that it verify the gold stocks. It also has plans to ship some 150 tons of gold back to Germany for a more “thorough examination.”
Research Credit: cgroove69
Danish Company Develops Eye-Control Software for Phones, Tablets
October 25th, 2012Via: AFP:
A Danish company hopes to clinch deals with major mobile phone and tablet makers after developing software that enables users to control their devices by moving their eyes, it said Wednesday.
“You can use it for basic control, such as turning to the next page in an e-book, and playing games with your eyes,” chief executive and co-founder of The Eye Tribe, Sune Alstrup Johansen, told AFP.
The software uses infrared light reflected from the pupil of the eye, which is recorded by the device’s camera, enabling users to scroll or click on their screens with their eyes.
When you are reading an e-book and get to the bottom of the page, the software will know to turn to the next page, or if you look away from the screen it will dim it.
The Eye Tribe is made up of four PhD students who founded the company a year ago. They received $800,000 (615,000 euros) in funding in August to develop the technology.
