Group items tagged

Many of us remember the PSN outage of April 2011. Sony blamed 'Anonymous,' a collective hacktivist group formed in 2003 on 4chan, after they found the Anonymous calling card 'We Are Legion' in their system. Anonymous is composed of individuals with the ideals of: 1. Freedom of Information 2. Freedom of Speech 3. Unregulated Internet Anonymous will only attack databases and websites only if provoked, and will not do so for monetary gain. The group has recently engaged in multiple attacks on international government databases. The article, by Casey Chan, is about the Anonymous digital attack on Israel, in retaliation after the Israeli government threatened to shut down Internet access and other telecommunications to the Palestinian people in the Gaza and "Occupied Territories. " The group attacked the Israel Foreign Affairs database and Bank of Jerusalem database, as well as DDos attacks on over 600 sites and theft of over 2000 email addresses and passwords. This attack has generated some controversy. Since the beginning of November, Israel has also received over 150 missile attacks from the Palestinians as well. Anonymous aids the Palestinians by sharing a 'Care Package,' instructions on what to do in the event Israel does sever the Internet connection. Anonymous has become quite influential on the Internet. This illustrates how important the Internet has become. The internet is not only a commodity, but a right to have. It has replaced forms of communication, entertainment, transactions, and more. A group of 'anonymous' users has been formed for the sole purpose of protecting it, with the will and capabilities to punish any party that wishes to disrupt it. As with every conflict, there are sides. Anonymous, in protection of Internet freedoms; and the Israeli government, that has been fighting a war for as long as anyone can remember. Who's side are you on?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDeOMq4RPxY&feature=relmfu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_(group) *More information on Anonymous

Scientists are researching new ways to grow food in space as farming on Earth becomes more advanced. Scientists have developed things like growing crops with LED light or heating greenhouses with waste nuclear power station heat. There are also farms that are automatic and self-sustaining. This gave scientists the idea of growing food in space since astronauts usually eat only pre-packaged food in space and a balanced diet is essential for extended trips. If all farms became fully automated, traditional farm technology companies will go out of business unless they could adapt because their products would no longer be needed. If companies started shutting down, it could cause some economic instability since many workers would be without work.Automated farming equipment will also raise questions if automated technology will spread to other industries. Since the Western world is a capitalist system, company owners really only care about their profit and will not mind investing in technology that can do what workers did for free as automated technology becomes more common. This advancement could also result in the collapse of the labour workforce since technology can take their place for less money. I hope that automated technology will not spread to other industries other than farming because the economy is already unstable as it is, deteriorating the labour workforce can put the world into economic turmoil. I can understand funding automated farming for sustaining long term space missions since astronauts could lack certain nutrients because of the absence of fresh food..

Previously, Twitter, Apple, and Facebook have been on the list of tech companies hacked within the last couple of weeks. As of March 2nd, 2013, Evernote also joins this list when their network is breached by an attempt to access secure areas of the Evernote Service. Evernote has notified users via  e-mail, blogs, and social media to change passwords so that users personal information can remain safe on the Evernote network. The hackers had successfully accessed usernames, e-mail adresses and encrypted passwords, however, they were stopped before any damage could be done. This relates to the "Privacy & Security" category because users data and personal information is being accessed without authorization. Obviously, this can cause many problems for users especially because their work and information can be stolen or deleted. Evernote encourages creating a strong password to ensure that an account remains secure, however, this is a questionable matter because the website should also consider upgrading their system in order to keep users safe. As part of the eLifestyle, many users rely on cloud storage to store information, especially on Evernote. The recent hacking just proves how reliable cloud storage really is. When saving data, it is important to consider the possibility of it being stolen or deleted. With this in mind, one shouldn't depend on cloud storage for saving all of their work or important material as it hasn't proven to be very reliable. And if you are using cloud storage, it would be smart to backup important files on a USB or Computer.

This article is about Google's Nexus One Phone that was launched into space on Monday. It was launched into orbit aboard a CubeSat dubbed STRaND-1, which was developed by Surrey Satellite Technology at the University of Surrey's space centre. STRaND-1 now holds the honor of being the first PhoneSat and UK CbeSat that has ever made it into orbit. Alongside the HTC- made handset are an altitude and orbit control system, two propulsion setups and a Linux-based computer with a "high speed" processor. An app called 360 will let people back on terra firma request their own snapshots of earth taken with the phone's shooter and pin them to a map.

Microsoft has recently announced Windows 8.1, an update that will attempt to win back all those disgruntled Windows 8 users. A main feature that is being added is the world renown start button, a feature that caused a lot of dissatisfaction among users who upgraded from previous versions of Windows. A big note however behind this announced change is that Microsoft is staying with it's word of actually using user feedback to improve their system, and by doing this, admitting that they were wrong. Another author comments that Microsoft NEEDS Windows 8.1 to have positive feedback, or else Microsoft could be in trouble in the ever changing OS market.  In the end, hearing of this news is VERY good for the average user, as Microsoft is trying their best to fix an error in direction that might have resulted in huge loses for the market dominating company. Let's just hope that Microsoft continues the support of their brand, and turns Windows 8 into the best OS in the PC world.

CISPA (cyber intelligence sharing and protection act) is back into congress and threatens to internet privacy if passed. The bill allows the government, private security agencies, and private companies to access about a "cyber threat". These cyber threats are defined by any attack on government systems and networks, and the "Theft or misappropriation of private or government information, intellectual property, or personally identifiable information." This can mean things such as music, programs, games, etc. With this bill, the government and companies can anonymously take your information without any legal consequences. Your information can then be shared or sold. This is a direct violation of the 4th amendment, as it is similar to a search without a warrant. In summary, this bill grants the government and companies access to your information without any cost or legal risk.

This article is about how Apple was hacked on Tuesday February the 19th, 2013. Basically, unknown hackers infected some Apple workers computers when they visited a website for software developers This website had been infected with malicious software that was designed to target Mac computers. Some people are saying that the malware could have originated from China, but there is no proof. Some of the malware was distributed through a site aimed at iPhone developers. It might still be infecting visitors who haven't disabled Java in their browser. F-Secure a security firm wrote that the hackers might have been trying to get access to codes for apps on smartphones which would allow them to infect millions of app users. Hackers recently found out a sophisticated way to attack Macs by exploiting a flaw in Adobe Systems Inc's Flash software. What I find very interesting is that the breaches described by Apple mark the highest-profile cyber-attacks to date on businesses running Mac computers. This shows that we should make an effort to protect our information especially since one of the largest technology companies has been breached. With cyber security attacks on the rise, we should all be aware and careful of the sites that we are visiting. Apple workers simply visited a website for software developers and became infected with the virus. The hackers are breaking many laws by hacking Apple, Apple intents to find the hackers with the help of the police.

The article i chose is about why Smartphone, Laptop, and Airplane batteries can explode. These batteries are lithium-ion batteries and are less expensive and more energy dense than than regular batteries which is why many people use them. These batteries don't just short circuit, they explode into flames and the batteries explosive tendencies are the result of a process known as thermal runaway. This means that the increasing temp. causes the system to get hotter which increases the temp. and so on. The causes of this are short circuits, temperatures exceeding 60 degrees C, repeated overcharging, or unauthorized modifications to the case. This occurs very rarely but just to be on the safe side all you have to do is make sure you don't repeatably overcharge, and replace the batteries every 36 months or so to avoid pushing a worn cell to hard.  This relates to the selected tag economics because some companies such as apple took out 1.8 million iBook and PowerBook battery packs after just nine reports of overheating. It also relates to Portable Computing because your computer can overheat and be damaged forever.   

This article is about the capital of Peru which is the second largest capital in the world located in a desert. It rarely rains which means that many residents are forced to get their water from dirty wells. The good thing is that the humidity there is 98% so the local University designed a billboard that's able to harvest the moisture in the air and turn it into potable water. The University teamed up with with an add agency to create the billboard. A series of five tanks located at the top of the tower can store up to 96 liters of water at any given time, and the liquid reserves are accessible from a single faucet located at the base of the billboard.  The water vapor is being pulled directly from the air and further processed by a filtration system. The water is guaranteed to be clean enough for drinking all year round. I think that this is a great invention and should be used in many other places around the world with a high humidity. This article relates to the selected tag of Environment because even though it doesn't damage the environment it is a renewable resource and will only benefit us in the future.They get the water vapor from the air and change it into water from the environment. 

This article is about a music streaming service that Google might release for their Andriod Operating system. A few months ago, Apple was supposedly working on a music streaming service for their iOS and now Google is joining in, increasing the rivalry between them. Because of the on going rivalry between Andriod and Apple, both companies are trying to take all the necessary steps towards buying over their fans. The music streaming service would enable the customer to play music without actually having to download it. You would stream the music from the application with your internet connection, and since Google and Apple are developing these services, all the audio files that will be streamed will be playable on the device in use. This is a good way to get people to listen to music without actually having to download the song illegally and listen to the song they want to buy before purchasing it. This service could boost hardware sales, but they would not make a lot of money from the actual service itself, since its hard to make money with an ad-supported music streaming service.

This article discusses the speculation that facebook may be already working on its own phone. They are hoping to release a facebook smart phone already by next year. The article states that Facebook has already hired more than half a dozen former Apple engineers who worked on the iPhone to help them create this phone. A Facebook-built smartphone would allow users to more seamlessly send messages, post updates and share photos or article links. Although it makes apps for iPhones and iPads, Facebook is still not integrated into Apple's mobile operating system. They are working on this because, more and more people are now using smartphones, tablets, etc. over computers and laptops. This would allow easy access to facebook anywhere they go without paying for data on your phone. In my opinion, this would be a good thing for frequent facebook users that maybe need it for jobs, just to stay connected, or simply they need to make a status about everything that they do. It would make it much easier to use facebook if they were to make such a phone. I am not a very frequent facebook user. I can wait to get home in order to use so if this phone would come out, I personally do not see a need for me to purchase it.

On October 29, 2012 Google will unveil its new Android operating system called Android 4.2 or an update of Jelly Bean. Google will be showing Samsung Electronics Nexus 10 tablet and LG Electronics will be showing their first phone the Nexus 4 and the Nexus will be showed but won't be for sale until July of next year. This will be Google's biggest Nexus unveil with three new products. Google said that its new Nexus 10 tablet has a higher resolution camera of the iPad 3 and the Nexus 10 will have a pricing similar to the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 and Galaxy Note 10.1. I chose portable computing as one of my tags because now many companies are starting to unveil new tablets at a much lower price than usual and with better quality. Tablets are becoming more and more popular with people because of size and versatility and it's becoming a more competitive market. I chose economics as my other tag because tablets are becoming cheaper and with better apps, components, and size. A lot of companies are selling more of them so it is a competitive market and companies have to come with new tablets within a few months.

This article is about Etsy sending 20 of their female engineers to a hacker school in New York City to learn more about coding. Etsy finds it very important that they send women because in the engineering field women are a minority. Etsy's VP, Marc Hedlund believes that we need to start introducing engineering to women sooner, like in elementary school. I found this very interesting because I think it would be great if the school systems started introducing engineering earlier. As well I found it interesting how so few women were in the engineering field. 

Apparently around 650,000 mac computers were infected with Trojan horse virus called "Flashback" This trojan is hijacking people's search engines in result of their web browsers it pretty much damages the inside of the computer, it also steals banking or log in credential.  Cyber criminals could send new malware to their systems that cause bigger problems. This flashback was designed to conduct a click fraud scam.  Apple released a security patch for Java  that prevents Flashback Trojan from infecting your computer/mac.  

This article is about the 10 mistake not to do when designing a mobile app. 1. Don't Begin Wireframes or Designs Without a Flow map 2. Don't Disregard the Development Budget. 3. Don't Start With Low Resolutions & Avoid Bitmaps. 4. Don't Undersize The Hit Area. 5. Don't Gratuitously Use Intro Animations. 6. Don't Leave Users Hanging. 7. Don't Blindly Copy Style From Other Operating Systems. 8. Don't Overstuff Pixel-Dense Screens. 9. Don't Assume Everyone Will Use Your App The Same Way You Do. 10. Don't Forget About Gestures, But Don't Abuse Them Either.

This article is about a new device that could help avoid the usual visits to the doctor for injected medicines. It is done by implanting a microchip inside the patient's abdominal. Then the physician administers the drug by remotely pumping the meds into their system. So basically, the microchip delivers you the meds at the doctor's command. I think this is a good breakthrough in technology and medicine. I mean imagine getting the same medicine that is usually injected to you without the hassle of arranging appointments to the doctor and having to go through the pain of the needle. There is one concern though. What if someone sits on the button by accident or forgets to push the button? But nonethless, I find these device a very great thing to have in the future. 

This article talks about a lot of jobs related to social networking and amount of salary they are paid every year. This shows the social impact of social networking on our society because social networking is a big part of our society that there are so many jobs that deal with that. In the past, there were barely any jobs related to social networking. There is a pie graph that shows all the different jobs related to social networks and how much they are paid in each province in U.S. I thinks this would be a great help to teenagers who are interested in the social network systems because now they can look for careers that they might find interesting and work toward to achieve it because not many people know about the jobs that deals with social networking and they have hard time looking for something they can do but this article could help them. 

Xbox 360 has added several new apps to its gaming consoles Xbox Live package as part of an effort to make it an all-in-one entertainment system. It added various cable networks such as Comcast, HBO Go, and MLB TV. This relates to the course because it shows how technology is evolving.

Research shows that the Steelseries Siberia v2/7h is the best headset. These aren't like your "sound whoring" headsets like turtle beaches, but these provide great audio and great for gaming as well

thats cool brah, are they expensive?

This site is about the top five headsets for you're computer or gaming system. They tell you the price of each headset, how good the audio is, and all of the little applications that it has. I thought that this article was interesting because I do a lot of online gaming and weather its starcraft or Call of Duty, I always like to be able to go the best audio and surround sound to get me really into the game. This is related to the course because its amazing.