Group items tagged

Early in the afternoon today, a clever developer managed to sneak a Game Boy Advance emulator into an innocent looking app named "Awesome Baby Names". The secret emulator is activated by a series of taps on the touchscreen inside of the app. Once it is activated you can play your classic gba games just like you did in 2005. Apple was quick to catch this security breach as it was only in the App Store for twenty something minutes, but in that time many people including myself managed to download the app. This kind of sneaky activity from developers happens very seldom, but when something is smuggled into the App Store, it is usually very important. As stated in the article, it is a very easy process to unlock the emulator from the app, but getting the games and the BIOS onto the iPhone is the hard part. You must first download a program that lets you access the phone's file directory, then you must find the app's directory and drop the relevant BIOS and game files there. I chose the portable computing tag for this article because it deals with mobile technology and exploiting it to run handheld gaming software. This idea is not knew and has been around for a long time, but the idea of hiding the identity of apps and smuggling them into the App Store is a new idea. Apple is updating their security daily, but clearly couldn't spot this "child naming app" and make it out for the emulator that it was. I chose the privacy and security tag because Apple has a high priority for the security of their ecosystem and operating system, but clever people can still find ways to bypass this and get unidentified files into the operating system. I believe that Apple must keep a close eye on how they approve future apps into the app store because one day we may see cydia disguised as a senseless app make its way into the app store. If this happens, Apple with really have some explaining to do!    

Many countries recently blocked access to The Pirate Bay, a torrenting website, in order to prevent the illegal downloading of films, music, programs, and more. However, these efforts were futile, as many users are simply turning to proxy servers to allow them to bypass their countries censorship. Torrenting sites have always been risky territory for users, and as of late, more and more sites have been taking down in order to prevent pirating. The Pirate Bay has an insanely high volume of traffic, and it hasn't slowed down in recent times. It is noted in this article that the only way to rid of TPB is to physically shut down the servers, but even if that were to happen, users are simply going to move to the next site. Whether or not piracy negatively affects the income of the producers of the material being distributed is debatable, however the fact remains true that this process is completely illegal.  As a frequent torrenter, I hope that TPB will continue to thrive at it's current level. My hope is that all these pushes against torrenting will make the industries behind said files realize that users refuse to pay the ridiculous prices and taxes on content. This realization will hopefully lead to cheaper costs on retail products in the media industry, thus removing the need for pirating and torrenting. It will take awhile, but as long as the high price industry standards are in place, torrenting will continue to occur, and no legal matter will be able to stop it. If the internet is to truly be 'free', than laws and limitations should not be placed on content provided. #BarbieJXoXo

This is the greatest article of all time.

I am not the same guy as this poster, but I think he is beautiful

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.

The new OS; Windows 8, is bringing on a lot of excitement, but many people are not too happy with the changes made, myself included. Many people miss the desktop screen, and dislike the new start screen. Others don't like the tiled look and are more used to that of windows 7. There are many other problems and this article describes how to fix all of them. First of all, There is the desktop screen problem. Many of us used to place all our most used programs on our desktop screen so that when you log on, you will have quick access to all you needs, but now all of that is gone and replaced by the start screen. Fortunately, you can bring them back with Start8 (which is easier to use but costs $5) or Classic Shell (which is harder to use but is more customizable and is free). The cool thing about Classic Shell is that it can fix many other things, such as turning your windows explorer from a ribon-ified mess into a usable file browser. you can also fix this problem with Xplorer2. Another problem is that you cant view your videos without buying an attachment to windows media player, but you can fix this with free programs such as VLC There are many other peeves i n widnows 8 that this article helps solve. In conclusion, I feel that knowing that these problems can be fixed will lean alot more people towards windows 8

Many of use know about pirating, and some even do it. So far we thought that it was an easy way to get things with little ways of getting caught; this however is going to change. A knew security system is in development and bound to be out within the next 2 months that will catch those who pirate, and if numerous warnings are ignored; they will be prosecuted. This program watches popular sites such as bittorent and tracks the ip address of those who download illegal content. Then it sends warnings and if those are ignored, you will be tracked and investigated. Overall I believe this software will help stop pirating, but it will be met with huge opposition because most people wont be willing to give up their access to free movies, music, software, etc. Also this raises a privacy issue, but as this security system only tracks your IP, its not much of a problem compared to other tracking systems out there. To conclude, I believe the future of this system is filled with huge debates and maybe even battles.

This post is on cracking Wi-Fi WPA passwords with "Reaver." Many people know that cracking a WEP password is fairly easy, so they use the more bulletproof WPA security protocol. Reaver is a program that exploits a security hole in wireless routers and can crack most routers' passwords with relative ease. First off, you will need the BackTrack 5 Live DVD. Download the Live DVD from BackTrack's download page and burn it to a DVD. Next, you need a computer with Wi-Fi and a DVD drive. Lastly, you need a nearby WPA-secured Wi-Fi Network. Using four steps you can hack into a WPA Wi-Fi Network. Step 1: Boot into BackTrack, Step 2: Install Reaver, Step 3: Gather the Router's information, and Step 4: Crack the WPA password to the Wi-Fi Network. Now I will explain how you can protect against Reaver attacks. Since the vulnerability lies in the implementation of WPS, your network should be safe if you can simply turn off WPS (or, even better, if your router doesn't support it in the first place), however Reaver may still be able to crack your password, even with WPS manually turned off. You could also set up MAC address filtering on your router (which only allows specifically whitelisted devices to connect to your network), but a sufficiently savvy hacker could detect the MAC address of a whitelisted device and use MAC address spoofing to imitate that computer. The good news is that there is a way to surely protect against Reaver. You can get the open-source router firmware DD-WRT installed on your router. Reaver has been tested on routers with this firmware and it was not able to crack the password. As it turns out, DD-WRT does not support WPS, so there's yet another reason to love the free router-booster.

This article gives the reader helpful information and the benefits to backing up your computer/hard drive. Without doing so, in the state of some kind of malfunction on your computer, you could be in a situation where all your files have been deleted and there is no way to get them back because there was no back up. This article appealed to me because I learned the hard way from a while back when my laptop had been infected with a virus which deleted every single program I had (even iTunes). 

This article introduces the official release of the long time coming Raspberry Pi. This new technology is set to include 256MB, at only a $25 price point. This is both good for consumers who use a lot of memory for downloading or uploading data or programs and also for consumers who will be interested for such it's low price and would not mind investing in this product.This relates to me because this small and portable hardware device is intriguing in my life for it's various purposes that include, compatibility with a SD card, USB, and RCA video, along with it's large memory capacity, I am certainly interested in purchasing this new device to help store, save, and use data all in this new compact piece of technology. 

This article talks about new program in Facebook called time line. Timeline is becoming famous among many people. However, some people are against this changes. this caused some marketers to wonder if migrating their brand to Facebook Timeline was worth the effort. there is a report that brands are getting an average of 46% more engagement with Timeline. Average Engagement per post and Fan Engagement Rate increased about 60% in total.   Most of the brands and their engagement post changed a lot after the timeline therefore it was worth for them to market their brands. This relates to our course because it talks about how our culture, store and even their marketing strategies are affected by the internet. 

Nike decided to come out with a new app that helps you exercise and get prepared for sports. This app connects with a pair of shoes they made and it is able to detect your speed, jump height etc. As well, this app has various techniques and warm ups you can do. This app is for i-phones and is available in the summer. I feel this new technology is good for everyone because it makes you want to become physically active and you can learn new techniques for sports that you never knew before. As well, this relates to the course because the app is a software and sensors in the shoes are the hardware. They had to program the app for it to work and sensor properly. 

this article is about a company announced its AudiOffice product at the 2012 Mobile World Congress this week. It's a dock equipped with speakers for Apple's iPhone, iPod and iPad. It plays music, makes calls and allows users to video chat with others.Since apps such as Skype and FaceTime are often used for business communication to help with web connectivity and control costs, AudiOffice allows users to use these programs without having to go through your computer.Don't have an iOS device? You can still connect a mobile phone to the system via its internal Bluetooth radio.

This article is about a channel on a game streaming site that allows users to 'join in'. The channel's creator, Polygon, has formulated a way in translating chat comments into control inputs. Over the past few days this Pokemon game has received over 35 000 players typing in commands all at the same time, causing lag and a lack of cooperation. However, despite the slow progress in leading the hero around the playing field, players are still determined to defeat the game's eight gym leaders. What is really amazing about this is that Pokemon even after all this time is very popular and people are still finding different ways to program and play this game. It also shows that you don't have to create a new advanced system or another pacemaker to be successful in computers.

I'm not entirely clear what the connection is to careers in computing. Please clarify

In the 2000's. enrollment in computer science at UNB was cut in half, creating a need for more graduates for computer science. There were "More job than graduates from computer science programs." Recruiters were sent out to try to convince more students to join into computer sciences, even as young as grade five, trying to explain the simplicity and importance of computer science. Since then, the efforts of the recruiters boosted the numbers up by 47%. This relates to the tag "careers" because it shows the sudden need for computer science graduates due to the large sum of jobs in computer sciences. There is a high need for this through the 2000's and is likely still in need today. Though this "crisis" was averted, is there still a possibility that this may happen again, and is anyone prepared? In my opinion, if it does happen again we should be ready for this problem, since it will send out more possibilities for jobs.

This article talks about how hackers have been scamming netflix users into believing that there is a problem with there netflix account. when the user calls the 'tech support line" (which is also fake) they are transferred to a scammer who will prompt you to download a program that allows them to search your computer for any valuable information. These scammers have also charged these innocent people with a fake bill of $400. So do not fall for these tricks or else you'll be dealing with your information stolen and $400 down the drain. This article reminds us how careful we have to be while enjoying our computers.

The United States governments is spying on everyone, and the easiest way to monitor people is through the internet. Many people believe that one day the US government's way of monitoring people will be shared with or found out by a criminal organization. I believe that although it is important for that US governments to put surveillance they should just monitory anyone suspicious. Also I believe that if they spy on everyone it will become easier to find and hack them back. Personally I would not care if a government was watching my every move on the internet because I have nothing to hide. Finally I believe that most people would sleep better if the Government would tell the population if their spying program was compromised.      

By now, everyone who is the slightest bit technologically inclined - or just interested in the news - has heard of the 'questionable' activities of the NSA. The National Security Agency, for the uninitiated, is a United States government agency that deals with national security and recently became the object of scrutiny after leaked information showed the massive data collection effort of the agency. This included: recording phone calls, ingoing and outgoing call identities, computer browsing, emails, key-logging and much much more. Needless to say, this was perceived as a tad scandalous and independent panels were brought in to assess the agencies spying program. Recently, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board concluded that the metadata collected by the NSA was obtained through illegal means. Before you cheer, however, this sort of conclusion has been reached before and has only resulted in a promise to limit spying. This is bad because its merely a promise; a promise from a government who lied repeatedly, committed perjury, knowingly covered its tracks, and chased a citizen away with the threat of life in prison. Unfortunately, many people have since stopped caring because its no longer new news, but we need to stand up for our right to privacy and demand legal action to prevent such breaches of trust in the future.

How many of us have ever walked up to buy something only to throw your hand into a bunch of cash? Well Google has come out with a revolutionary app called google wallet. This app basically combines all of your payment methods into your mobile phone! It will even add point to your American Express card or any specific reward points programs for specific venders. Isn't this amazing or what?  

Netflix is starting to slowly impress us bit by bit. They've signed an agreement with both CBC and Warner Bros. Recently Netflix has also signed an agreement with The CW. Shows like Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries and One Tree Hill and future shows will be available on Netflix starting Oct.15. Signing agreements with these programs will definitely give Netflix a boost.