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<title>Haaze.com / Lynda / All</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
<description>Test Web 2.0 Content Management System</description>
<pubDate>Sat, 14 May 2011 07:10:10 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[With PSN still down, what else is there to do]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=with-psn-still-down-what-else-is-there-to-do</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=with-psn-still-down-what-else-is-there-to-do</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 14 May 2011 07:10:10 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lynda</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=with-psn-still-down-what-else-is-there-to-do</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Crave UK)Are you a disgruntledPlayStation Network gamer At least you're not alone--there are more than 100 million PSN users who've had their data nicked by shadowy digital thieves. Sony's (probably) working hard to get the service back online before everyone throws their PS3s in a canal, but with the only date we have to go on still nearly three weeks away, we thought we'd rattle through a few suggestions of what to do in the meantime.1. Go outsideJust kidding. We hate the outdoors as much as you. Seriously, it's full of bugs and pollen. Besides, everyone knows you can get a decent tan simply by turning your monitor up really bright.Read more of &quot;With PlayStation Network still down, what else is there to do&quot; at Crave UK. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[German investigation of Novell patent sale halted]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=german-investigation-of-novell-patent-sale-halted</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=german-investigation-of-novell-patent-sale-halted</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 12 Jan 2011 08:10:33 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lynda</dc:creator>
<category>Business &amp; Finance</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=german-investigation-of-novell-patent-sale-halted</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The German antitrust authority said today that it is unable to investigate the establishment of a consortium set up to buy hundreds of open-source patents from Novell due to the consortium members withdrawing their application in that country. Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, and EMC filed a notification with the Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office) on December 6, telling the competition authority that they intended to unify under the name of CPTN Holdings to buy 882 patents from Novell (not including the company's Unix copyrights). The filing was the first public identification of Microsoft's partners in the venture, which was announced in late November along with the $2.2 billion sale of Novell to Attachmate. On December 30, CPTN Holdings withdrew its filing. Microsoft told ZDNet UK today that this is &quot;a purely procedural step necessary to provide time to allow for review of the proposed transaction.&quot;Read more of &quot;German investigation of Novell patent sale halted&quot; at ZDNet UK.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Words too hard Try Google's new search filter]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=words-too-hard-try-googles-new-search-filter</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=words-too-hard-try-googles-new-search-filter</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 10 Dec 2010 08:10:36 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lynda</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=words-too-hard-try-googles-new-search-filter</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Hey, we&amp;39're intermediate!(Credit:Screenshot by Tom Krazit/CNET)Google quietly added an advanced search feature over the last couple of days that sorts the Internet by reading level.Search Engine Roundtable noticed that when you click on the &quot;advanced search&quot; link next to a Google search box on the right, you're now presented with an additional option to sort by &quot;reading level,&quot; which lets you &quot;annotate results with reading levels,&quot; &quot;show only basic results,&quot; &quot;show only intermediate results,&quot; and &quot;show only advanced results.&quot; A Google representative said in a statement that the company added this &quot;as yet another way for people to pare down their results to the kinds of pages they're most interested in.&quot; The company cited teachers looking for materials for grade-schoolers, or researchers looking for detailed materials as those who might want to employ this feature. An interesting side effect, however, is that the tool allows searchers to compare the average reading levels of the content produced by Web sites by selecting &quot;annotate results with reading levels&quot; and typing the site's domain into another field. Google said it developed the categorization system with the help of teachers who were paid to sort Web pages into one of the three buckets, after which it built a statistical model to expand those rankings to the Web at large. Google didn't provide further details on what type of criteria the teachers used to decide when a page was &quot;basic&quot; or &quot;intermediate.&quot; For example, 74 percent of the content on CNET News is considered &quot;intermediate,&quot; whereas 72 percent of the content on TMZ is considered &quot;basic&quot; and 72 percent of the content on the National Nanotechnology Institute's site is considered &quot;advanced.&quot; Literary snobs, consider this an early Christmas present from Google. And if anyone knows a teacher who participated in this study, please have them get in touch.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Amazon: U.S. played no role in WikiLeaks disconnect]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=amazon-u-s--played-no-role-in-wikileaks-disconnect</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=amazon-u-s--played-no-role-in-wikileaks-disconnect</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 02 Dec 2010 08:10:31 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lynda</dc:creator>
<category>Politics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=amazon-u-s--played-no-role-in-wikileaks-disconnect</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Amazon denied today that government pressure played any role in its decision earlier this week to stop hosting WikiLeaks' content.In a blog post, the online retailer said it terminated its hosting relationship with the controversial site because it became clear that WikiLeaks was violating Amazon's terms of service. That violation occurred, Amazon said, because WikiLeaks did not control all of the rights related to the classified government cables it posted this week. The e-tail giant's post also said it doubted the documents had been carefully redacted as promised and innocent lives could be put at risk as a result:Amazon Web Services (AWS) rents computer infrastructure on a self-service basis. AWS does not pre-screen its customers, but it does have terms of service that must be followed. WikiLeaks was not following them. There were several parts they were violating. For example, our terms of service state that &quot;you represent and warrant that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to the content...that use of the content you supply does not violate this policy and will not cause injury to any person or entity.&quot;  It's clear that WikiLeaks doesn't own or otherwise control all the rights to this classified content. Further, it is not credible that the extraordinary volume of 250,000 classified documents that WikiLeaks is publishing could have been carefully redacted in such a way as to ensure that they weren't putting innocent people in jeopardy. Human rights organizations have in fact written to WikiLeaks asking them to exercise caution and not release the names or identities of human rights defenders who might be persecuted by their governments.We've been running AWS for over four years and have hundreds of thousands of customers storing all kinds of data on AWS. Some of this data is controversial, and that's perfectly fine. But, when companies or people go about securing and storing large quantities of data that isn't rightfully theirs, and publishing this data without ensuring it won't injure others, it's a violation of our terms of service, and folks need to go operate elsewhere.Amazon also denied that the termination decision was based on its being subjected to massive distributed-denial-of-service attacks (DDoS) this week, as WikiLeaks' site was also reported to have endured.&quot;There were indeed large-scale DDoS attacks, but they were successfully defended against,&quot; Amazon said.Amazon cut off WikiLeaks yesterday, just days after the whistleblowing site released some 250,000 State Department diplomatic cables, resulting in what one German newspaper called &quot;nothing short of a political meltdown for U.S. foreign policy.&quot; The White House has repeatedly condemned WikiLeaks for the move, saying the release of sensitive documents could put lives at risk around the world.The latest release of documents has some politicians calling for the site to be branded a terrorist group, putting it in the same category as al-Qaeda. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (Ind.-Conn.), who is chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, sent inquiries to Amazon on Tuesday, asking it to explain the company's relationship with WikiLeaks. Lieberman issued a statement yesterday applauding the move to cut off WikiLeaks, but Amazon said reports that the senator's inquiries influenced its decision were &quot;inaccurate.&quot;        Steven Musil    Full Profile E-mail Steven Musil   E-mail Steven Musil If you have a question or comment for Steven Musil, you can submit it here. However, because our editors and writers receive hundreds of requests, we cannot tell you when you may receive a response.   Submit your question or comment here: 0 of 1500 characters       Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. Before joining CNET News in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers. E-mail Steven.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Seagate to remain a public company after all]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=seagate-to-remain-a-public-company-after-all</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=seagate-to-remain-a-public-company-after-all</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 29 Nov 2010 08:10:37 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lynda</dc:creator>
<category>Business &amp; Finance</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=seagate-to-remain-a-public-company-after-all</guid>
<description><![CDATA[After considering its options, Seagate has decided to stick it out as a public company.The Scotts Valley, Calif.-based hard-drive maker said today that after taking a look at what private equity firms were offering, it will not take the company private, and will instead buy back $2 billion worth of stock from shareholders.&quot;We appreciate the interest shown by the private equity firms and our dialogues with them were extensive and thoughtful,&quot; Seagate CEO Stephen Luczo said in a statement. &quot;However, management and the board have chosen to cease discussions concerning a private equity-led leveraged buyout. Given the strong debt markets, improving business conditions and other financing options, Seagate has initiated a plan to further optimize its capital structure to maximize shareholder returns.&quot;Luczo announced in October that the company was exploring a sale to a private equity firm. It was reported that at least two firms were interested. Seagate has taken the private equity option before. Back in 2000, the hard-drive maker was bought out for $20 billion by Silver Lake Partners, only to step back into the public markets just two years later.In the last few years, as one of the largest hard-drive makers in the world, Seagate has seen its business take a hit from the drop in consumer and corporate PC sales. This time, however, it appears it plans to ride out this rough patch with its books in the public eye. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Verizon's Fios to run Google TV Ads]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizons-fios-to-run-google-tv-ads</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizons-fios-to-run-google-tv-ads</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:10:07 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lynda</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizons-fios-to-run-google-tv-ads</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google has found another partner for its television advertising project in a familiar place. Verizon Communications' Fios TV service has signed a deal with Google TV Ads to feature video ads uploaded to Google by advertisers wanting to use the search giant's self-service ad tools, the companies announced today. Advertisers will be able to reach an additional 3.3 million homes with the deal, which will see Verizon and Google collaborating on yet another project, in line with their strong Android partnership and joint efforts on Net neutrality. Google TV Ads doesn't get as much buzz as other parts of the company's advertising network, but Google has been plugging away at the effort for several years after shutting down similar services for print and radio advertising. Businesses that already have accounts with Google for search or display advertising can also get into television through Google TV Ads, but it's not clear how much of Google's huge search-advertising base has flirted with the small screen. Google also signed up DirecTV earlier this year as a partner. This is a separate project from Google TV, which currently doesn't feature any advertising, but it's likely only a matter of time before Google starts experimenting with ads there. It will have to get a little more traction in the market, however' early reviews of Google TV, including CNET's, were not overwhelming.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Guy creates bot to auto-buy cheap gifts online]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=guy-creates-bot-to-auto-buy-cheap-gifts-online</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=guy-creates-bot-to-auto-buy-cheap-gifts-online</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 08 Nov 2010 08:10:55 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lynda</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=guy-creates-bot-to-auto-buy-cheap-gifts-online</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The secret sauce that gave Hunkin his idea.(Credit:Randall Munroe)Being that I'm a famous geek-culture Internet celebrity, people send me gifts all the time. Why, just today I walked out of my apartment to find an eye patch, chopsticks, a John Elway coffee mug, and a power supply for a PowerBook 1400cs. Thank you, readers, for your kind gifts!But not everyone can be a well-known blogger. Take, for example, Paul Hunkin, a Ph.D. student in New Zealand. He set up an Internet bot to randomly buy low-priced stuff, with free shipping, from an online auction site. Paul, you see, likes to get packages. This way, he gets one, on average, every three days. The bot even tweets what it bought (these watch batteries, for example,) so Paul, and anyone else, can keep track.The thing was inspired by this wonderful old strip at XKCD, a nerd Web comic that you should be reading if you aren't. A quote from Paul's Web site:Google didn't reveal anyone doing this already, and after asking a few people, the general opinion was that doing this was a terrible idea that would inevitably end badly. So obviously I had to do it.Poor life choices are, in my opinion, a mark of disturbed genius. Hunkin's script uses Python, and it gains a dollar a day and runs every evening at 8 p.m. Each time it runs it has a one-in-three chance of purchasing something' that way if it doesn't find anything it likes, it can save up for slightly more pricey items.Paul includes more tidbits on his Web site, like an overview of the algorithm the bot uses to pick what to buy, but sadly no downloadable source code.Paul, if you're reading this, please make it available. More people, including Yours Truly, want to get random packages. And really, this could help out the global economy, don't you think&amp;quot'Look what my bot got me today!&amp;quot'(Credit:http://twitter.com/trademe_xkcd576)<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[BMW sends plug-in Vision EfficientDynamics to production]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bmw-sends-plug-in-vision-efficientdynamics-to-production</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bmw-sends-plug-in-vision-efficientdynamics-to-production</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 05 Nov 2010 07:11:19 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lynda</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bmw-sends-plug-in-vision-efficientdynamics-to-production</guid>
<description><![CDATA[BMW announced today that it's sending the Vision EfficientDynamics plug-in sportscar to production.The plug-in diesel concept coupe was revealed at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show and won the manufacturer several awards for its innovative design and clean technology. The Vision EfficientDynamics uses three power plants to propel the winged 2+2: a three-cylinder turbo diesel engine along with electric motors at each axle. The exotic can operate using its electric motors, diesel engine, or a combination of the two. Full throttle, the trio produces a total of of 328 horsepower and has a 0-60 mph time of 4.8 seconds. BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept revealed (photos) Despite its impressive stats, the BMW has better fuel economy than a Prius, achieving 75.1 mpg. Using only its lithium polymer battery, the Vision EfficientDynamics has an electric range of 31 miles before its diesel engine kicks in, which extends the coupe's range to 435 miles. Even more impressive: the four-seater's battery can be fully recharged in only 2.5 hours using a conventional power socket.This drivetrain sounds futuristic, but this technology was already in production or near production at the 2009 auto show, and can be found in the BMW ActiveHybrid 7 and upcoming EVs, such as the MINI E and BMW MegaCity Vehicle in 2013. The Vision EfficientDynamics will receive a few structural changes (bye bye glass doors) and will be constructed entirely of carbon fiber, according to BMW Blog. Now all it needs is a real name.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[How Google stops you hiding your location]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-google-stops-you-hiding-your-location</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-google-stops-you-hiding-your-location</comments>
<pubDate>Sun, 31 Oct 2010 07:10:05 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lynda</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-google-stops-you-hiding-your-location</guid>
<description><![CDATA[I am not always awake, even when I appear to be clothed, eating, and mumbling.So I am grateful to Google for waking me up the other morning with the news that it knew where I was. Of course, you always knew they always knew. But suddenly, as I was performing a Google search for a David Arquette Halloween mask, there was my location on the left side of the search page.It felt like my neighbor had come in by the back door, sat down at my kitchen table, and helped herself to Weetabix and cookies. Well, not quite. You see, Google had somehow got my location wrong. The company seems to believe I live five miles north of where I actually do.Still, I found myself wondering what this all might mean. So I did a Google search and discovered that this was all part of a robust thrust into location-based customization. When Google knows where you are, it can offer you more local, intimate, cuddly results for any search you might choose to perform. Such as, I don't know, &quot;who is the president of Azerbaijan&quot;We know where you are. And you know we know where you are. So what&amp;39's the big deal(Credit:CC Joli O&amp;39'Dell/Flickr)No one should be surprised that Google knows where they are. This idea has been around for a long time. Every time you land in another time zone, your cell phone knows exactly where you are, so why might this be a problemPerhaps it isn't. Perhaps this is merely another small step toward mankind's new public life.However, I was somehow moved to read a little of Google's explanation behind telling me that I live five miles north of where I do. So I went to Google's location-based help pages to learn more.What moved me most is Google's pride in informing me that I cannot turn off location-based services. This isn't personal. You can't turn them off either.Here is Google's explanation: &quot;The customization of search results based on location is an important component of a consistent, high-quality search experience. Therefore, we haven't provided a way to turn off location customization, although we've made it easy for you to set your own location or to customize using a general location as broad as the country that matches your local domain.&quot;I know there will be many whose chests (and other parts) will fill with pride at the idea that searches can be customized within inches (or, in my case five miles) of your garage remote. But might there be one or two people who marvel, yet again, how companies that purport to be progressive and, dare one use the word, liberal, seem to think nothing of behaving in a manner that restricts and imposes Google's help pages explains that if you live in Spain, you cannot perform a search through the eyes of an American or a Russian. You can, however widen your search so that it uses the country you are in (rather than the street) as its basis.Google's charmingly constricting attitude toward location-based services is, quite naturally, all about business. If they know where you are, they can tell advertisers where you are and everyone can roll in a little more money.It may well be that, in the extremely near future, our cell phones will be inundated with random spontaneous texts and e-mails offering us 20 percent off bras and negligees if we'd just turn 45 degrees to our left and step inside Victoria's Secret. But isn't there something extremely sad about a company telling you that you might want to just be anonymous, you might want not to reveal your location, even if it's just for today, but you can't What you might want, you see, doesn't really matter. What you might spend does.In a world in which choice is championed as one of the fundamentals of the free world, isn't it a little disconcerting to be told you have no choice<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Researchers hack toys, attack iPhones at ToorCon]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=researchers-hack-toys-attack-iphones-at-toorcon</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=researchers-hack-toys-attack-iphones-at-toorcon</comments>
<pubDate>Sun, 24 Oct 2010 18:24:05 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lynda</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=researchers-hack-toys-attack-iphones-at-toorcon</guid>
<description><![CDATA[This IM-Me instant messaging toy for teen girls can be turned into a wireless tool for opening garage doors, cloning RFID tags and other less innocent activities.(Credit:Elinor Mills/CNET)SAN DIEGO--From &quot;weaponized&quot;iPhone software to hacked toys and leaked cookies, researchers at the ToorCon security conference here this weekend showed how easy it can be to poke holes in software and hardware with the right tools, know-how, and curiosity.  One researcher demonstrated how to take control of an iPhone using an exploit that targets a hole inSafari, which has been patched. The iPhone had an app installed that allowed it to process credit card numbers, which could then be stolen if this were an attack in the wild. Eric Monti, a senior security researcher at Trustwave, &quot;weaponized&quot; an exploit that was launched as the Jailbreakme.com program this summer, designed to allow iPhone owners to use unauthorized apps.  For the demo, he directed the &quot;victim&quot; iPhone to a Web address that opened a PDF file that contained the exploit code. Then a rootkit was downloaded giving him complete control of the iPhone. Once a rootkit is downloaded an attacker has access to all data, e-mails, voicemails, and text messages, as well as the microphone and speaker. &quot;You can easily eavesdrop on someone if you're on their iPhone remotely,&quot; Monti said.  If the iPhone has the free Square app installed, which is used for processing credit card numbers, the attacker could also steal those numbers, he said, adding that there is not a security issue with the Square app. &quot;We will see people processing credit cards in stores using iPhone apps,&quot; transactions using highly sensitive data that should be on only secured devices, Monti told CNET in an interview after his talk. Two researchers gave a light-hearted talk, titled &quot;Real Men Carry Pink Pagers,&quot; about how they turned a toy into a wireless tool that could be used to open garage doors and clone RFID tags used for inventory control on shipping docks and RFID-based passports, among other uses. The pink plastic IM-Me device, with a &quot;Girl Tech&quot; brand on it, was designed to allow young girls to send instant messages with friends on a private network.  The IM-Me device also uses the same wireless chip that some smart meters use and could be turned into a diagnostic tool to test the security of those devices, said wireless researcher Michael Ossman. He worked on the project with Travis Goodspeed, who wrote software that gives the IM-Me functionality that most teen girls can't fathom.  &quot;We took old hardware and repurposed it...It's fun to turn it into something useful and to learn about it,&quot; Ossman said, summing up a core element of the true hacker spirit.  This isn't the first toy Ossman has worked his hack magic on. During Defcon in August, he used the hackable badge from the event to try to turn a toy guitar into an electric instrument. The guitar, which he played for a select audience this weekend, remains acoustic at this point, but Ossman did manage to create a very cool electronic light oscillator for tuning the strings using RGB (red, green, and blue) LEDs.  Two other presenters showed how limited encryption used on many popular sites on the Web--like Facebook, Twitter, Hotmail, and Flickr (but not Google)--can put user accounts at risk of compromise by someone snooping on session traffic between the user's computer and the site's server. Sites typically encrypt the username and password as they are transmitted, but unless the entire Web session is encrypted with &quot;https,&quot; or secure hypertext transfer protocol, someone sniffing the network could capture the cookie information and use that to access the accounts, according to security researchers Eric Butler and Ian Gallagher.  Web surfers don't even have to be on one of the sites to have their cookie data exposed. Any site that even just hosts a Facebook or Twitter widget or has a Flickr image embedded can leak a user's cookie data if the user is logged into the relevant host site, they said. &quot;The cookie allows you to do everything you can with a password,&quot; Butler said. &quot;It is hard for users to protect themselves.&quot;  So-called HTTP session hijacking, or &quot;sidejacking,&quot; is not new' another researcher released a tool last year to enable this on Facebook. But Butler and Gallagher said users will be vulnerable to such attacks until Web sites move to full session, end-to-end encryption and configure sites to indicate that browsers only should send data over encrypted channels. They are releasing aFirefox extension tool -- called Firesheep -- that automates an attack and said that they hope that doing so will bring attention to the problem and motivate Web site owners to use encryption more broadly.  &quot;Any motivated attacker could do this without this tool,&quot; Butler said. &quot;We think this will shine light on the issue.&quot; Eric Monti demonstrates how he is able to surreptitiously take control of an iPhone during a ToorCon presentation. (Credit:Elinor Mills/CNET)Another researcher talked about the security problems with the Absolute Manage (formerly LANrev) software, which was designed to remotely update software and which was used to secretly take photos of high school students in Philadelphia earlier this year. Joel Voss, security consultant at Leviathan, said it took him only 48 hours to develop a proof of concept and another dozen hours to create a working exploit to break the encryption on the software.  Voss' exploit renders all computers with the Absolute Manage client software installed vulnerable to compromise by an attacker who could not only spy on the computers, but even run malware on them. Voss informed the company about the problem in July but the current release of the software does not resolve the issue, he said. &quot;It's bad for anyone to be running software that is that insecure,&quot; he said, adding that he is not releasing the exploit. Absolute Manage could not be reached for comment on Sunday.  Developers need to be aware of the privacy implications of the software they create, said David Kane-Parry, a principal security consultant at Leviathan Security Group. His talk focused on potential unintended privacy issues related to location-based mobile apps, like Google Maps, in which the data is not encrypted between the consumer's device and the app server. He also noted, for example, that mobile photos uploaded to sites like Facebook can be geo-tagged to reveal the coordinates of where the photo was taken, unbeknownst to the picture taker. And in a keynote at the event, Dan Kaminsky, who discovered a security flaw with authentication in the Internet's Domain Name System last year and an even more serious problem the year before, talked about the need for the industry to adopt DNSSEC, which stands for Domain Name System Security Extensions. DNSSEC deployment has been slow because it's not easy to do, he said.  To solve that problem Kaminsky has developed software he jokingly dubbed &quot;Phreebird&quot; that allows DNSSEC to be deployed as an upgrade to the existing infrastructure without having to &quot;massively change their processes,&quot; he said. A test version of the software will be released at Black Hat Abu Dhabi in November. Meanwhile, a member of the Google Chrome team has developed an &quot;unofficial, unsanctioned&quot; build of Chrome that uses DNSSEC to validate Web sites, he said.  &quot;There's a huge bug in one of the core concepts of the Internet,&quot; Kaminsky said in an interview. &quot;DNSSEC is a fix, but we need to deploy it.&quot; Updated at 4:32 p.m. PDT Oct. 25 to include name of Butler's Firefox extension for snooping on unsecured sites and Updated at 4:25 p.m. PDT to correct the spellings of Joel Voss and David Kane-Parry. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Google&'s do-it-yourself Android App Inventor opens up to all]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=googlersquos-do-it-yourself-android-app-inventor-opens-up-to-all</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=googlersquos-do-it-yourself-android-app-inventor-opens-up-to-all</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lynda</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=googlersquos-do-it-yourself-android-app-inventor-opens-up-to-all</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google is opening up App Inventor, its web software for easily creating Android apps, to everyone, the company announced yesterday in a blog post.App Inventor launched in July, and users previously had to request an invitation to gain access to it. Now the software will drop the need for invites and move to beta status, like many Google services. By doing so, Google has enabled anyone &amp;8212' from novice users, to more experienced programmers &amp;8212' to create Android mobile apps of their own.Google says a wide variety of users have taken advantage of App Inventor so far, building things like a vocabulary app for their kids, an app that tracks public transportation routes and a Harry Potter-themed marriage proposal app. With the software, users can drag and drop blocks of code to build their app, so they don&amp;'t need programming knowledge to use the software.DIY, or do-it-yourself, technology is a growing trend these days. As VentureBeat&amp;'s Dean Takahashi previously wrote, &amp;''Microsoft has made similar efforts, offering tools to help any user create video games that can run on the Xbox 360. AndMaker Faire has become a celebration of the whole movement.&amp;'' App Inventor&amp;'s accessibility also sits in stark contrast to Apple&amp;'s app development environment, which requires annual fees and adherence to Apple&amp;'s rules.You can see the software demonstrated in a video below.Previous Story: TextPlus brings social features to group texting appPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Android, App Inventor, apps, development, programming, smartphonesCompanies: Google          Tags: Android, App Inventor, apps, development, programming, smartphonesCompanies: GoogleDevindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Twitter investor Union Square could be aiming for later-stage deals]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=twitter-investor-union-square-could-be-aiming-for-later-stage-deals</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=twitter-investor-union-square-could-be-aiming-for-later-stage-deals</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lynda</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=twitter-investor-union-square-could-be-aiming-for-later-stage-deals</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Union Square Ventures, the New York City firm that was an early investor in Twitter, is raising a new $200 million fund, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.It looks like Fortunea4a4s Dan Primack was the first to report on the filing, which shows that Union Square has raised $135 million for the fund so far. According to one of Primack&amp;'s sources, this fund is targeted at later-stage investments in more mature companies, an idea backed up by the fact that John Buttrick, formerly of private equity firm LiveWire Ventures, is listed as a new partner. (Union Square partner Fred Wilson declined to comment since the firm hasna4a4t finished raising the money.)If ita4a4s a later-stage fund, ita4a4s a relatively small one, not much larger than the firma4a4s $156 million second (early-stage) fund. For example, Kleiner Perkins Caufield &amp;amp' Byers has set aside $250 million just to invest in social networking startups through its sFund, and is reportedly raising more than $1 billion across various funds.Wilson seemed to address the issue earlier this month, in a blog post that was published the same day that Twittera4a4s new $200 million round led by Kleiner Perkins was revealed, along with the $3.7 billion valuation. Union Square sat out the new round, as it had the round before, and while Wilson didna4a4t address the Twitter deal explicitly, he complained about firms that are so eager to own a big sizable stake in a company that they&amp;'ll increase their investment size as the valuation gets driven up.This practice, Wilson said, is a result of firms investing a4Alarge funds of other peoplea4a4s money.a4 He added:Our firm could raise more money if we wanted it and needed it. But I think raising larger funds will ultimately lower the returns we can deliver to our investors and we have resisted doing that.Previous Story: Groupon set to raise nearly $1BPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Companies: Union Square VenturesPeople: Fred Wilson, John Buttrick          Companies: Union Square VenturesPeople: Fred Wilson, John ButtrickAnthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Google launches ebook store with world&'s largest library of titles]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-launches-ebook-store-with-worldrsquos-largest-library-of-titles</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-launches-ebook-store-with-worldrsquos-largest-library-of-titles</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lynda</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-launches-ebook-store-with-worldrsquos-largest-library-of-titles</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Is this the end of Amazon&amp;'s ebook reign Google is launching its new open ebook store today, simply called Google eBooks, with over 3 million titles, in a bid to take on the ebook world dominated by Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Apple.As we reported previously, Google&amp;'s ebook venture will be more open than its competition. Consumers will be able to browse and search Google&amp;'s enormous ebook library, and they can read ebooks on any web enabled device. Your ebook library will be tied to your Google account and will be accessible through any web browser. You&amp;'ll be able to buy ebooks directly from Google, or from independent bookseller partners like Powell&amp;'s, Alibris and participating members of the American Bookseller&amp;'s Association.Google wisely isn&amp;'t relying on the web entirely, as the company is releasing free Google eBooks apps for the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. The apps will let users continue reading where they left off when they switch devices, just like ebook reading apps from Amazon and Apple. You&amp;'ll also be able to browse and purchase ebooks from within the apps. Google is also providing an app for Barnes and Noble&amp;'s Nook and Sony&amp;'s ebook readers. There&amp;'s no word on Kindle compatibility yet, but I wouldn&amp;'t hold your breath for that.The ebook store will also tie into Google Books, the company&amp;'s digitization project for the world&amp;'s books. Google says that is has scanned more than 15 million books since the project began in 2004 from more than 35,000 publishers. You&amp;'ll be able to search through Google&amp;'s scanned offerings in the research section of its ebook store.I don&amp;'t suspect that Google will initially be very successful with this ebook venture. Competitors like Amazon and Barnes and Noble are already entrenched in the market, and consumers interested in ebooks are already loyal to at least one of Google&amp;'s competitors. But Google does boast a bigger library than the rest with 3 million titles (including some 2 million free public domain titles), compared to Barnes and Noble&amp;'s 2 million (with public domain titles) and Amazon&amp;'s 750,000 (not including public domain). It&amp;'s unclear how Google&amp;'s paid ebook library compares to Amazon&amp;'s, a company that has had years to form relationships with publishers.The open nature of Google&amp;'s ebook store may eventually help the company grab a bigger slice of the market. You&amp;'ll eventually be able to purchase Google ebooks from multiple sources, as well as see them marketed on blogs and other sites on the web. That&amp;'s a big difference from Amazon&amp;'s Kindle books, which you can only purchase from within Amazon&amp;'s store. Google also has the advantage of not being burdened by a device &amp;8212' instead it&amp;'s built a system that can work with practically any device.Next Story: Loopt unveils new check in features with launch of version 4.0 Previous Story: Treemetrics 3D scanning helps loggers make more money cutting fewer treesPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Android, ebooks, Google Books, Google eBooks, iPad, iPhone, kindle, Nook, smartphone, tabletCompanies: Alibris, Amazon, Apple, Barnes And Noble, Google, Powell&amp;'s          Tags: Android, ebooks, Google Books, Google eBooks, iPad, iPhone, kindle, Nook, smartphone, tabletCompanies: Alibris, Amazon, Apple, Barnes And Noble, Google, Powell&amp;'sDevindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Does Googlea4a4s Larry Page care about social networking]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=does-googleâÂ€Â™s-larry-page-care-about-social-networking</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=does-googleâÂ€Â™s-larry-page-care-about-social-networking</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lynda</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=does-googleâÂ€Â™s-larry-page-care-about-social-networking</guid>
<description><![CDATA[We saw the publication of two lengthy articles this week about Larry Page, who is scheduled to take over as Googlea4a4s chief executive on April 4. After I read them, one big question lingered: What does his takeover mean for Googlea4a4s long-rumored Facebook competitorIt may not mean anything. Google executives have been hinting at this product for a while now, and therea4a4s presumably a large team working on it. So Page may not be any more (or less) involved as CEO than he is in his current role as the companya4a4s president. But this is an ambitious project, reportedly adding social features to many existing Google products, and ita4a4s going to need the support of the companya4a4s CEO. That&amp;'s especially true if the product stumbles out of the gate, as happened with many of Googlea4a4s other social initiativesYet social networking doesna4a4t seem to be on Pagea4a4s radar. Writing in Fast Company, Farhad Manjoo notes that Page doesna4a4t have a profile on Facebook or other social sites, and he quotes former Google executive Jason Shellen (now at AOL) as saying, a4AThere&amp;'s an EQ &amp;8212' an emotional intelligence &amp;8212' around social software, and it just might be out of Google&amp;'s reach.a4In Wired, meanwhile, Steven Levy portrays Page as someone who follows his intellectual passions, even if they dona4a4t seem to be a great fit for the company. (Apparently Page is behind the companya4a4s recent, baffling effort to build self-driving cars.) Longtime Google executive Marissa Mayer told Levy that the key fact about both Page and Google co-founder Sergey Brin is that they were both educated in Montessori schools, where a4Ayou go paint because you have something to express or you just want to do it that afternoon, not because the teacher said so.a4Where does social networking fit into those interests Well, ita4a4s noticeably absent from the story. Instead, Levy and the Googlers he interviews return again and again to the theme of information. (The self-driving car is defended with the phrase, a4AThis is all information.&amp;'') Social products don&amp;'t seem to interest Page &amp;8212' Shellen told Manjoo, a4AWith social, therea4a4s nothing for Google to solve.&amp;''And Page comes off as the exact opposite of the oversharing type who thrives on social networks &amp;8212' for example, he got rid of his personal assistant with the explicit goal of making it harder for employees to meet with him. As Levy puts it:Like the plane spotters who log the peregrinations of aircraft, Googlers often swap data concerning Pagea4a4s and Brina4a4s ambulatory patterns. Even so, it can sometimes be tricky to catch Page' he is a master of the drive-by greeting, flashing a wide, happy-to-see-you smile while slightly picking up his pace, leaving a potential interlocutor talking to his receding back.Again, none of this says much about Google&amp;'s social products. But it does suggest that the company will soon be led by a man who doesn&amp;'t want to use them.Next Story: XXX sites win web domain approval Previous Story: Kevin Rose resigns from DiggPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: self-driving cars, social networkingCompanies: GooglePeople: Larry Page          Tags: self-driving cars, social networkingCompanies: GooglePeople: Larry PageAnthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Mark Pincus On Zynga Stats, &''Dog Activated&'', And Frontierville Same-Sex&nbsp'Marriages]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mark-pincus-on-zynga-stats-8220dog-activated8221-and-frontierville-same-sexnbspmarriages</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mark-pincus-on-zynga-stats-8220dog-activated8221-and-frontierville-same-sexnbspmarriages</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lynda</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mark-pincus-on-zynga-stats-8220dog-activated8221-and-frontierville-same-sexnbspmarriages</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Today at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus took the stage for about 10 minutes to talk about his fast-rising company. First he quickly rattled off some stats:10 major games1,300 employees13 studios across 6 countries6 acquisitions in the last 6 months320,000,000 million people have engaged with a Zynga game400 people focused on new IPPincus also noted that one game, Frontierville, has 650,000 same-sex marriages. &amp;''That&amp;'s amazing, that&amp;'s probably more than any country in the whole world,&amp;'' he quipped.Pincus said that his company&amp;'s main goal is to convince you that it&amp;'s worth it to take a 10 minute break. We don&amp;'t have time for full TV shows anymore, but we have time for short, fun games, is his belief.So what&amp;'s next for the company Pincus talked about something called &amp;''Dog Activated&amp;'' a4&quot; a more social experience across the entire Zynga network.a4sThe core idea is that if you see the Zynga dog (their logo), you know someone is playing a Zynga game.&amp;''We have more than 3 million peak concurrent users,&amp;'' Pincus said. He also said that at any given point, 4 people you know are playing a Zynga game. Yes, they&amp;'re everywhere.a4sZynga wants to make it easier for all those people to connect both in games and out of games. Expect to hear a lot more about this in the coming months.Pincus also talked a little bit more about his &amp;''dial tone&amp;'' idea. Facebook is the social dial tone, for example. They&amp;'re the underlying current for everything social on the web. Pincus wants Zynga to be the social gaming dial tone.CrunchBase InformationZyngaMark PincusInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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