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Saturday, 9 November 2013
Monday, 13 May 2013
RAKBANK and Bank of Muscat Believed to Be Victims of $45M / €34M Cyber Heist
Last week, US authorities charged 8 individuals believed to be involved in a scheme in which fraudsters withdrew a total of $45 million (€34 million) from ATMs all around the world. Prosecutors haven’t named the targeted companies.
However, Times of India has learned that the companies targeted by the cybercriminals might be EnStage and ElectraCard Services. The former operates from Bangalore, India, and is based in California, and the latter is based in Pune, India.
ElectraCard Services processes prepaid travel cards for National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah, or RAKBANK. By gaining access to ElectraCard’s systems, the attackers were able to steal $5 million (€3.8 million) from RAKBANK accounts on December 21, 2012.
EnStage on the other hand processes card payments for Oman’s Bank of Muscat. Sources close to the financial institution have told the Times of India that the bank lost $40 million (€30.8 million) in a heist that took place in February 2013.
Govind Setlur, CEO of EnStage, says the company has implemented additional security measures since the incident took place.
“Our customers were adversely affected by this sophisticated crime. We are deeply committed to information security, and we will continue to take all reasonable measures to ensure our networks are secured from criminal actors,” he said.
In addition to the United States, Germany has also arrested a couple of individuals, Dutch citizens, suspected of being involved in the operation. However, ATMs from a total of 27 countries have been used to withdraw the large amounts of money.
After breaching into the systems of the financial institutions, the perpetrators removed the withdrawal limits to make sure they could steal unlimited amounts of money.
Eight individuals, suspected of being part of the New York-based cell, have been charged. One of them – Alberto Yusi Lajud-Peña, believed to be the cell’s leader – was reportedly murdered in the Dominican Republic back in April.
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However, Times of India has learned that the companies targeted by the cybercriminals might be EnStage and ElectraCard Services. The former operates from Bangalore, India, and is based in California, and the latter is based in Pune, India.
ElectraCard Services processes prepaid travel cards for National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah, or RAKBANK. By gaining access to ElectraCard’s systems, the attackers were able to steal $5 million (€3.8 million) from RAKBANK accounts on December 21, 2012.
EnStage on the other hand processes card payments for Oman’s Bank of Muscat. Sources close to the financial institution have told the Times of India that the bank lost $40 million (€30.8 million) in a heist that took place in February 2013.
Govind Setlur, CEO of EnStage, says the company has implemented additional security measures since the incident took place.
“Our customers were adversely affected by this sophisticated crime. We are deeply committed to information security, and we will continue to take all reasonable measures to ensure our networks are secured from criminal actors,” he said.
In addition to the United States, Germany has also arrested a couple of individuals, Dutch citizens, suspected of being involved in the operation. However, ATMs from a total of 27 countries have been used to withdraw the large amounts of money.
After breaching into the systems of the financial institutions, the perpetrators removed the withdrawal limits to make sure they could steal unlimited amounts of money.
Eight individuals, suspected of being part of the New York-based cell, have been charged. One of them – Alberto Yusi Lajud-Peña, believed to be the cell’s leader – was reportedly murdered in the Dominican Republic back in April.
Sony Xperia ZR Goes Official with 4.55’’ Screen, Waterproof Capabilities
Today, Japanese mobile phone maker Sony Mobile made official a new smartphone in its popular Xperia lineup, namely the waterproof Xperia ZR.
According to Sony, some of the main features of the new device include the highest level of water-resistance, especially when it comes to capturing photos and Full HD videos underwater.
The new handset arrives on the market with a 4.55-inch touchscreen display capable of delivering a 720p resolution, as well as with a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor packed inside, and 2GB of RAM.
Xperia ZR was also unveiled with 8GB of internal memory, as well as with a microSD memory card slot packed inside, with support for up to 32GB of additional storage space.
The mobile phone also features a 13-megapixel photo snapper on the back, with Sony Exmor RS for mobile image sensor and support for full HD video recording, as well as a front camera for making video calls while on the go.
“The Xperia ZR pushes the boundaries on where and how consumers can use the full potential of their smartphone. By combining Sony’s leading camera technology with the highest level of water-resistance, you will never miss another moment,” said Calum MacDougall, director of Xperia Marketing at Sony Mobile Communications.
“Bringing together the best of Sony’s leading technology, media applications and easy one-touch connectivity with the largest ever range of NFC-enabled accessories, the Xperia ZR delivers the unique smartphone experience that people can expect from Sony.”
The new device also sports PlayStation certification, 3.5 mm audio jack, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, DLNA, NFC, Xperia Link, and the usual set of sensors.
Sony announced the Xperia ZR with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean loaded on top right from the start, as well as with a series of exclusive Sony applications and services, such as WALKMAN, and Album and Movies.
The mobile phone is set to arrive on shelves before the end of the second quarter of the year in Black and White flavors. No specific info on pricing has been provided as of now.
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The new handset arrives on the market with a 4.55-inch touchscreen display capable of delivering a 720p resolution, as well as with a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor packed inside, and 2GB of RAM.
Xperia ZR was also unveiled with 8GB of internal memory, as well as with a microSD memory card slot packed inside, with support for up to 32GB of additional storage space.
The mobile phone also features a 13-megapixel photo snapper on the back, with Sony Exmor RS for mobile image sensor and support for full HD video recording, as well as a front camera for making video calls while on the go.
“The Xperia ZR pushes the boundaries on where and how consumers can use the full potential of their smartphone. By combining Sony’s leading camera technology with the highest level of water-resistance, you will never miss another moment,” said Calum MacDougall, director of Xperia Marketing at Sony Mobile Communications.
“Bringing together the best of Sony’s leading technology, media applications and easy one-touch connectivity with the largest ever range of NFC-enabled accessories, the Xperia ZR delivers the unique smartphone experience that people can expect from Sony.”
The new device also sports PlayStation certification, 3.5 mm audio jack, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, DLNA, NFC, Xperia Link, and the usual set of sensors.
Sony announced the Xperia ZR with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean loaded on top right from the start, as well as with a series of exclusive Sony applications and services, such as WALKMAN, and Album and Movies.
The mobile phone is set to arrive on shelves before the end of the second quarter of the year in Black and White flavors. No specific info on pricing has been provided as of now.
Apple Will Bypass Your iPhone’s Passcode If Law Enforcement Asks It To
And Apple, more often than not, agrees. In fact, they reportedly have this so-called waiting list where feds take turns to get their mitts on precious information stored on wanted people’s iPhones.
All Apple does is use its engineering geniuses to bypass the phone’s passcode, download the decrypted contents onto an external memory device, and ship it to the law enforcement agency that needs it.
At first glance, this sounds like a really awesome approach to help the authorities to get their hands on the bad guys. But in reality, this raises serious concerns about the security of our data.
Saturday, 11 May 2013
8 Members of Cybercrime Ring Charged, Accused of Stealing $45M / €34M from Banks
United States prosecutors have charged 8 individuals suspected of being involved in a massive cybercrime ring that caused losses of $45 million (€34 million) to financial institutions from all over the world in a matter of hours.
The 8 suspects are believed to be the New York cell of an international criminal organization. Authorities allege that the defendants and their co-conspirators managed to withdraw around $2.8 million (€2.1 million) from ATMs in the New York City area in less than 24 hours.
The individuals – aged between 22 and 35 – have been charged, depending on their roles, with money laundering, money laundering conspiracy, and conspiracy to commit access device fraud.
Seven of them were arrested, while the eighth defendant, Alberto Yusi Lajud-Peña, aka “Prime” and “Albertico,” was reportedly murdered in the Dominican Republic in late April. Alberto Yusi Lajud-Peña was believed to be the leader of the New York-based cell.
According to court documents, the cybercrime ring used sophisticated hacking techniques to breach into the systems of global financial organizations from which they stole prepaid debit card data. By hacking into the networks of these companies, the crooks also managed to eliminate the withdrawal limits.
They utilized the stolen payment card data to make withdrawals from ATMs located all over the world.
Authorities say the crooks used a technique that’s known in the criminal underground as “Unlimited Operation.” They’re called “Unlimited Operations” because they allow cybercriminals to access “unlimited” proceeds.
Presumably, the defendants and their accomplices conducted two such operations between October 2012 and April 2013. 26 countries are involved in this case.
“As charged in the indictment, the defendants and their co-conspirators participated in a massive 21st century bank heist that reached across the Internet and stretched around the globe. In the place of guns and masks, this cybercrime organization used laptops and the Internet,” stated Loretta E. Lynch, United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
“Moving as swiftly as data over the Internet, the organization worked its way from the computer systems of international corporations to the streets of New York City, with the defendants fanning out across Manhattan to steal millions of dollars from hundreds of ATMs in a matter of hours.”
If convicted, the individuals could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison for each of the money laundering counts and 7.5 years for the conspiracy to commit access device fraud charges.
Read more
The 8 suspects are believed to be the New York cell of an international criminal organization. Authorities allege that the defendants and their co-conspirators managed to withdraw around $2.8 million (€2.1 million) from ATMs in the New York City area in less than 24 hours.The individuals – aged between 22 and 35 – have been charged, depending on their roles, with money laundering, money laundering conspiracy, and conspiracy to commit access device fraud.
Seven of them were arrested, while the eighth defendant, Alberto Yusi Lajud-Peña, aka “Prime” and “Albertico,” was reportedly murdered in the Dominican Republic in late April. Alberto Yusi Lajud-Peña was believed to be the leader of the New York-based cell.
According to court documents, the cybercrime ring used sophisticated hacking techniques to breach into the systems of global financial organizations from which they stole prepaid debit card data. By hacking into the networks of these companies, the crooks also managed to eliminate the withdrawal limits.
They utilized the stolen payment card data to make withdrawals from ATMs located all over the world.
Authorities say the crooks used a technique that’s known in the criminal underground as “Unlimited Operation.” They’re called “Unlimited Operations” because they allow cybercriminals to access “unlimited” proceeds.
Presumably, the defendants and their accomplices conducted two such operations between October 2012 and April 2013. 26 countries are involved in this case.
“As charged in the indictment, the defendants and their co-conspirators participated in a massive 21st century bank heist that reached across the Internet and stretched around the globe. In the place of guns and masks, this cybercrime organization used laptops and the Internet,” stated Loretta E. Lynch, United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
“Moving as swiftly as data over the Internet, the organization worked its way from the computer systems of international corporations to the streets of New York City, with the defendants fanning out across Manhattan to steal millions of dollars from hundreds of ATMs in a matter of hours.”
If convicted, the individuals could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison for each of the money laundering counts and 7.5 years for the conspiracy to commit access device fraud charges.
You'll Have to Pay for Some YouTube Videos from Now On
Now, publishers can decide whether to make their money from ads or charge viewers a monthly flat rate for access to the videos.
YouTube is starting out with a few partners, and the feature is not available to most channels yet. Channels that do get the subscription option can charge anything starting from $0.99 per month.
There is a 14-day trial per channel, so viewers can determine whether they want to pay or not and the possibility to pay a yearly rate.
"For example, Sesame Street will be offering full episodes on their paid channel when it launches. And UFC fans can see classic fights, like a full version of their first event from UFC’s new channel," YouTube explains.
There are over one million channels making money on YouTube now, the site boasts, but all of them do it from ads. Many had requested other options and this is YouTube's answer. It remains to be seen though whether people will actually start paying for stuff on YouTube.
iOS 7 Will Probably Look a Lot like This – Video
Embedded above is the clip in question, which should make both Simply Zesty and Jonathan Ive (Apple’s designer) very proud.
Apple is said to have prepared a flatter version of its mobile operating system for unveiling at WWDC this summer, and iOS 7 will be it.
Featuring square-ish iconography, widgets, lock-screen shortcuts, and pretty much everything iOS is currently missing, the conceptual iOS 7 presented by Philip Joyce is marvelous in every way.
The final seconds of the clip show an appropriate comparison between Philip’s work and the current iOS UI. Needless to point out, the need for an overhaul hits you right in the face.
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Name.com Hacked, Company Resets Customer Passwords
Name.com has started sending out notifications to customers, informing them about a data breach. The company believes that hackers might have accessed usernames, email addresses, encrypted passwords and encrypted credit card information.
The Internet registrar says it stores the private keys needed to access credit card information in a separate remote location that hasn’t been compromised, so it’s unlikely that the cybercriminals can access it in a usable format.
EEP codes, which are required for domain transfers, are also said to be safe, and there’s no evidence to suggest that customer data has been used for fraudulent activities.
As a precaution, all customers are required to reset their passwords before logging in to their accounts. Additional security measures have also been implemented to avoid future incidents.
“It appears that the security breach was motivated by an attempt to gain information on a single, large commercial account at Name.com,” the notification sent to customers reads.
However, there’s more to the story. The Hack The Planet (HTP) group has taken responsibility for the attack.
The hackers claim that Name.com is just one of the many high-profile organizations they’ve targeted, including the National Vulnerability Database, Linode, Xinnet, Melbourne IT, Moniker, MIT, Symantec, and even security firm Sucuri.
In the case of Xinnet, they have allegedly gained access to 5.5 million domains.
HTP says it has targeted Linode to get back at a group that impersonated another crew called “ac1db1tch3z.”
“We quickly switched into a fallback network and found out they used SwiftIRC. SwiftIRC's nameservers were none other than Linode,” the hackers explained.
In the process, they have also breached Name.com, which is Linode’s registrar.
HTP says the Linode worked with the FBI – which had some informants in HTP. Apparently, the FBI was the one who ordered Linode to disclose the breach.
The hackers promised Linode they would “shred” the data obtained from their systems, but the FBI didn’t trust HTP.
Read more
The Internet registrar says it stores the private keys needed to access credit card information in a separate remote location that hasn’t been compromised, so it’s unlikely that the cybercriminals can access it in a usable format.
EEP codes, which are required for domain transfers, are also said to be safe, and there’s no evidence to suggest that customer data has been used for fraudulent activities.
As a precaution, all customers are required to reset their passwords before logging in to their accounts. Additional security measures have also been implemented to avoid future incidents.
“It appears that the security breach was motivated by an attempt to gain information on a single, large commercial account at Name.com,” the notification sent to customers reads.
However, there’s more to the story. The Hack The Planet (HTP) group has taken responsibility for the attack.
The hackers claim that Name.com is just one of the many high-profile organizations they’ve targeted, including the National Vulnerability Database, Linode, Xinnet, Melbourne IT, Moniker, MIT, Symantec, and even security firm Sucuri.
In the case of Xinnet, they have allegedly gained access to 5.5 million domains.
HTP says it has targeted Linode to get back at a group that impersonated another crew called “ac1db1tch3z.”
“We quickly switched into a fallback network and found out they used SwiftIRC. SwiftIRC's nameservers were none other than Linode,” the hackers explained.
In the process, they have also breached Name.com, which is Linode’s registrar.
HTP says the Linode worked with the FBI – which had some informants in HTP. Apparently, the FBI was the one who ordered Linode to disclose the breach.
The hackers promised Linode they would “shred” the data obtained from their systems, but the FBI didn’t trust HTP.
Microsoft Planning to Buy Nook Media for $1 Billion (€759 Million) – Report
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is out for shopping these days, with sources familiar with the matter now claiming that the Softies are planning to take over Noble’s Nook Media division.
Even though there are no official details on this, TechCrunch reports that Microsoft is willing to pay as much as $1 billion (€759 million) for a significant part of the subsidiary, including the Nook tablet and the eReader business. The college textbook division, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be covered by the deal.
Citing leaked internal documents, the same source reports that Nook Media has already worked out a plan for the next couple of years, most likely in case the deal with Microsoft goes through.
It appears that the company might pull the plug on Nook tablets using the Android operating system by 2014 and focus solely on third-party devices running its own software application.
While negotiations are yet to be confirmed, such a deal would pretty much make sense for the software giant, especially because sources familiar with the matter have already confirmed that Microsoft is planning to release its very own e-reader.
Microsoft has already invested $300 million (€227 million) for a 16.8 percent in a joint venture with Barnes and Noble, but until now, the tech giant is yet to develop something really exciting based on this deal.
Truth is, Barnes and Noble has indeed launched a Windows 8 application for Nook users, providing adopters of Microsoft’s new operating system with some special exclusive goodies.
In addition, sources familiar with the matter have indicated that the two companies were working on several projects, but no other specifics have been provided.
Of course, take all of these with a pinch of salt until Microsoft issues an official statement on the matter.
Read more
Even though there are no official details on this, TechCrunch reports that Microsoft is willing to pay as much as $1 billion (€759 million) for a significant part of the subsidiary, including the Nook tablet and the eReader business. The college textbook division, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be covered by the deal.
Citing leaked internal documents, the same source reports that Nook Media has already worked out a plan for the next couple of years, most likely in case the deal with Microsoft goes through.
It appears that the company might pull the plug on Nook tablets using the Android operating system by 2014 and focus solely on third-party devices running its own software application.
While negotiations are yet to be confirmed, such a deal would pretty much make sense for the software giant, especially because sources familiar with the matter have already confirmed that Microsoft is planning to release its very own e-reader.
Microsoft has already invested $300 million (€227 million) for a 16.8 percent in a joint venture with Barnes and Noble, but until now, the tech giant is yet to develop something really exciting based on this deal.
Truth is, Barnes and Noble has indeed launched a Windows 8 application for Nook users, providing adopters of Microsoft’s new operating system with some special exclusive goodies.
In addition, sources familiar with the matter have indicated that the two companies were working on several projects, but no other specifics have been provided.
Of course, take all of these with a pinch of salt until Microsoft issues an official statement on the matter.
The Best Google Glass Apps So Far
While the Google Glass is still months away from being available for everyone to buy, but apps seem to be pouring.
Some interesting apps have already hit the market and the number is rapidly growing.
Given the device’s tech specs, it might not be a good idea to drown it in apps if you want it to work fast. But that is true for most tech devices, especially those that run on Android.
So, which of the apps that have been released so far seem most appealing?
Well, with a price tag of $1500 (€1140), Google Glass will surely appeal to those who don’t mind spending a lot of money on gadgets.
That means adults that earn well or teenagers who will beg their parents for one on their next birthday, also promising to do all the housework.
To these groups, you can also add people with a lower monthly paycheck that are willing to put aside money to buy the device.
That being said, social networking is such an important component of our daily Internet life that it can’t be ignored.
So far, two third-party apps have been released with this purpose, one for Twitter and one for Facebook.
GlassTweet lets you tweet photographs straight to your account. While Twitter is already testing out its own official app, there hasn’t been any news on that front, so we can limit ourselves to this one.
The app lets users send pictures to a contact called “Tweet,” so it doesn’t get easier than that.
A similar app that lets users post pictures to Facebook has also been launched recently. “Glass to Facebook” goes a step further and even puts together a photo album for you, where all Glass pictures are stored.
Google created another important app that can be great on a daily basis. It comes preinstalled with the Glass and it lets you read your mail.
The Gmail app is absolutely essential to those who depend on their emails for works. It doesn’t even matter if your email account isn’t primarily on Gmail since you can easily set up a link between two addresses and have the emails forwarded to Gmail.
Last but not least is Winky. The app lets you take pictures by winking at it. Sure, it might look awkward to outsiders, it might even feel awkward to do it, but you can’t deny how interesting it is.
Having the ability to take pictures so easily with such a device sounds fun and innovative.
So there you go; a handful of apps that are essential for Google Glass. As more will be released, the list might change.
Read more
Some interesting apps have already hit the market and the number is rapidly growing.
Given the device’s tech specs, it might not be a good idea to drown it in apps if you want it to work fast. But that is true for most tech devices, especially those that run on Android.
So, which of the apps that have been released so far seem most appealing?
Well, with a price tag of $1500 (€1140), Google Glass will surely appeal to those who don’t mind spending a lot of money on gadgets.
That means adults that earn well or teenagers who will beg their parents for one on their next birthday, also promising to do all the housework.
To these groups, you can also add people with a lower monthly paycheck that are willing to put aside money to buy the device.
That being said, social networking is such an important component of our daily Internet life that it can’t be ignored.
So far, two third-party apps have been released with this purpose, one for Twitter and one for Facebook.
GlassTweet lets you tweet photographs straight to your account. While Twitter is already testing out its own official app, there hasn’t been any news on that front, so we can limit ourselves to this one.
The app lets users send pictures to a contact called “Tweet,” so it doesn’t get easier than that.
A similar app that lets users post pictures to Facebook has also been launched recently. “Glass to Facebook” goes a step further and even puts together a photo album for you, where all Glass pictures are stored.
Google created another important app that can be great on a daily basis. It comes preinstalled with the Glass and it lets you read your mail.
The Gmail app is absolutely essential to those who depend on their emails for works. It doesn’t even matter if your email account isn’t primarily on Gmail since you can easily set up a link between two addresses and have the emails forwarded to Gmail.
Last but not least is Winky. The app lets you take pictures by winking at it. Sure, it might look awkward to outsiders, it might even feel awkward to do it, but you can’t deny how interesting it is.
Having the ability to take pictures so easily with such a device sounds fun and innovative.
So there you go; a handful of apps that are essential for Google Glass. As more will be released, the list might change.
Wednesday, 8 May 2013
Windows Boss Says a Start Button “Might” Be Coming Back
Microsoft has finally confirmed that Windows Blue would be released next month, but the company hasn’t provided too many details about the next major release.
But Julie Larson-Green, the new Windows boss after Steven Sinofsky’s departure, said at the Wired Business Conference in New York that Blue would pay much more attention to user feedback, hinting that a Start button is indeed on the table for the time being.
Larson-Green explained that Windows 8 already came with a Start button-like feature, available via a right-click in the bottom left corner, but users apparently want to have such a feature always on their screens.
“It's hidden, so some people like the comfort of having it show up on the screen all the time, so they just know their home place and where to go,” she said.
What’s more, the new Windows boss explained that Microsoft’s way to address user complaints in the upcoming Windows Blue “might” be helpful for some, suggesting that a different kind of a Start button is indeed in the works.
Sources familiar with the matter previously reported that Microsoft is indeed planning to bring back the Start button in Windows Blue, but instead of launching a Start Menu, it would most likely act as a simple shortcut for the Start Screen.
This means that Microsoft isn’t willing to restore a full-featured Start button, but only a quick way to access the Start Screen that uses the same designed as the traditional Windows feature.
Such an option could indeed be helpful for some, but many users might actually be disappointed with it, so third-party Start Menu apps could continue experiencing a terrific success. It remains to be seen if Microsoft decides to allow users to replace the upcoming Start button with a third-party one launching a classic Start Menu.
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
Microsoft Confirms Windows Blue, Reveals Changes
Microsoft has already confirmed an “internal set of plans” called Blue, but no other details on the project have been provided until now.
Tami Reller, Microsoft’s chief marketing officer and chief financial officer, confirmed in an interview posted on the official Windows blog that a Blue upgrade was coming “later this year,” while also revealing a few details about the upgrade.
Reller said that Blue would serve as the foundation for a wider array of devices, most likely smaller tablets, suggesting that 8-inch tablets powered by the new operating system were indeed on their way.
“Windows Blue is a codename for an update that will be available later this year, building on the bold vision set forward with Windows 8 to deliver the next generation of tablets and PCs,” Reller said.
“It will deliver the latest new innovations across an increasingly broad array of form factors of all sizes, display, battery life and performance, while creating new opportunities for our ecosystem. It will provide more options for businesses, and give consumers more options for work and play.”
While Reller provided absolutely no details on the launch date, sources familiar with the matter hinted that Windows Blue could arrive in beta version in June at the BUILD developer conference. The full version of the operating system is in the pipeline for an August or September release.
Several builds have already been leaked, giving us a glimpse into the changes that could be brought by this new Windows version.
It appears that the Redmond-based tech giant is working to improve not only the user interface, but also the Metro environment, with some sources hinting that an option to skip the Start Screen and boot directly to desktop is also possible.
Last but not least, Windows Blue is also rumored to witness the return of the Start button, as Microsoft has expressed its intentions to listen to customer feedback and make future products a bit more familiar.
Read more
Reller said that Blue would serve as the foundation for a wider array of devices, most likely smaller tablets, suggesting that 8-inch tablets powered by the new operating system were indeed on their way.
“Windows Blue is a codename for an update that will be available later this year, building on the bold vision set forward with Windows 8 to deliver the next generation of tablets and PCs,” Reller said.
“It will deliver the latest new innovations across an increasingly broad array of form factors of all sizes, display, battery life and performance, while creating new opportunities for our ecosystem. It will provide more options for businesses, and give consumers more options for work and play.”
While Reller provided absolutely no details on the launch date, sources familiar with the matter hinted that Windows Blue could arrive in beta version in June at the BUILD developer conference. The full version of the operating system is in the pipeline for an August or September release.
Several builds have already been leaked, giving us a glimpse into the changes that could be brought by this new Windows version.
It appears that the Redmond-based tech giant is working to improve not only the user interface, but also the Metro environment, with some sources hinting that an option to skip the Start Screen and boot directly to desktop is also possible.
Last but not least, Windows Blue is also rumored to witness the return of the Start button, as Microsoft has expressed its intentions to listen to customer feedback and make future products a bit more familiar.
Monday, 6 May 2013
Portal Is Now Available on Linux, via Steam
Valve officially released the Portal game back in 2007, along with Team Fortress 2 and Half-Life 2. Some say that Portal has become one of Valve’s most successful game titles.
Today we are happy to announce that the original Portal game is now available on all Linux distributions that support the Steam for Linux client.
Portal is a first-person puzzle-platform video game, comprized of a series of puzzles that must be solved by teleporting the player's character using "the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device".
Those of you who own the Windows version of Portal, you will automatically have a copy of the game for the Linux platform, in your Steam account.
You can buy the game right now via Steam, for only $9.99 or 6.99€.
Experts Identify 9 Full Sandbox Bypass Exploits Affecting IBM Java
According to Adam Gowdiak, the founder and CEO of the Polish security firm, the five new full sandbox bypass exploits are based on a total of seven vulnerabilities. In addition, each of the four old improperly fixed issues can be leveraged for a full sandbox bypass.
The old bugs were reported by Security Explorations to IBM back in September 2012. The company addressed them soon after.
However, the experts found that the attacks still worked after they made a couple of modifications to the exploit code.
“The problem with IBM fixes is that they aim to detect only one specific exploit vector and miss many other scenarios,” Gowdiak told Softpedia.
As far as the new security holes are concerned, the expert says most of them are caused by the “insecure use or implementation” of the Java Reflection API.
Proof of concept codes have been developed for each of the vulnerabilities.
“Each of them demonstrates a complete IBM J9 Java VM security sandbox bypass. Each of them was verified to work in the environment of the following version of IBM software: IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 7.0 SR4 FP1 for Linux (32-bit x86), build pxi3270sr4fp1-20130325_01(SR4 FP1),” Gowdiak added.
IBM has been provided with vulnerability details along with source and binary codes for the POCs.
Last week, we learned of the existence of an arbitrary code execution flaw in IBM Notes. IBM has released an interim fix for the issue.
However, Gowdiak highlights the fact that these latest flaws are interesting in the context of the IBM Notes vulnerability because Java can be embedded in Notes emails.
Internet Explorer 8 Flaw Used to Hack Nuclear Weapons Researchers
A report published by ZDNet and citing several security firms across the world reveals that a recently-discovered security flaw in Microsoft's browser allowed hackers to launch a number of watering hole attempts in an effort to exploit US government computers.
Systems belonging to the US Department of Labor and the US Department of Energy have been hit recently, the report states, but it's not yet clear whether hackers managed to access any secret files or not.
As far as the attackers go, some sources claim that Chinese hackers are behind this new exploit, even though no specifics have been provided.
Sunday, 5 May 2013
How Google Could Improve Glass Before Mainstream Launch
While reviews have been quite favorable for the high tech glasses, some issues have resurfaced, while others could become serious problems in time that could affect how the product is received.
When people pay $1,500 on Google Glass, they expect excellency.
While the price isn’t completely untouchable for regular people, they’d have to save money for it. And there lies the demand that Google make this device as perfect as possible.
One thing that the Glass desperately needs is a hardware improvement. The device’s batter life isn’t what Google promised.
When they said that the device should regularly last for about half a day if people did’t take too many pictures or record lengthy videos, they didn’t mention that “half a day “ equals four hours.
The device also needs to be a bit more flexible and resemble regular glasses. That means that it should have foldable arms.
As such, when you want to take the pair off, you don’t look awkward carrying them around.
The Internet giant should always take several steps towards better protecting the device.
Since Glass works with Android, Google’s extremely flexible operating system, jailbreaking the device wasn’t a very difficult task.
This makes Glass vulnerable and no one wants to pay that much money if your data and privacy aren’t guaranteed.
The last and most important thing Glass needs is the apps. You can’t do much without having proper apps. This can be said about computers, smartphones and now, wearable tech.
If developers don’t come up with killer products, it’s hard to believe people won’t lose interest in the gadget after a while.
Debian 7.0 Wheezy Has Been Officially Released
Dubbed Wheezy and powered by Linux kernel 3.2 and X.Org 7.7, Debian 7.0 includes an improved installer, multiarch support, a complete set of multimedia front-ends and codecs, and various specific utilities to deploy private clouds.
"Multiarch support, one of the main release goals for "Wheezy", will allow Debian users to install packages from multiple architectures on the same machine. This means that you can now, for the first time, install both 32- and 64-bit software on the same machine and have all the relevant dependencies correctly resolved, automatically."
"The installation process has been greatly improved: Debian can now be installed using software speech, above all by visually impaired people who do not use a Braille device." was stated in the official release announcement.
Highlights of Debian 7.0:
• Linux kernel 3.2;
• kFreeBSD kernel 8.3 and 9.0;
• X.Org 7.7;
• GNOME 3.4;
• KDE Software Compilation 4.8.4;
• Xfce 4.8;
• Icedove 10;
• Iceweasel 10;
• LibreOffice 3.5.4;
• OpenJDK 6b27 and 7 Update 3;
• GIMP 2.8.2;
• GNU Compiler Collection 4.7.2;
• Apache 2.2.22;
• Asterisk 1.8.13.1;
• MySQL 5.5.30;
• Nagios 3.4.1;
• Perl 5.14.2;
• PHP 5.4.4;
• PostgreSQL 9.1;
• Python 2.7.3 and 3.2.3;
• Samba 3.6.6;
• Tomcat 6.0.35 and 7.0.28;
• Xen Hypervisor 4.1.4.
Debian 7.0 also provides access to more than 36,000 ready-to-use software packages, which are built from nearly 17,500 source packages.
Debian 7.0 Wheezy is distributed as installable DVD ISO images, supporting both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures, as well as EABI ARM, PowerPC, Hard Float ABI ARM, SPARC, kFreeBSD 64-bit PC (amd64), Intel Itanium IA-64, MIPS (little endian), MIPS (big endian), kFreeBSD 32-bit PC (i386), IBM S/390, and IBM System z.
Friday, 3 May 2013
Chrome Debuts Next-Generation Apps, Old Apps Become "Websites"
As far as Google is concerned, these are Chrome apps and not everything that came before them. And it's emphasizing that point by exposing them to dev channel users in the Chrome Web Store.
If you're running the dev channel Chrome or Chrome OS, you'll notice there's a new Apps section in the Web Store and that the old Apps section is now called Websites.
This is where you'll find everything Google used to call apps, both hosted apps, aka links to websites, and legacy packaged apps.
Google unveiled the next-generation packaged app API almost a year ago and has been working on it since.
It has only now gotten to the point where the apps built on this API are ready for the public and still only for dev channel users who are supposed to be more tech-savvy and more accustomed to bugs.
"Many of these apps are works in progress, which is why we're only making them easily available on Chrome’s dev channel. If you've written a packaged app, or are working on one, now is a great time to get some early feedback and polish your app before Chrome packaged apps become more broadly available," Google explained.
"A number of developers have taken advantage of the early preview to publish apps that demonstrate the new powerful capabilities of the packaged apps platform. If you're looking for inspiration, we've highlighted a few of them for you to try out in the Web Store’s Apps category," Google added.
If you do decide to install one of the new packaged apps, you'll be asked whether you want the desktop app launcher as well. This feature has also been in the works for a few months. Google recently added new icons for it to the Chrome binary in anticipation of this wider release for packaged apps.
Hotmail Is Officially Dead
Microsoft has just announced that it finally completed the email transition to Outlook.com, which means that the old yet extremely popular Hotmail has been officially retired.
The tech giant says that moving 300 million active accounts to Outlook.com was a real challenge, as the company had to preserve more than 150 million gigabytes of data, including emails, calendar, contacts, folders and personal preferences.
Users can still use their @Hotmail email addresses, but instead of the classic interface, they will be provided with the modern and fresh look of Outlook.com.
Microsoft has also debuted two new features for its email platform, including SMTP support and deeper SkyDrive integration to share files without leaving the inbox.
“Our belief is that as people start using the new experience, they will come to love it even more than they loved Hotmail. We are keenly listening to what our customers have to say, and we'll make the right set of adjustments to ensure that we make the experience as great as it can be,” Microsoft noted.
Wednesday, 1 May 2013
Google Glass Tutorial Shows You How the Device Works
Google Glass has so far been open only to developers, but now the company has finally released a short tutorial that shows the masses what the product can do and how it can be operated.
Google’s futuristic device has been under the spotlight ever since its debut, so many questions have been asked about what it is like to wear them or how practical they are.
The tutorial released by the Internet giant shows the “home screen” of the device, which is basically a clock.
Then, by sliding your finger over the touch-pad, which is the longer area on the side of the glasses, you can browse through your content.
For instance, you can read news, check the weather and send various files, such as photos, to your friends and family who are saved as contacts in the device.
Since there’s still a year until Google will release the device to the larger population, it is unknown what kind of improvements or modifications they will bring to the operating system.
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Skype for Outlook.com Officially Launched
Microsoft has just introduced Skype video calling features to Outlook.com, thus allowing users of its email service to call friends straight from their browsers.
The integration is possible thanks to a browser plugin, currently available for Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox, with users being asked to connect Skype to Outlook.com using their Microsoft accounts.
Basically, this new option automatically imports all your Skype contacts to Outlook.com, thus making it possible to quickly initiate a video or an audio call.
Whenever you receive an email from one of these contacts, a small popup providing access to video and audio call options is displayed to initiate a conversation with just one click.
At this point, the new feature is only available in the United Kingdom, but the Skype team promised that both the United States and Germany would get it in the upcoming weeks.
The integration is possible thanks to a browser plugin, currently available for Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox, with users being asked to connect Skype to Outlook.com using their Microsoft accounts.
Basically, this new option automatically imports all your Skype contacts to Outlook.com, thus making it possible to quickly initiate a video or an audio call.
Whenever you receive an email from one of these contacts, a small popup providing access to video and audio call options is displayed to initiate a conversation with just one click.
At this point, the new feature is only available in the United Kingdom, but the Skype team promised that both the United States and Germany would get it in the upcoming weeks.
10-Inch Tegra 4 Android Tablet Prepared by HP
With NVIDIA's Tegra 4 chip official, the company's collaborators are doing their best to put together tablets powered by it. HP is one of those companies, having developed the SlateBook 10 X2.
HP hasn't actually introduced the tablet, and probably won't for a short while yet, but there are other ways for information to reach the web.
In this case, the device was spotted in an AnTuTu benchmark. Not the most informative of sources, but it is better than nothing.
The only information included in the benchmark was the clock speed of the tablet (1810 MHz) and the operating system (Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean).
Keep in mind, though, that the benchmark may very well be a fake. The score of 27,259 is definitely high enough to raise questions in regard to authenticity.
iOS 7 Said to Be “Very, Very Flat,” May Unsettle Some Users
Sources familiar with Apple’s iOS internal testing say we’re in for some radical changes, especially on the UI side. The interface is said to be as flat as Windows Phone’s Metro.
One source tells 9to5mac that the new iOS 7, set to be unveiled at WWDC in June, is “very, very flat.”
The site says it’s “potentially unsettling” for longtime fans of the platform. Currently, iOS boasts skeuomorphic design that gives the graphics a more life-like look.
Another person familiar with the matter said, “the interface loses all signs of gloss, shine, and skeuomorphism seen across current and past versions of iOS.”
Yet another person described iOS 7 as having “a level of ‘flatness’ approaching recent releases of Microsoft’s Windows Phone ‘Metro’ UI.”
Customers won’t find it more difficult to use iOS 7, the sources said, adding that while the software does look different, its core services (including the stock apps) will “mostly operate in a similar fashion to how they do today.”
The major changes are a new icon set for all the apps that ship with the software by default, as well as new tool bars and tab bars.
The next batch of iOS devices prepared by Apple will have “polarizing filters to decrease viewing angles of on-lookers,” according to the report.
Another thing that got leaked is the actual code name of the software. Apple refers to iOS 7 as “Innsbruck” internally.
Finally, Apple has reportedly implemented a type of information panels across the iOS 7 UI, a system that resembles Notification Center.
iOS 7 is scheduled to debut at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10. It is unclear whether the company will actually ship the software then, or whether it will just offer us a demo.
OS X 10.9 is also expected to make an appearance at the event.
One source tells 9to5mac that the new iOS 7, set to be unveiled at WWDC in June, is “very, very flat.”
The site says it’s “potentially unsettling” for longtime fans of the platform. Currently, iOS boasts skeuomorphic design that gives the graphics a more life-like look.
Another person familiar with the matter said, “the interface loses all signs of gloss, shine, and skeuomorphism seen across current and past versions of iOS.”
Yet another person described iOS 7 as having “a level of ‘flatness’ approaching recent releases of Microsoft’s Windows Phone ‘Metro’ UI.”
Customers won’t find it more difficult to use iOS 7, the sources said, adding that while the software does look different, its core services (including the stock apps) will “mostly operate in a similar fashion to how they do today.”
The major changes are a new icon set for all the apps that ship with the software by default, as well as new tool bars and tab bars.
The next batch of iOS devices prepared by Apple will have “polarizing filters to decrease viewing angles of on-lookers,” according to the report.
Another thing that got leaked is the actual code name of the software. Apple refers to iOS 7 as “Innsbruck” internally.
Finally, Apple has reportedly implemented a type of information panels across the iOS 7 UI, a system that resembles Notification Center.
iOS 7 is scheduled to debut at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10. It is unclear whether the company will actually ship the software then, or whether it will just offer us a demo.
OS X 10.9 is also expected to make an appearance at the event.
Saturday, 27 April 2013
CISPA Is Pretty Much Dead for Now
The controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, better known as CISPA, has little chances of passing to the Senate in its current form.
According to a Mashable report, the House of Representatives’ version of the Act won’t reach the Senate in its entirety, but some of its features might be included in other bills.
CISPA passed the House last week, for the second time, with support from all parties, despite the fact that the White House has issued a veto threat if privacy and civil liberties issues are not addressed.
Another report says that staff and senators are dividing the issues and the key provisions that are absolutely necessary and they’ll be drafting separate bills.
CISPA is expected to stall in the Senate as they debate about each facet of the issue. However, even if the Act doesn’t pass in its entirety, some of its elements might be found in other bills in the near future.
In its current form, CISPA allows businesses and federal agencies to share information regarding cybersecurity threats. At the same time, the bill also poses a threat to the privacy of all Internet users.
Those who support the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act have strong business interests and argue that sharing is necessary to deflect hackers in real time.
However, opponents of the bill claim that such a law means compromising online privacy. Furthermore, it would offer protection to the companies that share data with the government.
On April 22, nearly 400 websites have joined Anonymous in protest by closing down regular activities and displaying an anti-CISPA banner, much like they did last year when they opposed SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act).
Major companies have been absent from this protest yet again, as they were last year when Internet users from all over the world were making a point of telling legislators that they have no right to control their Internet activity in order to protect business interests.
According to a Mashable report, the House of Representatives’ version of the Act won’t reach the Senate in its entirety, but some of its features might be included in other bills.
CISPA passed the House last week, for the second time, with support from all parties, despite the fact that the White House has issued a veto threat if privacy and civil liberties issues are not addressed.
Another report says that staff and senators are dividing the issues and the key provisions that are absolutely necessary and they’ll be drafting separate bills.
CISPA is expected to stall in the Senate as they debate about each facet of the issue. However, even if the Act doesn’t pass in its entirety, some of its elements might be found in other bills in the near future.
In its current form, CISPA allows businesses and federal agencies to share information regarding cybersecurity threats. At the same time, the bill also poses a threat to the privacy of all Internet users.
Those who support the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act have strong business interests and argue that sharing is necessary to deflect hackers in real time.
However, opponents of the bill claim that such a law means compromising online privacy. Furthermore, it would offer protection to the companies that share data with the government.
On April 22, nearly 400 websites have joined Anonymous in protest by closing down regular activities and displaying an anti-CISPA banner, much like they did last year when they opposed SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act).
Major companies have been absent from this protest yet again, as they were last year when Internet users from all over the world were making a point of telling legislators that they have no right to control their Internet activity in order to protect business interests.
Google Glass Has Been Hacked
The Google Glass headset has officially been hacked. A few days after the device reached developers, the high-tech glasses have been hacked to give users full control of the Android OS.
The author of the jailbreak is Jay Freeman, a well-known Android and iOS developer who tested an exploit for Android on Glass and managed to hack the device, Forbes reports.
He found a technique that might be able to remove any restrictions Google might place on Glass, although it is yet unclear what type of limitations the company is to impose on consumer versions of the glasses.
According to Freeman, jailbreaking Glass could make it possible to store data locally on the device or on the linked phone, rather than upload everything to Google’s servers. The privacy concern has been addressed by many so far.
“You take a backup from the device, modify the backup, and then restore the modified backup to the device. While the backup is restoring, you make a change to the data being restored that redirects the data being restored to overwrite a critical configuration file,” Freeman told Forbes.
“This makes the device think that it is not running on real hardware: you make it think it is instead running on the emulator used by Android developers to test their software on desktop/laptop computers. As the emulator is designed for developers, it has full control and gives you ‘root’,” he continued.
Another hacker has achieved access to the device’s root. Liam McLoughlin, another developer, had announced this the day before.
As mentioned, it is unknown if the discovered exploits will work on the versions of Glass that reach the larger population.
Thankfully for those who decide to hack into Google-developed devices, their approach on the subject isn’t as harsh as other companies’. Users and OEMs are allowed to root their devices with sanctioned methods.
The author of the jailbreak is Jay Freeman, a well-known Android and iOS developer who tested an exploit for Android on Glass and managed to hack the device, Forbes reports.
According to Freeman, jailbreaking Glass could make it possible to store data locally on the device or on the linked phone, rather than upload everything to Google’s servers. The privacy concern has been addressed by many so far.
“You take a backup from the device, modify the backup, and then restore the modified backup to the device. While the backup is restoring, you make a change to the data being restored that redirects the data being restored to overwrite a critical configuration file,” Freeman told Forbes.
“This makes the device think that it is not running on real hardware: you make it think it is instead running on the emulator used by Android developers to test their software on desktop/laptop computers. As the emulator is designed for developers, it has full control and gives you ‘root’,” he continued.
Another hacker has achieved access to the device’s root. Liam McLoughlin, another developer, had announced this the day before.
As mentioned, it is unknown if the discovered exploits will work on the versions of Glass that reach the larger population.
Thankfully for those who decide to hack into Google-developed devices, their approach on the subject isn’t as harsh as other companies’. Users and OEMs are allowed to root their devices with sanctioned methods.
Root Exploit Already Available for Galaxy S 4
Starting today, users in various markets around the world can purchase Samsung’s latest Android-based flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S 4, as the device becomes available through both carriers and third-party retailers.
In the US, for example, the smartphone landed at AT&T, Sprint, and US Cellular, and should be released on shelves at T-Mobile, Verizon, and others soon.
For those users who would like to root their devices from day one, a solution is already available, as long as they purchase the Qualcomm-based flavor.
A root exploit has been found for the smartphone, none other than the Motochopper root that emerged recently for Motorola devices.
According to a thread on the XDA-Developers forum, the tool should work for AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile-branded models, but it might also be compatible with the Snapdragon Galaxy S 4 devices sold in other countries, including the UK.
Users interested in rooting their devices should head over to the aforementioned forum thread to download the necessary files for that, though they should keep in mind that they will be the only ones held responsible in the event that something happens with the device.
Samsung has yet to make official stock images for the Galaxy S 4, which makes it nearly impossible to repair the handset in the event it is bricked. No custom recoveries are available for it either, though they might emerge soon.
Those who would like to continue will have to follow some simple steps for that, starting with downloading the aforementioned files.
The process also includes the following:
In the US, for example, the smartphone landed at AT&T, Sprint, and US Cellular, and should be released on shelves at T-Mobile, Verizon, and others soon.
For those users who would like to root their devices from day one, a solution is already available, as long as they purchase the Qualcomm-based flavor.
According to a thread on the XDA-Developers forum, the tool should work for AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile-branded models, but it might also be compatible with the Snapdragon Galaxy S 4 devices sold in other countries, including the UK.
Users interested in rooting their devices should head over to the aforementioned forum thread to download the necessary files for that, though they should keep in mind that they will be the only ones held responsible in the event that something happens with the device.
Samsung has yet to make official stock images for the Galaxy S 4, which makes it nearly impossible to repair the handset in the event it is bricked. No custom recoveries are available for it either, though they might emerge soon.
Those who would like to continue will have to follow some simple steps for that, starting with downloading the aforementioned files.
The process also includes the following:
- Extract the entire contents of the zip file.
- If you are using Windows, ensure you have installed the latest Samsung USB drivers available for your phone.
- Ensure USB Debugging mode is enabled on your device.
- Connect your device to your PC via USB.
- If you are using Windows, navigate to the extracted directory and execute “run.bat.” If you are using Linux or OS X, navigate to the extracted directory in a terminal and execute “./run.sh.”
- Approve the ADB connection from your PC on your device.
Friday, 26 April 2013
How to Test Ubuntu 13.04 Without Downloading It
Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail) has been released, but not everyone may be willing to give it a go. There’s a very simple solution to see firsthand how the system looks, without having to install or even download it.
When a new operating system is released, users scramble to install and test it. Canonical has figured out a way to let the user experience the operating system, without forcing anyone to download it.
This is not a new feature, but it should be promoted a lot more. On the official Ubuntu website, there’s a button called “Take a Tour of Ubuntu.” Despite what some people might think, that is not a link to the features of Ubuntu.
The website actually loads a mockup of Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail) and it’s pretty convincing. They even got Unity working.
Users don’t need a large bandwidth for the internet connection and the presentation is really accurate. Check out the official Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail) tour on Ubuntu.com.
Thursday, 25 April 2013
WikiLeaks Wins Case Against Visa in Iceland
WikiLeaks donations by Visa are allowed once more in Iceland after a three-year blockage. The ruling comes from the country’s Supreme Court.
According to the verdict, Valitor, the Visa subcontractor, had unlawfully terminated its contract with DataCell, WikiLeaks’ donation processor, ITNews reports.
Furthermore, the company must re-open the processing of donations to the famous website within the next 15 days unless they want to pay a fine which amounts to over $6,800 (€5,200) for each day.
“This is a victory for free speech,” Julian Assange says. “We thank the Icelandic people for showing that they will not be bullied by powerful Washington-backed financial services companies like Visa.”
WikiLeaks filed the suit against Valitor last summer (June 2012). They claimed that Valitor had no grounds for terminating the contract with DataCell.
The group has tweeted that the Icelandic Supreme Court is the highest court in Iceland and their decision cannot be appealed by Valitor. This means that there’s no way around this decision, unless the company wants to start paying daily penalties.
A few years ago, WikiLeaks published over 250,000 secret diplomatic notes made by U.S. officials and made many people unhappy. As a response to the scandal, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and other such operators, stopped processing payments made for WikiLeaks.
About 95% of the company’s revenue was wiped out in one go when the donations methods thinned out. The website would need to raise $1 million to continue publishing through the year, as it stated in a tweet in December.
Assange further says that he also hopes that the European Commission acknowledges that the economic blockade against WikiLeaks is unlawful and an “arbitrary censorship mechanism that threatens freedom of the press across Europe.”
The new verdict could influence the outcome of several other lawsuits started by WikiLeaks throughout Europe against subcontractors similar to Valitor.
According to the verdict, Valitor, the Visa subcontractor, had unlawfully terminated its contract with DataCell, WikiLeaks’ donation processor, ITNews reports.
“This is a victory for free speech,” Julian Assange says. “We thank the Icelandic people for showing that they will not be bullied by powerful Washington-backed financial services companies like Visa.”
WikiLeaks filed the suit against Valitor last summer (June 2012). They claimed that Valitor had no grounds for terminating the contract with DataCell.
The group has tweeted that the Icelandic Supreme Court is the highest court in Iceland and their decision cannot be appealed by Valitor. This means that there’s no way around this decision, unless the company wants to start paying daily penalties.
A few years ago, WikiLeaks published over 250,000 secret diplomatic notes made by U.S. officials and made many people unhappy. As a response to the scandal, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and other such operators, stopped processing payments made for WikiLeaks.
About 95% of the company’s revenue was wiped out in one go when the donations methods thinned out. The website would need to raise $1 million to continue publishing through the year, as it stated in a tweet in December.
Assange further says that he also hopes that the European Commission acknowledges that the economic blockade against WikiLeaks is unlawful and an “arbitrary censorship mechanism that threatens freedom of the press across Europe.”
The new verdict could influence the outcome of several other lawsuits started by WikiLeaks throughout Europe against subcontractors similar to Valitor.
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Next Generation Xbox 720 Will Be Revealed on May 21, Microsoft Confirms
After lots and lots of rumors from all around the world, Microsoft has officially confirmed that it's going to reveal the next Xbox (aka the Xbox 720 or Durango) on May 21, through an invitation to a special event in Redmond, Washington.
The next generation Xbox console, oft-rumored under the Xbox 720 or Durango names, has received a lot of reported details in the past few months, especially since Sony already presented its own PlayStation 4.
Now, after hearing some rumors about a possible May 21 reveal, Microsoft has decided to make things official and has begun sending out invitations to media websites from all around the world.
In the invitation, which you can check out above and below, the company mentions a "new generation Xbox."
The event will take place on May 21 at 10am in Microsoft's Redmond, Washington campus, according to Kotaku.
Microsoft's Xbox community manager, Larry Hryb, also wrote on his blog saying that the company will also present other games and details at E3 2013 in June.
Expect to hear some more details as we get closer to that date.
Friday, 19 April 2013
Reddit Disrupted by DDOS Attack – 4/19/2013
A couple of hours ago, Reddit representatives announced on Twitter that they were working on mitigating a distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack that disrupted the website.
“We are working on recovering from what appears to be a DDoS,” reads one notification posted on the Reddit Status Twitter feed.
It’s uncertain who is behind the attack, but it’s clear that the downtime isn’t the result of too many users visiting the site at the same time. Reddit calls it a “malicious DDOS attack.”
A tweet posted a few minutes ago reads: “We've mitigated part of the DDoS at this time. However, certain site functions are disabled.”
Currently, the website appears to be working properly.
Judging by the posts from the Reddit Status Twitter account, the service has experienced some temporary issues over the past months, but malicious DDOS attacks haven’t been blamed for any of them up until now.
GNOME 3.8.1 Officially Released
The first maintenance release for Gnome 3.8 has arrived on schedule and it's full of updates. It's worth mentioning that some of the included packages have major changes and improvements.
“The first update to GNOME 3.8, it includes many fixes, various improvements, and translation updates over 3.8.0, we hope you enjoy it.
“We won't end it here, we published the schedule for our next releases, and a first development release, 3.9.1, should be out on May 1st. Next stop will be the second update to GNOME 3.8, scheduled mid-May,” said Matthias Clasen in the official announcement.
Many of the core components have been updated to a more recent version. This list includes Clutter (1.14.0 => 1.14.2), Empathy (3.8.0 => 3.8.1), Epiphany (3.8.0 => 3.8.1), GTK+ (3.8.0 => 3.8.1), Mutter (3.8.0 => 3.8.1), Nautilus (3.8.0 => 3.8.1), Sushi (3.8.0 => 3.8.1), and Vala (0.20.0 => 0.20.1), just to name a few.
A few other components haven’t been updated at all: Gconf, Evince, gnome-disk-utility, Yelp, Totem, Zenity, network-manager, and more.
Some of the more important and visible apps received new versions, such as Evolution, File-Roller, Gedit, Orca, Rygel, and Vinagre.
You have to keep in mind that end users are not meant to install these packages. Unless you really know what you’re doing, you should wait for the developers to integrate Gnome 3.8.1 in the official repositories of your distribution.
The next release in line, for GNOME, will be the 3.9.x development branch, and the first version should be available for download by the end of the month or starting with May 1.
More details about this release and the included packages can be found in the official announcement.
Wednesday, 10 April 2013
Microsoft Releases Critical Windows Security Updates
Two of the bulletins are rated as “critical” and concern security flaws in Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Remote Desktop Client.
As far as IE users are concerned, the MS13-028 security update was released to address two different bugs in Microsoft’s in-house browser that would allow an attacker to gain the same rights as the logged in user, with the help of a specially crafted website.
The Windows Remote Desktop Client patch, labeled MS13-029, fixes a hole that could “allow remote code execution if an attacker convinces a customer to view a website containing specially crafted content that exploits it.”
In both cases, these issues were privately disclosed and no attacks have been reported.
As usual, all patches are delivered to Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and RT computers via the integrated Windows Update, so you’re recommended to install all of them as soon as possible.
Monday, 8 April 2013
Windows 9 to Be Released This October – Rumor
Microsoft officially launched Windows 8 in October 2012, but the company is already working on Windows Blue, the first update that might see daylight in August. While some say that Blue arrives way too soon for the OS market, it appears that Microsoft has even more surprises prepared for its users.
A report published by Digitimes claims that Microsoft is already developing another operating system, most likely Windows 9, which “will serve as the next-generation Windows.”
While this isn’t the first time we hear that Windows 9 is a work in progress, the same report claims that the next Windows version might be released in October. This means that Windows 9 might see daylight only two months after the first Windows 8 makeover.
Previous reports noted that Windows 9 is indeed under development right now, but the final version shouldn’t arrive sooner than November 2014.
As usual, Microsoft doesn’t comment on these rumors, so take them with a grain of salt until something official comes out.
A report published by Digitimes claims that Microsoft is already developing another operating system, most likely Windows 9, which “will serve as the next-generation Windows.”While this isn’t the first time we hear that Windows 9 is a work in progress, the same report claims that the next Windows version might be released in October. This means that Windows 9 might see daylight only two months after the first Windows 8 makeover.
Previous reports noted that Windows 9 is indeed under development right now, but the final version shouldn’t arrive sooner than November 2014.
As usual, Microsoft doesn’t comment on these rumors, so take them with a grain of salt until something official comes out.
Google Play Store 4.0 Screenshot Shows New Front Page
Mountain View-based Internet giant Google is gearing up for the launch of a new flavor of its Google Play Store application for devices running under its Android operating system, and some more info on what it will look like has emerged online.
Courtesy of a screenshot posted on Google+ by a YouTube employee, we can now have a look at the Play Store’s front page, which was unknown until now.
According to Android Police, the design matches the one spotted not long ago in a leaked Play Store build, and should prove a great improvement over the currently available flavor of the mobile application.
As can be seen in the screenshot, the upcoming iteration will arrive on devices with a new user interface, set to make it easier for users to find the applications they want.
The mobile software packs a new “Up” button, with the Google Play logo on it, which shows that the app is only meant for internal testing at the moment, and not for public use. The fact that the screenshot has already been removed from the employee’s Google+ page confirms that.
Google Play Store 4.0 will also come with a new icon for each of the various content sections available for users to access. These buttons are flat, with 1-color designs, and were not present in the previously leaked build, Android Police notes.
The action bar is still there, though chances are that it might be modified before the application arrives on devices around the world, it seems.
No specific info on when the new software version might be released has been provided as of now, but the next several weeks might bring some more details on the matter, given that the Google I/O conference is on track for the next month. Keep an eye on this page for more on the matter.
Courtesy of a screenshot posted on Google+ by a YouTube employee, we can now have a look at the Play Store’s front page, which was unknown until now. According to Android Police, the design matches the one spotted not long ago in a leaked Play Store build, and should prove a great improvement over the currently available flavor of the mobile application.
As can be seen in the screenshot, the upcoming iteration will arrive on devices with a new user interface, set to make it easier for users to find the applications they want.
The mobile software packs a new “Up” button, with the Google Play logo on it, which shows that the app is only meant for internal testing at the moment, and not for public use. The fact that the screenshot has already been removed from the employee’s Google+ page confirms that.
Google Play Store 4.0 will also come with a new icon for each of the various content sections available for users to access. These buttons are flat, with 1-color designs, and were not present in the previously leaked build, Android Police notes.
The action bar is still there, though chances are that it might be modified before the application arrives on devices around the world, it seems.
No specific info on when the new software version might be released has been provided as of now, but the next several weeks might bring some more details on the matter, given that the Google I/O conference is on track for the next month. Keep an eye on this page for more on the matter.
Microsoft to Kill Windows XP One Year from Now
As of April 8, 2014, Microsoft will no longer provide users with updates and security patches for the very popular Windows XP, so consumers still running it have no other option than to deploy Windows 7 or Windows 8.
According to figures released by Net Applications for the month of March 2013, Windows XP is currently installed on more than 38 percent of the computers worldwide, which is a clear sign that Microsoft will have a very difficult job killing the platform.
Disappointed with the overall performance of Windows 8, several users have already expressed their intention to stick to Windows XP, despite Microsoft’s warnings that doing so will basically expose their data and make their computers vulnerable to attacks.
Sunday, 7 April 2013
Google May Be Looking to Buy WhatsApp
Instagram is one example, Facebook snatched it up for what seemed a huge price, but it was probably well worth it.
Google has mostly relied on its own products on the mobile front, with a few exceptions. But it may be looking to make a big move and acquire the rather popular messaging app WhatsApp.
Digital Trends says it has sources saying the two companies are negotiating an acquisition and that WhatsApp may be worth over $1 billion, €768 million.
It's no secret that there are plenty of companies interested in WhatsApp, Facebook was one of the at one point. So Google could at least be talking to WhatsApp.
But that doesn't necessarily mean an acquisition is impending, especially since it's working on its own messaging app, Babble or Babel, to be unveiled next month.
The Full Google Glass Presentation at SXSW – Video
But for it to have any chance, it's going to need a lot of polish out of the box and for developers to support it.
This is why, even as it kept the public mostly in the dark, only releasing a few details, it has already started working with developers with the Mirror API.
In fact, after a few rather secretive sessions, Google spilled the beans in a 50-minute session at SXSW. In it, Google went through the Mirror API, the API for the Google Glass, and detailed its ideas for the device.
The talk by Senior Developer Advocate Timothy Jordan is titled "Building New Experiences with Glass."
Saturday, 6 April 2013
Facebook Home for Android Goes Official
Today, Facebook announced a new set of applications for the Android operating system, called Facebook Home and set to bring a new social experience to devices running under Google's mobile OS.
The new set of apps will arrive in the Google Play Store and will be available for download for users with the current Facebook app for Android.
Just as previous rumors suggested, Facebook Home will work as a launcher on Android, with a homescreen experience focused on Cover Feed, which will deliver a feed of stories and photos from friends. There will be no chrome, no logo, but only content for users to enjoy.
Additionally, there will be a new messaging app available as part of Facebook Home, called Chat Heads, which will enable users to engage into conversations while still remaining focused on what they were doing.
Facebook Home will arrive on Android phones on April 12, and will be released on HTC One X, Samsung Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II at first, with HTC One and Galaxy S 4 expected to receive it soon as well, while also set to land on tablet PCs in a few months.
Xbox 720 Won't Allow Games to Be Played Without a Constant Online Connection, Report Says
Another day, another Xbox 720 report, this time with a new rumor about the console's constant online connection requirement, saying that the next generation console won't even allow users to start games or applications if their internet isn't working.
The Xbox 720, unlike Sony's PlayStation 4, is still being kept under a shroud of mystery by Microsoft although lots of rumors have started to appear in recent months.
The latest arrives from Kotaku and sheds some more light on the possible mandatory internet connection requirement of the new console.
According to the website's sources, the Xbox 720 must be constantly connected to the internet in order to even allow users to play games or access applications.
While the console will allow for connections to be dropped once a game or app is running, after a certain period, currently at 3 minutes, it will suspend the game or app and start a network troubleshooter program.
As of yet, Microsoft still isn't commenting about its next-gen device.
Microsoft to Launch Its Own Google Glass Rival – Rumor
Even though it bets big on touch computing, the Redmond-based technology giant Microsoft is reportedly showing up a growing interest in wearable tech, as the company is believed to be working on a new device that would compete with Google’s very own Glass.
Analyst Brian White revealed during a conference with investors that Microsoft is very likely to come up with a new technology similar to Google Glass, possibly running Windows or a modified version of its core operating system.
Google Glass is still in concept stage, but the project is enjoying a terrific success, especially thanks to a worldwide advertising push put in place by the Mountain View search giant, a longtime Microsoft rival, not only in the field of search engines, but also when it comes to some other products, such as email platforms.
If rumors are true and Microsoft is indeed working on a Google Glass rival, the Windows maker is very likely to go well beyond the features believed to be part of Google’s final project, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, and cameras.
The company will most likely go for a deeper integration of its Windows operating system that would allow those wearing it to connect to a number of services on the go.
Brian White claims that Microsoft is working on this project as we speak, so expect the first prototypes to be revealed in early 2014, before eventually going on sale later that year.
“It appears to us that Google has made significant breakthroughs around software applications as it relates to this new product,” he was quoted as saying by Apple Insider.
“As such, we believe this initiative will kick off a major push into the field of wearable electronics and therefore will be closely scrutinized.”
As usual, Microsoft has refused to release a comment on its future projects, but it’s pretty clear that 2014 is going to be a very interesting year for the company, as the next major release of its OS, new Surface tablets and several other key products are also expected in about 12 months.
Thursday, 28 March 2013
Google Introduces Keep, a Simple but Powerful Note-Taking App
It first surfaced a few days ago, but Google is already launching it, the note-taking app Keep is here. It's tied into Google Drive, but it is its own app, both online and on Android.
As expected, it's a relatively simple app, you can take simple notes, make lists, but there are a couple of more advanced features as well.
"With Keep you can quickly jot ideas down when you think of them and even include checklists and photos to keep track of what’s important to you," Google explains.
"Your notes are safely stored in Google Drive and synced to all your devices so you can always have them at hand," it adds.
"If it’s more convenient to speak than to type that’s fine—Keep transcribes voice memos for you automatically. There’s super-fast search to find what you’re looking for and when you’re finished with a note you can archive or delete it," Google added.
For now, Keep can store notes, lists and photos. It works on the web, on mobile devices too thanks to a flexible design, but there's also an Android app, for both phones and tablets.
The key to all of this is speed, any note-taking app has to be first and foremost fast. In fact, it has to be faster than grabbing a pen and jotting something down.
That's simple enough on the web, but it's harder and more important on mobile devices. The app works well enough though, there's a widget so you can take a note very fast. In fact, there's even a lockscreen widget, on devices running Android 4.2 and above.
There's also plenty of potential, Google could add more things you can "keep." For now, the app is compared to Evernote, though it's got fewer features, but it could evolve into something rather different, when Google decides to enable users to share their notes.
As expected, it's a relatively simple app, you can take simple notes, make lists, but there are a couple of more advanced features as well.
"With Keep you can quickly jot ideas down when you think of them and even include checklists and photos to keep track of what’s important to you," Google explains.
"Your notes are safely stored in Google Drive and synced to all your devices so you can always have them at hand," it adds.
"If it’s more convenient to speak than to type that’s fine—Keep transcribes voice memos for you automatically. There’s super-fast search to find what you’re looking for and when you’re finished with a note you can archive or delete it," Google added.
For now, Keep can store notes, lists and photos. It works on the web, on mobile devices too thanks to a flexible design, but there's also an Android app, for both phones and tablets.
The key to all of this is speed, any note-taking app has to be first and foremost fast. In fact, it has to be faster than grabbing a pen and jotting something down.
That's simple enough on the web, but it's harder and more important on mobile devices. The app works well enough though, there's a widget so you can take a note very fast. In fact, there's even a lockscreen widget, on devices running Android 4.2 and above.
There's also plenty of potential, Google could add more things you can "keep." For now, the app is compared to Evernote, though it's got fewer features, but it could evolve into something rather different, when Google decides to enable users to share their notes.
Google Chrome 26 Lands with Intelligent Cloud Spell Checker
Google Chrome 26 has hit the stable channel. It's a bit surprising actually, since Chrome 26 has only been in the beta channel for a month. Chrome releases usually spend six weeks in each channel before graduating.
Perhaps the fast cycle can be explained by the short list of new features, though this list is usually short.
The only notable new feature is the spell checker which has gotten a big boost, particularly thanks to Google's cloud spell checker, the same one used in Docs and Search.
If you enable the "Ask Google for suggestions" feature, Chrome will use Google's online spell checking engine which comes with advanced features such as grammar and homonym checking.
Google uses machine learning technology for the online checker and since it has the entire web indexed, it's almost never wrong and very rarely misses a mistake.
The new spell checker can understand context, it knows whether you wanted to use 'ad' or 'add' and will offer suggestions accordingly. If you've used Docs before you'll know how powerful it is, if you haven't, you'll find out soon enough.
The only caveat is that, obviously, for it to work everything you type has to be sent to Google's servers. Google doesn't store any of this or uses it any way except to check your spelling, but if you don't trust Google, this could be an issue.
Even if you don't enable the cloud spell checker, you can still benefit the addition of beefed up dictionaries for all languages as well as support for Korean, Tamil and Albanian.
What's more, your custom dictionary can now be synced between browsers so you won't have to add words you commonly use more than once. You can also edit the dictionary to remove words you no longer use or manually add a batch of them.
Perhaps the fast cycle can be explained by the short list of new features, though this list is usually short.
The only notable new feature is the spell checker which has gotten a big boost, particularly thanks to Google's cloud spell checker, the same one used in Docs and Search.
If you enable the "Ask Google for suggestions" feature, Chrome will use Google's online spell checking engine which comes with advanced features such as grammar and homonym checking.
Google uses machine learning technology for the online checker and since it has the entire web indexed, it's almost never wrong and very rarely misses a mistake.
The new spell checker can understand context, it knows whether you wanted to use 'ad' or 'add' and will offer suggestions accordingly. If you've used Docs before you'll know how powerful it is, if you haven't, you'll find out soon enough.
The only caveat is that, obviously, for it to work everything you type has to be sent to Google's servers. Google doesn't store any of this or uses it any way except to check your spelling, but if you don't trust Google, this could be an issue.
Even if you don't enable the cloud spell checker, you can still benefit the addition of beefed up dictionaries for all languages as well as support for Korean, Tamil and Albanian.
What's more, your custom dictionary can now be synced between browsers so you won't have to add words you commonly use more than once. You can also edit the dictionary to remove words you no longer use or manually add a batch of them.
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
1337Day Inj3ct0rs Official domain hacked - 1337day.com Hacked
1337day official website hacked by hackers from Morocco with the code names SQL_Master and Z0mbi3_Ma
With this message in the deface:
With this message in the deface:
Inj3ct0rs Fuck3d !
Hello all ! Today 1337day hacked ! not just for fun or laughing , but sombody from ur team thinks he's the best hacker in the world .
u are sure of ur security :) ?? and u believes no one can hack ur primary domain ( 1337day.com )
and somebody thinks u are the heros :)
now u are been fucked by us , so don't say bullshits again please ;) .
u are sure of ur security :) ?? and u believes no one can hack ur primary domain ( 1337day.com )
and somebody thinks u are the heros :)
now u are been fucked by us , so don't say bullshits again please ;) .
Ass thinks he's a horse :D
We are : SQL_Master and Z0mbi3_Ma
Sunday, 24 March 2013
Yahoo, LinkedIn, Twitter Accounts Vulnerable to Session Fixation Attacks – Video
Security researcher Rishi Narang has identified a vulnerability that could be exploited by cybercriminals to hijack accounts belonging to Microsoft, Twitter, LinkedIn and Yahoo users. Google and Facebook customers are not impacted by the flaw.
According to the expert, the vulnerability, which can be leveraged to launch session fixation attacks, is caused by an issue with the management of cookies and sessions.
If an attacker can intercept authentication cookies, he can use them to hijack the account because although an expiry date is set, they’re still valid even after the customer logs out.
“The cookie/session ID for an authenticated session is available even after the session has been terminated. There are examples where cookies can be accessible to hijack authenticated sessions,” Narang explained.
“And these cookies are days (sometimes months) old. As a result, someone can successfully access accounts that belong to individuals from different global locations. Even if they would have logged-in/logged out many a times, theirs cookie would still be valid.”
Sunday, 17 March 2013
NIST National Vulnerability Database Down, Malware Identified on Two Web Servers
The National Vulnerability Database (NVD) and several other websites operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have been inaccessible for the past few days.
It turns out that NIST's systems have been hacked. More precisely, the sites have been taken down after malware was identified on a couple of web servers.
Security expert Kim Halavakoski has contacted NIST representatives in an attempt to find out why the NDV is unavailable.
“The National Vulnerability Database public-facing Web site and several other NIST-hosted Web sites are currently unavailable due to discovery of malware on two NIST Web servers,” NIST representatives wrote in an email to Halavakoski, which he posted on his Google+ profile.
“On Friday March 8, a NIST firewall detected suspicious activity and took steps to block unusual traffic from reaching the Internet. NIST began investigating the cause of the unusual activity and the servers were taken offline. Malware was discovered on two NIST Web servers and was then traced to a software vulnerability,” the email continued.
“Currently there is no evidence that NVD or any other NIST public pages contained or were used to deliver malware to users of these NIST Web sites. NIST continually works to maintain the integrity of its IT infrastructure and acts to limit the impact of malware on its systems. We regret the impact this has had on our services.”
Halavakoski makes an interesting observation based on the data provided by NetCraft. Up until March 7, the nvd.nist.gov site was running on Windows Server 2008 and IIS 7.5, but after the breach, starting with March 9, it has been running on Linux and Apache.
NIST representatives state they don’t know when the database will be back online, but they say they will restore it “as quickly as possible.”
It turns out that NIST's systems have been hacked. More precisely, the sites have been taken down after malware was identified on a couple of web servers.Security expert Kim Halavakoski has contacted NIST representatives in an attempt to find out why the NDV is unavailable.
“The National Vulnerability Database public-facing Web site and several other NIST-hosted Web sites are currently unavailable due to discovery of malware on two NIST Web servers,” NIST representatives wrote in an email to Halavakoski, which he posted on his Google+ profile.
“On Friday March 8, a NIST firewall detected suspicious activity and took steps to block unusual traffic from reaching the Internet. NIST began investigating the cause of the unusual activity and the servers were taken offline. Malware was discovered on two NIST Web servers and was then traced to a software vulnerability,” the email continued.
“Currently there is no evidence that NVD or any other NIST public pages contained or were used to deliver malware to users of these NIST Web sites. NIST continually works to maintain the integrity of its IT infrastructure and acts to limit the impact of malware on its systems. We regret the impact this has had on our services.”
Halavakoski makes an interesting observation based on the data provided by NetCraft. Up until March 7, the nvd.nist.gov site was running on Windows Server 2008 and IIS 7.5, but after the breach, starting with March 9, it has been running on Linux and Apache.
NIST representatives state they don’t know when the database will be back online, but they say they will restore it “as quickly as possible.”
The New Facebook News Feed Is Here and It's Gorgeous
As expected, Facebook unveiled its new News Feed today. Also as expected, it's quite a big change and, perhaps surprisingly for Facebook, look rather slick. Google started caring a lot more about design in recent years and it shows, Facebook seems to finally be doing the same.
But it's more than just the visual aspects, there are plenty of changes to the way the News Feed works, most notably, the fact that it's now split into different sections.
Posts also get more breathing room and, while there are more details, things don't feel cramped.
"You see all the stories you saw in your News Feed before, but with a fresh new look. We've completely rebuilt each story to be much more vibrant and colorful and highlight the content that your friends are sharing," Facebook explained.
But, while you'll still be able to get the full news feed, it's also going to be easier to only focus on the info you want.
There will be four main feeds, one for All Friends, Photos, Music and Following. This segregation makes it possible to check out what your friends are up to without getting flooded by news from your favorite bands.
Another big but obvious change is that the new news feed will be the same on all devices, on the desktop on tablets and on mobile phones.
Everyone will get the new news feed in the coming weeks, both on the site and in the mobile apps.
But if you don't want to wait, you can sign up on the waiting list to get in. Judging by how fast the "queue" for the Graph Search moved, you should be getting the new news feed rather soon.
Naturally, you can expect to hear plenty of complaints from plenty of people as the new news feed rolls out, as with any Facebook update. They will go away soon though.
But it's more than just the visual aspects, there are plenty of changes to the way the News Feed works, most notably, the fact that it's now split into different sections.
Posts also get more breathing room and, while there are more details, things don't feel cramped.
"You see all the stories you saw in your News Feed before, but with a fresh new look. We've completely rebuilt each story to be much more vibrant and colorful and highlight the content that your friends are sharing," Facebook explained.
But, while you'll still be able to get the full news feed, it's also going to be easier to only focus on the info you want.
There will be four main feeds, one for All Friends, Photos, Music and Following. This segregation makes it possible to check out what your friends are up to without getting flooded by news from your favorite bands.
Another big but obvious change is that the new news feed will be the same on all devices, on the desktop on tablets and on mobile phones.
Everyone will get the new news feed in the coming weeks, both on the site and in the mobile apps.
But if you don't want to wait, you can sign up on the waiting list to get in. Judging by how fast the "queue" for the Graph Search moved, you should be getting the new news feed rather soon.
Naturally, you can expect to hear plenty of complaints from plenty of people as the new news feed rolls out, as with any Facebook update. They will go away soon though.
