Gawkwire: Web Hosting and Internet News Resource

Bill would give president emergency control of Internet

2009-08-31T09:38:00-04:00

(cnet) They're not much happier about a revised version that aides to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, have spent months drafting behind closed doors. CNET News has obtained a copy of the 55-page draft of S.773 (excerpt), which still appears to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency.

The new version would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "non-governmental" computer networks and do what's necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for "cybersecurity professionals," and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license.

"I think the redraft, while improved, remains troubling due to its vagueness," said Larry Clinton, president of the Internet Security Alliance, which counts representatives of Verizon, Verisign, Nortel, and Carnegie Mellon University on its board. "It is unclear what authority Sen. Rockefeller thinks is necessary over the private sector. Unless this is clarified, we cannot properly analyze, let alone support the bill."

Representatives of other large Internet and telecommunications companies expressed concerns about the bill in a teleconference with Rockefeller's aides this week, but were not immediately available for interviews on Thursday. ...Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/bill_would_give_president_emergency_control_of_internet.html

Accused mastermind of TJX hack to plead guilty

2009-08-31T09:34:00-04:00

(cnet) Albert Gonzalez, the alleged ringleader of one of the largest known identity theft cases in U.S. history, has agreed to plead guilty to all 19 counts of related charges against him, according to court documents filed Friday.

Gonzalez, 28, of Miami, was accused in August 2008 of helping steal millions of credit card and debit card numbers from major U.S. retail chains. Among the retailers hacked were TJX Companies (owner of T.J. Maxx), BJ's Wholesale Club, OfficeMax, Boston Market, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority, Forever21, and DSW. ...Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/accused_mastermind_of_tjx_hack_to_plead_guilty.html

Browserless Windows 7 refuses to go gracefully

2009-08-27T09:22:00-04:00

(cnet) Curiously, though, the "E" versions are still listed for sale on several versions of Microsoft's European online store. Nor did the software maker have a clear explanation of why those versions are still listed, weeks after the company said that it would ship the same version globally.

Although the UK site seems to have it right, many of the non-English sites, including Spanish, Dutch, and German versions, list only the "E" or "N" versions of the operating system. As it did with Vista, Microsoft does plan to continue selling an "N" version in Europe, which has the media player removed. ...Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/browserless_windows_7_refuses_to_go_gracefully.html

Massive Twitter Security Problem Not Resolved Just Yet

2009-08-26T09:25:00-04:00

(TechCrunch) There are all sorts of malicious things people could have done to exploit the bug, like steal session cookies, create a Twitter worm or even infect unaware visitors with malware, so it’s safe to say this was a massive security threat.

Sure enough, when word got out Twitter moved to patch the bug to prevent such bad stuff from happening. John Adams from Twitter Operations even commented on Naylor’s blog to point out the hole had been closed shortly after he published his post.

Well, not quite. ...Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/massive_twitter_security_problem_not_resolved_just_yet.html

Ten ways to break your laptop

2009-08-24T14:00:00-04:00

(cnet) It's a well-known fact that circuit boards and liquids don't mix, but there are more bizarre ways to break your laptop. A Massachusetts-based computer repair company has listed the top 10 ways that people deep-six their laptops--MacBooks, in particular.

Is your MacBook an accident waiting to happen?

In many respects, a laptop is an accident waiting to happen. Often there is no more than a thin piece of plastic between the user and disaster. And Apple MacBooks are particularly vulnerable at Starbucks these days due to their increasing popularity over the standard-fare Dell laptop.

But spilling coffee on your keyboard is one of the less colorful ways to break your laptop (Apple MacBook Air owners take note: No. 7).

Computer repair company MicroReplay, which specializes in repairing Apple computers, listed the top 10 ways that consumers kill their laptops. ...Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/ten_ways_to_break_your_laptop.html

Twitter Can Now Know Where You Tweet

2009-08-21T09:52:00-04:00

(TechCrunch) But they are likely to now that Twitter is adding native support for it with a new API.Location is one of the features that a lot of the Twitter apps tack on using things like the iPhone’s geolocation services. It’s a cool feature, but not enough people use it. But they are likely to now that Twitter is adding native support for it with a new API.

At first, Twitter is releasing this as a developer preview, co-founder Biz Stone notes on the blog today. This means that third-party apps will be the first to have access to the feature. But Stone also says that support for location on Twitter’s mobile and regular site will come as well. And it’s important to note that the feature will be opt-in, meaning that by default it will be off for users, but if they want to use it, they can turn it on. ...Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/twitter_can_now_know_where_you_tweet.html

AOL Thinks It Owns All Advertising Domains

2009-08-19T11:19:00-04:00

(TechCrunch) Furthermore, the company is also partly responsible for the near-done sale of the domain name Ad.com for a reported $1.4 million falling through, leading to the seller of the domain name subsequently suing the buying party, says DomainNameWire.

But first lawsuits first.

Advertise.com, which was purchased by ABCsearch.com earlier this year and rebranded as such a few months ago, is a variation on AOL-owned Advertising.com, the beleaguered Internet company claims. In legalese, that translates as follows: ...Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/aol_thinks_it_owns_all_advertising_domains.html

Is the Apple tablet for cars?

2009-08-17T09:32:00-04:00

(cnet) There was a particularly frenetic message today from a reader offering links to an Russian Apple site called DeepApple, that purported to explain how the still-unconfirmed Apple tablet would in fact be targeted primarily at automotive use. In part, it reads: ...Go to source http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/is_the_apple_tablet_for_cars.html

Apple's Schiller responds to angry developer

2009-08-14T14:00:00-04:00

(cnet) For the second time in less than a week, Apple executive Phil Schiller has responded via e-mail to criticism of the company's App Store.

The latest response from Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, came in an e-mail over the weekend to Steven Frank, co-founder of Mac developer Panic.

In a recent post to his personal blog, Frank had said that Apple's rejection of Google Voice was the last straw for him, reported TUAW, which stands for The Unofficial Apple Weblog.

"My position is not that every app should be approved -- it's that rejected apps should be rejected for reasons that at the very least make consistent, logical sense, without garbage form-letter rejection notices that explain nothing, and with at least some sort of guidance available to the developer about how to fix the problem instead of meeting them with a brick wall," Frank said on his blog. ...Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/apple_s_schiller_responds_to_angry_developer.html

Twitter Is Revamping Retweets, Launches A Retweet API

2009-08-14T09:40:00-04:00

(TechCrunch) From the looks of it, this could mean some pretty big changes on Twitter. As you can see in the mock-ups above and below, the retweet (written as “RT” in most tweets) is no longer a part of the actual tweet itself, but rather is a link below the tweet. While that certainly is a cleaner way of doing things, it will be interesting to see if this makes retweeting less or more enticing. And it could potentially help users find new people to follow (more on that below).

But as co-founder Biz Stone notes on the Twitter blog, the current method of retweeting on twitter.com is a cumbersome process of copying and pasting. They want to change that. He calls this “Phase One” of “Project Retweet,” and notes that it is going out to developers first so they can be ready for the change, and indicates that it’s not quite ready for prime-time: ...Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/twitter_is_revamping_retweets_launches_a_retweet_api.html

That which cannot be googled

2009-08-10T09:55:00-04:00

(cnet) The tendency for people to cheat online is one of the reasons I initially told Jeremy Toeman I wasn't going to cover his Twitter quiz game, Trivia On Twitter, which rewards fast answers to Twittered trivia questions with real prizes. What's the challenge here? Anything you can ask can be googled. The best players would be those who are able to read search results pages the fastest. No fun.

But, Toeman told me today, he's trying to come up with trivia challenges that rewards more than google skills. Some of the questions involve calculations, or multiple steps, such as "How many U.S. states are there with only four different letters in their names?" He's also looking at creating picture questions, in which players have to identify an image. He'll be running the pictures through an image editor first, modifying them so image-matching engines like TinEye are not likely to find them. ...Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/that_which_cannot_be_googled.html

Using Twitter and Flickr at HostingCon 2009

2009-08-07T09:41:00-04:00

(HostingCon) If you plan on Twittering or taking pictures at HostingCon 2009, here’s some information you will need to know:

Twitter for HostingCon
The official Twitter hashtag for HostingCon 2009 is #HostingCon. If you’re Twittering from the event, be sure to use it! We’ll have Twitter up on the TV monitors outside the keynote and session areas so you can keep up with the latest Tweets occurring at the show.

Members of the HostingCon event staff will be Twittering as well, so be sure to follow @HostingCon to keep up with any official announcements and fun Tweets from the conference.

Flickr for HostingCon
Taking pictures at the show? Upload them to Flickr! The official Flickr tag for this year’s show is hostingcon2009. Be sure to add it to any and all photos you take at the conference so everyone can see them on the HostingCon website!

See you at the show!

P.S. Join the official HostingCon LinkedIn Group for post-event announcements! It’s a great way to connect with associates and partners you meet at HostingCon while staying up-to-date on post-show HostingCon activities.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/using_twitter_and_flickr_at_hostingcon_2009.html

Twitter Outage Ongoing, Denial Of Service Attack

2009-08-05T17:21:00-04:00

(TechCrunch) We are determining the cause and will provide an update shortly."). Update 2: It's a denial of service attack. Twitter's status update says: "We are defending against a denial-of-service attack, and will update status again shortly."

Since most of you spend your entire work day screwing around on Twitter (luckily I actually get paid to do this), you may be left wondering what to do now. No worries, we have a list. Meanwhile, I can't Tweet (TM) that it's raining here in Palo Alto, or go on a 140 character rage over PG&E shutting off my electricity for no reason at all yesterday, forcing me to come into the office at 4 am this morning. ...Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/serious_twitter_outage_ongoing_denial_of_service_attack.html

Hacking the Defcon Badges

2009-08-06T09:36:00-04:00

(cnet) Instead, they end up as collector's items. Bidding on eBay for a Defcon 17 badge from last weekend had reached $81 on Tuesday with three days to go, while a 2007 badge was at $33.99.

The Defcon badges and badge hacking contest, both highly anticipated at the conference each summer, not only give the hackers a mental challenge to figure out what the devices are capable of doing, but they serve as tools for participants to demonstrate their talent at coming up with innovative hacks.

"Each year we push the limits of printed circuit board design techniques and try to show off devices and technologies attendees might not have seen before," Joe "Kingpin" Grand, who has designed the Defcon badges for the past four years, said in an interview on Tuesday. "We are doing things on circuit boards now that clearly have never been done before."

This year's badge was the most sophisticated yet. It doesn't just have a circuit board on it; it is the circuit board. It runs on a 3-volt battery and has a built-in microphone and a multicolored LED (red, green and blue) that reacts to sound by changing color and brightness and by blinking. ...Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/hacking_the_defcon_badges.html

1/3 Of Europeans Have Never Used The Web

2009-08-05T09:17:00-04:00

(TechCrunch) The study, which took a deep dive into the digital landscape in Europe over the last five years, demonstrated that new technologies are spreading fast across the continent but deep divisions remain and that particularly the elder and unemployed remain largely unaware of the existence of websites such as TechCrunch and FAILblog.org.

The commission’s study showed that 56 percent of Europeans had become regular Internet users by 2008, a jump of one third since 2004. Forty three percent of EU citizens currently use the web every day, while 75 percent use it regularly (”at least once a week”) compared to only 43 percent in 2005. Half of all households and more than 80 percent of businesses had a broadband connection last year and with 114 million subscribers the EU is in fact the largest world market for fixed broadband access. ...Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/1_3_of_europeans_have_never_used_the_web.html

Revealing Competitive Challenges & Data Protection Policies for Web Hosts

2009-08-05T09:13:00-04:00

(HostingCon) HostingCon 2009 is packed with exceptional keynote presentations spanning topics from cloud computing and virtualization to search engine optimization and professional development. The keynote topics were selected to help web hosts identify strategies to answer critical business questions necessary to compete and thrive in a changing environment. Three particular keynotes focus on market opportunities, competitive challenges, and government policy.

On Monday, August 10th, the opening keynote is Parallels CEO, Serguei Beloussov. He will deliver a presentation that enables attendees to learn first-hand how to leverage cloud computing and evaluate everything from automation to virtualization solutions. If you attended HostingCon 2008, you know that Serquei has a unique ability to break down the competitive environment in a way that shakes out opportunities. For this keynote, he will help hosting services providers identify a unique opportunity to offer their SMB customers applications via Software-as-a-Service (SaaS.)

Following Serquei on Monday afternoon is Iain Grant, Managing Director of Sea Board Group. In this keynote, Iain will review the current business environment, the demands customers are placing on hosting companies, the opportunities hosting companies face and the choices that hosting companies have to make. These choices include building, co-locating and buying services from others. Iain will review the merits of each option, and the limitations, within the constraints of the current changing environment.

On Wednesday morning, August 12th, Frank Schmiedel from the Delegation of the European Commission, David Ritchie from the U.S. Office of Technology and Electronic Commerce and Larry Donahue from Deep Web Technologies are presenting an appropriate subject for a conference in Washington D.C. More importantly, their subject matter is a “need to know” for all web hosts serving customers in the U.S. and/or European Union. Their keynote presentation is titled, “Data Protection Policies in US and EU.” In this keynote panel, David, Frank and Larry will provide you with details on all aspects of data protection laws for both US and EU. Now more than ever, you need to protect your customers’ data by implementing processes today. You’ll learn how to implement processes effectively while improving the value of your services. Plus you’ll have an opportunity to ask questions based on your current data protection environment.

HostingCon is being held August 10 – 12, 2009, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, in National Harbor, MD (just miles outside Washington D.C.) With more than 50 educational sessions and over 100 exhibitors, HostingCon 2009 is the place to learn, network and grow in a changing environment. Don’t miss the enthusiasm and opportunities to take your hosted services business to the next level.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/revealing_competitive_challenges_data_protection_policies_for_we.html