Internet Explorer 9 rated best at blocking socially engineered malware Published by Fresh and New Articles - On 10:06 AM - This post haved 0 comments

Internet Explorer 9 really is a massive upgrade from its aging predecessor, but there’s a whole lot more to it than just speed. The IE9 team also put a lot of effort into designing more modern security into the browser, making it capable of defending users against threats that older browsers simply don’t know how to deal with.

Drive-by attacks have been utilized by cybercriminals for a long time. Since average computer users are often very lax when it comes to keeping things like browser plug-ins up to date, Flash, Java, and PDF exploits became very common. Recently, however, browsers have become better about coercing users into updating plug-ins, so the bad guys started using tactics similar to the ones they employ when phishing via email. This newer socially engineered malware can be a bit trickier for browsers to block, which is why NSS Labs set out to see how six of the top browsers fare against such attacks.

The chart above certainly looks clear enough: Internet Explorer kicks butt at blocking this kind of threat. By combining the URL Reputation feature (which first arrived in IE7) and the new App Rep service, Internet Explorer 9 posted a practically perfect score. That’s not necessarily a surprise, considering the numbers reported by Microsoft back in May. 95% of IE9 users choose not to run malicious apps after receiving an App Rep warning.

If you need more proof that App Rep actually works, just check with Ed Bott. Recently, he wrote about a download from Microsoft’s own servers that was being flagged by IE9 — proof positive that nothing gets a free ride when it comes to reputation checking in the browser.

Source: http://www.geek.com/articles/news/internet-explorer-9-rated-best-at-blocking-socially-engineered-malware-20110718/

World’s 7 billionth person to be born on Halloween? Published by Fresh and New Articles - On 10:03 AM - This post haved 0 comments

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 6,959,000,772 people in the world right now. That means we’re very close to reaching the 7 billion mark, and according to The Hindu, that person will most likely be born in China or India – two countries with more than a billion people.

The birth date of the 7 billionth inhabitant of Earth, according to the United Nations population division, has been set for October 31. Yes, this lucky baby will be born on Halloween. Let’s pray it’s not some sort of demon child. Also, the end of October is only 12 years since we crossed over the 6 billion person mark.

By the year 2050, the world’s population is estimated to be 9.3 billion. That means that between now and 2050, the global population will add the same amount of people that populated the entire planet in 1950. By the year 2100, the Earth’s population is estimated to be at 10.1 billion people.

India, which has a population of 1.2 billion, is set to take the lead as the world’s most populous country from China at 1.3 billion. And although the number of people in China and India is massive, the U.N. is attributing this explosion in world population to the rapid growth in Africa which is happening faster than anyone had thought. The continent’s population could triple in the next 90 years.

The birth rate is apparently not declining as fast as expected in some poor countries. As for the U.S.’s population, it’s supposed to rise from 311 million to 478 million by 2100 largely due to high immigration and higher birth rates among Hispanic immigrants. But one of the most amazing growths will happen in Nigeria, which is currently Africa’s most populous country at 162 million people. By the year 2100, Nigeria is set to have a population of 730 million people.

Of course, this brings up questions of: Will there be enough food and water for 10 billion people? How will politics change with the increase and decrease of certain countries and continents’ populations? And should we be doing anything to try to stall the rise in population, like fertility programs across the world to help against unwanted pregnancies?

These are all topics of ongoing debates. However, what we do know is whoever turns out to be the 7 billionth person born on Earth should at least get some kind of commemorative plaque.

Source: http://www.geek.com/articles/news/worlds-7-billionth-person-to-be-born-on-halloween-20110831/

Windows 7 passes 400 million licenses sold, Office 2010 hits 100 million Published by Fresh and New Articles - On 9:58 AM - This post haved 0 comments

It’s fair to say that Windows 7 continues to sell like hotcakes all over the world. The previously announced pace of 7 copies per second back in June of 2010 shows no signs of slowing, with Microsoft now trumpeting another significant milestone. More than 400 million Windows 7 licenses have have been sold to date, which works out to roughly 250 million in the past year.

Figures like that are almost hard to believe, what with all the reports of tablet sales killing the Windows netbook market. In addition to rolling on towards half a billion Windows 7 licenses sold, Microsoft says the OS is also now running on nearly 30% of all PCs worldwide.

Also released last summer was Office 2010, and while it’s understandably not selling at the same pace as Windows 7 it’s still doing quite well. CEO Steve Ballmer announced that over 100 million Office 2010 licenses have been sold to date. Ballmer didn’t provide specifics, but that number is probably padded slightly by Office Starter installations — for which OEMs must buy licenses in order to pre-install it on their desktops and laptops. Still, 100 million licenses is nothing to sneeze at, though whether Office can maintain retail momentum now remains to be seen. Sales could slow significantly once more consumers become aware of the free-to-use Office Web Apps on Windows Live.

There’s also good news on the browser front, where Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc reports that Internet Explorer 9 is starting to gain traction and is now installed on about 17% of Windows 7 machines. Not too shabby considering it was only released about four months ago.

More at Windows Team Blog

Source:http://www.geek.com/articles/news/windows-7-passes-400-million-licenses-sold-office-2010-hits-100-million-20110712/

HP resurrects TouchPad tablet to pacify rabid customers Published by Fresh and New Articles - On 1:53 AM - This post haved 0 comments

(WIRED) -- And on the 61st day, the TouchPad rose again.

HP has plans to produce another round of its TouchPad tablets before the year is out, despite its earlier decision to discontinue its mobile hardware products.

"Despite announcing an end to manufacturing webOS hardware, we have decided to produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand," HP spokesman Mark Budgell wrote in a company blog post. "As we know more about how, when and where TouchPads will be available, we will communicate that here and through e-mail to those who requested notification."

Budgell says it will be a few weeks before devices from the additional run will be available for purchase.

The blog post signals further confusion from a company in upheaval. Two weeks ago, HP announced suddenly it would end production on all of its mobile hardware, including the soon-to-be-released Pre 3 and Veer smartphones.

The decision also included the company's iPad competitor, the TouchPad, killed off a mere 49 days after its debut in July. Circulating rumors suggested third-party retailers were sitting on hundreds of thousands of unsold units.

HP followed its announcement by slashing prices on remaining TouchPad inventory, reducing the price of the 16-gigabyte TouchPad to $100, and the 32-gig version to $150.

Since the blowout sale prices, however, the company hasn't been able to keep any TouchPads in stock. Retailers have been bombarded by customer requests for the cheapened devices, and dozens of retailers have reported completely selling out.

Which is most likely the reason behind HP's decision to once again beef up its inventory for a last TouchPad blast.

"Tablet computing is a segment of the market that's relevant, absolutely," HP personal systems group exec Todd Bradley told Reuters in an interview. The company continues to explore licensing options for, webOS -- its proprietary operating system -- according to Bradley.

There's no guarantee, however, that HP will continue to sell the last round of tablets at a $100 rate. Hardware teardown website iSupply speculates that, in terms of components alone, a 16-GB TouchPad costs HP approximately $300 to build. That's a $200 bath HP is taking on each individual unit sold, not including the cost of labor, shipping and associated expenses.

HP did not immediately respond to a phone request for comment.

While the resurgence in TouchPad interest may be a promising sign for HP, the company's flip-flopping decision process isn't serving its public image.

"The only thing I know for sure that's going on at HP is that they have completely lost control of their message," Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps said by e-mail to Wired.com. Epps continued, saying HP was "sabotaging their brand with the mixed messages."

As of today, the TouchPad is now the No. 2 best-selling tablet after the iPad, according to FastCompany. Ironically, that's the exact position HP was vying for.

Unfortunately for the company, it took bargain-bin pricing and the threat of extinction to get there.

Why smartphones still haven't taken over the U.S. market Published by Fresh and New Articles - On 1:51 AM - This post haved 0 comments

Editor's note: Amy Gahran writes about mobile tech for CNN.com. She is a San Francisco Bay Area writer and media consultant whose blog, Contentious.com, explores how people communicate in the online age.

(CNN) -- Smartphones may attract nearly all of the marketing hype and news coverage, but comScore's latest statistics show that smartphones still comprise only a minority of the U.S. mobile market -- about 35%, as of July 2011.

The other 65% of U.S. mobile handsets in use are "feature phones" -- which tend to be much less expensive to buy and own. Often, these phones do not require a pricey two-year wireless service contract with hefty early termination fees.

Even though smartphones cost much more, these devices have been getting popular with U.S. consumers, even in light of the country's economic recession. After all, a 35% market share is nothing to sneeze at -- especially considering that smartphones have only been widely available in the U.S. for about five years.

At some point, a majority of U.S. mobile users will indeed own smartphones. But that shift won't happen as quickly as early forecasts anticipated.

Back in March 2010, the Nielsen Company proclaimed that smartphones would overtake feature phones by 2011. Specifically, they predicted that by the end of Q3 2011 (about a month from now), most U.S. mobile users would own smartphones.

That ambitious prediction doesn't seem to be panning out.

For over a year, comScore has been publishing monthly mobile-market-share statistics that show the percentage of U.S. smartphones. I've been tracking these figures. Based on this data, it looks like it'll be roughly October 2012 before smartphones actually take over as a majority of U.S. handsets.

That's about a year later than Nielsen's forecast.

Even then, there will still be plenty of feature phones in the U.S. market for quite a while. They're definitely not vanishing any time soon.

What might speed up or slow down the proliferation of smartphones in the U.S.?

It's mostly a cost-benefit tradeoff. Decisions about which mobile phone to purchase are driven by functionality (what people want to do with their phones), access (the quality, speed, and geographic availability of local wireless networks), cost (both up-front and monthly bills), and flexibility (the ability to switch carriers, plans, or to cancel at will).

Right now smartphones win in terms of functionality because people can use apps to do almost anything a much bulkier computer would let them do. Still, many consumers prefer simpler phones, and view the mobile app frenzy as a confusing and unnecessary excess. This market segment (and it's not just determined by age, education, or income) will probably keep using feature phones the longest.

Access divides on urban and rural lines. Once you get outside of major metro areas, wireless coverage gets spottier. Also, carriers are very slow to roll out faster "4G" networks in less-populated rural areas. Using a smartphone on a slow or spotty data network can be pretty painful, and might not seem worth the extra cost.

In terms of overall cost and flexibility, feature phones are the clear winners -- which is probably why they remain so popular. It's easy to get a pretty good, no-contract feature phone for $50 or less (or even for free), and then get a month-to-month or pre-paid plan that allows Web browsing, e-mail, and other data access. That costs around $50 per month.

Generally users can cancel these phones at any time, with no early termination fee.

In contrast, smartphones typically cost $100 or more (sometimes much more) at a subsidized price on a two-year contract from a wireless service provider. Monthly bills typically start at $80-90, and if you want to cancel early you'll still owe the carrier up to a few hundred dollars for an early termination fee.

If the overall U.S. economy improves significantly -- and especially if lots more full-time jobs get created soon -- it's likely that smartphones would take over sooner. But if the recovery continues at its current pace or slows, feature phones could remain the majority into 2013 or beyond.

It's also possible that manufacturing advances could bring the cost of smartphones down. Or the major U.S. carriers might decide to offer more smartphones on more flexible and consumer-friendly terms. Personally, I'm not holding my breath for either of these outcomes.

The good news is that, for people who stick with feature phones, those devices aren't as limited as they used to be. One of the biggest areas of improvement in the U.S. feature phone market is the Web browser. Most feature phones come with some kind of Web browser, and users can opt to pay a little extra for a data plan that allows them to access the mobile Internet.

It used to be the case that feature phones came packaged with horrible, frustrating and slow browsers that displayed most Web pages poorly or not at all.

But now it's fairly easy for most U.S. consumers to find feature phones that include a much better pre-installed Web browser such as Opera Mini or Bolt. These display most Web pages pretty well and are easy to use, offering a vastly superior mobile browsing experience.

According to Per Wetterdal, Opera's U.S. regional manager, American consumers can currently purchase Opera Mini-equipped feature phones that don't require a two-year contract from AT&T and Virgin Mobile (a brand from Sprint) -- and by this holiday season also from Verizon. (The stock AT&T mobile browser is actually a branded version of Opera Mini.)

Discount carriers such as MetroPCS and third-party retailers such as Wal-Mart generally don't yet offer feature phones pre-installed with better proxy browsers. But any feature phone owners usually can download a better browser for free. The possible drawback is that once installed, it may take some extra clicks to launch.

Opera Mini and Bolt offer additional benefits that may appeal to smartphone owners, too. These browsers, and others like them, are "proxy browsers" which compress data significantly before transmitting it to the phone. This means they load Web pages faster, and they help control mobile data consumption.

So if you're on a tiered data plan, even if you own a smartphone it might be a good idea to install a proxy browser. Using it can help you avoid hitting your data cap, getting charged for overages, or even getting throttled. This will probably work well enough for most of your Web browsing, and you can switch to a fully-featured non-proxy browser for sites that warrant it.

Some proxy browsers are specifically designed for smartphones. Opera Mini offers versions for all smartphone platforms, Bolt has BlackBerry versions, and Skyfire offers Android and iOS versions that also play Flash video (something still not fully supported by Apple's Mobile Safari browser).

But if you want to stick with a feature phone for a while, don't worry too. You'll probably still get a good-enough mobile online experience if your phone has a decent mobile browser.

The opinions expressed in this post are solely those of Amy Gahran.

Robots aren't good at talking to themselves Published by Fresh and New Articles - On 1:48 AM - This post haved 0 comments

(CNN) -- Have you ever looked at your smartphone or laptop -- or even a robot, if you're lucky enough to come in contact with one -- and wondered, "What the heck are you thinking?"

Well, if so, here's your answer.

Cornell's Creative Machines Lab posted a video this week of a computer's inner monologue, and it's making the rounds on the Internet not because the machine is having profound thoughts about world domination or the future of technology -- but because the discussion it has with itself is totally ridiculous.

Researchers used the "Cleverbot" for this test case, which is regarded as one of researchers' best attempts to mimic human conversation patterns with computer intelligence. Cleverbot actually "learns" from the conversations it has as it has them, which is fairly impressive, as this episode of WNYC's "Radiolab" podcast discusses at great length.

(Side note: You can have a text conversation with this piece of computer software at Cleverbot.com, and the results are sometimes frighteningly spot-on and sometimes hilarious).

But turn the computer on itself and things go totally awry. The researchers set up two screens, one with a computer-graphics picture of a woman, and one with a man. They talk to each other, but they're both controlled by the same program. Here's a snippet of the dialogue, which is posted in full on YouTube:

Man: "I am not a robot. I am a unicorn."

Woman: "But you said earlier that you were a robot."

Man: "I did not."

Woman: "I thought you did."

Man: "You were mistaken, which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you."

I guess that last bit is a nod to the fact that these computers come packed with lots of hardware memory.

That little argument about unicorns and memory could leave you with the impression that a robot's inner monologue is pretty bizarre and vapid. But the computers do talk with themselves about some lofty topics, too, including religion. Here's another piece of the conversation:

Woman: "What is god to you?"

Man: "Not everything."

Woman: "Not everything could also be something. For example, not everything could be half of something, which is still something and therefore not nothing."

Man: "Very true."

The computers seem almost proud of themselves in that moment.

And, as this final bit of dialogue shows, they do think about the future. Or at least it seems like they do:

Woman: "Don't you want to have a body?"

Man: "Sure."

Woman: "Au revoir."

And that was that.

Lots of researchers around the world are trying to make computer software that can hold a reasonable conversation with humans. There's even a competition to see who can do this the best. As the publication IEEE Spectrum noted on Monday, the next Loebner Prize Competition in Artificial Intelligence will be held on October 19.

Most of the results have been fairly disappointing, however.

All the researchers are essentially trying to pass what's been called the "Turing test," named for tech guru Alan Turing, who was interested in whether or not machines would ever be able to "think."

The test, which he outlined in 1950, basically has humans hold conversations with another person and with a computer. If they can't distinguish between the two, the computer is said to have passed the Turing test.

Computer scientists like to argue about whether a machine has ever passed this test. One, a computerized therapist named ELIZA, supposedly did fool some humans into thinking it was a living being in the 1960s.

But as this week's Cleverbot video showed, if you let a computer program talk to itself, there's probably not a human alive who would buy it.

Sony rolls out 'personal 3-D' goggle set Published by Fresh and New Articles - On 1:46 AM - This post haved 0 comments

(CNN) -- A shiny headset that lets you watch 3-D video, play video games or listen to music -- not to mention looking at home on an extra from your favorite sci-fi film -- is on the way.

Sony on Wednesday announced the HMZ-T1, a head-mounted "personal 3-D viewer," will be rolled out later this year.

The headset includes a pair of goggles housing a 0.7-inch, high-definition OLED panel that Sony says is the equivalent of a 62-foot virtual screen.

It includes virtual surround-sound and can be used for watching movies or other videos, listening to music and playing video games (we're assuming they'd prefer you to do so on the PlayStation, although they say the headset is hardware-neutral).

"This new 3-D viewing style provided by 'HMZ-T1' will enable users to enjoy the movie theater-like experience whilst relaxing on their living room sofa, thus further expanding Sony's 3-D world," the company wrote Wednesdayin a news release.

The headset will be released in Japan (where else?) on November 11 for the equivalent of about $780, according to Sony. No release dates for other countries were given.

Sony had rolled out a prototype version of the headset at January's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but it was far from fully formed and no timeline for its release was announced then.

If it all seems a little Geordie La Forge from "Star Trek: Next Generation" to you, well, you're not alone.

"Geordi La Forge may not be scheduled to don his replacement eyesight for another 329 years, but Sony's the latest company to take a stab at the basic idea," Sean Hollister wrote Wednesday for tech site This is My Next.

Hollister got to test-drive the headset and, while generally positive, said it's a bit front-heavy and not entirely comfortable. But he called its visuals "nothing short of stunning."

"[T]hose twin 0.7-inch OLED displays shot out deliciously crisp images with deep blacks and beautiful vibrant colors," he wrote.

Gizmodo's Mat Honan also gave the experience high marks.

"This was one of the more immersive entertainment experiences I've yet had," he wrote. "When I tried playing 'Gran Turismo', I found myself pivoting my head to look left and right although that has no effect on the display (of course). It was just a natural reaction.

"I felt like I was in the driver's seat of a car, and was scanning the road as I normally would. When we popped in a 3-D movie, I actually ducked a bit as a shark swam overhead."

LSI MegaRAID® CacheVault™ Technology Published by Fresh and New Articles - On 1:42 AM - This post haved 0 comments

Experience better protection for your controller cache with our eco-friendly, low-maintenance 6Gb/s MegaRAID controllers featuring CacheVault Technology.

With the exponential growth of storage requirements each year, the need for reliable and high-performing data protection increases in tandem. It's a challenging balancing act trying to satisfy all your storage and data protection needs in today's cost-driven and environmentally-conscious world.

However, data protection, TCO and environmental needs were among our top priorities when we designed the next generation in controller cache protection, the CacheVault series of 6Gb/s MegaRAID controller cards: MegaRAID SAS 9260CV-8i and MegaRAID SAS 9260CV-4i.

These eight-port and four-port 6Gb/s PCI Express SATA+SAS RAID controllers feature onboard CacheVault technology. This technology offloads data stored in the MegaRAID controller cache to the NAND flash in the event of a power failure or other system occurrence where the contents of controller cache are most at risk.

In addition, CacheVault technology eliminates the need for lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries, traditionally used to protect DRAM cache memory on PCI RAID controllers. Therefore, not only benefit from higher performance, scalability and configuration flexibility offered by the 6Gb/s MegaRAID SATA+SAS controllers, but also take advantage of a greener, lower total cost cache protection solution.

CacheVault technology offers:
A more eco-friendly and cost-effective solution: Reduces waste and environmental risk by eliminating the need for Li-ion batteries. Eliminates expenses associated with Li-ion battery disposal and hardware maintenance.

Improved data protection and extended data retention: CacheVault technology transfers the contents of the DRAM cache to NAND flash using power from the supercap module in the event of a power or server failure. With a traditional battery backup unit, after 72 hours without restored power, the cached data is lost. However, CacheVault technology safely stores the contents of DRAM on NAND flash for up to three years.

Better serviceability: Provides a warranty three times longer than standard Li-ion-based solutions. Therefore, your CacheVault warranty matches the three-year warranty of your MegaRAID controller.

CacheVault series of 6Gb/s SATA+SAS RAID Controllers are most suitable for use in:

* Data centers
* High-performance computing (HPC)
* Remote installations where maintenance is a pain point

Facebook to allow further music integration Published by Fresh and New Articles - On 8:05 AM - This post haved 0 comments

This week, subscription leader Rhapsody launched a beta version of its integration using Facebook’s sign-in tool, Facebook Connect. – AP Photo

LOS ANGELES: Facebook is preparing to bolster the programming tools it offers to licensed music services like Rhapsody, Spotify, MOG and Rdio to make it easier for users of the social network to find out what songs their friends are digging.

The tools won’t amount to a unique music service on its own, since Facebook has not negotiated licensing deals with major music companies, according to a person familiar with the matter.

But it will make give Facebook users yet another reason to stick around. Being more aware of what your friends are listening to could make the subscription music plans more attractive. They all offer unlimited listening to millions of new and old tracks on mobile devices for $10 a month, but they have yet to gain enough traction to replace revenue the music industry has lost from declining CD sales.

The person was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter and declined to be identified.

Facebook is expected to reveal the specific set of tools at its developer conference in San Francisco, called f8, on Sept. 22.

Spokesman Larry Wu said Facebook had nothing new to announce. ‘‘Many of the most popular music services around the world are integrated with Facebook and we’re constantly talking to our partners about ways to improve these integrations,’’ he said in a statement.

This week, subscription leader Rhapsody launched a beta version of its integration using Facebook’s sign-in tool, Facebook Connect.

A Rhapsody customer can now ‘‘like’’ an artist or song, and doing so lets others know in the person’s Facebook news feed. Liked artists are synced across both services and Rhapsody subscribers can listen to artists that their friends have liked on Facebook.

But there is no way currently to find out exactly what a friend is listening to at a particular moment, nor can a Facebook friend join in and simultaneously listen to what a Rhapsody user is playing in real time.

Rhapsody spokeswoman Jaimee Steele said the company is ‘‘definitely interested’’ in improving its Facebook tools. ‘‘We think that music is a very social experience and we are always looking at ways to enhance that experience,’’ she said.

Swedish new entrant Spotify allows Facebook friends to access the playlists their friends have chosen to share. Rdio allows people to connect through Facebook, follow other Rdio users and find out what albums they have been listening to the most. Rdio CEO Drew Larner and MOG spokeswoman Marni Greenberg declined to comment.

Facebook’s new tools are an incremental step in getting people to pay for music even if Facebook itself does not stand to gain directly.

So far, subscription plans that offer unlimited song listening have not been popular enough to reverse a decade-long slide in CD sales. Piracy is partly to blame for the decline, as is the popularity of buying singles, such as through Apple’s iTunes music store, instead of albums.

Last year, revenue from paid subscription plans fell 5 per cent from a year earlier to $201 million, even though the number of subscribers grew about 25 per cent to 1.5 million, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Including CD sales,
downloads and other forms of music, the value of US music shipments fell 11 per cent to $6.85 billion.

The most popular of the subscription services, Rhapsody, has more than 800,000 paying subscribers.