Our digital world ……
With all the hoopla around CES, we sadly missed this amazing milestone for one of the greatest little projects I’ve seen in a long time, Raspberry Pi. An estimated one million of these tiny computers have been sold so far, an amazing feat for a tiny $35 circuit board that can boot directly into a streamlined version of Linux.
To celebrate the company released this cute info graphic, informing us that, if stacked end to end, a million Pis would be higher than 111 Empire State Buildings.
We detailed the unique manufacturing challenges associate with the Pi with 4,000 Raspberry Pis leaving a U.K. factory every day – or one every 7.5 seconds.
Raspberry Pis have ended up as the brains for a mini arcade cabinet and a DIY GSM base station. It also runs RISC OS and, more important, is a great way for kids to learn how to use computers without spending a fortune on hardware.
via TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/12/one-million-raspberry-pi-have-been-sold-since-launch/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29
Android: Last Message is a simple app that texts, emails, Facebooks, or even tweets to the friends you specify when your phone’s about to die—so they know that you’ll be out of contact. More » 
via Lifehacker http://lifehacker.com/5975287/last-message-texts-your-important-contacts-when-your-phones-about-to-die
This article applies to:
Starting with Java Version 7 Update 10, a new security feature has been added to Java. Some web pages may include content or apps that use the Java plug-in, and these can now be disabled using a single option in the Java Control Panel.
Disabling Java through the Java Control Panel will disable Java in all browsers.
Windows XP
Windows 7, Vista
Windows 8
Use search to find the Control Panel
RELATED INFORMATION
The only way to completely disable Java in Internet Explorer (IE) is to disable Java through the Java Control Panel as noted above.
Note: Alternatively, you can access the Plug-ins settings by typing about:plugins in the browser address bar.
A new Java 0-day vulnerability has been discovered, and is already being exploited in the wild. Currently, disabling the plugin is the only way to protect your computer.
Update on December 11: Oracle’s Java vulnerability left open since October 2012 ‘fix’, now being used to push ransomware
The US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), which falls under the National Cyber Security Division of the Department of Homeland Security, has issued the following vulnerability note:
Overview – Java 7 Update 10 and earlier contain an unspecified vulnerability that can allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system.
Description – Java 7 Update 10 and earlier contain an unspecified remote-code-execution vulnerability. This vulnerability is being attacked in the wild, and is reported to be incorporated into exploit kits.
Impact – By convincing a user to visit a specially crafted HTML document, a remote attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system.
It appears this flaw was first stumbled upon by a French researcher who goes by the name Kafeine. In a post on his Malware Don’t Need Coffee website, the researcher claimed that the latest version, Java 7 Update 10, was being exploited on a site that receives “hundreds of thousands of hits daily” and concluded that “this could be mayhem.”
More importantly, Kafeine noted the two most popular Web threat tools used by hackers to distribute malware, the BlackHole Exploit Kit and the Cool Exploit Kit, already have this latest Java exploit. BitDefenderconfirmed the alleged addition of the exploit into Cool while security expert Brian Krebs confirmed the BlackHole part, as well as noted its addition into Nuclear Pack:
The curator of Blackhole, a miscreant who uses the nickname “Paunch,” announced yesterday on several Underweb forums that the Java zero-day was a “New Year’s Gift,” to customers who use his exploit kit. Paunch bragged that his was the first to include the powerful offensive weapon, but shortly afterwards the same announcement was made by the maker and seller of Nuclear Pack.
This actual vulnerability was later confirmed by security firm AlienVault Labs. With Kafeine’s help, the company reproduced the exploit on a new, fully-patched installation of Java, and used a malicious Java applet to remotely execute the Calculator application on Windows XP:
We recommend that regardless of what browser and operating system you’re using, you should uninstall Java if you don’t need it. If you do need it, use a separate browser when Java is required, and make sure to disable Java in your default browser.
We have contacted Oracle about this issue. We will update you if we hear back.
Update on December 11: Oracle’s Java vulnerability left open since October 2012 ‘fix’, now being used to push ransomware
See also – Security companies are recommending you disable Java, or just uninstall it and Mozilla joins the chorus, tells Firefox users to disable Java due to security hole
On Friday, some WIndows Phone 8 users discovered that you can no longer access the Google Maps website via devices running Windows Phone 7 or 8. While on the surface it seems like Google is deliberately crippling its own services on a competing mobile operating system, there’s much more to the story than meets the eye.
The mobile version of Google Maps never officially supported Windows Phone, because the version of IE that comes with it doesn’t have the WebKit support that Maps needs to work properly. That doesn’t mean that Google isn’t intentionally blocking Maps on phones that run Microsoft’s OS, but it’s more likely that the company fixed a bug that allowed these unsupported devices access in the first place.
Since Google doesn’t seem too keen on developing apps for Windows Phone—the company has a search app that hasn’t been updated in over a year—and with the search giant reportedly preventing Microsoft from building a proper YouTube app, it’s unlikely that this development will make Google more popular with either Microsoft or the Windows Phone users out there who use its services.
Google may be pushing for people to buy into using devices that run Android, but if the company can make its offerings work on iOS then it can definitely do the same for Windows Phone.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
via PCWorld http://www.pcworld.com/article/2023757/windows-phone-loses-access-to-google-maps.html
Amazon today won its attempt to toss a claim made by Apple over its use of the name “App Store.” Apple has been fighting Amazon’s Android App Store, believing it to be confusing with its own iPhone App Store. It hit Amazon with lawsuits regarding trademark infringement and false advertising. Today’s victory saw a U.S. judge vacate Apple’s claim that Amazon’s use of App Store is false advertising. The lawsuit over Apple’s trademark claim will move forward.
via Phone Scoop – Latest News http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=11714
New laws that took effect on January 1st, 2013 make it illegal for employers to demand access to their workers’ password-protected Facebook (FB) accounts. After some high-profile instances of companies requiring access to employees’ accounts, Congress was asked to consider a law making such demands illegal on the grounds that they constitute an invasion of privacy. Congress blocked the law, however its decision had no bearing on laws being considered at the state level. Now, California and Illinois have become the first two states to make it expressly illegal for employers to make such demands, Reuters reports. The new laws also apply to other similar social networks and are not limited to just Facebook.
via Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News http://news.yahoo.com/law-makes-illegal-employers-california-illinois-demand-facebook-190557440.html
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