Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder, dead at 56

Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder and former chief executive who invented and masterfully marketed ever-sleeker gadgets that transformed everyday technology, from the personal computer to the iPod and iPhone, has died. He was 56. Apple announced his death without giving a specific cause. "We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today," the company said in a brief statement. "Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve." Jobs had battled cancer in 2004 and underwent a liver transplant in 2009...

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Facebook in Tracking Suit

FACEBOOK is being sued by a group of users over claims it tracks their online activity after they log off. The claims were exposed by an Australian technology blogger, Nik Cubrilovic, who conducted tests that revealed that when users log out, the site does not delete tracking ''cookies'' but modifies them, keeping information that can identify users as they surf the internet. The company has told users cookie files installed on their computers to track interactions with Facebook applications and websites are removed when they log off, according to a complaint in the US Federal Court in San Jose, California. Facebook admitted last week that...

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Latest iPhone 5 Rumors: '4G' Speeds, Voice Recognition?

This time next week, the iPhone 5 rumor frenzy will be over and we'll finally know what Apple plans to release. I imagine there will even be an iPhone 6 rumor or two floating around. But until then, we still have several days to wildly speculate about what the next-gen iPhone will include. An invite to Apple's October 4 press event finally landed in journalists' inboxes on Tuesday afternoon, and it said simply: "Let's talk iPhone." That one phrase prompted the blogosphere and analysts like Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster to speculate that Apple will add a long-rumored voice recognition feature to iOS 5. "In the past, Apple has used its invitation...

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New Leaks Suggest iPhone 4S and Sprint iPhone 5 Tuesday Launch

Whoops! New images are adding some strong evidence to the rumormongering that Apple's going to announce the release of the iPhone 5 on Sprint's network come Tuesday. And you can thank Radio Shack for this one. According to an alleged screenshot taken of a Radio Shack internal inventory page, both a 16-gigabyte iPhone 5 and a 32-gigabyte iPhone 5 are a-coming. It's a bit more a significant bit of evidence than the guessing game that arose from an earlier internal Sprint memo, which told company employees that vacations were blacked out between September 30 and October 15 due to the "possibility of a major phone launch." Sprint is still allegedly...

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Apple Confirms IPhone 5 Event Next Week, Amazon Shows Off Tablet.

Apple confirmed it will unveil the next iPhone on October 4, and Amazon showed off the Kindle Fire, its new tablet slated to go head-to-head with the iPad. News Under the Sun is a weekly column rounding up all the events on in the mobile industry. Want the news but don’t want it every day? Subscribe to our weekly Facebook or Twitter page. Apple Confirms IPhone 5 Event, Release to Follow Apple invited members of the media to a keynote event on October 4 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time at its own Town Hall Auditorium where it is expected to unveil the iPhone 5. The invitation to the event features the iOS icons for the calendar, clock, Google Maps...

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BitTorrent Contributed to Network Decongestion

Erik Klinker, BitTorrent’s Chief Executive Officer, attended the Broadband World Forum that took place in France. As a result, he came with a new solution for an old problem of network congestion because of P2P. A new open-source technology called Micro Transport Protocol or ?TP has already been introduced into the company’s application in order to increase the performance of network by decongesting it. Most of the information flying around the web is transmitted through TCP, which works by breaking it down and later reassembling at the other end of the network link. However, Klinker explained that this method is obsolete, because TCP defines...

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Worm Could Break the Web

Mark Bowden, known as Black Hawk Down author, has written a book telling that the Conflicker worm could break the web. Over 12 million PCs appeared to be infected with the self-updating worm, which got into the core of any PC. Mark Bowden’s recent book called “Worm: The First Digital World War” is telling about how the worm Conficker was discovered, how it is working, and the current programming battle trying to bring down the malware. The most interesting part is where the book claims that if the malware was used nefariously, it could actually damage the entire world web and everyone sailing in it. In the newspaper interview, Mark Bowden...

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MySQL Website Infected

According to the report of some Internet security outfit, the Mysql.com website has recently been hacked. They warn everyone that the site is currently serving malware. Security outfit Armorize announced that they have found the intrusion through its site malware monitoring platform known as HackAlert. The latter also sends the Internet users angry emails most days. It seems that the Mysql.com website has been injected with some script generating an iFrame, which redirects the Internet users to a jaw-breaker “http://truruhfhqnviaosdpruejeslsuy.cx.cc/main.php”. Once you get there, your browser will be tinkered by the BlackHole exploit pack,...

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FBI Arrests Suspected LulzSec Member For Sony Hack [UPDATED]

The FBI on Thursday arrested a suspected member of the hacker group LulzSec in connection with a cyber attack earlier this year against the computer systems of Sony Pictures. Cody Kretsinger, 23, of Phoenix, was arrested and charged with helping LulzSec attack Sony's servers between May 27 and June 2. The group's hack compromised the personal data belonging to one million Sony customers, which the group then posted online. Also on Thursday, the FBI arrested two other men with suspected ties to the hacker group Anonymous for allegedly crashing a county-run website in California, authorities said. The arrests were the latest in an ongoing...

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UK VPN Service Will Disclose Users’ Details

British VPN service called Hide my Ass confirmed that it will hand over the details of its subscribers to the FBI if they show up with a court order. This may be something new for those believing that using the VPN service would ensure them certain a degree of anonymity, even if they were carrying out cyber attacks on others. The news emerged after Hide my Ass began receiving letters from the users that said its services were used by large hacker groups like Lulzsec. On its official page, the company told that when Lulzsec IRC chat logs had been released, Hide my Ass turned out to be in the list of the VPN services they used for cyber attacks. However,...

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Download Windows 8

Windows 8 Developer Preview Developer Preview particularly interesting, because in the package, Microsoft has placed development tools that let you program the apps to the new Metro-interface.but its only important if you are developers.there is still a long way to go before we see the finish product.a good idea is to install Windows 8 on a separate hard drive or partition if you have important stuff on your PC Download Here >&...

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Planned 4G Network Draws Fire From House Science Panel

A multibillion dollar proposal to create a 4G wireless broadband network in the United States could interfere with several scientific services that use the Global Positional System (GPS), including forecasting the weather, monitoring climate change, and tracking volcanic activity, U.S. federal officials told a Congressional panel yesterday. Their concerns are the latest in a crescendo of objections raised against the proposal by federal agencies and providers of GPS-based services. LightSquared, a company based in Reston, Virginia, has already spent over $4 billion to set up the network, which would provide improved cell phone and Internet connectivity across the country. The network would be supported by LightSquared's geostationary satellites and some 40,000 ground transmitters operating...

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Windows 8 Boot Time Will Wow, Microsoft Says

Tired of being cast as the laggard in the computer boot time contest, Microsoft says that its forthcoming Windows 8 operating system will start quickly. In a post to the Building Windows 8 blog, Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows division, acknowledged the importance of boot time. "[N]o feature gets talked about and measured more," he wrote, which is surprising considering that boot time is only loosely related to the performance and utility of the operating system. It ought to be possible to ignore boot time, to turn on one's computer and go get a cup of coffee while the necessary files are loaded into memory. But the real...

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Google Urges Iranian Users to Secure Accounts After Hack

In the wake of a digital certificate hack that potentially allowed hackers to gain access to the Google accounts of 300,000 Iranians, the search giant this week urged those users to take certain steps to secure their data. "While Google's internal systems were not compromised, we are directly contacting possibly affected users and providing similar information below because our top priority is to protect the privacy and security of our users," Eric Grosse, vice president of security engineering at Google, wrote in a blog post. First of all, Google urged users in Iran to change their passwords. Second, the company suggested people verify their...

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Music Industry Will Pursue YouTube Users

After a Britney Spears concert that took place at the MGM Grand in L.A. was uploaded to the Internet for everyone to see by some YouTube user, the music industry was doing its best to find more information on the user’s identity by starting a criminal investigation. The Britney Spears concert was uploaded in high-quality YouTube back in July. After the incident, the Recording Industry Association of America requested a subpoena against YouTube. In fact, this was the first time when music industry targeted the online video service. Mark McDevitt, Vice President of Online Piracy for the music group, made a declaration to the court, where he requested...

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Hurricane Irene New Jersey: One Million Evacuated, Atlantic City in Danger

New Jersey governor Chris Christie announced one million people have been evacuated ahead of Hurricane Irene, but still worried about residents staying behind -- specifically in Atlantic City. In a Saturday press conference, Christie said that one million New Jersey residents have evacuated their homes, including 90 percent of Cape May Co., but remains worried about stubborn residents refusing to leave their homes. Christie noted that some Atlantic City residents, predominantly senior citizens, have refused to heed Christie's warnings to leave the area. The governor plans to deploy state police and OEM officials to try to get the citizens to...

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Hurricane Irene: Do not underestimate Category 1 storm, FEMA warns

Federal officials are warning residents in Irene's path not to underestimate the storm after it was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane as it made landfall Saturday morning. "If you’re in a hurricane, you're in a hurricane," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a Saturday morning briefing at FEMA headquarters. "We anticipate heavy rain, potential flooding and significant power outages throughout the area of the storm, which means all up and down the Eastern Seaboard." As Irene pounded the North Carolina coast with hurricane-force winds of about 85 miles per hour, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate warned that the large, slow-moving...

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Subway Closes in New York as Hurricane Nears

New York became a city without one of its trademarks — the nation’s largest subway system — on Saturday as Hurricane Irene charged northward and the city prepared to face powerhouse winds that could drive a wall of water over the beaches in the Rockaways and between the skyscrapers in Lower Manhattan. The city worked to complete its evacuation of about 370,000 residents in low-lying areas where officials expected flooding to follow the storm, and the transportation system — the subways, along with buses and commuter rail lines — shut down at noon. Police officers sounded the warning, strolling along subway platforms and telling people the next...

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Steve Jobs' resignation 'end of an era'

Steve Jobs' resignation Wednesday as the CEO of Apple will not disrupt the company's product plans in the short-term, but could dull its ability to dazzle consumers down the road, according to one analyst. "Apple is fine, and will be," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research. "Apple knows what it's doing for the next big thing, maybe the next two next big things. They lose the showmanship of Jobs, but [the company's executives] have their marching orders." Shortly after Jobs submitted his resignation, the Apple board of directors took his advice and named Tim Cook, formerly the chief operating officer, as the new...

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East Coast Earhquake (8 23 2011) Magnitude 5.9 - VIRGINIA

Earthquake Details This event has been reviewed by a seismologist. Magnitude 5.9 Date-Time Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 17:51:03 UTC Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 01:51:03 PM at epicenter Location 37.975°N, 77.969°W Depth 1 km (~0.6 mile) (poorly constrained) Region VIRGINIA Distances 45 km (27 miles) E of Charlottesville, Virginia 55 km (34 miles) SW of Fredericksburg, Virginia 64 km (39 miles) NW of RICHMOND, Virginia 82 km (50 miles) NNE of Farmville, Virginia Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 10.9 km (6.8 miles); depth +/- 7.4 km (4.6 miles) Parameters NST=390, Nph=390, Dmin=57.9 km, Rmss=1.17 sec, Gp= 47°, M-type=regional...

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Port Authority NY/NJ, Higher Bridge, Tunnel and PATH Rates Approved

A steep toll increase on the bridges and tunnels that cross the Hudson River was approved on Friday by the board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the culmination of a two-week dance between the agency, politicians, and the public. The approved increase, which takes effect next month, will immediately raise peak EZPass tolls to $9.50 from $8. By 2015, that toll will be $12.50. The cash toll will go up 50 percent in September to $12 a ride; by 2015, the cash toll will be $15. The increases, although sure to be criticized by drivers, are significantly less steep than an initial proposal floated by the Port Authority earlier this...

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Behind Google’s Huge Breakup Fee in Motorola Deal

It is certainly big. But is there any chance that it will be paid? I’m talking about the $2.5 billion reverse termination fee that Google agreed to pay Motorola Mobility if its proposed takeover fails to obtain antitrust clearance. This fee is about 20 percent of the $12.5 billion deal value and is significantly higher than the $375 million Motorola Mobility must pay Google if it accepts another bid. Motorola filed a copy of the acquisition agreement between it and Google on Wednesday that spells out the exact terms when this fee is required to be paid. There are two circumstances: 1. The agreement is terminated because a government authority...

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Windows 8 will have an app store, but will it be called App Store?

Microsoft has offered up a few more details on what to expect in Windows 8, its highly anticipated operating system that will run on both PCs and tablet computers. But one addition, if Microsoft can do it right, could be hugely important for Windows 8 -- its app store. Steve Sinofsky, who is in charge of Windows 8 development for Microsoft, broke down in a blog post the different teams working on specific aspects of the new OS and an "App Store" team was on the list. An app store is, obviously, a store that sells applications, software to run on Windows 8 machines. The inclusion of an app store in Windows 8 is a natural one, and not much...

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HP looks to get out of PC hardware business to focus on software solutions

The bombshells from HP continue to fall from the sky. Earlier today, it was confirmed that HP is abandoning the webOS platform which it acquired from Palm for $1.2 billion USD just over a year ago. Now, were hearing reports that HP plans to announce that it will sell off its Personal Systems Group (PSG) which is responsible for consumer and business PCs. The company stated in a press release: HP also reported that it plans to announce that its board of directors has authorized the exploration of strategic alternatives for its Personal Systems Group (PSG). HP will consider a broad range of options that may include, among others, a full or...

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