1. Lady Gaga goes gaga over Ubuntu
This post was originally published on junauza.com
After enthralling the techies at Google last week, Lady Gaga has given her geek fans another reason to smile. In a press conference this Monday, the Grammy award-winning singer confessed that she is an avid fan of Ubuntu, the Linux-based operating system. Since then, Ubuntu has seen a massive surge in its popularity; particularly among teenagers.
When asked if she was a PC or a Mac, the ultra glamorous pop star replied “Well you know, I'm neither into PCs or Macs, first of all. Secondly, I don't like either of them; it's like everybody uses them these days. I'm more into this thing called Ubuntu. Two months ago, a buddy of mine told me to use it to avoid getting hacked, and I've loved it since then. It's really fun to use!”
To another reporter asking if there was any particular reason for choosing Ubuntu, she responded, “I love Ubuntu because it's unique, it's so like me and my little monsters – we're different, but we're awesome!“. Afterwards, when asked about her thoughts on the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) philosophy, she said “It's great when things are free. I think it kinda really helps people who can't buy computers on their own.. I'd love to see Apple doing something like that … they make such great products but not everyone can buy them”.
After this statement by Lady Gaga, a website has claimed that Ubuntu's desktop market share has shot up from 1 percent to 7 percent in just two days. Furthermore, due to a huge rise in traffic, Ubuntu's website suffered a downtime of about 8 hours on Tuesday. Ubuntu fans and developers are already enjoying this 'viral' popularity. “This is a giant leap for the Linux community, and we'll always be grateful to Lady Gaga for that”, said an overjoyed Jane Silber, who is the current CEO of Canonical.
2. Coming soon: make your phone your wallet
Today in our New York City office, along with Citi, MasterCard, First Data and Sprint, we gave a demo of Google Wallet, an app that will make your phone your wallet. You’ll be able to tap, pay and save using your phone and near field communication (NFC). We’re field testing Google Wallet now and plan to release it soon.
Google Wallet is a key part of our ongoing effort to improve shopping for both businesses and consumers. It’s aimed at making it easier for you to pay for and save on the goods you want, while giving merchants more ways to offer coupons and loyalty programs to customers, as well as bridging the gap between online and offline commerce.
Because Google Wallet is a mobile app, it will do more than a regular wallet ever could. You'll be able to store your credit cards, offers, loyalty cards and gift cards, but without the bulk. When you tap to pay, your phone will also automatically redeem offers and earn loyalty points for you. Someday, even things like boarding passes, tickets, ID and keys could be stored in Google Wallet.
At first, Google Wallet will support both Citi MasterCard and a Google Prepaid Card, which you’ll be able to fund with almost any payment card. From the outset, you’ll be able to tap your phone to pay wherever MasterCardPayPass is accepted. Google Wallet will also sync your Google Offers, which you’ll be able to redeem via NFC at participating SingleTap™ merchants, or by showing the barcode as you check out. Many merchants are working to integrate their offers and loyalty programs with Google Wallet.
With Google Wallet, we’re building an open commerce ecosystem, and we’re planning to develop APIs that will enable integration with numerous partners. In the beginning, Google Wallet will be compatible with Nexus S 4G by Google, available on Sprint. Over time, we plan on expanding support to more phones.
To learn more please visit our Google Wallet website at www.google.com/wallet.
This is just the start of what has already been a great adventure towards the future of mobile shopping. We’re incredibly excited and hope you are, too.
3. Hacktivists scorch PBS in retaliation for WikiLeaks documentary
A hacker group unhappy with PBS Frontline’s hour-long documentary on WikiLeaks has hit back at the Public Broadcasting System by cracking its servers, posting thousands of stolen passwords, and adding a fake news story to a blog belonging to the august PBS Newshour.
On Sunday night, visitors to the Newshour website read the news that famed rapper Tupac Shakur had been found “alive and well” in New Zealand. The false story (Tupac died in 1996) was indexed by Google News, and spread rapidly through Facebook and Twitter, even after PBS pulled it down. “Again, our site has been hacked—please stay with us as we work on it,” read one of the Newshour’s several tweets responding to the incident Sunday.
4. Gmail Gives Power to the People Widget
Google has introduced a new tool to the social networking world using one of its strong suits: Gmail. In the next couple weeks, Google will debut a feature for Gmail called the "People Widget." The widget will appear to the right of messages and display information about contacts, including recent messages, shared documents, calendar events, statuses and, perhaps most striking, photos. Users can use widgets to schedule group meetings and online chats. The widget will be rolled out in the next two weeks.
5. Are Android Tablets Stumbling Out of the Gate?
Based on initial sales reports and some tablet market flip flops, the few Android tablets that have hit the shelves so far seem to have crashed and burned. Early sales figures indicate that no Android tab is coming close to being the much-awaited Apple iPad alternative. But will time heal all? Does the Android tablet just need the same growing time that consumers gave the iPad? The Motorola Xoom was supposed to be Android's powerful opening salvo in its battle to kill the iPad. It was the first Honeycomb tablet to hit the scene running Google's reinvigorated Android 3.0 tablet OS.
6. Internet Explorer Flaw Lets Hackers Into the Cookie Jar
Italian security researcher Rosario Valotta has discovered a new way for hackers to steal their victims' online credentials -- stealing the session cookies from whatever site a victim is visiting. The stolen cookies can then be used to get victims' computers to download malware, forge clicks or send messages, according to Valotta's website. The attack, which Valotta dubbed "cookiejacking," works on all versions of Internet Explorer across all versions of the Windows operating system, the researcher contends.
7. New Mac Malware: Passwords? We Don't Need No Stinking Passwords!
The newest strain of malware aimed at the Mac OS X platform doesn't require a user password to install and spread, according to a warning from security company Intego. Like a similar scam that arose weeks ago, this new version of malware promises visitors of certain websites a free security scan. Unlike the older version, however, the new Mac malady installs itself without requiring the user to input an administrative password. The infection emerged just hours after Apple acknowledged a different "rogueware" application infiltrating its platform.
This post was originally published on junauza.com
After enthralling the techies at Google last week, Lady Gaga has given her geek fans another reason to smile. In a press conference this Monday, the Grammy award-winning singer confessed that she is an avid fan of Ubuntu, the Linux-based operating system. Since then, Ubuntu has seen a massive surge in its popularity; particularly among teenagers.
When asked if she was a PC or a Mac, the ultra glamorous pop star replied “Well you know, I'm neither into PCs or Macs, first of all. Secondly, I don't like either of them; it's like everybody uses them these days. I'm more into this thing called Ubuntu. Two months ago, a buddy of mine told me to use it to avoid getting hacked, and I've loved it since then. It's really fun to use!”
To another reporter asking if there was any particular reason for choosing Ubuntu, she responded, “I love Ubuntu because it's unique, it's so like me and my little monsters – we're different, but we're awesome!“. Afterwards, when asked about her thoughts on the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) philosophy, she said “It's great when things are free. I think it kinda really helps people who can't buy computers on their own.. I'd love to see Apple doing something like that … they make such great products but not everyone can buy them”.
After this statement by Lady Gaga, a website has claimed that Ubuntu's desktop market share has shot up from 1 percent to 7 percent in just two days. Furthermore, due to a huge rise in traffic, Ubuntu's website suffered a downtime of about 8 hours on Tuesday. Ubuntu fans and developers are already enjoying this 'viral' popularity. “This is a giant leap for the Linux community, and we'll always be grateful to Lady Gaga for that”, said an overjoyed Jane Silber, who is the current CEO of Canonical.
2. Coming soon: make your phone your wallet
Today in our New York City office, along with Citi, MasterCard, First Data and Sprint, we gave a demo of Google Wallet, an app that will make your phone your wallet. You’ll be able to tap, pay and save using your phone and near field communication (NFC). We’re field testing Google Wallet now and plan to release it soon.
Google Wallet is a key part of our ongoing effort to improve shopping for both businesses and consumers. It’s aimed at making it easier for you to pay for and save on the goods you want, while giving merchants more ways to offer coupons and loyalty programs to customers, as well as bridging the gap between online and offline commerce.
Because Google Wallet is a mobile app, it will do more than a regular wallet ever could. You'll be able to store your credit cards, offers, loyalty cards and gift cards, but without the bulk. When you tap to pay, your phone will also automatically redeem offers and earn loyalty points for you. Someday, even things like boarding passes, tickets, ID and keys could be stored in Google Wallet.
With Google Wallet, we’re building an open commerce ecosystem, and we’re planning to develop APIs that will enable integration with numerous partners. In the beginning, Google Wallet will be compatible with Nexus S 4G by Google, available on Sprint. Over time, we plan on expanding support to more phones.
To learn more please visit our Google Wallet website at www.google.com/wallet.
This is just the start of what has already been a great adventure towards the future of mobile shopping. We’re incredibly excited and hope you are, too.
3. Hacktivists scorch PBS in retaliation for WikiLeaks documentary
A hacker group unhappy with PBS Frontline’s hour-long documentary on WikiLeaks has hit back at the Public Broadcasting System by cracking its servers, posting thousands of stolen passwords, and adding a fake news story to a blog belonging to the august PBS Newshour.
On Sunday night, visitors to the Newshour website read the news that famed rapper Tupac Shakur had been found “alive and well” in New Zealand. The false story (Tupac died in 1996) was indexed by Google News, and spread rapidly through Facebook and Twitter, even after PBS pulled it down. “Again, our site has been hacked—please stay with us as we work on it,” read one of the Newshour’s several tweets responding to the incident Sunday.
4. Gmail Gives Power to the People Widget
Google has introduced a new tool to the social networking world using one of its strong suits: Gmail. In the next couple weeks, Google will debut a feature for Gmail called the "People Widget." The widget will appear to the right of messages and display information about contacts, including recent messages, shared documents, calendar events, statuses and, perhaps most striking, photos. Users can use widgets to schedule group meetings and online chats. The widget will be rolled out in the next two weeks.
5. Are Android Tablets Stumbling Out of the Gate?
Based on initial sales reports and some tablet market flip flops, the few Android tablets that have hit the shelves so far seem to have crashed and burned. Early sales figures indicate that no Android tab is coming close to being the much-awaited Apple iPad alternative. But will time heal all? Does the Android tablet just need the same growing time that consumers gave the iPad? The Motorola Xoom was supposed to be Android's powerful opening salvo in its battle to kill the iPad. It was the first Honeycomb tablet to hit the scene running Google's reinvigorated Android 3.0 tablet OS.
6. Internet Explorer Flaw Lets Hackers Into the Cookie Jar
Italian security researcher Rosario Valotta has discovered a new way for hackers to steal their victims' online credentials -- stealing the session cookies from whatever site a victim is visiting. The stolen cookies can then be used to get victims' computers to download malware, forge clicks or send messages, according to Valotta's website. The attack, which Valotta dubbed "cookiejacking," works on all versions of Internet Explorer across all versions of the Windows operating system, the researcher contends.
7. New Mac Malware: Passwords? We Don't Need No Stinking Passwords!
The newest strain of malware aimed at the Mac OS X platform doesn't require a user password to install and spread, according to a warning from security company Intego. Like a similar scam that arose weeks ago, this new version of malware promises visitors of certain websites a free security scan. Unlike the older version, however, the new Mac malady installs itself without requiring the user to input an administrative password. The infection emerged just hours after Apple acknowledged a different "rogueware" application infiltrating its platform.
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