Posted on the January 16th, 2008 under Editorial by digg
Whether you like Macs or not, whether you like Apple or not, you have to admit, the iPod and iTouch are simply cool! I used to admire HP engineering but with the iPod, the iPhone, the iTouch and the MacBooks (especially the MacBook Air), i have to say the award for best hardware design goes to Apple.
And now, for the moment we’ve all been waiting for…well, the moment, i’ve been waiting for anyway…
Steve Jobs: “Let me just say it: We want native third party applications on the iPhone, and we plan to have an SDK in developers’ hands in February.”
Posted on the January 12th, 2008 under Editorial by digg
Bruce Schneier, author of Applied Cryptography and other books and articles on security and privacy, leaves his wireless network unprotected. My first reaction was probably the same as yours. What an idiot! He then goes on to make a few points that made me regret my first reaction. Bruce highlights the many other ways we take security for granted including leaving doors unlocked, drive in the rain while on a cellphone (whew!) and make other security sacrifices for the sake of convenience.
He explains that while it leaves your computers more vulnerable to leave your wifi open, you are exposed when you use your laptop in a public location anyway so you had better learn to secure your computer.
While I agree with nearly all of Bruce’s comments, I think i’ll keep my wifi secure. Oh yeah…i’m going to start locking the back door when I leave the house now as well!
Posted on the January 10th, 2008 under Editorial by digg
Less than a week after it came out Sony BMG was planning to sell music not loaded down with copyright, they’re officially selling DRM-free MP3s through Amazon’s MP3 store later this month, making it the first to carry DRM-free music from all four major labels.
I remember when the hoopla was about radio scanners eavesdropping on analog cordless phones. Every new technology seems to introduce a new way to violate our privacy. This little gem seems to allow capturing or recording audio while a bluetooth device is not actually in a call. This would mean that you can eavesdrop from room-to-room or with a laptop, from car-to-car at a stoplight even when someone is not using their bluetooth headset.
Here is a link to a useful collection of bluetooth hacking tools.
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