Tropical PC Solutions: Websites, Programming, Monetizing, Security etc...

Littleton Coins' website contains a security vulnerability

2013-03-10T09:36:00.000-04:00

I just noticed that Littleton Coins' website has a security vulnerability that improperly handles/transmits passwords.

While recently visiting the Littleton Coin website, www.littletoncoin.com, I noticed that the logon Id and surprisingly enough the logon Password are sent in plain text via the URL when you visit your "My Account" page right after logging in. This means that anyone who can access the server log files (not the encrypted database entries), folks at your ISP, or ANYONE who can see what pages you visit can now obtain your user name and password to this site. When you combine this with the fact that many users store their credit card details on these eCommerce sites, it is not hard to imagine that given enough time, this could become quite a serious matter.

In the screenshots below, the example logonId is 'coin-user' and the example logonPassword is 'coin-pass.'

Logon ID screenshot

Password screenshot

Now, the site does use HTTPS which is good as it encrypts the communication between server and client. However, the technique of sending plain-text passwords via URLs should never be used in the real world, much less by a site that is classified as a substantial eCommerce site.

Bottom line, I like Littleton Coin...I am sure their web/IT guys make way more than I do...Never send plain-text passwords via URL

Observations: I can only seem to recreate this when I open a fresh browser connection to www.littletoncoin.com, then go to "Log In", then go straight to "My Account". At this point you should see both the logon Id and password within the URL. However, If I log in, then look at something before going to the "My Account" page, then I do not see the password being sent via the URL.

Update: As of today, Mar 12, 2013, I have spoken with an individual at Littleton Coin who has stated that this issue is being addressed and should be fixed by tomorrow.

It couldn't be...could it? Another error found on the Littleton Coin website: 1912 Buffalo Nickel? Come on guys!

How to Delete a Chrome App from the Developer Dashboard

2013-02-09T20:07:00.002-05:00

Have you wondered how to delete an unpublished app from your Chrome developer console? Well here is a tip that might help you out.

First you have to open Google Chrome and load your developer dashboard.

Once the dashboard is loaded, go to the page that has your unpublished app that you would like to delete. When you locate the app you plan to delete make sure to obtain the apps unique ID. You can 'edit' the app to find the ID if necessary. See the below image.

Once you have the unique ID then you can open the JavaScript console. You can simply type SHIFT+CONTROL+J to launch the JS console. Once the JS console is open, you will enter the below code:

cxDeleteItem('appID')

Make sure to replace appID with your apps ID. See the below image:

Once this code has been entered into your console, press the enter button and you will see the below prompt. Simply agree and then your app is gone! That's all there is to it.

New Features for NoBull Guestbook

2013-01-03T21:25:00.001-05:00

Our NoBull guestbook has new features available for 2013!

Our NoBull guestbook has been given a few nifty features since it was first released. If you would like a customizable guestbook that will email you when someone posts, then be sure to check out NoBull widgets.

Find-a-Phone App for Chrome

2013-01-03T21:21:00.000-05:00

This app will help you find your lost cell phone by sending it texts.

To get the Google Chrome app click here

To see a live demo click here

To view all of our Chrome apps click here

Tip Calculator App for Chrome

2013-01-03T21:16:00.001-05:00

This app has both the standard tip calculator for multiple guests, but it also has a calculator for bartenders and servers to calculate their wages and percentages.

To get the Google Chrome app click here

To see a live demo click here

To view all of our Chrome apps click here

Financial Advice App for Chrome

2013-01-03T21:10:00.003-05:00

This app will provide sound financial advice from two respected sources.

To get the Google Chrome app click here

To see a live demo click here

To view all of our Chrome apps click here

Word of the Day App for Chrome

2013-01-03T21:02:00.003-05:00

This app will display a new word along with its definition each day via the free dictionary.

To get the Google Chrome app click here

To see a live demo click here

To view all of our Chrome apps click here

Yearly Bible Reader Chrome App

2013-01-03T20:56:00.000-05:00

This app will help you read the Bible in a year. There is also an audio option available so you can listen to the Bible being read aloud.

To get the Google Chrome app click here

To see a live demo click here

To view all of our Chrome apps click here

Password Security Test App for Chrome

2013-01-03T20:49:00.002-05:00

This app will test your basic web coding security skills.

To get the Google Chrome app click here

To see a live demo click here

To view all of our Chrome apps click here

Advertise your site on the TPCS network!

2012-11-30T23:24:00.001-05:00

You can advertise your site or blog across the TPCS network!

We have many sites and blogs that you can advertise your own website on. We have very reasonable rates and it's easy to get started. For more information click here.

If you have any questions then please feel free to contact me

Build a custom snow globe!

2012-11-27T20:58:00.001-05:00

Build your own custom snow globe and email it to friends!

If you would like to build your own custom snow globe and then email it to friends then use the below links.

Custom build snow globe

Snow globe builder app for Google Chrome

New Google Chrome Apps Released

2012-11-25T15:20:00.000-05:00

We have released a number of new Google Chrome apps

We have recently released a number of new apps for Google's Chrome browser. We will be posting these new apps here:

http://widgets.tropicalpcsolutions.com/web-files/chrome-apps/chrome-apps.html

TPCS Google Chrome Apps

2012-09-22T21:42:00.000-04:00

We have recently transfered a number of our gadgets over to Google Chrome apps!

NoBull Guestbook allows admins to delete individual comments!

2012-03-22T12:07:00.002-04:00

Thanks to a few user submitted requests, we have added a feature that allows guestbook admins to delete individual comments!

We have recently updated our NoBull guestbook to allow guestbook admins to remove individual posts by either IP address or username. Prior to this update the admins only had the options to clear the entire log file. No longer!

If you have the previous version of the guestbook and would like to avail yourself of this new update please contact me with the URL of your current guestbook and I will update it for you. You should not lose any data during the upgrade process.

Check out the NoBull Website Guestbook

How mobiles of the future will get under our skin

2012-02-26T19:40:00.002-05:00

With the power to buy, sell and make decisions on our behalf, phones will come to dominate our lives, invading our privacy and, via under-skin implants, our bodies.

It isn't all bad. As they become more sophisticated, phones will completely unshackle us from our desktops, will use up less time and money -- and could even save our lives.

"The fact that the word 'phone' is in the title of these devices is misleading," says Ray Hammond, a so-called futurologist who has carved a career out of accurately forecasting technological leaps.

Hammond envisages the candy bar-sized phones and shiny tablets of today being broken into separate components. Fashionable spectacles will provide the visual display, earring studs the audio. A third device will provide touch input.

"What we're talking about is a complete physical interface to the digital and virtual worlds," he said.

Read the entire article:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/23/tech/mobile/technology-mobile-future/index.html

Technology News Facebook spies on personal text messages, report says

2012-02-26T19:37:00.001-05:00

Facebook admitted reading text messages belonging to smartphone users who downloaded the social-networking app

Other well-known companies accessing smartphone users' personal data - such as text messages - include photo-sharing site Flickr, dating site Badoo and Yahoo Messenger, the paper said.

It claimed that some apps even allow companies to intercept phone calls - while others, such as YouTube, are capable of remotely accessing and operating users' smartphone cameras to take photographs or videos at any time.

Security app My Remote Lock and the app Tennis Juggling Game were among smaller companies' apps that may intercept users' calls, the paper said.

Read the entire article:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/technology/facebook-spies-on-phone-users-text-messages-report-says/story-fn7celvh-1226282024364

Twitter admits peeking at address books, announces privacy improvements

2012-02-16T17:25:00.001-05:00

Twitter says it will make privacy guidelines more explicit after it admitted copying entire address books from people's smartphones and storing the information on its servers, according to reports.

Both the micro-blogging site and Apple, whose iPhone offers the Twitter application, have come under fire following the revelation.

Reports say that two U.S. congressmen have written to Apple asking why the firm allows the practice on its iPhone, as it contravenes app developer guidelines.

"We want to be clear and transparent in our communications with users," Twitter spokeswoman Carolyn Penner told the BBC and Los Angeles Times. "Along those lines, in our next app updates, which are coming soon, we are updating the language associated with Find Friends -- to be more explicit."

She also said that in place of "Scan your contacts," the site will use "Upload your contacts" and "Import your contacts" instead, for iPhone and Android apps respectively.

A spokesman for Apple said apps that collect or transmit a user's contact data without their prior permission are in violation of company guidelines.

"We're working to make this even better for our customers, and as we have done with location services, any app wishing to access contact data will require explicit user approval in a future software release."

Read the entire article:
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/02/16/twitter-admits-peeking-at-address-books-announces-privacy-improvements/

Pirate Bay to allow real-object downloads

2012-01-29T22:05:00.002-05:00

The Pirate Bay, one of the world's most infamous online piracy and file-sharing sites, is now hosting a type of mock-up file that allows your 3D printer to create physical objects.

ThePirateBay.org yesterday announced via its blog, first reported by GigaOM, that users can now search in a new category called "Physibles".

Physibles, as the blog explains, are mock-up files that allow a 3D printer to create a physical object:

"We believe that the next step in copying will be made from digital form into physical form. It will be physical objects. Or, as we decided to call them: Physibles.

"Data objects that are able (and feasible) to become physical. We believe that things like three-dimensional printers, scanners and such are just the first step. We believe that in the nearby future, you will print your spare parts for your vehicles," The Pirate Bay predicted in its post yesterday.

Read the entire article:

http://www.zdnet.com.au/pirate-bay-to-allow-real-object-downloads-339330303.htm

Can tablets give you a pain in the neck?

2012-01-26T10:33:00.001-05:00

Users of tablet computers should place their device on the table and tilt its screen, rather than have it flat on their lap, to avoid potentially painful hunching of the neck, a study suggested Wednesday.

"Tablet users may be at high risk to develop neck discomfort based on current behaviours and tablet designs," it warned.

A team led by environmental health researcher Jack Dennerlein of the Harvard School of Public Health asked seven men and eight women who were experienced tablet users to carry out tasks on an iPad2 and a Motorola Xoom.

Using a motion-analysis system, the team filmed the 15 volunteers as they worked on the tablet in four common configurations.

In the first position the tablet was not placed in its proprietary case but held on the lap in one hand while the other was used to touch the screen.

In the second the tablet was placed on the lap, but stayed in its case. The user worked with both hands on the screen.

In the third, the tablet was set up in its case on a table, with its screen set at a lower angle, and the user worked with both hands.

The last configuration, dubbed "table-movie," entailed placing the tablet on the table in its case, tilted at a higher angle. The user did not work on the screen and instead watched movies or other programming on it.

Read the entire article:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.89b977dd5b786d4355e1a3521c5d20b8.61&show_article=1

How to Disappear Completely (From the Internet)

2012-01-13T20:56:00.001-05:00

If you’ve ever used the Internet, you have an online identity. Maybe it’s slight: a Hotmail account here, a comment on a news story there. Or maybe you’ve been more prolific, leaving a trail of usernames, accounts, messages, and profiles across the digital landscape.

In any case, an active internet user owes it to himself to do a bit of self-Googling. What you’ll find will be both enlightening and humbling—even worrying.

Unease about your online identity shouldn’t be limited to how much information is publicly available. Online advertising is the engine that drives the Internet’s largest sites, including Google and Facebook, and it depends on your personal—and allegedly private—data for fuel. "The government, companies, and marketers all want us to share as much information as possible because that’s what’s good for them," says Rebecca Jeschke of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, "and it’s time to think of what’s good for us."

While most Internet users seem fine with privacy tradeoffs, the lack of control will lead some to consider the nuclear option: total Internet evacuation. But taking yourself offline isn’t as simple as logging out—it requires a little bit of work. Here’s how.

Read the entire article:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how-to/computer-security/how-to-disappear-completely-from-the-internet

Email in your eye? Next-generation video screen glasses could lay messages or GPS over your field of vision

2012-01-13T20:55:00.002-05:00

As advances in computer technology make gadgets ever smaller and more portable the idea of carrying a screen of any kind could soon be outdated. Consumer products with screens have dropped in size from computer to laptop to tablet via phone

But one company specialising in cutting edge visual technology waIsraeli company Lumus has shown off the PD-18-2, which may look like a cumbersome pair of shades but allow the user to see high-quality images while they walk.nts to beam information directly into your field of vision.

Lumus, an Israeli company, specialises in what it calls Light-guide Optical Element (LOE) technology.

It's latest product is the PD-18-2, which may look to the untrained eye like a cumbersome pair of sunglasses.

But inside the lenses of the glasses, the user can see high-quality full colour images. Products like this are already on the market for professional and military use, but where the next-generation PD-18-2 differs is that users can see though the spectacles too, instead of having the images block their vision.

The translucent lenses allow for what the manufacturer calls 'augmented vision', overlaying images or graphics over your usual field of vision.

They are designed for professionals such as pilots, surgeons and soldiers but there are hopes that it can be adapted for the consumer market so people could watch film or TV on the move, or play video games as they walk around.

Read the entire article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2086180/Lumus-PD-18-2-video-screen-glasses-lay-messages-GPS-field-vision.html

Addicted! Scientists show how internet dependency alters the human brain

2012-01-12T11:03:00.001-05:00

Internet addiction has for the first time been linked with changes in the brain similar to those seen in people addicted to alcohol, cocaine and cannabis.

In a groundbreaking study, researchers used MRI scanners to reveal abnormalities in the brains of adolescents who spent many hours on the internet, to the detriment of their social and personal lives. The finding could throw light on other behavioural problems and lead to the development of new approaches to treatment, researchers said.

An estimated 5 to 10 per cent of internet users are thought to be addicted – meaning they are unable to control their use. The majority are games players who become so absorbed in the activity they go without food or drink for long periods and their education, work and relationships suffer.

Henrietta Bowden Jones, consultant psychiatrist at Imperial College, London, who runs Britain's only NHS clinic for internet addicts and problem gamblers, said: "The majority of people we see with serious internet addiction are gamers – people who spend long hours in roles in various games that cause them to disregard their obligations. I have seen people who stopped attending university lectures, failed their degrees or their marriages broke down because they were unable to emotionally connect with anything outside the game."

Read the entire article:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/addicted-scientists-show-how-internet-dependency-alters-the-human-brain-6288344.html

Hundreds Threaten Suicide At Microsoft Supplier Plant In China

2012-01-11T13:12:00.000-05:00

Some 300 Chinese Foxconn employees who manufacture X-box 360 machines said they would throw themselves from their Wuhan, China, plant if demands for lost wages were not met.

China Jasmine Revolution, an activist revolutionary organization with a name borrowed from the Tunisian revolt that set off the Middle East unrest, reported that employees made their demands for a wage increase for 100 employees on Jan. 2.

Management at Foxconn — the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer and a crucial link in the supply chains of Apple, Dell, Nintendo and Song — responded with an ultimatum. Employees could quit with one month’s compensation awarded for each year with the plant or go back to working.

Many employees quit, but Foxconn allegedly dishonored the agreement and awarded former employees nothing.

Around 300 workers returned to the plant in an uproar, and staged their protest on the plant’s roof on Jan. 4.

Read the entire article:
http://seattle.cbslocal.com/2012/01/10/hundreds-threaten-suicide-at-microsoft-supplier-plant-in-china/

New virus raids your bank account - but you won't notice

2012-01-06T15:25:00.001-05:00

The best way to protect yourself from an online financial scam is to diligently check your bank accounts. At least, until now. Security firm Trusteer has found an elaborate new computer virus that not only helps fraudsters steal money from bank accounts, it also covers its tracks.

Think of a crime plot involving a spy who plans to break into a high-security building and begins by swapping out security camera video so guards don't notice anything is amiss. Known as a surveillance camera hack, the technique has been used in dozens of movies.

A new version of the widely prevalent SpyEye Trojan horse works much the same way, only it swaps out banking Web pages rather than video, preventing account holders from noticing that their money is gone.
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The Trojan horse employs a powerful two-step process to commit the electronic crime. First, the virus lies in wait until a customer with an infected computer visits an online banking site, steals their login credentials and tricks the victim into divulging additional personal information such as debit card information. Then, after the stolen card number is used for a fraudulent purchase, the virus intercepts any further visits to the victim's banking site and scrubs transaction records clean of any fraud. That prevents -- or at least delays -- consumers from discovering fraud and reporting it to the bank, buying the fraudster critical extra time to complete the crime.

Trusteer calls it a "post transaction" attack, because much of the virus' effectiveness is attributable to its ability to control what victims see after fraudulent transactions occur. Amit Klein, chief technology officer for Trusteer, said he believes criminals have used the technique for a few months, and it has infected real consumers.

"I predict that the use of post transaction attack technology will significantly increase as it enables criminals to maximize the amount of fraud they can commit using their initial investment in malware toolkits and infection mechanisms," Klein said.

The new SpyEye came to Trusteer's attention when a large retail bank in the United States spotted it and shared with the firm, he said.

Read the entire article:
http://redtape.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/06/9986119-new-virus-raids-your-bank-account-but-you-wont-notice

We have updated our Android apps

2011-12-30T10:52:00.005-05:00

We recently updated all of our Android apps and compiled them with the latest 3.2 API!

Our newer apps can be found here:

https://market.android.com/developer?pub=Tropical+PC+Solutions

This new 3.2 API ads a nifty zoom feature that allows the app to adjust its size to your various screen sizes. If you had the old app compiled under the old 1.5 API and you need to re-install the older version, please contact me and I will make it available for you.

Thanks,
Dave