The Brat's Tale

Kindle Fire Sells Out — Just in Time for Kindle Fire 2?

2012-08-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

Amazon dropped another hint that it’s planning to introduce the next-generation Kindle Fire at its press event in Santa Monica, Calif., next week: The company said Thursday morning that the original Kindle Fire has “sold out” on its website.

Amazon added that the Android tablet has captured 22% of the tablet market in the U.S., citing (presumably) estimates published by New York-based research consulting firm Frank N. Magid Associates late last month. The same study says that Apple’s iPad still dominates: Approximately half of all tablet owners have iPads.

Amazon has been greasing its PR wheels ahead of next Thursday’s big event. Since the invite was sent out on the 23rd, the company has announced an expanded content licensing agreement with NBCUniversal, sales figures for e-books sold exclusively through its Kindle Store and the international expansion of its Android Appstore, among other items. (Mashable.com)

Getting Rid of Your Old iPhone 4S? Apple Will Pay You For It

2012-08-30T09:40:00.001-07:00

With mere weeks until the rumored release of the iPhone 5, Apple fanboys and girls may be clamoring to rid themselves of the old to make room for the new.

Looking to offset the cost of upgrading? If you own an iPhone 4S, then you’re in luck. Through its Reuse and Recycling program, Apple will offer $345 on an Apple gift card in exchange for the old device, depending on its condition, The Next Web reports.

The online wizard lets users select the model, color and condition of your iPhone 4S, and will then provide an estimated value of the device. Naturally, its value diminishes if there are scratches, water damage and other issues.

Reuse and Recycling extends to other Apple devices, including iPads, Macs and even PC computers. If your device qualifies after being sent in for assessment, the gift card you receive can be used at any Apple retail and online store. If not, the company says it will recycle it for you at no cost.

Other third-party retailers, such as eBay, also sell the iPhone 4S. A quick look at the site shows the device going for much higher prices, often upwards of $500.

Would you sell your iPhone 4s to Apple? And would you use the earnings on a brand-new iPhone 5? Tell us in the comments below. (Mashable.com)

Toshiba Unveils Tablet-Ultrabook Hybrid

2012-08-30T09:36:00.001-07:00

Toshiba unveiled on Thursday during the 2012 IFA conference in Berlin a series of new computer devices, including a tablet-ultrabook hydrid.

The star of the announcement is a tablet-ultrabook hybrid called the Satellite U925t. The device — which converts into a tablet when a user slides the display back and up — runs as an ultrabook on Windows 8 and in tablet mode to access Windows apps.

Hybrids are becoming increasingly popular in the tech space, appealing to consumers who are looking for an ultra-lightweight device that can double as a tablet. But what’s strange about the satellite U925t is that the display folds up, instead of down.

Even still, the device packs a heavy punch under the exterior, boasting a third-generation Intel Core i5 processor with Intel Rapid Start, a 128GB solid state drive and fast DDR3 1600MHz memory.

Weighing in at only 3.2 pounds and measuring just 0.78 inches thick, the 12.5-inch diagonal HD touchscreen is made from Corning Gorilla Glass and features a front HD webcam, as well as a rear 3MP webcam with auto-focus. Other specs include Bluetooth v4.0, an HDMI port and USB 3.0 ports.

Toshiba also announced the Satellite U845W, the first-ever laptop with an ultra-wide 21:9 cinematic display (1792 x 768 resolution) designed for entertainment consumption. The company is touting the device as a conventional PC performer, but with slimmer styling, less weight and greater durability.

The device — which weighs 3.5 pounds — also includes a third-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processor with Intel Rapid Start, 500GB hard drive with 32GB SSD cache or 256GB SSD or 6GB DDR3 1600MHz memory. It features a 14.4-inch diagonal HD TruBrite display, a split-screen utility that supports multiple windows on the display in Desktop mode, as well as three USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port and a 1.3 MP Webcam.

Other announcements include the Satellite U945, a four-pound Windows low-cost ultrabook affordably-priced Ultrabook for everyday productivity and entertainment, with a third-generation Intel Core i3 or i5 processors (ULV) with Intel Rapid Start technology, one USB 2.0 port, and two USB 3.0s and a 14-inch diagonal LED Backlit TruBrite display.

Meanwhile, the Satellite P845t boasts a Windows 8 touch experience in a traditional clamshell laptop form factor with a 14-inch diagonal HD Capacitive touch display (1366×768).

Toshiba also detailed its Canvio Personal Cloud, a device which works with iOS, Android, PC and DLNA devices. It allows users to store, share and stream content with remote accessibility to the cloud. The Canvio Personal Cloud — which comes with 2TB ($219.99) and 3TB ($249.99) — is available starting in September.

All other products will be available starting Oct. 26. (Mashable.com)

Apple sets record for company value at $621B

2012-08-20T10:13:00.002-07:00

NEW YORK—Apple is the world’s most valuable company, ever.

On Monday, its surging stock propelled the company’s value to $621 billion, beating the record for market capitalization set by Microsoft Corp. in the heady days of the Internet boom.

Apple’s stock has hit new highs recently because of optimism around what is believed to be the impending launch of the iPhone 5, and possibly a smaller, cheaper iPad.

Apple Inc. has been the world’s most valuable company since the end of last year. It’s now worth 53 percent more than No. 2 Exxon Mobil Corp.

The comparison to Microsoft does not take inflation into account. In inflation-adjusted dollars, the software giant was worth about $850 billion on Dec. 30, 1999. Microsoft is now worth $257 billion. (Inquirer.net)

We Knew The iPhone Was Popular, But We Didn’t Know It Was Worth More Than All Of Microsoft

2012-08-20T10:02:00.003-07:00

We’ve had the talk about the reported miniature iPad, we seem to have gotten over the physical Apple television set rumors and we have had our fair share of the Apple versus Samsung discussions so with the company looking likely to announce the next-generation release of their popular smartphone, it must be time to turn focus back onto the iPhone. Thanks to unprecedented interest in the possible specifications of the release, the iPhone is very rarely out of the media, which is something that has obviously paid off for Apple when you consider the staggering statistic that we are about to talk about.

Apple aren’t just the company that makes the iPhone. They also have the iPod touch, the iPad and an extremely powerful range of high-end Mac machines that are successful in their own right and classed as products that form the upper end of their individual markets. With that said, it is the iPhone that forms the basis of the amazing statistic that shows the product generates higher sales than the combined total of all of Microsoft’s products and services.

If you told me that the iPhone sales were higher than the combined sales of some other run of the mill, moderately successful company. then I wouldn’t be as surprised as I am but we are talking about Microsoft and talking about sales of Windows, the Office suite of applications, the Xbox gaming console, the emerging Windows Phone mobile operating system and the revenue that their Bing search engine provides. In fact, as Forbes points outs, we are talking about every single Microsoft product that has been created since 1975.

One Apple product, something that didn’t exist five years ago, has higher sales than everything Microsoft has to offer. More than Windows, Office, Xbox, Bing, Windows Phone, and every other product that Microsoft has created since 1975. In the quarter ended March 31, 2012, iPhone had sales of $22.7 billion; Microsoft Corporation, $17.4 billion.

It might seem a little hard to believe, but the figures speak for themselves. For the first financial quarter of 2012, the iPhone had shipped enough units to bring in total sales of $22.7 billion, with Microsoft bringing in $17.4 billion across the company. It is worth noting that it is an extremely difficult task to attempt to compare the worth of the iPhone against Microsoft as one is a product of a company and well, the other is an entire company with multiple products. Although Apple have numerous other successful products and are the worlds richest company, the bottom line is that their iPhone sales are currently more than the whole of Microsoft. Remarkable. (Remondpie.com

Deets For iOS Lets You Organize Contact Groups And Manage Relationships On The Fly

2012-08-20T09:54:00.006-07:00

Staying permanently connected to the people around us is one of the main benefits which comes associated with owning devices like smartphones and tablets. Being able to store all of our contacts and information about friends and family in once place is an amazingly powerful thing that shouldn’t be overlooked, but what if we could head on over to the App Store and download an application which took that functionality to the next level? Maybe we can, thanks to the introduction of the deets iOS app.

The App Store information describes deets as an "on the fly, group communication tool", which in all honesty doesn’t really tell us anything about it. The main purpose of the app is to allow people to stay connected and be updated with information from their contacts automatically, to ensure everything is up-to date, with an added advantage of having built-in file sharing features on top. But again, that doesn’t really tell us much about this rather mysterious app. The development team have built a little bit of all sorts into the app, including communication-based features, contact data sync services as well as including a small element of social networking.

The application allows users to effectively create groups of contacts that can be entirely personalized depending on what type or level of information you wish to share with that particular group. As an example, rather than have a generic physical business card that contains all of a persons personal information, deets is the equivalent of having a set of business cards that contain varying degrees of info depending on who they are being handed out to. I may have a deets group for my family with whom I share everything. But I could also have a different group for my employers who only have access to my email address and mobile number.

Sounds like a fairly good concept and something which we have seen already in some form or another in some social network, but the app also has the ability to share additional non-contact based data like photographs and certain files. The main dashboard of the app is where the user can stay up to date with what is going on in their groups, with the whole app being packaged together into a very nice and intuitive user-interface. (Redmondpie.com)

Your Deleted Facebook Photos Will Now Be Gone Forever

2012-08-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

Anything shared on Facebook, as with the Internet as a whole, is nearly impossible to remove. This is especially true of any unwanted pictures that may have been uploaded to the site.

Until recently, pictures deleted from Facebook were still accessible by entering the image’s direct URL. So, while the pictures may have disappeared from your profile, or that of whomever had uploaded them, they were still available within Facebook’s server.

The latest change deletes images permanently from Facebook’s servers within a couple of days. Check out the video above to learn more about the change. (Mashable.com)

New Twitter Rules Spur Online Protests

2012-08-20T09:44:00.000-07:00

Shortly after Twitter announced a stricter set of rules for its application programming interface (API), developers and engineers turned to platform to use the #OccupyTwitter hashtag in protest.

“Twitter’s API has more rules than North Korea,” said Aaron Levie, CEO of Box.

Nova Spivack, CEO of Bottlenose.com, started a Change.org petition to urge Twitter to keep its developer API ecosystem open. He said, “Twitter, what kind of bird are you becoming? Are you still that cute little bird that everyone loved, or are you becoming a scary bird of prey?”

“Blind people use special third party Twitter apps,” Spivack added on Twitter. “If Twitter closes its APIs they will be cut off.”

While Spivack’s fears might be overblown, it’s clear that Twitter seeks to limit the number of third-party app users by barring apps from supporting more than 100,000 users. If they already over the limit, they will not be allowed to grow beyond 200% of their user base without Twitter’s permission.

Aside from limiting user growth, Twitter will be imposing more stringent authentication rules. It will also compel developers to take a different direction in creating apps by “encouraging” them to focus on engagement and analytics. After the updated API is launched, developers will have a six-month deadline to to migrate to the new version.

Tom Scott, creator of Klouchebag, predicted that the changes would cause his site’s death in six months. “They’re steadily squeezing out third-party clients like Tweetbot, Echofon and Dabr, and they’re removing unauthenticated API calls,” Scott said in a blog entry. “The latter means that every Twitter app, no matter how minor, will require a ‘Sign in with Twitter’ button. For me, the immediate effect of this is that my Klout parody Klouchebag, along with a few other things I’ve designed, will die.”

What do you think of using Twitter as a way to protest against Twitter’s new API? Should developers just accept the new rules without complaint? Let us know in the comments. (Mashable.com)

$20 Million Facebook Privacy Settlement Rejected by Judge

2012-08-20T09:39:00.000-07:00

A federal judge has rejected Facebook’s settlement offer in a class-action privacy lawsuit over the use of users’ names and faces in “Sponsored Stories” advertisements.

With Sponsored Stories, which rolled out in January of 2011, your “likes” on a brand’s page can result in your name and profile picture being shown as endorsements in that brand’s advertisements on the site. Users were not given an option to opt-out of the feature.

The lawsuit, filed last year, alleged that the practice is a violation of Facebook users’ privacy.

Under Facebook’s proposed deal to settle the lawsuit, it would have given users more control over their “likes,” including the opportunity for users under the age of 18 to opt-out of Sponsored Stories completely. The company would have also paid $10 million to the plaintiff’s legal team and another $10 million to pro-privacy organizations, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg, who made his uneasiness about the deal known earlier this month, has now firmly rejected it on the basis that the monetary amounts seemed to have been “merely plucked from thin air,” according to Wired.

Seeborg argued that the deal didn’t do enough to address the damages of the 100 million Facebook users who have already appeared in Sponsored Stories. He wrote in his decision that under California law, each party to the lawsuit could be awarded up to $750.

A Facebook attorney has previously argued that the proposed settlement has value for the company’s users.

Facebook earns $1 million in revenue every day from Sponsored Stories.

How do you feel about Facebook’s Sponsored Stories? (Mashable.com)

Facebook Trumps Yahoo as Second Most-Popular Video Site

2012-08-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

Facebook has overtaken Yahoo as the Internet’s most popular site for viewing video last month, according to report from comScore.

According to comScore, Facebook saw a bit more than 53 million unique viewers throughout July, compared to Yahoo’s less than 49 million. Google, thanks largely to YouTube, still enjoys a comfortable lead in the race with nearly 157 million total unique viewers.

Yahoo users, however, watched more videos — 625 million to Facebook’s 327 million. Facebook users watched an average of 21.7 minutes of video throughout July, while Yahoo users consumed 70.4 hours of video content.

ComScore’s statistics only included what it calls “content videos,” not advertisements.

Other interesting stats from comScore’s July report: A vast majority — 85.5% — of Internet users watched videos in July, while video ads made up 20.7% of all videos viewed online but only 1.6% of time spent watching online videos.

Does Facebook stand a chance of ever unseating YouTube as the king of online video? Share your thoughts in the comments. (Mashable.com)

Should Zuckerberg Resign From CEO Position?

2012-08-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

Should Mark Zuckerberg step aside and let another, more seasoned executive assume the role of CEO for the company?

That’s the question some investors are raising as the company’s stock price continues to hit new lows. A Los Angeles Times story quoted four such investors — Sam Hamadeh, head of research firm PrivCo, Barry Ritholtz, head of research firm Fusion IQ, Chris Whalen, senior managing director at Tangent Capital Partners in New York and Scott Sweet, senior managing partner of Tampa-based IPO Boutique — who say Zuckerberg should remain as a creative force, but the company should hire an experienced CEO to run things. However, others quoted in the article were supportive of Zuckerberg.

Though Zuckerberg may be a convenient target for frustrated investors, there’s ample precedent in the tech world for bringing in an outsider to run a company. For instance, Google’s first CEO was Larry Page, but in 2001, the company brought in Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Novell and CTO at Sun Microsystems, to be chairman and, a few months later, CEO.

What do you think? Is Zuck, as the LAT suggests “in over his hoodie”? (Mashable.com)

Barnes & Noble Cuts Tablet Prices

2012-08-13T08:55:00.001-07:00

Barnes & Noble is slashing prices for its Nook Tablet and Nook Color devices, beginning Monday.

With growing competition from rivalling tablets and e-readers, the book retailer announced its “lowest pricing ever” in a statement on Sunday.

The 8GB Nook Tablet will now sell for $179, down from $199, while the 16GB version will be $199 from its original $249. The least expensive Nook Color will fall to $149 from $169.

All three devices, with their 7-inch displays, have access to a digital library of e-books, movies, television shows and music.

The price-drop may be a response to the runaway success of Google’s Nexus 7 tablet, which garnered glowing reviews. After the gadget debuted last month, stores quickly sold out of the 16GB model due to high demand.

Amazon is also upping the ante with the upcoming launch of its Kindle Fire successor. There are reports that the tablet, which is expected to ship before September, will be thinner, lighter and have a sharper display than the original.

Buzz is also picking up around the purported iPad mini, which is said to be launching alongside the iPhone 5 in September. The mini could capitalize on the 25% of the tablet market that analysts say Apple hasn’t yet penetrated.

In comparison, sales of Nook devices declined during the fourth quarter due to a lower selling volume, among other issues. Overall losses for Barnes & Noble amounted to $57.7 million — less than they were a year ago, but more than what analysts expected.

Would you buy the cheaper Nook devices, or opt for another tablet? Tell us in the comments below. -Mashable.com

Apple Tried to License Its Patents to Samsung in 2010

2012-08-13T08:45:00.002-07:00

This whole Apple v. Samsung thing didn’t have to happen in a court room.

Over two years ago, in fact, Apple — now the plaintiff in one of the highest-profile patent cases ever — offered the Korean company a royalty-based license program for its various (allegedly) infringing wares. Even as Apple historically shies away from licensing any part of its “non-essentials” patent portfolio, the iPhone and iPad maker made an exception.

According to AllThingsD, the two companies met in 2010 after Samsung launched its iPhone-esque Galaxy S handset, and Apple opened discussions thus:

Samsung chose to embrace and imitate Apple’s iPhone archetype. Apple would have preferred that Samsung request a license to do this in advance. Because Samsung is a strategic supplier to Apple, we are prepared to offer a royalty-bearing license for this category of device.

The price Apple proposed would have cost Samsung $30 per smartphone and $40 per tablet, well under current estimates of what the software patents in question are actually worth. Apple even offered to give Samsung a 20-percent discount should the rival manufacturer enter into a cross-licensing agreement.

Unsurprisingly, Samsung thought the proposed value of Apple’s portfolio was unrealistic, and further negotiations were abandoned.

Here’s the kicker: If Samsung had simply played ball, it would’ve only cost it around $554 million (at a rate of roughly $250 million per year). That’s a big chunk of change to be sure, but when you consider that Samsung made $5.9 billion in profits last quarter alone, said premium seems much more affordable. Indeed, for about $63 million per quarter (or 1.05 percent of its quarterly haul), all this unpleasantness could’ve been avoided.

Instead, Samsung’s being sued for $2.5 billion.

And the company’s probably going to lose.

Volvo Turns iPad Into X-Ray Scanner

2012-08-13T08:40:00.001-07:00

Volvo launched an x-ray app at the Geneva Auto Show that allows users to turn their iPhones and iPads into handheld x-ray scanners.

Digital agency La Comunidad Miami created the app. Users can walk around a Volvo and see a full 360-degree x-ray view beneath its skin, with callouts to the patented, world’s first Volvo innovations inside. The augmented reality technology behind it fuels the app, enabling devices to read markers that are placed around the car.

A huge success at the Geneva Auto Show, the app will be used in other Auto Shows around the world, as well as Volvo dealers. Take a look at the video below showing how this innovative technology works.

Google Will Cut 20% of Motorola Workforce

2012-08-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

Were you curious about what Google was going to do with Motorola?

The search giant is making its first major move since fully acquiring the company in May, which will be to cut about 20% of jobs at Motorola Mobility Holdings, or roughly 4,000 employees.

A “person familiar with the matter” told Bloomberg Businessweek that two-thirds of the cuts will be outside of the U.S. Google will also close one-third of Motorola’s facilities.

“Motorola is committed to helping them through this difficult transition and will be providing generous severance packages, as well as outplacement services to help people find new jobs,” Motorola Mobility said in an email statement.

Though the matter is still private, the unnamed source said the news will be announced within the coming weeks.

Google’s acquisition of Motorola was its largest ever takeover to date, for which it paid $12.5 billion. The relatively young search giant obtained Motorola’s steep patent portfolio, and made it a stronger competitor against other hardware manufacturers.

Are you suprised to see Google diminishing the Motorola workforce? Let us know what you think of this move in the comments. (Mashable.com)

Olympics Generated 150 Million Tweets

2012-08-13T08:34:00.000-07:00

The 2012 Olympics in London generated 150 million tweets and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt ran away with a big share of them, according to Twitter.
The social network, assessing the 16-day event, found that Bolt’s 200m and 100m races prompted the most chatter during the Games. The former netted more than 80,000 tweets per minute while the former generated more than 74,000 TPMs as they’re known in Twitter’s headquarters.

Among the other highlights:

Andy Murray’s gold medal in the men’s tennis singles: 57,000+ TPM
Jamaica wins gold, sets world record in the 4×100 relay: 52,000+ TPM
Team USA beats Spain, wins gold in men’s basketball: 41,000+ TPM

Other non-medal-winning events that generated a lot of discussion included Hope Solo’s diving catch in the U.S.-Japan women’s soccer final and Kobe Bryant’s dunk towards the end of the U.S.-Spain game.

Meanwhile, Bolt was the most-discussed athlete during the Games, but he was one of 10 athletes to prompt more than 1 million tweets:

1.Usain Bolt
2. Michael Phelps
3. Tom Daley
4. Ryan Lochte
5. Gabby Douglas
6. Andy Murray
7. Kobe Bryant
8. Yohan Blake
9. Lee Chong Wei
10. LeBron James

Parsing the data further, Twitter found soccer was the most-discussed sport with 5 million-plus mentions, though swimming, track & field, gymnastics and volleyball also prompted a lot of chatter.

However, the most-discussed moment in the Games had nothing to do with athletics: Instead the return of the Spice Girls during the closing ceremonies generated the most buzz — 116,000 TPMs — which far outstripped Bolt’s achievement.

What do you think? What were your favorite moments of the Olympics? Let us know in the comments. (Mashable.com)

Pranksters Hijack Mountain Dew’s Drink Naming Contest

2012-08-13T08:31:00.000-07:00

Mountain Dew’s promotion to name the brand’s new drink appears to be being hijacked. Top in the running so far: “Diabeetus.”

Other names that most likely won’t see the light of day:
Most Nugget
DickButt
NukaCola
Cumsplosion
Hitler Did Nothing Wrong

Mountain Dew, which has crowdsourced the names of new drinks before on Facebook, recently launched an effort to name a green apple flavored extension. Monday morning the “gallery of names” on DubtheDew, a dedicated site, could not be accessed, though when it did, it appeared with a less controversial list. (Leading name: “meany greeny.”) Reps from the PepsiCo brand could not be reached for comment.

The apparent hijacking comes after David Thorpe and Jon Hendren, the minds behind the popular humor site Something Rotten did the same with a Walmart promotion for Energy Sheets. The Facebook-based promotion awarded the city with the most likes with a visit by rapper Pitbull. Thorpe and Hendren rigged the votes so that Pitbull visited a Walmart in Kodiak Island, Alaska, the most remote Walmart location in the U.S.

It’s unclear, meanwhile, who is behind the latest Mountain Dew effort. A Reddit thread, however, points the finger at controversial online community 4chan while 4chan claims that the whole thing was concocted by Reddit.

Almost Out of Cash, WikiLeaks Starts Taking Donations Again

2012-08-09T14:08:00.001-07:00

WikiLeaks, which was down to about $120,000 in total reserves at the end of June because of a blockade program by Visa and MasterCard, is now accepting donations again.

The organization announced on Wednesday that it had found a loophole via the French credit card system, Carte Bleue. Carte Bleue is linked with Visa and MasterCard globally, but both are contractually barred from cutting off merchants within the Carte Bleue system, according to WikiLeaks. The French non-profit FDNN (Fund for the Defense of Net Neutrality or Fonds de Défense de la Net Neutralité) has set up a Carte Bleue fund for WikiLeaks.

Now WikiLeaks is asking supporters to donate before MasterCard and Visa find a way to block payments again.

The plea comes as WikiLeaks is expected to run out of cash within a few months. The organization’s goal is to raise €1 million (about $1.22 million) “immediately.”

Last week, WikiLeaks won an important legal battle against Visa and MasterCard in Iceland — where the credit card companies’ local partner was ordered by a judge to resume processing credit card donations made to the controversial secret-sharing site.

The Icelandic court ruled that Valitor, Visa and MasterCard’s local partner, ran afoul of contract laws when it stopped processing donations to WikiLeaks, according to The Associated Press.

Visa and MasterCard, along with other U.S.-based financial firms such as PayPal, blocked transactions headed for WikiLeaks in 2010 after the website published more than 250,000 American classified diplomatic cables.

Valitor must restore service to WikiLeaks within two weeks or face fines of about $6,000 every day. The company is planning to appeal the decision.

Meanwhile, WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange requested political asylum from Ecuador after losing his appeal against extradition from the U.K. to Sweden last month. He’s wanted by Swedish authorities to answer for accusations of sexual misconduct, but says he believes Sweden would send him to the United States to be tried for crimes related to WikiLeaks releases.

The United States has not publicly charged Assange with any crime. (Mashable.com)

Anonymous Vows to Avenge Loss of Demonoid by Reviving It

2012-08-09T14:02:00.000-07:00

Anonymous has vowed to revive Demonoid, a popular torrent sharing and tracking platform shut down by authorities last week, and to extract vengeance on the the forces it holds responsible for the takedown.

Demonoid was hosted on servers at a data center in Ukraine which local authorities raided last week, leading to the site’s shutdown.

Anonymous began its effort, codenamed #OpDemonoid, on Wednesday by launching Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against several Ukrainian government-owned websites, knocking them offline for a short period of time. DDoS attacks involve overloading a website’s host server with bogus traffic, and are relatively easy to perform compared to more intricate cyberattacks.

Anonymous’ longer-term goal is restoring Demonoid by asking members to host mirror sites across the world, creating what the group called in a release an “open-source Demonoid.”

According to the BBC, the Ukrainian raid on Demonoid was requested by the Mexican government through Interpol, an international organization that allows police from different countries to coordinate with one another. Authorities there had previously been pursuing a member of Demonoid’s staff.

However, the site was on a list of services suspected of engaging in copyright infringement that was drawn up by United States authorities, and the Ukrainian operation coincided with a visit by that country’s vice prime minister to the United States. The United States also has a history of asking foreign police to assist in intellectual property arrests, as was the case in January’s arrest of Megaupload’s Kim Dotcom in New Zealand.

Those factors have led some, including Anonymous, to conclude that the Ukrainian Demonoid raid was the brainchild of the American entertainment industry.

“The action was spearheaded by the usual cabal of lobbyists, SOPA/ACTA supporters, and their bribed politicians,” reads an Anonymous release. “We question what the motives for this action really are? It is clear to us that politics and lobbyists are again getting in the way of progress.”

Anonymous said that its mission to restore Demonoid will “require time and patience.”

Can Anonymous revive Demonoid? Share your thoughts in the comments. (Mashable.com)

Man Orders TV From Amazon, Receives Illegal Rifle Instead

2012-08-09T13:54:00.000-07:00

A Washington, D.C. man got a surprise package at his door after ordering what he thought was a television from Amazon.

Instead, Seth Horvitz opened the large box Tuesday evening to find a military-grade assault rifle, according to Wired.

“When I saw some metal parts inside the box, I thought, ‘Maybe this is a TV stand or mount or something,” he told the magazine. “When I realized it was an assault rifle, it was pure shock and disbelief.”

Horvitz had ordered a Westinghouse 39-inch LCD television from the ecommerce retailer for around $320. But after discovering the weapon, he contacted local police, who then confiscated the box. Officers told Horvitz the Sig Sauer 716 patrol rifle was illegal in D.C., Wired reported.

An invoice for $1,590 found inside the box revealed that it was addressed to Independence Gun Shop, a Pennsylvania-based business, from online retailer Gunbuyer.com.

After contacting Amazon, the company’s customer service department gave Horvitz “the standard line of sending a dispute claim for sending the wrong product,” he said.

Horvitz also contacted the third-party Amazon seller, who denied any knowledge of the weapon.

UPS, which delivered the package, likely caused the mixup, Horvitz said. The box had two different address labels on it — one with his proper address, and one with another.

“UPS puts the name label on and then they put a second small sticker — a redundant sticker with the tracking information on it,” Horvitz said. “There were two different small stickers as well. THere was a small sticker that matched the label under mine, and a small sticker that matched mine.”

Amazon and Horvitz did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Have you ever received the wrong package after ordering something online? Tell us in the comments. (Mashable.com)

Siri Rival Google Voice Search Coming to the iPad

2012-08-09T13:46:00.000-07:00

Watch out Siri, Google is bringing its Voice Search app to the iPhone and iPad.

As with the Android version, the app taps into Google’s Knowledge Graph function to consider the user’s location and the context of what is being searched.

This means that the app can suggest films at nearby cinemas when users ask “What movies are playing this weekend?” or understand that a search for ‘Rio’ could mean a city, movie or casino.

Comparisons with Apple’s Siri are bound to be made — not least because both apps can respond to direct questions — but in reality Google Voice Search is someway off its Apple rival. After all, Siri is able to search and carry out other functions across the Internet, apps, calendar entries and messages.

The free Google Voice Search app is currently available for Android on the Google Play store but will come to Apple’s App Store in the coming weeks.

If a Google Employee Dies, Spouse Gets Half of Salary for 10 Years

2012-08-09T13:20:00.003-07:00

It’s been long reported that Google treats its employees well, from offering them free food and fitness classes to laundry service and car washes. But according to a recent report, Google recently rolled out death benefits to employees, including a generous offer to pay the spouse or partner of a deceased staffer half of their salary for a decade.

The news of these death benefits — which was first reported by Forbes — also comes with “no tenure requirement,” which means each employee in its 34,000 workforce qualifies. It was put into place earlier this year.

This was confirmed by a Google spokesperson that the benefits don’t just stop at salary. The surviving spouse or partner of a deceased employee will also acquire vested stock benefits, and children will receive $1,000 a month until the age of 19. The timeline can be extended if the child is in school full time.

Google said it is taking this approach because it is the right thing to do, ensuring that each employee’s family is taken care of if an unforeseeable event were to occur — even if there is no direct benefit to the business.

Although it might attract more candidates to apply for a position, Google said that is not the reason why it implemented the benefits — more potential hires would just be a side effect.

Do you think more companies should take a similar approach? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. (Mashable.com)

Hashtags Help Coordinate Relief Efforts in Philippine Floods

2012-08-08T08:43:00.000-07:00

In the midst of widespread flooding in Manila, which displaced more than 80,000 residents and caused at least 50 deaths by unofficial count, a digital lifeline emerged. Filipino citizens, non-profit organizations and government agencies have been using social media to coordinate relief efforts and rescue missions.

The Philippines, one of the most social media-savvy countries in the world, relied on Facebook and Twitter to disseminate information as people pleaded for rescuers to retrieve them from the rooftops of their homes.

Roughly half of the population uses social networks — something that government rescue workers, volunteers and media outlets used to their advantage by creating unified hashtags to spread information more efficiently. #RescuePH is for rescue calls; relief aid’s hashtag is #ReliefPH, breaking news falls under #FloodsPH, and official government alerts are tagged with #PHalert.

Social media users also created a relief center map on Google Maps and a rescue request form.

Do you think consolidated hashtags and online coordination make a noticeable difference in disaster response, or is an official rescue request form an unnecessary step in relief aid? Let us know in the comments. (Mashable.com)

Google’s Driverless Car Is Now Safer Than the Average Driver

2012-08-08T08:39:00.002-07:00

How safe a driver is your average robot? Safer than your average American, at least by one measure.

Google announced Tuesday that its self-driving cars have completed 300,000 miles of test-drives, under a “wide range of conditions,” all without any kind of accident. (The project has seen a few accidents in the past — but only with humans at the wheel.)

To put that into perspective, the average U.S. driver has one accident roughly every 165,000 miles. Here’s how we got that figure: our average mileage per year is 16,550, according to the Federal Highway Administration; the average length of time we go between traffic accidents is 10 years, according to Allstate. (In particularly safe cities such as Fort Collins, Colo., that number can rise to 14 years — which is still no match for Google’s 300,000 miles.)

The Google project uses Toyota Priuses equipped with a range of cameras, radar sensors and laser range-finders to see other traffic; sophisticated software uses Google Maps to navigate routes. A pair of human drivers are always in the cars, ready to take over in case of any malfunction, although Google says it will now start using just one human per car. The company also just added a Lexus RX450h to its Prius fleet (see picture above).

In the past, the project says its robot cars have driven from the Googleplex in Silicon Valley to Santa Monica in LA, gone “down [San Francisco's famously twisty] Lombard Street, crossed the Golden Gate bridge, navigated the Pacific Coast Highway, and even made it all the way around Lake Tahoe” — and that was all announced two years ago.

So Google has good reason to be proud; it is bringing us closer to the day when we’ll be able to sit back, relax and do the crossword during our commute. But the company also admits it has a long way to go.

“To provide the best experience we can, we’ll need to master snow-covered roadways, interpret temporary construction signals and handle other tricky situations that many drivers encounter,” writes Chris Urmson, the driverless car team’s Engineering Lead, in a blog post. “For now, our team members will remain in the driver’s seats and will take back control if needed.” (Mashable.com)

Not on Facebook? Employers, Psychiatrists May Think You’re a Psychopath

2012-08-08T08:37:00.000-07:00

There are more than 955 million Facebook users, and it could hurt you to not be one of them.

Some psychiatrists and employers now find it suspicious for an individual to keep off Facebook, reports The Daily Mail. That’s because for today’s young generation, having Facebook is considered “normal,” while opting out is considered “abnormal.”

Employers may suspect that an applicant’s absence from the social network means the account is so full of offensive material that it had to be deleted. After all, 90% of recruiters check out candidates’ online profiles.

Similarly, psychologists see Facebook activity as a reflection of a healthy social life.

“The Internet has become a natural part of life,” psychologist Christopher Moeller told Germany’s Der Taggspiegel. “It’s possible that you get feelings of positive feedback through online friends.” [Translated from German]

In excess, Moeller says, Facebook interactions can reinforce feelings of social anxiety experienced offline.

As the German magazine points out, both suspected Aurora theater gunman James Holmes and the Norwegian massacre shooter Anders Behring Breivik share an absence from Facebook. The publication went as far as to say that Facebook abstainers have reason to be suspected mass murderers.

The two shooters had online footprints on more obscure social networks — Breivik on MySpace and Holmes on Adult Friend Finder.

Do you find it suspicious when you meet someone who’s not on Facebook? Do you think being active on Facebook reflects a healthy social life? Let us know in the comments. (Mashable.com)