twister blogs @ blogspot.com

Water dispenser at Mozilla HQ ?

2014-01-22T12:41:00.002+02:00

I was wondering if that's a water dispenser at Mozilla HQ or just a lazy designer stealing their logo ?

The Evolution of a Programmer

2012-05-08T10:21:00.002+03:00

High School/Jr.High

  10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD"
  20 END

First year in College

  program Hello(input, output)
    begin
      writeln('Hello World')
    end.

Senior year in College

  (defun hello
    (print
      (cons 'Hello (list 'World))))

New professional

  #include 
  void main(void)
  {
    char *message[] = {"Hello ", "World"};
    int i;
 
    for(i = 0; i < 2; ++i)
      printf("%s", message[i]);
    printf("\n");
  }

Seasoned professional

  #include 
  #include 
 
  class string
  {
  private:
    int size;
    char *ptr;
 
  string() : size(0), ptr(new char[1]) { ptr[0] = 0; }
 
    string(const string &s) : size(s.size)
    {
      ptr = new char[size + 1];
      strcpy(ptr, s.ptr);
    }
 
    ~string()
    {
      delete [] ptr;
    }
 
    friend ostream &operator <<(ostream &, const string &);
    string &operator=(const char *);
  };
 
  ostream &operator<<(ostream &stream, const string &s)
  {
    return(stream << s.ptr);
  }
 
  string &string::operator=(const char *chrs)
  {
    if (this != &chrs)
    {
      delete [] ptr;
     size = strlen(chrs);
      ptr = new char[size + 1];
      strcpy(ptr, chrs);
    }
    return(*this);
  }
 
  int main()
  {
    string str;
 
    str = "Hello World";
    cout << str << endl;
 
    return(0);
  }

Master Programmer

  [
  uuid(2573F8F4-CFEE-101A-9A9F-00AA00342820)
  ]
  library LHello
  {
      // bring in the master library
      importlib("actimp.tlb");
      importlib("actexp.tlb");
 
      // bring in my interfaces
      #include "pshlo.idl"
 
      [
      uuid(2573F8F5-CFEE-101A-9A9F-00AA00342820)
      ]
      cotype THello
   {
   interface IHello;
   interface IPersistFile;
   };
  };
 
  [
  exe,
  uuid(2573F890-CFEE-101A-9A9F-00AA00342820)
  ]
  module CHelloLib
  {
 
      // some code related header files
      importheader();
      importheader();
      importheader();
      importheader("pshlo.h");
      importheader("shlo.hxx");
      importheader("mycls.hxx");
 
      // needed typelibs
      importlib("actimp.tlb");
      importlib("actexp.tlb");
      importlib("thlo.tlb");
 
      [
      uuid(2573F891-CFEE-101A-9A9F-00AA00342820),
      aggregatable
      ]
      coclass CHello
   {
   cotype THello;
   };
  };
 
 
  #include "ipfix.hxx"
 
  extern HANDLE hEvent;
 
  class CHello : public CHelloBase
  {
  public:
      IPFIX(CLSID_CHello);
 
      CHello(IUnknown *pUnk);
      ~CHello();
 
      HRESULT  __stdcall PrintSz(LPWSTR pwszString);
 
  private:
      static int cObjRef;
  };
 
 
  #include 
  #include 
  #include 
  #include 
  #include "thlo.h"
  #include "pshlo.h"
  #include "shlo.hxx"
  #include "mycls.hxx"
 
  int CHello::cObjRef = 0;
 
  CHello::CHello(IUnknown *pUnk) : CHelloBase(pUnk)
  {
      cObjRef++;
      return;
  }
 
  HRESULT  __stdcall  CHello::PrintSz(LPWSTR pwszString)
  {
      printf("%ws
", pwszString);
      return(ResultFromScode(S_OK));
  }
 
 
  CHello::~CHello(void)
  {
 
  // when the object count goes to zero, stop the server
  cObjRef--;
  if( cObjRef == 0 )
      PulseEvent(hEvent);
 
  return;
  }
 
  #include 
  #include 
  #include "pshlo.h"
  #include "shlo.hxx"
  #include "mycls.hxx"
 
  HANDLE hEvent;
 
   int _cdecl main(
  int argc,
  char * argv[]
  ) {
  ULONG ulRef;
  DWORD dwRegistration;
  CHelloCF *pCF = new CHelloCF();
 
  hEvent = CreateEvent(NULL, FALSE, FALSE, NULL);
 
  // Initialize the OLE libraries
  CoInitializeEx(NULL, COINIT_MULTITHREADED);
 
  CoRegisterClassObject(CLSID_CHello, pCF, CLSCTX_LOCAL_SERVER,
      REGCLS_MULTIPLEUSE, &dwRegistration);
 
  // wait on an event to stop
  WaitForSingleObject(hEvent, INFINITE);
 
  // revoke and release the class object
  CoRevokeClassObject(dwRegistration);
  ulRef = pCF->Release();
 
  // Tell OLE we are going away.
  CoUninitialize();
 
  return(0); }
 
  extern CLSID CLSID_CHello;
  extern UUID LIBID_CHelloLib;
 
  CLSID CLSID_CHello = { /* 2573F891-CFEE-101A-9A9F-00AA00342820 */
      0x2573F891,
      0xCFEE,
      0x101A,
      { 0x9A, 0x9F, 0x00, 0xAA, 0x00, 0x34, 0x28, 0x20 }
  };
 
  UUID LIBID_CHelloLib = { /* 2573F890-CFEE-101A-9A9F-00AA00342820 */
      0x2573F890,
      0xCFEE,
      0x101A,
      { 0x9A, 0x9F, 0x00, 0xAA, 0x00, 0x34, 0x28, 0x20 }
  };
 
  #include 
  #include 
  #include 
  #include 
  #include 
  #include "pshlo.h"
  #include "shlo.hxx"
  #include "clsid.h"
 
  int _cdecl main(
  int argc,
  char * argv[]
  ) {
  HRESULT  hRslt;
  IHello        *pHello;
  ULONG  ulCnt;
  IMoniker * pmk;
  WCHAR  wcsT[_MAX_PATH];
  WCHAR  wcsPath[2 * _MAX_PATH];
 
  // get object path
  wcsPath[0] = '\0';
  wcsT[0] = '\0';
  if( argc > 1) {
      mbstowcs(wcsPath, argv[1], strlen(argv[1]) + 1);
      wcsupr(wcsPath);
      }
  else {
      fprintf(stderr, "Object path must be specified\n");
      return(1);
      }
 
  // get print string
  if(argc > 2)
      mbstowcs(wcsT, argv[2], strlen(argv[2]) + 1);
  else
      wcscpy(wcsT, L"Hello World");
 
  printf("Linking to object %ws\n", wcsPath);
  printf("Text String %ws\n", wcsT);
 
  // Initialize the OLE libraries
  hRslt = CoInitializeEx(NULL, COINIT_MULTITHREADED);
 
  if(SUCCEEDED(hRslt)) {
 
 
      hRslt = CreateFileMoniker(wcsPath, &pmk);
      if(SUCCEEDED(hRslt))
   hRslt = BindMoniker(pmk, 0, IID_IHello, (void **)&pHello);
 
      if(SUCCEEDED(hRslt)) {
 
   // print a string out
   pHello->PrintSz(wcsT);
 
   Sleep(2000);
   ulCnt = pHello->Release();
   }
      else
   printf("Failure to connect, status: %lx", hRslt);
 
      // Tell OLE we are going away.
      CoUninitialize();
      }
 
  return(0);
  }

Apprentice Hacker

  #!/usr/local/bin/perl
  $msg="Hello, world.\n";
  if ($#ARGV >= 0) {
    while(defined($arg=shift(@ARGV))) {
      $outfilename = $arg;
      open(FILE, ">" . $outfilename) || die "Can't write $arg: $!\n";
      print (FILE $msg);
      close(FILE) || die "Can't close $arg: $!\n";
    }
  } else {
    print ($msg);
  }
  1;

Experienced Hacker

  #include 
  #define S "Hello, World\n"
  main(){exit(printf(S) == strlen(S) ? 0 : 1);}

Seasoned Hacker

  % cc -o a.out ~/src/misc/hw/hw.c
  % a.out

Guru Hacker

  % echo "Hello, world."

New Manager

  10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD"
  20 END

Middle Manager

  mail -s "Hello, world." bob@b12
  Bob, could you please write me a program that prints "Hello, world."?
  I need it by tomorrow.
  ^D

Senior Manager

  % zmail jim
  I need a "Hello, world." program by this afternoon.

Chief Executive

  % letter
  letter: Command not found.
  % mail
  To: ^X ^F ^C
  % help mail
  help: Command not found.
  % damn!
  !: Event unrecognized
  % logout

Attention Chase users and non-Chase users

2012-04-24T16:15:00.002+03:00

There's a new scam/spam going on, don't follow those instructions and don't download and run that html file under any circumstances.

The "From:" of the version I got clearly states: "Chase Service ", Chase's domain is chase.com, so why would they email you from nn.com ? In Yahoo Mail you only need to do a mouse over on the "From:".

Here's the content of the scam I got:

"Dear Customer,

A very unusual activity has been detected that was linked to your Chase
account. It appears that
someone gained access to your account without your consent. This intrusion have
led us to restrict
your account access.

In order for you to have full access to your account again, please follow these
two simple steps.

(1) Download the attachment provided by our Security Team.
(2) Open the attached file (in your Web Browser) and fill in the required
fields.

After you have verified your account by following these steps, our automated
security system will
add layers of protection to your account. We would like to thank you for your
serious attention.

Sincerely,
Chase Account Review Team"

There's also file attached, 168KB in size. That's a HTML script that I didn't have the guts to test on my PC. Just ignore it, mark it as spam or report it to Chase.

And while you're in the SPAM folder...

2012-04-18T13:51:00.003+03:00

could I interest you in a SPAM recipe ?


Click to enlarge

SAVORY SPAM CRESCENTS
 
 Recipe By     : 
 Serving Size  : 16   Preparation Time :0:00
 Categories    : Sandwiches
 
   Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
 --------  ------------  --------------------------------
   10       sl           Bacon, cut in small pieces
      1/4   c            Finely chopped onion
    1       cn           SPAM Luncheon Meat, cubed
                         - 12 oz
    1                    Egg, beaten
    3       tb           Grated Parmesan cheese
    2       tb           Chopped fresh parsley
    2       tb           Dijon-style mustard
      1/8   t            Pepper
    2       pk           Refrigerated crescent roll
                         -dough (8 oz)
 
   Heat oven to 375'F. In skillet, cook bacon and onion until bacon is
   crisp; drain. Stir in remaining ingredients except crescent roll
   dough. Separate each package of crescent dough into 8 triangles.
   Spread top half of each triangle with SPAM mixture; roll up. Place on
   baking sheets. Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

That's it! Now, ENJOY YOUR SPAM! And Spamcop, SUCK ON THIS!

Dear Thunderbird, WTF ?

2012-01-18T14:08:00.000+02:00

Sooooo, what's with the sudden rush of email ? :)

Microsoft News TV

2011-12-12T12:53:00.000+02:00

Linkedin announces

2011-12-07T14:36:00.000+02:00

Linkedin announces its users about the email notification system changes:

"We want to let you know about a change we will be making to some of our email notifications to make sure you get important messages as soon as possible.
Previously, due to an error on our part, your default setting was to receive a weekly summary email listing any InMails or Introductions sent to you by other LinkedIn members.

We received a lot of feedback from people saying they'd rather receive these messages right away. With that feedback in mind, we will be changing your setting on December 14, 2011 so you'll receive InMails and Introductions immediately rather than in a weekly digest format.

If you'd like to receive these messages as soon as they are sent, no action is needed. However, if you'd like to change how you receive these messages in the future, you can change your email preferences by selecting the weekly digest format.

To learn more about changing your email notifications, please visit our help center.
Sincerely,
The LinkedIn Team"

Thailand Government is full of goths!

2011-11-21T15:11:00.000+02:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



.th is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Thailand. It is administered by T.H.NIC Co., Ltd. (THNIC), formerly known as Thai Network Information Center Foundation.

It appears that the .th domain only admits third level domain registrations under its second level domains.
Registration of a .co.th domain name is a complicated procedure, for this reason most Thailand websites prefer to use a .com name. In order to register a .co.th domain name the registrar in Thailand requires copies of company documents in the same name as the required domain name, so for example if you required acme.co.th you would need to have a registered company called Acme Co., Ltd.
A company can only register a single .co.th domain, making it impossible to facilitate easy location of a company's products by using a variety of words or product names as their domain names.

Second level domains

.ac.th Academic
.co.th Commercial
.in.th Individuals (or organizations)
.go.th Governmental
.mi.th Military
.or.th Non-profit organizations
.net.th Internet provider

O2 starts 4G LTE mobile broadband trial in London

2011-11-15T13:35:00.000+02:00

O2 starts 4G LTE mobile broadband trial in London

Play Angry Birds For Free in Your Browser!

2011-05-23T16:58:00.001+03:00


click on the logo to play

First released for Apple's iOS in December 2009, Angry Birds is a video game developed in Finland, by Rovio, entertainment media company.

Rovio was founded in 2003 as a mobile game development studio, and the company has developed several award-winning titles for various mobile platforms.

Rovio has developed games with Electronic Arts, Nokia, Vivendi, Namco Bandai and Mr. Goodliving/Real Networks and shipped over 50 mobile titles. But Angry Birds is definitely their greatest hit.

Rovio describes Angry Birds as: "a casual puzzle game for touchscreen smartphones that became a worldwide phenomenon from 2010 onwards, now available on further platforms as well. The Angry Birds games have enjoyed continuing worldwide chart success, and the franchise has since expanded to a variety of new business areas."

In the game, players must launch birds at structures hosting pigs with the purpose of bringing down the structures and destroying all of the pigs. Advancing through the game, new birds appear, some with special abilities that can be activated by the player. Rovio Mobile has provided numerous free updates to Angry Birds adding new game content. The company has even released stand-alone holiday and promotional versions of the game.

Angry Birds' popularity requested versions for PC and gaming consoles. Its characters might even feature in a film or television series. Due to its combined 200 million downloads across all platforms , the game has been called "one of the most mainstream games out right now", "one of the great runaway hits of 2010", and "the largest mobile app success the world has seen so far".

So, if you don't own an iPhone, or you don't want to install it on your PC or console, you can always play in your browser, by clicking here.

CashParking with Go Daddy

2011-05-19T15:24:00.001+03:00

The most important part of it all is choosing the domain name, I didn't spend too much time choosing mine, so all I could come up with was football-live-streams.com.

I was planning to build a live scores website with maybe some (live?) video streams. Didn't have the time to do it, so I dropped the website dead for a while, I did get to the point where I was making a banner for it :)

Just the other day I remembered that upon registering the domain, I saw a "Cash Parking" option under my Go Daddy account.

At that point Cash Parking seemed exactly what I needed, money from my domains' parked pages. So I went for the Basic plan, they also have a Premium one, next to each plan they have some prices, but it did not occur to me that I will actually have to pay for Cash Parking additionally to the 40% of the revenue that also goes to Godaddy(20% in the Premium plan).

Pricing is:

1 month:          Just $4.99/mo
12 months:      Just $4.49/mo Save 10%
24 months:      Just $3.99/mo Save 20%

for Basic and

1 month:          Just $9.99/mo
12 months:      Just $8.99/mo Save 10%
24 months:      Just $7.99/mo Save 20%

for Premium.

Your domain does not have to be registered Go Daddy to take advantage of CashParking, but you will have to park the names with Go Daddy in order to begin monetization. If the domain name is home to a web site, CashParking will replace that web site.

After you pick a plan, use the bulk edit tool to add your domain(s) to your CashParking portfolio.

The number of domains you can add is unlimited. You will have to change domain name servers to the Go Daddy parkweb servers for CashParking. After that, ads will be presented on your domain's parked page.

Revenue payment is based on the plan you opted for, Basic or Premium.
US customers receive payment monthly, while International customers will receive payment quarterly. See some samples for domain parked pages here.

Whether it works for you, or not, or how much money you make, it is up to you, your audience and how you advertise your domain.

Google Under Investigation by US Justice Department

2011-05-11T17:17:00.000+03:00

This Tuesday had both, good and bad news for and from Google.

The good news are the new music and movie services announced at Google's annual developers conference in San Francisco. The service is called "Music Beta" and will allow select users to store up to 20,000 songs at the company's servers. The users will be able to stream the music to their computers and some smartphones. Access to movie rental service has been added the Android mobile operating system.

The bad news is that Google is under investigation from the US Department of Justice. Specifically, Google's advertising system is being investigated. The investigation targets to find how the automated advertising system treats some unnamed advertisers, while a separate study is being conducted by the European Commission.

After reporting a net profit of $2.3bn for the first 3 months of the year, Google's Tuesday report US financial watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Commission reported a decrease to $1.8bn, after putting aside $500m to cover any potential fines resulting from the investigation of the charges.

None of the spokesmen, Google's or Justice Department's refused to make further comments. Google only stated: "Although we cannot predict the ultimate outcome of this matter, we believe it will not have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows."

After the refuse to comment by the Google spokesman, questions rise, could the investigations be the consequence of complaints by rivals ? The Europan Comission began its investigation following accusations from Google search engine rivals, including Microsoft's Bing, accusations that mention manipulations of search results in order to promote Google's own services and to discourage advertising with other search engines.

Now, if we sit back and review other major events involving Google this year, inevitably Panda comes in mind. Once Panda was introduced, Google has been accused of bringing Microsoft-owned company ciao.co.uk visibility down by 94%. Is this investigation a consequence of Panda, or Panda's target was to actually "fix" the previous algorithm and to basically put away the tricks that hit Google's rivals.

LastPass Hacked with Possible Data Leaks

2011-05-11T11:56:00.000+03:00

This is starting to look like "hacks and leaks season". After Sony's PSN being hacked twice this spring, now it was password management program developer's network, LastPass to be targeted by hackers.

Three month after "one million people have said "goodbye" to password insanity", LastPass announces its users, through an email, that on may 3rd "suspicious network activity" has been detected on their internal network. Investigations determined there is a possibility that "limited amount of data was accessed". As a security measure, LastPass locked down all accounts and prevented access from unknown locations. However, LastPass does not have access to users master password or confidential data.

As an emergency reaction, LastPass quickly implemented a security layer based on the account/IP correspondence. To avoid access from unauthorized IPs, users were forced to set passwords per specific IP they will be connecting from after verifying the email address. To further secure user accounts, LastPass now requires user to verify their identity when logging in. Users are prompted to validate their email when trying to log in from a new location. This prompt will continue to appear until the user changes his master password or indicates that he is comfortable with the strength of the current master password.

What is LastPass ?
An online password manager and form filler that makes web browsing easier and more secure.

How to use LastPass ?

Watch the rest of the screencasts here.

Watching those videos you will see what a great piece of software LastPass is. If you are in doubt because of this hack, read their blog and see how professional and quick their reaction was, also they immediately let their users know about the issue, unlike Sony, who needed more than a week to let people know their data might be in the wrong hands.

Why is yahoo.com/mail Trending on Google Trends ??!

2011-05-09T17:31:00.000+03:00

First off, what is Google Trends.

Google Trends analyzes Google web searches to computes how many searches have been done for the terms you enter, relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time, you are then presented with a graph of the results – called Search Volume Index graph.

Google Trends is only available in English and in Chinese.

Hot Searches is only available in English, but region specific information for Singapore and India are also available. My Google Trends is U.S. region related.

On the landing page of Google Trends, other than the search box, there is the list of Hot Searches, which are the ... Hot Searches probably updated in real time.

I check Google Trends almost on a daily basis, I've found interesting things and even updated myself with the news. I was just checking it again today, and I saw yahoo.com/mail is treding ... !? Umm, wtf ? I know people are lazy, and don't even try to remember the URL and type it in the search box, but still, how did that send it on the third spot of Google Trends !?

I'm still wondering. Maybe yahoo made some interface changes, though my yahoo mail looks the same. And even with some changes, how dazzled can you be ? What's up with you people !?

In-text context advertisting: Kontera

2011-05-05T16:19:00.001+03:00

What is in-text advertising ?

As you already guessed, it is a form of advertising that is published through the textual content of your website. For example, when a user reads your blog article, for some specific words, if they click or mouse-over some words, a small window will pop up and advertise for certain context related products, as presented in the image below:

The contextual advertising system code in the source code of your website will scan the text for keywords and return advertisements related to the content the user is viewing. If the website that uses contextual advertising is a search engine, the visitor will be presented ads related to the keywords of their search/query.

In-text advertising is a somehow special form of contextual advertising. While contextual advertising includes advertisements adjacent to relevant online context, in-text advertising places hyperlinks directly into the text of your webpage.

In my attempts to earn an extra buck from blogging, I decided to give in-text advertising a chance. After closely examining the options, I decided to go with Kontera.

Publishers:
This is the webmasters or website owners category, after signing up, they will publish the advertisements provided by the advertisers.

Kontera ads require no extra space and makes no changes to your website.
If your site generates at least 25k pageviews coming from the US during your first 30 days with Kontera, you qualify for a $50 bonus!

Set up is basically plug and play with the easy-to-install plugins for popular platforms like Blogger, WordPress, Joomla & Drupal. Get further help and assistance from the knowledge base or email tech support which is very quick to answer and qualified.

The fully detailed reports system provides information like:
- The number of pages where Kontera was able to successfully mark with a ContentLink( also called net impressions);
- The number of clicks on the ContentLink;
- Click-Through Rate - percent of clicks versus net impressions;
And of course, revenue report, additional revenue report(like bonuses) and the average revenue per 1k net impressions(eCPM).
Keyword reports and URL reports are available, so you can see which keywords and URLs generated the most revenue.

Kontera’s Story-Level Targeting delivers unmatched user-experience & results. Your content is interpreted in real time and the most relevant and highest paying ads are served to your users. Work with big-brand advertisers like Ford, Microsoft, Procter&Gamble, Kellog's, Sun, Nintendo and benefit from unique creatives that deliver record-high CTRs and CPC.

Kontera have developed their own In-Text relevance engine, called Kontera Synapse. According to digital market intelligence measurement service, comScore, Synapse delivers advertiser performance that’s five times greater than traditional display advertising, and with the new topical-targeting capabilities also provides a platform for a new class of related information and related search applications. For attaining superior brand engagement and campaign results, two complementary capabilities have been introduced: Cost Per View (CPV) pricing and PerformancePLUS, a continuous optimization capability that boosts brand awareness and direct response campaigns by as up to 30 percent. ComScore studied the advertiser performance characteristics of Kontera Synapse engine over a three-month period before releasing the results.

The Truth About Osama Bin Laden's Death

2011-05-04T16:06:00.001+03:00

Want proof ? Check the visa on Chuck Norris's passport ;)

Atrix - not just a smartphone

2011-05-03T17:01:00.000+03:00

You can call it a smartphone, but you are clearly underestimating it! Why ?

Because a dual-core processing technology equipped device is not only a smartphone, along with its webtop feature, it actually mobilizes your desktop!

Atrix does quadruple duty, it can be a laptop, set top box, desktop computer, and as a smartphone too.

Developed on Android 2.2 (FroYo) and 4G enabled, it supports MULTIPLE NETWORKS: WCDMA 850/1900/2100, GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 14Mbps (Category 10) Edge Class 12, GPRS Class 12, eCompass, AGPS and it can combine and sync all your social network with MOTOBLUR. It has a 5MP camera with autofocus and flash(LED), front and rear-facing camera can be used as a webcam too, and can capture HD 720p video at a 30 fps rate. It is also able to play videos at a 30 fps rate and accepts formats like AAC, H.264, MP3, MPEG-4, WMA9, eAAC+, AMR NB, AAC+.

Messaging and connectivity:
Emailing is available with Corporate Sync, Google Mail, POP3/IMAP (embedded), Corporate Directory Lookup, also instant messaging via AOL Instant Messenger, Windows Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk.
You can browse the web with the Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 enabled Android HTML Webkit.
Atrix is all Wifi: 802.11 a,b,g,n and it can be used as a router to share its main 3G connection between other 5 wireless enabled devices.
Needless to say, it supports Bluetooth and (micro)USB2.0 and 3.5 mm headset jack.

It can stream, store and share content with compatible devices around the home like HDTVs, game consoles and PCs as it is DLNA(DIGITAL LIVING NETWORK ALLIANCE) enabled.
GPS AND LOCATION SERVICES available: eCompass, aGPS (assisted) with Google Maps™, Google Latitude™, Google Maps Street View, eCompas.

You can read the full features and specification by visiting the dedicated Atrix page on the official Motorola website.

The White iPhone is OUT!

2011-04-27T17:12:00.000+03:00

Apple has finally confirmed that the long expected WHITE iPhone will become available for sale on Apple.com, Apple stores, authorized Apple resellers, and AT&T/Verizon stores.

The, almost a year long waiting, was caused, according to Apple, by the manufacture process which turned out to be "more challenging to than expected".

A press release by Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, Philip Schiller states that: "The white iPhone 4 has finally arrived and it's beautiful". Through Schiller voice, Apple also somehow apologies to its customers: "We appreciate everyone who has waited patiently while we've worked to get every detail right."

AT&T's "no commitment" prices start from $499 for a 8GB iPhone 3GS and go up to $699 for a 32GB iPhone 4, and it's cheaper than Verizon, who charges $650 for a no-commitment 16GB iPhone 4 and $750 for the 32GB model.

Other than that, AT&T also offers a wide range of iPhone versions, with prices starting from $19 for a refurbished iPhone 3GS - 8 GB, while only the 16GB and 32GB versions of iPhone 4G are available with Verizon.

PlayStation Network Hack Leaks Sensitive Info of Over 70 Million Users

2011-04-27T12:50:00.002+03:00

After claiming for days that its PlayStation network is under maintenance, Sony finally admitted that it has been targeted by a hacking attack, therefor the network has been taken down for investigation by security experts that the company contacted in order to help fix the issue and secure the network.

Not only the gaming network has been affected, the outage also affected the film rental site LoveFilm, as service that is also running over the PS network. Problems have also been reported by the Netflix users.

The company's official position mentions that sensitive data, like credit card information, might have fallen into the hands of an "unauthorized person".

In an attempt to hide the hacking and stop the intrusion, Sony kept the truth from the users, and while it all started on Wednesday, the company waited until yesterday to make the announcement. In a blog post by Head of Communication, Nick Chaplin, the company announces that: "certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account information was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our network." To add to the users' reasons to be unhappy with their membership, not only that the information has been kept away for a week, but they just found out that their info is not encrypted inside the PSN network.

Mr. Chaplin came up with even more excuses in his today's blog post:

"There’s a difference in timing between when we identified there was an intrusion and when we learned of consumers’ data being compromised. We learned there was an intrusion 19th April and subsequently shut the services down. We then brought in outside experts to help us learn how the intrusion occurred and to conduct an investigation to determine the nature and scope of the incident. It was necessary to conduct several days of forensic analysis, and it took our experts until yesterday to understand the scope of the breach. We then shared that information with our consumers and announced it publicly yesterday evening. "

The network's 77 million users have also been emailed about the issue and have been warned that they are at risk of fraud and have been advised to keep a close eye on their bank accounts.

Knowing that most of the online people use the same combination of user name and password, not only their credit cards and PSN accounts are in danger. The hacker(s) can use the email address/password combination to try and break into the users' email accounts where further sensitive information to access other accounts can be found.

Changing password for the other services they use would be the right thing to do now.

Going to the bank and disabling the credit card and ask for a new one would be another smart thing to do, if the bank allows it, and even if it does, this will probably cost extra. I would do it and send the bill to Sony.

Change.org attacked by Chinese government

2011-04-21T21:30:00.003+03:00

In a digital letter sent to its members, Change.org announces that the site has been a target to cyber attacks coming from China, probably ordered by the Chinese government. This is the third day in a row when the Change.org site is attacked by Chinese government coordinated hackers.

Amazon Web Services hosted Change.org now reports:

"Change.org is currently unavailable due to a problem at our hosting provider"

While AWS Service Health Dashboard reports instance connectivity, latency and error rates for its Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud node in N. Virginia and database instance connectivity and latency issues in the same node.

The hackers aren't particularly targeting the website, but a petition hosted on it. The targeted petition is demanding the release of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and it's been signed by over 100,000 people.

Acclaimed dissident artist Ai Weiwei -- who helped design the famed “Bird’s Nest” stadium for China’s Olympics -- was arrested on April 3rd by Chinese security forces at the Beijing airport. His office and studio have been ransacked, and no one has heard from him since.
The international art community, including the directors of more than twenty leading museums (including the Tate Modern, Museum of Modern Art, and the Guggenheim) started a petition on Change.org. The petition quickly gained worldwide attention, including in the New York Times, LA Times, and Guardian, triggering reactions from political leaders around the world, who are calling for Weiwei's release. Activists have organized peaceful protests at Chinese embassies and consulates.

When the petition page will be available, you can help by signing the petition:
http://www.change.org/petitions/call-for-the-release-of-ai-weiwei
Due to these repeated attacks, the site may be slower than usual or unavailable at times over the next few days.

As Change.org's Patrick says: "Autocratic governments know that the internet is a democratizing force, and they'll do everything they can to suppress online activism. Know that we stand with you for change, and that we will continue to fight to make sure your voice can be heard. "

Update: Due to attacks on Change.org, Amazon WS customers may experience collateral damage, reddit.com already announced that:

" reddit is in "emergency read-only mode" right now because Amazon is experiencing a degradation. they are working on it but we are still waiting for them to get to our volumes. you won't be able to log in. we're sorry and will fix the site as soon as we can. "

The Evian babies are back!

2011-04-19T22:08:00.001+03:00

Here is the new "Live young" experience from Evian!

You know them, since 2 years ago ;-)
This is what I'm talking about:

Portal 2 Released ?

2011-04-19T17:49:00.000+03:00

As you probably know, Portal 2 is the sequel to the 2007 video game Portal.

This video will help you fill the gap between the two Portals:

You can watch the original comic here, or you can download the comic in PDF format.

Initially, the release was announced for March 5, 2010, but it was postponed to the week of April 18, 2011. The game was released in the States today by Valve, through both retail and Steam, for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X; PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game were distributed by Electronic Arts. All versions of the game will become available simultaneously. It seems the launch date for Europe and Australia is April 21.

In Portal 2 the player returns as the human Chell, having been in stasis for several hundred years while the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System(GLaDOS) and the rest of the Aperture Science facility has fallen into disrepair.

One of GLaDOS's personality cores awakens Chell and also GLaDOS; GLaDOS isn't happy with Chell's return and begins re-testing her through numerous chambers as she rebuilds the dilapidated facility. In Portal 2 the player is again challenged through numerous platforming and physics-based puzzles using the "portal gun"(aka Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device), this device can create temporary wormholes between almost any two flat surfaces. New gameplay elements have been added to Portal 2:

- tractor beams;
- laser redirection;
- special paint-like gels.

Portal 2 can be played in a two-player co-operative mode in which each player-character is a robot that has become self-aware due to GLaDOS' influence, and requires the players to work together with their own portal guns to complete each level.

Watch the teaser trailer and weep, you want it, don't you ?

So I don't know about you, but I just can't wait to get my hands on this game and play it *drool*.

Evinta available for pre-order on Amazon

2011-04-19T13:18:00.000+03:00

Even though the official announcement on the site says the release date is May 30, Amazon says the item will be released on May 24. I already reserved my copy. Have YOU !?

Mixx.com aquired by UberMedia

2011-04-15T13:09:00.000+03:00

Mixx.com website announces that Mixx was recently acquired by UberMedia.

UberMedia is an independent developer of applications and web-based services for communication on Twitter and other social media platforms.

UberMedia, initially called TweetUp, was founded in early 2010 by Internet entrepreneur, Bill Gross, in an effort to provide Twitter users with a way to find the world’s best Tweeters on topics of particular interest and at the same time enable Tweeters to increase their following among people keen to hear what they have to say.

Later that year, the company began to bring together under one roof many of the leading Twitter clients or apps in order to provide a platform for innovation in user experiences across the many platforms through which Twitter users send and read Tweets.

Some of the well-known applications, like UberSocial, Echofon, and Twidroyd have been created by UberMedia. Twitter applications for smartphones like BlackBerry, iPhone and Android have also been developed by UberMedia. Twidroyd and UberTwitter are the first apps on the market to deploy LivePreview™ where any embedded link – web pages, blog posts, images and video – are displayed alongside the Tweet.

It seems UberMedia already started on upgrading and improving Mixx, the Mixx Classic website has been shutdown and now only displays a "we'll be back soon message" and a e-mail address collection form which subscribes you to a newsletter that will announce the relaunch of Mixx.

My Dying Bride Announces Release Date For Evinta

2011-04-14T10:14:00.001+03:00

My Dying Bride announced, on their official website, the launch date for the long expected album "Evinta". The album is an anniversary album, celebrating 20 years of My Dying Bride.

My Dying Bride were formed by Aaron, Andy, Calvin and Rick in the summer of 1990, and after only 6 months of writing together released the now legendary demo Towards The Sinister. Progress continued apace with the release of their first 7" single God Is Alone for the small French label Listenable. The single sold out almost immediately causing eager whispers in the underground, bringing them to the attention of Peaceville Records, who offered the band a deal.

The album was initially scheduled for an October 25th, 2010 release on Peaceville Records. And we waited, and we waited... And here it is, scheduled for May 30th 2011. Woo!

The website announcement states:

"To commemorate two decades of doom and gloom from My Dying Bride, the band embarked upon a special project to re-work familiar melodies and themes from their extensive catalogue into long, flowing symphonic compositions, incorporating new vocals and passages from Aaron Stainthorpe. Sharing vocals is professional opera singer Lucie Roche, a talented soprano from France.
These arrangements have been brought to life in co-operation with keyboard maestro Johnny Maudling (of Bal Sagoth fame) as well as a clutch of talented classical musicians and will be released on May 30th as 'Evinta', as a 2 disc set & also a deluxe 3-disc edition with 64 page book, inspired by My Dying Bride's illustrious recordings of the past two decades."

The band announces the album as:

"Evinta. A project almost 15 years in the making. An idea that has sat smoldering and never really had a reason to burn alive until now. 9 albums worth of darkness recreated anew to mark 20 years of MDB. Music arranged to the soundscapes of sorrows past. Finally the 20th anniversary allows us to release this music in a form it has been desperately, woefully waiting for. Enjoy the Darkness."

Desperately waiting for it, it will be on repeat in all my playlists for a while now. If only they provided a few samples ...