UK-INFOWORLD

The woman set to be richer than Bill Gates

2011-06-28T03:16:00.000-07:00

You probably haven't heard of Gina Rinehart — the 57-year-old Australian widow — but you'll know the people her wealth is set to eclipse.Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Carlos Sim are currently rated as the richest people alive by Forbes magazine, while Lakshmi Mittal is the UK's richest person and sixth-richest overall.

But Rinehart is about to leapfrog them all to the top of the list - and become the first woman to ever hold the number one spot.

Where her money's come from

Rinehart was a recently widowed mother of four in her 30s when she inherited her father's debt-laden mining firm. But she wasn't new to the business world.

She had been groomed to inherit the family firm from the age of 12 and, since taking over, has quietly gone about making it one of the world's biggest operations.

In the last year alone her fortune has more than doubled to £6 billion — making her the richest person in Australia. But that is just the start.

An investigation by US banking giant Citigroup into her new mining operations showed her wealth is only just beginning to blossom, and could increase tenfold in the next few years.

"If Rinehart was a company listed on the ASX [Australia Stock Exchange] and valued using the same 11-times price-to-earnings ratio as her partner, Rio Tinto, she would be worth $30 billion (£19 billion), putting her in the top 10 of the Forbes rich list," calculated Australian business site SmartCompany.

"Rinehart, however, has three more mines on the way, and potentially more in the exploration phase.

"If Rinehart's three new projects … match the performance of Hope Downs, and if mineral prices stay high (two big assumptions) it is possible to see Rinehart's portfolio of coal and iron ore production spinning off annual profits approaching $10 billion.

"If those best guesses prove to be correct, Rinehart is heading for a personal net worth valuation of more than $100 billion (£63 billion)."

Facebook Steals

2011-06-28T03:12:00.000-07:00

Facebook has overtaken Microsoft to become the second most popular website in the UK after Google, while recent celebrity super-injunction scandals such as that involving Ryan Giggs saw Twitter's user numbers soar in May, according to the latest stats on such things.

Online measurement body UKOM/Nielsen revealed a surge in the number of people over the age of 50 flocking to social networks such as the one that has made a certain Mark Zuckerberg very, very rich.

Its figures indicate a record 26.8million people visited Facebook in Britain in May - a year-on-year increase of seven per cent - which beat the 26.2m people who visited Microsoft's MSN, Windows Live and Bing sites combined. Search giant Google had 33.9m visitors.

Endless retweets on the subject of the aforementioned gagging orders helped push up Twitter's UK audience by a third to 6.1m, with a doubling of women of pensionable age visiting the microblogging site in the wake of 'Giggsgate', according to UKOM/Nielsen.

'The growth in audiences to these social networks is now primarily being driven by the 50-plus age group,' said James Smythe, general manager for UKOM.

'Just a few years ago, this group may have found itself out of place on these sites.'

Other sites to experience a surge in May included business network LinkedIn, which saw a 57 per cent rise in UK visitors - 3.6m - compared to last year.

Green Lantern 2

2011-06-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

Green Lantern may not be setting the box office alight, however, plans are already underway for a sequel to the superhero flick.

Studio bosses hired Michael Goldenberg to write a sequel before the first instalment hit the big screen and are seemingly hoping that the film will turn into a successful franchise like Spider-Man and Batman.

However, Warner Bros has reportedly held off giving Green Lantern 2 the official green light until it knows just how well it has performed.

Since being released earlier this month, it has taken just $89 million (£56 million) at the US box office and $118 million worldwide, despite its huge $200 million budget.

Green Lantern proved to be the weakest performer of this summer's superhero blockbusters, coming in behind X Men: First Class and Thor.

Commenting on the box office figures, head of US distribution for Warner Bros Dan Fellman hid any disappointment the studio might have been feeling, saying it was 'very happy with it'.

'Rushing to judgment is easy to do,' he told Entertainment Weekly, 'especially when the movie is not well reviewed.'

It has been suggested that Green Lantern may follow in the footsteps of Hulk, which proved a slow starter when it was released in 2008.

Green Lantern features Ryan Reynolds as the title character and also stars Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard and Mark Strong.

Sega hack hits over 1.3 million users

2011-06-20T14:41:00.000-07:00

Hackers have stolen personal information belonging to 1.3million Sega customers including email addresses and passwords, the video games developer has confirmed, making it the latest in a string of games firms to suffer major online security breaches.

Names, dates of birth, email addresses and passwords for users of the company’s online network, Sega Pass, had been compromised, which forced the service to be shut down.

In an email to customers, Sega said it had acted to protect data and isolate the location of Thursday’s breach.

‘We have launched an investigation into the extent of the breach in our public systems,’ it added.

The Sonic the Hedgehog developer said it had reset all passwords and asked customers to change their log-in details on other sites where they used the same information.

It was unclear when Sega Pass would restart.

‘We are deeply sorry for causing trouble to our customers. We want to work on strengthening security,’ spokesman Yoko Nagasawa said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Hacker group LulzSec, which has been involved in a number of recent attacks, denied being behind the breach and offered to track down the culprits.

‘Sega – contact us. We want to help you destroy the hackers that attacked you. We love the Dreamcast, these people are going down,’ the group tweeted.

Nintendo and Sony have also been the victims of breaches in recent months.

Details of more than 100million Sony online gamers were stolen in an attack on the PlayStation Network earlier this year by unknown attackers. Nintendo was hacked by LulzSec, but no valuable information was taken.

Apple's iPhone 5

2011-06-20T01:07:00.000-07:00

Apple is rumoured to be considering introducing a new social networking application on the iPhone 5 that will rival Facebook and Twitter.

A new patent application by the technology giant has sparked the speculation about the new tool, which is expected to utilise location data and other functions common to the iPhone.

Analysts are hopeful that the new app will overcome compatibility issues common across iPhone models with regards to social media sites such as Twitter or Facebook.

The main advantage is expected to be the ability to find friends with similar interests more quickly.

This has been one of the more stubborn failures of Facebook and Twitter, which makes it difficult to locate people with the same interests regularly.

There is also evidence that the new iPhone 5 will be capable of wireless charging, allowing users to charge their devices anywhere, and at anytime.

According to Physorg.com, Apple has not specified which devices the new patent will be used for, although it is widely expected to appear on new iPhone smartphones.

The new iPhone 5 is not expected to be released until at least September in the US, but Apple remains 'tight-lipped' about the date.

Australian Dinosaur had UK double

2011-06-15T01:19:00.000-07:00

A 5cm-wide (2in) fossil may have something big to say about how dinosaurs ranged across the Earth.

The specimen is the first such dinosaur identified in Australia but one that is nearly identical to a UK creature.The 125-million-year-old neck vertebra belonged to a spinosaurid - an animal with a crocodile-like snout that it probably used to prey on fish.

This suggests northern and southern hemisphere dinos had a lot more in common than previously thought.

The traditional idea has been that these ancient animals could be placed into distinctive, geographically separated, groups. This small vertebra undermines that view, says Dr Paul Barrett from London's Natural History Museum.

"After looking at this specimen and having been forced to re-assess the distribution of spinosaurids, we took a look at other dinosaur groups from Australia, including the Tyrannosaur our team announced last year," he told BBC News.

"Taking all this evidence into account, we started to realise that a lot of dinosaur groups we'd thought of as either northern specialists or southern specialists actually had more cosmopolitan distributions."

It may be just one bone, but the team says it displays features that are unmistakably those of a spinosaurid.

The vertebra, which is almost certainly from a juvenile, was unearthed on the coast of Victoria state.

It is hugely reminiscent of the neck bones in the well-known British dinosaur Baryonyx walkeri

A comparison of the neck bone from the Australian dino (L) and its UK counterpart (R). They share very distinctive spinosaur features.

The remains of this UK creature were found in southern England, which in Cretaceous times was a lot warmer and covered by lagoons.

It had the classic crocodile-like skull with conical teeth that were ideally suited for catching fishy prey in the expanses of shallow water.

The assumption is that the Australian version pursued a very similar lifestyle.

Its discovery location was probably a flood plain in a rift valley created as Australia and Antarctica were breaking apart.

The dinosaur's Baryonyx-style snout would have been ideal for pulling fish out of the waters on this plain.

"The evidence is very limited - we'd be the first to admit that, but we're very confident that this Australian specimen belongs to the spinosaurids," Dr Barrett told BBC News.

"And because all the other members of this group share the same skull features we're pretty sure this dinosaur behaved in much the same way."

Flying in a Transparent Plane

2011-06-14T01:21:00.000-07:00

Transparent cabins, seats that mould around your body and virtual reality games in aircraft may not be a flight of fancy after drawings of an Airbus concept plane could look in 2050 were unveiled.

Stunning views of the night sky could be revealed, with transparent cabins made using materials that are not solid but blended from fluid and gas.Parts of the cabin would be powered using body heat harvested from travellers while they relax in a vitamin and antioxidant-enriched climate.

In-flight entertainment includes holographic gaming

Seeing stars: Passengers could be enjoying this view by 2050

Holographic games could be played on pop-up projectors, which would also hold interactive conferences and act as virtual changing rooms for travellers wanting to top up their wardrobe.

Artists impression of an x-ray of an "intelligent" concept cabin that air travellers in 2050 might fly in designed by Airbus

Facebook loses 6M U.S. users

2011-06-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

Facebook may continue to gain users, but the world's biggest social network isn't gaining them as quickly as it has been and is actually losing users in the U.S.Facebook gained 11.8 million more users last month alone, according to a study by Inside Facebook. While that's a lot of new users, it's less than the 13.9 million new users who joined the site in April, or the 20 million gain during some months in the past year.

And while Inside Facebook reports that the social network is approaching 700 million users worldwide, the number of U.S. users has dropped. The study found that Facebook lost 6 million U.S. users in May.

The study noted that Facebook had 155.2 million U.S. users at the beginning of May but 149.4 million at the end of the month.

Other countries showed losses as well; Canada dropped by 1.52 million and the U.K. dropped by more than 100,000, but the U.S. showed the biggest loss for Facebook last month.

A Facebook spokesperson, in an e-mailed statement, said Facebook is pleased with its growth. "From time to time, we see stories about Facebook losing users in some regions. Some of these reports use data extracted from our advertising tool, which provides broad estimates on the reach of Facebook ads and isn't designed to be a source for tracking the overall growth of Facebook. We are very pleased with our growth and with the way people are engaged with Facebook. More than 50% of our active users log on to Facebook on any given day."

Dan Olds, an analyst with The Gabriel Consulting Group, said he's not surprised that Facebook is having a dip in growth and he doubts that Facebook executives are worried about it.

"Currently, Facebook has more than 150 million users in the U.S., which is more than half of the total population. That's a very big number," said Olds. "The growth rate is naturally going to tail off when penetration gets that high. We're also going to see some ebbing and surging over time as the user base stabilizes and matures."

He added that it's probably a simple matter of people wanting to try out the site and then losing interest in it after a while. It's more of a sliding away than a mass exodus.

"I don't think this is necessarily troubling for Facebook at this time," said Olds. "Some might see this as a sign of doom, but I don't... If there were a strong Facebook competitor that was growing at the same time as Facebook was shrinking a bit in the U.S., it would be a different story. But that isn't the case."

Codemasters Hacked

2011-06-13T01:17:00.000-07:00

customers' emails, personal details compromised

The spate of cyber attacks to have hit the games industry has worsened, as DiRT 3 publishers Codemasters' website goes offline with the leading British firm admitting it was hacked last week - with customers' details potentially stolen.

Codemasters' website has been entirely taken offline by the company after they discovered the intrusion, which they say occurred a week ago on Friday June 3. The website's URL, codemasters.co.uk, now just points to their Facebook page.

In an email to customers, Codemasters - developer and publishers of major titles including DiRT 3, Operation Flashpoint: Red River and the official F1 games - admitted that the attackers had gained access to the Codemasters website admin details, the CodeM customer database, the Codemasters EStore and the DiRT 3 VIP code redemption page.

Personal data that has been potentially compromised, according to the email, includes email addresses, usernames, telephone numbers, dates of birth, IP addresses, encrypted passwords and 'any biographies entered by users.'

Payment details such as credit and debit card information was not at risk, Codemasters said, as that information was stored on separate servers.

The email adds: 'Whilst we do not have confirmation that any of this data was actually downloaded onto an external device, we have to assume that, as access was gained, all of these details were compromised and/or stolen.' Codemasters advises customers to change their passwords immediately (including on other sites and services for which they used same login details) and to be on the lookout for phishing scams.

Codemasters describe themselves in the email as 'the latest victim in on-going targeted attacks against numerous game companies.'

At the time of writing, neither LulzSec - the group who recently claimed to have hacked Sony websites, as well as Nintendo, FBI affiliates and the NHS - not any of the Anonymous-linked Twitter accounts we're aware of had claimed credit for the hacking, raising the possibility that the attack was for profit not lulz.

The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim

2011-06-13T01:11:00.000-07:00

As wend our way through the noise and confusion of E3 we’re always interested in knowing what developers and PR people are looking forward to in the world of gaming. It’s seldom what you’d expect, as our unscientific poll found Skyrim to be the most highly anticipated of the show.

Given the gargantuan time commitment needed to see everything in the game we wouldn’t have guessed it to be the game of choice amongst professionals, but apparently they’re willing to make the time when a game looks this good.

Although Bethesda has now arguably become more famous for the modern Fallout games, their most important franchise remains The Elder Scrolls. As such It’s only with the release of Skryim that they have embarked on the creation of a brand new graphics engine (called Creation) and a complete overhaul of the gameplay common to both series.

The underlying formula hasn’t changed much though, simply because the whole point of the game is that what to do and when to do it is entirely up to you. Although there remains a linear thread of story quests throughout the game most of the enjoyment comes from simply exploring the massive game world and engaging in everything from a part time job cutting wood to fighting your way through a hidden dungeon in the wilderness.

Although there is a third person view (now complete with new non-Thunderbirds style animation) the game is meant to be played in the first person, with relative standard shooter controls. Weapons and magic spells can be assigned and reassigned to either hand and used with a simple click of the relevant mouse/joypad button. You can even put the same spell in both hands to make it more powerful.

As a ‘Dragonborn’ you’re also one of the few that can understand the language of the giant monsters – whose return is the main thrust of the plot. Your linguistic prowess gives you access to an additional style of magic called a Shout, which are composed of small sequences of words which are unlocked as you kill dragons and absorb their souls.

The example in the demo was able to brew a lightning bolt filled storm in an instant, and was vital for taking down one of the many dragons that seem to litter the game world.

Although the first person view does make the game more accessible than many role-playing games the text-heavy interface has always been a problem for the series. There’s only so much Bethesda can do about this without reducing the range of your abilities, but the new compromise in Skyrim seems a very sensible one.

Apparently inspired by Apple’s classically clean approach, you simply scroll up and down a list of spells while still playing the game – there’s no need to quit to a separate screen.

In theory the skill trees should be hugely complex, given there are over 280 perks in the game, but although they do need their own menu screen they’re laid out as constellations where every star is a new ability. Which is not only a really clever idea but the only time we’ve ever thought of a menu screen as being beautiful.

There’s no way to get around using a separate screen for your inventory either but you can bookmark favoured equipment and access it directly from the D-pad, which seems another sensible compromise.

Graphically the game is hugely impressive, even if at first glance it doesn’t seem to be quite the quantum leap over Oblivion you might have expected. Although other games might look more impressive on a surface level, Bethesda are keen to point out that anything you see in the game can be explored, from distant mountain tops to sprawling villages.

Not only that but the level of detail is astonishing given the scale of the game, with salmon leaping from rivers and woolly mammoth farming giants trundling along in their daily grind. There’s a complex weather system too, with snow falling and collecting on the ground without any direction from the designers themselves.

Without Oblivion, we’re not sure that the whole concept of big budget Western role-playing games wouldn’t have completely disappeared this generation. But thanks to its success this is a golden age for the genre, and one that looks set to shine all the bright when Skyrim is released this winter.

Formats: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
Release Date: 11th November 2011

E. coli outbreak

2011-06-07T01:35:00.000-07:00

The EU health commissioner has said the current E. coli outbreak is limited geographically to northern Germany and does not need Europe-wide controls.

John Dalli also warned against releasing unproven information on the outbreak, saying it spread fear and adversely affected farm producers.

He was speaking ahead of emergency talks by EU agriculture ministers.

Efforts continue to find the source of the E. coli outbreak, which has killed 22 people and sickened 2,200.

All the deaths, bar one in Sweden, have been in Germany. Twelve countries have been affected, with the cases outside Germany linked to travel there.

The latest focus has been on bean sprouts from a German farm in Uelzen, south of Hamburg. However, of 40 samples examined from the farm, the first 23 tested negative.

'Honour of the cucumber'

Mr Dalli told the European Parliament: "I stress that the outbreak is limited geographically to the area surrounding the city of Hamburg, so there is no reason to take action on a European level. [EU-wide] measures against any product are disproportionate."

But he admitted that bans on certain products were a Europe-wide problem.

Russia has banned imports of fresh vegetables from the EU.

Mr Dalli said: "We are in constant contact with third countries, including Russia. We are urging Russia to lift their ban; it is disproportionate."

Detailing how the crisis unfolded, he said that originally pinpointing cucumbers from Spain as the source had been wrong.

He said: "It's crucial that national authorities don't rush to give information on the source of infection when it's not justified by the science.

"That creates fears and problems for our food producers. We must be careful not to make premature conclusions."

He insisted that the EU's rapid alert system had worked, although "we need to learn lessons as we go along".

After his speech, a Spanish delegate at the parliament held up a cucumber as he spoke, saying: "We need to restore the honour of the cucumber."

Later in Luxembourg, the EU agriculture ministers will want to know how close experts are to identifying the source, amid mounting criticism of the investigation, the BBC's Europe correspondent Chris Morris reports.

He says the meeting will also consider the sensitive issue of compensation for farmers - and harsh words may well be exchanged.

Spain says it is demanding 100% compensation from Germany for huge losses suffered by its vegetable farmers because of a false accusation.

Spain's fruit and vegetables exporters association has estimated losses at 225m euros (£200m) a week.

In the European Parliament, UK Lib Dem MEP George Lyon urged the EU to take steps to rebuild consumer confidence and conduct an independent investigation to find out what had gone wrong.

Elisabeth Koestinger, a centre-right MEP from Austria, said 75% of the fresh vegetable market had collapsed in Austria alone and farmers were suffering in the middle of a harvest.

She said the EU must introduce better food labelling to show the origin and provide traceability throughout the food chain.

The EU ministers are also expected to address the Russian ban.

Other EU countries also say that their farmers will need financial help after sales and prices plummeted.

So the outbreak will be testing European solidarity once again, Chris Morris reports.

Different strain?

On Monday, Germany's Lower Saxony agriculture ministry said that "investigations are continuing", as as it announced that the first tests had proved negative.

It added that it did not expect "any short-term conclusions", and that given the complex testing procedure, the remaining 17 samples may not be returned for a few more days.

The organic farm in Uelzen is about 100km (62 miles) south of Hamburg, the epicentre of the outbreak.

It produces bean sprouts including adzuki, alfalfa, broccoli, peas, lentils and mung beans, all grown in a nursery for consumption in salads.

The farm's general manager, Klaus Verbeck, was quoted by the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung newspaper as saying that he could not see how it was to blame.

"I can't understand how the processes we have here and the accusations could possibly fit together," said Mr Verbeck.

"The salad sprouts are grown only from seeds and water, and they aren't fertilised at all. There aren't any animal fertilisers used in other areas on the farm either."

One report on Tuesday cast doubt on whether the outbreak was a strain of enterohaemorrhagic E.coli (EHEC), which is normally transmitted through faeces or faecal bacteria.

Lothar Beutin, of Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, was quoted by the Taggesspiegel newspaper as saying the strain was of enteroaggregative E.coli (EAEC), characterised by heavy diarrhoea.

He said such strains were not found in the digestive track of cows but in that of humans and it was unlikely the bacteria could have been passed through animal manure.

5 questions to ask about tablet security

2011-06-06T11:53:00.000-07:00

A poll conducted late in 2010 by ChangeWave Research found the number of organizations giving employees tablets for work would double in the coming twelve months. The research found 14 percent of businesses polled expected to buy tablets for employees in the first quarter of 2011, up from 7 percent of companies who supplied staff with tablets in the last quarter of 2010.

But while most organizations are not rushing to adopt tablets in their IT department, many end-user employees are in a hurry to start using them - on their own - with or without company support.

That has security managers scratching their heads as to whether tablets change their risk profile. The answer will differ from company to company, but here are five questions to ask as you consider your tablet policy.

Can we/should we support tablets? This is a question many organizations have been struggling with for a few years when it comes to the plethora of mobile devices that users want to now bring to work. Tablets up the ante, said Denise Lund, a senior analyst with Yankee Group's Enterprise Research team.

"The most over-arching challenge enterprises have is whether to embrace the consumerization that spills into allowing all of the tablets into an organization."

Data compiled by Yankee Group finds about one-fifth of companies still will not tolerate any consumer applications or devices in the organization. But another 17 percent are both allowing and supporting what Lund called "non-harmful consumer applications and devices" and have deployed managed-mobility solutions to do it securely. However, among this set, there's a strong sentiment that security is the top technological obstacle to supporting mobile workers.

"48 percent of enterprises say security is one of the top two obstacles in supporting their mobile workers," she said. "That ranks above expense management; it's almost two-times the percent of people who say expense management is their top obstacle. That's pretty significant, I would say, because we know expense management is a very big priority."

However, the largest percentage of organizations included in the data are allowing consumer devices, but not supporting them, which poses an even bigger risk, said Lund.

"About 60 percent that are somewhere in the middle," she explained. "They don't encourage people to bring their devices or use their own applications at work, but they don't actively monitor it and that's where you expect to get some problems."

What are the risks posed by tablets and other consumer-oriented mobile devices? Whether you are allowing and supporting consumer devices, like tablets, or allowing them and then burying your head in the sand about how they are being used, there are obviously several risks to consider. But is there anything about tablets that make them any more risky than the average laptop?

"I think you get more people accessing the network outside of your walls," noted Lund. "And the kind of media capabilities tablets have are so much more richer than the average laptop. The experience on the part of the end user can cause them to mix work and play much more, even if it is a work device. So, you're getting into downloaded video streams, applications in various social networks, and games, much more."

What does that mean for the organization? It means their employee-users are opening themselves up to exploits more than ever, and there is a greater chance for data loss or network infection. Of those companies polled by Yankee Group who said security was their greatest obstacle in securing mobile employees, 60 percent cited potential loss of data or other intellectual property as a major concern. An equal percentage said providing secure access to the internal network for mobile employees was a security issue. And 40 percent said controlling malware spread for mobile employees was a top worry. While security concerns remain largely the same as they have been in the past, the use of tablets and other consumer-oriented mobile devices mean they multiply.

Can we accept the risks? Should you accept the risks that come with allowing consumer devices, like tablets? John Petrie, Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer Harland Clarke Holdings Corp., believes organizations have little choice today.

"It's so pervasive now; tablets, Facebook, all of these kinds of newer technologies. And if you aren't using these within your corporation, you're not getting the best and brightest anymore. They don't want be there. They communicate differently. Security has to adapt now and there are changes that have to happen. I think you see some real focus and a change in the way security provides protection. I think that's a challenge."

Petrie believes the perimeter as security once knew it is disintegrated and controls now need to be moved in order for business to function in today's mobile world.

Do we trust the user? "I think the corporations and their executive leadership are going to have to accept more risk and be more dependent upon their people," said Petrie. "At the same time you still have this additional risk you're assuming. You are saying we're going to trust our employees a little more."

What will make this new approach work, said Petrie, is the stick that goes with the carrot of being allowed to use tablets and other consumer mobile devices. Policies need to be in place and employees should be expected to follow those policies, with a clear understanding that action will be taken if they don't. But at the same time, Petrie believes allowing consumerization within an organization also empowers people, and can be used as a leadership strategy.

"At the end of the day the finance guys are looking at cost savings, they don't have to invest in certain infrastructure anymore. It used to be the cost of hiring an employee was the salary and benefits and outfitting the person with technology. Now you're not necessarily making an investment if they want to use their own stuff. You're allowing personal liability to take affect, you're going to assume that risk."

How should we use certain new kinds of information now available to us through tablets and other mobile devices? Lawrence Pingree, a research director with Gartner, points to companies who are allowing consumer mobile devices and using mobile device management (MDM) solutions to support them, as facing an additional conundrum. That's because one feature many MDM solutions include is the ability to collect information about deployed devices, such as geo-location information. This can be both and asset and a liability.

"You have corporations which now can know where employees are at and what they're doing. That's kind of freakish and weird. So, there is a privacy aspect there and I think where most corporations are going to say "What do we do here?"

Pingree said on the one hand, geolocation information can be useful for time management purposes. But having access to that information also poses a liability question for the organization. If they have the data, can they release it? How can it be used?

"How are they liable to an end-user that has accepted this kind of monitoring?" said Pingree "That's a question a lot of organizations using this technology will have to ask."

Sony apologises for website hack

2011-06-06T01:12:00.000-07:00

the second massive data breach at Sony, following an April hack which targeted credit card information on its PlayStation Network and Sony Online Network, has resulted in over 150,000 people's passwords, names, e-mail addresses, addresses and phone numbers from SonyPictures.com and Sony BMG's websites, being posted online.

A group of hackers calling themselves Lulzsec said it had infiltrated the firm's systems to prove how vulnerable they were to 'simple attacks'.

First they taunted Sony on Twitter, saying they would 'embarrass' the company by posting data stolen from the company's servers.

In a message on Twitter, following the attack, the group wrote: '1,000,000+ unencrypted users, unencrypted admin accounts, government and military passwords saved in plaintext. #PSN compromised. @Sony.'

A Sony statement reads: 'The cyberattacks that affected Sony companies in recent months has hit Sony Pictures as well.'

Sony Pictures says it is working with federal authorities but has also hired its own 'experts' to conduct a forensic investigation into the breach, according to Lynton and Pascal.

'We deeply regret and apologise for any inconvenience caused to consumers by this cybercrime,' they also wrote in the statement.

The latest hack comes a month after Sony's enormous PlayStation Network was attacked and 70m customer details were stolen.

The network has only come back online in recent weeks, with the cost of the hack estimated at £900m.

The security breach is the latest attack against high-profile firms, including the giant US defence contractor Lockheed Martin and Google.

Review: X-Men

2011-06-01T02:57:00.001-07:00

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, January Jones, Kevin Bacon

Certificate: 12A

Synopsis: When the CIA discovers the existence of Mutants, telepath Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) is charged with recruiting a team to oppose the evil mutant Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) and the mysterious Hellfire Club. But not all of Xavier’s team share his vision of peace with humanity as the powerful Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) becomes convinced of mankind’s intolerance of Mutants…

The superhero film is box office gold, and has been (mostly) since the release of Bryan Singer’s original X-MEN way back in 2000. Since then, fanboys have been spoilt for choice. Not a year goes by without production studios raiding Marvel or D.C. Comics’ back catalogue for inspiration. With each new summer comes a brand new or returning hero, be it Batman, Superman, Spider-Man or The Fantastic Four (ahem). But how long can this trend continue? As other genres and Hollywood fads have gone in and out of fashion cyclically, it stands to reason that this should be the case for the superhero movie. But our favourite comic-book characters have an ace up their spandex. Comics and superheroes are rebooted, re-imagined, and retold constantly (traits which have become undeniably prominent in big-budget cinema). For every story that proves a miss with readers, the comic writers simply erase it from history or reinvent certain elements; consider Spider-Man’s ‘Clone Saga’ or Marvel’s ‘Civil War’, the details of which have since been tweaked. The same goes for the regular deaths of comic characters – did anyone really believe Captain America or Bruce Wayne would not return from the grave? And of course, there are the ‘Ultimate’ and ‘Elseworld’ universes, in which Marvel and D.C. are able to respectively tell the stories of familiar characters in alternative settings or scenarios. Fanboys are used to comic characters adapting and changing; it has become a survival instinct of the superhero, a trait that seems most appropriate for mutants such as the X-Men.

As this reboot culture takes hold of even our current cycle of superhero films (SPIDER-MAN, for example), it’s fitting that the franchise that started it all should be subject to an update. The main issue, of course, is that Brett Ratner’s X-MEN: THE LAST STAND (2006) left such a sour taste in viewers’ mouths we were left wondering if the mutant series could be saved. With Ratner’s abysmal effort and the disappointing WOLVERINE spin-offs, it’s easy to forget the first two Bryan Singer films were far from perfect. Though the second movie X2 (2003) fared better than the first, there were still a number of issues. There is little emotional engagement with the X-Men themselves, and as a result, the first film was disappointingly flat. Additionally, the story-world was pitched wrongly; what should have felt like an alternative science-fiction universe was far too close to our own, and the films struggled to create a believable (or at least appropriate) environment. Sure, the action was strong, and fanboys were screaming out for superhero shenanigans so badly that nobody seemed to notice the flaws. Or perhaps they just didn’t care. With X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, director Matthew Vaughn has had the opportunity to start over, ironing those creases out the X-men’s spandex. And what a fantastic job he’s done. Through a a sharp and informed script, a genuine depth to character, and inventive vision of the Marvel universe, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS has truly reinvigorated the franchise. It has adapted, it has reimagined itself, and most of all, it has evolved…

There are a number of screenwriters credited for this movie, but it’s hard to not see Jane Goldman’s stamp all over it. The writer that adapted KICK-ASS (2010) so brilliantly from the comic has shown that flair once again, and it’s clear she makes a great team with Matthew Vaughn (also director of KICK-ASS). Goldman and Vaughn appear to have a keen eye in adaptation; instead of transferring stories and characters word-for-word (a trait of adaptation that is often criticized), they understand what works on screen and what doesn’t. For instance, major liberties have been taken with characters and their backgrounds (this film overall is a very loose adaptation of the comic of the same name), but the writing team’s familiarity with the mechanics of narrative ensure that there is hardly a misstep at all. In fact, in addition to the film’s structural and thematic success, the pace of the story is almost pitch-perfect, with very few lull periods throughout. Not everything is flawless however, the film is perhaps a little longer than it needs to be, and the Beast (Nicholas Hoult) sub-plot may not work entirely.

Aside from Beast, this updated version of the franchise boasts a wide-range of characters, some we have seen on screen before and some we have not. New faces to the cinema audiences include Azazel (Jason Flemyng), Havok (Lucas Till), and, of course, Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) who shines as the new villain. There are further character highlights, particularly in the cold but beautiful Emma Frost (January Jones), and the confused Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence). But the film ultimately belongs to Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy as Magneto and Charles Xavier respectively. It is this relationship that forms the true thrust of the story, and their opposing ideas of human and mutant relations promises to drive further installments of the franchise. The relationship between them is nicely conceived, delivering the right balance of drama, emotion, and humour (particularly as they recruit their team of mutants). Fassbender’s performance is particularly impressive, though as the Auswitcz survivor bent on revenge, he arguably gets the best scenes.

The most appealing part of FIRST CLASS is perhaps the reimaging of the franchises’ story-world. By relocating the action back to the sixties, the production team has the opportunity to create an alternative timeline and therefore a universe that is specific and recognisable as the X-Men’s own. There is a clever mix of fact and fiction – bringing Sebastian Shaw’s evildoing to the Cuban missile crisis – but as we approach the inevitable sequel, this will be a changed world, one in which the mutant is a key part.

The X-MEN franchise has truly found its feet (mutated perhaps). It is not afraid to make changes in its source material to create a sound and watertight narrative. It has shown that the successful reboot is a real thing, and that the likes of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN could fare the same if its team have taken the same approach (although this is more of a prequel than actual reboot, and there are a number of nods to the original films). Whatever your opinion on the superhero movie – whether you think it’s ready to die off or regenerate – X-MEN: FIRST CLASS has made a strong argument for its survival. It’s exciting, powerful, touching, and the superhero action is just breathtaking. Let’s hope GREEN LANTERN also has something rather spectacular tucked away in his CG sleeve…

Milky Way 'clone' captured

2011-06-01T02:54:00.000-07:00

The bird's eye view of NGC 6744 gives a good idea of what our own galaxy would look like to a passing space traveller.

The spiral galaxy is around 30 million light years away in the southern constellation of Pavo, the Peacock.

In the new image from European Southern Observatory astronomers it is seen almost face on, so that the striking spiral arms are clearly visible.

NGC 6744 would almost be an identical twin of the Milky Way were it not for its size.

While our own galaxy is roughly 100,000 light years across, it has nearly twice that diameter.

Apple offers iWork importing details for iOS devices

2011-06-01T01:13:00.000-07:00

An update to one of Apple's applications usually brings new support documentation, and the Tuesday updates to the mobile versions of iWork are no exception. To coincide with the updates to Pages,Numbers and Keynote, Apple posted more than a dozen new and revised Knowledge Base articles that deal with its mobile productivity apps.

In case you missed it, Apple added iPhone and iPod touch compatibility to Pages, Numbers, and Keynote on Tuesday. The 1.4 versions of these apps are now universal, updating the existing iPad implementations in addition to the newfound iPhone and iPod touch support. By allowing you to work with iWork documents on any iOS device, Apple fills in a gap that previously required a third-party offering such as Documents to Go--at least for people eager to see their iWork documents on a 3.5-inch screen.

Most of the support articles posted by Apple as part of Tuesday's iWork update deal with the limitations of importing an iWork document from your Mac to an iOS device. When doing so, the iOS version of the app creates a copy of the imported document and retains the original. As Apple states: "After the import process, changes made to the content or document layout are listed for your review."

Specific changes that may occur when converting a Mac iWork document to an iOS-supported version include:

* All iWork apps: 3D charts are converted to 2D charts.

* Pages: Documents using page layout are converted to word processing with text wrap.

* Pages: Linked text boxes are separated, retaining text, styles, and placement.

* Pages: Changes tracked in an imported document are accepted and comments are not imported.

* Numbers: Hidden rows or columns are unhidden.

* Numbers: Conditional formatting is removed from imported spreadsheets.

* Numbers: Merged cells are unmerged.

* Keynote: Recorded audio (voiceover narration) is not imported.

* Keynote: Comments are not imported.

See the support articles on Pages, Numbers, and Keynote for a list of all changes.

A few attributes of iWork documents on the Mac don't make the transition to iOS versions at all. These include:

* iWork apps for iOS can display only a subset of the fonts you may have on a Mac. The names of the over 40 supported fonts are listed in an Apple support article.

* Keynote for iOS does not implement all the builds and transitions available in its Mac sibling. The names of the over 50 items it does support are listed in an Apple support article.

The updated versions of the iWork for iOS apps add several minor new features, available both in the iPad and iPhone versions. These include:

• Folders: From the Documents screen in any iWork for iOS app, you can organize your documents into folders. To create a folder, simply drag one document icon over another--just as you do for apps in the iOS Home screen.

• Exporting and importing: The options to export a document (such as Email Document, Send to iTunes or Copy to WebDAV) have been moved to a more convenient location. You now select to export while a document is open, rather than needing to return to the main Documents screen. Just tap the Tools menu and select the Share and Print item (as seen in the figure on the right). Importing documents is still handled from the Documents screen--via tapping the plus (+) icon at the top left.

Mobile phones can increase your brain activity

2011-06-01T01:07:00.000-07:00

Scientists from the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, US, found that 50 minutes of mobile phone use was associated with increased 'brain glucose metabolism' - a marker of brain activity - in the region of the brain closest to the phone antenna.

It's the best direct evidence so far that mobile phone use can affect the brain - although the researchers stress that there's no evidence either way of whether the increase in activity has any health effects.

Previous studies of the health effects of mobile phone use have been inconclusive, and have generally looked for associations between phone use and incidence of ill health.

But the new study - published in the Journal of the American Medical Association - looked directly at brain chemistry while phones were in use.

The study saw 47 people having their brains scanned while mobile phones were placed on their left and right ears. Their brain glucose metabolism was measured twice - once with the right-hand phone activated (but the sound muted) for 50 minutes and once with both phones deactivated.

The researchers found that whole-brain metabolism did not differ between the on and off conditions - but there were significant 'regional' effects, with metabolism in the brain region closest to the antenna approximately 7% higher when the mobile phone was on.

The researchers say in their paper: 'Results of this study provide evidence that acute cell phone exposure affects brain metabolic activity. However, these results provide no information as to their relevance regarding potential carcinogenic effects (or lack of such effects) from chronic cell phone use.

'Further studies are needed to assess if these effects could have potential long-term harmful consequences.'

Reacting to the study, Professor Patrick Haggard, of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London, said: 'This is a very interesting result, since it suggests a possible direct effect of mobile phone signals on brain function. However, the result should be treated with some caution.

'It would be useful to know whether participants could tell if the phone was on or off. Simply knowing that the phone is on could influence brain activity, so the results can only definitively be attributed to the mobile phone signals if this can be ruled out.'

He added: 'As the authors point out, the implications for health remain unclear. Much larger fluctuations in brain metabolic rate occur naturally, for example during thinking.'

Driver Detective

2011-05-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

Driver Detective is a very powerful driver manager that can automatically identify and install required system drivers in your PC. However, the program needs an Internet connection to work.

The program’s user interface is very simple. Actually, it is designed for novice computer users with very few or no knowledge of system drivers and their installation process. The program can also identify your PC brand and model among most well-known brands, such as Lenovo, IBM, HP, HTC, Gigabyte, Mercury, Sony, LG, Mustek, MSI, Samsung, or Sigmatel.

The program is even more useful for those having “assembled” computers. Sometimes you may come across classic computer brands with no driver backups or missing drivers CDs. In such cases, this program is a gem. You do not even need to poke into your CPU to identify its cards and their brands to search for drivers on the web. Just install Driver Detective and you will have all your hardware working in minutes. The program can also update existing system drivers, if any updates are available from the developer. Because the program searches for drivers on the web, the processing speed may vary according to your Internet connection. So just be patient and wait for the program to finish its work.

Shortly, the program is a single solution for all your problems related to hardware and system drivers.

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Update for Windows XP 5.0

2011-05-25T02:10:00.000-07:00

It introduces Extended Protection for Authentication for Windows XP OS.

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