Attackers sent Google workers IMs from ‘friends’
“The most significant discovery is that the attackers had selected employees at the companies with access to proprietary data, then learnt who their friends were,” the Financial Times reported. “The hackers compromised the social network accounts of those friends, hoping to enhance the probability that their final targets would click on the links they sent.”
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10441004-245.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Google Voice gets a Chrome boost
Google Voice is still restricted to its long waiting period, but if you’re registered for Google’s forwarding system the update to the Google Voice Notifier makes it a must-have. It brings both Google Voice features and some smartphone-style one-click powers to the Chrome browser for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-10440958-12.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
AMD gains as PC chip shipments hit record
Intel loses share to AMD
In the fourth quarter, Intel had a 80.5 percent unit market share, a loss of 0.6 percent, while AMD picked up a 19.4 percent share, a gain of 0.7 percent over the third quarter. For the full year, Intel had a 79.7 percent share of the PC processor market, a loss of 0.7 percent, as AMD secured a 20.1 percent share, a gain of 0.8 percent.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10441017-64.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Analysts predict bold growth for Google Android
Today, the Symbian operating system, used mostly on Nokia phones, dominates the smartphone operating system market worldwide. BlackBerry maker Research In Motion holds the No.2 spot currently, with Apple in the No.3 spot globally. Android is expected to be the fastest growing wireless operating system from now until 2013, when the software will be the second most used smartphone operating system throughout the world
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-10440857-266.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Jupiter moon melted like ice cream
Jupiter’s two largest moons look different because Ganymede was pelted with so many comets that it melted while Callisto was spared this bombardment, astronomers say. The Voyager spacecraft showed Ganymede to be composed of two different types of terrain, one dark and covered with impact craters and one lighter with grooves and ridges.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/01/25/tech-space-jupiter-moons.html?ref=rss
Linux: designed by geeks for geeks, the theory goes, Linux will never be mainstream ?
Reality hasn’t been kind to such arguments. Consider the fact that Linux-based Google Android saw 350 percent growth in 2009, according to Myxer data. I’ve yet to hear anyone talking about Android being hard to use. My teenage neighbors bought their Android phones and have had little trouble texting, browsing the Web, and installing applications.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10440603-16.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Microsoft Patches Critical Flaw in Internet Explorer
While some flaws go unexploited and turn out to be relatively harmless, a recent flaw in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browsers led to some serious damage. Chinese hackers used the memory flaw to execute remote code and steal valuable information from some of the tech industry’s biggest firms, including Google and Adobe.
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=17506
MP3 replacement proposed
A proposed file format called MusicDNA will allow content owners to ship up to 32GB of information, such as album cover art, song lyrics, and even up-to-the minute blog posts and concert listings, alongside a music file. MusicDNA analyzes the audio itself for characteristics in 13 categories such as mood and tempo. This information is encoded as XML and ships with the file.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13526_3-10440432-27.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
PlayStation 3 finally ‘jailbroken’
Sony Playstation 3 Hacked By Father Of iPhone Jailbreak. You may or may not know George Hotz (Geohot), but he’s the father of the iPhone Jailbreak, so if you’re running a jailbroken iPhone, you know who to thank. The PS3 has been around for a good 3 years, and so far it seems that nobody else has managed to hack the console.
http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2010/01/sony_playstation_3_hacked_by_father_of_iphone_jailbreak.html
Sorry, Facebook friends: Our brains can’t keep up
For now, Dunbar’s study is in its preliminary stages, meaning more testing needs to be done. Regardless, Dunbar doesn’t believe that anything will change: no matter how many thousands of friends we might have on Facebook, we can’t manage relationships with more than 150 of them.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10440330-17.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Ogg Theora vs H.264 codec – HTML5 standards video streams over the Web
Last week, Google’s YouTube announced early support for HTML5 video, which can be built directly into Web pages and viewed with browsers without relying on a plug-in such as Adobe Systems’ Flash, Microsoft’s Silverlight, or Apple’s QuickTime. Another Web video site, Vimeo, followed suit.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10440430-264.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Dolphin and bat sonar share DNA design
The sonar sense of dolphins and bats evolved independently in very different environments but is similar at the genetic and molecular level in both species, scientists say. The ability to emit pulses of high-frequency sound and interpret their echoes — in bats and toothed whales is essentially the same.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/01/25/tech-biology-bat-dolphin-echolocation.html?ref=rss
Motorola seeks US BlackBerry ban
On Friday, Motorola said it had filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC), alleging that BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is infringing on five Motorola patents with its products. According to Motorola, RIM used to have a licence for the technology in question, but that licensing deal expired in 2007.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,1000000085,40004179,00.htm?tag=mncol;txt