Backdoor found in popular FPGA chip
A widely reported Chinese backdoor in military chips appears to have little to do with the Chinese, but the backdoor in the FPGA chip is real, probably part of the manufacturer's debugging hardware, and is unlikely to be easily disabled.
Over the weekend, there were numerous reports that proof of a backdoor in a chip "used by the military" had been found. The reports stemmed from a University of Cambridge researcher's web page which claimed that, in the course of research, an "American military chip that is highly secure with sophisticated encryption standard" was scanned and a "previously unknown backdoor inserted by the manufacturer" was found. It went on to say that, once a key had been extracted from the chip, that key could be used to disable or reprogram the chip even if locked, and suggested that, given the prevalence of the chip in question in everything from weapons to public transport, it could "be turned into an advanced Stuxnet weapon". Read more...
6 must-have Pinterest boards for parents
Pinterest — say the word, and heads swivel. Everyone I know is using the site to collect everything from recipes and craft ideas to favorite new products and inspirational quotations. But my friends who are moms, in particular, are beginning to see the beauty of it all — and I don't blame them. As a parent, I've found Pinterest especially helpful in wading through the wonderful and sometimes overwhelming ideas on the Web.
If you're not one of the million people already using Pinterest on a daily basis, here's a look at how to set up your boards for the maximum parental satisfaction. These six board ideas are a great starting point for building the perfect resource to keep your family organized, informed, well-fed, and entertained. Read more...
Dive right in with this summer’s hottest grilling gadgets
For many people, Memorial Day is a time to remember those who have fought for our country, enjoy a nice three-day weekend, and celebrate the unofficial start to summer. But for others — aka my family — Memorial Day sparks a summer-long "battle of the barbecue." (Read that last bit in a professional wrestling announcer's voice for full effect). While I can't give away all of the top dog's prime pit boss secrets, I happen to know first hand that a few high-tech tools and gadgets can make the difference between a ho-hum hamburger and the holy mother of all mouthwatering mega meals. Read more...
Mark Zuckerberg makes surprise cameo on Chinese TV
Social media sites and blogs have lit up after eagle-eyed viewers spotted a surprise cameo in a Chinese TV documentary about the country's police force: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his now-wife, Priscilla Chan.
The documentary by CCTV was part of a series on Chinese police and high-tech crime-solving methods. A few seconds of footage showing Zuckerberg and Chan walking behind two police officers were shown included in a brief clip posted online by the Hebei province satellite station. Read more...
RIM loses another senior executive
Struggling BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion Ltd. is losing another senior executive as its chief legal officer is retiring from the company after 12 years.
RIM said Monday that Karima Bawa had been in discussions about her retirement for some time and plans to stay on to help with the transition once a replacement has been hired. Read more...
Sotheby’s to auction rare working Apple-1 computer
Sotheby's will put some Apple history on the block next month, including one of only six working Apple-1 personal computers. The auction house has estimated the motherboard will sell for up to $180,000.
Also up for sale: A memo written by former Apple CEO Steve Jobs during his time at video game maker Atari.
The Apple-1 -- which consisted of a circuit board hand-built by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak -- first went on sale in July 1976 for $666.66. About 200 units were produced. According to the Sotheby's catalog listing (download PDF), there are about 50 surviving Apple-1 computers, but just six known to be in working condition. Read more...
Chrome to take world’s top browser spot for May
Google's Chrome is about to grab the top browser spot for a full month for the first time from Microsoft's Internet Explorer, data from a Web analytics company showed.
For the month through Monday, Chrome had an average usage share of 32.5%, slightly higher than Internet Explorer's (IE) 32.1%, according to Irish company StatCounter.
If the remaining three days of May play out as did the previous 28, Chrome will take the browser crown from IE for a full month for the first time since Chrome's September 2008 launch.
Previously, Chrome had edged IE on weekends, and then earlier this month topped Microsoft's combined browser usage share for the week ending May 20. That trend continued in the month's fourth week as Chrome beat IE 32.9% to 31.4% for the seven days ending May 27. Read more...
Grooveshark opens up its data with Beluga, offering insight into the listening habits of its users
Grooveshark has just launched a brand new service tapping into the information they’ve gathered over the years giving insight into musical artists and their fanbase.
Beluga allows users to search for any artist in the Grooveshark database, giving some interesting tidbits of information on the kinds of people that listen to that music.
The data has been compiled based on “extensive market research”, surveying music fans – Grooveshark users are encouraged to participate in surveys in exchange for points which can be used to upgrade to a paid account on the site. The data has also been enhanced by tapping into the listening activity of Grooveshark’s 20 million monthly users worldwide Read more...
Twitter begins gradual rollout of new profile-centric Follower email notifications
It would appear that Twitter is gradually rolling out a new format for emails alerting you when you’ve received new followers.
Just a couple of weeks after introducing a new weekly digest email featuring a list of stories shared on Twitter, along with a sampling of the people that shared those stories. Read more...
LG working on Retina-beating 5-in. smartphone display
LG Display has introduced a 5-inch full HD LCD panel for smartphone displays -- the highest resolution mobile panel to date, the company said on Monday.
The widescreen panel is based on AH-IPS (Advanced High Performance In-Plane Switching) technology and has a 1920-by-1080 pixel resolution or 440 pixels per inch (ppi), according to LG.
That compares to Apple's Retina display, which has 264 ppi on the new iPad and 326 ppi on the iPhone 4S.
With the 16-by-9 aspect ratio, the panel is also 0.5 inches larger, and 2.2 times denser in pixels compared to the preceding 4.5-inch panel at 329 ppi and a 1280-by-720 pixel resolution, according to LG Display. Read more...
Researchers identify Stuxnet-like malware called ‘Flame’
A new, highly sophisticated malware threat that was predominantly used in cyberespionage attacks against targets in the Middle East has been identified and analyzed by researchers from several security companies and organizations.
According to the Iranian Computer Emergency Response Team (MAHER), the new piece of malware is called Flamer and might be responsible for recent data loss incidents in Iran. There are also reasons to believe that the malware is related to the Stuxnet and Duqu cyberespionage threats, the organization said on Monday.
Malware researchers from antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab have also analyzed the malware and found that while it is similar to Stuxnet and Duqu in terms of the geographic propagation and targeting, it has different features and it is, in many ways, more complex than both of those threats. Read more...
Crazy Geckos: Nitot on Mozilla’s post-Firefox mobile crusade
First came the BlackBerry, bringing the smartphones for suits perfected by RIM to consumers. Next came the iPhone, which quickly hoovered up 23 per cent of the market. But the iPhone came at a price: the freedom of users and coders. It is tightly controlled by Apple, as Adobe quickly found to its cost with Flash.
Next up was Android. In just four years, Android exploited consumers' desire to poke and stroke their phones to become the world's most popular smartphone OS – burying the iPhone – with 59 per cent of the market.
Android had a plus: freedom of choice for both coder and consumer thanks to an open-source code base.
Honeycomb changed things: the Android code was yanked back inside the Googleplex as Mountain View asserted control over builds and contributions. Read more...
Facebook needs Opera – to rescue it from dependence on Apple
Facebook is reported to be interested in buying Scandinavian browser company Opera Software.
The facts are few, the sourcing criminally light, but the story arrives as Opera is also reported to have instituted a hiring freeze that some claim is a harbinger to putting itself up for sale.
Both firms refused to comment on the reports when contacted by The Reg.
Why would Facebook want to own its own browser, especially when Opera has minuscule market share and is better at generating publicity than desktop growth?
Facebook is also interested in buying Face.com and, again, preparing its own phone having poached six iPhone engineers and one from the iPad team at Apple. Read more...