Nach einem webkritischen Kommentar des deutschen CDU-Bundestagsabgeordneten Ansgar Heveling im „Handelsblatt“, der in der Netzcommunity viel Beachtung fand, ist Hevelings Website gehackt worden. In dem Artikel hatte Heveling unter anderem die umstrittenen US-Gesetzesinitiativen Sopa und Pipa für einen strengen Urheberrechtsschutz befürwortet und die Gesetzesgegner als „digitale Maoisten“ bezeichnet.
Geschätzte 30 bis 50 Prozent der 600 Geldautomaten der Credit Suisse (CS) in der Schweiz sind am Montag zeitweise ausgefallen. Die Störung dauerte drei Stunden von 12.10 bis 15.10 Uhr. Das Finanzinstitut machte Server-Probleme dafür verantwortlich.
Seit Jahren immer wieder in Diskussion scheint man bei Mozilla nun tatsächlich den Schritt zur Überarbeitung einer der zentralen Ansichten des Firefox zu wagen. Wie Extremetech berichtet, arbeitet der Browser-Hersteller derzeit an einer vollständigen Überarbeitung der Darstellung von neuen Tabs.
Führende Internet-Konzerne verstärken den Kampf gegen sogenannte Phishing-Angriffe, bei dem Informationen der Nutzer wie Kreditkartendaten oder Passwörter ausspioniert werden. In der am Montag vorgestellten Allianz mit dem Namen DMARC haben sich unter anderem Google, Facebook, der Bezahldienst PayPal und Yahoo zusammengeschlossen. Die Idee ist, hinter den Kulissen kriminelle E-Mails herauszufiltern, damit sie die Nutzer gar nicht erst erreichen.
Facebook wird seinen mit Spannung erwarteten Mega-Börsengang wohl in den kommenden Tagen auf den Weg bringen. Das weltgrößte Online-Netzwerk könne zum Mittwoch die nötigen Unterlagen bei der US-Börsenaufsicht einreichen, berichtete am Wochenende das "Wall Street Journal" - und wenig später auch die "Financial Times" und die Finanznachrichtenagentur Bloomberg. Das wäre der erste Schritt auf dem Weg zum Parkett. Bis zum eigentlichen Börsengang dürften dann aber noch Monate vergehen. Aktuell wird mit April oder Mai gerechnet.
Auf der Webseite www.dns-check.ch von Switch können Internet-Nutzer aus der Schweiz und Liechtenstein ab sofort überprüfen, ob der eigene PC mit «DNS-Changer» infiziert ist. Die Schadsoftware ist in der Schweiz laut Switch weit verbreitet und werde betroffenen Nutzern den Internetzugang ab 8. März 2012 blockieren.
Der niederländische Elektronikkonzern Philips ist im Schlussquartal 2011 stärker in die roten Zahlen gerutscht als befürchtet. Ein schwaches Geschäft in Europa, Verschiebungen bei Lieferungen in der Gesundheitstechnik und ein Lagerabbau im Lichtgeschäft hätten auf dem Quartal gelastet, sagte Vorstandschef Frans van Houten am Montag in Amsterdam.
Die beiden Gesetzesvorschläge zur Bekämpfung der Internet-Piraterie in den USA, Sopa und Pipa, scheiterten innerhalb kürzester Zeit am heftigen Protest der Netzcommunity. Das zeigte das grosse politische Potenzial der unterschiedlichen Interessensgruppen von Anwendern und Industrie, die sich gemeinsam gegen die neuen Gesetze stemmten, berichtet die New York Times.
Beim ersten Social-Media-Gipfel für Nonprofit-Kommunikation 2.0 der Nachrichtenagentur Pressetext haben Experten in Berlin über die Herausforderungen diskutiert, die NGOs und NPOs im Web 2.0 bewältigen müssen. PR-Consulter Wilfried Seywald betonte in der Eröffnung, soziale Netzwerke seien per se "nicht-gewinnorientiert". Sie tragen dazu bei, Engagement sichtbar zu machen.
Der oberste iranische Gerichtshof hat ein Todesurteil gegen einen iranischen Web-Entwickler aufrecht erhalten. Der Blogger Saeed Malekpour sei der Verbreitung pornografischer Internetseiten schuldig befunden worden, meldete die halbamtliche Nachrichtenagentur Fars.
An anonymous reader writes "I used Lego's Digital Designer software to build a model of a Sinclair ZX81 — the computer that kicked me off on my interest in such matters way back in 1981. Until very recently, the software allowed you to upload your model, buy it and get a boxed set with all the pieces to build it (as well as instructions). The ZX81 model is as close to the shape of the original as I could make it, considering that Lego is quite a lo-resolution modelling tool. I even made it so that you can lift off the lid and see a representation of the PCB in side. I have also posted the model to Lego's Cuusoo site — a place where you can post ideas, and if they gain enough support they will be considered for production."
judgecorp writes "The ten-year legal quagmire surrounding Gary McKinnon, who hacked into U.S. military and NASA computers in 2001 and 2002, must end this year, a British High Court Judge has ordered. McKinnon has been appealing against extradition to the U.S., and two medical experts must report in 28 days on his mental state, ruling whether he would be a suicide risk if deported. This ruling could short-circuit an extradition appeal hearing in July."
adeelarshad82 writes "Following a tour of a 3D printer factory, analysts at PCMag wanted to explore the option of building a 3D printer themselves. With the help of a 3D printer manufacturer, Buildatron, they were able to compile a step-by-step guide on how to build a 3D printer."
An anonymous reader writes "Steven Elop of Nokia has placed some of the blame for the struggles of Windows Phone on mobile phone shops — for not pushing it. As The Register points out, sales staff 'want their commission,' and tend to only show phones they think might sell. Exact details of Windows Phone sales numbers are being covered up by both Microsoft and Nokia, who refuse to state specifics; sales figures to operators are stated at one million, but the majority of those seem to be unsold to consumers, and neither Microsoft nor Nokia will give numbers on activations. The best available numbers seem to be maximum Lumia sales estimates from Tomi Ahonen, a former Nokia Executive and the only analyst to correctly predict Nokia's market share fall for the end of 2011. Nokia's Lumia sold around 600,000 phones in 2011 (again, including the large portion in warehouses). One of the worst signs for WP8 is that Nokia's N9 — despite being crippled without marketing, and often selling at full price compared to the almost fully subsidized Lumia phones — is selling better than Nokia's Windows phones, with 1.5M or more phones reaching end users. Interestingly, if the Nokia N9 had been available in all markets, it might have sold almost 5M units and pushed Nokia into profitability."
An anonymous reader writes "NTT DoCoMo has had enough of Android's effects on its mobile network in Japan. Following a service disruption due to Google's Android VoIP app, the company is now asking Google to look at reducing Android's data use. In particular, the amount of time allowed between control signals being sent either by official apps or 3rd party ones. Typically these occur as often as every 3 minutes, but scale that up to thousands of apps on millions of handsets and you can see the issue DoCoMo has. So, does DoCoMo need to invest more in its infrastructure, or is Android a data hog that needs reigning in?"
snydeq writes "With so many threats to a free and open Internet, sooner or later, people will need to arm themselves for the fight, writes Deep End's Paul Venezia. 'If the baboons succeed in constraining speech and information flow on the broader Internet, the new Internet will emerge quickly. For an analogy, consider the iPhone and the efforts of a few smart hackers who have allowed anyone to jailbreak an iPhone with only a small downloaded app and a few minutes,' Venezia writes. 'All that scenario would require would be a way to wrap up existing technologies into a nice, easily-installed package available through any number of methods. Picture the harrowing future of rampant Internet take-downs and censorship, and then picture a single installer that runs under Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux that installs tor, tools to leverage alternative DNS servers, anonymizing proxies, and even private VPN services. A few clicks of the mouse, and suddenly that machine would be able to access sites "banned" through general means.'"
astroengine writes "In a recent debate, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said he would like to beat the Chinese back to the moon. He has even been so bold as to propose setting up a manned base by 2020, driven by empowering private industry to take the initiative. It's ironic to hear moon travel still being debated 40 years after the last Apollo landing in 1972. Between then and now, NASA's small space shuttle fleet filled in for space travel, but astronauts could only venture as far a low earth orbit — at an altitude much lower than the early pioneers reached. If there were no Apollo crash program to beat the Soviets to the moon, would we have planned to go to the moon eventually? But this time with a commitment of staying? Or would we never go?"
A few weeks back, you asked gaming-world academic and game designer Ian Bogost questions from the business, philosophical, and aesthetic sides of gaming; below, find his responses. Thanks, Ian!
Sparrowvsrevolution writes with this excerpt from a Forbes piece recounting a scary demo at the just-ended Shmoocon: "[Security researcher Kristin] Paget aimed to indisputably prove what hackers have long known and the payment card industry has repeatedly downplayed and denied: That RFID-enabled credit card data can be easily, cheaply, and undetectably stolen and used for fraudulent transactions. With a Vivotech RFID credit card reader she bought on eBay for $50, Paget wirelessly read a volunteer's credit card onstage and obtained the card's number and expiration date, along with the one-time CVV number used by contactless cards to authenticate payments. A second later, she used a $300 card-magnetizing tool to encode that data onto a blank card. And then, with a Square attachment for the iPhone that allows anyone to swipe a card and receive payments, she paid herself $15 of the volunteer's money with the counterfeit card she'd just created. (She also handed the volunteer a twenty dollar bill, essentially selling the bill on stage for $15 to avoid any charges of illegal fraud.) ... A stealthy attacker in a crowded public place could easily scan hundreds of cards through wallets or purses."
judgecorp writes "Google, Microsoft, PayPal, Facebook and others have proposed DMARC, or Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance, an email authentication protocol to combat phishing attacks. Authentication has been proposed before; this group of big names might get it adopted." Adds reader Trailrunner7, "The specification is the product of a collaboration among the large email receivers such as AOL, Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Hotmail, and major email senders such as Facebook, Bank of America and others, all of whom have a vested interest in either knowing which emails are legitimate or being able to prove that their messages are authentic. The DMARC specification is meant to be a policy layer that works in conjunction with existing mail authentication systems such as DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) and SPF (Sender Policy Framework)."
OverTheGeicoE writes "U.S. Senator Susan Collins, the top Republican on the homeland security committee, plans to introduce a bill that would require a new health study of the X-ray body scanners used to screen airline passengers nationwide. If the bill becomes law, TSA would be required to choose an 'independent laboratory' to measure the radiation emitted by a scanner currently in use at an airport checkpoint and use the data to produce a peer-reviewed study, to be submitted to Congress, based on its findings. The study would also evaluate the safety mechanisms on the machine and determine 'whether there are any biological signs of cellular damage caused by the scans.' Many Slashdotters are or have been involved in science. Is this a credible experimental protocol? Is it reasonable to expect an organization accused of jeopardizing the health and safety of hundreds of millions of air travelers to pick a truly unbiased lab? Would any lab chosen deliver a critical report and risk future funding? Should the public trust a study of radiology and human health designed by a US Senator whose highest degree is a bachelor's degree in government?"
patiwat writes "The Thai government has called Twitter's tweet censorship move a 'welcome development.' Tweets may now be blocked at the request of the Thai government; the system will be used to discourage and punish lese majeste (criticism of the Thai King). The government previously declared that Facebook users worldwide 'liking' a lese majeste Facebook link would also be prosecuted; over 10,000 Facebook pages have been removed and hundreds of individuals, including children and academics, have been jailed. Calls to reform the lese majeste laws have been fiercely criticized by no less than the Army Commander, whose backing is critical to the government's stability."
Hugh Pickens writes "The Guardian reports that Apple's image is taking a dive after revelations in the NY Times about working conditions in the factories of some of its network of Chinese suppliers and the dreaded word 'boycott' has started to appear in media coverage of Apple's activities. 'Should consumers boycott Apple?' asked a column in the Los Angeles Times as it recounted details of the bad PR fallout amid detailed allegations that workers at Foxconn suffered in conditions that resembled a modern version of bonded labor, working obscenely long shifts in unhealthy conditions with few of the labor rights that workers in the west would take for granted." Read on, below.
So far, Timothy Lord has showed you the Tesla Model S, a CODA electric car, both gas and electric Smarts, and the Chevy Segway. Now, in his final wrap-up video from the North American International Auto Show, he looks at some concept car models he doesn't think will ever make it to production, along with some interactive games some of the car makers used to draw attention to their products.