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Sunday, December 12, 2010

Gawker.com says its user database was compromised (AP) : Technet

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Gawker.com says its user database was compromised (AP) : Technet

Gawker.com says its user database was compromised (AP)

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 07:08 PM PST

– 2 hrs 20 mins ago

NEW YORK – Gawker Media Inc. is urging subscribers to change their passwords because someone has managed to hack into the company's user database.

The company, which runs a series of irreverent blogs on media, technology and other issues, said in a posting on its website Sunday that the commenting passwords used on the sites were encrypted, but simple ones could be vulnerable to attacks by hackers' computers.

The company also said passwords on other sites should be changed if they were the same as the ones stored by Gawker Media.

"We're deeply embarrassed by this breach," the posting on gawker.com said. "We should not be in the position of relying on the goodwill of the hackers who identified the weakness in our systems."

Millions of people are likely affected by the breach because of the popularity of Gawker's sites such as Gizmodo, a tech gadget news site, said Rich Mogull, CEO of Phoenix-based Securosis, a security research firm.

The damage should be minimal, though, because Gawker probably stored only e-mails, user names and passwords, Mogull said. The problem comes if people use the same passwords on other sites, such as online banking. The hackers likely were able to figure out easy passwords even though they were protected on the Gawker site by a simple algorithm, and could use them to access bank accounts, Mogull said.

The hackers could be upset about something written on one of Gawker's sites, or they could be doing it for bragging rights, Mogull said.

"It's kind of a juvenile thing. It's like spray-painting," he said.

Such attacks are very common and difficult to stop, as long as the hackers have enough time to try to breach the system, he said. "If someone is determined and knowledgeable, you can't keep them out," he said.

The attacks probably are unrelated to recent cyberspace attacks over the WikiLeaks site's release of classified government documents, but Gawker could have angered some of the same people, Mogull said.

Last week, the Visa and MasterCard sites were inaccessible for a short time likely because of attacks by supporters of WikiLeaks. Supporters were angry that the credit card companies had stopped processing donations to WikiLeaks.

Both MasterCard and Visa said that cardholders' accounts were not at risk and that people could continue using their credit cards.

Supporters of WikiLeaks, which has released thousands of classified government documents in recent weeks, said they would attack companies and groups hostile to the site and its founder. An Internet group operating under the label "Operation Payback" claimed responsibility for the MasterCard and Visa problems in messages on Twitter and elsewhere.

Messages were left Sunday night for Gawker chief Nick Denton.

Gawker's Gizmodo tech blog gained fame in May when it posted pictures of an iPhone prototype. The phone was lost by an Apple Inc. engineer in a Silicon Valley bar.

Web video future at heart of Comcast, NBC review (AP)

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 12:17 PM PST

By JOELLE TESSLER, AP Technology Writer Joelle Tessler, Ap Technology Writer – Sun Dec 12, 3:17 pm ET

WASHINGTON – It won't be long before video from the Internet is always within reach — whether it's on a smart phone, a tablet computer or a high-end television in your living room.

But what if there's nothing worth watching?

Just as the online video market is starting to take shape, federal regulators have a rare opportunity to help protect its future as they scrutinize Comcast Corp.'s proposal to take over NBC Universal.

Regulators are pushing for tough conditions to ensure that Comcast can't stifle online video services by withholding content or pushing up prices for marquee NBC programs at a time viewers are starting to turn to the Internet for recent movies or the latest episodes of "Saturday Night Live," "30 Rock" and other popular TV shows.

The concessions they extract from Comcast in its bid for NBC will help determine whether customers can someday realistically drop their cable subscriptions and go online-only for their TV.

So far, established media companies, including broadcasters and cable providers, are moving online with caution, fearful that the Internet could jeopardize business models they have relied on for decades. They have kept many television shows and movies off the Web, and built barriers around what's available online, restricting who can watch it and where.

Comcast has been resisting federal regulators' efforts to tear down some of those walls, arguing that those efforts are unnecessary because NBC Universal accounts for about 10 percent of television viewing in the U.S. and less than 10 percent of U.S. box office revenue — and is therefore too small to dictate how the industry will develop.

But the two sides are close to an agreement, which could pave the way for the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department to approve the deal as early as this week.

Comcast's proposed $13.75 billion purchase of a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal would transform the media landscape. It would give the nation's largest cable television company control over a major movie studio, Universal Studios, and some of the most-watched channels on TV, including the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks and CNBC, Bravo and Oxygen on cable.

So what regulators do — or don't do — will set key ground rules for the industry.

"Whether you're holding a remote or using a mouse, this merger will affect the prices you pay, the choices you have and the pace of video innovation for many years to come," said Colin Crowell, a former FCC senior staffer and 20-year congressional aide who is now advising several groups concerned about the combination.

Both Comcast and NBC insist that Internet video represents an opportunity to expand their reach and say they have no intention of stunting the growth of the nascent market.

But already, Comcast is participating in an industry-wide program to limit online viewing of many popular shows to cable subscribers. And NBC has joined other broadcast networks in blocking access to full episodes of its shows through Google Inc.'s Google TV software, which delivers Web content to TV sets.

Until recently, online viewing had largely been limited to personal computers, using standard Web browsers or video software. Some shows are free, with ads, just like regular broadcasts. Others carry a fee — as little as 99 cents for a single television episode through Amazon.com Inc., for example, or less than $10 a month for unlimited access to programming on Netflix Inc.

Now, though, a slew of new devices relay Internet video to television sets. The Apple TV and Roku set-top boxes, for instance, serve as bridges to deliver online programs to the TV. Some high-end sets connect directly to the Internet.

Cable companies such as Comcast worry that easy viewing of Internet video on TVs could lead customers to drop their monthly subscriptions in favor of low-cost online alternatives. Comcast's 22.9 million cable subscribers pay an average of $71 per month for cable TV.

Broadcasters, meanwhile, fear Internet video could cannibalize revenue from television commercials, which are far more lucrative than online ads. They fear cable cancellations, too, because cable companies increasingly pay them per subscriber for the rights to carry stations on their lineups.

The threat is still small, but real: Research firm SNL Kagan projects that 8.1 million households, or 7 percent of all U.S. homes with a TV, will substitute Internet video for a traditional video service such as cable by 2014.

David Krall, president of Roku Inc., said online video may appeal particularly to viewers who want to pay for programs one at a time rather than subscribe to the large bundles of channels that are the cornerstone of the cable industry's business model.

But online video will never become a true alternative unless a broad programming lineup is available on both computer screens and TV sets.

One measure regulators are considering would require Comcast to make NBC's broadcast and cable channels available to rival online providers at reasonable prices. Under current rules, cable TV companies have to share programming they own with rivals such as satellite companies, but not Internet distributors. Although any condition would apply only to Comcast and NBC content, it would establish an important precedent and could open the door for the FCC or Congress to extend this mandate to others later.

Regulators may also prohibit Comcast from requiring a cable subscription to get online access to NBC Universal's shows and movies. That would keep NBC content out of the industry initiative that offers online viewing of such hit shows as HBO's "True Blood" and "Entourage," but only for subscribers of cable and other video services.

Comcast and others market the service as an added benefit for customers who want another way to watch premium video they are already paying for, but critics say the program ties online video to cable subscriptions.

In addition, the government is weighing whether to force Comcast to sell NBC's 32 percent stake in the Internet video service Hulu, which has become a major Web platform for NBC, ABC and Fox shows and offers a model for other programmers as they expand online.

So far, Comcast has indicated that it could accept a ban on pressuring independent programmers into restricting online distribution of their content in exchange for a spot in its cable lineups. But the company is resisting other conditions, arguing they are unnecessary.

Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen insists that the company has no reason to limit NBC content to its own subscribers because that "would close off access to so many other customers." (Although Comcast is the nation's largest cable TV provider, only a fifth of all U.S. households with a TV now subscribe to its cable TV service.)

Executives at Comcast and NBC both say they want to distribute programming across all types of platforms, and Comcast points to its service that lets subscribers watch cable shows online as an example.

But Harold Feld, legal director for the public interest group Public Knowledge, adds a caveat: "They want to do it in a way that doesn't disrupt their highly profitable traditional business models."

So perhaps it's telling that NBC Universal General Counsel Rick Cotton sees online video as a complement rather than a substitute for cable. "Consumers can sample shows and catch episodes they missed online," he said, "but they are not trying to replicate traditional video services."

2010 -- the year tablet computers came of age (AFP)

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 03:02 AM PST

by Glenn Chapman Glenn Chapman – Sun Dec 12, 6:02 am ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Yearning for a gadget that was bigger than a smartphone but smaller than a laptop made tablet computing a defining trend for 2010.

The iPad, launched in April by Apple, became the must-have device of the year -- and has rivals intent on dethroning the culture-shifting California company before it can lock in the market the way iPods became the ruling MP3 players.

"Apple nailed it and made tablet computers a success," said Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney. "There are going to be a lot of people trying to beat them but it will turn out like iPods; everybody wants one."

Work weeks have grown steadily longer with the proliferation of gadgets keeping people connected to bosses and offices nights and weekends.

Our Internet Age lifestyles set the stage for the debut of a tablet computer done right, according to Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps.

"Consumers are working all the time, have less leisure time and less money to spend but still want to maximize enjoyment they get out of life," Rotman Epps told AFP.

"Tablets fill that demand for devices that fill those in-between moments and minimize your unconnected time," she said.

Forrester data shows that 26 percent of US consumers who bought iPads use the tablets for work as well as personal purposes.

The top spot for using an iPad is the living room, with the bedroom being the second most common, according to Forrester.

"People are using tablets to read the Wall Street Journal or watch TV in bed," Rotman Epps said. "It is replacing, in some circumstances, laptop computers, television and print media."

Apple benefited by focusing on regular people instead of businesses, adding its hip cache and having real-world stores where people could try iPads before committing to buying devices, according to Rotman Epps.

"Apple cracked the market that others had struggled with for years," said Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg.

Research shows that owners of the Apple tablets consume more video, news and other content online than other people do.

Some analysts expect iPad sales will blast past the 10 million mark this month, if they haven't already, and competitors are hitting the market with their own tablets or have announced plans to do so.

Samsung said its Galaxy Tab, which is powered by Google's Android software, has sold one million units. Microsoft considers tablets a "priority" and Blackberry maker Research in Motion plans one next year named the PlayBook.

Forrester predicted that by 2015, the number of US consumers using tablet computers would be 75 million: more than netbook users but less than the number of people using smartphones or laptops.

The tablet trend will put downward pressure on laptop computer prices, based on Forrester research indicating consumers think it's not worth paying a lot more to get a laptop instead of a tablet.

"Tablets really changed consumer thinking about mobile computing and the industry's thinking," said Forrester analyst Charles Golvin.

Analysts said the other big consumer electronics stories of the year were the continued growth of smartphones and Microsoft's Kinect, the Xbox 360 videogame console that players control using gestures and spoken commands.

Microsoft said it sold more than 2.5 million Kinects for Xbox 360 devices worldwide in the 25 days after they hit the market.

Google, meanwhile, said more than 300,000 smartphones running its Android software are activated daily as it builds momentum in the hot mobile market.

According to research firm Gartner, Finland's Nokia sold 29.5 million smartphones during the third quarter of the year for a 36.6 percent share of the worldwide market, down from 44.6 percent a year ago.

Sales of Android-powered smartphones soared to 20.5 million units, giving the Android platform a 25.5 percent market share, up from just 3.5 percent a year ago, Gartner said.

Apple's iPhone was next on sales of 13.5 million units followed by Canada's Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, with sales of 11.9 million units and Microsoft's Windows Mobile with sales of 2.2 million units.

Jenga HD, Politico top iPad Apps of the Week (Appolicious)

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 03:26 PM PST

Facebook, Twitter: new roadmap for high-end travel (AFP)

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 04:35 PM PST

by Audrey Stuart Audrey Stuart – Sun Dec 12, 7:35 pm ET

CANNES, France (AFP) – Facebook, Twitter and a host of invite-only travel websites are fast becoming a key pipeline for well-heeled travellers as well as the budget-conscious to find hot deals and destinations.

Bigwigs from the world's elite travel industry, gathered in the chic Riviera resort of Cannes for the annual ILTM trade fair that wrapped up Thursday, had their eyes on social networks as a crucial tool for the future.

"Social networks, such as Facebook with its 600 million users, will have a dramatic impact on how affluent consumers make their (travel) decisions," Klara Glowczewska, editor of Conde Nast Traveler, told a conference at the event.

The American-born socialite and interior designer, Baroness Monica von Neumann, told Luxury Travel Magazine she uses travel websites for their customer reviews and hotel rankings.

"Testimonials really help in the decision-making process," Von Neumann said.

And the trend is set to intensify when the first wave of US baby boomers -- veteran travellers who are web-savvy and engaged in social networking -- turn 65 next year, predicts Preferred Hotel Group president Lindsey Ueberroth.

Matthew Upchurch, CEO of the elite network of travel agencies, Virtuoso, sees the Internet as opportunity more than threat for its 6,000-plus advisors, spread across 22 countries.

"Social media is one of the best things that ever happened to true professional travel advisors," Upchurch told AFP.

"I have up to 1,200 friends on Facebook, who are either close friends or colleagues and when I learn something really interesting about a destination that I have just come back from, I click 'share' and everybody benefits."

Social media are also starting to have a major impact on exclusive hotels and resorts, which are using them to boost their online presence, attract a new clientele and ensure customer ratings remain high.

Hotels are increasingly using Facebook and Twitter to publicise new activities and deals and keep up a dialogue with customers.

Most luxury hotels today employ social media managers to protect their image and reputation online, Olivier Chavy, a senior luxury and lifestyle executive at the Conrad and Waldorf Astoria hotels and resorts, told AFP.

Online bookings today account for between 55 and 60 percent of all business, Chavy noted, meaning that a single bad review on a popular travel website can destroy a reputation for luxury that has taken years to build up.

Savvy upmarket travellers, however, can pick up tips on less well known websites and invitation-only online communities, such as asmallworld, the kiwicollection of hotels, Jetsetter, Rue La La, SniqueAway, Tablet Hotels, Vacationista or Voyage Prive.

Online niche communities like asmallworld also offer well-off vacationers a chance to discover new discrete upmarket hotels, such as the new luxury Crans Ambassador hotel and resort that opens this Christmas in the Swiss Alps.

Social networking for travel is not confined to young, wealthy vacationers.

Some 6.5 million of America's 77-million baby boomers are already active social networkers, according to a study carried out for the Preferred Hotel Group.

While the very wealthiest boomers chose to get their travel advice from personal luxury experts, the Preferred Group study said millions of others spend hours researching and booking travel on the Web.

With the first wave of boomers turning 65 next year, a whole new healthy, wealthy and extremely active generation are about to intensify their passion for travel, the study suggests.

Just how this fast-growing trend will impact a market that still heavily relies on travel agencies and tour operators is still unclear, according to experts from over 70 countries at the four-day ILTM event.

The hottest up-and-coming destinations tipped by experts in Cannes included Finland, the Mongolian Steppes and Ethiopia for the adventure-driven; or for luxury-loving sunseekers, the lush rainforests of Cambodia's first ever island resort at Song Saa.

Rory Hunter, who is building the Song Saa resort, told AFP he would use a cocktail of on- and offline media to attract customers ahead of its opening in late 2011.

"Online will be a key part of our strategy but to get the right volume, we will also be using tour operators and travel agents."

Bieber, `Bed Intruder Song' top YouTube in 2010 (AP)

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 09:01 PM PST

By JAKE COYLE, AP Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle, Ap Entertainment Writer – 27 mins ago

NEW YORK – Antoine Dodson's dramatic reaction to a local crime has spawned the most-watched YouTube video of the year, excepting music videos.

When Dodson, a 24-year-old Alabama student, gave an angry TV interview about an attempted rape against his younger sister, he became a viral hit. When a video turned that rant into an auto-tuned song, "Bed Intruder Song," Dodson became a full-fledged Internet sensation.

The "Bed Intruder Song" is the top YouTube video of the year, the Google Inc.-owned company announced Monday. YouTube added the view counts for two versions of the video, which put its total at over 61 million views.

YouTube separated commercial music videos from their top-10 list. Otherwise, all the top 10 videos would have been by either Justin Bieber, Shakira, Eminem, Rihanna or Lady Gaga. With more than 406 million views, Bieber's video for "Baby" trumped all others.

The "Bed Intruder" video was remixed by New York musicians Evan and Michael Gregory who are also known for their Web series "Auto-Tune the News." The song charted on iTunes, with profits being split between Dodson and the Gregorys.

"Blessings come in disguise," Dodson earlier told The Associated Press.

The second most-watched video was another made-for-YouTube riff: a parody of Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" by the musical sketch Web series Key of Awesome. More than 50.6 million have watched the mock version of the popular pop song.

In the third most-watched video, a potential new pop star was born. In it, 13-year-old Greyson Chance (who has been compared to Bieber) sings Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" while playing piano at a sixth-grade music recital.

The top 10 also included: a video from the "Annoying Orange" series; a viral ad from Old Spice; the hysterically happy "double rainbow" guy; OK Go's video to "This Too Shall Pass"; the trailer for the "Twilight" film "Eclipse"; Jimmy Kimmel surprising a 3-year-old Bieber fan with the young star; and a stunt driving video by rally racer Ken Block.

YouTube said it made an exception in its rankings for OK Go's music video because the band is no longer on a major label. In March, the band left EMI's Capitol Records to start Paracadute Recordings.

Mia Quagliarello, YouTube community manager, noted that several of 2010's top videos were made by people or companies that attempt to create YouTube videos for a living. YouTube shares advertising revenue with uploaders who are "partners."

Many of the so-called amateurs that helped build YouTube have gone pro.

"More and more people are seeing YouTube as a place they can make it their career," said Quagliarello. "We try to give them the tools and the financials to make that happen."

___

Online:

http://www.youtube.com/rewind

Insurance Company Tracks Driver Responsibility With In-Car Device (Mashable)

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 11:59 AM PST

Jolie O'Dell Jolie O'dell – Sun Dec 12, 2:59 pm ET

Car insurance company Progressive has found a new way to give its customers deep discounts when appropriate: It's giving drivers tiny devices that plug into their cars; if the devices show the driver is responsible, he or she could get up to 30% off insurance rates.

Called the "Snapshot" program, this plan is currently available to drivers in New York only but should launch in other states shortly.

It will allow Progressive to collect data on users' driving habits for 30 days. The devices, which are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, plug into the vehicle's on-board diagnostic port. Each Snapshot device will track when the user is driving, how often she drives, and other behaviors, such as making sudden stops.

Discounts will be applied for drivers who travel during times of the day when accidents are less likely to occur and who drive less overall.

But there's no real need to worry about provacy; the Snapshot devices don't have GPS, so no one will be able to tell where you're going or where your car or home is located.

With the amazing advances in in-car connectivity that we've seen in 2010 alone, we're not surprised to see tech like this being used by an insurance company. In fact, given the fact that Google's got self-driving cars and Ford's got a car that will read your friends' tweets to you, we're a bit surprised it's taken this long to come up with a plan like Snapshot.

What's your opinion: Would you let an insurance company track your driving for a possible discount? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Image courtesy of Flickr, aprilzosia.

Android Market gets redesign, reduces refund window (Appolicious)

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 03:14 PM PST

Amazon websites outage was due to hardware failure (Reuters)

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 09:08 PM PST

– 19 mins ago

LONDON (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc's websites in Europe suffered an outage for more than half an hour on Sunday night, in what the company said was a hardware failure in its European data center network.

"The brief interruption to our European retail sites earlier today was due to hardware failure in our European datacenter network and not the result of a DDOS attempt," a spokeswoman for Amazon told Reuters.

Amazon was among the first U.S. firms to pull the plug on WikiLeaks since it began publishing thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables, withdrawing hosting services last week after being questioned by the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee.

A loose grouping of activists operating under the name "Anonymous" had urged an online attack to crash the amazon.com site by overwhelming it with requests from users.

Amazon.co.uk, amazon.de, amazon.fr and amazon.es were all down for more than 30 minutes until around 2145 GMT when they appeared to work normally again. Amazon.com's U.S. website was unaffected.

Amazon, which operates one of the world's biggest web-hosting businesses as well as a huge e-retail store, had no immediate comment.

The activists briefly brought down the sites of credit-card giants MasterCard and Visa which had stopped processing donations to WikiLeaks.

On Saturday, Anonymous said it had changed its strategy and would now focus on spreading snippets of the leaked cables far and wide rather than on cyber attacks.

(Reporting by Michel Rose, Georgina Prodhan and Alexandria Sage; Editing by Jon Hemming)
at 9:38 PM

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