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White House unveils cybersecurity plan (AP) : Technet |
- White House unveils cybersecurity plan (AP)
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| White House unveils cybersecurity plan (AP) Posted: 12 May 2011 03:46 PM PDT WASHINGTON – Companies that run critical U.S. industries such as power plants would get government incentives to make sure their systems are secure from computer-based attacks, the White House said Thursday, detailing its broad proposal to beef up the country's cybersecurity. The approach is similar to congressional legislation already in the works, but some criticized it as being too weak Thursday, while the business community said it preferred a voluntary program rather than government mandates. Under its proposed legislation, the White House would give the Department of Homeland Security the authority to work with industry to come up with ways to secure their computer systems and protect against cyber threats. If a company fails to do so, or comes up with an inadequate plan, DHS would be able develop its own security framework for that firm. The proposals reflects the broad understanding that any more stringent regulatory system — such as the one that controls safety at nuclear power plants — would get little support, and business groups have been lobbying strongly for as much of a voluntary program as possible. The government should encourage the private sector to voluntarily adopt security standards, and "avoid a one-size-fits-all, mandated approach to cybersecurity," said Phil Bond, president of TechAmerica, which represents about 1,200 companies. But critics say the White House approach has little teeth. "The Administration's proposal shows no sense of urgency," said Stewart Baker, a former senior Homeland Security official. "It tells even critical industries on which our lives and society depend that they will have years before anyone from government begins to evaluate their security measures." Under the administration's proposal, an independent group would evaluate the security plans. And the DHS could use that evaluation as it makes purchasing decisions, thus potentially rewarding companies who take strong measures to secure their networks from intrusions. The threat is diverse, ranging from computer hackers going after banking and financial accounts to terrorists or other nations breaching government networks to steal sensitive data or sabotage critical systems like the electrical grid, nuclear plants or Wall Street. Federal computer networks are being scanned and attacked millions of times a day, and U.S. officials warn that hackers have begun targeting power plants and other critical operations to either bring them down or take them over. A glaring example was the Stuxnet worm that targeted Iran's nuclear program last year, including the infection of laptops at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant. Several House and Senate committees have been working on cybersecurity legislation for the past two years, while waiting for the administration to weigh in with its proposal. The process has been difficult, as industry leaders, privacy advocates and security experts wrangled over how to protect the U.S. from cyberattacks without infringing on business practices or civil liberties. Key lawmakers involved in drafting Senate and House versions of the cybersecurity bill praised the White House plan, while noting that Congress and the White House are sharply divided over at least one issue. House and Senate lawmakers want the White House cyber coordinator to be subject to Senate confirmation. The White House has opposed that idea. The White House proposal also requires companies to tell their customers when their personal information has been compromised. The disclosure requirement is part of a push for greater openness by companies who are often reluctant to reveal they have been hacked. Sen. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., in a related move Thursday, pushed the Securities and Exchange Commission to clarify that companies should disclose information about cybersecurity lapses. In a letter to the SEC, he said a 2009 survey suggested that nearly 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies don't reveal privacy or data breaches. Such information, he said in the letter signed by four other Democratic senators, would be valuable for investors, analysts and credit rating agencies. Rockefeller, who is chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, is working with his panel and leaders of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, to finish draft cybersecurity legislation. The effort is being coordinated by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. The administration plan also lays out guidelines for federal agencies to continuously monitor and protect their systems, insisting that they have a better understanding of who is on their networks, what they are doing and whether any data is being stolen or manipulated. Officials said Thursday that the proposal calls for strong protections for individuals' privacy and civil liberties. And it also sets out expanded criminal penalties for cyber crimes. |
| LimeWire, major record labels settle for $105M (AP) Posted: 12 May 2011 05:08 PM PDT SAN FRANCISCO – File-sharing software company LimeWire, which shut down last year after being barred from allowing people to share copyright-protected files online, reached a $105 million out-of-court settlement with the major record labels Thursday, the labels said. In a statement, Recording Industry Association of America Chairman Mitch Bainwol said his group, which represents the labels, is pleased with the settlement. "The resolution of this case is another milestone in the continuing evolution of online music to a legitimate marketplace that appropriately rewards creators," he later added. LimeWire, which had enabled people to share songs and other files over the Internet, had been fighting the RIAA for several years. The RIAA argued LimeWire's software encouraged illegal sharing of copyrighted music. Last May LimeWire was found liable of copyright infringement, with a trial to follow early this year. That trial started last week. In October, LimeWire received a federal injunction forcing it to disable key functions of its software. At that time, the company said it would continue developing a new service that would include a desktop player, mobile apps and a catalog of music from which people could legally stream and download songs. But in December, Lime Group said it would shut down LimeWire completely due to its legal situation. |
| Video: An overview of Android for tablets, Honeycomb 3.0 (Yahoo! News) Posted: 12 May 2011 06:18 PM PDT
If you're in the market for a tablet and not sure which is right for you, check out what to expect from an Android tablet in our Honeycomb overview above. Be sure to also consult our visual guide to the top tablets of 2011 as well. and as always, if you have any requests for something you'd like Just Show Me to cover, please let us know in the comments! More from Tecca: |
| Viddy makes creating and sharing short video clips easy (Yahoo! News) Posted: 12 May 2011 02:45 PM PDT
The app gives you an easy way to edit the videos on your phone by applying visual filters — or as Viddy calls them, Production Packs — that enhance your footage with film-like special effects and a soundtrack. Once you've chosen a 15 second section of a video and applied a production pack you like, you can easily share that video out to your followers on Viddy as well as to your Facebook wall and Twitter stream.
Once you've downloaded the free app, you can create new videos by recording inside the app or selecting from your existing photo library. You're limited to a short 15-second clip, which the founders say keeps Viddy's focus on quick, bite-sized video snacks that are addictive to consume — they told us the average session time spent browsing video in the app is an extremely high 55 minutes. "We're kind of like a party," says Aguhob, speaking to how active and participatory the fledgling Viddy community has already become. The 15 second limit also dovetails well with a general internet sharing trend away from longer-form blog posts and towards shorter status updates on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Nevertheless, that length constraint is one of the things users tend to complain about the most, and the founders say they're not committed to setting it in stone. The editing tools are extremely simple to use. After recording or selecting your video, you can use a simple scrub window to pick out which 15 second segment of the total video to use. Then you can apply a number of preset effects or production packs with one click, and audition what each effect will look like after a short rendering process. During the video preview, two sliders at the bottom of the screen control how much of the effect is applied (up to 100%), and how much you'll hear the effect soundtrack versus the original audio from the video; keeping the slider tuned to the center point gives you half and half of each audio track.
In the Feed, which you select at the lower left of the main app navigation, you have three different ways to browse videos: "Following" shows you videos from friends you've followed on Viddy, "Popular" shows you the most popular videos over the past day, and "Trending" shows you the hottest videos from the last hour. The founders told us the popularity algorithm weighs how many views, likes, and comments each video has to serve up the most interest stuff to you at any given time. Any video you "Like" is also saved to your Favorites collection so you can revisit your video finds again later.
While mobile video has been around for several years already, the tools for easily editing and sharing those videos to your social graph have been slower to emerge. It's been relatively easy to whip out your phone and shoot some video, but "the issue is making something worth sharing," says O'Brien. Viddy helps solve that problem by allowing people to "beautify and create" something more compelling than the raw 10 minute clip users otherwise often have sitting around on their phones. What's next for Viddy? Look for an Android app and a native iPad experience next, along with an API so third parties can access data from the app including user feeds, profile information, and trending/popular videos. Foursquare integration is also on deck, as well as support for sharing to Tumblr and Posterous. Also expect a number of new Production Packs within the next few weeks, some of which we had a chance to preview and were definitely impressed with. Eventually, the business model most likely involves in-app sales of premium Production Packs, including celebrity-sponsored effects along with movie and music-themed filters. Cloud storage and longer videos are also revenue possibilities on the table, but the founders say they want to avoid using an advertising model if possible. Ads would clutter up the interface, and Viddy wants to "keep it simple," according to Aguhob. Other new features to look forward to include being able to choose a soundtrack independently from a visual effect, whereas Production Packs have dedicated audio attached currently. You'll also be able to directly share videos from the Feed to Facebook and Twitter, tag Facebook friends in your videos, search and surf video tags, enjoy higher quality bitrate playback, and more discovery tools for finding videos and other users you might like. Have you used Viddy? If so, what were your impressions of the app? Let us know in the comments! More from Tecca: |
| Tetris Rendered Sweeter With Gummi Bears [VIDEO] (Mashable) Posted: 12 May 2011 02:52 PM PDT Each day, Mashable highlights one noteworthy YouTube video. Check out all our viral video picks.
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If you're a fan of iPhone camera apps like 
We had a chance to meet with Viddy's two founders, Brett O'Brien and JJ Aguhob, for a demo of the app and a sneak peak at what's on deck for the young Venice, CA-based startup. The pair say they've had success making their app easy enough to use for a wide range of demographics, from 7-year-olds to 80-year-olds, which is by no means an easy feat considering how complex the traditional activity of video editing tends to be. Editing video on your mobile phone is an even greater challenge, but the Viddy app fulfills the design mantra of "Keep It Simple, Stupid" admirably.
Once you're satisified with your new video creation, you can easily share it to your Facebook and Twitter friends and your Youtube channel by entering your account credentials. Your status update or tweet includes a link to your video, which your friends can watch on the Viddy website. Plus, your Viddy friends will be able to watch your new video inside the app under the Feed section.
After a couple of short weeks in the Apple App Store, Viddy is already seeing runaway success with over 200,000 downloads. Considering the universal appeal of video sharing, it's not surprising that a healthy chunk of the userbase is international. It seems like the perfect storm for an app like Viddy to hit the market, with the