Toyota pulls Cydia theme and ads to appease Apple

In news that will no doubt shake the very bedrock of your belief system, Apple has asked Toyota to remove its Scion theme and its advertising from ModMyi, a Cydia repository. The Scion theme has been available for weeks, but after it received a ton of press in the last couple of days, Apple finally lashed out.

It's not like we should be surprised, considering Apple has claimed in the past that jailbreaking is illegal -- but at the same time, did the Cupertino cronies hear about the ruling that made circumventing DRM, and thus jailbreaking, legal? Anyway, whether Toyota was supporting illegal, legal, or deliciously gray and ambiguous, activity, it doesn't matter: Apple asked Toyota to remove the theme, and Toyota graciously bent over and capitulated.

This story raises a much more interesting topic, though: this is the first time a multinational company has publicly acknowledged and embraced the jailbreak community. Considering jailbreaking is technically legal, and Cydia's creator, Jay Freeman, estimates that up to 9% of OS devices are jailbroken, it simply makes good, commercial sense to target jailbreakers with ads. Toyota was simply trying to make some money, for shame!

As long as Apple continues to throw around its increasingly-expansive mass, the legality of jailbreaking will continue to be inconsequential. It will be interesting to see if another big company dares embrace the jailbreak community after this, too.

Toyota pulls Cydia theme and ads to appease Apple originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 05:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/06/toyota-pulls-ios-jailbreak-theme-and-ads-to-appease-apple/

ORACLE OPENWAVE SYSTEMS ON SEMICONDUCTOR

How Secure is My Password lets you know just that

We've all heard it before; you need to select a lengthy password, one that's hard to guess. Not a dictionary word. And it has to have some capital letters in it too, and some digits, and a symbol or two won't hurt either.

That's a handy set of rules to keep in mind, but How Secure is My Password helps us understand why they're important.

It's basically like a full-screen version of one of those password-strength meters websites sometimes use. But instead of showing you a bar going from "weak" to "strong", it shows you an estimation of how long your password would take to crack. That's a much more visceral way to understand why your password is strong.

For example, when I entered "rabbit", it came back with "your password is one of the 500 most common passwords. It could be cracked almost instantly". "rabbit5" would take two hours, "$rabbit5" would take 38 days, and "$rabbitZ5" would take 237 years. It's quite enlightening to see what a difference three simple characters can make.

How Secure is My Password lets you know just that originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 05 Mar 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/05/how-secure-is-my-password-lets-you-know-just-that/

BT GROUP CANON MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS

DoubleTwist upgrade features AirPlay support for more Apple / Android miscegenation

Add another notch to DoubleTwist's Apple ecosystem integration belt, now that its Android app has added AirPlay streaming to the list of features. As of version 1.4 it will stream music, videos or pictures to the Apple TV or other compatible devices while also claiming beta support for Sonos hardware. The DoubleTwist player is free, but using AirPlay means purchasing the $4.99 AirSync add-on that also enables wireless sync with your media library (iTunes) and streaming to DLNA or uPnP compatible devices. Twonky Mobile is a free alternative that's also AirPlay-compatible but without the tight iTunes integration; you can check them both out in the market.

DoubleTwist upgrade features AirPlay support for more Apple / Android miscegenation originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 May 2011 12:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/08/doubletwist-upgrade-features-airplay-support-for-more-apple-an/

LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS LAWSON SOFTWARE LAND SOFTWARE

Vending Machine for Geeks Stocks USB Cables, LEDs, Arduinos

Visitors to Metrix Create:Space in Seattle can avail themselves of the hacker space’s many amenities: 3-D printers, work benches, hand tools, power tools, oscilloscopes, and 50 Mbps internet.
If you need something more than that for your project, there’s a good chance you’ll find it in the shop’s vending machine.
Alongside such vending staples as candy bars [...]

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/05/vending-machine-geeks/

DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES DIODES INORATED DIEBOLD

Don?t Text on Your Bike Either, But . . .

Although you would be hard pressed to find it on their site, the Ozaki iPod bicycle mount could be a nice addition to help make your commute on Ride Your Bike to Work Day enjoyable.� It’s a bit pricey ($50) but for those who live by the iPod it appears to be a solid holder [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/05/06/dont-text-on-your-bike-either-but/

MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS MICROSOFT MILLICOM INTL CELLULAR

A Tour of an Abandoned Amusement Park in America?s Heartland [Video]

Mike Petty took these shots at Wichita's Joyland Amusement park, which has struggled with bankruptcy and vandalism for the better part of the last decade. Joyland's name has taken on a greater irony, as it's become a dilapidated, depressing place. [io9] More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/KGqeCiB_UUc/a-tour-of-an-abandoned-amusement-park-in-americas-heartland

DST SYSTEMS DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES DIODES INORATED

Amazon Cloud Player streams tunes to iOS, following silent upgrade (updated)

Amazon Cloud Player has been laying low following its scuffle with Sony Music, but that hasn't kept the company's developers from rolling a crucial new feature out -- support for Apple's iOS devices, which it didn't have on day one. Despite running in the Safari browser window, we've confirmed that songs will indeed play. If you've got a device handy, give it a try yourself; otherwise, we'll update with impressions a little later this evening.

Update: Great news -- we ran the Cloud Player on an original iPad and iPhone 3GS without a hitch. In fact, there was very little (if any) lag or time delay when buffering a new song, and were able to refresh playlists and other information quickly. The interface of the Cloud Player is almost the same as -- if not identical to -- the page that loads up on your computer browser.

Even better, the Cloud Player works flawlessly with the multitasking controls in iOS; the usual forward/pause/volume options are all usable as you play Angry Birds. Sadly, there is just one bump in the road that keeps the process from being perfectly smooth: mobile Safari prohibits you from doing drag-and-drops, which adds a couple extra steps to the process of adding songs to your playlists. Take a look below for some screenshots of the Cloud Player in action.

Sean Hollister contributed to this post.

Gallery: Amazon Cloud Player iOS

Amazon Cloud Player streams tunes to iOS, following silent upgrade (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 May 2011 22:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/07/amazon-cloud-player-streams-tunes-to-ios-following-silent-updat/

PRICELINECOM QIMONDA QUALCOMM

AutoPainter App for iPad Mini-Review

I often write news items about iPad apps I think might interest you, and usually I find just a screen capture and a couple of sentences are enough.� The AutoPainter app for iPad is so much fun that I thought it deserved a little more.� The iOS versions (also available for iPhone) have been ported [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/05/03/autopainter-app-for-ipad-mini-review/

EMC ELECTRONICS FOR IMAGING ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS

App review: Planetary for iPad

The iPad's music player hasn't changed much since its debut, and unlike its desktop counterpart, it also lacks a built-in music visualizer for your mesmerization. Luckily, for the folks who are seeking ways to spice up their iPad music experience, you now have a new option: Planetary, by Bloom Studio. As you can tell by the name and the screenshot above, what we have here is a visually compelling app for exploring your tablet's music library. It's very straightforward: each artist or band is shown as a star, surrounded by albums in the form of orbiting planets, and then you have individual tracks displayed as moons orbiting each album.

During playback, each track leaves behind a trail on its orbit to indicate its play time, though you can hide the orbit lines (and labels) if you them too distracting. To choose other albums or artists, the good old pinch-to-zoom or the simple tapping on other 3D objects will move you between the moons and constellations, or you can just tap on the bottom-center button to jump straight to the letter selector for artists. Obviously, the former's more fun within the first few hours, but after awhile we found ourselves preferring the quicker option to skip the mellow animation. Head past the break for our full impression and demo video.

Gallery: App review: Planetary for iPad

Continue reading App review: Planetary for iPad

App review: Planetary for iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 May 2011 15:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/06/app-review-planetary-for-ipad/

ADVANCED SEMICONDUCTOR ENGINEERING ALLIANCE DATA SYSTEMS ALLTEL

How the First Waterproof Jackets Kept Us Dry [Design]

Long before Gore-Tex or Patagonia's H2No, people kept the rain off their backs with the most obvious of repellants: oil. It was a trick gleaned from mariners in the 1500s. Sails slicked with grease and oil better navigated nasty storms by beating back water. Between then and now, fabric impregnated with various oils and then waxes have become time-tested water proofers. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/XJwlFJm3uUM/how-the-first-waterproof-jackets-kept-us-dry

NETWORK APPLIANCE NETGEAR NCR

New Firefox Nightly and Aurora logos unearthed, and how to enable channel switching

Later today, Firefox will undergo its biggest developmental upheaval ever. Mozilla-central, the source of nightly builds, will be renumbered to version 5 -- and at long last, after years of wallowing around version 1, Mozilla's rendering and layout engine, Gecko, will also have its version number updated to match Firefox.

Shortly thereafter, Firefox's new channel system will be implemented. Firefox 5a2 will be introduced as the first Aurora build, and we should also see a Firefox 6 Nightly build. While we we're not sure where they came from, one Sören Hentzschel seems to have unearthed the new Nightly and Aurora logos (see above), along with new About Firefox dialogs (after the break).

In other news, if you want to take a sneak peek at the new 'channel changing' technology that will be introduced in upcoming Firefox builds, head to about:config and create a new string called app.update.desiredChannel -- the value doesn't matter. Then open Help > About Firefox and you'll be able to switch channel, but it doesn't do anything just yet (image after the break). Here's hoping that Firefox channel switching is smoother than Chrome.

Continue reading New Firefox Nightly and Aurora logos unearthed, and how to enable channel switching

New Firefox Nightly and Aurora logos unearthed, and how to enable channel switching originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 07:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/11/new-firefox-nightly-and-aurora-logos-unearthed-and-how-to-enabl/

SRA INTERNATIONAL SPSS SPANSION

Evoluce Win&I brings Kinect gesture controls to Windows 7

We've been looking at some pretty cool Kinect and Windows interactions for a while now, but we were hoping that the release of an official SDK would lead to even more coolness. Evoluce has stepped up, and is now offering Win&I -- a full-featured gesture control system for Windows 7.

The company claims that a range of up to four meters is supported, which should be perfect for just about any home theater setting. In the video embedded after the break, you can see an Evoluce demonstrator flip through a photo album, pan through a map, rearrange application windows, browse the Web, and control media playback. Two versions of Win&I are offered -- the home version goes for about 20 Euros, the business version for 40.

Anyone else having fun pretending his stance is a little "Iron Man"? We're tempted to put a repulsor on that hand.

Continue reading Evoluce Win&I brings Kinect gesture controls to Windows 7

Evoluce Win&I brings Kinect gesture controls to Windows 7 originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/01/evoluce-winandi-controls-windows-7-with-a-kinect-sensor/

TECHNITROL TAKETWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE SYNTEL

Security firm RSA attacked using Excel-Flash one-two sucker punch

It has emerged that the underlying cause of RSA's SecurID gaffe was the recently-reported zero-day vulnerability found in Adobe's Flash Player.

The exploit, which used specially-crafted Flash embedding in Excel spreadsheets, was first reported on March 15 and has since been fixed. RSA was hacked sometime in the first half of March when an employee was successfully spear phished and opened an infected spreadsheet. As soon as the spreadsheet was opened, an advanced persistent threat (APT) -- a backdoor Trojan -- called Poison Ivy was installed. From there, the attackers basically had free reign of RSA's internal network, which led to the eventual dissemination of data pertaining to RSA's two-factor authenticators.

The attack is reminiscent of the APTs used in the China vs. Google attacks from last year -- and indeed, Uri Rivner, the head of new technologies at RSA is quick to point out that that other big companies are being attacked, too: "The number of enterprises hit by APTs grows by the month; and the range of APT targets includes just about every industry. Unofficial tallies number dozens of mega corporations attacked [...] These companies deploy any imaginable combination of state-of-the-art perimeter and end-point security controls, and use all imaginable combinations of security operations and security controls. Yet still the determined attackers find their way in."

What we'd like to know, though, is whether the attack on RSA was caused by Adobe's lackadaisical approach to patching Flash -- or was it the other way around? Was it the RSA attack that first brought the zero-day vulnerability to Adobe's attention?

Security firm RSA attacked using Excel-Flash one-two sucker punch originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 06:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/06/security-firm-rsa-attacked-using-excel-flash-one-two-sucker-punc/

NINTENDO NOKIA

San Francisco backs away from cellphone radiation law, will distribute common sense instead

Science! It's the heady stuff that keeps the looneys in check and our feet planted on the earth. Back it up with a powerful CTIA lobbying effort and science can even move San Francisco policy. The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that The City's law requiring cellphone retailers to label each device's SAR level as tested by the FCC has been put on indefinite hold, with a watered-down version likely taking its place. Surely, this is yet another example of big business and government colluding to the detriment of man? Not really, not this time. As Joel Moskowitz, director at the IC Berkeley Center for Family and Community Health, and even the FCC will tell you, the SAR value is a poor measurement of radiation intake for consumers:

"The specific absorption rate isn't a very useful measure because it's the peak reading on a variety of tests conducted on cell phones to measure their radiation, but doesn't indicate the average amount of radiation a user would generally be exposed to. You could buy a lower SAR phone, but on average it could produce more radiation than a higher SAR phone."

Although changes to the law have not yet been formally introduced, they'll likely result in retailers handing out "tip sheets" to customers that explain how to minimize radiation exposure from their new handsets. Ok, you win this time, reason, but we can still debate image artifacting on certain long-form birth certificates... to the choppa!

San Francisco backs away from cellphone radiation law, will distribute common sense instead originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 May 2011 06:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/M1_6ruFN06M/

TECHNITROL TAKETWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE SYNTEL