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07 Mar 2011 14:14

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Tech: WordPress founder confirms DDoS assault came from China

  • last week WordPress, the exemplary blogging platform, was hit with a massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack that stalled its servers. At the time, they believed it may have been politically motivated against a Chinese language blog.
  • this week While WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg updated the record in an email to IDG News Service, saying he no longer believed the motive to be political, he did confirm that the DDoS attack originated from China. A little international intrigue? source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Mar 2011 21:47

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Tech: Favimon: General web nerdery and Pokemon, together at last

  • For nerds only: Remember Pokemon? Of course you do. Do you know what Favicons are? Perhaps you might. Favimon combines the two, so you can surf and collect your favorite sites, Pokemon-style. As if you needed another reason to waste your time. (Thanks Hacker News) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Mar 2011 18:50

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Tech: Rock Paper Scissors: Can you top the New York Times’ robot?

  • Tied to that post we made about lawyers, the New York Times has a man-vs.-machine Rock Paper Scissors game up on their site. We’re evenly matched, as you can tell. And this was on the “hard” mode, by the way. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Mar 2011 13:55

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Tech: Sucks to be a forensics expert: Solid state drives can wipe data

  • Solid state? Not so solid for data recovery. In perhaps the best complement to our earlier post possible is a report that many new solid state drives include a technology which, as a way to increase efficiency, have the side effect of making it easier to wipe data for good. “A few people in the forensics community had some awareness that something funny was going on with some SSDs, but everyone we’ve shown this to has been shocked at the extent of the findings,” said Murdoch University’s Graeme Bell, who co-authored the fairly alarming study. So, if you’re looking to commit a crime involving lots of information, buy a solid state drive. Leave the hard drives for the amateurs who don’t know what they’re doing. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Mar 2011 13:28

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Tech, U.S.: Really smart computers replacing rooms full of lawyers

  • You tend to split a lot fewer infinitives when you think the FBI might be reading your mail.
  • Cataphora Chief Technology Officer Steve Roberts • Explaining the benefit of his company’s software, which can intelligently parse phrases and figure out when someone is changing their tone (presumably because they have something to hide). This is useful in law cases, particularly ones with a ton of documents – you know, the kind that once required armies of lawyers to do the dirty work. They’re just one of the companies who work in this pretty neat field, and their accuracy rate is actually way better than the people the machines are replacing. “Think about how much money had been spent to be slightly better than a coin toss,” said Bill Herr, a former chemical company lawyer who once herded lawyers in rooms to dig through documents en masse. Like cats. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Mar 2011 12:55

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Tech: Internet Explorer 6, or why most sites look really bad in China

  • Today in reasons to be critical of the influence China has on the rest of the world, we submit to you “IE6 Countdown,” a Microsoft-made site that shows why the browser remains so prevalent a full decade after its initial release. See that giant red spot, showing widespread usage? That’s China. You know, beyond awareness campaigns, Microsoft could do more to get people to stop using IE6. They’re not doing enough, really. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Mar 2011 15:56

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Tech: Apple still doesn’t do streaming music yet, or why we miss Lala

  • issue Apple bought this really awesome company called Lala, then quickly killed it, making a few music fans (like us) start crying profusely. It killed a weekly music feature we had, quite sadly.
  • reason Well, Apple has a huge facility to allow this sort of streaming, but no streaming deals with the record labels – but they’re working on it. Note to Apple: Please make albums embeddable if this happens. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

03 Mar 2011 15:49

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Tech: Recall of Mazda6 on account of arachnid saboteurs

  • … a certain type of spider may weave a web in the evaporative canister vent line and this may cause a restriction in the line.
  • The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration • Explaining the recall of nearly 65,000 Mazda6 cars. In most cases, arachnophobia is strictly irrational (with all due sympathy), but now they’re trying to sabotage our wheels. The culprit is the Yellow Sac spider, a daring little saboteur if there ever was one. The web blockages in the vent lines can cause pressure irregularities, leading to fluid spillage. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Mar 2011 20:32

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Tech: If you have eyes, you may want to read about this new laptop

  • Sure, we’re all salivating over the new iPad 2 today, but in case you’re a Winboi in need of saliva-worthy exploits, check out this laptop right here. See that giant lump on the back of it? No, it’s not a Windows tumor, Macbois. Actually, it’s a device that tracks your eyesight so you can surf the Web without having to screw with a mouse. Reports suggest this eye-tracking device is very accurate (even if you’re wearing glasses), though it has to be calibrated for each user. There’s also a currently-unsightly camera below the display, though if given some time, it could go away. Would you use your eyes to Web-surf, or would you blink? And what happens if you’re a pirate? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Mar 2011 14:42

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Tech: Apple’s iPad 2 unveiled: Thinner, faster, with sweet cases

  • The tale of the tech, complete with Steve Jobs! Jobs, who has been on medical leave (he’s been plagued by a number of health problems the past few years, and underwent a liver transplant in 2009), is a monolithic figure in the American technology business, and given his notorious work ethic and zeal for his products you’d imagine he wouldn’t want to miss this. source
  • Throwing down the gauntlet Jobs antagonized the competition, highlighting successes over Google, and iPad competition such as Tablet PC, which he said “crashed and burned.” iPad 2 also features a dual-core processor, equaling that of Motorola’s designs.
  • The nitty-gritty In addition to the new dual-core processor, the iPad 2 features a gyroscope (a familiar function for any iPhone user), cameras on both the front and back, 1080p support, an HDMI out line, and comes in 16, 32, and 64 gigabyte models.
  • » So, all in all, a successful debut. It’s easy to say this with some confidence because, frankly, Apple never really has unsuccessful debuts – even after the original iPad unveiling, which was probably the most hand-wringing seen over one of their new products, the thing took off like a damn rocket. And considering iPad 2 is basically the iPad on steroids, assuming the market isn’t over-saturated, we expect this to follow suit. This newest iteration will be selling for the same price as its forerunner, $499, and begins shipping domestically (U.S.) March 11th, internationally March 25th-26th. So, what y’all think? Will you be the first in line to snag one of these bad boys, or is this a luxury toy you simply don’t need?
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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