U.S. authorities close in on Chinese Google hackers

U
.S. authorities have reportedly tracked down the hacker who wrote the code behind the attacks on Google and a number of other local companies last month. Serious questions had already been raised about the likelihood of the attacks being in some way sanctioned by the Chinese government, and today's development seems to further back that notion.

Turns out the alleged hacker is a Chinese "freelance security consultant in his 30s" who had published extracts of his IE6 exploit code as a work in progress. Although this man did not launch any attacks himself, according to The Financial Times, Chinese officials have "special access" to his work and are believed to have picked up the code.


The spyware's launch was recently traced to computers at Shanghai Jiaotong University and Lanxiang Vocational School, the first of which counts former government cyber security experts among its staff. Both institutions have denied involvement in the attacks, of course. The latest findings don't give a definite answer as to who was behind the attacks, but it might put some extra pressure on China to cooperate with the ongoing investigations.

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Firefox 3.6 to arrive this year, 4.0 in late 2010

A
lthough Mozilla released Firefox version 3.5 not long ago, the team has been showing mockups of future designs. In addition to embracing glass on Windows Vista and 7, future versions will have reorganized interfaces. Previews of Firefox 4.0 suggest that it may have a combined and relocated reload, stop and go buttons, as well as a tab sidebar, tabs on top, and many other UI tweaks -- none of which are set in stone.

Mozilla is now indicating that we may see the launch of Firefox 4.0 next October or November. It has also reportedly updated its roadmap for the release of Firefox 3.6 and 3.7, with the former expected to debut later this year and the latter to arrive in the second quarter of next year. There are also reports that Fennec 1.0 -- the mobile version of Firefox -- will be made available at the same time as Firefox 3.6, and Fennec 2.0 with Firefox 4.0.

If the suspense is killing you, fear not; pre-release builds are available. Feel free to download Firefox 3.6 and 3.7 at your own risk.

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Worm attacks WordPress blog software

S
erving as a stern reminder of why it's important to keep desktop as well as server software up to date, a new worm can reportedly infect certain versions of the WordPress blog software. WordPress announced the discovery today, saying that a security bug which has already been fixed is now being exploited in the wild.

The worm is able to attack versions of WordPress prior to 2.8.4 and its immediate predecessor. Version 2.8.4 was released in early August to specifically address this flaw, which results in a password reset of WordPress accounts and allows someone to take control of the admin account. Doing so would give the person access to further information, as well as the ability to wreak havoc on the blog itself.

Though the vulnerability was initially published several weeks ago, this is the first report of malware specifically identifying and trying to exploit it. The WordPress developer is concerned that many servers are still running old versions, which puts them at risk. If you're maintaining a WordPress server that's behind on updates, consider this a heads up.

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OnLive cloud-based gaming service now in public beta

O
nLive's cloud-based gaming service has just rolled into open beta, so if you've been patiently awaiting its release, now might be a great time to test it out. According to OnLive's official blog, to gain entry to the public beta you must sign up on their site.

After signing up, you will have to provide general information about your ISP, computer specs and your location. OnLive uses this information to organize beta testers into groups. If you fit into a particular test group, OnLive will email you and request that you run a detailed performance test on your network connection and system configuration. They will review that information and may choose your setup to install the OnLive browser plug-in.

For the unfamiliar, OnLive is an on-demand video game service which takes the computational load of running today's high end games off of your PC, and places it onto their servers. Games are synchronized, rendered, and stored remotely and delivered via broadband Internet. The service allows you to play games on low-end systems running Windows XP, Vista (and presumably 7), as well as any Intel-based Mac with OS X.

You're probably thinking that the service will host the typical lame browser-based games, but it has numerous big names on-board, including Electronic Arts, Take-Two, Ubisoft, Epic Games, Atari, Codemasters, THQ, Warner Bros., 2D Boy and Eidos Interactive. It has a library of top-end games you would expect to see on the shelves of your local GameStop.

OnLive will also be selling a router-sized "MicroConsole" which has USB, HDMI, and Ethernet ports. By hooking the MicroConsole up to your TV and broadband line, you can play OnLive games sans computer. The service will require you to pay, but OnLive CEO Steve Perlman believes the console, controller, and subscription fee will be cheaper than the cheapest of consoles.

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Sony to pre-install Chrome browser on Vaio laptops

G
oogle is stepping up its efforts to nab some additional browser market share from leader Internet Explorer and second-placed Firefox. As promised earlier this year, the company has now formalized and revealed an agreement that will see Chrome pre-installed on all Sony Vaio-brand laptops sold in the U.S.

Although specific terms of the deal are not being disclosed, it probably includes some form of search advertising revenue sharing between the two. Google says it is actively pursuing other manufacturers to try and get its browser included on more machines. Indeed, OEM deals may be a key tool in the next generation of browser wars -- and Google is one of the few companies with the financial strength to pick off Microsoft.

The company even has plans to develop its own operating system, which is aimed primarily at low-power machines and netbooks, and will act as an access point for its web-based services.

The deal is not expected to include European markets. With the advent of Windows 7, Microsoft has already announced plans to introduce a web browser ballot screen for all current Windows versions in that region, giving users a choice of which software to use. Nevertheless, the move marks an important development for Chrome a year after it was first launched. Currently, Google's browser has around 30 million active users or around 2-3 percent of the global market, making it the fourth most-popular browser after Apple's Safari.

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Opera 10 complete, waiting to be downloaded

A
s expected, Opera has finally released the completed tenth version of their browser. Opera 10 delivers a revamped interface, a "turbo mode" for those with slower connections, automatic updates and more. Those who are using the release candidate build rolled out a week back may not notice a dramatic difference; the company only lists a few minor changes.

The newest Opera build boasts a 40% speed increase when running web applications (Gmail for instance). Opera Mail has seen numerous improvements and an inline spellchecker has been implemented. Other additions include resizable thumbnail tabs, and Speed Dial has been given personalization features. If you're one of the many who have been awaiting the arrival of Opera 10, grab your download for Windows here.

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reSTART, first US Internet addiction clinic opens

T
he first US gaming and texting addiction clinic is now open for business. Positioned 13 miles away from Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, the reSTART Internet Addiction Recover Program provides a 45-day intensive care program for Internet and game addicts. The package comes complete with psychotherapy, 12-step group counseling, nutritional education, personalized fitness plans, and "high adventure outings."

According to the clinic's mission statement, it is "specifically oriented toward launching tech dependent youth and adults back into the real world." The program is designed to help people break their Internet and/or computer-based cycle of dependency. Participants will engage activities that are often avoided because of excessive computer, video game, and Internet use.

For only $14,500 (or the cost of an 80.6-year WoW subscription as noted by ZDNet) you can hop on the path to recovery, and kick your Web abuse for good. Who's in line?

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Opera 10 release candidate available

O
pera Software has completed its first release candidate of Opera 10, a browser that the company says has better performance, a Turbo mode for slow Internet connections, support for a variety of Web standards such as Web fonts, and improvements to the Opera Mail feature.

"Now, we are very close to releasing the best browser in Opera's long history," Jan Standal, Opera's vice president of desktop products, said in a statement. "We hope everyone who has helped us test our browser thus far will put the release candidate through its paces."


The new Carakan JavaScript engine, which is used to run Web-based applications such as Google Docs, isn't done yet.

"It won't be ready for (Opera) 10 final, but rest assured that it will be impressive when it comes," spokesman Thomas Ford said. He said Opera won't comment on the timing of the new engine's release until it enters alpha testing.

Firefox, Safari, and Chrome also all are working furiously on better JavaScript performance too, in an effort to make the Web a better foundation for applications.

The new Opera release candidate is available for download for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Opera has been available for years as an alternative to the dominant Microsoft Internet Explorer, the second-ranked Firefox, and Apple's Safari. It was pushed into fifth place with the arrival of Google Chrome. The Opera browser often charts new territory, though. For example, its Speed Dial feature, which presents an array of Web site thumbnails when a person opens a new browser tab, was first introduced in 2007. A similar feature can now be found in Chrome and Safari, and Firefox may add something comparable.

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Google fixes two critical Chrome flaws

Without much fanfare, Google has pushed out an update for Chrome that will seal up two vulnerabilities which could have posed a serious risk. The flaws, present in the V8 JavaScript engine that Chrome relies upon, could result in data compromise or even worse, total system compromise through code execution.

One flaw pertained to potentially fraudulent HTTPS sessions, and the more dangerous of the two could be triggered simply by visiting a maliciously-crafted page with certain XML content. Google has pushed out version 2.0.172.43 of Chrome already, making it available for download to anyone who uses Chrome. If you haven't updated already, it's a good idea to snag it.


Interestingly, Google is crediting how they discovered the flaws. Mozilla's security team was apparently responsible for alerting Google to one problem, and a security researcher was credited with discovering the other. That may be only a small note, but it is encouraging to see browser developers working together in some fashion.

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YouTube to turn lucrative soon?

In 2006, Google paid a handsome $1.65 billion for video sharing site YouTube. Now three years later, the company has yet to turn a profit from its acquisition - but that may change soon. The search giant is looking at YouTube's not-so-distant future and it sees a lucrative business, according to CFO Patrick Pichette.

This year alone, analysts expect Google to lose between $70 million and $500 million on its grossly popular video site. Despite being in the red, YouTube has seen an explosion in popularity and viewership. That wide userbase may eventually turn a nice penny for the search company, as they work to coax new advertisers to the site.


Google has been working more closely with Hollywood, inking deals with Time Warner and Walt Disney. By signing those agreements, they hope the additional professional content will lure more advertisers. Although the company seems optimistic about YouTube's future, analysts offer a polarized outlook about the service's ability to generate profit.

"These are not signs of what I call a smart acquisition, these are signs of a dumb acquisition," said Global Equities Research analyst Chip Chowdhry. Bernstein Research believes that even if the company begins turning a profit, it won't be enough to cover costs associated with bandwidth and data storage.

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Yahoo to acquire Maktoob for rumored $75-$80 million

Yahoo is preparing to acquire Arab portal Maktoob for a rumored sum of approximately $75 million to $80 million. Established in 2000, the Jordan-based business was the world's first free Arabic/English web-based email service. Today, it has grown to be the region's leading Arab online community.

Internet use in the Middle East has grown more than tenfold since Maktoob's inception, and there are more than 320 million Arabic speakers worldwide - yet, less than 1% of all online content is in Arabic. The agreement with Yahoo is expected to change that, uniting Yahoo's 20 million Arab users with Maktoob's 16 million. The search player's content will soon be Arabized, starting with mail and messenger services.

Other parts of Maktoob group, Araby.com, Cashu.com, Souq.com, Tahadi MMO games are not packaged in the deal, and will instead be a separate company called Jabbar Internet Group. Products resulting from the agreement will be co-branded Yahoo and Maktoob. The companies are looking to close the deal by quarter four.

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Import your old mail and contacts to Gmail

A
lthough Google's web-based mail service rising in popularity, the pain of ditching old mail and contacts deters many who want to make the switch. A few months back, Google eased the pain of parting with your old account by allowing new users to import their previous mail data to Gmail - a welcomed feature.





However, many long-time Gmail users have email accounts lurking from years prior to Gmail's inception. The old accounts often contain dated confirmation emails and other data most people just can't let go. Gmail is now able to import that old data to existing accounts, and users can finally let their antiquated Hotmail account rest in peace.

To use the new feature, simply go to Settings, and then the Accounts & Import tab. Click Import mail and contacts and a follow the prompts from there. According to Google, the entire copy process takes a few days, but eventually everything will arrive to your Gmail account.

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Windows 7 RC downloads end Thursday

Following the planned death of Windows 7 Beta, the RC version that has been freely available to anyone to test since May will no longer be downloadable from Microsoft’s servers after Thursday of this week. This means that if you still haven't jumped on the test wagon, you'll have to wait another two months for the final release to get your hands on a copy.







Those of you already running the near-finished version of Windows 7 can continue using it for free. Even if you miss the August 20 deadline Microsoft says they'll keep handing out license keys for a while, so you can always grab a copy from torrent sites – be sure to verify your ISO, though. You'll have until March 2010 before Microsoft starts forcefully shutting your computer down every two hours and then face expiration on June. That'll give you plenty of time to test Microsoft’s upcoming operating system past the official and final release.

One word of caution: As mentioned by Microsoft themselves and in numerous other sources, there's no upgrade path other than a clean install to move from the RC build to the final version, so that may be one reason to hold off and wait for the official release at this point in time. Should you decide to give it a try anyway, we have posted a guide to dual boot Windows 7 RC with XP/Vista in three easy steps, and another one to reverse the process.

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Gmail to surpass Hotmail in seven months

Gmail launched as an invitation-only beta in 2004 and has grown a steady following since its release to the general public in 2007. Now, Google's web-based mail service has taken AOL's spot at number three for the most popular online email service and is showing no signs of slowing down. It is poised to overtake Hotmail - which has been around for over a decade.

According to ComScore, Gmail's monthly US visitors swelled from 25.3 million in July 2008 to 36.9 million in July 2009. Other Google services have also experienced a spurt, growing at a 46% rate this year compared to 39% in 2008 - its competitors haven't been as fortunate, though. AOL's monthly visitors have declined from 45.1 million to 36.4 million in the same period.







If Gmail's growth trend continues, the service will trump Microsoft's Windows Live Hotmail in about seven months. Hotmail currently caters to about 47.1 million visitors - a number that has remained flat in recent years. The service lost 4% of its total visitors between September 2007 and September 2008, and grew by 3% between July 2008 and 2009.

Yahoo Mail is the leading free web-based mail service, and has seen positive figures of late. Y! Mail grew by 11% in 2008, and 22% between 2008 and 2009. InformationWeek noted that the release of Windows 7 may renew interest in Microsoft services, and that Google has been encouraging businesses to start using Google Apps.

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Facebook sued over terms of service changes

If you think it's hard to keep just a small handful of people happy, imagine the monumental work behind keeping 250 million people happy. That's one of the tasks that huge social networking sites face on a daily basis, balancing the needs of tens or hundreds of millions of opinions all at once. Facebook has apparently failed in this, to the point that some users have decided to sue. It doesn't take much thought to stumble upon the reason why: Privacy.







With millions of people dumping very personal information onto the site, it seems many of them have an expectation as to who truly owns this. Due to recent changes to their privacy policy, Facebook seems to be taking the position that anything submitted to their site becomes their own property – a stance that has users in an uproar and has resulted in at least five people filing suit against the service.

Facebook denies the claims and plans to defend themselves against the accusations. The fight itself may not boil down to the wording in Facebook's terms, but rather the process involved in changing it. Part of the suit relies on a claim that Facebook doesn't notify (or notify properly) of changes to the ToS. Though just another suit among many, this is another example of the continuing struggle between users and service providers, battling over who truly owns what.

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Netscape founder backs browser startup RockMelt

After a successful run in the early to mid 1990s, which came to an end a few years later with the arrival of Windows 95 and Internet Explorer 4, Netscape founder Marc Andreessen is reportedly looking to get back into the browser game. Citing unnamed sources, the New York Times claims Andreessen and some of his former colleagues are investing in a new browser venture known as RockMelt.







This might give an interesting twist to the current browser wars, but do we really need another contender? Now that Firefox has prompted a new wave of competition in the market, things are started to feel a bit crowded with Chrome, Safari, Opera, and of course a renewed Internet Explorer. But Andreessen believes its new browser would be different from the rest, saying that most other browsers had not kept pace with the evolution of the web – pretty much what every other competitor claims about their rivals.

Little is known about RockMelt, but the Times suggests the browser is intended to be coupled with Facebook and ReadWriteWeb backs that notion claiming to have caught a glimpse at an early build. Considering Andreessen’s presence on the board of Facebook that doesn't seem too far-fetched. RockMelt could be a way to browse the web with a focus on Facebook (and the growing number of Facebook Connect partner sites) or just social networking in general – something Flock has tried to do with very limited success.

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Opera 10 moves into third beta

G
enerally, any attention on browsers these days is aimed at the big names, Firefox and Internet Explorer, with a sprinkling of affection for Safari every now and then. We can't forget the little guys in that, however, and the long-lived Opera remains in this category. Today Opera has pushed out a new beta of their upcoming version 10 browser, after a successful round of tests and user feedback that enabled them to move forward with the next stage of development.






Beta 3 introduces a handful of new features, with a lot of attention on the user interface and mechanical functionality of the browser. They're also citing stability improvements, something anyone can appreciate. One feature intentionally left out is Opera Unite, a relatively quiet technology that is intended to provide for “inter-browser” communication, an extension of social networking.

If you're an Opera fan or like to try out new browsers, check Opera 10 Beta 3 out yourself at their site.

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Mozilla Firefox 3.6 Alpha 1 available now

Mozilla recently introduced the first alpha release for the upcoming build of their popular browser, Firefox 3.6. Codenamed "Namoroka" Firefox 3.6 Alpha 1 is intended for developers only, and offers quite a long list of bug fixes as well as some performance tweaks.







Among the changes worth mentioning is an updated version of the TraceMonkey JavaScript engine, introduced in Firefox 3.5. Mozilla has also presented several new CSS3 properties like background size and gradients for background images.

Given its unfinished nature, Mozilla recommends that that only developers and testers install Firefox 3.6 Alpha 1. That said, if you are the daring type versions for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux are readily available. Be sure to tell us what you think in the comments!

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Microsoft: Dropping IE6 support not an option

Despite enthusiastic efforts around the world to move on to something better, IE6 is unlikely to go anywhere for a long time. Numerous alternatives exist, from Microsoft themselves, Mozilla and others, but while the software giant would like to see IE6 gone as much as anyone else it's still up to users to make the final decision to upgrade.






A post on the IEBlog touched on this topic recently and basically concludes that dropping IE6 support is simply not an option, for a variety of reasons. One of these includes the substantial user base that clings to the old browser, which still represents millions of web-connected users. Another and arguably more important reason is the commitment level Microsoft has to maintain.


They are stuck with the fact Windows XP shipped stock with IE6, and they have an obligation to continue supporting it for the lifetime of the product. That's a problem for Microsoft since extended support for Windows XP – and thereby IE6 – continues for another five years.

We're talking just Microsoft here, of course. Any other company around the world can choose to support whomever they wish – YouTube will soon drop support for IE6, most web developers cater exclusively to IE7 or higher and many other sites are urging users to upgrade as well. Ultimately, IE6 will die, but it is clear that Redmond expects that death to be slow and painful.

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Facebook/Twitter/LiveJournal Service Attack Targeted at Georgian Blogger

A
ll day Thursday three social media sites, Facebook, Twitter, and LiveJournal, were victims of distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS). It first started with Twitter and then moved to the others. Facebook initially didn’t say it was hit by a DDoS in its first press release but then later said: “Earlier this morning, Facebook encountered network issues related to an apparent distributed denial of service attack, that resulted in degraded service for some users [...] No user data was at risk and we have restored full access to the site for most users. We’re continuing to monitor the situation to ensure that users have the fast and reliable experience they’ve come to expect from Facebook.” Users on Facebook earlier in the morning, including myself, noticed pop-up error messages while doing simple tasks like viewing photos and commenting.







Twitter also released a statement saying, “As we recover, users will experience some longer load times and slowness.” As of this morning, Twitter seems to be back up and running as usual with only slight hiccups.

It may not be a coincidence that all three social media sites were attacked at almost the same time, but hopefully we’ll find out more soon.

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