iPhone virus – avast!
Soooo... apparently Mac's can't catch viruses but the iPhone certainly can. There is a flaw in the iPhone's software that allows any attacker to gain complete control over your phone. Flaw which Apple is aware of but still hasn't patched. The details are simple and as such I will cut to the chase: if you receive an SMS with a single square in it, by the love of God - TURN OFF YOUR PHONE.
You have been warned, be safe, buy a Palm Pré.
[via Engadget]
iPhone OS 3.0 Spam Exploit
The good silly folks over at AppleInsider are reporting on a flaw that might open the iPhone OS 3.0 to mass spam. While there is some truth to their claims, they are also being unnecessarily alarmist and making false claims.
The specifics of this exploit is that when you hacktivate an iPhone (i.e. activate it using Jailbreak), your iPhone will be using a private/public key pair to register with Apple's PNS (Push Notification Service) that already exists, in other words, it will be using a key that was not generated to your iPhone but that will be common to everyone who hacktivates their iPhone.
As a result, when a notification comes addressed to that key, all of the iPhones in the world that have been hacktivated would in theory receive that message.
Still, at AppleInsider they claim:
Destroying the application security layer of the iPhone does not itself automatically break PNS, but (when combined with an "unofficial activation" required to use it with unofficial service providers) results in the system having no legitimate certificates to use in performing push notifications. Essentially, if the phone is not properly activated as intended through iTunes, the user's credentials for signing into Apple's PNS messaging servers (which are generated by the device itself in normal conditions) are broken along with the application security layer.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, little Timmy! Let's debunk this, shall we?
- An unofficial activation (read, hacktivation) is NOT required to use it with unofficial service providers. If an iPhone is already officially activated, the jailbreak will not reactivate it.
- Jailbreaking does NOT necessarily mean that you want to use your iPhone with unofficial service providers. Jailbreaking simply allows you to install third-party applications, such that aren't installed through the regular AppStore.
- You need to jailbreak to use the iPhone with an unofficial service provider, but jailbreaking does not have only that purpose. You can for instance jailbreak to run cracked games. Sure, it doesn't make it any more legitimate or legal, but it is not the same thing.
Finally, I must stress the notion: if you have an officially activated iPhone and if you jailbroke it afterwards, YOU ARE SAFE. Actually, I am not sure about the status of redsn0w right now, but when it was first released the push notifications would not even work for hacktivated iPhones! Still, if you would activate your iPhone normally and then jailbreak it, you would get your push notifications working. In a nutshell, if you have it officially activated, jailbreak will not put you at risk of being spammed.
As for hacktivated iPhones... well, tough luck guys. It seems like you are better off turning of the push notifications if you don't want to be spammed in a near future.
[via Engadget]
Windows 7 RTM’ed
Yes, that's correct. Windows 7 was officially released to manufacturing and this version should be available over the course of the next few days.
Here's the comemoration video the guy at Microsoft made to celebrate the launch:
For the whole release schedule, hit up the Windows Team Blog.
Imageshack Hacked? – Yes!
The famous website for hosting images, imageshack.us, has just recently been hacked with the manifesto below. Our sources say all images were replaced with this manifesto, but according to the manifesto itself «no images were harmed in the making of this... image». Let's hope for the users' sake that this is indeed true.
It remains to be seen what does Imageshack actually have to do with the topic of this manifesto...
Google Chrome OS – First Screenshots! [UPDATE]
Here they are! The (supposed) first screenshots of what is to become Google's Operating System. The credibility and plausibility of those screenshots is actually flaky, but it's the best we have at the moment. Whether they are photoshopped or the real thing, time will tell.
The blog the images were taken from: here.
[via Engadget]
Update: The blog is a lie! Like I suspected, the leaked screenshots are actually fake. It didn't look so bad though!
Musical Tesla Coil Plans
A great deal of people seem to land in my blog searching for the plans for building a Musical Tesla Coil. Therefore, I decided to do some researching myself and I am posting here my findings. I hope you find them useful 
Till the next time!
Staples Leiria – July 6th 2009
Below is a shot taken in Leiria, Portugal at the doors of the chain retailer Staples. The crowd patiently awaits for the doors to open for a stock-off sale. Later on people ended up losing their patience and forced the entry; the police was called to the spot to help with the crowd control.
There are reports of people literally camping the store, having parked there at 22h of the previous day and slept there during the night. Amazing.
The end of the Ubuntu vs. Windows war!
YAY!
Christopher Dawnson over at ZDNet has announced the end of the Ubuntu vs. Windows war, the world is safe again!
Till the next time!
WAIT! Hold it!
What the heck?! Wasn't ZDNet supposed to be a reliable source of information regarding technology? So what are these shenanigans about his 17 year old saying that they're the same? I'll tell you what it is: it is the most bold statement I've heard all year, and also the most idiotic one. So just because a 17 year old says that they're the same, 6 billion people will just agree and this fact will just be set in stone? Bullshit.
Windows and Linux are different; it's about time people realize that. I absolutely need both so is this proof enough that they are ultimately different?
Christopher says: "Their underlying architectures are quite a bit different, Gnome looks different than the 7 UI, etc.". The underlying architectures are quite a bit different, Gnome looks different than 7 does, but apart from that, which by the way is everything that effing matters in an Operating System, they're pretty much the same.
I have a Hyundai Getz, my neighbour has a Ferrari, but apart from the engine and the chassis they're pretty much the same. They both have wheels! A whole set of four! So they must be the same...
Come on guys... get serious.