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Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Failure to understand hackers led to Sony security woes
12 hrs.
The exploits of the hacker known as Geohot have been in the news for years, but to people outside the world of tech it has been more like a series of isolated events than one cohesive story. A new account by The New Yorker adds little information but binds the last five years of hacking into a single thread, showing convincingly that what has contributed most to companies' security woes has been an inability to understand the motivations of those who hack.
Sony has been a favorite target for hackers recently, and it all started when George Hotz, a.k.a. Geohot, opened?up a PS3 to new uses. He wasn't sticking it to the man -- this kind of "jailbreaking" is a time-honored tradition among hackers, the epitome of man vs. machine.
"It?s competitiveness, but it isn?t necessarily competitiveness with other people," Hotz told the New Yorker. "It?s you versus the system. And I don?t mean the system like the government thing, I mean the system like the computer. ?I?m going to stick it to the computer. I?m going to make it do this!'"
Sony had?repeatedly trumped the PS3's security, yet Hotz cracked it in a month. They retreated and restricted what the device could do, and he cracked it again, but faster and better. Each round of patching led to increased righteous indignation among a noisy but small group of users. Eventually, though,?that group took matters further, launching an all-out attack on a company they now?considered an oppressor. Soon, websites started crashing and?the PlayStation Network and other Sony?online services were breached.?
What began as a spat with a single tinkerer ended up costing the company potentially?hundreds of millions of dollars, not to mention quite a bit of credibility, as anonymous hackers spent the next year?attacking them and the highly?public legal battle with Hotz grew into a David vs. Goliath situation.
Hackers didn't break into PSN to collect credit card numbers, they did it for two reasons: first, to protest Sony's handling of the PS3 jailbreak patch and to make the company realize that its boasting was far from justified. Second, for fun. Hotz says: "I don?t hack because of some ideology.?I hack because I?m bored."
It took a long time for Sony to do what they probably should have done in the first place: Call up Hotz and ask for his help. Facebook, quicker to seize on the opportunity a talented hacker like Hotz offered, had already employed him for eight months.?If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, they say -- or if you're a billion-dollar company, make 'em join you.
What hackers like Hotz represent is the future; they may be super-advanced users today, but in a few years their needs and wants will be mainstream. Who would have thought that hackers' wildest dreams in the early days of Playstation, of streaming video and installing Linux, would become standard features??Hackers see these needs before their peers, and using the skills they've learned as digital enthusiasts, they supply for their own demand.
If companies like Sony recognize these prodigal sons?of skill and foresight as the jewels they are, and not as vague threats to be put down, they might not only avoid some expensive troubles, but they could improve as a company and provide better for their customers. The story of Geohot and his peers shows this clearly, and hopefully that lesson is being learned in the tech industry at large.
Geohot once wrote on his blog that "Hacker is to computer as plumber is to pipes." People learned a long time ago to remain on good terms with their plumbers, mechanics, electricians, and so on. They're learning that it's just as important to be on good terms with their hackers.
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. His personal website is coldewey.cc.
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Alienware's new gaming laptops get matching Ivy Bridge processors
Alienware is crossing the Ivy Bridge, less than a week since announcing its refreshed family of gaming laptops. Intel's latest hardware will now lend itself to all three models, the M14x (from $1100) M17x (starting at $1500) and M18x (from $2000), replacing the existing Sandy Bridge architecture in the models we saw earlier this month. Starting with the smallest, the M14x will be powered by an Intel Core i7-3820QM (up to 2.7GHz), while larger models will get their processors nudged up to the 2.9 GHz Core i7-3920XM (M17x) and 2.9GHz Core i7-3920XM (M18x). Alienware reckons these new additions will lend a 15 percent increase to the rigs' performance (depending on use), augmenting improvements seen with new PCI Express 3.0 support, mSATA cached storage and the latest generation of NVIDIA graphics. Dell's now ready to take your order -- alongside a mind-boggling number of customization options -- at the source link below.
Continue reading Alienware's new gaming laptops get matching Ivy Bridge processors
Alienware's new gaming laptops get matching Ivy Bridge processors originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Romney says he would have ordered bin Laden killed
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at the Portsmouth Fish Pier in Portsmouth, N.H., Monday, April 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at the Portsmouth Fish Pier in Portsmouth, N.H., Monday, April 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A supporter holds a book showing an image of Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Monday, April 30, 2012, at a campaign rally at the Portsmouth Fish Pier in Portsmouth, N.H. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) ? Once a moment of national unity, the political battle over Osama bin Laden's death intensified Monday as presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney sought to minimize the role President Barack Obama has carved out for himself in killing the terrorist leader.
The president's re-election campaign has raised questions about Romney's willingness to assassinate the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. Obama authorized the U.S. military raid in Pakistan that ended with bin Laden's death after a decade in hiding one year ago this week.
Romney pushed back Monday, saying "of course" he would have made the same decision.
"Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order," Romney said, referencing the former president in his answer to a reporter's question after a campaign appearance in New Hampshire.
Romney was scheduled to appear Tuesday in New York City with firefighters and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani to help mark Wednesday's anniversary of bin Laden's death. Obama and his national security team will be featured in a NBC prime-time special Wednesday night that reconstructs the operation from inside the White House Situation Room.
Obama said Monday that the anniversary is a time for reflection, not celebration.
"I hardly think you've seen any excessive celebration taking place here," he said at a White House news conference. "I think that people, the American people, rightly remember what we as a country accomplished in bringing to justice somebody who killed over 3,000 of our citizens."
But Obama is using the successful military operation to help maximize a political narrative that portrays him as having the courage to make the tough calls his opponent might not.
Bin Laden was killed his compound in Abbottabod, Pakistan, by U.S. Navy SEALs after evading capture for nearly 10 years.
Obama sent in the U.S. forces with no assurance that bin Laden was at the site, leading to a heart-pounding scene in the Situation Room that was captured in one of the most famous photos of Obama's presidency.
But Romney and his advisers suggested Monday that the decision to order the raid was an easy one. In evoking Carter, however, Romney may have clouded his message.
Carter demonstrated how dangerous such decisions can be when he ordered an attempt to rescue American hostages held in Iran. The 1980 mission ultimately embarrassed the nation, ending with the death of eight servicemen and the loss of several American helicopters. The hostage crisis lasted more than a year and helped deny Carter a second term.
On Sunday, Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs said it was unclear whether Romney would have made the same decision as Obama.
"Look, just a few years ago, President Obama ? then a candidate ? said in a speech that if we had actionable intelligence of a high-value target in Pakistan, we'd go in and get that high value target," Gibbs said on NBC's "Meet the Press." ''Mitt Romney said that was foolish. He wouldn't do such a thing. That he wouldn't move heaven and earth to get Osama bin Laden."
Obama's campaign last week released a video featuring former President Bill Clinton that seeks to reinforce Gibbs' doubts about what Romney would have done in that situation. "Which path would mitt Romney have taken?" the video asks.
Democrat Arianna Huffington, founder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post, said the campaign ad went too far.
"I think it's one thing to celebrate the fact that they did such a great job. All that is perfectly legitimate," she said on CBS' "This Morning." ''But to turn it into a campaign ad is one of the most despicable things you can do."
Former New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu, a key Romney supporter who was chief of staff in the first Bush White House, said Obama is wrongly taking credit for bin Laden's killing. Sununu said the decision to strike was ultimately made by a Navy admiral.
"It's wrong in taking credit and it's wrong in implying that someone else would not have made the same decision," Sununu said before Romney addressed a crowd on Portsmouth Fish Pier. "There is no way that anyone sitting in that White House would not have at least done what he did."
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Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Video: Final beam on One World Trade
MSNBC?s Tamron Hall takes a look at two workers laboring to put the final beam in One World Trade Center, making it the tallest building in New York City.
>> news. they are placing this final beam that will make world trade center -- one world trade center the tallest building in new york city . these are live pictures. new york city officials are there marking this amazing milestone. there are many people wondering if the progress would be seen at the scene where so many thousands lost their lives. one world trade center becoming the tallest building in new york city . an emotional time. the unfinished building now stands more than 1250 feet high. additional floors are still being built. before the tower reaches its full height, that is expected to be next year. up until today, the empire state building had been the tallest building in new york city . again, workers are putting the steel columns in place that will make the unfinished frame of the building a little more than 1250 feet high. that's just high enough to peak over the roof of the observation deck of the empire state building . it is expected to reach its full height for at least another year. they will have 408 foot tall needle that is expected to be the tallest building in the u.s. and the third tallest in the world. that is the goal with this building. again, counting this 400-foot tall needle that will be placed upon it, it is expected to be the tallest building in the united states and the third tallest in the world. this emotional milestone. it means so much. people who have visited here, who have gone by this site for more than a decade wondering if we would ever look upon this sight and feel the pride and feel the comfort of knowing that the city, the nation recovered from this devastating day. this is one of the milestones we mark together watching this. and while we're seeing two workers labor, this is certainly something that we all feel in our hearts and our soul to see this occasion, to mark this milestone. we'll continue to watch. there's a ceremony. we'll have more live images. we're all watching it together. it now becomes the tallest building in new york. it will go on to be the tallest building in the united states and the third tallest
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The Daily Blog Post: Finding Great Music That Is Legal And Costs ...
There are ways that you can legally download or listen to great music, and it will not cost any money. It will not take very long and will not be complicated, either. Here are some ways to look into.
Classical Music
If you search the Web for classical creations, you may find a lot of different sites. It is not hard to find a site like Classiccat, with a lot of good selections that you can download. This may be due to the fact that many classical pieces are many years old. There may not be any patents or copyrights on them, to worry about.
Streaming Media
There are many good songs and albums that you can listen to, as long as you are online. Streaming audio allows you to listen to songs from an Internet source. Some are of high quality and very up to date. However, streaming media cannot be downloaded or copied to hard drives or MP3 players. You must listen to it from the Internet.
A lot of sites offer the opportunity to stream audio recordings to your computer. You can go to a site like Altsounds and listen to all kinds of recordings. You can also read reviews about your favorite artists and their new releases. Although a few songs can be downloaded, most can only be received by streaming audio.
Indie
Independent artists are ones that do not work with the major recording companies. Some of these artists are well-known and famous. Many of their albums and songs will be available on "Indie" websites. Indie is a term that stands for independent music. Although some of the selections may be free, some may be for sale, too. Websites like Dmusic and Indierockcafe are two examples of Indie websites.
New Bands
A lot of bands and individuals are trying to make it in the entertainment world. One of the first things that they search for is recognition. When you go to websites like Unsignedbandweb, you can find many bands that are not currently signed with anyone. This may be a good way to find a lot of talent in the rough. You may find free songs from bands that are destined for greatness.
Songs For Kids
Music is very important for small children, as it can build a lifetime of appreciation. A lot of songs that your child may want to hear are many years old, and are in public domain. This can make it much easier to find what you want. You may also find websites like Freekidmusic. They offer a great deal of songs that are made for small children, and it is free.
Final Thoughts
There are many fine audio recordings that you can download or listen to online. A lot of them are free of charge, too. Classical music is one of the easiest to find and download. Many of the creations are centuries old and are in public domain. Streaming audio is an excellent way to listen to many of your favorite songs. However, streaming media cannot be recorded or copied to your computer. Independent artists sometimes make their albums available to sites, and some of it is free of charge. Many new bands that are just getting started will offer their songs and albums for no charge. This is to promote themselves and become well-known. If you have very small children, you can find a lot of great music made just for kids. Many of them offer free services.
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