In Technology

For Mac OS X: MacScan detects, isolates and removes spyware

Dan — Thu, 10 May 2007 09:50:51 +0000

Macs have always been said to be much more secure than their PC friends but if it’s your passwords or just what you do that needs to be kept secure you can never be too careful.

MacScan is designed for the Mac OS X; its job is to detect, isolate and remove spyware, trojan horses, keystroke loggers and to make remote administration applications aware if they have been inadvertently or maliciously installed on your Macintosh computer.

Packed with features to keep your Mac protected (view full list on securemac.com), MacScan will Detect, Isolate and Remove Administration Applications, Blacklisted Cookies, Trojan Horses, Keystroke Loggers and Spyware.
One thing we always feel is that you can never be to overprotective.

Hackers able to pick up on quantum encrypted messages

Dan — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 06:37:49 +0000

When you hear words like “quantum-mechanical wiretap” it either goes over your head or you think “What’s that about then”.

Well a simulation has proven that it is very possible to eavesdrop on super-secure encrypted messages which were thought to be nearly 100% uncrackable (guess my security is back to passwords then, what password next and I wonder what’s common).

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge has a team of researchers that have hacked into a network protected by quantum encryption (this has happened for the first time).

Using the laws of quantum mechanics to encode data securely, quantum cryptography was thought to be uncrackable and secure but I guess all things can be undone and it’s just finding out how.
Via nature.com

Your Tech Predictions for 2007/2008

Dan — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 05:24:09 +0000

Many people make tech predictions about the up and coming technologies, what will take off, what will not and what future technology may come out.

Well we have heard many different opinions and predictions which we have listed a few we have heard of before, but please leave a comment on what you think will be big in the rest of 2007 or even 2008 or 2009.

Few Windows XP users will upgrade to Vista

I have heard this many times said by many people and now vista is here I wonder how many people have not upgraded and how many that have, I was not going too but as my free windows vista disc arrived (as I not long brought the computer) I upgraded and other than a few bugs I am amazed at how good the security is and the slick look and feel…so has few people upgraded?

Sixty-inch plasma for $2,000 by the end of 2007

Will this come true or not? I have seen 50 inch screens at this price but not 60 inch, but then we have many months till the end of 2007.

Digital photo frames take off

I heard a while ago that digital photo frames will take off and I would say they are about to or already have as I walked into many shops yesterday and all I saw was digital photo frames.

HD DVD surrenders by September

No chance, I believe Blu-ray will win but the war has just started and HD DVD will not give up just yet.

No SED televisions before 2008

I cannot find anywhere to buy them yet, but I think it will be the next big technology for TVs (SED stands for surface-conduction electron-emitter display).

Do you have any Tech predictions you would like to share, if so leave a comment below.

MP3 Players You Shake before You Can Listen

Dan — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 11:11:43 +0000

The Sansa Shaker is a MP3 player that features many different ways to listen to and share your songs.
It has a built in speaker to enjoy your music without using head phones to play your favourite music, it comes with two headphone jacks so you and a friend can listen together.

It is easy to change your songs on the Sansa Shaker as it is just a shake away. You can impress your friends by shaking the device to jump to the next song, or use the colourful controller bands.

The MP3 player comes in a choice of pink or blue and is around $39.99 to buy
You can read more at sandisk

Apple Have Run Into Issues With The iPhone’s

Dan — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:52:07 +0000

Have Apple Run into issues with the upcoming iPhones?

Whispers on the street have it that Apple has run into some issues with the iPhone’s OS, which is preventing a solid supply to be shipped in May.

A source from the manufacturer has said that it does not look very feasible that Apple will be able to ship units out in May and we should expect the iphones to trickle out by the end of June.

Apple has apparently sent up to 50 engineers to Taipei to work around the clock to get the bugs worked out so the iPhone can ship on time.

A source has said that such a shift in manpower is part of the reason Leopard was delayed. How likely it is that Apple would have sent that many people halfway around the world, but I suppose anything is possible.

I think it is still early in the game to pre judge but could Apple just be making sure that both the iPhone and Leopard are compatible this would make sense or are they making sure they will have enough stock to be able to cope with the high demand for this phone just like the high demand for the Xbox which we all had to wait months for even though you could pre ordered it months before the realise date.

These are, of course, just rumours, and it is possible that the iPhone will roll out just fine in June with thousands upon thousands of people lining up buy this iphone.
Read more on gizmodo

Is Cowell Bigger Than Springsteen

Dan — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:15:36 +0000

Do you think that Simon Cowell is bigger than Bruce Springsteen?
Music producer simon has said that he should be paid upto five times more than $100m for signing Bruce by their record label Sony BMG.

Simon said that he sells more records than Bruce Springsteen.
He said in the last five years he has sold over 100m records and if Bruce got $100m then he should have got $500m.

The X Factor winners from more than 30 different countries are all signed to the label.
Simon is responsible for signing the winner of American Idol and the runners up are also distributed by labels which are also part of the Sony Group.

In December last year, Cowell struck a deal with ITV to remain on The X Factor in the UK until 2009, reportedly worth £20m

He has a separate deal with the Fox network in the US to appear as a judge on American Idol

What do you think should he be paid more?
read more on the BBC

Do Web Counting Tools Need To Change

Dan — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:56:14 +0000

The Web counting tools need to be changed because the way the web audiences are measured could be ripe for an overhaul according to the two reports out this week.

Measurements that are based on page views and cookies could be affected by changing user behaviour, which is what the studies have warned.

Net measurement firm com Score found cookies used to track user behaviour are being over-counted and a separate study argues that page view measurements are outdated due to an explosion in audio and video content.

In com Score’s study of 400,000 home PCs in the US found that a minority of web users are clearing their cookies from their computers on a regular basis.
This causes servers to then deposit new cookies which in turn could lead to an over-estimate of unique number of users to a particular website.
read more on the BBC

Space Probe Proves Einstein Was Right

Dan — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 09:33:31 +0000

Albert Einstein was born in 1879 and died well over 50 years ago but only now is being proved right on two key predictions he made about general relativity theory.

Today’s scientists will be using the latest technology in the form of a space probe to prove Albert Einstein correct which is amazing considering this man died over 50 years ago when this technology was just a dream.

Early results from a NASA mission show the great man was right about at least one of his key predictions.
Read more on BBC TECH

One-time passwords to provide connection security

Dan — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 19:10:19 +0000

If a hacker gets your password they may then be able to cause you many problems but with OTP (one-time password) that problem is solved as the password only works one time.

One-time password works by generating a unique password that provides connection security by working just one time (no more problems with people being silly with common passwords), this stops password sniffing attacks dead.

This technology is been around a while but only now is getting a lot of attention because of the ongoing threat from increasingly sophisticated malware, phishing and pharming attacks.

This is not just geeks trying to break in but also organized crime for money who wish to get your passwords.
Read more on processor.com

Latest Windows Security Patches: Your Urged to download

Dan — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 10:19:45 +0000

We see security updates for windows and we download them to protect ourselves and sometimes things go wrong and this is one such time as a patch released in early April has been causing problems for some users and now there is an updated version of this.

Also Microsoft has fixed some critical flaws in there operating system and if you’re a Windows user you are being urged by the company to download the latest security patches.

Microsoft has released five patches in total which four have been marked as critical.
Via BBC

Billionaire Space Tourist Docks with International Space Station

Dan — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 10:07:45 +0000

I may never go into space but one man that has is the billionaire space tourist Charles Simonyi, he has just docked with the International Space Station (ISS) while on a Russian spacecraft carrying two crew and himself.

The flight took two days to reach the Space Station from earth and you too may be able to go one day if you can find the same $25m that the 58 year old paid to go into space.
Read more on the BBC

New Apple TV Hacks: RSS reader and video game emulation

Dan — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 10:03:52 +0000

Some hacks are bad but these kind of hacks for the Apple TV are good hacks, it’s only the second week of Apple TV availability and you now get two new abilities thanks to a couple of new hacks.

Hack One:
RSS is big news these days on the web and has/is changing the way the web works and as such it is suitable that Apple TV gets RSS, so this hack gives the Apple TV a fully functional and integrated RSS reader.

Hack Two:
Retro is fashionable and popular in everything and that includes video games, we all love the classics and they keep getting remade.
So hack two is video game emulation for Sega Genesis, N64, SNES and NES game consoles.

You can read more details on the above at engadget

Dating Web site targets fit, good-looking people

Dan — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 10:18:45 +0000

Many people use online dating sites as their life’s are very busy and have not been able to get out and meet people or they are just too shy, well one such dating site has blown many people away because they say “Are you hot? If not, no use visiting this site”.

Jason Pellegrino aged 33 runs HotEnough.org and his dating website aims itself at the hot and better looking people (which we would like to point out what one person sees as good looking is not another’s).

If you would like to become a member of this dating site you must submit pictures and must be rated an 8 or higher by people already in the club.
If you do not archive this then you will not be able to e-mail other hotties, then the sad part is if you get an 8 or higher then you will be charged $9.95 a month to email others for a date.
We think he’s put together a dating site that is different but it does put many people in a BOX.

The numbers of bot-infected PCs is rising

Dan — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 12:16:02 +0000

When a large number of hijacked computers are under the control of a single person remotely via a control system and net-based command, this is called a BOTNET.
The number of these computers joining a BOTNET is increasing, as the computers are being hijacked by malicious hackers with one mission (to send out viruses and spam).

There are more than six million computers world-wide that are part of a bot network, this figure is up by around 30% than in 2006 according to a recent survey by security firm Symantec.

One third of all these computer attacks came from computers in the United States and we guess many of the people that own these PC’s have not got a clue they are being used in such a way.
News Source

Smart Fabrics: Special Forces, Athletes and Diabetics

Dan — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 09:40:02 +0000

To monitor how US special forces cope during combat situations is a new technology (Smart Fabrics), at Cebit Zephyr showed everyone two very cool patented products, the shoe pod and a bio-harness.

The bio-harness is a length of fabric that is worn around the chest with sensors woven into it (a patented textile) and the shoe pod is a smart insole made with the same patented textile.

These patented fabrics can record physiological information when paired with electronics to broadcast and store the data.

The New Zealand firm Zephyr say this Hi-Tech gear can not only be worn by special forces but also by athletes to measuring how they react in training.

We have looked at the Zephyr website and found they have other smart technologies which include the BioHarness, Impact SF, ShoePod and the ShoePod Diabetic.

We love the Impact SF which combines Smart Fabric sensors with embedded electronics and software algorithms to create an amazing system which is capable of detecting and quantifying impact, this even includes a ballistic impact or just a slow collision.
The Impact SF can even be custom made or integrated into existing garments and structures.

As my dad has diabetics the ShoePod Diabetic took my eye and that technology can make a real difference to a lot of people who have to live a life with diabetics.

60 per cent of diabetics are effected by Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy (DPN), which is a condition that can be helped thank to the early warning system the ShoePod provides.

This condition can lead to foot ulceration and amputation so the ShoePod hopes to feel a need using it’s ShoePod sensing technology
Visit Zephyr