Editor’s note: Tadhg Kelly is a veteran game designer and creator of leading game design blog What Games Are. He manages developer relations at OUYA. You can follow him on Twitter here.
It’s nice to know that the games industry can still surprise you and that – just when everybody thinks it’s been figured out – there’s room for aFlappy Bird. Flappy Bird, if you don’t know, is the latest game-from-nowhere that’s taken over the App Store. It’s another Dots, Temple Run, Ridiculous Fishing, Candy Crush Saga, Puzzle and Dragon, Tiny Wings or Fruit Ninja. The game that seems to just pop, leaving many heads scratching as to how it did it.
The repeated success of these games shows that there is always room for a new game mechanic. Players still like to play a fun game that seems new compared to all the other stuff they’ve been playing lately. Simple. Yet if there’s one thing on which you can always rely, it’s that the industry will over-complicate what it means.
On Friday, a Gmail outage led to widespread panic and confusion across the globe. That same day, an apparently unrelated glitch also caused thousands of emails to end up in the inbox of some guy named David S. Peck. (A Hotmail user, it should be noted.)
Here’s what happened: users who searched “Gmail” were led to a results page with a link that said “Email.” Clicking that link created a new email with Peck’s address – dsp559@hotmail.com — already filled in. A tipster pointed this out to TechCrunch, who then tracked down the owner of the email address: David S. Peck of Fresno, Calif. They gave him a call to see just how badly this bizarre glitch was affecting him.
“I’ve been getting thousands of no-subject, blank emails,” Peck told TechCrunch. “500 of them come every hour, I can’t stop them.”
The deluge got so extreme that Peck began missing important messages because he couldn’t delete the unwanted emails fast enough. Most were blank, but some contained messages like “who is this?” or “why are you sending me these emails?”
On Friday night, Google said this glitch was unrelated to the Gmail outage, and offered the following statement:
Due to a technical glitch, some email addresses on public webpages appeared too prominently in search results. We’ve fixed the issue and are sorry for any inconvenience caused.
A. Yes and yes! There have already been a few tablet-specific viruses and it’s only a matter of time before they become widespread. For anti-virus software, I recommend Lookout’s anti-virus app. It also works on smartphones, so download it for your other mobile gadgets, too. It helps to make sure your tablet is running the most recent software it can, too. To update an iPad, go to Settings>>General Software Update and for Androids, it’s Settings>>System Updates. I recommend switching your phone’s default browser, too. Chrome and Opera Mini are both fantastic mobile browsers that are more secure.
Turns out the mastermind behind the software leading to a massive Target breach that swiped credit card information from 110 million customers last November may have been none other than a (brilliant) teenager,according to investigators.
Authorities suspect that an unnamed 17-year-old with “ties to St. Petersburg” may have developed the “malware” software used to skim credit card numbers in the enormous data breach, which involved the theft of everything from confidential credit and debit card data to personal information like addresses and phone numbers. That same software may have also been used to hit up several other retailers, and a federal report this week suggested the software breach was an organized, likely Russian-instigated cyber attack on the U.S.
California cyber-security firm IntelCrawler says they’ve identified the “malware”‘s architect, tracking the software back to a 17-year-old with the username “ree4.” And though the firm does not believe the teenager orchestrated the cyber-attack, they note this isn’t the first malicious software he has designed, as per CEO Andrew Komarov: “Previously he has created several tools used in hacking community for brute force attacks, such as ‘Ree4 mail brute’, and also earned some first money with social networks accounts hacking and DDoS attacks trainings, as well as software development including malicious code.”
Several online chats were embedded in the report; the chats were conducted in Russian, and the translation alleges Ree4 sold one download of the software for $2000; investigators have still not managed to pinpoint the hackers directly responsible for the attack.
Baojun Yuan is a member of China Senior Photographers Association. He is highly respected by Chinese people. Why? In the past nine years, Mr. Yuan has repaired more than 2000 old photos for residents for free. Course it is not surprising enough if you have no idea about this great man. Mr. Yuan is 76 years old now. He didn’t know Photoshop until his was 60 years old. Mr. Yuan learned repairing skills from a teacher and was soon skilled in it. Considering that repairing old photos is too expensive for most of the residents to afford, Mr. Yuan himself bought a computer and a scanner and began service people without any charge. In his words “my teacher just taught me how to repair the photos, but he forgot to tell me how to charge”.
Let’s have a look at Mr. Yuan’s works with respect.
As much as we try to fight it, most people have a very stereotypical image come to mind when they think of coders and software entrepreneurs: pale, unshaven, twenty-something males.
Lyndsey Scott is none of those things. Though passionate about acting, she majored in computer science in college and then went on to become a model for brands such as Victoria’s Secret, Gucci, and Prada.
We first learned about Lyndsey and her surprising workload from her profile on Stack Overflow, a site that lets programmers ask questions about their code and get helpful responses from other members of the community with expertise on specific topics.
She’s something of a celebrity on the site: users gain reputation points for providing helpful answers and the site keeps track of the number of views each profile attracts. To date, she’s gained over 1,000 reputation points and her profile has been viewed over 38,000 times.
Earlier this week, Lyndsey and I had a chat about her modeling and coding careers. Read on for her thoughts on developing for iOS over Android, being a “lurker” on a coding forum, and what it takes to get young women into coding and computers.
Choose one of our Top 5 Website Builders, and have a Professional Website in Minutes
Building a website has never been easier. The days of paying high website design fees, or doing it yourself by struggling with HTML code are over. Today, you can let your own creativity, not your technical limitations, determine how your website looks. Some of these 5 website builders offer a free sign-up so that you can give each one a try before choosing the service that is right for you.
Once you choose a Website Builder, the process is simple:
Signup (sometimes FREE)
Try Wix for free,
with no credit card required
Choose a Designed Template
Pick one that reflects the site
you want to build
Customize with Ease
Simply drag and drop until
it looks right.
Publish in a click!
▾▴ RANK
PROVIDER
▾▴ FREE TRIAL
FEATURES
PROS
CONS
▾▴ RATING
& MORE INFO
14 days
• Templates: 24+
• Advanced Editor
• Advanced Blog
• Mobile Site Builder
Advanced HTML5 Website Builder with great design features and ad-dons.
Limited Number of Templates; higher than average pricing.
Samsung promised at CES last January that it would deliver a 110-inch UHDTV this year, and with just a couple of days left to spare here it is. Apparently rolling out in China, the Middle East and a few European countries first, there’s no word on price (the 85-inch version that launched earlier this year had a $40K pricetag attached when it launched), but can you really put a price on a TV that’s bigger than a king-size bed? That’s right, at 2.6-meters by 1.8-meters there’s more than enough room for well-heeled VIPs or employees of large companies and government agencies (the target market for the S9110) to catch some z’s on it — and bring a few friends. It’s available for custom orders just before we see the new generation of Ultra HD (including a 105-inch curved model) at CES 2014 next week, although most of us will be looking for TVs that actually fit inside our living room.
Update: Even though the set is custom order only, an Associated Press report puts the price at about $150,000 — anyone want to get a group order going?.
Type in an address and you can see the locations of all reported felonies nearby for all months from January 2012 to October 2013, or you can see how felonies stack up by precinct.
“This administration has relied on data to drive its crime fighting, and this map helps enhance New Yorkers’ and researchers’ understanding of where felony and violent crime persists,” NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly says is a release.
Gothamist’s crime map—which culls scanner reports to provide you an up-to-the-minute look at what’s happening around the city—is currently under repair. Look for our new and improved crime map in a few weeks.
Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.
For the tech lover’s arsenal, tablets have undoubtedly become a must-have. A tablet is one of the most portable and convenient ways to have access to Internet, e-mail, video chat and camera anywhere you go.
What To Look For
Looking for a tablet that suits your needs is relatively simple. First, you have to consider the purpose of buying a tablet and what features do you like best. Many tablets in the market today offer entertainment features with high screen resolution, video chat capabilities, strong graphics and HDMI ports. Others include multitasking capabilities, long battery life, multiple inputs, powerful processors and various ways to connect to the Internet.
Features
Operating System
Basically, the operating system is what makes a tablet run. It is an essential factor when buying. If you are familiar with the Android, Windows or iOS operating systems, you will most definitely enjoy a smooth transition to tablets that also use the same OS.
Battery Life
Battery life adds more freedom to any small, lightweight device. Usually, tablets last for hours longer than laptops and mostly smartphones. The battery life of a good tablet will last up to 9 hours, at least, where most average laptop batteries run out of juice after 4 hours.
Camera
The best tablets come with good quality front and rear cameras that can record HD video. A good front-facing camera is for video chat while the rear-facing camera is designed for taking still shots and recording video. The best tablets in the market today are capable of taking 8MP photos.
Hardware
Processor
The tablet’s processor is responsible for the speed of the device. Overall, a quadcore processor will run faster than a dual-core. You may see a tablet with 2.5GHz processor and think that seems fast, which it is. However, if it’s a dual-core, it won’t run nearly as fast as a 1.8GHz quadcore processor.
RAM And Storage
Essentially, more RAM means your tablet will run faster and be more responsive. Tablets in the market today usually come with 1GB of RAM, though 2GB is quickly becoming the norm, with some even going as high as 8GB. The best tablets feature expandable storage space up to 64GB with an SD card.
Display
The display affects the way your tablet looks. If you use your tablet to read, watch movies or play games, then you will want a dynamic resolution so everything is vibrant and full of brilliant colors.
Connectivity
A tablet is at its best and most useful when you can quickly look up information and use the Internet.
Help And Support
When choosing a tablet, it is preferable to have comprehensive and user-friendly support options. Look for a manufacturer with tech support and customer service available via phone, email, social media and live chat.
Google will fast-track its efforts to replace a satellite image from its map service that shows the body of a slain California teenager.
The Google Maps image shows police standing near the body of 14-yeart-old Kevin Barerra, who was found shot to death in 2009 along some railroad tracks in Richmond.
The teen’s father, Jose Barrera, said he found out about the image last week and has asked Google to remove it out of respect for his son.
“When I see this image, that’s still like that happened yesterday, and that brings me back to a lot of memories,” Barrera said.
Brian McClendon, vice president of the Google Maps service, said the company would make an exception to its policy and accelerate the replacement of the satellite image.
“Our hearts go out to the family of this young boy,” McClendon said in an email statement. “Since the media first contacted us about the image, we’ve been looking at different technical solutions. Google has never accelerated the replacement of updated satellite imagery from our maps before, but given the circumstances we wanted to make an exception in this case.”
McClendon said he believed the image could be replaced within eight days, and he said he’d contacted the Barerra family to tell them the image would be replaced as quickly as possible
Researchers have found a way to figure out what personal identification number, or PIN, someone is typing into their smartphone by using the device’s built-in cameras and microphones to secretly record them.
Smartphones are handling an increasing amount of sensitive financial information, with banking and payment apps and other features that turn phones into full-featured mobile wallets. That makes mobile devices a ripe target for cybercriminals.
In a paper published Thursday, security researchers at the University of Cambridge detailed how they exploited the smartphone’s camera and microphone to detect PINs and gave some suggestions for making this type of hack more difficult.
This type of malware doesn’t exist in the wild just yet. The PIN Skimmer program was created by Cambridge’s Ross Anderson and Laurent Simon. The idea is to identify potential security holes before they can be exploited by criminals. In tests, the PIN Skimmer had a 30% success rate detecting four-digit PINs after monitoring a few attempts, and that number went up after it grabbed information over five tries.
First, the microphone detects that a person is entering a PIN. On many apps, the device will vibrate each time a number is tapped. That vibration creates a sound that is picked up by the microphone, which lets the malware know that a “touch event” is happening — in this case it is the entering of a secret PIN.
Then the camera takes over. The camera isn’t looking for reflections in your eyes or triangulating what numbers you’re looking at while typing in the code. The researchers use the camera to detect the orientation of the phone and determine where the user’s finger is on the screen. On-screen keypads typically display number in a standard order, so if the program can tell where a finger is tapping on the screen based on how the person is holding it, it can deduce what number is there. In their example, researchers assume people are holding their phones with one hand and typing in numbers with their thumb.
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By agreeing to this, we can analyze browsing behavior and unique IDs on this site. Declining or revoking consent may affect certain features.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
