Author: Serkadis

Around the globe, laws are too weak to deter cyberattacks and countries are incapable of preventing attacks. Those pessimistic findings are among the results of a worldwide survey of industry executives funded by McAfee and conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

The study, In the crossfire — Critical Infrastructure in the Age of Cyber War, surveyed 600 executives and talked to dozens of security experts. The executives were questioned about their practices, attitudes and policies on security, the impact of regulation, their relationship with government, specific security measures employed on their networks, and the kinds of attacks they face, McAfee said.

The respondents indicated that government does have a role to play in cybersecurity, which is a change in industry thinking. “I have sensed for a year or more that industry, which used to think that the government didn’t need to get involved, doesn’t have any confidence that they can solve this problem on their own,” said Stewart Baker, a distinguished visiting fellow at CSIS and a partner at law firm Steptoe & Johnson.

General Support for Regulation

Government regulation has “sharpened [corporate] policy and improved security,” according to 58 percent of the respondents. But opinions varied widely by national politics. In China and Germany, more than 60 percent supported government regulation, while few in Italy and Australia did.

Globally, public-private partnerships have not taken off, with only a third of respondents saying they are participating. In the United States, where participation is higher, many executives voiced concern about “information sharing being a one-way street,” the report found.

The survey results come just two weeks after Howard Schmidt took the reins as U.S. cybersecurity chief. In an interview after his first public appearance, at the State of the Net conference in Washington, Schmidt honed in on the China-based breach of Google….

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The iPad has been this week’s media darling with active discussion about the device’s merits, a look at how it fails to encourage AR innovation and of course, this morning’s announcement of a developer fund. Although it’s exciting from a consumer standpoint, between the iPhone, Android, Blackberry and now the iPad, application developers have their work cut out for them. While consumers may flock to the new tablet, the thought of locking more developers into the purgatory of the Apple approval process is one that few will celebrate.

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With the caveat that there is no current “write once, run anywhere” solution to app development, Director of Developer Relations at Palm Dion Almaer is betting on web-based apps and HTML 5 to solve some of our concerns.

Says Almaer, “We can share a lot with the Web – take Gmail as an example. There isn’t a true iPhone app, and it doesn’t need one. The HTML5 rich app that uses local data and the like is great. The experience is slightly crippled, but to me it shows that the notion of “apps” and stores is restricted and probably wrong. I hope we get past app stores as we know them in the near future.”

Developer Kevin Systrom opted to write his stealth-mode app in HTML 5 for a number of reasons. In addition to being able to develop for multiple devices and the fact that it offers instant deployment sans App Store, Systrom makes the case for HTML 5 in saying, “Hands down, the developer pool for HTML / JS rock stars is tenfold larger [and] there is no download attrition. You simply point people at a URL and there you go — it’s installed.” The fact that apps can be directly installed by URL rather than by waiting for an App Store download, means that developers reduce barriers to virality. As for downsides, explains Systrom, “Although there are many tricks that you can use to speed up apps, writing a native app will always have an advantage when it comes to responsiveness, etc. However, let’s not forget that we saw this happen on the desktop, too. Then, as technology improved, consumers and businesses alike all flocked to web apps as they realized the advantages of building in the browser.”

Google’s Developer Relations Manager, Patrick Chanezon lists a number of advantages to developing in HTML 5 for mobile devices namely that you can deploy roughly the same code base on all HTML5-ready phones and that you are not slowed down by the Apple vetting process. However, admits Chanezon, “The APIs are not all standardized in HTML 5 yet (the camera, mic, accelerometer or 3D), and not all HTML 5 is implemented completely on all phones yet.” Nevertheless as more devices make webkit their browser of choice, Chanezon is convinced that HTML 5 will continue to build momentum.

While it’s not perfect, HTML 5 might just be the step you need to decrease the time and cost of developing across devices.

For more information on HTML 5 and mobile development check out Peter Paul Koch’s Mobile Compatibility Tables, the Google Code Chrome page, the Ajaxian blog, Mozilla Developer Center, Mark Pilgrim’s Dive Into HTML 5, The Surfin’ Safari WebKit Blog and JQTouch. As well, Chanezon’s own Delicious account has a great selection of demos and articles.

Discuss

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Filed under: Hardware, Odds and ends, Internet, Apple

You probably had exactly the same response I did when you heard that AT&T would be handling the 3G data plan for the iPad: “Them again?” Sure, the deal is much better, and it’s completely optional (you can get the iPad without 3G if you don’t want it at all), but still: AT&T? Hasn’t Apple heard enough complaining about their network without sending a bunch of tablet computers and all of that data downloading onto it?

It’s cool, says AT&T, we got it. That’s what they told the New York Times’ Bits blog yesterday, saying that they planned to put another $2 billion into cell phone towers, connectivity upgrades, and other costs for their network. But, and this is the part that kind of scares me, they also say that they expect most iPad users to stay near Wi-Fi hot spots, since the iPad plan comes with a subscription to every AT&T hotspot out there. They say they hope that will lessen the blow.

Frankly, I doubt it — if I’m paying $30 a month for “unlimited” on top of the $130 I paid for the option, I’m probably going to be using that 3G everywhere I can. And while AT&T says that they’re getting better and better all the time, the worst case scenario is that the iPad’s high data usage will knock out even longstanding iPhone customers. Hopefully this is all much ado over nothing, and that $2 billion will cover us as needed, but AT&T hasn’t exactly earned the trust that Apple continues to put in them.

TUAWAT&T on iPad 3G data: We can handle it originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Despite a bit of controversy about the song he turned into an national phenomenon, former American Idol contestant General Larry Platt will perform his viral smash “Pants On The Ground” during the Grammy Awards Pre-Show this Sunday.

The General shot to fame after performing the anti-saggin diddy during Idol’s auditions in Atlanta earlier this month. On Tuesday, controversy erupted among fans, after it was revealed that a similar-sounding song — “Back Pockets on the Floor” — was released by singing duo The Green Brothers in 1996.

In case it wasn’t obvious, being an entrepreneur is risky business. Even those that get investments have a relatively small likelihood of a successful exit. So early-stage investment firm First Round Capital has a plan to alleviate some of the risk: an entrepreneur’s exchange fund.

For those not aware, an exchange fund in this regard is exactly what it sounds like: company founders are given the option to give up a small piece of the stock they own in their venture in exchange for a piece of the action of the larger pool of all the First Round portfolio companies that choose to participate. Basically, this allows these entrepreneurs to diversify their own holdings without having to sell any stock. More importantly, it lowers their risk of walking away with nothing while adding an incentive to see other companies in the portfolio succeed.

As First Round marketing director Josh Kopelman writes, “One of the benefits of having a fairly large portfolio is that our portfolio companies can offer a lot of value to each other. Whether it is sharing interview techniques, technical management strategies, sales leads, perspectives on the advertising market, or doing deals – it is always great to see portfolio companies helping each other succeed.” And with this exchange fund, all of these companies have more reason than ever to help each other out.

Kopelman notes that First Round itself doesn’t receive any financial benefit from the establishment of this fund.

First Round’s portfolio includes companies like Get Satisfaction, Gnip, Mashery, RockYou, StumbleUpon, Wikia, Xmarks, Xobni, and many others. Notably, their portfolio also contains two hot location properties right now: SimpleGeo and Hot Potato. And they participated in mobile payment company Square’s big first round.

[photo: flickr/michael spencer]

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This has not been the greatest start to the year for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser. Days after news of the latest security flaw in Internet Explorer, Google is adding fuel to the fire by phasing out support for IE6 for two of its Google Apps products, Docs and Sites (which recently got an aesthetic upgrade).

For both the consumer and enterprise versions of Google Docs and Sites, the only browsers that will be fully compatible are Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0+, Mozilla Firefox 3.0+, Google Chrome 4.0+ and Safari 3.0+. The phase out will take place beginning March 1. While you’ll still be able to access Docs and Sites from IE6, you will have restricted functionality and many features won’t work, making the applications for the most part useless. We hear that Google will be phasing out IE6 support for the remainder of Google’s major products, including Gmail and Calendar, over the coming year. This isn’t Google’s first move to phases out IE6 functionality for its products. Last July, the search giant began phasing out YouTube support for the Microsoft browser. For users of IE6, the online video site began pointing to ‘modern’ browsers like Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3.5 as alternatives. A similar prompt will now take place on Docs and Sites for users who are browsing from IE6.

For the most part, the tech community, including web developers and designers, tend to have a profound dislike of Internet Explorer 6. Obviously, the browse has many issues, including low performance and major security flaws. Even Microsoft itself, is recommending that all its customers upgrade to Internet Explorer 8, the latest version of the browser which has better security in place. The main reason why IE6 is still being used at all is because of corporate IT departments across the globe needing to make upgrade decisions. Unfortunately, a number of these companies still have to use the browser because they have systems in place built specifically to run with it. To add insult to injury, IE6 continues to lose market share in the browser world.

And Google isn’t the only technology company that is looking to close off support for IE6. Digg has hinted at wanting to cut support for the browser too. I have a feeling that as Google joins the web in gathering pitchforks around IE6, more companies will flock to join the movement.

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Call them renegade sign bandits. Or guerrilla activists. Whatever you call them, they’re hanging unofficial notices — complete with the L.A. city seal stamped on them — onto billboards around the city.

The action likely stems from a dispute between the city of L.A. and Fuel Outdoor, the company responsible for poster-size signs at corners all over Los Angeles, writes Zach Behrens at LAist.

Now, faux violation notices are being found slapped onto the Fuel-owned signs.

City officials say they didn’t do it.

"Looks to me that we’ve got renegade sign bandits," Bob Steinbach,
a spokesman for the Department of Building and Safety, told LAist. "If we post them, there’d be contact info on them."

And the Coaliton to fight Billboard Blight says it didn’t do it either. So the mystery continues over who hung the phony notices on the disputed billboards.

Photo: Sign posted this week at Lincoln Boulevard and Brooks Avenue in Venice. Credit: LAist.

By now you’ve probably read more on Apple’s iPad then you ever dreamed possible. In the last few days we’ve covered a lot of angles on the tablet and compiled a lot of data. Still, we felt that we hadn’t given you clear hands-on impressions and collected the myriad details about the device in one, easy-to-reach place. So we’ve decided to bundle all of that info into a single feature, joining our first-hand encounters with the iPad together with all of the data and details you should be aware of concerning the device — including specs, plans, release schedules, pics, and video. So read on for everything we know (so far) about Cupertino’s first tablet!

Continue reading Apple iPad: The definitive guide (so far)

Apple iPad: The definitive guide (so far) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Coupe, Hybrid, Performance, BMW, Rumormill, Electric, Diesel

According to Inside Line, which is quoting an unnamed “senior BMW authority out of Munich,” the German automaker will indeed build a production version of the Vision EfficientDynamics concept that debuted last year at the Frankfurt Motor Show. BMW is reportedly planning for a model run of between 5,000 and 10,000 units for 2013. We’ll get to the details in a moment, but here’s the best news: “That name that the marketing people forced on us [is] going to change for sure.” Phew.

Apparently, BMW has no plans to ditch the radical plug-in hybrid powertrain, which put out 356 horsepower and a stonkin’ 590 pound-feet of torque in the concept. That means we’ll get something similar to the turbocharged three-cylinder diesel range extender and twin electric motors powered by a lithium polymer battery pack that was featured in Frankfurt. Sounds great so far, and BMW claims the performance will be even better than the 4.8-second 0 to 60 run quoted for the concept.

Naturally, some of the Vision’s more outlandish exterior bits will go the way of the Dodo, but IL reports BMW’s target of weight is still under 3,000 pounds, meaning that high-tech composites and construction techniques are a veritable lock. Price for this next-gen eco-friendly supercar? Nothing announced – but if you have to ask… well, you know the rest.

[Source: Inside Line]

Report: 2013 BMW Vision EfficientDynamics supercar moving toward production originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Recalls, Safety, Hyundai, Toyota

Mired in what is officially a nightmarish recall fiasco, Toyota’s getting gang-tackled as it wraps up a really bad week. General Motors, smelling blood in the water, is offering incentives specifically targeting Toyota drivers through the end of February. Likewise, Ford is adding $1,000 to the trade-ins of any Toyota, Lexus, or Scion (as well as Acura and Honda, for good measure). Rental fleets are yanking Toyotas from circulation. The House of Representatives will officially grandstand hold a hearing next Friday. Consumer Reports is temporarily withholding its “Recommended” status on recalled models until the matter is sorted out.

And now, here comes Hyundai, leaping into the scrum from the top rope like Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka.

The Detroit News reports that like GM and Ford, Hyundai’s now offering $1,000 to customers who trade their Toyota in for a Sonata, Elantra, or Elantra Touring. Unike GM and Ford, Hyundai is only running the incentives through next Monday. Meanwhile, Chrysler could reportedly follow suit next week. Honda, for its part, has flatly stated that it is staying out of the feeding frenzy, and won’t be targeting Toyota customers with specific incentives.

[Source: The Detroit News | Image: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images]

Hyundai matches incentives for Toyota customers from Ford, GM originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fast Company writes about a recent proposal to revitalize downtown Cleveland through a new park. Two Cleveland non-profits, Parkworks and the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, commissioned James Corner Field Operations to create a set of downtown revitalization proposals. Both organization hope to use the proposals to build overwhelming public support for downtown revitalization and, hopefully, gain financial commitments from the city.  Fast Company writes: “If you’ve ever been to Cleveland, you know the downtown area is a forbidding, pedestrian desert. The main public space, Public Square, is no better–it’s a wind-scarred, 10-acre expanse flanked by skyscrapers.”

To create a new public square park, Field Operations proposes to join together a “patchwork of paved islands” into an unified park. To unify the space, Field Operations offered a few ideas: a frame, a forest, or a “thread.” The thread won the most support from the sponsors — it will include a “biomorphic ramp that would rise 20 feet above the roadway below,” creating unique perspectives of the city, much like Field Operations’ High Line Park in New York City (see earlier post).

Parkworks and the Downtown Cleveland Alliance think a new Field Operations-designed park can bring in people, shops, and also increase real estate values. A new park could lead to more valuable downtown real estate, and, therefore, higher property taxes. Increased property tax revenue could then be used to finance the park.  

In January, the design proposals will be on view for the public.

Read the article and see more images. Check out James Corner Field Operation’s design proposals (big file – 7.5MB)

Also, check out ArchNewsNow’s report on the last twenty years of downtown Pittsburgh’s revitalization efforts, which focus on the river. Michael A. Stern, ASLA, LEED AP, writes: “The population of the City of Pittsburgh peaked at more than 700,000 inhabitants right after World War II, but now hovers at around 320,000, and continues a slow decline. Moreover, the whole Pittsburgh metropolitan area has seen a significant population decline as well, as the earthquake effect of the disappearance of the steel industry continues to send aftershocks through the region some 25 years later. But Pittsburgh – and Downtown in particular – has unique assets and history that continue to maintain a healthy urban core.”

Image credit: Field Operations / Fast Company

Juiced-up Jersey Shore playboy Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino’s got a new gig. (Sadly, one that won’t require him to take his shirt off. It’s always so much easier to listen to douches when their topless….) The muscle-bound former personal trainer will join Access Hollywood as a guest correspondent at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles Sunday night.

“I am very excited and honored to be on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards for Access Hollywood…I can’t wait to show Hollywood the real ‘Situation’ and we are not talking about my name!” the hard-partying 27-year-old says.

“The Situation” will keep the fist-pumping to a minimum as he conducts red carpet interviews with some of music’s biggest stars — live from Los Angeles. The Jersey Shore star will be on hand to interview the nominees and presenters of the Grammys, capture behind-the-scenes moments, and provide a unique perspective from the red carpet, a rep for NBC’s long-running entertainment newsmagazine revealed this afternoon.

”’The Situation will be fun, outrageous and perfect for Access Hollywood on the red carpet at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards,” Access Hollywood Executive Producer Rob Silverstein remarked. “His outfit and interviews are sure to be entertaining and memorable!”

Despite widespread demands from politicians around the globe, combined with promises from the USTR to be more open and transparent (despite unsubstantiated and totally ridiculous claims that countries would leave the negotiations if details were made public) and even entertainment industry lobbyists admitting that the process could be more transparent, ACTA negotiations are continuing in a veil of total secrecy to the public (unless you’re a big industry lobbyist — then it’s open). The latest meetings in Mexico were again held in total secrecy, where public concerns were mocked, but appear to have continued to move the negotiations forward with claims coming out that the document is in “final drafting stages.”

Yes, without any transparency or participation allowed from those who it would impact most: the public.

How is it that any government is willing to participate in such a process? It’s a massive travesty. The details that have been revealed suggest that this is a sneaky way to significantly impact copyright laws around the world, greatly in favor of a few industries that have been unwilling to adapt to a changing marketplace. This is protectionism at its worst. At the same time that US politicians are slamming China for its internet restrictions, ACTA seeks to place the same type of limitations on ISPs around the world that the Chinese government places on its ISPs, all done through a secret process with no public input — even from many elected officials who are greatly concerned about both the content of the agreement as well as the way in which it has been drafted.

That the US government is orchestrating the whole thing at the behest of the MPAA and the RIAA, among others, is a disgusting display of industry influence in government policy. The administration should be massively ashamed of itself for not just participating in such a travesty, but in many ways leading the way and providing cover for the bogus claims of industry representatives and lobbyists that this is a minor trade harmonization issue, rather than a significant change in policy and an attempt to route around existing venues (that are willing to listen to the public and consumer concerns) in order to push through these changes on a widespread level.

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Article Tags: ClimateGate, ROGER HELMER

The Westminster Science and Technology Committee is undertaking a review of the CRU leaks, and has invited submissions. See below for my own submission:-

www.rogerhelmer.com

1. I am Roger Helmer. I am a Member of the European Parliament, representing the East Midlands Region since 1999.

2 Declaration of interest: I have no financial interest in the climate debate. But for several years I have been involved in the debate, arguing against climate alarmism and in favour of a realistic approach. I believe that current changes in climate are not exceptional compared to previous periods, and are driven largely by natural terrestrial and astronomical cycles. I do not believe there is convincing evidence of significant human impact on the climate, or that proposed mitigation efforts will have any effect. I am a former member of the European parliament’s Temporary Committee on Climate Change (now disbanded). I have published books, pamphlets and DVDs on this subject. I have organised several conferences of climate realists in Brussels, and attended such conferences in the USA and elsewhere.

Source: rogerhelmermep.wordpress.com

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Since I first discussed the disruptive effect of introducing Mr. TaqMan to our clinic, many others have weighed in.

One of my favorite reports is a nice paper from the Alabama group, presented first at IDSA, and soon to be published.  It shows not only a higher rate of low-level detectable results, but also the increased costs (substantial) due to repeat testing, resistance genotypes sent (and not yielding anything, of course), and the waste of patient and clinic time.

Today, a new complaint:  the convoluted word salad that follows the results.  To wit, here’s one recent lab report:

HIV-1 PCR:  Detected (H)
HIV-1 PCR QUANT:  170 [yes, 6 prior values were undetectable]
HIV-1 PCR QUANT LOG:  2.23
HIV PCR Interpretation:  SEE BELOW

Comments: The quantitative range of this assay is 48-10,000,000 copies/ml (1.7-7.0 log copies/ml).  In addition to the sample result being expressed as both copies per milliliter (copies/ml) units and as log(copies/ml), this report interprets if the virus was “Detected”, “Not detected” or “Detected but below Quantitative range” as described below in more detail:
a) “Detected” – means that the viral titer in the sample is above the assay’s lower limit of quantitation (48 copies/ml);
b) “Detected – Not Quant” – means that the viral titer in the sample is below the lower limit of quantitation but above the assay’s lower limit of detection ranging from less than 15 to 46 copies ml across all subtypes of HIV-1 group M;
c) “Not Detected” – means that the viral titer in the sample is below the assay’s lower limit of detection. An interpretation of “Not Detected” does not rule out the presence of HIV-1 that is no detectable for reasons such as PCR inhibitors or HIV-1 virus RNA concentrations below the lower level of detection of the assay.
This test is intended for use in conjunction with clinical presentation and other laboratory indices of disease status as an aid in the clinical management of HIV-1 infected patients. The test can be used to assess patient prognosis by monitoring the effect of antiretroviral therapy on changes in plasma HIV-1 RNA levels during the course of treatment.  Limitations:  The COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan HIV-1 Test is not intended for use as a screening test for the presence of HIV-1 in blood or blood products or as a diagnostic test to confirm the initial presence of HIV-1infection. General Disclaimer:  Interpretation of this test may be affected by the presence of rare viral RNA variants. Methodology:  The COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan HIV-1 Test utilizes automated specimen preparation followed by automated reverse transcription, PCR amplification and detection of cleaved dual-labeled detection probes specific to the HIV-1 target RNA. One copy of HIV-1 RNA is equivalent to 1.7 +/- 0.1 International Units (IU) based on the WHO 1st International Standard for HIV-1 RNA for Nucleic Acid-Based Techniques (NAT) (NIBSC 97/656). Test Lab: This assay is approved for In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) use by the FDA. This test is used for clinical purposes, and it should not be regarded as investigational or for research.

Yikes.

One of my colleagues has responded by going back to sending bDNA.  Yes, that test might be less sensitive, but can anyone tell us yet whether these low-level detectable values have any clinical meaning?

According to a senior BMW authority out of Munich, the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics plug-in hybrid 2+2 concept is headed for production – no ifs, ands or buts. Unsurprisingly, reaction to the concept has been off the charts at its auto show debuts around the world.

An executive source told Inside Line that BMW is debating how many units it will build, but the number should fall between 5,000 and 10,000 units.

Power for the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics comes from a 163-hp 1.5L 3-cylinder turbo-diesel engine and two electric-motors. That allows for a total of 356-hp and a peak torque of 590 lb-ft. Apparently, BMW engineers are fondling with the hybrid drive system in order to make the Vision EfficientDynamics more thrilling to drive. The final product should be quicker than the previously quoted 0-62 mph time of 4.8 seconds.

Fuel-economy of the concept is estimated at 63 mpg. In EV mode, the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept can drive 31 miles of zero-emissions driving.

We’re not sure if this model will be the much talked about revival of the BMW M1 or the Z10 supercar we’ve been hearing about for some time now.

BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept:

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Inside Line

With a revolutionary, 9.7 inch touch screen, and amazing new apps, the Apple iPad promises to go where no tablet PC, netbook, or e-reader has gone before. Yet, how did not a single Apple executive realize that this thing sounds like something you’d pick up on the feminine hygiene aisle at Rite-Aid?

Article Tags: Alan Tichmarsh, Headline Story

THE British public deserves to be told the “whole story” on climate change, gardening expert Alan Titchmarsh said yesterday.

The popular TV presenter and author said people should be treated as “grown-ups” and given a more “balanced” picture.

The Daily Express columnist said that while he accepted that man-made emissions were exacerbating climate change, facts that appeared to weaken the argument were being “swept under the carpet”.

He called factors such as historic warm periods between Ice Ages “inconvenient truths” – a dig at former US Vice President Al Gore’s controversial film about climate change, An Inconvenient Truth.

Source: express.co.uk

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