Daily Digest
WPA Wi-Fi Security Gets Cracked;
Your Network is No Longer Secure
[Security]
When it came to setting up Wi-Fi networks, if you
knew what you were doing you would enable WPA se-
curity. This would keep people with a small amount of
knowledge from gaining access to your network, which
is very easy with the much weaker WEP security. No
more! WPA security has now been cracked, rendering
all but the most tightly-locked networks open for hack-
ing. Researchers by the name of Erik Tews and Martin
Beck were the ones to do the cracking, finding a way to
break the temporary Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) in
under 15 minutes. They haven’t, however, figured out
how to gain access to the data that travels between the
PC and the router, so that’s a plus. So what should you
do to secure your network? Switch to WPA2, which is
still uncracked for the time being. And if you want to
be one of those marginally-skilled Wi-Fi hackers? Grab
the Aircrack-ng Linux program, which has already had
this new code added to it. You dick. [PC World via
Tech Digest]
Teac’s LP-R500 CD-Equipped Record
Player Fell Through Ugly Timewarp
[Ugliness]
Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. This is Teac’s LP-R500. Ugh.
Sorry, I’ll try pulling myself together: it’s a modern ver-
sion of what my grandad used to call a ”radiogramme,”
cramming in an FM radio, a CD player, cassette player
and record deck into one sleek ancient, massive, clunky
box along with an amp and speakers. Admittedly it
does let you record your vinyl and tapes to CD. But...
ugh. Yours for an ugly 700. [Akihabaranews via Dvice]
Windows 7 to Extend Laptop Battery
Life by Minimum of 11
In the growing pile of reasons why
Windows 7 will be a thousand times
better than Vista, Microsoft has
reported internal power specifications in
1
which they tested an identical laptop
playing back DVDs to battery failure.
All things equal, the Vista configuration
pulled 17.9W of power, while the
Windows 7 machine pulled just 13.4W.
It might not sound like much, but that’s
a big deal. jkOnTheRun reasons that if
in Microsoft’s scenario the battery had
52 Watt/hours of power, the Vista
system would run 3.05 hours. The same
system running Windows 7 would run
for 4 hours. And that makes sense,
given that Microsoft was able to
playback DVDs up to an hour longer on
Windows 7 systems. Microsoft tested a
multitude of machines and found that
while not everyone will gain an hour of
battery life, every Windows 7 user
coming from Vista would gain a healthy
11 minimum. [Viddler via jkOnTheRun]
Leaked: A Bunch of Upcoming US
Samsung Phones [Unconfirmed]
Phone Arena looks to have leaked a
slew of upcoming Samsung phones, and
they don’t look half bad. That
budget-looking clamshell (Alltel,
SCH-R600 Hue II) will feature
removable covers and a 2MP camera,
while the more premium-looking
SGH-A777 is an ATT slider with a
modest 1.3MP camera. OK, now that
we have those specs out of the way, onto
the good stuff ! The ATT Eternity A867
and T-Mobiles Behold T919 (lower left)
will both feature Samsung’s fancy new
TouchWiz interface and could each
feature a 5MP camera. Who does
Samsung think we are, Korea or
something? The Behold will alost
reportedly feature QWERTY, GPS,
video recording...but no Wi-Fi. Those
three phones in the bottom corner are
destined for Verizon Wireless and
known as the Saga (I770), the OMNIA
(I910) and the Renown (U810). Both
the Saga and OMNIA run Windows
Mobile, while both the Saga and
Renown support CDMA and GSM.
[Phone Arena via Into Mobile and BGR]
Steve Ballmer Doesn’t Get Android
[Steve Ballmer]
At Australian carrier Telstra’s annual
investment day, Steve Ballmer did what
he does best: talk crap about the
competition. The target? Android. ”I
don’t really understand their strategy.
Maybe somebody else does.” You see, it
doesn’t make any money, and that’s
why it baffles him. It actually kind of
baffles me that it baffles him, since
Google’s approach is not so dissimilar
from how Windows took over the world,
just adapted to the wild ’n’ crazy
mobile market. Make it free for
hardware makers (while Microsoft still
charges) and get it on as many phones
as possible to make it as ubiquitous as
possiblemdash;a standard. That’s not to
say Android is going to wipe Windows
Mobile off the face of the
mapmdash;Ballmer’s fairly correct in
his assessment that ”Google doesn’t
exactly bubble to the top of the list of
the top competitors we’ve got going in
mobile. They might someday. But right
now...” It’s first-gen, and it sucks for
the corporate environment. That said,
the Windows Mobile picture ain’t so
rosy. BlackBerry just passed them in
marketshare, and with Windows Mobile
7 a year away, that’s a long time for 6.1
to get nice and antiquated as everyone
else rolls out shiny new platforms.
[CNet]
2
Inside Consumer Reports’ Electronics
Testing Lab [Hardware]
You probably only read Consumer
Reports if a) you are at your
grandparents house or b) you are a
grandparent yourself. But that’s too
bad, because tucked quietly away in the
NYC suburb of Yonkers lies one of the
biggest and best electronics testing labs
money can buy. And what goes on here
at Consumer Reports main test facility
probably puts most other tech pubs to
shame. We got a chance to look at all of
the top dollar gear used to put
everything found in CR’s electronics
pages in a complete vacuum of testing,
basically removing every possible
outside variable to test the pure
hardware performance. That means
anechoic chambers built on their own
foundation (at a cost of 2.5 million in
1980) for total sound isolation;
industrial-quality cell tower base station
generators inside fully RF-shielded
rooms that can crank out every possible
mobile phone frequency at any
strength; a ”head and torso simulator”
named Pedro, able to be calibrated
down to the millimeter for testing every
aspect of cellphone call quality possible,
and a nameless human finger simulator
composed of, well, meat (in action below
as well). See our captioned gallery for a
closer look: galleryPost(’crtestlab’, 13,
”); Unfortunately, what makes CR so
exemplary as a reliable testing lab also
contribute to its fate to be found mostly
on grandmother’s end table next to the
bowl of fossilized peppermints. As a
non-profit organization, CR doesn’t sell
any advertising to anyone, anywhere,
nor do they accept any review units or
advance loaners from the
companyeverything they test, from a
new BMW to an electric toothbrush,
they buy. That means employees get
pretty sick re-sale discounts on new cars
every year. It also means they’re
fighting an eternally uphill battle vs.
the other tech pubs that don’t keep
such high standards, and must keep all
of their content behind a pay wall
online, for subscribers only. The
subscribers they have are among the
most loyal of any magazine, but the vast
majority of them are older. (The
aforementioned human finger simulator
gets put to the test on a mower that
CR’s resident high-RPM blade expert
refers to as ”the most dangerous thing
i’ve ever tested.” - video edited by
BBG) And due to the natural
constraints of a magazine with no ads,
the mountains of test data gathered for
any particular product end up
truncated and distilled into CR’s
famous comparitive charts, where their
scores are rendered in linearly receding
bars and crimson doughnut dots. CR’s
benchmarks are designed to place all
new products on a relative continuum,
rating them ”fair” to ”excellent” in
comparison to how products over the
last several years have fared with the
same rigorously standardized tests. But
a problem there, obviously, is that often
it looks like CR loves just about
everythingthis year’s television are
naturally going to present marked
improvements over what’s been
available over the last few years, which
tends to stretch the data toward the
good end. Kind of like how you have to
search forever find a review on CNET
with a score of less than 7.0. (Inside the
soundproof womb of the anechoic
chamber - video edited by BBG). Such
are the dilemmas of serious hardware
testing that makes any type of claims
towards ultimate authoritativeness. But
it’s also the reason why the old bound
volumes of Consumer Reports are the
most well-worn volumes in the
periodicals room of the public library
where I used to work. The data is
there, and it’s rock solid. Taking a tour
of their labs and meeting the engineers
3
that do the work, it’s immediately
apparent that what goes on in Yonkers
is among the more vigorous and pure
analyses of technology being done by
anyone, anywhere. After all, don’t you
just have to trust folks who keep this
poster hanging above their main laptop
test bench? [Consumer Reports, video
courtesy Consumer Reports, edited by
the good gentlemen of Boing Boing
Gadgets - see them for more]
Sex Alert Announces When You’re
Having Sex, Which is Never [Smooth]
Everybody had a method in college to
warn their roommates to stay the hell
away when you were lucky enough to
con someone into coming home with
you. Be it a sock on the doorknob,
shoes outside the door or a gigantic X
on your whiteboard, it had to be clear
enough to get the message across
without looking sleazy to your new
friend. This Sex Alarm doesn’t aim for
such subtlety. You hang it on your
doorknob, and if anyone approaches it
yells out that someone is having sex
inside. Which you then won’t be, you
creep. Way to screw it up in the home
stretch. [Product Page via Nerd
Approved]
Virgin America Getting In-Flight Wi-Fi
on November 22 [Friendlier Skies]
At long last, Virgin America is finally
bringing in-flight wireless internet
access to its flights. On November 22, a
beta flight above San Francisco will be
the first to test the service, with it then
rolling out to more flights after that at
a rate of one per week. The plan is to
have Wi-Fi available throughout the
entire fleet by early next year, making
it the first US carrier to do so. There’s
no word on whether or not the service
will be filtered for porn. [Virgin
America via PSFK]
Fortis IQ Blackboard Watch For Math
Nerds With Money [Watches]
Designer Rolf Sachs has teamed up with
watchmaker Fortis to develop the
limited-edition IQ blackboard-style
watch. Math nerds will surely love
itmdash;especially the glow in the dark
hands and markings. Unfortunately, the
dreaded ”art premium” is tacked on to
the price of this watch, so it may be out
of the reach of many professor’s salaries.
Available for 1050. [24Diamonds and
Fortis via Dezeen]
ATT ¡3’s Wi-Fi, Buys Wayport,
Bringing McDonald’s and Fancy Hotels
Into the Fold [Att]
While having Wi-Fi everywhere is a
great way to offload traffic from its 3G
network, ATT’s hard Wi-Fi push strikes
me as a little anachronistic. Shouldn’t
we be talking about super fast,
ubiquitous 3G, 4G even? Its 275 million
pickup of Wi-Fi provider Wayport now
gives ATT customers Wi-Fi access at
McDonald’s, Four Seasons, Marriott
and Wyndham hotels, in addition to
everyone’s standard Wi-Fi leeching
spot, Starbucks. ATT to acquire
wayport;combined wi-fi networks to
provide connectivity in more places
Millions of ATT Customers to Get Free
Wi-Fi Access at Nearly 20,000 U.S.
Hotspots DALLAS and AUSTIN,
Texas, Nov. 6, 2008 ATT Inc.
(NYSE:T) announced today that it has
agreed, through one of its subsidiaries,
to acquire privately-held Wayport, Inc.,
a leading provider of managed Wi-Fi
services in the United States, for
4
approximately 275 million in cash. The
deal adds Wayports focused capabilities
and enterprise customer portfolio with
ATTs leading Internet Protocol (IP)
and 3G networks, and broad consumer
and business customer bases, to deliver
enhanced broadband connectivity at
home, in the office, on the road, and
virtually anywhere in between. The
acquisition expands the ATT Wi-FiSM
footprint to nearly 20,000 domestic
hotspots, takes the companys global
Wi-Fi presence to more than 80,000
locations*, and creates thousands of
new ways for customers worldwide to
stay in touch. Millions of ATT
customers plus millions of other
consumers needing to connect on the go
will benefit from access to new hotspot
locations served by Wayport. Wayport
hotspots are in key locations, including
select Wyndham, Marriott Vacation
Club and Four Seasons hotels;
HealthSouth and Sun Healthcare
locations; plus McDonalds restaurants.
ATTs global brand, marketing
leadership and extensive enterprise sales
force will complement Wayports
expertise in enabling and managing
applications over an integrated network.
Wayport will also extend ATTs reach in
the hospitality, health care, education
and retail sectors. ”Were seeing
exponential growth of Wi-Fi-enabled
devices such as smartphones combined
with a continued dependency on 24/7,
anytime, anywhere Internet access
across business and consumer market
segments, said John Stankey, president
and CEO, ATT Operations. Now is the
right time for ATT to affirm our
commitment to Wi-Fi leadership. By
acquiring Wayport, were giving
consumers more ways to stay in touch
and building a more robust network
management solution for businesses.
Were bringing ready access to the
nations leading Wi-Fi, wireless and IP
networks on a global scale. Delivering
Greater Value to Consumers More than
ever before, customers worldwide are
using ATTs expansive network to serve
todays growing demand for more
connectivity in more places which is
driven by the proliferation of
Wi-Fi-enabled devices. This acquisition
enhances ATTs Wi-Fi presence in the
United States, and it delivers a
seamless, consistent communications
experience to customers at home or on
the go from one company. * Nearly 300
million Wi-Fi-enabled devices were
shipped in 2007. Nearly 1 billion are
predicted by 2012.* * * With the surge
of Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as
smartphones, portable computers,
gaming devices and cameras, more
consumers can enjoy the benefits of
anytime, anywhere access from the
nations largest Wi-Fi network. * A
broader and deeper ATT Wi-Fi network
means more free connectivity for
millions of ATT customers, including
select ATT smartphone customers, ATT
LaptopConnect customers and ATT
High Speed Internet (including
U-verseSM) subscribers. Providing
Solutions for Enterprise Customers The
acquisition complements ATTs ability to
deliver a complete end-to-end solution
for businesses worldwide with Wayports
experience in facilitating business
applications and managing public access
to the Internet over a single network.
As Wayport currently provides
back-office management for ATTs Wi-Fi
Hot Spots, the acquisition expands such
capabilities and brings management of
Wi-Fi infrastructure completely under
ATT management. The combined
company will be able to deliver a more
cost-effective and streamlined solution
for enterprises and their customers by
providing more anytime, anywhere
access to end-user applications. Plus,
with both the back-office infrastructure
and end-user content application
managed by one company, businesses
5
can reduce operating costs, enhance and
customize their customers experience
and reach more customers in new
innovative ways. * ATT will provide a
comprehensive solution for businesses
seeking converged and managed
network capabilities on one network
with global reach, while also bringing
ready access to the nations largest
Wi-Fi, wireless and leading global IP
network. * Enterprise customers will be
able to better utilize private-side
applications effectively managing costs
and increasing productivity levels
including inventory management,
remote employee learning, point-of-sale
applications and remote security
monitoring. * A unified solution will
drive new business partnerships,
leveraging ATTs unique, innovative
services and applications available to
enterprise customers. * Enterprise
customers will benefit from new,
revenue-generating opportunities with
ATTs ability to bring customized,
location-based messaging and
advertising to more touch points via a
streamlined Wi-Fi solution reaching
more end-users. ATTs premier
capabilities in both the enterprise and
consumer industries will take Wayports
strength in delivering Wi-Fi solutions
over converged networks to an entirely
new level, said Dave Vucina, chairman
and chief executive officer of Wayport.
ATTs ability to reach and service tens
of millions of customers will greatly
expand the value we currently bring to
our customers. As part of ATT, well
bring new and better solutions to our
customers on a global scale, with
greater reach and more innovative
services. [ATT]
Obama Victory Sparks Baby Naming
Frenzy (PHOTOS)
The U.S. election has triggered a new
generation of mini Barack Obamas with
parents in Kenya and the United States
naming their newborns after the new
president-elect.
At the Nyanza Provincial General
Hospital in Kisumu, western Kenya,
Barack’s ancestral homeland, several
mothers were naming their babies after
the U.S.’s first African-American
president.
The mothers told Reuters Television
that they wanted their babies to grow
up to have the same successful traits as
Obama.
”I would like that by the time he is in
his 40s he becomes the president of this
country,” said Nancy Otieno proudly of
her newborn son Barack Obama.
Another new mother, Millicent Akoth,
named her new daughter Michelle
Obama after the soon-to-be first lady.
....South Florida couple Patrick and
Sasha Hall were reported on Wednesday
to be among the first since the election
to bestow the name Obama on their
child, Obama Hall, according to the
Miami Herald.
Keep reading.
PHOTOS:
An unidentified relative to Nancy
Kijana, right, holds her newborn son,
Barack Obama at New Nyanza
Provinvincial Hospital in Kisumu,
Kenya. More than half of the babies
born in a Kisumu Hospital on the day
after the election were named either
Barack or Michelle Obama. (AP)
Lilian Osano, holds her newborn son,
Barrack Jeremy Obama, at New Nyanza
Provinvincial Hospital in Kisumu,
Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008. (AP)
Carolyn Anyano holds her newborn son,
Barack Obama, at New Nyanza
Provinvincial Hospital in Kisumu,
Kenya. (AP)
Two baby girls named Michelle. (AFP)
-OR-
Read about the Tennessee man who,
without his wife’s permission, named his
6
newborn daughter Sarah McCain Palin.
-OR-
See a slideshow of Obama holding
babies or see other Obama slideshows.
More on Barack Obama
Newt Gingrich: Kill Sarbanes-Oxley
Apple (probably) prepping a patch for
mysterious clicking issue on new
MacBooks
Filed under: Laptops, Peripherals We’re
normally fans of ”quirky,” but there’s
nothing more frustrating than a quirky
clicking experience, as has been
reported by many of the ungrateful
bastages who’ve snapped up the new
MacBook and MacBook Pros since
launch. The primary reported problem
was with certain physical clicks not
registering on that schmancy new glass
trackpad, no small annoyance. Earlier
this week an email from a disgruntled
user to Mr. Customer Support himself,
Steve Jobs, was responded to by a call
from Apple’s customer relations saying
that they were ”researching” the issue,
and a couple days later a similar request
from another user was met with a terse
email from Steve: ”Software fix coming
soon.” Of course, these conversations
could all be the delusional fantasies of
click-addled attention hounds, but we’re
going to give them the benefit of the
doubt and assume that Apple does in
fact have a fix in the works for this
problem. So, while they toss that
presumed update together, how has the
new trackpad been treating you?View
PollApple (probably) prepping a patch
for mysterious clicking issue on new
MacBooks originally appeared on
Engadget on Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:33:00
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Poster art by Jason Munn/The Small
Stakes
Dial2Do is Jott for Free [Mobile Apps]
Voice-to-text phone service Dial2Do
sends text messages, emails, and
reminders with the ease of a phone call. Obama after the soon-to-be first lady.
Similar to Jott, the popular
voice-to-text service that just added
significant limits to its free accounts, to be among the first since the election
Dial2Do walks you through a simple
voice-recognition menu to perform
actions. Aside from email, SMS, and
reminders, Dial2Do supports posting to
tons of different services, including
Twitter, Remember the Milk, and your
WordPress or Blogger blog (again,
much like Jott). As an added bonus,
Dial2Do is currently available in 19
different countries. During its beta
period, Dial2Do is freemdash;though all
signs point to pay accounts post-beta.
We highlighted several free alternatives Barack or Michelle Obama. (AP)
to replace Jott’s functions when it
began charging for its best features, but Barrack Jeremy Obama, at New Nyanza
Dial2Do is another great option to add
to that list. Thanks magnoliasouth!
Dial2Do
Obama Victory Sparks Baby Naming
Frenzy (PHOTOS)
The U.S. election has triggered a new
generation of mini Barack Obamas with
parents in Kenya and the United States
naming their newborns after the new
president-elect.
At the Nyanza Provincial General
Hospital in Kisumu, western Kenya,
Barack’s ancestral homeland, several
mothers were naming their babies after
the U.S.’s first African-American
president.
The mothers told Reuters Television
that they wanted their babies to grow
up to have the same successful traits as
Obama.
”I would like that by the time he is in
his 40s he becomes the president of this
country,” said Nancy Otieno proudly of
her newborn son Barack Obama.
Another new mother, Millicent Akoth,
named her new daughter Michelle
....South Florida couple Patrick and
Sasha Hall were reported on Wednesday
to bestow the name Obama on their
child, Obama Hall, according to the
Miami Herald.
Keep reading.
PHOTOS:
An unidentified relative to Nancy
Kijana, right, holds her newborn son,
Barack Obama at New Nyanza
Provinvincial Hospital in Kisumu,
Kenya. More than half of the babies
born in a Kisumu Hospital on the day
after the election were named either
Lilian Osano, holds her newborn son,
Provinvincial Hospital in Kisumu,
Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008. (AP)
Carolyn Anyano holds her newborn son,
Barack Obama, at New Nyanza
Provinvincial Hospital in Kisumu,
Kenya. (AP)
Two baby girls named Michelle. (AFP)
-OR-
Read about the Tennessee man who,
without his wife’s permission, named his
newborn daughter Sarah McCain Palin.
-OR-
See a slideshow of Obama holding
babies or see other Obama slideshows.
More on Barack Obama