Monday, August 15, 2011

Anonymous Hacks BART Website, Leaks User Info and Passwords [Hacktivism]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5830830/anonymous-hacks-bart-website-leaks-user-info-and-passwords

Anonymous Hacks BART Website, Leaks User Info and PasswordsIt's been a busy weekend for the hacking collective known as Anonymous. Their Operation Fullerton may not have panned out, but Project BARTway was a rousing success. (If you measure success in Thousands of Civilians' Personal Information Being Compromised in the Name of Free Speech.) As they had warned, Anonymous has infiltrated Bay Area Rapid Transit System on Sunday, unfurling their pirate flag logo on the homepage of myBART.com — a promotional website — and, more disconcertingly, releasing the personal information of thousands of myBART.com users.

The action was a direct response to BART's attempts to block cellphone use last Thursday, in order to prevent a gathering at a San Francisco station to protest the fatal shooting of a homeless man by a BART police officer.

From a message to all myBART members sent out on Sunday afternoon:

Several hours ago, myBART account information was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our system. In response to this intrusion, we will temporarily shut down the myBART.org website, and have notified law enforcement authorities.

Although we are still investigating the details of this incident, we know that an unauthorized person has obtained contact information from at least 2,400 of our 55,000 members. In most cases, the information consists of names, email addresses, and passwords. In some cases, the database also listed an address and phone number. No financial information is stored in the myBART database.

Indeed, the names, addresses, phone numbers and passwords of 2,001 myBART users were published on another website, the SF Chronicle reports. On Sunday evening, the site was still down, a white screen reading only, "This site is currently under renovation." And while the main BART site, bart.gov, appeared to be unaffected by the attacks, Californiaavoid.org, an anti-DUI traffic safety site, wasn't so lucky: As of post time, it was still crawling with Guy Fawkes masks. [@anonops]

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BlackBerry Bold 9930 now available from Verizon for $250, on contract

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/15/blackberry-bold-9930-now-available-from-verizon-for-250-on-con/

We've already seen Verizon's BlackBerry Bold 9930 rear its head in a leaked video and now, it looks like it's finally gone all official on us. The slim, QWERTY-equipped handset has just popped up on Verizon's site, where users can now order one for $250 on a two-year contract, or $510 sans contract. Its specs, meanwhile, coincide with what we've already heard, including that 2.8-inch, 640×480 VGA touchscreen, 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor and .41-inch thickness. The 9930 also comes equipped with BlackBerry 7 OS, bringing voice-activated search and speedy browsing capabilities to the palm of your hand. No word yet on when the phone will arrive in actual stores, though rumor has it that August 25th could be the big day. For more details and ordering information, check out the source link, below.

BlackBerry Bold 9930 now available from Verizon for $250, on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 03:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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M-Disc holds your data 'forever,' we go hands-on for a few minutes (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/15/m-disc-holds-your-data-forever-we-go-hands-on-for-a-few-minut/

It was two years ago when we last wrote about Millenniata and its Millenial Disc for ultra long-term data storage of somewhere between "1,000 years" and "forever." If you'll recall, it works using a "synthetic, rock-like" layer that your data is "etched" into, rather than burned onto like other writeable discs so files don't corrupt over time. Since then, the disc's been given DoD certification for data retention in extreme conditions and redubbed M-Disc, while Hitachi-LG has signed on to produce drives. We recently got the chance to check out a few of these discs and see whether this tech will fly like a Frisbee or sink like a stone.

Continue reading M-Disc holds your data 'forever,' we go hands-on for a few minutes (video)

M-Disc holds your data 'forever,' we go hands-on for a few minutes (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Intel Upgrade Service: Once again charging you $50 to do stuff your CPU already does

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/15/the-intel-upgrade-service-once-again-charging-you-50-to-do-stu/

Fans of creative nickel-and-dime schemes will love this: Buy an Intel i3-2312M, i3-2102 or Pentium G622 and it just isn't powerful enough, you can grab a $50 upgrade card. Enter the card's code online and hidden capacity in your chip will suddenly become available for use. Those with longer memories will find this offer familiar, because Intel did the same thing last year with the Pentium G6951. You may be peeved at the idea of buying the same thing twice, but remember that the company is only targeting the limited service at low-end consumers who want a little bit extra from their budget desktop. If you're interested in how much performance can be wrung from these chips, check out the source link below.

The Intel Upgrade Service: Once again charging you $50 to do stuff your CPU already does originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 08:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DSLR Controller Lets You Operate Your Canon DSLR from Your Android [Video]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5830453/dslr-controller-lets-you-operate-your-canon-dslr-from-your-android

iOS users have long had the ability to control their cameras with their iPhones and iPads, but DSLR Controller now brings that to Android for your Canon DSLR.

The software is currently in beta, but getting it working took less than a minute. You just grab it from the Android Marketplace and connect your Canon DSLR via USB (you'll need a USB host cable if your Android device doesn't have a regular-sized USB port). Presuming the app is loaded and your camera is on, you should see what your camera sees in the main viewer on the screen. Because all this data is happening via USB, it updates really quickly and is far more usable than the Live View support you'll get over Wi-Fi on an iPhone app.

In addition to Live View, DSLR Controller lets you adjust pretty much every setting on your camera (e.g. aperture, exposure, ISO, etc.), can take photos, and more. While the app is currently in beta and might not work for every camera, it worked great with my 5D Mark II and support should broaden in the future. If you've ever tethered your camera to your computer or an iOS device before, you know the experience is not ideal. DSLR Controller, on the other hand, isn't cumbersome or slow. It's a very promising option for tethered shooting.

DSLR Controller (~$8.50) | Android Marketplace


You can follow Adam Dachis, the author of this post, on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook.  Twitter's the best way to contact him, too.

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