Tech News Weekly: Edition 43

[Ehtyar]

The Weekly Tech News

Hi all. Not much in the way of meta-news this week (haha, I'm hilarious), and not a whole lot in the way of real news, sorry guys Oh, and I've fixed my macros to operate entirely on the new layout, so......yay for me? No Word Man, there is no CISCO news OK?    As usual, you can find last week's news here.

1. LOLcats R in Ur Gallery, Pimpin 4 Adult Literacy
http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/10/lolcats-pounce.html
Gallery: http://www.wired.com/culture/art/multimedia/2008/10/gallery_LOLarts
Apparently art doesn't understand the LOLCat concept...they're taking them seriously!! Fortunately, it's for a good cause, so they're forgiven.

The grammatically challenged felines known as LOLcats are clawing their way off computer screens and into the mainstream art world.

Works by nearly 30 artists influenced by the pidgin-speaking-cat meme will be auctioned off Thursday during a sold-out art show in San Francisco -- with proceeds going to benefit an adult-literacy program.

2. Passports Will Be Needed to Buy Mobile Phones
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4969312.ece
Britons will soon be required to present their passports and be registered in a national database when purchasing a mobile phone under plans to overhaul state surveillance powers.

Everyone who buys a mobile telephone will be forced to register their identity on a national database under government plans to extend massively the powers of state surveillance.

Phone buyers would have to present a passport or other official form of identification at the point of purchase. Privacy campaigners fear it marks the latest government move to create a surveillance society.

3. Keyboard "eavesdropping" just got way easier, thanks to electromagnetic emanations
http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/20/keyboard-eavesdropping-just-got-way-easier-thanks-to-electrom/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/20/keyboard_sniffing_attack/
Not really news, keyboards have been insecure almost from day 1, particularly since the advent of wireless once, but one has to admit, this is just cool.

We always knew those electromagnetic emanations would amount to no good, and now here they go ruining any shred of privacy we once thought to possess. Some folks from the Security and Cryptography Lab at Switzerland's EPFL have managed to eavesdrop on the electromagnetic radiation shot off by shoddy wired keyboards with every keystroke. They've found four different ways to listen in, including one previously-published general vulnerability, on eleven keyboard models ranging from 2001 to 2008, with PS/2, USB and laptop keyboards all falling to at least one of the four attacks. The attack works through walls, as far as 65 feet away, and analyzes a wide swath of electromagnetic spectrum to get its results. With wireless keyboards already feeling the sting of hackers, it's probably fair to say that no one is safe, and that cave bunkers far, far away from civilization are pretty much our only hope now. Videos of the attacks are after the break.

4. Microsoft Issue Out-Of-Band Security Patch
http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/vulnerabilities/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=211600270
Technical Info: http://blog.threatexpert.com/2008/10/gimmiva-exploits-zero-day-vulnerability.html
Discussion thread started by Lash Man: https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=15460
It's not often Microsoft choose to release a security patch outside of the regular monthly cycle, but this one's important. Bulletin MS08-067 describes a vulnerability in Windows' Server Service (can anyone say "redundancy"?) that if exploited will permit remote code execution on any version of Windows.

Microsoft has released an out-of-band security update to address a critical flaw that could allow a remote attacker to take over Windows computers without any user interaction.

"This security update resolves a vulnerability in the Server service that affects all currently supported versions of Windows," said Christopher Budd, a MSRC security program manager, in a blog post. "Windows XP and older versions are rated as 'Critical' while Windows Vista and newer versions are rated as 'Important.' Because the vulnerability is potentially wormable on those older versions of Windows, we're encouraging customers to test and deploy the update as soon as possible."

5. Microsoft MASSIVELY Improves JavaScript Performance in IE8
http://zephyrxero.blogspot.com/2008/10/current-browser-javascript-benchmarks.html
Discussion started by Lash Man: https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=15461
I probably would have phrased it something more like "IE JavaScript still the worst performer among Firefox and Chrome.", or "New Firefox blows Chrome's JavaScript out of the water, which blows IE into outer space!"...but whatever.

I've seen lots of people recently saying that Firefox's TraceMonkey JavaScript engine blows Google's V8 out of the water...but was a little skeptical so I decided to do some benchmarks of my own. Now with any benchmark, everything here needs to be taken with a grain of salt as performance will certainly vary upon which sites you are viewing. For this test I have used WebKit's SunSpider. Also, since Chrome and Safari do not have native ports available on Linux right now, I had to do the test under Windows XP. The test machine is dual-core so multi-process/threaded apps should show a benefit, but I feel it's totally fair as single-core machines are quickly going the way of the dinosaur and do not accurately represent the future, which is what we're talking about here. Also as Chrome does not have a stable/final release yet, I've compared with many other browsers' development builds.

6. Silverlight 2 Released
http://www.cgisecurity.org/2008/10/silverlight-2-r.html
Apparently Microsoft isn't put off by the fact that they're the only ones using Silverlight, so they decided to release version 2...*cough*

Silverlight 2 is a cross-platform browser plugin that enables rich media experiences and .NET RIAs (Rich Internet Applications) within the browser.

Silverlight 2 is small in size (4.6MB) and takes only 4-10 seconds to install on a machine that doesn't already have it.  It does not require the .NET Framework to be installed on a computer to run - the Silverlight setup download includes everything necessary to play video or run applications.

7. Your Privacy is an Illusion: UK Attacks Civil Liberties
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081020-your-privacy-is-an-illusion-uk-attacks-civil-liberties.html
It seems the right to silence no longer applies in the UK when the authorities want your encryption keys.

Last year one of the more troubling provisions of the UK's Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) finally came into effect. This piece of legislation made it a criminal offense to refuse to decrypt almost any encrypted data residing within the UK if demanded by authorities as part of a criminal investigation. The penalty for failure to decrypt is up to two years imprisonment for "normal" crime, and up to five years for "terrorism."

As two men accused of "terrorism" discovered last week, the long-standing right to silence does not trump the RIPA powers. The UK's Court of Appeal judged last week that the pair, named only as "S" and "A," could not depend on their right of silence to refuse to provide decryption keys. In the decision, the Court stated that although there was a right to not self-incriminate, this was not absolute, and that the "public interest" can supersede this right in some circumstances.

8. Aussie Govt: Don't Criticize Our (terrible) 'Net Filters
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081024-aussie-govt-dont-criticize-our-terrible-net-filters.html
In followup from this story last week, here is some further info. on the upcoming Australian internet filters.

Australia's plan to subject every Internet user in the country to mandatory content filtering just keeps getting stranger. Although the current government says it simply inherited the program from its predecessor and that the filtering will be voluntary, it seems intent on continuing the rollout plans even as it has become apparent that some level of filtering will be mandatory. Now, an Australian newspaper has uncovered documents showing that the government minister responsible for the program has ignored performance and accuracy problems with the filters, then tried to suppress criticism of the plan by private citizens.

The filtering plan as it now appears consists of two tiers. One would apply to all Australian Internet access and would block access to content deemed illegal (though how that term will be defined hasn't yet been disclosed). A second tier would be switched on by default, but users would be allowed to opt-out; this tier would target content inappropriate for children.

9. Google's Open-source Android Now Actually Open
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10071093-92.html
Google has released the source of Android for all to see.

Less than a year after announcing Android, the open-source phone operating system intended to jump-start the mobile Internet, Google began sharing the project's underlying source code.

The Android Open Source Project site includes a project list, a feature description, guides to the roles people can have in the project and how to contribute, and of course the Android source code itself.

10.  First Look: Firefox 3.1 Beta Offers Speed, Better Searching and More
http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/First_Look%3A_Firefox_3DOT1_Beta_Offers_Speed__Better_Searching_and_More
Monkey_Bites reviews the new Firefox 3.1 BETA, a little more comprehensively than I did

As we mentioned Tuesday, the first beta release of the new Firefox 3.1 browser has arrived. Firefox 3.1, which will land in final form near the beginning of 2009, promises speed improvements, a more refined search bar and support for new and emerging web standards. The browser will also contain a slew of small features that didn’t make the cut in Firefox 3.0.

While not all of the improvements are in beta 1, there’s enough to whet your appetite for the final release.

11.  Channel 9 To Offer All PDC08 Sessions
http://windows7news.com/2008/10/20/channel-9-to-offer-all-pdc08-sessions/
Post/Discussion thread by 40hz: https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=15107.msg135404#msg135404
Channel 9 will be offering videos of all the speeches from the Microsoft Professional Developer Conference on their website within 24 hours of the speech taking place.

The PDC08 (Professional Developer Conference) will start in six days from now and will be packed with Windows 7 related sessions that promise to provide news about the upcoming Microsoft operating system. Not anyone can attend the conference which is held in the Los Angeles Conference Center from October 26 kicking off with a pre-conference session on that day. The registration fee for the full event is $2395 USD which might be a bit much for someone who just wants to find out more about the upcoming Microsoft operating system.

Channel9 announced recently that they will post recordings of all PDC08 sessions on their website for everyone to view. Each session should not take more than 24 hours after taking place to find its way on the Channel 9 homepage which is an excellent opportunity for anyone not attending to view the sessions and discover all the exciting news about Windows 7. The PDC08 is not only about Windows 7 and there surely will be some other interesting sessions that might be interesting to users. This is also an excellent way of watching a session that you missed while attending another session at the PDC08 in case you are one of the attendees.

Ehtyar.

[Ehtyar]

The Weekly Tech News

Hi all. Not much in the way of meta-news this week (haha, I'm hilarious), and not a whole lot in the way of real news, sorry guys Oh, and I've fixed my macros to operate entirely on the new layout, so......yay for me? No Word Man, there is no CISCO news OK?    As usual, you can find last week's news here.

1. LOLcats R in Ur Gallery, Pimpin 4 Adult Literacy

Spoiler

http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/10/lolcats-pounce.html
Gallery: http://www.wired.com/culture/art/multimedia/2008/10/gallery_LOLarts
Apparently art doesn't understand the LOLCat concept...they're taking them seriously!! Fortunately, it's for a good cause, so they're forgiven.

The grammatically challenged felines known as LOLcats are clawing their way off computer screens and into the mainstream art world.

Works by nearly 30 artists influenced by the pidgin-speaking-cat meme will be auctioned off Thursday during a sold-out art show in San Francisco -- with proceeds going to benefit an adult-literacy program.

2. Passports Will Be Needed to Buy Mobile Phones

Spoiler

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4969312.ece
Britons will soon be required to present their passports and be registered in a national database when purchasing a mobile phone under plans to overhaul state surveillance powers.

Everyone who buys a mobile telephone will be forced to register their identity on a national database under government plans to extend massively the powers of state surveillance.

Phone buyers would have to present a passport or other official form of identification at the point of purchase. Privacy campaigners fear it marks the latest government move to create a surveillance society.

3. Keyboard "eavesdropping" just got way easier, thanks to electromagnetic emanations

Spoiler

http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/20/keyboard-eavesdropping-just-got-way-easier-thanks-to-electrom/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/20/keyboard_sniffing_attack/
Not really news, keyboards have been insecure almost from day 1, particularly since the advent of wireless once, but one has to admit, this is just cool.

We always knew those electromagnetic emanations would amount to no good, and now here they go ruining any shred of privacy we once thought to possess. Some folks from the Security and Cryptography Lab at Switzerland's EPFL have managed to eavesdrop on the electromagnetic radiation shot off by shoddy wired keyboards with every keystroke. They've found four different ways to listen in, including one previously-published general vulnerability, on eleven keyboard models ranging from 2001 to 2008, with PS/2, USB and laptop keyboards all falling to at least one of the four attacks. The attack works through walls, as far as 65 feet away, and analyzes a wide swath of electromagnetic spectrum to get its results. With wireless keyboards already feeling the sting of hackers, it's probably fair to say that no one is safe, and that cave bunkers far, far away from civilization are pretty much our only hope now. Videos of the attacks are after the break.

4. Microsoft Issue Out-Of-Band Security Patch

Spoiler

http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/vulnerabilities/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=211600270
Technical Info: http://blog.threatexpert.com/2008/10/gimmiva-exploits-zero-day-vulnerability.html
Discussion thread started by Lash Man: https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=15460
It's not often Microsoft choose to release a security patch outside of the regular monthly cycle, but this one's important. Bulletin MS08-067 describes a vulnerability in Windows' Server Service (can anyone say "redundancy"?) that if exploited will permit remote code execution on any version of Windows.

Microsoft has released an out-of-band security update to address a critical flaw that could allow a remote attacker to take over Windows computers without any user interaction.

"This security update resolves a vulnerability in the Server service that affects all currently supported versions of Windows," said Christopher Budd, a MSRC security program manager, in a blog post. "Windows XP and older versions are rated as 'Critical' while Windows Vista and newer versions are rated as 'Important.' Because the vulnerability is potentially wormable on those older versions of Windows, we're encouraging customers to test and deploy the update as soon as possible."

5. Microsoft MASSIVELY Improves JavaScript Performance in IE8

Spoiler

http://zephyrxero.blogspot.com/2008/10/current-browser-javascript-benchmarks.html
Discussion started by Lash Man: https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=15461
I probably would have phrased it something more like "IE JavaScript still the worst performer among Firefox and Chrome.", or "New Firefox blows Chrome's JavaScript out of the water, which blows IE into outer space!"...but whatever.

I've seen lots of people recently saying that Firefox's TraceMonkey JavaScript engine blows Google's V8 out of the water...but was a little skeptical so I decided to do some benchmarks of my own. Now with any benchmark, everything here needs to be taken with a grain of salt as performance will certainly vary upon which sites you are viewing. For this test I have used WebKit's SunSpider. Also, since Chrome and Safari do not have native ports available on Linux right now, I had to do the test under Windows XP. The test machine is dual-core so multi-process/threaded apps should show a benefit, but I feel it's totally fair as single-core machines are quickly going the way of the dinosaur and do not accurately represent the future, which is what we're talking about here. Also as Chrome does not have a stable/final release yet, I've compared with many other browsers' development builds.

6. Silverlight 2 Released

Spoiler

http://www.cgisecurity.org/2008/10/silverlight-2-r.html
Apparently Microsoft isn't put off by the fact that they're the only ones using Silverlight, so they decided to release version 2...*cough*

Silverlight 2 is a cross-platform browser plugin that enables rich media experiences and .NET RIAs (Rich Internet Applications) within the browser.

Silverlight 2 is small in size (4.6MB) and takes only 4-10 seconds to install on a machine that doesn't already have it.  It does not require the .NET Framework to be installed on a computer to run - the Silverlight setup download includes everything necessary to play video or run applications.

7. Your Privacy is an Illusion: UK Attacks Civil Liberties

Spoiler

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081020-your-privacy-is-an-illusion-uk-attacks-civil-liberties.html
It seems the right to silence no longer applies in the UK when the authorities want your encryption keys.

Last year one of the more troubling provisions of the UK's Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) finally came into effect. This piece of legislation made it a criminal offense to refuse to decrypt almost any encrypted data residing within the UK if demanded by authorities as part of a criminal investigation. The penalty for failure to decrypt is up to two years imprisonment for "normal" crime, and up to five years for "terrorism."

As two men accused of "terrorism" discovered last week, the long-standing right to silence does not trump the RIPA powers. The UK's Court of Appeal judged last week that the pair, named only as "S" and "A," could not depend on their right of silence to refuse to provide decryption keys. In the decision, the Court stated that although there was a right to not self-incriminate, this was not absolute, and that the "public interest" can supersede this right in some circumstances.

8. Aussie Govt: Don't Criticize Our (terrible) 'Net Filters

Spoiler

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081024-aussie-govt-dont-criticize-our-terrible-net-filters.html
In followup from this story last week, here is some further info. on the upcoming Australian internet filters.

Australia's plan to subject every Internet user in the country to mandatory content filtering just keeps getting stranger. Although the current government says it simply inherited the program from its predecessor and that the filtering will be voluntary, it seems intent on continuing the rollout plans even as it has become apparent that some level of filtering will be mandatory. Now, an Australian newspaper has uncovered documents showing that the government minister responsible for the program has ignored performance and accuracy problems with the filters, then tried to suppress criticism of the plan by private citizens.

The filtering plan as it now appears consists of two tiers. One would apply to all Australian Internet access and would block access to content deemed illegal (though how that term will be defined hasn't yet been disclosed). A second tier would be switched on by default, but users would be allowed to opt-out; this tier would target content inappropriate for children.

9. Google's Open-source Android Now Actually Open

Spoiler

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10071093-92.html
Google has released the source of Android for all to see.

Less than a year after announcing Android, the open-source phone operating system intended to jump-start the mobile Internet, Google began sharing the project's underlying source code.

The Android Open Source Project site includes a project list, a feature description, guides to the roles people can have in the project and how to contribute, and of course the Android source code itself.

10.  First Look: Firefox 3.1 Beta Offers Speed, Better Searching and More

Spoiler

http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/First_Look%3A_Firefox_3DOT1_Beta_Offers_Speed__Better_Searching_and_More
Monkey_Bites reviews the new Firefox 3.1 BETA, a little more comprehensively than I did

As we mentioned Tuesday, the first beta release of the new Firefox 3.1 browser has arrived. Firefox 3.1, which will land in final form near the beginning of 2009, promises speed improvements, a more refined search bar and support for new and emerging web standards. The browser will also contain a slew of small features that didn’t make the cut in Firefox 3.0.

While not all of the improvements are in beta 1, there’s enough to whet your appetite for the final release.

11.  Channel 9 To Offer All PDC08 Sessions

Spoiler

http://windows7news.com/2008/10/20/channel-9-to-offer-all-pdc08-sessions/
Post/Discussion thread by 40hz: https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=15107.msg135404#msg135404
Channel 9 will be offering videos of all the speeches from the Microsoft Professional Developer Conference on their website within 24 hours of the speech taking place.

The PDC08 (Professional Developer Conference) will start in six days from now and will be packed with Windows 7 related sessions that promise to provide news about the upcoming Microsoft operating system. Not anyone can attend the conference which is held in the Los Angeles Conference Center from October 26 kicking off with a pre-conference session on that day. The registration fee for the full event is $2395 USD which might be a bit much for someone who just wants to find out more about the upcoming Microsoft operating system.

Channel9 announced recently that they will post recordings of all PDC08 sessions on their website for everyone to view. Each session should not take more than 24 hours after taking place to find its way on the Channel 9 homepage which is an excellent opportunity for anyone not attending to view the sessions and discover all the exciting news about Windows 7. The PDC08 is not only about Windows 7 and there surely will be some other interesting sessions that might be interesting to users. This is also an excellent way of watching a session that you missed while attending another session at the PDC08 in case you are one of the attendees.

Ehtyar.

[jgpaiva]

On the new format:
Interesting!
I was one of the ones that didn't support the new idea, but I actually think it's way more interesting! It's less cluttered, easier to browse through, and I ended up reading more news than I would in the older version.
I am all for keeping it

on the news:
About 2. Passports Will Be Needed to Buy Mobile Phones.. How is this possible?  It's not really original, books and movies have been predicting this day for a few decades. I just wasn't expecting it would ever come.

[ewemoa]

Thank you for this week's edition

[mouser]

i have to agree with jgpaiva..
in fact so much so that this is quite a fascinating little meta discovery.

the difference in readability is huge.  it's kind of surprising really how much easier it is for the mind to be able to process the items when you are only looking at the body text for one item at a time.

[nosh]

Good job with the spoilers, Ethyar. 
One last suggestion, the secondary links should go at the very bottom, IMO - that way we can click and start reading immediately (as opposed to 598 ms later, YMMV.  )

[Davidtheo]

Britons need passport to buy Cell phones,  Aussie getting Net Filters, are other countries getting ideas form China or will China have more rights then everyone else soon. I know I don't need my passport to buy a phone yet and I'm in China  Great job 

[f0dder]

I find the keyboard story a bit unsettling. 65 feet and through walls? Ugh!

[Darwin]

Excellent, Ehtyar  I like the new format as well. Like João, I find it actually prompted me to read more of the news. Well done!

[Deozaan]

All you folks talking about the new format... Are you talking about the first post or the second post? I completely ignored the second post because of its redundancy.

Thanks for the weekly news, Ehtyar!

[mouser]

Second post with spoilers is what we are saying is an improvement in format.

[Ehtyar]

LOL Deo! Do we have a dunce award or something around here?

Ehtyar.

[zridling]

Yea, this is cool all around. What a unique addition to the forums. Go Ehtyar go!

[Ehtyar]

Thanks zridling

Ehtyar.

[Deozaan]

LOL Deo! Do we have a dunce award or something around here?

Ehtyar.

-Ehtyar (October 25, 2008, 03:02 PM)

My point was that I feel the second post (with spoilers) is redundant and unnecessary. So other than seeing that it was exactly the same post but with spoilers, I completely ignored it.

[Ehtyar]

It was intentional. Have a read of the comments of last week's news.

Ehtyar.

[Deozaan]

It was intentional. Have a read of the comments of last week's news.

Ehtyar.

-Ehtyar (October 26, 2008, 09:25 PM)

I realize it was intentional. What I'm saying is that I'm one of the people who isn't heaping praises on it. I don't like it and I think it's pointless.

But that's just my opinion. If people really like it then keep it. I'll just continue to ignore it like I did this time.

[mouser]

the intention isnt to post the newsletter in both formats each time is it? it was just this time you posted both so we could compare.
in future idea would be to only post the compact version, right?

[Ehtyar]

the intention isnt to post the newsletter in both formats each time is it? it was just this time you posted both so we could compare.
in future idea would be to only post the compact version, right?

-mouser (October 26, 2008, 11:19 PM)

Yeah. I guess that's the part Deo was missing.

It was intentional. Have a read of the comments of last week's news.

Ehtyar.

-Ehtyar (October 26, 2008, 09:25 PM)

I realize it was intentional. What I'm saying is that I'm one of the people who isn't heaping praises on it. I don't like it and I think it's pointless.

But that's just my opinion. If people really like it then keep it. I'll just continue to ignore it like I did this time.

-Deozaan (October 26, 2008, 10:43 PM)

Neither do I, but since the news is posted for everyone BUT myself, and since you're the only person to express distaste, I guess I don't have much of an option.

Ehtyar.

[Lashiec]

So, about keyboards, it seems it does not longer matter if they are wireless or not, huh?

About 5, yeah, the other browsers perform better, but since everyone and their dog ran such benchmarks a thousand times with the "alternative" browsers, and TraceMonkey has been known to perform better than V8 for a while (and it's improving), I found kind of interesting they ran the benchmark on IE, and that it showed such a leap in performance, which is all the better for the web.

About 2. Passports Will Be Needed to Buy Mobile Phones.. How is this possible?  It's not really original, books and movies have been predicting this day for a few decades. I just wasn't expecting it would ever come.

-jgpaiva (October 24, 2008, 07:29 PM)

Yeah, we have this in Spain since the 11-M. If you want to buy a prepaid phone, you have to use your DNI and all the data goes into your phone provider databases. Since the terrorists used prepaid phones to communicate between them prior the massacre, that's why they can't be anonymously bought anymore. I don't think it's that much of an issue, as the Spanish government is generally trustable in privacy concerns, and the details of each phone number are only available per request of the authorities.

Another thing is demanding your encryption keys. That's unacceptable.