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Google Diversity Data Pressures Silicon Valley to Change

5/29/2014

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Google Inc. (GOOG)’s decision to lay bare its lack of diversity ramps up the pressure on other Silicon Valley companies to increase the number of women and minorities among technology workers.

Women make up 30 percent of employees and 91 percent of staff are either white or Asian, theMountain View, California-based company disclosed in a blog post yesterday.

The dearth of female and minority engineers, startup founders and business leaders has long been a sore point for female executives including Facebook Inc.’s Sheryl Sandberg as well as activists such as Jesse Jackson. Google’s disclosure follows increasing calls from investors and activists for companies in the technology hub -- which prides itself on being liberal and culturally inclusive -- to embrace diversity.

“Silicon Valley has been confused on the idea of meritocracy.” Mitch Kapor, the former chief executive officer of Lotus Development Corp., said in an interview today. He’s organizing a conference on diversity with Google later this year. “Aspirationally, it’s a meritocracy, but in practice it really isn’t.”

Apple Inc. (AAPL), facing behind-the-scenes pressure from some shareholders to add more female directors and executives, included language to a board committee charter in November vowing to diversify the group, which has one female director.

Facebook and Twitter Inc. (TWTR) were criticized leading up to their initial public offerings for not having any female directors. Sandberg and Susan Desmond-Hellmann are now on Facebook’sboard, and the other six members are white males. Twitter has one woman, Marjorie Scardino, on its board and the remaining seven are white males. Of the 10 people on Google’s board, three are women and one is an India-born minority.

Diversity ChallengeLaszlo Bock, Google’s senior vice president of people operations, wrote in the post that the search provider was wrong to hold back on publishing numbers on the diversity of its workforce. He highlighted the lack of qualified minority and female technology experts, citing a U.S. Department of Education study that found women earn just 18 percent of computer-science degrees in the U.S., and that blacks and Hispanics collect fewer than 5 percent of computer-science degrees.

“Put simply, Google is not where we want to be when it comes to diversity, and it’s hard to address these kinds of challenges if you’re not prepared to discuss them openly, and with the facts,” Bock wrote.

Under PressureThe lack of diversity among Google’s 50,000 employees isn’t unusual. Last year, 74 percent of U.S. workers in computer and mathematical occupations were men, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In software development, a fifth of the jobs were held by women.

“This is a challenge to Silicon Valley,” said Irina Raicu, director of the Internet ethics program atSanta Clara University. “While this was an important step forward, it doesn’t mean that Google should just sit back now.”

Jackson, representing his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, has been showing up at shareholder meetings at Google, Facebook and other technology companies to push for more diversity. Jackson said he’s issuing letters to 25 top technology companies including Apple, Cisco Systems Inc., Intel Corp., Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to follow Google’s lead and disclose more employment figures.

“For so long they’ve been hiding that data, and it’s time it be made public,” Jackson said in an interview.

Corporate CultureClaudia Chan, founder of the S.H.E. Summit, a conference that focuses on women’s leadership and empowerment issues, said that female representation in companies is at the forefront of diversity discussions again.

“There’s been a lot of mainstream conversation about women’s issues in the last few years,” Chan said. “This is a new wave of feminism, and it’s not just women stepping up for women. Now it’s also the private sector.”

Intel provides a breakdown of its U.S. workforce, showing that 24 percent of its employees are women. That ratio is the same at Microsoft, which has a board with a black chairman, John Thompson, and two female directors.

“Diversity is an integral part of Intel’s competitive strategy and vision,” Patricia McDonald, Intel’s vice president of human resources, said. “We have taken the initiative to follow a standard practice of reporting diversity data openly.”

Representatives from Apple, Yahoo and Microsoft didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. John Earnhardt, a spokesman for Cisco, declined to comment.

Improving EqualityApple, which doesn’t break out the composition of its workforce of 80,000, changed its board-committee charter following objections from shareholders Trillium Asset Management LLC and theSustainability Group. The investors said they were disappointed that the iPhone maker has only one woman on its eight-member board, and few female members on the executive team that reports to CEO Tim Cook.

Cook has also been outspoken about improving equality since succeeding Steve Jobs in 2011. Cook and Apple have advocated legalizing same-sex marriages in the U.S., and for legislation that prohibits companies from discriminating based on sexual orientation. Cook gave a speech in December about his childhood in Alabama and how witnessing a cross burning left a lasting impression on him to fight for equality.

A incident this week underscored how Silicon Valley still retains a boys club atmosphere. Evan Spiegel, CEO of mobile-app startup Snapchat Inc., apologized yesterday for profanity-laced e-mails he sent during his Stanford University fraternity days that celebrated getting drunk and convincing sorority women to perform sexual acts.

Inappropriate RemarksIn March 2013, Adria Richards received threats of violence and was fired from her software job at startup SendGrid Inc. after she posted online an image of male programmers she accused of making inappropriate innuendos at a programming event in Santa Clara, California. Critics said Richards mishandled the offense and defenders said her dismissal will discourage standing up to misconduct.

Ellen Pao, a former partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, sued the venture-capital firm last year alleging it treated female employees unfairly by promoting and compensating them less than men. She said she faced retaliation after she complained about sexual harassment.


Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-30/google-diversity-data-pressures-silicon-valley-to-change.html
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Dropbox reaches 300 million users milestone

5/28/2014

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Recently, Dropbox announced they’ve hit a new milestone, reaching 300 million users which is impressive.

It gets better, the last 100 million users added by the company were added in the last six months. Back in November, the cloud storage service announced they’ve reached 200 million users, so it’s even more interesting that the service is gaining popularity so fast.

The company is continuously adding more features to Dropbox, which is one of the reasons why people are focusing more on it. Additionally, they also launched a new service Carousel, a cross-device photo and video gallery primarily for Dropbox users who want to save images.

They also acquired the popular Mailbox app, and made sure it’s available on Android as well. It would be interesting to see how the company evolves, and performs in the coming months.


Source: http://www.technologytell.com/gadgets/145416/dropbox-reaches-300-million-users-milestone/
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Why is Philippine Internet so slow?

5/28/2014

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MANILA - Why is Internet in the Philippines so slow?

Senator Loren Legarda voiced out a common concern about unreliable and expensive Internet in the country. In a hearing of the Senate committee on trade, commerce and entrepreneurship, Legarda shared her frustration about poor Internet in her own home and office.

The committee aimed to find out why Internet connection in the Philippines is slow and expensive and investigate its impact on doing business in the Philippines, following a resolution filed by Senator Bam Aquino.

Legarda told the committee that she has been experiencing bad Internet connection in her Senate office despite having a separate broadband Internet connection. She said that her 3G Internet from her iPad device is also not helping.

"As we speak now, there is no Internet connection in my office… I received a message this morning from my staff on my way here because I may be emailing, etcetera, 'Ma'am, walang Internet.' And for someone whose deadline was yesterday, I always want things done fast and I'm sure many of you want that efficiency too to serve our people better," Legarda said.

"In my office or in my home, may WIFI and our service provider is PLDT DSL but I have an iPad and I subscribe to Globe and I'm on 3G, still Internet is either absent or excruciatingly slow which is so exasperating and frustrating. So can someone from the private sector or the government explain that?

"Despite that and all the shortcomings, ang mahal, mahal nang singil, bakit ganoon? Kung ang shortcoming o ang problema ay kasi kulang ng subsidy ang gobyerno, kasi outmoded ang batas, kasi ganito, e bakit mahal maningil ang service providers? Dapat iakma ninyo sa serbisyo ninyo," she said.

PLDT Smart Communications public affairs head Mon Isberto asked for the senator's account details to look into the problem.

But Legarda said that she already called up the PLDT herself and spoke to the company's technicians and has also brought this up with the company's "higher officials" but the problem was not solved.

Isberto surmised that there may be "physical problems" in the space that hinder access to Internet.

"It's very difficult for me to answer you at this point in time not knowing the facts of the case. So I could speculate as to there is a physical problem with here in the building regarding the lines. But I have to really have to take a look and check but if it's something that is affecting not just your office but other offices, then my suspicion would be in that direction," Isberto told Legarda.

IS CONGESTION THE PROBLEM?


"What is the most basic reason or common reason why we experience poor service?" Aquino asked the panel.

Congestion and inadequate infrastructure is being seen as a possible reason by the DOST.

"Congestion in part of the link and it could be due to oversubscription of the service," said Engineer Denis Villorente of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)

"Meaning, hindi na kaya ng infrastructure 'yung load ng sistema. There are too may people accessing and the infrastructure itself is not enough, is that what you mean?" Aquino asked.

"Yes. Somewhere in the system, there is a congestion that's being experienced because a lot of people are accessing or generating traffic," said Villorente, pointing out that adding capacity could be a solution.

PLDT's Isberto said that a network may already have "more than adequate capacity" but still experience congestion in a specific area due to the volume of Internet usage at a specific time, for example in concerts where the usage may be heavy. He said that adding cell cites to "augment capacity" is a solution."

Globe's legal counsel Vicente Froilan Castelo said that telcos may also not be able to expand capacity in certain areas where they would not be allowed to do so, in exclusive villages, for example.

Globe nevertheless said that it has spent $700 million for the first phase of its 4G network, saying it is "gearing" towards making Internet faster and more reliable.

Globe said that "easing up" regulations of local governments could promote investments to expand and improve network.

Isberto said Smart is targeting to cover all towns and cities with 3G and HSPA network by the end of the year that could provide Internet speed of about 7.2 mbps. This is aside from rolling out its LTE network to cover 45-50% of the population by yearend to improve Internet speed.

The National Telecommunications Commission cited "positive developments" that could improve Internet speed such as the use TV white space or the unused channels in analog TV, the implementation of digital TV, and new ISP satellite service that would allow users to get Internet connection through satellites.

NTC is proposing that the NTC be allowed to retain fees that it collects and use it to develop fiber networks and fund broadband network infrastructure.

RECTO BILL

The committee also heard the bill filed by Senator Ralph Recto proposing to mandate Internet service providers and telecom companies to increase the minimum speed of their Internet service to 10 mbps.

Recto said that the Philippines has the slowest Internet speed in Southeast Asia with an average speed of 3.4 mbps.

Aquino cited studies that showed the Philippines as among the countries with the most expensive Internet.

In the meantime, Isberto said that a "general solution" for telcos is to add their capacities by building more cell sites.

"The only General solution for that is for the operators to keep investing in their networks, magdadagdag ng capacity doon sa kanilang cell sites or magdadagdag sila ng mga cell sites. Kasi halimbawa, napuno na ho 'yung isang cell site, 'yung capacity ay hindi na sapat para doon sa demand doon sa isang specific area, ang gagawin dapat diyan at yun naman ho ang ginagawa naming ay magdadagdag pa ho tayo ng cell site para madagdagan ho 'yung buong capacity doon sa area na 'yun," Isberto told reporters.

"Ibig sabihin, the companies involved ay kailangang magbuo ng kanilang financial resources at mag invest doon sa capacity na ito. At 'yun naman ho ang ginagawa ng PLDT Smart and Sun. Depende sa pangangailangan ng kanilang mga subscriber base ay dinadagdagan ho ng capacity. Wala hong ibang solusyon kundi 'yun ho."

Committee chair Bam Aquino plans to call more hearings on the matter to discuss other possible solutions, adding that the committee has asked the NTC to confirm if congestion is indeed main reason behind the slow speed of Internet.

"Kung congestion ito na once in a blue moon kunwari nagka-concert, nagka-congestion. Or may PBA game, for example, at may congestion then maybe 'yun you can say at that particular time baka mahina ang ating internet. But if it's a regular type of congestion, araw-araw mong nararanasan, that's something that has to be addressed regularly," Aquino told reporters.

A suggestion to amend the law to make Internet service a basic service from its current status as a value-added service is being looked into to allow government to exercise some of regulatory powers over it.

"That can be one of the laws that can be amended na gawin nating basic service ang Internet. It is already recognized as a human right and if we make it a basic service, at least pwede natin talaga bantayan kung paano ito ikalat sa mas maraming Pilipino at the right cost at the right service level," Aquino said.


Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/focus/05/28/14/why-philippine-internet-so-slow
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Hacker breaks into Spotify's system

5/27/2014

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Swedish music streaming service Spotify said Tuesday its system had been attacked by a hacker, but that banking or payment data had not been accessed. 

The website of Swedish music streaming service Spotify on March 7, 2013 in Stockholm

"We detected unauthorised access to our systems and internal company data," the firm said in a statement.

"As soon as we became aware of the intrusion, we immediately launched an investigation."

Spotify explained that only the data of one user had been affected, but that these did not include any passwords or banking and payment information.

The company said that it would update its Android application in the next days and ask some of its users to reenter their user name and password to log in.

Spotify claims to have 40 million active users in 56 countries including 10 million premium customers.



Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/412167/hacker-breaks-into-spotify-system

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Windows XP hack resurrects patches for retired OS

5/27/2014

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Computerworld - A simple hack of Windows XP tricks Microsoft's update service into delivering patches intended for a close cousin of the aged OS, potentially extending support for some components until 2019, a security researcher confirmed today.

What's unclear is whether those patches actually protect a Windows XP PC against cyber criminals' exploits.

The hack, which has circulated since last week -- first on a German-language discussion forum, then elsewhere as word spread -- fools Microsoft's Windows Update service into believing that the PC is actually running a close relation of XP, called "Windows Embedded POSReady 2009."

Unlike Windows XP, which was retired from security support April 8 and no longer receives patches, Embedded POSReady 2009 is due patches until April 9, 2019.

As its name implies, POSReady 2009 is used as the OS for devices such as cash registers -- aka point-of-sale systems -- and ATMs. Because it's based on Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), the last supported version of the 13-year-old OS, its security patches are a superset of those that would have been shipped to XP users if support was still in place. Many of POSReady 2009's patches are similar, if not identical, to those still offered to enterprises and governments that have paid Microsoft for post-retirement XP support.

Jerome Segura, a senior security researcher at Malwarebytes, an anti-malware software vendor, tried out the hack and came away impressed.

"The system is stable, no crashes, no blue screens," Segura said in an interview, talking about the Windows XP virtual machine whose updates he resurrected with the hack. "I saw no warnings or error messages when I applied patches for .Net and Internet Explorer 8."

The Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) update Segura applied appeared to be the same one Microsoft released May 13 for other versions of Windows, including POSReady 2009, but did not deliver to Windows XP.

But although he has run the hacked XP for several days now without any noticeable problems, he wasn't willing to give the trick a passing grade.

"[POSReady 2009] is not Windows XP, so we don't know if its patches fully protect XP customers," Segura said. "From an exploit point of view, when those vulnerabilities are exploited in the wild, will this patch protect PCs or will they be infected? That would be the ultimate proof."

Microsoft, not surprisingly, took a dim view of the hack.

"We recently became aware of a hack that purportedly aims to provide security updates to Windows XP customers," a company spokesperson said in an email. "The security updates that could be installed are intended for Windows Embedded and Windows Server 2003 customers and do not fully protect Windows XP customers. Windows XP customers also run a significant risk of functionality issues with their machines if they install these updates, as they are not tested against Windows XP."

That last sentence was puzzling. While Microsoft would almost certainly nottest POSReady 2009's patches on a Windows XP system, it would have tested the XP patches it crafted for its post-retirement support clients. And from all the evidence, POSReady 2009 is, at its heart, Windows XP SP3.

"The core of [Embedded POSReady 2009] is pretty much the same as Windows XP," said Segura.

Microsoft itself makes that plain on its own website. In one document, Microsoft stated that POSReady 2009 offers "full Win32 compatibility" with Windows applications.

While Microsoft urged XP users to steer clear of the hack and instead ditch the old OS for "a more modern operating system, like Windows 7 or Windows 8.1" -- Segura pointed out that wasn't always possible, often for financial reasons. "If someone is going to stick with XP [the hack] is better than doing nothing, better than not having any patches," Segura said.

"But there are better alternatives," he continued. "Don't use IE for one thing. Use an alternate browser -- Chrome are Firefox are going to still support XP -- and there are security products, including our anti-exploit products, that still run on XP. Those would be much better than the hack."

The POSReady 2009 hack wasn't the first end-around Windows XP users have found for patching their PCs. In August 2010, after Microsoft required customers to upgrade from XP SP2 to SP3 to continue to receive security updates, a security adviser with antivirus vendor F-Secure revealed a Windows registry hack that tricked Windows Updateinto "seeing" an XP SP2 PC as an XP SP3 system.

Segura was curious how Microsoft would deal with the hack. "It's so easy to get the patches," he said. "Did Microsoft miss something? Will they do additional validation [to block the hack]? Can they?"

Instructions on how to apply the hack can be found on the Web, including this piece by Martin Brinkman on his Ghacks blog last Saturday.


Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9248614/Windows_XP_hack_resurrects_patches_for_retired_OS
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Apple to buy Beats for $3 billion

5/27/2014

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Apple has got the Beats.

The Cupertino tech giant on Wednesday announced it has struck a $3 billion deal to buy Beats Electronics, which makes high-end headphones, and its sister company, Beats Music, which runs a subscription music service. The deal, the largest in Apple's history, will bring to the company not only new products but also Beats founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, both of whom are music industry legends.

Beats will help Apple "continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world," company CEO Tim Cook said in a statement.

While many analysts questioned the high price of the deal, some said it would give Apple a profitable new product line and potentially renewed cache among younger consumers. It also gives Apple entree into the subscription music business.

The deal comes at a critical point for Apple, which has seen its sales and profit growth slow from rocket-like to a snail's pace in recent years. Sales of the iPhone are growing slower than the broader market and the iPad has actually seen a sales decline. And despite rumors of numerous new products in the works, the company hasn't launched a new product line since unveiling the iPad four years ago.

The deal also comes amid a transition in the music industry. Sales of digital music, which Apple's iTunes music store has long dominated, have started to decline. At the same time, revenue from music subscription services, which Apple has long resisted, have started to rise rapidly.

The acquisition arguably addresses both of those larger issues, providing Apple with new, potentially fast growing lines of products and establishing it as a player in the subscription music business.

Beats Electronics has two lines of business. The company sells portable speaker systems and headphones and earphones that range in price from $100 to $400. And it licenses its audio software technology to companies, including Hewlett-Packard and Chrysler, to improve the sound quality of their computers and cars.

Launched in January, Beats Music is a streaming music service similar to Spotify, Rdio or Microsoft's Xbox Music. Subscribers pay $10 a month to play any song in Beats' catalog on demand. Where the service tries to distinguish itself is with playlists curated by music experts.

As a private company, Beats does not disclose its financial results. But it reportedly has annual sales of $1.5 billion. The number of subscribers to Beats Music is reportedly in the low hundreds of thousands.

But the deal could also provide Apple some other benefits. Beat's headphone business offers Apple a product line that has better profit margins than many of its current products, said Danielle Levitas, a senior consumer technology analyst with market research firm IDC. That could be important for the company as the margins for its other products come under pressure amid efforts to stay competitive with rivals.

Additionally, the Beats brand likely appeals to a different set of consumers than does Apple, she said. Acquiring Beats could be a way for Apple to reach younger customers than those who buy from iTunes or purchase iPhones. Apple could potentially add the Beats name to its products, she said.

"There's a little bit of the hipness factor," said Levitas. "This probably helps Apple's penetration into Millennials and urban hipsters."

Apple's interest in the Beats Music subscription service is more difficult to understand. Given that it already operates its own streaming music service -- albeit a free one -- in iTunes Radio, the company likely could have created a Spotify rival without having to buy Beats, analysts said. And despite the growing popularity of such services, they haven't proven to be a great business so far. Spotify and Pandora -- the biggest subscription music and Internet radio services -- both lose money.

But Apple could use Beats Music to launch a new kind of streaming service, suggested McGuire. One possibility is a subscription service that includes not just music, but also movies and TV shows.

"That's where I think this gets pretty interesting," McGuire said.

Apple is paying $2.6 billion in cash and $400 million in stock for Beats. The companies expect the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, to close in the third quarter.

Representatives for Apple and Beats did not respond to requests for comment.


Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ci_25854454/apple-buy-beats-3-billion
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Google releases VirusTotal Tool for OS X to scan suspicious files

5/27/2014

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The word ‘virus’ gets a great deal of attention these days and Google, being the biggest driver of Internet traffic, wants to keep its roads clean.

The company has announced the release of the VirusTotal Uploader for OS X which allows Mac users to upload suspicious files for scanning, reports The Next Web. Users can download the 8.52 MB heavy app directly for the OS X 10.8 and 10.9 from VirusTotal.

Windows OS users are already familiar with the popular online scanning service and would know the simple process. VirusTotal operates by accepting requests for virus checks, running every available protection software on the questioned document or pages, then distributing the results to security vendors. With its simple drag and drop feature it makes it easier for users run suspicious files with over 50 antivirus solutions.

Google had acquired VirusTotal way back in September 2012 and promised VirusTotal the independence of operation. The Mac version of this service will allow VirusTotal to receive more Mac experience and tackle the OS-specific attacks. OS X sees significantly fewer viruses built specifically for the platform, because of its low market share in comparison to Windows.



Source: http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/google-releases-virustotal-tool-for-os-x-to-scan-suspicious-files-224466.html

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Warning out vs. World Cup malware

5/27/2014

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Football fans anticipating the upcoming 2014 World Cup were advised to be wary of a fresh wave of malware attacks exploiting the excitement over the sporting event.
 
Kaspersky Lab said the attacks appear to target netizens searching for videos or match results of the FIFA World Cup, which starts June 12 and ends July 13.
 
"The cyberattacks have continued as the tournament approaches," Kaspersky Lab expert Fabio Assolini said in a blog post.
 
Assolini said previous attacks had included fake domains selling fake tickets, fake giveaways, and phishing and malware campaigns that targeted credit cards.
 
Some attacks have become "professional" as cybercriminals now use digitally signed malware, he said.
 
Other tools they use include a breached customer database used for online ticket sales, SSL-certified phishing domains and a lot of social engineering.
 
"All the attacks had the same goal: to infect your machine and steal your money," he said.
 
Presently, Assolini said some Brazilian phishers are registering domains with names of well-known local brands, usually credit card companies, banks, and online stores.
 
They used the names of credit card brands, or Brazilian TV hosts.
 
"In Brazil alone, we’re detecting and blocking on average about 50-60 domains like this per day," he said.
 
On the other hand, he said phishers have gone one step further, registering domains and buying SSL certificates from Certification Authorities such as Comodo, EssentialSSL, Starfield, and Register.com, to give phishing domains a "verified" SSL certificate.
 
"The phishers also prepared fraudulent pages in mobile format, so they can steal data from users even if they click the link on their smartphone," he said.
 
Social engineering
 
Assolini said prospective victims have received messages claiming they have won tickets to a World Cup match, but have to print the ticket. The messages contain links that point to a digitally-signed Brazilian Trojan banker.
 
Other victims have received personalized emails supposedly sent by a well-known online ticket sales system. The message pointed to a website where the victim is asked to download a file "that turns out to be a Trojan banker."
 
Don't trust messages
 
Meanwhile, Assolini advised fans planning to travel to Brazil for the World Cup or following it online to be secure.
 
"Don’t trust any messages you receive, and double-check before clicking links," he said. -- Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News



Source: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/362863/scitech/technology/warning-out-vs-world-cup-malware
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PLDT to invest PHP 1 bln, fiber network to reach 100,000 km

5/27/2014

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Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) plans to deploy an additional 15,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable facilities this year with an investment of over PHP 1 billion. This would extend PLDT’s fiber network to nearly 100,000 kilometers by year-end. By the end of the first quarter of this year, PLDT has expanded its fiber optic network to 85,000 kilometers.

PLDT’s fiber expansion program in 2013 covered the domestic fiber optic network (DFON) used for long haul applications, fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), fiber-in-the-loop (FITL), and other inter-office fibering systems. The FTTH project made PLDT’s internet services available to about 2 million homes in different parts of the country, such as Metro Manila, the regions of Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, and the provinces of Panay, Negros Occidental, Cebu, and Davao.

Early this year, PLDT has completed the installation of over 150 kilometers of submarine fiber optic cables that linked the island of Bohol to the major network centers in the Visayas and Mindanao areas. It has also accomplished the rollout of 620 kilometers fiber optic inland and submarine cables that now connect the Palawan province in Western Philippines to the PLDT network and to the rest of the country and the world.

This infrastructure expansion project is expected to benefit around 11 million subscribers of PLDT mobile subsidiaries Smart and Sun Cellular and around 450,000 customers of PLDT Home, as well as enterprises in Northern Luzon.


Source: http://www.telecompaper.com/news/pldt-to-invest-php-1-bln-fiber-network-to-reach-100000-km--1016020
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Sun Microsystems reunion: The legacy continues

5/26/2014

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It has been more than four years since once high-flying systems and software vendor Sun Microsystems met its official demise. The company's rich technology legacy, however, lives on. About 750 former employees, including Sun co-founders Vinod Khosla and Andy Bechtolsheim, gathered at a reunion this past weekend in the parking lot of Sun's old office buildings in Silicon Valley to celebrate the company's achievements.

Formed in 1982 and acquired by Oracle in early 2010, Sun was the birthplace of technologies such as the Java enterprise platform and language, which is still in great demand 19 years after its inception, and Network File System (NFS), for accessing files over a network. Sun was famous for pushing Unix and open standards computing amid a sea of proprietary systems, taking on established giants IBM, HP, and even Microsoft. The company's roster featured an all-star team of technologists, including co-founder and Unix guru Bill Joy, Java inventor James Gosling, and XML co-inventor Tim Bray.

While longtime CEO Scott McNealy, Joy, and Sun's last CEO Jonathan Schwartz were not in attendance, Khosla, Bechtolsheim, and other Sun officials waxed sentimental about the company's good old days. Listing Sun's most important achievements, Khosla, now a venture capitalist, cites its emphasis on distributed computing and NFS.

"When we went to market, we made networking standard on every Sun [computer]," Khosla said. DES encryption was included "because I couldn't imagine how you could do networking without encryption," he said. NFS, meanwhile, arose out of a distributed computing vision, Khosla said. "It was one of the first open source projects, really."

When asked if Java was Sun's top achievement, Gosling instead echoed Khosla's sentiments: "The Sun tag line, 'The Network is the Computer' -- people keep forgetting that Sun was the first company that took networking seriously." But having Java developers in so much demand these days is "pretty cool," said Gosling, who is chief software architect at Liquid Robotics, which builds software for robots that roam the ocean. "Hiring Java developers is an expensive proposition, and I'm certainly trying to hire some right now."

Bechtolsheim, pondering whether Sun might have been better off switching its product lines to Intel and Linux, recalled that Sparc chips outperformed Intel chips throughout the 1990s, while Linux had been a hobby project. "Unfortunately, then, in the 2000 era, after the dot-com crash, both Intel and AMD ultimately made faster CPUs and Linux was a lot more mature and customers started switching over to a Linux-Intel combination," said Bechtolsheim, who is now chairman of cloud networking vendor Arista Networks. At that point, it was very difficult for Sun to adjust, he said. But both Solaris and Sparc hardware continue to be developed at Oracle.

As far as how Oracle has handled Sun technologies since the acquisition, Khosla said he had not paid much attention to it, other than tracking the lawsuit between Oracle and Google over the use of Java in the Android mobile platform. "I'm sure [the case] will continue for a while."

Gosling reiterated his contentions that Oracle has been OK for Java but not for Solaris. "Oddly enough, they've done a way better job with Java than I've ever expected," Gosling said. But Oracle messed up on Solaris, pricing it too high, he said.

Khosla, though, had a pessimistic prognosis for the Apache Hadoop distributed computing platform, labeling it an outdated batch processing system. "Having a batch process this day and age is silly. I always think of it as going back to pre-Sun days."


Source: http://www.infoworld.com/t/java-programming/sun-microsystems-reunion-the-legacy-continues-243173
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