iTunes Copying, a Hacker’s Work

Apple’s iPod is no longer the sole beneficiary of music downloaded via iTunes. Jon Lech Johansen, also known as DVD Jon, has created software that converts the restricted format into others, making
it available for non-Apple devices. The famed Norwegian hacker was formerly involved with breaking copy-protection for DVDs (hence the nickname).

His company has released the doubleTwist software because the media landscape has "become a tower of Babel, alienating and frustrating consumers," as Web User reports. Truth be told, the Apple only restriction can become very infuriating at times, especially when, say, you have a song that you’d want your girlfriend to listen to but she’s got something other than an iPod.


DVD Jon’s company is also called double Twist, and its co-founder told the cited source that "When you receive an email, you can read it on your BlackBerry, webmail, or Outlook. Email just works. With digital media such as video from a friend's cell phone or your own iTunes playlists, it's a jungle out there." The man is preaching! I’m a big iPod fan myself ,but it’s obvious he has a point there.

"It can be an hour-long exercise in futility to convert files to the correct format and transfer them to your Sony PSP or your phone. Our goal is to provide a simple and well-integrated solution that the average consumer can use to eliminate the headaches associated with their expanding digital universe," he continued.

Obviously, the removal of the protection and the conversion will start a spree of piracy, so to say. There’ll be nothing left to keep average iPod Joe from sending all of his friends the entire slew of tracks bought on iTunes, and from there on it’s going to be like an upside down pyramid game, only that instead of money there’ll be songs and video.

source : news.softpedia.com

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Demonoid Tracker Is Back, Will the Site be Next?

It has been three months since the popular (semi)private BitTorrent tracker Demonoid went offline. Since then, there has been a lot of speculation about its future, and many feared that the site would never return. Totally out of the blue, however, the tracker is now responding again.


The frontend of Demonoid is still hosted in the US, together with the popular Subdemon forums. Interestingly, the tracker - which has been offline for months - is now hosted in Malaysia, and has started to respond again, approximately 30 hours ago.

It is of course not clear what this all means, but without an official message from the Demonoid team, speculation has started. Could it be that the site has found a new host, and preparing a return? Many former Demonoid members are secretly hoping that this is indeed the case.

Last December, Deimos, the founder and main admin of what used to be one of the most popular BitTorrent trackers, posted a message on the Subdemon forums on the possibility of a return. At the time he wrote: “Money is an issue, but the real problem at the moment is finding a suitable place to host the website. There has been no luck there. And there’s some personal stuff I need to take care of that takes most of my time at the moment, and that does not help.”

For those who forgot, here is a recap of what has happened so far. The trouble for Demonoid started back in June, when the Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN started to put pressure on Demonoid and their ISP, Leaseweb. Deimos decided that the Netherlands wasn’t the safe haven it used to be and he to moved the site to Canada, which resulted in a few days of downtime.

Deimos never really told the administrators or members of the site exactly what was happening. Initially, most members assumed that there was some hardware failure, but after a few days it became clear that Demonoid was more or less forced to move. Maybe there could have been hardware failures too, who knows, but the outcome was the same - Canada here we come.

Relocating the servers to Canada initially solved the problems, but, by the end of September Deimos took Demonoid offline for the second time. Again, nobody knew what was going on until we found out that the CRIA was responsible for the downtime, which was later confirmed by Deimos. It turned out that Canada wasn’t the best choice after all.

After 5 days of downtime the site returned, now blocking all traffic from Canadian users in an attempt to calm down the CRIA. At first it looked like the storm was finally over, but on November 9th Demonoid’s users were welcomed by a disappointing message on the frontpage explaining that the CRIA was indeed responsible for the downtime.

So will Demonoid ever return? The fact that the tracker is back online, in a different location seems to suggest that there is something happening.

source : torrentfreak.com

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Windows Vista SP1 RTM Slipstream ISO Versions Coming Right Up

The Windows Vista Service Pack 1 RTM build release parade continues along. Following the releasing to manufacturing of Vista SP1, Microsoft set the general availability date no less than a month and a half away. But this does not mean that the company did not start shipping Vista SP1 almost immediately. The OEMs were among the first to get the service pack, as they rush to deliver Vista SP1 preloaded computers at the start of April 2008. The service pack also went into production for the retail DVDs.


Then, the beta testers involved in the development of Vista SP1 got their hands on the RTM
build. And next it was the turn of the company's Volume License customers, as well as TechNet Plus and MSDN Subscribers. As of February 14, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (x86, x64) - DVD (English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish); Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (x86) - EXE (English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish); and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (x64) - EXE (English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish) went live on both TechNet and MSDN.

Microsoft even fixed an issue that prevented some TechNet subscribers to access the right version of the Top Subscriber Downloads control and Vista SP1 RTM. "This issue has been resolved. We located what was causing this issue and have corrected a setting the the XML file for the Top Downloads control. Thanks for your patience," stated Kathy Dixon with TechNet Plus subscriptions.

Now, it is time for the next wave of Vista SP1 RTM downloads. If you are a simple end user of Vista, you have nothing to worry about. Microsoft will not permit access to the service pack until mid-March when Vista will be made available via Microsoft Updates, the Download Center and Windows Updates. However, MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers will be getting by the end of February the slipstream ISO version of Vista SP1.

"The integrated full install of Vista with SP1 will be available for download prior to the end of the month; we are working through download capacity planning and will make it available as soon as we can," Dixon added. Keith Combs, Microsoft IT Pro Evangelist, confirmed this: "later this month the 'FULL' Windows Vista SP1 .iso will be made available so you can install a SP1 machine from scratch." The exact date remains unknown with all indications pointing to next week.

source : news.softpedia.com

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Official: HD DVD dead and buried, format war is over

It's official. Toshiba just made a statement saying, " it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders." Cessation of the player and recorders are targeted for March 2008. Volume production of HD DVD disk drives for PCs and games will end in the same time frame. However, Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation did say that Toshiba will, "continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives." That's it folks, the format war is over, Blu-ray has won. Full press release after the break.



Update: Besides stating "no plans" to go Blu-ray during the Q&A, Toshiba committed to stockpiling HD DVD recording media for those who own HD DVD recorders. These will be sold on-line. As for future HD DVD software releases, Mr. Nishida could only say, "it was not our business, we cannot predict their business." Oh really? Is the lack of new titles on a dead platform really so hard to predict?


Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses

19 February, 2008

Company Remains Focused on Championing Consumer Access to High Definition Content

TOKYO--Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. This decision has been made following recent major changes in the market. Toshiba will continue, however, to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.

HD DVD was developed to offer consumers access at an affordable price to high-quality, high definition content and prepare them for the digital convergence of tomorrow where the fusion of consumer electronics and IT will continue to progress.

"We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop," said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality."

Toshiba will continue to lead innovation, in a wide range of technologies that will drive mass market access to high definition content. These include high capacity NAND flash memory, small form factor hard disk drives, next generation CPUs, visual processing, and wireless and encryption technologies. The company expects to make forthcoming announcements around strategic progress in these convergence technologies.

Toshiba will begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders to retail channels, aiming for cessation of these businesses by the end of March 2008. Toshiba also plans to end volume production of HD DVD disk drives for such applications as PCs and games in the same timeframe, yet will continue to make efforts to meet customer requirements. The company will continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives within the overall PC business relative to future market demand.

This decision will not impact on Toshiba's commitment to standard DVD, and the company will continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders. Toshiba intends to continue to contribute to the development of the DVD industry, as a member of the DVD Forum, an international organization with some 200 member companies, committed to the discussion and defining of optimum optical disc formats for the consumer and the related industries.

Toshiba also intends to maintain collaborative relations with the companies who joined with Toshiba in working to build up the HD DVD market, including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation and major Japanese and European content providers on the entertainment side, as well as leaders in the IT industry, including Microsoft, Intel, and HP. Toshiba will study possible collaboration with these companies for future business opportunities, utilizing the many assets generated through the development of HD DVD.

source : engadget.com

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Harvard Site Hacked and Then Leaked on BitTorrent

You know the saying “it can happen to the best of us”? Though Harvard is not the most secured place in the world, we expected better security from them. Apparently, the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences website has been hacked and the content is now leaked on BitTorrent.

“This is the backup of gsas.harvard.edu. We have release it because we want demonstration the insecurity of harvard’s server. [….] Maybe you don’t like it but this is to demonstrate that persons like tgatton(admin of the server) in they don’t know how to secure a website.”is what you can read in the .nfo file. I guess the hacker made his point, even if it’s sloppy English.

The Pirate Bay are already tracking a 125MB zip file that is supposed to be a server backup of the site with a full directory structure, before the hit. It contains three databases, joomla.slq the main database, contacts.sql which is a database of contacts and hgs.sql which may not be that important. Another bad thing is that the file is supposed to contain passwords, too.

Right now GSAS is down, so I can only speculate they are trying to fix this major security breach. Can you imagine how Thomas Gatton (the admin) is feeling right now, because he’s a Systems Administrator and User Support Specialist at Harvard.

source : devicepedia.com
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Vista Sucks- Sad but true?

Over a year after the general availability of Windows Vista, drawing the line on the latest Windows client offers a less than Wow conclusion for Microsoft. The video embedded at the bottom of this screen is obviously a parody, but is the "Vista sucks" vote given at the end sad but true? Well, at least for some users it is. At the 2008 International Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates pointed to a Vista install base of over 100 million users as a sample of the operating systems success. At the same time, Vista failed to outsell XP by two to one in the first year, and in this context, while remaining the fastest selling Windows client to date, it did not live up to the expectations set for it ahead of general availability.


The one-year anniversary of Windows Vista worldwide release was marked by Microsoft in a very subtle way with just a press release praising the fact that the platform hit the 100 million mark in licenses. At the same time, Neil Charney, General Manager, Microsoft Windows Client, informed that a study conducted by NDP in U.S., China, France, Germany, Japan, and the UK, revealed that no less than 30% of users were discontent with Windows Vista, saying that it delivered no improvements over its predecessor Windows XP.

In an effort to alleviate the bad sentiments that have built up around Vista, Microsoft turned to Vista SP1 promising to soften all the rough corners of the operating system. But postponing the availability of Vista SP1 over a month and a half past the RTM date, in order to ensure a smooth transition, generated more user frustration. And the prerequisite updates served by Microsoft to Vista users, updates designed to prepare the operating systems for the delivery of the first service pack, managed to send Vista into an infinite reboot loop.

Echostormfury is one Windows Vista user that expressed discontent on the issue of the failed updates and endless reboot loop, but also Microsoft's failure to deal with the problem. "3 hours on the phone with Microsoft Technical Support did not get me anywhere except to a 'professional level technician' that asked me right off the bat to pay $249 for the incident support. After expressing my incredulity at such a ridiculous offer for their own security patch deployment screw up, I asked to talk to her manager and eventually he called back 12 hours later to sympathize with me that he has no idea what is going on from over in Bangladore," Echostormfury wrote on the Vista SP1 TechNet forum.

And the conclusion is the same as the video: "Points Learned - Microsoft Sucks (Relearned). Microsoft Windows Vista Sucks (Relearned). Microsoft Windows Update should BE TURNED OFF from Automatic Updates (Not feasible or practicle, but I'd rather be hacked and whored than risk losing ALL MY FILES again due to stupidity rather than devious ingenuity). RAID with Windows is trouble (sync a backup instead daily, or image weekly). And did I mention, Microsoft Sucks? Microsoft you owe me 14 hrs of my time," Echostormfury stated.


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Windows 7 - Could Microsoft Go Back Before Vista and Resurrect Longhorn?

Is Microsoft going back in time with Windows 7, before Windows Vista, and resurrecting bits and pieces of Longhorn? Could the crumbs of the original Longhorn project that were discarded on the way to Vista make the mother of all comebacks in Windows 7? Well, there are no official details from Microsoft pointing to the validity of this scenario, but the company did manage to leak just enough for such a perspective to be valid. In January 2008, while working to wrap up the RTM builds of Vista SP1, Windows Server 2008 SP1 and XP SP3, Microsoft dropped Milestone 1 of Windows 7 in the laps of a selected group of partners.


The leaked Windows 7 M1 Ultimate Edition Build 6.1.6519.1 offers only
a superficial evolution in comparison to Windows Vista. And is in fact not even a standalone platform, having to be installed on top of Vista. But at the same time, it does offer a sneak peek into the elements Microsoft plans to integrate in the successor of Windows Vista. One such clue is the HomeGroup. Designed to offer centralization of photos, music, videos and printers across the computers in the same household network, the HomeGroup is strangely reminiscent of the Longhorn Castle.

"The 'castle' feature allows users to have the networking functionality of the domain, including roaming the user's profile, machine trust and having a consistent user identity throughout the network. The main difference with Castle is that users do not have to setup a dedicated machine, such as a domain controller, to maintain the trust and identity relationship. It also makes it easy to share and access files on those computers. Each computer on the same subnet can discover and join an existing castle. Or, the user can create a Castle," Microsoft revealed.

"To join an existing castle, you must know the login credentials of an administrator account already part of the castle. Only non-blank passwords can grant access. This helps ensure only authorized computers join the castle (use of strong passwords for administrator accounts is highly recommended). When a computer joins a castle, the accounts on that computer will be added to the list of accounts accessible from any computer in the castle. User specific data (e.g. their password, access rights, and preferences) will be replicated on each computer in the castle and kept in sync. In addition, the newly joined computer will inherit and respect all policies from the Castle," Microsoft added.

But there are additional features that have been scrapped from Longhorn prior to the project taking on the Vista label and ending up what it is today. Perhaps one of the most prominent features that were axed from Longhorn is the Windows File System (WinFS). Designed to be the storage subsystem in Longhorn delivering capabilities, such as searching, organizing and sharing data, WinFS was cut with the explanation that the best of what it had to offer was already implemented into Vista's Windows Explorer.

"Files stored in WinFS contain metadata properties. When you take an existing Windows file and move it to WinFS, a new WinFS 'Item' (basic unit of storage for any type of document) will be created. WinFS will populate this Item with metadata extracted from the file. The properties stored in these Items can be targeted when you perform detailed queries. Access control will be provided for WinFS Items, so that only users with the proper permissions will be able to query on the WinFS Items. (Please note the Important Information below.) WinFS also allows you to establish 'Relationships' that are used to correlate Items with each other (such as an employee relationship between a person and a company). Use of Relationships during queries will also be subject to access control for different users," Microsoft described the WinFS feature.

And together with WinFS there could be yet another feature of Longhorn that could make it into Windows 7. Namely Location Awareness. Now, you have to keep in mind that Microsoft has not confirmed any of the features that will be delivered in Windows 7. But at the same time, the introduction of the HomeGroup and its close resemblance to Castle do open up the possibility that Windows 7 could very well bring WinFS to the table, as well as Location Awareness.

"The Location Awareness feature collects computer location data such as address, position, building/floor/room, and stores it locally in the WinFS store. It also collects data that helps to determine the location information of your computer, but is not directly useful as location information itself, such as: MAC addresses of access points near your computer and the IP address of the subnet and default gateway to which you are connected. It collects data from you, from the active directory, from wireless zeroconfig, and from IPhelper. The feature is turned off by default," Microsoft stated.

source : news.softpedia.com

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