Black Hatters Reveil SMS Security Concern

Speaking to the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, Charlie Miller and Collin Mulliner told the audience that smartphones operating Apple's, Microsoft's, or Google's operating systems were vulnerable to an SMS based attack that would be executed by code arriving in a text message. The malicious code could knock a phone off of a network, access data on the phone, or access the programs installed on the phone. The pair have published their findings to encourage the OS makers to fix the holes and have said the they contacted Apple, Microsoft, and Google directly but Google is the only one who has addressed the issue todate.

BBC story.

Apple Won't Allow Google Voice Application In iTunes Store

Yesterday Apple decided that it would not allow Google to distribute its Google Voice application on iTunes, shutting out iPhone users from the much-anticipated service. Google Voice enables you to make cheap international calls, consolidate your phone numbers into one Google voice account, allows you to manage where your calls will be routed (cell, home, office, etc.) and provides multiple interfaces to your voice messages, including e-mailed text. Apple seems to have lost it's voice, declining to comment on the matter. One more reason to love my android phone!

LA Times story.

UK Government Urges Civil Servants To Use Twitter

The British government has released a 20 page document encouraging civil servants to take up Twitter as a means of getting their messages out regarding "issues of relevance or upcoming events".

Neil Williams, of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), published the strategy saying "I was surprised by just how much there is to say - and quite how worth saying it is."

Check out this BBC discussion regarding government Tweets...

Hubble Testing Halts To Capture New Image Of Jupiter

The Hubble telescope has been in test mode since an upgrade and repair mission in May, however NASA scientists brought the Hubble to life on Thursday so that they could capture a shot of Jupiter's newest scar. "Because we believe this magnitude of impact is rare, we are very fortunate to see it with Hubble," said Amy Simon-Miller of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "Details seen in the Hubble view shows a lumpiness to the debris plume caused by turbulence in Jupiter's atmosphere." There has been a great deal of interest in Jupiter since an amateur astronomer in Australia noticed the new mark, which is speculated to have been created by a small comet or asteroid plunging into Jupiter's atmosphere and disintegrating, early Monday.

Source: CNN

G4's Costumes Of Comic-Con 09

Check out G4's Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn at Comic-Con 09... typical Kevin humor ensues!

Video Games - E3 2009 - Attack of the Show

Wireless Energy Explained - Coming Soon To A Home Like Yours

In the following video, Eric Giler, chief executive of US firm Witricity explains to a BBC reporter how within approximately 18 months we may see wireless electricity for our everyday household appliances, cell phones, and electric cars. The idea is that electricity can now be safely passed without wires over large distances and thus we will be able to install transmitters in our homes and offices that will feed receivers in our devices and eliminate the need for direct connections to the source.



Source: BBC News

Small Business Owners Turn To Twitter For Word Of Mouth Marketing

The New York Times has an interesting read regarding the successes of mom and pop type businesses marketing their wares via Twitter. “I would love to say that I just had a really good idea and strategy, but Twitter has been pretty essential to my success,” says San Francisco food vendor Curtis Kimball. While Cynthia Sutton-Stolle, an antique shop owner in Texas says “We don’t even have our Web site done, and we weren’t even trying to start an e-commerce business,” Ms. Sutton-Stolle said. “Twitter has been a real valuable tool because it’s made us national instead of a little-bitty store in a little-bitty town.” She joined Twitter in February of this year...

Tour The Moon With Buzz Aldrin And Google Earth

The Google Earth team is launching a lunar exploration tool allowing us to explore the moon much like we can explore good ole mother earth. With Google Earth loaded you simply select "Moon" from the top tool bar as explained in the following video. The tool includes actual NASA planning charts, lunar mission videos, and detail pertaining to the lunar missions in the artifacts folder. Astronaut's Buzz Aldrin and Jack Schmidtt each provide guided tours. Just in time to renew our interest in the space program and coinciding with the 40th anniversary celebrations.

Geekdad Debunks Moon Landing Conspiracy Theories

Brian McLaughlin is Wired's Geekdad, and he also works in the space program... cool huh? So it is his duty to point out to us all of the rebuttals regarding the conspiracy theories surrounding the US space program and in particular the moon landings on this the 40th anniversary of the first landing.
Check out his evidence at the Geekdad blog.

Some Weekend Entertainment

This is a great animated short for your weekend viewing pleasure, keep an eye out for the Darth Vader reference...

Zapping from Aritz Aizpurua on Vimeo.

Thanks to Geeks Are Sexy for the find.