ssloveyou: 二月 2012

2012年2月23日星期四

The complex interplay of social media and privacy - Moneycontrol.com

Published on Sun, Feb 19, 2012 at 20:00 |? Source : Reuters

Updated at Mon, Feb 20, 2012 at 10:10 ?

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The complex interplay of social media and privacy

Living in the world of social networking and mobile smartphones means trading away some of your personal information.

But assessing the price of admission to join the super-networked, digital class is not so simple; even experts on the issue admit that they don't have a full picture of the way personal information is collected and used on the Internet. But here are some basic guidelines to keep in mind.

Q. What information do you have to give up to participate in social media?

A. Social networks such as Facebook and Google+ require at a minimum that you provide them with your name, gender and date of birth. Many people provide additional profile information, and the act of using the services - writing comments or uploading photos or "friending" people - creates additional information about you. Most of that information can be kept hidden from the public if you choose, though the companies themselves have access to it.

If you use your Facebook credentials to log-on to other Web sites, or if you use Facebook apps, you might be granting access to parts of your profile that would otherwise be hidden. Quora, for example, a popular online Q&A site, requires that Facebook users provide it access to their photos, their "Likes" and information that their friends share with them. TripAdvisor, by contrast, requires only access to "basic information" including gender and lists of friends.

Social media apps on smartphones, which have access to personal phone call information and physical location, put even more information at play.

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After 50 years, Glenn's flight still stirs US spirit - Cincinnati.com

Fifty years ago, the United States and Soviet Union were locked in a Cold War battle for ideological and technological supremacy, one that pitted the forces of communism against those of democracy.

The surprise 1957 launch of the Soviets? Sputnik shocked the globe. Beep-beep-beeping its way around Earth, the world?s first man-made satellite signaled an ability to deliver nuclear warheads anywhere, anytime.

Soviet Air Force pilot Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space in April 1961, circling the planet on an 89-minute flight that triggered huge celebrations on Red Square.

U.S. astronauts Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom launched in May and July 1961, respectively. Neither orbited Earth, though. Then the Soviets sent a cosmonaut on a 17-orbit mission. ?NASA was desperate,? the late Associated Press aerospace writer Howard Benedict said in 1998.

Enter John Herschel Glenn, Jr.

Glenn would be the first human to launch aboard a converted Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile, a vehicle that had a checkered past ? ?about a 45 percent failure rate, something like that,? Glenn said.

Glenn and the nation?s other six Project Mercury astronauts flew to Cape Canaveral, Fla., in July 1960 to witness an Atlas blast off on an unmanned flight test of a Mercury spacecraft. Fifty-eight seconds after launch, the rocket failed explosively.

?It looked like an atomic bomb went off almost over our heads, as close as we were to the launch pad,? Glenn recalled.

The astounded astronauts ?were standing there, looking at each other,? Glenn said with a laugh. ?We thought we?d better have a meeting with the engineers the next day. Which we did.?

Glenn?s Friendship 7 capsule arrived at Cape Canaveral in late August, and the Atlas 109-D rocket was delivered in late November. NASA set Dec. 20, 1961, as the launch date, but a series of technical problems and poor weather caused delays.

?I actually suited up four times, and twice was up on top when the mission was scrubbed for weather and one time for equipment problems,? Glenn said.

Feb. 20, 1962, was the 11th official launch date for Glenn?s mission, and ?it was hard to believe that it actually was going to go,? Glenn said.

A decorated Marine lieutenant colonel, Glenn, then 40, had flown 149 combat missions during World War II and the Korean War. This was a man who had cheated death many times, a man who had downed three Soviet-made MiGs during the last nine days of the Korean conflict.

Glenn awoke at 2:30 a.m., showered and ate a breakfast of steak, scrambled eggs, toast, orange juice and coffee before heading from Hangar S to Launch Complex 14.

Not known to many: Glenn carried a medical kit that included morphine for pain, mephentermine sulfate for shock, benzylamine hydrochloride for motion sickness and racemic amphetamine sulfate ? a common pep pill. At that time nobody was sure what it would take to survive in space.

Propellant-loading engineer Hank Croskeys noticed the blinking light just before tough test conductor T.J. O?Malley started the final status check at T-Minus 40 seconds and counting. The light indicated the amount of propellant in the Atlas rocket?s liquid oxygen tank exceeded specifications.

The tank was made of very thin stainless steel and would collapse if not pressurized to precise levels with gaseous nitrogen. Fueling was a tight tradeoff. There needed to be just enough liquid oxygen on board to get Glenn to orbit, and just enough nitrogen to keep the tank properly pressurized.

Failure would be catastrophic. Was Croskeys ready to proceed?

?I didn?t give a ?Go? or a ?No-Go.? I just said, ?I?ve got a blink.? And that?s all I got out.?

?YOU ARE GO!? O?Malley barked.

?T-Minus 18 seconds and counting. Engine start,? O?Malley said as he pressed the black button on his test conductor console.

A Catholic, O?Malley crossed himself: ?Good Lord, ride all the way.?

Then came Carpenter?s signature call: ?Godspeed John Glenn!?

Three, two, one ? liftoff!

Glenn?s pulse climbed to about 110 beats per minute as the Atlas rocket propelled the black Friendship 7 spacecraft off its seaside launch pad.

?Roger. The clock is operating. We?re under way,? Glenn reported.

Five minutes and 12 seconds after launch, Friendship 7 reached orbit. The Free World finally had a representative in space.

?Zero-G, and I feel fine,? Glenn reported as the spacecraft swung around in a programmed maneuver. ?Capsule is turning around. Oh, that view is tremendous!?

Glenn flew into his first orbital sunrise as Friendship 7 passed high over Canton Island in the South Pacific, roughly halfway between Hawaii and Fiji.

Unbeknownst to Glenn, his Friendship 7 flight had become a full-scale emergency. In Mission Control, a warning light indicated the capsule?s protective heat shield might have come loose, raising the possibility that Glenn might be killed as his craft encountered temperatures exceeding 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit during atmospheric re-entry.

?That had all the possibilities that on re-entry the spacecraft would burn up, which is somewhat disconcerting, to say the least,? said Andy Anderson, 90, the then-chief of communications at the control center.

Next thing you know, a telephone call comes into the communications center adjacent to the flight control room. Telephone supervisor George Metcalf picked up. On the other end: President John F. Kennedy.

?He says, ?Can you connect me with John Glenn on the radio?? ? Anderson recalled.

Metcalf blanched. Anderson recalled his answer: ?Ah, Mr. President, I don?t have time. He?s coming right over now, and I don?t have time to set up your telephone call to talk with him on this orbit.?

In truth, Metcalf didn?t want to tell the president that Glenn potentially was facing fiery death. ?I?ll tell you what, my telephone supervisor was one rattled individual after that,? Anderson said.

Strapped outside the heat shield was a package of six small rockets, three of which would be fired to slow Friendship 7 enough to drop it out of orbit. Flight Director Chris Kraft and Mercury Operations Director Walt Williams decided to leave the retro-pack in place after the firing, hoping it would hold the heat shield on.

?It was very risky doing something like that. I was against that, point blank,? said Don Arabian, 87, then the NASA systems monitor in Mission Control.

In the dangerous world of test flying, you don?t depart from the plan, especially in the most critical phase of flight. ?It was a risk that they took, and they were lucky,? Arabian said.

As it turned out, Glenn splashed down safely in the Atlantic Ocean four hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds after launch. Friendship 7 hit the water 40 miles short of the intended landing zone. The Navy destroyer Noa picked up Glenn 17 minutes later.

Four million giddy Americans spilled onto New York?s streets to celebrate. Church bells rang. Marching bands played. A blizzard of ticker tape fell thickly through the canyon of skyscrapers.

The magnitude of a New York ticker tape parade is measured in the amount of debris later retrieved. ?And somebody told me not too long ago that the ticker tape parade we had after Friendship 7 set a record that will never be broken,? Glenn said.

It was 3,474 tons ? and the record still stands.

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Why Apple Won't Merge OS X and iOS Anytime Soon - PC Magazine

Apple's new OS X Mountain Lion integrates many iOS features, but the two operating systems will remain freestanding for the near future.

An interesting rumor floating around the Valley lately is that Apple is on track to merge OS X and iOS and move Mac users over to its ARM-based processors, leaving Intel. If you follow Apple and know its history, you understand that the company is more than capable of doing this. Over the Mac's lifetime, Apple has actually moved the Mac OS to three different chipsets and has migrated its core OS from one processor core to the other quite seamlessly. Some suggest that Apple could merge the two operating systems to run on its own chipsets, saving the company from having to pay Intel for its chips; Apple could instead use its own ARM processors to run a single OS and UI environment.

Although this is a plausible idea and could possibly happen some day, the most recent release of its updated OS X Mountain Lion suggests that it will not happen any time soon. The new OS, which brings a lot of the greatest features and apps of iOS 5 to Mac OS X, actually makes the two operating systems even more alike than ever before. Each OS, however, still serves a purpose and these enhanced cross-OS functions make it possible for both operating systems to coexist and complement each other for some time.

In fact, I think we are seeing more of a pattern in which OS X will continue to harness the robust power of Intel's Core architecture. Intel's forthcoming 3D chip architecture could perpetuate Moore's law in ways that would still make sense for the Mac OS to mine the Intel chipset for years ahead. I have a good handle on Intel's roadmap and I don't see anything coming from ARM in the next two to three years that could match what Intel will have. It is much more likely that Apple will continue to use Intel for many years to come and thus will need two distinct operating systems to meet the needs of both sets of customers.

Keep in mind that the Mac is still optimized for what I call "heavy lifting computing." While iOS can handle simple word processing, email, and even some involved applications, the more power hungry applications still require the advanced power of OS X and advanced processors. This is especially important for those using it for graphic design, electronic publishing, advanced photo editing, engineering applications, and IT management, especially in educational environments.

Yet, many who use the Mac for these intensive applications also use an iPad and iPhone and have enjoyed some of the features of iOS. They want those same features on Mac OS X and this is where Mountain Lion comes in. Although it adds more than just iOS features, a lot of its value is in bringing these features over to the Mac.

Here are a couple of really good examples of this cross-OS functionality at its best:

? iOS apps excel in the ability to share info from an app or Safari via a drop down menu to Twitter, AirDrop, Flickr, Vimeo, email, and iMessage. Now, that little arrow that indicates info sharing in iOS is in the tool bar in Safari on OS X. More importantly, Apple is publishing the API for this feature so developers can also include this handy sharing function on apps for Mac OS X.

? Mountain Lion now also syncs documents to the cloud automatically, an iOS feature OS X users formerly missed out on. That means that documents created on any iOS device or Mac is synced in the cloud and available on any iOS or Mac devices.

? Now, any message that comes up on an iOS device is also displayed on the Mac in the Messages app.

? Many times, I jot a note on the Reminders iPad app, but to access it while working on the Mac, I have to pick up the iPad to see it. Now, the memos that I enter on an iOS device will also show up in my Reminders app on the Mac.

? I use Notes constantly to make lists and record meeting notes, but it was previously available only on iOS devices. With Mountain Lion, all of the notes I have created on my iPad or iPhone will now be readily available on my Mac, as well via iCloud sync.

? The Notification Center, one of the greatest features of iOS, lets users set alerts and notifications, which can then be accessed by a drop down scroll page even when the device is locked. With Mountain Lion, it too will come to the Mac when the OS update ships this summer.

? iOS customers use AirPlay Mirroring to "push" their pictures and videos to their Apple TV and now this type of mirroring comes to the Mac.

? Gatekeeper is a new security feature that helps protect against malware and gives you control over which apps can be downloaded and installed on your Mac. It is a very important advancement in software security and I believe it will be viewed as one of the most significant changes in Mountain Lion.

These are just a few of the iOS features that come over to the Mac to make it even more functional and in ways, an extension of your other iOS devices. At the same time, the Mac keeps its own powerful OS structure and supports the thousands of apps built for use on the platform as-is. This is important to understand if you look at the future of the Mac.

Mountain Lion really does bridge the gap between the two operating systems and delivers productive functions of iOS to the Mac. It makes sure that, at the same time, all apps written for the Mac continue to work out of the box.

If you look at the advanced tools Apple has to create Mac apps and at the new Mac App Store (which in many ways mirrors the app store for iOS devices), you see that both operating systems could coexist and keep users of both content. But the Mac OS, with its greater horsepower, will continue to be valuable to power users. Mountain Lion will give Apple more time to focus on other short-term innovations, relieving the pressure of trying to even do an OS X port to its own ARM chips, especially if ARM can't keep up with Intel's offerings.

As Tim Cook has pointed out, the real growth and profit center for Apple has shifted from Macs to iOS devices, and I think it will devote most of its resources here. Although the Mac is still important and continues to grow, innovation with iOS software and iOS-driven devices seems to be the priority. Mountain Lion will allow Apple to continue to have cross-device functions but still give its power users and its consumer audience everything they want and need.

For more from Tim Bajarin, follow him on Twitter @bajarin.

Tim Bajarin is one of the leading analysts working in the technology industry today. He is president of Creative Strategies (www.creativestrategies.com), a research company that produces strategy research reports for 50 to 60 companies annually—a roster that includes semiconductor and PC companies, as well as those in telecommunications, consumer electronics, and media. Customers have included AMD, Apple, Dell, HP, Intel, and Microsoft, among many others. You can e-mail him directly at tim@creativestrategies.com.

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Pressure, Chinese and Foreign, Drives Changes at Foxconn - New York Times

But the true meaning of Foxconn’s reforms, analysts say, will depend in part on how effectively the company can remake an economic system that has relied for much of the last decade on luring migrants to work cheaply for long hours in mammoth factories building smartphones, computers and other electronics.

Plants depend on workers’ being at assembly lines six or seven days a week, often for as long as 14 hours a day. Such facilities have made it possible for devices to be turned out almost as quickly as they are dreamed up.

For that system to genuinely change, Foxconn, its competitors and their clients — which include Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Dell and the world’s other large electronics firms — must convince consumers in America and elsewhere that improving factories to benefit workers is worth the higher prices of goods.

“This is the way capitalism is supposed to work,” said David Autor, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “As nations develop, wages rise and life theoretically gets better for everyone.

“But in China, for that change to be permanent, consumers have to be willing to bear the consequences. When people read about bad Chinese factories in the paper, they might have a moment of outrage. But then they go to Amazon and are as ruthless as ever about paying the lowest prices.”

Foxconn, with 1.2 million Chinese employees, is one of China’s largest employers. It assembles an estimated 40 percent of the smartphones, computers and other electronic gadgets sold around the world. Foxconn’s decisions set standards other manufacturers must compete with.

The announcement by Foxconn, which said that it would raise salaries as much as 25 percent, to about $400 a month, came after an outcry over working conditions at its factories. In recent weeks, labor rights groups have staged coordinated protests in various countries after reports that some of Apple’s Chinese suppliers operate harsh, abusive and dangerous facilities. To stem criticism, Apple hired a nonprofit labor group to inspect the plants it uses.

Workers welcomed the announced raises and overtime limits, though some were skeptical they would cause much real change. “When I was in Foxconn, there were rumors about pay raises every now and then, but I’ve never seen that day happen until I left,” said Gan Lunqun, 23, a former Foxconn worker. “This time it sounds more credible.”

By bowing to such demands, Foxconn has conceded that employees and consumers have gained a sway once possessed only by Chinese bureaucrats and executives at the global electronics firms that hire Foxconn to build their products.

Foxconn’s announcement also reflects how quickly China’s economy is shifting. Many of the country’s employers are facing labor shortages, which also puts upward pressure on wages, as do inflation and government demands to raise minimum wages.

Over 100 million migrant workers returned to their village homes this month to celebrate China’s Spring Festival, otherwise known as the New Year. Traditionally, factories have had no problem luring those workers back. But many Chinese cities are still confronting serious labor shortages, even though the holiday ended weeks ago. A recent Chinese government report said this year’s labor shortage was more pronounced than those in previous years.

And just as China’s exporters are struggling to cope with labor shortages in coastal regions, they are also confronting higher raw material costs and a strengthening Chinese currency, which makes Chinese goods more expensive in other nations.

“China can’t guarantee the low wages and costs they once did,” said Ron Turi of Element 3 Battery Venture, a consulting firm in the battery industry. “And companies like Foxconn have developed international profiles, and so they have to worry about how they’re seen by people living in places with very different standards.”

No other company in the world has quite the manufacturing scale of Foxconn. Nearly every global electronics company has some tie to the manufacturing giant, and while much of its work can be done cheaply, with low-skilled workers, the sheer volume of goods and scale of its operations make it China’s single biggest exporter.

Some of its campuses are considered small cities, with as many as 200,000 workers. Many are housed in dormitories near the assembly lines and are expected to be ready to rush into work should new orders flow in.

The Foxconn model, though, is under pressure. While most companies operate with similar dormitories, wage structures and work schedules, staffing Foxconn’s large sites has grown increasingly difficult. A new generation of young people in China are more reluctant to migrate to coastal cities, live in factory dorms and toil long hours. Many are staying closer to home, because of new opportunities in inland provinces. That has created labor shortages on the coast.

Social scientists say young people here are also less willing to accept factory jobs for long periods. Meanwhile, demographic changes have meant China has fewer young people to join the work force.

If the workers will not move to the coast, the logic is that the coastal factories ought to move to where the workers are living. Big manufacturers like Foxconn have responded to such challenges by moving factories inland.

And worried that the old model is dying, Foxconn has announced plans to invest in millions of robots and automate aspects of production.

David Barboza reported from Beijing, and Charles Duhigg from New York.

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What the PS Vita really needs: Versatility - CNET

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CNET News Crave What the PS Vita really needs: Versatility

by Scott Stein February 15, 2012 2:47 PM PST Follow @jetscott

Sony's next-gen gaming handheld has impressive hardware and promising games. While some say a dedicated gaming device can survive, the Vita will need to be flexible to stay alive.

(Credit:Sarah Tew/CNET)

I went to Sony'sPlayStation Vita page and counted the number of apps promoted for its next-generation handheld game system: 18. That's it. TheiPhone? Well over half a million.

Sure, the Vita's 18 apps beat what most other handheld game systems have by a landslide. That's just on day one; I expect at least a solid handful of other apps to follow. Still, it's a concern. More than that, I see it as the Vita's biggest key to surviving: apps must be a focus. Games, too, of course, but most definitely apps.

We no longer use handhelds for a single purpose anymore, for the most part. The PlayStation Vita is, undoubtedly, a superior piece of gaming hardware. I've been playing with one for the past few days, and despite its familiar looks, the quality of the hardware bleeds out the pores. From the screen to the controls, it's designed to stand out. Sony's expertise in making games is also largely uncontested. Let's put both of those elements aside, because few will question the Vita's ability to play excellent games.

What many will question, though, is how versatile the Vita is, and how approachable to nongamers. Netflix is a launch app for the Vita, but Netflix is also on the Nintendo 3DS--and, on nearly every other consumer gadget known to man. Facebook, a Twitter app, and Foursquare are in the launch apps. The rest fall into a gray area of Sony-designed apps--Welcome Park, Chat, Friends, Party, Near--that focus on targeted ways to connect PlayStation users. Nintendo has apps like these on the 3DS, such as Streetpass Mii Plaza, and the utility fades when there aren't other 3DS users around.

The Vita can do apps; touch-screen map functionality works like it does on a smartphone.

(Credit:Sarah Tew/CNET)

The Vita, hardware-wise, is much different than the 3DS, far more akin to atablet or smartphone. Its touch screen is much more like a smartphone's; Web browsing by touch is far more intuitive. Similarly, other apps seem like they could easily be adapted for use. The Vita has GPS, optional 3G, and all the gyroscopic controls of a smartphone. The sky's the limit, really. GPS mapping and video recording are recent additions to the PS Vita firmware that could not only be useful in general, but could be folded into future online and location-aware games.

Not every app needs to be on a handheld game system, obviously. In fact, there's something to be said for a focused entertainment-only device. However, if I bought a Vita, I'd expect a full suite of music and video apps to compete with my iPhone: Pandora, Hulu Plus, a radio app of the quality of TuneIn, YouTube, for starters. News apps and news readers would also be a plus.

I'd like to see these iPhone apps on my Vita (Skype and Netflix are coming soon).

(Credit:Screenshot by Scott Stein/CNET)

Why do I expect this? Because, with that big, beautiful screen and processing power that the Vita has, I'd expect it to function as a general entertainment device. I'm spoiled by my iOS devices. David Carnoy asked, "What if the Vita was made by Apple?" Well, if it were made by Apple, it would have a lot more than 18 apps.

More importantly, the Vita should develop games with connected, app-like features. The iPhone's level of social connectivity in games--including using Facebook Connect as a social bridge--will be a hurdle that the Vita will need to overcome if it wants to reach more casual gamers, or those outside of a hard-core, PlayStation-oriented audience. These apps and many of the downloadable games also need to be affordable; maybe not 99 cents, but on the order of the affordable games that Nintendo has smartly been starting to populate the 3DS eShop with. Of course, many subscription-based apps would be free to download.

It's not too late for the Vita to step it up with apps and features--after all, it's not even formally launched in the U.S. yet--but I hope Sony does with the Vita what it never did with the PSP: raise the software up to the level of its hardware.

Can the Vita be the Kindle of gaming?

(Credit:Sarah Tew/CNET)

True, the Vita needs to do none of these things. Perhaps, unlike a do-it-all tablet or smartphone, the Vita is truly aiming to be a dedicated gaming device, a Kindle for games. I appreciate the idea of dedicated devices--heck, I bought a Kindle--but versatility and price become a factor there, as well. I bought my Kindle because it was $79. I can read books by any publisher currently making e-books. Both of those aren't true for the Vita: the price is higher, and the fragmentation of the gaming market prevents me, obviously, from playing Nintendo, Microsoft, or even App Store games on the Vita. Heck, the Vita can't even play all the old digital downloads of PSP games (backward compatibility is a case-by-case basis).

But, I return to my main point: the Vita's biggest challenge isn't its hardware. It isn't even its games, although Sony will need to continue a full-court press to maintain the quality seen in the Vita launch titles. The challenge is purpose and function--not for the submarket of PSP users, but for the larger population that Sony is obviously striving for. Can we live with another tweener device, or can the Vita grow out into a versatile platform?

I'm curious to see, in 2012, how that plays out. As the rest of the Vita's apps go live in the next week, I'll follow up on how the experience adds up.

Scott Stein Scott Stein, a CNET senior editor and laptop reviewer, is a bit of a New York Jets fan. He has written about tech, entertainment, video games, and viral culture for publications including Maxim, Esquire, and Men's Journal, and is a co-host of the CNET Labscast podcast. He's also been known to occasionally improvise in underground venues.

Follow @jetscott Topics: Games and gear Tags: PS Vita, Kindle, smartphones, handheld games, downloads, iPhone, Nintendo 3DS, App Store, PlayStation, Sony, apps, PSP, Netflix

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About Crave

The name says it all. Crave is our blog about gorgeous gadgets and other crushworthy stuff. If you would like to contact Crave with a tip or comment, please write to: crave@cnet.com

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2012年2月22日星期三

Apple Launches 'Start Developing iOS Apps Today' Guidebook - PC Magazine

"So you want to be an App Developer," is exactly how Apple's new "Start Developing iOS Apps Today" guide should read. It doesn't, but that doesn't detract from the important information Apple's built into its new thirteen-step guidebook for aspiring iOS app developers.

Now, to be fair, using Xcode and the iOS SDK to build a fully-fledged, working iOS app is a bit more complicated than what a thirteen-deck slide presentation might be able to deliver. And that's not what Apple's trying to accomplish in a single document per se. Rather, the guide splits up the process of app development into five separate chunks, and each is punctuated with links to additional resources that are designed to help turn a wannabe developer into the next Zynga.

"The road map provides you with a breadth of knowledge to get you started, and the last page, Where to Go from Here, includes links to documents you should read next," reads the introduction to Apple's guide. "After you finish the road map, you will be prepared to delve deeper into any individual topic. You'll have the knowledge, tools, and skills to start developing iOS apps!"

The guide's first section, "Set-up," gives readers an introductory overview to the tools that go into designing the most basic of iOS apps: Apple's iOS SDK and Xcode development software. It also helps users set themselves up as Apple Developers within the iOS Developer Program (provided they pay the $99 annual fee), although Apple does note that non-official developers can still write and test apps within the iPhone Simulator.

Since Apple's guide is more of a general look at app development than a specific instruction list for helping a user to build his or her first "hello, world!" app, the guide's next "Tutorial" section just introduces readers to Apple's official "Your First iOS App" guide—the meat and potatoes of app development.

Subsequent sections related to app "fundamentals" and "development" give readers a general overview of app development workflow: The act of coding up an app with Objective-C (using both basic and advanced tasks), the process of testing and debugging one's introductory software, and the various frameworks one can integrate into an app using APIs.

As one might expect, Apple spends a good portion of its "Start Developing iOS Apps Today" guide discussing how a user might go about designing an app's overall look and feel to create a satisfactory user experience.

"Before you begin writing a line of code, you should make some critical design decisions. Be as specific as possible about your app's purpose and features. Choose the kind of data model your app will use. Decide on a user interface style for your app; for example, should it follow a master-detail pattern or that of a utility app? Do you want your app to be universal—that is, an app that runs on iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch," Apple writes.

And, of course, Apple finishes by touching on how a new developer might get an App uploaded into the App Store itself, ideally contributing to the near-25 billion app downloads that the App Store's quickly approaching.

For more from David, subscribe to him on Facebook: David Murphy.

For the top stories in tech, follow us on Twitter at @PCMag.
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Android features that may elicit envy from iPhone owners (photos) - CNET

Google published a patent last week that allows users to interact with a smartphone or PC to unlock the device and perform one command. Guess what? HTC already offers something very similar in Android phones using its latest version of Sense. Users can drag the virtual ring on the lock screen around one of four apps and instantly get taken to that function, whether it be the camera, calendar, or Angry Birds. It first debuted on the HTC Sensation 4G.

February 17, 2012 2:25 PM PST

Photo by: Bonnie Cha/CNET

| Caption by: Roger Cheng

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Privacy brouhaha reveals Google's split personality - CNET

Latest Google Internet controversy highlights conflict between privacy protection and advertising demands.

When it comes to privacy, is the Googleplex speaking with one voice?

A new Google privacy controversy has revealed conflicting messages and actions between two different factions within the company: those working to protect consumer privacy on the one hand, and those seeking to improve advertising and social networking on the other.

Meanwhile, the news that Google overrode default cookie settings in Apple's Safari browser has prompted two complaints to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and renewed calls for legislation and industry standards that would protect Web surfers from being tracked across sites if they don't want to be.

To be fair, Google isn't the only company to have taken advantage of an exemption in Safari that was designed to keep third-party cookies from tracking people as they bounce from site to site. Besides Google, The Wall Street Journal reported that three other online ad companies were taking advantage of this loophole. And separately, Google offers Ads Preferences Manager that allows people to opt out of DoubleClick cookies. But, in this case, it's hard to see what would compel the company to disable opt-out settings in Safari.

Google, for its part, says the Safari backdoor allowed Google+ users on iOS devices to see +1 buttons and use them to indicate to their network when they saw a product or service in an ad they liked. "Last year, we began using this functionality to enable features for signed-in Google users on Safari who had opted to see personalized ads and other content--such as the ability to '+1' things that interest them," the company said in a statement.

Unfortunately, the way this +1/Safari initiative was implemented allowed other Google ad cookies to be set on the browser, which was unintentional, according to Google. The Google cookie was temporary, but it opened the door for additional cookies. "We have now started removing these advertising cookies from Safari browsers," the company said, adding that the code has been disabled. "It's important to stress that, just as on other browsers, these advertising cookies do not collect personal information."

While one Google team was taking advantage of a little-known backdoor that could change the default Safari setting, the Google Chrome team was working to get Apple to close the backdoor--apparently with neither team having knowledge of the other's actions. Engineers for Chrome notified Apple about seven months ago that the loophole was there, although it remains open.

"We are aware that some third parties are circumventing Safari's privacy features and we are working to put a stop to it," an Apple representative told CNET.

Meanwhile, Google's Chrome team offers an Advertising Cookie Opt-Out Plugin that lets people do exactly what Safari's default setting provides: block third-party cookies. Oddly, the instructions for confirming the default settings in Safari on that page were removed as The Wall Street Journal was preparing its news report.

The World Privacy Forum (WPF) and Consumer Watchdog both filed complaints against Google today with the FTC accusing the company of unfair and deceptive practices and of violating a settlement it reached last year with the FTC over its former social network dubbed Buzz. Google violated the Buzz consent decree by "its misrepresentations of consumer choice and how much control users actually had," alleges the WPF complaint (PDF), which also asks the FTC to investigate the other ad firms accused of overriding Safari's default settings: Vibrant Media, Media Innovation Group, and PointRoll.

An FTC representative said the agency had received the Consumer Watchdog complaint but said he could not comment further.

"We are taking immediate steps to address concerns, and we are happy to answer any questions regulators and others may have," Google said in a statement when asked to comment.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation called on Google today to include a Do Not Track option in Chrome, an option all the other major browsers provide, and for Google sites to respect Do Not Track requests from those other browsers.

Justin Brookman, consumer privacy director at the Center for Democracy and Technology, said he was baffled by Google's latest actions.

"Why are they anathema to Do Not Track? Because advertising is more core to Gogole's business than it is to Microsoft's and Apple's, maybe," he said. "I'm not sure."

Brookman said the CDT was talking to Google about Do Not Track and there was interest in it. "The Chrome team may want to do it, but Google is pushing on ads and social right now so they're scared to do it."

They should have tested the Safari override technology more, but "there's been a big rush to get social right and they wanted to integrated with ads," he added.

Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said "cookie-gate," as it has been dubbed by some, proves that Do Not Track is not the solution. "We need enforcement by the FTC," he said. "We need legislation, because even when big companies like Apple build it into their browser, companies can get around it."

EPIC filed the original complaint with the FTC over Google Buzz and has asked the agency to investigate whether changes to Google's privacy policies that will take effect March 1 violate that settlement. The FTC late today issued its response in a federal court in Washington, D.C., where the matter will be decided. "We are asking the Court to dismiss the case because parties such as EPIC are barred by law from interfering with the proper investigation and enforcement of FTC orders," the FTC said.

EPIC had earlier today sent the FTC a letter (PDF) urging the agency to enforce the settlement in light of the latest Google privacy incident.

Sarah Downey, privacy analyst and attorney at online privacy company Abine, said ultimately change will be driven by consumers and Do Not Track technologies. (Abine offers a Do Not Track Plus browser add-on that can protect people from tracking, even if the advertiser was able to subvert the default settings as in the Google Safari case.)

"We're happy to see that Google is fixing the issue, but there's an obvious conflict of interest within the company and there are things consumers should be aware of that affects their privacy, by design," she said.

In a possible indication of divergence of interests within Google, Downey recounted how a Google ad executive initially told the firm it couldn't run an ad designed to educate people about the privacy issues with cookies because it might be seen as "fear mongering." The Abine ad was eventually allowed to run, however, after the case was elevated.

Update, 5:45 p.m. PT: Adds information about the World Privacy Forum complaint to the FTC and about the FTC rejecting EPIC's request to investigate whether Google's new planned privacy policy changes violate the Google-FTC settlement related to Buzz.

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LG's Optimus Vu has 5-inch 4:3 display - CNET

(Credit: LG) LG's latest smartphone/tablet, the Optimus Vu, certainly looks familiar. While it has a 5-inch IPS display with a 4:3 aspect ratio, it's outward appearance shares much in common with recently announced Prada phone by LG 3.0 handset.

You'll be hard-pressed to tell the difference between both smartphones, but the Optimus Vu's 4:3 display means the handset is wider than the Prada. In fact, it's among a rare breed of Android handsets to use a panel with this aspect ratio.

It looks like LG's Optimus Vu will be a direct competitor to Samsung's Galaxy Note, especially since both devices are about the same size. The Optimus Vu is slightly faster with a 1.5GHz dual-core processor (compared with the 1.4GHz of the Note), and has 32GB of onboard storage.

The Galaxy Note seems to have the LG phone/tablet beat in terms of battery life--it has a 2,500mAh battery while the Optimus Vu can only has 2,080mAh. However, the Optimus Vu is thinner at just 8.5 mm. Both handsets come with a stylus for writing and drawing.

The Optimus Vu will launch in Korea in March and runs Android 2.3, with the Android 4.0 update already in the works. The phone/tablet will also be on display at the Mobile World Congress tradeshow in Barcelona, and we'll be sure to spend some time with it when we head over next week.

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Nano-transistor breakthrough to offer billion times faster computer - Sydney Morning Herald

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Former NASA agent toils to find missing moon rocks - USA TODAY

Of the 370 moon rocks collected during two missions in 1969 and 1972, 184 are missing - and Joseph Gutheinz Jr. is looking for them.

The Texas-based lawyer and former NASA agent is known as the "moon rock hunter," the BBC reports.

After astronauts returned from the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 missions, 270 of the rocks were given to countries around the world and another 100 given to the 50 states, according to the BBC.

But over the years, dozens of them - 160 overseas and 24 in the United States - vanished, including rock fragments that were gifted to Romania and Libya, the BBC reports.

Since 1998, when he was still at NASA, Gutheinz has made it his mission to try to find the precious rock pieces. He set up an undercover sting operation known as Operation Lunar Eclipse and even placed an ad reading "Moon Rocks Wanted" in USA TODAY. That effort yielded a response from someone claiming to have the Honduras moon rock who asked for $5 million.

Gutheinz didn't pay it, but he believes that rock was the real thing.

Gutheinz believes the rock bequeathed to late Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was sold after his execution. He offered $10,000 for the rock gifted to Malta, but that transaction never went through. After a fire at an observatory in Dublin, Ireland's rock wound up in a dump and is still there, Gutheinz tells the BBC.

"I'll tell you where it's at," he says. "It's at the Finglas landfill dump in Dublin."

These days, Gutheinz has help. He's enlisted the students in his criminal justice classes at the University of Phoenix and Alvin Community College, in Texas, to help find the rocks. So far, they've tracked down 77, the BBC reports.

Doug is an unrepentant news junkie who loves breaking news and has been known to watch C-SPAN even on vacation. He has covered a wide range of domestic and international news stories, from prison riots in Oklahoma to the Moscow coup against Mikhail Gorbachev. Doug previously served as foreign editor at USA TODAY. More about Doug

Michael Winter has been a daily contributor to On Deadline since its debut in January 2006. His journalism career began in the prehistoric Ink Era, and he was an early adapter at the dawn of the Digital Age. His varied experience includes editing at the San Jose Mercury News and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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2012年2月18日星期六

Is Cisco Trying to Rain on Microsoft's Parade? - DailyFinance

It looks like Cisco Systems (NAS: CSCO) is taking the saying "better late than never" a little too literally.

Redmond software giant Microsoft (NAS: MSFT) made waves in May last year, when it announced its biggest acquisition ever: the $8.5 billion acquisition of video chatter Skype. I'm still scratching my head over why Mr. Softy wanted eBay's (NAS: EBAY) sloppy seconds in the first place, since the online auctioneer took a massive $1.4 billion charge on the trade, but that's neither here nor there.

After six months of jumping through regulatory hoops, including receiving unconditional approval from the European Commission, Microsoft and Skype sealed the deal in October. Fast-forward nearly another six months, and Cisco is now appealing the EC's stamp of approval on the marriage. I guess the networking giant missed the whole "speak now or forever hold your peace" bit.

To be clear, Cisco isn't looking to nullify the union altogether; rather, it now wants the regulator to add in some standards-based interoperability conditions on Microsoft. It's like saying, "Go ahead and get hitched; I just don't want you to honeymoon in Hawaii, Tahiti, France, Italy, Bora Bora, Las Vegas, the Bahamas, or Mexico, but I hear that North Dakota is nice this time of year."

As a major player in video conferencing, Cisco is bent out of shape because Microsoft's Lync software and Skype both use proprietary technologies, and Cisco wasn't able to land a deal with Mr. Softy to ensure that its own apparatuses would be compatible.

The company is trying to maintain its grip on the enterprise-videoconferencing market, particularly after rightly axing its misguided and overpriced Umi system that was supposedly geared toward consumers. Anyone could have told Cisco that consumers wouldn't be keen on the idea of forking over $600 upfront and $10 per month when Skype is available for the low-low cost of $0.

Microsoft's official response was that the European Commission already conducted its "thorough investigation," and "Cisco actively participated," so it's pretty sure that there won't be any reneging.

Sorry, Cisco, but you had your chance to object; now you have to forever hold your peace.

Cisco is definitely not a top stock for 2012. The good news is that you can find out what company?is?The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2012?by checking out this new special free report. This report comes directly from the desk of our chief investment officer, and it names a company that is poised to reap benefits in emerging markets and uses the same business model of two retail titans you probably visit every week.?Check out the free report now.

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Apple still mulling over how to spend its $90B - Washington Post

Apple still mulling over how to spend its $90B - The Washington Post Print SubscriptionConversationsToday's PaperGoing Out GuideJobsCarsReal EstateRentalsClassifiedsHomePoliticsCampaign 2012CongressCourts &LawThe Fed PageHealth CarePollingWhite HouseBlogs & ColumnsIssues: EnergyTop Blogs

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Apple still mulling over how to spend its $90B

View Photo Gallery — ?Apple is known for having many successful product launches. But it had some unsuccessful ones too.

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What is Apple going to do with its $90 billion pile of cash? That’s what conference attendees wanted to know from the iPhone 4 maker on Tuesday. VentureBeat.com reports:

At the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference Tuesday, CEO Tim Cook was asked why the company has not taken the usual moves of buying back stock or issuing a dividend to shareholders. Investors, while happy with the epic stock price, are eager for a payout.

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Cook acknowledged that deciding how to best spend that money is a major topic being discussed within Apple.

“I only ask for a bit of patience so we can do this in a deliberate way and do it in a way that’s best for shareholders,” said Cook. “We’re judicious, we’re deliberate, we spend our money like its our last penny … We’re not going to go have a toga party or do something outlandish.”

When a company is sitting on a huge pile of cash, as Apple is, it is expected to shell out a dividend to investors and to spend money on things that will make it even more money. Cook said that so far, the company has spent billions of dollars on its supply chain, intellectual property, acquisitions, retail, and the Apple infrastructure. He acknowledged that those big dollar items still aren’t making a big of a dent.

The conference attendees weren’t the only ones who wanted to know something from Apple. On Wednesday federal lawmakers asked the company about its privacy practices. The Post’s Cecilia Kang reports:

Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) sent a letter on Wednesday to Cook asking if Apple’s policies ensure developers can’t share or collect user data — such as iPhone contact lists — without permission.

The concern comes after Path, an online diary, said it collected and stored users’ iPhone contact lists without explicitly asking for permission to do so. When launching the app, Path automatically uploaded contact data in order to “find friends” to connect to on the social networking app.

Twitter has also admitted it collects and stores users’ contact lists from devices without specific permission, according to this story by the Los Angeles Times.

The lawmakers say the practice “raises questions about whether Apple’s iOS app developer policies and practices may fall short when it comes to protecting the information of iPhone users and their contacts.”

Cook acknowledged that deciding how to best spend that money is a major topic being discussed within Apple.

In Apple product news, Siri, the company’s voice recognition feature, could be coming to the ‘iPad 3’. As Post Hayley Tsukayama reports:

Siri, Apple’s AI personal assistant, could be poised to make her debut on Apple’s next iPad. At least, that’s what the folks at SlashGear are reading into a software update that also makes it impossible for hackers to install Siri on an unofficial device, which right now means anything but the iPhone 4S.

The new update, the blog speculated, could be to enable the iPad 3 to use Siri as well. It would be no surprise if Apple incorporated its personal assistant in its next tablet given how well the feature has taken off on the iPhone 4S. The software is far from perfect — ask anyone with an unconventional accent — but is a great add to the latest iPhone and is certainly a pop culture hit. And since Siri is one of the rare products that Apple has released in beta, it’s likely to keep improving.

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