What To Do When Attacked by Pirates
If you were attacked by pirates, who would you want by your side? A loyal horde of head bangers, gangstas and hard-core punks? Or a brainy clutch of bookish types? I’d generally advise you to go with the former group. But it turns out that in the swashbuckling arena of digital piracy, the publishing world is acquitting itself far better than the brash music industry.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303552104577438212250619458.html
Hackers claim breach of China Telecom, Warner Bros. networks
An Internet hacking group claimed today to have broken into the networks of Warner Bros. and China Telecom, publishing documents and login credentials purportedly stolen in the breaches.
SwaggSec, also known as Swagg Security, announced the hack on its Twitter feed and published a statement on Pastebin, along with links to the purloined files posted to Pirate Bay.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57446348-83/hackers-claim-breach-of-china-telecom-warner-bros-networks/
Facebook IPO: Wall Street Wins, Muppets Lose, Yet Again
We warned of a social network tech bubble 2.0 over a year ago due to the hype and overvaluation of Facebook based on the reported deals by Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) and a Russian investment firm–Digital Sky Technologies on the secondary gray market. At that time, the two deals valued Facebook at about $50 billion, with a 100+ price-to-earnings (PE) ratio.
Fast forward to 2012, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) actually went IPO on May 18 with a similar lofty vaulation – the $38-per-share IPO price valued Facebook at $104 billion–100+ times historical earnings (the company’s profit for 2011 was $1 billion). Facebook stock has since plummeted 27% to $27.72 from its initial $38 a share. Bloomberg estimated the stock would need to sink another 20% to match the average PE ratio for the Nasdaq Internet Index based on estimated earnings in the next 12 months.
http://www.valuewalk.com/2012/06/facebook-inc-fb-ipo-wall-street-wins-muppets-lose-yet-again/
Firefox 13 arrives with major new features — get it NOW!
Ahead of its official release, Mozilla has uploaded Firefox 13 FINAL to its servers, the latest version of its open-source, cross-platform web browser. Version 13 will be officially unveiled on June 5, when it should also become available as an update to existing Firefox users.
Version 13 is a landmark release, containing a number of major new features: redesigned home and new tab pages, support for “tabs on demand” loading of pages on restoring the previous browsing session to speed up startup, and a new Reset Firefox feature for attempting to fix major problems with a single click.
http://betanews.com/2012/06/03/firefox-13-arrives-with-major-new-features-get-it-now/
ASUS reveals TAICHI convertible notebook / tablet with dual 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch displays (update: hands-on photos and video)
Two displays in one tablet? Yes you can. ASUS’ new TAICHI series packs displays on both the front and the rear, letting you use the device in a variety of configurations. In ‘notebook’ mode, you can use TAICHI with a backlit QWERTY keyboard and trackpad. Once you close the lid, however, it’s stylus time. TAICHI includes Intel Ivy Bridge Core i7 processors, 4 gigs of RAM, SSD storage, dual-band 802.11n WiFi, FHD/Super IPS+ displays and, naturally, dual cameras. Despite the display duo, both the 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch configurations are reportedly as thin and light as the Zenbook line. Both variants will offer 1920 x 1080 pixels on each side, and displays can be used independently, so you can even share the device with a friend — with completely different content on each LCD.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/04/asus-taichi-notebook-tablet/?m=false
Facebook Explores Giving Kids Access
Facebook Inc. is developing technology that would allow children younger than 13 years old to use the social-networking site under parental supervision, a step that could help the company tap a new pool of users for revenue but also inflame privacy concerns.
Mechanisms being tested include connecting children’s accounts to their parents’ and controls that would allow parents to decide whom their kids can “friend” and what applications they can use, people who have spoken with Facebook executives about the technology said. The under-13 features could enable Facebook and its partners to charge parents for games and other entertainment accessed by their children, the people said.
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052702303506404577444711741019238-lMyQjAxMTAyMDAwNDEwNDQyWj.html
Expert Issues a Cyberwar Warning
When Eugene Kaspersky, the founder of Europe’s largest antivirus company, discovered the Flame virus that is afflicting computers in Iran and the Middle East, he recognized it as a technologically sophisticated virus that only a government could create.
He also recognized that the virus, which he compares to the Stuxnetvirus built by programmers employed by the United States and Israel, adds weight to his warnings of the grave dangers posed by governments that manufacture and release viruses on the Internet.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/04/technology/cyberweapon-warning-from-kaspersky-a-computer-security-expert.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
Salesforce.com buys social media marketing firm Buddy Media for $689 million in cash and shares
Salesforce.com has finally confirmed that it has acquired social media marketing company Buddy Media for nearly $700 million in cash and shares ($689 million to be exact). That’s almost exactly how much Salesforce.com generated in sales in the first quarter of this year as a whole ($695 million).
Earlier reports about the purchase, published at the end of last month byAllThingsD, had pegged the price at more than $800 million (Peter Kafka explains where the discrepancy likely comes from in a new post today).
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/06/04/done-deal-salesforce-com-buys-buddy-media-for-689-million-in-cash-and-shares/
Apple Television, AirPlay and Why the iPad Is the New TV Apps Platform
Ever since the publication of Walter Issacson’s biography on Steve Jobs where he cites Steve as saying that he and Apple had “cracked the code” on TV, there has been insane speculation about Apple’s purported forthcoming TV products and strategy. And appropriately so — Apple’s rise as the dominant global consumer electronics powerhouse for Internet platforms and devices ensures that whatever the company does, it will be transformative for consumers and the TV industry.
http://allthingsd.com/20120604/apple-television-airplay-and-why-the-ipad-is-the-new-tv-apps-platform/
The Oracle v. Google aftermath
The Oracle v. Google patent and copyright trial is over, resulting in definitive wins for Google on both fronts. Ars interviewed two Google attorneys—general counsel Kent Walker, and litigation counsel Renny Hwang—asking for their sense of what the case could mean beyond its effects on the companies themselves.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/06/oracle-v-google-aftermath-apis-remain-free-cost-of-business-soars/
