Spotify, Taylor Swift Breaks Up, Swift Pulls Her Entire Calalogue Form Spotify. | VOIP IP Telephony

Spotify is really missing Taylor Swift and the tunes have changes since we published the breakup,
Spotify, Taylor Swift Breaks Up,
on our sister blog. Today I noticed that Spotify is asking her to come back with a sweet tweet;
"We hope she’ll #justsayyes. In the meantime, here's "What To Play While @taylorswift13's Away" http://spoti.fi/taylor " 
But at the same time showing there are stuff to play while she is away.

Drupal SQL Injection Vulnerability : Drupal Core - Highly Critical

CORE-2014-005 - Drupal core 
PSA-2014-003SA

This Public Service Announcement is a follow up to SA-CORE-2014-005 - Drupal core - SQL injection. This is not an announcement of a new vulnerability in Drupal.
Automated attacks began compromising Drupal 7 websites that were not patched or updated to Drupal 7.32 within hours of the announcement of SA-CORE-2014-005 - Drupal core - SQL injection. You should proceed under the assumption that every Drupal 7 website was compromised unless updated or patched before Oct 15th, 11pm UTC, that is 7 hours after the announcement.
Simply updating to Drupal 7.32 will not remove backdoors.
If you have not updated or applied this patch, do so immediately, then continue reading this announcement; updating to version 7.32 or applying the patch fixes the vulnerability but does not fix an already compromised website. If you find that your site is already patched but you didn’t do it, that can be a symptom that the site was compromised - some attacks have applied the patch as a way to guarantee they are the only attacker in control of the site.

Data and damage control

Attackers may have copied all data out of your site and could use it maliciously. There may be no trace of the attack.
Take a look at our help documentation, ”Your Drupal site got hacked, now what”

Recovery

Attackers may have created access points for themselves (sometimes called “backdoors”) in the database, code, files directory and other locations. Attackers could compromise other services on the server or escalate their access.
Removing a compromised website’s backdoors is difficult because it is not possible to be certain all backdoors have been found.
The Drupal security team recommends that you consult with your hosting provider. If they did not patch Drupal for you or otherwise block the SQL injection attacks within hours of the announcement of Oct 15th, 4pm UTC, restore your website to a backup from before 15 October 2014:

1. Take the website offline by replacing it with a static HTML page
2. Notify the server’s administrator emphasizing that other sites or applications hosted on the same server might have been compromised via a backdoor installed by the initial attack
3. Consider obtaining a new server, or otherwise remove all the website’s files and database from the server. (Keep a copy safe for later analysis.)
4. Restore the website (Drupal files, uploaded files and database) from backups from before 15 October 2014
5. Update or patch the restored Drupal core code
6. Put the restored and patched/updated website back online
7. Manually redo any desired changes made to the website since the date of the restored backup
8. Audit anything merged from the compromised website, such as custom code, configuration, files or other artifacts, to confirm they are correct and have not been tampered with.

While recovery without restoring from backup may be possible, this is not advised because backdoors can be extremely difficult to find. The recommendation is to restore from backup or rebuild from scratch.
For more information, please see our FAQ on SA-CORE-2014-005.

Seagate Brings You 8TB Ultra High Capacity Drives.

Seagate is shipping 8TB drives now, but don't run to the stores yet. They are destined for large scale data centers for now. But Seagate says that the drive will be available to wider market in coming quarter.

Once that happens, you can store, all you got on the drive, say for about 6 months, before you run out of space and also running out of knowledge, what you have stored there. Since it is Seagate, better to get two drives and mirror.

Seagate Press Release;

8TB Hard Drives Boast Ultra-High Capacity, Energy-Efficiency and the Lowest TCO in the Industry

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ:STX), a world leader in storage solutions, today announced it is shipping the world’s first 8TB hard disk drive. An important step forward in storage, the 8TB hard disk drive provides scale-out data infrastructures with supersized-capacity, energy-efficiency and the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) in the industry for cloud content, object storage and back-up disaster recovery storage.
“As our world becomes more mobile, the number of devices we use to create and consume data is driving an explosive growth in unstructured data. This places increased pressure on cloud builders to look for innovative ways to build cost-effective, high capacity storage for both private and cloud-based data centers,” said Scott Horn, Seagate vice president of marketing. “Seagate is poised to address this challenge by offering the world’s first 8TB HDD, a ground-breaking new solution for meeting the increased capacities needed to support the demand for high capacity storage in a world bursting with digital creation, consumption and long-term storage.”
A cornerstone for growing capacities in multiple applications, the 8TB hard drive delivers bulk data storage solutions for online content storage providing customers with the highest capacity density needed to address an ever increasing amount of unstructured data in an industry-standard 3.5-inch HDD. Providing up to 8TB in a single drive slot, the drive delivers maximum rack density, within an existing footprint, for the most efficient data center floor space usage possible.
“Public and private data centers are grappling with efficiently storing massive amounts of unstructured digital content,” said John Rydning, IDC’s research vice president for hard disk drives. “Seagate’s new 8TB HDD provides IT managers with a new option for improving storage density in the data center, thus helping them to tackle one of the largest and fastest growing data categories within enterprise storage economically.”
The 8TB hard disk drive increases system capacity using fewer components for increased system and staffing efficiencies while lowering power costs. With its low operating power consumption, the drive reliably conserves energy thereby reducing overall operating costs. Helping customers economically store data, it boasts the best Watts/GB for enterprise bulk data storage in the industry.
“Cleversafe is excited to once again partner with Seagate to deliver to our customers what is truly an innovative storage solution. Delivering absolute lowest cost/TB along with the performance and reliability required for massive scale applications, the new 8TB hard disk drive is ideal for meeting the needs of our enterprise and service provider customers who demand optimized hardware and the cost structure needed for massive scale out,” said Tom Shirley, senior vice president of research and development, Cleversafe.
Outfitted with enterprise-class reliability and support for archive workloads, it features multi-drive RV tolerance for consistent enterprise-class performance in high density environments. The drive also incorporates a proven SATA 6Gb/s interface for cost-effective, easy system integration in both private and public data centers.
Shipping drives to select customers now with wide scale availability next quarter.
About Seagate
Seagate is a world leader in storage solutions. Learn more at www.seagate.com. Follow Seagate on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, YouTube, Instagram and subscribe to our blog.
Copyright 2014 Seagate Technology LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Seagate, Seagate Technology and the Wave logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC in the United States and/or other countries. When referring to drive capacity, one terabyte, or TB, equals one thousand billion bytes. Your computer’s operating system may use a different standard of measurement and report a lower capacity. In addition, some of the listed capacity is used for formatting and other functions and will not be available for data storage.

Google's BulletProof Two-Factor Authentication Bypassed To Hack Into An Instagram Account.

Even though it is not due to any fault on the Google side, two factor authentication has been hacked using a cell phone carrier. (Yet Google should have a better way to resolve issues like these.).

It looks like pretty simple to hack, Provided that the hackers have your phone number and the email address.
Call the phone company, tell your phone is in the drink and to forward your phone number to a new number.
Then issues password change at Google, the authentication is sent to the new phone # and viola, password is changed and hackers have access to your Google account. Google and anything else connected to the Google account could be changed from this point onward.
It all came to light when a developer, Grant Blakeman, informed about his Instagram account getting hacked via Gmail, which in turn was protected by two-factor authentication. He posted his ordeal on ello | GB, and we are not very happy about the incident nor the takeaway. But one thing we took away is is that he is still using Google two factor authentication, but using an app instead of text to receive the authentication code. WIth all the faults, it is still better to use two factor authentication.

As for instagram (read below), if you do not have friends at high places, and if your account is hacked, you are hosed.

Resolution and Learned Lessons, from Grant Blakeman
Cell Phones 
As you might imagine, my cell phone provider was fairly non-plussed about the ordeal. They assured me I wouldn't be responsible for any charges to my account I didn't authorize, but also assured me that no one but me could make changes to my account. Ironic, I know. 
The takeaway: It is possible to add a voice authorization code to your account that the CSR is supposed to prompt from you to ensure changes can only be made to the account by you. I added that code and you should too. It's likely it may not have helped, but it's something. 
Google 
This one is still a black box to me. I can't find a way to report the incident to Google, and my cynicism tells me they deal with this kind of stuff enough that they wouldn't provide me with much information or resolution even if I could. I've since re-enabled two-factor auth, and I use an app to retrieve the authorization codes instead of texts. 
The takeaway: My Instagram account was tied to an email that was basically my name. That was probably a mistake. I have other public email addresses, so I'm not sure how someone would have known it was my Gmail account they should go after, but it probably wasn't hard to figure out. I've since moved all important accounts that allow password reset emails to a different address that does not contain my name, you might want to consider doing that too. 
Instagram 
Initially Instagram's support sent me an email saying that they could not verify that I had ever owned the @gb account in the first place (despite the fact that they had made me a Suggested User to Follow for a time) and would not be able to take any further action. Bummer. 
Thankfully, some friends in high places did some digging and prodding and an Instagram team member got in touch with me personally and worked to restore my username and account. In the end, I really appreciate their effort and kindness.

AirHopper Jumps The Air Gap

When people, companies or governments wants to isolate their computers from hackers or other bad people or to be anti-surveillance, usually they create an "air gap". Air Gap is usually a computer devoid of any network connection, be it wired, wireless or on GSM/LTE phone tethered to the computer. Air Gap will keep the bad guys off the computer. but the will it?

We have heard about hackers and surveillance measures using radio and emf produced by monitors and computers. like infamous Tempest but new technology is in town now, AirHopper.

This week a proof-of-concept malware developed by researchers at the Ben Gurion University in Israel was presented at MalCon 2014,
"AirHopper: Bridging the Air Gap between Isolated Networks and Mobile Phones using Radio Frequencies",
that an attacker can transmit sensitive information from isolated computers to nearby mobile phones by using radio signals.
Abstract of the Papaer;
Mordechai Guri, Gabi Kedma, Assaf Kachlon, Yuval Elovici,
Department of Information Systems Engineering, Ben Gurion University
Information is the most critical asset of modern organizations, and accordingly coveted by adversaries. When highly sensitive data is involved, an organization may resort to air gap isolation, in which there is no networking connection between the inner network and the external world. While infiltrating an air-gapped network has been proven feasible in recent years (e.g.,Stuxnet), data ex-filtration from an air-gapped network is still considered to be one of the most challenging phases of an advanced cyber attack

In this paper we present "AirHopper", a bifurcated malware that bridges the air gap between an isolated network and nearby infected mobile phones using FM signals. While it is known that software can intentionally create radio emissions from a video display unit, this is the first time that mobile phones are considered in an attack model as the intended receivers of maliciously crafted radio signals. We examine the attack model and its limitations, and discuss implementation considerations such as stealth and modulation methods. Finally, we evaluate AirHopper and demonstrate how textual and binary data can be ex-filtrated from physically isolated computer to mobile phones at a distance of 1 - 7 meters, with effective bandwidth of 13-60 Bps (Bytes per second).
Ben Gurion University.

The Pirate Bay Co-founder Found Guilty Biggest Hacking Case In Denmark

The Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm Warg (Anakata) and his 21-year-old Danish co-defendant have been found guilty by a Danish court of hacking into systems operated by American IT giant CSC and illegally downloading files. It was the biggest hacking case ever conducted in the history of Denmark.
Via Torrentfreak.

Piratebay Apeal Denied By Swedish High Court, Founders May Go To Jail.

Piratebay Appeal Denied By Swedish High Court

Sweden’s Supreme Court will not grant leave to appeal in the long-running Pirate Bay criminal trial the previously determined jail sentences and fines handed out to Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm and Carl Lundström standing.

In 2010, Swedish Court of Appeal found the trio, Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, and Carl Lundström, guilty of copyright infringement offenses.
Torrentfreak tells us that one of the defendants, will now appeal at the Europian Court of Justice.

The Piratebay website is still alive but now it is redirecting to a .se domain, perhaps fearing a seizure by US authorities.

Patent Troll Hits Groupon And Yelp

Mobile Commerce Framework, an obscure company has sued Yelp and Groupon  over a mobile commerce patent. The same company filed a similar patent infringement suit against Foursquare earlier.
The patent involved, US Patent No. 7,693,752 issued by the USPTO and keeping up with it's ambigious patent award, is something that we are again left to wonder about, who reads these patents before being awarded.
The Mobile Commerce Framework is represented by the owner of x-patents.
The case documents and other information at PriorSmart.com, Groupon, Yelp.
Via TechCrunch

ITC Staff Now Advocates An Exception From Potential HTC 4G Android Device Ban.

ITC staff earlier concluded that banning HTC 4G Android devices would not affect the public, ""is not contrary to the public interest"" since there are other 4G devices in the market. But now they are suggesting a six month narrow exception to be allowed in the case of any exclusion order. So Apple will not be able to ban HTC Android device imports, at least for six months from such decision.

"In its opening submission, OUII recommended that, in the event a violation is found, a limited exclusion order should issue against the HTC Respondents. In OUII's view, the issue raised by the submissions of HTC and third parties (Google and T-Mobile) is not whether an exclusion order should issue, but whether any exceptions to such an order are appropriate based upon the public interest. As discussed below, OUII submits that, based upon the parties' and third-party submissions regarding the public interest, any exclusion order should contain a narrow exception to allow for the continued importation of HTC's 4G-capable devices for a limited duration."

The ITC staff have also concluded that such exception would not harm Apple, sighting that Apple does not have a competing 4G device. (I don;t know if ITC is trying to turn Steve Jobs in his grave);
"In contrast, the harm to Apple from an exception to the exclusion order is likely to be small. Apple currently does not have a competing 4G device. Additionally, the number of 4G HTC devices is fairly small at this time. Thus, Apple will still enjoy the benefit of an exclusion order that is limited , for the present, to only HTC’s 3G devices."
This decision might even affect the ruling of Apple vs Samsung, (request for injunction) soon to be decided in California.
Either way, I find this to be fair and I know, I will be trading my iPhone 4S for a 4G device soon, either from Samsung (most likely) or even HTC.
FOSS Patents has all the information on this issue and more.

Lodsys '565 Patent, 24 Claims Rejected : Non-Final Office Action

The patent troll that have been haunting app developers on both iOS and Android platforms, Lodsys has received first office action. Four independent claims and 20 dependent claims have been rejected leaving zero independent claims and 8 dependent claims.
The USPTO (The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) granted the reexamination of two Lodsys patents challenged by Google and has issued a first office action on the '565 patent.. Four independent and 24 dependent claims challenged by Google, the USPTO has rejected all four independent claims and 20 of the 24 dependent claims in this patent.
Earlier, USPTO rejected 28 claims of the other patent of Lodsys challenged, the '078.
You can read about all the legal stuff about this case at Groklaw, where they take confusion out of simple facts like "rejection of claims" whether it is Google's claim or the claims associated with the patent.

1TB Octane SSD From OCZ

Those spinning platters in your computers, called hard drives, may come to pass sooner than expected, now that SSDs are out with sizes to fit most needs with crazy fast hardware. The new Octane range from OCZ, which comes in sizes of up to one terabyte will be released in November for yet undisclosed prices. Anandtech expects the 1TB drive to be about $1300.

The Octane range has two flavors, first a SATA 2.0 version which will transfer data at up to 275MB/s (read), and the SATA 3.0 model with read speeds that reach 560MB/s.

I want one to replace my 750GB drive on my notebooks both PC (HP) and MAC (Macbook Pro)

OCZ Press release;

2011-10-20

New 2.5 inch High-Capacity Octane SSDs Leverage the Indilinx Everest Platform to Deliver Superior Performance and Endurance for a Wide Range of Workloads

SAN JOSE, CA - Oct. 20, 2011 - OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:OCZ), a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs), today launched the Indilinx Everest-based Octane SATA 3.0 and SATA 2.0 SSD series, striking the ideal balance between capacity, physical size, and speed. In addition to being the world's first SSD to achieve up to a 1TB capacity in a compact 2.5 inch format, OCZ's Octane SSD series combines high-speed data transfer rates with record-breaking access times to provide a superior user experience and improved application performance.

"OCZ has reached an important milestone in the development of its own controller technology," said James E. Bagley, Senior Analyst with Storage Strategies NOW. "The high sustained performance, even with compressed files, the rapid boot feature and high access speeds using SATA 3.0 protocol puts their controller technology in the major league."

"Until now SSDs have been tailored for specific applications, forcing users into a product which maximizes performance for a narrow band of applications, but is significantly lacking in others," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology. "The Octane Series solves this problem by providing the highest level of performance across varied workloads including mixed file sizes and mixed compressible and uncompressible data, all while nearly doubling NAND flash endurance."

The Octane series leverages the cutting-edge Indilinx Everest platform to deliver up to 560MB/s of bandwidth and 45,000 IOPS and is optimized for the complete spectrum of file types and sizes. In particular, the Octane's proprietary page mapping algorithms allow for steady mixed-workload performance, mirroring real world conditions across a wide range of applications. The Octane series also includes a number of advanced features unique to Indilinx, including innovative latency reduction technology, enabling both read and write access times as low as 0.06ms and 0.09ms respectively, the lowest of any commercially available SSD. This enhances application responsiveness and enables features such as "fast boot" in consumer applications.

Octane SSDs also come equipped with Indilinx's proprietary NDurance™ technology, increasing the lifespan of the NAND flash memory, ensuring the most consistent and reliable performance as well as minimizing performance degradation even after the drive's storage capacity is highly utilized. In addition, Octane series drives support AES and automatic encryption to secure critical data.

Octane Product Features:

- Dual Core CPU
- Up to 512MB DRAM cache
- 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB models
- High sequential speeds:
Octane (SATA 3.0) Read: 560MB/s; Write: 400MB/s
Octane-S2 (SATA 2.0) Read: 275MB/s; Write: 265MB/s
- High transactional performance - Optimized for 4K to 16K compressed files
Octane (SATA 3.0) 45,000 random read 4K IOPS
Octane-S2 (SATA 2.0) 30,000 random read 4K IOPS
- Industry-low latency:
Read: 0.06ms; Write: 0.09ms
- Strong performance at low queue depths (QD 1 – 3)
- Up to 8 channels with up to 16-way Interleaving
- Advanced BCH ECC engine enabling more than 70 bits correction capability per 1KB of data
- Proprietary NDurance™ Technology: increases NAND life up to 2X of the rated P/E cycles
- Efficient NAND Flash management: Dynamic and static wear-leveling, and background garbage collection
- Boot time reduction optimizations
- NCQ support up to 32 queue depth
- End-to-end data protection
- TRIM support
- Industry standard SMART reporting

The OCZ Octane SSD Series will be available November 1st in models ranging from 128GB-1TB capacities throughout OCZ's global channel.

OCZ

Samsung's 3G Patents Asserted Against Apple In 9 Countries.

This patent wars does not seem to end anytime soon and APple vs Samsung cases get filed all over the world. Sometimes it seems so ridiculous but business need to go on. I guess only litigation will remain at the end.
If Apple rightfully won the injunction against Samsung, it is only right if Samsung does the same. Some times I wonder, why these people can't talk. Then again, it is the lawyers who talk, not techies. It is always advantageous for lawyers to have cases, so it might be one reason these talks fail or do not exist.
FOSS Patents has researched and listed 13 patents that Samsung is asserting against Apple. You can read the write up and the rest of the patents, I have only listed first 5 patents here.

U.S. Patent Application No. 2006/0252377

"Method and apparatus for reporting inter-frequency measurement using RACH message in a communication system" (link)

European equivalent (EP1720373) asserted in France and Italy

U.S. Patent No. 6,598,202

"Turbo interleaving apparatus and method" (link)

European equivalent (EP1097516) asserted in France and the Netherlands; local equivalent (KR100330234, application number KR1020000027143) asserted in Korea

U.S. Patent No. 6,928,604

"Turbo encoding/decoding device and method for processing frame data according to QoS" (link)

asserted in the Northern District of California; European equivalent (EP1005726) asserted in Germany, the UK, and Italy; Australian equivalent (AU722598) asserted in Australia

U.S. Patent No. 7,050,410

"Apparatus and method for controlling a demultiplexer and a multiplexer used for rate matching in a mobile communication system" (link)

asserted in the Northern District of California; European equivalent (EP1114528) asserted in Germany and the Netherlands; Australian equivalent (AU751376) asserted in Australia

U.S. Patent No. 7,200,792

"Interleaving apparatus and method for symbol mapping in an HSDPA mobile communication system" (link)

asserted in the Northern District of California

FOSS Patents

Another Patent Troll In Your WiFI Space, Innovatio

Innovatio IP Ventures, LLC (who does not innovate anything nor has any product even though their name suggests such) is going arround suing hotels and coffee shops who offer WiFi in their establishments. according to statements made by the lawyers of Innovatio it is possible that they come after home users as well, but they are too busy suing small business owners for small amounts to come after you, yes the home WIFI owner.

“Innovatio has made a strategic and business judgment at this stage that it doesn’t intend to pursue [lawsuits on the basis of] residential use of WiFi,” McAndrews, a lawyer representing Innovatio in these dubious lawsuits.

According to Patent Examiner. UC Berkeley Investigative Reporting Project, they are basically blackmailing the small business users by suing for small amounts ($2300 to $5000) so that not defending in a courts against such lawsuits are not economically sound.
These patents have ended up with Innovatio through Broadcom, who refuses to divulge the information about the patents (31 of them) or why they are with Innovatio.
Cisco and Motorola are going against Innovatio and seeking a declaratory judgment calling for the Delaware federal court to rule that their products don’t infringe, and declare Innovatio’s patents invalid.
Patent Examiner (for more information and documents related to the case(s))

Apple Vs Samsung, Vs S3 Graphics, Vs Motorola Updates.

FOSS patents ahve put together a nice summaries about the on going patent wars between Apple and three rivals, Motorola, S3 Graphics, Samsung.
There seem to be strange developments in Australia in Apple VS Samsung case with matters I do not understand. But Samsung seem to be looking for settlement, at least for now. In the USA, Samsung is getting some support from Verizon and T-Mobile. iPhone 5 does not seem to make much difference, looks like. I like to see what APple has against those very attractive Android phones from Sharp, Panasonic and Dell that Softbank, the Japanese iPhone seller, is bringing out.
In Florida, the court denied Apple's request to stay the Apple vs Motorola Mobility case. Apple wanted to wait till Motorola Mobility was acquired by Google. Apple has a similar request in Wisconsin.
In the case of S3 Graphics vs Apple, there is a new twist. ATI is telling that it is the rightfull owner of the patents that S3 is using against Apple! Strange!
Read about all these at FOSS Patents.

IBM Overtakes Microsoft In Value, For The First Time In 15 Years!

Even though the Big Blue was THE tech company, it lost to Microsoft in market value, after Microsoft managed to beat it in the personal computer market.
Now IBM after 15 years has managed surpassing Microsoft, with market share of $211.4 Billion. Current market share of Microsoft stands at $211.3 Billion.
Apple which passed Microsoft last year stands at the top with $356.8 Billion and is the most valuable company in the world today.

Samsung Buys Android Protection From Microsoft!

In a bizarre acknowledgment of Android IP holes, and without waiting for Google protection, Samsung has gone and signed a deal with Microsoft. According to the agreement, "Microsoft will receive royalties for Samsung’s mobile phones and tablets running Android" and Samsung will also work on Windows phones.
The major issue with this news is that it looks like Android ODMs are for themselves, rather than teaming up to be a force.
Microsoft press release;

REDMOND, Wash — Sept. 28, 2011 — Microsoft announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., to cross-license the patent portfolios of both companies, providing broad coverage for each company’s products. Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will receive royalties for Samsung’s mobile phones and tablets running the Android mobile platform. In addition, the companies agreed to cooperate in the development and marketing of Windows Phone.

“Microsoft and Samsung see the opportunity for dramatic growth in Windows Phone and we’re investing to make that a reality,” said Andy Lees, president, Windows Phone Division, Microsoft. “Microsoft believes in a model where all our partners can grow and profit based on our platform.”

“Through the cross-licensing of our respective patent portfolios, Samsung and Microsoft can continue to bring the latest innovations to the mobile industry,” said Dr. Won-Pyo Hong, executive vice president of global product strategy at Samsung’s mobile communication division. “We are pleased to build upon our long history of working together to open a new chapter of collaboration beginning with our Windows Phone “Mango” launch this fall.”

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

MS

Court Orders Third Mediation Talk Between Google And Oracle

Judge William Alsup, the federal judge presiding over Oracle vs Google case ordered case statements from both parties with three deadlines. FOSS Patents think that while still hoping for a settlement between the parties, (Court is bringing two parties together on October 1st for the third settlement talks), judge has not given up on October trail date. You can find much more detail about the statement and the case at FOSS Patents, follow the link at the end of the post.

First order is asking Oracle for;

"By NOON ON SEPTEMBER 29, 2011, counsel for Oracle America, Inc. shall submit a case management statement listing each patent claim it will actually assert at trial and shall explain why the total number of such claims is consistent with prior representations made to the Court. In stating the claims to be tried, counsel must remember that any claim not asserted will be deemed foregone as to all accused matters."

The second is towards Google;

"By NOON ON OCTOBER 3, 2011, counsel for Google Inc. shall state separately as to each such claim the full extent to which counsel concede any such alleged infringement but for any issues of invalidity and shall specify, claim by claim, any and all invalidity defenses to be asserted at trial."

And the third is regarding the reexamination of Oracle patents and stay of the case.

"By NOON ON OCTOBER 4, 2011, both sides shall update the Court on the status of each re-examination pending for each such claim and shall explain why the case should not be stayed in whole or in part until the re-examinations are completed. Counsel are expected to honor their full duty of candor as officers of the court."

With all the judges work towards a settlement, which seem not to be working, case looks like ready for trial. If it will be stayed or not will be the next juicy bit of information.
You can find FOSS Patents post on the issue here. All the court statements above came here via FP as well.

SDSC Cloud, World;s Largest Academic And Research Data Storage Service From San Diego Supercomputer Center.

SDSC's Academic Cloud Storage offers a new and unique storage service to any educational and affiliated industry through an object-based storage system. SDSC cloud storage provides a highly scalable solution with flexible access methods and enhanced sustainability. Since there are no data transfer costs, the SDSC Cloud provides exceptional performance compared to other industry offerings, utilizing 10GB connectivity at a very low cost, $3.25 per 100GB per month. (See more information in the press release)
Any size or number of files can be stored on SDSC’s Cloud, and are instantly replicated by an infrastructure of multiple servers which continuously scan the system to ensure file integrity. With the option to add off-site replication, users can achieve unparalleledfile durability.
Customizable permissions allow users to effortlessly and instantly share data with other cloud clients or publicly via HTTP or API integration.
Technical Information;

• Initial 5.5PB Raw Storage
• 10Gb Arista Connected – Up to 8GB/s aggregate I/O
• OpenStack based with Rackspace and S3 APIs
• AES 256-bit encryption available

Usage and Applications

HPC Compute data staging and Storage,
Backups, including SDSC Commvault back services
Application integration using supported APIs
Web Application and site hosting
Streaming Data services, images/videos
Data collections and published data sets

Press Release;

SDSC Announces Scalable, High-Performance Data Storage Cloud

Web-based System Offers High Durability, Security, and Speed for Diverse User Base

SDSC Cloud

The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California, San Diego, today announced the launch of what is believed to be the largest academic-based cloud storage system in the U.S., specifically designed for researchers, students, academics, and industry users who require stable, secure, and cost-effective storage and sharing of digital information, including extremely large data sets.

"We believe that the SDSC Cloud may well revolutionize how data is preserved and shared among researchers, especially massive datasets that are becoming more prevalent in this new era of data-intensive research and computing," said Michael Norman, director of SDSC. "The SDSC Cloud goes a long way toward meeting federal data sharing requirements, since every data object has a unique URL and could be accessed over the Web."

SDSC's new Web-based system is 100% disk-based and interconnected by high-speed 10 gigabit Ethernet switching technology, providing extremely fast read and write performance. With an initial raw capacity of 5.5 petabytes – one petabyte equals one quadrillion bytes of storage capacity, or the equivalent about 250 billion pages of text – the SDSC Cloud has sustained read rates of 8 to 10 gigabytes (GB) per second that will continually improve as more nodes and storage are added. That's akin to reading all the contents of a 250GB laptop drive in less than 30 seconds.

Moreover, the SDSC Cloud is scalable by orders of magnitude to hundreds of petabytes, with aggregate performance and capacity both scaling almost linearly with growth. Full details about the new SDSC Cloud can be found online.

Conceived in planning for UC San Diego's campus Research Cyberinfrastructure (RCI) project, the initiative quickly grew in scope and partners as many saw the technology as functionally revolutionary and cost effective for their needs. At launch, users and research partners include, among others, UC San Diego's Libraries, School of Medicine, Rady School of Management, Jacobs School of Engineering, and SDSC researchers, as well as federally-funded research projects from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes for Health, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

"The SDSC Cloud marks a paradigm shift in how we think about long-term storage," said Richard Moore, SDSC's deputy director. "We are shifting from the 'write once and read never' model of archival data, to one that says 'if you think your data is important, then it should be readily accessible and shared with the broader community.'"

"UC San Diego is one of the most data-centric universities in the country, so our goal was to develop a centralized, scalable data storage system designed to meet performance, functionality, and capacity needs of our researchers and partners across the country, and to evolve and scale with the needs of the scientific community," said Dallas Thornton, SDSC's division director of cyberinfrastructure services. "Developing this resource in-house atop the OpenStack platform allows for highly-capable and flexible, yet extremely cost-effective solutions for our researchers."

OpenStack is a scalable, open-sourced cloud operating system jointly launched in July 2010 by NASA and Rackspace Hosting, which today powers some of the largest public and private cloud computing services using this scalable and proven software.

Durability and Security
Data stored in SDSC's new cloud is instantly written to multiple independent storage servers, and stored data is validated for consistency on a round-the-clock basis. "This leads to very high levels of data durability, availability, and performance, all of which are of paramount importance to researchers and research organizations," said Ron Joyce, SDSC's associate director of IT infrastructure and a key architect of the system.

The SDSC Cloud leverages the infrastructure designed for a high-performance parallel file system by using two Arista Networks 7508 switches, providing 768 total 10 gigabit (Gb) Ethernet ports for more than 10Tbit/s of non-blocking, IP-based connectivity. The switches are configured using multi-chassis link aggregation (MLAG) for both performance and failover.

"This network configuration allows us to unshackle extreme-scale/extreme-performance storage from individual clusters and instead make data available at unprecedented speeds across our university campus and beyond," said Philip Papadopoulos, SDSC's division director of UC systems. "In addition to incredibly fast data transmission speeds, our goal was to build a high-performance storage system right from the start that was completely scalable to meet the evolving needs and requirements of the campus, as well those within industry and government."

The environment also provides high-bandwidth wide-area network connectivity to users and partners thanks to multiple 10Gb connections to CENIC (Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California), ESNet (Energy Sciences Network), and XSEDE (Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment). This allows huge amounts of data, such as sky surveys or mapping of the human genome, to be rapidly transported simultaneously to/from the SDSC Cloud.

In addition to large storage capacity and high-speed transmissions, the SDSC Cloud provides:

* Cost advantages: Standard "on-demand" storage costs start at only $3.25 a month per 100GB of storage, and there are no I/O networking charges. A "condo" option, which allows users to make cost-effective long term investment in hardware that becomes part of the SDSC Cloud, is also available. Users will soon have the option to have additional copies of their data stored offsite at UC Berkeley, one of SDSC's partners in the project.
* Anywhere, anytime accessibility and wide compatibility: Every data file is given a persistent URL, making the system ideal for data sharing such as library or institutional collections. Access permissions can be set by the data owner, allowing a full spectrum of options from private to open access. The HTTP-based SDSC Cloud supports the RackSpace Swift and Amazon S3 APIs and is accessible from any web browser, clients for Windows, OSX, UNIX, and mobile devices. Users can also write applications that directly interact with the SDSC Cloud.
* Enhanced security: Users set their own access/privacy levels. Users know and can coordinate precisely where their data is stored in the cloud, including replicated copies. In addition, a HIPAA and FISMA compliant storage option launches on October 1st in partnership with the Integrating Data for Analysis, Anonymization and SHaring (iDASH) program at UC San Diego, a National Center for Biomedical Computing (NCBC) project funded in 2010 under the NIH Roadmap for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology.

Working in Tandem with Other SDSC Storage Systems
The SDSC Cloud is configured to work in tandem with other innovative storage technologies at the supercomputer center. One is the Data Oasis system, a Lustre-based parallel file system designed primarily for high-performance, low-latency scratch and medium-term project storage, ideal for researchers conducting data-intensive operations on SDSC's Triton, Trestles, and Dash high-performance computing (HPC) systems.

SDSC's Data Oasis is currently capable of speeds of 50GB/s, meaning that researchers can today retrieve a terabyte of data – or one trillion bytes – in less than 20 seconds. By early 2012, Data Oasis will be expanded to serve SDSC's Gordon, the first supercomputer within the HPC community focused on integrating large amounts of flash-based SSD (solid state drive) memory. As Gordon enters production in January 2012, SDSC will double the speed of Data Oasis to 100GB/s, making it one of the fastest parallel file systems in the academic research community. While Data Oasis is used for in-process HPC storage, the SDSC Cloud is designed to accommodate any storage needs either prior to or afterward, delivering durable, secure storage that can be shared within SDSC or across the country with ease.

About SDSC
As an Organized Research Unit of UC San Diego, SDSC is considered a leader in data-intensive computing and cyberinfrastructure, providing resources, services, and expertise to the national research community including industry and academia. Cyberinfrastructure refers to an accessible and integrated network of computer-based resources and expertise, focused on accelerating scientific inquiry and discovery. SDSC supports hundreds of multidisciplinary programs spanning a wide variety of domains, from earth sciences to biology to astrophysics to bioinformatics and health IT. With its two newest supercomputer systems, Trestles and the soon-to-be-launched Gordon, SDSC is a partner in XSEDE (Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment), the most advanced collection of integrated digital resources and services in the world.

Media Contacts:
Jan Zverina, SDSC Communications, 858 534-5111 or jzverina@sdsc.edu
Warren R. Froelich, SDSC Communications, 858 822-3622 or froelich@sdsc.edu
Related Links:
SDSC: http://www.sdsc.edu/
SDSC Cloud: http://cloud.sdsc.edu
UC San Diego: http://www.ucsd.edu/
Arista Networks: http://www.aristanetworks.com/
OpenStack: http://www.openstack.org/

S3 Graphics Goes After Apple With Two Patents Related New ITC Complaint And A Federal Lawsuit

Soon to be part of HTC, S3 Graphics, sued Apple over two patents in new IYC Complaint and Federal lawsuit yesterday. The rift of Apple vs HTC is getting complicated and larger everyday.
Goth the complaint and the lawsuit revolves around two patents owned by S3. S3 targets iPhone and iPads among other devices in the lawsuit;

"certain electronic devices and components, [for example], the Apple iPhone, iPad, an[d] iPod Touch mobile devices, Apple Mac desktop and notebook computers, alone or in combination with associated system and application software sold or distributed by Apple"

and the ITC complaint is covering;

"Electronic Devices with Graphics Data Processing Systems, Components Thereof, and Associated Software"

The patents involved in the case are;

U.S. Patent No. 5,945,997 on "block- and band-oriented traversal in three-dimensional triangle rendering" (applied for by S3 in 1997)
U.S. Patent No. 5,581,279 on "VGA controller circuitry" (applied for by Cirrus Logic in November 1993, granted by the USPTO in December 1996 and sold to S3 in 1998;

Again FOSS Patents explain this incident and more. More meaning all the existing case

Cablevision Did Not Violate Verizon's Set-Top Box Patents

ITC, the U.S. International Trade Commission has terminated the review of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ)'s complaint against the set-top models used by Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC).

Earlier an ITC judge ruled that Cablevision had violated U.S. Patent No. 6,381,748, which describes an "Apparatus and methods for network access using a set-top box and television," from among five Patents Verizon sighted.

The ITC, informed via a notice (PDF) issued Wednesday, about termination of the review and also found Cablevision not to be in violation. The ITC cited the results of another case involving the patent in question. A judge in that case, argued in a Virginia court between Verizon and ActiveVideo Networks Inc. (one of Cablevision's video technology vendors), invalidated two Verizon patents, including the '748 patent.

It is possible that Verizon appeal the ITC's decision.

Via Lightreading

Samsung Counter Sues Apple In Australia, Plans To Appeal German Injunction.

Looks like there will not be any calm between the patent battle between Apple and Samsung. After suing Apple in France for Samsung UMTS (3G) patent violations, Samsung has counter-sued Apple in Australia, where Apple seek to stop sales of Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Samsung announced on Saturday that it has filed a case against Apple in Australia for it's violations of multiple mobile patents.

"To defend our intellectual property, Samsung filed a cross claim for Apple's violation of Samsung's wireless technology patents," Samsung Electronics spokesman Nam Ki-yung said.

Samsung has also filed an appeal against a recent court ruling in Dusseldorf, Germany. where it upheld the ban of the sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany.

Apple and Samsung are involved in court cases all over the world and analysts believe that the two companies would come in to a technology sharing agreement.

260MW, Is What It Takes To Power Google!

Google has given us a bunch of firsts over the years and now has become the first Internet giant to let us know how much power it uses. Those servers, computers and everything else uses 260MW continuously.
With all the major companies in the world, Google has stepped up to reveal how much energy it needs to run it's engines, big and small. In addition to providing you and me with mind blowing numbers, these figures also shed light on how much the the massive expansion of Internet is affecting the global power usage, thus helping policy makers and other people involved in understanding the facts.
The 260MW power used by Google in it's entirety is enough to power a small city of about 200,000 homes and most of this energy is used in it's data centers. This is after all the efforts Google has employed to reduce power usage. Like custom build data centers that uses various methods to increase efficiency.
Google's Data center in Finland uses sea water to cool it's innards cutting down on electricity usage. Over all, according to a professor at Stanford University, J.Koomey, Google is relatively energy efficient and uses only 1% of electricity for it's data centers worldwide. Google owns about 3% servers world wide.

It has abother side as well, companies hosting their email with GMail, or in the cloud, saves and as much as 80% energy efficient than running an in house system.
Google also reported that it uses as much as 25% energy from renewable sources and plans to increase it to 30% this year.
Official Google Blog: How our cloud does more with less

ITC To Review S3 Graphics VS Apple! Will HTC Have A lever Here?

ITC, United Stated International Trade Commission has issued a notice of a Commission determination to review the initial determination made investigating S3 Graphics' patent infringement complaint against Apple by a Administrative Law Judge.
While the investigation, initial determination found some of the claims to be valid and some not now it is back to the point one as the commission has decided to review the case in it's entirety and either party could gain.
If S3 Graphics, gain, HTC which is in the process of acquiring S3 Graphics will have some leverage against Apple in it's Android patent case, even though S3 Graphics case is only involved in Macintosh computers, not iOS devices.
According to FOSS Patents, depending on the outcome, it could benefit HTC but nothing is clear cut as there are pathways for Apple to by pass the infringements, if there are any.
ITC (PDF) via FOSS Patents

Oracle, Google Willing To Discuss Settlement In Court - Google Android Lawsuit

The federal Judge presiding over the Oracle Android law suit has requested both the parties, Oracle and Google settle in court and today was the last day to submit a reply.and Oracle has already responded, well before the deadline.Perhaps playing the upper hand that Oracle feels that it has;

Oracle President Safra Catz, and Thomas Kurian, Executive Vice President of Oracle Product Development.will represent Oracle and Andrew Rubin, Senior Vice President, Google Mobile and Kent Walker, Vice President and General Counsel of Google will represent Google.
Google also requested a magistrate Judge who is not involved with the case to be the mediation judge.

"    Oracle concurs with the Court’s view that an additional attempt at settlement of the case through mediation before a United State Magistrate Judge is warranted. Oracle has found previous efforts at settlement, including private discussions between the parties, frustrating for lack of follow-through, and believes that those efforts have not exhausted the possibilities for resolving the case.

    As suggested by the Court, Oracle considers it essential that both parties bring top-level executives. Accordingly, Oracle’s executive representatives in the mediation before the Magistrate Judge will be Safra Catz, President of Oracle Corporation, and Thomas Kurian, Executive Vice President of Oracle Product Development.

    Oracle will strive to make its representatives available as necessary and proposes that the mediation occur before the end of September. "

Here is the Google response;

Google welcomes the Court's suggestion that the parties participate in a mediation of this case before a Magistrate Judge. Google does not object to participating in a mediation before a Magistrate Judge who is not otherwise involved in this case.
Google recognizes the importance of having top executives of the parties attend the Court-ordered mediation. Google proposes that Andrew Rubin, who is Senior Vice President, Mobile and reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer, attend for Google together with Kent Walker, Vice President and General Counsel of Google. Mr. Rubin's executive responsibilities include all of Google’s mobile business, of which the Android business is a part. Mr. Rubin is knowledgeable regarding the issues in this case and he is fully empowered to resolve this matter on reasonable terms.
Google also understands from counsel for Oracle that they propose that Safra Catz and Thomas Kurian attend on behalf of Oracle -- and Google agrees with this choice. Ms. Catz is one of two Presidents of Oracle who, like Mr. Rubin, reports directly to Oracle's Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Rubin and Ms. Catz were involved in previous discussions involving the subject matter at issue in this case.

Thanks to FOSS Patents, we get to read these stuff before everyone else and I am waiting for the Google response. Might be interesting.

Oracle - Google Android Lawsuit Surfacing Interesting Facts. Open Source Java!

It is fascinating to read about this lawsuit. In an email by Android boss Andy Rubin to Google's Sergey, Larry Page and some other Googlers, reveals that Google could have had an annual Java license for $100 million and the group agreed to decline it. If ever Oracle manages to get a injunction over Android, costs of getting a new license will be million folds of the 100 million.
Another fact that coming out is the SUN proposed  a Redhat style Android distribution with Open Source Java. Yes hind sight is 20/20 but it is not too late to learn more about these facts.It IS fascinating.
Read more at FOSS Patents.

Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (H.R. 1249) Passes 93-5 In Senate.

Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (H.R. 1249) has passed the Senate as expected. The Act is slated to become a law as soon as President Obama signs it.
The act was passed earlier in the Senate and another version in the House earlier but the differences in the versions passed sent the act back to the Senate and it passed after the Senate came back from the anual recess in August.
Basically we are not getting much out of this law but all the politicians, both the sides, will get some ride on it saying it will create 200,000 new jobs. But the general understanding is it will not which has even has been answered by a survey.
PatentlyO explains this much better than I could;

To be patentable, an invention must still be new, useful, and fit within one of the statutory classifications.  The primary difference on that front will be that the inventor’s pre-filing activity becomes even less important and third-party activity just prior to the filing date becomes more important.  Innovative companies will need to rethink filing strategies to fit the new rules, but this will not normally be CEO level strategic rethinking - but instead general counsel and chief patent counsel planning. The law of patentability will be more complicated and unstable for the next decade as we go through the transition, but the dust will settle and the patent system will remain.

You can read more at PatentlyO

Tech Pier In SF, Pier 38 To Be Emptied By September 30th! America Cup Anyone?

After weeks of speculations and other stuff, San Francisco Port Authority has declared the pier to be unsafe for public.(the pic above was taken by Robert Scobble) One of our colleagues spent two good years of his life in this pier located on the San Francisco water front (map) and I have been to  Pier 38 last week.
Pier 38 houses a collection of tech companies including Automatic (Wordpress), DogPatch Labs (responsible for many startups housed here), Polaris Ventures, True Ventures, 99 Designs, EGG HAUS and a bunch more.
There are no real reasons or news yet but the fact that these companies will have to move and the question remains to where?
Perhaps Port Authority need the space for America Cup, just speculating!
Via TC

Brother Announces AiRScouter, Its See-Through Head-Mounted Display (Video)

Brother has announced that it is bringing out AiRScouter, a head-mounted and transparent transmissive liquid crystal display. When worn, the device creates the impression of a 16-inch screen that’s about one meter away from user’s eyes.

Brother Industries Ltd. (President: Toshikazu Koike, hereinafter BIL) has announced the commercialization of its "AiRScouter" see-through type head-mounted display.

Brother has already secured an agreement with NEC Corporation (President: Nobuhiro Endo, hereinafter NEC), which will adopt the product as the display for its own business-use wearable computer "Tele Scouter®". And from this autumn Brother Sales, Ltd. (President: Shunsuke Katayama, hereinafter Brother Sales), a subsidiary of BIL will start the shipment of AiRScouter to NEC.

Brother Sales will also start its own sales activities focusing on companies specializing in systems development or architecture and aim to expand the sales for industrial use including assembly support in the factory.

AiRScouter is a head-mounted, see-through type display that allows images from computers and smartphones to be viewed by the wearer. Images appear as if they were in front of the user. The technology includes a high-definition liquid crystal panel, with mirror reflected light making the image visible, as if they were shown on the translucent display.

Head Mounted

• Users can use both hands whilst viewing the image. They do not need to move or change their eye directions to get sources they want to see.
  Therefore, operational efficiency is improved.

See-through

• Users can see an transparent image without impacting the field of view.
  Therefore, it improves certainty of operation and ensures security.

Letters are clearly viewed in full color

• The size of the image viewed by a user is the same as one viewing a 16 inch full color display at a distance of 1m.
  It is possible to read down to 12-point font with AiRscouter and suitable to read instruction manuals.

Small size and light weight

• AiRScouter is compact and the display weighs approximately 64g. By using titanium as a material of frames the overall weight including the display, glass, frames and cables is approximately 106g.

Low power consumption

• Electricity consumption of AiRScouter is about 1/20 of one consumed by a standard 16 inch LED display. Therefore, AiRScouter contributes to the reduction of environmental burdens.

Others

• Users can wear AiRScouter with a helmet or cap.
• When combined with a camera, headset and communication system, it can facilitate operational support from a remote place.
• Frames for people who wear glasses are provided.
• Users can adjust the focus point from approximately 30cm to 10m, using an adjustable dial attached on the display.
• Users can adjust the display to the best position using a position adjustable system which slides the display from side to side and up and down.

From above feature, BIL foresees potential needs on AiRScouter at various different worksites, such as product assembly, products and parts picking, and maintenance and repair, where operators need to read instructions as they work.

The Brother Group will focus on developing and expanding the new business under its Mid-Term Business Strategy "CS B2015".

Brother