New study shows that you are being monitored if you download torrents

If you’ve ever torrented movies, music, TV shows, games, software and etc., or if you still do that, you’re probably aware that there is a good chance that you will get caught by the authorities. However we’re also sure that some of you guys subscribe to the notion that with thousands of people downloading at once, why would they choose you, right? Well in a recent study done by the Birmingham University in the UK, it shows that those who download torrents, especially the popular ones, you are apparently being monitored by up to 10 different monitoring entities.

Some of these entities are security companies, probably on the lookout for malware or new viruses, while other entities includes copyright firms and torrent researchers. There were apparently more entities involved but their identities have been masked, leaving us to wonder if perhaps these are the authorities. In any case you’re probably aware that downloading torrents of copyrighted material is illegal in the first place, but if you ever needed a reason to stop, perhaps this is something worth thinking about.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Demonoid brought down by a severe DDoS attack, 15 year old teen in Sweden on trial for downloading movies via torrents,

GoDaddy restores service after hacking incident

Earlier today, the Internet was abuzz about web hosting company GoDaddy being hacked by the hacker collective known as Anonymous, and in an announcement over on Twitter, GoDaddy mentioned that the majority of their customer-hosted sites are now up and running, stating, “Most customer hosted sites back online. We’re working out the last few kinks for our site & control centers. No customer data compromised.” That certainly sounds like a ray of light at the end of a long, dark tunnel, doesn’t it?

Anonymous Own3r claimed responsibility for today’s attack that actually affected numerous sites, where GoDaddy’s DNS servers were taken offline and the downtime clocked in at several hours. Not only that, Anonymous Own3r claims that this particular attack was just from a single member and not made on Anonymous’ behalf, making us wonder what happens when the collective flex their muscles.

GoDaddy spokeswoman Elizabeth Driscoll mentioned, “All services are restored and at no time was sensitive customer information, such as credit card data, passwords, names, addresses, ever compromised.” Does that make you sleep easier at night if you hosted a site on GoDaddy?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: GoDaddy Attacked, Millions Of Sites Down, Arizona man gets 30-months in prison after infecting 72,000 computers,

BASIC pocket PC is Ben Heck’s latest modding effort

Modding guru Ben Heck has had his fair share of hits in the past (with very few, or no misses at all) and we are pleased to note that he has yet to hang up his modding gloves to date. Hopefully he will never stop, and his latest project would be this BASIC pocket computer that you see above (image from Engadget), where this particular device will requires parts from a menagerie of devices, including the Chatpad from an Xbox 360 controller, an Arduino Uno and a LCD display (he uses a Hitachi HD 44780 for example, and I suppose one would be hard pressed to go wrong if you stick to the very same digital “ingredients”).

The whole idea of this BASIC pocket PC is not to roll back the clock and induce a thin mist across the eyes of all you older modders out there, but rather, for you to use a relic from the past and control real world objects in the modern context. What other kinds of modern day magic do you think Ben Heck will conjure in the future?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Ben Heck disc changer for the Xbox 360, Ben Heck’s 1977 Atari and Xbox 360 merger,

Hulu Plus update on PS3 delivers improved navigation and discovery

Hulu Plus for the PS3 debuted a couple of years ago, and obviously the software did not remain stagnant over the past two years. In fact, innovation has been the order of the day, as Hulu’s engineers in their Seattle office worked hard to digest consumer feedback in order to deliver the latest update so that your living room entertainment experience will be an unparalleled one. The new and improved Hulu Plus experience is now available on the PS3, where you are now able to access your favorite shows faster than before, thanks to larger and more vivid artwork that makes the entire navigation experience an easier one.

A tray-style format enables you to scroll through recommendations that are based on your viewing history, and you are also able to peruse through popular shows and movies, the top 100 clips on Hulu Plus, and movie trailers amongst others. A “Shows You Watch” feature has also been thrown into the mix so that your favorite content will be highlighted for quicker access. More on the updated search experience after the jump.

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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: The Final Hulu Plus For PS3 Will Not Require PlayStation Plus, Hulu Plus launches on more living room devices,

MSI Wind Top AE2051 Touchscreen All-in-one PC

MSI Wind Top AE2051 Touchscreen All-in-one PC

MSI has proudly introduced its new all-in-one PC namely the Wind Top AE2051. Powered by an AMD E2-1800 APU with an AMD Radeon HD 7340 graphics, the computer includes a 20-inch touchscreen display, up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, a 500GB hard disk drive, a DVD burner, WiFi, a card reader, a 0.3-megapixel webcam for Skype video calls, USB 3.0, HDMI and a keyboard-mouse set. The MSI Wind Top AE2051 runs on the Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit operating system. Sadly, there is no info on pricing or availability at this time. [PCLaunches]

Google Drive for iOS and Android updated

A piece of software can be considered to be a pseudo-living thing with the number of updates released for it. Having said that, Google Drive is definitely not a static, end-of-the-road software or app. In fact, Google has just released updates for the iOS and Android versions of Google Drive, and for iOS users of Google Drive, you can now edit Google documents in the same vein as that of the Android app, right from the comfort of your iPhone or iPad. It does not matter if you want to create a new document, edit a current one or simply format the text and throw in a few bold phrases here and there. Similar to working from your computer, you are able to view other people’s edits instantly the moment they are made. .

Other improvements made to the iOS Drive app include the ability to view Google presentations on your iPhone or iPad, ranging from speaker notes to full-screen mode as well as the ability to swipe between slides. Apart from that, you are able to create new folders, move files into folders and upload photos, videos and other items from your device straight to the Drive app.

Android users will now be able to add comments, reply to current comments and view tables in your Google documents. Not only that, you are able to view presentations and organize your stuff as mentioned earlier for iPhone users.

Future updates to Google Drive include native editing and real-time collaboration for Google spreadsheets, are you stoked yet?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google Drive for iOS and PC offline editing introduced, Google Drive offline coming in five weeks, says Google exec,

VESA Embedded Display Port 1.4, improves battery life for all types of devices

The Video Electronics Standards Association(VESA) has updated the specifications of its embedded Display Port to 1.4 with changes aimed at saving power usage for all types of devices. In a previous update, VESA had introduced a feature called Panel Self Refresh (or PSR) that freed the computer graphic sub-system from having to constantly send image information for static images. Better yet, the graphics processor could in theory be turned OFF. That meant that static images do not consume power on the computer side, but only on the display side. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: VESA updates Embedded DisplayPort Standard Version 1.1a, WiGig Alliance and VESA come together,

$65 brain interface glasses use eyes to control computers

We have heard of a tongue-controlled wheelchair that offers a greater degree of freedom and autonomy to the disabled, but how about a pair of brain interface glasses that cost all of just $65 to produce, albeit this pair of glasses can be used to control computers? Yes sir, this unique pair of eyewear allows the wearer to operate a computer using one’s eyes, moving the cursor around just as though there was a conventional mouse in place.

These glasses did not come from some high-tech lab, but rather, were created from off-the-shelf materials by PhD student William Abbott and his lecturer Dr Aldo Faisal. Dr Faisal, a lecturer in Neurotechnology at Imperial College said, “This system consists of basically two things. One is a device, a piece of hardware which is basically an eye tracking system that William is wearing here on his head. This basically consists of two sets of very fast cameras that record the movements of the eyes and enable us to work out where on the screen William is looking. And the other part of the script is smart software that basically decodes the intentions that William has about interacting with the computer and translates them into commands that enable them to control the computer just by using his eyes.”

Involutary blinking will be ignored by the computer since it has been calibrated as such, so all controls are done using voluntarily control, with the wink being the chief protagonist here.
Requiring just one watt of power and being able to transmit data wirelessly, this could open up a whole new frontier for the bedridden and disabled.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Prism Glasses make you look more dorky than you already are, Ultrasonic goggles help visually impaired get around in a safer manner,

FBI launches $1 billion identification program

You know, for the longest time, I was starting to wonder whether fingerprinting suspects would be here to stay for good in the crime fighting world, and thankfully, my train of thought is broken with word that the FBI will be launching a $1 billion project which will allow criminal searches as well as accurate identifications to be performed thanks to updated technologies – where a wide range of biometrics will play its role, too. There is one piece of bad news to the entire situation though, and privacy advocates are the ones championing it – at what price does vigilance on civilians stop?

After all, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and humans in a computer system are the weak link. Just like the Great Wall of China that saw its border guards bribed to send the barbarian horde in, how can such a system remain free from abuse? FBI will forge ahead though, calling the $1 billion project the Next Generation Identification (NGI) program. It will encompass facial recognition, iris scans, DNA analysis and voice identification, aided by latent and rolled fingerprints and palm prints. Looks like eternal vigilance being the price to pay for freedom has never rung truer. What do you think of this project?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: FBI denies Apple Device ID leak, FBI to use of Unreal Engine 3 to recreate crime scenes,

HP ENVY 20 and ENVY 23 All-In-One Computers

In addition to its leading Spectre One, HP is refreshing its all-in-one (AIO) computers for Windows 8 with the HP Envy 20 ($799), Envy 23 ($999) and Pavilion 20 desktop machines. Both computers come with a touch screen (10-point multi-touch), and are completely Windows 8 ready (reminder: Windows 8 comes out on Oct 26).

HP did not go into the technical details as it may still tweak the final configurations, but you can expect the 3rd generation of Intel core processors, up to 3TB of storage and SSD options for those who want the fastest storage system. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: HP Spectre ONE All-In-One PC is beautiful, HP TouchSmart 610 with 2nd generation Intel Core processors available now,