Hasta La Gadget!

A new report reveals how a hacker covertly took over a server at the BBC and tried selling access to it on Christmas. It isn’t known if the hacker was able to find any buyers who might have paid to gain access to BBC’s server, but the British public broadcaster’s security team was able to shut the hacker out and believes that it has secured the server, this according to a “person familiar with the cleanup effort” who spoke to Reuters. A spokesman for the broadcaster has denied to discuss the issue, saying that they don’t comment on security issues.

A cybersecurity firm based in Milwaukee, which keeps an eye on underground forums, was the first to identify the hack. They discovered that a hacker from Russia, going by the “HASH” and “Revolver” pseudonyms, tried selling access to the server on December 25th. The firm, Hold Security LLC, says that it hasn’t found any evidence which suggests that the hacker was able to find a buyer. While the hacker was only selling access to an obscure BBC ftp server, it may have served as a platform from which more damage could have been done, since its essentially a foot in the proverbial door. The hacker’s true identity is not known, so it can’t be said for sure if the person will ever get in trouble for their actions.

Hacker Tried Selling Access To BBC Server On Christmas Day original content from Ubergizmo.

One of the features that Google has installed on its Android operating system is the ability to automatically backup your photos taken on your phone to Google+, the company’s social networking website. In a way it is similar to Apple’s iCloud service although admittedly Google seems to be putting much more effort into getting users to use its Google+ services as we have seen in the past with YouTube, the removal of the Gallery app, and how would we forget the hilarious “Blackmail” video. In any case for those who feel that Apple’s iCloud pricing scheme is a tad expensive, or at least more than they’d like to pay for backing up photos, Google has launched a new Google+ auto-backup utility for Mac computers with the latest update to their Picasa software.

Interestingly enough this feature has nothing to do with Picasa whatsoever, although it does come exclusively with the app, which means that even if you don’t use Picasa but want the feature, you’ll have to download it anyway. The auto-backup utility will allow users to automatically save photos up to 2048px to their Google+ account, unlimited we might add, or alternatively one could always upload the full resolution to their Google Drive which could eat up whatever space they have available. For those who don’t necessarily need their photos at full resolution, we reckon 2048px is a pretty decent size, not to mention it is unlimited if you were to back it up to Google+ so there’s some money saved right there.

Google Launches Google+ Auto Backup Tool For Mac In Picasa Update original content from Ubergizmo.

Data caps have increased over the years, namely due to more people adopting smartphones, as well as apps these days connecting us more than ever, thus caps need to be increased, naturally. However for the less tech savvy, they might not know which app is consuming the most data and could find from time to time that their data is being eaten away faster than they would like, which sometimes could lead to bill shocks. Well the good news is that the CTIA has decided to do something about it by launching a website called Know My App.

The website basically shows how much data some apps can consume, and compares it against some of the data plans provided by the carriers in the US. They also teach consumers to switch to WiFi services whenever available, and how to adjust app settings to prevent it from consuming more data than it should. Like we said this information is probably more suited to the less tech savvy, but for those still grandfathering unlimited data plans or for those who know their way around a smartphone, well we suppose this information is probably known, but some of it might be useful anyway. For those who know someone who might have gotten a smartphone for the first time, like an elderly relative, Know My App could be a good place to start.

CTIA Launches Know My App Website That Details Potentially Data Hungry Apps original content from Ubergizmo.

Search is one of Google’s biggest products, its what transformed the company into the juggernaut it is today. It goes without saying that a lot of time and resources at Mountain View are dedicated to improving Google Search. You can find all sorts of shortcuts and tips on how to cheat your way to the top of the search rankings, which is the best position to be in if you want to drive substantial traffic, but once Google knows, and it always knows, the punishment is severe. Major lyrics website Rap Genius has been heavily penalized in Search ranking due to its shady SEO (search engine optimization) tactics.

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Google Severely Punishes Major Lyrics Website For Shady SEO Tactics original content from Ubergizmo.

When you perform a search, say on Google, chances are what you are looking for is usually in the first page or two, and anything beyond that is simply not worth perusing. However what if sometimes what you are looking for are on pages that aren’t popular, simply because its owner does not know about SEO? Well that’s where experimental search engine, Million Short, comes in. The website, instead of displaying the most popular websites on its first page, will instead list smaller websites as it removes results from popular websites on the internet.

One of examples is above where the search for Facebook does not actually link you to Facebook, but rather websites that talk about Facebook or mention it. We’re not sure what the point of this is, perhaps as an alternative for those who really can’t find what they are looking for on popular search engines like Google or Yahoo, and want to give smaller websites a chance. Perhaps it can also be used by websites to see how popular they are. In any case if you’d like to take it for a spin, hit up the Million Short website for the details and let us know how the search results are treating you!

Million Short Search Engine Removes Popular Websites From Results original content from Ubergizmo.