December 23, 2011

Trion Worlds’ Rift Account Database Compromised

New submitter Etrahkad writes “Trion Worlds, publisher of MMORPG Rift, has announced that somebody broke into one of their databases and gained access to user information. First Sony and now Rift… my identity has probably been stolen several times over, now. From the e-mail: ‘We recently discovered that unauthorized intruders gained access to a Trion Worlds account database. The database in question contained information including user names, encrypted passwords, dates of birth, email addresses, billing addresses, and the first and last four digits and expiration dates of customer credit cards. … there is no evidence, and we have no reason to believe, that full credit card information was accessed or compromised in any way.” Are game companies not concerned with preventing these attacks?”

MediaPortal 1.2.2 RELEASED!

1.2.2 is the first MediaPortal release which was developed using GIT. The learning curve is very steep, but the benefits are great!

We are very happy to present you this new release which focus is to increase the stability of MediaPortal 1.2.

Partial Changelog:

3772 Weather plugin unable to get data
Sadly the Weather Channel disabled the free access to their API. This means that MediaPortal (among many other free applications) is no longer able to get data. Unfortunately there is no quick fix for this problem which we could add into an 1.2.x hotfix. A complete rework of the weather plugin is planned for 1.3.0.
In the meantime, there are other weather plugins available in our Repository. World Weather and BBC Weather seem to be good choices.
3746 DaemonTools won’t unmount an iso file and crash MediaPortal
3760 Playback of Multi File Cue Sheets starts at wrong position
3740 #play.next.duration in wrong format
3775 WindowPluginBase incorrectly sets GuiProperties when it is not the ActiveWindow
3752 Cyberlink PDVD (DXVA/HAM/SW) codec version 10/11 are not available in codec configuration
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MediaPortal 1.2.2 RELEASED!

FCC approves AT&T's $1.9b purchase of Qualcomm's 700MHz spectrum (update)

Christmas has come early to the execs at AT&T, who are likely celebrating the FCC’s 3-1 approval to purchase Qualcomm’s block of the 700MHz spectrum for $1.9 billion. The news comes as a bittersweet victory for Ma Bell, whose efforts to acquire T-Mobile turned sour earlier this year. Qualcomm’s block of the airwaves, once used to facilitate FLO TV, now sits unused. Once the acquisition is complete, AT&T will use the new share of spectrum to increase download capacity for its burgeoning LTE network.

For the FCC’s part, it has approved the deal with only a few stipulations: AT&T will be required to satisfy interference requirements and must offer data roaming to its competitors on the spectrum. That’s not to suggest everyone’s pleased, however. Rural cellular providers asked that, as part of the deal, AT&T must ensure that its LTE network is interoperable with the bands used by smaller networks. Sadly, the FCC has denied this request, ostensibly limiting the little guy from receiving Ma Bell’s hand-me-downs.

Update: AT&T has gone ahead and released a wee bit of celebratory PR, which we’re including after the break. Most importantly, it expects to wrap up the finer details in the next few days.

Continue reading FCC approves AT&T’s $1.9b purchase of Qualcomm’s 700MHz spectrum (update)

FCC approves AT&T’s $1.9b purchase of Qualcomm’s 700MHz spectrum (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FCC approves AT&T's $1.9b purchase of Qualcomm's 700MHz spectrum (update)

Solar Cells Made From a Spreadable Nanoparticle Paste

An anonymous reader writes “Researchers at Notre Dame have created a nanoparticle paste, which acts as the main ingredient in solar cells that are very easy to construct. In a short video clip, they can be seen assembling a functional solar cell with little more than a heat gun, tape, and some binder clips. The paste is made from a mix of t-butanol, water, and a mix of cadmium selenide with cadmium sulfide nanoparticles. So far, the experimental devices are not nearly as efficient as standard solar cells, but they were just developed. If the materials were slightly less toxic, it might even be a project that kids could do at home.”

A Gallon of Gas Can Power an iPhone for 20 Years [Factoid]

Click here to read A Gallon of Gas Can Power an iPhone for 20 Years

It’s true. According to Bill Colton, a VP at ExxonMobil, a single gallon of gas has enough energy to charge an iPhone once a day for 20 years. Of course, that’s never going to happen but it’s a point ExxonMobil uses to stress the fact that there is a lot of energy in gasoline. More »

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A Gallon of Gas Can Power an iPhone for 20 Years [Factoid]