MediaPortal 1.3.0 has entered it’s final phase of development.
Next week on Friday the 18th, we will have all changes that are part of 1.3.0 Alpha merged with the master and build a team internal test-version.

If all goes well, then you will be able to download 1.3.0 Alpha one week later on Friday the 25th!

1.3.0 Alpha brings you some very exciting new features, enhancements and bugfixes. But there is still one more week time to add more!

However, for that to happen we need the help of our great community. With the Area 51 section in our forums we offer you the exclusive chance to test changes long before they are part of an MediaPortal Alpha version.
Everyone in the community has the power to speed up the development process of those changes by testing them and provide feedback.

So with one week development time left, the community can give 1.3.0 Alpha a boost by heading over to the Area 51 section and help us testing the WIP projects.

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Taken from:
1.3.0 Alpha – final phase of development

Just a day after it announced its well-received updates to its search result pages, here is some more good news for Bing: according to the latest data from Experian Hitwise, Bing-powered searches — that is searches on Bing.com and search.yahoo.com — now account for 30.01% of all U.S. searches. By itself, Bing grew 16% year-over-year and 5% month-over-month and now accounted for 14.32% of all U.S. searches in April 2012. Yahoo grew somewhat slower, but still at a respectable 5% month-over-month and 7% year-over-year.

Things didn’t quite look so rosy for Google, though. Searches on Google.com, according to Hitwise, declined 3% in April 2011 compared to the previous month and were down 5% year-over-year. Google, of course, still remains far ahead of its competition. In April, almost 64.5% of all U.S. searches were powered by Google.

The 65 smaller search engines Hitwise also tracks only accounted for 6.51% of U.S. searches, by the way.

While Bing is still losing money – and while there have been some rumors about Microsoft trying to sell its search engine to Facebook – there can be little doubt that Microsoft’s persistence is slowly paying off and eating into Google’s still sizable lead. Leaving out the searches it powers on Yahoo, Bing itself, of course, still remains a niche player at under 15%, but crossing the 30% barrier is quite an achievement for Bing.

Original post:
Hitwise: Bing Now Powers Over 30% Of U.S. Searches

In 1907, archaeologist Sir Marc
Aurel Stein discovered the Diamond
Sutra, a 16-foot scroll containing the Chinese translation of the
Sanskrit Buddhist text, from the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas in Dunhuang,
China (the discovery in itself is fascinating,
but that’s a different story).

The Diamond Sutra has the colophon at the inner end that reads:

Reverently made for universal free distribution by Wang Jie on
behalf of his two parents on the 15th of the 4th moon of the 9th year
of Xiantong.

That date translates to May 11, 868, which makes the Diamond Sutra not
only the world’s oldest surviving copy of dated printed book, but also
the oldest copyright-free /public domain work as well!

Links: High
resolution photos of the scroll at the British Library | This
Day in Tech

Read More:
The Diamond Sutra: The World’s Oldest Copyleft Book

Lurking in the shadows, malicious code on this Amnesty International site installed malware on unpatched computers.

Websense

Shattering the myth that only disreputable sites push malware, Amnesty International’s UK website was recently compromised and used to install a notorious backdoor trojan that allows hackers to spy on political activists and government employees, security researchers said.

People visiting Amnesty.org.uk on Wednesday and Thursday were exposed to malicious code that exploited a now-patched vulnerability in Oracle’s Java software framework, according to a blog post published Friday by Websense. End users who hadn’t yet applied the patch were infected with Gh0stRat, a family of malware that siphons sensitive data from victims’ machines and can also operate Web cams and microphones in real time. The trojan came to light in 2009 when researchers reported that it infiltrated government and private offices in 103 countries. That included computers belonging to the Dalai Lama.

The Java vulnerability targeted on the Amnesty International site has been used in the past to install malware on computers running both Microsoft Windows and Apple’s OS X. Recently, similar espionage attacks have migrated to OS X, and the Flashback malware attack believed to have infected more than 500,000 Macs targeted the same bug. Based on the Websense post, however, it appears this week’s attacks infected only Windows users.

Read more on Ars Technica…

Read the article:
Amnesty International malware attack: when bad things happen on good sites

In an interview published by China Daily today, Terry Gou, chairman of Foxconn, confirms the massive manufacturing company is making preparations for an Apple television set called iTV. Gou also states that neither development nor manufacturing has begun. Apparently, per China Daily at least, the television set will have an aluminum construction, Siri voice controls and FaceTime video calling.

This is the most solid report to date of the long-fabled Apple HDTV. The product has been rumored for the last several years. So far both Steve Jobs and now Tim Cook have called the Apple TV, the company’s set-top box, a hobby. But it seems the company is almost ready to turn its avocation into an occupation.

Gou’s claims published in today’s China Daily report line up very nicely with previous rumors including Cult Of Mac’s claims from last week. The iTV, or as I have long called it, the Apple HDTV, seems like it would be an iMac designed for the living room. An Apple HDTV will likely use a very similar branding and design plan as the iMac with near-edgeless glass and aluminum frame. It would also hopefully have a similar I/O port design, allowing consumers the luxury of having all the ports located in one location. China Daily also indicates that Foxconn is teaming up with Sharp to produce this set, which makes sense given Sharp’s dominance in LCD manufacturing.

But as China Daily indicates, production nor development has started on this product yet, seemingly indicating that it won’t hit the market in 2012. It’s been also rumored that Apple is trying to line up more content partners to bolster iTunes’s library or even perhaps cobble together a legitimate alternative to cable TV. Whenever it hits, the iTV, Apple HDTV, or whatever it will be called will likely be the biggest TV news (albeit perhaps not the most popular selling unit) since the Beatles appeared on Carson.

Read More:
Foxconn Chief Confirms The Apple iTV

Per usual, the Dev-Team whiz-kids have been hard at work trying to make your jailbroken iOS life a tad bit easier. This time around, MuscleNerd & Co. have outed their latest revision of RedSn0w (0.9.11b1), allowing folks using the new iPad, iPad 2 and iPhone 4S to downgrade to lower firmwares for jailbreaking purposes — a feature others have been enjoying for some time now. As expected, you’d still need those saved SHSH blobs from the previous firmware in order to do so, and if your device depends on an unofficial unlock, it’s recommended (with a few exceptions) to steer clear since this method will upgrade your baseband. Speaking of, the Dev-Team also notes you should stick with an earlier version of Redsn0w unless you must have the new tidbits. Those of you eager to give it a try can head over to the Dev-Tem Blog to grab yourself a copy.

Redsn0w 0.9.11b1 now allows post-iPad 2 devices to downgrade to an older firmware originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 May 2012 10:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Jailbreak Untethered | Dev-Team Blog | Email this | Comments

See original article:
Redsn0w 0.9.11b1 now allows post-iPad 2 devices to downgrade to an older firmware

The $90 WiFi Pineapple is now in its fourth iteration. The gadget does man-in-the-middle attacks on WiFi networks, allowing its owner to snoop on all the traffic, keylog password entries, and generally compromise the shit out of anyone using WiFi in the area. It’s a damned good reason to use a VPN, like The Pirate Bay’s IPREDator. Also: it has epic rickrolling potential.

The WiFi Pineapple Mark IV improves tremendously on previous models in both hardware capabilities and ease of use. Where the Mark III brought a completely redesigned web management interface the Mark IV continues with plug & play 3G / 4G connectivity, automatic presistent reverse SSH tunnels and a simplistic status page to name a few. The new control center shows at a glance connected clients hostnames, IP addresses, Karma’d SSID as well as signal strength, idle time and network throughput.

Hardware wise the Mark IV is built on a powerful Atheros AR9331 SoC at 400 MHz–over double that of the previous generation–and sports two Ethernet ports, 802.11 b/g and N connectivity, as well as most notably a USB 2.0 port, allowing for expansions like mass storage and 3G / 4G modems. *modem sold separately.

Also it’s black, which adds at least 50 hacker points.

WiFi Pineapple Mark IV

(via JWZ)

Link:
WiFi Pineapple: an appliance to do WiFi snooping, password sniffing, and site-spoofing

A color Kindle might be on the way. Industry watchdog publication, Digitimes, says Amazon will launch one in the second half of this year. The report goes on to state that the new models will forgo the traditional infrared touchpanels used in the current model for multitouch capacitive panels. Digitimes expects Amazon to adapt E Ink’s upcoming color EPD panels in their ereaders so don’t expect LCD displays.

This move, if true, would put the Kindle in a strange spot between a full-scale tablet and a tradition b/w ereader. Amazon has so far been very successful in marketing the Kindle’s grayscale screen against full color tablets like the iPad. The Kindle Fire showed that there is a demand for color ereaders as well, though. A color eink display might be the start of a larger content push from Amazon.

Magazines are a hard sell on grayscale ereaders right now. The publications lose all the flash they work so hard to curate. Amazon knows this. However, at $200, the Kindle Fire is still out of reach for a lot of consumers and Amazon’s primary goal with its Kindle line is selling content, not hardware. A color eink Kindle would likely allow Amazon to make a big push into digital zines and perhaps even textbooks.

Color eink screens have been floating around industry tradeshows for several years now. But they have so far been unable to make it to the market. If this report pans out, which seems likely, Amazon might release the first color eink ereader — if not, the company always has the glowing Kindle that we know is on tap.

Excerpt from:
Amazon To Launch Color Ebook Reader Later This Year, Says Report

Read the article:
Here’s What The Facebook App Center Is Really About

Only 12% of your friends see your average status update, but Facebook is testing an option called “Highlight” that lets you pay a few dollars to have one of your posts appear to more friends. Highlight lets the average user, not Pages or businesses, select an “important post” and “make sure friends see this”, but not color it yellow as Stuff wrote when it first spotted the feature. A tiny percentage of the user base is now seeing tests of a paid version of Highlight, but there’s also a free one designed to check if users are at all interested in the option.

Highlight could show Facebook’s willingness to try more aggressive ways of making money, which should delight potential investors. But Facebook is playing with fire here. The service has always been free for users, and a pay-for-popularity feature could be a huge turn off, especially to its younger and less financially equipped users who couldn’t afford such narcissism.

The official statement from Facebook on this is:

“We’re constantly testing new features across the site. This particular test is simply to gauge people’s interest in this method of sharing with their friends.”

I doubt Facebook is going to see positive reactions to Highlight, but if it did it could turn into an unpredicted revenue stream. Just the fact that Facebook would test this could bolster confidence for potential IPO investors. They want to know the company is interested in striking a more advertiser-friendly balance between a pure user experience and the goals of advertisers. That’s especially important now, as yesterday Facebook had to warn investors that its ad business is in jeopardy as more users access via mobile where it doesn’t show nearly as many ads.

But the problem is the potential for Highlighted updates to reduce the general relevance of the news feed. Facebook’s news feed sorting algorithm is designed to show you posts by your closest friends or that have received a lot of Likes and comments. Highlight distorts this, and will encourage news feed spamming club promoters, musicians, small businesses, or anyone else with something to gain from more clicks.

How Highlight Works

If you’re in the test group and post a status update, you’ll see the “Highlight” option next to the Like and comment buttons below it. If clicked you’re shown the prompt above. Depending on what version of the test you’re seeing you’ll either get a free Highlight, or have to pay a dollar or two for the extra news feed prevalence. Facebook’s testing different price points, but users always pay with a credit card or PayPal, never with its virtual currency Credits.

Highlighted posts may appear higher in the news feed, stay visible for longer, and appear to more friends and subscribers. However, they’re not colored differently to make them stand out. And to be clear, this is not like Twitter’s Promoted Tweets which is designed for businesses. Facebook Highlight is for the end-user.

Luckily Facebook doesn’t seem to be betting the farm on Highlight, since the user who leaked the test was in New Zealand — a more isolated but English-speaking location where Facebook seems test features it doesn’t want too many people to know about. That’s smart because it could erode the site’s sense of community. On Facebook, what’s supposed to matter is how interesting your posts are, not how deep your wallet is.

–

Other Big Facebook News:

Facebook Launches File Sharing

Find Great Facebook Apps In The New App Center

Facebook’s Messenger Mobile App Now Shows If Someone’s Read Your Message

See the article here:
Pay To “Highlight” Your Facebook Status Updates To More Friends – A Reckless New Ads Test