The newest version of Firefox is now available for the PC and Mac. Its newest features include a Forward button that remains hidden until you actually need it, support for full-screen APIs, and better extensions management. [Mozilla via the Verge] More »
See more here:
Firefox 10 Is Now Live [Firefox]
Should non-millionaires be able to invest small amounts, like up to $100 or $1000, in small, local businesses or other ventures that they believe in, without the ventures having to spend tens of thousands (or more) on state or federal securities compliance? I believe so, provided that the offerings can be seen and discussed openly, and have other requirements and limitations to prevent abuse.
I think this legalization of crowdfunded securities would create meaningful jobs and enable grassroots innovation on an enormous scale. Maybe I’m overestimating, but I see it as a regulatory change comparable in importance to the revision of NSF’s Acceptable Use Policy, which first allowed commercial traffic on the Internet. That early 1990’s policy democratized the flow of information the way a well-implemented crowdfunding exemption would democratize the allocation of human effort.
Largely under the radar, crowdfunding exemption proposals have progressed to a point now where the first bill, H.R.2930, overwhelmingly passed the House, with White House support, and is now under review by the Senate Banking Committee, along with two competing bills, S.1719 and S.1970. Other countries are looking to the U.S. as an example on this issue.
But the crowdfunding exemption idea needs to be processed by the public far more than it has been, and the Senate is leery of passing it until this happens. The issue has not yet been widely reported, perhaps because the Occupy movement has owned the “challenging Wall Street” narrative, or because reporters have mentally binned it as “arcane regulatory detail” rather than “fundamental systemic change.”
I’m hoping this relative silence will change soon, because three efforts to raise the issue’s profile are launching within the next week. Today, the Crowd Investing | Wefunder petition launched, supporting S.1719, with the great idea of generating an actual dollar figure on what a CF exemption can pump into the economy. Please sign it now, before it scrolls out of your consciousness! Within a couple of hours this morning, this petition quickly passed 1 million in pledges, and if it gets enough signatures, the people behind it have the opportunity to present it to Senate Majority Chair Mary Landrieu on Wednesday. So this is not just another go-nowhere internet petition.
Meanwhile, Woodie Neiss and the Startup Exemption folks will soon launch a new campaign to promote H.R.2930, and some people I’ve been working with at the American Sustainable Business Council and elsewhere will launch a crowdfunding campaign through Loudsauce to take out a full-page back cover ad in Politico (which is distributed in DC in print form and read by congresscritters) promoting an exemption in a way that’s agnostic regarding the 3 competing bills (but not agnostic about their specific provisions). The ad was written (PDF with text, not designed yet) by Michael Shuman, author of The Small-Mart Revolution and Going Local, and will be designed by Jake Levitas, who created posters and other graphics for Occupy Wall Street.
Also, as far as I’m concerned, this effort began on Boing Boing, with my sanity-check post floating the idea of crowdfunding an effort to change crowdfunding law, and the resulting public petition (PDF) to the SEC, by the Sustainable Economies Law Center in Oakland. I’ve been covering progress on my Change Crowdfunding Law blog.
Originally posted here:
Crowdfunding exemption – WeFunder and other Senate nudging
Apple released two AirPort-related software updates Monday afternoon. AirPort Utility 6.0 is a new, Lion-only version of the software to set up and configure Apple’s base stations. An updated AirPort firmware adds compatibility with iCloud-based accounts for connecting to home computers using Back to My Mac.
AirPort Utility 6.0 adopts the graphical interface used in the iOS version of AirPort Utility. Your AirPort devices are displayed in a graphical hierarchy, with a dot signaling if the device is working (green) or not (yellow or red). A badge indicates if there are warning or error messages. Clicking a device in the setup brings up a pop-over tab with information about the device, as well as buttons to edit the settings. When applicable, It will also allow you to install firmware updates or configure a new device.
The AirPort Extreme at the heart of our home network indicated that it needed a firmware update. That firmware, AirPort Base Station and Time Capsule Firmware Update 7.6.1, is available now. The update applies to all 802.11n capable Airport Extreme, AirPort Express, or Time Capsule base stations. In addition to fixing an unnamed “issue with wireless performance,” the update also allows users to remotely access Time Capsule or AirPort Disk volumes using an iCloud account and the Back to My Mac feature. According to Ars contributor Glenn Fleishman, Back to My Mac access would no longer work once MobileMe accounts were switched to iCloud.
AirPort Utility 6.0 is available via software update for Lion users running 10.7.2. Your AirPort base station’s firmware can still be updated with AirPort Utility 5.5.3 or later running on Snow Leopard or Lion, or AirPort Utility on iOS.
Read the comments on this post
See original article:
Apple gives AirPort Utility an iOS makeover, supports iCloud
You can forget about hanging it from your belt, because this miniature sun—masquerading as a flashlight—is heavy enough to need two hands to operate. And with 15,000 lumens, the XM18 is bright enough to illuminate a small planet. More »
Continue Reading:
This 15,000 Lumens LED Light Cannon Will Turn Night to Day [Video]
Symantec last week identified 13 new malicious applications on the Android Market, saying the combined download figures—reportedly up to 5 million—make it “the highest distribution of any malware identified so far this year.” The applications use Android.Counterclank, which Symantec says is “a bot-like threat that can receive commands to carry out certain actions, as well as steal information from the device.”
We found six of the apps from three publishers still appearing on the Android market Monday morning. Symantec calls Android.Counterclank a Trojan, and Google’s Android Market policies specifically ban Trojans and other types of malware. On the other hand, Symantec classifies Android.Counterclank as having “very low” risk, and the app publishers barely seem interested in hiding the programs’ capabilities.
One such app (link is probably NSFW) identified by Symantec as a Trojan contains “write browser’s history and bookmarks” under its list of permissions. This is coupled with a generic warning from Google that “Malicious applications can use this to erase or modify your Browser’s data.” Another app on Symantec’s list is “Deal or BE Millionaire,” and one user review from more than two weeks ago warns, “beware malware… every time you run this game, a ‘search’ icon gets added randomly to one of your screens. I keep deleting the icon, but it always reappears. If you tap the icon you get a page that looks suspiciously like the Google search page.” Symantec says the presence of the search icon on the home screen is one sign of Android.Counterclank infection.
Symantec says the apps can “copy bookmarks on the device, copy opt out details, copy push notifications, copy shortcuts, identify the last executed command, modify the browser’s home page, steal build information,” and retrieve device data such as the Android ID, MAC address and SIM serial number. We’ve asked Google if the company plans to remove all of these apps from the Market and will provide an update as we get new information.
UPDATE: As one commenter points out, Lookout Mobile Security has a different take on the matter, that Android.Counterclank is not malware but “an aggressive form of an ad network.” While these apps contain software that is annoying and that average users do not want, Lookout notes that it isn’t designed to commit identity theft or financial fraud. We’ve also learned that several of the apps were pulled from the Android market because they violated Android Market policies unrelated to malware, such as trademark violations or artificially increasing ratings.
Read the comments on this post
Excerpt from:
Android Trojans downloaded by millions, still on Android Market
The latest update to our favorite password-storing and syncing tool LastPass allows you to import and export your Wi-Fi passwords and store them as a secure note in the software. Normally your Wi-Fi passwords are only stored on your computer, but if you want to sync them between machines or be able to look them up from any internet-connected device you’ll now be able to do that. LastPass won’t pull your Wi-Fi passwords automatically and requires you to import them for storage. You can learn how this works from this LastPass help desk article. LastPass can, of course, also export your Wi-Fi passwords as well. More »
See the original article here:
LastPass Update Imports and Exports Your Wi-Fi Passwords [Lastpass]
After the Internet’s decisive victory over the Stop Online Piracy Act earlier this month, online activists have been looking for their next target, and a growing number of them have chosen the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which was signed by the EU last week. Indeed, the renewed focus on ACTA even led a group of Polish politicians to hold paper Guy Fawkes masks—the symbol of Anonymous—over their faces in protest at the way ACTA has been pushed through. In the US, over 35,000 people have signed a petition urging the White House to “end ACTA,” despite the fact that it has already been signed by the US.
At Ars Technica, we’re as committed as anyone to defending free speech, fair use, and the open Internet against draconian new copyright laws. But it’s important for the debate to be informed by accurate information. Unfortunately, many of the claims about ACTA that are circulating among the treaty’s opponents are highly misleading or outright inaccurate. We’ve been covering ACTA for over four years, and hopefully we can shed some light on a tricky subject.
Read the comments on this post
Read More:
As Anonymous protests, Internet drowns in inaccurate anti-ACTA arguments
[Thanks, Malek]
Continue reading Intel quietly outs seven new Sandy Bridge CPUs to check we’re paying attention
Intel quietly outs seven new Sandy Bridge CPUs to check we’re paying attention originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 
VR Zone | 
Anandtech | Email this | Comments
Read More:
Intel quietly outs seven new Sandy Bridge CPUs to check we’re paying attention
Creating a hackintosh has become incredible simple, and we’ve kept you up-to-date on the latest process, but as things get easier you can lose sight of how everything works under the hood. Knowing the special files that make your hackintosh run and understanding what they do can be very useful when you need to troubleshoot. This video, from tonymacx86 forums moderator StingRay, explains everything from DSDTs to kexts to plist files in under 14 minutes. If you want to get to know your hackintosh a little better, or simply approach the hackintoshing process with a bit more knowledge, this is a great way to introduce yourself to the basics of how the software side of the process works. More »
Original post:
Learn About All the Special Files That Help Your Hackintosh Run [Video]
And here you thought Microsoft bringing Windows 8 to ARM was big news. Turns out, a member of XDA-Developers forum has managed to make an APK that puts a variety of Redmond’s x86 operating systems on the HTC EVO 3D and its 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon silicon — Windows 95, 98, XP and even your favorite flavor of Linux are all available for the three dee-equipped handset. All you need to do is install the Bochs Pentium emulator APK and the OS disk image of your choice, modify a couple files, and you’ll be doing yesteryear’s desktop computing on a handheld in no time. Feeling nostalgic? Detailed instructions how to do it yourself and the necessary files can be found at the source link below, but all we want to know is: does it do the blue screen of death or the force close dance when things go awry?
APK puts Windows 95, 98 and XP, plus Linux on the EVO 3D originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink XDA-developers, Ubergizmo | XDA-developers forum | Email this | Comments
Read the article:
APK puts Windows 95, 98 and XP, plus Linux on the EVO 3D