Sunday, December 30, 2012

Facebook’s new easier-to-manage ‘Privacy Shortcuts’ rolling out globally


Managing Facebook (FB) privacy settings can be a daunting nightmare. Facebook’s new “Privacy Shortcuts” is designed to make sharing items as transparent as possible with always-visible privacy button on the top toolbar. The update also brings “an easier-to-use Activity Log, and a new Request and Removal tool for managing multiple photos you’re tagged in.” The new Facebook privacy controls are rolling out globally starting on Friday and will arrive for all users by the end of the year. For the full details on all of the new changes, be sure to visit Facebook’s Newsroom here.

-By Raymond Wong | BGR News

Want to contact a stranger on Facebook? Pay $1

NEW DELHI: Several months after Facebook started testing promoted status messages, the social networking website on Friday said it will start "a small experiment" around paid messages.

In a statement posted on Facebook, the website said that it is making several changes to efficiently deliver messages that Facebook users get. As part of the new measures, it is rolling out an experimental feature that will allow a Facebook user to send a priority message to other user even if he is not a 'friend' at a nominal charge of $1. The current rate for the message is not final and Facebook may change it in future.

The service will be initially available only in the US and number of messages that can be send to a user will be capped at one per week.

"We've heard that messages people care about may not always be delivered or may go unseen in the Other folder," the website noted in the statement.

It then explained that currently there are two kind of mail boxes Facebook users have. The Inbox is where they get messages from their friends while the Other is where the messages from strangers go.

"Facebook Messages is designed to get the most relevant messages into your Inbox and put less relevant messages into your Other folder. We rely on signals about the message to achieve this goal," the website noted in its statement. "Today we're starting a small experiment to test the usefulness of economic signals to determine relevance. This test will give a small number of people the option to pay to have a message routed to the Inbox rather than the Other folder of a recipient that they are not connected with."

The feature can also be used by the Android users of Facebook Messenger. To use Facebook Messenger on Android, users don't have to be a member of the social networking website.

Earlier Facebook had started an experimental feature that allowed people to promote their status message so that it reaches all their friends. Currently the feature is available to select users in several countries and costs $7 per status message.

-Javed Anwer, TNN

Wireless phone charging in cars planned by Toyota

Charging your smartphone while driving could soon be a simple process needing no cables or adaptors, but using a special wireless mat.

Toyota plans to introduce the system for mobile devices in 2013 in its new Avalon sedan, using a charging standard known as Qi (pronounced "chee").

Chrysler wants to offer a similar option in its Dodge Dart model.

One analyst told the BBC the feature was likely to become mainstream in the months to come.

The wireless charging option will be a part of Toyota's $1,950 (£1,200) "technology package", said to be available from next spring.

To charge a device, a driver will simply have to place it on the mat, though the handset has to have a Qi protocol integrated in it.

Currently, Qi wireless charging is supported by 34 mobile phone models, including the LG Google Nexus 4, Nokia Lumia 920 and HTC Windows Phone 8X.

There are also add-on systems for other smartphones.

"Pioneering the ability to charge with no wires or connectors by simply putting devices in the car console is an intuitive innovation which reflects Toyota's continuing commitment to improve the consumer experience," said Randy Stephens, chief engineer of Toyota Avalon, in a statement.

Magnetic induction

Qi works via magnetic induction that involves transmitting energy over a magnetic field.

Inductive charging plates have been around for several years, and have been integrated in some mobile phones, such as the Palm Pre.

But in 2008, the Wireless Power Consortium, which has more than 100 members, including Samsung, Nokia, HTC, Motorola Mobility and Sony, signed an agreement for an open standard for wireless power, called Qi.

This means that any Qi-enabled handset is compatible with any Qi charger, regardless of the brand.

General Motors announced in 2011 plans to introduce a pad using magnetic induction in its Chevrolet Volt, but so far it has not happened.

An Israeli firm, Powermat Technologies, is currently placing charging pads for mobile phones in numerous public venues around the US, including Starbucks.

There are companies investigating wireless charging via induction for electric cars, which works by having a charging pad on the floor of your garage.

The technology is finally becoming mainstream, according to Shaun Collins, an analyst at consultancy firm CCS Insight.

"Wireless charging is emerging after some years in the wilderness, and is now being adopted [more and more]," he told the BBC.

"The technology is starting to take on much more prominence with the devices [such as the latest] Nokia Windows 8 phone that has wireless charging in it.

"There's a slight dilemma for mobile devices though, as we're constantly striving to get thinner devices but by adding an infrastructure inside a device can compromise the thinness."

-BBC News

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

7 tips to create secure passwords

It is absurdly easy to get hacked. Chances are most people will get hacked at some point in their lifetime. The best they can do is delay the inevitable by avoiding suspicious links, even from friends, and manage their passwords. How do you come up with different, hard-to-crack passwords for every website and still remember them all? Here were some tips from Jeremiah Grossman, chief technology officer at WhiteHat Security, and Paul Kocher, who runs Cryptography Research.

Forget the dictionary
If your password can be found in a dictionary, you might as well not have one. Hackers will often test passwords from a dictionary or aggregated from breaches. If your password is not in that set, hackers will typically move on.

One site one password
While cracking into someone's professional profile on LinkedIn might not have dire consequences, hackers will use that password to crack into, say, e-mail , bank or brokerage account where more valuable data is stored.

Come up with passphrase
The longer your password, the longer it will take to crack. A password should ideally be 14 characters or more in length if you want to make it uncrackable by an attacker in less than 24 hours. Consider a passphrase, such as a favorite movie quote, song lyric, or poem, and string together only the first one or two letters of each word in the sentence.

Just jam on keyboard
For sensitive accounts, Grossman says he will randomly jam on his keyboard, intermittently hitting the Shift and Alt keys, and copy the result into a text file which he stores on an encrypted, password-protected USB drive. "That way, if someone puts a gun to my head and demands to know my password, I can honestly say I don't know it."

Store passwords securely
Do not store your passwords in your in-box or on your desktop. If malware infects your computer , you're toast. Grossman stores his password file on an encrypted USB drive for which he has a long, complex password that he has memorized. He keeps password hints, not the actual passwords, on a scrap of paper in his wallet.

Ignore security questions
There is a limited set of answers to questions like "What is your favorite colour?" Hackers use that information to reset your password and take control of your account. So, enter a password hint that has nothing to do with the question itself.

Use different browsers
Grossman says, "Pick one browser for 'promiscuous' browsing: online forums, news sites, blogs รข€” anything you don't consider important. When you're online banking or checking e-mail , fire up a secondary web browser, then shut it down." That way, if your browser catches an infection when you accidentally stumble on an x-rated site, your bank account is not necessarily compromised.

-Nicole Perlroth, New York Times