Tuesday, July 2, 2013

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Edward Snowden issues statement on Wikileaks

Posted: 02 Jul 2013 06:05 AM PDT

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden blasted the Obama administration and claimed he had more information to release, even though it is starting to appear his relations with countries who initially backed him are being increasingly strained.

Snowden is still believed to be staying in a transit area at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and is asking for asylum in several countries, including Russia, China, Brazil, India and Ireland.

In a statement to WikiLeaks, Snowden accused the Obama administration of deception in a campaign to prevent him from finding political asylum and of leaving him a stateless person by revoking his US passport.

Snowden said that he was free and could continue to publish information that serves the public interest. However, he does seem to think that some US spooks are going to bump him off.

"No matter how many more days my life contains, I remain dedicated to the fight for justice in this unequal world. If any of those days ahead realize a contribution to the common good, the world will have the principles of Ecuador to thank," he said.

There are signs his relationship with Ecuador are being tested. The government, which reportedly gave him a temporary travel pass, has now said that it can't give him asylum until he gets to Ecuador.

A government spokesperson said that giving Snowden a temporary travel pass to fly to Moscow was "a mistake on our part" and that Snowden was now Russia's problem. Ecuador was not responsible for getting him to Ecuador.

In his Wikileaks statement, Snowden lashed out at US president Barack Obama and vice president Joe Biden for pressing Ecuador to turn him away.

"This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile," he said.

Snowden said that while the public has cried out support of his shining a light on the NSA revelations, the government of the USA responded with an extrajudicial man-hunt costing him his family, freedom to travel, and right to live peacefully without fear of illegal aggression.

Curiously, according to Reuters, Russian Tsar Vladimir Putin said Snowden could stay in Russia on the condition that he stops his work aimed at harming America. Supporters would argue it is not America in general he is harming, but its secretive spying organisations like the NSA.

Putin said he suspected that Snowden would continue leaking information because "he feels himself to be a human rights activist".

While this might seem odd at first, it's really not when you consider that Snowden sees himself as a human rights advocate while Putin sees himself as the Tsar of all Russias. Tsars don't usually get on with human rights activitists even if they are revealing details about other countries. Besides, Snowden might have access to American dirt on Putin which he would prefer was not revealed.

The best course for Putin is to say Russia is not working with Snowden, but add that he has no intention of handing Snowden over to the United States.

"Russia has never given up anyone to anybody and does not plan to. And nobody ever gave anyone up to us," Putin said.

To put Putin's comments in some perspective, he has previously defended the use of government surveillance similar to those revealed by Snowden's Prism leaks.

CERN considers cloud-based number crunching

Posted: 02 Jul 2013 05:58 AM PDT

The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) is partnering with Rackspace to do some epic number crunching on the cloud.

CERN and Rackspace are building a hybrid cloud built atop OpenStack, an open-source Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) platform.

The platform was originally developed by Rackspace as part of a joint effort with NASA. OpenStack is fast becoming the tool that the likes of HP and IBM use to expand their cloud portfolios.

Under the deal Rackspace will fund one full-time CERN member which will also help to push its street cred considerably.

Tim Bell, leader of CERN's OIS Group IT department said that CERN and Rackspace will initially focus on simulations.

This involves putting into place the theory and then working out what a particle collision will have to look like.

Bell said that there will be investigations into using the cloud for data analysis in the future but there is no timeframe for it at the moment.

So far, the experiences running between the two data centres in Geneva and Budapest gave CERN early indications of the challenges of the more data intensive work, he said.

CERN's physicists write their own research and analytics software, using a combination of C++ and Python running atop Linux.

Complex physics frameworks and the fundamental nature of the research makes it difficult to use off-the-shelf [software] packages, he said.

The outcomes of the collaboration will help everyone involved better understand the workloads that can be placed on the public cloud.

CERN's private cloud will use 15,000 hypervisors and 150,000 virtual machines by 2015. It is fairly likely that any public cloud will likely need to handle similarly massive loads with a minimum of latency.

By running small tests with a variety of public-cloud providers, CERN can determine how to best distribute workloads, puzzle out those latency questions, and eventually take on some of its more serious number crunching. 

Apple applies for iWatch trademark

Posted: 02 Jul 2013 01:59 AM PDT

Apple has apparently applied to register a new trademark in Taiwan, the iWatch. It comes as no surprise, as rumours of an Apple smart watch have been clogging up the interweb for months. 

The filing was published Monday by Taiwan’s Intellectual Property Office, reports Focus Taiwan. Meanwhile, Qualcomm has appled for the "TOQ" trademark.

Apple filed the application on 3 June and it reportedly made identical filings in Japan, Mexico and Russia. Although the filing indicates that an iWatch is indeed coming, at this point nobody really knows what to expect.

Foxconn demonstrated a prototype smart watch at a shareholder bash last week. The company said the watch can be used to check phone calls and Facebook posts. It also measures the user’s vital signs, so sooner or later some developer will come up with an app that posts users’ health status on Facebook: “Fred Bloggs is having a stroke” for example. We are quite sure there are users out there who will "like" such statuses. 

Wearable tech might be the next frontier when it comes to smart devices. Unlike smart cameras and toasters, smart watches could be used to control phones, a feature that will surely be appreciated by joggers and bikers. But nobody expects them to come cheap and battery life remains a concern.

On the other hand, ahem, if anyone can make them take off, it’s Apple. The real question is whether we really need smart watches and Google Glass - not that long ago travellers were used to packing a laptop and a phone, usually a feature phone that could go for days on a single charge. Now people are expected to lug along a laptop, tablet, smartphone and “wearable” smart devices, so we’re not entirely convinced.

The whole point of feature packed smartphones was to replace music players, low-end cameras and other gadgets. That's why peopble love them. Wearable tech just seems to be a step in the wrong direction in terms of convenience.

Javascript is compulsory on Firefox

Posted: 02 Jul 2013 01:57 AM PDT

The internet appears to have evolved past the days when it was possible to view a web page using only HTML.

Firefox 23, currently in beta, has removed the option to disable JavaScript which means that users will have to run it by default.

While Mozilla isn't making much of a fuss about about the change, it is fairly significant.

When the world wide wibble first got off the ground a browser was only interested in using HTML.

JavaScript and CSS appeared on the scene but it was still possible to view the web without JavaScript. In fact many developers adopted the line that JavaScript should only be used for webpage enhancement. It was a training philosophy which insisted that anyone who was visiting a page with the Javascript turned off should still be able to see it.

All this has changed with the heavy development of web apps and things have reached a point where developers are saying that visiting a page with Javascript off is as silly as trying to consume it without HTML.

The problem really is about things like privacy. Having Javascript enabled means that you cannot really get to a site without having tons of code thrown at you. Some of this could be telling the world plus dog about your browsing habits.

Mozilla, which for years has been the tool of choice for the more open saucey, opting for Javascript by default means that it no longer thinks this privacy fear is sustainable. It is better that user options are reduced to stop applications breaking.

Mozilla had the problem that people were clicking "disable Javascript" options on Firefox and then visiting sites where it was needed and finding everything was broken.

This might equally hack off those experienced users who switch off Javascript and know what they are doing.

As the web developer Ian Elliot pointed out here, it does mean that an internet where you could rely on Javascript being switched on would be simpler. 

Xbox man jumps from frying pan to fire

Posted: 02 Jul 2013 01:54 AM PDT

Xbox manager Don Mattrick is stepping down to take a high level position at the troubled online game outfit Zynga.

According to USA Today,  Mattrick is expected to replace company founder Mark Pincus as CEO. Pincus still owns most of the company so it is not clear how much control he will still have.

Matterick's move is odd and this has lead to some speculation that he might have been planning to flee Redmond before the restructuring. While Matterick has done rather well at Redmond, he may not have liked the look of what Steve Ballmer was planning for him.

There have been some rumours that Mattrick is leaving because of the large amount of PR difficulties that have followed the Xbox One.

Vole had to do an about-face over a number of controversial policies for the forthcoming console, including a required online check-in every 24 hours.

That was not so obvious from Ballmer's email to staff announcing Mattrick's exit where he effectively credits Mattrick for Microsoft's Xbox success and "setting us on a path to completely redefine the entertainment industry".

He said the job was a "great opportunity for Don, and I wish him success".

Ballmer did add that Mattrick's workers will report to him, at least until the Xbox One ships.

Zynga has been closing offices and laying off more than 500 employees and things are not going well financially.

The company's revenue dropped 18 percent last quarter and audience engagement metrics are down as well. 

Icahn has more cash to buy Dell

Posted: 02 Jul 2013 01:52 AM PDT

The Dell buy out war has become more interesting now it has been revealed that Carl Icahn, along with his chum Jefferies & Co., have secured billions in financing for their Dell bid.

The pair have managed to score $5.2 billion in loans from several banks and institutional investors,

Reuters cites sources who claim to have knowledge of the deals. Those funds will help Icahn and company finance their Dell buyout, it reports .

Icahn, in an open letter to Dell shareholders, said that financing commitments included $1.6 billion from Jefferies Finance.

According to Reuters, the $5.2 billion includes a six year loan worth $2.2 billion, as well as a 3.5-year loan for $3 billion.

It is all part of a much more cunning plan on Icahn's part to essentially take control over the company and provide an alternative to Michael Dell's $24.4 billion buyout deal that would take his company private.

Dell argued that Icahn has failed to provide any of the key provisions and mechanics of his deal, and had not got the readies.

If Icahn has got his paws on a spare $5.2 billion, he might be closer to satisfying some of the Dell board's concerns.

Icahn has acquired 72 million Dell shares, making him the second-largest Dell shareholder.

Icahn apparently asked for a meeting with Dell's  special board committee after lining up the cash. 
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