Google is rolling out a fix for a vulnerability in Android that could leak data from Google calendar and contacts. Android phone users were at risk when they are connected to unsecured wireless network. Android OS versions 2.3.3 and lower are affected by this.
The Google spokesperson quoted in this article says that the fix will be rolled out to all android phones over the next few days. Android phone users do not have to do anything - the fix is supposed to install silently to all versions of Android.
The good thing is that Google is rolling the fix out to all versions - so you will not have to wait months (or years) for your carrier to update your phone's OS version.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Folding displays becoming a reality
Researchers at Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology have built a prototype for a foldable display. They tested the prototype to see if folding/unfolding would cause a visible degradation in the fold point. In their tests, after 100,000 fold/unfolds there was a 6% degradation. If you check out the koala picture in this article, the only reason I could tell that it was a foldable display at all was the caption!
The one they built simply folded in half. Maybe future ones would have more foldability (is that really a word?) -- then I could take my 32'' monitor with me when I travel. Once you get to your destination you would need some kind of holder, or maybe it could just attach to a wall somehow. This would make work travel so much nicer! I would have a real display instead of working with the too-small laptop screen. Or think of connecting this to your smart phone while you are stuck waiting somewhere and watching a movie with a real screen! No more squinting to see what was happening.
The one they built simply folded in half. Maybe future ones would have more foldability (is that really a word?) -- then I could take my 32'' monitor with me when I travel. Once you get to your destination you would need some kind of holder, or maybe it could just attach to a wall somehow. This would make work travel so much nicer! I would have a real display instead of working with the too-small laptop screen. Or think of connecting this to your smart phone while you are stuck waiting somewhere and watching a movie with a real screen! No more squinting to see what was happening.
Friday, May 13, 2011
The cost of motherhood
Shine posted an article today discussing a study that tried to quantify the cost of motherhood... how much earning potential did women lose because they choose to have children.
Shockingly (at least to me) is that after 10 years there is a 24% gap between the high-skilled* women who had children and there counterparts... ouch!
It almost makes you think women would be better off not having children (other than the whole end-of-the-species thing).... but the study also found that high skilled women who have children later (after 30) also tend to earn more than high skilled childless women. For some reason, the high-skilled women who chose to have children make more money before having children than those women who don't have children. So wanting to be a mother appears to pay off -- right up until the point that women actually have the child!
Some other stats from the study:
- Low-skilled women don’t get very big raises, and having kids does little to change that
- For high-skilled women, kids spell the end of raises.
- Becoming a parent seems to have no effect on men’s wages
I couldn't find the research paper itself posted online, but if you wanted to read the whole thing, you can buy it here: http://www.nber.org/papers/w16582
the study used the Armed Forces Qualification Test to determine high-skill vs low-skill.
Shockingly (at least to me) is that after 10 years there is a 24% gap between the high-skilled* women who had children and there counterparts... ouch!
It almost makes you think women would be better off not having children (other than the whole end-of-the-species thing).... but the study also found that high skilled women who have children later (after 30) also tend to earn more than high skilled childless women. For some reason, the high-skilled women who chose to have children make more money before having children than those women who don't have children. So wanting to be a mother appears to pay off -- right up until the point that women actually have the child!
Some other stats from the study:
- Low-skilled women don’t get very big raises, and having kids does little to change that
- For high-skilled women, kids spell the end of raises.
- Becoming a parent seems to have no effect on men’s wages
I couldn't find the research paper itself posted online, but if you wanted to read the whole thing, you can buy it here: http://www.nber.org/papers/w16582
the study used the Armed Forces Qualification Test to determine high-skill vs low-skill.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Facebook password exposure - what's it really mean?
In case you haven't heard yet, Symantec found that Facebook applications could have been leaking 'user access tokens' (what lets an application access pictures, post messages, etc) to 3rd parties. Just to be clear, the applications do not have your password, nor did they leak passwords.
When you install an application, you have give that app permissions... when you do this, the application gets what Symantec has called a spare-key. This is the token that lets the app do things like post messages on your wall, send requests to friends - stuff like that. Some applications were written that told FB to send the token in the URL, and he application might also use the token in URLs sent to advertisers.
Facebook has since fixed the issue that let this happen, but they can't go out and find all the places the tokens might be stored or used.
what can you do? change you password! and of course, you all know to use a strong password.
This works a bit like re-keying a lock... the old spare-keys that we leaked out with URLs (and possibly stored in logs or by advertisers) will no longer work. The applications will still work - they will get a new spare key, but the issue that let them leak the info has been fixed.
if you want the full gory details, check out the Symantec post
When you install an application, you have give that app permissions... when you do this, the application gets what Symantec has called a spare-key. This is the token that lets the app do things like post messages on your wall, send requests to friends - stuff like that. Some applications were written that told FB to send the token in the URL, and he application might also use the token in URLs sent to advertisers.
Facebook has since fixed the issue that let this happen, but they can't go out and find all the places the tokens might be stored or used.
what can you do? change you password! and of course, you all know to use a strong password.
This works a bit like re-keying a lock... the old spare-keys that we leaked out with URLs (and possibly stored in logs or by advertisers) will no longer work. The applications will still work - they will get a new spare key, but the issue that let them leak the info has been fixed.
if you want the full gory details, check out the Symantec post
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