Atlantic International Partnership Headlines: Concerns Over Facebook Stream Importer for Google+ Abound

Atlantic International Partnership Headlines: Concerns Over Facebook Stream Importer for Google+ Abound | Blurpalicious

An application that allows Firefox and Chrome users to view Facebook stream data within Google+ is popular, but may put users at a security risk due to issues with the coding.

Google+Facebook, developed by Israeli developer Crossrider, lets users see Facebook streams and update Facebook statuses from within the Google+ platform. The extension has thus far proved popular: according to company execs, there have been over 100,000 downloads in just one week.

Unfortunately, the code may be insecure. Crossrider CEO Koby Menachemi admitted himself that the application was written in less than a day, and so “the product is not perfect.” Taking this fact into consideration, it’s not impossible that Crossrider’s coders may have missed something.

Questions about Google+Facebook’s possible security issues were raised over the weekend, when Reddit user RogueDarkJedi posted comments on a story promoting the app. In the comments, RogueDarkJedi alleges that Google+Facebook “acts like malware,” and says it’s a “security vulnerability waiting to happen.”

What’s in question is the app’s behavior. Google+Facebook must download an external JavaScript file at every launch, in order for it to work. Mozilla has frowned upon this practice, as it puts all users of an app using such a system at risk in the event that the server hosting the script is compromised.

The app also does a number of other seemingly unscrupulous things, such as changing search preferences to a site controlled by Crossrider and appending a signature to e-mail messages sent on certain webmail providers. Uninstalling the app reportedly does not remove many of the changes Google+Facebook makes.

“So should you trust these guys? In my opinion, [expletive deleted] no. Do NOT install this, it does more harm than anything. Stay the hell away,” RogueDarkJedi wrote in the comment.

The post caught the attention of Crossrider, who responded to a Lifehacker post about the application, in which Lifehacker recommended its readers not install the app. Cofounder and CTO Shmueli Ahdut shot back, saying the way Google+Facebook auto-updates is “at the edge of extension-technology today,” and that no changes are made without the user’s permission.

Altlantic International Partnership Headlines: Leaked HP Memo Tackles TouchPad Shortcomings

Altlantic International Partnership Headlines: Jailbreak artists exploit unpatched Apple iPhone, iPad bugs | Blurpalicious

Hewlett-Packard is taking mixed reviews for its new TouchPad tablet with webOS pretty seriously, going by a leaked internal memo from the head of HP’s Palm Global Business Unit to staff that declares it will be “a marathon not a sprint” to fix the initial shortcomings of the device.

John Rubenstein, senior vice president and general manager of HP’s Palm unit, sent the memo on July 1, the day the TouchPad was officially released in the U.S. It was apparently leaked by an anonymous tipster to Pre Central, a specialist tech website covering HP’s mobile business.

While the memo cites The New York Times reviewer David Pogue’s opinion that the TouchPad shows “signs of greatness,” Rubenstein also concedes that Pogue and other “reviewers rightly note things we need to improve about the webOS experience.”

That’s a tacit admission that the TouchPad has a long way to go in areas like app availability and user friendliness before it lives up to one HP executive’s pre-release boast that the tablet would take on Apple’s market-dominating iPad and “become better than number one.”

PCMag’s Lead Analyst for Audio and Video Timothy Gideon didn’t disagree with Rubenstein’s assessment (reprinted below), offering up the “general feeling that the good outweighs the bad with the TouchPad.” Our full review of the tablet offers much the same sentiment.

Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard is planning to follow up on its Wi-Fi-only, 16GB and 32GB TouchPads with a “white glossy” model due out in August that sports a more powerful processor and 64GB of internal storage, as well as a 32GB TouchPad with support for AT&T’s 4G HSPA+ network in the same August timeframe, according to leaked HP product roadmap slides, also published this week by Pre Central.

Here’s the leaked internal email:

“Team,

“Today we bring the HP TouchPad and webOS 3.0 to the world. The HP team has achieved something extraordinary—especially when you consider that it’s been just one year since our work on the TouchPad began in earnest. Today also marks the start of a new era for HP as our vision for connected mobility begins to take form—an ecosystem of services, applications and devices connected seamlessly by webOS.

“If you’ve seen the recent TouchPad reviews you know that the industry understands HP’s vision and sees the same potential in webOS as we do. David Pogue from The New York Timessays, “[T]here are signs of greatness here.” … You’ve also seen that reviewers rightly note things we need to improve about the webOS experience. The good news is that most of the issues they cite are already known to us and will be addressed in short order by over-the-air software and app catalog updates. We still have work to do to make webOS the platform we know it can be, but remember—it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

“In that spirit, Richard Kerris, head of worldwide developer relations for webOS, reminded me yesterday of the first reviews for a product introduced a little over ten years ago:

“…overall the software is sluggish”

“…there are no quality apps to use, so it won’t last”

“…it’s just not making sense…”

“It’s hard to believe these statements described MacOS X—a platform that would go on to change the landscape of Silicon Valley in ways that no one could have imagined.

“The similarities to our situation are obvious, but there’s also a big difference. Like David Pogue, our audiences get that webOS has the potential for greatness. And like me, they know that your hard work and passion, and the power of HP’s commitment to webOS, will turn that potential into the real thing.”

Brightbridge Wealth Management Headlines: Hulu weighs sale options after approach: source

http://brightbridgewealthmanagement-facts.com/2011/06/brightbridge-wealth-management-headlines-hulu-weighs-sale-options-after-approach-source/

(Reuters) – Online video site Hulu has been approached by a potential buyer and is weighing whether to sell itself, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Hulu is best known for offering free online access to popular TV shows from its strategic owners but last July launched a paid subscription service as a way to expand its offerings to include TV shows from other programing partners like Viacom.

The approach presents another decision point for the jointly owned company, which has shown an unclear strategy and last year spent six months planning an initial public offering before dropping the plan.

The development has encouraged the Hulu board to engage with the banking community to help handle the approach from the “serious” buyer and other potential offers, the person said.

Hulu is jointly owned by News Corp, Walt Disney Co, NBC Universal and private equity firm Providence Equity Partners.

The acquisition approach has not been made by any of the current equity holders, the person said. The buyer is expected to be either a strategic buyer or private equity. No decision has been made about whether the board is prepared to sell the company or not.

Though Hulu has been immensely popular with users, its owners have come under increasing pressure from their cable and satellite distribution partners reluctant to pay premium dollars to carry content that is being offered for free on the Web.

Added to that has been the unwillingness of many program makers to put their shows up on a free site with an advertising model that is yet to prove itself with premium video.

Hulu’s stiffest competition online is from Netflix, which now has more than 20 million paying subscribers in the United States.

Last year, Hulu had been planning to raise $200 million to $300 million in a public offering that would have valued the company at about $2 billion. But the company backed out of the plan in favor of a focus on new subscription models.

A Hulu representative was not immediately available.