Face Recognition On Android 4.0 Can Be Tricked

     Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) has a cool new feature, where the users can unlock the mobile device using face recognition technology. Well, it seems like the face unlock feature which Google showed off with much enthusiasm (though it failed a couple of times during the announcement) can be easily tricked. The timing of this new bug will strike Google and Samsung (because the video shows a couple of Samsung devices in use for the demo) hard since the launch is nearing. However, we believe that Google will come up with a solution soon.

      The video below shows how the guy uses an image of himself from the Galaxy Note to unlock the display on the Galaxy Nexus. If it's this easy to trick, we can't seem to figure out the point of this new feature. Users might as well use the typical lock pattern which is a bit harder to trick. Watch the video below to see how easily the demonstrator tricks the Galaxy Nexus. This, however, doesn't take anything away from the other neat features that come packed with ICS

View Your Google Histroy

Did you know that Google has been keeping track of every single Google search you’ve ever performed? That is, at least every Google search you’ve performed while logged in to your Google account. Don’t believe me? 

Go here:https://www.google.com/history

Neat, huh? You can browse through your web history (includes searches and sites visited) by date using the calendar on the right, and beneath it is the total amount of searches you've performed to date. I’m nearing 50,000. I don’t know whether to be proud of or depressed by that.

In case you’re wondering if this is a breach of privacy, it’s not. You agreed to this when you signed up for a Google account. And you signed up for a Google account when you started using Gmail, YouTube, Picasa, Google Docs, Google Voice, Google Talk, Google Desktop, Google Sites, Blogger, Google Reader, Orkut, Google Code, iGoogle, Google Chrome—you get the point. There’s a lot of stuff that’s owned by Google and signing up for any of it signs you up for Google Web History as well.

Personally, I don’t mind it. I think it’s kind of interesting.

Google Trends

You should also check out the Trends section, which works just like Google Trends but only for you. The All Timesetting isn’t particularly insightful, since it could span back for years, but if you limit it to the last year, last 30 days or last 7 days, things get interesting. Apparently, I spend most of my time googling groovyPost, instead of spending the extra millisecond to just tack on the .com. (I think in the biz they call that a “navigational search.”) And unsurprisingly, the site that I visit the most is a Bandcamp page that just streams white noise (puts my baby to sleep, works like a charm).

The graphs along the bottom confirm other facts about your search habits that should be obvious. For instance, I do a lot more googling on the weekdays than the weekends. And I googled the least in July, when I was traveling most of the month.

Other Considerations

• This is different and distinct from the history that’s saved in your browser. Browser history is saved locally on your machine. Google Web History is saved on Google’s servers and applies to all activity done while logged in on any device. So, for example, if you performed a search on your iPhone, it would show up here as well. If you want to remove all traces of your web history, you’ll have to delete your Google Web History and your local browser history.
• When you are in Incognito Mode, you are not logged in to your Google Account, thus your search activity / web browsing activity won’t be recorded in Google Web History.
• Google uses your web history to tailor your search results and ads. So, if you are testing your search engine rankings or just want to see the web like the rest of the world sees it, search in Incognito Mode.
• If you have Javascript disabled or some other “no scripts” plugin installed, Google Web History may not work.
• If you install the Google Toolbar, Google will begin tracking sites that you visit even if you don’t go there directly from Google.com.

Cloud Computing vs Virtualization

Jargon in the computing industry is quite numerous, and many of them are difficult to understand. Virtualization and cloud computing are two terms that were relatively obscure but have since come to the forefront due to Google’s push for cloud computing. The two terms are closely related but are not in competition with each other. Virtualization is the creation of a virtual environment on another machine. A good example of this would be creating a Windows XP environment for an old program to run on inside a Windows 7 operating system. On the other hand, cloud computing is a computing architecture where the bulk of the resources are pooled together and can be accessed remotely usually through the Internet.

Virtualization provides several advantages. The first, as illustrated above, is allowing applications that were designed from one operating system to run on another one. It is a more cost-effective solution than having two or more machines just to be able to use all the software you need. For cloud computing, the main concept and goal is to create a virtual computing platform where resources can be allocated depending on the needs of each individual user. This provides flexibility as each user is allocated just what he needs, and it can be allocated to another user once that user logs out. It also means that the user’s computer need not be very powerful as most of the processing is done on the cloud. It is also convenient for users as their data would lie in the cloud, and they don’t need to worry about leaving data at home or on another computer. Their data would always be accessible regardless of which computer they are on.

The use of “a virtual computing platform” above may have already clued you in that cloud computing uses Virtualization in order to achieve its goals. This is true since it is necessary to virtualize each user’s desktop environment as well as resources like drives and folders in order to give the user the general feel of a personalized desktop.

Note This

1. Virtualization is the virtual simulation of any computing element while cloud computing     is an architecture where resources are pooled together and remotely accessed.
2. The goal of Virtualization is to provide multiple environments in a single machine while  the goal of cloud computing is to provide a scalable computing platform.
3. Cloud computing utilizes Virtualization.

Google Chrome OS

As if its decided lead in spiders, searches, and engines is not enough, Google launches its new Chrome OS, the company’s browser-based operating system. The new OS offers marked differences in data handling, such as cloud data storage, adding more user security and ease of use. It is also a very light operating system and does not eat up a lot of RAM. This is ideal for netbooks and systems that rely on cloud computing. Being a by-product of the Chrome browser, the Chrome OS also boasts of similar security features that the browser has been known for.

How it works

Security is one of the key components in the Chrome OS. The system fuses typical system-level security systems with exploit mitigation techniques. Thus, it successfully decreases the venues for attack and the system codes that can be attacked by malicious programs. And because all applications run through the browser, the operating system is more compact and easier to control and protect.

Sandboxing has been crucial in how Chrome functions. Through sandboxing, processes and applications have minimal interactions with each other and the operating system kernel. This partitioning of processes and applications makes it difficult for any malicious attacks to affect the whole system. Crashes become seldom, if these occur at all.

Security

Security is also one of the trademarks of the Chrome OS. Contrary to current trends in operating systems, Chrome limits the ability of applications to download and run any binary. This minimizes any application compromises that open up the whole system to attacks.

 Likewise, the Chrome OS boasts of a verified boot process. This boot process allows the system to start up and boot without possible harm to the system’s memory, the Linux kernel, and the partition tables. This is done through cryptography.

Since the whole Chrome OS is secured by Google, it is close to impossible for any malicious program to penetrate and run. And even when some freak malicious programs do manage to get through the doubly secured kernel hardening and processing infrastructure, this will be immediately detected upon reboot. This sends a prompt to the user. It also initiates self-cleaning program within the system.

The cleaning process has less hassle too than the others. Since the system data is set apart from the user data, the system can fix itself without causing the user any setting changes and lost data. Cached data is also kept intact, within the “cloud” of Google servers. Adding to user specification security, the user data within the browser, OS , and plug-ins are encrypted. Devices cannot share user data.

For any bugs found upon installation, the Chrome OS has set up an auto system update and patch. All this is done in the background, even while the user keeps on working online.

Now, that makes for a lot of exciting new stuff from a technology company that’s been very reliable and attentive to its users.

ANDROID – THE MOST ATTACKED MOBILE OS: MCAFEE

Malware attack on mobile devices, especially on Android platform, has surged in recent times, the computer security software maker McAfee said.

According to McAfee report, malware threat on Android device raised to 76 per cent since last quarter, making it the most vulnerable OS in the market. The report noted Android as the ‘most attacked mobile operating system.’

“This year we have seen record breaking numbers of malware, especially on mobile devices, where the uptick is in direct correlation to popularity,” Vincent Weafer, senior vice president of McAfee Labs, said in a statement.

Android over took Nokia’s Symbian OS as the most popular target for mobile malware developers. The rise of malware attack on Android may help cyber criminals to steal personal data from Android users.

The security firm added that these malwares may appear in “everything from calendar apps, to comedy apps to SMS messages to a fake Angry Birds updates”.

Interestingly, the report revealed that the hacker groups LulzSec and Anonymous were some of the prominent cyber news generators in 2011 Q2.

Google Voice Users Can Now Export Texts, Voicemails & Phone Numbers

An update to Google Takeout, the search giant’s data export service, now allows Google Voice users to retrieve all of their account data.

“We believe that our users should be able to export any data that they create in (or import into) one of our many products,” Google engineer Anthony Jawad writes in a post on the news.

“This means that all of the data associated with your Google Voice account, from your call history to voicemail messages, greetings and call recordings, is now available for download,” he adds.

The Google Takeout update, also announced by way of the quirky YouTube video below, comes courtesy of The Data Liberation Front, a team of in-house engineers building products to help users move their data in and out of Google.

Google Takeout was first released in July. The service launched with the ability to export data from Buzz, Contacts and Circles, Picasa Web Albums, and your Google profile.

Gmail Develops Three-Pane View

     Gmail has introduced a preview pane feature that allows users to read emails without opening them. The setting gives the option of choosing between “previews” and “list views.” Users can modify the preview pane to appear either horizontally or vertically adjacent to their lists of emails.

Some users of Rapportive and Boomerang have complained of minor glitches when using the new Google Labs product. The preview is nearly identical to the preview feature seen standard on Microsoft Outlook.

Gmail users can activate the preview panel by going to “Gmail settings” and selecting “Preview Pane” in the “Labs” section.

Glimpse of the Future? Google Rolls Out 1-Gig-per-Second Network

    Faster than a speeding bullet! Or at least, faster than Time Warner. Google’s new 1 Gbps network so far appears to be more than 35 times faster for downloads than average U.S. broadband speeds, but Google’s ambition is to provide 100 times faster speeds, especially to homes and small offices where entrepreneurs are creating start-up companies. We can’t wait to try 1 Gbps speeds! But we have to wonder whether the move puts Google at greater risk for antitrust worries.

In addition to the Palo Alto network, Google is rolling out super-high-speed broadband in Kansas City, Kansas. And in an unrelated initiative, a project called GigU is planning to build super-high-speed networks around universities.

Google May Use +1s to Influence Search Rank

    With more users clicking that little “+1″ icon to signal their approval for a website or post, Google is reportedly exploring the idea of using +1s to influence search rank. The idea has appeal: +1s add an element of crowd sourcing to search results that can make them more accurate and give Google a competitive weapon against Bing, which accesses Facebook “likes” as part of its rankings.

The problem is antitrust laws. Once website owners realize that +1s can help their search rankings, the pressure to add these icons will be intense. Indeed, a recent Forbes.com post suggesting they had better do exactly that “Or Your Search Traffic Suffers” may have hit a little too close to home.