By Steve Huff 9/25/12 3:43pm

Hack Hack Hack Hack It Apart

Ravi Borgaonkar demonstrating Galaxy handset flaws. (Screengrab)

Samsung’s Galaxy 3 is Vulnerable to Remote Wiping by Hackers [VIDEO]

During a recent security conference in South America, a Berlin-based researcher revealed that Samsung has a major problem with its iPhone challengers, the Galaxy 3 and Galaxy S2 smartphones.

Both can easily be remotely wiped by code embedded in a web page.

Ravi Borgaonkar found that the Galaxy’s “service loading” feature, its method of communicating with application servers, can be exploited with just one line of code tucked away in a web page’s HTML. If the attack is successful, the malicious code reverts the phones to their factory settings. Worse still, once the attack begins, the phone’s user can’t do a thing about it.

That’s bad enough. There’s also this: Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 9/03/12 9:04am

Linkages

Good morning, sunshine! (Photo: flickr.com/globochem)

Booting Up: Turns Out Tech Companies Love Cities Edition

Bloggers: If you must accept a free plane ticket, be sure to get an old-fashioned, non-refundable paper return ticket, too. [The Next Web]

Wolfram Alpha now offers personal Facebook analytics, for the ultra-obsessed and the assiduous builders of their personal brands out there. [The Verge]

Okay, who told Richard Florida about Silicon Alley? Now we’ll never hear the end of it. [Wall Street Journal]

Good news: If you’re an ebook buyer, you’re eventually going to get a tiny refund. Bad news: It’ll be about 25 cents per book, and it’ll likely take years. [Paid Content]

The founder of The Pirate Bay has reportedly been arrested in Cambodia. [TorrentFreak]

By Jessica Roy 8/29/12 8:04am

Linkages

(Photo: Shirley Hornstein via TechCrunch)

Booting Up: Grifters Be Grifting Edition

“It feels as if the technology innovation wars are no longer over one piece of technology or another, but over us humans.” [CNN]

Exposing a Valley grifter and her horrible Photoshop skills. [Techcrunch]

Zynga’s chief creative officer is leaving the company to launch his own startup. Oh pretty please can it be another Facebook game company? We need one of those. [AllThingsD]

Another Lulzsec hacker has been arrested, and we assume cops did not do so for the lulz. [BBC]

Google ruined the simple design of its homepage with a tacky ad for the Nexus 7. [New York Times]

By Nitasha Tiku 8/20/12 4:15pm

Badvertising

James Franco

Take Satirist Off James Franco’s Resume

By the logic of Hollywood tech spokespersoning, the proper way to hawk a new device is either through (1) an exaggeration of your public persona or (2) playing against type. Hence domestic anime character Zooey Deschanel reaching new heights of adorkability using Siri ordering tomato soup in her pajamas or motherfucking movie star Samuel L. Jackson yuppie-ing out on the iPhone over the temperature of his gazpacho.

Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 10.1 commercial, hawking its flagship Android tablet, however, fails to employ either of those approaches with writer/poet/Ivy League student/film teacher/director/musician/actor/producer/artist, James Franco. Rather, the low-energy new spot supposedly directed by Mr. Franco and running approximately one billion light years long, pretty much just goes through what we imagine is actually a typical day for self-serious Renaissance Manspirant.  Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 8/07/12 7:00am

Mr. Honan. (Photo: About.me)

Booting Up: Identity Theft Nightmare Edition

The advent of the iPhone really upset the apple cart at Samsung. [All Things D]

Read Matt Honan’s hacking horror story, then, in a flurry of panic, immediately change all your passwords. [Wired]

People are happier with their tablets than their smartphones. Anything that doesn’t handle calls and therefore doesn’t drop them is automatically endearing. [CNET]

Here’s what the Mars Curiosity rover saw as it landed on Mars. [YouTube]

But for a a while you weren’t able to see that, because someone issued a takedown notice, despite the fact NASA’s footage is in the public domain. [Ars Technica]

By Kelly Faircloth 8/02/12 7:00am

Linkages

Rise and shine! (Photo:flickr.com/waferboard)

Booting Up: Everybody Pile On Facebook Edition

This man is not happy with Facebook: “Your team doesn’t seem to understand that being “good negotiators” vs implying that you will destroy someone’s business built on your “open platform” are not the same thing.” [Dalton Caldwell]

Ears perked up over in Mountain View at this public display of unhappiness on the part of developers. [All Things D]

Speaking of Facebook, the company finally admitted it’s got more fakes than a sorority house. [CNET]

Today, in patent-suit potshots: Apple accuses Samsung of “bad faith litigation misconduct.” [Businessweek]

Two boosters of the local tech scene would like cheaper apartments. Honey, spit in one hand, wish in the other. [Forbes]

In L.A., too many city hall employees are using their work computers to watch the Olympics. [LA Times] 

Mitt Romney is not a member of the “thumb tribe,” which is apparently a thing. [Politico]

By Jessica Roy 7/27/12 12:42pm

Thrilling Contests

(Photo: Thrillist)

Thrillist and Samsung’s 30-Second Pitch Contest is ‘Speed Dating for Startups,’ (Hopefully) Minus the Weirdos

New York is teeming with startups aggressively elbowing for their moment in the spotlight, but sometimes obnoxious levels of networking and gimmicky marketing can only get you so far. Enter Speed Dating for Startups, a new contest born of a Thrillist/Samsung collab that gives wantrepreneurs a chance to strut their stuff on video for the chance to win a prize package.

From July 23 to September 30, users can submit a 30-second video explaining their startup: think of it like a filmed elevator pitch performed on a very, very slow elevator. The top three winners will get face time with some of New York’s most beloved techies, including TechStars cofounder David Tisch and Thrillist’s own Ben Lerer. Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 7/19/12 7:00am

Linkages

Mr. Dotcom. (commons.wikimedia.orgAndreas_Bohnenstengel)

Booting Up: ‘Come On Guys, I Am A Computer Nerd’ Edition

A recent report says Facebook is losing users. [Bloomberg]

Kim Dotcom wrote a letter to the movie business: “Come on, guys, I am a computer nerd. I love Hollywood and movies. My whole life is like a movie.” [The Hollywood Reporter]

Apple didn’t just lose its U.K. patent lawsuit against Samsung over the Galaxy Tab. The judge has also told the company to run ads in British papers clarifying Samsung is not a copycat. [Reuters]

In case you somehow missed it, there’s a whole lot riding on Marissa Mayer’s well-outfitted shoulders. [Businessweek]

If you’re going to Europe this summer, you should know that Google Maps is working on eliminating the need for you to stop and ask haltingly for directions in your high school French, which is the obviously the best part of going to Europe. [The Next Web]

By Jessica Roy 6/27/12 7:45am

Linkages

(Photo: Virtual Business Lifestyle)

Booting Up: Meditating to a Poster of Tim Ferriss Edition

Apple has won an injunction against Samsung, preventing the company from selling its biggest Android tablet. [AllThingsD]

A day in the life of a startup founder: “Shower and then spiritual time. I have a small shrine set up that allows me to focus on the important. I light an incense and gaze up at posters of Tim Ferriss, Kevin Rose and Warren Buffet.” [Hacker News]

Zynga announced a new hub for their online games, which will probably still not do much for their stock. [Wall Street Journal]

Apparently changing your email address to @facebook.com was a “visibility” change, not a privacy change. Welcome to the wonderful world of Facebook semantics! [New York Times]

Surprise! Most of BuzzFeed’s content is just repackaged Reddit posts. [Slate]