Blink-WebKit split endangers some browser features

CSS Variables, a handy technology to ease Web page programming, could be one casualty in Safari with Google moving its resources to its browser engine, Blink.

Google engineers wanted to "fork" the WebKit browser engine project that underlies both Safariand Chrome so they could accelerate the pace of Chrome development and adopt changes too extensive to fit into a single open-source project. Even though splitting Blink away from WebKit may make each browser engine more nimble, it also means it's harder to cooperate.

That's because common features must be developed and maintained by duplicate teams for each project, rather than by a single shared team. It's a complication of open-source software forks, as in the cases ofOpenOffice.org vs. LibreOffice for office productivity suites, GCC vs. EGCS for software compilers, and the Mambo and Joomla content-management software projects.

Over the weekend, WebKit started grappling with one such situation with CSS Variables. This newer Web standard lets programmers define variables, such as "main-bg-color" and then reuse that variable repeatedly.

Judging by the list of unmaintained features in WebKit -- some of them used in WebKit-based browsers -- it doesn't look like this will be the last discussion over how to handle once-maintained features.

The CSS Variables discussion began Sunday with a post by Apple's Andreas Kling on the WebKit developers' mailing list.

"I'd like to remove the CSS variable feature from the tree now that Chromium has left, as they were the only ones shipping it AFAIK [as far as I know]," Kling wrote. He added shortly afterward: "This is not about variables being a bad feature; it's about removing unmaintained code. We can easily restore the code and continue/complete the implementation later, if/when the functionality is wanted."

One who spoke out against the idea was Web developer Jon Rimmer. In a comment on the bug discussion, he said: "As a web developer, I have to say that this is an extremely disappointing decision. Apple should be turning this feature on in their browsers, not removing it." And on the mailing list, he added:

It seems like WebKit is at a crossroads: You can deal with the engineering shortfall that Google's departure has left you with by simplifying the architecture, cutting out their features and continuing at a reduced pace, or by stepping up yourselves to fill the gap. I think it would be better for the Web and for WebKit if you chose the latter.

This latter opinion triggered a frosty reception.

But there could be a solution in sight: Open-source programmer Karen Shaeffer said she might be able to maintain the feature.

"I am very interested in webkit, and this seems like a good time to step up to help the team," she said, requesting a week to make the decision.

"If waiting a week means we get a new contributor," responded Apple's Benjamin Poulain, "that sounds like a good deal."

cnet.com

Google in talks to acquire WhatsApp for nearly $1 billion -- report

WhatsApp running on iOS.

(Credit: Screenshot by Steven Musil/CNET)

Google is in talks to acquire cross-platform messaging application WhatsApp, a new report claims.

Google and WhatsApp have been talking for "four or five weeks," according to Digital Trends, citing a person who claims to have knowledge of the negotiations. So far, WhatsApp has been able to push the acquisition price to nearly $1 billion by "playing hardball," Digital Trends' source says.

WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging applications available to mobile users. The app allows users on just about any mobile platform, including Android, iOS, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone, to instant-message with each other, as well as send images, audio, and video messages. The messaging app essentially allows for cross-platform texting without having to pay for SMS.

In January, WhatsApp announced that it had set a personal record on New Year's Eve, with 7 billion inbound messages sent that day. Another 11 billion outbound messages were sent. WhatsApp's previous one-day record stood at 10 billion total messages.

Whether WhatsApp is actually worth $1 billion, though, is up for debate. That's the price that Facebook paid for Instagram last year, and some believed the deal didn't land in the social network's favor. WhatsApp, while popular, doesn't have the kind of cache that Instagram did at the time of that acquisition, making such a valuation seem high. And since the Digital Trends story comes from only one source, it's important to take it with a grain of salt at this time.

CNET has contacted both Google and WhatsApp for comment. We will update this story when we have more information.

cnet.com

Hack attacks hit Bitcoin exchange rates

Online services and exchanges dealing in Bitcoins have been hit by hack attacks that led to a drop in the value of the virtual currency.

Trading on the MTGox exchange, which handles most trades in Bitcoins, was sluggish yesterday as the site fought off an attack.

The attack helped to force a swift fall in the price of Bitcoins.

In addition, the Instawallet website - where people store Bitcoins - is offline indefinitely after an attack.

Website bombarded

The value of Bitcoins surged to a new high this week with each one worth about $142 (£94). Barely a week ago, each virtual coin was worth only $90.

But Bitcoins dropped sharply in value as the MTGox exchange came under a sustained attack by hackers. The vast majority of trade in Bitcoins takes place via the site.

In a tweet on its Twitter feed, MTGox said it was fighting off a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, which involves a site being bombarded with huge amounts of data. The attack was one of several against the site this week,

The attacks, coupled with a spike in trading volumes, combined to cause delays in trades being confirmed and led the value of Bitcoins to drop sharply to about $120.

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The attacks could be the work of malicious hackers who were trying to 'game' the MTGox exchange”

The attacks could be the work of malicious hackers who were trying to "game" the exchange and manipulate the value of Bitcoins so they could cash in, MTGox said in an interview with ComputerWorld. Attackers are thought to be working to a cycle in which they sell Bitcoins when values are high, then mount an attack that forces prices to crash, buy up the cheaper coins and then let the value climb again.

MTGox said it did not know when or if the attacks would cease but said Bitcoin owners should not panic and sell off as values fluctuated. A spokesman for the exchange added that it was in the middle of rebuilding its trading technology but the new system, which would do a better job of handling the high volume of trades, would not be ready until the end of this year.

In a separate development, Instawallet has shut down "indefinitely" after hackers "fraudulently accessed" its core database. In a statement posted on the Instawallet site it said it planned to open a claim process shortly so people could reclaim their Bitcoin balance.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22026961

Skype trojan forces Bitcoin mining, security firm warns

A trojan that can hijack a computer and force it into mining for Bitcoins - the virtual currency - has been spreading via Skype.

The trojan soaks up almost all of the victim's computer processing power

Antivirus firm Kaspersky Labs said attackers sent messages in various languages translating to "this my favourite picture of you".

The message included a malicious link which was, at its peak, being accessed more than 2,000 times every hour.

The value of Bitcoin has grown massively in recent weeks.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin exchange website Mt Gox has the currency listed as being worth $186 (£121).

CPU abuse

Unlike other currencies, Bitcoins are not issued by a central bank or other centralised authority.

Instead users are rewarded in a process called "mining", in which coins are issued to a user when they solve a complicated mathematical problem using their computer.

The trojan hijacks a victim's machine and makes it mine for Bitcoins on the attacker's behalf. The greater the number of machines mining, the quicker coins will be harvested.

"Most of the potential victims live in Italy then Russia, Poland, Costa Rica, Spain, Germany, Ukraine and others," wrote Dmitry Bestuzhev from Kaspersky Labs in a blog post.

The attack "dropper" originates from a server in India, but once installed transmits information back to a control centre in Germany, Mr Bestuzhev wrote.

The trojan is able to carry out many tasks, he added, but taking over computers for Bitcoin mining appears to be its primary function.

"It abuses the CPU of infected machines to mine Bitcoins for the criminal.

"The campaign is quite active. If you see your machine is working hard, using all available CPU resources, you may be infected."

bbc.co.uk

The website Gransnet local service aims to bring over-50s closer

The website Gransnet, an online community for the over-50s, is launching a series of local sites.

The new service has received money from the Nominet Trust, a charity which funds technology projects with a social purpose.

So far 20 "local editors", all aged over 50 themselves, have been recruited by the site.

Ofcom figures suggest that 7.5 million UK adults have never been online, and two fifths of those are aged over 75.

"Many older people in the UK are still not online, leaving them potentially isolated and at a disadvantage," said Martha Lane Fox, the UK's Digital Champion.

The website Gransnet, an online community for the over-50s, is launching a series of local sites.

Two fifths of British people who have never been online are over 75

Baroness Lane-Fox said she hoped the local Gransnet service, which will contain information about events, classes, volunteering opportunities and other activities relevant to specific areas, would offer an incentive for more older people to get online.

The first wave of areas to receive the local service includes Blackburn, Edinburgh, Oxfordshire and Worthing, but "anonymous locals" have already started their own versions in Lancashire, Warwickshire, Exeter, Kent, Leeds and Liverpool, according to Gransnet.

"Our members have already started meeting up of their own accord and local sites will make that much easier," said Gransnet founder Geraldine Bedell.

"Occasionally in the past our members have admitted to sometimes feeling lonely... Gransnet Local will extend the support and friendship we offer online into meet-ups and will provide a forum to discuss everything that's going on locally."

Author Kathy Lette, TV presenter Judy Finnegan and actor Timothy Spall are among the high-profile names who have contributed to the Gransnet website.

Recent popular discussion topics include "does sexual fidelity matter?" and "large families", and some of the responses do highlight generational differences.

"I know of a woman who discovered that her husband was being unfaithful because she realised that someone was darning his socks," is the current "quote of the week".

bbc.com

Top 10 Tech News Of The Week!

 It was not a usual week! Obviously, because of the April Fool's day. Companies like Google and Twitter did their innovative bit to 'fool' us and how! We wish those innovations could come true! On the other hand, Indian train travelers had a reason to rejoice as free Wi-Fi service is now reaching them. A lot more happened in the world of technology. To keep yourself updated, read on...

1. Experiencing Slow Internet Connection? Here Is Why:Indian Internet download speed has been significantly slowed due to a submarine cable disruption off the coast of Egypt. The five cables thought to have been affected by the recent disruption, include the South East Asia-Middle, East-Western Europe 4 (SMW-4), India Middle, East-Western Europe (I-ME-WE) and Europe India Gateway (EIG) systems. Read More>>> 

2. Here Comes Ubuntu Linux Powered Alienware Gaming PC: Alienware X51, the powerful gamer's PC, which was available for Windows users till date, has now finally arrived on the Ubuntu Linux platform as well. The popularity of the open-source Linux-based operating system has apparently forced Alienware to offer the Ubuntu platform option for the console. Read More>>>

3. Karbonn Intros Micromax Canvas HD Alternative Titanium S5: Micromax has been able to gain enough traction in the Indian smartphone market with its recently launched Canvas HD. In a bid to catch up with the company, other smartphone makers are set to introduce their alternatives of Micromax Canvas HD. The latest entrant in the market is Karbonn Titanium S5. Read More>>>

4. Google Shuts Down YouTube Service: With the dawn of 1 April i.e. April fools day, Google decided to shut down its YouTube video streaming service after serving the worldwide Internet user-base with a video sharing and streaming platform for more than eight years. The whole plot of shutting down is basically a prank from the search-engine giant brand's video product. Read More>>>

5. Samsung Faces Heat From Nexus 7; Drops Galaxy Tab 2 Prices In India: It's not long that Google has announced the availability of India's first Nexus device 'Nexus 7' and it's competitors have already pulled up their socks. Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, one of closest competitors of Google Nexus 7 tablet, is now available at a discounted price. Samsung has reduced the price of its Galaxy Tab 2 to stand in the competition against reasonably priced tablet Google Nexus 7. Read More>>>

6. Get Free Wi-Fi Service On Trains In India: India is not recognised for its wireless connectivity infrastructure but the signs indicate government's seriousness towards the matter. The Railway ministry had shared its plans to include Wi-Fi services for free on select trains during its Rail Budget announcement earlier this year. And it seems, the stepping stone is in place for the initiative to kick-start functioning. The Railway Minister, Pawan Kumar Bansal will reportedly launch the free Wi-Fi service on the New Delhi- Howrah Rajdhani Express train. Read More>>>

7. Facebook Introduces Facebook Home For Android: Facebook has made the much awaited official announcement of Facebook Home for Android at the launch event in US. We have been hearing lot of rumours about the Home version and those have been put to rest by the social networking giant today. Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and chief executive, Facebook has clearly stated that ‘Home’ is not a forked Android version; instead the launcher will work right on top of current Android devices. Read More>>>

8. New Coding Language 'Rust' In Development: Samsung has reportedly joined forces with Mozilla in an attempt to help the company develop a new programming language, Rust, which aims to replace the current 'Unsafe C++.' Samsung has committed some of their technical know-how to Mozilla, once regarded as idealistic. They attempt to develop a new form of code, which will be able to handle today's heterogeneous, multi-core hardware more effectively whilst also being more secure. Read More>>>

9. Google Brings 'Nose' For Smell Searching: Google has joined in the yearly tradition of celebrating April Fools' day by unveiling their latest service to customers, 'Google Nose Beta'. The company has once again demonstrated its sense of humour by releasing a practical joke extension on its homepage, which offers users the unique opportunity to search for, and access, smells through their desktops. Read More>>>

10. Videocon Intros Android 4.1 Calling Tablet, VT75C @ Rs 5965: Videocon, the consumer electronics brand has introduced its latest Android tablet, VT75C in the country. This tablet comes with 3G connectivity and voice calling support and is priced under Rs 6,000 price mark. The company has been aggressive with its strategy in the Indian market and has already launched a couple of entry-level Android smartphones and one 25-cm (10-inch) Android tablet. The demand for calling-based tablets in the country has reached a new high, with many brands eyeing the affordable tablet segment with products that have these said features. Read More>>> 

 EFYTIMES News Network 

Anonymous launches massive cyber assault on Israel

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Hacktivist group Anonymous has launched a second massive cyber attack against Israel, dubbed #OpIsrael. The collective threatens to "disrupt and erase Israel from cyberspace" in protest over its mistreatment of Palestinians.

Dozens of Israeli websites were unavailable as of early Sunday.

In a video message posted on YouTube, Anonymous said that on April 7, “elite cyber-squadrons from around the world have decided to unite in solidarity with the Palestinian people against Israel as one entity to disrupt and erase Israel from cyberspace.”

Addressing the Israeli government, the group stated: “You have NOT stopped your endless human right violations. You have NOT stopped illegal settlements. You have NOT respected the ceasefire. You have shown that you do NOT respect international law.”

Earlier on Saturday, an Anonymous affiliated group identifying itself as The N4m3le55 cr3w announced that they “have gathered 600 websites and 100 plus servers we will be attacking” throughout Israel. The list includes banks, schools, businesses and a host of prominent government websites. “That is just our targets,” the group warned.

“We cannot speak on what the rest of Anonymous will be attacking but we can guarantee it will be in the 1000′s.”

The massive cyber attack falls on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day. Anonymous has accused the Israeli government of mistreating its own citizens, violating treaties, attacking its neighbors, threatening to shut down the Internet in Gaza and ignoring “repeated warnings” about human rights abuses.

"The estimations are that [the cyber-attacks] will reach an unusual level that we have never seen before,"Deputy Information Security Officer Ofir Cohen said in an e-mail sent to Knesset employees on Thursday, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Cohen added that the E-government – the Israeli government’s information security body – and the Knesset's internet service provider (ISP) are working to block the attack.

On Wednesday, thousands of Israeli Facebook users were infected by a virus, although its effects at this point appear to be minimal. 

On Friday, Israeli radio reported that scores of large organizations had closed their websites to shield them from hacker attacks.

Despite the impending threat, Lior Tabansky, a fellow at the Yuval Ne'eman Workshop for Science, Technology, and Security of Tel Aviv University, told the Times of Israel that distributed denial of service (DDos) attacks, which work by overwhelming targeted servers with traffic which stems from multiple systems, are the only tool at the hackers’ disposal.

"Unless they have names and passwords, [DDoS] is really their only attack strategy. Unfortunately, there is little a company can do to stop it, but it is not the major cyber-threat many people, especially in the media, believe it to be. It's more of an annoyance, and if they do manage to intimidate sites into submission, the victory will be one of public relations."

Yitzhak Ben Yisrael, of the government's National Cyber Bureau, told AP that hackers had mostly failed to shut down key sites.

"So far it is as was expected, there is hardly any real damage," Ben Yisrael indicated. "Anonymous doesn't have the skills to damage the country's vital infrastructure. And if that was its intention, then it wouldn't have announced the attack of time. It wants to create noise in the media about issues that are close to its heart.”

However, other experts have warned that the hackers may attempt to deploy malware such as “Trojan horses”, which can steal information and harm host computer systems.

Meanwhile, an official from the Hamas movement praised the attack.

"God bless the minds and the efforts of the soldiers of the electronic battle," Ihab Al- Ghussian, Gaza's chief government spokesman, wrote on his official Facebook page, AP reported.

Anonymous launched the first ‘OpIsrael’ cyber-attacks in November 2012 during Operation Pillar of Defense, an eight day Israeli Defense Force (IDF) incursion into the Gaza s trip.

Some 700 Israeli website suffered repeated DDos attacks, which targeted high-profile government systems such as the Foreign Ministry, the Bank of Jerusalem, the Israeli Defence Ministry, the IDF blog, and the Israeli President's official website.

The Israeli Finance Ministry reported an estimated 44 million unique attacks on government websites over a four day period.

Following ‘OpIsrael,’ Anonymous posted the online personal data of 5,000 Israeli officials, including names, ID numbers and personal emails.

The group also took part in an attack in which the details of some 600,000 users of the popular Israeli email service Walla were released online.

http://rt.com