Bitcoins at risk of theft on flawed Android apps

Bitcoin is the best-known virtual currency

A weakness in the Android mobile operating system has left users of the virtual currency Bitcoin vulnerable to theft, the Bitcoin Foundation has said.

The issue affects some Android "wallet" apps, the organisation said, including Bitcoin Wallet and BitcoinSpinner.
To protect an Android wallet, the developers said users must update their apps once a new version was available.
The news came as a US banking regulator ordered companies to co-operate with a probe into the way Bitcoin is used.

HOW BITCOINS WORK

City of London calls halt to smartphone tracking bins

Advertisers can buy space on the bins' LCD screens

The City of London Corporation has asked a company to stop using recycling bins to track the smartphones of passers-by.

Renew London had fitted devices into 12 "pods", which feature LCD advertising screens, to collect footfall data by logging nearby phones.
Chief executive Kaveh Memari said the company had "stopped all trials in the meantime".
The corporation has taken the issue to the Information Commissioner's Office.
The action follows concerns raised by privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, after details of the technology used in the bins emerged in the online magazine Quartz.

Blackberry forms committee to explore possible sale

Blackberry says that "now is the right time to explore strategic alternatives"

Smartphone maker Blackberry is exploring options for its business, which could see the company sold off.

Timothy Dattels, a Blackberry board member, will head a new committee that will consider different business models, including partnerships.
It wants to increase sales of its Blackberry 10 model, seen as crucial to the future of the company.
"We believe that now is the right time to explore strategic alternatives," said Mr Dattels.

Leo Kelion Technology reporter

Blackberry's problem isn't that its new smartphones are no good, but rather that it took so long to get them to market.

How to send voice messages in WhatsApp

If you are using the popular messaging application WhatsApp on your smartphone or tablet, you may have already heard about the new voice messaging functionality that the company has integrated into the latest version of it.
It enables you to record and send voice messages to recipients using the application and nothing else. The easiest way to find out if you are already using the latest version of the application is to check if a microphone is displayed next to the text input field in the application.
The other option that you have is to tap on the menu button on the start page of the app and select Settings from the context menu. Here you need to select About to display the version of WhatsApp on your phone. If you see version2.10.222 or newer you have a version with audio recording functionality.

Firefox 23 for Android launches with custom search engine support and RSS feed support

Mozilla has united the release schedule of Firefox for desktop and mobile. Yesterday's release of Firefox 23 for desktop systems was accompanied by the release of Firefox 23 for Android. Existing users should have received the update to version 23 by now, while new users can download it from the official Google Play website.
The new version of Firefox for Android ships with several interesting new features that most mobile users will find useful. A long awaited change is the ability to change the search provider that you are using in Firefox. This is set to Google Search by default, but if you prefer to use a different provider, you had to enter the address of the search engine manually in the browser's address bar until now to do so (or quick access it via bookmarks or top sites).
Change search provider
To change the default mobile search provider in Firefox 23 do the following:

1. Tap on the menu button of your phone or tablet.
2. Select Tools > Add-ons from the context menu.
3. Here you find several search engines now that you can enable or disable.

Outlook.com changes the way message history works

Microsoft has replaced Hotmail, its popular online email app, by migrating users to its Outlook.com service, an online version of the Office suite desktop email application. Last night the software giant began sending out emails about the latest changes to how the web app works, this time regarding messaging history.
"Whenever you chat using Outlook.com whether it's through Facebook, Google Talk, or Messenger, a copy of your chat is saved in the Messaging history folder. As part of adding Skype to Outlook.com, the Messaging history folder will be removed sometime this fall".
There is no specific date given, but only a vague "sometime this fall". If you do not use Outlook.com to chat, or don't want to keep a copy of your conversations, there's nothing you need to do, but if you do use it, and want to save this history then there are steps you will need to follow to make that possible.
Here is what you will need to do, in a step-by-step list.

1. In Outlook.com, right-click Folders, and then click Add a new folder.
2. Enter a name for the folder and press the Enter key.
3. Click Messaging history, and then click the check box at the very top of your message list.
4. Click Select everything.
5. Right-click any message and then click Move.
6. Select the folder you want to move your messages to, and then click Move

Yahoo is getting a new logo

This is the first of 30 examples of what Yahoo's new logo might look like.

 Under CEO Marissa Mayer, Yahoo might still be trying to shed its image as a relic of the 1990s Internet era.

But hey, it's getting a new logo!

Yahoo announced Wednesday that it will unveil a new corporate logo September 4 -- the first such change since the company was founded 18 years ago. The new look will retain the current purple color scheme and, yes, its trademark exclamation point. Yodel away, Yahoo fans.

"Over the past year, there's been a renewed sense of purpose and progress at Yahoo!, and we want everything we do to reflect this spirit of innovation," Chief Marketing Officer Kathy Savitt wrote in a blog post. "While the company is rapidly evolving, our logo — the essence of our brand — should too."

The current Yahoo logo sits on a sign outside its campus in Sunnyvale, California.

To build some buzz around the new logo, the Internet company will display a different variation of the logo on its homepage and throughout its network in the United States for each of the next 30 days. The first example, shown above, opts for a more streamlined look, although the second "O" is larger than the first, reflecting -- in Yahoo's words -- the company's " fun, vibrant, and welcoming" character.

The variations on the new logo -- this video clip offers a potential preview -- also will be showcased each day on Yahoo's Twitter account (#dailylogo).

Why the interest in Yahoo CEO?

Mayer has been working to reinvent the struggling Yahoo since she took over leadership of the company in July of last year. In the past 12 months Yahoo has bought more than 16 startups, including the popular Tumblr blogging platform, and reinvigorated its older brands such as photo site Flickr.

Under her reign, Yahoo's stock price has climbed from $15 to almost $30 (it's currently at $27), although some analysts remain skeptical about the company's long-term fortunes.

Yahoo's rebranding follows similar logo changes by other aging Internet giants, including AOL, eBay and Microsoft.

"The new logo will be a modern redesign that's more reflective of our reimagined design and new experiences," Savitt said.

source cnn

Fight AIDS with your smartphone

Android smartphone and tablet users can now donate their unused computing power for scientific research.

When you're not using your smartphone, scientists can now use it to fight AIDS.

A new app for Android lets you donate your smartphone and tablet's unused computing power for scientific research, all while you sleep. It only works when your device is connected to Wi-Fi, is near full-charge and plugged in, so it won't eat up your data plan or drain the battery.

When combined with the surplus power of thousands of other "donated" phones, the network of devices make up a quasi-supercomputer available for use by scientists.
One of the projects that makes use of the smartphone network is called FightAIDS@Home. Scientists working on FightAids@Home are searching for new drugs to treat the HIV virus. It is run by the Olson Laboratory and The Scripps Research Institute and is powered by IBM's (IBM, Fortune 500) World Community Grid.

Pakistani artists challenging YouTube ban

YouTube is a source of entertainment and news for billions around the world, but Pakistanis have lost access to the video site for almost a year after clips of the controversial film "Innocence of Muslims" prompted a government ban.

That ban will be challenged for the first time in court Wednesday -- and activists, as well as artists, some of whose careers were launched on YouTube, are keeping their fingers crossed.

Rapper, singer and songwriter Adil Omar is a musician that has relied on social networking sites to launch his career. Even without a record label, he successfully used YouTube to reach both a domestic and international audience -- collaborating with international artists like Cypress Hill, Everlast, Xzibit and guitarist Slash from Guns 'N Roses.

Producer of anti-Islam film on supervised release

YouTube "has put me out there internationally. I've worked with major artists, been in the mainstream press," Omar said.

Washington Post just one of many wacky Bezos buys

Jeff Bezos' purchase of the Washington Post is not the craziest thing he has put his money into.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos astonished the world Monday when he offered $250 million to buy the Washington Post.

But the out-of-left-field purchase didn't shock anyone who has followed the mogul's long history of strange investments.

Exhibit A: clocks.
Bezos has poured at least $42 million into a project called "The 10,000 Year Clock," which will be built into a mountain on his West Texas property and tick once every year. A cuckoo will come out every millennium.
"It's a special clock, designed to be a symbol, an icon for long-term thinking," said Bezos, in a letter on the project's website.
Bezos also has an obsession with outer space. He has invested in Blue Origin, a SpaceX competitor that aims to lower the cost of space travel. He also financed a deep-sea expedition to recover the remnants of F-1 rocket engines that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean after lifting the Apollo 11 astronauts to the moon in 1969.
Related link: Bezos buys Washington Post for $250 million
The Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500) CEO has made several investments in controversial Silicon Valley startups.