Silent Skype calls can hide secret messages

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Got a secret message to send? Say it with silence. A new technique can embed secret data during a phone call on Skype. "There are concerns that Skype calls can be intercepted and analysed," says Wojciech Mazurczyk at the Institute of Telecommunications in Warsaw, Poland. So his team's SkypeHide system lets users hide extra, non-chat messages during a call.












Mazurczyk and his colleagues Maciej Karaś and Krysztof Szczypiorski analysed Skype data traffic during calls and discovered an opportunity in the way Skype "transmits" silence. Rather than send no data between spoken words, Skype sends 70-bit-long data packets instead of the 130-bit ones that carry speech.












The team hijacks these silence packets, injecting encrypted message data into some of them. The Skype receiver simply ignores the secret-message data, but it can nevertheless be decoded at the other end, the team has found. "The secret data is indistinguishable from silence-period traffic, so detection of SkypeHide is very difficult," says Mazurczyk. They found they could transmit secret text, audio or video during Skype calls at a rate of almost 1 kilobit per second alongside phone calls.












The team aims to present SkypeHide at a steganography conference in Montpellier, France, in June.


















































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Football: Messi targets record fourth Ballon d'Or

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ZURICH: Record-breaking Lionel Messi is poised to become the first player to win four successive Ballon d'Or awards on Monday, sealing his status as the greatest player of his generation.

The 25-year-old is the overwhelming favourite to see off the challenge of Barcelona teammate Andres Iniesta and great Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo for the prize.

It will crown another landmark year for the Argentine who is the top scorer in La Liga this season with 25 goals having also broken Gerd Mueller's 40-year record for the most goals in a calendar year.

He finished 2012 with an astonishing 91 goals in all competitions.

But Messi has insisted that his scoring records will mean nothing if Barcelona do not go on to take La Liga title off Real or fail to win the Champions League.

"It's nice to beat records but the win for the team is what is important. My goals are to win titles with the team, the Spanish league, Spanish Cup or Champions League is more important than any personal records."

He remains just as modest when it comes to Monday's awards in Zurich.

"If Iniesta wins, it will be well-deserved for all that he has done, for the way he plays. Again, it will also be a prize for the dressing room."

Messi and former French star, UEFA president Michel Platini, are the only players to win three straight Ballon d'Or awards while Dutch stars Johan Cruyff and Marco Van Basten have also won three accolades.

Barca coach Tito Vilanova has no doubt that Messi will be a deserving winner.

"Leo's great quality is that he plays as if he still a child," said Vilanova.

"He was always good as a youngster and you didn't need to be a coach to say that. It was a joy to see him play as a 15-year-old and that continues now."

Portugal captain Ronaldo admits he would love to win but it would not be the end of the world if the prize went elsewhere.

"If I win, perfect. If I don't, never mind, life goes on. But obviously I'd love to win. I'm not going to lie or be hypocritical," said the 27-year-old Real Madrid forward.

"Fair or unfair, the decision will be what it will be... I'll maybe be very happy or maybe very sad. But that's life. I can't live according to an individual prize," the 2008 Ballon d'Or winner added.

Other awards on Monday will see Vicente Del Bosque -- who led Spain to Euro 2012 glory and made them the first side to win three back-to-back tournaments -- in line for the best coach award.

He will be up against Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho and former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola.

For women's player of the year, five-time Brazilian champion Marta goes up against US pair Aby Wambach and Alex Morgan.

- AFP/fa



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Windows laptop sales sink -- but that's just part of the problem

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Will businesses and consumers spring for a Windows 8 hybrid priced at $849 that's powered by a relatively pokey Atom processor?

Will businesses and consumers spring for a Windows 8 hybrid priced at $849 that's powered by a relatively pokey Atom processor?



(Credit:
Hewlett-Packard)


Windows 8 PC sales aren't trending well, according to a new report. And consumers' addiction to low cost may be a factor.


A blurb on Friday from the NPD Group said
Windows 8 holiday sales continue to not impress.


"The launch of Windows 8...did little to boost holiday sales or improve the yearlong Windows notebook sales decline," NPD said.


More specifically, Windows laptop "holiday unit sales" were down 11 percent year-to-year, NPD said.


Want more deets? The average selling price of a Windows laptop rose a hair -- $2 to $420, NPD said.


Meanwhile, the average selling price of a MacBook rose almost $100 to $1,419 on a sales drop of 6 percent.


Upshot: Both Windows lappies and MacBooks saw a sales drop, but Apple made a $100 average selling price gain versus a couple of bucks for Windows.


Maybe a bigger part of the Windows sales problem is that the mix of systems has changed compared with the glory days of
Windows 7.


That is, Windows 7 was accompanied by a crush of ultracheap netbooks, according to an analysis at the Supersite for Windows -- which had some harsh words for netbooks.


"Many of those 20 million Windows 7 licenses each month -- too many, I think -- went to machines that are basically throwaway, plastic crap. Netbooks didn't just rejuvenate the market just as Windows 7 appeared, they also destroyed it from within," Paul Thurrott wrote.


"Now consumers expect to pay next to nothing for a Windows PC. Most of them simply refuse to pay for more expensive Windows PCs."


And, by the way, shipments of systems powered by Intel's power-efficient-yet-slow Atom chip -- the same class of processors used in netbooks -- are barely a trickle at this point. And to make matters worse, some, like the $849
HP Envy x2, are priced way above the $399 netbooks of holiday seasons past.

Read More..

Best Pictures: 2012 Nat Geo Photo Contest Winners

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City Answers Gang-Rape Cover-Up Allegations

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As Steubenville, Ohio, prepares for the high-profile rape trial of two high school football players, officials, battling allegations of a cover-up, announced the creation of a new website today to debunk rumors and create what they said would be a transparent resource for the community.


"This site is not designed to be a forum for how the Juvenile Court ought to rule in this matter," the website, called Steubenville Facts, said.


A timeline of the case, beginning with the alleged gang rape of a 16-year-old girl at a party on Aug. 11-12, 2012, is posted on the site. Summaries of Ohio law relating to the case and facts about the local police force including statistics on how many graduated from Steubenville schools, is included.


The case gained national attention last week when hacking collective Anonymous leaked a video of Steubenville high school athletes mocking the 16-year-old female victim and making crude references to the alleged rape.






Steubenville Herald-Star, Michael D. McElwain/AP Photo







"It's disgusting, and I've had people calling, numerous people call here, upset, they have seen it, one woman, two women were crying, because of what they witnessed," Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla said. "It really is disgusting to watch that video."


Anonymous has called for more arrests, however Steubenville Police have said their hands are tied.


"Steubenville Police investigators are caring humans who recoil and are repulsed by many of the things they observe during an investigation," the website said, addressing the video. "Like detectives in every part of America and the world, they are often frustrated when they emotionally want to hold people accountable for certain detestable behavior but realize that there is no statute that allows a criminal charge to be made."


Occupy Steubenville, a grassroots group, estimated 1,300 people attended a rally today outside the Jefferson County Courthouse, where rape victims and their loved ones gathered to share their stories.


The father of a teenage rape victim was met with applause when he shared his outrage.


"I've tried to show my girl that not all men are like this, but only a despicable few," he said. "And their mothers that ignore the truth that they gave birth to a monster."


Authorities investigated the case and charged two Steubenville high school athletes on Aug. 22, 2012.


The teenagers face trial on Feb. 13, 2013 in juvenile court before a visiting judge.


Attorneys for the boys have denied charges in court.



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Graphic in-car crash warnings to slow speeding drivers

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Paul Marks, chief technology correspondent


142093734.jpg

(Image: Cityscape/a.collection/Getty)


"You would die if you crashed right now." Would such a warning make you take your foot off the accelerator? That's the idea behind a scheme to warn drivers of the consequences of speeding developed by engineers at Japan's Fukuoka Institute of Technology and heavy goods vehicle maker UD Trucks, also in Japan. They are developing what they call a "safe driving promotion system" that warns drivers what kind of crash could ensue if they don't slow down.






Their patent-pending system uses the battery of radar, ultrasound sonar and laser sensors found in modern cars and trucks to work out the current kinetic energy of a vehicle. It also checks out the distance to the vehicle in front and keeps watch on its brake lights, too. An onboard app that has learned the driver's reaction time over all their previous trips then computes the likelihood of collision - and if the driver's speed is risky, it displays the scale of damage that could result.


The warning that flashes up could vary from something like a potential whiplash injury due to a rear-end shunt to a fatal, car-crushing collision with fire. The inventors hope this kind of in-car advice will promote safety more forcefully than current warning systems, which merely display the distance to the vehicle in front. "A sense of danger will be awakened in the driver that makes them voluntarily refrain from dangerous driving," they predict.




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Football: Perth Glory in talks with Owen

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SYDNEY: Perth Glory are in talks with the management of Michael Owen about bringing the former England player to Australia's A-League, reports said Saturday.

Owen, 33, who scored 40 goals in 89 internationals for England and had stints at Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester United, is currently playing for Stoke City in the English Premier League.

Glory have one spare position in their squad for an international player after releasing Irish striker Billy Mehmet this week and do not have a marquee player.

The West Australian newspaper said if Owen was recruited as the club's marquee player, his wages would not be included in the competition's salary cap.

A Glory spokesman confirmed the club was interested in securing Owen's services, but said negotiations were in their infancy.

"Michael Owen's agent has enquired about Michael playing in the A-League," the spokesman told the newspaper.

"Perth Glory are interested but are yet to find out Michael's terms and conditions.

"Until these are known, Perth Glory will not enter any further negotiations."

If Owen joins Glory he will become the fourth high-profile international player in this season's A-League, along with Italy's Alessandro Del Piero, Japan's Shinji Ono and England striker Emile Heskey.

- AFP/fa



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IonMonkey delivers a faster Firefox

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Firefox JavaScript performance on Mozilla's own Kraken benchmark.



(Credit:
Mozilla)



A new version of Firefox released today puts some extra speed into online games and Web apps powered by JavaScript, thanks to a new compiler called IonMonkey.


Mozilla stated in a blog post announcing the update to
Firefox 18 (download for Windows | Mac | Linux) that the new engine makes JavaScript-powered Web sites run up to 25 percent faster than before.




Firefox will now look better on Macs thanks to new Retina support, and all versions of the browser work with W3C touch screen events in addition to MozTouch events.


One security change to the browser lets you disable insecure content at will on HTTPS-secured Web sites, but you can do this only via about:config. The browser now includes built-in PDF reading and early support for WebRTC, which lays the groundwork for giving Firefox the ability to perform voice calls, power video chats, and run P2P apps without plug-ins.


Firefox for Android (download) now offers search suggestions as you type in the location bar to speed up the search process. Mozilla has taken some steps to protect your privacy, though, so the first time you type into the location bar to search, the browser will ask you to opt-in to search suggestions.



Firefox JavaScript performance on Google's V8 benchmark.



(Credit:
Mozilla)



The company noted in its blog post announcing the updates that the searches are also conducted over a secure connection.


Firefox for
Android will now warn you when you visit Web sites that may be used for phishing or malware distribution. This is a common feature on desktop browsers and is a feature that
mobile browsers are likely to get as they become more popular.

Read More..

Best Pictures: 2012 Nat Geo Photo Contest Winners

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Obama Poised to Name New Defense, Treasury Chiefs

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With the "fiscal cliff" crisis behind him, President Obama is poised to name two new key players to his cabinet, with both announcements expected to come next week.


Obama will name the replacement for outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta as soon as Monday, sources told ABC News. Former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel is the likely nominee, they said.


Meanwhile, the president is also eyeing a replacement for outgoing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the longest-serving member of Obama's first-term economic team and one-time lead negotiator for the administration in the "fiscal cliff" talks.


Current chief of staff Jack Lew is all but certain to get the nod for Treasury, according to people familiar with Obama's thinking.


A White House spokesman cautioned that the president has not yet made a final decision on either post, calling reports about Hagel and Lew "merely guessing."


Still, when Obama returns from his Hawaiian vacation on Sunday, he's expected to waste little time filling out his team for a second term.


Geithner has said he would remain at his post "until around the inauguration" Jan. 20, a Treasury spokesperson said Thursday, putting the department potentially in transition just as the administration confronts the next financial "cliffs" over automatic spending cuts and the nation's debt limit.






Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images











3 Dead After Plane Crashes Into Florida Home Watch Video









Pilot Arrested After Failing Breathalyzer Test Watch Video









Colorado Police Officers on Leave After Killing Elk Watch Video





During an appearance on ABC's "This Week" in April, Geithner said the next Treasury secretary would need to be someone who is "willing to tell [Obama] the truth and, you know, help him do the tough things you need to do."


Lew, a former two-time Office of Management and Budget director and trusted Obama confidant who has held the chief of staff role since early 2012, is the front-runner for the job.


Meanwhile, Sen. John Kerry -- Obama's nominee to replace outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- has begun making more regular appearances at the U.S. State Department before his expected confirmation later this month.


His Senate hearings are set to begin shortly after Obama's inauguration, sources say. The administration still expects Clinton to testify about the Sept. 11 Benghazi, Libya, attacks before Kerry is confirmed.


But it is the potential nomination of Republican Hagel that has caused the most stir.


Critics from across the political spectrum have taken aim at the former senator from Nebraska's record toward Israel and what some have called a lack of experience necessary to lead the sprawling Pentagon bureaucracy or its operations. The controversy has set the stage for what would be a contentious confirmation process.


"A lot of Republicans and Democrats are very concerned about Chuck Hagel's position on Iran sanctions, his views toward Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah, and that there is wide and deep concern about his policies," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told "Fox News Sunday."


He would not say whether Republicans felt so strongly as to expect a filibuster of the nomination.


"I can tell you there would be very little Republican support for his nomination," Graham said. "At the end of the day, they will be very few votes."


Still, Hagel, 66, a former businessman and decorated veteran who served in the Vietnam War, has won praise and admiration from current and former diplomats for his work on Obama's Intelligence Advisory Board and Panetta's Policy Advisory Board.





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