Now pointlessly enhanced with AI
There has been a lot of Phishing email for the past week and this one pretending to be coming from Google Apps.
Should you be receiving this type of phishing email, do not click on the link under any circumstances.
You can:
Apple has sent email out to developers informing that All Apple Developer Center is Back Online. In addition to that Apple has extended all paid developer membership by 30 days.
Elliott Kember wrote the headline: “Chrome’s insane password security strategy”
Kember points out the way Google Chrome manages saved passwords.
There’s no master password, no security, not even a prompt that “these passwords are visible”. Visit chrome://settings/passwords in Chrome if you don’t believe me.
Yes indeed. Unlike Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome does not offer users to set Master Password. Apple added Passwords Manager in Safari 6; the passwords are actually stored in users’ Keychain.
Justin Schuh, who works on Google Chrome Security according to his Hacker News profile, says that it was a design decision to not include Master Password in Google Chrome.
For most users, there’s a certain level of inconvenience they are willing to tolerate when dealing with security. Unsurprisingly a lot of users are still using obvious passwords or none at all for their computer login. That’s because they prioritize convenience over security.
Security and convenience have an inverse relationship. It would look something like this:
that is true if it is a linear relationship. In reality it looks more something like the following:
It is more like a curve line. More convenience means less security.
The concern about the way Google Chrome manages passwords is valid. At the same time there is a bigger issue with security. Having a Master Password option would be useless if it is the same obvious password people are using for their computer login. Most users using Mozilla Firefox never set the Master Password at all.
Users need to understand why they need to secure their computers. Ultimately the users are the one to set the security level based on their convenience level.
This would be the first time I received Amber Alert on my Nexus 4 and iPhone. Users can turn this kind of alert on their phones.
AMBER Alert
Boulevard, CA AMBER Alert UPDATE:
LIC/6WCU986 (CA) Blue Nissan Versa 4 door
Child abduction (AMBER Alert)
Boulevard, CA AMBER Alert UPDATE:
LIC/6WCU986 (CA) Blue Nissan Versa 4 door
Ambert Alert setting in iOS 6 and iOS 7 can be found in Settings > Notification Center
At the bottom there are “GOVERNMENT ALERT” settings.
Amber Alert settings in Android (4.3) can be found in Settings > Wireless & networks > More… > Cell broadcasts
It has been one week since Apple took down its Developer Center Website due to security intrusion. At this point most of Apple Developer Center is back online including iOS and Mac Dev Centers. Apple developers with expiring paid memberships are given some extra time to renew since Program Enrollment and Renewals section of the website is still not operational.
Apple iOS team is reportedly ready to distribute the next iOS 7 beta sometimes early next week.
Apple has created status page for its Developer Website as reveal in emails sent to registered Apple Developer.
Apple Developer System Status Update
We apologize for the significant inconvenience caused by our developer website downtime. We’ve been working around the clock to overhaul our developer systems, update our server software, and rebuild our entire database. While we complete the work to bring our systems back online, we want to share the latest with you.
We plan to roll out our updated systems, starting with Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles, Apple Developer Forums, Bug Reporter, pre-release developer libraries, and videos first. Next, we will restore software downloads, so that the latest betas of iOS 7, Xcode 5, and OS X Mavericks will once again be available to program members. We’ll then bring the remaining systems online. To keep you up to date on our progress, we’ve created a status page to display the availability of our systems.
If your program membership is set to expire during this period, it will be extended and your app will remain on the App Store. If you have any other concerns about your account, please contact us.
Thank you for your continued patience.
As of this posting, Bug Reporter has just gone online.
Apple took down its Developer Website due to a hacking attempt on late Thursday July 18, 2013. Ibrahim Balic, a Turkish security researcher, believes that he is responsible for the intrusion that resulted in the downtime at Apple Developer Center.
While Apple is working to bring the Developer Webcite back online, Apple seeded OS X Mavericks Developer Preview 4 through Software Update. Apple has yet seeded iOS 7 beta 4 which was expected for release on Monday July 22, 2013 for its previous two-week release cycle. Apple has the mean to distribute iOS 7 beta 4 via Over The Air (OTA) software update. Apple prefers to distribute iOS 7 beta ipsw to developers along the OTA software update.
Apple reports financial results for its fiscal 2013 third quarter ended June 29, 2013.
CUPERTINO, California—July 23, 2013—Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2013 third quarter ended June 29, 2013. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $35.3 billion and quarterly net profit of $6.9 billion, or $7.47 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $35 billion and net profit of $8.8 billion, or $9.32 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.9 percent compared to 42.8 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 57 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
The Company sold 31.2 million iPhones, a record for the June quarter, compared to 26 million in the year-ago quarter. Apple also sold 14.6 million iPads during the quarter, compared to 17 million in the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 3.8 million Macs, compared to 4 million in the year-ago quarter.
That means Apple has sold 68.6 million iPhones in the first half of 2013, including the 37.4 million iPhones sold in the first three months of the year.
iPad sales is down compared to the year-ago quarter. That is expected since Apple broke its previously set iPad release cycle. For the first three years, Apple release new iPad in the month of March and April. Both iPad mini and Fourth Generation iPad were released in Fall 2012, six month after the release of Third Generation iPad.
In addition to that, Apple did not even bother to mention iPod sales figure in the press release.
Apple is providing the following guidance for its fiscal 2013 fourth quarter:
- revenue between $34 billion and $37 billion
- gross margin between 36 percent and 37 percent
- operating expenses between $3.9 billion and $3.95 billion
- other income/(expense) of $200 million
- tax rate of 26.5%
Apple might be expecting around $6 billion to $7 billion of net profit for the next quarter.
