“We’re not taking this action lightly. We wouldn’t do this if we didn’t believe this legislation and the forces behind it were a serious threat to reddit and the Internet as we know it.”
 
reddit community members have been using /r/sopa to organize, posting custom signs, various pieces of Internet anti-SOPA artwork, such as the image at the top targeting SOPA backer Representative Lamar Smith, and suggestions for making their collective voice be heard around the world. One of the bigger ideas that I’ve seen included trying to convince Google to join the blackout, which more than likely won’t happen, but it sure would be powerful.
 
Source: Ars Technica

Mozilla has officially released Firefox 8, the newest version to the already popular open source Web browser. There are a few new features that are available that help to up the ratings and usability of this browser.

The built-in search from the navigation toolbar has been integrating with Twitter so that Firefox users can search Twitter as well. They will simply select Twitter from the drop-down list of search engines.

There is now a stricter control on add-ons. Mozilla is trying to tighten security, especially on third-party applications that install add-ons in Firefox without the user’s permission. Add-ons have caused serious problems for quite a few users in the past. One such incident was a Skype toolbar that caused 33,000 Firefox crashes in one week.

Right from the start-up, if Firefox 8 detects that the user has any side-loaded add-ons, it disables them (by default) and displays a prompt asking the user if they really want that add-on to be enabled. Basically, this just helps to ensure the protection of users.

Firefox 8 has added support for cross-origin resource sharing to their HTML rendering engine. This allows websites to load WebGL textures from other sites. As well, WebSockets get a boost in this release with an updated implementation that “conforms with the latest draft specifications.”

Firefox 8 is now available via Mozilla’s website. This version will also be rolled out to users through the stable update channel that Mozilla has.

Source: Ars Technica

There have been 32 raids across Italy and one in Switzerland in the past few months in attempts of finding those responsible for Anonymous, the infamous hacking group that support internet freedom and despise censorship. After these raids, 15 alleged members of Anonymous have been arrested. They are all between the age of 15 and 28. Five of them are minors. One of the suspects, a 26-year-old Swiss-Italian by the nickname “Phre,” is an alleged “leader” of the hacking group, or the branch that coincides with the Italy affairs. 30 suspects are still being gone through to see if they are involved and/or members of Anonymous.

All 15 have been accused of performing DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks on Italian Websites belonging to the government. Anonymous is known for their DDoS attacks, made famously by shutting down Sony and the PSN for one hour. They were not responsible for the extended downtime and its coinciding attack, however.

Anonymous has had retaliations of these arrests, which is almost a little spooky. First, the Anonymous faction known as AnonOps has promised swift revenge. They have also noted that there is no such thing as “leaders” in Anonymous, for each member does their own part to make the group a whole and powerful force. They even ended their statement with an eerie quote: “Let [the Italian government] have it, stronger than ever.” DDoS attacks are likely to come streaming in to government websites if they follow this statement, and chances are, they will.

The Anonymous name continues to be the center of attention around the world when it comes to hacking. They are now in their “anti-security” movement. Lulz Security was a breakaway Anonymous faction for 50 days. While Anonymous does not like the majority of their doings, they did pick up on the “AntiSec” movement. Anons around the world have now been busy compromising numerous poorly secured Web servers, much of which include Turkish and Italian. In fact, there was even an attack on the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

Source: Ars Technica

In many rural areas, businesses do not feel the need and demand to provide so few of potential customers with broadband. They are definitely at the bottom of any list for who is going to be served broadband capabilities. If they happen to be able to get it, more than likely the signal is very weak and has many errors and faults. Other times, it may be very expensive.

The three main arguments as to why the consumers aren’t biting onto broadband technology is also important to note. They complain that it is simply way too expensive, they don’t know how to use it, or in some cases, they don’t see the point in getting online. “Four out of five schools funded by the FCC’s E-Rate computer/network equipment subsidy program say their connections are inadequate.”

“These data provide further indication that broadband is not being reasonably and timely deployed and is not available to all Americans,” the report concludes. The “reasonable and timely” phrase is key to this document. It is called a “Section 706″ report because that portion of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires the FCC to annually determine whether broadband “is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.”

Should the FCC say that it is not being delivered as such, they are required to take “immediate action to accelerate deployment of such capability by removing barriers to infrastructure and investment and by promoting competition in the telecommunications market.” As you can see, just by the FCC giving their disapproval, as they have, broadband will be affected. Perhaps sometime in the next couple years, broadband and high-speed internet will be more widely available, more affordable, and more accepted as the norm.

Read even more details about this at the source link below.

Source: Ars Technica

The latest news is basically that Anonymous’s attacks are working, even if Sony is waving them off, stating that the attacks are more of an “annoyance” than an actual threat. They basically wave off the downtimes as time they need to get rid of these annoying bots that Anonymous are using to create immense amounts of data disturbing Sony’s networks.

You may have noticed sonycareers.com is now down, and has been for quite some time due to Anonymous. However, it is now believed, even by Anonymous themselves, that sony.com will not be going anywhere for a good while.

Sony has hired Proxelic Technologies, a DDoS mitigation service that will basically defend against the very thing Anonymous is doing. Frankly, this isn’t the first time Anonymous has faced Proxelic, and they backed away from the “battle” last time.

Here is another chat log in which Anonymous discusses Proxelic:

KoraX: Prolexic will absorb anything that loic can throw at it,
innocent_whistler: didnt scientolodgy hire prolexic agenst us befor
KoraX: Thats why sony.com won't go down
KoraX: innocent_whistler: indeed they did!
DrQuestion: I thought it was down
KoraX: naw, The auth site is down, other sites are down,
         from what i can see sony.com is up
KoraX: And yes, its me
Ghoster^: yeah they wont go down, if they are under prolexic
Ghoster^: we have to plan for another course of action
Elitestate: sweet, what is it?
Ghoster^: thats why i said we have to plan.. haha
sprog: listen its going to take a lot to down sony, this is what

            prolexic is paid for to protect companies against ddos attacks,
            this foiled one of our plans before
sonyrecon335: I've messaged Journalists - it's now just a waiting game.
           Takai, could I ask that I now go after Prolexic employees,
           as they're standing in the way of our #Opsony's current objective?
Takai: Have at'er 
WhiteRabbit: its pretty much game over....Plolexic can stop attack at 150GBps.
narc0synthesis: hahaha unless we r00t prolexic and fuck them up,
           make them back off

Basically, Anonymous is going to have to turn their attention to Proxelic Technologies. However, since this is not their first go against these same people, they know what they’re doing. It seems as if they will have to get creative though, as their current plans won’t work.

Though Anonymous may have been forced to turn in a new direction, this isn’t the end of the road. Anonymous has also stated that they are winning, as now each time they attempt anything against Sony, whether it is blocked or not doesn’t matter as much, as it is costing them money. That being said, Sony is constantly losing money because of them. Though they will continue to work on a way around, or directly through, Proxelic. Looks as if they’re looking for the detour around this road block, but hopefully they will think of something. If anyone can do it, these are the people I would put my money on.

Source: Ars Technica

It’s time to do the daily breakdown of this “wow” factor. It is really worthy of a “wow,” or is it just a new release by Microsoft? Well, perhaps I should let you be the judge of that. It basically adds on to the Windows 7 experience with transparency and roundness being featured.

It is also notable that this browser is significantly sleeker and quite faster, but that is expected in a new version. The real test of any product, especially on such a large scale, would be how many people downloaded IE9 to use for themselves. Have a guess?

Internet Explorer 9 has officially received 2.35 million downloads in the first 24 hours of the release. Why am I not so impressed? While it may seem like a pretty large number, let’s think about this for a few seconds. Internet Explorer 9 can only run on the Windows Operating System, eliminating all Mac users as potential downloads. This isn’t new with Internet Explorer, but just something to keep in mind. But what about 2.35 million, surely that means something?

Actually, back in 2008, Firefox 3 got the Guinness World Record for most downloads of a product in a 24-hour period. They received 8 million downloads. Firefox 3 was also available on both Mac and PC. More people use PC than Mac, but even if it were 50/50, that would mean they still almost doubled the single-platform downloads that IE9 has received. Keep in mind, the number of internet users has not slowed down at all, but keeps growing every day.

I will admit that Internet Explorer 9 is definitely an improvement from the previous version, but for my personal use, I’ll probably stick to Firefox or Google Chrome. All in all, I would say that I am pleased with Internet Explorer 9, but a “wow” might be a bit exaggerated.

Source: Engadget

Source: Windows Team Blog

Source: Ars Technica

Source: Lifehacker