Exploit lets websites bombard visitors’ PCs with gigabytes of data

Ars Technica:

As its name suggests, FillDisk.com loads an almost unlimited amount of data onto hard drives of people who access the site. It requires no user interaction and works with the Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Apple Safari browsers. It adds 1GB of data every 16 seconds on a MacBook Pro Retina equipped with a solid state drive, according to Feross Aboukhadijeh, the Web developer and computer science grad student who created the proof-of-concept site.

Firefox is the only browser unaffected.

A look at BlackBerry’s devices through the ages

ArsTechnica:

Mine was a Bold 8900. Great phone, got left behind.

Viruses, Trojans, and worms, oh my: The basics on malware

From ArsTechnica

Critical Java vulnerabilies confirmed in latest version

ArsTechnica:

Security researchers have confirmed that the latest version of Oracle’s Java software framework is vulnerable to Web hacks that allow attackers to install malware on end users’ computers.

Java is the new Flash Player.

Ford AppLink opens floodgates to in-car iOS, Android, and BlackBerry apps

ArsTechnica:

Pandora, Amazon Cloud Player, BeCouply, and Kaliki are four of the 63 in-car apps that currently make use of the microphones, speakers, control panels and smartphone connectivity found in Ford dashboards. With the free SDK kits available, they’re the first of a flood of apps that will provide useful content and services that help the driver without causing distraction—they use voice commands to avoid fiddly keypad text entry.

Great, more dumb assess distracted on the road.

Ubuntu 12.10 “Quantal Quetzal” takes flight with a bag full of Juju

Ubuntu 12.10 “Quantal Quetzal” takes flight with a bag full of Juju

Ooops!! Google accidentally releases poor earnings report early, stock plunges

Arstechnica:

There’s bad news to come in Google’s earnings call later today. But the news was supposed to come a few hours later, and with a presumably sunny quote from CEO Larry Page.

That’s not how it went down, however. Somebody at the search giant filed their earnings with the SEC early, and the press release is clearly a version not meant for public distribution—it’s marked “PENDING LARRY QUOTE” at the top.

The earnings themselves are pretty terrible. The company earned $2.74 billion during the third quarter, as opposed to $3.06 billion during the same quarter last year. That’s $9.03 in earnings per share, well below analysts’ expectations of $10.65 per hour.

Google stock dropped almost $70 on the accidentally released news, hitting $687.30 per share before the company halted trading.

Someone in Mountain View, California is looking for a job right now.

Ooops!! Google accidentally releases poor earnings report early, stock plunges

Facebook will now really delete your pictures.

Ars Technica:

It has been more than three years since Ars first started covering Facebook’s inability to remove “deleted” photos from its servers, but this particular saga appears to be coming to an end. The company told Ars that its new photo storage systems are in place and are now deleting photos within a reasonable period of time, which we were able to independently confirm.

Then again, if the photo is not the kind of photo you would like to stay there forever, you shouldn’t put it there in the first place.

Facebook will now really delete your pictures.

Curiosity lands on Mars

Curiosity lands on Mars

Sea levels will continue to rise even if we cut emissions

Arstechnica:

“According to the simulation results, even in the best-case scenario, sea levels will still be rising for another three hundred years.”

Sea levels will continue to rise even if we cut emissions