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Popular music sharing and MP3 download website Soundclick.com, is down with no resolution in sight. Confused users woke up this morning unable to reach or even view the site. Many took to Twitter to voice their concerns, resulting in a terse response from @Soundclick saying, “The site is currently down, sorry. We’re working on it!” This tweet came about an hour ago and we haven’t heard anything since.

Established in 1997, SoundClick is one of the original social media music services. They boast nearly 3.4 million members and 70+ million monthly pageviews. The site is popular among marketers, artists, and music fans for sharing and discovering new music.

CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg has been named Person of the Year by Time Magazine. This decision comes despite the fact that Assange of WikiLeaks won the reader poll, causing some to say Assange was robbed.

What just happened? In less than seven years, Zuckerberg wired together a twelfth of humanity into a single network, thereby creating a social entity almost twice as large as the U.S. If Facebook were a country it would be the third largest, behind only China and India. It started out as a lark, a diversion, but it has turned into something real, something that has changed the way human beings relate to one another on a species-wide scale. We are now running our social lives through a for-profit network that, on paper at least, has made Zuckerberg a billionaire six times over.

It cannot be argued that Facebook has major implications in our lives today. Whether you actually use the site or not, it still changes the dynamic of how we do things and brings to light privacy, technology, and social issues that we would otherwise not think about.

The photo chosen for the cover is pretty creepy, especially when you consider the privacy issues Facebook has struggled with. As RWW points out, “TIME obviously wanted to imply something about Facebook’s privacy issues by choosing a photo where the young CEO seems to gaze right into your soul, as if he knew all your deepest, darkest secrets.”

Does Zuckerberg actually deserve Person of the Year? That’s still up in the air as far as many are concerned. What do you think?

According to a former government contractor who worked on the OpenBSD operating system, the FBI installed back doors into the encryption algorithms. This would have given them access to snoop on data that would have otherwise been near impossible to access. The allegations were made public on Tuesday by the lead developer in the OpenBSD project Theo de Raadt.

In a message sent to Raadt by George Perry, he states:

My NDA with the FBI has recently expired, and I wanted to make you
aware of the fact that the FBI implemented a number of backdoors and
side channel key leaking mechanisms into the OCF, for the express
purpose of monitoring the site to site VPN encryption system
implemented by EOUSA, the parent organization to the FBI. Jason
Wright and several other developers were responsible for those
backdoors, and you would be well advised to review any and all code
commits by Wright as well as the other developers he worked with
originating from NETSEC.

Very serious accusations that could completely undermine the OpenBSD Operating system. It seems interesting that Raadt would go public with this and not try to handle it discretely. OpenBSD is a popular OS for many critical systems. In a message to the OpenBSD discussion list, Raadt says:

“The mail came in privately from a person I have not talked to for nearly 10 years. I refuse to become part of such a conspiracy, and will not be talking to Gregory Perry about this. Therefore I am making it public.”

via Computer World

Google Latitude is the service to use if you want people to be able to track your location wherever you go. Rather than requiring you to check in at every stop, Latitude continuously shares your location in the background as you move. The perfect tool for keeping tabs on your kids, loved ones, or significant other (with their permission, of course).

Since launching last year, Latitude’s focus has always been on one goal: make it simple to stay in touch with friends and family by sharing where you are with each other. Simple setup. Simple sharing without fumbling for your phone. Now, you can use Latitude on your iPhone just like the more than 9 million people actively using it from Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, and Windows Mobile smartphones. Use the app to:

• See where your friends are
• Share your location continuously with whomever you choose
• Contact friends by phone, text message, or email
• Control your location and privacy

Google even takes a jab at the current crop of location-based services when they mention not having to fumble for your phone. While the ease of having my phone automatically share my location is enticing, I’m not sure if I’m that much of an oversharer.

It’s important to note that Latitude is complete apt-in and you have complete control over your privacy settings. You can download Latitude for iPhone in over 15 languages and 45 countries.

via Google Mobile Blog

Nokia has announced that their flagship E7 slider phone will be delayed until early 2011. “to ensure the best possible user experience on the E7 we have decided to begin shipping it in early 2011,” a spokesman for Nokia said on Tuesday. The E7 is similar to the Nokia N8, which experienced a similar rollout delay earlier this year.

According to Engadget, the delay was caused by a “minor durability issue.” It makes sense for Nokia to ensure they’re launching a quality product, but missing the holiday season is definitely not good for business, especially with the competition going full steam ahead.

“This rounds out a miserable year for Nokia with regards getting the new generation of Symbian phones out the door,” said Ben Wood, research director at British consultancy CCS Insight.

via Reuters

By now, most of us are familiar with the WikiLeaks website and Julian Assange who runs it. The site recently leaked a large number of documents and was basically forced out of the US. The story of WikiLeaks became bigger than the content they had leaked, a situation which former number two at WikiLeaks Daniel Domscheit-Berg will try to avoid by creating OpenLeaks. The goal is to create a conduit of information and avoid the messenger becoming more important and popular than the message.

One of the big things that Openleaks will do away with is any sort of person becoming synonymous with it. When you think of Wikileaks you naturally think of Julian Assange, which is not how Openleaks wants to go about doing things. It doesn’t want a public “face” lest ego get involved, nor does it want any perceptible single point of failure.

OpenLeaks “aims to provide the technological means to organizations and other entities around the world to be able to accept anonymous submissions in the forms of documents or other information.” Rather than being a source of information, OpenLeaks will only be the gateway. A hands-off approach will put the burden of vetting the information on the media and users.

via CrunchGear

Gawker has been under attack this weekend. Most have falsely lumped these attacks in with those from the Anonymous 4Chan group that went after the RIAA/MPAA and more recently defended WikiLeaks by going after sites like Paypal and Amazon. The group of hackers call themselves “Gnosis” and offered exclusive commentary to Mediaite as to the reason for these attacks. In short, Gnosis found that Gawker was saying things that they couldn’t let slide:

We went after Gawker because of their outright arrogance. It took us a few hours to find a way to dump all their source code and a bit longer to find a way into their database.

We found an interesting quote in their Campfire logs:

Hamilton N.: Nick Denton Says Bring It On 4Chan, Right to My Home Address (After
The Jump)

Ryan T.: We Are Not Scared of 4chan Here at 210 Elizabeth St NY NY 10012

I mean if you say things like that, and attack sites like 4chan (Which we are not affiliated to) you must at least have the means to back yourself up. We considered what action we would take, and decided that the Gawkmedia “empire” needs to be brought down a peg or two. Our groups mission? We don’t have one.

The Gawker attacks and subsequent release of usernames and passwords has larger implications than just a blog network. It’s speculated that the recent Acai berry “worm” reported by Mashable is actually related to this attack. Those using the same login and password for Twitter that they use for Gawker sites like Lifehacker, may have been compromised. The Next Web details what data has been released by the hackers so far.

Military Bans Removable Media

In an interesting twist in the WikiLeaks saga, the U.S. military has banned the use of all CDs, DVDs, thumb drives and every other form of removable media. The punishment isn’t death, but transferring files via Sneakernet may risk a court martial.

Maj. Gen. Richard Webber, commander of Air Force Network Operations, issued the Dec. 3 “Cyber Control Order” — obtained by Danger Room — which directs airmen to “immediately cease use of removable media on all systems, servers, and stand alone machines residing on SIPRNET,” the Defense Department’s secret network. Similar directives have gone out to the military’s other branches.

Pfc. Bradley Manning, who claims to have leaked a number of documents to WikiLeaks, says he “downloaded hundreds of thousands of files from SIPRNET to a CD marked Lady Gaga.” This is only one in a number of moves the government is making to keep their data more secure. It makes you wonder if Paul Carr is right. In a recent post, he says that “maybe millions” of people previously had access to these “secret” government documents. Now, since this whole WikiLeaks thing, we may never see a leak like this again.

Now, however, thanks to Wikileaks, all of that is likely to stop. What’s also likely to stop is the routine documenting of casual conversations, the candid sharing of opinions between allies – and a whole bunch of other acts of openness which if Wikileaks actually meant a word it said, the organisation should be all for. And for… what? So that millions of us who had no real business – beyond a basic prurient interest – in knowing what conversations are being had behind closed diplomatic doors could feel important. Well, great. Responsible openness’ loss is a few million busybodies’ gain.

via Wired

Google eBooks, Google Maps, and Gmail for Android

Google, as usual, made big moves this week across some of their most important apps. Google eBooks launched earlier this week, giving you access to millions of eBooks on your own terms. Cloud storage makes it easy to access your ebooks from multiple devices and screens. The simple interface keeps the focus on the content. Google also officially launched Chrome OS and began sending out free CR-48 netbooks pre-installed with Google Chrome OS to developers, reviewers, and a few other random folks. As part of the Chrome OS launch, the Google Chrome Web Store opened it’s doors to make it easy to find and install web applications in both the Chrome browser and Chrome OS. Google also put rumors of a Nexus Two to rest by announcing the Nexus S.

Google Maps 5.0 is coming to an Android near you and it looks pretty awesome. Not only are maps drawn using 3-D vector graphics, but the simpler data format allows for downloads of 100 times less data than the old format. This gives you faster load times, smooth zooming, rotation, and did I mention the maps are now in 3D?

The new 3D building models will start to appear as you get down to the street view level, and you can even tilt the map using a two-finger swipe gesture, altering the map’s vertical orientation to offer a sense of a building’s height. Imagine popping out of the subway in NYC and instantly recognizing where you’re at by checking out the buildings around you in 3D. 100 cities, like New York, will be supported from the outset. — via Gizmodo

The most important updates for me are in the Gmail for Android. Almost since the first day I got my phone, there were a few things I didn’t like about the Gmail app and it looks like Google was reading my mind because they’ve fixed every one in this update.

• A more advanced Compose feature allows for inline replies, so I can delete personal information from emails before forwarding them to my blogs or other social sites.
• Send messages from any of your accounts that are already configured in the desktop/web version of Gmail.
• More advanced support of Priority Inbox, including setting it as your default Inbox and manually changing priority of email messages.

Angry Birds Flies the Coop

With their insane popularity across iPhones and Android devices, it was inevitable that Rovio’s Angry Birds would get too big for their britches. Frustrated with Android’s purchasing system, Rovio made Angry Birds free with ads on the Android platform. Now, they will take that idea a step further, allowing in-app purchases of the ad-free version of the Angry Birds game via a carrier-billing system called Bad Piggy Bank. They will also begin selling virtual goods through this system, starting with The Mighty Eagle.

via GigaOm

It’s that time of year again and, based on “the aggregation of billions of search queries people typed into Google this year,” Google shows Nicki Minaj as the 4th fastest-rising search query of 2010. She comes in right behind Justin Beiber in 3rd. Google says that “Zeitgeist captures the spirit of 2010.”

If you’re like me, looking at charts and graphs is only so exciting. That’s whythe folks that brought you the Google Wave Cinema have created a video which highlights everything from the Gulf Oil Spill to the Bed Intruder. Check out Google Zeitgeist: The Video below.

via TechCrunch

Engadget has exclusive video of the Playstation Phone, now being called the ‘Zeus Z1,’ in action. Specifically, the video shows the phone running Qualcomm’s Neocore benchmark app. The phone was only able to push 24.4fps, while a similar test run on the new Nexus S did closer to 55.6fps. 24fps is probably not going to cut it on a device made mostly for gaming, but we have to remember that this is still the prototype stage. The hardware and software could be changed at any time.

Still, some are wondering if we’re just making too much of the Playstation Phone. The PSP Go wasn’t wildly successful and this new device seems to amount to the same except with phone capabilities. In any case, the fact that the rumors keep getting so much attention says that consumers are interested. Let’s just hope Sony can deliver.

It looks like Google is making good on their promise to send out free CR-48 netbooks in order to get the public using Google Chrome OS. The generic, not-so-shiny netbooks have already been reviewed by a number of sites. First impressions are positive. It’s important to remember that the goal here isn’t for Google to start manufacturing laptops just as the goal of the Nexus One and new Nexus S were not to get Google into the smartphone market. The point is to highlight Google Chrome OS.

Gizmodo calls the device the “antithesis of shiny MacBooks.” The entire netbook is in a black matte finish. There are no F-keys gracing the top of this keyboard, only the types of buttons you’d find on a web browser: back, forward, reload, and the like. The most talked-about feature of the CR-48 seems to be its speed. Not necessarily speed in general operations, but its ability to quickly jump to action with near instant shutdown and resume.

The netbook has an almost Droid-like quality, but there are some concerns. It is a netbook powered by an atom processor, so you won’t be doing anything too intense with it without delays. Flash seems to be the biggest problem with the CR-48. As Engadget points out: Adobe hasn’t built Flash acceleration yet for Linux, and there’s not a hardware acceleration chip.” This makes for a pretty bad experience on sites like Hulu and YouTube.

It will be interesting to see if laptop and netbook manufacturers take the idea of the Google Chrome OS powered CR-48 and run with it.

One could say it all started when WikiLeaks a series of U.S. diplomatic cables. These are documents containing information about our government that were supposed to be secret. Shortly after the release of these documents, the WikiLeaks website was attacked, which prompted a move to Amazon for hosting. From there, things moved pretty fast. Amazon dropped WikiLeaks, which many say was under pressure from the State Department. WikiLeaks also lost their DNS and ended up moving to Switzerland.

This was not the end, though. MasterCard, Visa, PayPal and others began denying service to WikiLeaks, tying up their finances. Upset by this turn of events, anonymous Internet users across the web decided to retaliate on behalf of WikiLeaks. Operation Payback, originally organized to protest the MPAA and RIAA, went back into effect. This is an organized group of anonymous Internet users with special software that allows them to coordinate attacks on any site of their choosing.

Operation Payback operatives primarily communicate via IRC, but have also set up Facebook pages and Twitter accounts for communications. Many of these have been shut down by Facebook and Twitter, but seem to spring right back up elsewhere. In the same way that the documents released by WikiLeaks can never be scraped completely from the web, this group continues to spread and change.

Anonymous is not WikiLeaks, and the more famous whistle-blower does not seem to be pulling the strings. Nor, in fact, does anyone. At any point, anybody can show up in one of several IRC conversations and make a case for a target. Whoever else is there registers a vote, or an argument.

While the attacks are organized, there really isn’t much organization to the Anonymous group itself. The closest thing to leaders are a group of around 10 OPs who are the ones with access to the big red buttons, but they don’t necessarily direct the group’s actions.

About ten people, called “OPs”, are able to launch an attack. If any OP abuses his power—if he fails to heed what anons call “the hive mind” in IRC conversations— the other OPs can lock him out of the chat. If any anon fails to be inspired by the target, she can remove her own computer from the volunteer botnet, reducing its effect. Anonymous is a 24-hour Athenian democracy, run by a quorum of whoever happens to be awake. It’s hard even to define Anonymous as a “group”, since not all members participate in all projects.

The group seems to wield a lot of power on the Internet as many prominent sites have faced downtime or outages once the hive mind set its sites on them. Regardless of their individual motivations, this group is no joke. Even if some entity wanted to stop them, who could they go after?

more at The Economist

Notion Ink has opened up pre-orders for their Adam tablet device today. There are some limitations though. If you haven’t been active on the Notion Ink blog, you may be out of luck.

I don’t want anyone who follows this blog to wait any more . We all are special and should get some extra benefit. The pre-booking will be available only for the ones who have posted a comment on this blog (for a limited period of time), and only after this interval the world will have the access. In short, family first! (It also means that those who start commenting NOW, are not counted in this list)

Interestingly enough, it looks like Notion Ink did a little photoshop work on their promotional graphic. In the original photo, the bezel around the screen was a bit thicker than in an image uploaded later. While Notion Ink indicates their device will be competetive with the iPad, I doubt it can magically change it’s screen dimensions.

via CrunchGear, Notion Ink, Engadget

Sony announced today that the Sony Dash, which is pretty much a tricked out alarm clock that doubles as a nifty tablet, can now get Hulu Plus subscription service. Hulu Plus subscribers will now gain access to the service’s “robust current TV offerings” directly on Dash. This includes “thousands” of the latest TV episodes, movies and more.

Hulu Plus, available for $9.99 per month, joins the existing Dash platform of more than 1,000 free apps including social networking, news, weather, sports, online radio and video and more, provided by chumby industries, inc. and Sony’s BRAVIA® Internet Video service.

“The addition of Hulu Plus serves as an ideal example of how Dash continues to evolve and improve over time” said Brennan Mullin, senior vice president of Sony Electronics’ personal imaging and audio business. “With Hulu on board, the Dash platform has the ability to deliver a huge variety of online entertainment instantly to consumers’ homes on top of glanceable, real-time tidbits of information.”

While the Sony Dash isn’t going to be putting the iPad out of business, it looks to be a pretty versatile and simple device for light tablet users. It’s currently available for about $199 at www.sonystyle.com, Sony Style® retail stores and throughout the Sony Retailer Network nationwide. And, Justin Bieber loves this thing so it must be good, right?

via Engadget, Gearlog

The Nexus Two…uh…Nexus S officially launched yesterday and those who have had a chance to use the device have some nice things to say. The quality Samsung hardware combined with the latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system make for a very snappy and pleasing experience.

As Slashgear points out, the Nexus S brings a “glossy black plastic housing, touch-sensitive buttons and general hand-feel” which is reminiscent of other Galaxy S devices. The most interesting physical characteristic is the screen, which is actually curved. It makes the phone surprisingly more useful as the screen curves to meet your fingers as you slide up and down.

Most important to note with the Nexus S is what’s under the hood. It features a 1GHz Hummingbird CPU, which is the same as you might find in other Samsung handsets. What shines is Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Compared to other Android phones with similar processors, the Nexus S provides a much snappier and responsive experience as “homescreen panes and apps whip about with no delay.”

Google CEO Eric Schmidt briefly demonstrated the Nexus S at the recent Web 2.0 Expo and Google VP Marissa Mayer was seen with one at LeWeb 2010 today, demonstrating the new Google Maps 5.0. Check Slashgear for photos and video.

What do you think about the Nexus S?