Without warning or any need based on it’s applications, iPhone gaming company Storm8 has been snooping on users’ cell phone numbers and storing them on their servers. Left unchecked, what other kind of malware might slip into the iTunes App Store?

Washington resident Michael Turner is suing iPhone game developer Storm8 for allegedly violating the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. This is after reports surfaced in August that Storm8’s games were sending information back to the company about users that download its games.

Storm8’s titles include “Vampires Live,” “Zombies Live” and “Rockstars Live,” which are all available through the iTunes App Store. All of these games collected the telephone number from every person that downloaded them and sent the numbers back to the company.

While Storm8 called the problem a bug in it’s software, it seems unlikely that the company accidentally retrieved that information from its users. It’s possible that it was an ill-advised way of identifying different users, but one that should be stopped.

What’s troubling is the amount of information that could be in jeopardy of being accessed once an application is downloaded to your phone. The only information that you must expressly consent to sending to a company is your current location.

However there is also a lot of data on your phone that isn’t as dangerous as your location, but that you probably don’t want to share with iPhone App developers. It’s quite possible that these applications could access your address book, private text messages or even your email that’s stored on your iPhone.

Hopefully this data is also being protected by Apple. Otherwise unscrupulous developers could wreak havoc on unsuspecting iPhone owners that download applications to their phone.

It’s surprising that Apple doesn’t check what information gets shipped back to the developer as part of the App Store approval process. I guess Apple is focused on more important things like keeping satire and any apps that compete with theirs out of the App Store.

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Now a days spy software is very hot product to computer user and mobile phone user. Spy means secret, detective etc. If you want to collect any information about any person or product secretly then this is a right thing for you. It is also clalled monitoring software, spying software. You can use this spy software in your mobile phone, computer, land phone, cordless phone, camera and others.

Why you need this product? Now this is computer and mobile phone era. These two kinds of technology have changed our life amazingly. No need to explain newly the beneficiary of this detects spy software.

Though the spy gear has unprecedented facility at the same time it can divert your child wrong way when they use internet, email or chatting. They may watch pornography or may be victim of sex abuse. In this regard as a conscious guardian or parents you should take care of it.

Now everybody is busy to do his own work. So it‘s not possible for you to stay always besides your child. In this regard this PC spy software and cell phone spy software product can help you so much.

Not only for child you can use it to follow up your employee or spouse too. If you think your staff probably wastes his time by illegal internet browsing or any other personal working during his office time then by using remote spy software or employee monitoring software you can warn him about his activity and duty.

If you doubt your spouse then easily you can catch the secret love story with his/her boyfriend/girlfriend by using spouse spy software. Ever wonder what you’re Spouse/Significant other is REALLY doing online? Are they cheating? Talking to people they shouldn’t be or looking as sites they shouldn’t be? Now you’ll know everything. Find out what they are really doing on their laptop when they are out of town.

How can I use this software? You can use email spy software or key stroke spy software product in your mobile phone or computer. It depends which one is used by your child employee or spouse. If you think both then you can install both software one for mobile and one for computer.

How can I get ? Actually it is very easy to get. No need to go any shop or shopping complex to buy it.There is lot of online shops who are selling this spy software. So you can get free spy software or you can order it to get download spy software in your mobile phone or computer.

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Remember that Insignia Blu-ray deck from Best Buy that I blogged about a week ago, the one you could get for $129 with a $50 Netflix coupon. Well, now it’’s just $99, no coupon required—and yes, it does Netflix streaming, too. Also: $49 Blu-ray players by Black Friday?Credit to Hacking Netflix for finding the new sale price for the Insignia NS-BRDVD3, a budget Blu-ray deck with that does 1080p upconversion for standard DVDs, on-board decoding of lossless Dolby TrueHD soundtracks (no native DTS-HD Master Audio support, unfortunately), and an Ethernet port for access to Net-connected BD-Live extras.

Just a week ago, the BRDVD3 was selling on Besy Buy’s site (Insignia is Best Buy’s house brand, by the way) for $179, although you could get it for $129 with a (now expired) Netflix coupon.

But now, Best Buy has gone ahead and dropped the price to just $99, no coupon needed—a pretty good deal, considering that the deck also streaming about 17,000 movies and TV shows from Netflix (provided you’re a subscriber). Best Buy is also selling a Wi-Fi-enabled version of the player for $199.

I haven’t seen any official reviews for the Insignia deck, but the posters on this AVS Forum discussion thread are saying nice things about it. (One user complained of poor performance from the IR remote, but managed to exchange the player without any trouble.)

The BRDVD3 isn’t the first Blu-ray deck to crack the $100 barrier. As Rick Broida at CNET.com points out, Sears has been selling a refurbished Magnavox BD player for $99, and until recently, Newegg had the same player for just $79 (it’s now out of stock, though).

Indeed, look for Blu-ray player prices to plunge as we approach the holiday season, with the NPD Group (via Video Business) predicting that the cheapest BD decks could sell for as little as $49 come Black Friday. Of course, I wouldn’t count on any Sony or Samsung players for $49, but you can be sure that rock-bottom prices on the low end of the spectrum will drag down prices for name-brand players.

So, quick survey: How low would Blu-ray player prices have to fall before you snapped one up? Or are you skipping Blu-ray altogether for streaming HD video?

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It’s Joel Waul’s rubber band ball.Waul has spent the last six years carefully wrapping and linking and stretching rubber bands of various sizes into the ball shape. The Guinness Book of World Records declared it the world’s largest rubber band ball in 2008.

On Thursday, Waul said goodbye to his creation. A team from Ripley’s Believe it or Not came to his house with a crane and hauled the 6-foot, 7-inch tall, 9,032-pound behemoth away on a large, flatbed truck.

“It’s a little bit sad to see it go, but it’s going to be appreciated by thousands and hopefully millions of people in Ripley’s museum to see and wonder, ‘What was this guy thinking?’ ” Waul said.

The ball will eventually be displayed in a far-off museum yet to be determined, so folks can marvel at Waul’s obsession.

Waul got the idea six years ago, when he saw a Ripley’s television special that showed the then-largest rubber band ball being dropped into the desert from an airplane.

“I just thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen,” said Waul, a 28-year-old who works nights restocking a Gap clothing store.

The idea of setting a world record always appealed to Waul; he recalls that as a 7-year-old in Jamaica he pored over his father’s Guinness Book of World Records.

Creating a ball was easy. He got a few hair bands together. Then some larger bands. The ball grew to the size of a boulder, and his family took notice.

“When it started getting bigger, they knew I was pretty serious,” he said.

The ball eventually got its own Web site. It got too big — and smelly — to keep in the house, so he rolled it outside.

There have been a few casualties: at 400 pounds, it rolled over his hand and sprained it. It busted his big toe. Rubber bands breaking ripped two pairs of cargo pants and broke three pairs of sunglasses.

Eventually, he wrote to companies that manufacture giant rubber bands for physical therapy, and they sent him free shipments.

The ball grew and grew. Neighborhood kids climbed on top of it. Dogs sniffed it.

“That’s his masterpiece,” said his neighbor, 25-year-old Andre Gregg. “I’m just amazed at how he did it.”

Waul and the ball have several followers on their MySpace page, but no one’s been mesmerized by the creation more than Edward Meyer, vice president of exhibits and archives at the Orlando-based Ripley’s.

“We already have the largest string and barbed wire balls,” Meyer said. “This is now my holy trinity, I guess.”

Meyer won’t say how much Ripley’s paid for the ball, which, at 25 feet in circumference, he estimates to be twice as large as the previous record holder.

People like Waul “don’t do it for money,” Meyer said. “They don’t really get rich. They decide they want to do something, and they get possessed. It’s very much Andy Warhol, 15 minutes of fame. It is the desire to be the best at something.”

Now that Waul has set the rubber bands record, he’s focused on the next challenge.

“Human torch,” he says, grinning.

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Microsoft and Verizon Wireless are all set to launch touch screen smart phone working on Microsoft softwares.It will be working on Verizon network. Named as Pink it will launch a revolution in the field of mobile technology. Initially Microsoft decided to launch Pink with windows 7 mobile software but repeated delays in Windows Mobile 7 software forced manufacturers to launch it with other Microsoft technologies. Pink will only be manufactured by sharp or Motorola.

This delay in Microsoft mobile technology is seriously hurting the future of Microsoft mobile technology very much and it is becoming very difficult for Microsoft to cope with apple smart phone sales. There are rumors that two devices have been named Turtle and pure. Microsoft is planning to launch these sets in January 2010.microsoft has already hired an AD agency to prepare Ad campaign for this project. The price of pink phones are still unrevealed by Microsoft.

Features and Specifications of Microsoft Pink Smart Phone

According to a report Software suite of Microsoft pink project is built on same platform as that of windows 7 mobile, but has nothing similar to look and feel of next windows software set to be launched by Microsoft. Also it will have some software elements of Zune HD and x-box integration.

Also Microsoft ping smart phones will offer a different messaging experience which includes advanced mailing and SMS features.

Turtle will have a T9 keypad in place of QWERTY keyboard. Along with this it will feature a 5 mega pixel camera for high quality pictures. It will support a 3.5mm stereo headset jack for best connectivity. Turtle is designed to look like a palm phone.

Pure with other features of turtle will support an 8 mega pixel camera. It will give feel of a slider phone

According to technology experts the new pink touch screen smart phone will set a huge competition for apple i-phone in the category of multimedia smart phones.

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Samsung the world leader in electronics product manufacturing launched two new netbooks Samsung N130 and N140. Samsung is planning to replace their Samsung NC10 model which is the older one and was very successful in market. You can buy New models from amazon.com for $350.99 and from Buy.com for $328.99.

Features and specifications:

• These netbooks come with 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 which is powering most of the successful netbooks
• It will run on windows XP Home edition Platform.
• Display of 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixels makes these netbooks a bit superior.
• With a RAM of maximum 1GB these netbooks can repel some buyers.
• These netbooks come with a Hard Disk of 60GB, with 2.5″ 5400rpm.
• For I/O these netbooks are equipped with 3 USB, SD card slot, VGA, headphone and mic.
• For Connectivity 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Ethernet are provided.
• Equipped with 6 cell, 4000mAh battery they will give good results.
• These are equipped with a 0.3MP camera.
• It supports 1.5 W x 1 speakers which are good enough for a netbook.

Samsung is having lots of hope from this new launch of netbooks and according to sources it will put them in a league of best netbook manufacturers

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It’s hard to imagine what life was like before the Internet. Yet as wonderful as it is to have so much information so readily available, it can be overwhelming. Take “grocery coupons,” for example. Type that into Google and you’ll get 19 million results. Search “budget” at Yahoo and up pop 1.25billion options!To narrow the field, here are 21 websites to help you save—I’ve even included a couple of great couponsites, so you won’t have to sift through all those Google results.

Save Money:

1. Shop Local
Wouldn’t you love to have the weekly ad for lots of stores in your community (electronics, clothing, shoes, furniture, home and garden)—all indexed, organized and updated for you? That’s exactly what you’ll find at ShopLocal.com. In just minutes you can assess what’s on sale, and who has the best deal this week on the items you need.

2. Mommy Savers
Not just a treasure trove of coupon codes, printable coupons, freebies and bargains, MommySavers.com is also a comprehensive site that provides the support moms need to live the frugal life. Its informative articles, e-books and Web videos provide a wide variety of money-saving tips on topics such as grocery shopping, decorating, family road trips, garage sales and clothes shopping. The twice-yearly “Forget the Joneses” boot camp gives members practical steps for creating a budget and living within their means.

3. The Bargainist
If all you want is a simple, reliable listing of the hottest online bargains, sales, coupons and freebies, thenBargainist.com is for you. Recent Bargainist sightings: 40% off Citizen watches at Amazon.com, $10 tanks and tees at Eddie Bauer, up to 70% off at American Eagle plus free shipping. No need to join, register or pay a cent. Just check back often—the site is updated several times each day.

4. The Coupon Clippers
Choose exactly the ones you need at TheCouponClippers.com, one of the nation’s largest online grocery coupon clipping services. Founder Rachael Woodard has more than a million national-brand and restaurantcoupons in her warehouse and shipping center at any given time. You can order coupons today and for just a small handling fee of a few cents per coupon plus a 50¢ administrative fee per order (there’s a $3 minimum) and postage, have the coupons in your mailbox before week’s end. Last time I checked, I could get a $1 coupon for Coca-Cola for 20¢ and a $1 DiGiorno pizza for 12¢.

Get It Free, Swap, Rent:

5. The Freecycle Network
Think of Freecycle.org as the nation’s biggest swap meet— where no money ever exchanges hands. It’s organized into local groups in many communities in the U.S., and members trade items within their communities. Want to find someone to come and pick up items you can no longer use and just want to get rid of? This is the place. The best thing about Freecycle: It keeps furniture, toys, appliances and many other goods out of landfills and gets them to places where they can be used and enjoyed. Go to Freecycle.org and join the group in your area.

6. PaperBackSwap
If you’re a book lover, you’re going to love PaperBackSwap.com. Here’s how it works: First you join the club online. Registration is easy and currently free. Next, post the books you want to swap with other members. When you find a book you want, just click the “Order This Book” button. The books you receive are free and yours to keep. When another member requests one of your books, you accept the request and pay the postage to mail the book; they return the favor when they mail a book to you. Print mailing labels right from the website (typically, the postage is $2.23 to send a book under 1 pound). Credits are the unit of exchange at PaperBackSwap. When your book is received you get a credit, which you can then use to order another book for yourself.

7. Zilok
Rent just about anything that you might need to use only once: space in a garage, Guitar Hero for a weekend party, a power tool, a pickup truck. Or maybe you have things in your garage you’d like to rent out to make a few bucks. If so, Zilok.com is the website to join. Zilok is a community-driven platform that allows anyone to rent or offer for rent any kind of goods. Recently rented on Zilok: Sony camcorder, $10/day; patio heater, $20/day; pressure cooker, $6/day.

Learn Stuff:

8. USA
Bookmark this one! USA.gov is the official information and services site for the U.S. government—an exhaustive index of government agencies, services and activities. It’s simple to navigate: Just search by agency or topic (how to get grants, health updates in case of a flu outbreak, and more). It’s a great place to get tax information, register to vote, renew your driver’s license, get student financial aid, sign up for unemployment online…and on and on.

9. FindHow
Wish you knew how to cut your daughter’s bangs (or your own, for that matter) between haircuts so you could save $15 to $25 per trim without looking all hacked up? Or how about changing your car’s oil? Well, head on over to FindHow.com. Clear, concise instructions for all types of projects are just a search away. Learn everything from how to repair scratches on your car to how to install a kitchen sink to how to draw a cartoon. There’s no wading through off-base blog posts or irrelevant articles. The information is from reputable companies, colleges and universities.

10. Starfall
This one’s just too good to be true. Made possible through the vision of the Polis-Schutz family, who created the electronic greeting card company BlueMountain.com, the Starfall reading program is designed to be fun, exciting and confidence-building for young children as they learn to read. Similar to early-reading software you install on your computer (which can cost $15 to $30), the free program helps teach literacy through games. The graphics, sounds and content at Starfall.com are so outstanding you really need to check it out—even if you don’t have any kids around.

11. The Consumerist
Prepare to be entertained and educated about the top consumer issues of the day. At Consumerist.com, a subsidiary of Consumers Union, you’ll find blogs that bring you up to date on the latest scams, ripoffs and hot deals (you’ll even find a few freebies now and then). Readers are encouraged to give feedback about their everyday experiences as consumers. This is the place to complain about things like warranty repairs that never seem to be covered, health insurance claims that are denied and anything else consumer-related.

12. Lynda
Need software training (Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver)? Chances are you’ll find it at Lynda.com. For $25 a month you’ll have access to more than 40,000 video tutorials with more than 600 online courses on a huge variety of software and design topics. Sure beats the $99 to $299 you’ll pay for a single online training class at other sites, or attending a semester of night classes at a community college.

Do It Yourself

13. Big Huge Labs
Imagine having full access to a custom photo lab where you can create photo calendars, jigsaw puzzles, mosaics, trading cards and more—all from your digital photos. That’s exactly what you’ll find atBigHugeLabs.com. Access to this very cool photo lab is completely free, as are custom photo calendars, which is a lot cheaper than the $20 or more you’ll pay at your local copy store.

14. Dafont
If you love fonts but don’t like having to pay at least $29 per font set, go to Dafont.com instead. You’ll find fun fonts, unique fonts and handwriting. And you’ll love the preview feature that lets you see the entire character set or your unique text without having to download first. Many of the fonts (over 9,000!) are free.

15. Fix-It Club
These days it seems that more of us are looking for ways to repair rather than replace our appliances, cars, furniture and electronic gadgets. FixItClub.com shows you how to do ordinary household and other kinds of repairs. You’ll find hundreds of free online guides for fixing everything you can imagine, from sewing machines to fishing poles.

Manage Your Money:

16. BudgetSimple
Here’s an easy-to-use online budget that will help you figure out how to get your spending on track.BudgetSimple.com is free, the site has no ads, and you don’t need to give any information that will identify you personally. The software was designed to help people get out of debt and encourage saving. “The satisfaction I get in hearing stories from users who have gotten their finances in order has made it more than worth any time, money and effort I’ve put into the program,” says Phil Anderson, the creator/owner.

17. Annual Credit Report
This is the only place you can get truly free copies of your credit reports—one a year from each of the big three credit reporting agencies. Though your reports will come from the agencies themselves (either online or through the mail, your choice), you must enter at AnnualCreditReport.com to make sure you get out of paying a fee. Stagger your reports so you get one every four months. Then check each one carefully and dispute any information that seems inaccurate.

18. Dinkytown
Find more than 350 free financial calculators at Dinkytown.net. Do the math on mortgages, retirement savings and planning, insurance, credit cards and more.

19. Bloomberg
The budget calculators at Bloomberg.com/invest/calculators/budget.html may seem old-fashioned because you enter your information manually as you would on a paper spreadsheet. But what’s remarkable are the resulting easy-to-read charts that categorize your expenses and break down your spending so you can see what’s up with your finances.

Travel:

20. Discover America
Linked to tourism info for all 50 states, DiscoverAmerica.com offers a wealth of information in one place. An activity finder lists more than 4,000 experiences, attractions and events such as museums, parks and festivals. Without a doubt, there’s something for everyone here.

21. Mouse Savers
Any website that contains tons of great information, is run by one woman, and gets a lot of visitors (1 million a month) is a site that gets my attention. Now throw in the name Disney, and like magic you have a website that holds the keys to “the happiest place on earth!” MouseSavers.com (not associated in any way with the Disney organization) is a really exhaustive collection of tips, tricks and secrets for how to get discounts on every aspect of a trip to Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Resorts…in short, all things Disney.

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Tempted by that $250 netbook? Not so fast. A netbook is fine for a little light Web surfing and e-mail. The problem: Multimedia is now part of the computing mainstream. Just sorting through your photo library and bopping movies and music from your notebook to your media player can tax your computer’s capabilities.Your notebook needs a little graphics muscle, in addition to a zippy processor, to get a machine that can meet the expectations of modern computer users. Fortunately, you’ll find plenty of good options for $1,000 or less … and better options than ever if you’re interested in spending a little more.

Courtesy of HP

Big Screen, Small Price, HP dv6z Artist Edition 2 Series, Price: Starts at $848*

This Hewlett-Packard offering pairs a 16-inch screen with enough graphics oomph to put a decent image on that big display. This 6.47-pound machine includes an AMD Turian X2 Dual-Core processor, 2 GB of memory, a capacious 250 GB hard drive and a 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 graphics card. * Recommended configuration.

Courtesy of Toshiba

Satellite of Savings, Toshiba Satellite U500-ST5302, Price: Starts at $900*

Here’s what you want in a laptop: plenty of memory, a modern processor and enough graphics grease to keep the wheels spinning. This machine hits those three criteria, and adds a big 320 GB hard drive and 13.3-inch screen to this 4.7 pound package. Not bad for a machine with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and solid graphics. * Recommended configuration.

Courtesy of Dell

Dell of a Deal, Dell Studio XPS 13, Price: Starts at $950

This is far from Dell’s cheapest laptop. However, it’s light, it’s thin, and you can configure a system with a 13.3-inch display and plenty of computing muscle for under a grand. In review, get this with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 3 GB of RAM and a Nvidia GeForce 9400 G, and you’ll have a lightweight machine able to tackle just about any task you care to throw at it.

Courtesy of Apple

Plastic Fantastic, Apple MacBook,Price: $1,000

Apple doesn’t really do cheap. The upside: Buy a Mac, and you can be confident you’ve got a reasonably capable computer. Take the white, plastic MacBook, Apple’s most affordable notebook. It adds decent graphics capability–thanks to a Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics chip–to an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Then there’s the operating system, OS X Snow Leopard. Like Windows 7, Apple’s latest operating system uses the chip that powers the system’s graphics to give many tasks a turbo boost.

Courtesy of Dell

A Latitude With Attitude, Dell Latitude Z, Price: Starts at $2,000

Dell makes plenty of generic Windows boxes. This isn’t one of them. This slippery-thin notebook boasts a 16-inch screen. You can get it with a wireless charging system and a wireless dock. Press a button and an auxiliary processor will let you dive into your e-mail in an instant.

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In 1999, when the Web was still merely a small part of some people’s lives rather than the behemoth it is today, GeoCities was the third most-visited Web site on the Internet. Today, Oct. 26, 2009, it is being killed off forever, not just decommissioned and archived but actually deleted from the Web altogether. R.I.P. GeoCities – you will be fondly remembered.I cannot remember the date or even year when I first had the pleasure of venturing. Although, in those days it was more of a chore than a pleasure in many ways. But I do remember is that GeoCities was one of those sites everyone knew of. It was a Google, Yahoo!, or YouTube of its day.

It was actually founded in 1994 as Beverly Hills Internet before morphing into GeoCities. It was one of the first Web sites that offered ordinary Web users the chance of a piece of the action. In essence it offered everyone some Web real estate and the tools needed to populate it. And people did so in their droves, creating Web sites and blogs (of a sort) fitting all genres and niches.

At the height of the site’s popularity, and slap-bang in the middle of the dot-com era, Yahoo paid a whopping $3.65 billion for the site which then became Yahoo GeoCities. Two years later and the bubble burst. And out of the ashes came free hosting sites, proper blogging platforms, and social networks galore. Which all meant GeoCities’ time in the sun was pretty much over.

In April, Yahoo announced it was closing the site altogether, with new accounts no longer accepted from then and a date set for the complete dissolution of the site. That date is today, and GeoCities is no longer with us.

Thankfully, the Archive Team’s Geocities Project has been beavering away trying to archive as much of the site as possible before this day came. And although GeoCities and its passing will likely mean little to the majority of today’s Web community, for those of us who used it back when it was all that was available this day is a truly sad one.

I’m now wondering how much the Web will change in the next decade and which sites that are currently household names will be put to death.

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While there’s not much difference on the surface, the White House’s content management system has moved to the open source Drupal platform. It may not lower unemployment or strengthen the economy, but it’s still change that geeks can believe in.Up until recently, the WhiteHouse.gov site ran on its own proprietary content management system. In addition to it being a huge waste of time to re-code basic features, it also means that the team had to develop every single new feature for the site.

That means that whether the Obama Administration wanted to add new sections or features such as polls or video galleries, it would all have to be built from scratch. This was a huge waste of time and taxpayer dollars with little to no upside.

Then came the Obama Administration’s new media team that decided to move to a more flexible system for managing the site. The Administration called on General Dynamics to find a new CMS solution for WhiteHouse.gov.

Moving to Drupal will allow the White House site to take advantage not only of Drupal’s core content management capabilities, but also the hundreds of modules that provide additional functionality. Not to mention that all of the code provided by the Drupal community is free.

This may not be a great victory for democracy, but it is certainly meaningful for open source software as a whole. At one time many government entities shied away from open source code for fear of back-doors or shoddy craftsmanship, but not any longer.

In this case open source software proved to be the most robust, flexible and the best value even for such an important Web presence as for WhiteHouse.gov. Drupal founder Dries Buytaert calls it, “something all of us in the community should be very proud of.”

The only possibility more exciting would be if the WhiteHouse.gov team were to start contributing code back to the Drupal community. The move onto the Drupal platform is still a great first step.

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