fake

Chrome preps psychic powers, security changes

Google is preparing some important changes to Chrome's browsing behavior, with predictive powers and better download scanning protocol landing in the latest beta update.

Released today, Google Chrome 17 beta for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome Frame.

Of the multiple improvements and fixes noted in Google's Chrome 17 beta changelog, these two have the potential to affect users the most. The change in security behavior expands Chrome's safe browsing technology to scan not only Web sites visited, but downloads as well. It will analyze installation files downloaded with the browser, starting with Windows-based EXE and MSI. Google … Read more

Apple yanks fake driver's license app

Despite the existence of apps that pour digital beers, make e-fart noises, and load and fire virtual guns, Apple has decided that creating a fake driver's license is over the line and has thus pulled it from the App Store.

The decision, though, was not entirely unprovoked. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., requested the app be removed via a letter to Apple's newly appointed CEO, Tim Cook. Cook, and Apple, have obliged and the app is no longer available.

The concept of the app is a simple one. Using templates of driver's licenses from all 50 states, users … Read more

CNET is the official streaming media partner for 2012 CES

Every year, CES gets better and better. And every year, CNET has the pleasure of bringing the biggest tech show of the year straight to you.

For the 2012 International CES show, we're pulling out all the stops to bring you more video, news, photos, blogs, and reviews than ever before.

For starters, we're the official digital media and live streaming partner of CES this year. That means that we're going to live stream the heck out of this show, including every major press conference and the coveted Best of CES Awards from the CNET stage. Plus--and … Read more

Android's popularity makes it open target for malware, says study

Android's surge in popularity has triggered an accompanying surge in malware aimed at the mobile OS, says a new study today from Fortinet.

Analyzing the malware landscape this year, the security vendor tracked a 90 percent jump in Android malware families in 2011 compared with 2010. That figure doesn't account for infection rates or severity, only the rise in malware seeking to infect Android devices.

In comparison, malware directed toward Apple's iOS rose by only 25 percent over last year.

Fortinet pointed to two reasons for the larger bull's eye painted on Android's back.

Google'… Read more

The 404 915: Where we're not as think as you drunk we are (podcast)

CNET's Bridget Carey is here to talk about the imminence of the next iPhone. Signs like cases arriving at AT&T stores and the new smartphone appearing in Apple's inventory system have Wilson almost giddy.

Jeff obviously doesn't really understand why anybody would be interested in the new iPhone. It's just a different shape with more storage, right? Well, the iPhone 4S/5 may include some new patented technology that stabilizes shaky smartphone video. It might be the end of an era of vomit-inducing iPhone videos.

We also chat a bit about the crazy idea that Amazon may want to buy the beleaguered remains of Palm from HP. It seems to be a strange purchase, given that this week, Amazon seems to have a buzz-inducing product with the Kindle Fire.

It's not as crazy as Microsoft wanting to start its own TV service on the Xbox 360. That doesn't seem like a terrible idea, given the number of boxes that we have to hook into our televisions these days just to watch cable TV. In our opinion, we think it would be a lot better of a TV tuner than those generic cable boxes that seem to crash every other day.

Rounding out today's craziness, we also talk about faking a girlfriend with a Web site called Fakegirlfriend.co. Don't think that it is going to get you much help with your social life if you ever use it. Finally, we talk about the anarchy that will ensue if Facebook ever gets hacked, and your poke history is revealed.

Let us know what you think of the show by calling and leaving a voice mail at 1-866-CNET (2638). If it's good, funny and short, we'll play it. Or if the phone is foreign to you, you can send us an e-mail at the404 [at] cnet [dot] com, follow us on Twitter @the404 and like our Facebook page. OK, we're going to stop with the plugs now.

The 404 Digest for Episode 915

New iPhone appears in Apple's inventory system iPhone 5 case arrives at a AT&T retail store New iPhone may use accelerometer and gyro to stabilize video Amazon may want to buy Palm Microsoft looking into a Xbox TV service Fakegirlfriend.co lets you pretend to have a girlfriend Scientists use brain imaging to reveal the movies in our mind Facebook keeps history of pokes Justin's Bathroom Break: Kid video bombs sister's YouTube video Justin's Bathroom Break: Dog only responds to terrible Beatle's impression

Episode 915 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The 404 915: Where we're not as think as you drunk we are (podcast)

The 404 Digest for Episode 915

Episode 915 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Errant character to blame for Twitter 'hack'

In the sometimes slippery world of the Web, it can pay to cross your "t"s and dot your "i"s.

Case in point:

A colleague sent me a link to a tweet that at first seemed to show that Applebee's Twitter account had been hacked. The account had tweeted: "Poop is food."

As catchy as that tagline might be, it seems a little weird coming from a major restaurant chain. And on closer inspection I thought the page looked a bit suspicious. Only nine tweets had gone out from the account, and … Read more

Fake NY Apple stores told to surrender faux goods

Two privately owned stores in Queens, N.Y., accused of peddling unauthorized Apple accessories have agreed to surrender any fake Apple products in their inventories, according to a proposed settlement registered today in federal court in Brooklyn.

The settlement, if approved, would resolve a trademark-infringement lawsuit filed in July against defendants including Apple Story Inc and FunZone Inc, two shops in the Chinatown section of Flushing, Queens. The shops--which sell cases, headsets, and other accessories for Apple products--still say they haven't violated any Apple trademarks.

According to the trademark infringement suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York, Apple frowned upon the news that there were "Apple stores" in New York that the company didn't know about back in Cupertino. And it was probably a less-than-Lex Luthor/evil genius move for the owners of said stores to name one of them "The Apple Story." That may have been a bit of a giveaway, unless we were supposed to think the shop was a museum dedicated to the history of Granny Smiths. … Read more

uTorrent, possibly BitTorrent Web sites hacked

The Web site that hosts uTorrent was hacked by an unknown person or group early this morning. After initially stating that the "mainline" BitTorrent site had been hacked as well, the company now says that it doesn't think that BitTorrent.com was affected. BitTorrent, the owner of the Web sites and the torrent clients hosted there, reported in a blog post that the breach occurred around 4:20 a.m PT.

According to the blog, the proper executable files for both programs were replaced with "a fake antivirus 'scareware' program" called Security Shield. The company … Read more

Lady who sold fake Cisco gear sentenced to jail

We all know not to buy routers and servers from the guy in the trench coat hawking networking equipment on the street corner, but it turns out hardware-counterfeiting operations have become a bit more complicated in recent years.

A District Court judge in Virginia has ordered 43-year-old Chun-Yu Zhao to pay $2.7 million in restitution for selling counterfeit Cisco equipment. Zhao was also sentenced to 60 months in prison and stripped of her U.S. citizenship.

The Department of Justice called Zhao and company's operation "sophisticated," but the same can't be said for the Web site of her company, JDC Networking Inc., one of the venues used to hawk the fake networking gear, which looks as though it was designed for Netscape version 1.0, complete with nifty scrolling text and funky "wordart" fonts straight outta Office 97.

While Zhao and her associates weren't spending much on their Web presence, they spent plenty of their ill-gotten gains elsewhere, attempting to launder the funds by purchasing four homes in Maryland and northern Virginia and three condominiums with a total value of more than $2.6 million; a Porsche Boxster, Porsche Cayenne, and Mercedes sedan; and seven bank accounts containing more than $1.6 million. Judge Gerald Bruce Lee ordered that those assets be seized, along with Zhao's passport.… Read more