Techmeme: How the NSA's QUANTUM internet attack system works (Nicholas Weaver/Wired)

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March 15, 2014, 5:35 PM

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Nicholas Weaver / Wired:

How the NSA's QUANTUM internet attack system works — A Close Look at the NSA's Most Powerful Internet Attack Tool — We already knew that the NSA has weaponized the internet, enabling it to “shoot” exploits at anyone it desires. A single web fetch, imitated by an identified target …

More: The Intercept, theWHIR.com and Nextgov

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Warner Brothers to “Veronica Mars” Backers: OK, OK — Use iTunes or Amazon if You Want — “Veronica Mars” was supposed to be a triumphant mix of Hollywood and crowd-sourcing: Fans of Kristen Bell's old TV show, aided by Kickstarter, helped fund a movie version, in conjunction with Warner Bros.

More: Flavorwire and Deadline.com. See also Mediagazer

Moisés Chiullan / TechHive:

Why Veronica Mars embraced UltraViolet and angered fans — The campaign to revive Veronica Mars delivered a number of cool things—an enormous number of new Kickstarter users and, lest we forget, a full-length motion picture of a deeply loved TV series that arrived Friday.

More: Gigaom, Kickstarter, Engadget, The Wrap, Deadline.com, The Wrap, iMore, IGN, Hollywood Reporter, Boston Herald, The Kickstarter Blog and The Next Web. Thanks:@jsnell. See also Mediagazer

Andrew Cunningham / Ars Technica:

Refinements, additions, and un-breaking stuff: iOS 7.1 reviewed — Time to update! iOS 7.1 is here, and it fixes a lot of iOS 7.0's biggest problems. — Aurich Lawson — There were about six months between the ouster of Scott Forstall from Apple in late October of 2012 and the unveiling of iOS 7.0 in June of 2013.

More: iMore, Gotta Be Mobile, Cult of Mac, MacNN, ZDNet, Phones Review, VentureBeat, BGR, Redmond Pie, SiliconANGLE, Business Insider, 9to5Mac, iPhone Hacks, Softpedia News and iLounge

Fred Wilson / AVC:

Are we in a bubble? Valuations of high growth tech companies will remain high as long as interest rates stay low — The Bubble Question — Everywhere I go, everywhere I speak, I get asked this question. Are we in a bubble? — I've been getting asked that question for at least four years now.

More: Trends. Tweets: @garrytan and @mikebutcher

Nicholas Carlson / Business Insider:

Motorola Had Plans For A Super-Powered Google Phone, But Larry Page Refused To Make It Happen — When Google bought Motorola for $12.5 billion in 2011, there was lots of talk that Google would revamp its Android division in the image of Apple. — Many people, including people at both companies …

More: The Information, TechHive and Ubergizmo

Jillian C. York / Electronic Frontier Foundation:

Reporters Without Borders includes US and UK in its 2014 “Enemies of the Internet” index — A Short Guide to the Internet's Biggest Enemies — Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released its annual “Enemies of the Internet” index this week—a ranking first launched in 2006 intended …

More: Poynter, The Switch, ANIMAL and The Connectivist. See also Mediagazer

Gautham Nagesh / Wall Street Journal:

US Commerce Department prepares to give up oversight of ICANN — U.S. Plans to Give Up Oversight of Web Domain Manager — Move Seen in Response to International Concern About Country's Control Over Internet Structure — The U.S. government is preparing to relinquish oversight of a key body …

Ben Gilbert / Engadget:

Oculus VR, EA, Avegant and others join to form ‘Immersive Technology Alliance’ — Well, this is certainly a motley crew: a variety of companies in the virtual reality space are teaming up to create the “Immersive Technology Alliance.” The group is an evolution of an earlier consortium …

More: PC World, computerandvideogames.com, Tom's Hardware Guide and VG247. Thanks:@realbengilbert

Casey Newton / The Verge:

Hucksters and hustlers: inside the hidden brand orgy of SXSW — Half a decade ago, some of the brightest minds at South By Southwest Interactive came together to create the worst website in the world. Jeffrey Bennett proposed online image search for the blind.

Juan Carlos Torres / Android Community:

Google Play Store update lets you require a password for every purchase — Google has just started rolling out an update to the Play Store app on Android that, among other things, now offers more fine-grained control when making purchases. This change could very well be related to the class action suit that the company is now facing.

More: Android Police, The Verge, Digital Trends, Gizmodo, TechnoBuffalo, BGR, Pocketnow, Gotta Be Mobile, Droid Life, PC Magazine, MobileSyrup.com, AndroidGuys, Electronista and Engadget

Suchitra Mohanty / Reuters:

India court rejects Nokia appeal over asset transfer to Microsoft — (Reuters) - India's Supreme Court on Friday ordered Nokia to give a 35 billion rupees ($572.5 million) guarantee before it transfers one of its biggest mobile phone plants and other assets in the country to Microsoft Corp.

More: PhoneArena, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, TechnoBuffalo, International Business Times, Business Standard, The Economic Times, The Financial Express, thehindubusinessline.com, bgr.in, Quartz, India & World and bgr.in

Ed Christman / Billboard:

Rate Court Judge Rules Pandora Will Pay ASCAP 1.85% Annual Revenue — In what is being viewed as a defeat for songwriters, the ASCAP/Pandora rate court judge has decided that Pandora will pay the performance rights organization a rate of 1.85% of annual revenue.

More: New York Times, SlashGear, Associated Press and Bloomberg

Tweets: @rhettmiller and @edchristman

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