My favorite thing about this gaming concept device is that it is a hinged flat screen, kind of like a two-sided tablet. That seems to me the future of the portable UI…since you could turn it sideways and read it like a book, or lay it flat and type on it like a laptop.

Privacy is not needed on a gaming device for most things so why not add in a micro-projector? That would address most complaints about the screen size yet leave it highly portable.

President Obama has just signed the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (H.R.5116). It funds and reorganizes NIST as well as orders them to collaborate with industry on standards; I noticed a directive related to cloud security, found in Section 524: Cloud Computing Research Enhancement

(b) Establishment-

(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall initiate a review and assessment of cloud computing research opportunities and challenges, including research areas listed in subsection (a), as well as related issues such as–

(A) the management and assurance of data that are the subject of Federal laws and regulations in cloud computing environments, which laws and regulations exist on the date of enactment of this Act;

(B) misappropriation of cloud services, piracy through cloud technologies, and other threats to the integrity of cloud services;

(C) areas of advanced technology needed to enable trusted communications, processing, and storage; and

(D) other areas of focus determined appropriate by the Director.

The Fail 0verflow teams (formerly known as WiiPhonies) announced at the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin that they have hacked the PS3 and exposed Sony’s private key. Now any game or software can be signed by the public private key and it will run on the PS3.

They first broke the loader’s Chain of Trust.

memcpy(rvk_isolated, rvk_shared,*((int*)(rvk_shared + 0xlc)))

Then they found a flaw in Sony’s signing software, as satirized in the presentation with an xkcd comic; a constant number instead of a random value was used for each signature…

int getRandomNumber()
{
	return 4; 	//chosen by fair dice roll
			//guaranteed to be random
}

I wrote about SB 1411 last summer and wondered if the Governor would sign it into law. He did, and it went into effect January 1st, 2011.

Malicious digital impersonation is now a misdemeanor with fines up to $1000 and a year in jail.

I now wonder if this law will be used to prosecute cases like Michael Largent’s, who in 2008 opened 58,000 brokerage accounts under fake identities. He ran afoul of the USA PATRIOT Act identity verification requirement for financial firms and was charged with computer fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud. He impersonated cartoon characters, so presumably it would not apply, although I am certain he still could be accused of malicious digital impersonation (pretending to be Daffy Duck for financial gain).

LARGENT used false names, addresses, driver’s license numbers, and social security numbers, including the names of known cartoon and comic book characters to open the accounts. When the deposits occurred, he would transfer the funds into his own bank accounts or onto prepaid debit cards, without the authorization or knowledge of his victims. As a result, LARGENT fraudulently obtained or attempted to obtain tens of thousands of dollars, which he used for personal expenses.

SB 1411, according to the bill’s author, seems to be targeted only at stopping harassment and defamation.