Post by jeffolie on Jun 9, 2012 11:17:33 GMT -6
The week in tech: 5 must-know things
USA TODAY
Too busy changing all your passwords to pay attention to this week's tech news? That's OK. We have you covered. Here are this week's most important tech stories.
Tim Post, AP
6.5 million LinkedIn passwords were stolen this week.
Hackers reveal millions of passwords
LinkedIn, eHarmony and Last.fm were the latest of a growing list of companies to have user passwords stolen.
LinkedIn, which had 6.5 million passwords stolen, says that as of now no user has reported unauthorized access of his or her account.
Common sense ways to protect yourself
•Don't use the same password for multiple sites. If one password is leaked, a hacker can try it on multiple different accounts. Don't think adding an extra letter or two counts as "different." It doesn't. Have truly unique passwords for all sites.
•Create a strong password. That means no "1234" or "JoeSmith1." Combine seemingly random letters and numbers for a strong password.
•Worried about remembering all these random passwords? Then create a password phrase. Use a mnemonic, like you did in grade school, to keep passwords straight. So your Facebook password can be "isal5hadh," which equates to "i spend at least 5 hours a day here." Apologies if we just outed your password.
2. Nintendo shows off next-gen Wii
The Wii U uses many of the first Wii's tricks but adds a twist: It comes with two screens.
The Wii U game console's controller comes with a small screen embedded within it. The "tablet controller" can be used in tandem with regular Wii controllers and can act as a "social window."
When can I buy it?
Not yet. Nintendo didn't reveal exactly when the Wii U would hit stores, but an executive did say it would be available this "holiday season."
OK, well how much will it cost?
Another mystery. All this info will be coming this year.
3. Crowds watch last-in-lifetime Venus transit
Venus passed between the sun and the Earth on Tuesday, briefly appearing as a pea-sized dot crawling across the yellow disk. The transit took nearly seven hours from start to finish.
Quick facts
•This was the first time Venus transited the sun since 2004. It won't happen again for 105 years.
•Though Venus is about the same size as Earth, a day on the planet is 117 times longer than ours.
•Venus is nearly 900 degrees Fahrenheit, or nearly three times as hot as your oven should be when baking brownies.
4. Big carriers get into prepaid phone game
Looking for an iPhone but don't want to be locked into a two-year contract? Then head over to Cricket or Virgin Mobile USA.
You can get the iPhone 4 from Cricket for $399.99 and a $55-per-month unlimited voice, text and data plan. Virgin Mobile offers the iPhone for $549. For $30 per month, you can get unlimited data and text plus 300 minutes of call time.
5. Female tech executives hammer glass ceiling
Women are making inroads into the male-dominated Silicon Valley scene but are still vastly under-represented. Only 3% of tech start-ups were founded by women.
But company founders and leaders are coming out of Google, Salesforce.com and elsewhere for the excitement of shaping a young business.
Quick facts
•An informal poll indicates that the number of women starting tech companies has doubled over the past three years.
•Only 11.7% of the 120,000 computer-science graduates in 2011 were women.
•1% of venture capital money was invested in companies run by female CEOs in 2010.
The top 5 most popular stories in tech
1. Eyes turn skyward as Venus travels across the sun
2. Nintendo's Wii U a 'Swiss Army knife' for games
3. Virgin Mobile offers iPhone as no-contract market gains steam
4. Bat with supertongue seen for first time in Nat Geo series
5. How long should you hang on to IE8?
www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-06-08/top-tech-news/55462178/1
USA TODAY
Too busy changing all your passwords to pay attention to this week's tech news? That's OK. We have you covered. Here are this week's most important tech stories.
Tim Post, AP
6.5 million LinkedIn passwords were stolen this week.
Hackers reveal millions of passwords
LinkedIn, eHarmony and Last.fm were the latest of a growing list of companies to have user passwords stolen.
LinkedIn, which had 6.5 million passwords stolen, says that as of now no user has reported unauthorized access of his or her account.
Common sense ways to protect yourself
•Don't use the same password for multiple sites. If one password is leaked, a hacker can try it on multiple different accounts. Don't think adding an extra letter or two counts as "different." It doesn't. Have truly unique passwords for all sites.
•Create a strong password. That means no "1234" or "JoeSmith1." Combine seemingly random letters and numbers for a strong password.
•Worried about remembering all these random passwords? Then create a password phrase. Use a mnemonic, like you did in grade school, to keep passwords straight. So your Facebook password can be "isal5hadh," which equates to "i spend at least 5 hours a day here." Apologies if we just outed your password.
2. Nintendo shows off next-gen Wii
The Wii U uses many of the first Wii's tricks but adds a twist: It comes with two screens.
The Wii U game console's controller comes with a small screen embedded within it. The "tablet controller" can be used in tandem with regular Wii controllers and can act as a "social window."
When can I buy it?
Not yet. Nintendo didn't reveal exactly when the Wii U would hit stores, but an executive did say it would be available this "holiday season."
OK, well how much will it cost?
Another mystery. All this info will be coming this year.
3. Crowds watch last-in-lifetime Venus transit
Venus passed between the sun and the Earth on Tuesday, briefly appearing as a pea-sized dot crawling across the yellow disk. The transit took nearly seven hours from start to finish.
Quick facts
•This was the first time Venus transited the sun since 2004. It won't happen again for 105 years.
•Though Venus is about the same size as Earth, a day on the planet is 117 times longer than ours.
•Venus is nearly 900 degrees Fahrenheit, or nearly three times as hot as your oven should be when baking brownies.
4. Big carriers get into prepaid phone game
Looking for an iPhone but don't want to be locked into a two-year contract? Then head over to Cricket or Virgin Mobile USA.
You can get the iPhone 4 from Cricket for $399.99 and a $55-per-month unlimited voice, text and data plan. Virgin Mobile offers the iPhone for $549. For $30 per month, you can get unlimited data and text plus 300 minutes of call time.
5. Female tech executives hammer glass ceiling
Women are making inroads into the male-dominated Silicon Valley scene but are still vastly under-represented. Only 3% of tech start-ups were founded by women.
But company founders and leaders are coming out of Google, Salesforce.com and elsewhere for the excitement of shaping a young business.
Quick facts
•An informal poll indicates that the number of women starting tech companies has doubled over the past three years.
•Only 11.7% of the 120,000 computer-science graduates in 2011 were women.
•1% of venture capital money was invested in companies run by female CEOs in 2010.
The top 5 most popular stories in tech
1. Eyes turn skyward as Venus travels across the sun
2. Nintendo's Wii U a 'Swiss Army knife' for games
3. Virgin Mobile offers iPhone as no-contract market gains steam
4. Bat with supertongue seen for first time in Nat Geo series
5. How long should you hang on to IE8?
www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-06-08/top-tech-news/55462178/1