Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – July 6, 2012

The Best Google Features You’re Probably Not Using – Google is a vast machine with all types of apps, programs, and tools. A lot of these—like Gmail and Google Docs—are clearly useful and beloved by many. But hidden inside Google’s network are some awesome, lesser-known gems that can make your life easier.

Five free tools to keep Windows systems in top shape – A little preventive maintenance can go a long way toward keeping Windows systems optimized and healthy.

Five indispensable free apps to carry on a USB stick – You can’t always anticipate which tools you’ll need to fix a tough problem in the field. Here are some handy ones to take with you… just in case.

Five password recovery tools to use in a pinch – When you’ve lost a critical password for a system you administer, one of these tools may save the day.

DNSChanger Malware Set to Knock Thousands Off Internet on Monday – Here’s how to find out if your computer is infected, and what to do if it is.

Turn your photos into cash – Take a photo on your iPhone, upload it to this service, then sit back and wait for the money to come pouring in. At least, that’s the goal.

PC Building Best Practices: Software – In the second part of our PC building best practices series, we outline a number of issues that can arise when you’re configuring and installing software on a newly built PC.

How to share your iTunes account with multiple iOS devices – Sharing your App Store or iTunes account with a family member while keeping iCloud separate is possible, and easy!

Ten Cool Metro Apps for Windows 8 – Windows 8 final release is near and Metro apps are already available for Microsoft’s latest operating system. Take a look at ten of the best apps for Metro.

Google Nexus Q: Pricey and Paltry App Selection – Attractive, yet pricey, and with a disappointing selection of apps, Google’ Nexus Media Hub poses little threat to competitors on the market.

At least three Kindle Fire 2 tablets, one with 4G, on the way – A bunch of new Kindle Fire tablets are on the way, according to NPD DisplaySearch. Watch your back, Google.

WikiLeaks Releases 2.4 Million Syria Documents – WikiLeaks today began publishing more than 2 million emails from Syrian political figures, ministries, and associated companies, marking one of the group’s largest document dumps since its inception in 2006.

How far will tech firms go to help oppressive governments? – Pew Study surveys industry experts to see what they think the future holds for corporations and their relationships with governments and consumers when it comes to Internet repression.

Security:

Phonebook-slurping, spam-sending app found in App Store – A malicious app that slurps mobile users’ phonebooks and uploads them to a remote server has been spotted being offered both on Google Play and Apple’s App Store.

Microsoft to release nine bulletins – The Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification for July 2012 contains nine bulletins, with three listed as “critical” and six listed as “important.” Many are expecting a patch for CVE-2012-1889: a vulnerability in Microsoft XML Core Services, which is currently being exploited in the wild. Microsoft released a temporary fix for this last month, and hopefully organizations will apply that while Microsoft works on a permanent fix; however, it isn’t clear whether that will be issued in the July Patch Tuesday release.

Pseudorandom domain name generation and the Blackhole exploit kit – Take a look into the latest widespread attack against legitimate websites, in which many sites are hacked in order to redirect users to exploit sites.

“$50,000 Facebook reward” leads to surveys and other scams – If you receive an email or a message on your Facebook account purportedly sent by the social network and telling you that you have won $50,000, ignore it completely and delete it instantly. As inviting as the offer may seem, it means only trouble. If you follow the link you’ll end up on a “prize” website where you will first be asked to share your email address and then to complete a few surveys in order to qualify for a free gift voucher.

Spam campaigns using popular companies on the rise – In June, GFI threat researchers observed two fresh spam campaigns linking to Blackhole exploits which posed as confirmation emails from Twitter and Amazon. Delta Airlines similarly had their brand misappropriated in a spam campaign meant to infect users with Sirefef and rogue antivirus software.

Company News:

Report: Apple Revving Up Quad-Core Chip for iPhone 5 – Apple is turning to Samsung’s Exynos 4 design, now appearing in the 1.4Ghz, quad-core SoC powering the Galaxy S III, for its next-gen iPhone, DigiTimes reports.

Archos Unveils 9.7-Inch ICS Tablet to Kick Off ‘Elements’ Line – Carrying a $250 price tag, the 16GB Archos 97 Carbon is billed as a ‘complete media device’ joined at the hip to Google’s cloud-delivered apps, content, and services properties.

$99 Android game console is in the works – There’s a team of developers working on an Android device that does nothing but bring Android games to your TV. That is at least the focal point of the device, which apparently carries the code name “Ouya.” It doesn’t appear to have an official license from Google yet, and it’s unclear if the developers intend to go that route.

Traffic App Waze Passes 20 Million Users – The free community-based traffic and navigation app Waze on Thursday announced a major milestone — it has passed 20 million users.

Webopedia Daily:

Ubuntu TV – A nascent Smart TV project from Canonical, the commercial team responsible for the Ubuntu Linux-based operating system. Ubuntu TV is designed to harness the power of Ubuntu in integrating broadcast TV, time shift / PVR capabilities, online box office movies, cloud storage of multimedia content, apps and streaming media without the need for wires, connectors or additional set-top boxes. While Ubuntu TV is built into the TV itself, its power and capabilities are also designed to extend beyond the TV to personal computers and laptops as well as Android-powered and iOS-powered mobile devices.

Off Topic (Sort of):

Why Does Google Make So Many Flops? – I don’t think there is another company that is investing in as many cool, cutting edge projects as Google. Then again, I can’t name another company that has had as many flops either.

Smartphone Shoppers Actually Increase In-Store Sales – They call it “showrooming,” and to hear the nation’s retailers and other experts fret about consumers using smartphones to buy online while shopping in stores, it’s the worst thing to happen to brick-and-mortar sales since Jeff Bezos started a website to sell books. Except it’s not.

Bandwidth problems? DIY fibre could dig you out of a hole – Waiting for an incumbent telecoms supplier to install real broadband can be futile. And a spot of DIY is often far easier than you might think.

5 Things I Learned at TEDGlobal – There were many sights, sounds, and ideas to digest at TEDGlobal. Here are five of the most intriguing.

How to start your career as a security pro – Dominic Vogel offers some tips for getting starting in the information security field whether you’re just starting out or looking to make a career change.

Today’s Quote:

“Don’t ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up.”

–     G. K. Chesterton

Today’s Free Downloads:

Zimbra Desktop – If you’re looking for an alternative to Microsoft Outlook–or simply an email client/calendar/contact manager with a more modern, less proprietary view of communications–it could well be the free and open-source Zimbra Desktop.

PDF Form Filler – With PDF Form Filler, you can place text anywhere on any PDF, check boxes, insert notes or images, and even add drawings. Plus, you can introduce items even when the PDF has been password-protected to prevent editing. It’s very basic: Almost the same as printing out the PDF and taking a pen to paper, only it’s more efficient, conserves your ink, and lets you save your amended file as a PDF.