Acting on a Federal Trade Commission complaint, a federal court has imposed a $163 million judgment on a woman who allegedly helped run a scareware ring that tricked over one million consumers across six countries into purchasing fake security software.

That decision, announced by the FTC Tuesday, came after a two-day bench trial last month. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett, who presided over the case, also wrote in his related judgment that the defendant, Kristy Ross, “shall be permanently restrained and enjoined from the marketing and sale of computer security software and software that interferes with consumers’ computer use as well as from engaging in any form of deceptive marketing.”

The fake software in question–often referred to as scareware, fake antivirus, or fake AV–is part a social-engineering scam designed to trick users into thinking their PC contains viruses, system errors, spyware, or pornography. The software then advertises information security software to help, which is available for immediate download. But in reality, the results of the system scan, as well as security software’s cleaning power, is fake.

* Cyber crooks’ use of server-side infrastructure used to infect PCs is increasing.

According to the FTC, Kristy Ross, together with defendants Sam Jain, Daniel Sundin, Marc D’Souza, and James Reno, served as officers and directors of two businesses: Belize-based Innovative Marketing, Inc. (IMI), and a subsidiary, Cincinnati-based ByteHosting Internet Services. The businesses were used “to conduct a massive ‘scareware’ scheme that marketed a variety of computer security software via deceptive advertising.”

According to the FTC, the operation “used elaborate and technologically sophisticated Internet advertisements placed with advertising networks and many popular commercial websites,” which purported to display the results of a “‘system scan’ that invariably detected a host of malicious or otherwise dangerous files and programs on consumers’ computers.” The scanner then urged consumers to buy software, priced between $40 and $60, to remediate the issue.

In the wake of the FTC’s complaint, which accused eight defendants in total of having violated the FTC Act, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland immediately granted the FTC a temporary restraining order requiring IMI to cease marketing and selling its software, which was sold under such names as WinFixer, WinAntivirus, DriveCleaner, ErrorSafe, and XP Antivirus. The court also froze the assets of the businesses involved.

Last month, Ross argued in court that the judgment of $163 million proposed by the FTC against her “was grossly overinflated and that she should be held liable only for the ads and products she herself marketed at MyGeek,” wrote Bennett in his judgment. But the judge said that he found the amount, which had been calculated by the FTC, was “a reasonable approximation of consumer redress.” Bennett also ruled that Ross would be jointly liable for the “consumer redress” amount with defendants Sam Jain, Daniel Sundin, and IMI.

Of all of the people charged by the FTC in this case, Ross was the only remaining defendant. Four of the others already settled with the agency, including Marc D’Souza and his father, Maurice D’Souza, who in 2011 agreed to a settlement requiring that they return $8.2 million in what the FTC dubbed as “ill-gotten gains.” The other three defendants in the case, meanwhile, had judgments entered against them by default because they failed to appear in court and participate in the litigation.

Manufacturers in China have begun assembling a new, smaller tablet computer for Apple, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. Unnamed executives from component suppliers said that production of the tablet is under way. Production typically begins several weeks before Apple brings its new devices to market.

The tablet, which many refer to as the iPad Mini, will have a 7.85-inch screen. The regular iPad’s screen measures 9.7 inches diagonally. The most stunning revelation to come from the Journal story is that the iPad Mini’s screen will not be a Retina Display. It will use the same liquid crystal display technology that the larger iPad does, but it won’t have a resolution high enough to merit the “Retina” descriptor.

Apple first introduced the Retina Display with the iPhone 4 in 2010. The iPhone 4, 4S, and 5 all have screens with resolutions higher than 320 pixels per inch, which is dense enough that spotting individual pixels is difficult. The result is that images look razor sharp and text appears as though it has been printed on paper.

Apple brought its Retina Display tech to its tablet this year with the third-generation iPad. Its display has 2048 x 1536 pixels. At 264ppi, the third-gen iPad’s display has lower resolution than the pixel density of Apple’s iPhones, but it still outmatches the resolution of most–if not all–competing tablets.

The Journal did not report what the resolution of the iPad Mini’s screen will be. Given how Apple prefers to make things easier for iOS developers, it might stick with a resolution that’s similar to its other devices. For example, it would make sense for Apple to pick 1024 x 768 pixels, which is the same resolution shared by the iPad and iPad 2. That would be a competitive resolution for a device with a 7.85-inch display, even if Apple can’t market it as a Retina Display.

When will this new tablet make an appearance? It is believed that Apple will distribute invitations to the iPad Mini’s unveiling as soon as Oct. 10. The unveiling itself might take place on Oct. 17, with an availability date to follow on or around Nov. 2.

The iPad Mini will be aimed at cheaper Android tablets, such as the Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire. These devices are sold at or near the $200 mark. Pricing for the iPad Mini is expected to range between $249 and $349, depending on storage and other options.

Apple has not confirmed the existence of the device, and most features and specifications are unknown.

The new operating system has more than 200 new features, ranging from apps that may hint at Apple’s future ambitions (like mobile payment enabler Passbook) to incremental improvements that ease routine annoyances (a one-touch button to copy a Web page address).

Much has been written about several prominent new features — Apple Maps, enhancements to the voice-recognition tool Siri, panorama shots for the camera, and the cellular connection capability for video-chat app FaceTime.

But here are some obscure changes that could be overlooked by those who don’t take the time to explore the new software.

– Larger Safari screen. Even if you don’t buy the larger-screen iPhone 5, the browsing space on the Safari browser is now a tad bigger. Turn the phone horizontally to the landscape mode, and tap on the far-right button in the bottom menu bar. The toolbar and the URL bar then disappear.

– Browsing history. You can view your browsing history by keeping your finger pressed for a second on the back-button in Safari.

– Offline reading. The share button on Safari — the middle button on the bottom menu bar — offers several options for a Web page, including mail, send text, post to Facebook, etc. But you can also click “Add to Reading List” and send it to a folder for reading the page when you have no Internet connection — an ideal tool for iPod Touch users or those who monitor monthly data limits.

– Copying URL. A handy tool for those who love to text or e-mail Web pages, the share button on Safari now has the “Copy” option for copying a URL.

– Easy updates. Many neglect to update apps because they forget their Apple ID password. IOS 6 lets you update without retyping the password. Since you’ve presumably entered the password at purchase, Apple assumes you are who you say you are.

– Answer calls with text. You can still answer a call during an important meeting. When a call comes in, a phone icon appears in the lower right-hand side of the locked screen. Tapping on it will reveal several options, including “Reply with Message” (for pre-typed text messages) and “Remind Me Later.”

– Tweet from main screen. Twitter fans can post messages on the main screen without opening the app. Open the Notification Center by dragging your thumb from the top of the main home screen and you’ll see “Tap to Tweet.” You must enable the feature in Settings by drilling down on Notifications and selecting “Share Widgets.”

– Important e-mail. The new VIP folder in the e-mail app filters messages you want to read immediately. Designate your wife or boss’ e-mail address in the VIP list and their messages will land on the folder, saving you from having to sort through hundreds of others cluttering your inbox. You can also choose to have VIP messages show up in the Notification Center.

– Easier photo insertion. In previous iOS versions, it was easier to e-mail photos by starting in the Photos app. But now, by double-clicking on any blank part of an e-mail-compose page, you can call up an option to attach a photo or video. If you don’t see the option right away, click on the right arrow.

– Private photo sharing. Wanna share photos with family members but hate Facebook? By selecting a photo and tapping the share button, you can choose to file it in a “Photo Stream” for private viewing by the individuals you designate via e-mail. The “streams” you create will be there for future use, allowing you to send more photos to the same group of individuals without having to retype e-mail addresses.

– iTunes samples. Song samples in iTunes continue to play even though you hop around in other parts of the music store, or leave it.

Sometimes we look at a project and wonder if it can ever be completed on time and within budget. This video is a great example that anything can be done with a great team effort.

Theme: ‘Falling into past – a journey around the world’
128,000 Dominoes / 127,141 Dominoes toppled
Friday, 06th July 2012
Wilhelm-Lückert-Gym Büdingen (Germany)

Builders: 10 (DominoProduktion (6), dominoday111 (2), dominofan238, Linux5324)

The longest domino wall was 30 m (98 ft 5 in) long and consisted of 31,405 dominoes. It was erected and toppled by Sinners Domino Production (Germany) at the Wilhelm-Lückert-Gymnasium in Büdingen, Germany, on 6 July 2012.

The most dominoes toppled in a 3D pyramid was 13,486, achieved by Sinners Domino Production (Germany) at the Wilhelm-Lückert-Gymansium in Büdingen, Germany, on 6 July 2012.

Thanks to:
Hessischer Rundfunk (TV)
Sat1, 1730 Live (TV)
Bäckerei Naumann
Manfred Kraft (Hall)
Susanne Gebauer, Ulrich Busch
Richard Trunk (Notary)
Claus Wilkens
Anke Hölzer
Andrea Hennecke
Stefan Höhle
Britta Groth
Andreas Englisch
Werner Libesch
Gerhard Sinner
Marc Naumann
Freddie Hoff, Kristian Teufel (Guinness World Records®)
Hans-Otto Jarmer
Maria Lamping
Daniel Benitez
others

But in raking in dozens — if not hundreds — of apps, some consumers may expose themselves to privacy risks. (This entails apps on smartphones and tablets, and those that only run on Facebook. It also includes websites that have Facebook Connect included.)

Every time a user gleefully taps into their Facebook ID and grants permission to use Instagram, Spotify or Angry Birds or CityVille, they’re unaware that social apps linked to their Facebook profile can essentially track data such as location and behavior of them and their friends.

The so-called data halo that has accumulated around people’s online activities is given to every social app the instant they get access to your Facebook ID — regardless of their privacy settings.

Secure.me has a website ((http://www.secure.me) and network (http://apps.secure.me) for the privacy weary. Its App Advisor is designed to safeguard personal information by informing consumers which apps over-collect data.

App Security Network is available. The browser extension is to be launched on Wednesday.

Get ready for a whole new case of TV envy. In stores later this year will be new big-screens, known as 4K TVs, that up the ante on HDTV with four times the resolution of sets now.

Prices expected to be $20,000 or so will limit 4K sets initially to the well-heeled. “Like the very early days of HDTV, with those kinds of price tags it will likely take up to 10 years to build any kind of mass market,” says Myra Moore, president of Digital Tech Consulting.
But setmakers are counting on 4K to jump-start the TV market — after years of falling prices and profits. DTC expects TV sales to be about flat in the near term, with 1% growth this year and 2% in 2013, even with 4K.
Sony said Wednesday that it will join the fray with a Bravia 84-inch XBR-X900 4K LED TV this year.
The 4K label is from the nearly 4,000 pixels of horizontal resolution (3,840 by 2,160), or more than 8 million pixels total. Current HDTVs offer up to 1,920 by 1,080 resolution, or more than 2 million pixels.
The 4K allows pristine video, even on very large displays. “The quality, the depth and color of the picture, it really is amazing,” says Phil Molyneux, Sony Electronics’ COO.
The 84-incher is Sony’s largest TV. It has 10 built-in speakers and also delivers 3-D video viewable with cheaper, lighter passive 3-D glasses. One European retailer has priced it at 25,000 euros (about $31,000).
Rival LG Electronics showed an 84-inch 4K display this year at the Consumer Electronics Show and announced last week that it will go on sale in South Korea next month for the equivalent of about $22,000.
LG and Sony will announce U.S. pricing and dates next week at a home tech show in Indianapolis.
Initially, there will be little 4K content to take full advantage of the set. But Sony’s set will be able to upscale video from a source such as a Blu-ray player to near-4K quality.
Sony, which has 4K digital projectors in more than 12,500 U.S. movie theaters, has a 4K camera and home projector on sale as well. Also, classic films are being remastered for 4K and some TV series, including CBS’ Made in Jersey, are being shot in 4K.
So was the Taylor Swift video We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, due out today.
But until the 4K content pipeline is flush, “we will be on the ‘classic chicken-and-egg timetable’ with 4K sets,” Moore says.

By Paul McDougall

Microsoft has unveiled a major revamp of SkyDrive, and said the cloud storage service has moved beyond the “preview” stage to become fully operational.
The enhancements include a new Web front, faster uploading and sorting, new tools for developers, and a forthcoming SkyDrive app for mobile devices that run Google Android.

The most apparent change to the service is a new home page, SkyDrive.com. The page organizes users’ documents into folders and files and presents them on tiles similar to those used by Windows 8 and Windows Phone.

It’s not all cosmetic though. The home page also offers a tool that allows users to instantly search the contents of their SkyDrive account, including searching for information within Office documents.

“We’ve updated nearly 100% of the SkyDrive UI to provide a fast and fluid Web experience on all browsers and devices,” said SkyDrive group program managers Omar Shahine and Mike Torres, in a blog post Tuesday.

The SkyDrive client for Windows and Mac OS X also gets some updates. Photo uploads are now up to 1.7 times faster, according to Microsoft. And syncing of files between the desktop and SkyDrive cloud is also much quicker and less resource intensive.

[ Understand the risks of storing unencrypted, sensitive information on cloud services. 5 Dropbox Security Warnings For Businesses. ]

“We focused on minimizing CPU time while looking for changes, which has significantly reduced the total work that we do on every scan–meaning a much faster sync experience and more time for your CPU to tackle its other tasks,” said Shahine and Torres. According to Microsoft’s tests, syncing between the desktop and the cloud is 300% faster on the new, non-preview version of SkyDrive.

Developers who want to integrate a SkyDrive storage option directly into their apps will also see some benefits from the revamped service.

SkyDrive enhancements include a home page that sports Window 8-style design.
Restrictions such as resolution limits on photos to be uploaded have been lifted, and the SkyDrive API now includes a file picker that adds SkyDrive functionality to any website with just a few lines of JavaScript.

Finally, Android users will be able to get their hands on a SkyDrive app in the coming weeks, though Microsoft would not be more specific on an arrival date. It will be similar to the SkyDrive apps already available for Windows Phone and the iPhone, according to the company.

SkyDrive offers up to 7 GB of online storage for free, with additional capacity available for purchase starting at $10 per year for an extra 20 GB to $50 per year for an additional 100 GB.

With competition from Apple iCloud, Google Drive, and cloud storage specialists like DropBox and SugarSync, Microsoft needs to continually enhance SkyDrive.

“While there’s always more to do to improve our products, these updates bring SkyDrive out of preview and ready for a billion users,” said Microsoft Windows business group VP Chris Jones, in the blog post.

Scientists working at the The Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest atom smasher, may have discovered the existence of “The God Particle.”

Discovering the particle, formally called the Higgs boson, would finalize physicists’ understanding of how subatomic particles have mass, which gives an object weight.

Two international physics teams at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, in Geneva will present their results Wednesday. Their data should reveal a definitive signature that the particle exists as seen in the atom-smasher experiments at CERN.

Physicists have been pursuing the Higgs boson for three decades to understand how particles create forces, such as electromagnetism.

To physicists, mass isn’t what we carry around on our waists, but the amount of resistance that matter produces as it’s being moved, or inertia.

In theory, the God particle, a term coined by physicist Leon Lederman to capture its elusiveness, interacts with the other particles to give them inertia.

CERN researchers reported in December they were close to discovering the particle, but the new results are built on twice as much data.

Ahead of the expected announcement, the journal Nature reported “pure elation” Monday among physicists searching for the Higgs boson. One team saw only “a 0.00006% chance of being wrong,” the journal said.

Officially, the lab is mum about the results until Wednesday. CERN technology official Steve Myers reported only that data collection for the experiments ended last month.

“We don’t actually know the answer yet. We are still doing the calculations,” said physicist Paul Padley of Rice University in Houston, who is on one of the physics teams presenting the findings.

“It’s endless fun for us to read all these news reports about the results, before we even have finished the calculations,” he said.

Martial Trezzini, AP

If the number of iPads triples from the current 67 million, they would need the electricity from one small power plant operating at full strength. But if people are using iPads instead of televisions to play video games, or ditching their desktop computers for iPads, the shift to tablets could mean lower overall power consumption. A desktop computer uses 20 times more power than an iPad.

Baskar Vairmohan, the EPRI researcher who conducted the iPad test, said the group is now studying usage to understand whether the explosion of tablets is adding to power consumption, or reducing it. Residential power demand is on track to fall for the third straight year, according to the government. A weak economy is keeping people in smaller houses and shacked up with others. At the same time, efficiency programs are pushing more efficient light bulbs, air conditioners and other devices into homes. Refrigerators use a quarter of the power they used a generation ago, according to EPRI.

For the iPad test, Vairmohan measured the amount of power used to charge up an iPad with a drained battery. He assumed that users would charge up every other day. Over a year, the latest version of the iPad consumed 11.86 kilowatt-hours of electricity. (Older versions consume somewhat less power.) The juice would cost $1.36 at the U.S. average residential price of 11.49 cents per kilowatt-hour. But there’s an even cheaper way to go than the iPad. EPRI calculated the cost of power needed to fuel an iPhone 4 for year: just 38 cents.

Computerworld – While hardware got a lot of attention at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), the event is still really about software. That’s why Apple CEO Tim Cook and other execs offered up a slew of new details about OS X Mountain Lion — due out next month — and, more importantly, unveiled iOS 6, the next version of Apple’s mobile OS.

iOS 6 will be released this fall, almost certainly in tandem with new iPhones. Much is already known about Mountain Lion, Apple’s desktop OS. But iOS 6 is a new arrival, and promises to make iPhone/iPod touch and iPad users very happy when it’s released. Apple says there are some 200 or so new features in iOS 6, though many of them are smaller tweaks and updates. But there are still plenty of additions that will change, for the better, how mobile users use their iOS devices.

Here are the five things I’m already looking forward to:

A better Siri

Siri has learned some new tricks in the months since the technology’s initial release. First and foremost, with iOS 6, Siri will become available on the latest Retina display iPads released in March. Although iOS 5 allows those iPad users to turn spoken words into text with built-in dictation, Apple’s voice assistant has remained an exclusive feature of the iPhone 4S. (iPad 2 owners are out of luck.)

Even better, the Siri service has been tied into more databases, and will have answers regarding movie info and times at local theaters, better knowledge of actors and directors, and access to sports scores, schedules and current player stats. Siri will go beyond simply recommending restaurants based on Yelp and can even allow you to book a table from Siri’s visual interface.

Also, Siri will finally be able to launch apps when told to do so. (Thank you, Siri.)

Apple is clearly trying to expand Siri’s reach and is busy making deals with automakers to integrate a Siri activation button in their cars. Marketed as “Eyes Free,” the integration deals involve most major automakers, with the notable exception of Ford, which has a license deal with Microsoft. If all goes as planned, this feature should be available in cars beginning in 2013.

Going social

iOS 6 is getting more social. Apple engineers have integrated Facebook more deeply into iOS 6, much as they did with Twitter in iOS 5. You’ll now be able to share photos and Safari links on Facebook from within the respective apps using the Share button. Among the updated apps from Apple will be Safari, Game Center, iTunes and the App Store, and by the time iOS is ready to ship, developers will have had time to incorporate Facebook into their own apps, as well.

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The Notification Center will also be upgraded to include Twitter and Facebook direct post buttons, and, even better, you can post to both services using Siri.

With iOS 6, Apple has embraced social in a big way. The question of whether it’s late to the party compared to the integration with other smartphone OSes isn’t up for debate; it is late. But now that these social sharing features are coming, people who frequently use these services will certainly appreciate it.

Note: Facebook integration will also be a part of OS X Mountain Lion, which is now due out in July.

Photo Streams

Speaking of social: I expect Shared Photo Streams to be a hit with families; I know it will be with mine. Here’s why: Most of my family lives in the Northeast, while I live far away in Florida. Shared Photo Streams allows you to create groups that are automatically notified when pictures are added, and these photos are automatically delivered to their iPhones or iPads. For instance, I can create a Family group, and the addition of any photos to that Photo Stream group will instantly alert and send those photos to any of the people listed. Being able to immediately share selected photos with my sister, parents and assorted cousins with the tap of a Share button will be fantastic, especially since Shared Photos will be using iCloud, which, unlike MMS messaging, is a free service.

When you first create a Photo Stream to be shared, there are options to create a publicly viewable page of those pictures for family and friends who don’t have iOS devices. After you select recipients, a push notification is sent to their phones. They can then view the pictures using the Photos app or, for non-iOS users, on a specially created Web page. It’s a super quick and easy way to share photos with family members and friends, and, keeping with the more social theme, comments can be added.

If you have an AppleTV, your pictures can even be transmitted to one that has access to your Photo Stream, so your Apple TV screen saver will always display the latest pictures, automatically.

A better Phone app

In iOS 6, Apple will make several useful enhancements to the phone app. When a call comes in on an iPhone running iOS 5, you can swipe the screen to answer, or press a button located at the top of the phone to dismiss it. For many of us, that means forgetting a call ever took place until much, much later.

With iOS 6, you’ll be able to slide the on-screen phone icon vertically for new options: Remind Me Later and Reply With Message. Selecting either produces still even more options, such as location- and time-based reminders under the Remind Me Later button, and a couple of canned messages for quick response under Reply With Messages. And the flourish: a new system-wide Do No Disturb, which can be manually turned on or set to activate during customizable hours.

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Do No Disturb does just that: blocks all calls and notifications, ending the annoyingly sudden bright lights of iPhones receiving emails in the middle of the night.

But there are smart touches here that can let some calls through, and you can create a custom group of people that are to be let through no matter what, even with Do Not Disturb turned on. Another nice touch: If a phone number calls more than once within a three-minute time span, the iPhone allows the call to go through, under the assumption that the call might be an emergency.

Better Maps

After keeping it mostly unchanged since the iPhone arrived in 2007, Apple has unleashed a brand new Maps app.

As expected, Apple dropped Google as a backend provider for the maps databases. Instead, it turned inward, using the talent its engineers acquired in an Open Street deal, and forging alliances with other companies that have resulted in some pretty neat tricks in the mapping service.

For starters, Maps gets a cleaned-up interface, with a Directions arrow, an address bar, and bookmarks headlining the top menu. The Maps app itself uses vector-based graphics, ensuring smooth graphics to go along with sharp text. Tapping the directions arrow brings up the Directions Interface, where you can enter start and end locations and get directions for driving, walking or mass transit — though, according to those who have use the WWDC developer build of iOS 6, the last option seems to be relegated to third-party apps. This may be a step backwards, compared to earlier iterations of Maps, but that will depend on how the feature is implemented in the final version.

The new Maps app works much like the current one and is easy to navigate: double-tap to zoom in, double-tap with two fingers to zoom out, and pinch to zoom. Maps has learned new tricks, and the on-screen maps view can now be rotated and tilted using two-finger gestures.

In addition to a new feature called Flyover, which offers 3D views of some large cities, the new Maps will get enhanced Siri integration. When you ask for directions, Siri guides you with turn-by-turn directions, using an uncluttered user interface that displays driving instructions within illustrated traffic signs. Traffic information is crowd-sourced from iPhones in the area, and Maps is quick to suggest alternate routes if heavy traffic is encountered. As a bonus, Maps will even display what’s causing the holdup.

Maps looked impressive in the WWDC keynote, and my sense is that it spells doom for GPS makers.

iOS 6 is full of additions and tweaks that promise to make the user experience for Apple’s mobile devices even better. From enhancements like password-free application updates to better social integration, this new version — which is going to be given away to existing users — will be a no-brainer once released.

Michael deAgonia, a frequent contributor to Computerworld, is a writer, computer consultant and technology geek who has been working on computers since 1993. You can find him on Twitter (@mdeagonia).