Category: Services

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Netflix Hacking Countermeasures

So one day, I noticed that my language setting was changed to Italian suddenly on my Netflix account. Very confused, I changed it back to English. Vulcan wasn’t an option. Soon, it changed back again to Italian. Upon going to “Account” –> “Recent Device Streaming Activity”, I noticed lots of activities from Italy! It could be from yet another country since VPN could hide it but then since language settings was changed to Italian, I think it is from there. I quickly changed my password and forced all devices to be logged out. Problem fixed, right?
 
That’s what I thought. That was a month or two ago. My son told me that he saw the Italian language option again on his profile. Erg. So evidently, just changing your password and forcing all devices to be logged out doesn’t really work. (FIX IT NETFLIX!) So this time, I changed email address and made the password stronger. So far so good. So here are my lessons learned:
 
  1. Check your “Recent Device Streaming Activity” at least once a month to see if your account is hacked or compromised
  2. If your account is compromised, change BOTH email and password since you can’t rely on Netflix’ own “Sign out of all devices” to work. After I had done that, both of my kids were still able to access their accounts without having to reenter information!
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From Technology Review RSS Feeds: A Startup Asks: Why Can’t You Resell Old Digital Songs?

ReDigi has technology that helps transfer ownership of digital media—but it’s already being sued by the record industry.

In the iTunes store, the hit song “Someone Like You” by Adele sells for $1.29. Head over to ReDigi, an online marketplace where people can resell the music files they’ve purchased, and there’s the track for only 59 cents.




from Technology Review RSS Feeds

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From Droid Life: Google Announces Google Fiber, the Next Chapter of the Internet

Today, Google announced Google Fiber for Kansas City. Google Fiber is the “journey to bring ultra-high speed Internet to Kansas City.” With 1GB up/down data speeds, which is over 100 times faster than America’s average broadband connection, Google is setting out to re-shape what we think of the Internet and TV as a whole. Google also introduced an entire line of hardware that will work specifically with the service, including a network box, storage box, and even a TV box. From now on, buyers will be using Google for all of their Internet and TV needs.

So, how much will it cost? Google announced three separate packages that buyers can choose from. There is a basic installation/construction fee of $300, which includes a Google Fiber team member physically coming to your home and running a fiber cable straight from the line and setting up all of the equipment for you. But, depending on which package you order, the $300 fee is waived. Here is a basic outline of the packages they will offer once roll out is ready to take place:

Packages:

Gigabit + TV:  $120/month – Sign up for a 2 year contract which then waives the $300 construction fee. Package includes 1GB up and down connectivity, full TV channel lineup (HD), no data caps, a Nexus 7 tablet to act as a remote, TV Box, Network Box, Storage Box, and 1TB of Google Driver storage space.

Gigabit + Internet:  $70/month – With 1 year contract agreement, the $300 construction fee is waived. Included in the package is 1GB up and down connectivity, the Network Box, and 1TB of Google Drive storage space.

Google is offering a third package for customers who aren’t quite ready for a 1GB commitment. They released this statement for people who want to enjoy 5MB up/down speeds for free in their neighborhoods once Google Fiber arrives in their area:

We know that not everyone is ready to commit to a gig just yet. But we want to make sure you have the opportunity to upgrade when you’re ready. So if you pre-register and your fiberhood gets installed, you’ll have the option to get a 5 megabit per second (Mbps) connection for zero monthly charge, and your home will be wired and ready for the switch. The Free Internet option will cost $0 per month, although you will have to pay a $300 construction fee (which can either be paid at once, or in $25 monthly installments).

As for everyone else who does not live in KC, Google did not hint at any other cities that will see Google Fiber anytime soon. During the announcment, they kept mentioning how long the process was and how much work it took, so it could be many years before we see any type of country-wide access.

Lucky enough to live in Kansas City and witness the birth of Fiber? Register for Google Fiber here.

Full Event Video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Promo Video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Via: Google

from Droid Life

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From Wired Top Stories: Amazon Flash Drives Put Cloud Into Overdrive

You’ll find it inside the top-secret data centers that run Google. It provides extra speed at Apple, Facebook, Dropbox, and countless other operations across the web. And now, Amazon is offering it up to the rest of the world via its massively popular cloud service, letting you slip it under your own online applications — without actually installing it in your own data center. What is it? It’s flash — the super-fast storage hardware that’s gradually replacing traditional hard disks across the web and beyond.

from Wired Top Stories

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From Ars Technica: Verizon’s shared data plans won’t save solo users much money

Verizon’s shared data plans will finally be available to customers starting June 28. Well, not exactly shared data plans—plans that share everything, including data, unlimited texts, and unlimited voice minutes. Currently, there’s no way to get shared data without an otherwise fully unlimited plan.

Verizon and AT&T have been promising shared data on family plans for some time, saying it was a logical evolution of the way phone plans have been offered. Verizon’s new plan charges an “account access” rate based on the size of the shared data bucket, and then a separate fee per device that uses the plan. The least expensive access fee is $10 per tablet, going up to $40 per smartphone. Plans start at $50 to share 1GB, up to $100 for 10GB.

The breakdown of the charges for Verizon’s “share everything” plan.

While families may have endless permutations of device combinations, one of the use cases we expected to be alleviated by shared plans is that of a single user with a smartphone and tablet. Previously, such a person would have had to buy separate data plans for each device.

 

from Ars Technica

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From Ars Technica: $422,000 to stream a movie? The continued “success” of phone cramming

If you were watching Mulholland Drive on your phone, it probably wasn’t through Streaming Flix.
Aurich Lawson

From July 2009 until December 2010, a Minneapolis-based company called Streaming Flix allegedly hit on a hugely profitable business model—slapping steep monthly fees for its online movie service on the phone bills of 253,269 customers. In total, $9.7 million was billed in that year and a half. How many movies did Americans watch after spending all that cash? 23.

That’s no typo—and it means an average of $422,000 was spent each time someone streamed a film. It also suggests that 99.99 percent of the people paying monthly fees for the service weren’t using it.

Perhaps that’s why the very first Google hit for “Streaming Flix” points to a question from one Barbara G. She wants to know what the company is and why “I am being billed for it with my AT&T bill but did not sign up for it?” The situation grew so bad that the FBI opened a probe of Streaming Flix and its related companies. In December 2010, the Bureau asked the public to send in complaints about the company.

 

from Ars Technica