Simple iPhone jailbreak doomed by security fears

As we had speculated, Apple is about to release a fix for a flaw in the mobile edition of Safari. The bug had been exploited by enthusiasts to allow a simple, no-computer-needed form of jailbreaking, but had the potential to be used for more sinister purposes.

Although the jailbreaking technique was packaged to resemble an app (for user comfort rather than to mislead people), it actually involved visiting a page in Safari on an iPhone or other device. It now appears the technique took advantage of two distinct flaws in the browser: one was that the way it handled PDF files allowed code to get into the browser, and the other was that that code could then get out of a protected ‘sandbox’ within Safari and get into the root control of the entire device.

While many people looking at the situation noted that the flaws could pose a serious security risk if used by malicious sources, Apple first responded to the issue after a warning by the German government. That’s not unusual: Germany has a department dedicated to information security and regularly advises the public against using particular pieces of software while a bug remains unpatched.

Apple now says: ” We’re aware of this reported issue, we have already developed a fix and it will be available to customers in an upcoming software update.”

In the meantime, it’s probably safer for iPhone users to steer clear of opening PDF documents in Safari, including via search engine results lists. While there’s no evidence yet of hackers exploiting the flaw, any hoping to do so will be acting quickly in a hope of getting to devices before they are updated.

The people behind the jailbreaking trick, the iPhone dev team, have kept busy however: they’ve now extended their network unlocking tool ultrasn0w to cover the iPhone 4.



Jedi Mind Trick: Not The Droids You Were Looking For [PIC]

Yep, it looks like Jedi mind tricks even work on Facebook!

[Via Blippitt]

You Have Dysentery: Oregon Trail-er

“Pa, I got me another one, that’s over 1,400 pounds of meat!”

“Son, We can only carry back 10 pounds…”

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The Sims Get All Medieval On Us

Last week I talked at length about the sexualization of women in video games, and a commenter suggested that I might want to consider just giving up and play The Sims. While I’ll try not to be insulted by the remark (um, yeah, that didn’t work), up until yesterday I really had no desire to play The Sims to speak of. While I recall, dimly, playing Sim City at a point during the 90s, it’s never really held much appeal to me. Too much nothing happening, you know? I need swords and fights and…

What? Now they’ve gone and added swords? Well played, good sirs, well played.

Yes, indeed. EA has announced The Sims Medieval, which ensures that I will lose at least a few months of my life in 2011 to questing, fighting dragons, forging swords, and keeping my little village happy.

From their release, via G4:

Everything in The Sims Medieval is crafted to create an immersive medieval world, from the quest-based gameplay, to the medieval objects such as swords and stocks and thrones, right down to the warm look of the characters, and the painterly approach to the world itself. Players can choose to customize every new Hero that comes to the kingdom, including selecting their traits and their fatal flaw. Players get close to their characters, not only sending them on epic quests, but also making sure they carry out their daily responsibilities such as healing the sick, trading for exotic goods, or forging armor. From having a baby to competing in a royal tournament, what happens to their Sims is up to the player. The time of romance and chivalry is back with The Sims Medieval.

Well, if it’s even half as good as that I’ll play it. Okay, so I don’t know what “warm look of the characters” means. From my studies of the period, I was thinking, you know, more full of boils and wallowing in filth, i.e. Monty Python and the Holy Grail. But I suppose you can’t get away with too much boom and doom in a video game. A fatal flaw also sounds a little odd, since consigning your characters to deal from the get-go feels a bit masochistic, but well, let’s hope they know well what they’re doing. I mean, if every detail has been attended to, medieval snobs like myself won’t have any issues.

And let’s hope the game is engaging, too. I agree with G4 that, for the most part, the Sims oeuvre has really tapped out. There’s only so much you can get out of the structure. But moving backward in time, well, that’s quite clever! I know it’s piqued my interest.

How about you guys? Desperate attempt to keep afloat, or perhaps a ticket to new popularity?

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Time Lapse: Gundam

Time marches on since the Green Tokyo Gundam Project built a full scale statue of a Gundam in Tokyo, Japan. Even though the original anime dates back to 1979, seeing a project like this come to life is really exciting for an anime fan like myself.

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Is cable TV the iPad killer?

In the crazy mixed-up world of modern tech, it was perhaps inevitable that we’d wind up with Verizon making a television.

The company is reported to be partnering with Motorola to make an Android-fuelled tablet device, with the key selling point being TV viewing. According to the Financial Times, that will be based around a connection with Verizon’s fiber-optic digital cable TV system (pictured). It’s no coincidence that Motorola manufactures the Verizon set-top boxes.

As is becoming standard for Android tablets, the Motorola device will have several features missing from the iPad, including cameras, a form of tethering, and support for Flash. The report also says it will be thinner and lighter than the iPad. It’ll be interesting to see if that’s done through better engineering or simply a lower capacity battery.

From a British perspective, I have to say that TV services don’t feel like a major missing feature on the iPad. That’s because the biggest TV network has an on-demand website accessible on the device, while a somewhat less official site broadcasts all the over-the-air digital channels live. Of course, that will differ from market to market.

Having full and legal support for TV services would certainly be a selling point for the Motorola device. That said, tying it to Verizon does immediately limit the breadth of the appeal as the TV features would be of no use to something like 75% of Americans.

It’ll also be well worth Google’s marketing department keeping an eye on the gadget. If TV services on a tablet prove appealing, an Android device running Google TV (a specially modified version of the Chrome browser that applies Google’s search technology to TV listings and brings TV and internet broadcasts together) would seem a no-brainer.

Om Nom Nom Nom: Star Wars Cupcakes [PIC]

Kudos to the artist who had the decency of not including Jar Jar Binks in there. Speaking of Jar Jar Binks, the only correct way to present him as a food item is with an apple in his mouth.

[Via Flickr]

Ship Floating on Sulphur Hexafluoride

While it looks like this aluminium foil ship is floating on nothing but thin air, it is in fact kept above ground by some sulphur hexafluoride, a gas that is significantly denser than air. It is also interesting to note that when inhaled, sulphur hexafluoride will make your voice sound much deeper than it usually is.