MasHD Blog

pic.twitter.com/ZXNtLhlyw6 — Occupy Google (@occupygoogl) June 24, 2014 While Google unveiled their developer preview of the next version of Android and new SDK's for smartwatches ,car displays and tv systems yesterday , the conference was interrupted by two people from the audience and a sizable crowd who started protesting outside Google's HQ for net neutrality . The activist group "Occupy Google" erected tents outside Google's HQ demanding freedom for the internet in the form of Net neutrality , some of the protesters were arrested by the police after they expressed interest to camp on the HQ premises that night . The two other incidents occurred when two people from the audience shouted anti Google slogans during the live event . A San Francisco  elementary teacher who has been pressured by the rising cost of housing in the city shouted  "Stop Jack Halprin " repeatedly , the verbal attack was on one of Google's lawyers , who apparently is the...

The idea of having the ability to remotely stop a vehicle isn’t new. GM has been able to do that for a number of years via OnStar. If some OnStar equipped cars are stolen, the car can be remotely turned off allowing police to catch the suspects. Authorities in Europe have a plan that could one day require remote kill switches on all cars. The plan would require every car entering Europe to have a system fitted that would allow the car to be tracked and disabled remotely by police. The program is reportedly being developed by the European Network of Law Enforcement Technologies with the goal of building a standard for all automobiles. The plan was revealed by a civil rights group from Europe called Statewatch. Authorities want to make it so police could disable any vehicle remotely at the touch of a button. The police say such a system would end high-speed chases. Statewatch fears that the system would be abused. The GM OnStar system requires the owner of the vehicle to give p...

President Obama has defended the NSA's spying actions, arguing that the continuing pace of technological advancement means surveillance is essential, though revealing a "series of concrete and substantial reforms" he believes will address public concerns. The proposals, already being picked apart by privacy advocates, include changing the controversial section 215 metadata program, and what Obama described as the "unprecedented" extending of rights around monitoring to non-US citizens outside of America. Obama contrasted the NSA's data collection with how corporations like Google mine metadata for information around which advertising campaigns can be built. However, "the standards for government surveillance should be higher" the President conceded, admitting that "history has too many examples of when trust has been breached." Obama refused "to dwell" on NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, saying only that "our nation...

There's no doubt that Google is becoming a full-fledged hardware company, but the latest Google X project is a lot different that tablets and smartphones — the company just announced that it's building a "smart contact lens." However, it's not meant to be a miniaturized version of Glass — it's meant to help diabetes patients keep track of their glucose levels. Inside the lens is a miniaturized wireless chip and glucose monitor that will measure the glucose levels of the wearer's tears. Google's hoping that it'll be a less painful and invasive way to monitor glucose levels than the typical method of pricking a finger and testing blood droplets multiple times a day. Ideally, the sensor would be able to generate a reading once per second, and Google wants it to act as an early warning device for when glucose levels start dropping — the company imagines putting a minuscule LED light in the lens that could indicate levels dropping above or below a s...

PHOTO     Nick Leghorn/Thetruthaboutguns The Colt SWORD (Sniper Weapon& Observer Reconnaissance Devices) Technology Demonstrator connects a variety of COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) and MOTS (Military Off-The-Shelf) components together into a deployable package. The system is hard to describe in a single sentence. Colt describe it as “a Small Arms Fire Control System based upon Colt Canada’s Patented Small Arms Network Power Data System”. It is probably best described as a local area wireless network of sensors, communications, power systems and video feeds that can receive and transmit data to/from a wider area military or government networks if required. The heart of the system is a 3G wireless base station. The base station is a fully integrated battery powered system that can be connected to external systems via. satellite modems if required. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the base station, just imagine a green rectangular box about 12″x12″x4″ with tw...

Back in the dark days of March 2012, we told you about Nokia's patent application for a removable ferromagnetic ink tattoo that would send you haptic feedback whenever your phone receives a call. Different callers could be tied to different vibration patterns so that you could tell who is calling without having to look at your phone. Now, Motorola has received a patent for a similar, but functionally different idea. Motorola's idea is to place a skin tattoo sticker on your neck to be used as a microphone, sending signals to your Motorola Moto X or the latest version of the Motorola DROID. The microphone would be able to send a clearer sound to your handset as it would eliminate background noise. The tattoo would come with its own transceiver, antenna, microphone and signal processor. For some reason not explained, the tattoo would also come with a screen even though the placement of the sticker would preclude you from looking at it. The Moto sticker tattoo will also have a po...

The National Security Agency, in conjunction with England’s NSA counterpart Government Communications Headquarters, has been secretly intercepting Google and Yahoo data transmissions around the world, according to a new analysis of the Snowden documents. The documents show how the two spy agencies can cooperate to send copies of customer records en masse to the NSA’s data centers at Fort Meade. Intercepted records include email addresses, personal identities, and even the contents of private messages flowing between and among Americans and all other nationalities. The interceptions are within the bounds of current US law because they occur at points outside US soil. The analysis was conducted by the Washington Post in consultation with Google and Yahoo employees. It lays out four plausible scenarios by which the agencies capture the private data of millions of customers. In the case of Google, the most likely scenario is that the agencies have tapped into fibers and cables connecti...

Hot on the heels on the rumors from the past week, another bit of information emerged, potentially shedding light on the specs of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5. Reportedly, the next generation of the popular smartphone will come with and eye-scanning sensor. The abovementioned feature will give users the opportunity to unlock their smartphone with their eyes. Samsung is allegedly already hard at work on the high-security bit of tech, though there’s no word on how it is going to work. Should the rumor pan out to be true, the Samsung Galaxy S5 will feature significantly higher-level security than the current crop of fingerprint sensor equipped device such as the iPhone 5s and the HTC One max. We do however, recommend that you take the news with a large grain of salt at this point in time. GSMArena

If you saw the “always listening” feature on the Moto X this summer and wondered if it would be coming to all Android devices soon, you may be in luck: a leaked build of the next version of Android, 4.4 KitKat, has a clue. This version of the software will likely be released within the next couple of weeks – or as soon as the 15th of this month – and inside is found a reference to homepage-based “ok Google Now” abilities. Where before today this spoken-aloud command ability was limited to the speaker button on the Google Search widget and/or inside Google Search itself, this push expands the ability to your homescreen. This is the next big step between what we had before Android 4.4 KitKat and what the Moto X works with. Motorola pushed this ability to anywhere – even while the Moto X’s display is off – using a unique bit of processor architecture called the Motorola X8 compute system. Inside this, you’ve got a unique CPU core dedicated specifically to low-power listening. With t...

Researchers at the Stanford Security Laboratory have discovered a series of security vulnerabilities in the sensor arrays endemic to most smartphones. They found that accelerometers, speakers and microphones can all be uniquely identified with specific devices, functioning the same way cookies do except they cannot currently be turned off. The security vulnerability in accelerometers—the tiny motion detectors found in most mobile devices—lies in the fact that each one has unique imperfections that differ from device to device. A website can read an accelerometer’s motion, identify its “fingerprint”, and assign it a tag which the website can store on its own servers, allowing it to track the device. The method may or may not already be in use by any advertising companies, spy agencies, or other parties, but the fact that the Stanford team has discovered it means it is likely that others have discovered the weakness. There is currently no mass-produced way to delete or mask the ide...

Google (GOOG) is tinkering with the ever-delicate balance between selling advertisements and creeping its users out. On Friday the company said it would begin including recommendations that Google+ users make in advertisements. The new policy kicks in on Nov. 11. Here’s how it works: You use Google+ to rate some product or service. It turns out the company behind that product wants to advertise on Google. When the company purchases an ad, your friends will see a version that includes your photo along with what you said about the product. If this all sounds familiar, that’s because critics have been up in arms about a similar advertising scheme from Facebook (FB) called sponsored stories. The ads resulted in a class-action lawsuit, and the social network eventually had to pay a $20 million settlement and clarify its privacy settings. Inevitably, the clarification provoked another round of outrage. Both Google and Facebook have been in trouble for violating users’ privacy, but noth...

If you recall, earlier this month the encrypted email service Lavabit abruptly shutdown, killing the service for over 400,000 users in one swoop. Following that, another encrypted email service run by Silent Circle was preemptively shutdown. Although Ladar Levison, the creator of Lavabit, is under a gag order that prevents him from talking about the particulars of the situation, he isn’t keeping silent on the matter. Lavabit, an encrypted email service that has been around for many years, shutdown on August 8 with a note on the home page from its founder stating that he’d been entangled in a legal issue for weeks before the decision, and that he was not authorized to discuss what it concerned. He did say, however, that he made the decision to shut down the service to avoid being “complicit in crimes against the American people.” He wrapped it up with a rather ominous warning that users should avoid trusting their private data to US corporations. Although he still has not given any ...

Philips kind of blew our minds with the hue, which is an LED lightbulb that can be controlled with your smartphone or computer. Of course, though, there had to be a catch, and it seems like that catch is that the lightbulb is easily hackable, allowing users with a dark mind to put the lights out on an unsuspecting Philips hue owner. How does the hack work, exactly? Research by Nitesh Dhanjani reveals that hue’s control system uses a less-than-secure authentication system that’s used to communicate with devices in order to turn on and off lights. How secure is this authentication system? Well, it just uses the MAC address, which is highly easy to breach into. All it takes is a little bit of malware to be installed into the control system and hackers will be able to reveal the lightbulb’s MAC address. From there, they can turn the lightbulb on and off without having the owner’s device on hand. Of course, the hack won’t steal any personal information (unless you store your personal i...

Following Edward Snowden’s NSA-related leaks, government intrusion into one’s data via the technology that permeates our lives has been a hot-topic issue (you can read more by clicking the PRISM tag below, spurring other leaks and anonymous statements of arguably less grand proportions. One such example is a rep ort by The Wall Street Journal this evening, which spoke to former U.S. officials and sources familiar with technology they say the FBI uses to spy on suspects. The information comes from different sources said to be familiar with methods the FBI uses to gather data from the cyber sphere, as well as court documents that reveal some of these investigative tools. According to these sources, the use of spyware and other similar software via court order is increasing, perhaps not surprising considering the increasing rate of technology adoption. The means of spying covers a wide range of methods, among them being the use of spyware for both desktop and mobile devices that is ...

Facing charges of espionage, former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has left Hong Kong, WikiLeaks claims, and is headed to Russia. Snowden’s final destination is unclear, but Cuba is a strong possibility. Wherever he ends up, the move is bound to infuriate White House authorities eager to bring Snowden back to the United States for a hearing. The New York Times reported this morning that Snowden traveled on an Aeroflot flight. An unnamed reservations agent said he booked a one-way ticket. Russia’s Interfax news service, citing a “person familiar with the situation,” claims that Mr. Snowden will remain in transit at Moscow airport for several hours, and would not formally cross the Russian border. Snowden has been formally charged with theft of U.S. government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence to an unauthorized person. As we reported earlier today , the White...

By now , most of us are very much awake to the fact that we are losing personal liberties and privacy to some form of global governance that wants to control each and every part of our lives in the guise of national security . Although we usually avoid politics and bilderberg  related articles , we cant help but post this because it has some relevance to technology which we use in the form of cell phones and most importantly - the internet . As you already know , the internet is not as safe as you might think it is . with bot-ware and different tracking systems , you are constantly being monitored by companies and different groups to know what you are into these days , although this seems to be  harmless at first , the purpose behind this might be much sinister  than what you think ,anyway , we are really not going to dig further into that because you all came here to read about the so called PRISM  program , so what is PRISM ?  , The name  PRISM,comes ...

On May 13, we reported that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman was calling on Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Samsung to help reduce smartphone theft. Such an issue has been growing, and subsequently resulting in increased crime statistics. Next week, Schneiderman and San Francisco’s District Attorney George Gascon plan to meet with industry reps to push the issue. The goal is to have phone makers install what is being called a “kill switch” that will allow a phone that has been stolen to be disabled. Such a petition is going to be made – in person this time – to representatives from the aforementioned companies, with the meeting taking place in New York on June 13. Says the District Attorneys, such technology is essential. DA Gascon said on the matter: “With 1.6 million Americans falling victim to smartphone theft in 2012, this has become a national epidemic. Unlike other types of crimes, smartphone theft can be eradicated with a simple technological solution.” Schneiderm...

Motorola‘s big vision for mobile isn’t just the Moto X smartphone: the company also has wearable, tattoo-embedded, and even swallowable gadgets in the pipeline. Motorola’s Advanced Technology and Projects Group chief Regina Dugan – former DARPA chief – showed up at D11 sporting an electronic tattoo that could be worn on the skin for a week at a time, and used to cut through the numerous authentication processes we go through every day. The tattoos rely on a new, stretchable electronics system that can keep working even as it flexes on the wearer’s arm. As Dugan says, while criticisms of wearables like smartwatches include suggestions that young people won’t want to wear them – something Tim Cook commented on – it’s much more likely that the demographic would want to use a digital tattoo. It’s not the only high-tech security system Motorola’s group is looking at. “I take a vitamin every morning: what if I could take an authentication vitamin?” Dugan asked, before whipping out a...

Some cities in the US and Europe have problems with brownouts and blackouts caused by increasing power demands at certain times of the year. In some cities in the US, power companies have resorted to rolling blackouts to ensure that everyone has access to power during times of peak demand, such as hot summer days. In the UK, the National Grid is considering implementing a requirement that would have sensor chips placed inside certain white goods. These white goods would be things such as freezers, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, and electric ovens. What officials in the UK want to be able to do is remotely turn off these sensor equipped smart appliances during times of peak demand to reduce the load on the electrical grid. Shutting down the appliances equipped with smart sensors would not require the owner’s approval. Rather than simply turning off and leaving off devices such as freezers and refrigerators, the sensors inside will reportedly be smart enough to...

Over the last few years there have been quite a few products come to market that boast the ability to be controlled using your thoughts. Most of these items have been thought-controlled toys, but we have seen systems that promise to allow you to control your music using your thoughts. Electronics giant Samsung is working with researchers at the University of Texas on a project that has to do with providing control of a tablet using brain waves. This could be very significant, particularly for users that have limited mobility due to disease or paralysis caused from an accident. The project Samsung and the researchers are working on uses EEG caps to give users control over tablets and smartphones. Samsung is reportedly wanting to take this technology mainstream. For now, the technology is limited to use with those that have disabilities. The system has participants wear EEG caps that are able to measure the electrical activity along the scalp. The participants in the program are a...