News:

iPhone 6 Rumors

http://www.fascinatingthings.net/technology/iphone-6-rumours/

Apple says that the mass theft of nude celebrity photos that were released over the weekend did not occur because of a breach in any Apple systems, including iCloud. Apple says, however, that certain celebrities were the subject of targeted hacking attempts that focused on compromising their usernames, passwords, and security questions — a common and well-tread technique across the web. Though Apple’s statement doesn’t make it entirely clear, it sounds as though iCloud may still have been involved in the thefts in some capacity: that is, Apple’s customers may have had their iCloud usernames and passwords stolen, giving another party access to their account.

Apple also says that Find my iPhone was not involved in the photo thefts. There had been some speculation that this service was at fault, as someone had recently discovered and published a flaw in it that allowed a malicious party to continually guess passwords without any recourse. Apple appeared to have patched the issue shortly thereafter, and its statement implies that this Find my iPhone flaw was not used here. That said, Apple’s statement also does not make it perfectly clear that this flaw was not put to use. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on the matter.

iCloud was immediately pointed to as a potential source of the stolen photos, particularly by anonymous commenters on 4chan who claimed to have some knowledge of their theft. At the very least, it was a reasonable guess: most of the photos are reported to have been taken on iPhones, and photos are often automatically backed up into Apple’s cloud. This may still be part of the reason that these photos were available to be stolen, as iPhone owners may not always realize that their pictures are being backed up.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/2/6098107/apple-denies-icloud-breach-celebrity-nude-photo-hack

Amid weeks of heated rhetoric and misogyny-charged threats and attacks in the gaming world, many members of the gaming industry have publicly signed on to a petition asking for tolerance and acceptance in the larger community.

“We believe that everyone, no matter what gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion or disability has the right to play games, criticize games and make games without getting harassed or threatened,” Spaces of Play’s Andreas Zecher wrote in an open letter on Medium.

“It is the diversity of our community that allows games to flourish. If you see threats of violence or harm in comments on Steam, YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook or reddit, please take a minute to report them on the respective sites,” the letter says. “If you see hateful, harassing speech, take a public stand against it and make the gaming community a more enjoyable space to be in.”

Zecher has asked gaming industry members to write in with their names and organizations to be counted as supporters, and as of this writing over 2,100 have done so. While the signatories so far include a large number of independent developers and students, Zecher’s letter has also drawn public support from developers at major studios like BioWare, Crystal Dynamics, Double Fine, Epic Games, DICE, Electronic Arts, Harmonix, Infinity Ward, Insomniac Games, Microsoft, Riot Games, Rockstar North, Sony Computer Entertainment, Telltale, Ubisoft, OculusVR, Zenimax, and more. A few journalists have also signed on, from outlets such as Eurogamer, Destructoid, IGN, and Polygon.

This shouldn’t be mistaken as official corporate support for this anti-harassment message from these organizations, but the sheer number and range of signatories from within the industry is a loud, public statement against a vitriolic element of the community that has grown louder in recent weeks.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/09/thousands-of-developers-sign-plea-for-tolerance-in-gaming-community/

Most Anticipated Games for 2014

http://www.gamesradar.com/new-games-2014/

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Geek This Week:  

Aaron: Zombies, Run!, Contact Center, Had to drive a car with NO tech!!

Gozer: Dad Story, Need for Speed Rivals, Fibbage & Ghostbusters in theaters

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