Cell Phone Insecurity

Once again, I have some interesting cell phone information today. This time, however, it's bad stuff. What I believe is the first major cell phone virus has now been spreading in the United States from the Philippines. It's called Cabir and so far it's only adverse effect is draining battery life. Paris Hilton has more phone problems than fleeting battery life though. It turns out that someone hacked her phone revealing many celebrity phone numbers (strangely including Eminem). As you've seen in the annoying commercials, she has a T-Mobile Sidekick II and so this must be brutal for T-Mobile. Now I know not to switch to them since even after there was a security breach of their database they didn't inform users to change their passwords. It looks like phones are becoming unsafe right when they're starting to really evolve. Though Cabir was rather benign and it only affects Bluetooth it's likely meant to be a message that the software has big holes. It makes you wonder how long it will be now until we have the kind of integrated cell phones that the Japanese have and can be used without insecurity.

I don't have too much techie news today so let me get through that first. A wireless hotspot vendor is trying out a service where wi-fi is free and sponsored through ads. The idea is that businesses can offer the wi-fi and actually gain money themselves through the ad revenue. So think original Netzero but without the adware actually staying on your computer. It sounds interesting, but I think it's a business model that may be doomed to fail. It's not more doomed than TiVo is though! A number of recent signs seem to show that TiVo is going downhill since it's too easy to do what they do and DirecTV is probably going to drop their box from their services. Not only that, but they just haven't been innovative enough to keep themselves desireable. They really should create PC software that does what their little box does. I know I'd get it. Lastly, Mobile PC put up a great list of the top 100 gadgets of all time. The list features Pong, thumbdrives, the swiss army knife, and a slue of Apple stuff. I didn't see anything Microsoft related on the list, but Apple does come up with some cool stuff after all.

I have some ripe movie news today. There's a new trailer up for House of D and this movie actually looks like it might turn out well. The movie is actually written and directed by David Duchovny, and I guess he's a good writer because he managed to get Robin Williams, Tia Leoni, and Erykah Badu on board. I think this may be one of Williams's better movies. What's that? You want another video to watch? Ok you greedy bastard, take a gander at the new featurette for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (from the creator of Shrek).



I really do like the art style and though I haven't read the series I hope that the movie will be good. Ben Affleck is now going to be wearing the big red 'S' on his chest in Truth, Justice and the American Way. The movie is a biography of George Reeves, and it's a good movie for Affleck who could use a serious flick to boost his career. Baz Luhrman (remember Romeo + Juliet?) is now back on track to create his own version of Alexander and given his record I don't think it'll really blow this time. He's also supposedly going to work on a movie called The Lecter Variation to tell the background story of Dr. Hannibal Lecter. And finally, I wanted to reemphasize purchasing Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut by referencing this review.

You're just a few interesting tidbits away from today's meme. I should've mentioned it yesterday, but The Simpsons finally revealed that Patty is a lesbian. It makes sense when you think about it. Fans of Netflix or those interesting in online movie rental won't want to miss this article that details the competitors to the services and whether it can stay in the game. Video game geeks like me should enjoy this piece about the future of gaming, including the future for pocket-sized counterparts. Fans of EA and Marvel will be pleased to discover new details about the crossover game Marvel Nemesis. It's too early to predict how good it'll be, but the story sounds decent.

Finally, it's time for the Tuesday Twosome:

Do you wish you would spend less or more time...

1. Watching TV and why?
More time since there are shows that I hear are great but don't have time to watch (like Lost), but I still watch a respectable amount.

2. On your computer and why?
Probably less time because all my blogging detracts from my homework time!

3. With your family and why?
More time since I'm over here so much and when I do go home I probably don't do as much with my parents as I should. I do usually do a lot with my brother though.

4. Dedicated to your career and why?
More time because I love computer science! Unfortunately I have other classes to take, but I very much enjoy the time I spend programming and studying it.

5. Concentrating on yourself and why?
Probably more time because I'm having a hard time kicking this cluttering habit. Talking slow is easier said than done, but feel free to comment with suggestions.

Tomorrow's post, like most Wednesdays, will be late. I don't expect it to be up before 10:00PM so just bask in this post until then!