The Bluebox Security research team – Bluebox Labs – recently discovered a vulnerability in Android’s security model that allows a hacker to modify APK code without breaking an application’s cryptographic signature, to turn any legitimate application into a malicious Trojan, completely unnoticed by the app store, the phone, or the end user.

Malware, adware and now a master key. The security trifecta.

∞ Read this on The Loop

The universe has a sense of humor. I'm convinced of it. See, as someone who believes that humor is a wonderful way to deal with otherwise disheartening topics, I'm amazed at how often the world around me will give me something to laugh at when I'm feeling blue. Take the world's current climate on the topic of religion, for instance. It'd be very easy to get down in the dumps over the Westboro Baptist Church, religious fundementalists engaging in acts of terror, and the never-ending saga known as the Middle East "peace" process. None of those things are laughing matters. But then, reading the forlorn expression on my face, the universe sends me another story from the Church of Scientology.

The Tom-Cruise-iest religion on the planet took a break from their attempt to destroy free speech to celebrate the grand-mega opening of their new ironically named Ideal Organization in Portland by producing the worst photoshopped picture this side of the Iranian military.

The crowd was around 450-750 people. But the church claims it was more like 2,500, and it Photoshopped in the proof. Except the proof is about as convincing as your thetan's origin story. In reality, there were no people in the right-hand side of the photo. There was actually a line of rented trees set up to block the view of people not so friendly to Scientology (see the photo below), as well as police blocking off a four-block radius for the event. And it's not just that the picture was doctored, it's that it was done quite poorly. They added people right on top of the trees in the altered section.

Tony Ortega has the two photos that demonstrate this. First was the "official" photo from the Church which is clearly photoshopped. And then a shot from a different angle showing that the people on the right section above aren't actually there. What was an attempt to make turnout of the "event" look bigger than it was resulted in, at best, Scientology looking silly yet again for their combination of secretiveness and lying about their own events. Or, at worst, it suggests that Scientology turns human beings into a kind of hybrid tree-people, in which case we're all going to be subject to an aphid plague that may undo all of humanity. Ahhhh!

So a word of friendly advice to my Scientologist friends: brainwashed graphic designers are a better asset than brainwashed Tom Cruises. For ever and ever. Amen.

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(Eugene Volokh)

The Fifth Circuit has voted 8-7 not to rehear NRA v. BATF en banc. The panel decision upholds the federal ban on gun sales by federal firearms licensees to 18-to-20-year-olds; the dissent disagrees. Such a close division on a court of appeals makes it more likely that the Supreme Court will agree to hear the case, though the odds are probably still against it, given the absence of a split among lower courts.

I used to feel guilty about books I own but haven’t read. They’d sit in piles making me feel unworthy as a writer, and reader. And no matter how many books I’d read in a year, I’d always find myself buying more. I couldn’t win. It was a destructive cycle and it drove me mad.

One day I realized there was another way to frame my behavior. The goal should not be efficiency because efficiency makes you conservative. As a writer I need an ambitious curiosity, not a safe one. It’s good to take bets on books at the limits of my comfort zone. That willingness to buy books signals to myself there are new worlds other creators make, and for the price of a meal I can purchase the opportunity to discover them. I can’t penalize myself for trying. If I never read any of the books that might be a problem, but merely not reading some of them is entirely sensible.

Buying books also has these larger effects:

• Purchases signal the creator that I’m interested in what they made.
• It’s a bestseller list – not a best read list – buying a book signals agents, editors and publishers.
• It provisions future curiosity, since in 3 months or years I can easily read that book.
• Seeing a good writer’s name and knowing I helped their career feels good.

I feel no guilt now in abandoning books either. They’re not children, they’re invented things. If I don’t like it after 50 pages I owe the author nothing. In fact since I bought the book, I paid for the right to read as much or little as I please. Never finishing books is a different problem, and the solution for that is buying better books.

Not sold yet? How about this: on the day I was born there were already more books published that I could ever read. There was never the potential to read everything. I have to abandon the expectation of perfection in my book purchases, for the same reasons I need to abandon the expectation of perfection in everything. Books are cheap, my literary inefficiencies doesn’t cost much in the long run, especially if those bets and gambles along help me find a book or two a year that changes my life.

Reading and responding to comments can be one of the most rewarding aspects of blogging. Not only do they help you connect with your readers, they can also inspire later blog entries. The challenge, oftentimes, is following all the conversations around your content—on Google+, for instance, as well as on your website. So we're making things a lot simpler.

Starting today, you can bring Google+ Comments to your Blogger blog. Once you've enabled the feature through your Blogger Dashboard, you'll enjoy a number of important benefits:

View your blog and Google+ comments, all in one place
Now when you're browsing your blog's comment threads, you'll see activity from direct visitors, and from people talking about your content on Google+. For example, if there's a public Google+ discussion about one of your blog entries, those comments and replies will also appear on your Blogger blog. This way you can engage with more of your readers, all in one place.

Help readers comment and connect with their circles
Your blog readers will now have the option to comment publicly, or privately to their circles on Google+. And when they're browsing blog comments, they can view all of them, just the top ones, or only those from the people in their circles.

In all cases, you and your readers will only see the comments you have permission to see. Giving people these kinds of controls not only encourages more meaningful sharing—it can lead to more blog traffic.




To get started with Google+ Comments, just visit the Google+ tab of your Blogger Dashboard, and check “Use Google+ Comments.” (Older comments will continue to appear in the new widget.) You can also visit any post on the Official Google Blog (like this one), or on Blogger Buzz (likethis one), to see Google+ Comments in action.

Happy commenting!

Posted by+Yonatan Zunger, Principal Engineer

I’m incredibly sad to report that the Portland open source and startup scene has lost an amazing contributor, a crux of our community, and an incredible person. Igal Koshevoy is no longer with us.

Goodbye, Igal. We lost a dear friend and community member today. ow.ly/jUKVM

— Stumptown Syndicate (@stumpsyn) April 10, 2013

There’s so much that Igal did for our community—largely unrecognized—that’s it difficult to even remember it all.

I’m just at a complete loss.

I remember Igal as initially timid and unassuming. But if you were lucky enough to get close to him—or push one of his hot buttons—you found a well of passion and opinion. A person willing to engage in good natured yet heated debates on whys and wherefores.

Someone who was always the first to show up—be it Beer and Blog or something more serious—and the last one to leave. And always always always with a stubborn stalwart determinism to create the best possible product in the allotted time. From developing to sprinting to hacking.

And he did it all with a smile and energy that amazed and inspired us all.

I remember Igal as someone who took the time to capture moments. With an eye that brought those events to life in still images. For many folks—me included—Igal’s camera captured what would become our favorite photos. His eye and his lens just managed to capture something. Time and time again.

Long story short, Igal’s impact on the Portland open source scene is both immediately palpable, and at the same time, practically untallyable.

If you’ve ever looked at an event on Calagator, you’ve been touched by Igal’s work. If you’ve ever participated in Open Source Bridge, you’re benefitting from his efforts. If you’ve ever attended any number of awesome user groups he helped organize, you’ve realized his contribution. If you’ve ever submitted a proposal for Ignite Portland, you’ve seen his handiwork.

Thank you, Igal. For all that you did for us. For your community. We were lucky to have you with us. And so so amazing blessed to have had your help, guidance, mentorship, and support. I’m just terribly sorry that we couldn’t be there for you.

You will be missed. More than I can say. Such a complete fucking loss.

Finally, I’m truly sorry if I’m the one breaking this news to you. Please visit the Stumptown Syndicate post on Igal for more information.

(Image courtesy Reid Beels. Used under Creative Commons.)