Author: Toby Leftly

There has been some concern over the past few days about a potential security hole in iTunes, although reviews by Apple and PayPal show that no vulnerability exists. The problem actually relates to a good old fashioned phishing scam, a common, non-technical approach to ripping people off online. The scam involves users following links or instructions in emails advising them to either change a password, click a link that ultimately leads them to malware or make some other inadvisable alteration to their account. TechCrunch first covered the story yesterday, although the article seems to accuse…

Shocking though it might be, Good Ole’ Boy John Mellencamp hates the internet, despises iPods and tortures kittens in his spare time. Okay, he doesn’t strictly despise iPods, but the kitten torturing part is absolute fact. In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Mellencamp waxes moronic on a number of subjects relating to technology. He states that the internet is the most dangerous invention since the atom bomb, although I’m personally pretty sure that you couldn’t really watch much porn on an atom bomb at all. Mellencamp also states that the internet has destroyed the music industry, which…

It’s been talked about for a while. It’s been hypothesized, contemplated, dissected, discussed and dismissed, but it might actually see the light of day. Apple clearly feels pretty strongly that MultiTouch is the future of all computing, but the one area of desktop computing has so far remained “untouchable”. What has been clear from the start is that the model of fingertip computing where the user reaches out to the screen is simply not viable, the ergonomics being a huge nightmare. Sure, Apple is testing the waters with its MultiTouch magic pad. For most, this has turned out to be a peripheral…

Toyota’s 2010 Prius is getting a new speaker system upgrade – under the hood, to ensure that the car makes enough noise to alert pedestrians to its presence. Apparently, the cars are now too quiet, and there is a general concern that this might pose a danger to those on foot. There’s no word yet on whether an optional smoke stack can be added to the engine to combat the fact that the Prius doesn’t spit out enough pollution. The speaker system is an optional upgrade currently available in Japan only. Toyota is undecided whether to begin offering the option in North America, worried perhaps that North…

The current generation of children, destined for a life of rickets and obesity due to lack of sunlight or exercise, are all about computers and the interwebs, but is this addiction a treatable condition? Proving once more that there’s very few afflictions that doctors won’t prescribe something for, research from Korea is showing that Zyban, the anti-depressant known for helping smokers quit the weed also helps take the edge off your gaming addiction. According to the researchers, the drug helps “decrease craving for internet game play”, with the game StarCraft being used as the example. Apparently,…

Jailbreaking your iPhone, iPod or iPad might now be legal in some areas of the world, but Apple still ain’t happy about it. A new patent shows how Apple might one day be able to detect and disable compromised devices. The patent, which is elaborate and lengthy, posits that devices which are lost, stolen or hacked are a risk to users peace of mind, and for this reason Apple hopes to kindly disable the hacks or even brick the device. The source of the issue is that while users may choose to hack their device, the jailbreak methods are all essentially taking advantage of security flaws. Apple views jailbreaks…

If there’s a textbook definition of karma, it might be Gizmodo Editorial Director Brian Lam leaving his phone in a bar or restaurant, and someone finding it and holding it hostage, demanding cash in exchange for the safe return of the phone. Well, that didn’t happen here. But it’s pretty close. Brian Lam was foolish enough to send a tweet on Friday saying he left his phone at lunch and a woman was kind enough to hand the phone in. As we all remember, Gizmodo paid a huge amount of money for a “lost” iPhone 4 prototype left in a bar by an Apple employee. Lam’s Twitter account is now protected, but John Gruber…

Digg founder Kevin Rose has had varying degrees of success when it comes to Apple rumors. As a tech industry insider, it’s reasonable to assume he’ll hear the odd tidbit on the grapevine here and there. Yesterday the enigmatic entrepreneur spoke out about Apple’s much-rumored iTV project, offering some predictions but also making some forecasts about the effect iTV will have on cable TV and the entertainment industry in general. The box will be $99, and the preferred method of interaction will be the iPad. The device will run iOS, and as such will offer content providers access to iAds. Rose even…

The iPad is about to get a Mini Me, according to rumors on the web this morning. Apple’s annual iPod release event in September is nearly upon us, and the rumor mill is busier than ever pondering what new gadgets Apple might unveil. The current iPad has a 9.7″ screen, so some have speculated that an iPad closer to the size of the iPod touch would be a big hit. It seems to me that now that the iPad is in the wild, it might be time to draw a line between iPods, simple music-playing devices and iPads, touch enabled browsing and multimedia devices. If this is true, then perhaps the rumor indicates that the iPod touch…

Even dorks need downtime, and what better way to relax than with a nice cold beer? But wait. What if you didn’t know the exact temperature of the beer you were drinking? What if there wasn’t a computer involved in any part of the beer drinking and/or partying that may or may not happen once said beer was consumed? What if you needed a wide array of data about the quality of the beer and which of your friends had consumed the most beer in any given time frame? The guys from Yelp have you covered. They’ve invented an iPad controlled beer keg. Using RFID tags, beer drinkers must “check in” before pouring a beer,…