Yahoo finally confirms 2014 breach that affected over 500 million users

The Yahoo breach first broke in August when a hacker called Peace was promising to sell 200 million usernames, passwords, birthdates, and email addresses for less than US$2,000. Yahoo wouldn’t confirm the legitimacy of the attack but now we finally get confirmation that the company was victim of a “state-sponsored” attack back in 2014. Yahoo elaborated on a statement on its investor relations site the types of data the hackers might have had access to. "The account information may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords (the vast majority with bcrypt) and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers," the statement reads. This doesn’t include sensitive payment information but the hack is considered large enough that Yahoo is working with law enforcement to see what happens.

There is no word yet if there will be a government investigation brought about by this incident. Yahoo hasn’t also said why it took so long to publicly confirm the report. It could do with the fact that the beleaguered company is selling itself to Verizon and the news could cause harm to the deal before it officially closes in early 2017.

Source: Engadget

Review: Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus

Text and photos By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

iPhone 7 may not have been the huge overhaul many expected but it is a solid and worthy upgrade that will fundamentally change where and how iPhones are used. New camera capabilities are transformative and show innovation in imaging on smartphones is leapfrogging the camera industry.

Apple’s new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus may, on the surface, look like mere updates to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S designs of the past two years.

While this is a fair observation that brings to question Apple’s desire or ability to evolve on past designs, there are a lot of features and functions that are brand new to the iPhone line that aim to keep it at the forefront of the smartphone industry it has helped create. 

“We have created a product that is the most deliberate evolution of our founding design,” says Apple’s Chief Design Officer Jony Ive at the start of the video explaining the iPhone 7’s design and construction. The company understands this is an evolutionary chapter in the iPhone’s history, but it doesn’t make it any less significant.

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Elon Musk announces Oct. 28 release date for SolarCity solar roof

We’ll most likely be seeing for the first time Tesla and SolarCity’s new solar roof product on October 28, if Elon Musk’s tweet is anything to go by. The Tesla founder and CEO just announced on social media that this solar roof will be working with version 2.0 of Tesla’s PowerWall solar storage and battery for the home as well as with the Tesla car charger. This integration is seen as moving beyond showing off how these companies can seamlessly work together to showing Musk’s “Master Plan: Part Deux,” where he aims to create a fully self-sustaining solar-powered energy ecosystem that is linked to his zero emission goals between home and transportation.

Tesla is in the process of acquiring SolarCity but it has been facing opposition from shareholders that could cause a delay in the deal. The demo, which could show the value of the system and the partnership, might further Musk’s plans and help soften any opposition to his plans to join Tesla and SolarCity together.

Aiming for Oct 28 unveil in SF Bay Area of new Tesla/SolarCity solar roof with integrated Powerwall 2.0 battery and Tesla charger.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 22, 2016

Source: TechCrunch

When do we get hooked on Netflix?

Netflix just released the latest set of "hooked" episodes of some of the most popular series streaming on the service. You know, that one particular episode that completely SUCKS YOU IN and makes you want to continue watching. It's that one episode that has kept 70% of viewers watching and completing the season. However, in doing reseach of our viewing habits, Netflix also discovered that this isn't just an observation of us here in Canada but it's pretty universal.  Canadian viewers were pretty much in-line with global hooked episodes for a number of series. 

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