Obama bomb hoax: 'Why we did it'

The Syrian Electronic Army hacked the Twitter account of The Guardian. Source: Supplied

AS THE situation in Syria escalates, new battle lines are being drawn.

With confirmation of Hezbollah fighters encroaching into Syrian territory to fight rebels and reports of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) launching rockets into neighbouring Lebanon, the battle seems to be spreading geographically. Now, as the struggle on the ground increases, so too does the battle in cyberspace.

Over the weekend, the pro-Assad hacker group the Syrian Electronic Army hacked into numerous Twitter accounts run by the Guardian. The collective aim to "punish" Western media outlets for writing negatively about Bashar al-Assad's regime while also spreading their own version of the truth – that the Free Syrian Army isn't a popular uprising at all, and that the war against the incumbent regime is a coup attempt orchestrated by al-Qaeda. It comes about a month after it hacked a BBC Twitter account, and flooded it with pro-regime propaganda, which was more hilarious than it was an inspiration to load up, ship out and go to battle with Assad's enemies, but I suppose it's still getting their message out there

They didn't do a great deal of damage with The Guardian attack (as you can see in the image above). But their hacks aren't always so harmless.

I first tried to get in touch with the SEA through their official Facebook and Twitter accounts a few weeks back. Someone claiming to be a member of the SEA, calling themselves "Th3 Pr0", wrote back with an email address to send my questions to. As these social media accounts are always the first places to highlight the SEA's attacks – and immediately posted my original article when I emailed over the link – I believe that Th3 Pr0 is a legitimate member of the SEA, even if his chosen web moniker makes him sound more like a online poker player. [Update – this would also seem to confirm that Th3 Pr0 is a prominent member of the SEA.]

I got in contact with Th3 Pr0 again at the weekend to find out more about the SEA and their latest round of hacks.

VICE: Hey, Pr0. Why did you choose The Guardian? Have they said anything you don't like?
Th3 Pr0: The Guardian is a famous newspaper in the UK and in addition some of its reports are false. This makes it a good target for us, as well as the fact that, yesterday, they reported a false article about us. [In this story, The Guardian claimed the SEA had moved "from Damascus to a secret base in Dubai". Later, they reported they had "since discovered the attack originated from Internet Protocol (IP) addresses within Syria."] What do you think about that?!

How easy was it to hack their Twitter account?
It was very easy. We hacked more than 11 of their Twitter accounts and we downloaded some important messages from their email accounts.

What evidence do you have that the regime aren't responsible for the massacres they have been accused of?
The Syrian Arab Army soldiers are Syrians and they don't kill their own people – so you have to see who has foreign terrorists: the Free Syrian Army and Jabhat Alnosra. They have Libyan, Saudi Arabian, Pakistani terrorists in their ranks.

So why did you guys choose the Associated Press as a target?
The Associated Press is a world famous news agency, especially in the US, which made it a good target for us.

What made you decide to tweet to the world that Obama had been blown up?
We're against the United States government; it's behind what’s happening in Syria and they have attacked the SEA by suspending our domain names, Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, etc. It represents the axis of evil in the world.

Is there anything in particular the SEA are hoping to achieve with these high profile attacks?
Our targets and mission are known, so we'll keep working to publish the truth about Syria and cause damage to the countries who support the terrorist groups within Syria.

The United States Congress are taking some hefty steps to combat groups like yourself and Anonymous now. How do you see the future of cyberwarfare progressing?
They already started suspending us from the internet by closing our accounts, our pages and suspending our domain names, but they failed and they will keep failing. We will not stop or despair. If they close a Twitter account, we will open a new one; if they close a Facebook page, we will create another one; if they suspend our domain names, we will buy new ones.

I've heard that the Syrian government and President Assad himself are proud of the SEA's work. Where do you guys stand on this? Do you feel like you're doing some of the government's work for them?
Yes, that's true, but we're not doing the government’s job. They are proud of us because we're doing the right thing and defending our country.

Alright then. What's the SEA's position on Hezbollah, especially with their recent involvement with the conflict in Syria and their alliance with the Syrian government?
We are supporters of Hezbollah. They faced Israel once and defeated it, but they are not involved in Syria – all of the news about that is false.

Actually, within the last few weeks, Hezbollah representatives have started to admit that they have fighters defending Shi'ite border towns within Syrian territory. Do you have a comment on this?
Some of Hezbollah's soldiers are Syrians, and you said, "defending Shi'ite border towns", so they're not defending the Syrian government.

With Hezbollah fighters on the ground in certain areas of Syria, is it not hypocritical to criticise foreign fighters from the Middle East joining the Free Syrian Army?
It's really funny to ask this question. They are already “jihadists” in the FSA. We have Libyans, Saudis and Chechen terrorists coming to kill us.

I know you have a problem with foreign intervention within Syria, but the SEA don't seem to criticise Russia or Iran for also involving themselves – is that a fair point?
Iran and Russia support Syria because it's an ally of those countries. They are sending medical and food aid, but the US, Qatar and Saudi Arabia don't think about that – they're sending the weapons for the terrorists and supporting them all the way. That's the real foreign intervention.

With refugees from the conflict standing at over a million people, how does the SEA see the future of Syria and the future of those civilians who have fled the fighting? What comes after the war and how will the country try to rebuild and house these displaced people?
When the Syrian Arab Army defeats the terrorists, we will all rebuild Syria for a better future.

How are the SEA reacting to their newfound fame?
We are not looking for fame. We want to defend our country and this is our goal, nothing else.

This is an excerpt of a story that was originally published in Vice Magazine, which you can read in full here.

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Stone to star in next Allen film

The Amazing Spider-Man star Emma Stone is set to star in Woody Allen's next film, a comedy also starring Colin Firth. Picture: AP Photo/Joel Ryan Source: AP

WOODY Allen is returning to France for his next film, and he's bringing Colin Firth and Emma Stone along as its stars.

Producers Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum announced that Allen is set to start shooting his untitled new comedy this summer.

This is the writer-director's second time filming in France after his biggest-ever hit, Midnight in Paris, and his eighth film set in Europe.

Allen will reunite with the cinematographer, production designer and costume designer he worked with on some his previous European productions.

Allen's latest movie, Blue Jasmine, is to be released in July. It stars Cate Blanchett and Alec Baldwin.

View the original article here

IBM makes world's smallest movie

Researchers at IBM have created the world's smallest movie by manipulating single atoms on a copper surface. Courtesy BBC

A video image of a scene from the world's tiniest stop-action movie, A Boy and his Atom, which shows individual carbon monoxide molecules rearranged to show a boy dancing and bouncing on a trampoline. Picture: AP/IBM Source: AP

SCIENTISTS have taken the idea of a film short down to new levels. Molecular levels.

IBM says it has made the tiniest stop-motion movie ever - a one-minute video of individual carbon monoxide molecules repeatedly rearranged to show a boy dancing, throwing a ball and bouncing on a trampoline.

Each frame measures 45 by 25 nanometres - there are 25 million nanometres in an inch - but hugely magnified, the movie is reminiscent of early video games, particularly when the boy bounces the ball off the side of the frame accompanied by simple music and sound effects.

The movie is titled A Boy and His Atom.

Videos showing atoms in motion have been seen before but Andreas Heinrich, IBM's principal scientist for the project, said this is the first time anything so small has been manoeuvred to tell a story.

"This movie is a fun way to share the atomic-scale world," Mr Heinrich said. "The reason we made this was not to convey a scientific message directly, but to engage with students, to prompt them to ask questions."

Jamie Panas of Guinness World Records said Guinness certified the movie as "Smallest Stop-Motion Film."

IBM used a remotely operated two-ton scanning tunnelling microscope at its lab in San Jose, Calif., to make the movie earlier this year. The microscope magnifies the surface over 100 million times. It operates at 450 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (268 degrees below zero Celsius).

The cold "makes life simpler for us," Mr Heinrich said. "The atoms hold still. They would move around on their own at room temperature."

Scientists used the microscope to control a tiny, super-sharp needle along a copper surface, IBM said. At a distance of just 1 nanometre, the needle physically attracted the carbon monoxide molecules and pulled them to a precisely specified location on the surface.

The dots that make up the figures in the movie are the oxygen atoms in the molecule, Heinrich said.

The scientists took 242 still images that make up the movie's 242 frames.

Mr Heinrich said the techniques used to make the movie are similar to what IBM is doing to make data storage smaller.

"As data creation and consumption continue to get bigger, data storage needs to get smaller, all the way down to the atomic level," he said.

View the original article here

WATCH: Steamy new Gatsby trailer

"The Great Gatsby" follows Fitzgerald-like, would-be writer Nick Carraway as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz and bootleg kings.

Lovers: Gatsby and Daisy end up in bed together, picking up where they left off five years prior. Picture: Supplied
  Source: news.com.au

THE latest teaser clip of The Great Gatsby has been released and fans can expect some seriously steamy moments between Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan.

The pair, who play two of the literary world's most famous doomed lovers Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, reignite their relationship after years apart.

"I knew it was a great mistake for a man like me to fall in love, and I just let myself go", Gatsby tells Daisy in one intimate scene.

"I wish I'd done everything on Earth with you", Daisy counters.

The sweeping music, the lingering stares and sexual tension, the exquisite period costumes - Baz Luhrmann's epic film adaptation of Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel looks set to captivate viewers with this tragic love story.

Co-starring Tobey Maguire, Isla Fisher and Joel Edgerton, The Great Gatsby is due to hit Australian cinemas at the end of May.

Carey Mulligan and Leonardo DiCaprio in a scene from Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby. Picture: Supplied Source: news.com.au

A heartbroken Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan) in a scene from Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby. Picture: Supplied Source: news.com.au

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McGregor hails LG's 'f---ing good telly'

LG brought Hollywood to Australia to show off the country's first curved OLED television today, with Star Wars and The Impossible actor Ewan McGregor revealing the $13,500 screen in Sydney.

But the 55-inch, curved screen, first unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, will not yet go on sale in Australia, even though pre-orders are now being taken in South Korea.

LG home entertainment marketing head Russ Prendergast said the company was "racing to bring the product to market in 2013" and it would be advertised by its new brand ambassador, Mr McGregor.

"This TV has taken many years to develop and perfect," Mr Prendergast said. "OLED takes the next step in home entertainment."

As a spokesman, Mr McGregor showed either a lack of polish, or refreshing honesty, depending on your point of view.

Asked what message he was here to deliver he said "just to say that they're f---ing good tellys".

McGregor said the colours in the OLED screen made films look more authentic.

"I spend hours and hours of my working day waiting for the lights, waiting for the scene to be lit, and usually when it’s on the television it doesn’t look like that, but these televisions make it look like it should," he said.

The sides of the 55-inch OLED television arch towards viewers at a 15-degree angle, delivering a greater feeling of depth, Mr Prendergast said.

The TV is also just 4.3mm thin and weighs 17kg.

OLED technology, or organic light-emitting diode screens, are widely seen as the replacement for LCD televisions as they offer their own light source, delivering consistently brighter images, significantly thinner forms, and use less electricity.

Television makers including LG, Samsung and Sony have showed off big-screen OLED television prototypes in the past, yet none have gone on sale until now due to problems manufacturing the screens.

Samsung Australia consumer electronics vice-president Phil Newton said the company had recently encountered further problems manufacturing its OLED screens and was still working on solutions.

Mr Newton did not offer a date for the launch of Samsung's OLED televisions in Australia, saying the company did not want to deliver a "substandard product".

LG also showed off a new 84-inch Ultra High-Definition television at the Sydney launch event, which will be available in August at a cost of $15,999, as well as a more modest 55-inch UHD screen at $6,999.

The UHD screens, also described as a 4K television, will offer four times as many pixels as current full high-definition televisions.
 

View the original article here

HP ElitePad 900 means business

Back in black: the ElitePad 900 is HP's newest tablet. Source: Supplied

HEWLETT-PACKARD knows a bit about computers.

The American company is the world's largest PC maker and has been creating computers, from Pocket PCs to Envy notebooks to big beige boxes, since the 1960s.

Its record with tablets, however, is not quite as esteemed. HP's first effort, the TouchPad, was dumped after just four days on sale in Australia.

Moving on from that experiment, HP has a new tablet plan and it involves the Windows 8-based ElitePad 900.

Created for industrious business types who want entertainment on the side, the ElitePad has a lot going for it. The tablet has reasonable grunt, is solidly built, and it stands out from the Windows 8 crowd using a host of functional accessories rarely seen in the tablet market.

The 10.1-inch ElitePad tablet comes in four varieties, ranging from $799 to $1299, with the main differences being Windows software, storage and bundled accessories.

Our review model, the $899 D4T11AW, uses an Intel Atom 1.5GHz chip, 2GB RAM and 64GB storage, placing it in the capable but not cutting-edge category. It's enough power to run Windows 8 comfortably, with few delays even when cycling through many open apps.

Physically, the ElitePad looks reminiscent of the original Apple iPad, thanks to a metal back and rounded corners. It's a bit heavier than the iPad 4 at just under 680g, though it doesn't feel ungainly in your hands.

The ElitePad's screen shows off Windows 8 to its best advantage, thanks to a effective 1280x800 resolution and generous viewing angles that make it clear to see even when sitting flat on a desk.

But what really sets HP's business-like tablet apart are its accessories.

Add a $79 ElitePad Expansion Jacket to this tablet and it becomes significantly handier. The black case contains a MicroSD reader, letting users transfer and store files. Add a $109 battery pack to this Jacket and you can extend its battery life to up to 20 hours.

A $139 Docking Station also adds many more ports, including four USB, an Ethernet, HDMI and VGA connections, allowing its use as a makeshift desktop computer.

On its own, the ElitePad 900 also has an 8-megapixel rear camera, a small forward-facing camera, two speakers and a proprietary charging port.

There are notable downsides to HP's newest tablet, however. None of its versions feature a mobile internet connection, forcing you to seek wi-fi. This tablet's hardware is also heavier and slower than most current models, and users will need to invest more to add connections already featured on Microsoft's Surface tablets.

Those who want a serious tablet, with the ability to add to its skills, may appreciate HP's new effort.

> HP ELITEPAD 900
HP, $799-$1249
hp.com.au
Rating: 3.5/5

View the original article here

IBM makes world's smallest movie

A video image of a scene from the world's tiniest stop-action movie, A Boy and his Atom, which shows individual carbon monoxide molecules rearranged to show a boy dancing and bouncing on a trampoline. Picture: AP/IBM Source: AP

SCIENTISTS have taken the idea of a film short down to new levels. Molecular levels.

IBM says it has made the tiniest stop-motion movie ever - a one-minute video of individual carbon monoxide molecules repeatedly rearranged to show a boy dancing, throwing a ball and bouncing on a trampoline.

Each frame measures 45 by 25 nanometres - there are 25 million nanometres in an inch - but hugely magnified, the movie is reminiscent of early video games, particularly when the boy bounces the ball off the side of the frame accompanied by simple music and sound effects.

The movie is titled A Boy and His Atom.

Videos showing atoms in motion have been seen before but Andreas Heinrich, IBM's principal scientist for the project, said this is the first time anything so small has been manoeuvred to tell a story.

"This movie is a fun way to share the atomic-scale world," Mr Heinrich said. "The reason we made this was not to convey a scientific message directly, but to engage with students, to prompt them to ask questions."

Jamie Panas of Guinness World Records said Guinness certified the movie as "Smallest Stop-Motion Film."

IBM used a remotely operated two-ton scanning tunnelling microscope at its lab in San Jose, Calif., to make the movie earlier this year. The microscope magnifies the surface over 100 million times. It operates at 450 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (268 degrees below zero Celsius).

The cold "makes life simpler for us," Mr Heinrich said. "The atoms hold still. They would move around on their own at room temperature."

Scientists used the microscope to control a tiny, super-sharp needle along a copper surface, IBM said. At a distance of just 1 nanometre, the needle physically attracted the carbon monoxide molecules and pulled them to a precisely specified location on the surface.

The dots that make up the figures in the movie are the oxygen atoms in the molecule, Heinrich said.

The scientists took 242 still images that make up the movie's 242 frames.

Mr Heinrich said the techniques used to make the movie are similar to what IBM is doing to make data storage smaller.

"As data creation and consumption continue to get bigger, data storage needs to get smaller, all the way down to the atomic level," he said.

View the original article here