Monthly Archive:: December 2011

ToAruOS, a Hobby Operating System

Guest post by subterrific 2011-12-01 OS News 2 Comments

ToAruOS is a hobby operating system project under development by UIUC computer science undergraduates. It is based on POSIX and runs on x86. While the ultimate goal is a microkernel, it is currently a very monolithic kernel. The documentation includes links to guides on OS development.

Statements Regarding CarrierIQ from Carriers, Device Makers

Thom Holwerda 2011-12-01 Privacy, Security 22 Comments

In order to not end up with ten different posts or endless updates to the previous one, I'm using this post to assemble all the official responses from both carriers and device makers alike concerning the CarrierIQ rootkit/spyware/whatever. Update: Added official statement from HP regarding webOS (see bottom).

CarrierIQ Rootkit Found on Android

Thom Holwerda 2011-12-01 Privacy, Security 59 Comments

So, this has been causing a bit of a major dungstorm - and rightly so. As it turns out, many carriers are installing a piece of non-removable privacy-invading spyware on their smartphones called CarrierIQ. It doesn't matter whether you have a ~~webOS~~, Android, BlackBerry or iOS device - carriers install it on all of them. Luckily though, it would appear it really depends on your carrier - smartphones in The Netherlands, for instance, are not infested with CarrierIQ. Update: As John Gruber rightfully points out, ever so verbosely, the headline here isn't particularly well-chosen. The article makes all this clear, but the headline doesn't. It's my birthday today, so my head wasn't totally in it - my apologies! Update II: Just got a statement from an HP spokesperson: "HP does not install nor authorize its partners to embed Carrier IQ on its webOS devices."

Android 4.0 Released for x86

Guest post by Tiago Cogumbreiro 2011-12-01 Google 26 Comments

Android 4.0, otherwise known as Ice Cream Sandwich, has been released for x86. There is an ISO available, featuring hardware acceleration for AMD Radeon, but not yet for Intel-based systems. Several things don't work as of yet.