Hackers plan to offer blueprint for taking over Prius, Escape

Two well-known computer software hackers plan to publicly release this week a veritable how-to guide for driving two widely owned automobiles haywire.

According to Reuters, Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek will release the findings -- as well as related software -- at the Def Con hacking convention in Las Vegas, showing how to manipulate a Toyota Prius and Ford Escape.

The research, conducted with the aid of a grant from the U.S. government, can alternately force a Prius to brake at 80 mph, veer quickly and dramatically, or accelerate, all without the driver’s prompting. 

The two hackers have also reportedly figured out a way to disable a Ford Escape’s brakes while the vehicle is traveling at “very low speeds,” no matter how hard the driver attempts to stop.

In both cases, the would-be hacker would have to be inside the car in order to tamper with its computer, according to Reuters.

“Imagine what would happen if you were near a crowd,” said Valasek, a software consultant who claims his – and Miller’s – research exposes weaknesses in automobile security systems so patches can be applied and criminals thwarted.

Miller and Valasek told Reuters they hope their 100-page white paper will encourage other hackers to uncover additional automobile security flaws before they can be potentially exposed by malicious parties.

“I trust the eyes of 100 security researchers more than the eyes that are in Ford and Toyota,” Miller, a Twitter security engineer, told Reuters.

A Toyota Motor Corp. spokesman said the company was reviewing Miller and Valasek’s work.

“It’s entirely possible to do,” John Hanson reportedly said of the potentials hacks. “Absolutely, we take it seriously.”

Meanwhile, Craig Daitch, a Ford Motor Corp. spokesman, added, “This particular attack was not performed remotely over the air, but as a highly aggressive direct physical manipulation of one vehicle over an elongated period of time, which would not be a risk to customers and any mass level.”

Apple loses e-book pricing lawsuit, but are consumers the real losers?

Is it a good thing that Apple lost its battle to fix prices on e-books? Yes. Is it going to make life better for readers and publishers? No.

On Wednesday, Apple was convicted of conspiring with five of the six biggest publishers in the U.S. to raise the price of e-books. The amount of any fines will be determined at a subsequent trial; Apple says it will appeal. Essentially, the publishers were trying to prevent Amazon, the budding book monopolist, from discounting e-books. Amazon was actually losing money on some $9.99 e-books just to sell its Kindles. Apple in essence agreed to help the publishers raise prices above $9.99 (and to a large extent succeeded, according to the court).

Price fixing is bad, bad, bad. So why isn't the ruling against Apple good, good, good?

But price fixing is bad, bad, bad. So why isn't the ruling against Apple good, good, good?

The problem is not that it gives Amazon a 160-page court ruling with which to wallop book publishers into submission. The problem is that both Apple and Amazon are stuck in an old-fashioned tech business model—the eco-system model--that stymies innovation and traps consumers in an endless cycle of acquisition and obsolescence. It's a model that has taken one of the best inventions of all time—the paper book—and turned it into a digital mess.

The eco-system model is a high-tech dream wherein one develops a whiz-bang gadget, ties it together with a service (oh, let's say, a store for digital music), and then hangs an ever wider array of devices and services off of the original, spreading out like a spider's web. Tying it all together are usually proprietary formats that are unique to the eco-system and if not strictly incompatible with other devices, are at least walled off from other companies.

Amazon has effectively been copying this iTunes approach in books, wiping out independent booksellers and bumping off Barnes & Noble's CEO and the Nook HD tablet in the process. Amazon has also become something of a boutique publisher. Traditional publishers are, to put it succinctly, freaked out.

Consumers should also be wary. Lulled by $9.99 e-books, we're increasingly tied to the Amazon eco e-book system. Kindle e-books work on other devices—if there's an available app that keeps the apron strings tied to Amazon. And should my e-reader break and my library disappear, I have to go back to the original store for a copy of the book. Unfortunately, different online stores won't retain the e-books you bought elsewhere. So you're further discouraged from stepping outside of the eco-system. (Now where did I buy that e-book two years ago?)

It's like agreeing to buy some of your music on CD and some on cassette—and only being able to play the different collections in different places.

Sure, there are hacks that can covert one e-book format into another, but they don't work terribly well, you often have to go through several formats to convert a book to the desired destination, and it is an agonizingly tedious process. You'll wish you'd bought the paperback.

Apple is not and was not going to be the savior of publishing or of competition in e-book sales. It's trying the same model that Amazon is attempting. Having two tech tyrants who want to disrupt publishing isn't better than having just one.

So what can be done?

The publishers need to go back to taking control of their own products. That means delivering a fully finished product—including what digital format it ends up in. Every company is a technology company today, so there's no reason publishers shouldn't determine what e-book format works everywhere. No more iBook format (a special version of ePub) or Kindle format that chains consumers to particular seller.

With a publisher-specified open format, a Random House book could be sold the way they used to be sold—as a consistent product in a variety of stores. Consumers would benefit because the e-books would work just as easily on any device. There would be real price competition because there would be no eco-system trap. No workarounds. No fear that Apple or Amazon wouldn't support a competing format.

Right now the system is backward, with retailers controlling the e-books rather than those who are actually creating the content calling the shots.

Look, I don't even like e-books--but I read them. They are not nearly as legible as a paper book, you can't flip through them like a paperback, and when the electricity runs out, the story ends. But e-books are the future, so publishers better figure out how to make the technology work for them, or they'll all be working for Amazon

Game over? 'World of Warcraft' loses 600,000 subscribers

World of Warcraft, the massively popular online video game, has seen 600,000 subscribers leave in three months.

It means a total of nearly two million players have turned off since the start of the year.

Announcing its second quarter results, Activision Blizzard, which makes the dungeons and dragons-style game, said it now had 7.7 million subscribers. At the start of 2013, shortly after expansion pack Mists of Pandria was launched, it boasted 9.6 million. At its peak in October 2010, 12 million people were signed up.

Subscribers pay a fee or buy a prepaid card to enter the Internet-connected game world and take on quests alongside other players.

Despite the steady decline, World of Warcraft is still easily the world's most popular MMOG (massively multiplayer online game). A new in-game store, announced earlier this month and allowing players to buy extra items, may also help shore up subscriber numbers.

Some paid-for online titles have struggled over the last year and dropped their subscription fees, casting doubt over the future of the business model.

Star Wars: The Old Republic was the most notable casualty. Reported to have cost several hundred million dollars to produce, it became free to play in November 2012.

World of Warcraft's subscriber figures come as Activison Blizzard revealed it is to go independent and buy $8 billion shares from its owner, French media giant Vivendi.

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and its co-chairman, Brian Kelly, have personally stumped up $100 million for the deal.

Spacecraft sees giant 'hole' in sun

A space telescope aimed at the sun has spotted a gigantic hole in the solar atmosphere — a dark spot that covers nearly a quarter of our closest star, spewing solar material and gas into space.

The so-called coronal hole over the sun's north pole came into view between July 13 and 18 and was observed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO. NASA released a video of the sun hole as seen by the SOHO spacecraft, showing the region as a vast dark spot surrounded by solar activity.

Coronal holes are darker, cooler regions of the sun's atmosphere, or corona, containing little solar material. In these gaps, magnetic field lines whip out into the solar wind rather than looping back to the sun's surface. Coronal holes can affect space weather, as they send solar particles streaming off the sun about three times faster than the slower wind unleashed elsewhere from the sun's atmosphere, according to a description from NASA.

"While it’s unclear what causes coronal holes, they correlate to areas on the sun where magnetic fields soar up and away, failing to loop back down to the surface, as they do elsewhere," NASA's Karen Fox at the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., explained in an image description.

These holes are not uncommon, but their frequency changes with the solar activity cycle. The sun is currently reaching its 11-year peak in activity, known as the solar maximum. Around the time of this peak, the sun's poles switch their magnetism. The number of coronal holes typically decreases leading up to the switch.

After the reversal, new coronal holes appear near the poles. Then as the sun approaches the solar minimum again, the holes creep closer to the equator, growing in both size and number, according to NASA.

The $1.27-billion SOHO satellite was launched in 1995 and is flying a joint mission between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). It watches solar activity from an orbit about the Lagrange Point 1, a gravitationally stable spot between Earth and the sun that is about 932,000 miles from our planet.

SpaceShots: The best new photos of our universe

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European Union diplomat mediates in Egypt as rallies continue

CAIRO –  Europe's top diplomat urged Egypt's interim government to reach out to the Muslim Brotherhood as she worked Monday to mediate an end to the country's increasingly bloody crisis, while the mainly Islamist protesters calling for the return of ousted leader Mohammed Morsi massed for more protests.

It was European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton's second visit to Cairo since Islamist President Mohammed Morsi was toppled by the military nearly a month ago, underscoring the urgency felt after violence that has killed more than 260 people.

But any hope of political reconciliation appears distant, with repeated street battles. At least 83 Morsi supporters were killed in clashes with security forces early Saturday near the site of their main Cairo sit-in. Security officials have spoken of taking the potentially more explosive step of clearing that sit-in and others by Islamists.

So far, Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and its allies have rejected any dealings with the military-backed civilian government set up after the army removed the president. They say the only solution is for Morsi to be returned to office.

The government, meanwhile, is pushing ahead with a transition plan supposed to lead to new elections early next year. At the same time, security officials and pro-military media have increasingly depicted the Islamists' protests as a threat to public safety because of armed men among the rallies.

Ashton met separately with the two sides. After their talks with her, a delegation of Islamist politicians representing the pro-Morsi camp said those now in power must take the first step toward any reconciliation by releasing jailed Brotherhood leaders and stopping media campaigns against Islamists.

"Creating the atmosphere requires those in authority now to send messages of reassurance," Mohammed Mahsoub, of the Islamist Wasat Party, told reporters.  "Everyone is looking for a solution. We urge everyone to think ... because this is the moment of solutions."

Speaking alongside a Brotherhood official and another Islamist politician, he did not mention the demand of Morsi's return, though he appeared to be sticking by it by saying any solution must be on a "constitutional basis."

Undeterred by the weekend's bloodshed, the Brotherhood gathered supporters for more rallies outside security facilities on Monday evening during which they plan to carry empty coffins as a symbol of their dead. They have also called for another round of mass protests Tuesday under the banner "Martyrs of the Coup," and have set up a tent a block away from their main sit-in for prayers for those killed over the weekend.

The Interior Ministry has vowed to take decisive action against anyone who violates state property, raising fears of more bloodshed.

The Brotherhood has called the clashes Saturday a "massacre." Human Rights Watch and field doctors interviewed by The Associated Press said many were killed by gunshots to the head and chest. The Interior Ministry its policemen only fired tear gas, though witnesses say security forces also used live ammunition and birdshot.

Police moved in on the protesters after they sought to expand their sit-in onto a nearby boulevard, blocking it. Security officials said Monday that a police captain died of wounds sustained during those clashes after being hit in the eye with birdshot from protesters. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

On Monday, 10 prominent local rights groups called for the dismissal of Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, who heads the police forces. Ibrahim was a Morsi appointee who was kept in his post in the newly formed interim Cabinet.

The groups, which include the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, also said that during Morsi's rule and since his fall, his Brotherhood supporters have engaged in political violence, torture and assaults on peaceful protesters, artists, media personnel and rights workers.

"The political circumstances of the massacre are well known, but the common denominator between it and other similar incidents is the lack of real accountability for the perpetrators of past killings, assassinations, and torture," the rights groups said.

The clashes came after millions took the streets to show their support for military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. The mass turnout followed a call from el-Sissi, who also is defense minister, for rallies to give him a mandate to deal with violence and "potential terrorism" -- a thinly veiled reference to expected crackdowns on Morsi supporters who are holding sit-in camps in Cairo.

The military, led by el-Sissi, pushed Morsi from power July 3 after mass protests by millions of Egyptians demanding the president step down after a year in office.

The EU foreign policy chief, Ashton, said she was reinforcing to all sides that the transition process must include "all political groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood."

"I will also repeat my call to end all violence. I deeply deplore the loss of life," she said in a statement before her arrival.

She held talks with el-Sissi, Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei and interim President Adly Mansour. She also met with members of grassroots youth-led protest groups such as April 6 and Tamarod. Tamarod, Arabic for "Rebel," was a main organizer of the mass protests that led to the coup.

After meeting with Ashton, Mahmoud Badr of Tamarod said he asked her to condemn all armed sit-ins.

"We don't know how responsive the Brotherhood is to this," he said. "We have no intention of going back one step... They must break up these sit-ins and hand in their wanted leaders."

One of the thorniest issues toward reconciliation post-coup is the detention of several Brotherhood leaders and other prominent Islamists since Morsi's ouster.

The circle of those in custody expanded Sunday after authorities arrested two figures from the Brotherhood-allied Wasat Party and took them to the capital's Tora prison. The party condemned the arrest of its leaders, saying such measures exacerbate the crisis and add new obstacles to efforts to build bridges.

Morsi has been held incommunicado by the military at an undisclosed military facility. Last week prosecutors announced they were investigating him on charges of murder and conspiring with the Palestinian militant group Hamas to carry out an attack on a prison during the 2011 uprising against autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The jailbreak allegedly led to the deaths of inmates and broke Morsi and around 30 other members of the group out of detention.

The president's spokesman Ahmed el-Muslemani said "Morsi is not a political prisoner" and the judiciary is handling his detention.

In a snub to his Hamas rivals, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met Monday with Mansour in Cairo in a show of support for the new government. Egyptian authorities have imposed the toughest border restrictions on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in years, sealing smuggling tunnels and blocking most passenger traffic

Cairo vendors killed in mass brawl

At least 12 people have been killed in a fight in central Cairo involving street vendors.

Egyptian state media reported that the brawl took place in the al-Moski area of the capital.

The fight was reportedly caused by a dispute between street vendors over spaces.

Most of the victims died after a shop they took refuge in was set on fire, according to a report by the AFP news agency.

There is so far no suggestion that the fight is linked to the political crisis in Egypt.

Worry mounts in Egypt as protesters dig in heels

Cairo (CNN) -- Tensions are running high in Egypt nearly a month after the July 3 ouster of Mohamed Morsy, the country's first democratically elected president. Here are five things to know about what's going on in the pivotal North African nation:

Anxiety is thick in Egypt amid government preparations to evict pro-Morsy demonstrators

Protesters demanding Morsy's return to power are camped out in an east Cairo neighborhood, saying they won't leave until Morsy is restored to power.

Meanwhile, those whose protests led to Morsy's ouster -- secularists and liberals -- find themselves aligned, at least in part, with the military-backed government.

Protests in Cairo and elsewhere have turned violent, with dozens killed Saturday in Cairo in clashes between demonstrators and security forces. And more violence is possible amid government warnings to pro-Morsy demonstrators to end their protests.

The country isn't spiraling out of control, Interim Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi said Monday in an interview to be aired on CNN's ""The situation is tense of course," he said. "No one can dispute that we have a very difficult situation."

But the government is merely trying to restore order after a month of chaotic demonstrations, he said.

However, a Muslim Brotherhood coalition that opposes Morsy's ouster said those behind his removal are "threatening national security by dragging the Egyptian army into a conflict with the majority of Egyptians, and by involving the army in attacks on peaceful demonstrators, causing a breach between the people and their army."

Opinion: Morsy a victim of Egypt's revolution of the mind

"Who is in charge?" is not necessarily a simple question to answer

Since taking power from Morsy on July 3, Egypt's military has installed an interim civilian government with Adly Mansour as interim president. He issued a decree giving himself some legislative power and outlining a path toward new elections.

But Egypt's generals still wield significant power. For instance, last week it was Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the country's defense minister, not the president, who called for mass protests in support of the military, asking supporters to provide a "referendum to take firm action against violence and terrorism."

El-Beblawi said he believes the civilian government is calling the shots.

"As far as I am concerned, I feel very much in charge with my council of ministers, and I haven't seen any indication or any sign from anyone to tell me what to be done," he told CNN's Hala Gorani. "The moment I feel that the civilian government is besieged, I will put in my resignation."

Morsy remains out of sight

He hasn't been seen publicly since the military forced him from office.

The state-run EGYNews reported Sunday that an Egyptian delegation granted permission to visit him said he is being held at an undisclosed military facility along with his chief of staff and his secretary.

El-Beblawi didn't elaborate Monday on Morsy's location, but said he is being well cared for and detained in part for his own safety. Catherine Ashton, the European Union's top diplomat, was expected to meet him during her visit to Egypt Monday, El-Beblawi said.

The former president is being held in relation for a jailbreak that took place during Egypt's 2011 revolution but well before he came to power, state media reported.

Prosecutors have said the escape of Morsy and 18 other Brotherhood members, among others, was plotted by "foreign elements" including Hamas, the Islamic Palestinian Army and Hezbollah.

Morsy, who local media reports say was in prison for a single day without any formal charges against him, is accused of escaping, destroying the prison's official records and intentionally killing and abducting police officers and prisoners.

The international community is worried

Rights groups and international leaders are concerned about the violence that's already occurred, and the threat of more.

Human Rights Watch on Sunday accused the government of intentionally killing protesters. The rights group says it based its assessment on witness interviews and video footage that in some cases appeared to show security forces shooting to kill.

"The use of deadly fire on such a scale so soon after the interim president announced the need to impose order by force suggests a shocking willingness by the police and by certain politicians to ratchet up violence against pro-Morsy protesters," Nadim Houry, the group's deputy Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement. "It is almost impossible to imagine that so many killings would take place without an intention to kill, or at least a criminal disregard for people's lives."

Ashton is visiting Egypt on Monday, hoping to help quell the violence.

"I am going to Egypt to speak to all sides and to reinforce our message that there must be a fully inclusive transition process, taking in all political groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood," Ashton said in a statement." This process must lead -- as soon as possible -- to constitutional order, free and fair elections and a civilian-led government. I will also repeat my call to end all violence. I deeply deplore the loss of life."

On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talked with Egypt's interim vice president and foreign minister, expressing the administration's concern about the violence.

"This is a pivotal moment for Egypt," Kerry said in a statement Saturday. "Over two years ago, the revolution began. Its final verdict is not decided, but it will be forever impacted by what happens now."

Things could get uglier

The government is threatening to break up demonstrations in what could well be another bloody confrontation between demonstrators and security forces.

On Sunday, Mansour, Egypt's interim president, issued a powder-keg decree making preparations for a possible "state of emergency," the EGYnews website reported.

"State of emergency" is a loaded term in Egypt, where former President Hosni Mubarak ruled for 30 years under an emergency decree that barred unauthorized assembly, restricted freedom of speech and allowed police to jail people indefinitely.

However, Mansour's spokesman, Ahmed El Meslemani, said Monday in a televised news conference that the government has no plans to declare emergency law.

Still, the National Defense Council has issued a stern warning to protesters backing Morsy to end their protests or face "decisive decisions" for violating the law, and El-Beblawi said the government cannot stand by while protesters disrupt normal routines.

On Monday, Military helicopters dropped leaflets on pro-Morsy protesters in Rabaa al-Adawiya and appealed for them not to approach military installations and units, EGYnews said.

"We call on everyone to cooperate and respond to the instructions of the armed forces personnel in order for the security and stability of the country. No violence. Do not sabotage. No bloodshed," the leaflets read.."

Cairo vendors killed in mass brawl

At least 12 people have been killed in a fight in central Cairo involving street vendors.

Egyptian state media reported that the brawl took place in the al-Moski area of the capital.

The fight was reportedly caused by a dispute between street vendors over spaces.

Most of the victims died after a shop they took refuge in was set on fire, according to a report by the AFP news agency.

There is so far no suggestion that the fight is linked to the political crisis in Egypt.

Pope Francis: Who am I to judge gay people?

Speaking to reporters on a flight back from Brazil, he reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's position that homosexual acts were sinful, but homosexual orientation was not.

He was responding to questions about whether there was a "gay lobby" in the Vatican.

"If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge them?"

He also said he wanted a greater role for women in the Church, but insisted they could not be priests.

The Pope arrived back in Rome on Monday after a week-long tour of Brazil - his first trip abroad as pontiff - which climaxed with a huge gathering on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach for a world Catholic youth festival.

His remarks on gay people are being seen as much less judgemental than his predecessor's position on the issue.

Pope Benedict XVI signed a document in 2005 that said men with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be priests.

But Pope Francis said gay clergymen should be forgiven and their sins forgotten.

"The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this very well," Pope Francis said in a wide-ranging 80-minute long interview with Vatican journalists.

"It says they should not be marginalised because of this but that they must be integrated into society."

But he condemned what he described as lobbying by gay people.

"The problem is not having this orientation," he said. "We must be brothers. The problem is lobbying by this orientation, or lobbies of greedy people, political lobbies, Masonic lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the worse problem."

On the role of women in the Church, he said: "We cannot limit the role of women in the Church to altar girls or the president of a charity, there must be more.

"But with regards to the ordination of women, the Church has spoken and says no... That door is closed."

Answering questions about the troubled Vatican bank, he said the institution must become "honest and transparent" and that he would listen to advice on whether it could be reformed or should be shut down altogether.

"I don't know what will become of the bank. Some say it is better that is a bank, others that it should be a charitable fund and others say close it," he said.

'Undisciplined'

Before leaving Brazil, Pope Francis gave a highly unusual one-to-one interview to a Brazilian TV programme.

The interview was shown on TV Globo's high-profile Sunday night documentary programme Fantastico, broadcast not long after the Pope departed for Rome.

The Pope was asked about the moment on his visit when his driver took a wrong turn and his vehicle was surrounded by crowds.

"I don't feel afraid," he answered. "I know that no-one dies before their time.

"I don't want to see these people who have such a great heart from behind a glass box. The two security teams [from the Vatican and Brazil] worked very well. But I know that I am undisciplined in that respect."

Asked about the recent protests by young people on the streets of Brazil, the Pope said: "The young person is essentially a non-conformist, and this is very beautiful.

"It is necessary to listen to young people, give them places to express themselves and to be careful that they aren't manipulated."

Asked about his simple lifestyle and use of a small car, he said it wasn't a good example when a priest had the latest model of a car or a top brand.

"At this moment I believe God is asking us for more simplicity," he added