Loaded with spam

YOUR IPHONE COULD BE HACKED WITHOUT YOU KNOWING IT, SPAM IS AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH, AND CHINA BANS VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES ONLINE. ITS THURSDAY, JULY 30TH. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE AND IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED. [*] TODAY AT THE BLACK HAT SECURITY CONFERENCE, A TEAM OF EXPERTS IS PLANNING TO SHOW OFF THE ABILITY TO HACK EVERY SINGLE IPHONE AND BASICALLY PUPPETEER IT. CHARLIE MILLER AND HIS TEAM CLAIM TO BE ABLE TO SEND A SERIES OF MOSTLY INVISIBLE SMS BURSTS THAT WILL GIVE THEM THE ABILITY TO USE ANY IPHONE REMOTELY TO DIAL, SURF THE WEB, TAKE PHOTOS, TURN ON THE MICROPHONE, AND SENT OUT TEXT MESSAGES. AND THE ONLY WAY YOU COULD STOP IT WOULD BE TO TURN YOUR PHONE OFF. APPARENTLY MILLER NOTIFIED APPLE OF THIS FLAW BUT THE COMPANY HAS NOT RELEASED A FIX YET. SO HE IS TAKING IT PUBLIC AND SCARING THE DAYLIGHTS OUT OF EVERYONE WHO USES AN IPHONE. THANKS FOR THAT. [*] T-MOBILE IS GOING TO START SELLING THE HTC TOUCH PRO2 IN AUGUST. THIS IS A 3G PHONE WITH WI-FI, GPS, AND A 3.6-INCH WVGA TOUCHSCREEN THAT SLIDES UP DIAGONALLY TO REVEAL A FULL QWERTY KEYBOARD. IT ALSO HAS A 3.2 MEGAPIXEL CAMERA. WE WEREN'T SURE WHICH CARRIER WOULD PICK THIS PHONE UP HERE IN THE U.S. BUT NOW WE KNOW. IT IS T-MOBILE AND IT COMES OUT ON AUGUST 12. [*] WHEN THE NEW T-MOBILE SIDEKICK WAS ANNOUNCED, THE COMPANY PROMISED EXCHANGE SUPPORT WAS ON ITS WAY. T-MOBILE MADE GOOD ON THAT PROMISE THIS WEEK. IT ANNOUNCED SIDEKICK SYNC, WHICH IS A MOBILE APP THAT SUPPORTS REAL-TIME MICROSOFT EXCHANGE SYNCHRONIZATION. IT ALSO HAS PUSH EMAIL, CALENDAR SYNC, ATTACHMENT VIEWING, AND MORE. IT ISN'T FREE THOUGH, IT COSTS $4.99 AND REQUIRES A SIDEKICK DATA PLAN ON THE NEW SIDEKICK LX. THIS IS FURTHER PROOF THAT THE COMPANY WANTS TO POSITION THE SIDEKICK AS A BUSINESS DEVICE, RATHER THAN JUST A TEENY BOPPER PHONE. [*] USERS OF THE SONY READER CAN NOW ACCESS OVER 1 MILLION BOOKS FOR FREE FROM GOOGLE BOOKS LIBRARY. THESE ARE OUT OF COPYRIGHT AND PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS THAT GOOGLE HAS WORKED SO HARD TO DIGITIZE. WHEN THIS DEAL WAS FIRST ANNOUNCED EARLIER THIS YEAR, GOOGLE ONLY HAD 500 THOUSAND FREE BOOKS. [*] A NEW BILL BEING CONSIDERED IN THE SENATE WOULD REQUIRE STATES TO WRITE LAWS THAT BAN TEXTING WHILE DRIVING. IF THIS BILL IS LEGITIMIZED, EVERY STATE WILL HAVE TO HAVE A LAW LIKE THIS OR ELSE RISK LOSING 25 PERCENT OF ITS FEDERAL HIGHWAY MONEY. STATES WOULD HAVE TWO YEARS TO ENACT SUCH LAWS, IF THEY HAVEN'T ALREADY. THIS IS AN OBVIOUS RESPONSE TO ALL OF THE RESEARCH SHOWING THE VERY SERIOUS DANGERS OF TEXTING WHILE DRIVING. [*] TWITTER HAS A NEW HOMEPAGE. THE MAIN DIFFERENCE IS A NEW SEARCH BAR UNDER THE MESSAGE "See what people are saying about�" FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU TYPE IN A TOPIC LIKE MICROSOFT, YOU'LL SEE WHAT'S BEING DISCUSSED AND WHO IS SAYING IT. NOW NEW USERS WILL FOCUS ON THE SEARCH FUNCTION RATHER THAN "What are you doing" FUNCTION BECAUSE REALLY, NO ONE CARES THAT YOU ARE CLEANING OUT YOUR KITTY LITTER. [*] ON TUESDAY, CHINA BANNED WEBSITES WITH ONLINE GAMES THAT GLAMORIZE MAFIA GANGS. THESE INCLUDE GAMES LIKE "GODFATHER" WHERE USERS CAN PLAY AT BEING HITMEN OR GANGSTERS. THE CHINESE CULTURE MINISTRY SAID SUCH GAMES "ADVOCATE OBSCENITY, GAMBLING OR VIOLENCE AND UNDERMINE MORALITY AND CHINESE TRADITIONAL CULTURE." [*] ACCORDING TO MCAFEE, SPAM IS AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH. THE SECURITY COMPANY RELEASED ITS SECOND QUARTER THREATS REPORT ON WEDNESDAY AND IT SHOWED THAT SPAM WAS UP 60 PERCENT ON Q2 AS COMPARED TO A1. THE COMPANY REPORTS THAT 92 PERCENT OF ALL EMAIL IS SPAM. AND THE U.S. IS STILL THE SPAM KING, HOLDING 25.5 PERCENT OF THE GLOBAL MARKET FOLLOWED BY BRAZIL, TURKEY, INDIA, AND POLAND. [*] NEW YORK HAS BEEN RATED THE BEST CITY IN THE U.S. FOR SINGLES BY FORBES.COM. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME NEW YORK WON THE ANNUAL POLL. SURPRISINGLY ENOUGH, IT'S THE ONLINE DATING SECTION THAT PUSHED THE BIG APPLE INTO FIRST PLACE. NEW YORK HAS THE LARGEST NUMBER OF ACTIVE ACCOUNTS ON MATCH.COM THAN ANY OTHER CITY... AND NO I DON'T HAVE ONE. [*] IF YOU ARE THE KIND OF PERSON WHO TAKES YOUR DJ HERO'ING VERY SERIOUSLY, YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER THE DJ HERO RENEGADE EDITION BUNDLE. IT COMES OUT OF ACTIVISION AND INCLUDES A BLACK AND BRONZE TURNTABLE WITH A HARDSHELL CARRYING CASE THAT DOUBLES AS A STAND, THE GAME ITSELF, A JAY-Z/EMINEM TWO-CD COLLECTION WITH UNRELEASED TRACKS, AND A COLLECTIBLE CASE DESIGNED BY SOMEONE NAMED SHEPARD FAIREY. I CAN'T DECIDE IF THIS IS REALLY COOL OR REALLY TOOL-ISH. [*] THOSE ARE ALL OF YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY AND THAT WRAPS UP YOUR WEEK OF GETTING LOADED. BEFORE I GO I WOULD LIKE TO WISH A HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SAM, JARED, Sulaiman. THANK YOU FOR WATCHING. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE WITH CNET TV AND YOU'VE JUST BEEN LOADED.