Linking CWL - June 8, 2012

What a crazy week for security issues. If you have a password out there, this week you probably needed to change it. This week also saw the launch of a new chat service and more struggles for the faltering Blackberry maker, RIM. More on that and other news in this edition of Linking CWL. - Smaller SIM size now a standard - The standards body known as ETSI (no, I’ve never heard of them either) has approved a new standard for that card that identifies you and your phone number in a mobile device. The fourth form factor (4FF), as they are calling it, is much smaller than today’s in-use SIM cards.

• Steve Jobs on the File System - In a talk from 2005, Steve Jobs overshadows his vision of iOS and the file system itself - “why is the file system the face of the OS?”. Interesting to hear this small tidit of information.
• Airtime launched - A video chat service similar to that of Chatroulette (minus the nudity) started by Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning (the creators of Napster). This service requires a heck of allot of Facebook permissions to use - but presumably keeps you from the evils of naked-ness.
• LinkedIn passwords compromised - A week of security breaches and violations in Ontario, on Last.fm and even eHarmony - also saw a huge 6.5+ million password hashes published online from LinkedIn. I talked about what you can do if you’re a LinkedIn user (read it here). Are these types of things now accepted as commonplace?
• RIM kills the 16GB Playbook model - Because of low prices (and likely little or no profit), RIM has decided to discontinue the 16GB model Blackberry Playbook. Could this be sign of more RIM product deaths?