Windows Phone Permanently Modifies MicroSD Cards, Warns Samsung

Don’t put your MicroSD cards into Windows Phones. According to Samsung, doing so is a ‘permanent modification’ to the card, and it can no longer be used in other devices.

And Microsoft backs this up.  They state here [microsoft.com], that is happening more clearly.

When the operating system integrates the SD card with your phone:

  1. It reformats the SD card.
  2. It creates a single file system that spans the internal storage and the SD card.
  3. It locks the card to the phone with an automatically generated key.

From this point on, the phone’s operating system uses all of the available memory as a single storage space for storing applications and data. The phone will stop working properly if you remove the SD card, and the SD card cannot be read by another phone, device, or PC.

It’s not just one data point from some casual observer. The manufacturer of the operating system states quite clearly that this is the expected behavior.

Why?  Why use SD memory, if it’s not intended to be removed?

Some Windows Phone 7 devices include a Secure Digital (SD) card slot underneath the battery cover. If you buy a Windows Phone 7 device that includes an SD card slot, you should be aware of several important differences from other devices that use SD cards:

  • The SD card slot in your phone is intended to be used only by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) that built your phone and your Mobile Operator (MO). These partners can add an SD card to this slot to expand the amount of storage on your phone.
  • To help ensure a great user experience, Microsoft has performed exhaustive testing to determine which SD cards perform well with Windows Phone 7 devices. Microsoft has worked closely with OEMs and MOs to ensure that they only add these cards to Windows Phone 7 devices.
  • You should not remove the SD card in your phone or add a new one because your Windows Phone 7 device might not work properly. Existing data on the phone will be lost, and the SD card in your phone can’t be used in other Windows Phones, PCs, or other devices.

So it appears that the SD slot, is intended to boost the memory in the device when sold.  Not as a “Floppy” or removable storage.

Tron Legacy already has a “parody” – “Pron xxx”.

pron-xxx.jpg Adult actress Zoe Voss recently posted photos of herself dressed in her costume for Pron, the aptly titled porno parody of Tron. There aren’t any special effect shots, but the outfit looks like nice burlesque wear.

Pron stars Anthony Rosano and is directed by Sam Hain and Leeroy Myers — the film also features a glow job scene, which I hope is just a sequence of the Pron equivalents of Sam Flynn and Quorra programming at consoles (totally clothed).

Details at Gamma Squad.

The website of Doom?

You may have been wondering…  Over the last day or two, I’ve been having quite a few issues with the WordPress software….

Mainly, unexplainable 500 & 404 errors….  I have currently stripped out everything, and I’m slowly adding components back in, in an effort to isolate the issue.

In the meantime, please be patient…  And if you would be interested in posting here, please let me know…

Google pulls app that revealed Android flaw, issues fix

Google pulled an app from the Android marketplace that was created to illustrate a flaw in the mobile framework that allowed apps to be installed without a user’s knowledge. It then issued a fix for bug.

Jon Oberheide, chief technology officer of Scio Security, created a proof-of-concept app disguised as an expansion for the popular Angry Birds game. After the app was downloaded, three additional apps were installed without the user’s knowledge that had permission to perform malicious activities but were benign, he told CNET in an interview.

Oberheide and Zach Lanier, a senior consultant at Intrepidus Group, were scheduled to present their research on the Android vulnerability at Intel’s annual internal security conference in Hillsboro, Ore., today.

Before they got a chance to give their presentation, Google pulled the app, according to Oberheide. The company also began rolling out a fix for the issue, which applies to all Android devices, a Google spokesperson said in an e-mail late yesterday.

Read more about it here –  Google pulls app that revealed Android flaw, issues fix