Internet Explorer IQ study was a hoax

A study that suggested Internet Explorer users were not as smart as those using other Web browsers is apparently a fake, according to the person that initially distributed it.

In a statement on its website, Aptiquant said it "was set up in late July 2011 by comparison shopping website AtCheap.com in order to launch a fake ‘study’.... The main purpose behind this hoax was to create awareness about the incompatibilities of IE6, and not to insult or hurt anyone.”

The company, Aptiquant, doesn't exist, according to a separate statement on its website.

A man identifying himself as the owner of Atcheap.com said he was behind the hoax. "It was just a joke, and I didn’t really mean to insult anybody," he said.

On Wednesday, BBC reported that images of the company’s staff were copied from another website: “Thumbnail images of the firm's staff on the website also matched those on the site of French research company Central Test, although many of the names had been changed,” the BBC said.

The BBC said readers raised questions regarding the study, and the news organization had a security consultant inspect source material after questions arose. "It's obviously very easy to create a bogus site like this -- as all phishers know it's easy to rip off someone else's web pages and pictures," Graham Cluley, a senior security consultant at Sophos, told BBC.

The study was widely reported by numerous media outlets, including this one.

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Do Internet Explorer users have the lowest IQs on the Web? [Updated]

[Updated 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011: The study has been discredited as a hoax.

In response to media inquiries, the owner of the study's website acknowledged that he had fabricated the survey as "a joke."]

Don't call Internet Explorer fans dumb -- don't even suggest it.

AptiQuant, the consulting firm behind a new study that appears to insult the intelligence of Microsoft Internet Explorer users, is finding itself engulfed in a whirl of furry.

Internet Explorer loyalists have threatened legal action and have sent hate mail to the company since its study on the smarts of IE devotees was released last week, the Vancouver, Canada-based AptiQuant Psychometric Consulting Co. said in a recent blog post on its website.

The company compiled more than 100,000 IQ tests it conducted and arranged the findings based on what Internet browser the test-takers used. The results "support the hypothesis that the IQ score and the choice of web browser are related," the study said.

Internet Explorer users on average fared worse than aficionados of other browsers such as Mozilla's Firefox, Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari.

"From the test results, it is a clear indication that individuals on the lower side of the IQ scale tend to resist a change/upgrade of their browsers," the study said. "It is common knowledge that Internet Explorer Versions to 6.0 to 8.0 are highly incompatible with modern web standards."

Microsoft declined to comment on the study.

The blowback caused AptiQuant's chief executive to clarify the results.

"I just want to make it clear that the report released by my company did not suggest that if you use IE that means you have a low IQ, but what it really says is that if you have a low IQ then there are high chances that you use Internet Explorer," Leonard Howard said in a company blog post.

But Howard didn't back down in the face of threatened legal action, confidant that the evidence was on his side, according to the blog post.

"A win in a court would only give a stamp of approval and more credibility to our report," he said.

While you shouldn't expect a switch in software to increase your learning ability, just in case you want to emulate the geniuses among us: maybe download Opera, Camino or the Chrome Frame add-on for Internet Explorer. Users of that software scored, on average, highest on the IQ tests, the study said.

And for the record, this reporter used Internet Explorer to access and read the study.

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Apple says it'll update Final Cut Pro X to allay critics

Apple is promising updates to Final Cut Pro X, an attempt to blunt criticism from professional editors upset over features left out from the new app.

Final Cut Pro X -- the latest version of Apple’s popular video editing software -- “has impressed many pro editors, and it has also generated a lot of discussion in the pro video community,” the company wrote in a FAQ published online Wednesday.

Apple promises several updates that will bring back features found in older versions of Final Cut Pro, including the ability to edit video from multiple cameras at the same time.

“We will provide great multicam support in the next major release,” Apple said, but didn’t specify a time frame.

Final Cut Pro X, which was built from the ground up as a new application, has drawn criticism from professional video editors who say the new software is a toned-down version that doesn’t suit their needs. Professionals have compared the new app to iMovie, an editing software with fewer options that is used mainly by amateurs, even going so far as to call it iMovie Pro.

“This is no longer a professional application,” commenter Hectorsierra wrote in a review posted on Apple’s website. “This is a Final Cut Express meets iMovie!! I'm so disappointed that I want to cry!! :("

Apple released Final Cut Pro X last week on its Mac App Store, offering the software as a digital download for $299.99 -- for the first time, an on-disc hard copy of Final Cut is not available to purchase.

As the Technology blog reported last week, users who previously wanted Final Cut Pro had to shell out about $1,000 for the video editing application and a bundle of other programs called Final Cut Studio.

In its FAQ, Apple said users will also soon be able to export in XML, a key tool for professionals because the format allows the sharing of data between divergent applications.

Although Apple’s FAQ promises some updates, they don't include one highly sought-after feature: the ability to import complete project files from previous versions of Final Cut.

Because Final Cut Pro X contains “new and redesigned audio effects, video effects, and color grading tools,” users won’t be able to import projects from earlier versions “without changing or losing data.” However, Apple says, it is possible to import media files from previous versions into a new project file in Final Cut Pro X.

Apple did note that those who buy Final Cut Pro X will still have another option: using older versions of Final Cut.

“If you’re already working with Final Cut Pro 7, you can continue to do so after installing Final Cut Pro X, and Final Cut Pro 7 will work with Mac OS X Lion,” Apple said.

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Alleged LulzSec chat posted online, features Rebecca Black 'Friday' parody

A chat room log between people claiming to be members of the hacker group LulzSec was recently published online; it's filled with talk of press coverage, bragging of successful attacks and lots of joking.

The document appears to have been posted by someone who partook in the chat -- someone who LulzSec said has been hacked for his insubordination.

"Despite the fact that we're laughing heartily right now, we do take care of our subcrew, and as such the person who leaked those logs (m_nerva) has been completely hacked inside and out," LulzSec said in a statement on the website PasteBin. "We have all his online accounts, all his personal information, all the illegal things he's done on record. We destroyed him so hard that he sat there apologizing to us all night on IRC for what he did. His mother probably spanked him after we wrecked his home connection. Uh-oh, m_nerva!"

The hacker group said the chat room channel that the log details was not its "core channel" where its main members would communicate. Rather, the group said it used the "#pure-elite" channel to court possible backup members for future Web attacks.

"Recently some of you may have seen 'LulzSec exposed' logs floating around," the group stated on PasteBin. "We'd like the time to say this: LOL. Those logs are primarily from a channel called #pure-elite, which is /not/ the LulzSec core chatting channel. #pure-elite is where we gather potential backup/subcrew research and development battle fleet members, i.e. we were using that channel only to recruit talent for side-operations."

LulzSec said many of the individuals in the chat log are not involved with the group, but many others not denied by LulzSec took part in the chat log's conversations.

The chat log, which is dated from May 31 to June 4, has members discussing LulzSec's then-recent hack of PBS' website:

Jun 01 02:49:38 <Topiary> speaking of, did you guys know WikiLeaks tweeted our PBS Tupac story?
Jun 01 02:49:46 <storm> yes
Jun 01 02:49:48 <storm> i was around
Jun 01 02:49:49 <storm> :)

Later in the log, the chatters focus on LulzSec's coverage in the media and its effect on the group's Twitter popularity:

Jun 03 14:36:02 <joepie91> moaaarrrr publicity
Jun 03 14:36:45 <Sabu> oh boyy
Jun 03 14:38:57 <trollpoll> twitter account of lulzsec has more than 35.000 followers O_O... craziness...
Jun 03 14:39:48 <trollpoll> is close to pass @sony :)

Despite LulzSec's media coverage, the log stated that the group only raised $500 in donations from its website after attacking Fox, PBS and Sony:

Jun 04 17:14:14 <storm> we have 400+ in donations
Jun 04 17:14:56 <pwnsauce> sheeeeet
Jun 04 17:15:09 <neuron> lol dammn what are we gonna do with it?
...
Jun 04 17:15:53 <pwnsauce> neuron - buy servers and bots
Jun 04 17:16:27 <Topiary> already sent kayla money for bots, sending Sabu money for servers when he wants it
Jun 04 17:16:30 <Topiary> we have 500USD in donations

The group, which is known for rewriting songs into LulzSec-themed remixes, riffed on the YouTube sensation "Friday" by Rebecca Black.

Jun 03 15:55:38 <joepie91> Seven a.m., waking up in the morning,
Jun 03 15:55:38 <joepie91> Gotta get ready, gotta head downstairs
Jun 03 15:55:38 <joepie91> Gotta have my hacks, gotta have my snacks
Jun 03 15:55:38 <joepie91> Seein' everything , the time is goin'
Jun 03 15:55:38 <joepie91> Tickin' on and on, every's hackin'
Jun 03 15:55:38 <joepie91> Gotta get into the database
Jun 03 15:55:38 <joepie91> I hear a smash, I see the feds
Jun 03 15:55:38 <joepie91> Kickin' down the front door
Jun 03 15:55:38 <joepie91> Smashin' in the back door
Jun 03 15:55:38 <joepie91> Gotta make my mind up,
Jun 03 15:55:39 <joepie91> How can I escape?
Jun 03 15:55:40 <joepie91> It's Friday, Friday

The rest contains language that can't be printed here.

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Image: A screenshot of the chat log on PasteBin. Credit: PasteBin