Archive for November, 2005
Giving your computer to hackers
If you use the Internet, and want a better life, look in the mirror, and repeat this mantra 3 times daily:
“Stop using Internet Explorer.”
Even the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team has said, “Use a different web browser” in reference to Internet Explorer. With as many flaws that this browser contains, it is no doubt the best decision you could make in regards to your browsing habits.
Think bugs, spyware, popups, viruses, trojans, fraud, identity theft and all of the other bad words that are related to Internet use. Yeah, that may go a bit overboard, but you get the idea… Internet Explorer does not adequately protect the user from the invasion of cyber-theives on the prowl. And yes there are others that do. For example, Opera and Firefox.
So… after saying all of that, read this: Internet Explorer currently has a flaw in it, that Microsoft has known about for some time that has no fix for it yet. Even in fully patched Windows XP SP2 systems. All you have to do is browse to a specially crafted website, and hackers can launch what ever program on your computer they feel like.
I will say that again… all you have to do when using Internet Explorer is click a link, and you could be infected. There are no known sites currently implementing this hack, but as in the past, it could only be a matter of days.
eWeek has an article on it: Zero-Day Exploit Targets IE.
Morphing the Family
I have had an exciting time reading about a project called “The Face of Tommorow.” The website states:
The Face of Tomorrow is a concept for a series of photographs that addresses the effects of globalization on identity.
The large metropolises of the world are magnets for migrants from all parts of the planet resulting in new mixtures of peoples. What might a typical inhabitant of this new metropolis look like in one or two hundred years if they were to become more integrated?
Anyhow, I got a little excited and downloaded, gtkmorph for Linux (looks like there is a Windows version too!)
Yes, Denise and I are both in the picture… relax, the gender thing is okay, Denise does not wear a beard these days. 
UN vying for Internet control
We all lose on this one… The UN would like to tax the Internet, control it, yada yada… the usual power grabbing stuff. My favorite quote from the article:
“Since the Internet’s infancy the UN has crafted detailed proposals to tax online traffic. Rasmussen calculates that one 1999 plan for a “bit tax,” adjusted for today’s number of Internet users, would raise 12 trillion dollars this year - roughly equal to America’s Gross Domestic Product.”
Well, as soon as I have to pay more than an access fee… such as to an ISP… I quit.
Study Predicts Political, Economic Turmoil If UN’s Internet Governance Schemes Succeed
Sony is in a world of trouble
They made a huge error. One that lacked judgement, thought, and caring. It could cost them multi-millions of dollars / euros / pounds / yen. Why? They installed a trojan on customers computers without their customers consent. They installed it -without- their customer’s knowledge! Not only that, hackers are now using Sony’s backdoor to develop Trojans of their own… and of course… people are suing.
Sony’s DRM woes deepen
Sony DRM Trojan Discovered
Sony Rootkit Trojans Emerge
Sony rootkit under fire in court
At Sony, The Customer Is Captive
Sony’s uninstall tool worse than the problem
Sony unapologetic, but disables virus-helping software
Wow, as much as I do not really care for Walmart or big media like NBC… when was the last time you had a tracking chip installed on a product you bought, like a television, without your knowledge? Imagine this tracking chip reporting back to NBC and Walmart when you recorded a television show.
What if you bought a piece of software, let’s say, Microsoft Office… You pull them out of the packaging and make a back-up copy of the CD’s in case the original ones got scratched… and it then proceded to connect to the Internet without your knowledge and told Microsoft?
What happened to privacy? What happened to consumer rights? What happened to owning something? What happened to using something your purchased, in your own home how you feel?
What many consumers do not understand is that big trans-national / multi-national / international corperations would have… is THEM telling you how you use your products. Music bought, will be played where you are told to play it. Movies watched will be watched on what THEY want you to watch it on!
It was once said like this, “In Soviet Russia, tv watch you” -or- “In Soviet Russia, computers use you…” Maybe market economies are moving this way. I for one will vote with my dollars in the hopes that we will not.