*HOT* Tech News And Downloads, I Would Read This Thread And Post Any Good Info

AOL releases search data on 500,000 users

8/7/2006 10:39:17 AM, by Nate Anderson

While most search engines offer researchers some access to their data (both Google and Microsoft do this, for instance), they also recognize that releasing the complete search history of 500,000 users from March to May of this year might pose certain privacy risks.

Not AOL. The newly-free service posted a complete three-month set of search queries on Sunday, only to take it down several hours later. By that time, though, the data was already in the wild—and what interesting data it was.

AOL did replace usernames with random numbers in a bid to protect privacy, but because each user's queries were given the same random number, it was simple to see a person's complete search history.

go here to read the total article
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060807-7433.html

 

Oh thank you, that made my day. Now everybody knows I was the one searching for the Jetson's porn

Seriously though I do use AOL and now wonder just how much is out there, dam

 

Google warns about "badware"

8/7/2006 2:27:22 PM, by Nate Anderson

The Stop Badware Coalition threatened to "call out badware creators of any size" when it was first formed by Google, Sun, and Lenovo. Over the weekend, the calling out began.

Believing that prevention is the best cure, Google now uses data gathered by the Coalition to flag suspicious web sites before users visit them. Clicking on a link to a flagged destination currently results in an interstitial warning page. The Coalition claims that the page should link to this generic warning, but so far that does not appear to be the case. Right now, the generic page warns users about the site and suggests that they try their search again. For users that want to continue, a link to the site is provided.

For less-savvy Internet users, this could be a great help.

go here to read it all
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060807-7436.html

 

CinemaNow DRM Crap

p2pnet.net News:- The word CRAP is increasingly being used to describe anything to do with the corporate world's DRM (Digital Restrictions Management) technology.

"Originally, I wanted CRAP to stand for Content Restriction, Annulment, and Protection," wrote ZDNet's David Berlind a whle back. "But Richard Stallman at the Free Software Foundation convinced me to change its meaning to 'Cancellation, Restriction, and Punishment'."

Now, "I'm against people being fleeced by this kind of crap," posted an anonymous optical engineer on Boing Boing. "How can you sell someone content on media that is so heavily compromised, especially on a format that so heavily relies upon its error correction system to maintain playability? It's mind boggling!"

The subject in the above instance was CinemaNow's crappy "Burn to DVD" DRM.

It's great, says CinemaNow. It's crap, says an anonyous engineer on Boing Boing.

"Browse the Burn to DVD section and purchase the movie you wish to download," saiys a Google cache of the launch site, going on, "To watch the movie or burn it to DVD, you will need CinemaNow's easy-to-use DVD Burner software (see below to install). CinemaNow DVDs work with any standard +R or -R blank DVD. Once you have completed the burn process, you can play CinemaNow videos on almost any DVD player."

The trouble was and is, the engineer mentined in Boing Boing found the system was so badly designed that, "it's likely that DVDs burned with CinemaNow are likely to fail in many commercial DVD players".

It's based on the deliberate introduction of errors caused by Digital Sum Value (DSV), a sum that represents the ratio of land to pits on the surface of the DVD, says the story, going on:

"The DVD spec notes the possibility of DSV errors and instructs implementers to take care to avoid them, as these errors can cause a host of problems with reading and playing discs."

Also, "the introduction of DSV errors is indiscriminate and uncontrollable - the multitude of possible combinations of DVD burners' chip-sets, blank media, and other variables means that any attempt to introduce DSV errors will produce unpredictable outcomes".

Boing Boing's source, "also believes that this technique infringes on several patents, including this one," says the post, continuing:

"My source sums it up neatly in this outraged paragraph: 'I'm against people being fleeced by this kind of crap. How can you sell someone content on media that is so heavily compromised, especially on a format that so heavily relies upon its error correction system to maintain playability? It's mind boggling!'

"Update: Tian sez, "Recently, my local news crew has tested out the service and found it to be crap. I have also wrote about the crappy service especially CinemaNow's Burn To DVD's DRM. Even though my local news crew was able to burn one DVD successfully, CinemaNow's 'one copy only' DRM can be easily defeated'."

Meanwhile, "CinemaNow shot back stating that the service has been 'well received by our customers and studios alike,' (ah, isn't that the trick?) and that tests had the burned DVDs working on '94 percent of DVD players'," says Engadget.

"Which tests and using what DVD players we don't know, but somehow we don't expect to have that data readily divulged. Guess there's only one way to find out though, right? Download a marginally overpriced flick for about ten bucks, get yourself a spindle of DVD-Rs, and go to town."

That's one way to waste your time and money. And anyhow, WGAS?
http://p2pnet.net/story/9518

 

AOL data release debacle
« Thread Started on Today at 1:06pm »

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AOL data release debacle

p2pnet.net News:- AOL's public release of well over half-a-million search records comprises one of the Net's worst privacy violations ever.

Data have been online for about 10 days but the appalling phk-up escaped notice until this weekend.

Details of the search histories, gathered between March to May this year, were revealed in what AOL spokesman Andrew Weinstein describes as, "innocent-enough attempt to reach out to the academic community with new research tools".

But, "This was a screw up, and we're angry and upset about it," Weinstein admits in a statement.

"Although there was no personally-identifiable data linked to these accounts, we're absolutely not defending this," he says. "It was a mistake, and we apologize. We’ve launched an internal investigation into what happened, and we are taking steps to ensure that this type of thing never happens again."

AOL, "must have missed the uproar over the DOJ's demand for 'anonymized' search data last year that caused all sorts of pain for Microsoft and Google," observes TechCrunch, going on:

"The data includes [sic] all searches from those users for a three month period this year, as well as whether they clicked on a result, what that result was and where it appeared on the result page. It's a 439 MB compressed download, expanded to just over 2 gigs."

It was, "only a matter of time before someone put up a simple web interface to the 20 million search queries published by AOL last week," says Michael Arrington on a Tech Crunch update.

He's talking about Danny who on item 135 posted, "Here's something you guys might like. I whipped this up to help those of you who don't feel like grepping your way through 2 gigs of files. it’s a searchable mySQL database of these searches (most of them, anyway, I'm not done indexing yet) with all redundancies removed, searchable by categories. Hopefully this should make for a few hours of fun.

"Although a legal expert told the news agency that the incident did not violate AOL’s privacy policy as the data did not include personally identifiable information, bloggers have pointed out that users often search for their own names," says e-consultancy, adding, "At least one mirror site, which is still live at the time of writing, was set up before the data’s removal, according to TechCrunch. 'Combine these ego searches with porn queries and you have a serious embarrassment. Combine them with 'buy ecstasy' and you have evidence of a crime. Combine it with an address, social security number, etc., and you have an identity theft waiting to happen,' said TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington. 'The possibilities are endless'."

http://www.gregsadetsky.com/aol-data/ has a mirror, and a link to AOL's original U500k_README.txt file, which we've reproduced in full below.

500k User Session Collection


go here to read the article as the rest is Copyright (2006) AOL
http://p2pnet.net/story/9515

 

Gallery: A Porsche to Die For

The sixth generation of Porsche's 911 Turbo remains faithful to its illustrious predecessors -- on the outside. Inside, it's a different story. What you have here is basically a racing car in the guise of a street-legal sports car.

The 2007 Porsche 911 Turbo's exterior remains faithful to its predecessor. Inside, though, a 3.6-liter variable geometry turbocharged engine can muster a maximum horsepower of 480 and 457 pound feet of torque, which represents an extra 65 horsepower and 45 pound-feet of torque compared to the fifth-generation Porsche 911 Turbo. What this means when it comes to driving is a top speed of 193-mph and zero-to-60 mph acceleration in less than four seconds.

Photo: Bruce Gain

go here to see pixs of the Porsche
http://blog.wired.com/porsche911/

 

HD DVD for the Xbox 360

HD DVD for the Xbox 360
August 8, 2006 9:39 AM PDT

Kevin Collins, a Microsoft senior program manager, prepares to demonstrate the company's HD DVD drive built for the Xbox 360. The new hardware is expected to be offered to consumers in time for the holidays.

Credit: Greg Sandoval/CNET News.com

* Photos: Tuning in to GlobalComm
* Images: Home run simulcast in 'Second Life'
* Photos: Listening in on Pandora
* Images: Ultrasound heads for battle
* Photos: Will America drive small and Smart?



pixs and more here
http://news.com.com/2300-1041_3-6103208-1.html?part=rss&tag=6103208&subj=news

 

Can a EULA trump fair use?

8/8/2006 12:27:32 PM, by Eric Bangeman

End User License Agreements are so commonplace that most of us just click on the "Agree" button to get rid of the darn things and finish the software installation process. We do so despite the fact that the EULA may have some provisions that are repugnant to us, like the ability to change the terms of the agreement after the software has been installed. Whether EULAs are ultimately enforceable are another matter entirely—the courts have sent mixed messages on that subject.

A recent decision (PDF) by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Wall Data vs. the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department sends a rather unwelcome message: that a software developer's EULA can trump fair use rights.

The dispute between Wall Data and the LA Sheriff's Department hinged on RUMBA Mainframe, a terminal emulation program developed by Wall Data. RUMBA is part of the Department's default desktop image, but the law enforcement agency did not have enough valid licenses to cover the entire installed base. That's ok, argued the Sheriff's Department, because none of those copies were usable due it its security setup. Instead, they were more like backup copies permitted under fair use.

Wall Data disputed that and said that its EULA prevented such installations, even if the extra copies were never activated, licensed, or available for use. The RUMBA license specified that the application could be used "on a single Designated Computer for which the software has been activated." According to Wall Data, that means that extra, unused copies—even as backup—are prohibited.

A jury found that the LA Sheriff's Department had in fact violated the EULA, and the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld that verdict. In its decision, the Appeals Court found that the Sheriff's Department was not entitled to a fair use defense under Section 107 of the Copyright Act. "In considering the four fair use factors—the purpose and character of the work, the nature of the use, the amount and substantiality of the portion used, and the effect on the plaintiffs' market—none militate in favor of the Sheriff’s Department's fair use defense," wrote the Court. "We therefore hold that the Sheriff's Department is not entitled to a fair use defense..."

Interestingly enough, the Ninth Circuit handled a similar case, MAI v. Peak, that also centered on fair use. More importantly, it upheld the view of software developers everywhere that we users only own a license to use the software, and not a copy of the software itself. The Ninth Circuit used that decision as the basis for the Wall Data case, reiterating that in the license vs. ownership debate, "license" is the clear winner in its jurisdiction.

Ultimately, this case could wind up in the Supreme Court. In a similar case (Krause v. Titleserv) (PDF) heard in the Second Circuit, the court decided that if you buy an application, you own a copy, rather than a mere license to use it. As a result, all fair use and other rights outlined in the Copyright Act still apply.

As a result of the more recent Ninth Circuit decision, we're left with conflicting interpretations of how far a EULA can reach and what effect an overly–restrictive one can have on our fair use rights. Until the Supreme Court decides to step in and lay down the law, all we're left with is conflicting interpretations and bad software licenses.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060808-7447.html

 

BOX OF PROX..........Great! Highly configurable free proxy to protect your privacy.....(free).....GO THERE!

http://www.boxofprox.com/

another one here
http://www.proxylord.com/

 

DISABLE AUTO INSTALL OF IE 7.......... The Internet Explorer 7 Blocker Toolkit enables IT Administrators to disable automatic delivery of Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority update via Automatic Updates and the Windows Update and Microsoft Update sites.....(free).....GO THERE!
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...F7-5D44-482B-9DBD-869B4A90159C&displaylang=en


Toolkit to Disable Automatic Delivery of Internet Explorer 7
Brief Description
The Internet Explorer 7 Blocker Toolkit enables IT Administrators to disable automatic delivery of Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority update via Automatic Updates and the Windows Update and Microsoft Update sites.

GET IT AT MICROSOFT

Overview
To help our customers become more secure and up-to-date, Microsoft will distribute Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority update via Automatic Updates for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 soon after the final version of the browser is released (planned for fourth quarter 2006). Microsoft is making a non-expiring Blocker Toolkit available for those organizations that would like to block automatic delivery of Internet Explorer 7 to machines in environments where Automatic Updates is enabled.

Note:

* The Blocker Toolkit will prevent machines from receiving Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority update via Automatic Updates and the “Express” install option on the Windows Update and Microsoft Update sites. The Blocker Toolkit will not expire.
* The Blocker Toolkit will not prevent users from manually installing Internet Explorer 7 as a Recommended update from the Windows Update or Microsoft Update sites, from the Microsoft Download Center, or from external media.
* Organizations do not need to deploy the Blocker Toolkit in environments managed with an update management solution such as Windows Server Update Services or Systems Management Server 2003. Organizations can use those products to fully manage deployment of updates released through Windows Update and Microsoft Update, including Internet Explorer 7, within their environment.



http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...F7-5D44-482B-9DBD-869B4A90159C&displaylang=en

 

free....Auslogics Disk Defrag

Disk fragmentation leads to system slowdowns, PC crashes, slow startup and shutdown and sometimes to system failures. Auslogics Disk Defrag® is designed for fast optimization of today's modern hard disks. Get the maximum performance out of your expensive hardware investments. And it's absolutely FREE.
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Useful disk fragmentation map and detailed fragmentation report
Windows XP Home and Professional, 2000/2003 and Vista supported

http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag/

 

AOL gives out free .com domains to anyone who asks
August 8, 2006 10:59 PM PDT

AOL has just announced that it will give a free domain name to anyone who asks for one.

There's a catch. You don't own the domain name; AOL does. What you can do is use is use that domain as your e-mail address and your home page starting in September. So can your friends, family, and members of the same club, organization, sports team, and so on.


rest of the story here
http://news.com.com/2061-10802_3-6103557.html?part=rss&tag=6103557&subj=news

 

A Face Is Exposed for AOL Searcher No. 4417749

aol Buried in a list of 20 million Web search queries collected by AOL and recently released on the Internet is user No. 4417749. The number was assigned by the company to protect the searcher's anonymity, but it was not much of a shield....It did not take much investigating to follow that data trail to Thelma Arnold, a 62 year old widow who lives in Lilburn, Ga., frequently researches her friends' medical ailments and loves her three dogs. "Those are my searches," she said, after a reporter read part of the list to her.

AOL removed the search data from its site over the weekend and apologized for its release, saying it was an unauthorized move by a team that had hoped it would benefit academic researchers.

But the detailed records of searches conducted by Ms. Arnold and 657,000 other Americans, copies of which continue to circulate online, underscore how much people unintentionally reveal about themselves when they use search engines — and how risky it can be for companies like AOL, Google and Yahoo to compile such data. A Face Is Exposed for AOL Searcher No. 4417749 - New York Times Linked by shanmuga Wed Aug9 2006 1:47am EDT


READ THE TOTAL ARTICLE HERE
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/09/t...9c6da4d38&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

 

JitterBugs could turn your keyboard against you

keyboard Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science warn against an entirely new threat to computer security: peripheral devices such as keyboards, mice or microphones which could be physically bugged in an attempt to steal data. Penn graduate student Gaurav Shah has identified a class of devices that could covertly transmit data across an existing network connection without the user's knowledge.

They are called JitterBugs, named by Shah's advisor, Penn Associate Professor Matthew Blaze, for both the way they transmit stolen data in "jittery" chunks by adding nearly imperceptible processing delays after a keystroke and for the "jitters" such a bug could inspire in anyone with secure data to safeguard. JitterBugs could turn your keyboard against you Linked by shanmuga Tue Aug8 2006 1:52am EDT


Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science warn against an entirely new threat to computer security: peripheral devices – such as keyboards, mice or microphones – which could be physically bugged in an attempt to steal data. Penn graduate student Gaurav Shah has identified a class of devices that could covertly transmit data across an existing network connection without the user's knowledge.

GO HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE
http://www.physorg.com/news74167514.html

 

Hezbollah using US companies to host its web sites

8/9/2006 11:32:50 AM, by Nate Anderson

As fighting between Israel and Hezbollah rages in the Middle East, Hezbollah relies in part on the Internet to get its message out. The group now plays a high-tech game of hide-and-seek with authorities and counterterrorism experts, trying to keep its sites up and active even as continued warfare degrades Lebanon's own infrastructure.

Hezbollah used the Broadwing Communications fiber-optic network to deliver its Al-Manar web site to the world last week after finding a weakness in a Broadwing customer's connection. When that happened, Hezbollah television's web site was suddenly hosted, of all places, in Texas.


go here to read the article
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060809-7455.html

 

Microsoft to Tighten the Genuine Advantage Screws
By Mary Jo Foley
In a further expansion of its anti-piracy program, Microsoft is building more 'Genuine' checks directly into Windows Vista, and is expanding the program to target not just consumers, but PC makers and system builders.

To date, with its Genuine Advantage anti-piracy programs, Microsoft has targeted consumers. Windows and Office users have been required to validate their products as "genuine" before being able to obtain many downloads and add-ons.

Come this fall, however, the Redmond software maker is planning to turn up the Genuine Advantage heat in two ways: By baking more Genuine Advantage checks directly into Windows Vista, and by taking aim at PC makers, system builders, Internet cafes and other sources of potentially pirated software.


go here to read the article
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,2180,2001181,00.asp

 

New RIAA p2p file-share victims

p2pnet.net News:- There's a common on- and offline misperception that the Big Four Organized Music cartel's RIAA has successfully 'prosecuted' 19,000 or more criminal file sharers, all of whom have 'settled' out of court.

Some 61 million people are said to have shared online in America alone and the number of people using the p2p networks for their music fixes has risen steadily every year, including this year. And yet the labels claim their cynical lawsuits are effective.

In an exact reversal of what's actually happening, RIAA boss Mitch Bainwol recently stated, “we believe digital downloads have emerged into a growing, thriving business, and file-trading is flat”. And his claim was repeated unquestioned by the mainstream media just as though it was an accurate portrayal of events from a reliable and credible source.

Now another family, this time in Klamath Falls, Oregon, is being blackmailed by the RIAA. And once again, Kazaa, the p2p application owned by Sharman Networks which, to all intents and purposes, has become one with the entertainment cartels, is named squarely in the family's ongoing distress



go here to read the article
http://p2pnet.net/story/9537

 

DoHS Windows warning

Windows? Problems!?!?

p2pnet.net News:- As if the constant 'critical' and other Microsoft security patches weren't enough in and of themselves, America's Homeland Security has gotten in on the act.

Yesterday Bill and the Boyz announced nine 'critical' and three 'important' browser, Windows and Office-related security holes and now the DoHS is urging anyone who uses Windows software, “to install the patch as soon as possible,” says The New York Times.

The DoHS Computer Emergency Readiness Team was working with Microsoft to minimize the impact of the vulnerability and, “considered it prudent to advise the public using Microsoft operating systems to take this action,” department spokesman Russ Knocke is quoted as saying.

“It’s a proactive and prudent measure the department has chosen to take.”

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-040
Vulnerability in Server Service Could Allow Remote Code Execution (921883)

Get yer fixes here.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms06-040.mspx

 

Has Anyone Seen the Moon Pictures?
Posted by samzenpus on Thursday August 10, @02:15AM
from the we-never-landed-there-anyway dept.
Space NASA
NASA has received a lot of bad press in the last few years. Now in a stunning move to prove how much they have learned from past mistakes, it appears they have lost the magnetic tapes that recorded the first moon walk. They also seem to have misplaced the original recordings of the other five Apollo moon landings. Hopefully nobody has taped an episode of "The OC" over them yet.

One giant blunder for mankind: how NASA lost moon pictures

THE heart-stopping moments when Neil Armstrong took his first tentative steps onto another world are defining images of the 20th century: grainy, fuzzy, unforgettable.

go here to read it all
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national...t-moon-pictures/2006/08/04/1154198328978.html

 

Warner unveils the DVD Album

, its successor to the DualDisc
Posted by Seán Byrne on 10 August 2006 - 00:43 - Source: Consumer Electronics Net

As some may remember, Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio were two formats battling to take over the Audio CD, with much superior audio quality, not to mention surround sound capabilities also. However, with neither format making much of a dent into traditional Audio-CD sales, the record labels then tried introducing the DualDisc, which is a disc containing CD Audio on one side and DVD-Audio & Video on the other side, to allow the disc to be played in High Definition DVD-Audio players, while still offering legacy support for existing CD and DVD players.

GO HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/13795