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

Homeland Security wants you to clean your Windows

8/10/2006 11:43:13 AM, by Nate Anderson

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) yesterday issued an unusual press release urging Windows users to apply a specific security patch from Microsoft. That patch, MS06-040, was just released as part of Microsoft's monthly cycle of security updates, so most home users should already be secure. IT departments and home users who have disabled automatic updates should install the patch as soon as possible. As the DHS ominously notes, "attempts to exploit vulnerabilities in operating systems routinely occur within 24 hours of the release of a security patch."

While the DHS rarely issues patch advisories, the department seems keen to prevent massive damage from another worm like MSBlast, which made the rounds several years ago and brought down computers around the world. The concern appears to be justified; both CERT and Microsoft claim that they have already seen code which exploits this particular vulnerability.

The problem was found in the Server service, which is responsible for file and printer sharing, among other things. The service does not properly check the length of Remote Procedure Call (RPC) messages, and a purposely malformed RPC can trigger a buffer overflow and allow the attacker to execute any code with full system privileges. It doesn't affect all versions of Windows equally, though; Microsoft notes that "Windows 2000 systems are primarily at risk due to the unique characteristics of the vulnerability and affected code path."

For those users who have not yet patched their machines, the government recommends that they block access to Server Message Block (SMB) services from untrusted networks and disable anonymous SMB access. The new patch fixes the problem by having the Server service validate RPC messages before passing them to the appropriate buffer.

Because the DHS warning was so unusual, it has prompted some wild talk that the Microsoft security patch is, in reality, a government surveillance tool designed to spy on Windows users around the world. While this makes for some entertaining speculation, it's the sort of thing that would single-handedly eviscerate Microsoft's business, and would no doubt be uncovered quickly by security researchers. The user backlash from such a program would be little short of astonishing.

We'll leave our tinfoil hats in the Orbiting HQ Storage Module this time.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060810-7466.html





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

 

Microsoft to offer free Vista upgrade coupons

8/10/2006 1:22:13 PM, by Jeremy Reimer

When Microsoft announced that the consumer release of Windows Vista would miss the crucial 2006 Christmas shopping season, many PC retailers and OEMs saw visions of sugarplums dancing merrily away from their wallets. It was rumored that Microsoft might help lessen the pain slightly by offering free Vista upgrade coupons for people who buy PCs at the end of the year, and now these rumors have been confirmed, thanks to leaks from certain Taiwanese PC manufacturers.

The coupon offer will begin in October, and is a result of a joint effort between Microsoft and a group of leading PC vendors worldwide. According to the anonymous sources, Microsoft actually reached an agreement with these PC companies back in July, but decided not to reveal their plans so as to protect PC sales in the third quarter.

Now that the information has leaked out, it will be interesting to see if PC sales dip noticeably between now and October

go here to read the article
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060810-7467.html

and more here
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20060810A1001.html

 

Movie transfers to DVDs to become easier

A film industry group is set to remove some of the procedural hurdles that prevented the legal recording of movies onto blank DVDs in a further sign that Hollywood studios are preparing to expand what consumers can do with downloadable movies.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

go here to read the article
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/08/10/dvd.burning.ap/index.html

 

Sci-Fi, TNT, A&E present online or on-demand videos

8/10/2006 2:42:43 PM, by Anders Bylund

If your most fervent wish is for online and on-demand television to take over for today's scheduled channel model as soon as humanly possible, I have a handful of good news for you today. Three more networks are adding on-demand or online delivery options for several of their most popular and acclaimed shows, and it will all be available to us before the end of the month.

The iTunes Music Store will feature programming from A&E Television Networks starting today. The offerings include hits like Modern Marvels from the History Channel, Criss Angel: Mindfreak from A&E, and episodes of Biography Chennel's Biography series, all for $1.99 per episode.


go here to read the article
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060810-7469.html

 

CEA: RIAA refuses to cooperate, carries out "thinly veiled attack" on fair use

8/10/2006 4:43:33 PM, by Ken Fisher

Consumer Electronics Association President and CEO Gary Shapiro is frustrated with the music industry. While the consumer electronics industry works to find a middle ground between the interests of electronics manufacturers and rights holders, the RIAA has failed to participate. To make matters worse, despite their lack of participation, the RIAA is currently lobbying members of Congress to push through the controversial audio broadcast flag; its passage would trump the efforts of the Copy Protection Technical Working Group.

The RIAA is a late-comer to the "flag"-method of content control, which can be generically described as follows: mandate all broadcasters to use technology to embed mandated "flags" that are then "respected" by hardware designed under mandate to obey the mandatory behavior. That's a lot of mandates, but that's what the broadcast flag is all about: using the law to first re-define and then enforce a new copyright regime under the guise of digital rights management.


go here to read the total article
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060810-7472.html

 

I guess evil never sleeps...

 

Microsoft security--no more second chances?

As if Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff didn't have enough on his plate.

Not only has he had to deal with Katrina and Osama. Now he's also got to whip Steve Ballmer and the crew at Microsoft into shape. If past is prologue, that last task may be the most daunting of all.

By now, Chertoff's people must be thoroughly frustrated that Microsoft still turns out poorly designed products.


GO HERE TO READ THE TOTAL ARTICLE
http://news.com.com/2010-1002_3-6104512.html?part=rss&tag=6104512&subj=news

 

I'm having a nice strong cup of coffee made by moi; drinking it hot because the office is as cold as a meatlocker...I'm wearing a turtleneck up to my chin (neck surgery hates air conditioning) and a heavy firsherman's knit.

I'm also fuming mad. I bought a new and very expensive Norelco razor which came at lunch. To my surprise and chagrin, they want an extra $30 for the stupid little plastic stand! Use to come with it. How frigging cheap can you get? To hell with them, I'll ask my grand nephew (or os it great nephew?) to make me one out of play-dough and paint it up for me. It'll serve the same purpose and be a conversation piece at the same time.

 

RIAA goes fishing,...

p2pnet.net News:- A US Army serviceman who's completed a tour in Iraq, and the wife of a US Army sergeant, are included on the RIAA list of sue 'em all victims.

Tanya Andersen, a single mother living on a disability pension in Oregon and accused by the Big Four Organized Music gang of being a download 'criminal' begged the Big Four's RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) to examine her hard drive so they could see for themselves she wasn't the thief they said she was.

However, Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG didn't want to know - until March, that is, when out of the blue, they suddenly wanted a court order to allow them mine her hard-drive.

Now Kimberly Arellanes, the wife of serving US Army sergeant Frank Arellanes, is in the same boat.

The RIAA is wants to mirror her computer hard drive so their 'forensic experts' can ferret around, looking for 'proof' that she'd been, “engaged in copyright infringement on a massive scale”.


GO HERE TO READ THE TOTAL ARTICLE
http://p2pnet.net/story/9559

 

RIAA solution=don't buy their movies or listen to their artists. Support DJs and unfound talent that is not part of the major record labels. Support indie/non-RIAA affiliated record labels. (note: the RIAA cannot prosecute you if you download a non RIAA-affiliated music company's music. If they do...well that's kind of funny!) Send a letter to your congressperson expressing your vote against the RIAA & their guerilla tactics/terrorism.

MPAA solution=don't buy their movies on DVD or go to the theater. Support movie companies that expressly say "we don't support the MPAA & won't use them against pirates of our movies". Send a letter to the MPAA saying that you have decided to stop buying any MPAA-endoring companies' products for the rest of your life. [bold]Send a letter to your congressperson/respresentative telling them not to support the MPAA[/bold]. If you decide to download an MPAA-supporting companies' work, quickly archive it & delete from computer. Wipe your computer once a month of everthing & reinstall all your programs. Install Linux.

[bold]Support websites like AfterDawn that seek to expose the evils of the MPAA & RIAA[/bold].

I never kiss a woman who's been drinking coffee. She either chews some gum first, has a swish of Listermint, or i don't even bother.
Same goes for smoking. Takes worst than a cigarette that's been ground up.

 

Good morning everyone! I've just finished three cups of very strong java and I'm about to go prowl about center city Philly. This has to be the most beautiful day we've had all summer. It is sunny but cool, my apartment windows are open and even the smog rolling in seems to have a fresher quality to it lol! Have a great day all!

 

Ah, good morning Ireland, Gerry1,& All. Been out all mornin have'n that good oh cups of coffee. Like Gerry after the heat waves we've had it's like a brisk fall day here in Michigan. Hopin all's well with everyone and peace is finding it's way to you all. Chris

 

Movies File Share Top Ten



p2pnet.net Feature:- p2pnet's regular, and unique, Movies File Share Top Ten is compiled with statistics from Big Champagne. For an explanation of how BC arrives at the numbers, here's the company's Adam Toll.

“We monitor BT sites (a constantly evolving set) and observe, in addition to all the other available information, the number of users leeching(downloading) each title at any given time. Using the information collected and processed continually, we then calculate the average number of simultaneous leechers for each period. This is a little different from the P2P measure, as explained below.

“While the P2P measure published on p2pnet.net shows the average simultaneous users who are sharing the movie on P2P networks, the BT measure represents the relatively smaller number of people who are, on average, actively downloading the movie (in other words, in the process of downloading the movie) at any given time. This is a very different statistic. These two measures are a consequence of the differences in the ways that P2P and BT work.”

With all the dross being pumped out by research and marketing firms on what's supposedly happening with p2p, it's good to have at least one firm around which shows the picture as it really is as opposed to the way the many supposedly 'independent' reports commissioned by the entertainment and software cartels present it.

Movies File Share Top Ten Downloaders ('leechers')
BitTorrent, World-wide
Current simultaneous leechers as of August 12, 2006
Ranking Movie Number of Downloads
01 >>> Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (unchanged) 49,623
02 >>> Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (new) 48,274
03 >>> Superman Returns - 2 47,723
04 >>> The Benchwarmers - 3 45,502
05 >>> Barnyard: The Original Party Animals (new) 43,430
06 >>> Final Destination 3 - 4 42,096
07 >>> The Devil Wears Prada - 5 42,183
08 >>> Miami Vice + 9 39,697
09 >>> Click - 8 39,664
10 >>> John Tucker Must Die (new) 39,350

Movies File Share Top Ten Downloads
p2p, World-wide
Week ending August 12, 2006
Ranking Movie Number of Downloads
01 >>> Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (unchanged) 1,528,629
02 >>> Superman Returns (unchanged) 1,521,461
03 >>> The Benchwarmers + 4 1,479,562
04 >>> The Devil Wears Prada - 3 1,463,668
05 >>> Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (new) 1,459,987
06 >>> Barnyard: The Original Party Animals (new) 1,455,093
07 >>> Miami Vice - 6 1,449,399
08 >>> Final Destination 3 + 10 1,413,389
09 >>> The Break-Up - 7 1,410,877
10 >>> John Tucker Must Die (new) 1,398,708

Movies File Share Top Ten Downloads
p2p, USA
Week ending August 12, 2006
Ranking Movie Number of Downloads
01 >>> Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (unchanged) 916,273
02 >>> Superman Returns (unchanged) 902,327
03 >>> The Benchwarmers + 4 898,703
04 >>> The Devil Wears Prada - 3 885,468
05 >>> Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (new) 876,551
06 >>> Barnyard: The Original Party Animals (new) 867,254
07 >>> Miami Vice (unchanged) 854,234
08 >>> Final Destination 3 + 10 853,092
09 >>> John Tucker Must Die (new) 852,662
10 >>> She's The Man (new) 817,755




(Saturday 12th August 2006)
http://p2pnet.net/story/9567

 

RIAA targets dead man's kids,......

RIAA targets dead man's kids

p2pnet.net News:- Warner Bros Records, and other members of the Organized Music family, say they'll give the children of a man they were tyrannizing for alleged copyright infringement extra time to "grieve" over their father's death.

Then it'll be back to business.

“Warner Music Group reported ... soaring digital music sales, even as the company continues to lose money and faces numerous lawsuits related to alleged price fixing of music downloads. In documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Warner Music said the company has been named in 14 class-action lawsuits, most of which allege a 'conspiracy among record companies to fix prices for downloads'."

These are the introductory paragraphs to a ZDNet story on Warner Music, a founder member of the multi-billion-dollar Organized Music gang who claim they're being “devastated” by people, including children, who share music with each other.

Warner, et al, have since 2003 been running a bizarre and vicious sue 'em all marketing campaign under which they're trying to terrorize millions of their own customers, whom they're calling 'criminals' and 'thieves,' into toeing the corporate bottom line.

Using their RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), the Big Four say p2p file sharing robs them of sales, although they haven't been able to show any proof of this, and they say they've sued close to 19,000 Americans for the non-existent crime of file sharing, even though not one of these victims has yet been found guilty of anything in a civil court.

Larry Scantlebury, one of the people the RIAA has been trying to intimidate, died in June. But rather than do the decent thing - drop the specious case - the Big Four are giving Scantlebury's children 60 days to mourn, after which they want RIAA lawyers to grill them.

In a motion to judge Anna Diggs Taylor to extend the deadline following Scantlebury's death, “Plaintiffs Warner Bros. Records Inc., Sony BMG Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings, Inc., BMG Music, Arista Records LLC, Capitol Records, Inc., and Atlantic Recording Corporation (collectively, “Plaintiffs”), respectfully request the Court stay the case for 60 days and extend all deadlines 60 days,” they say, going on:

In support thereof, Plaintiffs state the following:

1. Plaintiffs have recently learned that Defendant, Larry Scantlebury, passed away on June 20, 2006. Please see the attached Death Certificate.

2. Prior to Mr. Scantlebury’s passing, Plaintiffs believed that there was potential to resolve the case. While at the time of Mr. Scantlebury’s death, he had not responded to Plaintiffs’ discovery (he had asked for and received extensions), he had indicated that others, in addition to Mr. Scantlebury, were involved in the infringement of Plaintiffs’ copyrights.

3. Plaintiffs do not believe it appropriate to discuss a resolution of the case with the family so close to Mr. Scantlebury’s passing. Plaintiffs therefore request a stay of 60 days to allow the family additional time to grieve.

4. In the event the parties do not reach a resolution with Mr. Scantlebury’s estate or the other family members involved, Plaintiffs anticipate amending the complaint following depositions of members of Mr. Scantlebury’s family.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs respectfully request this court stay the case for 60 days and extend all deadlines 60 days.

(Thanks, Ray)

Also See:
ZDNet - Warner Music faces 14 lawsuits over download fees, May 5, 2006

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(Saturday 12th August 2006)

 

SOBs

 

Wow this threads owns ,never read so much tech new nice wrk ireland keeping it updated

 

Large and strong iced coffee; it seems like it's going to be a hot day. I moved to a new place on June 1st and I promised myself that today I'd unpack the rest of my boxes ... damn, I wish they gave an award for procrastination; I'd win hands down.

@everyone: our young friend "Billybob" is in portugal for two weeks; he said he was going there to swim (have they no water in the UK?) At any rate, he emailed me and I promised to say hello to everyone in his behalf so ...hello!

 

Top 10 Microsoft Windows XP Tips of All Time
by George Jones


Despite all the hoopla about the introduction of Windows Vista, the truth of the matter is that the new OS isn't due for at least another seven to nine months — and it will probably be even longer before most of us start adopting it. Meanwhile, we've still got to deal with Win XP.

In order to make the waiting easier, we've decided to assemble the greatest tips in the history of Windows XP. Here you'll find the tips that give you the most bang for your buck; that are most useful in terms of security, functionality, and PC performance; and that are just plain cool.

good read,go here to read the article
http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2...esoftwareguide.com/0606xptips.html&frame=true


if that http does not work start here

http://consumer.hardocp.com/news.html?news=MjA2NjMsLCxoY29uc3VtZXIsLCwx

Copyright © 2006 CMP Media LLC. Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

 

GAMMA PANEL..........Gamma Panel is a little handy application that lets you adjust brightness, contrast and gamma settings in real-time. Thanks to its hot-key feature, you don't even have to leave the game you're playing! The program works pretty similar to Color profiles in PowerStrip but is completely free and much smaller in terms of system load and memory usage. The program is pretty simple - it just sits on the taskbar and does its job. You can apply profiles in 2 ways: by pressing assigned hot-key combination or by selecting the entry from the popup menu. The last selected color profile is automatically applied on the next program run. The profiles can be added, modified or removed in the main window .....(free).....GO THERE!

http://www.donationcoders.com/stars/index.php?show=gapa

 

Hi Definition television: 'The never-ending story'
Posted by geno888 on 13 August 2006 - 15:59 - Source: AVReview

Too bad I'm not referring to the novel of Michael Ende, but to a different and less pleasant story. The competition between next generation optical media, Blu-ray and HD-DVD, is again causing problems to the end-consumers.

Besides the advantages and disadvantages of each format, here at CD Freaks we already talked about the difficulty to choose the right equipment to fully enjoy the Hi Definition multimedia contents with Home Cinema systems and how there could be also problems with new videogame consoles.

And now here we go again. You just bought a Hi-Definition television, you are comfortably seated on your preferred couch, and you are trying to enjoy your new player, when you suddenly notice that there is something wrong: Where is the extreme hi quality video? Why it seems that there is no difference at all with the "old" DVD video?

go here to read this article
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/13805
or
take a look at the original article here.
http://www.avreview.co.uk/news/article/mps/UAN/791/v/1/sp/