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

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.

Note: 'Return' means back after a week's absence. If it's back after longer than that, it's designated 'new'.

Movies File Share Top Ten Downloaders ('leechers')
BitTorrent, World-wide
Current simultaneous leechers as of November 11, 2006
Ranking Movie Number of Downloads

>>> The Break-Up (unchanged) 47,509
02 >>> Nacho Libre (unchanged) 47,080
03 >>> Saw 3 + 7 46,527
04 >>>Open Season - 3 45,255
05 >>> Borat!: Cultural Learnings... (new) 42,340
06 >>> The Prestige (unchanged) 41,055
07 >>> The Departed - 4 40,669
08 >>> X-Men: The Last Stand - 5 38,692
09 >>> The Grudge 2 - 3 38,297
10 >>> Over The Hedge (unchanged) 38,172

Movies File Share Top Ten Downloads
p2p, World-wide
Week ending November 11, 2006
Ranking Movie Number of Downloads
01 >>> The Departed + 2 1,576,538
02 >>> The Break-Up - 1 1,575,388
03 >>> Saw 3 (unchanged) 1,550,464
04 >>> Open Season (unchanged) 1,515,381
05 >>> The Prestige + 7 1,511,132
06 >>> Borat!: Cultural Learnings... (new) 1,511,243
07 >>> X-Men: The Last Stand - 5 1,507,574
08 >>> Nacho Libre - 6 1,472,479
09 >>> Click+ 10 1,471,708
10 >>> Over The Hedge - 8 1,458,528

Movies File Share Top Ten Downloads
p2p, USA
Week ending November 11, 2006
Ranking Movie Number of Downloads
01 >>> The Break-Up + 2 954,653
02 >>> The Departed - 1 948,660
03 >>> Saw 3 + 4 936,100
04 >>> The Prestige + 5 928,991
05 >>> Open Season - 3 924,493
06 >>> Nacho Libre + 7 922,637
07 >>> X-Men: The Last Stand - 6 914,691
08 >>> OBorat!: Cultural Learnings... (new) 900,670
09 >>> Over The Hedge - 8 897,419
10 >>> The Grudge 2 (unchanged) 860,741

(Saturday 11th November 2006)

 

Santangelo lawyer speaks out

p2pnet.net special:- When, last February, independent, one-man law office Jordan Glass was officially accepted into the New York court system to defend Big Four Organized Music victim Patti Santangelo, he guaranteed he'd stay on the case to the end.

He's kept his promise, and then some because now, as well as representing Patti, he's also acting for two of her children, Michelle and Robert, who've also become Big Four targets.

What does this mean to you? - p2pnet asked Glass shortly after he took on his two newest clients.

Here's his reply:

This is both a privilege and an ever greater responsibility than is representing Patti, not because of the allegations, but because of their ages. Michelle was only 16-17 years old when the events were alleged to have taken place; Bobby was only 12-13 years old. Even Matthew Seckler, the identified family friend in the matter, was only 14-15 years old.

As law students we're taught that law reflects "public policy." But what is public policy? It can be answered by asking this fundamental question:

"What kind of country do you want to live in?"

Law is the main public mechanism by which we answer that question. But what about laws that don't work as intended, that trap the unwary or create an unintended or inappropriate burden?

This case is about such laws.

At issue is much more than whether Patti or her children, or tens of thousands of others did or did not violate copyright laws. At issue is the fundamental question, "What kind of country do you want to live in?"

Ask yourself:

Do you want to live in a country where it's acceptable that the federal government and big businesses are notified to protect them from falling in to legal traps, but where individuals are not so protected or warned?

Do you want to live in a country where laws such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act protect ISPs and the RIAA, butcreate traps for individuals, in particular those who aren't technically superior (forget about merely "savvy")?

Do you want to live in a country where you're legally responsible and liable for the acts of others, when you *can't know* what they're doing, and, in the case of computers, where even if you were able to watch, you wouldn't understand unless you had specific technical training?

Do you want to live in a country where you're legally responsible and liable for the acts of trespassers whose actions are invisible to you?

Do you want to live in a country where you're legally responsible and liable for all of the above, when those who control the flow of information have the capacity, capability, power, right, authority, technology, know-how, scientific and technological acumen - and virtually limitless money - are free to ignore the problem they created, and instead place the burden, blame, financial and legal responsibility on people who have neither the right nor the know-how to protect themselves against the problem?

Now, when I say the "right," I mean the practical right, not some ephemeral or ethereal right.

To have a right one must have the power and ability to either create a protection against violation of such right, or to be able to enforce such right.

How many congress people, US Supreme Court Justices, US Presidents and vice presidents, cabinet members and others have the technical knowledge to stop the flow of unwanted information to their computers (in their roles as private citizens, when not protected by the help of government employees, paid for by the taxpayers)?

How many ordinary parents, at the time the accused acts allegedly occurred (2002 to 2004), had even heard of "computer firewalls," much less owned them in their own homes?

How many, at the time, would have suspected name-brand computers (such as Gateway), *pre-loaded* with software designed to download and copy music from the Internet, would be in violation of a law?

Did Gateway notify its user base that such programs could and possibly should be removed? Who was in a better position to know that the advertising "bait" was actually a legal "trap"? The one who swallowed the bait or the one who set the trap?

We don't allow advertising cigarettes to minors; indeed, we don't allow television advertising of cigarettes at all.

Yet, we allowed - and continue to allow - the RIAA and all those protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to seduce our children and protect the perpetrators and purveyors of the now-claimed illegally downloaded information.

The fight against this duplicity is what p2pnet readers are supporting: not just Patti and her children: the right to be protected against the unknowable.

This isn't a request for the suppression of free speech or to have the government control information on the Internet. Rather, it's a demand to place the burden where it belongs: on those companies with the power and capacity to act.

Patti and millions of parents have no right, power, or ability to control the flow or content of information on the Internet.

At any time, AOL, Cablevision, the RIAA, Kaaza, iMesh, and hundreds of other ISPs and content providers had the power, technical acumen and financial wherewithal to prevent deceiving children into believing they had rights to do the things they were doing.

The RIAA has made much of the fact that it sent IM's to the allegedly illegal downloaders. They ask what the parents did to protect the computers.

Suppose ta parent had AOL's parental controls set blocking IM's to their children. Don't you consider this responsible? Well, what was the result? The RIAA's alleged IM's didn't get through the block.

Who had the power to make that "exception" - *if* they wanted to? The parents? No, they weren't imbued with the authority to alter the AOL blocks at that level, nor did they even know such messages were forthcoming.

Parents thought they'd been responsible by implementing the blocks. AOL (for example) and the RIAA had the power and authority to create that kind of exception - *if they'd wanted to.* Instead, they've successfully shifted the burden to the parents, who are the ones now being punished: "if you hadn't turned on the blocks, our (the RIAA) IM's would have gotten through and warned your children." On the other hand, can you imagine the outcry against parents who did not turn on the blocks? "How could you allow your children unfettered access to the Internet?"

There are many such conflicting demands to be addressed in response to the trap that's been set for the children and their unknowing parents by the RIAA.

Heaping garbage on people and then calling them dirty: is that the type of country in which you wish to live?

That's what this case is really about.

By the way, isn't it interesting that the RIAA let its papers out to the press before serving them on the defendants?

What does that tell you?

Having not seen the complete set of papers, nor having been served, further response to the allegations would be incomplete and possibly contain errors. I can tell that you I represented Michelle at her deposition, and in my review of the transcript, I do not agree with the RIAA's allegations. To say merely that "I don't remember" slants it in a meaningless way.

Similarly for the other RIAA misrepresentations about the results of the other depositions.

You can help the Santangelo family battle the multi-billion-dollar Big Four cartel with their bottomless pockets and teams of lawyers by making a donation.

Cheers! And thanks ....
Jon Newton

Also See:
officially accepted - Patti Santangelo's new lawyer, February 6, 2006
Michelle and Robert - RIAA goes after Santangelo kids, November 2, 2006
isn't it interesting - RIAA, Santangelo court doc farce, November 3, 2006

p2pnet newsfeeds for your site.
rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss
Mobile - http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php

(Saturday 11th November 2006)
http://p2pnet.net/story/10396?PHPSESSID=bf46e57a9911bcf146124566d3fb8019

 

Is AllofMP3.com doomed?

p2pnet.net news view:- Friday the Americans and the Russians came to terms over their trade differences, leading the US to OK Russian entry into the World Trade organization. The pact covers several grievances, one of them focused on Russia's poor track record on intellectual property rights. The poster boy for this issue became Russian music service AllofMP3.com, which was elevated to this dubious position thanks to a British report. The report found that AllofMP3 was the number two service in the UK, behind only Apple, with an impressive 15% of the regional market. Indeed, AllofMP3's low prices for music tracks combined with their availability in multiple formats without interoperability-killing DRM arguably made it the second most popular service worldwide, an achievment supported by Alexa figures.

The question now is will the Russians take steps to close the service down immediately or wait until its formal entry into the WTO, still threatened by former soviet satellites Moldova and Georgia.

But then maybe the point is moot? The other month the entertainment industry successfully convinced the major credit card companies including Visa and Mastercard to cut off AllofMP3. With its main source of international money exchange removed, AllofMP3 was forced to shift its business from a pay-per-track scheme to an advertised-based model. Whether the company can survive on the new model is debatable.

But if it is successful, then pressure will most likely be brought on Russia to honor its copyright commitments and take action against AllofMP3. That doesn't necessarily mean closing the service as Russia could impose a government licensing commission to serve as intermediary between the worldwide record industry and the Russian digital record market.

But then again the well is tainted for a record industry who may take an "anybody BUT AllofMP3" stance. For its part AllofMP3 says it adheres exactly to existing Russian law, paying royalties to two services including the Russian Organization for Multimedia and Digital Systems (ROM). The big question that is never anwered one way or the other is simply this: is ROM legit? No one, including the press or the Russian government, has answered this question and I'll be damned if I have been able to find out.

I still want to know, but then in the world of international politics it probably does not matter anymore. Once AllofMP3 became a WTO bargaining chip its days were numbered.

Rich Menta - MP3NewsWire

p2pnet newsfeeds for your site.
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(Sunday 12th November 2006)
http://p2pnet.net/story/10399?PHPSESSID=c7c3e7885c8306b173c31c5f1de0b574

 

Firefox µTorrent WebUI extension

p2pnet.net News:- The µTorrent WebUI can be used to access µTorrent from an external computer. This also allows you to handle your torrents from your browser window.

But we’ve discovered a Firefox extension that makes using the WebUI a lot easier. The Firefox extension for µTorrent allows you to drag and drop .torrent links onto the WebUI window and shows the current upload and download speed in the status bar.

The upload and download speed remains visible if you close the WebUI screen. The extension works fine in Firefox 2.0.

To use the Firefox extension you need to install the WebUI, and have µTorrent up and running.
http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?id=14565

Once you’ve installed the extension (direct download), you need to enter your settings (IP address, port & password) in the configuration screen of the Firefox extension and you’re ready to go.
http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php#p213982?pid=213982

Torrentfreak - The Netherlands
http://www.torrentfreak.com/
p2pnet newsfeeds for your site.
rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss
Mobile - http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php

(Sunday 12th November 2006)
http://p2pnet.net/story/10403?PHPSESSID=e446e698308681cdfb9e68a18edb0aa0

 

Toolkit to Disable Automatic Delivery of IE-7
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/12/ie7_critical_update_managed_desktops/
IE7 'critical update' causes headaches for managed desktop environments
Switch to manual
By Grigorios Fragkos and H. Read → More by this author
Published Sunday 12th November 2006 06:19 GMT
Get The Register's new weekly newsletter for senior IT managers delivered to your inbox, click here.

Many organisations use methods to keep a standard look and feel to their computer desktops, with branding, logos, default company websites as home pages and various rights and privilege settings. These "manageable computer desktops" have always been fairly easy to roll-out company-wide, and if any changes were made in a session, they are wiped when the next user logs on.

Recently, Microsoft released Internet Explorer 7, the latest version of its web browser. Even more recently, it added it to the "critical updates" section of Windows Update. Many organisations, to keep their computers up-to-date and bug-free, allow these critical updates to be installed automatically overnight, with no user intervention.

Internet Explorer 7 is a nice update to IE6, enabling tabbed browsing, and introduces other features seen in other web browsers like Firefox and Opera. Typically, IE7 will overwrite IE6 as the default Microsoft browser.

The previous incarnation, IE6, was nicely integrated with managed desktop settings. It was very difficult to make any permanent changes to the home page. However, it appears that IE7 has forgotten its "managed" roots and allows users, by means of a few simple clicks, to permanently choose a home page of their choosing!

Now, this isn't a security threat of any sort, but for an organisation trying to keep the same branding company-wide, it can get difficult. As many organisations may not feel compelled to turn off automatic updates, they should be prepared to face this is issue when Internet Explorer 7 is downloaded and installed automatically.

For those organisations wishing to hold back a little further until these potential issues are sorted out by a later IE service pack (we are already on SP2) help is at hand from Microsoft. It has released a

"Toolkit to Disable Automatic Delivery of Internet Explorer 7" here.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...F7-5D44-482B-9DBD-869B4A90159C&displaylang=en


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.

 

NOTE I BEEN USING THIS FOR YEARS....

A new tool for MP3 players from McAfee


The RIAA is not the only boring threat related with mp3 music. In fact, some viruses and trojans can be embedded in mp3 files, and can cause damage on computers.

With the increasing widespread use of portable players, there is also a rise in the risk of becoming infected if an infected device is connected to a computer.

McAfee released a new version of Stinger, a tool to detects and cleans potential threats on such devices. According to Kartik Shahani, Director, Sales, India and SAARC, McAfee:

Stinger works as a standalone utility and is not a complete anti-virus solution. “It is designed only to clean a certain variety of viruses, in this case those affecting MP3 files,” said Shahani. The tool can be downloaded free of cost from the McAfee Web site. It can then be run as an executable file on the user’s computer. When it detects an MP3 player connecting through USB, it scans through the player’s library and gives the user the options to quarantine, clean or delete the file. Further, the tool is also able to scan already existing MP3 files on the system and repair them in case of an infection.

Even if many (or maybe most) mp3 files come from P2P sources, even who never downloaded anything from these sources can become infected if a USB device is connected to a computer, so this tool will be useful to prevent trouble.

McAfee released this tool as freeware.

McAfee AVERT Stinger

Stinger is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but rather a tool to assist administrators and users when dealing with an infected system. Stinger utilizes next generation scan engine technology, including process scanning, digitally signed DAT files, and scan performance optimizations.
Versions of Stinger

* Stinger - New releases of Stinger contain all families, and associated families, of threats that have achieved a Medium of higher Risk Asssessment. This Stinger is only updated upon the discovery of a new Medium or higher threat.
* ePO Stinger - When possible, and ePO compatible version of Stinger will be created. Currently only ePO 2.5 - 3.5 are supported.
* Threat Specific Stingers - When needed, a Stinger will be released that targets a specific threat.

Current Stinger Downloads

* Stinger v2.6.0
* ePO Compatible Stinger 2.5.6
* Stinger for W32/Polip
* Stinger for W32/Bacalid
* ePO Compatible Stinger for W32/Bacalid
* Stinger for W32/QQPass.worm and W32/Rjump.worm

How to Use Stinger

1. When prompted, choose to save the file to a convenient location on your hard disk (such as your Desktop folder)

2. When the download is complete, navigate to the folder that contains the downloaded Stinger file, and run it. WindowsME/XP users read this first.

3. The Stinger interface will be displayed.

4. If necessary, click the Add or Browse button to add additional drives/directories to scan. By default the C: drive will be scanned.
5. Click the Scan Now button to begin scanning the specified drives/directories.
6. By default, Stinger will repair all infected files found.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the List Viruses button used for?
* A list of the viruses that stinger is configured to detect is displayed when pressing the List Viruses button. This virus list does not contain the results from running a scan.
2. How do I save the scan results to a log file?
* Click the File menu and select Save report to file
3. I know I have a virus, but Stinger did not detect one. Why is this?
* Stinger is not a substitute for a full anti-virus scanner. It is only designed to detect and remove specific threats.
4. How can I get support for Stinger?
* Stinger is not a supported application. AVERT makes no guarantees about this product.
5. Stinger found a virus that it couldn't repair. Why is this?
* This is most likely due to Windows System Restore functionality having a lock on the infected file. WindowsME/XP users should disable system restore prior to scanning./li>
6. Are there any command-line parameters available when running Stinger?
* Yes, the parameters are displayed when passing Stinger the /? switch:
o /ADL - Scan all local drives.
o /GO - Start scanning immediately.
o /LOG - Save the log file after scans.
o /SILENT - Do not display graphical interface.
7. I ran Stinger and now have a Stinger.opt file, what is that?
* When Stinger runs it creates the Stinger.opt file that saves the current Stinger configuration. This way when you run Stinger the next time your previous configuration is what is used, as long as the Stinger.opt file is in the same directory as Stinger
8. Where can I send feedback to regarding Stinger?
* Send your feedback to Stinger@avertlabs.com

GO HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS FREE VIRUS SCAN PROGRAM
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/

 

heres a bitch for ye..

Microsoft's Zune scam

Gotcha !!!

p2pnet.net News:- Bill and the Boyz hope their Zune Toons muzik player will do for them what iPod has done for Apple.

But wait. Hang on: that's not right. Microsoft doesn't need an iPod to turn it into corporate monopolist superstar.

Anyway, Zune is out there and Microsoft recently concluded a deal with Vivendi Universal under which the latter will get a piece of the action for each new Zune digital music player sold.

After all, said Universal, it was only fair for it to, "receive payment on devices that may be repositories for stolen music".

So here's a 5 Step Plan To Fill Your Zune With Legal Music, says James R. Stoup on Apple Matters:

1. Create a free Zune account
2. Register a valid credit card
3. Buy 'points' from MS
4. Scratch your head as you try to figure out why you need to buy 'points' to buy songs. Why can’t you just use standard American currency? Doesn't Microsoft accept the Dollar anymore?
5. Say 'screw it' and go buy an iPod.

In other words, he goes on, Microsoft just invented a currency, "and they require you to invest in this currency before they can sell you any music".

The denominations work out as:

$5 = 400 points
$15 = 1200 points
$25 = 2000 points
$50 = 4000 points

"But wait, it gets BETTER!" - says Stoup. "There isn't a 1 to 1 correspondence between the value of a 'point' and the value of a penny."

What?

Well, "if $5 = 400 points, then $1 = 80 points. Therefore 100 cents = 80 points, meaning 1 cent = .8 points, or 1 point = 1.25 cents". So, Stoups continues, "If Microsoft prices a song at 79 'Zune Points' is it cheaper than a 99 cent song from Apple?"

Figure it out: "79 points * (1.25 cents/1 point) = 98.75 cents (or approximately 99 cents). So the answer is the MS song is the same price as Apple's.

That means, "to find the actual price of anything on the Zune store you have to multiply it in your head by a ZP (Zune Point) factor of 1.25, and since the general populace isn’t to keen on doing math in their head I can only conclude that this will cause no small bit of confusion."

But wait again, continues Stoup on Apple Matters. It gets even better. Five bucks is is the lowest denomination you can buy, so, "if you want to buy one song from the Zune Marketplace you have pay Microsoft $5 up front and let them keep your remaining 321 points (or $4.01, this is beginning to get confusing). Now, the expectation is that you will be back purchasing more songs (and more points) and so you won’t care about your balance.

"But, what you are in fact doing is giving an interest free loan to Microsoft (because they, of all companies, need the money).

"Of course, you could just spend all of your points each time you buy music, but would require you to purchase songs in multiples of 31,600 points (that being the LCM of 79 & 400). That works out to 400 songs for $395. A better plan would be to buy 5 songs for 395 points (or $4.94) and just save your 5 remaining points for some future purchase.

"In effect, Microsoft has created a store that only accepts gift cards as the valid method of payments. And if you don’t think thats insane then you obviously already have pre-ordered your Zune."

Also See:
repositories for stolen music - Microsoft, Zuni and Vivendi, November 9, 2006
Apple Matters - Zune Marketplace's Absurd Pricing Scheme, November 13, 2006
http://p2pnet.net/story/10412?PHPSESSID=b4d882af179795101fd1835e63da62f3

 

Apple fights off adult toy manufacturers,the gPod

Good vibrations not allowed

By Nick Farrell: Monday 13 November 2006, 06:51
ENTERTAINMENT outfit Apple has set its legal hounds on a purveyor of 'adult toys'.

It is particularly miffed that the makers of the so-called "gPod" have worked out a way of 'plug and playing' into its ipod so that the device vibrates in time to the music.

The Mainichi Daily News says that Ichiro Kameda is the president of a two-man company in Osaka, Japan that plans to market the gPod and its sister product the Jii, has been stymied by legal rows.

Kameda is reported to have said that it is mostly to do with the product's beat generator which is a small device with three different, sound-activated motors. You can plug it in to iPods or mobile phones. It can also be programmed to operate only for certain voices.

The Japanese Patent Agency gave him the right to use the gizmo in August last year, and the trademark he chose for the product was approved two months later. Then the Apple brief showed up and told him he could not call it a gPod.

The Mainichi Daily News quotes Apple as being 'tight lipped' about the case, here. µ
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35688

 

Where is a "delete post" button when you need one? (thats right, I accidentally triple-posted.)

 

Oops, sorry crew. :[

 

Windows Installation Manager - Free

Tired of all the garbage Windows XP that Microsoft says XP needs to run? With nLite you can remove unwanted junk off the XP CD. This is done by copying your XP Home or Pro to your hard drive which is then stripped of whatever you don't want installed.

You can even remove things such as Media Player and Disk Defragmenter (for those of you that use a real application to defrag your PC). Nlite also gives you the choice of incorporating updates right on the CD, which can range from Service Packs to individual Windows updates.

There is also an option for a totally unattended installation if you so desire.

DOWNLOAD HERE
http://nuhi.olmik.net/new/nLite-1.2.1.installer.exe

 

[bold]Good morning all! A nice big cup of coffee for me this morning![/bold]



I'm not too sure where that water tower is but it has to be on PA's amish country somewhere...no one else paints that way but the PA Dutch.

Knock on wood, this is going to be a good day. I'm expecting a lot of home theater equipment to come in today. If all goes accoring to planned, I'll have my living room torn apart by noon, I'll have returned to my old marine corps vocabulary by one and come late afternoon, I'll be happier than that proverbial pig in doo-doo.

 

"Psiphoning" data past the censors

11/22/2006 1:34:23 PM, by Nate Anderson

What's a Chinese netizen to do if he happens to find the BBC a legitimate news outlet but his government disagrees? Countries like China and Saudia Arabia regularly censor the Internet, which means that some citizens in those countries are regularly trying to evade the government blocks. Come December 1, they'll have a new tool—psiphon.


What is psiphon?

psiphon is a censorship circumvention solution that allows users to access blocked sites in countries where the Internet is censored. psiphon turns a regular home computer into a personal, encrypted server capable of retrieving and displaying web pages anywhere

When will psiphon be released?

psiphon software will be released on December 1st, 2006, with subsequent releases to be provided as new features are added over time.

Who will use psiphon?

psiphon operates through networks of trust. There are psiphon providers who install and administer a psiphon server (psiphonode) in an uncensored country, and psiphon users (psiphonites) who login and access the server from a country that censors the Internet.

What are psiphonodes, psiphonode administrators and psiphonites??

A psiphonode is a psiphon server that is operated by an administrator residing in an uncensored country (this is an integration of 'psiphon' and 'Node'). The psiphonode administrator is responsible for creating and managing user accounts and running the psiphon server. A psiphonite is a psiphon user, residing within a jurisdiction that blocks arbitrary web sites, and utilizes a psiphonode residing in an uncensored jurisdiction.

How does psiphon work?

psiphon acts as a "web proxy" for authenticated psiphonites, retrieving requested web pages and displaying them in a user's browser. psiphon uses a secure, encrypted connection to receive web requests from the psiphonite to the psiphonode who then transports the results back to the psiphonite. There is no connection between the psiphonite and the requested website, as psiphon transparently proxies the request through the psiphonode's computer allowing the psiphonite to browse blocked websites seamlessly.

How do psiphonites connect to psiphon?

psiphonites go to their psiphonodes' machine using a unique web address. The first page displayed is the user login. The psiphonite must login with a valid username and password, given to them by the psiphonode administrator. After authentication, the psiphon server displays a toolbar at the top of the page where the psiphonite can then enter a website to browse. When using psiphon, the psiphonite does not have to install any software or change any browser settings.

What do you mean, "the user does not have to install any software"?

After a successful login to the psiphon server, the user enters the website address they would like to visit, and psiphon takes care of the rest. With a regular Internet browser, the psiphonite simply logs in and requests and views the website entered in the psiphon toolbar. No software is installed on the end user's machine.

How do users find out about psiphon and how is psiphon distributed?

Anyone who wants to become a psiphon provider and is located in an uncensored country will be able to download the psiphon software from the psiphon website. After installation, the psiphonode administrator sends a unique web address to people in need that he or she personally knows and trusts in censored countries.

Even if the psiphon website is blocked it does not affect psiphon's distribution model. psiphon is completely decentralized; each psiphonode is independent of all others. The distribution of access to personal psiphon servers is based on social networks. Each psiphonode administrator grows his/her private network based on social relations of trust.

What is a social network?

A social network is a structure of nodes - usually individuals or organizations - that have ties between them, such as families or groups of friends or colleagues. psiphon leverages social networks as the discovery mechanism. The psiphonode administrator and the psiphonite(s) have a trust relationship and the web address is known only to these trusted people. Each network of psiphonode/psiphonites chooses how to grow the network. It can be small and extremely private or large and relatively semi-private. It depends on the specific context and needs of the psiphonites.

Can psiphon be blocked?

With publicly accessible circumvention systems one must assume that the censors can also discover and subsequently block access to these systems. The difference with psiphon - a personal system - is that the web address is only sent to a few, trusted, people. In that way, the censors cannot easily find and block the location of the psiphon server.

What happens when the psiphon provider's computer is turned off?

When a psiphon provider's computer is down or off the psiphon users will no longer have access to psiphon. psiphon users will need to wait until the psiphon provider's computer is back up and running again.

psiphon will inform psiphon providers if their network information changes (e.g. after rebooting the computer). When network information changes, psiphon providers will need to supply their psiphon users with the new psiphon web-address.

Note for advanced users: Future releases of psiphon will contain functionality that allows for optional redundancy. In the same way that psiphon providers and users extend their network based on social relations of trust, psiphon providers in a social network can arrange peering agreements to act as a backup psiphon server for each other's users.

Is psiphon anonymous?

psiphon is not an anonymous software program. psiphon users are not anonymous from the psiphon provider. Although traffic between the psiphon user and psiphon provider is encrypted, psiphon providers can potentially monitor everything that is done by the psiphon users they host.

Note: Do not use psiphon for anything you do not want the psiphon provider to be able to see.

When psiphon users visit websites through the psiphon server their identity and location is hidden from the web-site.

Note for advanced users: To maximize protection against the discovery of the psiphon user's true IP address, all scripting languages, such as JavaScript and ActiveX, should be turned off in the user's browser.

Can a psiphon user be monitored by their government or Internet Service Provider (ISP)?

Yes, your government and/or ISP can always monitor which web sites you visit.

When you use psiphon, your government and/or ISP can only see that you connected to another computer, not the sites you visit. psiphon makes it difficult for anyone to determine that you are using psiphon

Am I safe using psiphon?

psiphon encryption provides strong protection against electronic eavesdropping. However, there is a known attack that attempts to trick users into accepting a forged certificate (see 'Man-in-the-middle attack' below). If psiphonites follow instructions provided, regarding certificate fingerprint validation, this attack can be averted.

Secondly, using an encrypted connection to a home computer in another country may indicate to a government that a censored-bypassing system is being used.

Note: Bypassing censorship may violate law. Serious thought should be given to the risks involved and potential consequences.

What languages will psiphon be in?

Having multi-lingual interfaces for psiphon is a priority. The intention is for psiphon to be available in as many languages as possible. More information will be provided closer to psiphon's release date.

What operating systems will psiphon work on?

Windows, Linux (Mac conversion still underway)

How much does psiphon cost?

psiphon is free.

Is psiphon open source?

Yes. psiphon will be released under GPL open source license.

Can I access my email with psiphon?

psiphon is designed to provide safe, secure web browsing for users in censored countries. Most webmail can be accessed through psiphon.

Can I use instant messenger/chat, VOIP, Skype with psiphon?

No. psiphon is intended for Internet website browsing only. But, most web-based tools and services are available through psiphon.

Can I edit my blog with psiphon?

psiphon is intended for Internet website browsing only. Most Web-based tool and services are available through psiphon. Therefore psiphon can be used to edit most blogs.

When does beta testing begin?

Beta testing to the public will begin in the summer of 2006.

For advanced users:

Can my use of psiphon be detected?

From a technical perspective traffic between the psiphonode and the psiphonite is identical to normal HTTPS (encrypted) traffic. Although many sites only use HTTPS during the login process many sites, such as email providers and banking services, use HTTPS for extended periods of time, as does psiphon. The differences are that psiphon uses self-signed certificates and connections to home computers, rather than signed certificates and domain names. However, unless the attacker has the private psiphon URL it cannot be easily determined that psiphon is being used.

The key to detecting psiphon is infiltration of the psiphon administrator's social network.

Is psiphon susceptible to a Man-In-The-Middle-Attack (MITM)?

While a MITM attack can be attempted against any specific HTTPS connection, manual key fingerprint identification is integral to the proper use of psiphon. Anytime a psiphon URL is sent to a user the certificate fingerprint is also included. The psiphon user only needs to verify the fingerprint one time.

The key to a MITM attack is to trick the user into accepting a fake certificate. If the user properly verifies the certificate fingerprint on the first connection to psiphon the MITM attack can be defended.

What options are available for advanced users (customization)?

A psiphonode administrator will be able to customize the port number that the server runs on as well as the content that appears at the "index" page. An HTTPS connection can actually run on any port number although 443 is the default. Some ISPs block particular ports and some users may choose to run psiphon on a non-standard port.

The "index" page is the page that appears when one connects directly to the server's root path - not the psiphon URL. An attacker monitoring a users connection, at an ISP for example, can directly connect to any IP addresses that the user connects to in order to see what content is there. Each psiphon URL has a unique file path, which is encrypted so this attacker cannot connect to the psiphon login page, only to the IP address. If the provider modifies the "index" page the attacker will see completely innocuous content if they connect to psiphon.

Who is behind psiphon?

psiphon is part of the CiviSec Project run by the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto. The CiviSec Project is funded by the Open Society Institute.

The Director of the Citizen Lab is Prof. Ronald J. Deibert.

The graphic design for psiphon is produced by Agent 5 Design.

psiphon is currently in development at the Citizen Lab, a part of the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto. The project's goal is to allow surfers in countries with censored 'Net access to connect to web proxies posted in uncensored countries. Unlike other anonymizing or proxy services, psiphon relies on "networks of trust" to distribute the proxy addresses, hopefully making psiphon nodes more difficult to find and block.

Here's how it works: "psiphonodes" are set up by users in uncensored countries, who then distribute the site address only to users in censored countries whom they actually know or trust. When those users visit the psiphonode, they log in over a secure HTTP connection and a small bar appears in the top of their browser window (no software is downloaded or installed). Web addresses are entered into this bar and routed through the psiphonode like a regular web proxy. The entire session is encrypted.

To make the system difficult to shut down, each psiphonode is run independently. If one is blocked, all the others remain live. And because the system is based on personal connections rather than large lists, each node should be more difficult to find. Should a censor notice the unusually long encrypted session and investigate the IP address, he will find only an innocous web page. To log in to psiphon, each user receives a specialized URL; viewing the root page reveals nothing, not even the login screen.

Versions of the software will be available for both Windows and Linux, with a Mac version to follow. psiphon will be free and open-source (it's offered under the GPL), but in its initial incarnation will only support Web browsing; VoIP and IM usage will not be covered.

psiphon is only the latest project to offer a way around the censors; earlier projects like Peacefire attempted to do the same thing. While such projects have worthy goals, it would be a mistake to conclude that most Internet users in censored countries have a burning desire to read foreign news or e-mail political dispatches to those in other countries.

A 2005 report (PDF) from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, for instance, found that most Chinese trusted domestic news sources more than foreign ones. More than 80 percent of people also believed that Internet content must be controlled (most cited pornography, violence, and spam as reasons for this control). Like most Americans, Chines 'Net users want their e-mail, their entertainment, and their domestic news—few are interested in becoming dissidents.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061122-8274.html

 

TV shows and movies arrive on Xbox Live

11/22/2006 10:17:11 AM, by Eric Bangeman

Not content to let Sony and Nintendo steal the limelight with the launch of their new consoles, Microsoft has unveiled the first wave of video sale and rental content for the Xbox 360. Now available in the US via Xbox Live are a lineup of 48 movies and 47 television series available for purchase and/or rental.

The movie lineup is diverse, including titles from the 70s and 80s such as The Shining and Chariots of Fire along with more recent releases such as Zoolander, Failure to Launch, and ATL. If you want to watch TV on your TV, but via your console, there are wealth of options including SpongeBob SquarePants, Punk'd, classic Star Trek, South Park, and Chapelle's Show.

Movies are available for rental only. According to the Xbox Live terms of service, rentals expire 14 days after purchase or 24 hours after hitting "play" for the first time. It's a limited, nontransferable, noncommercial license and you cannot transfer the media to another device like your PC or a portable media player.

All movies are available in standard definition (480p) with a handful also available in HD (720p). Rental prices vary by title, but it appears that older films run 240 points, or $3.00, while newer flicks are 320 points ($4.00) for SD copies and 480 points ($6.00) for high-definition. HD is expensive, but very convenient.

ATL is available in either SD or HD

In contrast, TV shows are available for purchase for 160 points ($2.00) apiece. The lineup includes favorites from Comedy Central, CBS, Nickelodeon, Spike TV, and MTV. You can browse by network, genre, or by all TV shows. Some series, such as Chapelle's Show and Breaking Bonaduce, are available in their entirety; others, like South Park, only offer scattered episodes.

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

Xbox 360 users can get to the video content in two ways: either through the Video Marketplace in the Media tab or the Xbox Live Marketplace selection in the Xbox Live tab. Once you arrive at your video destination, browsing is easy and it wasn't too difficult to find an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants to download.

The video download screen

I dropped a couple of bucks on an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants and also rented the HD version of the Clint Eastwood classic Unforgiven. After starting out slowly, the SpongeBob download picked up steam on my 8Mbps connection and wrapped up in a matter of minutes. Once the download was over, it showed up in the Video section of the Media tab. Playback was very smooth and the image quality looked great on my 20" HP LCD. (Our TV is 10 years old so my Xbox 360 is hooked up to one of the LCDs in my office using the 360's VGA attachment and a VGA-to-DVI adapter. Inelegant, but it gets the job done.)

Unforgiven is taking much longer to download—the HD version weighs in at a hefty 5.74GB and after an hour of downloading is only 7 percent complete according to the download manager. (Update: now at 18 percent after 4 hours and 10 minutes.) Slow, but that may be due to first-day glitches.

Microsoft's video offering is a substantial challenge to Apple, and offering HD content is a big plus. The 480p TV show looked great on my monitor, and an HD trailer for Eragon looked very good. With the hard drive limited to 20GB, however, there's not a lot of room for storing content. Also, with the Xbox 360, you're forced to watch your downloads on your console; you can't even move it to your Zune, according to the licensing agreement. Chances are, your Xbox 360 is hooked up to the nicest TV set in the house, but you're not going to be able to move it to a portable device and watch it somewhere else. $6.00 for an HD rental seems a bit on the high side too, and with the file sizes involved, movie downloads may disappoint those looking for instant gratification.

That said, the initial video offering for the Xbox 360 is very impressive looking, combining the 360's solid interface and ease of use with a decent launch selection. If Microsoft is able to loosen the usage rights so that content can be moved to a PC or a portable device and drop the rental price on HD downloads, there would be very little to complain about.

GO HERE TO SEE THE PIXS
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061122-8270.html

 

Chinese malware takes aim at passwords

All your bank account are belong us

By INQUIRER newsdesk: Wednesday 22 November 2006, 16:27
IT SECURITY WATCHDOG Sophos has warned that over half of all Chinese malware found in October was designed to steal user names and passwords from web users.

The code is designed to give cyber criminals an edge when it comes to stealing personal and sensitive information which could help with identity theft and fraud. Sophos found that 45.2% of the malware was designed to nick online game login information from unsuspecting gamers, while 7.5% of the malware had been designed to give hackers username and password details for Chinese messaging client QQ.

Sophos says users should be cautious about using the same password for different sites and warns Internaughts to keep secure passwords.

Senior security consultant at Sophos Carole Theriault reckons the malware's a "worrying trend" considering the growing popularity of online gaming. "Once hackers have stolen login details, they can effectively impersonate the victim in the online world," making a mockery of their level 70 Warlocks.Hackers, once logged into the games, would be able to run up huge debts in online stores without the victim knowing otherwise, warns Theriault.

While it may not seem particularly dangerous for hackers to steal instant messaging and gaming details, Theriault warns that "cyber criminals will have inadvertently gained access to bank accounts, or cracked the passwords to secure password protected information, from which they can steal confidential and financial information." Time to change those passwords, mayhaps. µ

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35909

 

Space Pioneers' DIY Thanksgiving


By Associated Press | Also by this reporter
08:59 AM Nov, 24, 2005

SPACE CENTER, Houston -- A few decades from now, space travelers living on Mars may think the Pilgrims had it easy.

The pioneers who make the 80-million-mile, three-year journey to Mars and back will probably not have the just-add-water-and-heat packaged foods that are aboard the international space station, where the crew orbiting Earth will prepare a Thanksgiving dinner Thursday of turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans and cherry-blueberry cobbler.

During the six- to eight-month trip to Mars, space travelers will grow lettuce, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, green onions, radishes, bell peppers, strawberries, herbs and cabbage aboard their spacecraft.

And when they arrive at the Red Planet for a stay of about a year and a half, they will cultivate potatoes, soybeans, wheat, rice, peanuts and beans in soil-less hydroponic chambers, according to NASA's food scientists.

"We will have to grow the vegetables up there because there is no way you can bring fresh, aroma-filled, crunchy vegetables and have it last," said Michele Perchonok, a food technologist at NASA's Johnson Space Center, which is working on a project to send humans back to the moon, and from there to Mars.

The wheat will most likely be processed and made into bread or pasta. Syrup could be extracted from sweet potatoes and used to sweeten cookies. And the rice could be cooked or used in drinks.

"I sort of explain it as an 1800s kitchen with some automation," Perchonok said. "You are going to have to make your peanut butter. If you want a salad dressing, you are going to have to make your salad dressing."

The packaged meals astronauts eat in space now do not have a long enough shelf life to be safe for consumption during the entire length of a Mars mission. They also add weight and create waste -- something NASA is going to great lengths to prevent.

In fact, NASA wants to recycle just about everything -- even turning the astronauts' sweat and urine back into drinking water.

Some studies are looking into the use of fish -- specifically tilapia -- as a way to recycle shower water, toilet waste and the water clothes are washed in. Tilapia eat human waste and are safe for human consumption afterward, said Vickie Kloeris, who manages the Space Food Systems Laboratory at Johnson Space Center.

Some crew members are leery of turning urine into drinking water. But Kloeris noted that water-treatment systems on Earth do that already.

"So in real life you are drinking somebody else's urine instead of your own," she said. "So I'm not sure psychologically which is worse. I think I'd rather drink my own."
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,69676-0.html

 

How To: Foil Wiretaps at Home

Think the Feds might be jacked into your home line? Well, there’s no need to skulk down to the corner pay phone to conduct your business. All you need is a C note. University of Pennsylvania computer science professor Matt Blaze ­dissected the wiretap equipment commonly used by law enforcement and found a few, um, bugs. Spies, it turns out, don’t like to record dead air, so they turn the system off by playing a special C-pitched tone when the target phone is hung up. As a result, anyone with an MP3 player and a recorded C can prevent eavesdroppers from snooping on their private chatter. It doesn’t work with all listening devices, though, so there’s no guarantee the NSA won’t come calling.


1. You’re starting to get the creepy feeling you’re being watched – or rather listened to.




2. Download Blaze’s C tone (www.crypto.com/papers/wiretapping) and broadcast it continuously during phone calls. You can play the tone at low volume so it just seems like ambient room noise.




3. Don’t stop there – befuddle your foes. Play the C for a second in the middle of a call, then without hanging up, dial another number. Analog wiretap systems will interpret this as a new call. You may be chatting with a friend, but now the spooks think you’re talking to Domino’s.


http://wired.com/wired/archive/14.12/start.html?pg=4

 

COLORFUL TABS ..........Firefox extension to color every Firefox tab in a different color and make them easy to distinguish while beautifying the overall appearance of the interface. An essential.....(free).....GO THERE!
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1368/




Colorful Tabs
by Shivanand Sharma AKA Varun


More previews…
Please do not use this version if you are not using Firefox 2.0. For Firefox versions earlier than 2.0, use v1.4 of Colorful Tabs from https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1368/history/

The most beautiful yet the simplest add-on that makes a strong colorful appeal. Colors every tab in a different color and makes them easy to distinguish while beautifying the overall appearance of the interface. An essential.

Works with:
Firefox 2.0 - 2.0.0.* ALL
Mozilla 1.6 - 1.8 ALL

 

Houston, Wii've got a problem?

11/22/2006 6:13:21 PM, by Jeremy Reimer

Any piece of consumer electronics is bound to ship with a small number of units affected by hardware problems. From manufacturing defects to units manhandled during shipping, a small percentage of devices will exhibit some kind of abnormality. Still, with the recently introduced Nintendo Wii containing untested electronics in the form of the motion sensor, it is a useful task to see if early adopters are having any more problems than usual. The answer: not really.

The official Nintendo Wii forums have been host to a number of folks having various issues with their brand new console. One person had their Wiimotes go out of sync and resist repeated manual resyncing. Another had their Wii freeze up in standby mode.

Connecting the Wii to the Internet has proven problematic for some users. The console will display numeric error messages if it cannot connect to the Wii's network. Error 110213 is a typical message, which can sometimes be resolved by upgrading the firmware for certain brands of routers (such as Linksys) but in other situations indicates a hardware failure for which the unit must be replaced. There were also reports of DNS propagation issues with the newly-launched Wii store.

Others found that the console worked well until the first software update was installed from the Internet, after which the dreaded 110213 error made its appearance. However, the number of users affected by the update bug appears to be quite small.

Some gamers have reported that the Wiimote sensor is sensitive to light from the sun, as well as highly reflective surfaces between the player and the sensor bar. Changing the environment that the Wii is played in seems to fix these problems.

Minor but still irritating issues include some units being unable to recognize SD memory cards—as the Wii has no internal hard drive, it can use flash memory cards to extend its built-in storage. According to the manual, the Wii supports the SD format.

Nintendo has announced that they will replace damaged Wii consoles free of charge, so the only downside for afflicted gamers is having to wait for a replacement unit. After three days of the Wii being available, the hardware problems thread in the support forum had barely made it to the second page of posts (21 in total). While this is a completely unscientific measurement of how many people are having problems, the low number of posts does point to the problems being fairly rare. We'll keep an eye on future Wii issues, but for now, the problems don't seem widespread enough to discourage anyone from picking one up. Your biggest challenge will be Black Friday crowds and the general rush of the Christmas shopping season.

Look for a complete Ars Technica review of the Wii, coming very soon!
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061122-8277.html

 

eMusic gets close its 100 millionth song download

While iTunes long has the market lead of 88% when it comes to music downloads, when it comes to alternative music services, eMusic, a legal music download service which only delivers music in the DRM free format is getting ready to celebrate its 100 millionth MP3 download, according to Digit news. The website, which launched in November 2003, specialises in independent music and currently has a library of about 1.8 million tracks, covering over 9,800 independent labels.

Interestingly, the service has managed to keep its 2nd position in the market, ahead of other DRM based providers such as Napster and Yahoo, which both offer unlimited download subscription services. It is quite clear at this stage that Microsoft's aim to help music download services beat Apple with DRM technology to allow unlimited downloads based on a subscription has failed. This is likely why Microsoft decided to try its own closed system with the new Zune service.
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/eMusic-gets-close-its-100-millionth-song-download.html