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

UK and Ireland lead the world in WiFi hotspots per capita

12/6/2006 1:56:21 PM, by Jacqui Cheng

The US may lead in the sheer number of WiFi hotspots, but we shouldn't let that inflate our egos just yet; the UK and Ireland have more per capita. A recent report (PDF) by the UK Office of Communications (Ofcom) gives a very thorough, global look into telecommunication technology use worldwide, and includes data from the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and China, with additional data in some areas from the Netherlands, Poland, Ireland, Sweden, and Spain.

The report found that 25 percent of the world's hotspots are in the US. The US also has the highest absolute number of hotspots in the world (about 26,000), but in relative terms, the UK and Ireland both came out on top with approximately 18 hotspots per 100 people, compared to the 8.8 hotspots per 100 people in the US. China and Italy had at the lowest number of hotspots, at 0.2 and 3 per 100 people, respectively.

Japan, often thought to be among the most technically-savvy countries in the world, had a surprisingly low number of hotspots for its population—it came in third-lowest with 5.3 hotspots per 100 people. However, Ofcom observed that a possible reason for this was because Japan has such a strong lead with high-speed 3G phone connections, with nearly 30 million 3G connections in the country. Italy came in second with 10.8 million 3G connections, and the US last with just 2.7 million connections.

The report also found that when it comes to watching music videos, television and news programs, file sharing, using websites to keep in touch, and using the web to meet new people, China's average for all age groups leads the world in all of the above. Unsurprising, then, is the fact that China's telecommunications revenue is the highest in the world at 4.3 percent of the GDP, with the UK closely following at 4.1 percent.

What picture does this paint of the world's use of telecommunications services? A pretty decent one, we think. Despite China's heavy use of all things Internet, WiFi hotspots don't seem to be as important to consumers there as they are in western countries. However, this could also mean that China has a huge potential market for WiFi hotspots as the country develops and more consumers begin to purchase expensive laptops that are popular in the west. On the flipside, WiFi may never take off in China and they could go the Japan route by adopting high-speed mobile connections like 3G. Even in places like the US, the land of milk and WiFi, there's no guarantee that short-range services like WiFi will maintain their lead in the future once 3G and EVDO services start to gain momentum.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061206-8369.html

 

Free firewalls outclass their commercial counterparts
Posted by l33tdawg on Thursday, December 07, 2006 - 12:09 AM (Reads: 44)
Source: ARNnet


Free firewalls are better than their paid-for cousins. That is the surprising conclusion of a test of desktop firewalls by security researchers. Researchers at David Matousec's matousec.com carried out tests on 21 leading products using 26 assessment programs known as "leak" testers. These simulated a total of 77 test attacks on firewalls, configured using both out-of-the-box and optimal security settings. Each firewall was then awarded points based on its ability to pass each leak test in both modes. The only two products to achieve a rating of "excellent" turned out to be free-to-use software, the Comodo Personal Firewall v2.3, and the Jetico Personal Firewall v2.0 beta. They scored, respectively, 9,350 and 9,125 points out of a possible total of 9,625, leaving the nearest rivals some way behind. Surprisingly, paying for a product did not seem to make any difference to its ability to stop attacks -- the rest of the results spread the two categories fairly evenly about the scoring. Some paid-for products turned in awful scores.


Free firewalls outclass paid-for ones, test reveals

John E. Dunn, Techworld.com

07/12/2006 08:16:12

Free firewalls are better than their paid-for cousins. That is the surprising conclusion of a test of desktop firewalls by security researchers.

Researchers at David Matousec's matousec.com carried out tests on 21 leading products using 26 assessment programs known as "leak" testers. These simulated a total of 77 test attacks on firewalls, configured using both out-of-the-box and optimal security settings. Each firewall was then awarded points based on its ability to pass each leak test in both modes.

The only two products to achieve a rating of "excellent" turned out to be free-to-use software, the Comodo Personal Firewall v2.3, and the Jetico Personal Firewall v2.0 beta. They scored, respectively, 9,350 and 9,125 points out of a possible total of 9,625, leaving the nearest rivals some way behind.

Surprisingly, paying for a product did not seem to make any difference to its ability to stop attacks -- the rest of the results spread the two categories fairly evenly about the scoring. Some paid-for products turned in awful scores.

In third and fourth place were ZoneAlarm Pro 6.5, Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security 2007, and both of which are charged for and achieved a "very good" rating. Moving down the scoring, only three other products emerged as "good", with the remaining 14 scoring as "poor", "very poor" or as having no ability to resist the tests whatsoever. This included prominent products from Kaspersky, Symantec, McAfee, and CA.

At the very bottom of the list in 21st place scoring a resounding zero, came Microsoft's own firewall which has been part of PC protection since the company shipped its SP2 security update.

The researchers also hit the products with a "fake protection revealer" (FPR) designed to catch out software that had been optimized to pass some security tests without necessarily offering real-world protection. Only one product fell seriously foul of this test, Outpost Firewall Pro 4.0, which otherwise scored well. A number of the products that come with anti-virus engines incorrectly identified the leak tests themselves as malware.

The obvious conclusion is that many desktop firewalls aren't very good, at least if the tests are taken to be indicative of their ability. Furthermore, even the good ones don't always offer good protection settings by default, and require tweaking to improve security to meaningful levels.

"Nine of the tested firewalls were marked with 'very poor' or 'no' anti-leak protection. This result is quite worrying because it shows that even today, when the malware programs are very sophisticated, still a lot of vendors simply do not care about the outbound connection control seriously," the test commentary suggests.

Most of the leak tests used are widely available, but the team also created a number specially for the assessment. The testers also published responses (scroll down) from a number of the vendors on their good or bad showing.

Sensibly configured, a desktop firewall can be an worthwhile layer of defense. Many vendors who don't choose to charge for them see them as brand marketing tools for other security products, so the latest test is likely to attract a degree of hostility from vendors who scored poorly.

A separate test of desktop firewalls from earlier this year, based on a similar leak test methodology, is available for comparison.
http://www.arnnet.com.au/index.php/id;159719021;fp;8;fpid;0

 

Spyware fighters go after MP3 search site


By Joris Evers
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: December 6, 2006, 5:41 PM PST
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Two antispyware watchdogs are urging federal regulators to take action against a music search Web site that they say is a front for malicious software.

FastMP3Search.com.ar, registered in Argentina, advertises itself as a search service for music files, but instead tricks people into loading a host of malicious applications onto their PC and opens computers up to further cyberattacks, according to StopBadware.org and the Center for Democracy and Technology.

"In the past year, we've come across dozens of malicious programs available on hundreds of Web sites, and without question, the FastMP3Search.com.ar plug-in tops our list of the worst actors," said John Palfrey, co-director of the StopBadware coalition.

StopBadware and the CDT said they will file a joint complaint against the Web site with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Thursday. StopBadware.org is an initiative, backed by Sun Microsystems, Google and Lenovo, that aims to create a blacklist of malicious software. The CDT is a watchdog group that runs the Anti-Spyware Coalition.

The music search site asks people to install a plug-in to be able to download MP3 files. This plug-in is actually a cocktail of malicious software that contains adware, Trojan horses and disables the Microsoft Windows firewall, according to StopBadware and the CDT.

"They've combined so many bad things in a single bundle. It's a parade of horribles," Palfrey said.

In tests of FastMP3Search.com.ar, StopBadware was unable to download any MP3 files from the site, the group said.

So far, the consumer protection group has not succeeded in tracking down the owner or operator of FastMP3Search.com.ar. However, it is hoping the FTC can determine who is behind the site and where they are located, a representative for StopBadware said.

"The FTC has had success in working with other governments to help crack down on malicious Web sites and applications," the representative said. StopBadware and the CDT are asking the agency to end the Web site's practices.
http://news.com.com/2100-7348_3-6141621.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news

 

Big Music discovers mp3s

p2pnet.net News:- DRM-free mp3s from Norah Jones?

By way of an 'experiment,' Yahoo which, as far as we know, still has a gaping hole in its Music Unlimited, is selling, or trying to sell, three unfettered downloads at $1 per.

The idea seems to be to discover if music lovers will be willing to be ripped off as long as there are no Digital Restrictions Management consumer control mechanisms on the downloads.

Or as The Wall Street Journal puts it, "Blue Note Records and its marquee artist, jazz-pop singer Norah Jones, are selling her latest single through Yahoo Inc. as an MP3 - despite the risk that it may add to piracy problems.

"The move represents a small but significant retreat from one of the central tenets of the music industry's digital strategy. EMI Group PLC's Blue Note and other music companies are beginning to think they will have to sell some MP3-formatted music both to satisfy customer demand and to provide access to Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod for songs that are sold by online stores other than Apple's iTunes Store."

iTunes downloads are, of course, thoroughly polluted with DRM.

Blue Note yesterday began, "letting Yahoo sell mp3s of Jones's Thinking About You," and EMI Christian rock band Relient K, "also released two MP3s through Yahoo yesterday," says the story.

"All of the songs will come without any of the software that normally keeps users from making unlimited copies of songs they buy online."

Meanwhile, the vast majority of online music lovers continue to ignore corporate sites such as Yahoo's like the plague. Instead, they make full use of the independent services, such as the beleagured Russian site, AllofMP3.com, and the increasing number of web pages posted by the performers themselves to avoid the venal clutches of Big Four Organized Music cartel members Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG.

"This summer, Sony BMG Music Entertainment released an MP3 by pop diva Jessica Simpson on Yahoo Music, while the Walt Disney Co.'s Hollywood Records released an entire album by pop singer Jesse McCartney in the MP3 format," says Associated Press, adding:

" 'They're still looking at it as an experiment but the labels have really come a long way in terms of wanting to see how this works for them,' said Carrie Davis, a Yahoo spokeswoman, refusing to disclose sales totals for the Simpson and McCartney tracks."

In the real world of online music, DRM-free mp3s have been available for years.
http://p2pnet.net/story/10677?PHPSESSID=5a7783e9256442e68a24745a41bb5058

 

Hollywood sniffers in Dubai


p2pnet.net News:- Miracle Hollywood sniffer dogs Lucky and Flo are in the news again. They've been trotted out in Dubai, generating instant press attention which is, of course, their primary function. Apparently, also on hand were interested parties from more than 10 countries, including Holland, the UK and South Africa.

Because the two labrador retrievers can achieve feats unequalled by any customs agent.

They're able to detect optical discs by mere scent alone, says Hollywood's MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America). And lamescream media around the world are lapping it up.




"In 2004, the MPA [an MPAA clone] undertook a feasibility study to determine whether dogs could be trained to detect polycarbonate and other chemicals used in optical discs," it said in October this year, going on:

A trainer in Northern Ireland known for training dogs to locate and identify bombs trained Lucky and Flo to find optical discs in large and small packages and containers.

After eight months of training, Lucky and Flo undertook their first major live test, working with H.M. Revenue and Customs and FedEx at Stansted Airport in the United Kingdom. They were immediately successful in identifying packages containing DVDs and detecting even the smallest amount of product in very large containers.

The Stansted Airport test was the first time dogs had been used anywhere in the world to search for counterfeit DVDs and proved that they could work in a busy airport Customs environment.

There is, however, one slight difficulty.

Lucky and Flo can't sniff the difference between CDs and DVDs, burned and replicated discs, or legitimate and pirate discs, admits the MPAA.

But in drift-net exercises similar to fishing expeditions routinely employed by MPAA brother organization the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), "because legitimate shipments of optical discs are generally registered on shipping manifests, the dogs will be valuable in locating discs being shipped in unlikely or unregistered containers, which may contain pirated CDs or DVDs," says the MPA puff-piece. Of course, on the other hand, they may not contain anything of the sort.

But nothing ventured, etc. And will Hollywood worry if shipments are held up while Lucky and Flo go fishing?

Meanwhile, as the item points out, the dogs were due for a jaunt to Dubai and there, the Khaleej Times states they're able to, "dig out pirated CDs and DVDs" as an undisputed fact. "This was demonstrated yesterday by the Arab Anti-Piracy Union in association with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) at the Rashid Port in Dubai," says the story."We are used to dogs sniffing out explosives, firearms or drugs, but to be able to sniff out optical discs from luggage, that’s new,” Scott Butler, President of the Arab Anti-piracy Union, said.

No kidding.

The Khaleej Times closes with Ahmad bin Zaal, head of the Anti-Customs Crimes Tracking Unit, promising, "I think the new mechanism will be adopted by the Dubai Customs as soon as it’s approved by the authorities."

Then, following their successful appearance in the UAE, F&L went to Malaysia where, "The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry is co-operating with the Motion Picture Association (MPA)," says The Straits Times, going on:

"Sources said the proposal to bring in the animals was accepted by ministry officials who could use whatever help they can get to act against the pirates. Negotiations are proceeding to bring the dogs and their trainer, Neil Powell.

"The dogs will be in Malaysia for about two months and will be taken to several places, including shopping malls. The dogs are also likely to visit airports and cargo areas, and suspected illegal optical disc factories.

"Post offices and export centres could also have the dogs as 'guests'."

Where will Lucky and Flo show up next? And when willl their first court appearance be?

Stay tuned.

Also See:
Hollywood sniffer dogs - Hollywood goes to the dogs, September 22, 2006
Khaleej Times - Dogs to sniff out pirated CDs, DVDs from luggage, November 30, 2006
The Straits Times - Expert duo to ‘sniff out’ disc pirates, December 3, 2006
p2pnet newsfeeds for your site.
rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss
Mobile - http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details.

And if you're Chinese and you're looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.

(Thursday 7th December 2006)
http://p2pnet.net/story/10684?PHPSESSID=634ea35ff7edef859e7237d3f1ce931e

 

Big Music wants royalties lowered

p2pnet.net News:- Big Four Organized Music cartel members Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Univers and Sony BMG are already suing (their customers) and screwing (their artists) as fast as they can go.

Now the Big Four's RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) is demanding that royalties be knocked down, giving 'piracy' is the reason.

"Record labels are asking a panel of copyright judges to lower the rate they pay music publishers and songwriters for the use of the lyrics and melodies with which they create sound recordings," says Radio and Records, quoting the Hollywood Reporter, and going on:

"The music industry has undergone such fundamental changes, the RIAA contends, that it's time for the government to step in."

During the period when piracy was, "devastating the record industry," the RIAA argues, says the story, "profits for publishers rose as revenue generated from ringtones and other innovative services grew."

And there's, "nothing strange about seeking a rate change that would pay less to the people who write the music," it has unnamed record industry executives saying.

"We hope the judges will restore the proper balance by reducing the rate and moving to a more flexible percentage rate structure so that record companies can continue to create the sound recordings that drive revenues for music publishers,"

"Mechanical royalties currently are out of whack with historical and international rates," says RIAA executive vp and general counsel Steven Marks in the Radio and Records post.

(Thanks, Jazz)

Also See:
Radio and Records - Labels Seek Lower Royalty Rate , December 1, 2006
p2pnet newsfeeds for your site.
rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss
Mobile - http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details.

And if you're Chinese and you're looking for a way to access independe

(Thursday 7th December 2006)
http://p2pnet.net/story/10687?PHPSESSID=74616dc6d22061323900c88f6fb03a9d

 

FREE,COMODO FIREWALL..........

Unfortunately, most firewalls leak. But Comodo's Firewall is unique in that it passes all known leak tests to ensure the integrity of data entering and exiting your system. Comodo has put firewall through all kinds of sophisticated tests to ensure its firewall powerful enough to ward off these attacks with default settings. No other firewall has had to work this hard.....(free).....


It's Free. Forever. No Catch. No Kidding

The Award-Winning Comodo Firewall

* PC Magazine Online's Editor's Choice
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* Blocks internet access to malicious Trojan programs
* Safeguards your Personal data against theft
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download here
http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/



Free firewalls outclass their commercial counterparts
Posted by l33tdawg on Thursday, December 07, 2006 - 12:09 AM (Reads: 1622)
Source: ARNnet


Free firewalls are better than their paid-for cousins. That is the surprising conclusion of a test of desktop firewalls by security researchers. Researchers at David Matousec's matousec.com carried out tests on 21 leading products using 26 assessment programs known as "leak" testers. These simulated a total of 77 test attacks on firewalls, configured using both out-of-the-box and optimal security settings. Each firewall was then awarded points based on its ability to pass each leak test in both modes. The only two products to achieve a rating of "excellent" turned out to be free-to-use software, the Comodo Personal Firewall v2.3, and the Jetico Personal Firewall v2.0 beta. They scored, respectively, 9,350 and 9,125 points out of a possible total of 9,625, leaving the nearest rivals some way behind. Surprisingly, paying for a product did not seem to make any difference to its ability to stop attacks -- the rest of the results spread the two categories fairly evenly about the scoring. Some paid-for products turned in awful scores.

link to total story
http://www.arnnet.com.au/index.php/id;159719021;fp;8;fpid;0

 

Microsoft releasing book search to beta
Dec 06, 2006 - 9:57 PM - by Digital Dave
Might be kinda cool.

Tens of thousands of out-of-copyright books are set to become available online when Microsoft releases Live Search Books to beta on Wednesday.

article
http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/7797/53/

 

Microsoft delays Service Pack 3 again!
Dec 05, 2006 - 9:57 AM - by Digital Dave
Okay, now we're heading into the "stupid" area.

How in the hell can MS be putting this off until 2008?

Microsoft quietly let it be known this week that it plans yet again to delay the release of Service Pack 3 for Windows XP users, this time until some point in the first half of 2008. At the beginning of 2006, I wrote that Microsoft was delaying SP3 until the latter half of 2007 in order to concentrate on development work for Windows Vista, the long-promised next new version of its flagship operating system. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had earlier said that SP3 would ship prior to the release of Vista.

 

No fix yet for zero-day flaw in Word



By Joris Evers
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: December 7, 2006, 12:01 PM PST
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As part of its monthly patch cycle, Microsoft plans to release on Tuesday six security bulletins, at least two of them deemed "critical."

Five of the security bulletins will include fixes for vulnerabilities in Windows, Microsoft said in a notice on its Web site Thursday. The sixth bulletin will offer an update for Visual Studio, it said.

Microsoft has not scheduled a patch for Office. Earlier this week, it warned that a yet-to-be-patched security hole in multiple versions of Word--part of the Office suite--is being exploited in cyberattacks. The software maker is working on a security update, but apparently needs more time.

The company did not specify how many flaws Tuesday's updates will address or in which components of Windows the holes lie. The Visual Studio update could offer a patch for a zero-day vulnerability in the developer tools that was made public last month.

The company has tagged the security hole in the developer tool as "critical," its highest risk rating. Critical vulnerabilities typically can allow a worm to spread or allow a Windows system to be fully compromised with minor or no interaction from the person using it. However, it did not offer details on exactly what will be fixed in Visual Studio.

Also on Tuesday, Microsoft will release an updated version of its Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. The program detects and removes common malicious code placed on computers.

Last month, the software maker delivered six security bulletins, five of which were described as critical.

Microsoft gave no further information on the upcoming bulletins, other than stating that some of the Windows fixes may require restarting the computer or server.
http://news.com.com/No+fix+yet+for+zero-day+flaw+in+Word/2100-1002_3-6141796.html?tag=nefd.top

 

How To Unlock Your Phone



By Sascha Segan

Now that the Copyright Office has given a green light to unlock your GSM or iDen phone, you can save money on a new phone – provided you can find it unlocked, or unlock it yourself. Depending on your phone, you might be able to do that by punching in a code, by buying a cable, or by sending it to a professional unlocking service. This applies to Cingular, T-Mobile and Nextel phones; Sprint, Verizon and Alltel subscribers are out of luck, for reasons I'll explain below.

If you've had a T-Mobile phone for 90 days, or you've run out of time on a Cingular contract, you can get an unlocking code just by calling your carrier. Tell your carrier's customer service representative that you're traveling abroad and want to use a foreign carrier's SIM card. If they don't give you the code, stick by your guns and ask for a manager.

If you don't fulfill those requirements – say you've just bought a phone off of eBay and it turns out to be locked, or you want to use a phone locked to a foreign carrier, or you want to make a prepaid phone into postpaid – you have a bunch of different options.

If you have an older or more basic Nokia phone, including the 1100, 6230, 6820 or 7650, you can use a free, online calculator to figure out your unlock code. Check out the instructions at http://nokiafree.org/forums/t64045/s.html and then use the calculator at http://unlock.nokiafree.org/ to find the code.

Owners of a few GSM Pocket PC smart phones made by HTC – the Cingular 8125 and 8525, and T-Mobile MDA – can use another free tool, at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=240784.

For most other phones, you have to buy something, whether it's software or a service. Many phones, including Sony Ericsson phones, Blackberries, some Treos, some LG phones and HTC smart phones can be unlocked with software and a special cable, according to Alex Parkhomovich of CellCorner.com in Astoria, NY. Running the software taps into a remote database of unlocking codes and transmits the right code to your phone. All told, expect to spend $15-60 for the cable and/or the license to unlock one phone.

Many more recent phones either require hardware modifications or aren't unlockable at all, according to Evan Silbert, president of Warlocks Wireless (www.iunlock.com) in Boston. Silbert only does "postal unlocking" – you send him a phone, he unlocks it and sends it back to you, charging around $25 for the service. Postal unlocking is the best bet for non-expert users, Silbert says, because he guarantees success and his experts won't damage your phone.

On recent Motorola phones, that involves disassembling the phone, drilling into a shield over the main circuit board to tap into the right contacts and kicking the phone into a special diagnostic mode to get at the unlocking code. Recent Samsung phones can be unlocked with a software-only process, Silbert said.

If you're really hard core, you can buy gadgets like the NsDongle for unlocking Samsung phones and the Smart Unlocker box for many Motorola phones from CellCorner. But that kind of unlocking hardware costs $200 or more, so Parkhomovich suggests buying unlocking software or services instead, which cost $15-60 from him depending on the device.

Unfortunately, some very new phones can't be unlocked at all. The hackers are working on it, but if you can't find your phone on the lists at CellCorner, iUnlock, or other unlocking shops like TheFoneDoc.com and GSMLiberty.net, you may be out of luck.

Once your phone is unlocked and moved to a different network, you'll have to reprogram the phone's data settings so you can access the Web and send and receive picture messages. T-Mobile users can get their settings at http://tmobileus.wdsglobal.com/phonefirst; Cingular users should call 611 and ask to have their MMS and WAP settings pushed to their phone number.

The various unlocking services all unlock different phones for different prices, so it's worth shopping around to find the best service and the best deal. HowardForums has a good list of unlocking shops (http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=63).
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2069846,00.asp

 

For those who are are having trouble ripping this movie with Anydvd, please be aware that dvdfab decrypter (Free) has justcome out with a beta version to rip Attack Force.

DVDFab Decrypter 3.0.4.5 Beta:
http://www.dvdfab.com/DVDFabDecrypter3045Beta.exe

What's New:

- New: Added support for a new Sony ARccOS protection as found on "Attack Force" (US).
- New: Added support for ISO Image output.
- New: Added "Write Data" to burn existing DVD Folder/ISO Image to DVD writer, or convert DVD Folder to ISO Image.
- New: Added chapter range selection for "DVD to Mobile".
- New: Preview will only show the selected chapter range.
- New: Added display for current preview chapter.
- New: Updated language files.
- New: Updated VSO burning engine.
- Fix: Layer break is not set correctly in certain cases.
- Fix: "Cannot open file" error when burning ISO files on FAT/FAT32 drive.
- Fix: A crash problem when opening DVD from hard disk folder.
- Fix: Several minor problems.


Dear all,

DVDFab products 3.0.4.5 Beta is out (12/07/2006):

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http://www.dvdfab.com/DVDFabGold3045Beta.exe

DVDFab Decrypter 3.0.4.5 Beta:
http://www.dvdfab.com/DVDFabDecrypter3045Beta.exe

What's New:

- New: Added support for a new Sony ARccOS protection as found on "Attack Force" (US).
- New: Added support for ISO Image output.
- New: Added "Write Data" to burn existing DVD Folder/ISO Image to DVD writer, or convert DVD Folder to ISO Image.
- New: Added chapter range selection for "DVD to Mobile".
- New: Preview will only show the selected chapter range.
- New: Added display for current preview chapter.
- New: Updated language files.
- New: Updated VSO burning engine.
- Fix: Layer break is not set correctly in certain cases.
- Fix: "Cannot open file" error when burning ISO files on FAT/FAT32 drive.
- Fix: A crash problem when opening DVD from hard disk folder.
- Fix: Several minor problems.

Best Regards,
Fengtao
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LetterDrop

thanks to member xhardc0re for this info


Application: LetterDrop 1.00
Current Build: 2.01.00.0047
Download: 380Kb Zipped Executable
System Requirements: Windows 2000 and XP

The problem with email is that everyone is reading it. It is the most insecure means of electronic communication. Email messages are sent in plain text, so any network engineer can read the content. Each electronic point that an email message passes through from the sender to the recipient is another opportunity for the message to be read, copied, filed, changed and redirected. Your employer may choose to store your messages for the next three years. Maybe there are some things that need to be said in private, even in the workplace.

LetterDrop allows office workers to communicate in secret, and is simple enough to be used by anyone who wants to converse in confidence with another person on the same local network. Examples of people who would use LetterDrop are high-level manages who need to keep all correspondence away from the eyes of the company staff, and members of staff who feel a need to send each other love letters during office hours.

To find out the benefits of using LetterDrop and an explanation of how LetterDrop works, see the How It Works section. For more details help, see the LetterDrop Help Manual.

download
http://www.broccolisoftware.com/products/LetterDrop/Home.asp

 

Michelle Santangelo: I'm no thief

p2pnet.net special:- Kazaa is now the subject of what can only be the first of a number of class actions brought against it by victims of the RIAA's twisted sue 'em all campaign, aimed at forcing customers to toe the Big Music bottom line.

Former Kazaa user Catherine Lewan was sued by the Big Four Organized Music cartel, Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG, in the shape of their RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), for using the Kazaa p2p application, owned by Australia's Sharman Networks.

Now she's turning the tables on Kazaa and, indirectly, on the labels. Sharman, "configured KaZaA such that its intended use would be illegal," she says, also stating that Sharman "deceptively marketed" Kazaa as allowing, "free downloads".

In the US, the Big Four usually start off older "criminals" and "thieves," as they call the people they accuse of illegally sharing corporate tunes with each other online. Then the labels move on to their true targets - victims' children.

Geeks

That everyone under the age of 20 is a computer expert - a geek - is an automatic assumption. If you're young, you have to be a computer expert. Goes without saying.

But that's not the way it is. Youngsters are just as likely as their parents to be computer ignoramuses

New York's Patti Santangelo and her pro bono lawyer Jordan Glass have been fighting the RIAA every step of the way.

p2pnet readers have been helping them along with contributions, all of which have gone on disbursements. Glass who, ironically, normally practises as entertainment lawyer, is a one-man show and his home is normally his office. For obvious reasons, a case such as this couldn't be run from there, so he and Patti have also rented a 16 X 18 room in industrial area behind a railway station where they do their work.

Meanwhile, Patti is now to all intents and purposes now out of the picture and currently occupying the RIAA's attention are her daughter, Michelle, and son, Bobby, both represented by Glass.

We asked Michelle what it's like to be called a thief. Here's what she said:

I find it very hard to express my feelings in writing.

I love music.

I was watching TV the other night and the Music Awards show was on and for the first time in my life, I had zero interest in any of it.

I was taught from a very early age about the rights and wrongs of life and I would not, and did not, steal from the record companies. I wouldn't steal from anyone. Being called a thief by the RIAA actually hurts my feelings and I am of course embarrassed by this case. My mom understands more than anyone how I am feeling.

I have come to understand that because I was a teen at the time the RIAA captured files from the family computer, that I was supposed to (according to them) automatically understand what it was all about.

I kept trying to explain I'm not a computer geek. I needed help just to put up a MySpace page because I am just not good with computers.

I recently read a posting about the Warner Music boss whose kids downloaded music and my mom told me that she doubts very much they knew they knew they were stealing since they had no reason (financially) to.

"They just did not understand," is what she said. I was just very angry about it because it seems so unfair.

I'm glad that Kazaa had to pay since I never downloaded that program. And Mom has researched how bad of a program it was.

I'm mostly worried about Mom right now she has an awful lot to deal with and this lawsuit just distracts her completely.

As for my little brother, Bobby, he's a lot like me when it comes to computers. His friend made up his MySpace page too. He's an athlete and not all that much of a music fan.

In an earlier post, among other things, Glass Asked five questions:

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, but create 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?

Stay tuned. And if you want to lend a hand in the meanwhile, please use the button below to make a contribution.

Cheers! And thanks ...
Jon Newton, p2pnet
http://p2pnet.net/story/10699?PHPSESSID=539b492d7c4cd04951642b3fa9fc5e91

 

YouTube allows users to record directly to site

12/8/2006 2:42:29 PM, by Jacqui Cheng

YouTube quietly added a new feature today to its popular user-generated video site today called Quick Capture, which allows users to record video directly to YouTube from webcams plugged into their computers. This new feature eliminates steps in the process of producing video content, making it easier than ever to publish videos to the web.

The Quick Capture tool uses an Adobe Flash Player API to connect to the user's webcam. The user must first grant the Flash Player permission to use the camera and microphone—and must grant permission every time—before using the service. Once the user grants permission, he or she must then select the type of connection being used for the video and microphone: DV, FireWire, or USB.

After entering in the title, description, tags, and categories in the text boxes to the left, the user is all set to click the "Record" button. Videos are saved directly to the site, no encoding necessary. In fact, a user who wants to post videos to YouTube using the Quick Capture method doesn't need to have any software at all, aside from a working web browser. One thing that Quick Capture currently lacks is the ability to edit your videos once they're recorded, though, so editing-savvy users may still prefer to record videos on their own.

What could this mean for YouTube? As if YouTube wasn't already big enough, it could become bigger. Based on anecdotal experience, many people I know who upload (or want to upload) videos to YouTube at least consider the recording and encoding process to require the most effort and be the most time-consuming steps. Quick Capture eliminates these steps altogether, allowing users to freely express themselves to the web without concerning themselves with video formats or codecs. Who knows—this could spur some more grandmas to showcase their talents on YouTube.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061208-8387.html

 

Pirates crack vista activation server !
Pirates have released another ingenious workaround to Vista's copy protection: a hacked copy of Microsoft's yet-to-be-released volume licencing activation server, running in VMware.

Volume Activation 2.0 is one of the more controversial features of Vista: it means that every copy of Vista has to be activated, even the Business/Enterprise volume licenced editions.

However, to make life easier for administrators, Microsoft worked in a more convenient system of in-house for en masse activation of PCs called KMS – Key Management Service.

The idea behind KMS is that you have a single PC running KMS which can then handle activation for all your Vista clients, so that they don’t have to connect back to Microsoft every single time.

The downside of KMS is that the activation is only good for 180 days, to discourage people bringing in their home systems, activating them and wandering off again.

Bearing in mind that KMS wasn’t scheduled to be released until next year, pirates have managed to get hold of KMS and produce a standalone, fully-activated KMS server called “Windows Vista Local Activation Server – MelindaGates”. Tongue-in-cheek of course…the first “cracked” version of Vista was called Vista BillGates.

The download is a VMWare image, and the idea behind it is that you download and install VMWare Player (a legal free download), boot the image and use some VBS script (supplied with the activation server download) to have the client Vista machine get its activation from the local server. And that’s it – no communication back to Microsoft.

Of course, in line with the Volume Activation 2.0 model, this only works with Vista Business and Enterprise editions, as they are the only ones which will accept KMS keys.

Home and Ultimate editions still use normal single-use activation that calls back to Microsoft for validation of the product ID.

On one hand, this is strikes a serious blow to Vista’s activation model. Simply possessing the Vista DVD (which was released on the boards about two weeks ago) wasn’t enough to get you past the robust activation requirements. But if you can load up a local activation server and activate Vista that way, it sort of makes the whole thing redundant.

There are two caveats though. Vista still has to be installed with a KMS product key, so if that activated system ever goes through the WGA system with a known pirated key, Microsoft will be able to track it down and eventually close the loop.

The second is that this is a true KMS server, so the activation is only good for 180 days, then the client needs re-activation.

It’s also still not a crack. In this instance, as with the Vista BillGates release, it’s an activation workaround. Admittedly a very clever one, and one that Microsoft will have a lot more trouble stamping out, but the fact that it’s taken the acquisition of a KMS server shows that Vista activation is still holding strong in its own right.

But is that of any comfort to Microsoft right now, while its yet-to-be-widely-released OS is being pirated like crazy?

Source : http://apcmag.com/node/4769

 

Planetary triple play on deck Sunday

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Stargazers will get a rare triple planetary treat this weekend with Jupiter, Mercury and Mars appearing to nestle together in the predawn skies. About 45 minutes before dawn on Sunday those three planets will be so close that the average person's thumb can obscure all three from view.
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They will be almost as close together on Saturday and Monday, but Sunday they will be within one degree of each other in the sky. Three planets haven't been that close since 1925, said Miami Space Transit Planetarium director Jack Horkheimer.

And it won't happen again until 2053, he said.

"Jupiter will be very bright and it will look like it has two bright lights next to it, and they won't twinkle because they're planets," said Horkheimer, host of the television show "Star Gazer. "This is the kind of an event that turns young children into Carl Sagans."

The planets are actually hundreds of millions of miles apart, but the way the planets orbit the sun make it appear they are neighbors in the east-southeastern skies. They'll be visible in most parts of the world — in the Western Hemisphere, as far south as Buenos Aires and as far north as Juneau, Alaska, Horkheimer said.

The experts differ on just how to look at the planets. Horkheimer said naked-eye viewing is fine, but binoculars or a telescope are even better.

But if you are going to use a telescope, be careful because the planets are so close to where the sun will soon rise, if you linger you might gaze at the sun through the telescope and damage your eyesight, said Michelle Nichols, master educator at Chicago's Adler Planetarium.

Ed Krupp, director of Los Angeles' Griffith Observatory, cautioned it will be hard to see the event "with an unaided eye, particularly in an area that is highly urbanized."

The way to find the planets, which will be low on the east-southeast horizon, is to hold your arm straight out, with your hand in a fist and the pinky at the bottom. Halfway up your fist is how high the planets will appear above the horizon, Nichols said.

Jupiter will be white, Mercury pinkish and Mars butterscotch-colored.

"It is a lovely demonstration of the celestial ballet that goes on around us, day after day, year after year, millennium after millennium," said Horkheimer. "When I look at something like this, I realize that all the powers on Earth, all the emperors, all the money, cannot change it one iota. We are observers, but the wonderful part of that is that we are the only species on this planet that can observe it and understand it."

In ancient times, people thought the close groupings of planets had deep meaning, said Krupp. Now, he said, "it's absolutely something fun to look for."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061209/ap_on_sc/three_planets_4
__

On the Net:

Where to look for the three planets: http://www.siennasoft.com/stargazer/1513.shtml

 

Senator: Illegal images must be reported


By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: December 8, 2006, 6:40 PM PST
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Millions of commercial Web sites and personal blogs would be required to report illegal images or videos posted by their users or pay fines of up to $300,000, if a new proposal in the U.S. Senate came into law.

The legislation, drafted by Sen. John McCain and obtained by CNET News.com, would also require Web sites that offer user profiles to delete pages posted by sex offenders.

In a speech on the Senate floor this week, the Arizona Republican and former presidential candidate warned that "technology has contributed to the greater distribution and availability, and, some believe, desire for child pornography."

After a report of illegal activity is filed, the Web site must retain any "information relating to the facts or circumstances" of the incident for at least six months. Webmasters would be immune from civil and criminal liability if they followed the specified procedures exactly.

McCain's proposal, called the "Stop the Online Exploitation of Our Children Act" (click for PDF), requires that reports be submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which in turn will forward to the relevant police agency. (The organization received $32.6 million in tax dollars in 2005, according to its financial disclosure documents.)

Internet service providers already must follow those reporting requirements. But McCain's proposal is liable to be controversial because it levies the same regulatory scheme--and even stiffer penalties--on even individual bloggers who offer discussion areas on their Web sites.

"This constitutionally dubious proposal is being made apparently mostly based on fear or political considerations rather than on the facts," said Kevin Bankston, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco.

According to the proposed legislation, these types of individuals or businesses would be required to file reports: any Web site with a message board; any chat room; any social-networking site; any e-mail service; any instant-messaging service; any Internet content hosting service; any domain name registration service; any Internet search service; any electronic communication service; and any image or video-sharing service.

Kate Dean of the U.S. Internet Service Provider Association said her members appreciated McCain's efforts to rewrite the current procedures for reporting illegal images, which currently are less than clear.

McCain's proposal comes as concern about protecting children online has reached nearly a fever pitch in Washington. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales gave two speeches this week on the topic, including one on Friday in which he said "we must do all that we can to protect our children from these cowardly villains who hide in the shadows of the Internet."

But the reporting rules could prove problematic for individuals and smaller Web sites because the definitions of child pornography have become relatively broad.

The U.S. Justice Department, for instance, indicted an Alabama man named Jeff Pierson on child pornography charges because he took modeling photographs of clothed minors with their parents' consent. The images were overly "provocative," a prosecutor claimed.

Deleting sex offenders' posts
The other section of McCain's legislation targets convicted sex offenders. It would create a federal registry of "any e-mail address, instant-message address, or other similar Internet identifier" they use, and punish sex offenders with up to 10 years in prison if they don't supply it.

Then, any social-networking site must take "effective measures" to remove any Web page that's "associated" with a sex offender.

Because "social-networking site" isn't defined, it could encompass far more than just MySpace.com, Friendster and similar sites. The list could include Slashdot, which permits public profiles; Amazon.com, which permits author profiles and personal lists; blogs like RedState.com that show public profiles. In addition, media companies like News.com publisher CNET Networks permit users to create profiles of favorite games, gadgets and music.

"I think there is an irrational hysteria surrounding these social-networking sites and the threat to youngsters on these sites, so I don't see these measures being justified," said EFF's Bankston.

A McCain aide, who did not want to be identified by name, said on Friday that the measure was targeted at any Web site that "you'd have to join up or become a member of to use." No payment would be necessary to qualify, the aide added.

In this political climate, members of Congress may not worry much about precise definitions. Another bill also vaguely targeting social-networking sites was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in a 410-15 vote.

And in July, for instance, Congress overwhelmingly approved a bill that made it a federal felony for Webmasters to use innocent words like "Barbie" or "Furby" to trick minors into visiting their sites and viewing sexually explicit material.

Next year, Gonzales and the FBI are expected to resume their push for mandatory data retention, which will force Internet service providers to keep records on what their customers are doing online. An aide to Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat, said Friday that she's planning to introduce such legislation when the new Congress convenes.

Cathy Milhoan, an FBI spokeswoman, said on Friday that the FBI "continues to support data retention. We see it as crucial in advancing our cyber investigations to include online sexual exploitation of children."

In addition, Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, and McCain said this week that they'll introduce similar legislation dealing with sex offenders and social-networking sites in January.

CNET News.com's Anne Broache contributed to this report

http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6142332.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news

 

Samsung debuts 1st 18x SATA DVD writer to the market

http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Samsung-debuts-1st-18x-SATA-DVD-writer-to-the-market.html

Samsung has launched the world's first 18x Serial ATA DVD writer to the market, the WriteMaster(TM) SH-S183L. Unlike most IDE based DVD writers that have a maximum bus transfer rate of 33MB/s to 66MB/s, the Samsung drive features 150MB/s, 300MB/s and 600MB/s transfer rates for a much improved burst performance. The drive also features 12x DVD-RAM, 8x DVD±R DL and LightScribe direct disc labelling support.

Its 12x DVD-RAM support improves DVD-RAM writing time by up to 5 minutes over other drives on the market. Other features include a Weight Balancing System, Speed Adjustment Technology, Tilt Actuator Compensation and Double Optimum Power Control. The drive is shipping and is selling for an estimated street price of $89.99

Like many other DVD writers with other Samsung DVD writers in particular, unfortunately this writer does have the drawback in limiting the read-back of DVD+R & DVD-R to a reduced rate of 12x. While this is unlikely going to affect those who mainly just write large quantities of media (such as businesses handing out content on DVD), it would make it more time consuming to read recordable DVDs for those who regularly copy data from DVDs.

The full press release can be read at the Broadcast Newsroom here.
http://storage.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=87895

 

A Patch No One Is Talking About But Affects EVERY OS! -

quote
First off let me thank all of you for making my Digital’s Rules for Buying “Geeks’ Gifts the most read “Babble” ever. So far 2066 views have been logged and that doesn’t include the RSS feed, that’s just directly to the site.

Thank you!

Okay, down to business…

Something is coming that has really gotten no press at all but will affect EVERY computer no matter what “camp” you’re in. Windows, Linux, Solaris, doesn’t matter. If you have a computer you will be affected and if you run a data center you will really be affected. What the hell am I talking about?

In March of next year the United States will change its Daylight Savings time around to comply with the new Energy Policy Act of 2005. Due to this change, ALL OS's will need some sort of maintenance to prevent the system clock from becoming out of sync with the new Daylight Savings Time.

Personally, this is a big deal to my company. We have product in the field that will need to be patched. I’m sort a “sounding the alarm” a bit early so the engineering team can, at the very least, take a look at the problem and see what needs to be done ahead of time and not run around like chickens with their head cut off when the time zones change.

If you are in charge of the IT infrastructure, you need to pay attention to this and take a look at the below referenced articles that pertain to you. Also, you might want to start rolling this patch out in phases over the next 60-90 days.

- Microsoft Operating Systems
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/timezone/dst2007.mspx

- RedHat Operating Systems
http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/FAQ_80_7909.shtm

- Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Operating Systems
http://www.novell.com/support/searc...Type=kc&externalId=3853518&sliceId=SAL_Public

- VMware Operating Systems
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/esx2x_fixed_bugs_list.pdf

Again, this is not something you can blow off. As you can see from the above referenced FAQ’s, just about every OS in existence will need some sort of update to handle the new Daylight Savings Time.

Windows users WILL be able to download the patch after Dec 12th via Windows Update unless you grab the patch now from the Windows FAQ referenced above. Patches are currently available for ALL Windows OS's. Vista users will get an automatic update so no worries there. WSUS users (Windows Update Services) will also be able to push the patch after the 12th. Everyone else will need to read the associated FAQ pertaining to your OS and figure something out.

The clock is ticking…

Later - Digital
http://forums.winxpcentral.com/showthread.php?t=19482