December 2011
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GoDaddy Bleeding Domains Thanks To SOPA Support →
From Drew Olanoff at TheNextWeb regarding the GoDaddy SOPA support fiasco:
It’s going to get worse before it gets better for domain registration company Go Daddy. Yesterday, we reported that Go Daddy had reversed its decision to support SOPA. Its customer service reps are even taking to the phones to beg you to keep your domains with the company.
It looks like these PR moves to save face, and...
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iTunes Match: Smart Playlists Cannot Nest...
If you are in the process of migrating your iTunes library to iTunes Match and have encountered issues with ineligible songs and playlists then here is why the latter is considered ineligible: smart playlists using the “playlist” option simply do not work. For whatever reason, iTunes Match is unable to nest playlists, thus removing the option of creating playlists based on other...
November 2011
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Hacker Says Texas Town Used Three Character... →
Paul Roberts at threatpost on a Texas SCADA hack:
“This was barely a hack. A child who knows how the HMI that comes with Simatic works could have accomplished this,” he wrote in an e-mail to Threatpost.
“I’m sorry this ain’t a tale of advanced persistent threats and stuff, but frankly most compromises I’ve seen have been have been a result of gross...
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American Censorship Day: November 16 →
On 11/16, Congress holds hearings on the first American Internet censorship system.
This bill can pass. If it does the Internet and free speech will never be the same.
Join all of us on the 16th to join together to stop this bill.
Everyone who runs a web site owes it to themselves to participate.
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““I don’t think it requires us to go negative in the sense of us...”
– Obama on his re-election campaign.
Sounds quite ballsy methinks. (via boing boing)
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“The individuals who linked arms and actively resisted, that in itself is an act...”
– UC cops’ use of batons on Occupy camp questioned.
I have been leery of the entire occupy movement, mainly because of the lack of a coherent message, but this is just unbelievable. Do the police really think this line of reasoning is going to stand? (via reddit)
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PlugBug - One accessory charges two devices... →
So obvious, it’s kind of surprising nobody released a product like this sooner.
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First DISA-Approved Android Device No Longer... →
From Defense Systems:
The Dell Streak 5 smart phone/small tablet computer is the first handheld device using the Android 2.2 operating system to be certified for use in the Defense Department’s secure but unclassified communications, said John Marinho, director of Dell enterprise mobility solutions.
Although the Streak 5 is no longer available commercially, Dell is supplying it to DOD...
October 2011
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Studies challenge wisdom of GOP candidates’ plans →
From the Washington Post:
“Republicans favor tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, but these had no stimulative effect during the George W. Bush administration, and there is no reason to believe that more of them will have any today,” writes Bruce Bartlett. He’s an economist who worked for Republican congressmen and in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
...
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Softbank iPhone 4S Sales Holding Firm Against... →
From Asiajin:
BCN Ranking counted the carriers share only within iPhone 4S [J], Softbank took 51.7%, whilst KDDI au gained 48.3%.
BCN Ranking collected the number of sold units from shops, which it claims to cover 40% of Japanese retails. The retail shops do not include Apple Stores and carriers stores.
The metrics could surely use a little more accuracy, considering a great deal of phone...
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Couple Married 72 Years Dies Holding Hands →
From KCCI:
“They brought them in the same room in intensive care and put them together — and they were holding hands in ICU. They were not really responsive,” said Dennis Yeager.
Gordon died at 3:38 p.m. holding hands with his wife as the family they built surrounded them.
At 4:38 p.m., exactly one hour after Gordon died, Norma passed too.
“Neither one of them...
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iPhone 4S Carrier Shootout: AU/KDDI vs. SoftBank... →
From SoftBank Sucks:
At best, in a residential area of Tokyo, SBM delivered a 2700 kbps download speed, which is less than 20% of the advertised 14.4 Mbps. At the same location, AU clocked in at only 1300 kbps. However, this is 40% of AU’s theoretical 3.1 Mbps maximum, which is actually quite good. Furthermore, at Shinjuku station, where the SBM iPhone averaged a usable...
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Peculiar Perspective on iMessage vs SMS →
drdrang on iMessage, a new feature of iOS 5:
Here’s the thing. I already have an unlimited texting plan from AT&T that covers everyone in my family. I don’t, however, have an unlimited data plan, so this looks like something that will eat away at my monthly data allotment while giving me virtually nothing in return.
That sure is an interesting perspective on iMessage compared to SMS...
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What I Learned by Being a Migrant Sex Worker in... →
Rhacel Salazar Parrenas for Bloomberg (Part 1 and Part 2):
In the clubs, men bond over their ability to objectify hostesses with no admonishment. In the place where I worked, customers usually commented on the appearance of the hostess assigned to their table immediately after being introduced to her, expressing either approval or disapproval, and in some cases rejecting her, telling the club...
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A debit of gratitude to Bank of America →
Michael Hiltzik for the Los Angeles Times:
The big bank’s move created a consumer furor, with consumer activists proposing boycotts by or mass defections of BofA customers to smaller banks without fees, and the bank itself becoming a popular symbol of the financial industry’s supposed disregard for the average customer.
Unfortunately, because of the lobbying power of the banking...
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The Woman Who Knew Too Much →
Vanity Fair’s excellent article on Elizabeth Warren.
With her passionate defense of America’s beleaguered middle class, under assault today from seemingly every direction, she had become like a modern-day Mr. Smith, giving voice to regular citizens astonished at the failure of Washington to protect Main Street—and what increasingly appeared to be its abandonment of middle-class America. By...
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NYTimes Sues The Federal Government For Refusing... →
From techdirt:
NY Times have now sued the federal government for not revealing its interpretation of the PATRIOT Act, pointing out that if parts of the interpretation contain classified material, the Justice Department should black that out and reveal the rest, but simply refusing to reveal the interpretation entirely is a violation of the Freedom of Information Act. You can bet that the feds...
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At a Tokyo radiation hotspot, weirdness abounds →
From BoingBoing:
Officials were worried this week, when they discovered a radiation hotspot in Tokyo, kicking off readings as high as 3.35 microsieverts per hour. (For context, a dental x-ray is about 5 microsieverts. This wasn’t a massive amount of radiation, but it was concerning. The AP reports that readings of that level have been found in the Fukushima evacuation zone.)
The good...
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SoftBank Computer Glitch Halts iPhone 4S Sales and... →
The Next Web Asia reporting on opening day iPhone 4S sales in Japan:
The opening day of iPhone 4S sales in Japan did not start well for Softbank. According to the Wall Street Journal, the operator was forced to suspend the sale of all smartphones, including the new device from Apple, at 0200 GMT this morning after a computer glitch affected customer registrations.
The issue was fixed three hours...
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Information Security Basics
Whether you run your own home network or are part of the IT shop administering the corporate network, there are some basic information security protocols which should always be followed. These tips are designed to help you, the administrator, adequately protect the network from the myriad of attacks available today. Ensuring your network is free of compromise is vitally important for all network...
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iPhone 4S Review →
John Gruber:
This is the easiest product review I’ve ever written. The iPhone 4S is exactly what Apple says it is: just like the iPhone 4, but noticeably faster, with a significantly improved camera, and an impressive new voice-driven feature called Siri.
Need anything else be said?
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HOWTO Setup Secure and Private Facebook Browsing →
A nice HOWTO guide for properly securing a Facebook account for those who do not understand the myriad of complex options. This guide shows how to enable improved privacy settings, disable Facebook information sharing with third-party web sites, as well as configuring a browser for private surfing. If you have ever been confused by the settings, this is the guide your mother told you to read week...
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German Police Writing Eavesdropping Malware? →
Graham Cluley of Sophos:
Sophos’s analysis of the malware confirms that it has the following functionality:
The Trojan can eavesdrop on several communication applications - including Skype, MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger.
The Trojan can log keystrokes in Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer and SeaMonkey.
The Trojan can take JPEG screenshots of what appears on users’ screens and...
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TSA Finally Realizes What The Rest Us Already Knew... →
Jon Hilkevitch for the Chicago Tribune:
It turns out that children do not actually merit all the fuss the Transportation Security Administration has made over them since the shoe bomber tried to blow up an airliner almost 10 years ago.
So in a welcome step for little feet and parents, children 12 and younger are no longer required to remove their shoes every time they go through airport...
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“Steve Jobs, the pioneer of the computer as a jail made cool, designed to sever...”
– Richard Stallman, self-appointed free software movement spokesman and toejam lover, on Steve Jobs’ death.
What an asshole. (via The Loop)
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“You hear people talk about television actors as the people we don’t know who we...”
– Why Steve Jobs’s death feels so sad by Lex Friedman of Macworld.
Friedman captures the essence of how I feel by eloquently articulating why so many people felt a connection with Steve Jobs, a man they never once met. I took a stab at translating my emotions into words but completely missed...
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“I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been...”
– Stanford Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005.
How many people can truly say they love what they do for a living?
While I enjoy what I am currently doing, even though it has its daily challenges, I cannot honestly...
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US Department of Homeland Security developing... →
From Donald Melanson of Engadget:
According to a new report from CNET based on documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the US Department of Homeland security is now working on a system dubbed FAST (or Future Attribute Screening Technology) that’s designed to identify individuals who are most likely to commit a crime. That’s not done with something as simple as...
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“The virus, first detected nearly two weeks ago by the military’s Host-Based...”
– Computer Virus Hits U.S. Drone Fleet by Noah Shachtman for Wired.
More than likely this outbreak is as a result of the military’s entitlement culture, whereby senior leadership and certain organizations believe they are above following the rules set forth by USCYBERCOM. When those who are...
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How Steve's Death Has Affected Me
Since I learned of Steve’s death I have been struggling to write how I feel about it. I know deep down in my heart how I feel, but translating those emotions to words has been challenging.
I was at work when I learned of Steve’s passing. It was around 8:45am when I heard. We were in the middle of an “assist visit” from a group of auditors rifling through our networks and network documentation. I...
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“Steve knew that his people were his company. And while he made us work hard,...”
– The Rundown by Matt Drance.
Although this quote does not entirely reflect the tone of the story it is worth pointing out. This is quality rarely seen in our leaders. Most fail to recognize the importance of their people, falsely assuming leadership is only responsible for the success of a company....
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“Steve Jobs, the visionary co-founder of Apple Computers and the only American in...”
– Last American Who Knew What The Fuck He Was Doing Dies.
Only on The Onion.
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“Steve Jobs, the visionary in the black turtleneck who co-founded Apple in a...”
– Steve Jobs, Apple founder, dies.
RIP.
Steve Job had a huge impact on so many lives. He will be missed.
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“They appear to be devices that mimic mobile phone towers. The feds use them...”
– Details Emerging On Stingray Technology, Allowing Feds To Locate People By Pretending To Be Cell Towers from Techdirt.
Although you own a cell phone, apparently the feds believe you have no expectation that your cell phone will only connect to the cell towers used by your mobile service provider....
September 2011
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“Of course you should. The iPhone 5 is an improvement on what is already the best...”
– Why Wait? The World’s First iPhone 5* Review by Sam Biddle.
Only at Gizmodo.
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“Google’s reaction to Kindle Fire speaks volumes about its goals for...”
– Amazon vs. Apple? No, it’s Amazon and Apple vs. Everyone Else.
Is anyone really surprised? After all, the Amazon Kindle Fire ties to zero - yes zero - Google services. Nada. Zilch. Nein. Even arguably the most popular Android app, the standard Gmail app, is missing from the default Kindle...
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Timeline WP →
Timeline WP is a WordPress theme designed to mimic the functionality of the upcoming Facebook profile “timeline” page. Overall it is an interesting concept but I am not sold.
The design is more like a novelty than an actual theme to be used day to day. Although it could come in handy in some kind of WordPress-as-a-tumble-log like setup.
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“Now Mr. Haynesworth, 46, is asking for full exoneration on all of the rape...”
– Cleared of Rape but Lacking Full Exoneration by John Schwartz from the NY Times.
In what world does it make sense where the DNA and circumstantial evidence, defense attorney’s and prosecutors all agree this man should be fully exonerated yet the Court of Appeals opts not to allow this man to...
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“The Clock icon — “The hands of the clock are pointing at both the...”
– The secret numerology behind the iPhone event invitation by Steven Sande at TUAW.
The entire article is filled with similar gimmicky, yet potentially valid, predictions. I get the feeling the article is supposed to be somewhat tongue-in-cheek - at least I hope so - but I am not so sure I agree...
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“For those who do not know, 747’s are big flying Unix hosts. At the time,...”
– FACT CHECK: SCADA Systems Are Online Now by Craig S Wright for INFOSEC Island.
Who knew Boeing 747’s were huge UNIX zombies in-waiting? Convenience and paranoia of a secure firewall breaking some “mission critical” functionality is all too common. It is for these reasons that...
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“But specs do not sell tablets. Most consumers are looking for a different...”
– If A Motorola Android Tab Leaks And It’s Just Like The Rest, Does It Really Matter? by Matt Burns from TechCrunch.
Simply put: Android tablets are missing the simplicity and elegance of the iPad.
Therein lies the current problem with Android tablets. Vendors are too busy pimping out specs,...
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“The Cyberwar Arms Race. I’m not worried about cyberwar, but I am worried...”
– Three Emerging Cyber Threats by Bruce Schneier.
It’s hard to argue with Schneier, as he is one of the most insightful security commentators around. He has always taken a much more pragmatic view of the world rather than predicting doom and gloom like so many pundits and news organizations.
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BuddyPress 1.5 Released →
Coinciding with the recent bbPress upgrade, BuddyPress 1.5 has been released:
Version 1.5 is a major BuddyPress feature release. Code-named “Lombardi” after the first pizzeria in the United States (with a wink and a nod toward the Wisconsin roots of several members of the BP dev team), BuddyPress 1.5 introduces many dozens of new features and enhancements, on top of hundreds of bugfixes.
As...