http://www.pcworld.com/article/165753/fbi_email_clobbered_after_virus.html
FBI E-mail Clobbered After Virus
Robert McMillan, IDG News Service May 29, 2009 1:40 pm
… The FBI did not provide details on the security incident, but it looks as though hackers may have used maliciously encoded file attachments to hack into the network. In its statement, the FBI said it was now blocking users from sending or receiving attachments on the unclassified network "to give our technicians time to scan all the attachments that came into the e-mail system to make sure we have identified and mitigated all threats to the network."
“Our government does it, so we can too!”
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20090530190741593
Ca: Cinema ordered to pay $10K in damages for search
Saturday, May 30 2009 @ 07:07 PM EDT Contributed by: PrivacyNews
A Quebec court has ordered a cinema to pay $10,000 in damages after staff searched patrons' bags and turned up smuggled snacks and birth control pills -- and in the process violated their privacy rights.
Source - CTV.ca via BoingBoing
[From the article:
Staff at the theatre were searching customers' bags for video equipment that could be used for movie piracy.
Security guards didn't find any video equipment in the family's bags, but did turn up a large selection of snack food, which they asked the family to take back to their vehicle, Lurie said.
"They did so willingly. But they continued the search of the bags and while searching they also uncovered some birth control pills belonging to the older daughter," Lurie said.
"Needless to say the mother was not pleased to find out in this manner that her daughter had those pills in her possession."
… Vince Guzzo, vice-president of Cinemas Guzzo, told CTV Montreal that the judge ruled cinema staff can still search bags, but must follow stricter rules when doing so.
Related Another indication that lawmakers do not understand technology (and perhaps that technology makers do not understand law)
Microsoft Not the Only Firm Blocking IM Service To US Enemies
Posted by Soulskill on Saturday May 30, @09:17AM from the unfortunate-consistency dept. Censorship America Online Google Microsoft The Internet
ericatcw writes
"It was reported last week that Microsoft had cut access to its Windows Live Messenger instant messaging service to citizens of five countries with whom the US has trade embargoes. Now, it turns out that Google and, apparently, AOL have taken similar actions. According to a lawyer quoted by Computerworld, even free, downloaded apps are viewed as 'exports' by the US government — meaning totally in-the-cloud services such as e-mail may escape the rules. Either way, there appear to be a number of ways determined citizens of Syria, Iran, and Cuba can get around the ban."
[From the article:
Microsoft declined to comment to the IDG News Service on whether it had been contacted by OFAC or had voluntarily implemented the ban. A lawyer who advises companies on OFAC compliance said that while offering communications services such as IM to sanctioned countries such as Iran or Cuba is not restricted by OFAC, offering software is. That's because software, even free apps downloadable from the Internet, are considered exportable goods, and thus can be banned by OFAC, according to the lawyer, who requested anonymity.
… The bans are unlikely to stop techie or resourceful citizens in banned countries from logging into these IM services, though.
Middle Eastern tech news site ITP.net reported earlier this week that Syrian residents were getting around the ban by simply changing their country/region in their Microsoft Web accounts.
Another simple potential workaround is to use one of many third-party instant messaging clients or Web sites that allow users to connect to multiple IM services, including Windows Live Messenger.
Still another, more technical, workaround is for residents of affected countries to hide their IP address by connecting through a proxy server first. Such services are already used by those interested in protecting their privacy online.
I have enough concerns when Microsoft “forces” an update to products I don't use (Internet Explorer) but now they want to change a non- Microsoft product? Class Action, anyone?
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2009/05/microsoft_update_quietly_insta.html
Microsoft Update Quietly Installs Firefox Extension
A routine security update for a Microsoft Windows component installed on tens of millions of computers has quietly installed an extra add-on for an untold number of users surfing the Web with Mozilla's Firefox Web browser.
… Apparently, the .NET update automatically installs its own Firefox add-on that is difficult -- if not dangerous -- to remove, once installed.
Annoyances.org, which lists various aspects of Windows that are, well, annoying, says "this update adds to Firefox one of the most dangerous vulnerabilities present in all versions of Internet Explorer: the ability for Web sites to easily and quietly install software on your PC." I'm not sure I'd put things in quite such dire terms, but I'm fairly confident that a decent number of Firefox for Windows users are rabidly anti-Internet Explorer, and would take umbrage at the very notion of Redmond monkeying with the browser in any way.
Big deal, you say? I can just uninstall the add-on via Firefox's handy Add-ons interface, right? Not so fast. The trouble is, Microsoft has disabled the "uninstall" button on the extension. What's more, Microsoft tells us that the only way to get rid of this thing is to modify the Windows registry, an exercise that -- if done imprecisely -- can cause Windows systems to fail to boot up.
For the Swiss Arny folder – because I can't make permanent changes to the computers I teach from...
http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/transferr-visual-bookmark-organizer/
Transferr: Visual Bookmark Organizer
Transferr is an online visual bookmark organizer that lets you save and access your favorite websites from anywhere online.
Similar tools: SpeedTile, Tizmos and Only2Clicks.
Ditto
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/web-annotation-for-students-or-professionals-from-webnotes-100-invites/
Web Annotation For Students or Professionals From WebNotes (+100 Invites)
May. 30th, 2009 By David Pierce
WebNotes is ... an application that lets you highlight, annotate, and save web pages to make your research easier. No more digging through pages to find the six words you needed – you can save it as a highlighted page, or just save the highlights themselves. There’s notes taking, sharing, and much more, all within the WebNotes service.
I have a few students who might find this useful.
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-wikis-to-boost-online-studying/
3 Wikis To Study Smarter Online
May. 30th, 2009 By Tina
… Here is a list of three Wikis that may help boost your online studying:
DiRT - Digital Research Tools Wiki
DiRT contains a comprehensive collection of tools and resources that can be used by students or scholars in their research.
Medpedia is a recently-launched wiki concerned with medical topics.
Here we have a resource specifically for students or those who wish to learn new tricks.
Textbook Revolution features free educational materials on a wide variety of topics such as biology, earth sciences or world history.
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