Second security advisory issued for IE 7

Description:A weakness has been discovered in Internet Explorer, which can be exploited by malicious people to conduct phishing attacks.The problem is that it's possible to display a popup with a somewhat spoofed address bar where a number of special characters have been appended to the URL. This makes it possible to only display a part of the address bar, which may trick users into performing certain unintended actions.

Internet Explorer 7 Popup Address Bar Spoofing Weakness - Advisories - Secunia

If you use Photoshop, check out Paint.NET

If you use Photoshop regularly, check out the just released version 3.0 of Paint.NET (download it here). It is 3.6 MB download that handles most of the basic (and many of the advanced) functions of Photoshop. It’s free, and even better it loads in just a couple of seconds on a newish Windows PC. I tested it, and it does everything that I need - if it was usable on a Mac I’d switch from Photoshop based on the speed of the application alone. Earlier versions of Paint.NET were apparently very sluggish - but I can confirm that version 3.0 is very quick to load and very responsive in basic testing. Robert Scoble gives it a thumbs up, too, although he’s clearly been drinking all night. In fact, after reading his post I’m going to open a bottle of scotch, too.

Techcrunch » Blog Archive » If You Use PhotoShop, Check Out Paint.net

Learn ho to deliver the Truth

You’ve seen An Inconvenient Truth. You’ve made changes in your life to reduce your carbon footprint. Looking for something else to do to help solve the climate crisis? How about learning how to give the presentation that is at the
heart of An Inconvenient Truth?
Starting this Fall, Al Gore and a team of renowned climate change scientists and educators will train more than 1,000 individuals to give a version of his presentation on the effects of - and solutions for - global warming, to community groups throughout the U.S.
Seven training sessions will be held in Nashville Tennessee from late September 2006 to January 2007. Each training session will be 2 days long, is free of charge (trainees are responsible for their transportation, accommodation and meals), and open to individuals of all ages, educational and technical backgrounds.
The two-day program is designed to familiarize trainees with the climate change science, equip them with new presentation skills, and develop a new dynamic online learning community for ongoing activities.

Pron news

This is just too funny to pass up!

Sweden's state broadcaster SVT on Monday faced ridicule for mistakenly showing a porn movie in the background of a news broadcast over the weekend.
Viewers of a 5-minute news update at midnight Saturday could see explicit scenes from a Czech porn movie on a TV screen behind news anchor Peter Dahlgren.The monitor -- one of many on the wall of a control room visible behind the studio -- normally shows other news channels during broadcasts.
But staffers who earlier in the evening had watched a sports event on cable channel Canal Plus -- which often shows X-rated films after midnight -- had forgotten to switch it back, said news director Per Yng.
"This is highly embarrassing and unfortunate," Yng said. "It must not happen again."

CNN.com - Porn broadcast stuns news viewers - Aug 21, 2006

Untitled

An article in the Austin American Statesman demonstrates the dangers of posting nude pictures online, but one has to wonder why the teacher who looked at the pictures on a school district computer hasn't also been persecuted.

Reading the article closely, I have to wonder if it has something to do with Tamara Hoover's girlfriend. And, what kind of message does it sent to society when posing for naked pictures gets a person fired?

Austin High art teacher who posed nude resigns

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/08/18hoover.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=52

Judge orders halt to NSA wiretapping

The Bush administration suffered a stunning defeat Thursday as a federal judge in Detroit ruled that the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program was unconstitutional, and ordered an immediate halt of all surveillance.
The ruling also seemed to indicate the program was an abuse of presidential power, possibly setting the stage for an Congressional investigation into President Bush's conduct surrounding the order to engage in domestic spying.
The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, who filed a suit on behalf of journalists, scholars and others who frequently place calls to overseas contacts. The group says the program makes their jobs harder, and contacts are leery of divulging information for fear of surveillance from the federal government.
"This court is constrained to grant to Plaintiffs the Partial Summary Judgment requested, and holds that the TSP violates the APA; the Separation of Powers doctrine; the First and Fourth Amendments of the United States Constitution; and the statutory law," U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor said in the 43-page ruling.
Taylor also had harsh words for President Bush and members of his administration who argued that the president was within his powers as Commander in Chief to carry out the wiretapping program. She pointed out that the office itself was created by the Constitution, thus meaning all powers are derived from that document.
"There are no hereditary Kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution," Taylor wrote. "So all 'inherent powers' must derive from that Constitution."
Neither the NSA nor the Bush administration had publicly commented on the ruling as of press time.
The ACLU did not win a complete victory, however; its claims of data mining by the NSA were rejected by Taylor, who said not enough evidence existed to prove such a charge. Additionally, an investigation into the accusations ran the risk of revealing state secrets, she ruled.

BetaNews | Judge Orders Halt to NSA Wiretapping

Girl take pic of herself every day for three years

This is pretty cool. This girl takes a picture of herself every day for three years and then puts the pictures together to make a short film.

Me: Girl takes pic of herself every day for three years

Google launches free WiFi in Calif hometown

After a beta period chock-full of Skype use among the nerd-elite, Google has finally opened up their free WiFi network to the 72,000 residents of Mountain View, CA. Speculation still abounds in regards to Google's eventual plans for world domination via municipal WiFi, but for now they claim their main reasons are to inspire other network providers, and so they can work on interoperability with WiFi devices. Google is a bit ahead of schedule with the network, which cost them $1 million to build, and covers 12 square miles with 380 light pole-mounted transceivers. Bandwidth tops out at 1 megabit per second, and Google is prepped to add more capacity if Mountain View types end up being heavy YouTube Google Video users. Google says their early launch was spurred by the positive feedback they received during the beta, and that they've been inundated with requests to join. There's no telling yet how Google's Mountain View network will compare to the relatively massive Google/Earthlink plans in San Francisco, especially since they're probably hoping making a bit of cash back on the latter, but for now Google is at least requiring a Google ID to join the party in their hometown of Mountain View.

Google busts out free WiFi for public in Mountain View - Engadget

Techie chic and sexy

So techie chic! Perfect for those of us who love to lounge around in sexy undies all day AND have our music! Black lace panty with pink ribbon and removable pocket to hold iPod nano, money or other small personal items. Comes giftboxed and ready to give -- or receive ;-)

iGroove Panty for iPod nano

War, weather and demand to blame for high gas prices

The last time the market was normal was in January 2003, according to Severin Borenstein, director of the University of California Energy Institute.

That was before the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The economy was still lukewarm and the price of a barrel of oil was in the $20s and forecast to stay that way for another 20 years.

The Iraq invasion led to a huge cutback in production there, eventually taking a million barrels a day off the market. At the same time, the U.S. and world economies improved and demand for oil increased.

Associated Press Business News: Economics 101: Demand Is the Demon - MSN Money

A new password can help keep you safe online

Most businesses today rely on computers. In fact, most of us have even started to depend on some form of computer-like electronics in our daily lives.
Go to almost any grocery store and you’ll find a hopelessly lost husband — usually me — on a cell phone asking his wife which flavor of washing machine detergent he was sent to get. Our computers all have little electronic brains more complicated than the ones that send the Apollo space crafts to the moon, and thanks to ATMs, debt cards and direct deposit, I actually walk into the bank maybe once a month.
One could easily argue that all of this dependency on electronics and computers is a bad thing, but there is no denying that these machines have made our lives easier — at least until the power fails.
All of this got me to thinking about the security of using public wireless networks or computers. People do it all the time and think nothing of checking their e-mail accounts or logging into their bank account to check their balance.
A couple of years ago, I saw a commercial where a man was sitting at an Internet cafe, logged onto his bank account and using his debt card so he could show his buddy how his bank instantly tracks charges. I wonder if later he showed his buddy how the hacker sitting two tables over later emptied his bank account by using the password information from that public computer.
Using a public WiFi site or a public computer doesn’t mean that someone is going to steal all of your personal information, but you should always be cautious when you do and be aware of the dangers. Criminals can purchase keystroke logging devices for very little money, and they take only a few moments to install. These devices let them gather all the information typed on a computer from across the Internet.
Another piece of software that can be downloaded for free allows hackers to record information transmitted across a wireless network. If that information isn’t being encrypted, the criminal could have everything they need to get all of your personal data.There are several steps anyone can take to help protect their personal information, and the first is a good password.
A strong password should be something hard to guess even by your closest friends. It should be long — some recommend 14 characters or long — and it should have a combination of letters, numbers and symbols.Some common password mistakes to avoid are using a login name or the same password for every account. Also, don’t use birthdates or anniversaries that can easily be found out.Other things to avoid include using sequences of numbers or letters or names that go together such as using “river” as a password for the login “Guadalupe,” and never respond to e-mail requests for passwords. These usually are a scam.Some things to do that can help keep your data safe include changing your password often. How often really depends on what type of information it is protecting. Bank passwords need to be changed every 30 to 60 days, but administrative passwords on home computers can be changed less often depending on the number of users.
You also can create a pass phrase, a sentence that you’ll use for a password. Some systems let you used a full sentence. With others, you’ll have to keep it short and leave out the spaces.Use a different password for every login and make it something you can remember. You may want to write down passwords and keep them in a safe place.
And, if you ever have to give out your password, say to a friend or relative, make sure you change it as soon as they no longer need it. You wouldn’t want to be suspicious of that person if something comes up missing later.
There are some programs you can use on your home computer that will store all of your passwords and allow you to access them with one, master password. Another option is to use a USB jump drive.
If you want to check the strength of your passwords, Microsoft offers a safe password checker that will tell you if yours are too weak and easily cracked. You can try it out at www.microsoft.com/athome/security/privacy/password_checker.mspx.

Kerrville Daily Times