Submission + - Linux: Ur Doin' It Wrong (democraticunderground.com)
JonnyBnDC writes: Here is a quick article on how major Linux vendors are losing their way with automatic updates and privilege escalation built in Just Like Windows!
Submission + - SPAM: Try Out Chrome OS In a Virtual Machine
itwbennett writes: Some very generous Alpha OS geeks have snagged the Chrome OS source code and compiled a version to share with the rest of us, writes blogger Peter Smith. 'The build comes in the form of a virtual machine, when means you'll need VMWare or VirtualBox running, and of course the image of Chrome OS itself. The folks at gdgt are distributing the latter and they've set up a page with all the links you'll need. You'll need to create a gdgt account if you don't have one yet. The Chrome OS image is only a bit over 300 megs so it's a fast download. If you need a little more handholding, TechCrunch has a step-by-step guide to getting Chrome OS installed and running using VirtualBox and a Chrome OS torrent they link to.'
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
Submission + - Virus in Dominion Voting Machines (gouverneurtimes.com)
An anonymous reader writes: from an article in The Gouverneur Times: "The computerized voting machines used by many voters in the 23rd district had a computer virus — tainting the results, not just from those machines known to have been infected, but casting doubt on the accuracy of counts retrieved from any of the machines." and The Dominion/Sequoia Voting Systems representative "reprogrammed" their machines in time for them to use in the Nov. 3rd Special Election.
Submission + - RIP Thawte Freemail certificates
Alphazo writes: As planned, the free Thawte personal email certificates and web of trust has been discontinued on November 16th. http://www.thawte.com/resources/personal-email-certificates/index.html.
I have extensively used Thawte certificates for both personal and professional uses since 2001. I even went to the trouble of meeting "strangers" to get my ID certified so my first and last names could appear in my personal certificate. This has now been vanished and I feel bad for all the Thawte notaries who spent time to build a quality web of trust. I was curious to see how this would apply to my previous correspondence so I looked at some of my sent emails and discovered that there were all signed and still valid. Reason for that is that revocation lists are not automatically fetched. Under Thunderbird you have at least to indicate the URL and enable the automatic refresh function. For those interested you can specify the following CRL url in order to get the updated Thawte revocation list that will revoke all your valid certificates in a flash: http://crl.thawte.com/ThawtePersonalFreemailIssuingCA.crl. When doing that all your past emails will be marked as invalid. Thawte offered a free one-year Verisign certificate for the end-of-life. However I don't feel I can trust this/any company anymore so I went to CACert, http://www.cacert.org/ even if their rootCA is not in browsers and MUA by default. It doesn't look too bad considering that most of my recipients are using Outlook which allows an easy one-click-I-trust-CACert feature. CACert welcomes former Thawte users by converting some of the trust level acquired in Thawte web of trust. Normally you should get enough points to put your last name and first names in the certificate. It then takes two face to face meetings (and a quizz) to become a CACert assurer. In parallel I've also joined a GSWoT, http://www.gswot.org/, a PGP web of trust that takes advantage of the CACert trust system in order to build a strong PGP keyset where actual members don't necessarily have to meet each others.
I have extensively used Thawte certificates for both personal and professional uses since 2001. I even went to the trouble of meeting "strangers" to get my ID certified so my first and last names could appear in my personal certificate. This has now been vanished and I feel bad for all the Thawte notaries who spent time to build a quality web of trust. I was curious to see how this would apply to my previous correspondence so I looked at some of my sent emails and discovered that there were all signed and still valid. Reason for that is that revocation lists are not automatically fetched. Under Thunderbird you have at least to indicate the URL and enable the automatic refresh function. For those interested you can specify the following CRL url in order to get the updated Thawte revocation list that will revoke all your valid certificates in a flash: http://crl.thawte.com/ThawtePersonalFreemailIssuingCA.crl. When doing that all your past emails will be marked as invalid. Thawte offered a free one-year Verisign certificate for the end-of-life. However I don't feel I can trust this/any company anymore so I went to CACert, http://www.cacert.org/ even if their rootCA is not in browsers and MUA by default. It doesn't look too bad considering that most of my recipients are using Outlook which allows an easy one-click-I-trust-CACert feature. CACert welcomes former Thawte users by converting some of the trust level acquired in Thawte web of trust. Normally you should get enough points to put your last name and first names in the certificate. It then takes two face to face meetings (and a quizz) to become a CACert assurer. In parallel I've also joined a GSWoT, http://www.gswot.org/, a PGP web of trust that takes advantage of the CACert trust system in order to build a strong PGP keyset where actual members don't necessarily have to meet each others.
Submission + - Wiretap chage for video of traffic stop (pennlive.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Brian D. Kelly didn't think he was doing anything illegal when he used his videocamera to record a Carlisle police officer during a traffic stop. Making movies is one of his hobbies, he said, and the stop was just another interesting event to film.
Now he's worried about going to prison or being burdened with a criminal record.
Kelly, 18, of Carlisle, was arrested on a felony wiretapping charge, with a penalty of up to 7 years in state prison.
Now he's worried about going to prison or being burdened with a criminal record.
Kelly, 18, of Carlisle, was arrested on a felony wiretapping charge, with a penalty of up to 7 years in state prison.
Submission + - Pirates protected in Sweden (aftonbladet.se)
mno writes: The Swedish Chambers Court (Kammarrätten) has ordered Antipiratbyrån, the Swedish version of MPA, to stop collecting IP-address of file sharers. Basically, the Swedish privacy law states that companies cannot collect personal information without your consent or proof of business relation. Since an IP-address can be used to uniquely identify a person, it is now considered as personal information. This is the second time that Antipiratbyrån lost this case. Most likely they will appeal to the highest instance, but it's uncertain if that appeal will be granted. The implications of this ruling is that the hunt for Swedish file sharers is effectively stopped. Since the Swedish privacy law is based on EU law, the whole of Europe was just granted a shimmer of hope for similar rulings. The article is in Swedish.
Submission + - Which ISPs Are Spying on You? (wired.com)
firesquirt writes: In an article from WIRED
http://www.wired.com/politics/onlinerights/news/20 07/05/isp_privacy
The few souls that attempt to read and understand website privacy policies know they are almost universally unintelligible and shot through with clever loopholes. But one of the most important policies to know is your internet service provider's — the company that ferries all your traffic to and from the internet, from search queries to BitTorrent uploads, flirty IMs to porn.
Journal Journal: Predictions of Doom 2
There was a time they trained us to "Duck And Cover" to protect
ourselves from nuclear attack. (helpful I am sure)
Then we were told of the coming food riots.
Then of the coming Ice Age.
Next we were told to fear the hole in the ozone.
Don't forget the dire warnings of the breakdown in society due to Y2K.
We were told how to seal our houses, to protect against terrorist biological attack.
Now we are to fear GLOBAL WARMING.
ourselves from nuclear attack. (helpful I am sure)
Then we were told of the coming food riots.
Then of the coming Ice Age.
Next we were told to fear the hole in the ozone.
Don't forget the dire warnings of the breakdown in society due to Y2K.
We were told how to seal our houses, to protect against terrorist biological attack.
Now we are to fear GLOBAL WARMING.
College Demands RIAA Pay Up For Wasting Its Time 261
An anonymous reader writes "We've already seen the University of Wisconsin tell the RIAA to go away, but the University of Nebaska has gone one step further: it's asking the RIAA to pay up for wasting its time with the silly demand to push students into paying up. The spokesperson for the University also notes that since they constantly rotate IP addresses and have no need to hang onto that information for very long, they simply cannot help the RIAA. They have no clue who was attached to which IP address at the time the RIAA is complaining about."
Judge Strikes Down COPA, 1998 Online Porn Law 348
Begopa sends in word that a federal judge has struck down the Child Online Protection Act. The judge said that parents can protect their children through software filters and other less restrictive means that do not limit others' rights to free speech. This was the case for which the US Department of Justice subpoenaed several search companies for search records; only Google fought the order. The case has already been to the Supreme Court. Senior U.S. District Judge Lowell Reed Jr. wrote in his decision: "Perhaps we do the minors of this country harm if First Amendment protections, which they will with age inherit fully, are chipped away in the name of their protection."
Submission + - Think of the Childrens' futures!
azuredrake writes: ""Perhaps we do the minors of this country harm if First Amendment protections, which they will with age inherit fully, are chipped away in the name of their protection," writes Senior U.S. District Judge Lowell Reed Jr. in a case striking down a 1998 internet porn law. He goes on to say that there are easier ways for parents to protect their children, such as cheap and omnipresent parental access control software, than chipping away at fundamental rights. The whole story is available from the AP at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070322/ap_on_hi_te/in ternet_blocking (Sorry for the proprietary link, but I couldn't find it on the AP's own site.)"
Submission + - Open Source Music Instruction Pays Off
Patrick Costello writes: "The Back Porch News posted a short article the other day about my efforts to teach the five-string banjo and folk guitar in an open-source context.
http://www.backporchnews.net/archive/2007/03/new-v ideos-from-patrick-costello/
The bit about using Creative Commons working for us commercially is true. Making our books and video freely available online has has an amazing impact on hard-copy sales."
http://www.backporchnews.net/archive/2007/03/new-
The bit about using Creative Commons working for us commercially is true. Making our books and video freely available online has has an amazing impact on hard-copy sales."
Submission + - Real-time P2P monitoring
An anonymous reader writes: Apparently someone is running global BitTorrent P2P network monitoring. There is impressive view on http://www.p2p-monitor.com/?rt — currently representing downloads of Borat movie across all Internet. Each peer is geolocated, and information about download progress and client used is included.
Submission + - FBI in Cohoots with Verizon, AT&T, MCI
mrbluze writes: "In the ongoing FBI probe, Wired News confirms that the FBI did enter into contracts with telephone companies to "harvest" telephone records.
I have read elsewhere that security organizations have deals with operating system and other software manufacturers to provide back-doors to PC's. How widespread is all of this privacy invasion in reality?"
"The contract essentially pays for the man hours or the personnel cost for the people who have to do the work," said FBI Assistant Director John Miller in an interview with Wired News last night. "We want dedicated people who handle our requests or do nothing else."
I have read elsewhere that security organizations have deals with operating system and other software manufacturers to provide back-doors to PC's. How widespread is all of this privacy invasion in reality?"
Submission + - Judge: Pattis Santangelo Has Right to Day in Court
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "Judge Colleen McMahon in Elektra v. Santangelo, in White Plains, NY, federal court has rejected the RIAA's attempt to dismiss "without prejudice", ruling instead that she is "entitled to have her legal status resolved one way or the other." (pdf). The judge ordered the RIAA to dismiss with prejudice by April 1st, or be ready to go ahead with a plan for the trial on April 13th. The judge rejected the RIAA's claim that Ms. Santangelo had defrauded the court, ruling that "Nothing in any papers filed by plaintiffs suggests IN THE SLIGHTEST that Mrs. Santangelo has ever perpetrated any fraud on this court." (capitals in the original)."
