http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1564.html
The same folk who conned the YouTube world with the over-hyped diary of a teenage Lonelygirl that was actually a scripted soap, are at it again. This time Bebo is the target, where KateModern promises to be the soap that lets you bond with the characters through the social networking interface. Oh purlease! Making friends with characters from a soap, how sad is that?
Feed Fancy an earful? Click here for tech support (theregister.com)
'Pain in the butt' customer gets email short shrift
If you're at a loose end this afternoon and fancy copping a bit of an email earful, try throwing a query over to technical support at CCTV outfit Gadspot.com.* The reply is likely to surprise and delight, as one Reg reader found out:
Feed Japanese offered USB bum-cooling cushion (theregister.com)
Universal Serial Butt?
Bot too hot? Then you need the USB cheek chiller, a PC-powered cooling seat cushion now on offer from those crazy folks at Japanese gadget specialist Thanko.
Feed Virtual world litigation for real (com.com)
Internet attorney Eric J. Sinrod says the brave new world of virtual worlds creates a constellation of new--and still foggy--legal questions.
Feed Macs are more secure: official (theregister.com)
Bookmark The hunt for Madeleine turns to spam (daniweb.com)
Feed FCO to probe visa security lapse (theregister.com)
Indian problem could be worldwide
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has closed its online service for visa applicants from India while it investigates a security breach that made the personal details of visa applicants available online.
Bookmark Online US and UK Visa application data exposed (daniweb.com)
Feed Indian Visa Application Data Easily Accessible Using Old 'Change Number In URL' (techdirt.com)
The folks over at Daniweb have submitted their story about the online visa application system in India. Approximately a year ago, someone who was using the system ran into a problem, where all the work he had done in filling out the application seemed to disappear, and the back button wasn't work. So he tried making small changes to the URL... which gave him access to someone else's visa application. There are plenty of online systems that do this, but you would expect something a little more secure when it comes to government documents that include all sorts of personal info. The guy notified those responsible, and his alert was promptly ignored. It was only after they were contacted a second time, by the person writing the article about it, that they took it seriously enough to finally plug the hole. With governments leaking data all the time, is it any wonder that people don't feel particularly safe when the government wants even more data from us, while promising that there's no way it would ever be leaked?