Music
Security Alerts
- TA13-168A: Microsoft Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities
- TA13-141A: Washington, DC Radio Station Web Site Compromises
- TA13-134A: Microsoft Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities
- TA13-107A: Oracle Has Released Multiple Updates for Java SE
- TA13-100A: Microsoft Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities
- TA13-088A: DNS Amplification Attacks
- TA13-071A: Microsoft Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities
- TA13-064A: Oracle Java Contains Multiple Vulnerabilities
- TA13-051A: Oracle Java Multiple Vulnerabilities
- TA13-043B: Microsoft Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities
Security Tips
- ST06-001: Understanding Hidden Threats: Rootkits and Botnets
- ST06-005: Dealing with Cyberbullies
- ST06-004: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Online Trading
- ST04-009: Identifying Hoaxes and Urban Legends
- ST06-006: Understanding Hidden Threats: Corrupted Software Files
- ST10-001: Recognizing Fake Antiviruses
- ST04-016: Recognizing and Avoiding Spyware
- ST04-015: Understanding Denial-of-Service Attacks
- ST04-014: Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks
- ST05-019: Preventing and Responding to Identity Theft
D.Veloped – Work:Party mashup
I had to exclude this from the standard posts for the simple reason that it deserves its own post. Mad respect to D.Veloped on this one, I know this must have taken some serious time. This is a 40 minute mashup mix spanning across all genres. This guy sure is good at what he does, download and enjoy.
Steve Buscemi + Ryan Gosling = Macaulay Culkin
This is uncanny. What would the love child of Steve Buscemi and Ryan Gosling look like? The answer is Macaulay Culkin. Here’s a side-by-side comparison image I made to illustrate the point.
America’s top export in 2011 was… fuel?
Fuel is now the top U.S. export. The Associated Press reports that America is on pace to ship out more gasoline, diesel and jet fuel than anything else in 2011. (Aircraft, motor vehicles, vacuum tubes and telecom equipment were next on the list of top exports.) Granted, this is only for refined petroleum products — and those exports are still dwarfed by America’s much, much larger imports of crude oil. Still, it’s the first time fuel has been our top export in 21 years. So how did this happen?
UC San Diego economist James Hamilton has a more in-depth analysis. Perhaps the biggest factor, he writes, is the glut of new shale oil in North Dakota. Since there’s not enough pipeline infrastructure to get all that oil down to the Gulf of Mexico for export, it’s been piling up in Cushing, Okla. That makes it cheap for refineries in the Midwest to refine it and ship it out than to simply ship the oil directly.
It’s also worth noting, as energy analyst Gregor McDonald points out in comments on Hamilton’s piece, that U.S. oil consumption has declined since 2006, which means that much of the refining capacity the country added in the past decade is now geared toward exports.
A Look Back At Paulina Gretzky’s Racy Twitter Account, Which Was Shut Down This Weekend
Over the weekend, the 22-year-old daughter of Wayne Gretzky stopped using her ultra-popular Twitter account, possibly at the behest of her famous, hockey-playing father.
Paulina Gretzky deleted her account after telling fans she was, “Having a nice sit down dinner with my dad about social media..haha,” which has led many to speculate that The Great One was behind shuttering the account. Why would dad want her to delete her tweets? Two reasons.
1) Wayne Gretzky was reportedly approached by an American group interested in buying the Toronto Maple Leafs, and 2) Paulina Gretzky is famous for tweeting scantily-clad photos of herself, which might or might not cause a problem in those negotiations. Obviously, we hope these talks end soon, so this terrible nightmare of Paulina Gretzky not tweeting can end.
Talented shoplifting family show their stuff on video
Here’s a family that works together like a well-oiled machine to steal a case of beer. I wish there were more episodes of their show. They probably have other neat tricks up their skirts.
Teens React to Rick Perry’s anti-gay commercial
The Fine Brothers (who make the entertaining “Kids React to Viral Videos” videos) made a “Teens React to Rick Perry’s Strong” video.
Hurd harassment lawyer letter posted
All Things D’s Arik Hesseldahl posts the lawyer letter that got Mark Hurd fired by HP…
Hurd asked her to stay the night. Fisher’s reply: “Absolutely not. I barely know you and you are my boss.” An hour later, after more alleged pressure from Hurd, Fisher said she wanted to leave and did, the letter said. Asked to dinner with Hurd again the next night, Hurd admitted, the letter said, that he “didn’t handle that right,” but then proceeded to tell her how many women liked him, including the singer Sheryl Crow. Fisher was the lucky one, the letter said Hurd told her.
His new employer, Oracle, points out that the alleged victim recanted her claims the day after receiving a settlement.
BREAKING: U.S. Congress clueless, ignorant
When members of Congress earlier this month considered the Stop Online Piracy Act — better known to anyone who actually hangs out on the Internet as #SOPA — the most notable feature of the debate turned out to be the sheer ignorance of the elected officials discussing it. One after the other, members of the U.S. House of Representatives professed — nay, bragged about — approaching this weighty legislation from the vantage point of someone who is not “a nerd” or a “tech expert.”
Maybe pride in ignorance of their own legislation is an emotional defense mechanism, related to not having taken a significant role in writing it.
Printer malware: Print a malicious document and expose your whole LAN
One of the most mind-blowing presentations at this year’s Chaos Communications Congress (28C3) was Ang Cui’s Print Me If You Dare, in which he explained how he reverse-engineered the firmware-update process for HPs hundreds of millions of printers. Cui discovered that he could load arbitrary software into any printer by embedding it in a malicious document or by connecting to the printer online. As part of his presentation, he performed two demonstrations: in the first, he sent a document to a printer that contained a malicious version of the OS that caused it to copy the documents it printed and post them to an IP address on the Internet; in the second, he took over a remote printer with a malicious document, caused that printer to scan the LAN for vulnerable PCs, compromise a PC, and turn it into a proxy that gave him access through the firewall (I got shivers).
GoDaddy not only helped write #SOPA they are also exempt from it. Scumbags.
You may have heard about the mass exodus of customers from GoDaddy due to their support of SOPA. You may have also heard that GoDaddy no longer supports SOPA. The problem is, only one of those things is true. While GoDaddy no longer publicly supports SOPA, that is just a PR move. They have not withdrawn official support for the bill, let alone actually come out in opposition to it. 
But it gets worse. According to this article, not only did GoDaddy help write the damn thing, they are also exempt from complying with the law!
Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), the only member of Congress present at the hearing with any tech experience, having founded several web companies, introduced two amendments: one to exclude universities and non-profits from being subject do having to shut down their own domain servers if accused of piracy under SOPA, and the other to exempt dynamic IP addresses, such as those found on web-enabled printers. Both were voted down.
Polis pointed out that SOPA and Smith’s amendment already excluded certain operators of sub-domains, such as GoDaddy.com, from being subject to shutdowns under SOPA.
“If companies like GoDaddy.com are exempt, why aren’t non-commercial domain servers exempt?” Polis asked.
Why tornadoes and hailstorms are more common during the workweek
A new study suggests that in the summertime, tornadoes and hailstorms in the eastern US occur significantly more often during the middle of the week. Why? There’s more pollution during the workweek due to commuting and other factors. From National Geographic…
Inside the Apple archives at Stanford Libraries
In 1997, Apple gifted the Stanford University Libraries its historical collections of paperwork, hardware, software, artifacts, and other materials documenting the organization since Woz and Jobs founded it in 1976. The Associated Press toured the collection. No, it’s not available for public viewing.
KRIV FOX 26 Houston Live report on Air Jordan Shoes
“WHAT IF YO CHILD GET AMMONIA??!?!!!?!?!”
60beat GamePad controller plugs into iOS sound jack
This $50 controller looks cool, and the man in the video seems much nicer than Paul Christoforo. 60beat GamePad controller
Pound On My Muffin
Behold the inexplicable Shira Miss Muffin, who appears to be Pittsburgh’s answer to Rebeccah Black.
The Dark Knight Rises Official Movie Trailer
Nice to see Pittsburgh represented so well.
Alaska State Legislator Makes a PSA Warning Travelers about the TSA
I like that guy.
HOWTO: Keep your data safe at the US border
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published a new guide, “Defending Privacy at the U.S. Border: A Guide for Travelers Carrying Digital Devices,” which explains how the law, good technology choices, cryptography and backups can be combined to keep your data safe while you travel, especially when crossing into the USA, where customs officials reserve the rights to search your laptop and mobile phone without a warrant and keep whatever they find.
“Different people need different kinds of precautions for protecting their personal information when they travel,” said EFF Senior Staff Technologist Seth Schoen. “Our guide helps you assess your personal risks and concerns, and makes recommendations for various scenarios. If you are traveling over the U.S. border soon, you should read our guide now and get started on taking precautions before your trip.”
Over the past few years, Congress has weighed several bills to protect travelers from suspicionless searches at the border, but none has had enough support to become law. You can join EFF in calling on the Department of Homeland Security to publish clear guidelines for what they do with sensitive traveler information collected in digital searches by signing our petition. You can also test your knowledge about travelers’ privacy rights and help spread the word about the risks by taking our border privacy quiz.
“We store detailed records of our lives on our laptops and our phones. But the courts have diminished our constitutional right to privacy at the border,” said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann. “It’s time for travelers to take action and protect themselves and their private information during international trips.”
Latest Topics
US CERT RSS Feed
- Oracle Java SE Critical Patch Update Announcement - June 2013
- Security Updates Available for Adobe Flash Player
- Microsoft Releases June 2013 Security Bulletin
- Apple Releases OS X 10.8.4 and Security Update 2013-002
- Apple Releases Security Update for Safari on OS X
- Google Releases Google Chrome 27.0.1453.110
- Apple Releases Security Updates for Apple QuickTime 7.7.4
- Google Releases Google Chrome 27.0.1453.93
- Adobe Releases Security Updates for Adobe Flash Player
- Security Updates Available for Adobe Reader and Acrobat
