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Computers May Cause Eye Syndrome

prevent, protect with these tips.......


You probably spend time on the computer at work or school everyday. Staring at the screen too long can cause a vision condition, if you're not careful. Working at the computer can put you at risk for Computer Vision Syndrome.

It has been called the number one occupational hazard of the 21st century. Dr. Melissa Billings with Vision Park Family Eye Care in Urbandale says, "When people are using computers these days, they're using them anywhere from four to eight hours at a time without taking breaks. And, it is causing a lot of fatigue and different symptoms that are popping up."

Dr. Billings says more patients are complaining about headaches, eye strain, red and watery eyes and trouble seeing things far away. She says, "They get done looking at the computer, and they look across the room and they can't see things as clearly as they could earlier in the day. Those are pretty typical symptoms."

Dr. Billings says Computer Vision Syndrome is caused when people stare at pixilated images, like the computer screen for too long. Your eye muscles have to work extra hard to focus. She says It's like when you overexert yourself in a sport and experience muscle fatigue. She says, "The eyes, just like any other muscle in the body, there are very very fine muscles in the eye that allow you to focus on the computer."

Your eye doctor can prescribe special anti-glare glasses to help you focus on the computer. But, you can also do simple things on you own to prevent Computer Vision Syndrome. Dr. Billings says to follow the 30-30-30 rule. Take a break from the computer every 30 minutes, look at something for 30 seconds that's 30 feet away. Also, minimize glare on your screen by covering windows and reducing the amount of fluorescent light in your work place. And, consider putting an anti-glare screen on your monitor.

She says, "Allow those fine muscles in the eye to have that opportunity to relax a little bit." The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health recommends computer users get a full eye exam at least once every year.

source:The baltimore sun

How I grew to hate every computer language

In the beginning, I knew Basic. Those were good times. The Apple II was a pretty decent machine to learn to program on. It actually didn’t take me long to run into the fundamental limits of basic programming, even as a kid. In particular, it was insanely slow. I wanted to write games like the games that were already on my computer. I had learned graphics programming and everything but basic (QBasic in particular) just couldn’t keep up. There were probably dirty hacks that would make it work, but at the time I realized I needed to switch to a “real” language, and so I bought a C book.

The syntax phase

In this phase, I knew many languages, and I liked them all.

I learned C and some of C++ on my own. They made me learn Pascal in high school. And then Java as a freshman in college. I liked all of these languages. They were basically all the same. It was just a matter of trading one syntax for another.

All of the features of each language that made them different were of no interest to me. I didn’t use, need, or want any of those features. I saw no need for them. C++ had templates. Who needs that nonsense? Java came with a ton of libraries. That was alright but it seemed like you were just trading one problem (a lack of features) for another (the need to be married to huge piles of documentation). I was always the kind of guy who preferred working from first principles.

The blub stage

I knew many languages, but my favorite was the one I used the most.

As I got farther into college and began to learn programming languages in depth, I began discovering the holes that these advanced features filled. I learned, like I usually do, from the “problem end”. I knew of the solution but never bothered to really learn it until one day a problem arose and finally the feature became justified. I began diving into various magical features of my favorite language. At the time, this was C++. I was operator overloading. I was using multiple inheritance. I was a big fan of templates. I became quite accustomed to the advanced features of C++ and every other language seemed quite lacking. They all had features I didn’t need, and were missing features I did.

The grass is always greener stage

Here, I knew many languages, but my least favorite was the one I used the most.

It takes a long time of using your “favorite language” and all of its features to be able to see the “beauty” in another language and exactly what you are missing. When you are locked into that single language, you don’t see how it could be improved. Eventually, though, I came to realize that other languages had some truly fantastic things to offer. This is when I learned Lisp, Python, and Ruby.

C++ had so many abusive warts. It wasn’t until I saw these problems fixed in other languages that I even knew they could be fixed. I was so sick of ugly templates and insanely verbose code. I was so sick of static typing and bizarre template hacks to get around it. I was so sick of operator overloading creating so much magic it was hard to understand. I was so sick of symbol names being mangled to pieces. I was really sick of error messages that lasted pages and pages.

And now, I hate all of them

Slowly, over time, I played around with all of those other “grass is greener” languages. As I began trying more and more languages, I kept finding things I hated in them. Over time, I became better at this. I’ve done this enough to realize things I hate about a language before I’ve really even dove into it. It still stands though that the less I know about it, the less I hate it. C++ is pure frustration. C is so slow (to develop in, not to run in). Ruby and Python have some serious greatness but also some serious annoyances.

I’ve heard really nice things about D. Maybe I’ll play with that.

Ins. Dept plans computer game: Pick your health insurance plan...

Ins. Dept plans computer game: Pick your health insurance plan

Bismarck, N.D. (AP) North Dakota's Insurance Department will be hosting a computer game aimed at helping people suggest a basic health insurance plan.

It's called CHAT. It stands for Choosing Healthplans All Together.

People get together in groups of six to 15 and try to agree on what should be included in basic health insurance coverage. They decide which benefits are most important and which may not be needed.

The department is hosting ten sessions this month starting tonight in Dickinson.

Deputy insurance commissioner Rebecca Ternes (TUR'-nuss) says the exercise helps people learn more about health insurance costs and trade-offs.

Data from the 10 sessions will be given to a legislative interim committee that's studying health insurance costs. The Industry, Business and Labor Committee plans to go through the exercise itself at a meeting in Fargo next month.

(SOUND: Sound files have been e-mailed to accompany this story) (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 08-16-09 1700CDT

Watch 'Zombie Girl' the Movie Online

It's common for older adolescents to seek creative outlets through which they can channel their feelings. For 12-year-old Emily Hagins, that outlet is making a feature-length zombie movie.

'Zombie Girl' chronicles the adventurous journey of Emily (with some help from her multitasking mom) as she reaches for her childhood dreams of Hollywood-sized proportions, and takes on all the responsibilities of filmmaking to direct a full-length -- and fully bloody -- zombie film.

Winner of the Spirit Award at the 2009 Slamdance Film Festival, 'Zombie Girl' is a fun ride through youthful passion and the fourth title in SnagFilm's SummerFest, in which they'll debut a new film that has not yet been distributed every week.
'Zombie Girl' Exclusively on SnagFilms

Watch 'Zombie Girl

Computer Maintenance Software Advanced System Care Free

Advanced System Care Free is the free version of the commercial tool of the same name that is offered by Iobit. It is a system maintenance software that can be compared to similar tools in the niche including CCleaner, Microsoft OneCare, System Mechanic or Tuneup Utilities.

Advanced System Care divides the computer maintenance process in three different categories that are named Maintain Windows, Diagnose System and Utilities.

Maintain Windows includes a spyware checker, Registry cleanup tool, privacy sweeper and junk file cleaner. This category comes closest to the popular CCleaner application. The program will automatically scan the system for problems upon startup. Findings are displayed in red indicating problems and Megabytes that can be saved if the repair button is pressed.

advanced system care

It is furthermore possible to click on a function to take a closer look at the problems and files that have been found during the scan. This makes it possible to remove entries from the repair. Advanced System Care will also remind the the user if System Restore is disabled.

computer maintenance

A click on the repair button will initiate a backup before the problems are fixed on the computer system.

The diagnose system window offers system optimization, security defense, disk defragment and security analyzer functions. A scan will display detected problems offering the same functionality as the maintain windows menu to view them in detail, remove some and repair them.

The system optimization menu scans for problems in various categories including network connections, Windows services or troubleshooting. Not all recommendations should be accepted right away as the optimizer might suggest corrections for enhancements made by the user. A simple example would be the suggestion to change the time it takes to show the start menu from 1 to the recommended value of 200.

Users should take a look at all the settings before they press the repair button.

system optimization

The same can be said for the security defense scan in the same category and the suggestions made by the security analyzer. This does mean that it takes additional time before the remaining problems can be repaired but it is important to avoid complications and other problems.

The utilities category offers quick access to tools offered by the Windows operating system and Iobit including an Internet and Game Booster, Registry defragmentation or a startup manager.

Advanced System Care Free is an interesting program that provides access to many computer maintenance scans that can improve a systems reliability, security and stability. It is recommended to check the scan results thoroughly before proceeding with the repair.


source:Ghack

Is Tablet Computer Apple's Next Big Thing?

By Rex Crum

Figuring out what Apple Inc. (AAPL) has in store for its next big product launch has become as popular a game as gathering to pick fantasy football drafts every fall.

And with holiday shopping season approaching, speculation is growing about what will be the next must-have device that Apple hopes will wow consumers and lead to a boom in sales.

Since the company only recently has upgraded the iPhone, and revamps its Mac PC models throughout the year, it follows that something involving the iPod could be next. And Apple historically holds an event in September or ...


source:WSJ

Seattle Man Used Limewire for Identity Theft

A Seattle man was sentenced to more than three years in prison Tuesday for using the Limewire file-sharing service to lift personal information from computers across the U.S.

The case highlights a type of identity theft that is probably more common than most people realize, said Kathryn Warma, assistant U.S. attorney in the Computer Hacking and Internet Crimes Unit of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The man, Frederick Wood, typed words like "tax return" and "account" into the Limewire search box, Warma said. That allowed him to find and access computers on the Limewire network with shared folders that contained tax returns and bank account information.

Wood also searched specifically for forms that parents fill out to apply for college financial aid for their children, which include "exhaustive personal and financial information about the family," Warma said. He used the information to open accounts, create identification cards and make purchases.

"Many of the victims are parents who don't realize that Limewire is on their home computer," she said.

Wood was initially apprehended while executing an even more low-tech crime, the Attorney's Office said.

He advertised an Apple computer for sale on Craigslist, and a Seattle resident responded to the ad and met Wood at a coffee shop to buy the computer. After paying for the computer with a check and leaving the coffee shop, the man discovered that there was no computer in the box, only a book and a vase.

The victim helped police set up a similar deal with Wood, who was arrested when he handed over another computer box with no computer in it, this time to a police officer, the Attorney's Office said.

Police later searched a computer they found in Wood's car and discovered tax returns, bank statements and cancelled checks stolen from more than 120 people across the country. He had also used the information retrieved through Limewire to make forged checks. He used those checks to buy electronics gear, some of which he sold on Craigslist, said the Attorney's Office.

Warma's advice to people who want to avoid becoming victims of this kind of identity theft was to "get Limewire off your computers." Even the added security features in the most recent version can be circumvented, she said.

"I think it's a horrible idea for people to have peer-to-peer software on their computers unless they're a very sophisticated user," she said.

During the investigation the authorities discovered that Wood was an associate of Gregory Kopiloff, the first person in the U.S. to be indicted for using file-sharing programs to steal personal information. He was sentenced in early 2008 to more than four years in prison for fraud.

Wood was sentenced Tuesday to 39 months in prison and three years of supervised release for wire fraud, accessing a protected computer without authorization to commit fraud, and aggravated identity theft. He was tried in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Warma believes Wood and Kopiloff are the only two people to be convicted so far for using peer-to-peer networks to steal personal information.


source:PC WORLD

Attacks on US, Korea Web Sites Leave a Winding Trail

The investigation into the attacks against high-profile Web sites in South Korea and the U.S. is a winding, twisty electronic goose chase that may not result in a definitive conclusion on the identity of the attackers.

Computer security experts disagree over the skill level of the DDOS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks, which over the course of a few days in early July caused problems for some of the Web sites targeted, including South Korean banks, U.S. government agencies and media outlets.

The DDOS attack was executed by a botnet, or a group of computers infected with malicious software controlled by a hacker. That malware was programmed to attack the Web sites by bombarding them with page requests that far exceed normal visitor traffic. As a result, some of the weaker sites buckled.

While there are hundreds of DDOS attacks that occur every day, the one from last month has interesting characteristics. First, it was carried out using a botnet of up to an estimated 180,000 computers that was almost entirely located within South Korea.

"It's very rare to see a botnet of that size so localized," said Steven Adair of The Shadowserver Foundation, a cybercrime watchdog group. "Large-size botnets do usually take time to build up and a lot of effort from attackers."

And basic questions appear to be unanswered, such as how the attackers were able to infect such a large number of computers in South Korea with the specific code that commandeered the computers to attack a list of Web sites.

The investigation has geopolitical ramifications. South Korea's National Intelligence Service reportedly told the country's lawmakers early last month that it suspected North Korea was involved. Despite no definitive public evidence linking North Korea to the DDOS attacks, the country's hardline demeanor makes it a convenient actor to blame given its prickly relations with the U.S. and South Korea.

The botnet, which is now inactive, appeared to be custom-built for the attacks. Many times people who want to knock a Web site offline will rent time on a botnet from its controller, known as a botnet herder, paying a small fee per machine, such as US$.20. Botnets can also be used for Internet activity, such as sending spam.

Analysts do know that the computers comprising the botnet had been infected with a variation of MyDoom, a piece of malicious software that repeatedly mails itself out to other computers once it has infected a PC. MyDoom debuted with devastating consequences in 2004, becoming the fastest spreading e-mail worm in history. It is now routinely cleansed from PCs that are running antivirus software, though many computers don't have such protective software installed.

The MyDoom code has been called amateurish, but it was nonetheless effective. The command and control structure for delivering instructions to computers infected with MyDoom used eight main servers that were scattered around the world. But there also was a labyrinthine group of subordinate command and control servers that made it more difficult to trace.

"It is difficult to find the real attacker," said Sang-keun Jang, a virus analyst and security engineer with the security company Hauri, based in Seoul.

IP (Internet Protocol) addresses -- which at most can identify approximately where a computer is plugged in on a network but not its precise location or who is operating the computer -- only give investigators so much information to go on. Open Wi-Fi hotspots can allow an attacker to change IP addresses frequently, said Scott Borg, director and chief economist of the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, a nonprofit research institute.

"Anonymous attacks are going to be a fact of life," Borg said. "That has big policy implications. If you can't attribute quickly and with confidence, then most strategies based on deterrence are no longer viable. There's a big revolution that is already under way and needs to be carried out in our defense thinking."

For the South Korea-U.S. DDOS attacks, one security company is taking the approach of following the money. Many DDOS attacks are actually paid transactions, and where there is money, there is some trail.

"Going after IP addresses is not really helpful," said Max Becker, CTO of Ultrascan Knowledge Process Outsourcing, a subsidiary of fraud investigation firm Ultrascan. "What we are trying to do is go after the people who set up and pay for these kinds of attacks."

Ultrascan has a network of informants who are closed to organized criminal gangs in Asia, many of which are involved in cybercrime, said Frank Engelsman, an investigator with Ultrascan based in the Netherlands. One question is whether it could be proved a criminal group had been paid by North Korea to carry out the attacks, Engelsman said.

That could take a lot of investigative work. But it may be easier than that.

Cybercriminals make mistakes, such as earlier this year when researchers uncovered a global spying network called "GhostNet" that infected computers belonging to Tibetan nongovernmental organizations, the private office of the Dalai Lama and embassies of more than a dozen countries. A Google search by researcher Nart Villeneuve turned up some of the most damning evidence -- an unencrypted server indexed by the search engine.

From spelling mistakes, to e-mail addresses to coding errors, attackers can leave clues that could turn a cold trail hot.

"You know where the mistakes are likely to be made," said Steve Santorelli, director of global outreach for Team Cymru, a nonprofit Internet security research firm. "You can turn over the right rocks quickly."

And Santorelli added: "Google doesn't forget anything."


source:http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter

Prep Your PC for Windows 7

Q. My computer is a few years old. Will it be able to handle Windows 7 if I decide to upgrade my operating system?

A. According to a page on Microsoft’s site (bit.ly/RuDfh) the most basic requirements for computers to run Windows 7 include a gigabyte of memory and a processor running at a speed of at least one gigahertz. The machine also needs 16 gigabytes of free space on the hard drive. (Computers running 64-bit processors need 2 gigabytes of memory and 20 gigabytes of drive space.)

Microsoft has a free program you can use to see if your hardware is up to the challenge. The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta is available at microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx.

If your computer is running Windows Vista, upgrading to Windows 7 when it arrives this fall shouldn’t be too difficult. You should also be able to easily upgrade a Vista machine to Windows 7 without having to move your data somewhere else to install the new system.

Windows XP computers are probably not going to be as easy to upgrade. Although Windows 7 includes an Easy Transfer program to help you get your files moved, you will still most likely need to park your data on an external drive while you wipe the computer drive and do a clean installation of Windows 7. After that, you need to copy your files back to the PC and then reinstall all your programs.

Personal Tech invites questions about computer-based technology, by e-mail to QandA@nytimes.com. This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually.

source:http://www.nytimes.com

How to Create a Minimalist Computer Experience

A minimalist computer setup, as paradoxical as that may sound to some, lends itself to a more serene, focused creative environment in my experience.

I love a clean desktop

, a friction-free interface, and simple tools that help me focus on what I really need to get done: to create, without distractions.

And when I gaze lovingly at my icon-less desktop, I sigh with contentment. I really love simplicity.

If this kind of minimalist experience appeals to you (and it won’t appeal to everyone), read on for my suggestions for creating this setup.

An Uncluttered Desktop
I don’t have any icons on my computer desktop — I’ve had the experience of having a thousand icons on the desktop and it really doesn’t compare to an uncluttered environment. Sure, it may be easy to just double-click on a frequently used app or document (although that’s not as fast as what I suggest under the “Interface” section below). But having to look at so many icons is visual stress and distraction, so I’ve banished this method of working.

Now, I have zero icons on the desktop and I usually choose a fairly minimalist (but beautiful) desktop pic to complete the experience. See my desktop in the pic above.

Here’s what to do:

Put all icons on your desktop into a folder. You could put them into a “Temp” folder for sorting later, or create two folders and sort them quickly: “Working” and “Archives”. Working is for stuff you’re working on right now, and Archives is for everything else. More on filing structure below.
On the Mac, remove the hard drive icon by selecting “Preferences” (Cmd-,) and under the “General” tab, deselect “Hard disks” under “Show these items on the Desktop”. On the PC, you can right-click on the desktop and under the “View” submenu, deselect “Show desktop icons”.
On the Mac, set the Dock to auto-hide in the Dock preferences. I never use the Dock anymore (see the next section).
Choose a serene desktop pic (or “wallpaper”). I like ones with a plain-colored background (such as white or black) and a nice minimalist picture on it. Or just a nice nature scene. Nothing too distracting.
I also don’t like a lot of icons or apps in my menu bar, so I remove everything that isn’t necessary. Right now all I have is the clock and Spotlight. On the PC, I do the same thing - remove everything.
Simple Interface
If you’re still using the mouse to open programs and documents, you should seriously consider using the keyboard instead. It’s super fast and frictionless, which means you can get things done without having to dig through folders or scroll your cursor over your entire desktop or go the Start menu (on a PC) or down to the Dock (on a Mac).

On the Mac, use the free and awesome Quicksilver. On the PC, I like AutoHotKey or Launchy. The all work similarly: you can launch programs and documents with the keyboard, without having to use the mouse or dig through a lot of folders. Quicksilver is by far the best, as it can do so, so much more.

So you need to start writing — with a couple of keystrokes, your trusty writing program launches and you’re writing in seconds. You need to look something up or send an email? A few keystrokes away.

Keeping the interface simple like this, without a real need for the Finder or Windows interface, makes things much easier.

Simple Filing
You don’t have time to file, to sort all your stuff into a million little folders. You’re a busy person! You have bigger and better things to do! Right?

So stop filing. Set up only four folders in your Documents folder:

1Inbox: For things you’re downloading. I empty this folder daily so it doesn’t fill up with junk.
2Working: For things you’re working on now. Empty it weekly.
3Read: For stuff to read. Empty weekly.
4Archive: For everything else. When I empty the above three folders, I just dump the files in here. Do I organize it into subfolders and subsubfolders? Heck no! I just dump it all here. Why? Search, and online files. Read on for more.
Search and Online Files
You don’t need to organize all your files into folders anymore because of magic called Search. On the Mac, Quicksilver and Spotlight cover this well. On the PC, I recommend Google Desktop. These programs index all your files — including the contents of the files — and put any file at your fingertips in seconds.

Seriously, I have been using this system for a few years and have never had trouble finding a single document.

Then again, my hard drive doesn’t have a lot of documents on it (mostly movies and music and pictures) because I keep most of my documents online. I use Google Docs and Spreadsheets, which means I never file anything. I just search and it’s there in half a second.

Keeping all my documents online — even most of my photos are online using Picasa — means they’re accessible from any computer, which is important to me as I switch between my iMac and Macbook Air frequently, and sometimes work from other computers. I don’t need to sync anything or carry around a USB drive.

I know some people will say, as they always do, that I’m a fool for giving all my data to a company (Google). What if the Internet crashes? What if Google folds? What if they do evil things with all of it?

All good points. I don’t see any of that happening soon, and I can always export it all if necessary. I’ve been using this system for three years without a single problem. In those three years, I would have had to do 17,000 syncs or transfers of files, and my hard drive would have crashed once or twice, losing valuable data if I don’t back up.

Tools
Your needs will differ from mine, but I recommend using the simplest programs for the work you need to do.

As a writer, I use TextEdit (on the Mac) or Wordpad (for the PC). I also love, love the program WriteRoom (Mac) or DarkRoom (PC) … it is so beautifully minimalist, and blocks out all distractions as I write.

For todo lists, I don’t like full-featured todo programs because they’re too complicated and invite too much fiddling and distractions. I use Gmail’s simple Task app or a simple text file on my desktop computer.

Keep your tools simple. It allows you to focus on what’s important: creating.

Leo Babauta writes at Zen Habits

Tax-free computer questions answered

ASHEVILLE — North Carolina's annual tax-free weekend, which begins today and runs through Sunday, comes as a welcome event for parents who need to buy a new computer for their children — and anyone else who needs to purchase a desktop, laptop or printer.

Advertisement
Consumers will save at least 6.75 percent in sales tax during the holiday, amounting to $67.50 on a $1,000 computer. Many will save much more by scoping out the weekend's many sales.

“A lot of people have significantly less discretionary income this year, and if they have a child going to college and they need a computer, they may buy it during the holiday,” said Thomas Beam, a spokesman with the N.C. Department of Revenue.

But computers are not just for college students. Monty Fuchs, director of technology for Buncombe County Schools, said having a computer is becoming a necessity for public school students.

“If there is anything out there that is worthy to get this weekend when taxes are free, a computer would be on the top of my list,” he said. “Maybe even two.”

Local retailers are gearing up for the weekend. Best Buy on Tunnel Road has a plan in place and extra salespeople to deal with the increased number of computer shoppers during the tax-free weekend, said Mason Sprinkle, the store's computer supervisor.

“We see tons of people,” he said. “It's different from any other day here.”

Smart consumer

Here's what to know about buying a computer for the student in your life or for yourself:

• Computers with a sales price of $3,500 or less are covered under the rules of the tax-free weekend. For purposes of the exemption during the sales tax holiday, a computer may include a central processing unit, monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers, if sold together. All those accessories are subject to taxation if bought separately..


Printers, along with computer storage media, hand-held electronic schedulers, personal digital assistants and printer supplies priced at $250 or less are covered, even if you don't buy a computer to go with them. Any device that's also a mobile telephone will be taxed, however.

Mike Honeycutt, a computer consultant at UNC Asheville, recommends college students also check with their school to see if it offers any discounts on certain computers. He said consumers should expect to spend around $1,000 for a laptop, printer and software, or about $700 for a desktop computer, printer and software.

• For students of all ages, experts recommend buying a laptop over a desktop computer. Although desktops are generally less expensive, laptops have come down in price and are now just as powerful as their immobile counterparts, they said.

“If you are going to be in the dorms, it is pretty much laptop, laptop, laptop,” Honeycutt said. “I see very few students carrying them to class, but there is such limited space in dorm rooms, laptops have pretty much become a necessity.”


original post:http://www.citizen-times.com

Minister lends support to hacker

Welsh Secretary Peter Hain has suggested that British computer hacker Gary McKinnon should face trial in the UK rather than be extradited to the US.

He told the Daily Mail the offence was committed "on British soil" and should be "assessed in a British context".

Mr McKinnon's mother Janis Sharp said Mr Hain's words were "refreshing", but the Lib Dems called on the government to do more to prevent the extradition.

The 43-year-old is accused of hacking into US military computers in 2001/02.

Denies malice

Authorities in the US say Mr McKinnon accessed 97 government computers belonging to organisations such as the US Navy and Nasa.

They also claim he caused damage costing $800,000 (£487,000).

Mr McKinnon, who has Asperger's Syndrome, admits hacking, but says his actions were not malicious or damaging, and he was actually looking for information on UFOs.

He could face 60 years or more in prison if convicted.

Last week, he lost his latest appeal against extradition when two High Court judges ruled it was "a lawful and proportionate response" to his offence.


Mr Hain told the Mail the law was "just following its course," but said he "would have preferred it if I had been in the position to have a say on this".

"We could then have had a position where it could have been assessed in a British context - after all, he was sitting in his bedroom by a computer, as a kind of computer geek zapping the American defence system and therefore he was committing an offence on British soil," he said.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said last week Mr McKinnon was accused of "serious crimes... immediately following the 9/11 attacks".

But Mr McKinnon's mother told GMTV: "I was so upset when the home secretary spoke about 9/11, spoke about the people who died and mentioned Gary's name.

"It was almost like he was trying to incriminate him in some way, so for Peter Hain to stand up and talk from the heart was so refreshing."

Leading lawyers

Mr Johnson has said it would be illegal for him to intervene in Mr McKinnon's case, but the Lib Dems claim he does have the power to do so.


Home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said: "Now that leading lawyers have made it clear that they believe Alan Johnson has the power to stop the extradition of Gary McKinnon, the Home Office can't persist with its claim that he is powerless to act.

"Even Cabinet ministers like Peter Hain are concerned about the home secretary's claim.

"The Home Office must now publish the legal advice on which he is making this claim or find a different set of lawyers."

Lawyers for Mr McKinnon say his Asperger's Syndrome means the stress of extradition could result in psychosis and suicide.


original post: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8181830.stm

nternet Security: How Criminals Hack Other Peoples Computers


For those of you that work in Information Technology and started in the last 20 years or so, chances are you were inspired by movies such as War Games, Sneakers or even Hackers. Remember that 80’s T.V. show Whiz Kids? That was cool too. I so wanted to be one of those kids.

Of course, those movies were exaggerating the power of computers or how they worked, but it was fascinating! The idea of taking control of something or figuring out how it worked by poking around and analyzing it. It was this endless world of possibilities that got us pursuing some of the most thankless jobs in the world.

So how do criminals do things like hack other people’s computers? It really doesn’t take a lot of skill at all.

Let’s assume I’m the criminal for the sake of this story. Disclaimer: I have never been charged with any crime. I do not do the things I’ll talk about here. You shouldn’t either! Do not try this at home – do it somewhere else.


The easiest way to hack someone’s computer is to get your grubby little hands on it. If I got your computer AND found that your Windows XP accounts were password protected, I would simply use a bootable password reset disk to change or remove the passwords. Then I’m in. I’m not going to tell you where to get these utilities, however, I’m sure you can use Google.

If you had Windows Vista on the disk, with it’s BitLocker technology, it would be harder to get around the protection for certain. But it can be done. I’m sure this isn’t the only method out there.

“Okay smarty-pants! You’ve gotten into my account but I have passwords on all the documents that have my important information!”

Really? First, I don’t believe you since very few people even know that they can password protect documents. Second, there’s a good chance you use the same password for all the documents. Chances are you figure that having a strong password on the Windows account is good enough, that you’ve used a pretty weak one on your documents. Any sort of password cracker using a rainbow table or dictionary attack will get through those in a matter of seconds to minutes.

What if you had set a BIOS password, so that I couldn’t even get to the operating system without knowing it? Well, that’s another step in the right direction, but, yet again, it can be done. The thing is, now I have to do a lot of work. Steal the computer, crack the BIOS password, crack your Windows protection, and crack the document protection. Since most people who steal, steal from people they know, I’ll probably know that you do these things. I’ll look for an easier target. Lazy criminal laggards!

“But Guy!” you say, “what if I do all of that but you want to get at me over the Internet?”

First off, why do you keep calling me Butt Guy? (Seriously, I NEVER get tired of that joke!) Second, um, yeah, I could do that. However, I’m less likely to try to actually hack your computer. What I’m likely to do is hack websites that you use to gather the information I need to steal your information or money. Even with some creative web searching I can get an awful lot of information on you. Seriously. Try searching on your name and aliases you use on the web. You’ll be amazed by the social profile one could build on you, to steal your identity. So, be careful about what you put out there. It’s out there, pretty much forever.

If you would like to trace someone online MakeUseOf lists a numbers of really good free tools in the post about 15 Websites to Find People On The Internet.

trojan-horseLet’s say that I’m going to hack right into your computer remotely. The easiest way to do this is to trick you into downloading software that will allow me to take control of your computer. This kind of software is known as a Trojan Horse. I may send you an attachment, or link, in an e-mail that, once you open it, installs the Trojan program without you knowing it. Or, I may set up a web page on a popular topic, that will attack your computer and drop the Trojan Horse onto it. Here’s a story on exactly that.

Once that Trojan is on there, I can use it to take information from you, or I might use it to set up a proxy for me to get to other computers. The nasty part of that is that it is possible for you to then be implicated in whatever crime I committed. Sure, a good lawyer would get you exonerated, but how many lawyers are good enough with computers to understand what just happened? By the time you pay for the lawyer, and dealt with the embarrassment of being charged, you’re already done in. Then I’m long gone.

So what do you do? Well, you keep your operating system updated, you keep your software updated, you keep your antivirus and firewall on and updated. You should also disconnect your computer from the Internet when you are not using. But really, who does all that?

Every computer is like a house – locks on the door, but a glass window right beside it. Just as my dad often said, “Locks only keep out honest people.”


credit : http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/internet-security-how-criminals-hack-other-peoples-computers

How to bypass megavideo time limit

There are 2 ways, which i know how to:

Either;

  • When the video starts to play, pause it, wait till it is Fully loaded, disconnect from your internet, Then watch it all. icon smile How to bypass megavideo time limit

OR

  • Watch the video until the ‘72 Min limit’ has appeared, (If you have a router!):
    Go to: 192.168.2.5 in your internet browser, Then enter your password (if there is one), then there should be ‘discconect’ somewhere, Press it and you’ll be dissconnected from the internet, then press ‘connect’ and you’ll be assigned a new ip. Then just click where you where previously, and watch the end.

The second one might only work if you have a changing ip (Static i think), but try it anyway.

The FIRST option will ALLWAYS work icon smile How to bypass megavideo time limit

This might be helpful for people that don’t know icon biggrin How to bypass megavideo time limit (2nd option was invented by me icon biggrin How to bypass megavideo time limit)

Computer Techs Are Still Pervs

Best Buy will face stiff competition if it ever tries to penetrate the UK market, as this hidden camera investigation into peeping tom computer repair shops reveals.

A Sky News hidden camera investigation finds computer techs snooping through and downloading to thumb drive private photo folders, and even trying to access an online banking account with the login information found on the laptop.

Remember folks, keep anything you wouldn't want a sleazeball finding on an external harddrive so if you computer ever goes in for repair, you're not also handing over your secret bits.

Also remember, when you've got a computer problem across the pond, don't take it in for repair AT THE SKETCHIEST-LOOKING COMPUTER SHOP IN WEST LONDON.


credit: http://consumerist.com/5327615/computer-techs-are-still-pervs

U.S. Weighs Risks of Civilian Harm in Cyberwarfare

It would have been the most far-reaching case of computer sabotage in history. In 2003, the Pentagon and American intelligence agencies made plans for a cyberattack to freeze billions of dollars in the bank accounts of Saddam Hussein and cripple his government’s financial system before the United States invaded Iraq. He would have no money for war supplies. No money to pay troops.

“We knew we could pull it off — we had the tools,” said one senior official who worked at the Pentagon when the highly classified plan was developed.

But the attack never got the green light. Bush administration officials worried that the effects would not be limited to Iraq but instead create worldwide financial havoc, spreading across the Middle East to Europe and perhaps to the United States.

Fears of such collateral damage are at the heart of the debate as the Obama administration and its Pentagon leadership struggle to develop rules and tactics for carrying out attacks in cyberspace.

While the Bush administration seriously studied computer-network attacks, the Obama administration is the first to elevate cybersecurity — both defending American computer networks and attacking those of adversaries — to the level of a White House director, whose appointment is expected in coming weeks.

But senior White House officials remain so concerned about the risks of unintended harm to civilians and damage to civilian infrastructure in an attack on computer networks that they decline any official comment on the topic. And senior Defense Department officials and military officers directly involved in planning for the Pentagon’s new “cyber command” acknowledge that the risk of collateral damage is one of their chief concerns.

“We are deeply concerned about the second- and third-order effects of certain types of computer network operations, as well as about laws of war that require attacks be proportional to the threat,” said one senior officer.

This officer, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the classified nature of the work, also acknowledged that these concerns had restrained the military from carrying out a number of proposed missions. “In some ways, we are self-deterred today because we really haven’t answered that yet in the world of cyber,” the officer said.

In interviews over recent weeks, a number of current and retired White House officials, Pentagon civilians and military officers disclosed details of classified missions — some only considered and some put into action — that illustrate why this issue is so difficult.

Although the digital attack on Iraq’s financial system was not carried out, the American military and its partners in the intelligence agencies did receive approval to degrade Iraq’s military and government communications systems in the early hours of the war in 2003. And that attack did produce collateral damage.

Besides blowing up cellphone towers and communications grids, the offensive included electronic jamming and digital attacks against Iraq’s telephone networks. American officials also contacted international communications companies that provided satellite phone and cellphone coverage to Iraq to alert them to possible jamming and ask their assistance in turning off certain channels.

Officials now acknowledge that the communications offensive temporarily disrupted telephone service in countries around Iraq that shared its cellphone and satellite telephone systems. That limited damage was deemed acceptable by the Bush administration.

Another such event took place in the late 1990s, according to a former military researcher. The American military attacked a Serbian telecommunications network and accidentally affected the Intelsat satellite communications system, whose service was hampered for several days.

These missions, which remain highly classified, are being scrutinized today as the Obama administration and the Pentagon move into new arenas of cyberoperations. Few details have been reported previously; mention of the proposal for a digital offensive against Iraq’s financial and banking systems appeared with little notice on Newsmax.com, a news Web site, in 2003.

The government concerns evoke those at the dawn of the nuclear era, when questions of military effectiveness, legality and morality were raised about radiation spreading to civilians far beyond any zone of combat.

“If you don’t know the consequences of a counterstrike against innocent third parties, it makes it very difficult to authorize one,” said James Lewis, a cyberwarfare specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

But some military strategists argue that these uncertainties have led to excess caution on the part of Pentagon planners.

“Policy makers are tremendously sensitive to collateral damage by virtual weapons, but not nearly sensitive enough to damage by kinetic” — conventional — “weapons,” said John Arquilla, an expert in military strategy at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. “The cyberwarriors are held back by extremely restrictive rules of engagement.”

Despite analogies that have been drawn between biological weapons and cyberweapons, Mr. Arquilla argues that “cyberweapons are disruptive and not destructive.”

That view is challenged by some legal and technical experts.

“It’s virtually certain that there will be unintended consequences,” said Herbert Lin, a senior scientist at the National Research Council and author of a recent report on offensive cyberwarfare. “If you don’t know what a computer you attack is doing, you could do something bad.”

Mark Seiden, a Silicon Valley computer security specialist who was a co-author of the National Research Council report, said, “The chances are very high that you will inevitably hit civilian targets — the worst-case scenario is taking out a hospital which is sharing a network with some other agency.”

And while such attacks are unlikely to leave smoking craters, electronic attacks on communications networks and data centers could have broader, life-threatening consequences where power grids and critical infrastructure like water treatment plants are increasingly controlled by computer networks.

Over the centuries, rules governing combat have been drawn together in customary practice as well as official legal documents, like the Geneva Conventions and the United Nations charter. These laws govern when it is legitimate to go to war, and set rules for how any conflict may be waged. Two traditional military limits now are being applied to cyberwar: proportionality, which is a rule that, in layman’s terms, argues that if you slap me, I cannot blow up your house; and collateral damage, which requires militaries to limit civilian deaths and injuries.

“Cyberwar is problematic from the point of view of the laws of war,” said Jack L. Goldsmith, a professor at Harvard Law School. “The U.N. charter basically says that a nation cannot use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any other nation. But what kinds of cyberattacks count as force is a hard question, because force is not clearly defined.”

不要Arkansans信托彩票抽奖的计算机?

本星期早些时候,阿肯色州彩票委员会的决定,人数在即将开始的国家彩票将随机选定的一台计算机而不是在现场绘图。

该委员会说,该方法可以节省70多万美元。

但问题是,将Arkansans信任呢?

有一个全国性的请愿书的网站上(点击此处)敦促各国坚持使用传统的乒乓球风格彩票抽奖。

有些问题,如果是真正的随机数,如果黑客可以获取。

Arkansans在小石城的河市场星期四告诉我们,他们会发挥彩票不管。

“我希望赢得彩票所以我要去发挥。不能赢得如果你不玩,说: ” Latizia哈德逊。

“是啊,我的意思是它是一台计算机,这是随机的。我敢肯定他们要去有一定缺陷的工作,但最终他们将获得这奏效了,一切都将被罚款,说: ”蒂芙尼Longnion 。

Arkansans可以开始买彩票9月底。


信贷: http://arkansasmatters.com

What to do with an old computer?

Some will tell you to use it as a file server, or downloader machine… But here are funnier ways to reuse your computer and peripherals. Click to see all of them.



credit: http://haha.nu/consumerism/gadgets/what-to-do-with-an-old-computer/

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