News-Hack

Have you heard of this guy? (Freedom versus Tyranny)

2007-07-07T10:26:00.001-05:00

He's being ignored by the mainstream media, but he's all over youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCaXMDqewOQ

If you like what he has to say, forward this email to all of your friends and add your own opinion at the bottom.

<---------------------------------------->
<---------------------------------------->

I think that.....(fill in the blank)

Test 3

2005-11-13T17:42:00.001-06:00

Test 3

I like this link: www.cnn.com

Test post

2005-11-13T17:06:00.000-06:00

Test post
Blah blah blah

www.google.com

(image placeholder)

test again and link to the lets say more words and see if it wordfrwapapaals

and then see what happens again www.figwebsites.com

closing this blog down

2005-11-13T14:13:00.000-06:00

due to lack of time, this blog will be considered dead in favor of warofwrath.diggfans.com, my new blog.

Sign up for the new Microsoft Mail Beta

2005-10-24T20:15:00.000-05:00

(via Del.icio.us): MSN's new Mail Beta is open for registration. Is this the next big gmail killer? I don't know as I am still waiting for my invite (very impatient). Anyone out there have an invite to Yahoo!s beta service? Drop me a line at warofwrath {At) yahoo [Dot] com read more | digg story UPDATE I found the link to request Yahoo!s beta mail (via google, ironically): What's New With Yahoo! Mail

Digg Sidebar v.2

2005-10-22T13:19:00.000-05:00

For all of you digg fans out there, this is the link to the new digg sidebar. To use this in Firefox simply bookmark, right-mouse click the bookmark to open the "properties" box and check "open in sidebar": everytime you click that bookmark it will do just that. read more | digg story

North Korea and The Internet

2005-10-20T18:36:00.000-05:00

At the Kumsong school around 12 students were in each of the three classrooms shown to foreign journalists. Each desk had a computer made in Taiwan, running Microsoft operating systems. The boys - no girls were seen - study English for two hours each day and spend hours honing computer skills and developing their own programs.

North Korea nurturing nerds - Technology - smh.com.au

This is a fascinating article on the state of the internet--mostly restricted to a state-controlled intranet--in North Korea. Kim Jong Il makes the censorship in China look like anarchy.

Technorati Tags: korea, internet, northkorea, technology, education

Flock Developer Preview

2005-10-20T18:02:00.000-05:00

If you signed up for the Flock newsletter, "You've asked us to let you take a peek at what we're working on. Today, we are pleased to invite you to try out the latest private preview of what will very soon become the public Flock Developer Preview." http://www.flock.com/developer/download/preview I did and I am using Flock now to post this blog entry.

read more | digg story

The Trouble with Influenza

2005-10-09T12:48:00.000-05:00

Christmas is prepared for earlier every year--why not the flu? From Reuters: U.S. stockpiles of drugs that could help in the fight against a feared human influenza pandemic are woefully inadequate, a viral disease specialist warned at a medical conference on Saturday. Of course the first line doesn't give us much information; reading further:

The United States has enough of the antiviral medication oseltamivir, marketed by Roche Laboratories as Tamiflu, to treat about 2.3 million people.

But some 90 million people would need the medication in the event of a flu pandemic, said Hayden, adding the nation should have enough for 4.3 million people by year's end.

The problem isn't preparation, but rather that extra step needed to ensure (if possible) that a flu pandemic would not greatly harm the United States. After the Great War the Spanish flu killed more civilians and soldiers in Europe and America, than the war itself. I decided to see if the rationale of "if it can happen once, it can happen again" was emphasized in any other related stories. Not surprisingly, the primary concern centered around the recent "avian flu" in South-East Asia and it's potential to devastate unwary populaces:

Boston Globe Op-Ed

Planning makes sense. But planning for ''brutal" or ''extreme" quarantine of large numbers or areas of the United States would create many more problems than it could solve. (in response to comments by Bush about using the military to quarantine flu-ridden areas of the country)

Canadian Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - A super-flu could kill up to 1.9 million Americans, said a draft of the U.S. government's plan to fight a worldwide epidemic.

Officials are rewriting that plan to designate not just who cares for the sick but who will keep the country running amid the chaos, said an influenza specialist who is advising the government on those decisions.

Medical News Today It is crucial, said one US official, for countries to share information as it appears - immediately. There is concern that some nations may drag their feet or cover things up, as did China three years ago during the SARS outbreak. If this were to happen as a bird flu pandemic erupted, the consequences could be devastating for the whole globe. A UN official earlier this week said a flu pandemic could kill over 100 million people. (note: this article was the first I came across explicitly stating that the "avian flu" vaccination will be injected into birds, not people.)

Reuters AlertNet (Sept. 30) GENEVA, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday 2-7.4 million deaths was a reasonable working forecast for a global influenza pandemic -- distancing itself from a top U.N. official's figure of up to 150 million.

Dr. David Nabarro, named on Thursday as the U.N. coordinator for global readiness against an outbreak, had said that the world response would determine whether a flu virus ends up killing 5 million or as many as 150 million. The top figure, which was widely quoted in news reports, would be some three times the toll from the most lethal flu pandemic so far recorded -- the 1918-19 'Spanish flu' outbreak in which up to 50 million may have died. "There is obvious confusion, and I think that has to be straightened out. I don't think you will hear Dr. Nabarro say the same sort of thing again," WHO influenza spokesman Dick Thompson told a news briefing. This last article really clears up the numbers game that the latest touches on. Either way, experts are expecting quite a threat from this new disease. Let's all hope that the avian flu waits till after Thanksgiving to spring its trap.

GmailTips.com: A Comprehensive Collection

2005-10-08T11:50:00.000-05:00

For all of you Gmail fanatics out there (myself included) this is a great resource. For everyone else out there, you don't have any "learning curve" excuse anymore and can see what you have been missing out on. Click the "Read More" link below for the site.

read more | digg story

Google Launches Feed Reader!

2005-10-07T16:48:00.000-05:00

Google labs has unleashed a new RSS reader. Will this latest product prove to be the "Gmail of aggregators"? Although still a bit slow, the design put into this little app is impressive. For a hot-off-the-presses beta it is lookin' pretty good.

read more | digg story

Google Office Live Webcast

2005-10-04T00:29:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, October 4, 2005 10:30 a.m. PT/1:30 p.m. ET (12:30 Central) Computer History Museum Mountain View, CA

Please join Scott McNealy, Sun Microsystems Chairman and CEO and Dr. Eric Schmidt, Google Chairman of the Executive Committee and CEO as they discuss a new collaborative effort between the two companies.

Be there or watch it on Google Video later. read more | digg story

'Planet Xena' has a sidekick: Gabrielle

2005-10-02T21:52:00.000-05:00

Astronomers that claimed to have found the 10th planet now say that it isn't alone. Apparently, planet "Xena" is accompanied by a moon named "Gabrielle." If you don't understand the nick-name references they come from the hit TV show Xena: Warrior Princess. Gabrielle was Xena's side-kick on the show. read more | digg story

Rollyo: Fabulous and Flawed

2005-10-01T03:12:00.000-05:00

The newest arsenal in Web 2.0 doesn't quite "get it" If you don't follow Web 2.0 as fanatically as I do, this story should clear things up: Techcrunch announces Rollyo

The basic idea? Create customized searches (built on Yahoo search) that include only those sites you want to include. Search those sites for information that you know you can trust. And, see what other’s have created, and leverage those searches as well.

A more thorough review of using this new tool can be found here: Search Engine Watch reviews Rollyo

I've very bullish on Rollyo and will be monitoring the site for changes and enhancements. I've been wanting something like this for a long time. Kudos to Dave Pell and his team.

The writer (Gary Price) only mentions a few improvements that he would like to be made. However, being a search engine analyst, his arguments focus on business potential, and search technologies like page archiving. While such an approach is completely relevant SEW, it isn't for everyone, and I have decided to tackle a review from the perspective of an average, non-techy, Web 2.0 user. Now that you have an understanding of Rollyo, let me enunciate my points: 1) Rollyo will attract Web 2.0 users of both techy and non-techy dispositions. This market of users is both large and intangible. Suffice it to say that for now Rollyo won't be used by your grandmother. As it is a new phenomenon, only internet users who frequent constantly updated news-sites (slashdot, digg) and/or an active social bookmarking service, will have heard about Rollyo. So far this plays into Rollyo's favor as experienced web-users can provide the most relevant feedback on a search-based product; these users will promote innovative products through blog entries and generate a greater knowledge-base for employing Rollyo. If Rollyo can garner sufficient favor from the Web 2.0 realm, the rewards could prove well worth the company's effort in responding to those users. 2) Rollyo must become more open. Currently, providing feedback to Rollyo leaves one with very few outlets: a short FAQ, a simple contact form, and a soon to be appearing blog. The lack of a blog at this point in the game (public beta) is especially striking as updates to the site will be largely unspoken until it appears. A blog also adds another dimension of publicity that is vital to building up Rollyo's image. Inquisitive users will find that they can find out very little concerning Rollyo's origin, planning, and goals. While mystique can be used to temporarily bolster a site's hype (the Flock browser would be an ideal example) such an effect cannot last forever. Granted, not all information needs to be made available, but showing a willingness to work with, rather than simply absorb, new users will be key to meaningful development. 3) Although Rollyo has been labeled as Web 2.0, it still lacks many basic functions as a communicative search tool. There are no RSS feeds; tags are used, but only as an exchange for keywords as users cannot view related tags under any setting; users cannot interact with other users, beyond viewing profiles and saving individual Searchrolls. 4) The site design of Rollyo is provocative but hardly useful. Sure, the red white and rounded motif is pretty slick rendering, but the navigational layout is horrendous. All the emphasis is placed on a few celebrity "High Rollers"; any user-centric navigation is minimized in both function and execution. For example, I can view all of my created Searchrolls, but only if I follow "My Profile" at the top to "Show All" under My Searchrolls (right-hand side). I am rewarded with a rather worthless list of my Searchrolls as it contains no detailed information (as would be expected) but simply inserts the list over the hum-drum of things I am not looking for (recent searchrolls, high rollers, etc). This may seem nit-picky, but any product analyst could tell you the fundamental importance of layout: if a consumer is pleased with an intuitive and useful layout they are far more likely to return. However, Rollyo's layout verges on the inane--start.com almost has a better grasp. 5) Rollyo still has potential. Despite all that I have ranted on the inadequacies of Rollyo I must commend the designers and programmers for what they have done right. Rollyo is a great new way to understand and employ search. Rollyo is easy to use--just sign-up, pick a topic, and Searchroll it (for those who need a place to get started, try importing your bookmarks).Rollyo does encourage active participation; without users to create new Searchrolls and update old ones, Rollyo would soon lose value as a search tool. The greatest benefit of Rollyo is the reciprocal nature of give and get. One flaw of free open-source projects is motivation: many of the programmers who make the tools have skills beyond those they are designing for. Rollyo provides a 1:1 ratio of contribution and benefit. For every Searchroll you add to the public database, you have given yourself another great way to search your favorite things in your favorite places. Like Gary Price and the authors of TechCrunch, I will be keeping an eye out for future developments. It is my hope that Rollyo will be able to expand and flourish as a new and innovative way to search the web. In the meanwhile, my contributions to this effort can be found here: http://rollyo.com/profile.html?uid=2094 (tip: currently the only way to find the permanent link to one's profile page is by loggin in, going to My Profile, and using the right-mouse click or another command to "View Source", the uid number for that user can be found there)

Never lose a Gmail draft again

2005-10-01T00:21:00.000-05:00

The Google Addiction blog posted the news that Gmail now incorporates Auto-save. This feature is intended as a built-in parachute against browser crashes and the subsequent loss of an email-in-progress.

read more | digg story

Hackers have all the luck... and I dont mean news ones

2005-09-30T19:58:00.000-05:00

I bet you all thought that I had just died or something. Or maybe you didn't. But that's not why hackers have all the luck. Microsoft has released the second beta version of Internet Explorer 7 to a hacker convention for security flaw testing. Now whats to stop them from just copying it for free and having the latest IE version? I wish I could hack something other than the news.

Google to build on NASA's ashes

2005-09-28T16:05:00.000-05:00

Google plans to build a 1 million-square-foot campus on vacant space held by NASA in Silicon Valley. The combination of Google's new building adjacent to the Ames Research Center is expected by some to be a "shangri-la" of corporate and technological advancement.

read more | digg story

The 2nd Incident

2005-09-24T22:42:00.000-05:00

GAZA (Reuters) - An Israeli helicopter fired three missiles into a Gaza town on Saturday wounding two people, local witnesses and medics said. And so it happened. This time there is no question about who or what caused the explosion. The Palestine News Network published a more detailed report on the same incident:

Palestinian security sources said that the first missile hit a building in Jabaliya Refugee Camp north of Gaza City. The Abu Laban family owns the building where one woman and a child were injured... The second missile was fired at a house in Gaza City’s Al Zeitoun neighborhood belonging to the Abu Assi family in which the Israelis claim they are making homemade projectiles... Palestinian security sources added that the third missile attack targeted another house in Gaza City where members of Al Qassam Brigades, the armed resistance wing of Hamas, live. One of the residents suffered injuries and is hospitalized.

ABC News published a story from the Associated Press that included comments from the Israeli military:

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told security chiefs in a meeting that "the ground of Gaza should shake" and that he wanted to exact a high price from Palestinians everywhere, not just Hamas. He promised a "crushing" response, including airstrikes, targeted killings and arrest raids, participants said afterward.

A fact now reappearing is the nature of the struggle between Israel and the Palestinians. They are at war. Not just through military and militant means, but also a war of words. While the U.S. media remains concerned with the plight of hurrican victims, we should not turn a blind eye to the strife that persists in a distant land called Palestine.

Computer screen on your hand

2005-09-24T17:47:00.000-05:00

A "programmable dermal display" in which a population of about 3 billion display pixel robots would be permanently implanted a fraction of a mm under the surface of the skin.

read more | digg story

Since Pullout, First Deadly Incident in Gaza

2005-09-23T17:39:00.000-05:00

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction said on Friday that the Hamas militant group was responsible for an explosion that killed 10 people, including children, at a rally in Gaza. I believe it is clear to many observers that there is a division within the Palestinian ranks. The division is with those who claim that careful negotiation led to the pullout, and Hamas and the like who have clearly announced that terror drove the Isreali's out. While finding out exactly who and how many belong to each camp is difficult in a trouble region like Gaza, this article from Al Jazeera outlines the political tug-of-war still evident among Palestinians. Interestingly enough, the divides don't easily follow socio-economic or even religious lines, but are heavily influenced by culture and history. Later in the Reuter's report:

Hamas said an explosion at its rally in the northern Gaza refugee camp of Jabalya was caused by an Israeli airstrike.

The only problem with this assertation would be motive. Why would the Israeli's bother interrupting this rally over all of the others? Even more obvious, why would Israel risk damaging relations with PLO leaders so soon after a major concession?

That's no moon!

2005-09-21T16:48:00.000-05:00

That's a space station. The Death Star resemblance in this photo is quite unique, as far as moons are concerned. read more | digg story

Feds want cellphone ban for teen drivers

2005-09-20T21:14:00.000-05:00

New drivers have enough things to worry about without adding cellphones and other wireless devices to the mix, federal safety regulators say. They want all states to make it illegal for teenagers and other novice drivers to jabber on phones.

read more | digg story

Google to bid on AOL?

2005-09-19T22:32:00.000-05:00

From CNET: Google could try to bid for America Online to preempt a Microsoft takeover and protect the $380 million in revenue Google gets from its biggest partner, according to an analyst. This article certainly doesn't speculate beyond the plausible and it got me to wondering--what other combinations/buyouts might be in store for internet companies? Companies like Yahoo!, Google, and Microsoft are no strangers to online aquisitions with the purchases of tools and services like Konfabulator, Flickr, CompareNet, MessageCast, Picasa, Blogger...the list goes on and on. While such business is routine and acquired services do tend to increase in value, users and speculators still become alarmed--as when Ebay recently purchased Skype. The buy-out of "free services" by big-time ad-sellers like Google is no mistake as these services often have millions of venture capital invested in them. Del.icio.us, for example, could have up to two million dollars worth of VC investment. If one of "the big three" were to acquire del.icio.us, they would have control of the largest social-bookmarking platform on the web and the resources to integrate it within their respective portals and existing services. The simple truth about large companies is that they realize that web phenomena happen every day. The only difference to them is what phenomenon will still be popular and useful tomorrow, and the next day, and the year after that. Speculation so often leaps ahead of fact though, ignoring the possibility of failure and risk. The speculators have nothing to risk. In a few months no one will care that CNET predicted Google buying AOL. But you can bet that the suits at the top will care: before, during, and after (if ever) such a move happens. read more | digg story

Remember that worm that killed malware?

2005-09-19T18:33:00.000-05:00

Well now there's a new one. This time it's a trojan instead of a worm, though. Known as Yusufali.a or Cager.a, the trojan stays hidden in your computer system secretly reading the title and URL bars and looking for words that have been included in the addresses and titles of pornography websites. Upon visiting such sites, no matter how accidental, the window automatically minimizes itself and a religious text from the Koran, which I was going to say was the muslim holy book (because the text said "Allah") but it seems to me that it was a different book. And now to "hack" it up.

Malware is the computer version of "bad things". So although this particular trojan seems to only be monitoring your internet URL's, there are many other things it could do. It's still malware and like all the other malware, it needs to have its life crushed out of it.
Believe it or not owners-of-large-organizations (even though the chances of you actually reading this are very minimal), you are not doing yourself or anyone else a favor by downloading this trojan. For example, what if the creator realizes that you want to download it and tweaks the software just a bit so that, I dont know, 100 Million dollars (should you be so fortunate to have that much money; and if so, please remember tip me and the owner of this blog) is just reorganized out of your bank account(s). That might not be the high point of your day. Please refrain from downloading things that look helpful.
And last, but not least, should this trojan manage to get itself downloaded enough, there might come a day when you can't visit any site at all without large quantities of various religious texts pop up. I know that I wouldn't want to have a large portion of the bible (or other related holy book) pop up on my screen whenever I go to check my email or post more technology news on this blog.

The Ultimate Face Lift

2005-09-18T17:07:00.000-05:00

A Cleveland doctor begins interviewing applicants for the first ever face transplant. Although the technique is routine, this article reveals that the side-effects could be devestating.

read more | digg story

So I'm the tech reporter, and here's my first post here

2005-09-18T16:28:00.000-05:00

I was a little pressed for time, and the only nerdy, who-cares piece of really insignificant (I'll try to build up in importance, but for now its really insignificant) news is Google is now searching over eight billion webpages. I know, you guys like reading that number grow every day, like a tree or the weed on the side of my house. And I'm pretty sure I have to make broad assumptions on the effects of the news that I have to give, so here they are.

Y ou can expect to be able to add, on average, between 2,000 and 4,000,000 additional webpages to your search results. Yay for research papers.
The "the" search term probably has about 2,000,000,000 more hits now. Brag about it in computer class, or online, or wherever it is you decide to get in touch with your inner geek, unless you're a nerd, and then you should brag about it all the time.
And on the other end of the spectrum, those abberations with only one result (you know you only got that because you didn't ask it to show you related results) are now even harder to find. And all the good ones that were already found should no longer be just one hit terms now.

And thats it for me, so dont bother me until next weekend.

Update on Russian Su-27 crash

2005-09-17T16:47:00.000-05:00

Click here for full update from rian.ru

VILNIUS, September 17 (RIA Novosti, Vladimir Vodo) - Russian military experts investigating the crash of a Russian Su-27 fighter flew to the crash site Saturday afternoon. Earlier in the day members of the Lithuanian inter-departmental commission headed by Brigadier General Vitalijus Vaiksnoras met with the Russian delegates led by Major General Sergei Bainetov who arrived from Kaliningrad Friday. After the meeting Vaiksnoras told the Lithuanian national radio that the investigation of the Su-27 crash might last for more than a month. He added that the international law allowed the Russian side to participate in the investigation, experiments and examination of the crash site.

Currently the situation seems to be remaining stable. Both parties are obviously keeping up their diplomatic guard, just in case.
Newsday.com posted has posted the story, including background information on similar incidents:

In May, Finland complained that Russian military aircraft had repeatedly violated its airspace over a period of several months. The violations took place over the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea as the jets flew to and from Kaliningrad.

Similar alleged violations have been reported in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In November, Estonia filed a complaint with Moscow but said none was serious enough to merit intervention by the four NATO fighters that patrol the airspace.

Other updates include the refinement of 6 hours (rather than 5) of Lithuanian prosecutor Mindaugas Duda questioning the pilot (Maj. Valery Troyanov) and concluding that there was a case against him for "violating international flight regulations." If the allegation of intentional violation is proven, the 36 year-old Russian pilot could face up to two years in prison.

Russia, Lithuania start clashing over plane crash

2005-09-17T01:15:00.000-05:00

Will the pilot be returned without repercussions? Full Story from rian.ru This story isn’t anywhere near the top of international news but I love to dig into the politics between nations that don’t always involve the U.S. MOSCOW, September 16 (RIA Novosti)-Russia and NATO member country Lithuania have issued conflicting statements Friday about when a Russian military pilot whose plane crashed in Lithuania may return home.
Compare this (the 2nd update on the story) with the next update almost four hours later:

MOSCOW, September 16 (RIA Novosti) - Lithuania tentatively agreed with Moscow Friday that the crash of a Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter was an accident caused by a navigation equipment failure but said it would keep the pilot until the end of investigation. Lithuanian media quoting the prosecutors said the pilot, Major Valery Troyanov, was now considered a "suspect."

At this point I would try to incorporate a Lithuanian news source if I could find one that did not require a monthly subscription. Currently, I have also been unable to find a reprinting of this story from a news source outside of Russia. I have taken the liberty of posting this developing story to Wikinews in the hope that others will be able to fill in information as it becomes available.

Draft of New Fedora Logo

2005-09-16T16:15:00.000-05:00

[Matt Munoz, one of the designers at Red Hat, has a summary of the design process behind the new Fedora logo concepts and solicits feedback from the community.] source: http://digg.com

read more | digg story

Heaps of really neat Google Tools

2005-09-15T07:30:00.000-05:00

["Without doubt, Google is the most useful website on the Internet." This site has 14 really cool and useful google tools such as "Poetry in Translation","Google News Map" and "Google Date". Another tool will even tell you when its the best time to visit a specific location.]From digg.com Throughout the week, I will be reviewing some of the meritorious tools that this site has to offer internet users. I might even learn a few things along the way.

read more | digg story

America first to moon--think again!

2005-09-13T21:03:00.000-05:00

If you recieve or look up the "Daily Article" from Wikipedia you might have noticed this interesting event :

1959:
The Soviet spacecraft Luna 2 crashed onto and became the
first man-made object to reach the Moon.

Compare that to 46 years later when the third millionare-adventurer plans a trip into space (SPACE.com) :

"I don't view it as a risk at all," said Olsen, who is set to blast off in a Russian Soyuz ship with Russian Valery Tokarev and U.S. astronaut William McArthur from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 1.

The political and technological shift is astounding when one takes pause to consider it. Less than five decades ago the two super-powers of the world were willing to spend the equivalent of billions of dollars hurtling delicate objects out of the atmosphere and into almost certain doom: all in an effort to dominate space. Today, those same two nations are willing to spend billions more cooperating on efforts to send researchers and equipment for the purpose of science--not war. While many would criticize NASA for the incredible bloat that is the U.S. space program , I for one hope that the institution will stay around long enough to participate in more cooperative programs that not only benefit human knowledge, but our standing with former enemies.

Coming soon

2005-09-09T23:37:00.000-05:00

Actual content--most likely me reviewing recent news articles and dissecting language/statements. I might throw in some "journal entries" for my Comp 101 class if they fit in (the teacher is technologically illiterate so that would give me major props). I will attempt to frame this main blog page into another site, since ftp-ing Blogger's template failed (probably due to server settings at my end).

Hello World

2005-09-09T22:49:00.000-05:00

Hello wide world and all who inhabit it.