Windows 7 Pricing Announced!

Windows 7 is an amazing OS, and I highly encourage everyone to get it. Ill be getting the Pro version for work, and Ultimate for home. Unless you need the domain connectivity and security benefits of the professional version, or the media features of the ultimate edition, home basic is what you want.  

Also, starting in mid July, all new computers purchased with Windows Vista, will be eligible for a free upgrade to the equivalent version of Windows 7 when it is released, and as much as I like Vista, after using Windows 7, I have to say, your computer will probable run even better after the upgrade.

 

For the home user: Windows 7 Home Premium

Full Version: $199.99

Upgrade from XP or Vista: $119.99 $49.99- Limited time pre order offer.

 

For Business Users: Windows 7 Professional

 Full Version: $299.99

Upgrade from XP or Vista: $199.99  $99.99 – Limited time pre order offer

 

For those who want it all: Windows 7 Ultimate

Full Version: $320.00

Upgrade from XP or Vista: $219.00 (sorry guys, no special here)

 

Special Pricing ends July 11, 2009

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Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

So last night was the premier of Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, and as someone who loves movies, I was totally down for a midnight showing. Before going, I read up on a lot of the reviews, and was very disappointed with what I saw, I mean Rodger Ebert called the movie “a horrible experience of unbearable length, briefly punctuated by three or four amusing moments.” All I can say to Mr. Ebert is, Suck it.

Now, if you decided to go see Transformers and thought you would be walking into a hear moving, and deeply touching film, then 1. You are an idiot 2. You have no idea what the hell Transformers are and were basically setting yourself up for disappointment. If you went to the movie expecting some awesome giant robots shooting, punching, kicking and stabbing, then you got exactly what you wanted. I thought the movie was great. It was exactly what I wanted, a plot that was only there to tie together giant robots fighting, no more, no less.

Awesome things about the movie:

1. Giant Fighting Robots

 

2. Sexy Women (*cough*Megan Fox*cough*)

 

3. Sexy Cars

Seriously? Do you need more?

Bottom line: No, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is not the next Citizen Kane, but it is a decent action flick, and if you want big explosions, fighting robots, and good looking women, go see the movie. If you want a deep, heart warming movie, go see something else.

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Apple’s MobileMe Helps Owner find “lost” iPhone

I am about as hardcore of a Microsoft/Windows fan as you can get. I love the company and the products, but I can also recognize when someone has made a great product,  and Apple has done that. The iPhone is a fantastic device, and with the release of the 3.0 firmware, it has gotten even better, and Kevin (www.happywaffle.com) has found this out first hand.

Kevin and some friends went to have a drink at a bar after a Lego convention (yea, he is THAT awesome), but unfortunately, left his precious iPhone behind when they left. Like any good (and by good I mean addicted) phone user, Kevin noticed his error very quickly, but by the time he got back to the bar, his phone was gone. Of course, Kevin was bummed, but then it came to him, not only did Kevin have an iPhone, but he had set up the “Locate your iPhone” feature on apples MobileMe! And so Kevin’s journey (hunt) began.

Multiple unanswered texts, several ignored calls, some luck, and a high speed chase brisk walk through a crowded urban neighborhood, and Kevin, with friends, was able to track down the person who *found* Kevin’s phone! And while I don't necessarily recommend chasing down bad guys, you can help but cheer on Kevin.

Read the full tale on Kevin’s rarely updated blog. 

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Virus Harvests Confidential Banking Info from ATMs

A new virus has been discovered on ATMs throughout Russia and the Ukraine. The ATMs; running Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system, appear to have had been infected with a 50Kb piece of malware. The malware, which ran under the guise of lsass.exe, an executable which is normally used to cache users credentials to make accessing data easier, evaded normal virus scans and security checks.

As the piece of malware sits undetected, it gathers not only the card number of any card used on the machine, but also the start and expiration date of the card, the pin, and the 3-digit security code. All of this information was stored on the ATMs hard drive until the person controlling the virus decided it was time to collect. The method for retrieving the data was also very smart and likely contributed to staying undetected for so long. When the thief was ready to collect, they simply went to the ATM, inserted a preprogrammed “trigger” card, and all of the data was printed out via the ATMs receipt printer. So far, the malware has been found on 20 ATMs, and the experts at SpiderLabs, the company that located the bug, has said that it is likely it if more wide spread, and likely to continue to spread. It is up to banks to now tighten up their security procedures as well as pay careful attention to the audit trails that up until now have been used to make sure customer data was being transmitted securely.

As a bank user, the best thing you can do is pay careful attention to your bank and credit card statements and your credit report. You can get a free credit report for the Big 3 credit agencies by visiting https://www.annualcreditreport.com/, or check with your bank/credit card company to see if they offer free/cheap credit monitoring.

 

 

See the article on New Scientist for more info.

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FBI agent looks back on time posing as a Cyber Criminal

A good Q&A with FBI Special Agent J. Keith Mularski (AKA: Master  Splynter), the agent who went undercover for 2 years pretending to be an infamous hacker and spammer to infiltrate "Dark Market"; an online group of cyber criminals.

"It was like a soap opera. There was constant drama going on. A lot of people were accusing one another of being cops."

After spending 2 years undercover, the sting ended with over 60 arrests in Germany, Turkey, The UK and the United States, with charges ranging from Identity theft to kidnapping.

Q. What sorts of crimes were they doing on Dark Market?
A. They were doing all sorts of identity theft. They were hacking into companies and stealing credit card numbers and selling them. They were selling counterfeit drivers' licenses and other photo documentation, as well as manufacturing fake credit cards. They were selling harvested bank accounts and brokerage accounts and selling different types of malware or spyware programs or Trojan horses that you could infect peoples' computers with. The whole gamut of the cyber underground was available there. If you needed it you could get it there on the site.

"The attackers have changed with the emergence of organized crime into these cybercrimes...It's all about the money now and not just about how elite my hacking skills are to get into this Web site. Profit is driving these groups."

Q. How old are they?
A. The average guy is in his mid-20s or so. We've seen guys in their 40s. Ages range from 17 to 40something, typically. A lot of the guys who we arrested were in their mid-30s.

Q. The stakes are higher now for everyone?
A. Definitely.

Read the Full Q&A on CNET

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More Warranty Services Calls…

More fun…

This time the calls came from: (269)768-2200

Call 5: (co-worker3’s work phone) 3:35pm
*blahblahblah press 1 to talk to a sales person*
Kiko: Hi, this is Kiko calling from Warranty Services, are you interested in a warranty for your car?
Me: Hi Kiko, may I have your corporate offices number please?
Kiko: I’m sorry, I can’t give you that, I hope you have a good day *click*

*This call actually gets somewhere*

Call 6: (my work cell again) 3:46pm
*blahblahblah press 1 to talk to a sales person*
Caesar: Hi, this is Caesar calling in regards to your automobile warranty expiring, can I have you first and last name as well as zip code please?
Me: zip code is 96813
Caesar: Thank you, and your first and last name?
Me: John Smith
Caesar: out records indicate that you have never bought a warranty from us.
Me: nope
Caesar: Thank you, and what year, make and model of your car?
Me: 1950 Ford Model T
Caesar: Do you have a newer car?
Me: no
Caesar: I'm, sorry, we cant process your warranty today.
Me: WHY NOT?!
Caesar: Unfortunately, its too old.
Me: How old can the car be?
Caesar: The car must be from 1983 or later, have fewer than 150k miles, and cannot be a commercial vehicle.
Me: Do you have a subsidiary or affiliate that can warranty commercial vehicles?
Caesar: No
Me: Well, I’m looking at buying a new car soon, can I have your number so I can call back and get a warranty?
Caesar: We don’t do that.
Me: You don't let people call to buy things from you?
Caesar: No, this is your final notice, if you don’t buy it now, we wont ever call you back, and your number will be deleted.
Me: But this is the second time you’ve called this number today.
Caesar: That is because our database takes 24 hours to update, so tomorrow your number will be deleted.
Me: Well, good luck on the not letting people buy things. Talk to you tomorrow.

Call 7 (co-worker3’s personal cell) 4:01pm

Call got disconnected before we could get to a person.

Call 8 (co-worker2’s personal cell again) 4:05pm

Call got disconnected before I could talk to somone.

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Dear Warranty Services…

Today has been a day full of fun with telemarketers. Now, normally, I simply answer the phone and let them know I am not interested. I know the guy on the other line is just trying to earn a pay check, so I’m not about to start screaming at them. But this is getting ridiculous (well for my co-workers, I find it hilarious). I missed a couple of their calls yesterday because I was on the other line, but I made sure I was ready today.

The Number that has been calling so far is: (571) 431-1262
They Claim to be from Warranty Cervices, which is a well known Scam

Call 1(this was to my work cell): 11:36 am
*blahblahblah press 1 to talk to a sales person*
Girl Caller: Thank you for responding to your final notice, to ensure accurate information, can you please confirm the year, make and model of your vehicle? 
Me: How do you know the warranty is expired if you don't have the car’s info?
*Click* call ends

Call 2 (co-worker1’s work cell): 12:42p
*blahblahblah press 1 to talk to a sales person*
Girl Caller: Thank you for responding to your final notice, to ensure accurate information, can you please confirm the year, make and model of your vehicle? 
Me: Thanks for calling about this. Is this for the Bentley or the BMW?
Girl Caller:*sounds excited* What year is your BMW sir?
Me: So this is for the BMW? I thought the Bentley was the one out of Warranty?
Girl Caller: “uhhh…*click*

Call 3 (my personal cell): 12:47p
*blahblahblah press 1 to talk to a sales person*
Guy Caller: Thank you for responding to your final notice, to ensure accurate information, can you please confirm the year, make and model of your vehicle?
Me: I’m sorry, who was this?
Guy Caller: Warranty Services
Me: And your name?
Guy Caller: Rick
Me: Rick, may I have your corporate office’s number please?
Guy Caller: I cant give that to you, I’m sorry.
Me: No problem, may I speak with your supervisor?
*Click*

Call 4: (co-worker2’s cell phone) 1:01pm
*blahblahblah press 1 to talk to a sales person*
Girl Caller: Thank you for responding to your final notice, to ensure accurate information, can you please confirm the year, make and model of your vehicle? 
Me: I’m sorry, I didn't catch your name
Girl Caller: “Mu…mu…My Name?”
Me: Yea, so I know who I’m talking to
*click*

You would think these people would have more persistence, but nope, one question and they crack. Oh well, hopefully they call more, this is getting fun.

As always people, think before you give out your information. If someone calls and asks for your info, its probably a scam. Ask where they are from, and ask for a call back number. Then, if it is someone you do business with, go find their corporate number, and call that to get back in touch.

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First Conficker Attack? or Worst April Fools Day Joke Ever?

It looks like Time Warner Business Class for Oahu is going offline. Several clients are reporting outages, their phones and website are down, and TW Corporate live chat is not working. I will post updates as we get them. Anyone with info, feel free to contact me via the "Contact Me" link.


0919 HST

TW is back online... Just a power outage

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What's a Conficker?

What is the Conficker Worm?

Conficker (also known as Downup, Downadup, and Kido) is a worm that has been spreading across the Internet since around October of 2008, of course, this is just an approximation, and the actual origin is not known for certain. Conficker specifically targets the Windows operating system (Windows 2000 Pro, XP home, XP Pro, XP Media Center Edition, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008). It spreads via malicious web sites, emails, and sharing infected files via P2P software.

What does Conficker do?

As of now, all that is has done is install itself, break your antivirus software, and modify some system files to make itself very hard to remove. It is also likely that if you got the Conficker Worm, you got other malware as well that causes the common symptoms (pop ups, slowness, etc). In addition, it creates false URLs in order to spread it self, and also downloads more malware to your system.

The big concern with this worm is that is has spread so much. Current estimates indicate that it could be installed on as many as 15 Million computers world wide. Now, if it stay dormant and does nothing, that's not that big of a deal, but experts don't think that it is going to stay dormant. Analysts who have looked into the worm believe that on April 1st, 2009 (tomorrow) the worm is programmed to "phone home" and update it self with new instructions, and that is a major concern.

The potential for a worm like this is massive, and the update could make the worm do anything from delete files, download more malware, turn your computer into a spam bot (a computer that sends out massive amounts of spam) or all the infected computers could be combined to form a massive botnet, which would be leased to the highest bidder.

A bot net, is a network of computers, usually lots of home systems spread across the world, that are controlled as a single unit and used to either send out massive amounts of spam, or to DDoS targets. If used as a botnet and the target is a bank, a utility company, or even a few large organizations the results could be crippling. If they target ISPs, the Internet could come to a crawl, if they target a company, they could lose massive amounts of business.

The problem is, at this point, we don't really know what will happen, and that is scary. But not to worry, we are not helpless.

Symptoms of Conficker:

• Users being locked out of directories
• Access to admin shares denied
• Scheduled tasks being created
• Access to security related web sites is blocked.

How to stop Conficker:

This worm uses a known exploit in Windows that Microsoft has patched a long time ago. The problem is, many people don't update their computers, so the fix is never installed. So the first step is to update your computer.

1. Go to update.microsoft.com and install all of the latest updates for your computer. Once they are installed, reboot your computer, and go back and run the updates again. Keep doing this until no more updates show as needing to be installed.
2. Update your anti virus software. Open up the software and run the automatic update. If your subscription is expired, either renew it right now, or uninstall it, and download and install a free anti virus like AVG
3. After the updates, run a full system scan, and delete any threats that have been found.
4. Restart your computer, and run the full system scan again.
5. You can also use an online scanner like Trend Micro's Housecall,  Symantec's Removal Tool, or
Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool

For more information about the Conficker Worm See the following:

Microsoft Malware Protection Center

Microsoft Help and Support

McAfee Conficker Information Page

Symantec's Conficker Information Page

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The Ultimate Steal Is Back

A lot of people like to hate on Microsoft, but they do a lot of good, especially when it comes to helping students. Right now, you can get Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate Edition, which usually sells for over $600.00 for only $59.99 through a program called The Ultimate Steal, which is put on by Microsoft. The only stipulations to the program are that you must be a student, and you much have an email address ending in .edu.Other than that, this is a completely legit deal, so if you need MS office, and you are a student, there is no better choice.

 

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When Life Gives You Lemons...

When you are busy, that 30 seconds your computer takes to do something can seem like an eternity, and for anyone who uses Gmail, the wait from when you click send, to when you can do anything else seems like forever...even though in reality, its only a few seconds.

So Google, being the totally awesome company they are have decided to do something with that 5 seconds. They have added a new feature (currently available in Google Labs) which allows you to stop a message from sending. It has happened to all of us, you click send, and you realized that you had selected Reply All instead of reply, or that there is a glaring mistake that you had missed, now you can stop the message from being sent!

To activate the feature, log into Gmail --> Go to Settings --> Labs and scroll down until you see the "Undo Send" feature. Choose Enable, and save your settings.

 

Now, when you send a message, you will see a message along the top that gives you the option to undo the sending.

 

But you have to be quick, the message is only there for a few seconds. If you do click undo, it takes you back to the message edit screen, and you can discard the message completely, add/remove recipients, or alter the message.

 

I know ill be leaving the feature turned on. I do my best to not make mistakes, but if I have to wait the 5 seconds anyway, I may as well add a benefit to it.

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Your Digital Legacy

In a world where protecting your online identity is as important as protecting your credit cards, car titles, and home deeds, it only makes sense that if something happens to you, there is someone you trust to take care of it. 

A company called Legacy Locker has now made that task a little easier. According to their website Legacy Locker is

"a safe, secure repository for your digital property that lets you grant access to online assets for friends and loved ones in the event of death or disability."

Essentially, legacy locker gives you a place to store all of the information that makes up your online identity. Email account information, online banking usernames and passwords, online bill pay and stock trade account information. In addition to providing a secure and easily accessible place to store all of this information, they allow you to select a beneficiary (or multiple beneficiaries) and in the event something happens to you, the information will be released to them. This can potentially save your family days, if not weeks of grief while trying to hunt down this information.

I love this idea...but am hesitant. Not only are you putting all the information necessary to access your online life in a single place, but you are putting it in place that really has no reputation, and this for me is a major concern. Now, there are security risks any time you are storing valuable information anywhere, so to mitigate these risks, people spread their information around, but this means more time spend managing information.

 

The Bad:

1.  No real reputation: While founder Jeremy Toeman is known in the blogging and marketing world, he is not a security expert, nor is he an expert in estate management.
2. All of your information is in one place: Never put all your eggs in one basket. Not only does it increase the risk of loss if there is a breach, it also increases the chance of a breach because they are now a high profile target.
3. Website is not up to par: Their website lacks a lot of information, their ToS, Privacy Agreement, and Conditions of use are very cookie cutter, and not specific to the service they provide. In addition, there are A LOT of spelling errors, and other mistakes in terminology which indicates a lack of understanding of the service itself.  If they can't pay a proper copy editor, how can we trust they are paying someone to properly secure their site.

The Good:

1. They make it clear that they will share your information, but only with affiliates who will be working with them on the service you bought, not 3rd party services.
2. They have a proper SSL certificate in place through thawte, inc. Who is a trusted source in security
3. They claim to have been audited by both thawte and McAfee.
4. Data is encrypted at a higher level once stored than it is during transmission. Now this may sound bad, but they are using a 256 bit encryption during transmission, which is what banks use. Data is stored with a 512 bit encryption on the server, which is exceptional.
5. It really is a good idea, and with the proper backing and effort it can be a great product.

 

My Opinion:

I think it is too early to pass judgement, especially since the product doesn't go live for another month. I like the idea, and I like that they are working with known security experts. I am however highly skeptical of storing so much information in one place, especially online. I wont be one of the first to sign up, but I will be keeping an eye on this product.

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Deleted a file by mistake?

At one time or another, everyone has mistakenly deleted a file from their computer, or deleted a picture from the memory card of their  camera thinking that they had another copy or that they no longer needed it. And while many of these files end up in the recovery bin and are easy to get back, sometimes you need something just a little better. Pirform, Ltd, the makers of awesome software such as CCleaner, has released a new piece of data recovery software called Recuva.

Recuva was released a few months back, but up until about an hour ago, I had yet to try it. Yes, even I delete things by mistake....but that's not what happened tonight. It was a nice quiet night, and my phone rang... an emergency call from a client. She was trying to move some files from a thumb drive to her desktop, but along the way, the files were deleted. What better time to try a new piece of software then in a crisis?

Recuva worked like a champ. I downloaded and installed it in less than 2 minutes. Then with an incredibly clean and simple interface, I was able to select the location that the files were originally located, the types of files I was looking for and where I wanted to recover the files to.

A minute later, I had a folder full of recovered files. My client is happy, I am happy, and my future clients will be happy because we now have a new tool to help them when mistakes happen.

So the next time you accidentally delete an important folder or file, give it a try, it worked for me.

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Jamming Cell Phones

In the United States it is illegal for anyone other than the federal government to interfere with licenses radio communications, this includes cell phones. But with cell phones being more popular than they ever have been, many businesses are trying to change this rule.

Many people think that cell phones should be jammed in places like schools, hospitals, libraries, movie theaters, and restaurants because of the potential to disturb others. The biggest argument against this type of action is that in the event of an emergency, a call cannot be made out, and no calls can come in. I believe this is a reasonable argument.

Personally, I think that individuals should be responsible and have some common decency. If you are in a place like a theater, library, or basically any other place where a sudden ring would cause an interruption, then put your phone on silent, and obviously don't talk on your phone. Unfortunately, many people don't seem to get this.

This is very different then people talking loudly in public places, while it can be incredibly annoying to hear a guy 20 feet away screaming into his cell phone, it is out in the open, I am not paying to be there, and I can move 10 more feet away without really being put out any. But in an enclosed place, where I am paying for an experience, I expect others would respect that and be courteous, after all, I'm sure they would hate me sitting next to them and talking while they are trying to watch a movie or enjoying a nice dinner.

So do I think anyone outside the federal government be allowed to use jammers? NO.

I responsibly use my phones (I carry up to 3 phones at a time because of work) daily. If I am in the movies, and feel my phone vibrate, I get up and leave so I can see what is going on. I expect everyone else to do the same. I rarely use my phones in public (its hard for me to hear my clients, and for them to hear me), and my phones are on vibrate 99% of the time. I should not be punished because others are irresponsible. The one exception to this is on an air plane. I REFUSE to give my business to any airline which allows people to use their cell phones in the air. I can leave a restaurant if someone is being really annoying, I can leave a movie theater if it gets that bad, but I cant walk off a flight halfway through, and while I am a very controlled individual, I don't think it would take more than an hour of someone talking loudly in an enclosed place before their phone met the business end of my boot.

I am however ok with the federal government  using jammers in emergencies or for security purposes. Id rather not have cell phone service then a bomb explode, and id rather emergency services have all the bandwidth they need then get an email.

 

See PC Worlds Article for more about Jamming cell Phones

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Rouge Admin or Dedicated Employee

Over the last several month, there have been many articles published about Terry Childs; the San Francisco network administrator who is now in jail after being accused of 'network tampering' during his tenure as Lead Network Administrator for the city of San Francisco.

For those who have not been following the story:

• Terry Childs was the lead network administrator for the city of San Francisco, and managed a very large network responsible for the majority of government data traffic.
  
• The unofficial reason for him tampering with the computer network was that he was trying to create an insurance policy of sorts for himself after he got a poor performance review and his supervisor tried to have him fired.
  
• Childs' allegedly configured a single administrative username/password that only he had access to on several key pieces of equipment, and when asked for the credentials, he gave wrong info, then refused to give the correct info.
  
• Child's is also accused of deleting the startup configurations on several pieces of equipment, so in the event the power went out on the device (required to reset passwords sometimes) the configuration would be lost. Password recovery features were also disabled.
  
• Childs' also allegedly install data monitoring software on several supervisors computers, and was found with lists of usernames and passwords, including those of his superiors.
  
• And finally, Child's is accused of setting up 'rouge' devices across the network to provide him remote access to it.

I know, this looks bad. But lets consider what his job was, the man was a network administrator, and much of the above can easily be seen as part of his job.

Things Terry did, that I do daily.

• We have 2 administrative accounts on each computer, 1 master administrator account that stays un used, and 1 administrator account that we use for admin tasks. We do this, so in the event something happens to the one we use, we have a backup that is not used. Only we have these passwords, our clients do not. It is not rare for them to request this info, but we explain that if we provide them administrative access to servers and other equipment, we cannot be held responsible for it any longer. If they need changes made, we can do it for them. If they insist on access, we reevaluate them as customers as it is not worth our reputation to allow an untrained person admin access to a server when they have no reason for needing it.
  
• Part of the service we provide is installing an application on each computer that monitors event logs, runs maintenance at night, monitors anti-virus software, provides us remote access to computers, and several other things. Monitoring computers is part of our job.
  
• Configuring remote access to sites. Any network admin who has to support multiple locations sets up ways for them to access things remotely, otherwise they cant do their job. It is not rare to set up multiple methods of remote access, so in the event one fails, you have another option.

 

How do I feel about this case?

My feeling towards this are mixed. I understand that sometimes an IT admin needs to protect a company from itself. Too often company executives think that because they are high up in a company they should be allowed to do what they want on a computer and access whatever they want. This is not true. Executives are targets in the hacking world. Their information is all over the place on the web and on their company web sites because they want to be known. Because so much data about them is available, it makes it easier to exploit them. This means their accounts need to be even more tightly controlled than the average user, but this is the exact opposite of what they want, and sometimes demand.

When a CEO demands access to something, an IT professional is put in a tough position. They can give the access, and the deal with any problems created by it (and trust me, problems occur frequently when people have unneeded access), or you can stand up to the person and risk backlash.

I have been in this position in the past. A position where executives come up with inane ideas and requests, and despite the IT department explaining why the idea is bad, and the risks involved, and the potential for problems, we are pushed into making the changes. When something goes wrong, we are then looked at like we caused it, and that is not fair. I have left jobs because of situations like this.

The networks and computers we build and maintain as administrators are like a living resume. If you are named as the admin on a network with a major security breach, it can dramatically hurt your career, so when you are faced with these decisions, you are being asked to put your reputation on the line. So with every decision, you ask yourself, "is this risk worth my career?"

However, as a professional, there is a point where you just need to cave and give the boss what they want, and let them deal with the problems. When he was faced with arrest, Childs' should have left the job, and turned over all credentials and information in a proper way, there is no if ands or buts. The data belonged to the city, and while I'm sure he wanted to protect it, and while he may have thought he had been wronged, he had no legs to stand on when it came to that.

I am very interested in seeing how this will turn out.

 

More info about the case:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/14/BAOS11P1M5.DTL

http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/07/15/IT_admin_locks_up_San_Franciscos_network_1.html

http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/07/17/IT_administrator_pleads_not_guilty_to_network_tampering_1.html

http://weblog.infoworld.com/venezia/archives/020956.html

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/career/?p=555&tag=nl.e101

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Microsoft Elevates America

Microsoft announced today that they will be partnering with governments, private, public and community organizations to launch Elevate America; a free and low cost resources that provide the skills, training and certifications needed for people of all ages who are preparing for job opportunities in today's changing economy.

"As part of our ongoing investment in education and workforce readiness, Microsoft is providing additional support through governments and designated partners to accelerate the workforce readiness of Americans through the most relevant training and certification programs we offer."

Some of the things Microsoft will be assisting with are:

• Expanded access to basic technological literacy and skills training.
• Intermediate technology skills training courses, instructor-led and online, plus selected certification exams.
• Access to a new web portal that will help guide individuals to training that positions them for success in the economy today, and tomorrow.

One of the programs I am looking forward to is an expansion on the Microsoft Second Shot Offer. In addition to Microsoft giving test takes a free retake in the event they do not pass their exam, they will also be offering a highly discounted price on e-Learning material to study for your exams. If you have not taken any of your exams yet, DO IT NOW. Check out the new ThinkSmarter Store for some recommendations on study material. As for me? Its time to get back to grinding away at those certifications.

To read more about this amazing program, or to learn what resources will be available to you, see the Elevate America Website.

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Don't Feel Bad...Even Banks Get Scammed.

The New York Times has reported that Citibank may have fallen victim to none other than a Nigerian Scammer.

"Swindles in which someone overseas seeks access to a person’s bank account are so well known that most potential victims can spot them in seconds.

But one man found success by tweaking the formula, prosecutors say: Rather than trying to dupe an account holder into giving up information, he duped the bank. And instead of swindling a person, he tried to rob a country — of $27 million."

Luckily (For CitiBank), it looks like the scammer has been caught.

Read the Full Article on the NY Times Website.

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DOLLHOUSE

I'm a big fan of awesome TV shows, and while my taste is eclectic (I love House MD, but am happy to sit back and enjoy some Top Chef) I limit what I allow my self to sit down and watch so I have time for other things (Like this Blog), but recently a new show hit fox, and it get my attention...Ok Eliza Dushku got my attention, but the show still looked cool.

I missed episode 1 and 2 when they premiered (Its rare I watch things at their scheduled time) but I really wanted to give this show a shot, so I headed over to Fox.com and watched it online. (God I love online episodes)

Episode 1 was interesting, a little background on what is going on, a little character development, and an ok story line, and of course Ms Dushku front and center. So, I watched the second episode. Now that was some good stuff. More store, more kick ass Eliza. I think next week, Ill be watching this thing live (yes, we need to do that to the makers get their Ad money and keep making good shows.)

So why am I mentioning this on a technology blog? Well....its my blog, so I can write whatever I want AND the show is based on technology that allows you to program a person to do what ever you want. They image people, like I image computer...and that's cool (albeit a bit creepy).

So check out the show, its looking to be pretty good, and from what I here, it shifts from good to totally awesome in episode 6, so im looking for ward to it.

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Update From Yelp.com

Yelp.com has replied to the allegations that they are trying to sell a service of removing bad reviews from their site. They attribute the report to miscommunications regarding the services they do offer (the ability to highlight a good review) and also the algorythims used to sort the reviews that are listed.

"It appears that a key source of confusion is our anti-spam algorithm which makes
a small number of reviews come and go from a typical business' page.
We
realize we need to do better at communicating the why and how of this
counter-intuitive "feature" and we will."

Read the Full Response on Yelp's Blog.

I hope this really is all just a miscommunication. The idea Yelp.com is trying to bring to life (and has been) is a good one. Consumers need a place to voice their opinions, and if a company is manipulating those opions, then there is a problem.

See the comments left on The Consumerist, apparently several users there agree with the assesment that Yelp is a scam.

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Yelp.com Real Reviews may not be so real...

What started as an almost idealistic endeavor, a place to give every day consumers a voice,  seems to have taken a turn for the worst as advertising budgets shrink and investors are becoming more cautious in who they give their money. Recent complaints reported by The East Bay Express indicate that Yelp.com, who's motto is "Real people. Real Reviews.", has started offering to remove bad reviews for a fee, and may also be falsifying reviews or altering the order in which they appear on their web site if the business declines to pay this fee. Simply put, this is extortion.

The idea behind Yelp.com, founded in July 2004 by Jeremy Stoppelman, 31, and Russel Simmons, 30, both coming from PayPal, was to give a place for customers to not only find local businesses, but to also give these customers a voice by allowing them to post reviews. Since the creation of Yelp, their primary source of funding has been private investors, so far totaling over $31 Million, as well as selling advertisements, and upgrade business profiles, but in just under 5 years of operation, the company has still failed to turn a profit.

Chief Operating Officer Donaker said it's all a big misunderstanding;

"Do I think that sales reps call are saying, 'We'll move your bad reviews'?" he asked. "No. But I think it could be true — when you get to pick your favorite review and put it to the top, if I said it a little different way, it might sound a little nefarious."

To read the full story, check out The Full Article on The Easy Bay Express web site.

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