Wednesday, December 08, 2004

Holidays are good time to bond, buy a bunch of stuff. "Buy Nothing Day," has come and gone, without making much of a dent on post-Thanksgiving consumerism. But while the people over at Adbusters, the organizers of the Nov. 26 holiday, haven't hurt any corporate giants, they have hit a chord with college students and professors who feel the mall is a haven for evil. [The Journal] 10:24:42 PM    comment []

I wasn't even going to note this, 'cause it just seemed like same ol' same ol', but Wes' insightful remark made me rethink: CNet: DVD Copy Control Association sues DVD jukebox maker Kaleidescape. They appear to be using a slippery-slope theory: if they allow the $27K Kaleidescape then they have to allow the $1K Molino (whose Web site is strangely empty...) and then the $100 Microsoft Media Center 2006. [Hack the Planet] 10:12:31 PM    comment []

Personal toll-free numbers move to the Net. While the business world can't survive without 800 numbers, the public has. Will a cheaper Internet version catch on? [CNET News.com] 8:09:14 PM    comment []

NEW 'OFF THE WALL' ONLINE [2600: The Hacker Quarterly] Or, go straight to the mp3. 6:09:40 PM    comment []

MORE BCS. Regardless of whether Auburn or Oklahoma deserves to face USC in the college football championship bowl game, I don't think that there would be much of a possibility that college football would change to a playoff format anytime soon. The... [Begging To Differ] Here's the thing about the BCS-versus-playoffs wrangling: moving to some N-team playoffs arrangement can't possibly be a cureall, since the "right" number of teams to battle it out given any actual season us inlikely to be N, rather than either N+1 or N-1. It seems to me rather regular that there are three teams with a legit claim to battle it out for "all the marbles" (which are what exactly?), but rarely four. What year have folks been clamoring over how the numbers five and six teams are excluded? So, first, whatever N teams -- four, eight, sixteen -- only moves the argument about which teams get included from an argument about The Big Game to one about the playoffs. It's more likely that either a team just as "worthy" as the last team to get in gets or excluded or that a team clearly not as "worthy" as the next-to-last team to be included gets included as that the N teams are the "worthy" ones to battle it out for "all the marbles." Moreover, even if whatever N is chosen proves to be the right N for a given year -- or always -- the same arguments that warrant worrying over whether Team X gets in or is left out recur, only concerning where Team X gets seeded; the argument about whether Team X is "really Number 3" applies to seeding Team X third just as it does to whether Team X plays in the BCS Championship Game. Besides, it is just a game. (Too bad folks didn't worry just as much about whether invading Iraq was justified.) I know you were just waiting to hear what I thought. Glad I could straighten it all out. 3:46:02 PM    comment []

Jay-Z to Head Def Jam Recordings Label. Rap star Jay-Z, who has little corporate experience, will become the chief executive for one of Universal's biggest divisions. By JEFF LEEDS and LOLA OGUNNAIKE. NBC to Announce Details of Martha Stewart Reality Show. Shares of Martha Stewart's company surged today after the media and merchandising company said it would announce details of a new television show later in the day. ByREUTERS. [NYT > Business] 3:35:43 PM    comment []

BNA reports CANADA LIKELY TO INTRODUCE DO-NOT-CALL REGISTRY LEGISLATION The Toronto Star reports that the Canadian government is likely to introduce legislation next week to create a national do-not-call registry. The move is supported by the Canadian Marketing Association. 10:34:23 AM    comment []

EBay Negative on Negativland IPod An artist modified a U2 iPod to make a statement about intellectual property rights and free culture, then listed the customized gadget on eBay. Apple wasn't amused, and the auction site removed the listing -- but attorneys say the artist did nothing wrong. By Katie Dean. [Wired News] 10:34:19 AM    comment []

John Leyden reports, in The Register: Virus writers have begun distributing their wares in emails that pose as Lycos's abandoned "Make love not spam" screensaver. The fake screensaver emails contain an attachment with a RAR SFX archive that has embedded key logger Trojan inside, antivirus firm Sophos warns. Infected emails come in emails with subject lines such as "Be the first to fight spam with Lycos screen" and an attachment called "Lycos screensaver to fight spam.zip". Upon successful installation, the key logging Trojan (Mdropper-IT) sends a message to an Indonesian email address confirming its status. The screensaver file, rather than displaying the Lycos screensaver, displays a blank screen. "Make Love Not Spam" was designed to bombard spam websites with requests, so increasing their bandwidth charges without - in theory - shutting them down. Security firms criticised Lycos's use of "vigilante tactics" especially when two of the targeted websites became unavailable. Several major internet backbone providers and ISP blocked access to Lycos' www.makelovenotspam.com website over concerns over its questionable legality. Lycos denied it was doing anything wrong, much less creating a DDoS attack platform, but it suspended screensaver downloads after spammers began redirected traffic back to makelovenotspam.com. This won't necessarily stop people falling for the VX ruse, unfortunately; fake Lycos screensavers will likely become a staple of social engineering tricks for weeks to come. How long was the path from that cleverware to that malware? 9:34:15 AM    comment []

Gartner: Consumers dissatisfied with online security, by Paul Roberts, ComputerWorld. Or, as Mark E. S. Bernard so soothily spoke on the ISN list today: Dear Associates, As there any surprises here? I think that we're probably all a little concerned about online security. But for those who aren't sure what to think there is always the option of paying Gartner $17k to have them tell you what you should be thinking!! Based on research that I have conducted against the Privacy Commissioners database of completed investigations over 67% of nearly three-hundred investigations here in Canada have been conducted against financial institutions. In contrast 97% of those investigations have required residual remedies to be developed and implemented to resolve confirmed issues. Lesson learned, do your home work up front and avoid productivity issues, federal investigations and wasting time/money. 9:34:10 AM    comment []