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4. mars 2003
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Headlines we could live without
"Jacko's Voodoo Curse" (E! Online News)
8:05:09 PM 
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Sendmail vulnerability discovered
Internet Security Systems has exposed a dangerous vulnerability in Sendmail, the Unix mail server program that half and three quarters of all Internet email traffic. The exploit would, if it was known, permit a malicious hacker of obtaining root privilegues on the mail server byu sending a specially formatted email message.
There are fixes available for download, but from experience it takes a long time before a significant part of email servers are patched.
One the the few times a security flaw that isn't in a Microsoft product is discussed in mainstream media. Note the differences in reporting about this security hole and the comparable hole in IIS discovered more than half a year ago, and misused in a recent worm.
6:43:55 PM
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Terror attacks on the Philippines
A bomb has exploded on the Davao City airport on the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines. Nineteen people are currently confirmed dead and more than fifty others injured.
Shortly after the attack two other explosions were reported, at a bus station and government clinic, but no serious injuries are reported from these.
Both the Abu Sayyaf terror group and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front has been accused of terror attacks in the area previously. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The US has recently stepped up its participation in the war against the Abu Sayyaf on the Philippines.
4:34:17 PM
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— Al Qaeda captive says Osama bin Laden is dead
I just read in Norway's largest newspaper VG that the captive terror-suspect Khalid Sheikh Mohammad says that Osama bin Laden is dead, after initially claiming he was alive. I have not been able to find any other news sources confirming this claim, which seems strange.
AFP is given as source for the information, which allegedly comes from intelligence sources. Both AFP and the newspaper VG is generally well-informed.
3:50:03 PM
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Australian govt wants to force ISPs to block porn
"The Federal Government is considering forcing Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to filter online pornography, after an independent report found the existing system of voluntary filtering was basically useless." (Sydney Morning Hereld)
I am sure they can get help from their collegues in China or Singapore about how to make this censorship plan work.
3:17:28 PM
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Leaked NSA memo absent from US media
The story about the allaged leaked NSA "dirty tricks" memo that appeared in the Observer on Sunday is making the rounds in the world's media. After looking around, I can easily find the story in British, Norwegian, French, German, Italian, Canadian, Russian, Australian, Middle-East and Far East media. There is a country; there is a newspaper writing about it, and mostly the story has prominent placing..
Except (you guessed it), in the US.
Its mention in mainstream US media is basically zilch. Honourable exceptions are Slate (though hidden inside an article about something else) and Washington Times, even though the latter only mentions it (in "foreign dispatches") to question its authenticity (as does WTVJ in Florida). Some very few non-mainstream US newssources also carry the story.
In the blogsphere, on the other hand, the Observer story is currently the top two most referenced links, according to Daypop. Its authenticity and impact is also heavily debated in blogs. But the US media is silent.
Liberal bias? You must be joking.
11:13:38 AM
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Half of Americans can't understand child car seat instructions
An analysis of installation instructions for child car seats in the journal Pediatrics have found that on average, they require a 10th grade reading comprehension level. Earlier studies have found that almost half of Americans over the age of 16, more than 90 million people, read at or below an 8th grade level. 40 million of those again read at or below a 5th grade level.
While certainly not being the whole explanation, the study suggests bad reading skills may be one reason that 74% to 94% of youngsters are not restrained properly in cars. When car seats are used correctly, they can reduce the risk of hospitalisation and death in children by about 70%.
The journal study recommended car seat manufacturers to simplify the instructions, by replacing words like "collision" with "crash" and "remedied" with "fixed."
Well, if you've read this far, the problem is unlikely to apply to you.
9:27:49 AM
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Doubts Khaled Shaikh Mohammed is 'Mastermind'
Robert Frisk (known from the Independent) generally doesn't believe anything the Americans say. He points out, quite correctly, that nobody has been given any evidence that Khaled Shaikh Mohammed is an al Qaeda 'mastermind,' and not even that he's been arrested at all. He is equally skeptical of the alleged al Qaeda operatives killed by a hellfire missile in a car in Yemen last year. In short, if the Americans say it, Frisk doesn't believe it.
5:18:53 AM
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© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.04.2003; 01:32:49.
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