Cracktalk

Crack Talk 11-12-4
Terry Blount
tblount@mchsi.com


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Microsoft Crawling Google
http://www.webpronews.com/insiderreports/searchinsider/wpn-49-20041111MicrosoftCrawlingGoogleResultsForNewSearchEngine.html
Man Arrested for Selling Windows Source Code
A man has been arrested for selling portions of the Windows 2000 andWindows NT 4.0 source code online.http://www.out-law.com/php/page.php?page_id=manarrestedforsel1100100906&area=news
Let's see if I got this right.... Microsoft is building a new searchengine and apparently using/copying Google's database to build the indexfor their search engine - which is much easier and less expensive thancrawling the internet and collecting this data themselves.... yetMicrosoft's former employees have been arrested for attempting to sellsome source code, rather than writing it themselves. What a crazyworld we live in! We're lucky to have Microsoft to help us understandwhat's right and wrong.
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Definitely a member's only link!
Find almost everything you need here - with some great how-to's http://beam.to/XaliasX
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Biggest scam around
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has doubled the bounty it will payto people who shop their employers for using illegally pirated software,taking the upper limit to £20,000 until the end of the year.http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/05/bsa_snitch/
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Eight EBay sellers admit to phony bids - second biggest scam around
Eight eBay sellers were ordered to pay nearly $90,000 in restitution andfines after admitting they bid up products online to inflate the prices. http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20041108_104421.html
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Best Buy tries to separate "angel" customers from "devils" and get ridof the "devils."
Best Buy's angels are customers who boost profits by snapping uphigh-definition televisions, portable electronics, and newly releasedDVDs without waiting for markdowns or rebates.
The devils are its worst customers. They buy products, apply forrebates, return the purchases, then buy them back atreturned-merchandise discounts. They load up on "loss leaders," severelydiscounted merchandise designed to boost store traffic, then flip thegoods at a profit on eBay. They slap down rock-bottom price quotes fromWeb sites and demand that Best Buy make good on its lowest-price pledge.
At dozens of Web sites like FatWallet.com, SlickDeals.net andTechBargains.com, they trade electronic coupons and tips from formerclerks and insiders, hoping to gain extra advantages against the stores.
Oh how I wish LOTS of people would start buying stuff, collect therebates then return it to bust this mail-in-rebate scam. It may bedifficult to return stuff without the upc code though.
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Dell Going Strong and Staying Home
Dell plans to build its third US manufacturing plant in North Carolina,employing at least 1,500 people within five years. The new facility,scheduled to open in the fall of 2005 will produce desktop computers.
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Google will soon make it possible for users of its free Gmail serviceto check their e-mail via Microsoft Outlook or on certain handhelddevices such as mobile phones.
There is also a gmail offline storage program for Windows now. Check thecracktalk group files section on yahoo if you want the file.
Google's index now exceeds eight billion pages - almost doubling theirindex. The expanded search helps users find obscure facts andinformation... and probably causes error messages over at Microsoftwhen they try to sort the huge database.
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The Federal Communications Commission seized regulatory control overInternet-based telephone services on Tuesday by issuing an order thatsharply limited the role of state regulators.http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/10/technology/10fcc.html?ex=1257742800&en=b6f4f0433ab73e6e&ei=5088
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Meet the New Boss - Same as the Old Boss
Ashcroft steps down, Gonzales steps up to assume the top job at theJustice Department. Little difference except Gonzales has eagerlysupported military torture. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/11/new_us_attorney_general/
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Aurora Gallery
An intense geomagnetic storm, which began on Nov. 9th when a coronalmass ejection hit Earth's magnetic field, is now subsiding. Great photos. http://spaceweather.com/
More links to spectacular images from here: http://www.boingboing.net/2004/11/08/aurora_borealis_ligh.html
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Coast to Coast in 20 mins
It can be done. SF to DC in 20 mins. You'll be flying Mach 10 -- about7,200 mph, or 10 times the speed of sound. This scramjet engine isamazing. Read more about it here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6448094/
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Here is a scam on a scam that ends up scamming your tax dollars
The internet has many so called "deploma mills." Basically this is afake university where people can purchase various unacredited/fakecollege degrees. People who buy these degrees have been known to usethem to get jobs they don't actually qualify for and practice law,medicine etc. Now we find out that many governmental officials havebought these degrees and billed tax payers through various"tuition-reimbursement" programs. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20040513/1056206.shtml
It is so easy to pass with a fake degree because very few employerscheck accreditation. Even some well known institutions such as BobJones University are not accredited. I found that amusing since therecent Tom Hanks movie "Lady Killers" had several mentions of donationsto BJU. ( It's a pretty good movie.)
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Lexmark, manufacturers of inkjet and dot-matrix printers have beencaught installing spyware when their drivers are installed on customer'scomputers. http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/0,2000061744,39166406,00.htm
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Death of AOL
AOL will phase out broadband. They are currently telling their broadbandcustomers to find other carriers.http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=528&ncid=528&e=1&u=/ap/20041112/ap_on_hi_te/aol_broadband
To AOL's credit they got a lot of people online and helped many newbiesget going on the internet... but they overcharged (a LOT) and rammedpage after page of advertisements down their customer's throats. With nocable, phone lines or wireless services of their own they never had apromising future. To top that off Netscape, owned by AOL is offeringdialup for $10 and undercuting AOL's rates. Is that dumb or what? http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/ZDM/story?id=241442
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PestPatrol Spyware Protection - Full Corporate Version of Pest Patrol
http://download.pestpatrol.com/downloads/corporate/setuppestpatrolcorporate.exe
Be aware that this program thinks you need to run it all the time and willinstall in your startup without warning. I hate programs that do that.
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5 out of 5 stars from everyone who reviewed this program.
Bypass the latest "unbreakable" protections using X-Copy Software'sstate of the art burning process! Make perfect 1:1 backups of yourvaluable original discs by using the Disc At Once RAW+96 power. TrialNunber: 3217947039 http://www.wolverinesoft.com/Files/X-Copy.msi
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Tim Writes:
Control Your Car Via Cell Phone
Motorola is working on a cell phone that enables you to remotely turn onyour car, fire up the header, lock the doors and other functions.
U.S. Deploys Satellite Jammers
The US Air Force has quietly launched the military version of a cellphone jammer. It's new weapon, called the Counter Communications System,is designed to jam enemy satellite communications. It works by blastingout overwhelming quantities of electromagnetic radio waves.
Free file transfers to friends, even large files. No passwords to share,no software to install, no accounts to create, and no full mailboxes. http://s11.yousendit.com/default.uplx
If you speak Spanish and I speak English, we can enter a languagetranslating chatroom and chat with each other, and our messages will betranslated into each other's native tongue in real-time. http://www.babelchat.com
These 4 shapely women found a unique way to break ahead of the lineand get into a popular night club... and they didn't even have to pay.That's a good thing though because they didn't have any pockets to bringtheir cash or visa card. http://ohohfun.com/oooops/plaatje43.html
Find used car parts online: http://www.car-part.com/ (This is a greatsite I have used enough to have it memorized. I may have mentioned it inthe past but it's worth noting again since it finds the SAME parts thatthe auto salvage yards find. If you go to a salvage yard looking forsomething they will use this same database then buy the part for you andmark it up.)
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Honda builds a jet engine to become available in 2007 for $300k. It willbe sold by GE. The engine powers a 6 seat aircraft with 40% better fuelefficiency than similar jets now on the market. The engine could lowercost of operating a jet from $4 per mile to $1.50. http://www.forbes.com/global/2004/1115/022.html
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A 2 seat touring aircraft manufactured in the USA and will soon becertified to FAR Part 23 requirements. The base price of the aircraft is$129,500. The aircraft has a 125 horsepower Teledyne Continental FADECengine, a 48-inch wide cockpit, a payload of 603 lbs, a range of 600miles, fuel consumption of 5.5 gph and a cruise speed of 132 knots. http://www.libertyaircraft.com
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http://www.landings.com/
Great site for aviation news with FAA search for pilots ratings http://www.landings.com/_landings/pages/search/certs-pilot.html
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New diet pill, Acomplia, made by the French pharmaceutical firm
The biggest test yet of the drug found that it helped people not onlydrop pounds but also keep them off. Cholesterol and other healthmeasures improved, too. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2893179
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Browser helpers are NO help!
Perhaps there may be one or two browser helpers, like Google bar, thatare helpful but MOST are a HUGE nuisance. They are impossible to disablewithout a third party program like BHOdemon (on the SS cd) and they eatso much of your processor time you think you are running a 386. I urgeyou to install it and disable anything you don't want. You can go backand enable anything you decide you need. You can download it here: http://www.definitivesolutions.com/bhodemon.htm
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Imaginary Lover - Real Cash
Using fake names, forged visas and snapshots of young Russian women, a newcrop of on-line swindlers is luring Western victims into highly successfulconfidence games.
Each is an escalating flirtation between an unsuspecting man and a Russiangrifter masquerading as a young woman. It typically ends when the victim wiresmoney to Russia to pay for visas and airfare for a consummation of the affair.Then the beloved disappears. (NY Times)
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After All, He's Just a Man...
A web dating agency has dumped a 55-year-old male subscriber after settinghim up with 119 dates over a 5 year time period. Apparently he had sexwith 100 of those dates and several women complained that he "lackedcommitment." He said he just hasn't met the right woman yet.
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Spare the Rod - Break out the Cattle Prod
Miami police used a stun gun (50,000 volts) on a 6-year-old boy inhis principal’s office because he became "unruly." Ummm, maybe kids want to reconsider spankings?
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Smart Truck 3, the replacement for the Humvee
The beast weighs 3,000 pounds more than the H2 and is three inchestaller and four feet longer. Amazingly though, it apparently guzzlesless gas. You can buy one too. (This is a bad boy!)http://www.internationaldelivers.com/site_layout/militarybusiness/
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Fred Gives Us the Skinny on Black Friday Sales
The biggest shopping day of the year is the day after Thanksgiving.Naturally every store wants to get customers into their stores to do theshopping before they go anywhere else.... so the competition is verystrong to offer some incredible deals that will attract shoppers. http://bf2004.net/
Harbor Freight has a 2hp air compressor in their one day sale for $50. That's a steal!
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The End