Cracktalk

Crack Talk 11-19-4
Terry Blount
tblount@mchsi.com
Thanks for your vote. Crack Talk got 3rd place in the Techweb vote forbest independent blog. http://www.techweb.com/blogawards/cracktalk_03.html
3rd is ok I'm just disappointed that I didn't find anything worthcopying from the winner and runner up.
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I strongly suggest you open your browser NOW and go to tools and clickWindows Update. There are a lot of nasties out there that will hack andhijack an unpacthed IE. I got hijacked from a music lyrics site. The bugrequired me to go to my backup and overwrite Windoz (in safe mode)because after I got it removed Windows wouldn't boot.
These sites scan your browser for security holes http://browsercheck.qualys.com/ http://www.auditmypc.com/
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Here are the specifics on how to set up Gmail pop with any email client http://email.about.com/od/gmailtips/qt/et010605.htm
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Caught with Hand in the Cookie Jar
Pirated software used to create help content in Microsoft's Windows XP
Members of a former software cracking group have discovered that audiofiles created with one of its cracked programs are distributed with eachcopy of the Windows XP operating system, possibly exposing Microsoft toa large-scale copyright infringement lawsuit.
The content in question can be found on every computer with Windows XPas operating system installed. Nine WAV audio files located in thefolder " "Help\Tours\WindowsMediaPlayer\Audio\Wav" in the Windowsinstallation directory include a signature of "Deepz0ne", a member offormer cracking group "Radium". If the files are opened not with anaudio player, but with a HEX editor or simply in Windows' own texteditor Notepad, the last line displays as "000-04-06 IENG Deepz0ne ISFTSound Forge http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20041115_135458.html
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Microsoft Releases Windows Update Beta - due to ship by mid-2005.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1728266,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594
Until then... Microsoft is supplying patches through:
Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/advance.mspx
Starting in November 2004, the TechNet Security site will publish ageneral summary of planned security bulletin releases three businessdays before each regularly scheduled monthly bulletin release. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/news/bulletinadvance.mspx
Finjan Software Inc., claims to have discovered a set of 10 majorsecurity flaws in Microsoft Corp.’s Windows XP Service Pack 2, bypassingmany of the security measures the update puts into place.http://channels.lockergnome.com/news/archives/20041116_ten_major_holes_found_in_sp2_claims_security_company.phtml
Secunia has alerted its customers to three holes in Microsoft InternetExplorer http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20041117_101549.html
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How low can you go?
The Motion Picture Ass. of America is urging parents and teachers to runtheir software on home computers to snoop out, spy on and identifychildren who are swapping movies.... and then turn them over toauthorities. The software, designed to identify potentially infringingmaterial on the home PC, is part of the MPAA's war on file sharing andwill be released for free by the MPAA at a later date.
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US Government To Put Old Newspapers Online
While the government seems especially worried about copyright for recentcontent, once content gets old and in the public domain, suddenly it's a"national treasure" that needs to be available to everyone. The first ofwhat's expected to be 30 million digitized pages from papers publishedfrom 1836 through 1922 will be available in 2006. Copyright restrictionsare in force on papers published after 1923 and the type faces of printused before 1836 is too difficult for optical scanners to read.http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/11/17/oldnewspapers.ap/index.html
I'm sure politicians don't want anything more current because itwould be too easy to check up on what they have said in the past.
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The most popular online Internet application Web sites for the weekending Nov. 7, as ranked by Nielsen//NetRatings.
Windows Media Player 18 Million AOL Instant Messenger 13 Million MSN Messenger Service 11 Million Yahoo! Messenger 8 Million RealOne/RealPlayer 7 Million
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Some unusual/amusing photographs at this site http://strangecosmos.com
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Internet Hunting Idea Has Wildlife Officials Up in Arms
Hunters soon may be able to sit at their computers and blast animals ona Texas ranch via the Internet. The Web site already offers targetpractice with a .22 caliber rifle and could soon let hunters shoot atdeer, antelope and wild pigs.
The owner of the website said that humans have always adopted newtechnologies to hunt. "First it was rocks and clubs, then we sharpenedit and put it on a stick. Then there was the bow and arrow, blackpowder, smokeless power and optics," Berger said. "Maybe this is thenext technological step out there." http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/11/16/life.hunting.reut/index.html
Hummm.... I wonder if the job is open for picking up those dead animals?Me thinks it should pay pretty good since it's definitely a high riskoccupation. Doesn't everyone at a golf range target the guy picking upthe balls? This job should be safe since the system runs on Windows andwe know it is reliable.
You can practice at the site now: http://www.live-shot.com/
In a related story... New security tested at border crossings
Gateways from Mexico at Laredo and Douglas, Ariz., have been chosen tobegin testing the Homeland Security Department’s increased bordersecurity technology. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6491647/
Getting Worse - I've reported on this before but new statistics are in.
Cars and motorcycles crash into deer more than 4,000 times a day, andit’s taking an increasingly deadly toll on people. Last year a record210 motorists were killed in collisions with animals, mostly deer. Deerare involved in about 75 percent of fatal animal-crash accidents. Therewere 1.5 million deer crashes last year, injuring 13,713 people andcausing $1.1 billion in vehicle damage. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6515765/
Perhaps the technology to shoot deer on the ranch in Texas can be usedto thin them out along the highways. When I was growing up there weredog food plants that would pay $25 for a fresh deer and it was RARE tosee deer by the roadside. I wonder if that was just a coincidence?
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TiVo Sells Your Fast-Forward Button to Advertisers
TiVo has jumped another shark, adding a "feature" to its PVRs that fewTiVo customers would have agreed to if they'd been given the choice.When you fast-forward with your TiVo, it will show you banner ads.That's right -- it shows you ads while you're skipping ads.
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Current bid: US $7,600 - with 3 days left
Virgin Mary in a grilled cheese sandwich. Selling on eBay.
"I made this sandwich 10 years ago, when I took a bite out of it, I sawa face looking up at me, It was Virgin Mary starring back at me, I wasin total shock.http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=19270&item=5535890757&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
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Is this a good idea?
The city of Pleasanton, California has come up with an innovative way todeal with speeders:
The city's traffic engineers have created a traffic signal withattitude. It senses when a speeder is approaching and metes out swiftpunishment. It doesn't write a ticket. It immediately turns from greento red.
This is the most stupid idea I have heard in a long time. It's got tolead to lots and lots of serious accidents. I suspect a lawsuit afterthe first accident.
The Japanese have a similar plan to deal with motorcycle gangs speedingand weaving in and out of traffic. Cops are armed with paintball riflesand nail guns to shoot out tires. http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/waiwai/0411/1116bosozoku.html
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K-Sears
Sears, Kmart Merger to Create Huge Retail IT Operation The new retailerwill be the nation's third largest with $55 billion in projected annualrevenues and almost 3,500 stores.
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No wonder he is on a mission to kill spam!
Bill Gates receives nearly 4 million emails a day -- most is spam.
Bill was gone to France for 5 days. I'm wondering how long it will takehim to catch up on the 20 million emails that have backed up? A goodspam filter should kill about 90%... leaving only 2 million messages tomanually read.
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Freaked Out!
To say that normal people are freaked out over potential computerviruses is an understatement. I needed to print a letter and didn't havea printer available so I put the text file on a floppy disk and went tothe small town (where I grew up) and went to 7 businesses asking if theycould print a letter for me from a text file.
Ironically most of these people knew me personally (maybe that's thereason for their paranoia) but they all said no, they wouldn't do it.Some said they didn't know how and some said they weren't allowed toprint anything.. bla bla bla. What I found most amazing was how they allturned pale with a look of horror like I was holding a gun in my handwhen I asked if they could print a letter from a text file and they sawthe floppy disk I was holding. These are usually pretty good folks, thekind that would stop and give you a ride if you had car trouble... orhelp you fix a flat. The fact that they were horrified of printing atext file just shows how little most people actually know aboutcomputers.
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Latest definitions for AdAware http://download.lavasoft.de.edgesuite.net/public/defs.zip
You may need the current version to use the latest definitionshttp://www.techspot.com/downloadget.php?id=13&file=1&evp=066e86d98bcf54e50dd5f8ac8f0bfaef
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Bob Writes
Some of the best software sites are in Russian. Since I don't knowRussian, I have found a site that translates websites, including thisone.
1. Go to http://www.online-translator.com/srvurl.asp?lang=en2. Change "Direction" to Russian-English Translation (or any of theothers that are appropriate for the web site that you wish to view)3. Type or paste the web page in the "Address" box4. Click the "Translate" button
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Joe Writes
I found a new program to rip sites. It is the best one I have found sofar. GASR-QGWAEK-QKKPG-C4A-UHSKF2 http://www.bluesquirrel.com
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Ron Writes
Spambayes 1.0 for WIN 2000 - FINALLY...a spam program that really learnsas you receive emails. Within a week it was getting most junk emailscorrectly, separating them from the email I wanted. This is an add onfor OUTLOOK that really works...and its Freeware!http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/spambayes/spambayes-1.0.exe?download
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Ed Writes
Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics http://intuitor.com/moviephysics/
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Tim Writes
Does anyone ever use acronyms and you have no clue what they mean? Doyou ever read articles and are sometimes lost due to all of thesevarious acronyms? Well, BTW, this is a great site that IMHO is worthyof a bookmark, and AFAIK, it hasnt failed me on an acronym yet. :) http://www.acronymfinder.com
With Windows XP, ClearType delivers improved font display resolutionover traditional anti-aliasing. It improves readability on color LCDmonitors with a digital interface, such as those in laptops andhigh-quality flat desktop displays. Readability on CRT screens can alsobe somewhat improved. However, Clear Type has to be first turned on,then tuned for maximum display quality. http://www.microsoft.com/typography/cleartype/tuner/1.htm
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Science Counts Species on Brink
A list of 15,000 species threatened with extinction - many of them byhuman activity - is published. Threatened animal species up from 5,205to 7,266 since 1996. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4013719.stm
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3 Joints = 55 Years Without the Possibility of Parole
This guy sold marijuana three times to an undercover officer and thejudge had to give him the mandatory sentence of 55 years without thepossibility of parole. He'll only be 80 when his time is served. http://www.plastic.com/article.html;sid=04/11/19/06334816
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Let's make men out of these sissy boys!
Several schools in East Texas had a tradition of cross-dressing one dayout of the year. The boys dressed up like girls and vice versa. But nowthat tradition has been halted because religious groups concludedcross-dressing promoted homosexuality. A parent who complained said shedidn't want her daughters to experience "gender confusion" or to havethem witness "a bunch of adolescent boys who have suddenly grown breastsand are groping themselves. Instead of cross-dressing they now put oncamouflage and pretend to be hunters killing defenseless little animals,or soldiers killing people.
The boys should sue: Technically speaking, the female sex has been"cross-dressing" by donning trousers and shirts for the last 60 years.So why should they be denied the same opportunity?
I remember I once was required to dress like a girl in school. It was aninitiation into Shop class. It didn't give me "the gay" but I did learnwhat it meant when they say "don't get your panties in a wad."
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It's definitely the LOL clip of the month.
Someone sent me this hilarious video clip. I think it's available on cdfor $29 from a popular website. I'll leave it on this site for a fewdays. http://perfectflyer.com/camel_toe.zip
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Here is a rather amusing mix of a song from The Beatles' White Album andthe rapper J-Z's Black Album. Better hurry before the people that havethe rights to these tunes have it removed from this location. (17 megs) http://www.greyvideo.com/smallwmv2.html
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5 Medications You Probably Don't Want to Take
These drugs pose such risks that their sale should be limited or stopped.http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=528&ncid=528&e=10&u=/ap/20041118/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/vioxx_safety
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The Human Body Don't Mesh Very Well With a 9-to-5 Work Day
Researchers have found that when humans are fed at regular intervals anddeprived of all sources of time, such as light and clocks, they have thegreatest tendency to fall asleep during two periods of the day: between1 a.m. and 4 a.m. and 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. These are natural dips in ourbiological clocks, or circadian rhythms, and the core body temperaturedrops along with a person's eyelids.
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Pure Evil
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4017515.stm
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The End
In the end the worm always eats the bird.