Category Archives: Tech

Safari tip: search results snapback

When you do a search, often times you want to go back to the search results to select another link. I just found out in Safari you could do what they called it “search results snapback”, the shortcut is command-option-S, it brings you back the the search results. Very handy.

You can also mark a page for snapback with command-option-K, and to snapback to it use command-option-P, or you can use the History pull down menu…

new Macs very soon

Several Internet rumor mills, as well as other more credible sources, are predicting that Apple would be introducing products very soon, and this time probably with better wireless capabilities… 😉 … I’m still going to hold out for the second generation x86 PowerBooks, after what we went through with the dual-USB iBook G3, I don’t think I’m willing to buy a first-generation re-designed laptop from Apple… plus I’m still quite happy with mine…

Geek to Live: Ten Must-Have Bookmarklets – Lifehacker

Geek to Live: Ten Must-Have Bookmarklets – Lifehacker

Interesting, 10 bookmarklets will occupy too much space on my browsers’ toolbars, IMO… In Safari, I have WP’s Blog This, Ecto‘s ectoize, and the del.icio.us buttons. I have the same ones except ectoize in Firefox. I don’t think I have any bookmarklet in Flock, as del.icio.us and blogging features are built-in.

Boing Boing: Sony Rootkit DRM Roundup Part III

Great timeline of events…

Boing Boing: Sony Rootkit DRM Roundup Part III:

The Sony rootkit debacle continues to gain steam, with fresh revelations of incompetence and malice every day, and with fresh news of lawsuits too. Previously, I published two roundups of news on this leading up to Nov 17 (Sony Rootkit Roundup Part I, Sony Rootkit Roundup Part II) and what with all the news, it’s time for a third:

Nov 17: Sony still advising public to install rootkits
18 days after the revelation that Sony’s CDs contain dangerous rootkits, Sony still has live web-pages advising its customers to go ahead and install their software (This is still the case as of Nov 22!).

Nov 17: Schneier: Why didn’t anti-virus apps defend us against Sony’s rootkit?
Security researcher Bruce Schneier accuses anti-spyware companies of being soft on Sony because it was released by a giant, sleazy company instead of a small, sleazy company.

Nov 17: Uninstaller for Sony’s other malware screws up your PC
Some of Sony’s music CDs carry a second form of malicious software, a spyware program called Suncomm Mediamax. Princeton researchers Ed Felten and Alex Halderman discover that the uninstaller provided by Suncomm leaves your computer open to complete takeover through simply looking at web-pages with malicious code in them.

Nov 17: Amazon offers refunds for all Sony rootkit CDs
Amazon sends an email to everyone who bought a rootkit-infected Sony CD from them and offers a full refund — now that’s how it’s done. (On November 21, the US Army/Airforce Exchange Service followed suit).

Nov 18: I HEART Rootkit tees, list of Mediamax CDs, Mediamax installer to be fixed
Lovely “I HEART Rootkit” tee shirts for sale. A user discovers a long list of CDs infected with Suncomm’s MediaMax spyware. Suncomm vows to update its Mediamax uninstaller, which presently leaves your computer wide open to total take-over simply by looking at web-pages with malicious code on them.

Nov 19: Sony offers MP3s in replacement for rootkit CDs
Sony is not only offering to replace infected CDs with CDs that are free from the rootkit DRM (no official word from Sony on whether they’ll also be free of the Mediamax spyware) — they’re also offering free MP3s of any music that you bought on an infected CD!

Nov 20: RIAA prez: Lots of companies secretly install rootkits! It’s no biggie!
The CEO of the RIAA kisses off all the customers who got infected by Sony’s rootkit: “How many times that software applications created the same problem? Lots.” Uh, really? Lots of companies install rootkits on users’ PCs without permission? Apparently this guy doesn’t know the difference between “companies” and “criminal organizations”

Nov 20: Latest news on Sony lawsuits
A website launches to keep track of news about the lawsuits arising from Sony’s use of spyware and rootkits on its music CDs.

Nov 20: Sony insider: DRM is discredited at Son
A high-placed tipster at Sony tells me that the execs who green-lighted DRM at Sony are in trouble, and that the label-heads in Sony are really pissed about the rootkit fiasco, with at least one vowing to swear off DRM forever.

Nov 21: Foxtrot cartoon on Sony’s rootkit
The Foxtrot comic strip nails Sony in today’s syndicated strip

Nov 21: Texas sues Sony over rootkits — YEE-HAW!
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has brought an anti-spyware lawsuit against Sony over its rootkit DRM. He’s looking for $100,000 per violation of Texas’s anti-spyware laws, plus costs. Ouch. That’s gonna be pretty costly.

Nov 21: EFF brings class-action against Sony!
My employer, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (a nonprofit civil liberties group) has brought a class action suit against Sony. We’re gonna nail them!

Nov 21: Microsoft: Trusted Computing sucks!
A senior Microsoft exec says that computer users should never be deprived of control over their PCs; too bad that Microsoft has built so much of its current business on depriving its customers control over their PCs.

Nov 21: Why not update Sony’s rootkit with a warning message?
Security researcher Ben Edelman suggests that Sony could reach all its infected users by pushing an update to the rootkit that warns them that they’re compromised and gives instructions for uninstalling and getting replacement CDs.

Nov 21: Sony’s Mediamax spyware gets a new uninstaller
The Suncomm Mediamax spyware on Sony’s CDs caused embarrassment when it was revealed that using the uninstaller left your computer vulnerable to total compromise by web-pages with malicious code on them. Now Suncomm has issued a new uninstaller, though heavens knows if it’s any better.

One more thing: remember back in 2002 when it was revealed that you could cause your computer to ignore audio-CD DRM by scribbling on the visible data-sectors on the physical disc? Turns out that a variant on this can also immunize you against Sony’s current crop of malicious software.

TiVo to add video transfer from TiVo to iPod 5G and PSP

Digital video recorder maker TiVo Inc. plans to announce a feature on Monday that will let subscribers transfer recorded television programming to Apple iPod digital music players or Sony’s PlayStation portable devices.

AppleInsider | TiVo to allow video iPod downloads

Nice, since I have both of these devices… Now it might actually make sense to buy a 2GB MemStick card… They should really get TiVoToGo to work again in OS X before they roll out iPod 5g support…

Schneier on Security: Sony’s DRM Rootkit: The Real Story

Schneier on Security: Sony’s DRM Rootkit: The Real Story:

It’s a David and Goliath story of the tech blogs defeating a mega-corporation.

On Oct. 31, Mark Russinovich broke the story in his blog: Sony BMG Music Entertainment distributed a copy-protection scheme with music CDs that secretly installed a rootkit on computers. This software tool is run without your knowledge or consent — if it’s loaded on your computer with a CD, a hacker can gain and maintain access to your system and you wouldn’t know it.

The Sony code modifies Windows so you can’t tell it’s there, a process called “cloaking” in the hacker world. It acts as spyware, surreptitiously sending information about you to Sony. And it can’t be removed; trying to get rid of it damages Windows.

This story was picked up by other blogs (including mine), followed by the computer press. Finally, the mainstream media took it up.

The outcry was so great that on Nov. 11, Sony announced it was temporarily halting production of that copy-protection scheme. That still wasn’t enough — on Nov. 14 the company announced it was pulling copy-protected CDs from store shelves and offered to replace customers’ infected CDs for free.

But that’s not the real story here.

fast cars and crazy partying for the rich and brainless

This year?s event starts with a public music concert in London and then cars will take off for Turkey passing through ten countries en route to Istanbul. Then the 120 cars and 250 people will fly to Hong Kong using three cargo planes and a private Gumball 3000 jet for all the drivers. Stage Two starts in Hong Kong and heads to Shanghai, Beijing and another concert in Tianamen Square. Then it?s back on the jets, this time to Salt Lake City. Stage Three starts there are with races across the salt flats and then of course, a little sojourn in Vegas. It all ends with a big finale in Los Angeles with another concert and a trophy ceremony at the Playboy Mansion.

The Plans for the Gumball 3000 2006 – Luxist – www.luxist.com

Sounds like fun though…

Ed Colligan says they?re sticking with the Palm OS

Palm CEO Ed Colligan sent out an email to developers yesterday reassuring them that the company is fully committed to the Palm operating system and that the move to Windows Mobile is about ?growing the Treo market,? not walking away from ?existing products or technology partnerships, like Palm OS.?

Palm CEO Ed Colligan says they?re sticking with the Palm OS – Engadget – www.engadget.com

Great, I can continue to use PalmOS until Apple put out a smartphone… 🙂

Virtualization

Wouldn’t it be great if you could own a Mac that runs not only Apple’s great software offerings (such as iLife) but also all those PC games and financial software! Software emulation of Windows is too slow, but with virtulization technology at the hardware level, the speed hit becomes a non-issue and the software market for Mac users opens up exponentially.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

Actually a pretty decent article from TUAW…