NSFW – when a URL can land us in hot water

By Mark O’Neill

We’re all guilty of it.   We’ve emailed a link of a picture or video to someone, forgetting that they are at work.   They receive the link, click on it, and immediately land in hot water with the boss because they are watching a video of a dancing vomiting pig instead of doing the accounts like they’re supposed to.  For the rest of the day, they are plotting revenge on you for ruining their chances of that pay raise the boss was promising.   All because you thought they would find a dancing vomiting pig funny.

Well, a new URL shortening service has started up called NSFW, which is similar to other such services such as TinyURL.   But where this one differs is that it is specifically designed for the risque links in mind, because when a person clicks on the shortened link, they first get a warning that the destination link is NSFW – Not Suitable For Work.   So if they continue, well, let’s just say they were warned first…..

Being someone whose email inbox is the online equivalent of a nuclear testing ground, I abhor email forwards so I would never personally use this.   But I know a few people that would use it so I passed it on.   Maybe you know some people too who might get a use out of it?



Tetris on two guitars

By Mark O’Neill

If you ever want to disable me and render me motionless, just hand me a game of Tetris and I guarantee I will be there in the same spot for hours. I am a total Tetris nut. I can’t get enough of it.

So much so that when I found this guy on YouTube doing the Tetris music on two guitars, I immediately got my Gameboy out, loaded up the Tetris game and played it alongside the YouTube video.

Verdict? This guy’s rendition is perfect!

5 Reasons to Switch from Mac to PC

Yep folks, this kind of article has been long overdue… and guess what? It was written by a Mac user and Mac developer. The author’s number one reason to switch? Productivity trumps religion!

Yet, depending on how a company uses Macs, trying to integrate the computers into a company’s workflow can kill productivity, Keanini said. The applications never quite match up, data has to be massaged to be useful, and the company has to design work-arounds for each issue, he said. Source.

What would be YOUR reasons to switch from a Mac to a PC?

Edit: BestTechie.net has an article named “50 Reasons to Switch From Mac to PC” you might also want to read.



Kinetic-powered headlight sneakers will light your way in the dark

Here’s something you don’t see everyday: Sneakers with headlights. Designed by Feijun Chen & Bin Zhao, the concept Pioneer shoes come with built-in kinetic-recharging headlights, so you don’t have to fear getting lost in the dark during your next midnight jogging session. The only problem I see with these is that while wearing them, you’ll probably be increasing your chance of getting mugged by about 500%. Hit the more link to see a picture of how the designers are planning to make this concept work.

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Apple releases two new “Get a Mac” Ads

Apple just released two new Windows-bashing “Get a Mac” ads for you to enjoy. As Usual, Cupertino relies on half-truths to convince the mass that Apple computers are better systems. Oh don’t get me wrong; I do agree that Macs are better for certain things, but certainly not all of them, namely business applications and games.

Breakthrough

Yoga

Lenovo Ideapad U8: 4.8 inches of touchscreen goodness

Lenovo Ideapad U8

Have a look at what Lenovo is cooking up for Intel’s next Developer Forum (IDF): The Ideapad U8. This sexy piece of technology features Intel’s brand new Atom processor, a 4.8 inch touchscreen, EDGE/3G support, and lo and behold, a built-in optical mouse, which will apparently allow one-handed operation of the device. Video after the break.

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Hannaford Breach Followup: Malware on All of Their Servers

By PatB
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

“All your groceries are belong to us.”

According to a ComputerWorld article, the Hannaford Breach was not just a single keylogger installed at a critical point in the enterprise. Malware was installed on each and every server that handled the credit card processing at their stores in New England, Florida and New York. That’s a lot of breaches.

From CW here:

Hannaford Bros. Co. disclosed this week that the intruders who stole up to 4.2 million credit and debit card numbers from the grocer’s systems did so by planting malware programs on servers at each of its stores in New England, New York and Florida.

The malicious software was used to intercept the payment card data as the information was being transmitted from Hannaford’s point-of-sale systems to authorize transactions. The malware then forwarded the stolen card numbers as well as their expiration dates to an overseas destination.

The discovery of the mass malware installation prompted a wholesale replacement of Hannaford’s store servers. In addition to disclosing that the malware had been installed on all of Hannaford’s store servers it was designed to intercept the so-called Track 2 data that is stored in the magnetic stripe on the back of payment cards. The malware then batched the card numbers and expiration dates and “periodically transmitted the data to an offshore ISP.

The article goes on to note that Hannaford is still not sure how someone broke into the system, and laughably, they even think maybe an insider was to blame. But a network so poorly protected to allow hundreds of servers to be breached without notice and to allow data to be exfiltrated for months points more readily to poor design, poor management, and poor security.

The most likely scenario was a simple breach of a workstation by a trojan horse program installed by an unwitting employee. The operator of the trojan then simply scanned the internal network and realized that there were no safeguards in place and proceeded to backdoor each server.

At least Hannaford is proceeding with recovery in accordance with best practices. They are replacing the breached servers with new fully patched systems to avoid any lingering malware that may reside on a system that was simply “cleaned.” The old hard drives are likely in the hands of the FBI and Secret Service for forensic analysis.

10 Must-Read Books for Geeks – Part I

By Patrick Biz
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

In this two-post series, I will share my thoughts and recommendations on what I consider to be great books for the geek nation. I have paid attention to cover a wide variety of topics that fall into one large common category: technology. These must-read books can all be purchased online from Amazon.

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