Bill Lindner

Tue
10
Mar
Dennis Faas's picture

New Guidelines on Behavioral Ad Marketing Released

The online advertising industry has introduced a set of guidelines intended to corral a genre of particularly controversial advertisements. Behavioral advertising -- a form of advertising that delivers ads based on a user's browsing activity -- is ... now targeted by a code of practice created by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB). UK Internet Service Provider British Telecom (BT) partnered with Phorm, Inc. to roll out its new Webwise system. (Source: pcpro.co.uk ) The Internet Advertising Bureau Guidelines The guidelines (PDF) released by the IAB have been signed by Phorm, AOL, Google, ... (view more)

Mon
09
Mar
Dennis Faas's picture

Bush Wiretap Memos Reveal Shocking Revelations

Recently we looked at some of the problems with mass surveillance and the myth associated with justifications of its use. If you think you're being watched, as noted by Wired.com, you're probably right. But, how did we end up a mass surveillance ... society? (Source: wired.com ) We may not have realized it at the time, as noted by Scott Horton from Harper's Magazine, but in the period from late 2001 to January 19, 2009, many argue that the U.S. was a dictatorship. (Source: harpers.org ) Bush Memorandums Made Available A set of memorandums written by U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) lawyers were ... (view more)

Fri
06
Mar
Dennis Faas's picture

Conficker Time Bomb Targets Southwest Airlines, Others This March

Sophos Security is warning that the Conficker/Downadup worm ("Conficker worm") is targeting multiple domains -- including Southwest airlines -- that could end up causing Denial of Service ( DoS ) attacks and temporary disruptions. The Conficker worm ... has been kicking around since last year and usually spreads via a) removable storage devices such as USB drives and b) network sharing. It exploits a Windows vulnerability that was patched by Microsoft last year. According to a blog entry by Mike Wood of SophosLabs Canada, those computers infected with the Conficker worm are programmed ... (view more)

Wed
04
Mar
Dennis Faas's picture

Justifying Mass Surveillance: A Fallacious Myth

Is it a 'good' thing that Britain, the United States, and several other countries are developing more sophisticated surveillance technology ? The premise that individuals have nothing to hide and nothing to fear in a 'big brother' society is nothing ... more than a myth riddled with false assumptions. A multitude of problems can arise from continuously gathering too much data. Trusting the government and private companies -- entities full of people, some of which will inevitably have an immoral few -- make it easier for data to be misused and error prone. That said, people who have nothing to ... (view more)

Tue
03
Mar
Dennis Faas's picture

Microsoft's Vista Named Tech World's Worst 'Fiasco'

It's now official: Windows Vista, Microsoft's over-hyped, underachieving operating system took top honors, winning the first-ever Fiasco Award announced in Barcelona, Spain. The Fiasco Awards consists of a group of people linked to the Information ... and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector, which wants to reward the best non-successful projects in the area. (Source: itwire.com ) Out of 6,043 votes, 5,222 were garnered by Windows Vista, beating out other contenders including Google's Lively virtual world, the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) computer, and many others. (Source: sciam.com ) In 2005 ... (view more)

Mon
02
Mar
Dennis Faas's picture

Lawyers Attempt to Revive Vista Capable Lawsuit

The Vista Capable lawsuit -- like the consumer and business market's dissatisfaction with Windows Vista -- refuses to go away. Shortly after a federal judge revoked the class-action status of the Vista Capable lawsuit, lawyers for the plaintiffs are ... now reportedly asking the judge to reconsider that decision. Originally, the class-action suit involved all parties who purchased Vista Capable PCs, but a recent court ruling narrowed it down to six individual plaintiffs. (Source: crn.com ) Plaintiffs Attempt To Recertify Class-Action Status Lawyers for the plaintiffs are attempting to recertify ... (view more)

Fri
27
Feb
Dennis Faas's picture

Nokia Eyeing Notebook Market

Nokia, the world's top mobile phone maker, is reportedly contemplating entering the laptop business. In a recent interview with Finnish national broadcaster YLE, Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said they were actively looking at producing ... notebook computers in the future. Rumors about Nokia entering the PC industry have been circulating since last year, but Kallasvuo's comment was the first official admittance of such plans. Mobile Phones and PCs Converging During the interview, Kallasvuo said "we don't have to look even for five years from now to see what we know as a mobile phone and ... (view more)

Wed
25
Feb
Dennis Faas's picture

New Conficker B++ Worm Discovered, More Stealth

A new variant of the Conficker/Downadup worm has been detected. The worm opens a backdoor on an infected machine and allows hackers remote control of infected PCs. Dubbed Conficker B++ (and not to be confused with Conficker B), the new variant of ... the worm opens a backdoor with auto-update functionality, allowing a hacker to distribute malware to infected machines. It's difficult to know exactly how long Conficker B++ has been circulating, but researchers first noticed it on February 6 of this year. (Source: pcadvisor.co.uk ) 10.5 Million Computers Infected Machines infected by the Conficker/ ... (view more)

Tue
24
Feb
Dennis Faas's picture

Proposed Bill Requires ISPs 2 Year Data Retention

Republican politicians have reportedly called for a sweeping new federal law requiring all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and operators of millions of WiFi access points -- including hotels, local coffee shops, and home users -- to keep records ... about users for two years to aid police investigations. The legislation would impose unprecedented data retention requirements on a broad swath of Internet access providers. Two bills (S. 436 in the Senate and H.R. 1076 in the House of Representatives) have been introduced so far. Each bill is titled "Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating the ... (view more)

Mon
23
Feb
Dennis Faas's picture

Vista Capable Lawsuit Loses Class-Action Status

The long-running "Vista Capable" lawsuit challenging Microsoft's marketing of PCs capable of running only the most basic version of the Windows Vista operating system has reportedly lost its class-action status. Federal judge Marsha Pechman ... decertified the class-action lawsuit, saying that plaintiffs had failed to show that consumers paid more for PCs with the "Vista Capable" label than they would have otherwise. Judge Pechman deemed that instead of quantifying a specific change in demand for PCs because of the marketing program, an expert witness for the plaintiffs relied on ... (view more)

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