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Saturday the 26th of December 2009

Welcome to the Helpforce Daily Briefing, on Saturday the 26th of December 2009

1. Virus Warnings
2. Daily Technology News
3. Latest Shareware and Freeware
4. FAQ for the day
5. Advice of the day
6. Internet Advice

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1. Latest Virus Alerts From Sophos
---------------------------------------
Troj/Dloadr-CYC on 25 December 2009 19:29:20 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojdloadrcyc.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/PWSteal-H on 25 December 2009 16:08:53 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojpwstealh.html?_log_from=rss
Mal/AgRot-A on 25 December 2009 04:13:41 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/malagrota.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/Agent-MBD on 25 December 2009 04:13:41 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojagentmbd.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/Banker-EVH on 25 December 2009 04:13:41 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojbankerevh.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/Inject-LH on 25 December 2009 04:13:41 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojinjectlh.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/DelpBanc-C on 24 December 2009 22:51:59 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojdelpbancc.html?_log_from=rss
Mal/Afcore-B on 24 December 2009 18:07:36 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/malafcoreb.html?_log_from=rss
Mal/Afcore-C on 24 December 2009 18:07:36 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/malafcorec.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/DelfInj-D on 24 December 2009 18:07:36 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojdelfinjd.html?_log_from=rss

2. Latest Technology News From Slashdot
-----------------------------------------------

-- 50 Years of Domesticating Foxes For Science
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/NIRJhmK-17M/50-Years-of-Domesticating-Foxes-For-Science)
gamebittk writes "In 1959, Soviet scientist Dmitri Belyaev set out to breed a tamer fox that would be easier for their handlers in the Russian fur industry to work with. Much to the scientist's shock, changes no one had expected emerged after just 10 generations. The foxes began behaving playfully, were smaller in size, and even changed color — much like dogs." Belyaev died in 1985, but the experiment continued (PDF) in his absence, and to this day provides strong evidence to parts of evolutionary theory. The experiment eventually branched out to involve other species as well.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- NetBIOS Design Allows Traffic Redirection
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/GxINcqApg20/NetBIOS-Design-Allows-Traffic-Redirection)
iago-vL writes "Security researchers at SkullSecurity have demonstrated how the NetBIOS protocol allows trivial hijacking due to its design, through the use of a tool called 'nbpoison' (in the package 'nbtool'). If a DNS lookup fails on Windows, the operating system will broadcast a NetBIOS lookup request that anybody can respond to. One vector of attack is against business workstations on an untrusted network, like a hotel; all DNS requests for internal resources can be redirected (Exchange, proxy, WPAD, etc). Other attack vectors are discussed in a related blog post. Although similar attacks exist against DHCP, ARP and many other LAN-based protocols, we all know that untrusted systems on a LAN means game over. NetBIOS poisoning is much quieter and less likely to break other things."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Simplifying Search For a Younger Audience
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/ZA5Frpvl5JU/Simplifying-Search-For-a-Younger-Audience)
An article in the NY Times discusses how kids interact with search engines, which are primarily designed for adult users who are familiar with basic internet concepts. From the article: "When considering children, search engines had long focused on filtering out explicit material from results. But now, because increasing numbers of children are using search as a starting point for homework, exploration or entertainment, more engineers are looking to children for guidance on how to improve their tools. ... Stefan Weitz, director of Bing, said that for certain types of tasks, like finding a list of American presidents, people found answers 28 percent faster with a search of images rather than of text. He said that because Bing used more imagery than other search engines, it attracted more children. ... Children also tend to want to ask questions like 'Who is the president?' rather than type in a keyword. Scott Kim, chief technology officer at Ask.com, said that because as many as a third of search queries were entered as questions (up to 43 percent on Ask Kids, a variant designed for children), it had enlarged search boxes on both sites by almost 30 percent."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Religion in Video Games
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/TU0gqAicnnY/Religion-in-Video-Games)
The Opposable Thumbs blog recently took a look at how religious themes are handled in video games. Most makers of mainstream games are hesitant, given the strong feelings of most consumers on the subject, but other companies are trying desperately to bring religion into the spotlight. Quoting: "Part of the problem is that the game industry is often touted as being a corrupting influence for the youth of the world. Criticism against the game industry has come from leaders as high up as the current Pope, and many of us who have been exposed to sermons bemoaning the influence that games and movies have on kids. Even when groups like the Christian Game Developers Foundation put out a video encouraging developers to create wholesome titles for kids, the attitude conveyed towards current members of the industry was contemptuous at best. Needless to say, games with heavy religious content are usually fringe projects, independently created and oftentimes sporting dodgy production values, because publishers wisely don't want to risk boycotts from legions of the faithful."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Holiday E-Commerce DDoS Attack Hits EC2 Cloud
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/oiw-CP7Wb3A/Holiday-E-Commerce-DDoS-Attack-Hits-EC2-Cloud)
ARos writes "A holiday DDoS attack targeted a west-coast DNS provider, which is known for serving large-scale E-Commerce sites (including amazon.com and walmart.com). 'Neustar, which provides DNS services to high profile website addresses under the UltraDNS brand, said the flood of malicious traffic, just two days before Christmas, was directed at the company's facilities in San Jose and Palo Alto, and that the effects were mostly limited to California users.' CNet adds: 'In addition to the high-profile sites, dozens of smaller sites that rely upon Amazon for Web-hosting services were also taken down by the attack. Amazon's S3 and EC2 services were affected by the problems, according to Jeff Barr, Amazon's lead Web Evangelist, who retweeted a report to that effect without clarification and confirmed it in later tweets.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Skeptics Question OLPC's Focus With $75 Tablet
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/rCmC1UYfomM/Skeptics-Question-OLPCs-Focus-With-75-Tablet)
With the recent announcement of OLPC's shift in focus, many are criticizing the nonprofit's attempt to design what could be seen as unrealistic hardware at an impossible price point. "The OLPC project has become an unrealistic hardware 'dream' and lost its focus on education, wrote blogger Wayan Vota on OLPC News, which has followed the OLPC since its inception. The project comes up with unrealistic hardware designs and price points that destroy its purpose even more, he wrote. 'Excuse me if I get mad at the XO-3 hype. I'm angry at the energy devoted to fantasy XO hardware instead of OLPC educational reality. I miss the original OLPC Mission, where children, not computers, controlled our dreams,' Vota wrote."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Wikileaks Needs Help, and Not Just Money
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/Yv10TbMdgPA/Wikileaks-Needs-Help-and-Not-Just-Money)
st1d writes to tell us that Wikileaks has put out a call for help. However, instead of just asking for money, they have also suggested technical and legal avenues for support. In the site's short life, Wikileaks has been at the center of many breaking scandals and investigations. "Wikileaks is currently overloaded by readers. This is a regular difficulty that can only be resolved by deploying additional resources. If you support our mission, you can help us by integrating new hardware into our project infrastructure or developing software for the project. Become patron of a WikiLeaks server or other parts of our technology, adding more pillars to the stability and balance of the WikiLeaks platform. Servers come trouble-free and legally fortified, software is uniquely challenging. If you can provide rackspace, power and an uplink, or a dedicated server or storage space, for at least 12 months, or software development work for WikiLeaks, please write to wl-supporters@sunshinepress.org."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- First Tablet Using Pixel Qi Screen On The Way
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/wDVm06wL8Yc/First-Tablet-Using-Pixel-Qi-Screen-On-The-Way)
Azureflare writes "The first device using a Pixel Qi screen has been confirmed. It is produced by Notion Ink, and it appears they took a few design tips from Apple by sticking with a design that has tapered edges. This tablet should give Apple a run for their money, especially considering the recently confirmed rumor of an Apple tablet. 'The Notion Ink smartpad measures 6.3 x 9.8 x 0.6 inches and weighs 1.7lbs; as well as the tri-band (850/1900/2100) UMTS/HSDPA, WiFi b/g and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR it also squeezes in A-GPS, a digital compass, accelerometer and proximity, ambient light and water sensors. Connectivity includes USB, HDMI, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a microphone input, and there’s also a 3-megapixel auto-focus camera with video recording support. Onboard storage is either 16GB or 32GB of SSD, and there's an SD slot for augmenting that.'" Update: 12/25 21:44 GMT by SS : Removed erroneous reference to Nokia.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Twitter Buys Mixer Labs For Geolocation Services
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/2EYUxu_KWcc/Twitter-Buys-Mixer-Labs-For-Geolocation-Services)
itwbennett writes "In a blog entry Wednesday, a Twitter official wrote that the company has acquired Mixer Labs, maker of GeoAPI, a service that helps developers build geolocation-aware applications for Twitter. 'Software using the service will allow Twitter users to tag the location where a message was written,' Agam Shah writes in an article on ITworld. 'Twitter did not immediately respond to comment on how much it paid for Mixer Labs.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Why Bite the Google Hand That Feeds You?
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/HsKmZ7tCxfY/Why-Bite-the-Google-Hand-That-Feeds-You)
Techdirt pointed out that not long ago, John Byrne, ex-editor-in-chief of BusinessWeek.com and now CEO of newly founded C-Change Media, decided to tackle the problem of why publications seem to be so vehemently opposed to Google being a part of their business process. While there aren't any earth-shattering revelations, it is a great, succinct description of the problem. "I received several solid answers from followers of this blog, including Frymaster who immediately took sides in the ongoing war between Traditional Media and Google. Wrote Frymaster: 'I reject out-of-hand the assertion that Google is profiting from others' content. Rather, I say that Google profits from connecting users to content. It is a service that most web publishers appreciate greatly. Google, unlike any other search engine ever, goes to great pains to deliver the least-skewed results possible. Google is constantly on the hunt for people who game their system. That's why they succeed. There is a direct connection between Google's user-centric, community-oriented approach and their financial success.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Jobs Finally "Happy" With Unannounced Apple Tablet
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/1r9mfxc-OnM/Jobs-Finally-Happy-With-Unannounced-Apple-Tablet)
All the whispers of an Apple tablet PC seem to be culminating in a flurry of rumors suggesting we may see one as soon as next month. Sources inside Apple are saying that Jobs is finally "happy" with the device after being involved in every detail of bringing it into the light of day. As a side result of these rumors, it seems that Apple stockholders are also getting a bit of Christmas cheer with a significant bump in stock price.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- The Science of Santa
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/uGfPMOvEqWA/The-Science-of-Santa)
Santa Claus must use advanced technologies to pull off his annual feat. Thankfully, NewScientist has the exclusive about the what and the how. "He relies on some impressive gadgets: miniature flying robots, advanced satellites, highly sensitive surveillance devices, memory-erasing milk, self-assembling toys, and a warp-drive-powered sleigh that's capable of bending and twisting space-time to such an extent that it slips Santa and his reindeer out of the observable universe. In 1949, Kurt Gödel published one of the first mathematical descriptions of how it could work. In his version, the universe has paths called closed time-like curves that might allow you to jump in a ship, fly for a while, and end up right back where you started in space and time."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Fraudulent Anti-Terrorist Software Led US To Ground Planes
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/De2eYmODhRM/Fraudulent-Anti-Terrorist-Software-Led-US-To-Ground-Planes)
The Register, citing this Playboy article, reports that a Nevada man named Dennis Montgomery was able in 2003 to connive his way into a position of respectability at the CIA on the basis of his company's claimed ability, using software, to "detect and decrypt 'barcodes' in broadcasts by Al Jazeera, the Qatari news station." Montgomery was CTO of Reno-based eTreppid Technologies, which produced bucketloads of data purported to represent "geographic coordinates and flight numbers" hidden in these broadcasts. All of which, it seems, was hokum, finally debunked in cooperation with a branch of the French intelligence service — but not, says the article, before the fabricated information, chalked up to "credible sources," was used as justification to ground some international flights, and even evacuate New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Gnome Switches Nautilus Back To Browser Mode
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/9DVKnhdEbFQ/Gnome-Switches-Nautilus-Back-To-Browser-Mode)
An anonymous reader writes "In one of the do-the-developers-actually-use-their-own-software decisions in the Linux Desktop World, back in 2004 Gnome switched to the 'Spatial' view by default with their Nautilus file manager opening a new window with each new folder viewed. Many derided the decision as poor design or as being different for the sake of being different. Well, after five long years the Gnome powers that be have decided to switch back to browser mode."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Texas County Will Use Twitter To Publish Drunk Drivers' Names
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/D09Eje-J9kQ/Texas-County-Will-Use-Twitter-To-Publish-Drunk-Drivers-Names)
alphadogg contributes this snippet from Network World: "If you get busted for drunk driving in Montgomery County, Texas, this holiday season, your neighbors may hear about it on Twitter. That's because the local district attorney's office has decided to publish the names of those charged with driving while intoxicated between Christmas and New Year's Eve. County Vehicular Crimes Prosecutor Warren Diepraam came up with the idea as a way of discouraging residents from getting behind the wheel while drunk. 'It's not a magic bullet that's going to end DWIs, but it's something to make people think twice before they get behind the wheel of a car and drive while they're intoxicated,' he said."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

3. Latest Shareware from Planet-Shareware
-----------------------------------------------

4. FAQ of the day from Helpforce
-----------------------------------------------

-- My mustek scanner wont let me scan to my screen
(http://www.helpforce.com)

Question: My problem is with my mustek 1200ub plus scanner, i can scan to printer no problem but i cant see the scan on the screen first, what do i have to do? hope u you can help me.

Answer: Mustek scanners are the same brand as Packard Bell scanners and several others.There are known problems with these series of scanners and Windows XP.My advice is to go to the Mustek web site and download updated drivers for your PC.You can download Mustek drivers for your scanner at: http://www.mustek.com/Download/mustekdrivers.htmlYou will need to select your location, followed by your windows version in order to download.

5. Advice of the Day from ask-leo
-----------------------------------------------

6. Internet Advice
-----------------------------------------------

-- What Is 'Pwned'? What Is 'Pwnage'?(http://netforbeginners.about.com/b/a/257548.htm)

You have seen this peculiar term in online discussion groups. You have heard someone pronounce it as "poned" and "ponage". You especially see it being used by online gamers. But what...

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