Blog Tactics

ISP's Support Copyright Fight to Safeguard Broadband

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:34:00 +0000

You might be one of those asking the question, "Will the internet providers in my area join the copyright fight on the side of the users or the corporations?" If so, then you are one of millions of people who are faced with the possibility of living with waning net neutrality and the growing likelihood of online site blocking and censorship. It seems that pressure from big business and lobby groups will ensure that individuals are punished for perpetrating online activities which are deemed inappropriate because of perceived breaches of copyright. This could mean that people are left without web access for a whole variety of reasons and is making some people very nervous about what the landscape of the internet might look like in the future.

In mid-2011, a new set of measures was introduced and agreed to by major US internet service providers (ISPs), including the likes of Comcast and Verizon. Known as the Copyright Alert System, the measures give ISPs the chance to get in contact with users who have been detected as using pirate material and essentially send them cease-and-desist requests which, if they go unacknowledged, could result in accounts being terminated and users' web access consequently suspended.

Under the new rules, there will be a system of six strikes that will, over time, cause the user to be barred from accessing the web. It essentially amounts to internet providers in my area getting in touch with users via email to alert them to the fact that they have been caught downloading or sharing copyrighted content. If the user does not acknowledge the correspondence and continues their illegal activities, the ISP will have the right to throttle their connection, block certain websites and eventually cut off the service completely if stage six of the strike system is reached.

It is significant that there is no specific measure that forces ISPs to remove certain users from the service, but it is suggested that the companies who own the copyrights for the content which has been illegally accessed might be able to step in and force the issue. If a user wants to escape punishment further down the list of strikes, then they will need to pay to initiate a process of review which could reverse the rulings. The only alternative is to take your ISP to court, which will of course generate more fees related to legal costs.

Of course, with a six-strike system it is not difficult to argue that people identified as pirates will be given more than enough opportunity to mend their ways and halt the activities which are perceived to be illegal. However, it is important to note that the efforts to combat copyright infringement will be far broader than simply targeting people who deliberately and knowingly download movies, games and music from file-sharing sites.

The ISPs are essentially being given the right to shut down the connections of people who upload videos which may contain copyrighted material to YouTube or other sites. This could include a video of your kids dancing to a Lady Gaga song at a birthday party, or a satirical clip which you have carefully constructed using portions of existing movies.

The long and the short of the argument is that ISPs are being cajoled by the government and industry bodies into clamping down on copyright infringement and content theft in a way that might be perceived as draconian. Some would claim that web access is a basic human right that should not be denied, while others would point out that most people do not understand the specifics of fair-use policies and copyright laws, thus putting them in a position from which they cannot fight back should their ISP contact them about an alleged infringement.

It appears as if matters are going to get more complicated, with measures like the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) attracting a lot of attention from campaigners who are concerned that it will be used against more than just websites dedicated to piracy. While protecting the intellectual property of copyright owners is important, ISPs also need to look out for their customers.

About the Author:

Shirley Jones is a freelance content writer and she writes articles and blogs on Internet providers in my area and other internet service related technologies.

With iCloud, Apple plans to revolutionize the pressure on ISPs

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 02:39:00 +0000

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) provide companies and individuals with internet access as well as additional services such as website hosting and website building. In order to provide a high level of service to customers, some ISPs have their own high-speed lines which provide a faster and more efficient service.

However, as internet access and usage grows, develops and becomes a larger part of the way we live our lives, there is increasing pressure for even faster download times and more access to greater amounts of internet data.

Why so much growth?

Over the last decade, the internet has become more than just a research tool. It has become an almost instantaneous way to connect and share photos and messages with friends and family; even those living far apart can now see as well as talk to each other. It also provides great opportunities for businesses looking to advertise and expand.

The internet has created new jobs in areas such as digital media and website and games design. The online games industry has been a huge success and it is constantly evolving and pushing interactivity further and further. With so much data being handled and shared by ISPs, it's no wonder something had to be developed to meet the immense demands.

Coping with demand

The public said that they wanted more and the industry responded. The result was a solution called cloud computing, which has led to less pressure being placed on ISPs. Cloud computing is essentially a means of enabling companies and businesses to develop applications and supply them to clients and customers via the internet.

Using web browsers and mobile apps, data and software can be accessed by individual users but is held and stored on servers owned by larger companies. This single point of access means less hassle and on-demand access to large amounts of data.

Cloud on the move

For those that need this type of service on the go, a wifi dongle for internet access and storage space may well be useful. However, this option can prove problematic for larger downloads and won't provide the same level of integration between mobile devices as cloud hosting.

Where a wifi dongle stutters, Mobile Cloud forges ahead, enabling users to locate data from remote servers from a range of mobile operating systems. Whether the data is games related, educational, health based or concerned with business or marketing, cloud computing enables smaller systems to cope with graphics, large documents and moving images.

Apple responds to 'on-the-go' demand

Of course, Apple is well known for responding to both their product users and developments in the market and as a result they have developed iCloud. With this development, they have efficiently and effectively ensured that their customers can access data wherever and whenever they want.

However, this is not just about accessing and storing large quantities of data, this is a service that enables access from an iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or any portable or home computer. With iCloud, music, apps, photos and games on any device can be accessed at any time and any changes to this data will be updated throughout each device. No syncing is required and no intricate management of data is needed.

The iCloud revolution

With all this available at the touch of a button, iCloud is a huge step forward for the fast and furious pace of modern life. Not only will individual users benefit from such a development, iCloud means that ISPs need not be the only or best option for businesses either.

How to Use Internet Technology to Turn Your Marketing Business Around to Success

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 07:33:00 +0000

The internet service providers in my area are now delivering flexible internet packages that give me access to stratospheric download speeds. So what? I hear you cry. Tell us, what does that have to do with your marketing business? Sit down, get comfortable, and I’ll explain.

So my marketing business, like most these days, is all about the internet. My clients want to define online markets, take their share of the action and make money from it – which of course means I make money too.

Previously, defining a market was as much a matter of hard slog and lucky guesses as it was any real guaranteed algorithm. These days, though, I don’t have to define markets for my clients. I can create them using something we call “social media marketing” – which is exactly what its name sounds like, only (sorry, I am nothing if not a typical marketing dude!) not quite...

See, the new form of marketing is not marketing at all. Social media “marketing”, which wouldn’t work if the internet service providers in my area didn’t supply the kinds of download speeds that make modern social media interaction possible, is all about putting client’s brands out there as though they were people, and encouraging real people to interact with them over the social media sites.

I use my client’s brand personas to recommend things, share links and join conversations. The people in their social media groups start to relate to them as friends, other people join in as friends and all of a sudden we’re having conversations that establish us as a permanent part of a massive collection of people with similar interests.

That’s where the real marketing gold lies – in not marketing, and letting everyone else do it for you. The internet service providers in my area are supplying connection speeds that let me create brand evangelists for all my clients products: and I just sit back and watch the traffic roll in!

The increased power of modern net connections has broken down barriers between sites, brands and users to the point where a mounting influence on a social media site has a direct effect on the frequency with which a web page gets indexed by web bots. Noticed the numbers next to some site results on Google yet? They’re “plus ones”, which is Google’s version of a Facebook “like” (n.b. for all budding online marketers the only thing you need to know is this: whatever Facebook does, get involved. Your entire market share is in there somewhere) – and they have a direct effect on page rankings in Google’s SERPs.

Online marketing is no longer only about old school optimisation. That still happens though – and the tools with which you make it happen are also being made more sophisticated by the new power of the net. Competitor analysis, for example, would be impossible if the internet service providers in my area were not pumping a massively quick connection into my home office environment – allowing me to access programs running on other people’s servers in real time to do complex calculations about how many local and global searches are affecting both my client’s keywords, and their competitor’s.

Photo courtesy of Bill Frymire.

We're not cooking anything

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 02:31:00 +0000

Google's executive chairman has denied that the company fixes its search results to promote its own websites and services.

Eric Schmidt told a congressional hearing in Washington: "May I simply say that I can assure you we're not cooking anything."

The Senate Judiciary subcommittee on anti-trust is looking at whether Google abuses its market position.

The US Federal Trade Commission is also investigating the same issue.

The website search giant faces a further continuing investigation by the European Commission.

Mr Schmidt told the senators: "Google does nothing to block access to any of the competitors and other sources of information."

When asked whether Google was a monopoly company, Mr Schmidt said the search engine giant was "in that area", adding that it recognised it had a special responsibility because of its market power.

In reference to software giant Microsoft - which faced years of anti-competition investigations and subsequent fines - Mr Schmidt said: "We get it. By that I mean, we get the lessons of our corporate predecessors."

Concern over Google's domination of the internet search - it has a global market share of about two-thirds - has grown as the company continues to expand into other internet areas, such as its own price comparison website and buying US mobile phone firm Motorola Mobility.

Sen Michael Lee of Utah said that Google's market dominance gave it an "unnatural and extraordinary advantage", and it had a "clear and inherent conflict of interest".

Mr Schmidt was chief executive of Google for 10 years until April, when he was replaced by Larry Page, one of the company's two founders.

1 KM Kingdom Tower

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:03:00 +0000

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal unveiled plans Tuesday to build the world's tallest tower in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, signing a 4.6 billion riyal ($1.15 billion) contract with Bin Laden Group.

The proposed tower, which will rise more than 1,000 metres and take just over five years to complete, is the centrepiece of the planned Kingdom City development being built outside Jeddah by Prince Alwaleed's Kingdom Holding.

When completed, the tower would replace Dubai's 828-meter Burj Khalifa as the tallest tower in the world. The Burj Khalifa was built by Emaar Properties for a total cost of $US1.5 billion ($1.4 billion).

The Jeddah tower, which is to include a hotel, serviced apartments, luxury condominiums and offices, will be designed by US architecture firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill.

Prince Alwaleed, a nephew of Saudi King Abdullah, said the Jeddah tower would eventually top 1,000 meters, but the final height is a closely guarded secret.

The Kingdom Tower and Kingdom City, estimated to cost 75 billion riyals and to take around 10 years to complete, are among other projects to transform Jeddah into a city with high rise buildings to rival Dubai.

Why Every Designer Should Have a Designing Portfolio?

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 08:33:00 +0000

A cheap web design agency without a design portfolio is like an art gallery without pictures. Website designers need to show their potential customers what they can do for them – or those customers will go elsewhere.

Modern web design is based on two fundamental things: simplicity, and relevance. Both of which need to be encapsulated in a format that delivers its message extremely quickly. Research shows that site users who don’t find out
a) what a site is about; and
b) why it is relevant to their searches; in less than 30 seconds, are liable to go elsewhere. Ergo, a cheap web design agency without a portfolio to show prospective clients is likely to find those clients going off in search of a different service provider.

If you come to a website designers’ site, what’s the first thing you expect to see? Evidence that the designer in question is capable of making websites that are simple and relevant – in other words, websites that work.

The first element in any decent web designer’s portfolio, then, is his or her own site. If you visit a cheap web design agency and its’ own site is not very easy to use, then your chances of having it make you a site that works, are slim.

It’s important for a website designers’ site to contain relevant examples of industry specific websites. A recruitment business, for example, isn’t going to be interested in samples of websites that have been put together to sell eggs, or to form the online home of a local charity. Recruitment businesses want to know how a cheap web design agency is going to make a website that works for recruitment.

The portfolio needs to be as varied as possible, both to show businesses from different walks of life and trade how the website designers are likely to approach their work; and to show that the design company in question is capable of versatility. Sticking with our hypothetical recruitment consultancy for a while longer: not every recruitment agency wants a site that looks the same. A high level corporate recruitment agency, for example, might want something that looks severe and professional; while a recruitment agency that bases its business on travellers looking for casual bar work is going to want something bright and vibrant. A cheap web design agency needs to be able to show the variety of its palette as well as its ability to cater for the needs of different trades.

As a consumer of corporate websites, a company looking for the right website designers to make its online home is likely to choose an outfit that can walk the walk as well as talking the talk. A portfolio of designs is the only way to show that you can do what you say you can.

MAYBANK ACCOUNT IS SUSPENDED

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 04:24:00 +0000

I received the above titled email from one inetm2u1@freenet.de The content of the email look like the following:

M2U NOTIFICATION -

This is to notify you that your account is now inactive and may be closed for security reasons as you failed to provide valid details during the last verification process. Reactivate your account now as inactive accounts will be deactivated till further notice if not activated now. We apologise for the inconvenience.

[Activate] http://www.maybank2u.com.my/

When you hover your mouse to [Activate], it show this address: sambbiu1.addr.com/s1mbb1.htm <== DON'T CLICK ON IT. This is yet another phishing scam.

ohwow37.info - latest Facebook virus

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 13:46:00 +0000

I noticed this on my friend's Facebook wall and at one glance, I know it a Facebook virus link (if not, another spam link). So don't click on it. Remove the post immediately.

On the wall post, you will see a thumbnail and the text, described below:

Look what he did after her Ex girlfriend posted on his wall

ohwow37.info

lol What true pain both are having at this moment.?

Facebook Can Ruins Relationships

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 02:47:00 +0000

With over 500 million active users Facebook is changing the way we interact with each other. It has become the biggest social network in the world and the infographic below illustrates how Facebook can ruins your relationships. For singles, you are safe.

From the Online Dating Site

1pengguna.com hacked, 2,000 accounts exposed

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:18:00 +0000

The government’s brand new price check portal has been hit by a security breach, allowing hackers to obtain details such as email addresses and contact information of over 2,000 registered users which security experts say can be used to steal financial data in a roundabout way.

The breach follows 1 Malaysia Pengguna Bijak’s (1MPB) immediate outage after its launch on Tuesday, which government officials blamed on teething problems.

Online community portal Lowyat.net reported this morning that there were “several vulnerabilities” in the RM1.4 million 1pengguna.com site that allowed hackers to pull “signup details, usernames, email addresses and hashed passwords (encrypted).”

Personally identifying information such as names, addresses, birthdays and any banks or companies one does any business with can be used for identity theft or so-called phishing, which use personal details to make a phishing attempt look legitimate.

“These passwords are not difficult to decrypt. You can also use these vulnerabilities to defame the entire site,” Lowyat.net founder and chief executive Vijandren Ramadass told The Malaysian Insider.

Vijandren also said that Lowyat had discovered “a severe lack of security on the site” when it was launched and contacted the website administrator but received no response.

He said that a hacker group called Rilekscrew group also pointed out that “these vulnerabilities allowed almost all the data contained on the server to be remotely accessed.”

“Obviously, this is not an RM1.4 million job. Security and user privacy is a very important issue, especially on a site backed by the government,” he added.

The Malaysian Insider has also obtained a list of over 1,000 user details including that of two site administrators.

The government admitted yesterday that the 1MPB portal was not ready for the 3.5 million hits it has received since being launched two days ago.

Domestic Trade, Co-operative and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that the 1pengguna.com website had “teething problems” after expecting only 300,000 to 400,000 hits.

The government had launched the portal on Tuesday, saying it will list the prices of 355 products sold at 110 hypermarkets, 100 products at 404 supermarkets, 50 products at 360 wet markets and 100 products at 24-hour convenience stores.

But it was down for most of Wednesday as attempts to obtain prices from the website located at 1pengguna.com resulted in repeated connection failures.

Swapping a kidney for an iPad

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 02:29:00 +0000

Beside trading a kidney for a quick cash, some even take a step further by swapping their kidney with an iPad. In China, a teenager has reportedly sold one of his kidneys for 20,000 yuan ($3170) so he could buy an iPad 2.

The high school student from Anhui Province, Xiao Zhang, confessed to his mother that he was motivated to sell the kidney after seeing an internet ad offering cash to people who were prepared to become organ donors, the Global Times reported.

His mother had discovered the iPad 2 and forced him to reveal how he was able to afford it.

"I wanted to buy an iPad 2, but I didn't have the money," the boy told Shenzhen TV. He also bought an iPhone and a laptop with the proceeds from the sale, his mother said.

Chenzhou 198 Hospital in Hunan Province, where the boy reportedly had his surgery, does not have qualifications for kidney transplantation.

It has denied any connection with the organ removal but has admitted contracting out its urology department to a private businessman.

The buying and selling of organs is a growing issue in China and the government has so far failed to stamp out the practice.

There have been many reports of "transplant tourists" who come from rich countries to buy much-needed organs from poor, desperate people.

The blackmarket trade is driven by the fact that there are many times more people waiting for organs than there are legitimate donors.

Zheng's mother told Shenzhen TV that she took her son to report the matter to police but the agents who had organised the organ trade were uncontactable.

Police are reportedly trying to track down the buyers.

Related posts:
* Making money from black-market organ
* Spare parts for the rich

World's highest proportion of millionaires are Singaporeans

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 16:32:00 +0000

About 15.5% of the households in Singapore had more than US$1mil (RM3mil) of investable assets in 2010, the highest proportion in the world, a report said.

The latest global wealth report released by the Boston Consulting Group showed that the number of households with more than US$1mil assets, aside from properties occupied by the owners, grew by almost 33% from 2009, Xinhua news agency quoted local media report Thursday.

Switzerland came second with 9.9% of its households joining the millionaire club, followed by 8.9% for Qatar, 8.7% for Hong Kong and 8.5% for Kuwait.

The United States was ranked seventh at 4.5%, but has by far the largest number of millionaire households, about 5.2 million. In terms of the total number of such households, Japan was the second and China, the third.

For the world as a whole, the proportion of millionaire households was about 0.9%, but they owned about 39% of the world's wealth, up from 37% in 2009.

The Straits Times quoted an economist as saying that a number of factors contributed to the surge in the proportion of its millionaire households.

"Singaporeans saw their wealth surge because of the stronger Singapore dollar, sharp economic rebound and soaring asset prices, including property," said Chua Hak Bin, Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist.

"Openness to foreign talent and wealthy 'new' Singaporeans probably also expanded the number of millionaires."

Taiwan fruit and energy drinks tainted with DEHP and DINP

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 14:54:00 +0000

Three brands of a Taiwanese food product are being removed from the Malaysian shelves here for containing carcinogens, while the Health Ministry is testing various other brands from the country. The three brands are Uni-Presiden Enterprise Corp, Country House Inc and Young Energy Resources Co Ltd. The affected products are:

1. Uni-President Asparagus Juice from Uni-Presiden Enterprise Corp, Taiwan.

2. Sunkist Lemon Juice, Sunkist Lemon Juice Drink with Aloe Vera Pulp, Sunkist Orange Juice and Sunkist Orange Juice Drink from Country House Inc, Taiwan.

3. Speed Sports Drink, Speed Sports Drinkg (Lemon Flavor) and Dong Nung 1000 Sports Drink from Young Energy Resources Co Ltd, Taiwan.

The banned items comprise fruit and energy drinks. The products being tested for possible traces of carcinogens - di-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) and di-isononyl phthalate (DINP) include fruit juices, jellies, jams, yoghurts and sports drinks.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the ministry had been informed by the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that three brands of food products were tainted with carcinogens.

He said DEHP and DINP were usually used in the production of plastic to make it more flexible.

“Both (chemicals) are added to a clouding agent (a food additive) to reduce food production costs,'' he said in a statement yesterday.

Liow said that following media reports on the tainted food products on May 25, the ministry contacted the importers concerned to make them immediately recall their items that were already in the local market.

“The public need not worry about the safety of food imported from Taiwan as safeguards are in place to inspect the products.

“Those who have already bought the products concerned are advised not to consume them,'' he added.

The minister warned that those found guilty of importing, storing, producing, distributing or selling the tainted products could be charged under Section 13 (1) of the Food Act 1983 and faced up to 10 years in jail, a fine of not more than RM100,000, or both.

Food Safety and Quality Division (FSQ) Putrajaya assistant director Leong Siew Hong said the unit was also sampling other Taiwanese food products from various outlets, including supermarkets and sundry shops, for traces of DEHP and DINP.

“These brands are available in most hypermarkets, especially in the central city areas,” he said.

“So far, we have taken 16 product samples for testing. We should be able to confirm within two days if the items are tainted.

“If they are, the items will be removed from the shelves and legal action will be taken against the companies responsible.” For details, call the FSQ or ministry at 03-88833652/3653 or visit http://moh.gov.my or http://fsq.moh.gov.my

Saif al-Adel - the new Al-Qaeda chief

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Wed, 18 May 2011 14:41:00 +0000

Al-Qaeda has chosen a former Egyptian special forces officer as interim leader after the killing of Osama bin Laden, CNN has reported. Saif al-Adel, a top al-Qaeda strategist and military leader, has been tapped as 'caretaker' chief of the group, CNN said, citing the former Libyan militant Noman Benotman, who has renounced al-Qaeda's ideology.

Pakistan's The News corroborated the report, citing unnamed sources in an article datelined Rawalpindi, a city near the capital, Islamabad, that is home to the military headquarters of the Pakistani Armed Forces.

The decision to choose Adel, also known as Muhamad Ibrahim Makkawi, came as militants grew increasingly restive over the lack of a formal successor to bin Laden, who was killed in a dramatic US commando raid in Abbottabad in Pakistan on May 2, Mr Benotman told CNN.

Bin Laden's long-time deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, another Egyptian, is considered to be his presumed successor.

Mr Benotman said the appointment of Adel on a temporary basis may be a way for the group to gauge reaction to having someone from outside the Muslim holy region of the Arabian peninsula at the helm.

1,100 women are raped every day in the Democratic Republic of Congo - study

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Wed, 11 May 2011 01:06:00 +0000

More than 1,100 women are raped every day in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), making sexual violence against women 26 times more common than previously thought, a study concluded Tuesday.

More than 400,000 women and girls between the ages of 15 to 49 were raped in the vast, war-ravaged country in central Africa during a 12-month period in 2006 and 2007, according to the study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

That is 26 times more than the 15,000 women that the United Nations has reported were raped there during the same 12 months. "Our results confirm that previous estimates of rape and sexual violence are severe underestimates of the true prevalence of sexual violence occurring in the DRC," said Amber Peterman, lead author of the study.

"Even these new, much higher figures still represent a conservative estimate of the true prevalence of sexual violence because of chronic underreporting due to stigma, shame, perceived impunity, and exclusion of younger and older age groups as well as men," she said.

The study, which gathered data from 2007, did not capture sexual violence among girls younger than 15 years or women older than 49 years and did not include sexual violence among boys and men.

"Although the burden of sexual violence among these groups is uncertain, a review of the records of 4,133 women attending Panzi Hospital in Sud Kivu showed that six percent were younger than 16 years and 10 percent were older than 65 years," said the study.

"In addition, Human Rights Watch reported that sexual violence in 2009 doubled in comparison with 2008. If this assessment is accurate, then the current prevalence of sexual violence is likely to be even higher than our estimates suggest."

Commenting on the study, Michael VanRooyen, director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, said that "rape in the DRC has metastasized amid a climate of impunity, and has emerged as one of the great human crises of our time."

via AFP News

Related posts:
* Nation of rapist - South Africa

Woman RM1.1m poorer after falling for sob story on Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Thu, 05 May 2011 11:39:00 +0000

A Malaysian woman who fell for a con artist's sob stories on Facebook ended up being cheated of RM1.1mil.

The man who claimed to be a British citizen had told her he needed her account to bank in money from his contract with Petronas, which he claimed amounted to RM4.6mil.

However, he told the woman he needed her help to pay stamp duty charges and insurance fees before he could get his contract sanctioned.

The suspect claimed he could not afford the fees at the time.

“The victim paid RM1.1mil via several transactions to the man between March 29 and April 19,” said Federal Commercial Crimes director Comm Datuk Wira Syed Ismail Syed Azizan yesterday.

He added that following a police report lodged by the victim, six suspects were arrested in Kepong on Tuesday.

Police also recovered RM15,000 in cash, 18 ATM cards, seven cellphones and a laptop.

“Of the six, two were Nigerians, two were Bangladeshis while the others were locals,” he told reporters.

Comm Syed Ismail said the victim had been sympathetic when she read about the man's predicament.

“She caved in when she heard his sob stories,” he added.

Comm Syed Ismail urged people using popular social networking websites like Facebook to be very careful.

“These unscrupulous people prey on gullible girls through these websites,” he said. “Revealing your personal information on your Facebook wall' is not a good idea.”

The public, he said, had been warned several times not to respond to e-mail from seemingly rich people offering money for safekeeping, yet a lot of them still become victims.

Sony unveils S1 and S2 tablets

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 09:35:00 +0000

Sony has introduced its first tablet computers, joining Samsung Electronics and Motorola in their pursuit of Apple, a year after the iPad spurred a surge in demand for the devices.

Sony will use Google's Android operating system for the personal computers, Kunimasa Suzuki, Sony's head of personal computers, said in Tokyo today. The S1 model will feature a 9.4- inch liquid-crystal display, as well as front and rear cameras. The S2 laptop-shaped model will have dual 5.5-inch screens and feature cameras, Sony said.

The new tablets will be available globally in "fall 2011", which in the northern hermisphere is September this year, Sony said.

The Japanese electronics maker aims to compete in the crowdedmarket for tablet computers, the fastest-growing segment of the consumer-electronics industry. Tablet PC sales will reach $US49 billion by 2015 as consumers flock to devices that bridge the gap between smartphones and laptops, according to estimates this month by research firm Strategy Analytics.

Apple's iPad 2 debuted in the U.S. on March 11, equipped with cameras and a more powerful processor, starting at $US499. Apple sold a total of 14.8 million iPads through December, generating $US9.6 billion in sales since its introduction in April last year.

Tablet sales surged to more than 10.3 million units last year from 90,000 in 2009, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. That rate of adoption tops those of game consoles and smartphones, according to the Arlington, Virginia-based trade organization.

Apple's Lead

Apple will likely maintain its dominance in the tablet market until 2012 because of advantages in marketing, content and pricing, research firm IHS ISuppli said earlier this month. Shipments of other media tablets will likely reach 111 million units in 2013, overtaking the estimated 81 million iPad sales, according to the researcher.

Samsung, Sony's bigger rival in televisions, unveiled a new tablet running the latest version of Android software in February. The model has a screen matching the iPad's 10-inch display and is 10.9-millimeters thick, compared with 8.8 millimeters for the iPad 2.

In January, Sony said it aims to win second position in the market for tablet devices next year.

Photo of Sony Tablets

via SMH

5 Tips To Protect Your Google Account From Hackers

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 08:45:00 +0000

Quick searches of Twitter and Google reveal a flurry of recent Gmail hackings, and the Guardian reports that they might be rooted in the Gawker database breach last December.

Once hacked, victims' accounts send out spam e-mails that make it appear that the sender has been mugged. If you try to respond to one of these, your message will go to a dummy address. The spam message are tweaked so that the victim won't get your response if you hit reply all.

Sophos's Graham Cluley told the Guardian, "Our suspicion is that this is a Gawker-related incident. We know that people were using the same password for multiple sites and then others were trying to use the passwords against those accounts." You might remember that Twitter was hit hard by an acai berry spam attack following the breach.

Slate's Farhad Manjoo writes, "A password is the only thing separating your e-mail, banking information, and social networks from a bad guy," and unfortunately, a complex password with letters, numbers and symbols just won't cut it anymore. Adding an additional layer of authentication -- like the key fobs required by many companies for security -- cuts down on the potential harm of a stolen password. It might seem like a lot of work, but a thief who has gained access to your Gmail account also has control over your calendars, Google Docs, Gchat, YouTube account and, of course, years of your personal email.

Read on for five essential tips for protecting and backing up your Gmail account.

1. Set Up Two-Step Verification

Head to Google's Accounts page, and click "Using 2-step verification" under the Personal Settings heading. Google rolled out the feature earlier this year, and it works with your smartphone (via Google's authenticator app or SMS) to send an updated verification code every 30 seconds. Yes, you'll need to have your phone with you when you access your email, but it's a much more secure system.

2. Reset Your Password Via Text Message

On your Google (not Gmail) account page, click "Recovering your password," and set up your phone to receive a password-reset code via SMS. In the event your account is hacked, head to Google's recovery page and enter your username to receive an automatic text from Google to start the reset process.

3. Add Additional Recovery E-mail Accounts

While you're on the "Recover Your Password" page, go ahead and add a secondary email address. If you simply forget your password or your account was hacked, Gmail will be able to send reset instructions to this alternate address -- again, head to the password recovery page. James Fallows writes, "If you wait until after you've had a problem to think of this step, it's too late."

4. Keep Gmail Secure With HTTPS

The non-secure networks you'll find at coffee shops and in public places make your computer open and vulnerable, so we recommend looking at Gmail's settings. While it should be set to always use https by default, double check by clicking the gear icon in the top right of Gmail and then "Mail settings." Make sure "always use https" is selected, and scroll down to the bottom of the page to hit save.

5. Backup Your Account

Over 40,000 Gmail users got a scare earlier this year when the email service wiped out their accounts. Fortunately, Google was able to recover the accounts, but the mess clearly showed that Google's not infallible when it comes to data loss and downtime. The healthy shock made many consider secondary backup options, and we recommend checking out Hotmail backup, e-mail forwarding, desktop apps or paid services (or even all three) as ways to achieve email piece of mind.

Related posts:
* Now, anyone can hack
* Tougher Google Authentication

Easter Quotes and Bible Verses

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 12:58:00 +0000

Easter Sunday is the culmination of the Christian season of Lent and the end of Holy Week, and marks the central event in Christian theology. To help embrace the spirit of rebirth and renewal that this springtime holiday brings, we've compiled several of the most common Bible passages associated with the Easter story along with some popular quotations on the subject of Easter.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ... 1 Peter 1:3

Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead. Isaiah 26:19 ESV

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." Matthew 28:1-10

And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. Mark 16:6

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. John 3:16-17

I think of the garden after the rain;
And hope to my heart comes singing,
At morn the cherry-blooms will be white,
And the Easter bells be ringing!
Edna Dean Proctor, "Easter Bells"

The joyful news that He is risen does not change the contemporary world. Still before us lie work, discipline, sacrifice. But the fact of Easter gives us the spiritual power to do the work, accept the discipline, and make the sacrifice. Henry Knox Sherrill

Easter tells us that life is to be interpreted not simply in terms of things but in terms of ideals. Charles M. Crowe

Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there. Clarence W. Hall

All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!
Lucy Van Pelt in Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz

Related posts:
* What's the link between Man & GOD
* Don't believe in God? Join the Satanist club

Signs of Stress in Women and How to Treat It

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 12:12:00 +0000

Whoever you may be or wherever you live in, stress is something that cannot be avoided. Stress is a common thing for all of humanity. In recent times, women have to simultaneously care for balancing, career, children, and other everyday obligations; stress can build up quickly, and cause burnout. The chaos of our quick lifestyle can affect health at a fast pace. And that’s why it is so important to know what causes stress and how to manage stress.

The Sources of Stress Symptoms

At work and in the household, women play various roles, continuously dealing with
commitments. Everyday signs of stress in women can be due to children, relatives, finance, and career problems. Also, stress can arrive from disturbing experiences, like unexpected road accidents, demise of a family member, etc. When you are in stress, you may feel like your life has gone out of control. Bodily stress effects can bounce back, and gravely affect mental health as well. As women react to stress in a different way, they are particularly susceptible to anxiety and depression.

The Definition of Stress and its Symptoms

Some of the stress symptoms include headaches, moodiness, depression, anger, hypertension, dietary changes, memory loss, fatigue, heart palpitations, digestive problems, skin problems, sleep disturbances, muscle tension, poor judgment.

Stress and its Harmful Effects

Long-drawn-out stress can pave way for bad long term health effects, and deteriorate immune function. Modern research has demonstrated that almost all illnesses can be related to stress in one way or the other. Long term effects of stress include depression, strokes, diabetes, alcoholism, heart attacks, insomnia, ulcers, drug abuse, digestive disorders and fertility issues.

How to Manage Your Stress

Even though stress can never be eliminated from our lives, there are ways that stress can be managed. Get ample rest along with a lot of fitness activities. Get rid of needless things that may cause stress in your life. Changing your approach about things can influence the way that you feel. Think before you react and try not to react excessively to small things. Find a relaxing hobby, such as gardening, painting, or journaling. Be practical.

Above all, don't try to be a perfectionist in everything you do, set reasonable goals for your self. Limit your contact with people who cause you stress, they can just drain you every time. And feel free to get help from others.

Problems with junk food addiction gain weight

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 06:25:00 +0000

It’s an addictive time that we get along with junk foods all instance to keep us engaged at free times and to keep our taste buds active. Junk foods are generally high in total cholesterol, sugar, salt and calories holding very little amount of nutrients. They are much addictive due to the excess of taste that are enhanced with readily available taste makers, preservatives and colors that makes the prepacked and the processed junks more famous among all age group.

Junk foods are more risky as they act as a silent killer increasing body weight and acts as a cause for several obese problems and heart diseases with the clogging of fat substances on the walls of the arteries. Internal organs become more heavy gaining mass losing strength making us feel hefty with quick tiredness and sluggish feel that leads to depression and acquisition of other diseases more easily.

Junk food cravings and harmful effects

Junk foods are more addictive that makes people get addicted sooner leaving back a feeling of cravings to eat more of it. Junk foods are simply light foods as we see but they act as the root cause for many diseases due to the ingredients that are being added to the stuff. Excess of preservatives, colors, taste makers, chemical stuff makes the food yummy and mouth smashing but leads to various serious problems on health issues over time.

More hydrated oils, deep fried foods, dry fried meat with excess of fatty stuff, spicy masala mix chat items and many of those variety leads to serious diseases such as liver diseases, hypertension, depression, type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart diseases and also affects with side effects when stopped all of a sudden. Snacking is a common habit among all generation people who go for time pass junk foods but we don’t see the effects of harmful terms when we just crunch for a short time. But when this short time crunch is continual it adds to an unhealthy eating habit that keeps off natural food stuff from your routine that holds more nutrient value.

Now-a-days people find it difficult to cook and eat healthy stuff at home moving their lifestyle for a level easier adapting to ready-to-eat foods that are present in the packed bags and in the fast food restaurants. The harmful terms uncovered are the ingredients that are being added to the food to make them smell better, taste yummy and look attractive to cover most of the people’s interest. These harmful junk food acts as a silent weight gainer making you look and feel heavy cutting down that charming energetic physical appearance. Protein diet plan is the one recommended by most of the nutritionist and diet consultants to get back into physical fitness and lose weight quicker.

Best Cholesterol Lowering Foods to Protect Your Heart

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 03:08:00 +0000

If you are looking for cholesterol lowering foods to uphold the health of your heart even in your old age, you are making a noteworthy lifestyle transformation for enhanced health. Although too many adults suffer from obesity issues, cholesterol reduction through diet change can bring down fat. Let us see how.

Eating LDL Cholesterol Lowering Foods

Though too much cholesterol can limit flow of blood and obstruct arteries, highly
nutritional foods such as fish, fruit, beans and oatmeal have a noteworthy effect on
cholesterol reduction. To avoid the ldl cholesterol from blocking arteries, while boosting HDL cholesterol, you should add to your diet a few of the cholesterol lowering foods. In this way, you need not worry about developing severe heart issues as majority of them could be prevented. One of the most effective ways to bring down heart disease risk is to modify your lifestyle. A good way to begin staying fit is to get the drive to become healthy. With some motivation, you would be more in a position to reap the benefits of Cholesterol lowering.

Lower Cholesterol with Diet Change

Be prepared to change your diet along with your lifestyle. You do not have to make
any big changes; on the other hand, some – those addicted to junk food in particular – might find it tough to give up the habit of eating at fast food eateries. It is good to start with cholesterol reducing food stuffs that have high antioxidant and fiber content. Food that is high in antioxidant content helps to bring down ldl cholesterol by cleaning up your body’s inside. Antioxidants have this wonderful capacity to brush off any toxic substances in your body. Fruits and veggies are outstanding sources of antioxidants.

These are definitely filled with minerals and vitamins besides they are also plentiful in fibers.

Foods that are high in fiber, such as the ones containing oats and wheat might help
reduce your likelihood for building up cholesterol. They assist in dissolving fat and as cholesterol consists of saturated fat, it is good to have unsaturated fat in your diet. Some of the sources of unsaturated oil include seeds, vegetable oils and nuts.

The foods we have mentioned in this article are all great at lowering cholesterol. If you are serious about perking up your health, start adding these foods in your diet at the earliest.

Related posts:
* 10 Foods That Are Good For Your Heart

NDM 1 superbugs found in Delhi drinking water

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 17:30:00 +0000

Beware of NDM 1 superbugs.

A gene that makes bugs highly resistant to almost all known antibiotics has been found in bacteria in water supplies in New Delhi used by local people for drinking, washing and cooking, scientists said on Thursday.

The NDM 1 gene, which creates what some experts describe as "super superbugs," has spread to germs that cause cholera and dysentery, and is circulating freely in other bacteria in the Indian city capital of 14 million people, the researchers said.

"The inhabitants of New Delhi are continually being exposed to multidrug-resistant and NDM 1-positive bacteria," said Mark Toleman of Britain's Cardiff University School of Medicine, who published the findings in a study on Thursday.

A "substantial number" of them are consuming such bacteria on a daily basis, he told a briefing in London. "We believe we have discovered a very significant underlying source of NDM 1 in the capital city of India," he said.

NDM 1, or New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1, makes bacteria resistant to almost all antibiotics, including the most powerful class, called carbapenems.

It first emerged in India three years ago and has now spread across the world. It has been found in a wide variety of bugs, including familiar pathogens like Escherichia coli, or E. coli.

No new drugs are on the horizon for at least 5-6 years to tackle it and experts are concerned that only a few major drug companies, such as GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, still have strong antibiotic development programmes.

Toleman's study, carried out with Cardiff University's Timothy Walsh and published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, investigated how common NDM 1-producing bacteria are in community waste seepage -- such as water pools or rivulets in streets -- and tap water in urban New Delhi.

The researchers collected 171 swabs from seepage water and 50 public tap water samples from sites within a 12 kilometer radius of central New Delhi between September and October 2010.

The NDM 1 gene was found in two of the drinking-water samples and 51 of seepage samples, the researchers said, and bacteria positive for NDM 1 were grown from two drinking-water samples and 12 seepage samples.

"We would expect that perhaps as many as half a million people are carrying NDM 1-producing bacteria as normal (gut) flora in New Dehli alone," Toleman said.

Experts say the spread of superbugs threatens whole swathes of modern medicine, which cannot be practiced if doctors have no effective antibiotics to ward off infections during surgery, intensive care or cancer treatments like chemotherapy.

In a commentary about Walsh and Toleman's findings, Mohd Shahid from Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Uttar Pradesh, India, said global action was needed.

"The potential for wider international spread of ... NDM 1 is real and should not be ignored," he wrote.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated April 7 as World Health Day and under the slogan "No action today, no cure tomorrow" it is campaigning about the risks of life-saving antibiotics losing their healing power.

Wreckage of Air France Flight AF 447 found

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 03:39:00 +0000

Nearly two years after an Air France plane Flight AF 447 mysteriously fell out of the sky, killing 228 people, the bulk of the wreckage has been found with bodies still aboard, French officials said Monday.

The human remains will be brought to the surface and identified, French Ecology and Transportation Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said at a news conference.

Submarines searching for the wreck spotted two engines, the fuselage and landing gear over the weekend, officials said.

But the flight data recorders have not been recovered, leaving investigators as puzzled as ever about why the plane crashed in stormy weather on June 1, 2009.

It is impossible to tell how many bodies remain in the wreck, he added. Fifty bodies were recovered in previous searches, leaving 178 victims still missing.

He would not comment on the condition of the bodies, calling it "inappropriate" to discuss.

The debris is dispersed over "quite a compact area" of about 600 meters by 200 meters (1,960 feet by about 650 feet), he said.

All the wreckage will be brought to the surface and sent to France for study, said Jean-Paul Troadec, head of the French air accident investigation agency, the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses, or BEA.

Three companies bidding to raise the wreck have until Thursday afternoon to submit proposals, he said.

The operation should take three weeks to a month, and will be paid for by the French government at an estimated cost of 5 million euros ($7.1 million), he said.

Authorities are not revealing the exact location of the wreck to protect the site, officials said.

The head of Air France said the discovery was "good news indeed since it gives hope that information on the causes of the accident, so far unresolved, will be found."

Air France's Pierre-Henri Gourgeon added his thanks to the French authorities "who employed hitherto unheard of means to pursue searches."

Investigators announced Sunday that they had found pieces of the Airbus A330-200 that disappeared while flying to Paris from Rio de Janeiro.

After three unsuccessful searches, investigators discovered the wreckage by using "a different calculation based on currents of the sea and what might have happened," Troadec, the BEA chief, said Monday.

The BEA said Sunday that a team led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution discovered parts during an underwater search operation conducted within the previous 24 hours.

Studies of the debris and bodies found after the crash led the BEA to conclude the plane hit the water belly first, essentially intact. Oxygen masks were not deployed, indicating that the cabin did not depressurize, the agency said in a 2009 report.

Automated messages sent from the plane in the minutes before the crash showed there were problems measuring air speed, investigators have said, though they said that alone was not enough to cause the disaster.

The area where the plane went down is far out in the Atlantic -- two to four days for ships to reach from the nearest ports in Brazil or Senegal in West Africa. The underwater terrain is rough, with underwater mountains and valleys, the BEA has said.

Epsilon hacked - one of the biggest such breaches

noreply@blogger.com (RW) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 03:33:00 +0000

The names and e-mails of customers of Citigroup Inc and other large U.S. companies, as well as College Board students, were exposed in a massive and growing data breach after a computer hacker penetrated online marketer Epsilon Data Management.

In what could be one of the biggest such breaches in U.S. history, a diverse swath of companies that did business with Epsilon stepped forward over the weekend to warn customers some of their electronic information could have been exposed.

Drugstore Walgreen, Video recorder TiVo Inc, credit card lender Capital One Financial Corp and teleshopping company HSN Inc all added their names to a list of targets that also includes some of the nation's largest banks.

The names and electronic contacts of some students affiliated with the U.S.-based College Board -- which represents some 5,900 colleges, universities and schools -- were also potentially compromised.

No personal financial information such as credit cards or social security numbers appeared to be exposed, according to the company statements and e-mails to customers.

Epsilon, an online marketing unit of Alliance Data Systems Corp, said on Friday that a person outside the company hacked into some of its clients' customer files. The vendor sends more than 40 billion e-mail ads and offers annually, usually to people who register for a company's website or who give their e-mail addresses while shopping.

"We learned from our e-mail provider, Epsilon, that limited information about you was accessed by an unauthorized individual or individuals," HSN, also an e-commerce operator, said in an e-mail to customers on Sunday.

"This information included your name and e-mail address and did not include any financial or other sensitive information. We felt it was important to notify you of this incident as soon as possible."

Citigroup customer names and some credit card customers' e-mail addresses -- but no account information -- were part of the data breach, the third-largest U.S. bank said on Saturday.

The College Board, which administers the SAT admissions tests, on Saturday warned students about the breach and asked them to be cautious about receiving "links or attachments from unknown third parties," according to two e-mails reviewed by Reuters.

The not-for-profit organization is in contact with more than 7 million students, according to its website. It did not immediately return calls for comment.

PROBING FOR ANSWERS

Law enforcement authorities are investigating the breach, though it was unclear on Sunday how many customers or students had been exposed. Epsilon is also looking into what went wrong.

"While we are cooperating with authorities and doing a thorough investigation, we cannot say anything else," said Epsilon spokeswoman Jessica Simon. "We can't confirm any impacted or non-impacted clients, or provide a list (of companies) at this point in time."

Capital One, which also runs a bank, and Walgreens, the largest U.S. drugstore, said the Epsilon hacker accessed its customer e-mail addresses, but no personally identifiable information.

via Reuters

Related link:
* Epsilon Notifies Clients of Unauthorized Entry into Email System