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inhiway

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Posts posted by inhiway

  1. Posted · Report reply

    With Obama's Signature, Cell Phone Unlocking Legal Once Again

        By Chloe Albanesius
        August 1, 2014 05:30pm EST

    The law specifies that consumers can unlock their cell phones without running afoul of copyright laws.

    President Obama this afternoon signed into law a bill that makes it legal for consumers to unlock their cell phones.

    "As long as their phone is compatible and they have complied with their contracts, consumers will now be able to enjoy the freedom of taking their mobile service - and a phone they already own - to the carrier that best fits their needs," the White House said in a statement.

    The Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act was approved by Congress last month, and now becomes law. It specifies that consumers can unlock their cell phones without running afoul of copyright laws. It also directs the Librarian of Congress to consider whether gadgets like tablets should be eligible for unlocking.

    FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, whose agency pushed for cell phone unlocking under former Chairman Julius Genachowski more than a year ago, said today the new law is a "positive development."

    "When the wireless industry worked with the FCC on a voluntary agreement to unlock devices when consumers' contracts have been fulfilled, they took an important step forward," Wheeler said. "The President's signature today makes greater consumer choice the law of the land."

    That agreement was announced in December, when the carriers committed to a voluntary set of principles that will make it easier for consumers to unlock their devices. But stakeholders wanted more, prompting the bill from Congress.

    The debate dates back to an October 2012 decision from the Library of Congress's (LOC) Copyright Office, which gave consumers a 90-day window to unlock their phones without carrier permission before that practice became illegal in January.

    The Copyright Office reviews the rules on unlocking (and jailbreaking) every three years, as required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). In 2012, regulators found that "there are ample alternatives to circumvention. That is, the marketplace has evolved such that there is now a wide array of unlocked phone options available to consumers."

    That did not sit well with OpenSignal's Sina Khanifar, who added a petition to the White House site asking for the decision to be reversed. It passed the 100,000 e-signature threshold needed for an official White House response, and that response was posted in March 2013, with the Obama administration issuing its support for cell phone unlocking.

    Today, the White House championed the bill as "a rare trifecta: a win for American consumers, a win for wireless competition, and an example of democracy at its best - bipartisan congressional action in direct response to a call to action from the American people."
     

    http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2461784,00.asp
    • Like 2

  4. Posted · Report reply

    As soon as I read the article, I followed the instructions to 'fix' my copy of Firefox. Firefox is my #1 browser and I don't need people snooping on me if I can avoid it.  The article also gave me another reason to not want to use Chromium for any serious browsing.  I hope some other members see the article and read it.  Whether they want to follow the advice is up to them.

    • Like 1

  6. Posted · Report reply

    How to prevent Firefox from sending downloaded file information to Google

    By Martin Brinkmann on July 23, 2014 in Firefox - Last Update: July 23, 2014 17

    Starting with Firefox 32, Mozilla will check file downloads against Google's application reputation database which is powering Chrome's Safe Browsing feature since 2012.

    If you have read the release notes of Firefox 31, you may have noticed the entry "block malware from downloaded files" under What's New.

    The integration of the feature in Firefox 31 is the first step in the implementation which will be completed when Firefox 32 is released to the public in six weeks.

    In Firefox 31, a local list is used to determine whether a downloaded file is malicious or not. This downloaded list is updated regularly, ans whenever a download is being made, that download is checked against the list to make sure it is not malicious in nature.

    From Firefox 32 on, downloads are checked against the local list and a remote list if the local list does not return a hit. This remote list is maintained by Google, and to access it, information about the download are submitted in the process.

    While the file itself does not get transferred, its SHA-256 hash value as well as other information such as the suggested file name for the download, the length of the file in bytes and the url the file was downloaded from are.

    If you are a Firefox user, please continue this article from this link: 

     http://www.ghacks.net/2014/07/23/prevent-firefox-sending-download-information-google/
    • Like 5

  14. Posted · Report reply

    Most people here are probably too savvy to fall for this scam, but I thought it should be reported in case this is something new.

    30,000 ‘Pirates’ Receive Fake ‘Fines’ With Trojans Attached

        By Andy
        on July 8, 2014
     

    In recent days an estimated 30,000 Internet users have received emails containing copyright warnings and demands for cash settlements. The emails, which detail alleged infringements on content from EMI, Sony, DreamWorks and Paramount, are not only fake but also have a sting in the tail - a nasty trojan just waiting to be installed.

    warningIt used to be the case that when a copyright holder tracked down an alleged file-sharer they would have to make contact via regular snail mail. Legal threats in the post nearly always mean business and have to be dealt with in an appropriate manner.

    With the advent of companies such as Rightscorp, however, demands for cash settlement now regularly arrive via email. While some recipients treat these emails as spam, they are sent by a legitimate company acting on behalf of genuine rightsholders. Whether people should pay up on presentation of a mere email is a personal matter, but there are some instances in which no payment should ever be considered.

    During the past several days there have been increasing reports of Internet users in Germany receiving cash demands for alleged copyright infringement. The emails detail alleged piracy offenses on tracks from Jay-Z, R Kelly, James Blunt, Bullet for My Valentine, and metal bands Sepultura and Children of Bodom, to name just a few.

    It’s a very big operation indeed. According to lawyer Christian Solmecke, a lawyer who regularly defends in piracy cases, up to 30,000 individuals are affected, with many calling his offices for legal advice.

    But while the emails say they are being sent on behalf of a range of rightsholders from EMI, Sony, and *****W. to DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures, drilling down into the details reveals the whole operation as a huge scam.

    The ‘settlement’ mails demand between 200 and 500 euros within 48 hours to make potential lawsuits go away. One reads:

    This is a warning because of your violation of § 19a of the Copyright Act on 07.06.2014. The music album ‘Bullet For My Valentine – Temper Temper’ was downloaded from your IP address 8.149.94.13 at 3:40:24.

    This violates § 19a of the Copyright Act and must be reported to the responsible District Court. Only the fastest possible payment of a fine of 400.88 euros can prevent this. We expect payment within the next 48 hours.

    For details see the attached document XXXXXXXXX.zip

    As can be predicted from the final line, the real plan is to trick recipients into opening a file apparently containing details about their case, but which in fact carries a suspected trojan.

    “It is very likely that the zip file contains a virus, designed to spy on credit card and account information. The floodgates would then be opened to online banking fraud and identity theft,” Solmecke warns.

    “For this reason, all users that have opened the ZIP file attachment should check their PC immediately with a virus scanner and install the security updates for their anti-virus software,” the lawyer concludes.

    Finally, by including legitimate law firms’ contact details in the emails, specifically companies that are involved in the settlement business already, the scammers are using a particularly crafty technique to come across as genuine. One lawfirm, Sasse & Partner, was forced to issue a statement denying involvement in the scheme.

    “The ‘warnings’ are sent under the name of our lawyer Jan Spieldenner. The perpetrator or perpetrators are apparently making use of the fact that our firm regularly sends warnings on behalf of various clients and has thereby acquired a certain reputation. We point out that the warnings provided by us are never sent as a zip file,” the company explains.

    Quite how many people will actually pay up on receipt of such an email is unknown, but by sending out tens of thousands it seems likely that a few will. At the full 500 euro rate, just a couple of dozen ‘settlements’ will net a sizable amount of cash – as ‘genuine’ copyright trolls know only too well.
     

    http://torrentfreak.com/30000-pirates-receive-fake-fines-with-trojans-attached-140708/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Torrentfreak+%28Torrentfreak%29

  15. Posted · Report reply

    Tens of thousands of Americans sell themselves online every day


    The Internet has become a virtual flea market, with online consumer-to-consumer sites like Amazon, eBay, and Craigslist selling millions of products every day. Used smartphones are a popular sales item on eBay – more than 80,000 people list their phones for sale each day. It seems like a smart way to make some extra money, but AVAST has found out that many fail to protect their identity in the process.
    AVAST recovers an abundance of personal data from used smartphones

    Most sellers delete all of their personal data prior to selling their used devices… or so they think. We purchased 20 used Android phones off eBay and used simple and easily available recovery software to restore deleted files. The amount of data we were able to retrieve was astonishing and proves that simply deleting is not enough.

    Our analysts found the following:

        More than 40,000 stored photosUsed Smartphones for Sale
        More than 1,500 family photos of children
        More than 750 photos of women in various stages of undress
        More than 250 selfies of what appear to be the previous owner’s manhood
        More than 1,000 Google searches
        More than 750 emails and text messages
        More than 250 contact names and email addresses
        Four previous owners’ identities
        One completed loan application

    One phone even had a competitor’s security software installed, but unfortunately it did not help the former owner as it revealed the most personal information out of all the phones we analyzed.

    No one cares about my old photos, messages and Google searches, right?

    Wrong! As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Now add private Facebook messages that include geo-location, Google searches for open job positions in a specific field, media files, and phone contacts. Put all of these pieces together to complete the puzzle and you have a clear picture of who the former smartphone owner was. Stalkers, enemies, and thieves can abuse personal data to stalk, blackmail and steal people’s identities. They can use this information to watch people’s every move, exploit their strange fetishes, open credit cards in their name, or even continue what they started by further selling their personal information online.
    How to permanently delete and overwrite data from your Android phone

    Deleting files from your Android phone before selling it or giving it away is not enough. You need to overwrite your files, making them irretrievable. To do so, install (brand deleted) Anti-Theft from the Google Play Store. Once you have the app installed, turn on the “thorough wipe” feature within the app. You will then need to create a my.avast account to connect to the phone (this allows users to remotely wipe their phones in theft cases as well). The final step is to wipe the phone clean, which will delete and overwrite all of your personal data.
     

    http://blog.avast.com/2014/07/08/tens-of-thousands-of-americans-sell-themselves-online-every-day/

    I can only afford inexpensive "dumb" phones, so I just dispose of them or throw then in a drawer.

    • Like 1

  16. Posted · Report reply

     
    epiphany
    [ih-pif-uh-nee] Show IPA
    noun, plural e·piph·a·nies.
    1.
    ( initial capital letter ) a Christian festival, observed on January 6, commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles in the persons of the Magi; Twelfth-day.
    2.
    an appearance or manifestation, especially of a deity.
    3.
    a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.
    4.
    a literary work or section of a work presenting, usually symbolically, such a moment of revelation and insight.
    Origin:
    1275–1325; Middle English epiphanie  < Late Latin epiphanīa  < Late Greek epipháneia, Greek:  apparition, equivalent to epi- epi- + phan-  (stem of phaínein  to appear) + -eia -y3

  21. Posted · Report reply

    I've been comfortable using Windows 8.X with the 'Classic Start Menu' add-on, but I am looking forward to version 9 with the new Windows start menu which will include the Modern UI tiles.  I haven't been looking at any apps at the Microsoft App Store because I avoid the Modern Desktop as much as possible, which is 99.999% of the time.  LOL   I know a lot of the free Modern UI apps are pretty useless, gadgets, etc., but hopefully some practical ones will come along. 

  22. Posted · Report reply

     
    ClochE
    noun
    1.
    a woman's close-fitting hat with a deep, bell-shaped crown and often a narrow, turned-down brim.
    2.
    a bell-shaped glass cover placed over a plant to protect it from frost and to force its growth.
    3.
    a bell-shaped metal or glass cover placed over a plate to keep food warm or fresh.
    Origin:
    1905–10;  < French:  bell, bell-jar < Medieval Latin clocca.  

     

    • Like 1

  23. Posted · Report reply

    Microsoft gives away almost 300 ebooks -- master Windows 8.1, Office 365, and much more

        By Wayne Williams
        Published 1 hour ago

    ebooks.jpg

    ebooks

    Eric Ligman, Microsoft Senior Sales Excellence Manager, has released a whole new batch of free ebooks, covering topics such as Windows 8 and 8.1, Windows 7, Office 2013 and Office 365, Azure, Lync 2013, and SQL Server. There are ebooks and resource guides for all things Microsoft.

    For the past few years, Ligman has been writing posts in which he has given away almost 150 free Microsoft ebooks, and now he has another 130 more titles available to download for free, in addition to all the ones previously offered. Yes, that's right -- there are now close to 300 titles available.

    According to Ligman, 3.5 Million of these free ebooks have been downloaded as of last June, including over a million in a single week last year. He’s hoping the latest batch will lead to a similar downloading frenzy.

    The books are available in various formats including PDF, EPUB, and MOBI.

    You can browse the full section and download any that take your fancy, from (see link box).

    http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mssmallbiz/archive/2014/07/07/largest-collection-of-free-microsoft-ebooks-ever-including-windows-8-1-windows-8-windows-7-office-2013-office-365-office-2010-sharepoint-2013-dynamics-crm-powershell-exchange-server-lync-2013-system-center-azure-cloud-sql.aspx

    The ebooks are all of different lengths -- Ed Bott’s Introducing Windows 8.1 for IT Professionals, for example, is 139 pages, while Getting To Know Office 365 is 64 pages. OneNote 2013 Keyboard Shortcuts is (unsurprisingly given the topic) a svelte 8 pages.

    (This is a real deal.  I'm not an IT tech guy, but more advanced hobbiest or IT pros might want to take advantage of this offer before Microsoft yanks it.)

     

    • Like 1

  24. Posted · Report reply

    WZor says the end is in sight for Windows 8.1, and Windows 9 is on its way

        By Wayne Williams
        Published 16 hours ago

    26 Comments

    The problem with running rumors -- something we rarely do on BetaNews -- is in most cases they are entirely made up. We will occasionally cover claims by trusted Microsoft watchers like Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley because they usually come from a knowledgeable source.

    Russian leaker WZor knows a lot about Windows too, and although the group's website has been down since an ex-Microsoft employee was charged with stealing secrets (and early builds of Windows 7 and Windows 8), that hasn’t entirely stemmed the flow of leaks. A post from WZor on the Russian-language Ru-Board makes some interesting claims regarding both Windows 8.1 and its successor.

    According to the post, Windows 8.1 Update 2 will be the last major update for the tiled OS. After that, there will be patches and the like issued, but no new features added.

    Interestingly, the post also claims Windows 9 will be announced in the fall. Previously WZor tweeted that the new OS would be announced at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington, D.C., which takes place in just seven days' time, but doesn’t repeat that claim in the new post. WZor says Microsoft will pump a phenomenal amount of money into advertising the new OS and focus on the inclusion of a new Start button and menu. Which is a fairly safe bet.

    The activation method is set to change with the new release, due (WZor says) to problems faced by Microsoft in China.

    A Google translation of the post will have you scratching your head, but fortunately Super User on the My Digital Life forum has a much clearer version. That translation says:

       

    For all asking about Windows 8.1 Update XXX

        All these updates, of course, are RTM-GDR releases followed by QFE updates… It means, after release of Windows 8.1 Update 2 new updates will be released, but no new features will be added to the operating system. Update 2 is the final rebuild of all SKUs with QFE GDR updates included.

        Windows 9 will be announced this fall, Microsoft’s advertising budget this time will be fantastic. The slogan of a promotional campaign will be "You want Start button and new menu and you will get that".

        On the advice of marketing experts, flaws of Windows 8 will be accepted and used as lessons for developers while releasing Windows 9.

    Also ...

        After facing problems in China, Microsoft is thinking about a new activation system of Windows 9. Apparently this is slowing down development right now.

        It’s assumed that the activation of products distributed via ESD-RETAIL channels will be more tightly associated with a specific PC and that activation will be done when user will log in to Microsoft Store. Activation key won’t be given to user and he won’t need to enter key manually.

        If user will want to change his PC or reinstall/restore system (not on OEM PCs), he will need to download specific ESD-RETAIL distribution in a special format and then burn it on DVD or flash media using special wizard. With this new type of BIOS, large OEMs will download distributions for "bare metal" and deploy systems without need of having boot disks. It similar to method Apple uses now. Although it’s  planned to implement this feature only on hardware manufactured by Microsoft and large manufacturers such as Lenovo, Dell, etc. Also this method will be used on mobile devices, tablets, smartphones, etc.

        Installing ESD-RETAIL systems on new hardware or restoring system on the old one, will require to "detach" old installation from Microsoft Store, and only after that, it’ll be possible to activate new system.

        As you know, at the Microsoft Store could be more than one license or product, so it is necessary to take into account that the data of the license holder (an address, credit card numbers, etc.) will be stored on Microsoft’s servers. If someone won’t detach previously activated system, and same distribution will be activated on 2-3 PCs, while only one license was bought, after three days activation will be cancelled till problems with license will be solved. User will be prompted to purchase missing license or "detach" extra system if he wants to further use a product.

        Right now developers of the new activation system and experts of new products promotion are discussing on these topics. To be more specific, they are discussing how to make possible to rent a product or working time on it.

        This is also a major problem of promoting the product, protecting personal data from transferring them to third parties, such as NSA...

        Therefore, there is an idea to issue corporate version without these bindings to online and cloud services of Microsoft.


    As with any rumors or unofficial claims, you’ll need to take everything said in this post with a pinch of salt, but given how badly Windows 8.x is struggling at the moment, it makes a lot of sense for Microsoft to get a new version of Windows out as quickly as possible. With Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Update, Microsoft has listened to customers and made wholesale changes to its operating system, but the negativity surrounding it remains. There’s little Microsoft can do to save Windows 8.x now, so debuting its successor, and starting afresh, makes a lot of sense -- provided the company has truly listened to its customers and got it right this time.

    To read the comments after the article, go to:  
     

    http://betanews.com/2014/07/07/wzor-says-the-end-is-in-sight-for-windows-8-1-and-windows-9-is-on-its-way/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed+-+bn+-+Betanews+Full+Content+Feed+-+BN
    • Like 1

  25. Posted · Edited by Tech 425
    Fixed Video     · Report reply

     


    Walk Off The Earth, a slightly quirky Canadian cover band, performs amazing recreations of popular music of varous genres, using an unlimited combination of homegrown music instruments with a core set of performers and guests.  Based primarily on youtube, they group has cut a couple records and also performs live.

    Note:  I have no affiliation with these entertainers.  I just like watching their clips.

    • Like 3
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