New Job = screwing around
Now that the job situation has stabilized somewhat, I can get back to the more important things in life, like...
Now that the job situation has stabilized somewhat, I can get back to the more important things in life, like...
The FBI has issued a terror warning to police to look out for individuals carrying almanacs or maps, reports AP.
The warning was sent to 18,000 officers before Christmas. Almanacs, warns the FBI, may be used "to assist with target selection and pre-operational planning." The Bureau acknowledges that there may be "legitimate recreational or commercial activities" that justify an individual carrying around a map or reference book.
Good thing the U.S. government doesn't make a lot of this information freely available on the CIA website...
![[world_factbook.jpg]](http://www.zuckervati.com/archives/images/world_factbook.jpg)
At the White House, Homeland Security officials and their British counterparts agreed to develop procedures to handle terrorist threats against international flights. The meeting followed a chaotic week at London's Heathrow airport. British Airways Flight 223 to Dulles International Airport outside Washington was delayed or canceled several times over terrorism concerns and also because British Airways pilots objected to U.S. demands that armed marshals be on board.
Bush administration officials "systematically misrepresented" the threat from Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to war, according to a new report to be published on Thursday by a respected Washington think-tank.
These distortions, combined with intelligence failures, exaggerated the risks posed by a country that presented no immediate threat to the US, Middle East or global security, the report says.
![[iraq_flag.jpg]](http://www.zuckervati.com/archives/images/iraq_flag.jpg)
Foreigners entering U.S. airports and seaports from all but 27 nations were having their fingerprints scanned and their photographs taken beginning Monday as part of a new program to tighten border security.
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, who was in Atlanta to help launch the program at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, said Monday on NBC's "Today" show that the pilot program before the formal launch had led to 21 foreigners' being denied entry because they had earlier been deported for criminal or other legal issues.
A Chinese court has ordered an online video game company to return hard-won virtual property, including a make-believe stockpile of bio-chemical weapons, to a player whose game account was looted by a hacker. Li Hongchen, 24, had spent two years, and 10,000 yuan ($1,210) on pay-as-you-go cards to play, amassing weapons and victories in the popular online computer game Hongyue, or Red Moon, before his "weapons" were stolen in February, the Xinhua news agency said on Friday. Li asked the company, Beijing Arctic Ice Technology Development Co Ltd, to identify the player who stole his virtual property, but it declined, saying it could not give out a player's private details, it said.
The new year in Japan is a time for fresh starts and spiritual cleansing for not only the residents of Tokyo, but also their computers. At the Kanda Myojin shrine in downtown Tokyo, IT businesses and the nearby electronic shops association of Akihabara have gathered to purify their computers and protect them from common electronic evils. For most, that meant warding off computer viruses and hackers. "I work in software development and we faced many threats such as computer viruses and hackers, and if our computers breakdown we can't work anymore. So that is why it's important to me to pray for a year of safe business," said 30-year old Katsutoshi Honma whose computer was blessed according to the ancient Shinto traditions.
A Chinese man jailed for hacking into cable television and broadcasting footage of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement has died in prison, according to the group's website. The group said that Liu Chengjun had suffered "cruel torture" and that eyewitnesses described blood stains all over his body. Liu was serving 19 years in prison in the northern province of Jilin for his part in the 2002 protest. He was one of 15 Falun Gong members who illegally broadcast around 40 minutes of pro-Falun Gong material on a cable TV station in Changchun, capital of Jilin. The Falun Gong website said that he died on 26 December in a civilian hospital. It said that his body had been cremated on the same day without an autopsy.
Famed hacker and master social engineer Kevin Mitnick has been commissioned to write a new book following the success of his first text The Art of Deception. The new book, tentatively titled The Art of Intrusion will tell the stories of real hacks, with the names of attackers obscured to protect them from the authorities and their victims. Mitnick has called on retired hackers to come forward with their stories, offering a $500 (�283) prize for the best story that makes it into the book, and a $200 payment for all stories that make the final draft. "I'm going to tell the true stories of some of the untold most salacious hacks in cyberspace. The sexy, the ingenious, the innovative and the clever," he told ZDNet Australia by phone from the US "The stories are not going to be the same attack vector or the same class of vulnerability. I'm looking for stories that will include a variety of attack methods exploiting physical, operational, network host, and personnel security vulnerabilities."
Looks like Micro$oft launched a big anti-Linux campaign. Checkout the latest info from 3rd-party experts on Micro$oft's website.