Mexico has cracked down on alleged corruption and incompetence in its federal police on Monday, firing 3200 officers, about 10 per cent of the force. NOTE: The Philippine should take this as a hint and clean up their SWAT team after ex-cop Rolando Mendoza killed at least 8 hostages in a bus hijack in Manila, weeks ago. Yes, the Philippine SWAT team botched the hostages rescue effort.
Back to Mexico drastic police department clean up, top police commissioner Facundo Rosas told a news conference the officers had failed to pass "confidence tests", including 465 denounced for suspected crimes.
Another 1485 officers from the force of 34,500 would be laid off in a second phase, Rosas said, adding that investigations continue.
The massive purge is only the latest in a series of efforts to clean up Mexico's notoriously corrupt police, in a campaign which has become increasingly urgent as drug violence escalates across the country.
More than 28,000 people have died in suspected drug attacks since President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown, involving about 50,000 troops, on organised crime in 2006.
North-eastern areas have seen a surge in brutality in recent days, including the discovery of 72 massacred migrants, the murder of a mayor and five apparent bomb blasts.
The military has assumed anti-drug patrols in some spots because local police are considered unreliable.
Recommended reading:
* Gulf of Mexico Big Slick
* Canadian Police is watching your Internet activities
* Queensland Police Fighting WiFi Robbery
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China's 7 secrets that remained a secret
While people in the US and elsewhere have been reacting to the release by WikiLeaks of classified US documents on the Afghan War, Chinese bloggers have been discussing the event in parallel with another in their own country.
On July 21 in Beijing, four days before WikiLeaks published its documents, Chinese President Hu Jintao convened a high-level meeting to discuss ways to prevent leaks from the archives of the Communist Party of China.
Based on an article from The New York Review of Books, below are seven top secrets archives that the Chinese government want to keep and the bloggers want to see it opened.
1. The famine during the Great Leap Forward in 1959-62. Somewhere between 20 and 50 million people died because of bad policy, not “bad weather.” What exactly happened? What policies caused the famine and what policies suppressed information on it? How much grain was in state granaries while people starved? Is it true that Mao sold grain to the Soviet Union during those years in order to buy nuclear weapons?
2. The death of Mao’s military commander General Lin Biao in 1971. The official version of events, which to this day exists only in bare outline, strains credulity: Mao’s “closet comrade in arms” suddenly plotted a coup, failed in it, tried to flee to the Soviet Union, and was shot down in his plane. What really happened? Why? Why shouldn’t we know more?
3. Mao’s will and personal lockbox. Mao’s wife Jiang Qing said at her trial (as part of the “Gang of Four”) that Mao had a written will that mentioned her. Did he? What did it say? Mao also apparently kept his own lockbox of “most core secrets” that, in his later years, not even Jiang Qing could see. Mao’s mistress Zhang Yufeng kept the key until September 21, 1976, twelve days after Mao’s death, when Hua Guofeng, Mao’s anointed successor, is said to have taken it from her. What’s in the box?
4. The Beijing Massacre of 1989. The basic story is fairly well known from The Tiananmen Papers, Zhao Ziyang’s memoirs, and Li Peng’s diary. But the records of some key meetings still are classified, and responsibility for the massacre remains an extremely sensitive question in Chinese politics.
5. The brutal suppression of the Falun Gong after 1999. Falun Gong claims there are concentration camps for their members and that internal organs of executed believers are surgically removed and sold. True? Untrue? What do the records say?
6. Beijing’s huge but secret “stability maintenance” budget. The Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences reports that Chinese government spending on domestic “stability maintenance”—the monitoring, intimidation, roughing-up, and illegal detention of petitioners, aggrieved workers, religious believers, professors, bloggers, twitterers, and other sources of “trouble”—now exceeds what the government spends in any category except the military. What are the details of this budget?
7. Bank accounts of Communist Party officials. Corruption and graft are widely viewed to be problems at every level of Chinese government, but exactly how much money have officials squirreled away? How much have they sent abroad?
Recommended reading:
* Secret of how rich people get rich
* Secret of becoming a famous blogger
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On July 21 in Beijing, four days before WikiLeaks published its documents, Chinese President Hu Jintao convened a high-level meeting to discuss ways to prevent leaks from the archives of the Communist Party of China.
Based on an article from The New York Review of Books, below are seven top secrets archives that the Chinese government want to keep and the bloggers want to see it opened.
1. The famine during the Great Leap Forward in 1959-62. Somewhere between 20 and 50 million people died because of bad policy, not “bad weather.” What exactly happened? What policies caused the famine and what policies suppressed information on it? How much grain was in state granaries while people starved? Is it true that Mao sold grain to the Soviet Union during those years in order to buy nuclear weapons?
2. The death of Mao’s military commander General Lin Biao in 1971. The official version of events, which to this day exists only in bare outline, strains credulity: Mao’s “closet comrade in arms” suddenly plotted a coup, failed in it, tried to flee to the Soviet Union, and was shot down in his plane. What really happened? Why? Why shouldn’t we know more?
3. Mao’s will and personal lockbox. Mao’s wife Jiang Qing said at her trial (as part of the “Gang of Four”) that Mao had a written will that mentioned her. Did he? What did it say? Mao also apparently kept his own lockbox of “most core secrets” that, in his later years, not even Jiang Qing could see. Mao’s mistress Zhang Yufeng kept the key until September 21, 1976, twelve days after Mao’s death, when Hua Guofeng, Mao’s anointed successor, is said to have taken it from her. What’s in the box?
4. The Beijing Massacre of 1989. The basic story is fairly well known from The Tiananmen Papers, Zhao Ziyang’s memoirs, and Li Peng’s diary. But the records of some key meetings still are classified, and responsibility for the massacre remains an extremely sensitive question in Chinese politics.
5. The brutal suppression of the Falun Gong after 1999. Falun Gong claims there are concentration camps for their members and that internal organs of executed believers are surgically removed and sold. True? Untrue? What do the records say?
6. Beijing’s huge but secret “stability maintenance” budget. The Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences reports that Chinese government spending on domestic “stability maintenance”—the monitoring, intimidation, roughing-up, and illegal detention of petitioners, aggrieved workers, religious believers, professors, bloggers, twitterers, and other sources of “trouble”—now exceeds what the government spends in any category except the military. What are the details of this budget?
7. Bank accounts of Communist Party officials. Corruption and graft are widely viewed to be problems at every level of Chinese government, but exactly how much money have officials squirreled away? How much have they sent abroad?
Recommended reading:
* Secret of how rich people get rich
* Secret of becoming a famous blogger
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What Is Remote Binary Planting Exploit
The term Remote Binary Planting is becoming a hot keyword trends. Remote Binary Planting has been coined by computer security researchers of a exploit of planting malicious binary on a targeted computer.
The vulnerabilities of the "remote binary planting" is where the malicious binary is loaded from the current working directory, allowing for a remote, even Internet-based attack.
This vulnerability allows a remote attacker (hacker) to place a (preferably hidden) malicious DLL on a network shared folder alongside a media file and when users open this media file, the DLL will get silently loaded and executed by the operating system.
There also has been cases whereby the operating system was tricked to load the DLL without verifying it full installed path.
Why is it called Remote Binary Planting? This is because the same problem affects not only the libraries but also executables such as .EXE and .COM files.
More info at: ACROS SECURITY - Binary Planting
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The vulnerabilities of the "remote binary planting" is where the malicious binary is loaded from the current working directory, allowing for a remote, even Internet-based attack.
This vulnerability allows a remote attacker (hacker) to place a (preferably hidden) malicious DLL on a network shared folder alongside a media file and when users open this media file, the DLL will get silently loaded and executed by the operating system.
There also has been cases whereby the operating system was tricked to load the DLL without verifying it full installed path.
Why is it called Remote Binary Planting? This is because the same problem affects not only the libraries but also executables such as .EXE and .COM files.
More info at: ACROS SECURITY - Binary Planting
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How Microsoft Apps Can Be Exploited By Hackers
This is really nothing new. The article below reports that computer security researchers claims at least 41 Microsoft apps especially PowerPoint 2010 and Office 2010 are vulnerable and need patching. But Microsoft is not admitting it's their own application that has hidden bugs.
How can Microsoft owned application be at fault? Well, The lack of insight in their OS architecture allowed their own programs to be remotely exploited using DLL load hijacking.
Less than 24 hours after Microsoft said it couldn't patch Windows to fix a systemic problem, attack code appeared Tuesday to exploit the company's software.
On Monday, Microsoft confirmed reports of unpatched -- or zero-day -- vulnerabilities in a large number of Windows programs, then published a tool it said would block known attacks. At the same time, the company said it would not patch Windows because doing so would cripple existing applications.
Microsoft also declined to reveal whether any of its own applications contain bugs that attackers could exploit, saying only that it is investigating.
Many Windows applications don't call code libraries -- dubbed "dynamic-link library," or "DLL" -- using the full path name, but instead use only the file name, giving hackers wiggle room that they can then exploit by tricking an application into loading a malicious file with the same name as a required DLL.
If attackers can dupe users into visiting malicious Web sites or remote shares, or get them to plug in a USB drive -- and in some cases con them into opening a file -- they can hijack a PC and plant malware on it.
By Tuesday, at least four exploits of what some call "binary planting" attacks -- and what others dub "DLL load hijacking" attacks -- had been published to a well-known hacker site. Two of the exploits targeted Microsoft-made software, including PowerPoint 2010, the presentation application in Office 2010, and Windows Live Mail, a free e-mail client bundled with Vista but available as a free download for Windows 7 customers.
Other exploits aimed at leveraging DLL load hijacking bugs in uTorrent and Wireshark, a BitTorrent client and network protocol analyzer, respectively.
At the same time, a Slovenian security company claimed that it reported bugs in two Microsoft-made programs last March.
"We're going to publish a list of the vulnerable apps we found sometime soon," said Mitja Kolsek, the CEO of Acros Security. "However, since HD Moore's tool kit is already being used for finding vulnerable apps and at this point hundreds of good and bad guys already know about it, I can say that the two we fully disclosed to Microsoft were in Windows Address Book/Windows Contacts and Windows Program Manager Group Converter."
HD Moore is the U.S. researcher who kicked off a small wave of DLL load hijacking reports last week when announced he had found 40 vulnerable Windows applications. On Monday, Moore published an auditing tool that others can use to detect vulnerable software. When combined with an exploit added that same day to Metasploit, the open-source hacking tool kit that Moore authored, the tool's results produce what he called a "point-and-shoot" attack.
All four of the exploits that went public Tuesday appear to be based on Moore's Metasploit attack code.
Although the Windows Address Book -- renamed Windows Contacts with the launch of Vista in 2007 -- may be familiar to users, Program Manager Group Converter is probably not, Kolsek admitted. But both can be exploited.
"They're part of every Windows installation and are associated with certain file extensions, allowing for 'double-click-bang' remote attacks," Kolsek said. "To increase the likelihood of success, an attacker can create a shortcut with a PDF or Word document icon pointing to such files, which otherwise have different, less familiar icons."
Contrary to Kolsek's claim, Program Manager Group Converter, a holdover from pre-Windows 95 days, is included with Windows XP, but not with Vista or Windows 7.
Altogether, Acros uncovered 121 remote execution vulnerabilities in 41 different Microsoft applications, but reported details of only the pair in Address Book/Contacts and Program Manager Group Converter. The rest were left for Microsoft's own researchers to find, said Kolsek.
Like a number of other companies, notably the French firm Vupen Security, Acros has decided that it will no longer report its vulnerability discoveries to vendors without compensation. "We've been giving them away for 10 years now," said Kolsek, "and it wasn't doing anything for us."
In a long post to a new Acros blog, Kolsek added that there was no bad blood between his company and Microsoft over the former's refusal to identify 119 bugs in the software vendor's products. "It was a mere incompatibility of business interests," he said.
Wireshark's lead developer, Gerald Combs, said today that a fix for the DLL load hijacking bug would be released in the next few days. Microsoft and BitTorrent, the firm responsible for uTorrent, did not reply to requests for comment about their patching plans.
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How can Microsoft owned application be at fault? Well, The lack of insight in their OS architecture allowed their own programs to be remotely exploited using DLL load hijacking.
Less than 24 hours after Microsoft said it couldn't patch Windows to fix a systemic problem, attack code appeared Tuesday to exploit the company's software.
On Monday, Microsoft confirmed reports of unpatched -- or zero-day -- vulnerabilities in a large number of Windows programs, then published a tool it said would block known attacks. At the same time, the company said it would not patch Windows because doing so would cripple existing applications.
Microsoft also declined to reveal whether any of its own applications contain bugs that attackers could exploit, saying only that it is investigating.
Many Windows applications don't call code libraries -- dubbed "dynamic-link library," or "DLL" -- using the full path name, but instead use only the file name, giving hackers wiggle room that they can then exploit by tricking an application into loading a malicious file with the same name as a required DLL.
If attackers can dupe users into visiting malicious Web sites or remote shares, or get them to plug in a USB drive -- and in some cases con them into opening a file -- they can hijack a PC and plant malware on it.
By Tuesday, at least four exploits of what some call "binary planting" attacks -- and what others dub "DLL load hijacking" attacks -- had been published to a well-known hacker site. Two of the exploits targeted Microsoft-made software, including PowerPoint 2010, the presentation application in Office 2010, and Windows Live Mail, a free e-mail client bundled with Vista but available as a free download for Windows 7 customers.
Other exploits aimed at leveraging DLL load hijacking bugs in uTorrent and Wireshark, a BitTorrent client and network protocol analyzer, respectively.
At the same time, a Slovenian security company claimed that it reported bugs in two Microsoft-made programs last March.
"We're going to publish a list of the vulnerable apps we found sometime soon," said Mitja Kolsek, the CEO of Acros Security. "However, since HD Moore's tool kit is already being used for finding vulnerable apps and at this point hundreds of good and bad guys already know about it, I can say that the two we fully disclosed to Microsoft were in Windows Address Book/Windows Contacts and Windows Program Manager Group Converter."
HD Moore is the U.S. researcher who kicked off a small wave of DLL load hijacking reports last week when announced he had found 40 vulnerable Windows applications. On Monday, Moore published an auditing tool that others can use to detect vulnerable software. When combined with an exploit added that same day to Metasploit, the open-source hacking tool kit that Moore authored, the tool's results produce what he called a "point-and-shoot" attack.
All four of the exploits that went public Tuesday appear to be based on Moore's Metasploit attack code.
Although the Windows Address Book -- renamed Windows Contacts with the launch of Vista in 2007 -- may be familiar to users, Program Manager Group Converter is probably not, Kolsek admitted. But both can be exploited.
"They're part of every Windows installation and are associated with certain file extensions, allowing for 'double-click-bang' remote attacks," Kolsek said. "To increase the likelihood of success, an attacker can create a shortcut with a PDF or Word document icon pointing to such files, which otherwise have different, less familiar icons."
Contrary to Kolsek's claim, Program Manager Group Converter, a holdover from pre-Windows 95 days, is included with Windows XP, but not with Vista or Windows 7.
Altogether, Acros uncovered 121 remote execution vulnerabilities in 41 different Microsoft applications, but reported details of only the pair in Address Book/Contacts and Program Manager Group Converter. The rest were left for Microsoft's own researchers to find, said Kolsek.
Like a number of other companies, notably the French firm Vupen Security, Acros has decided that it will no longer report its vulnerability discoveries to vendors without compensation. "We've been giving them away for 10 years now," said Kolsek, "and it wasn't doing anything for us."
In a long post to a new Acros blog, Kolsek added that there was no bad blood between his company and Microsoft over the former's refusal to identify 119 bugs in the software vendor's products. "It was a mere incompatibility of business interests," he said.
Wireshark's lead developer, Gerald Combs, said today that a fix for the DLL load hijacking bug would be released in the next few days. Microsoft and BitTorrent, the firm responsible for uTorrent, did not reply to requests for comment about their patching plans.
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Indonesian Mount Sinabung volcano erupts
Quiet for 400 years, experts are monitoring Mount Sinabung closely after a minor eruption Sunday morning.
Thousands of Indonesians were evacuated from the slopes of a volcano on Sunday after it erupted for the first time in more than 400 years, spewing out lava and sending smoke and dust 1,500 metres into the air.
Mount Sinabung, in the north of the island of Sumatra, began erupting around midnight after rumbling for several days, prompting some villagers to panic before the mass evacuation got under way.
Indonesia is on the so-called Pacific Rim of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and geological fault lines triggering frequent earthquakes around the Pacific Basin. The eruption triggered the highest red volcano alert.
Two people died, one from breathing problems and the other from a heart attack, and two suffered injuries in road accidents as trucks, ambulances and buses were mobilised in the rescue operation.
“This is the first time since 1600 that Sinabung has erupted and we have little knowledge in terms on its eruptive patterns,” said Surono, head of Indonesia’s vulcanology centre.
Authorities took at least 12,000 people from high risk areas on the slopes of the 2,460-metre volcano to temporary shelters. Local TV showed showed women and children wearing face masks in cramped tents.
The area around the volcano is largely agricultural.
“Since this is the first eruption we’ve had in Sinabung, we’re anticipating residents to remain at the shelters for at least a week while waiting for further status alert,” said Priyadi Kardono, a spokesman at the national disaster management agency.
Residents panicked when the volcano started erupting overnight and some of them who live in safer areas chose to take refugee at shelters, Mr. Kardono added.
The eruption has not damaged roads or bridges. The nearest big city is Medan where there were no disruptions to flights.
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Thousands of Indonesians were evacuated from the slopes of a volcano on Sunday after it erupted for the first time in more than 400 years, spewing out lava and sending smoke and dust 1,500 metres into the air.
Mount Sinabung, in the north of the island of Sumatra, began erupting around midnight after rumbling for several days, prompting some villagers to panic before the mass evacuation got under way.
Indonesia is on the so-called Pacific Rim of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and geological fault lines triggering frequent earthquakes around the Pacific Basin. The eruption triggered the highest red volcano alert.
Two people died, one from breathing problems and the other from a heart attack, and two suffered injuries in road accidents as trucks, ambulances and buses were mobilised in the rescue operation.
“This is the first time since 1600 that Sinabung has erupted and we have little knowledge in terms on its eruptive patterns,” said Surono, head of Indonesia’s vulcanology centre.
Authorities took at least 12,000 people from high risk areas on the slopes of the 2,460-metre volcano to temporary shelters. Local TV showed showed women and children wearing face masks in cramped tents.
The area around the volcano is largely agricultural.
“Since this is the first eruption we’ve had in Sinabung, we’re anticipating residents to remain at the shelters for at least a week while waiting for further status alert,” said Priyadi Kardono, a spokesman at the national disaster management agency.
Residents panicked when the volcano started erupting overnight and some of them who live in safer areas chose to take refugee at shelters, Mr. Kardono added.
The eruption has not damaged roads or bridges. The nearest big city is Medan where there were no disruptions to flights.
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workitmom.com infected with malware
This is the second time this month that I came across a site infected with Malware. Recently it was Buzzerhut.com. Today it was workitmom.com.
The big warning was prompted when I visited www.makemoneyonlinewithejcooksey.com. Apparently, www.makemoneyonlinewithejcooksey.com has some link to workitmom.com and the webmaster ought to remove any links to workitmom.com until the owner has fixed the problem.
The root of the problem seems to stem from rpzrpxr.co.cc.
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The big warning was prompted when I visited www.makemoneyonlinewithejcooksey.com. Apparently, www.makemoneyonlinewithejcooksey.com has some link to workitmom.com and the webmaster ought to remove any links to workitmom.com until the owner has fixed the problem.
The root of the problem seems to stem from rpzrpxr.co.cc.
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How to identify a check scam
Do you think you may have received a scam or have received something that makes you suspicious? Here's are three questions to ask to keep you from losing your hard earned money and give you some direction on what to do.
How to identify a check scam:
1. You received an unexpected cashier’s check or an offer of a large payment from a company that may or may not be posing as a mystery shopping company. Mystery shopping is a common front; however, it could be any type of company.
2. You are asked to send some of the proceeds to someone else.
3. The offer seems too good to be true. The scammers are counting on your willingness to take the chance their offer is real.
If I can get the cash, doesn’t that mean the check or money order is good?
Federal law requires banks and credit unions to make the funds you deposit available quickly, usually within five days, depending on the type of check or money order. Just because you can withdraw the money doesn’t mean the check or money order is good. It can take weeks, even months, for counterfeits to be discovered. And the bank will demand their money back.
Interesting reading:
* Don't Believe Your Bank When it Reports a Check has Cleared
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How to identify a check scam:
1. You received an unexpected cashier’s check or an offer of a large payment from a company that may or may not be posing as a mystery shopping company. Mystery shopping is a common front; however, it could be any type of company.
2. You are asked to send some of the proceeds to someone else.
3. The offer seems too good to be true. The scammers are counting on your willingness to take the chance their offer is real.
If I can get the cash, doesn’t that mean the check or money order is good?
Federal law requires banks and credit unions to make the funds you deposit available quickly, usually within five days, depending on the type of check or money order. Just because you can withdraw the money doesn’t mean the check or money order is good. It can take weeks, even months, for counterfeits to be discovered. And the bank will demand their money back.
Interesting reading:
* Don't Believe Your Bank When it Reports a Check has Cleared
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Jennifer Aniston topless in Wanderlust
Jennifer Aniston, the former Friends actress, is to take on her most risqué role, appearing topless at the age of 41. She is to star in the film “Wanderlust” which calls for her to strip off for the first time in her acting career.Her character also indulges in threesome with two other women, sleeps around with numerous men and takes drugs.
Reports in Hollywood said Aniston has agreed to play the part of a “free loving” married woman who ends up living in a hippie community.
The role will be a major departure for the actress who has appeared in a series of romantic comedies since making her name as Rachel in Friends.
According to reports in Hollywood, Aniston is looking to the Judd Apatow-directed film to boost her flagging career.
The prospect of Aniston appearing topless will generate huge publicity for the film and the actress.
Before shooting begins in November Aniston is to be reunited with her former Friends co-star Courtney Cox when she makes a guest appearance in the TV series “Cougar Town.”
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* Rihanna Nude Photos Leaked Out
How people counterfeit check from Internet source
Think of it as one more reason not to write checks. Hackers believed to be operating out of Russia have figured out a high-tech way to carry out the decidedly low-tech crime of check fraud, a computer security company says — writing at least $9 million in fakes against more than 1,200 legitimate accounts.But these hackers got the account information in an unusual way: They broke into three websites that specialize in a little-known type of business — archiving check images online.
Check counterfeiting is a crime that savvy Internet criminals usually pass up. After all, it's far easier for them to make money by stealing credit cards and online banking passwords.
The scam was discovered by SecureWorks Inc., an Atlanta computer security company. The organization says it is working with the FBI and says the hackers have not been caught.
Retailers and other businesses use the sites to store records of all the checks they write. Check-cashing operations use them to sock away images of checks they receive. And some banks pay them to store images of customers' checks, so the customers can see them when they log in to their online banking accounts.
The criminals downloaded all the images they could find, grabbing bank routing numbers, names and addresses and even signatures of legitimate account holders. They used the information to create their own checks using easy-to-acquire software and printers.
Because all the account information is real and the victims don't know their accounts have been compromised, the odds of the checks going through are high.
SecureWorks notified the three sites and said they have closed their security holes, but warned that the scam is ongoing and targeting other, similar sites.
"It's not the standard kind of criminal operation," Joe Stewart, director of malware research for SecureWorks' Counter Threat Unit, told The Associated Press ahead of the report's scheduled release Wednesday.
"Check counterfeiting is kind of old school, but these guys have figured out how to make it highly automated," he said. "They can get all this data and use that to write counterfeit checks all day long."
The research was being released in conjunction with the Black Hat computer security conference in Las Vegas, which runs Wednesday and Thursday and draws security professionals from around the world to hear about the latest vulnerabilities and attacks and ways to thwart criminals.
Notable presentations this year are to include a demonstration of how to break into widely used ATMs, a talk that was pulled last year by the researcher's employer after complaints from the ATM maker. Researchers are also expected to discuss vulnerabilities in smart phones and in the technology used to secure online transactions.
A consistent theme at Black Hat, and at the related DefCon conference this weekend in Las Vegas, is that most Internet criminals are now motivated by money rather than mayhem. And they're getting more clever in their approaches as banks and other valuable targets tighten their security, as SecureWorks' three-month investigation into the check-counterfeiting ring found.
Dan Clements, a computer security expert who wasn't involved in SecureWorks' research, said the scheme represents a "very significant" escalation of the abilities of online crooks.
He said people should watch for small test charges that criminals make to figure out which accounts are still active, and avoid writing their driver's license numbers and other personal details on checks. He said the attackers were shrewd in their choice of targets.
"I think it's brilliant — it's where the data is," he said. "It's a way to get into these accounts and they don't need to be in the country."
It's unclear how much of the $9 million in that scam the criminals actually got to keep.
The main bottleneck lies with the "money mules" — people recruited from online job sites to launder the money.
They were sent the bogus checks — via overnight shipping paid for with stolen credit cards — and asked to deposit them into their own bank accounts. They were then supposed to wire a portion to accounts in Russia.
Stewart said the six "mules" he was able to reach all told him they hadn't wired any money to the criminals because either they or their banks got suspicious. Many more likely did wire the money, however.
Stewart uncovered the scam while investigating malicious software that steals banking passwords.
In eavesdropping on one criminal group's communications, which he was able to do by infecting his own computer with the malicious program the group was using, he noticed that they were doing something unexpected: collecting massive amounts of images of checks.
He found a file logging all of their transactions, which revealed that 3,285 checks were written against 1,280 accounts since June 2009. Most checks were written for less than $3,000 to evade banks' anti-fraud measures. Overall, he saw about 200,000 stolen check images — suggesting the criminals have only exploited a fraction of the accounts on which they have information.
SecureWorks isn't identifying the hacked sites.
What is a fake check scam?
It's a fast-growing fraud that could cost you thousands of dollars. There are many types of fake check scams, but it all starts when someone gives you a realistic-looking check or money order and asks you to send cash somewhere in return. It's phony, and so is the person's story, but that may take weeks to discover. Now your bank wants the money back. However, just because you can get the cash doesn't mean the check or money order is good. Ultimately, you are responsible for the checks or money orders you deposit or cash. That's how the scam works.
Related link:
* Don't be a victim of fake check scams. Get info here.
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Sri Lankan maid abused by Saudi couple
A Saudi couple tortured their Sri Lankan maid after she complained of a too heavy workload by hammering 24 nails into her hands, legs and forehead, officials said on Thursday.
Nearly 2 million Sri Lankans sought employment overseas last year and around 1.4 million, mostly maids, were employed in the Middle East. Many have complained of physical abuse or harassment.
L.T. Ariyawathi, a 49-year old mother of three, returned on Friday after five months in Saudi Arabia.
Her family only realized what had happened to her when she complained of pain and they took her to see the doctor, Foreign Employment Bureau officials said.
"The landlord and the wife of the landlord hammered 24 nails into her when she complained of the heavy workload," Kalyana Priya Ramanayake, media secretary of the Foreign Employment Bureau, told Reuters.
Ariyawathi has been taken to hospital for surgery to remove the nails, which according to the maid were hammered in when they were hot.
X-rays showed one- to two-inch nails in her hands and legs, with one over her eyes, officials said.
The Foreign Employment Bureau is consulting the Attorney-General while the Sri Lankan External Affairs Ministry is to take the matter up with the Saudi government, officials said.
Recommended reading:
* Saudi schoolgirl get 90 lashes for assaulting headmistress
* Crucifixion in Saudi Arabia
* Mecca Time to Replace GMT
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Nearly 2 million Sri Lankans sought employment overseas last year and around 1.4 million, mostly maids, were employed in the Middle East. Many have complained of physical abuse or harassment.
L.T. Ariyawathi, a 49-year old mother of three, returned on Friday after five months in Saudi Arabia.
Her family only realized what had happened to her when she complained of pain and they took her to see the doctor, Foreign Employment Bureau officials said.
"The landlord and the wife of the landlord hammered 24 nails into her when she complained of the heavy workload," Kalyana Priya Ramanayake, media secretary of the Foreign Employment Bureau, told Reuters.
Ariyawathi has been taken to hospital for surgery to remove the nails, which according to the maid were hammered in when they were hot.
X-rays showed one- to two-inch nails in her hands and legs, with one over her eyes, officials said.
The Foreign Employment Bureau is consulting the Attorney-General while the Sri Lankan External Affairs Ministry is to take the matter up with the Saudi government, officials said.
Recommended reading:
* Saudi schoolgirl get 90 lashes for assaulting headmistress
* Crucifixion in Saudi Arabia
* Mecca Time to Replace GMT
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Google Calendar Improved Its Event Scheduling
Google has made some changes to the event page it's Google Calendar which should make scheduling events easier. They have made the style more consistent with other Google apps, put information that’s most commonly used at the top of the screen, simplified the layout, and added some functionality.
The improvement includes the following:
* recurring event
* Google Calendar Connectors API
* load performance
More info at Easier event scheduling in Google Calendar
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The improvement includes the following:
* recurring event
* Google Calendar Connectors API
* load performance
More info at Easier event scheduling in Google Calendar
If you like this informative post, then please subscribe to my full RSS Feed.
Blood Nest - Fake Bird Nest
“Blood nest” – a much sought after variety of bird’s nest – is actually tainted with dangerous chemicals to deceive consumers into paying double the price for a premium grade.While the normal bird’s nest, which is ivory in colour, can fetch up to RM10,000 a kilo, the reddish “blood nest” fetches up to RM20,000 a kilo in Malaysia.
Traders justify the exorbitant price by claiming the “blood nest” is a premium grade of the Chinese delicacy.
In exposing this scam on Saturday, Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Chua Tee Yong said these tainted bird’s nests were dangerous to health and may even be fatal when consumed by humans.
He said the nests were either sprayed with iodine or stored at premises where there was high ammonia content to give them a uniform bright-red colour.
“Some also use karya gum (from a soft wooded tree) to give the bird’s nest its reddish colour,” he told The Star.
Chua advised the public against purchasing bird’s nest from dubious traders and urged the industry to practise self-regulation to ensure the quality and safety of the product.
He said that all bird’s nests must have a Veterinary Service Department health certificate before they could be exported.
Federation of Bird’s Nest Merchants Asso ciations chairman Datuk Beh Heng Seong said the term “blood nest” was coined by conmen and that there was “no such thing”.
“Bird’s nest is made up of the saliva of swiflets and is ivory in colour. It is impossible for bird’s nest to be red in colour.
“The so-called blood nests have high levels of nitrates from the artificial red colouring added to it,” Beh said, admitting that many consumers had been deceived into paying a high price for the dangerous product.
He said a kilo of bird’s nest costs between RM8,000 and RM10,000 in the market depending on the grade while a kilo of the “blood nest” was between RM15,000 and RM20,000.
Beh said Malaysia produced some 240 tonnes of bird’s nest worth RM1bil a year and 90% of it was exported to China.
Asked whether the federation, comprising 19 associations and 10,000 members nationwide, had tried to rein in those who were cheating consumers, he said they were looking at educating consumers on bird’s nests and coming up with guidelines for the industry.
Meanwhile, Fomca secretary-general Muhd Sha’ani Abdullah urged the Health Ministry to issue guidelines on what a genuine bird’s nest was and to warn consumers of bird’s nests with added colouring.
He said so far, they have not received any complaint from consumers on the so-called “blood nest” but added that could be because consumers were unaware of tainted products in the market.
He suggested that the Health Ministry issue certificates for untainted products.
“Traders should also be responsible by making sure no harmful chemicals are used in their products,” said Muhd Sha’ani.
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From Mail to Voice
Gmail will now be able to call telephones directly from their email, putting it in direct competition with Web calling service Skype and more traditional operators such as AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications. Read also Hello Google Voice, Goodbye SkypeWhile Google had already offered computer-to-computer voice and video chat services, it said that starting on Wednesday it will now allow calls to home phones and mobile phones directly from Gmail for the first time.
Google promised free calls to U.S. and Canadian phones from Gmail for the rest of this year and said it would charge low rates for calls made to other countries.
For example it said calls to Britain, France, Germany, China and Japan would be as low as 2 cents per minute.
Analysts said the service would likely be a bigger competitive threat to services like Skype's than to traditional phone companies, which have already been cutting their call prices in recent years in response to stiff competition.
"This is a risk to Skype. It's a competitor with a pretty good brand name," said Hudson Square analyst Todd Rethemeier.
Skype, which owned by private equity firms and eBay Inc and planning a $100 million initial public offering, has long allowed consumers to make calls from computers to phones. Skype became popular by first offering free computer-to-computer voice and video services.
Like Skype, Rethemeier said the Google service will likely be much more popular among U.S. consumers making international calls, than among people calling friends inside the country.
"Calling is so cheap already that I don't think it will attract a huge amount of domestic calling. It could take some of the international market," he said.
Another analyst, Steve Clement from Pacific Crest, said that anybody who is tempted by Internet calling services has likely already disconnected their home phone.
"The type of person who would use a service like that isn't the type of customer who still has a landline," Clement said.
Google said making a call through its service works like a normal phone in that a user could click on the "call phone" option in their chat buddy list in Gmail and type in the number or enter a contact's name.
Calls that cost money will be charged from an online account that users can top up with a credit card, Google said. The service will not be available for making outgoing calls on cell phones because other Google apps already cater to that market, the company added.
Recommended reading:
* Human Communication redefined by Google Voice
* Google Voice available on iPhone
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Lei Lei - World's Biggest Infant
The Chinese tot who's been dubbed "Michelin Baby" for his massive girth -- at 10 months, he weighs 44 pounds, as much as the average six-year-old -- is astounding web viewers in photographs that depict his diaper-busting mass.Lei Lei, who resides in China's Hunan province, didn't pop out this big. At least according to his mother, who told reporters her son's weight boomed in conjunction with his appetite.
"No matter whatever he grabs, he unconsciously puts it in his mouth," Cheng Qingyu said of her son. "His most favorite thing is to eat."
Seriously, though?
Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that babies gain around 1-2 pounds per month until six months of age, and a pound a month after that. In other words, Lei Lei must really be packing -- or sucking -- it away.
Lei Lei is undergoing a battery of tests to establish whether there's a medical explanation for his extreme obesity.
And though experts acknowledge that obesity in kids is rarely attributable to health problems -- and usually explained by inactivity and poor nutrition -- Surge Desk has a hard time understanding how a 10-month-old baby could grow this much, this fast, without an underlying issue. So what are a few of the possible culprits?
A Genetic Risk - Children with obese family members have an 80 percent chance of becoming obese themselves, according to the Penn State Children's Hospital. Pictures of Lei Lei's trim mother suggest that genetics can't entirely explain away his extra pounds, but his DNA might still increased the risk of that extra breast milk going right to his thighs.
That Darn Thyroid - Problems in the thyroid gland can develop during gestation, setting an infant up for immediate health problems. In Lei Lei's case, congenital deficiency of leptin -- a hormone behind appetite control -- might be causing out-of-control hunger pangs and subsequent overeating.
BPA Overload - Connecting a few recent news dots offers yet another explanation for Lei Lei's mega mass: bisphenol A, also known as BPA, a potential cancer-causing agent that has been found in an alarming number of places lately, including cash register receipts and canned food items across the United States.
In 2007, health experts sounded the alarm over the presence of BPA in formula containers being sold worldwide, alleging that it triggered -- among other things -- obesity in infants. Much of the BPA is produced in China, especially in southern regions like Lei Lei's home turf of Hunan province. In 2008, Chinese baby formula manufacturers sickened thousands of babies after selling contaminated formula.
And only a few weeks ago, China's health ministry announced plans to investigate allegations that formula sold in Hubei province, just north of Hunan, was triggering extremely premature puberty among Chinese infants.
So might Lei Lei be a hefty harbinger of a trend in chemically-induced infant weight gain? Time -- and medical tests -- might soon provide an answer.
Recommended reading:
* Top 10 Fattest Countries in the world
* Aldi Rizal - Chain-Smoking Indonesian Baby
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Henan Airlines Flight 8387 crashed
A passenger plane overshot a runway on landing at a new airport in northeast China late on Tuesday, bursting into flames and killing 43 people in the nation's worst air disaster in years.The accident will be a jolt for China's fast-growing air sector, which has escaped disaster recently thanks to stricter safety rules and relatively young fleets. Xinhua said Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang, the most senior official overseeing safety issues, was headed to the scene of the accident.
The Henan Airlines plane (Flight 8387) crashed at 10.10 pm (10:10 a.m. EDT) in Yichun, a small city in Heilongjiang province, after flying from Harbin, the province's capital, state media said.
Yichun has a small domestic airport which only opened last year, and is one of an increasing number of airports built in remote parts of China to help boost economic development.
The bodies of 43 people killed in the accident had already been found at the site, city official Jin Yi told the China News Service. Chinese state television put the official death toll at 42.
The other 53 people on board "have all been taken to hospital for treatment, and at present none is in danger of loss of life," the report said, citing Jin. Their injuries included burns, cuts and broken limbs.
The Communist Party chief of Yichun, Xu Zhaojun, told Xinhua that the crew of the plane had reporting nothing amiss before the attempted landing.
"The airplane personnel contacted the ground staff to say they could see the landing lights and requested a normal landing," Xinhua cited Xu as saying.
By daylight on Wednesday police had sealed off the scene of twisted and burned wreckage and the bodies of the dead were wrapped in body bags, waiting to be taken to a morgue, said Xinhua.
There were 91 passengers, including five children, as well five crew members on board the ERJ-190, built by Brazil's Embraer, said the China News Service.
About Henan Airlines
Henan Airlines (Chinese: 河南航空; pinyin: Hénán Hángkōng, formerly Kunpeng Airlines (Chinese: 鲲鹏航空有限公司; pinyin: Kūnpéng Hángkōng Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī), is a regional airline based in northern China. Kunpeng was originally founded as a joint venture between Shenzhen Airlines of China and Mesa Air Group of the United States and was also the largest sino-foreign regional airline in China. In 2009 Mesa Air Group and Shenzhen terminated their agreement and Shenzhen announced that the airline would be renamed Henan Airlines.
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Don't pretend you are a Muslims - Ramadan Joke
Two Christians were lost in the Sahara desert.
One is David, the other is Michael.
They were dying of hunger and thirst when they suddenly came upon an oasis, with what looked like an emirate of a mosque in the middle.
David said to Michael : "Look, let's pretend we are Muslims, otherwise we'll not get any food or drink. I am going to call myself Mohammed."
Michael refused to change his name, he said :" My name is Michael, and I will not pretend to be other than but what I am ...Michael."
The Imam of the mosque received both well and asked about their names.
David said : "My name is Mohammed."
Michael said : "My name is Michael."
The Imam turned to the helpers of the mosque and said :
"Please bring some food and water for Michael only."
Then he turned to the other and said :
"Well Mohammed I hope you are aware that we are still in the holy month of Ramadan."
Moral of the story : Always tell the truth and remain faithful to your God!
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One is David, the other is Michael.
They were dying of hunger and thirst when they suddenly came upon an oasis, with what looked like an emirate of a mosque in the middle.
David said to Michael : "Look, let's pretend we are Muslims, otherwise we'll not get any food or drink. I am going to call myself Mohammed."
Michael refused to change his name, he said :" My name is Michael, and I will not pretend to be other than but what I am ...Michael."
The Imam of the mosque received both well and asked about their names.
David said : "My name is Mohammed."
Michael said : "My name is Michael."
The Imam turned to the helpers of the mosque and said :
"Please bring some food and water for Michael only."
Then he turned to the other and said :
"Well Mohammed I hope you are aware that we are still in the holy month of Ramadan."
Moral of the story : Always tell the truth and remain faithful to your God!
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How People Rally Topless in San Francisco
The sight of men wearing bras or bikini tops hardly causes a ripple in San Francisco anymore, but on Sunday, a group of guys did so for a different purpose - to demand that women be allowed to legally bare their breasts in public.Not because men want to see them, the protesters said. For justice.
"If we're supposed to be equal across the board, then women should be allowed to show their breasts," said Michael Staley, 43, who was topless except for a bustier and a straw hat. "Why can't they? Men can, women should, period."
The San Francisco resident was one of about 14 men and six women who took part in the protest at Justin Herman Plaza. The event was part of the third annual Go Topless Day held in other cities around the country, but this was the first time it was held here.
Some of the men covered their nipples with red tape. One man had a watermelon, which was cut in half and tied together with bungee cords across his chest.
And for women like Angela Oliver, 23, of San Francisco, it was a chance to fully enjoy a warm summer's day.
"We should be able to do everything that men can, and I like my boobs and I like being naked, so here I am," she said. "I don't feel like I'm being sexual right now by being topless. It's completely natural."
The event was organized by the Raelian Movement, which according to its website believes "that life on Earth was the result of scientific creation by an advanced, extraterrestrial human civilization, the Elohim, mistaken for gods in the Bible."
On the GoTopless.org website, the group said those scientists, "both male and female, used their mastery of genetic engineering to create humans in their own image (breasts included)."
People in the United States fear that kids will be traumatized "by seeing boobs around," said Logan Starman, a member of the Raelian Movement and a spokesman for the local protest.
"Nothing can be further from the truth," said Starman, who donned a floral bikini top. "I'm from Europe and children see topless women at the beach all the time and they've never been traumatized by it. Nudity is beautiful."
Oakland's Luna Baron, 45, circulated a petition among the small crowd of spectators.
"There were people who wouldn't sign the petition, but they were happy to stand there taking photographs, which is part of the problem," Baron said. "It's so sensationalized that a woman has her shirt off. It feels good to me just to be out here without my shirt on. I just want this to be normal. I don't want this to be a big deal, especially when it's hot out."
San Francisco police came by to check on the action, but didn't bust anybody for public nudity. In fact, they determined the only disturbance of the peace came from a small band that played music for the demonstrators.
Ann Martinez, a bystander from Hollister, was amused by the sights, but said her husband Nick wasn't about to let her doff the Steve Young 49ers jersey she wore. "He says yes to them, but no to me," she said.
Tourist Mary Kelley said the event would make a fun Facebook moment to share with her friends back in Fresno, where a topless event "might not fly so good."
"If someone wants to do that, that's their prerogative," Kelley said. "But keep it in San Francisco, OK?"
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Camelicious - Latest Camel Milk Brand
The camels know the drill by heart. Just after dawn, they file on their own -- always in groups of 12 -- into metal stalls for milking. Workers attach automated pumps. The milk flows into a system of chilled pipes that empty into a sealed metal vat.The next stop someday could be markets in Europe, and possibly beyond, under ambitious plans backed by Dubai's ruler to expand the reach of the playfully eccentric brand name Camelicious. DID YOU KNOW: There is another existing brand of camel milk called Jabalicious Camel Milk.
European Union health regulators in July cleared the United Arab Emirates to become the first major exporter of camel milk products to the 27-nation bloc. If onsite inspections and other EU tests pass muster, the first batches of powdered camel milk could be heading to European shelves next year -- and at some point possibly to Asia and America.
"We know this isn't what you'd call a mainstream product in the West," said David Wernery, legal adviser for the Camelicious brand, whose parent company goes by the more staid name of Emirates Industry for Camel Milk & Products. "We're thinking about health food stores and alternative markets. It's probably going to be a niche thing at first."
It would be something of a coming-out party for the small but passionate community that describes camel milk in awed tones.
It has at least three times more vitamin C than cow's milk and is considered an alternative for the lactose-intolerant. Researchers have studied possible roles for camel milk in fighting bacteria, tumors and diabetes, as well as traditional uses such as a treatment for liver disease across the range from central Asia to North Africa.
For Dubai's ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, a Camelicious foothold in Europe would mark a pet project growing up.
Wernery's veterinarian father, Ulrich, made a pitch about a camel dairy to Sheik Mohammed a decade ago.
"I told him, `You race camels. Why not milk them?'" said the elder Wernery, who first became enamored with camels while working in Somalia in the 1970s.
The sheik didn't give an immediate answer. So Wernery went ahead and created a small pilot dairy in 2000 with about a dozen camels outside his research and animal care clinic in Dubai. Three years later, Sheik Mohammed called. He was ready to fund the dairy.
At the time, Dubai's growth was starting to swallow up the desert in huge bites. Sheik Mohammed has always liked the bold stroke. Being patron to the region's first modern camel farm fit nicely as a sideline venture.
David Wernery and his mother cooked up the name Camelicious. Their initial worry: That the "normal customer" might find camel milk, well, "disgusting."
"Hopefully (this was) negated by the reference to delicious," he said.
The company, which began operations in 2006, quickly stood out on the dairy shelves with its logo: a bug-eyed cartoon camel with violet-hued sunglasses. And new flavors were added -- now up to chocolate, saffron, date, strawberry. Its official corporate image, a camel silhouette under a sliver moon, is on its other products, including camel milk chocolates and laban, a traditional yogurt drink.
"We're still doing market surveys in Europe," said David Wernery. "We really like the cartoon camel logo, but we wonder if that's the right image for a health food product. We're still working on it."
Then there's the taste. The milk from camels eating the desert brush can have a slightly salty flavor. The Camelicious herd gets hay and treats of carrots and dates -- which all serve to soften the taste for more Western palates.
"They eat anything," said David Wernery. "They are very, very easygoing. And smart, too."
Really? The lumbering "ships of the desert" are not as cloddish as they seem?
Not according to the elder Wernery, who is a walking encyclopedia of all things camel after decades of research and observation. His view: Camel society has a quiet dignity and order. At least for the ladies.
"Shhh," said Ulrich Wernery one morning as he watched the female camels stride in for milking. "They really don't like sudden movements or loud noises."
The camels pick their own leader and always follow the "alpha camel" into the milking pens. They also always file in the same order.
The average camel produces about 2.6 gallons (10 liters) of milk a day -- lower than the cows from major Western diaries that can give five or more gallons (nearly 19 liters). The imported Saudi and Sudanese camels, however, are typically better at milk production. The Gulf camels have been bred for speed for racing instead of milking over the ages.
The 700 camels being milked at the Camelicious dairy on Dubai's outskirts give about 1,320 gallons (5,000 liters) a day. Some is bottled for local markets, and smaller amounts are freeze-dried into a just-add-water powder for chocolate production. This is also how Camelicious plans to ship to the European market.
"Sure, we've given some thought to maybe one day having a camel dairy in Europe -- a place like southern Spain perhaps," said David Wernery.
"But that is far down the road. Right now, we're just concentrating on our plans to get a foothold in the export market." That also requires more camels.
Buyers for the dairy often turn up in camel markets across the Middle East and North Africa. They try to keep a low profile, however. It's hard to bargain for a good price once it's known they have the backing of Dubai's Sheik Mohammed. (A second, rival camel dairy in the Emirates has no current plans for export.)
"We just want to spread the news about camel milk," said the younger Wernery, whose office is around the corner from two skeletons of the one-humped local camel and its two-hump cousin in central Asia. "We think people will be pleasantly surprised."
They already have an ally in America.
From North Carolina, a natural medicine practitioner, Millie Hinkle, has carved out a role as a leading advocate for camel dairy farming. The latest step for her Camel Milk USA was to help win federal approval for test kits to test camels for diseases such as tuberculosis.
Hinkle estimates there are more than a dozen small camel dairies across the United States, with interest even being shown by traditional Amish farmers. She knows well that camel milk is truly the fringe of the fringe for American consumers. But so was sushi and kiwi fruit at one time.
"We are still so in kindergarten with camels," she said. "Give it time."
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Statscounter.com Database Error 67.215.253.203
I supposed some of Statscounter.com users are encountering the above error. I'm one of them.
Aug 23, 2010 @ 22:58 Database Error - There was an error attempting to use the database server '67.215.253.203'.
Previous Statscounter downtime:
* Statcounter down with Network Timeout - Febuary 2009
* Statscounter.com Database Error - March 2009
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Aug 23, 2010 @ 22:58 Database Error - There was an error attempting to use the database server '67.215.253.203'.
Previous Statscounter downtime:
* Statcounter down with Network Timeout - Febuary 2009
* Statscounter.com Database Error - March 2009
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How People Do Blog Comment To Get More Traffic
Ever wondered how people get more traffic to their blog despite the fact that the blog is relatively empty. One of the way to get traffic is by blog commenting.
Blog commenting is a powerful way to get traffic to your web site especially if done wisely and on a large scale. One major thing about blog commenting is that it also helps you build a great brand when people begin to see your comments every here and there.
It is very important to make use of avatars when trying to get traffic to your blog through blog commenting because this will help people take note of you when they begin to see you every where every now and then. Being the first person to comment also helps a lot because most people are likely to visit the web sites of a few of the first commenters and they rarely visit the rest. Talk about early birds.
Below: Extract from 5 Ways to Skyrocket Your Blog Traffic, via blogussion.com
When commenting to get traffic, quality is better than quantity because a lot of blog gers will delete your comment if you write generic comments and readers tend to click on valuable comments more than any other comments because they believe some one with this type of great comment will also have something similar on his blog.
How Improve More Traffic
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Blog commenting is a powerful way to get traffic to your web site especially if done wisely and on a large scale. One major thing about blog commenting is that it also helps you build a great brand when people begin to see your comments every here and there.
It is very important to make use of avatars when trying to get traffic to your blog through blog commenting because this will help people take note of you when they begin to see you every where every now and then. Being the first person to comment also helps a lot because most people are likely to visit the web sites of a few of the first commenters and they rarely visit the rest. Talk about early birds.
Below: Extract from 5 Ways to Skyrocket Your Blog Traffic, via blogussion.com
When commenting to get traffic, quality is better than quantity because a lot of blog gers will delete your comment if you write generic comments and readers tend to click on valuable comments more than any other comments because they believe some one with this type of great comment will also have something similar on his blog.
How Improve More Traffic
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US Growing Islamophobia
Some leaders are failing to make a distinction between Al Qaida and Muslims in the US. The controversy surrounding the Cordoba Islamic Centre has disgraced the US and its much cherished constitutional rights, respect for all faiths and freedom of worship.Moderate and well-meaning Muslims who represent the Islamic mainstream have been alienated. As the Economist rightly opined, "Cordoba House is not being built by Al Qaida. To the contrary, it is the brainchild of Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, a well-meaning American cleric who has spent years trying to promote interfaith understanding, not an apostle of religious war like Osama Bin Laden. He is modelling his project on New York's 92nd Street Y, a Jewish community centre that reaches out to other religions".
Furthermore, the poisonous atmosphere, the pandering and the politicising of the issue has cast a shadow of doubt over the US, and its relationship with its Muslim minority, as well as the 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, while President Barack Obama wanted to press the reset button and usher in a "new start". This unpleasant controversy has dealt a serious blow to that attempt and set the relationship back to its tumultuous phase.
Ironic behaviour
What does the controversy tell us about the status of religious tolerance in the "land of the free and the home of the brave"? What happened to the first constitutional amendment and the freedom of religion? What happened to the country that lectures other nations on the need to respect diversity and other faiths and issues an annual report on the freedom of religion and treatment of minorities in 180 countries?
Why is it that detractors and those who are using the issue for narrow political gain in an election year are speaking the loudest? Why is it that two prominent Repulicans, Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin, are leading the chorus?
Palin has campaigned against the mosque, and called on "peaceful Muslims" to "refudiate" the "ground-zero mosque" because it would "stab" American hearts. On Gingrich, the Chicago Tribune opined, "We realised that a policy debate had lost its bearings this week when Newt Gingrich compared the Muslim leaders who want to build a mosque near ground zero to genocidal soldiers". Gingrich had said: "Nazis don't have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust museum in Washington ... There is no reason for us to accept a mosque next to the World Trade Centre".
The Economist took aim at Gingrich's assertion that "there should be no mosque near ground zero so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia". It said: "Why hold the rights of Americans who happen to be Muslim hostage to the policy of a foreign country that happens also to be Muslim?"
Why are the Democrats so silent and ducking for cover? They have only distanced themselves from their president and the leader of their besieged party, who spoke at an iftar dinner at the White House of the rights of Muslims to build their Islamic Centre — before relenting under pressure from opportunistic Republicans and conservatives. He backtracked despicably less than a day later.
It is the ignorance of the American public that these politicians and strategists bank on. A new poll from the nonpartisan Pew Research Centre found that the number of Americans who believe that Obama is a Muslim has increased significantly since his inauguration and now accounts for nearly 20 per cent of the nation's population — up from 11 per cent in March 2009. Forty-three per cent said they don't know his religion, while 34 per cent correctly identified him as Christian.
Unfortunate rhetoric
Recently, Gary Leupp, associate professor at the Department of History at Tufts University, wrote "People with power and influence in the US have been saying some very stupid things about Islam and about Muslims since September 11 ... Some of it is rooted in conscious malice, and ethnic prejudice that spills over into religious bigotry. But some is rooted in sheer historical and geographical ignorance. This is a country, after all, in which only a small minority of high school students can readily locate Afghanistan on the map, or are aware that Iranians and Pakistanis are not Arabs".
Fifty-five per cent of respondents to a new Time-SRBI poll said they would accept a Muslim community centre and place of worship two blocks from their own home. The anti-Islam sentiment was clear, however, when 61 per cent of American respondents to the poll opposed building the Cordoba centre. Nearly twice as many people said the centre, and its mosque, would be an insult to 9/11 victims than said it would be a symbol of religious tolerance. In the same poll, 25 per cent said most Muslims in the United States are not patriotic Americans.
Responsible and well-meaning opinion- and decision-makers have to defuse such unfortunate episodes and promote reconciliation. They should realise that Muslims, like other groups in the US, are Americans first and foremost. Otherwise, bigoted Americans and Al Qaida will have something to agree about — and that would truly disgrace America.
Source: gulfnews.com
Recommended reading:
* Switzerland Growing Islamophobia
* Bigotry Of Islamophobia
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Malicious Websites Used Famous Sexy Female Celebrities Name To Lure Victims
Making an Internet search for famous, sexy and hot celebrities could lead you into trouble. If you're looking for Cameron Diaz, Julia Roberts or Jessica Biel online, look out! You could be the next prey.
The movie stars top the latest list of the most dangerous celebrities to search for online, according to new research by computer-security software maker McAfee Inc.
It's far from an Oscar, but landing atop McAfee's annual list carries a distinction all its own: It means that criminals believe those celebs are the perfect lures to sucker people into visiting malicious websites.
Clicking onto strange sites is sketchy to begin with. But many people do, and their computers get infected. Once a computer is infected, criminals can steal victims' online banking passwords, e-mail passwords, and do other kinds of nasty deeds.
Below is a list of celebrities name search that can lure you to malicious websites.
#10 Anna Paquin
#9 Heidi Klum
#9 Penelope Cruz
#8 Tom Cruise
#7 Jennifer Love Hewitt
#7 Nicole Kidman
#6 Adriana Lima
#5 Brad Pitt
#4 Gisele Bundchen
#3 Jessica Biel
#2 Julia Roberts
#1 Cameron Diaz
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The movie stars top the latest list of the most dangerous celebrities to search for online, according to new research by computer-security software maker McAfee Inc.
It's far from an Oscar, but landing atop McAfee's annual list carries a distinction all its own: It means that criminals believe those celebs are the perfect lures to sucker people into visiting malicious websites.
Clicking onto strange sites is sketchy to begin with. But many people do, and their computers get infected. Once a computer is infected, criminals can steal victims' online banking passwords, e-mail passwords, and do other kinds of nasty deeds.
Below is a list of celebrities name search that can lure you to malicious websites.
#10 Anna Paquin
#9 Heidi Klum
#9 Penelope Cruz
#8 Tom Cruise
#7 Jennifer Love Hewitt
#7 Nicole Kidman
#6 Adriana Lima
#5 Brad Pitt
#4 Gisele Bundchen
#3 Jessica Biel
#2 Julia Roberts
#1 Cameron Diaz
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Iran Unveils Unmanned Bomber Dubbed Karrar
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated the country's first domestically built unmanned bomber aircraft, calling it an "ambassador of death" to Iran's enemies.The 4-meter-long drone aircraft can carry up to four cruise missiles and will have a range of 620 miles (1,000 kilometers), according to a state TV report — not far enough to reach archenemy Israel.
"The jet, as well as being an ambassador of death for the enemies of humanity, has a main message of peace and friendship," said Ahmadinejad at the inauguration ceremony, which fell on the country's national day for its defense industries.
The goal of the aircraft, named Karrar or striker, is to "keep the enemy paralyzed in its bases," he said, adding that the aircraft is for deterrence and defensive purposes.
The president championed the country's military self-sufficiency program, and said it will continue "until the enemies of humanity lose hope of ever attacking the Iranian nation."
Iran launched an arms development program during its 1980-88 war with Iraq to compensate for a U.S. weapons embargo and now produces its own tanks, armored personnel carries, missiles and even a fighter plane.
Iran frequently makes announcements about new advances in military technology that cannot be independently verified.
State TV later showed video footage of the plane taking off from a launching pad and reported that the craft traveled at speeds of 560 miles per hour (900 kilometers) and could alternatively be armed with two 250-pound bombs or a 450-pound guided bomb.
Iran has been producing its own light, unmanned surveillance aircraft since the late 1980s.
The ceremony came a day after Iran began to fuel its first nuclear power reactor, with the help of Russia, amid international concerns over the possibility of a military dimension to its nuclear program.
Iran insists it is only interested in generating electricity.
Referring to Israel's occasional threats against Iran's nuclear facilities, Ahmadinejad called any attack unlikely, but he said if Israel did, the reaction would be overwhelming.
"The scope of Iran's reaction will include the entire the earth," said Ahmadinejad. "We also tell you — the West — that all options are on the table."
Ahmadinejad appeared to be consciously echoing the terminology used by the U.S. and Israel in their statements not ruling out a military option against Iran's nuclear facilities.
On Friday, Iran also test-fired a new liquid fuel surface-to-surface missile, the Qiam-1, with advanced guidance systems.
Recommended reading:
* Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani faces stoning
* إعدام الأطفال في إيران
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How People Keywords Research
I'm looking for alternative keywords to boost traffic to this blog and recently, I accidentally discovered that the "people how" keywords is heavily queried. On top of that, the average cost of click (or CPC) rate is also attractive.The term "how to" is one of the most demanding keywords but it also very competitive. Imagined all the bloggers blog about this "how to" keyword but still not getting traffic because everyone else is doing it.
The monthly budget spent by advertisers on Google on this "how to" is amounting between $705,584 - $1,208,072.
So instead of joining the crowded bandwagon, I will be focusing on "how people" keywords.
As a matter of fact, some A-list blogs have monopolized this keywords for ages. Some of the popular varieties of the people how keywords are such as:
* how people make money online
* how people see
* how people die or how people died
* how to use people (I guessed some guys intend to manipulate people)
* how people make mistake
* how people keywords make for a popular search (taking about search, name search is one powerful method to drive traffic to your blog). In fact, I just started a Name Search Trends site to experiment with this fact.
Beside the word people (or maybe name), the other keyword that is popular would be "how". How to do thing, How to get thing, How thing were made and so on and so forth.
Below is a sampling for PPC keywords competitions related to "how people".
KEYWORD (SEARCH VOLUME)
how people ( 2,740,000 )
how people died ( 22,200 )
how do people see ( 1,600 )
how do i find people ( 4,400 )
how do people grow ( 480 )
how people change ( 33,100 )
how can i find people ( 1,900 )
how to greet people ( 1,600 )
how to marry people ( 720 )
how do you find people ( 3,600 )
how to locate people ( 2,400 )
how do people change ( 1,300 )
how dogs help people ( 1,300 )
how do you meet people ( 480 )
how do people get rich ( 260 )
they people ( 368,000 )
how to deal with people ( 49,500 )
how many people died 9 11 ( 9,900 )
how to find people free ( 6,600 )
how much do people make ( 5,400 )
how to address people ( 5,400 )
how to impress people ( 1,900 )
how much do people earn ( 880 )
how do dogs help people ( 390 )
how fast do people walk ( 390 )
how do you look up people ( 73 )
how do people make money ( 4,400 )
how many people died ww2 ( 2,900 )
how many people in india ( 2,400 )
911 how many people died ( 1,900 )
The above search volume sampling was extracted from ispionage.com (keywords research)
Overall, the words "how" and "people" make a potent combination in this keywords strategy.
Recommended reading:
* 81 Creative Ways How People Make Money Online
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301 million Chinese smokers and counting
Would you believe it? There are more than 300 million Chinese smokers and the number is not reducing anytime soon. Efforts to curb tobacco use in the world's most populous nation have had no real impact and 301 million Chinese are still smoking, China's Center for Disease Control said in a report.
A survey of more than 13,000 people earlier this year found no significant improvement in the country's smoking rate since 2002, China's CDC said in a joint statement released Tuesday with the World Health Organization and the United States CDC.
The survey also found that 72.4 percent of nonsmokers reported being exposed to secondhand smoke. Though China has pledged to make indoor public places, workplaces and public transport smoke-free by early next year, 63 percent of those surveyed said they had seen people smoking in public places or at work in the 30 days before they were interviewed.
"There has been no substantive improvement in the smoking rate or exposure to secondhand smoke," Yang Gonghuan, deputy director of China's CDC, was quoted as saying.
Yang said disease and death from problems related to smoking and secondhand smoke, such as cancer and coronary heart disease, were expected to "rise unabated" over the next 30 years.
"The burden on society will be immense and progress in public health will suffer as a result," Yang said.
The statement said the smoking rate for those aged 15 and older dropped slightly to 28.1 percent, or 301 million people, since 2002 but didn't give the earlier figure.
It said China's anti-tobacco policies needed to be strengthened and blamed low-priced cigarettes, ineffective health warnings on cigarette packaging and a lack of education about the health risks of tobacco for the high smoking rate.
The statement summarized the findings of China's portion of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, a large sampling of 14 developing countries that hopes to provide a clearer picture of how tobacco is used and promoted.
Recommended reading:
* White people for rent in China
* Smokeless e-cigarettes but with the same toxins
* Ardi Rizal - Youngest smoker
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A survey of more than 13,000 people earlier this year found no significant improvement in the country's smoking rate since 2002, China's CDC said in a joint statement released Tuesday with the World Health Organization and the United States CDC.
The survey also found that 72.4 percent of nonsmokers reported being exposed to secondhand smoke. Though China has pledged to make indoor public places, workplaces and public transport smoke-free by early next year, 63 percent of those surveyed said they had seen people smoking in public places or at work in the 30 days before they were interviewed.
"There has been no substantive improvement in the smoking rate or exposure to secondhand smoke," Yang Gonghuan, deputy director of China's CDC, was quoted as saying.
Yang said disease and death from problems related to smoking and secondhand smoke, such as cancer and coronary heart disease, were expected to "rise unabated" over the next 30 years.
"The burden on society will be immense and progress in public health will suffer as a result," Yang said.
The statement said the smoking rate for those aged 15 and older dropped slightly to 28.1 percent, or 301 million people, since 2002 but didn't give the earlier figure.
It said China's anti-tobacco policies needed to be strengthened and blamed low-priced cigarettes, ineffective health warnings on cigarette packaging and a lack of education about the health risks of tobacco for the high smoking rate.
The statement summarized the findings of China's portion of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, a large sampling of 14 developing countries that hopes to provide a clearer picture of how tobacco is used and promoted.
Recommended reading:
* White people for rent in China
* Smokeless e-cigarettes but with the same toxins
* Ardi Rizal - Youngest smoker
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Butanol - Biofuel made from Whisky
Scientists in Scotland have unveiled a new biofuel made from whisky byproducts that they say can power ordinary cars more efficiently than ethanol.A research team from Edinburgh’s Napier University spent two years creating the biofuel butanol that can be used in gas tanks either as a stand-alone fuel or blended with petrol or diesel, they announced Tuesday. It is derived from distillation byproducts pot ale (liquid from copper stills) and draff (the spent grains).
Is this the answer for critics of corn-based, energy-intensive ethanol?
“While some energy companies are growing crops specifically to generate biofuel, we are investigating excess materials such as whisky by-products to develop them,” Professor Martin Tangey, director of Napier’s Biofuel Research Center told the Financial Times.
“This is a more environmentally sustainable option and potentially offers new revenue on the back of one of Scotland’s biggest industries.”
Global exports of Scotch whisky rose to a record $4.85 billion last year, and accounts for about a quarter of all food and drink exports from the UK.
The biofuel project cost about $400,000 and was funded by the Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept Programme. It is no joke, although the blogosphere runneth over with the punny descriptors such as: “Whisky to go?” and “One for the road?”
The group has filed for a patent and plans to open a commercial venture to market the product
Recommended reading:
* World's Strongest Beer At 41% ABV
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COSATU organize the largest workers strike in Africa
More than 1 million workers are planning a countrywide strike in South Africa on Wednesday, according to an official with a public sector union.
Nomusa Cembi, of the South African Democratic Teachers Union -- an affiliate of Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) -- said hospital, education and civil servants demanded better compensation and benefits from their government.
"We are trying to bring them to their knees," Cembi told CNN by phone from Johannesburg, referring to the South African government. "We took a decision yesterday that we would go on strike indefinitely until our employer gives us a better offer."
She said the strike was intended to raise wages to 8.6 percent and that they wanted a 1,000 Rand ($138) per month housing allowance. They also want those improvements to be backdated to April 1 of this year. Perhaps the recent World Cup season failed to stimulate South Africa's economy.
Cembi said medical benefits were also part of the negotiating standoff.
The last offer by the South African government, according to Cembi, came last week when a 7 percent wage hike was proffered, along with a 700 Rand a month housing allowance.
"Our organization has rejected their offer," Cembi said.
It was unclear how long the strike might continue.
Government officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Last week public sector workers went on strike across South Africa, closing schools, impacting hospital staffing and wreaking havoc across a wide array of public services.
Recommended reading:
* Rape-aXe - Anti-rape female condoms
* Nation of rapist - South Africa
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Nomusa Cembi, of the South African Democratic Teachers Union -- an affiliate of Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) -- said hospital, education and civil servants demanded better compensation and benefits from their government.
"We are trying to bring them to their knees," Cembi told CNN by phone from Johannesburg, referring to the South African government. "We took a decision yesterday that we would go on strike indefinitely until our employer gives us a better offer."
She said the strike was intended to raise wages to 8.6 percent and that they wanted a 1,000 Rand ($138) per month housing allowance. They also want those improvements to be backdated to April 1 of this year. Perhaps the recent World Cup season failed to stimulate South Africa's economy.
Cembi said medical benefits were also part of the negotiating standoff.
The last offer by the South African government, according to Cembi, came last week when a 7 percent wage hike was proffered, along with a 700 Rand a month housing allowance.
"Our organization has rejected their offer," Cembi said.
It was unclear how long the strike might continue.
Government officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Last week public sector workers went on strike across South Africa, closing schools, impacting hospital staffing and wreaking havoc across a wide array of public services.
Recommended reading:
* Rape-aXe - Anti-rape female condoms
* Nation of rapist - South Africa
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Yosion Technology turns iPods into iPhones with Apple Peel 520
CNN reported that a gadget from China can turns iPods into iPhones. Not really a fake iPhone but a 2-in-1 device that try to mimic both iPod and iPhone functionalities from a single hardware form.
Have you ever wished that your iPod Touch was an iPhone? Now it can be, thanks to a new device called the "Apple Peel 520" and created by a Chinese company.
Invented by a 22-year-old programmer who lives in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, the gadget is comprised of a case that fits around the outside of Apple's iPod Touch, a popular media player and Wi-Fi-enabled pocket computer with e-mail, maps and other applications.
The Apple Peel 520 case contains a battery, dock connector and SIM card that allows voice calls. Users will also have to install special software to enable a text messaging function, and to allow the device to properly work with the iPod Touch (users will have to break into the software of the iPod in order to download the necessary applications).
Once installed, the Apple Peel gets around five hours of talk time and 120 hours on standby, according to a review posted on Dailytech.com.
CNN interviewed the inventor of the device via QQ, a popular instant messaging service in China (he declined a phone interview and was only willing to offer his online name: "Maxpy").
When asked why he created the Apple Peel, Maxpy said it boiled down to economics: "Because I love the iPhone, but it's too expensive in China."
Maxpy said he began building the device last April, revealing the final product online about a month ago via a company he started called Yosion Technology.
The iPhone, which was officially launched on the mainland last October, more than two years after its debut in the US, costs between $588 - $740 while an iPod Touch is around $235. The Apple Peel sells for $57.
Analysts said a thriving gray market flooded with fake iPhones smuggled in from Hong Kong and the West has hurt legitimate sales of the Apple smart phone here.
The illegitimate phones are usually cheaper and contain functions, such as wireless Internet, that are not available on phones sold through legal channels.
"All of the potential users already had purchased an iPhone, they had found a way to buy one," Leo Wang, founder of Mobile 2.0 forum, a telecom and mobile organization, told CNN after the China launch of iPhone release last year. "The official iPhone is too expensive."
Whether or not the Apple Peel 520 will appeal to Chinese consumers or have any impact on iPhone sales in the country remains to be seen. So far, according to Maxpy, only around 150 of the devices have been pre-sold on Taobao.com, a popular Chinese e-commerce site. Two were sent to technology websites for review.
While there are plans to mass manufacture the gadget in the future, Maxpy says those plans are on hold until the company can ensure there are no intellectual property right violations.
"We have no detailed plans," he said. "But of course we want to make a profit from it."
Maxpy also said they want to check on Apple's policy on "outside devices" as well as try to reach the company to see if they have any interest in the gadget, asking CNN whether we could put him in touch with Apple CEO Steve Jobs. We could not.
CNN did try to reach Apple representatives in Beijing and Hong Kong. No one was available for comment.
There are also a few technical glitches to be worked out. According to a Chinese review translated into English on M.I.C. Gadget, the Apple Peel does not support 3G, there's a small lag time when calls are made from the iPod Touch and deleting and forwarding text messages is not available, among other minor complaints.
Nevertheless, many say they are impressed with the functionality of the device.
"It is the first time there has been a hardware application that has changed the functionality in such a key way," said Tai-Pan (a pseudonym), editor of the Taiwan-based Shanzhai.com. "It is very cheap for someone with an iPod Touch, so there is some kind of value proposition for people who want to save money."
What's more is the Apple Peel also illustrates the evolution of China's massive "shanzhai," or black market, phone industry. Based mostly in Shenzhen, it is an industry characterized by the massive production of copycat mobile phones and other devices, which are sold at lower prices and often with more localized functionality than global brands.
Every year, millions of shanzhai phones are sold throughout China and exported to developing countries, resulting in a major dent in the sales of mainstream manufacturers in those markets, according to the research firm Gartner.
"People are already or will soon be buying not just China-made but China-owned products," said Benjamin Joffe, founder of the Beijing-based mobile and Internet consulting firm Plus8Star.
"Most of Apple's factories are in China, so it is not like China cannot make high-quality products," he said.
"The issue remaining to go up the value chain has been design, marketing and distribution. Chinese companies are learning, acquiring talent and buying what is missing."
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Have you ever wished that your iPod Touch was an iPhone? Now it can be, thanks to a new device called the "Apple Peel 520" and created by a Chinese company.
Invented by a 22-year-old programmer who lives in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, the gadget is comprised of a case that fits around the outside of Apple's iPod Touch, a popular media player and Wi-Fi-enabled pocket computer with e-mail, maps and other applications.
The Apple Peel 520 case contains a battery, dock connector and SIM card that allows voice calls. Users will also have to install special software to enable a text messaging function, and to allow the device to properly work with the iPod Touch (users will have to break into the software of the iPod in order to download the necessary applications).
Once installed, the Apple Peel gets around five hours of talk time and 120 hours on standby, according to a review posted on Dailytech.com.
CNN interviewed the inventor of the device via QQ, a popular instant messaging service in China (he declined a phone interview and was only willing to offer his online name: "Maxpy").
When asked why he created the Apple Peel, Maxpy said it boiled down to economics: "Because I love the iPhone, but it's too expensive in China."
Maxpy said he began building the device last April, revealing the final product online about a month ago via a company he started called Yosion Technology.
The iPhone, which was officially launched on the mainland last October, more than two years after its debut in the US, costs between $588 - $740 while an iPod Touch is around $235. The Apple Peel sells for $57.
Analysts said a thriving gray market flooded with fake iPhones smuggled in from Hong Kong and the West has hurt legitimate sales of the Apple smart phone here.
The illegitimate phones are usually cheaper and contain functions, such as wireless Internet, that are not available on phones sold through legal channels.
"All of the potential users already had purchased an iPhone, they had found a way to buy one," Leo Wang, founder of Mobile 2.0 forum, a telecom and mobile organization, told CNN after the China launch of iPhone release last year. "The official iPhone is too expensive."
Whether or not the Apple Peel 520 will appeal to Chinese consumers or have any impact on iPhone sales in the country remains to be seen. So far, according to Maxpy, only around 150 of the devices have been pre-sold on Taobao.com, a popular Chinese e-commerce site. Two were sent to technology websites for review.
While there are plans to mass manufacture the gadget in the future, Maxpy says those plans are on hold until the company can ensure there are no intellectual property right violations.
"We have no detailed plans," he said. "But of course we want to make a profit from it."
Maxpy also said they want to check on Apple's policy on "outside devices" as well as try to reach the company to see if they have any interest in the gadget, asking CNN whether we could put him in touch with Apple CEO Steve Jobs. We could not.
CNN did try to reach Apple representatives in Beijing and Hong Kong. No one was available for comment.
There are also a few technical glitches to be worked out. According to a Chinese review translated into English on M.I.C. Gadget, the Apple Peel does not support 3G, there's a small lag time when calls are made from the iPod Touch and deleting and forwarding text messages is not available, among other minor complaints.
Nevertheless, many say they are impressed with the functionality of the device.
"It is the first time there has been a hardware application that has changed the functionality in such a key way," said Tai-Pan (a pseudonym), editor of the Taiwan-based Shanzhai.com. "It is very cheap for someone with an iPod Touch, so there is some kind of value proposition for people who want to save money."
What's more is the Apple Peel also illustrates the evolution of China's massive "shanzhai," or black market, phone industry. Based mostly in Shenzhen, it is an industry characterized by the massive production of copycat mobile phones and other devices, which are sold at lower prices and often with more localized functionality than global brands.
Every year, millions of shanzhai phones are sold throughout China and exported to developing countries, resulting in a major dent in the sales of mainstream manufacturers in those markets, according to the research firm Gartner.
"People are already or will soon be buying not just China-made but China-owned products," said Benjamin Joffe, founder of the Beijing-based mobile and Internet consulting firm Plus8Star.
"Most of Apple's factories are in China, so it is not like China cannot make high-quality products," he said.
"The issue remaining to go up the value chain has been design, marketing and distribution. Chinese companies are learning, acquiring talent and buying what is missing."
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North Korea MIG Jet Fighter crashes near Fushun, China
An aircraft that crashed in northeast China might be a plane from North Korea, China's official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday, citing unnamed government authorities. Just recently, AIRES Flight 8250 crashes at Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport, San Andres.
The aircraft came down in Liaoning province on Tuesday, prompting reports by South Korea's Yonhap news agency and Chinese Internet speculation that it was a North Korean military aircraft flown by a pilot trying to flee the poor and isolated country.
"An aircraft which crashed in northeastern China's Liaoning Province Tuesday might be a plane of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," the report said.
China is a neighbor and close supporter of North Korea, which depends on Beijing for food and energy aid.
If confirmed, the crash of a North Korean aircraft in Chinese territory may be a passing irritant between the two governments, but would be unlikely to spark wider contention.
Xinhua's brief English-language report did not describe the condition of the pilot and gave no other details.
Chinese government departments have not commented on the crash and an earlier Xinhua report merely said an aircraft of undetermined origin had crashed near Fushun, a city in Liaoning.
Recommended reading:
* Kim Kyong-Hui moving up North Korea power ladder
* Will there be a Korean War 2010
* Naked Kim Jong-il
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The aircraft came down in Liaoning province on Tuesday, prompting reports by South Korea's Yonhap news agency and Chinese Internet speculation that it was a North Korean military aircraft flown by a pilot trying to flee the poor and isolated country.
"An aircraft which crashed in northeastern China's Liaoning Province Tuesday might be a plane of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," the report said.
China is a neighbor and close supporter of North Korea, which depends on Beijing for food and energy aid.
If confirmed, the crash of a North Korean aircraft in Chinese territory may be a passing irritant between the two governments, but would be unlikely to spark wider contention.
Xinhua's brief English-language report did not describe the condition of the pilot and gave no other details.
Chinese government departments have not commented on the crash and an earlier Xinhua report merely said an aircraft of undetermined origin had crashed near Fushun, a city in Liaoning.
Recommended reading:
* Kim Kyong-Hui moving up North Korea power ladder
* Will there be a Korean War 2010
* Naked Kim Jong-il
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3D Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy - World's First IMAX-3D Porn
On the leafy fringes of Hong Kong in a shabby film studio, a nude ponytailed actor stretched out on animal-skins with his lover as the cameras rolled in a set evoking a subterranean sex lair in ancient China.
Turning away from a slightly blurred high definition TV screen as the actors writhed, director Christopher Sun shouted "cut" whilst yanking off his 3-D glasses. "Good" he yelled.
No ordinary porn flick, "3-D Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy" is being touted as the world's first IMAX-3-D erotic film.
First out of the gates, the soft porn Hong Kong film comes as the stricken industry, hit hard by free Internet porn in recent years, turns to 3-D as a potential money-spinner, following on from the success of Hollywood blockbusters such as James Cameron's Avatar.
"Somehow when you're doing a 3-D movie you always want to make an impressive image because the viewers ... are going to buy tickets with double or even triple the ticket price to get into a world they've never seen before," said the U.K.-educated Sun
"It's not just erotica, they want some 'wow factor!.'"
Based on a classic Chinese erotic text, "The Carnal Prayer Mat," the $3 million film follows a young man as he befriends a duke and enters a world of royal orgies and other sexual peccadilloes.
The producers are hoping the erotic period drama will prove a titillating hit with 3-D-glasses-wearing audiences and help develop a lucrative, niche film market.
"It's because it's forbidden in China, (that there) is so much enthusiasm in China for this film," said film maker Stephen Shiu, who was responsible for the original 1991 erotic film "Sex and Zen," which grossed over USD$2.6 million and held the mantle as the city's highest-grossing adult film for over a decade.
Taking almost twice the time to shoot than conventional films and with a higher budget, more advanced equipment and elaborate lighting, the takeup of 3-D productions has been relatively slow in the porno industry despite early excitement at its promise.
"We have to change the lenses for a long time, the setting, lighting, we need more time than a normal movie," said Japanese porn star Saori Hara after completing a scene.
Despite this, other major 3-D sex flicks are now reportedly in the works. Adult entertainment firm Hustler is reportedly working on a three-dimensional porno-spoof of the lithe, blue aliens in "Avatar," while Italian director Tinto Brass plans to film a 3-D version of his classic 1979 erotic film "Caligula," based loosely on the dissolute life of the Roman emperor.
The Hong Kong film has attracted the attention of distributors across Asia and Europe.
"The sex scenes are explicit and sometimes violent, but the main theme of the story is love," said Sun, the director.
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Turning away from a slightly blurred high definition TV screen as the actors writhed, director Christopher Sun shouted "cut" whilst yanking off his 3-D glasses. "Good" he yelled.
No ordinary porn flick, "3-D Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy" is being touted as the world's first IMAX-3-D erotic film.
First out of the gates, the soft porn Hong Kong film comes as the stricken industry, hit hard by free Internet porn in recent years, turns to 3-D as a potential money-spinner, following on from the success of Hollywood blockbusters such as James Cameron's Avatar.
"Somehow when you're doing a 3-D movie you always want to make an impressive image because the viewers ... are going to buy tickets with double or even triple the ticket price to get into a world they've never seen before," said the U.K.-educated Sun
"It's not just erotica, they want some 'wow factor!.'"
Based on a classic Chinese erotic text, "The Carnal Prayer Mat," the $3 million film follows a young man as he befriends a duke and enters a world of royal orgies and other sexual peccadilloes.
The producers are hoping the erotic period drama will prove a titillating hit with 3-D-glasses-wearing audiences and help develop a lucrative, niche film market.
"It's because it's forbidden in China, (that there) is so much enthusiasm in China for this film," said film maker Stephen Shiu, who was responsible for the original 1991 erotic film "Sex and Zen," which grossed over USD$2.6 million and held the mantle as the city's highest-grossing adult film for over a decade.
Taking almost twice the time to shoot than conventional films and with a higher budget, more advanced equipment and elaborate lighting, the takeup of 3-D productions has been relatively slow in the porno industry despite early excitement at its promise.
"We have to change the lenses for a long time, the setting, lighting, we need more time than a normal movie," said Japanese porn star Saori Hara after completing a scene.
Despite this, other major 3-D sex flicks are now reportedly in the works. Adult entertainment firm Hustler is reportedly working on a three-dimensional porno-spoof of the lithe, blue aliens in "Avatar," while Italian director Tinto Brass plans to film a 3-D version of his classic 1979 erotic film "Caligula," based loosely on the dissolute life of the Roman emperor.
The Hong Kong film has attracted the attention of distributors across Asia and Europe.
"The sex scenes are explicit and sometimes violent, but the main theme of the story is love," said Sun, the director.
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AK1000 - World’s biggest tidal turbine
The world’s largest tidal turbine was recently unveiled in Pentland Firth, Scotland, weighing 130 tons, 74ft (22.6m) tall, with two 60ft (18.3m) diameter rotors and generating 1MW on both tidal ebb and flow. The Atlantis Resources AK1000 can supply power to 1000 homes, and is to be installed at the European Marine Energy Centre in the Orkney Islands, and has taken more than ten years to develop.Atlantis Resources' chief executive Tim Cornelius explained that, " The turbines turn at six to eight revolutions per minute, so are incredibly slow turning and will have zero impact on the surrounding environment." Theoretically, the turbine rotors should not harm marine animals.
Why Pentland Firth
It is estimated that in the United Kingdom, there is 18TWh/yr of technically extractable tidal current resource. 40% of this technically extractable resource is concentrated in the far north of Scotland (Pentland Firth and Orkney Islands). Governments have recognized the immense potential of ocean energy and have begun significant incentive programmes to harness it. Ocean energy receives the highest number of renewable obligation certificates (ROCs) in the U.K in order to stimulate investment in projects that have high up front capital costs associated with developing turbine fields and power evacuation networks in some of the roughest waters on the planet.
via Atlantis Resources Corporation.
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Malicious Software Behind Facebook Dislike button
Computer security firm Sophos has warned that scammers are duping Facebook users with a bogus "Dislike" button that slips malicious software onto machines.There is no "Dislike" version of the "Like" icon that members of the world's top social networking website use to endorse online comments, stories, pictures or other content shared with friends.
Hackers are enticing Facebook users to install an application pitched as a "Dislike" button that jokingly notifies contacts at the social networking service "now I can dislike all of your dumb posts."
Once granted permission to access a Facebook user's profile, the application pumps out spam from the account and spreads itself by inviting the person's friends to get the button, according to Sophos.
The ruse was described as the latest in an ongoing stream of tricks that includes baiting booby-trapped links with messages including "the biggest and scariest snake" and "world's worst McDonald's customer."
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* Productivity time lost on Facebook and other social media networks costing Britain up to 14 billion pounds
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AIRES Flight 8250 crashes at Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport
A Boeing 737-700 belonging to AIRES airline crashed at Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport on the Colombian island of San Andres on Monday, authorities said.The aircraft, which was carrying 125 passengers and six crew, left Eldorado Airport in Bogota about two hours before the crash happened at the airport in San Andres. It attempted to land during a heavy storm, and was presumably struck by lightning upon landing.
Airport officials said one adult female passenger had been killed, while 130 others were injured. Their injuries ranged from minor to serious injuries.
“Aires regrets the incident which happened on flight 8250 from Bogota to San Andres,” the airline said in a statement. It said relatives of the passengers can call 018 000 94 94 90 for information and assistance. A room has also been opened for relatives at the Sheraton Hotel in Bogota.
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