Monroe

OK ... two fast replies already. It was too much to hope for that USB 3.0 might work ... but with this new information I can do further research. I can live with the 2.0 speed but the faster speed would be really nice on larger downloads. My computers are old as you guessed, around 2004/2005 timeframe ... T41 and two T42s ... still working great in 2017. Still a great project happening here. I am also interested in seeing if the newer Pale moon versions will work in XP ... my last XP version is from Nov 2016 ... when XP was dropped. ...

This is probably a dumb question but the possibility of having USB 3.0 working on WinXP sounds great. I have older computers (IBM Thinkpads) that are USB 2.0. I do have a couple of newer flash drives that are listed as USB 3.0 but on my computers they work as USB 2.0. So the question would be ... if ExtendedXP does have USB 3.0 working later on ... and I'm sure it will ... will these USB 3.0 flash drives work as USB 3.0 flash drives on my computer? I'm thinking the USB 3.0 will only be for WinXP on a newer computer with USB 3.0 ports ... but maybe I'm wrong. ...

This article is from last year (2016) dealing with 'dog whistle beacons'. From the article: "The technology, called ultrasonic cross-device tracking, embeds high-frequency tones that are inaudible to humans in advertisements, web pages, and even physical locations like retail stores. These ultrasound "beacons" emit their audio sequences with speakers, and almost any device microphone—like those accessed by an app on a smartphone or tablet—can detect the signal and start to put together a picture of what ads you've seen, what sites you've perused, and even where you've been." Beacons and hackers: "Ideally the beacons would authenticate with the receiving apps each time they interact to reduce the possibility that a hacker could create phony beacons by manipulating the tones before sending them. But the beacons need to complete their transmissions in the time it takes someone to briefly check a website or pass a store, and it's difficult to fit an authentication process into those few seconds. The researchers say they've already observed one type of real-world attack in which hackers replay a beacon over and over to skew analytics data or alter the reported behavior of a user. The team also developed other types of theoretical attacks that take advantage of the lack of encryption and authentication on beacons." https://www.wired.com/2016/11/block-ultrasonic-signals-didnt-know-tracking/ How to Block the Ultrasonic Signals You Didn't Know Were Tracking You ly Hay Newman - security 11.03.16 Dystopian corporate surveillance threats today come at us from all directions. Companies offer "always-on" devices that listen for our voice commands, and marketers follow us around the web to create personalized user profiles so they can (maybe) show us ads we'll actually click. Now marketers have been experimenting with combining those web-based and audio approaches to track consumers in another disturbingly science fictional way: with audio signals your phone can hear, but you can't. And though you probably have no idea that dog whistle marketing is going on, researchers are already offering ways to protect yourself. The technology, called ultrasonic cross-device tracking, embeds high-frequency tones that are inaudible to humans in advertisements, web pages, and even physical locations like retail stores. These ultrasound "beacons" emit their audio sequences with speakers, and almost any device microphone—like those accessed by an app on a smartphone or tablet—can detect the signal and start to put together a picture of what ads you've seen, what sites you've perused, and even where you've been. Now that you're sufficiently concerned, the good news is that at the Black Hat Europe security conference on Thursday, a group based at University of California, Santa Barbara will present an Android patch and a Chrome extension that give consumers more control over the transmission and receipt of ultrasonic pitches on their devices. Beyond the abstract creep factor of ultrasonic tracking, the larger worry about the technology is that it requires giving an app the ability to listen to everything around you, says Vasilios Mavroudis, a privacy and security researcher at University College London who worked on the research being presented at Black Hat. "The bad thing is that if you’re a company that wants to provide ultrasound tracking there is no other way to do it currently, you have to use the microphone," says Mavroudis. "So you will be what we call ‘over-privileged,’ because you don’t need access to audible sounds but you have to get them." This type of tracking, which has been offered in some form by companies like Silverpush and Shopkick, has hardly exploded in adoption. But it's persisted as more third party companies develop ultrasonic tools for a range of uses, like data transmission without Wi-Fi or other connectivity.^1^ The more the technology evolves, the easier it is to use in marketing. As a result, the researchers say that their goal is to help protect users from inadvertently leaking their personal information. "There are certain serious security shortcomings that need to be addressed before the technology becomes more widely used," says Mavroudis. "And there is a lack of transparency. Users are basically clueless about what’s going on." Currently, when Android or iOS do require apps to request permission to use a phone's microphone. But most users likely aren't aware that by granting that permission, apps that use ultrasonic tracking could access their microphone—and everything it's picking up, not just ultrasonic frequencies—all the time, even while they're running in the background. The researchers' patch adjusts Android's permission system so that apps have to make it clear that they're asking for permission to receive inaudible inputs. It also allows users to choose to block anything the microphone picks up on the ultrasound spectrum. The patch isn't an official Google release, but represents the researchers' recommendations for a step mobile operating systems can take to offer more transparency. To block the other end of those high-pitched audio communications, the group's Chrome extension preemptively screens websites' audio components as they load to keep the ones that emit ultrasounds from executing, thus blocking pages from emitting them. There are a few old services that the extension can't screen, like Flash, but overall the extension works much like an ad-blocker for ultrasonic tracking. The researchers plan to post their patch and their extension available for download later this month. Ultrasonic tracking has been evolving for the last couple of years, and it is relatively easy to deploy since it relies on basic speakers and microphones instead of specialized equipment. But from the start, the technology has encountered pushback about its privacy and security limitations. Currently there are no industry standards for legitimizing beacons or allowing them to interoperate the way there are with a protocol like Bluetooth. And ultrasonic tracking transmissions are difficult to secure because they need to happen quickly for the technology to work. Ideally the beacons would authenticate with the receiving apps each time they interact to reduce the possibility that a hacker could create phony beacons by manipulating the tones before sending them. But the beacons need to complete their transmissions in the time it takes someone to briefly check a website or pass a store, and it's difficult to fit an authentication process into those few seconds. The researchers say they've already observed one type of real-world attack in which hackers replay a beacon over and over to skew analytics data or alter the reported behavior of a user. The team also developed other types of theoretical attacks that take advantage of the lack of encryption and authentication on beacons. The Federal Trade Commission evaluated ultrasonic tracking technology at the end of 2015, and the privacy-focused non-profit Center for Democracy and Technology wrote to the agency at the time that "the best solution is increased transparency and a robust and meaningful opt-out system. If cross-device tracking companies cannot give users these types of notice and control, they should not engage in cross-device tracking." By March the FTC had drafted a warning letter to developers about a certain brand of audio beacon that could potentially track all of a users' television viewing without their knowledge. That company, called Silverpush, has since ceased working on ultrasonic tracking in the United States, though the firm said at the time that its decision to drop the tech wasn't related to the FTC probe. More recently, two lawsuits filed this fall—each about the Android app of an NBA team—allege that the apps activated user microphones improperly to listen for beacons, capturing lots of other audio in the process without user knowledge. Two defendants in those lawsuits, YinzCam and Signal360, both told WIRED that they aren't beacon developers themselves and don't collect or store any audio in the spectrum that's audible to humans. But the researchers presenting at Black Hat argue that controversy over just how much audio ultrasonic tracking tools collect is all the more reason to create industry standards, so that consumers don't need to rely on companies to make privacy-minded choices independently. "I don’t believe that companies are malicious, but currently the way this whole thing is implemented seems very shady to users," says Mavroudis. Once there are standards in place, the researchers propose that mobile operating systems like Android and iOS could provide application program interfaces that restrict microphone access so ultrasonic tracking apps can only receive relevant data, instead of everything the microphone is picking up. "Then we get rid of this overprivileged problem where apps need to have access to the microphone, because they will just need to have access to this API," Mavroudis says. For anyone who's not waiting for companies to rein in what kinds of audio they collect to track us, however, the UCSB and UCL researchers software offers a temporary fix. And that may be more appealing than the notion of your phone talking to advertisers behind your back—or beyond your audible spectrum. ^1^Correction 11/3/2016 6:20pm EST: An earlier version of this article stated that the cross-device tracking companies 4Info and Tapad use ultrasonic tracking. Both companies say they don't use the form of tracking the researchers describe. ...

From the article: "Samsung’s beacon technology lets it watch EVERYTHING you’re browsing – even porn." Someone in the comments says that 'all' smartphones do this ... I don't know, I don't have one. SPY-PHONE - Samsung’s ‘peeping Tom’ smartphones can listen and watch what you do on the web while monitoring your emails to target you with ads The Sun can exclusively reveal that many Brits have no idea they've allowed Korean manufacturer Samsung to monitor them through their smartphone https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/3751944/samsungs-peeping-tom-smartphones-listen-and-watch-what-you-do-on-the-web-while-monitoring-your-emails-to-target-you-with-ads/ Exclusive By Margi Murphy Updated: 8th June 2017 SAMSUNG phones use technology which can spy on what you’re reading and watching online – and monitor emails in your inbox. The phones switch onto spy mode after they are alerted by a “beacon” often embedded in web pages or sent as an ultrasonic signal hidden in telly or online adverts. Samsung have been using beacons or pixels to track your phone use for some time – and YOU agreed to it After learning of the Sun Online investigation, Jim Killock, Executive Director of Open Rights Group warned that “Samsung want to get to know you – but they are behaving like a peeping Tom”. He added: “Samsung have taken spying on their customers to a whole new level. “What you can’t see, and can’t hear, won’t worry you — or so it hopes. “It needs to own up and switch it off before their customers wise up and ditch them.” If you use a Samsung phone, it’s likely that you’ve already agreed for the phone maker to snoop on you. The Korean manufacturer makes reference to it on several pages in on its privacy policy. It writes: “We, along with certain third parties, also may use technologies called beacons or pixels that communicate information from your device to a server. “Beacons can be embedded in online content, videos and emails and allow a server to read certain types of information from your device, know when you have viewed particular content or a particular email message, determine the time and date on which you viewed the beacon and the IP address of your device.” They explain that they are doing this for a “variety of purposes” including to analyse how the phones are being used and “to provide content and ads that are more relevant to you”. Google recently removed apps that used ultrasonic beacons to track users after hero computer scientists discovered 230 apps that secretly tracked Android smartphone owners. The German government-sponsored group warned that “device tracking is a serious threat to the privacy of users, as it enables spying on their habits and activities”. Apple clearly states on its privacy policy that it uses pixel tags and web beacons on its websites, online services, interactive apps, emails and adverts but says it will not share your IP address (which can identify your location, name and personal details) with third parties. There are many different kinds of beacons, including ultrasonic, media tracking and location beacons. Location beacons can be incredibly helpful – like in the case of Gatwick airport where it is using the technology to help guide passengers to their boarding gates. The beacons provide a Google Maps-style service which helps navigate from Duty Free to your departure gate. But they are more commonly used to create intrusive profiles of a user so they can be sold customised advertising. Samsung’s beacon technology lets it watch EVERYTHING you’re browsing – even porn. German researchers claimed these ultrasonic beacons can “link the watching of even sensitive content such as adult movies or political documentations to a single individual – even at varying locations. “Advertisers can deduce what and how long an individual is watching and obtain a detailed user profile to deliver highly customised advertisements,” they wrote. Tristan Liverpool, Director of Systems Engineering, F5 Networks told The Sun Online that smartphone manufacturers used beacons as a way to promote their devices and nab a cut of any sales for retailers made using their phones. He said: “Beaconing is an inconspicuous way of marketing and apps have increasingly incorporated ultrasonic tones to monitor consumers. “They ask permission to access your smartphone microphone, then listen for inaudible ‘beacons’ that emanate from retail stores, advertisements and even websites. “If you’re not paying attention to the permissions you grant, you could be feeding marketers and other entities information about your online browsing, what stores you go to and your product preferences without realising it. “Smartphone manufacturers can use this method as another way to promote their devices, and as another revenue stream by taking a percentage of any new business generated for retailers.” Samsung has not answered the Sun Online’s requests for comment.

Facebook wants to spy on people through their smartphone camera and analyse the emotions on their face https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/3738170/facebooks-plans-to-watch-you-through-your-smartphone-camera-as-you-scroll-through-social-network-revealed/ Social network patents technology which monitors users' reactions to the posts, messages and adverts they see on its app By Margi Murphy Updated: 6th June 2017 FACEBOOK has been secretly developing creepy technology which spies on people and automatically analyses their facial expressions. The social network applied for a patent to capture pictures of a user through their smartphone. CBI Insights found a patent granted in May which lets Facebook determine your emotion using pictures through your smartphone camera The creepy designs, which date back to 2015, were discovered by software company CBI Insight, which has been analysing Mark Zuckerberg’s “emotion technology”. Patent documents contain illustrations showing a person holding a smartphone with a camera taking a picture from which “emotion characteristics” like smiling or frowning are detected. If the person appears to like what they’re seeing, Facebook could place more of the same type of content in front of them. Patents don’t always make it through to the end product- so it’s not clear whether Facebook will bring out this new feature. Researchers at CBI Insights warned that the plans could put a lot of people off using the service. “On the one hand, they want to identify which content is most engaging and respond to audience’s reactions, on the other emotion-detection is technically difficult, not to mention a PR and ethical minefield,” it wrote in a blogpost. But that’s not all. Facebook appears to have tested out similar technology to work out which emoji to send to people using a selfie. If you’re smiling, it could automatically send a smiley face and vice versa. Its most recent emotional patent – which was granted on 25 May this year – aims to tackle a dilemma many of us will have faced. It can be difficult to make your text messages come across exactly as you mean them to, and sarcasm or jokes are often lost in translation – leading to some awkward conversations. A new tool lets the social network to give your texts more feeling – so they won’t be misconstrued. The system picks up data from the keyboard, mouse, touchpad, touchscreen to detect typing speed and how hard the keys are pressed. Facebook will accordingly change the text font and size, before shaping to make it more emotive and relevant to your mood. Facebook said that it does not currently offer tools to detect emotion. If you want to check what Facebook sees and shares about you, check out its privacy policy here. https://www.facebook.com/about/basics ...

Yes you are right ... I thought I had remembered seeing all that some time back but I went to page 4 or 5 and never spotted it. I will move the content over to that thread and maybe someone can delete my post. thanks,

Duplicate thread ... moved to the original 'Last Versions of Software for Windows XP' thread.

I mostly agree with your thoughts about commercials ... but I have watched and collected (downloaded) many TV commercials that really were made to watch more than once ... these commercials were worth keeping or at least watching more than once. Who can forget the famous Apple commercial from years back with Ellen Feiss. It was the Apple 'Switch' campaign ... various people who had switched from a Windows PC to a MAC. From Wikipedia: "Switch was an advertising campaign launched by Apple Computer, Inc. (now Apple, Inc.) on June 10, 2002. It featured what the company referred to as "real people" who had "switched" from the Microsoft Windows platform to the Mac. An international television and print ad campaign directed users to a website where various "myths" about the Mac platform were "dispelled". The television commercials were directed by Errol Morris. A young woman who appeared in the commercials, Ellen Feiss, became an internet celebrity. Feiss was a friend of Morris's son Hamilton Morris, who also appeared in a commercial." Brown University Newspaper Publishes Interview With Ellen Feiss November 22nd, 2002 https://www.macobserver.com/article/2002/11/22.10.shtml The actual ad ... Youtube https://www.google.com/webhp?complete=0#complete=0&q=youtube+Ellen+Feiss+apple That was one commercial that I never got tired of. Then there are two commercials from either 2015 or 2016. One commercial shows a girl student working on a school project ... making an actual 'volcano' ... with some help from her dad. It was Clorox Disinfecting Wipes and the exploding volcano was great. TV Commercial - Clorox Disinfecting Wipes https://www.google.com/webhp?complete=0#complete=0&q=clorox+volcano+commercial and this really funny TV commercial from last summer or before. The girl on her bike adventure ... a Neosporin spot called 'The Jump'. She's sitting at a picnic table telling this wild story of her bike adventures ... Sam, the third grade daredevil, as she regales friends with her latest adventure. She blows up the whole story ... says she was going 100 mph on her bike and jumped a 50 foot ravine and has a scar to prove it. Neosporin + Pain Itch Scar Presents "The Jump" https://www.google.com/webhp?complete=0#complete=0&q=Neosporin+%2B+Pain+Itch+Scar+Presents+"The+Jump" ... there are others and I enjoy the TV commercials from Europe and other parts of the world. Many would never play in the US but they are on Youtube. So there are some real gems out there mixed with mostly terrible, forgettable ones. monroe

I also think the whole thing is very interesting. Two Franken type machines more or less from scratch or the scrap heap. Some of the five guys or 'all' had to have some knowledge of electronics and computers ... a little higher IQ than you're average mugger. Cables and computers well hidden until a more aggressive investigation and search took place. ...

Very sad from a big name company if true. The 'smartphones' are involved again with 'funny stuff' ! From the article below ... "People should be uncomfortable with it," Christopher Dore, a lawyer representing Zak, said in an interview. "People put headphones on their head because they think it's private, but they can be giving out information they don't want to share." "After paying $350 for his QuietComfort 35 headphones, Zak said he took Bose's suggestion to "get the most out of your headphones" by downloading its app, and providing his name, email address and headphone serial number in the process. But the Illinois resident said he was surprised to learn that Bose sent "all available media information" from his smartphone to third parties such as Segment.io, whose website promises to collect customer data and "send it anywhere." Bose Headphones Spy on Listeners - Lawsuit By Jonathan Stempel Reuters - April 19, 2017 https://www.yahoo.com/tech/bose-headphones-spy-listeners-lawsuit-174749975--finance.html (Reuters) - Bose Corp spies on its wireless headphone customers by using an app that tracks the music, podcasts and other audio they listen to, and violates their privacy rights by selling the information without permission, a lawsuit charged. The complaint filed on Tuesday by Kyle Zak in federal court in Chicago seeks an injunction to stop Bose's "wholesale disregard" for the privacy of customers who download its free Bose Connect app from Apple Inc or Google Play stores to their smartphones. "People should be uncomfortable with it," Christopher Dore, a lawyer representing Zak, said in an interview. "People put headphones on their head because they think it's private, but they can be giving out information they don't want to share." Bose did not respond on Wednesday to requests for comment on the proposed class action case. The Framingham, Massachusetts-based company has said annual sales top $3.5 billion. Zak's lawsuit was the latest to accuse companies of trying to boost profit by quietly amassing customer information, and then selling it or using it to solicit more business. After paying $350 for his QuietComfort 35 headphones, Zak said he took Bose's suggestion to "get the most out of your headphones" by downloading its app, and providing his name, email address and headphone serial number in the process. But the Illinois resident said he was surprised to learn that Bose sent "all available media information" from his smartphone to third parties such as Segment.io, whose website promises to collect customer data and "send it anywhere." Audio choices offer "an incredible amount of insight" into customers' personalities, behavior, politics and religious views, citing as an example that a person who listens to Muslim prayers might "very likely" be a Muslim, the complaint said. "Defendants' conduct demonstrates a wholesale disregard for consumer privacy rights," the complaint said. Zak is seeking millions of dollars of damages for buyers of headphones and speakers, including QuietComfort 35, QuietControl 30, SoundLink Around-Ear Wireless Headphones II, SoundLink Color II, SoundSport Wireless and SoundSport Pulse Wireless. He also wants a halt to the data collection, which he said violates the federal Wiretap Act and Illinois laws against eavesdropping and consumer fraud. Dore, a partner at Edelson PC, said customers do not see the Bose app's user service and privacy agreements when signing up, and the privacy agreement says nothing about data collection. Edelson specializes in suing technology companies over alleged privacy violations. The case is Zak v Bose Corp, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, No. 17-02928. ...

Yes, that may well be the reason. Hopefully, it's a real project. I don't do Facebook so I will have to get any further news here or on the internet. ...

Well it was a nice read ... thanks for posting. It won't hurt to follow the story ... I'm gullible to a large extent and I always like a good mystery. Is this real or just a hoax ? ... It's April and I forgot to check any dates to see if this story broke on April Fool's Day. ...

I just noticed your reply today. Yes ... I'm like you, this story was hard to believe when I first read it. When you think of all the possible pitfalls that could happen over 5 years for a bird ... let alone 66 years. For instance, being attacked by other larger birds or some other threat when they do spend time on land ... snakes, lizards and such. Maybe being caught flying in a terrible storm, suffering a broken wing and then there are the health issues ... especially internal parasites or a serious biological germ attack. I guess this is one lucky bird ... I'm wondering how much the bird remembers of all her experiences over 66 years. Standing on a rock somewhere watching another sunset over the ocean ... thinking what a ride it's been. I guess this has to be a true story if it is to be believed what the 98 yr old biologist said about the banding in 1956 and there seems to be mention of other biologists now involved. One amazing story of a lucky bird ... I guess the bird has no idea of being lucky. It's just 'another day at the office' with each new sunrise. ...

Meet the 105-Year-Old Doctor Who is still Hard at Work By Helena Horton 31 March 2017 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/31/meet-105-year-old-doctor-still-hard-work/ Dr Bill Frankland, who we caught up with around his 100th birthday five years ago, is a remarkable man. He's been asked by Saddam Hussein for treatment, suffered as a prisoner of war and worked with Alexander Fleming, and is still going strong. Born in Sussex, the doctor is known as the 'Grandfather of Allergy', which is his specialism - he helped thousands every year by convincing the media to show pollen counts in weather forecasts. Dr Frankland has received two cards from the Queen for reaching such a grand old age, and still drinks alcohol, cheekily telling the Daily Mail: "No wine for me — I had too much to drink yesterday". Britain's oldest working doctor still contributes to journals and consults people about their allergies. He even requires a secretary to run his busy diary and he only gave up driving in 2004. It was Frankland who championed the view that an allergic reaction is due to a malfunctioning immune system. In doing so, he and his colleagues opened up the possibility of radical new treatments for lifelong sufferers by using small doses of an allergen to, in effect, retrain the errant immune system. He told The Telegraph some years ago about his encounter with Saddam Hussein. He said: “I got a call [in 1979] to see the new president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. They told me he had an allergy and he was being treated with various desensitising injections. But he wasn’t allergic at all; his problem was that he was smoking 40 cigarettes a day. "I told him to stop and if he wouldn’t I would refuse to come and see him again. I don’t think anyone had spoken to him like that before. "I heard some time later that he had had a disagreement with his secretary of state for health, so he took him outside and shot him. Maybe I was lucky.” During the Second World War, he joined the Royal Amy Medical Corps and was sent to Singapore. On arrival, he tossed a coin with a fellow medic to decide upon the institution where each would work. It was three days before Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941. Some two months later, on February 15, 1942, the Japanese swept into Singapore. His colleague, who had gone to the Alexandra Hospital to work, died there along with other staff in an orgy of killing by Japanese soldiers armed with bayonets. Frankland survived the invasion but endured ''three-and-a-half years of hell” in an internment camp on Blakang Mati Island (now Sentosa). He now has a non-paid consultancy role at Guy’s Hospital, where he researched peanut allergies. He continued to see patients as a private consultant into his late 90s. After all his hard work, he received his MBE, aged 103, in 2015. ...

Can you imagine these things walking around ... any dinosaur ... large or medium size footprints. Must have been something to see or film, if only. There are some pictures ... STEPOSAURUS - World’s largest dinosaur footprint discovered Down Under – and it’s as big as a man THE huge sauropod footprint found in Australia's 'Jurassic Park' is 1.7m long by JASPER HAMILL 27th March 2017 https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3189717/worlds-largest-dinosaur-footprint-discovered-in-australias-jurassic-park/ SCIENTISTS have discovered the world’s largest footprint in a stretch of remote coastline known as “Australia’s Jurassic Park”. The unidentified sauropod’s print is 1.7m long, just five centimetres less than the height of the average-sized British man. It was found among an “unprecedented” 21 different types of dinosaur tracks and dwarfs a metre-long footprint discovered in the Gobi desert by a team of Japanese and Mongolian researchers. Palaeontologists from the University of Queensland and James Cook University said their find was the most diverse array of dino footprints in the world. The remains were unearthed in rocks aged up to 140 millions years old in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Steve Salisbury, lead author of a paper on the findings published in the Memoir of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, said the tracks were “globally unparalleled”. He added: “It is extremely significant, forming the primary record of non-avian dinosaurs in the western half of the continent and providing the only glimpse of Australia’s dinosaur fauna during the first half of the Early Cretaceous Period. “It’s such a magical place — Australia’s own Jurassic Park, in a spectacular wilderness setting.” He added: "Among the tracks is the only confirmed evidence for stegosaurs in Australia. There are also some of the largest dinosaur tracks ever recorded." It was almost lost, with the Western Australian government in 2008 selecting the area as the preferred site for a massive liquid natural gas processing precinct. The region's traditional Aboriginal custodians, the Goolarabooloo people, contacted Salisbury and his team to officially research what they knew was there. They spent more than 400 hours investigating and documenting dinosaur tracks in the Walmadany area. The area was eventually awarded National Heritage status in 2011 and the gas project subsequently collapsed. Salisbury said: "There are thousands of tracks around Walmadany. Of these, 150 can confidently be assigned to 21 specific track types, representing four main groups of dinosaurs. "There were five different types of predatory dinosaur tracks, at least six types of tracks from long-necked herbivorous sauropods, four types of tracks from two-legged herbivorous ornithopods, and six types of tracks from armoured dinosaurs." Most of Australia's dinosaur fossils have previously come from the eastern side of the vast country. Earlier this year, boffins discovered the remains of a flesh-eating dinosaur the size of an aeroplane. ...

I don't know if there's any truth to the story ... I thought it was strange the hackers were only demanding $100,000 from Apple. I would have thought there would be a few more '0s' on that amount. I am reading that Apple is denying any accounts have been hacked but maybe passwords should still be changed ... so the new article says. http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/03/23/apple-denied-massive-icloud-hack-but-should-still-change-your-password.html Apple denied the massive iCloud hack (but you should still change your password) By Chris Smith Published March 23, 2017 A hacker group claiming to have access to hundreds of millions of iCloud accounts threatened to remotely wipe iPhones associated to these accounts unless Apple pays a ransom amounting to up to $100,000 in cryptocurrency or iTunes gift cards. Just as we suspected at the time, Apple has now confirmed that its servers were not breached. But that doesn't change the fact that some hackers out there believe they can remotely wipe iPhones linked to certain Apple IDs so it's time to change passwords again. "There have not been any breaches in any of Apple's systems including iCloud and Apple ID," a company spokesperson told Fortune. "The alleged list of email addresses and passwords appears to have been obtained from previously compromised third-party services." Apple did not confirm the authenticity of the data the Turkish Crime Family says it has, as the report notes. A person familiar with the email accounts and passwords contained in that data set says it matched the LinkedIn breach from 2012 when hackers grabbed information tied to more than 100 million accounts. The LinkedIn hack was only revealed last year, but that's enough of a reason to change your passwords, especially if you haven't done it since then -- and especially if you use the same password for several different accounts, including the Apple ID you use on your iPhone. Apple, meanwhile, is "actively monitoring to prevent unauthorized access to user accounts and are working with law enforcement to identify the criminals involved," the same spokesperson said. "To protect against these type of attacks, we always recommend that users always use strong passwords, not use those same passwords across sites and turn on two-factor authentication." The company says it has taken measures according to "standard procedure," without elaborating on what's been done.

They may have access to 300 million Apple accounts ... http://bgr.com/2017/03/22/apple-iphone-and-icloud-accounts-hacked/ Hackers claim to have breached hundreds of millions of Apple accounts Chris Smith March 22nd, 2017 at 11:35 AM Apple’s iPhones and Apple IDs are a tough nut to crack for hackers, but it’s not be impossible. At least that’s what a group of hackers seem to suggest, as they’re currently attempting to blackmail Apple for up to $100,000 before they start remotely wiping millions of iPhones. Can they actually do it? Should you be worried? It’s unclear at this point. The hackers apparently engaged in conversations with the media to force Apple’s hand. The Turkish Crime Family hacker group, which spoke to Motherboard, want either $75,000 in Bitcoin or Ethereum, or $100,000 worth of iTunes gift cards. “I just want my money and thought this would be an interesting report that a lot of Apple customers would be interested in reading and hearing,” one of the hackers said. Apparently, the hackers have been in contact with Apple’s security team for quite a while now. They even posted a video on YouTube to prove they have actual access to iCloud accounts, access which can be used to remotely wipe iPhones. Apple, understandably, doesn’t appear to be willing to pay up the ransom. “We firstly kindly request you to remove the video that you have uploaded on your YouTube channel as it’s seeking unwanted attention, second of all we would like you to know that we do not reward cyber criminals for breaking the law,” a screenshot of a message purportedly coming from an Apple security team member reads. The hackers say they have access to more than 300 million Apple email accounts, including @icloud and @me domains. The number is the source of some confusion though, because a different hacker from the group claimed they had 559 million accounts in all. They have not explained how they gained access to Apple ID credentials. The hackers are threatening to move forward with remotely wiping Apple devices on April 7th, unless Apple pays up. Apple hasn’t publicly commented on the matter at this point. On the off-chance that the hackers are indeed holding access to millions of iCloud accounts, you might consider changing your password to protect your Apple ID. ...

After Roffen asked for help last Thur with the POS registry entry ... I got to thinking maybe I could at least update IE 8 on my WinXP setup. I quit getting any WinXP updates after April 2014. So my IE 8 has had no updates since then ... a few days ago heinoganda posted a manual Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 8 for WES09 and POSReady 2009 (KB4012204). I really am not too interested in all the 'extra' WinXP updates that have been released starting in May 2014 but I have thought having IE 8 updated might be nice. Anyway, after installing the POS registry entry the IE 8 Cumulative Security Update did install ... so that part of IE 8 should be a little better on my setup. I am not sure what all the IE 8 Cumulative Security Update supplies ... maybe all the updates since I last updated IE 8 in 2014 ... since the word Cumulative is used. I'm sure I am missing some other IE 8 security updates but I have no way of knowing what all those would be since 2014. I don't really use IE 8 anymore ... this was just an idea and an experiment. I tried the MS update just now and it just ran for 15 minutes with nothing except my CPU building up heat. I am reading about others waiting forever for updates. I'm not interested in going that route but in the future I can at least apply the IE 8 Cumulative Security Update. ...

Thanks guys for the clarification on all the Firefox versions. I guess I will just wait and let it update automatically to version 52 in April. I just ran a Google search in December asking for the latest FF ESR version and downloaded that. monroe

I'm curious as to how everyone has Firefox v52 ESR? I switched from regular Firefox Portable to Firefox Portable ESR around December. My version is Firefox Portable ESR v45.7.0 and when I run the FF update check ... it says 'Firefox is up to date'. Just checked it again before posting this. Where's the FF ESR v52 coming from or does the portable version go with a different version number?

So after reading your post I guess a person should still apply these certificate updates ... even if they no longer receive any WinXP updates or no longer use any version of Internet Explorer. Ok ... thanks for your reply, I will continue to download newer versions.

Just a simple question or two about these certificate updates. I think I saw this mentioned many pages back in this thread but not sure. I want to get this cleared up for all future discussion. These current updates are 'only' for the IE browser that a person uses with WinXP ... probably mostly IE 8 with most people. So if a person no longer uses IE 8 or IE 6 with WinXP but another browser like Pale Moon, Firefox and such ... these updates really mean nothing or are of little use ... am I correct on this? I am not using the WinXP POS updates ... my WinXP updates stopped in early 2014. However, these newer certificate updates can benefit those people still updating WinXP and using a version of IE. So my question ... if I no longer use IE 8 for anything then these certificate updates have no benefit and are not needed? If a person uses Pale Moon or any other browser ... these certificate updates are of no use to any other browser that a person might be using on their computer? Sorry for repeating or going over everything more than once but I want to nail this down once and for all ... thanks.

Thanks Bersaglio for the help explanation. I got the download ... I was not familiar with using the Zippyshare download site. I did seem to be going around in circles at times. I'm not sure how I got the Torch browser download. monroe

Can someone please give me a good download link to heinoganda's Cert_Updater.exe ... all I keep getting is a download button for the Torch Browser. I know nothing about that browser and have no need for it ... I would like to download the cert updater by heinoganda. thanks ... ... if that is a good browser for WinXP then I will download if others here are using it.

Article says ... 'Google has since apologised for 'surprising' locals in the Autazes area.' ... there are several pictures. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4276360/Google-internet-beaming-balloon-crashes-Amazon.html Google's 'Project Loon' internet balloon crashes in the Amazon forest Huge inflatable plummeted from 11 miles in the sky, above remote town in Brazil It was launched by Google to bring internet to remote villages in the Amazon Google has since apologised for 'surprising' locals in the Autazes area By Central European News and Cheyenne Macdonald For Dailymail.com 2 March 2017 A hot air balloon launched by Google to bring the internet to remote villages in the Amazon has crashed in the rainforest. The large balloon, which was part of the internet giant's Project Loon, fell from the skies and landed on the jungle floor. The huge inflatable plummeted from 11 miles in the sky, above a remote town in Brazil, where it was helping to provide a wireless internet network. ... more at the link