Monroe

Today on Giveaway of the Day there is a Ram Disk program (also with other tools) being offered. Someone replied about another program that once cost money but is now free ... I have downloaded it but not tried it out yet. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "For an excellent RamDisk Software that will create as many “RamDisks” as you wish (subject to the available RAM on your system, including making it load at Startup (optional) so that you can use a “RamDisk” as your “Temp Directories” Location making all actions taking place in “temp files” to run MUCH faster. Also an OPTION to create a File (ON DISK) to which the contentsd of any Ramdisk you choose may write to at Windows Shut down! Other options ... I BOUGHT v3.2.2 in March 2012 just a few months before they made it a FREE Program !!! That’s right an EXCELLENT Commercial program (running on my Widows 7 Home Premium Machine) available for FREE! Current version (as of Sept. 28,2014 was RamDisk v3.4.6 The Download page (and more information is Here: https://www.softperfect.com/products/ramdisk/ I hope that helps someone!!! Comment by Chris Roy Jackson — October 7th, 2014 at 4:17 am " --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SoftPerfect RAM Disk for Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8 https://www.softperfect.com/products/ramdisk/ SoftPerfect RAM Disk is a free high-performance RAM disk application that lets you have a disk on your computer entirely stored in its memory. As the memory is much faster than physical hard disks, storing temporary data on a fast in-memory disk to achieve a higher performance. Whatever your job is, read on to find out what a RAM disk can offer you. SoftPerfect RAM Disk creates a virtual disk residing in the computer RAM accessible in Windows Explorer and other applications, allowing you to store any temporary information on this disk. Furthermore, Windows can be configured to use the RAM disk for temporary files, so that the system and most applications would use the fast in-memory disk for temporary data. As Windows and third-party applications often create a large number of temporary files for a short time only, using a RAM disk will extend your hard disk’s life by sparing it from excessive reading and writing. Modern computers are equipped with at least 1 GB of RAM, and most of the time there is a lot of unused memory that could be used as a high-performance alternative to the slower hard disk storage. This product lets you create any number of virtual RAM disks limited only by the memory available. You can also work with on-disk images and RAM disks associated with an on-disk file, that ensures your data is preserved between sessions. Key features of the RAM Disk: + Any number of RAM disks. In practice, up to 26 disks due to the number of drive letters available. + Any RAM disk size on 64-bit systems. Up to approximately 3.5 GB on 32-bit systems. + Persistent RAM disks with an associated on-disk image. + Volatile RAM disks whose content disappears on shutdown. + Built-in disk image manipulation tools. ...

Thanks TELVM ... I was waiting for the "portable" version to show up which I downloaded yesterday ... just tried everything out a few hours ago. The latest portable version is at the link in my first post. I guess all is well since people have the option to turn off the monitoring or let it run. When I first tried the latest version ... monitoring was not checked or running. That's for the portable version, don't know how the setup is ... if a person installs the latest version. The article link that you posted explains a few things ... why there were two releases in two days. I hadn't read the article so thanks for the link. Probably most people know about the CCleaner Slim version ... it can be found at the regular home page with a little searching ... it's also available at MajorGeeks, if you like an installed version ... the size is listed at 3.6 MB. CCleaner Slim 4.18.4844 http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/ccleaner_slim.html ...

K-Meleon 74 was listed on 29 Sep 2014 at FileHippo for downloading and also some other sites ... in case anyone is interested. *** Also you can follow any additional news on KM 74 changes or news here : K-Meleon 74 Release (the first top sticky) http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/forum/list.php?8 Latest posts from Page 2 : http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/forum/read.php?8,129657,page=2 * Also these websites seem to say "Windows All" or list all the Windows versions ... I am fairly certain it won't work with Windows 9x and also possibly not with Windows 2000 ... but I am not 100 % sure ... for XP and higher, I would think. OK the last post at the KM 74 thread on page 2 seems to cover a few extras and what OS should work with this new version ... Posted by: siria Date: September 30, 2014 06:49PM The new version is announced on many software sites now. But most sites claim KM74 would still run on Win2000 (Aside from showing old version screenshots and sounding like it were developed by Firefox) We really could use a few basic details on the news/download/forum pages. Perhaps something like that? (Download KM74....) Much improved display of modern websites. New settings for hiding titlebar and tabs multi-line Based on Mozilla-Code ESR24. System requirements: Windows min. XP SP2 / Disk space min. 64MB (empty cache and profile) About tabs multi-line, dimly remember it was announced as experimental/for testing? Does it fully work now? And still confused that UA says gecko 24.0 but platform.ini 24.7 FileHippo Main Page: http://www.filehippo.com/ K-Meleon 74.0 http://www.filehippo.com/download_kmeleon Freeware Files: http://www.freewarefiles.com/K-Meleon_program_23392.html Softpedia: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Browsers/KMeleon.shtml ...

Just noticed last night that the new free version of CCleaner v4.18.4842 (25 Sep 2014) which has already been replaced by CCleaner v4.18.4844 (26 Sep 2014) has something new added ... which may be good or not so good. Here are the version changes: # v4.18.4844 (26 Sep 2014) - Added Active System Monitoring for Free users - Improved Firefox Saved Password cleaning. - Improved Opera History cleaning. - Improved 64-bit build architecture for Window 8 and 8.1. - Added Ashampoo Burning Studio 14, XnView and FastStone Capture cleaning. - Improved localization support. - Minor GUI Improvements. - Minor bug fixes. # v4.18.4842 (25 Sep 2014) - Added Active System Monitoring for Free users - Improved Firefox Saved Password cleaning. - Improved Opera History cleaning. - Improved 64-bit build architecture for Window 8 and 8.1. - Added Ashampoo Burning Studio 14, XnView and FastStone Capture cleaning. - Improved localization support. - Minor GUI Improvements. - Minor bug fixes. I'm wondering about the first line ... Added Active System Monitoring for Free users Sounds like something that will always be "running" in the background ... I just mention this for discussion ... as I said earlier, could be "good" or "bad" or "not necessary". You may want to stay with the last version before this was added. I have not tried the new version so I don't know much about it. I found this information about "System Monitoring" : Thursday, September 25, 2014 CCleaner v4.18 CCleaner version 4.18 is now ready for download! In this release, we've added one of our most requested features to the free version- Active System Monitoring. While not as powerful as the Professional version, CCleaner Free can now monitor your system in the background and detect when to Clean based on space that can be saved. We've also improved cleaning for Firefox Saved Passwords and Opera History as well as adding cleaning for several new applications! ... anyone have more information or thoughts on this. I personally feel I don't need CCleaner to be running in the background ... I run CCleaner several times during a session anyway and always just before I shut down my computer ... maybe it can be "turned off" and not be using resources ... not sure. I use the "portable version" anyway ... click on the "All Versions" tab. The latest version hasn't been added yet. http://www.afterdawn.com/software/security/system_cleanup/ccleaner_portable.cfm ... I also noticed this, which may be new or not ... the "Free" version does not have a check beside "Complete Cleaning" ... maybe it has always been that way, I don't know or maybe the older versions did have "Complete Cleaning" ... they may be trying to sell the paid version (s), nothing wrong with that, just can't say for sure. http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download Complete Cleaning is not checked under the CCleaner Free version ... so what is not cleaned or left behind and did older free versions offer "Complete Cleaning" ???

Well ... fool me once, fool me twice, fool me six times or however that little verse goes !!! The picture in the article reminds me of something I once saw at a traveling carnival ... I paid my dollar to see something described as "not from this world" ... the carnival barker had the last laugh as usual when I and the other people came out the side exit of the tent !!! Pretty much the same thing I got from the Discovery Channel in reference to the Mermaid broadcast ... I just didn't have to walk into a tent.

Just a heads up if you use Gmail ... I hadn't heard of this till now. *** Add ... I just now saw that xper mentioned this yesterday in Technology News. I missed that ... I only added it here since "security" is discussed every now and then. Millions of Gmail accounts hacked, was yours one of them? by Fidel Martinez @ThisIsFusion http://fusion.net/modern_life/story/millions-gmail-accounts-hacked-1036842 09/10/2014 A database containing close to 5 million gmail user names and passwords has been leaked on a Russian bitcoin forum, a popular Russian website devoted to the cryptocurrency. The text file was published on Tuesday night by user tvskit, according to CNews, the Russian news outlet that first broke the story. The leaker claimed that the majority of the accounts belong to users who speak English, Russian, or Spanish, and that approximately 60 percent are active. The passwords not only give access to Gmail, but a slew of other Google services such as Drive and the mobile payment system Google Wallet. Svetlana Anurova, a Google representative, told CNews that the tech giant is aware of the breach and encouraged users to select a stronger password and enable two-step verification, a security measure where users are required to provide a passcode sent to their mobile devices before any changes can be made to their account. The Gmail leak comes on the heels of two other major security breaches leaked on the same Bitcoin forum, which targeted Russian email service prodiver Mail.ru and search engine Yandex. Those two breaches affected nearly 6 million Internet users. Find out if your account was compromised You can verify whether your account was affected by clicking here and entering your gmail address. It's that simple. You can also enable Google's 2-step verification by following the company's easy steps. UPDATE 3:01 PM Google issued the following statement to Fusion: "The security of our users' information is a top priority for us. We have no evidence that our systems have been compromised, but whenever we become aware that accounts may have been, we take steps to help those users secure their accounts." ...

Beautiful picture ... thanks for sharing.

There is a picture in the article of the Google guys in a boat just snapping, filming or whatever they do. It's amazing where they go and how they get around. I'd be mad, sitting there enjoying the quiet water flowing by ... and suddenly a Google boat is going by !!! Google Is Target of European Backlash on U.S. Tech Dominance http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/09/technology/google-is-target-of-european-backlash-on-us-tech-dominance.html?_r=0 SEPT. 8, 2014 BRUSSELS — A top German official called for Google to be broken up. A French minister pronounced the company a threat to his country’s sovereignty. A European publishing executive likened it to a Wagnerian dragon. Across Europe, Google has been under fire, reflecting the broader challenges facing American technology companies. Google, fairly or not, has become a glaring proxy for criticism of an intrusive American government and concern over America’s unmatched technology dominance. On Monday, things grew worse. Regulators pushed the company to give up more in an antitrust settlement — demanding that Google make additional changes to its secret sauce, the search algorithm. ...

There was a large meteor/asteroid that hit Arizona around 50,000 years ago. It is called Meteor Crater and there was never a meteorite found. Several theories exist that it vaporized, exploded or bounced into the Pacific Ocean ... at least those theories were around in the 50s and 60s. http://meteorcrater.com/ Meteor Crater is nearly one mile across, 2.4 miles in circumference and more than 550 feet deep. It is an international tourist venue with outdoor observation trails, air conditioned indoor viewing, wide screen movie theater, Interactive Discovery Center, unique gift and rock shop, and Astronaut Memorial Park at the Visitor Center located on the crater rim. Mystery of Arizona's Meteor Crater Solved http://www.space.com/834-mystery-arizona-meteor-crater-solved.html The space rock that carved Meteor Crater in Arizona hit the planet much more slowly than astronomers once figured, but still 10 times faster than a rifle bullet. The new analysis, announced today, explains why there's a lot less melted rock in the crater than expected. The mystery has dogged researchers for years. The big hole in the ground -- 570 feet deep and 4,100 feet (1.25 kilometers) across -- was blown into existence 50,000 years ago by an asteroid roughly 130 feet (40 meters) wide. Previous calculations had the rock slamming into the ground at no less than 34,000 mph (15 km/sec), based in part on the expected speeds of large meteors in relation to Earth. Such an impact ought to have generated more melted rock in and around the crater than what's been found. ..... Now there is some thought that the crater in Nicaragua might not be. I'm glad that I said "possibly" in my first post. Scientists Doubt That Meteor Caused Crater In Nicaragua http://knau.org/post/scientists-doubt-meteor-caused-crater-nicaragua September 9, 2014 We reported on Monday that a meteor, thought possibly to be a chunk of an Earth-passing asteroid, was the cause of a 40-foot crater outside the international airport in the Nicaraguan capital. But astronomers and NASA scientists are now casting doubt on that possibility. The biggest mystery is that no one so far has reported seeing a flash of light in the sky that would be expected to accompany such a meteor strike. "While a meteoritic origin for this crater cannot be ruled out with absolute certainty, the information available at this time suggests that some other cause is responsible for its creation," NASA's blog concludes. ...

For crying out loud !!! ... jaclaz, is there anything that you can't FIND ??? ... a "Crater Calculator" ! Unbelievable ...

Possibly a small piece of the asteroid from the Sunday fly-by may have hit the Earth ... pretty good explosion from that small piece, wherever it came from. The whole asteroid was considered "small" and this maybe was just a piece. 'Meteorite' Smashes Into Nicaraguan Capital http://news.yahoo.com/meteorite-smashes-nicaraguan-capital-230034550.html 2 hours ago - 08 September 2014 Managua (AFP) - A mysterious explosion that rocked Nicaragua's crowded capital Managua, creating a large crater, appears to have been caused by a small meteorite, officials said Sunday. Amazingly, in a sprawling city of 1.2 million people, the impact near the international airport did not cause any known injuries, but it did leave a crater measuring 12 meters (39 feet) across and was felt throughout the capital late on Saturday. Nicaraguan authorities believe it was a piece of the small asteroid dubbed "2014 RC," which passed very close to Earth on Sunday and was estimated by astronomers to be about 20 meters big, or the size of a house. "We are convinced that this was a meteorite. We have seen the crater from the impact," said Wilfredo Strauss of the Seismic Institute. The meteorite appeared to have hurtled into a wooded area near the airport around midnight and the hit was so large that it registered on the instruments Strauss's organization uses to size up earthquakes. "You can see two waves: first, a small seismic wave when the meteorite hit earth, and then another stronger one, which is the impact of the sound," he said. Government officials and experts visited the impact site on Sunday. One of them, William Martinez, said it was not yet clear if the meteorite burned up completely or if it had been blasted into the soil. "You can see mirror-like spots on the sides of the crater from where the meteorite power-scraped the walls," Martinez said. Government spokeswoman, First Lady Rosario Murillo, said Managua would be in contact with the US Geological Service to try to get more information about "this fascinating event" in the Central American nation, one of Latin America's poorest countries. People who live near the crater told local media they heard a blast they took for an explosion, and that liquid, sand and dust were blown through the air, which smelled like something had burned. There were no reported injuries because the impact was in a wooded spot, and flights at the airport were not affected. NASA said last week that the asteroid 2014 RC, at the time of closest approach, would be approximately one-tenth the distance from the center of Earth to the moon, or about 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers). It had been projected to be roughly over New Zealand at the time of its closest approach, which astronomers had calculated would be on Sunday at about 1818 GMT. ...

Another "something" from the land of sunshine ... "Just touching the fur results in intense pain, vomiting and convulsions." "The pain reportedly is worse than a bee, jellyfish or scorpion sting." Not much at this link ... Florida Scientists Warn Against Touching Dangerous Caterpillar http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/09/07/florida-scientists-warn-against-touching-dangerous-caterpillar/?intcmp=latestnews September 07, 2014 University of Florida doctors are warning about a dangerous type of caterpillar. According to MyFoxTampaBay.com, the fur of the Megalopyge opercularis or "puss caterpillar" is covered in venom and touching it results in intense pain, vomiting and convulsions. The caterpillars are known to fall out of trees, doctors said, according to the report. The pain reportedly is worse than a bee, jellyfish or scorpion sting. Picture here ... Florida's Fuzzy Caterpillars Have a Painful Secret http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/8905/20140905/floridas-fuzzy-caterpillars-painful-secret.htm Sep 05, 2014 ...

Pretty neat video ... in the dark or twilight, very scary ... just glad nobody hurt the dog out of fear ... always that chance of a bad reaction. Pretty good idea, dog probably had fun after she got used to being a spider unless she didn't understand the screams and people running away. Lots of pictures at the link ... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2745007/Giant-mutant-spider-dog-let-loose-unsuspecting-public-hilarious-online-prank.html You MUST watch the funniest video we've seen all week: Spider-dog sends unsuspecting victims fleeing in absolute terror for their lives * Video shows passersby coming face-to-face with Chica the DogSpider * Fear not - it's simply the work of Polish prankster Sylwester Wardega By Annabel Grossman for MailOnline 05 September 2014 Being chased by a giant mutant spider is enough to send most people into a fit of terror. So it's not surprising that this pooch caused quite a stir when she was let loose disguised as a terrifying eight-legged beast. Chica the DogSpider is the work of Polish prankster Sylwester Wardega, who dressed up his pooch in the fur-covered costume before releasing her on an unsuspecting public. A hilarious video, which has had more than three million views on YouTube in just one day, shows the hairy creature lurking behind doorways, ready to pounce on its victims. In one scene, a man taking out his garbage flees for his life when Chica emerges from behind a door, while in another, two girls scream and run after seeing the creature atop a lifeless man in an elevator. Later in the video, a couple spot a flinching man wrapped up in a 'spider web' hanging from a tree in a park and the man bravely creeps towards it, while his girlfriend stays rooted in her position. But his courage is quickly forgotten when DogSpider emerges from the shadows - and chases him right out of the park. Viewers have to feel particularly sorry for one man in a train station, who comes across fake, bloody body parts hanging from more string webs. ...

They keep coming ... just discovered on August 31st. NASA: Asteroid Will Pass ‘Very Close’ To Earth On Sunday http://tampa.cbslocal.com/2014/09/04/nasa-asteroid-will-pass-very-close-to-earth-on-sunday/ September 4, 2014 TAMPA, Fla. (CBS Tampa) — NASA announced that a small asteroid will safely pass “very close” to Earth on Sept. 7. The asteroid, designated 2014 RC, will be roughly over New Zealand at the time of closest approach, which will be about 2:18 pm EDT based on current calculations. Astronomers estimate that the asteroid is about 60 feet in size. On the night of Aug. 31, the asteroid was first discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson, Ariz., and was detected independently the next night by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope that is located in Hawaii. The orbit of 2014 RC was confirmed by both the Catalina Sky Survey and the University of Hawaii during follow-up observations. t will be about 25,000 miles away at the time of its closest approach to Earth. It won’t be observable to the unaided eye, but amateur astronomers with small telescopes might be able to spot the fast-moving appearance of the asteroid. The asteroid doesn’t seem to pose any threat to Earth or satellites in space. It will prove to be an opportunity for researchers to observe and gather more information about asteroids. ...

That's a good point ... didn't think about that. So I guess they all have "pre-access" to a person's email but do they "search around and save" everything like Google ... or are they just simply filtering for spam?

If this was already talked about or discussed ... I didn't see any mention of it before. A quiet court case in CA with revelations about Gmail. Maybe not a big deal ... but some might want to look for another email client. I went to another email client about a year ago ... my e-mails are not important anyway. I don't know how much the other companies also "spy" or "read" emails. "Google made a choice. They said, you know what, when people are accessing emails by an iPhone, we are not able to get their information. When people aren't opening their emails or they are deleting them, we are not able to get their information. When people are using Google Apps accounts where ads are disabled, we are not able to get that information. When people are accessing Gmail through some other email provider, we are not able to get that information. So what they did is they took a device that was in existence already and operating just fine back in the storage area, and they moved it to the delivery pipeline." http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/09/04/google-spying-advertising-privacy-column/15051241/ Once the fact was out, the internet giant tried to get a judge to help them hide it again. September 4, 2014 Back in February, in a San Jose courtroom, a bombshell was dropped that could have been erased from the public record. It turns out that Google, which bases its business on collecting and analyzing huge reams of data for advertising purposes, has been scanning users' emails even before users have a chance to open or read them, including email messages that are deleted without being opened. Google knows what's in your email before you do. The revelation came in a now-settled legal dispute over Google's Gmail service. Dozens of the nation's largest newspapers and media companies fought to make sure that the case — and its wide-ranging implications for Internet users — received a full public airing. It has been an unfolding drama ever since, affecting what analysts estimate are 500 million Gmail users worldwide. Google tried, and failed, to redact information about its email scanning process from a transcript of a public court hearing. Last month, the judge in the case ruled that portions of the transcript from that February hearing could not be redacted retroactively, since that would be tantamount to closing a public courtroom. The company's attempt — akin to putting toothpaste back into a tube — was a reversal of its previous position in the lawsuit, a pledge that there would be a "fully public airing of the issues raised by plaintiffs' motion for class certification." The NSA recently used the very same tactic when it tried to secretly delete portions of a public court transcript in a lawsuit filed against its surveillance practices. As a result, we now know much more about how Google collects personal information from users of Gmail and Google Apps and, in this case, how it plugged a critical gap in its data mining operation to sweep up even more of your information. Here's what happened: Back in 2010, Google was facing a vexing problem. It was losing out on a treasure trove of personal information from millions of Gmail users who were slipping through its chief analytical tool, known as "Content OneBox." Anytime they accessed their email through Outlook or on their iPhone, Google's data machine wasn't there to capture it all. So it needed a way to sidestep the problem. Within a matter of months, the company shrewdly moved the Content OneBox from Gmail's storage area to the "delivery pipeline" — meaning that it could now scan messages before they were received. As the plaintiffs explained: "Google made a choice. They said, you know what, when people are accessing emails by an iPhone, we are not able to get their information. When people aren't opening their emails or they are deleting them, we are not able to get their information. When people are using Google Apps accounts where ads are disabled, we are not able to get that information. When people are accessing Gmail through some other email provider, we are not able to get that information. So what they did is they took a device that was in existence already and operating just fine back in the storage area, and they moved it to the delivery pipeline." This move has sweeping consequences, as Chris Hoofnagle, director of privacy programs at Berkeley's Center for Law & Technology, has described: "Hiding ads while analyzing data takes advantage of a key deficit users have around internet services: users only perceive profiling if they receive ads. The content one box infrastructure would allow Google to understand the meaning of all of our communications: the identities of the people with whom we collaborate, the compounds of drugs we are testing, the next big thing we are inventing, etc. Imagine the creative product of all of Berkeley combined, scanned by a single company's 'free' email system." Google's stated goal is to "organize the world's information," but they fought to avoid disclosing how and why they've done it. Now we know. Thomas R. Burke and Jonathan Segal of Davis Wright Tremaine represented media companies, including the corporate parent of USA Today, Gannett Co. Inc, in the Google Gmail litigation. ...

This is great ... pictures of Rambo not too happy with the "thing" flying around. Ram-page! An angry sheep takes out a drone that gets too close for comfort...before turning on the PILOT! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2741624/Ram-page-An-angry-ram-takes-drone-gets-close-comfort-turning-PILOT.html The ram nicknamed Rambo was being followed by a flying camera drone in the New Zealand countryside. He was grazing when he was interrupted by the device which he took out with his horns. Rambo then chased the pilot through the forest and knocked the camera to the ground. By Melissa Hills For Daily Mail Australia 03 September 2014 This was the moment an angry ram let off some steam by taking out a flying drone with his horns and knocking it TO the ground in New Zealand. The up close and personal footage was filmed by YouTube user Buddhanz1 using a quadcopter drone and has been viewed 68,029 times. Buddhanz1, who has nicknamed the animal Rambo, says on the YouTube channel he was looking for a newborn lamb whose mum cannot produce enough milk. The video starts by showing the beautiful rolling hills of the countryside before zooming into the area where Rambo is having a grassy snack. He starts to examine the camera as it closes in as he is trying to finish his leaf lunch. It seems he didn't take too kindly to being interrupted and after a few inquisitive stares he looks like he is taking a few steps back before he lurches forward twice and takes out the drone with his horns. The footage then cuts to the owner of the drone walking towards the ram saying 'Rambo the ram, what are you doing boy, where is it?' The cameraman then locates the broken drone in a bush nearby. When he starts to leave the pilot is seen being chased by Rambo who doesn't seem too happy. The pilot tells Rambo to 'settle down boy' several times and is seen trying to keep him at arms length with a stick. .... pictures at the link and the video.

Who's actually running these things ... article has a map of locations of reported cell phone interceptor devices as reported to EDS America. "The origin of these devices that disguise themselves as cell phone towers is not known. " "“Most likely, they are installed and operated by hackers, trying to steal personal identification and passwords.” Rogue ‘Cell Towers’ Can Intercept Your Data; At Least One Found In Chicago September 3, 2014 http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/09/03/rouge-cell-towers-can-intercept-your-data-at-least-one-found-in-chicago/ John Dodge CHICAGO (CBS) — So-called rogue cell phone towers, the type that can intercept your mobile calls and data, are cropping up all over the United States, including here in Chicago, according to a company that specializes in developing highly secure mobile phones. More cell phone users, who fear their information could be at risk, are turning to high-end secure mobile devices. As a result, it is become easier for them to detect the presence of these interceptor devices. The origin of these devices that disguise themselves as cell phone towers is not known. CBS 2 security analyst Ross Rice, a former FBI agent, said it’s likely being used illegally. “I doubt that they are installed by law enforcement as they require a warrant to intercept conversations or data and since the cell providers are ordered by the court to cooperate with the intercept, there really would be no need for this,” Rice said. “Most likely, they are installed and operated by hackers, trying to steal personal identification and passwords.” ... much more at the link with pictures.

Just a note for anyone interested ... today (Sunday Aug 31) on the Animal Planet channel starting at 5 pm (Eastern Time) they will be running all the "Ice Lake Rebels" episodes ... Eps 01 -05 and then at 10 pm will be the new Ep 06. The first four episodes will get all the people and problems introduced about living in an extreme cold environment. Found this recent link posted 2 days ago ... the young couple have married and it was warm summer when the article was written. Live Free & (Maybe) Die: 'Ice Lake Rebels' Stars Reveal Dangers, Joys of Frozen Life August 29, 2014 https://www.yahoo.com/travel/visiting-the-stars-of-animal-planets-ice-lake-rebels-96065430057.html As a fan of Animal Planet’s new docu-series “Ice Lake Rebels,” which follows a group of houseboat-dwelling survivalists as they brave a typically brutal winter 250 miles south of the Arctic Circle, I encountered two things I hadn’t expected when I visited a couple of the show’s cast members in Canada’s Northwest Territories. One was the sunny, postcard-ready 70-degree weather instead of the white, frozen landscape depicted on the show. ...

So much for security ... I thought this was already happening with new car breakins ... maybe not. Sounds pretty easy to unlock a newer car, like hotel/motel rooms a few years back. From the article: "The device, which can reportedly be purchased online for as little as $5, appears to send an electromagnetic pulse to unlock vehicles." Caught On Camera: Concord Thief Uses Mystery Electronic Device To Break Into Car August 25, 2014 http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/08/25/caught-on-camera-concord-thief-uses-mystery-electronic-device-to-break-into-car/ CONCORD (CBS SF) – Thieves are dispensing with the usual smash-and-grab technique and using a high-tech means to break into cars to steal items inside. Surveillance video taken overnight outside a Concord home driveway shows a thief opening a locked car without a key, using a handheld electronic device to get in. The thief is seen rifling through the inside of the car and then leaving without a trace – or sound. “They are using some sort of device to unlock the door,” said auto theft police investigator J.D. Hough. The device appears to have some type of key fob like the ones we use to open and lock cars. They will walk up to random cars, push a button, and see which car doors respond. The device, which can reportedly be purchased online for as little as $5, appears to send an electromagnetic pulse to unlock vehicles. “It seems like every time we invent something better to prevent criminal activity, the criminals are out there doing the same thing on how to defeat it,” said Hough. The man in the Concord surveillance video is Caucasian, long hair in a ponytail, and wearing a backpack. Concord Police said there have not been a lot of these cases in the city, but there has been a nationwide alert issued and car manufacturers are aware of the technology and recommend, for the meantime, not to leave valuables inside your car. ...

That's why I added "in a round-about-way !!!" When I first read "just" the headline, I was thinking they had actually gotten into the plane's computers ... OK, it wasn't "high tech" but the Sony plane was delayed.

These guys are good ... not my cup of tea, but diverting a plane ... in a round-about-way !!! Hackers Knock Out PlayStation Network, Divert Sony Executive's Plane 25 Aug 2014 http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/sony-hackers-playstation-threat/2014/08/25/id/590614/ Sony said today that its PSN Sony Entertainment Network are back online after a high profile hacking attack. Hackers also caused the diversion of a flight from Dallas to San Francisco carrying John Smedley, the president of Sony Online Entertainment. The American Airlines plane diverted to Phoenix after hackers calling themselves the Lizard Squad used Twitter to announce that the flight was carrying explosives. After inspection on the ground, no explosives were found. "The PSN and Sony Entertainment Network are back online and people can now enjoy the services on their PlayStation devices. The networks were taken offline due to a distributed denial of service attack. We have seen no evidence of any intrusion to the network and no evidence of any unauthorized access to users' personal information. In light of today's issue, the networks will not undergo the regularly scheduled maintenance, which was planned for Tuesday, August 26. We will provide an update shortly for when the maintenance will be rescheduled. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by this issue. Thanks for your patience and support," said Sony in an updated statement posted on Sunday U.S. time and Monday in Asia. Earlier on Sunday the Japanese electronics and entertainment giant confirmed that the PlayStation Network had been attacked by distributed denial of service. It insisted that while the service went offline, users' personal information had not been accessed. While the disruption to PSN online connectivity appears to be short-lived, the attack is another blow to Sony and a significant one, given the importance of the PS4 to the beleaguered company. In 2011, an earlier hacking attack caused the breach of some 77 million personal accounts. The company paid out $15 million in compensation. The success of the the latest iteration of the PlayStation console has helped the conglomerate at a time when it is struggling to turn around its other loss-making hardware businesses, notably television set manufacturing. Sales of PS4, which were recently confirmed as exceeding 10 million units, helped Sony surprise investors with a rare piece of good news, a first quarter profit. ...

I don't expect too many responses ... curious if any members from Canada live near the area. The show just started July 27th on Animal Planet ... Sunday night at 10 pm ... Episode 05 played last night. A group of people "living off the grid" on house boats at Great Slave Lake in Canada's Northwest Territories. Some interesting people on the show ... it appeals to me but the cold weather living is a real test. There's a young couple planning to get married in the Spring, there's Molly, 21 ... came back to help her Dad run a B&B on the lake ... I think it sits on the lake but it could be on the shore, there's Pike Mike ... The lake is full of pike and so people catch pike to eat and sell ... must be some other fish there but I only hear talk of pike ... Pike Mike has caught thousands of pike ... so the name, I heard the number 30,000 or something like that in one episode, but it may or not be fact, he's been there awhile so who knows. From an article: "Choosing another kind of lifestyle, these rebels have bid farewell to living life the conventional way on land and traded it in for floating homes and houseboats... Since they don't live on land, they don't pay taxes, and, therefore, no one polices them." Not really any good web site to link to ... I just put the Google search link here. http://www.google.com/search?complete=0&hl=en&source=hp&q=ice+lake+rebels&btnG=Google+Search&gbv=1 Add: Watched Ep 04 again ... it is a "floating" Bed & Breakfast ... now with the filming of this episode in January 2014, the lake ice is six feet thick. Molly and her Dad need water for the B&B. ...

LostInSpace ... Thanks for posting this information. I also use K-Meleon ... have KM v1.6.0.2.6 by JamesD but just in the last few days found a newer version by adodupan ... K-Meleon 1.8. build 24. Many web pages look and read better ... I just added a new User Agent to it a few minutes ago. I have this UA also added to KM v1.6. It is ... Googlebot Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html) It not 100 % but it does cut down on some information being shown ... I'm still looking for something better for just surfing. I have a Firefox 25 UA ID string since it works with my banking and other secure sites. It's funny, when I go to the site that dencorso posted ... if I have JavaScript off then the site does nothing ... it only reads my information with JavaScript on. I usually surf around with JavaScript off unless it's needed for secure sites ... banking, Amazon, eBay and such or sometimes a general web page "demands" that JavaScript be turned on. Interested in more input about having a Googlebot (or other bot crawler) as a UAgent and also keeping JavaScript off as much as possible ! Seems to be the way to go ... no JavaScript unless needed. I also have Proxomitron running most of the time which also changes some ID information ... sometimes I have to put it on "Bypass", but not often ... using the Sidki filter set. It makes the Google Search Page very usable and pleasant to look at ... no ads and a Dark Blue color ... the only way to go into Google Search ... there is also a choice of Dark Gray and Light Blue for the Google page color ... Dark Blue is the default color. Also to add ... I have many UA / Browser information websites saved in a folder but I had not heard of those posted by dencorso or DosProbie ... both very good for details.

He turned his life around ... nice story with some pictures. "Out of prison Jeff and Heidi live in a house built onto an old barn just off a two-lane rural road. His mom's little house is next door. His brother lives across the street. He's unassuming and polite, looks younger than his age and speaks with a distinct Yooper accent. His demeanor is humble. It's a trait he developed while trying to rebound after years of getting into trouble. He was raised in Manistique, served a few years in the Navy, then came back home and became a drug user, then a drug dealer, then an inmate when he got caught and was sentenced to 10-20 years in prison. He was released after seven." $3 Million Lottery Winnings Just Chicken Feed to Farmer August 20, 2014 http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/20/lottery-winner-chicken-feed/14371975/ MANISTIQUE, Mich. — The millionaire opened his barn door and was greeted by the clucks of a thousand chickens. Jeff LaBar walked into his chicken coop, gathered the eggs that had been laid overnight and brought them into the house to wash them by hand, one at a time, before packing them up and driving them to the few local supermarkets that are LaBar Poultry Farm's loyal customers. Earlier that morning, the 53-year-old had gotten off his 12-hour overnight shift at the local lime plant, a second job he took awhile back to make ends meet. He napped for a few hours as the sun rose, and then got up to work with his wife, Heidi LaBar, on their chicken farm. It was like any other day. Even though it didn't have to be anymore. Just a few months ago, his house was in foreclosure. His chicken farm had few customers. He worked constantly. Then one day, on the way to work, he stopped at the gas station in town, grabbed the Lotto47 form, penciled in the numbers 14-18-23-28-37-40, and forgot about it. A few days later, word spread around this town of about 3,000 — small by downstate standards, pretty big by Up North ones — that someone way up here in Manistique had hit it big and won the $3.3 million jackpot in the May 21 drawing. LaBar didn't think anything of it. "My brother flagged me over when I was getting out here to do chores and he said, 'Did you know someone in town hit the lottery? … You should check your tickets.'" Next time Jeff was in the house and remembered to look, he glanced at his lottery slip. Instantly, this Up North, home-foreclosed, two-job-working chicken farmer was a millionaire. "I found out it was me and totally I just dropped to my knees," he said. "Literally, I just prayed right there. I'm a born-again Christian, but I still played tickets and stuff, cause everybody needs a break." He collected his winnings. Then he went right back to work. Out of prison Jeff and Heidi live in a house built onto an old barn just off a two-lane rural road. His mom's little house is next door. His brother lives across the street. He's unassuming and polite, looks younger than his age and speaks with a distinct Yooper accent. His demeanor is humble. It's a trait he developed while trying to rebound after years of getting into trouble. He was raised in Manistique, served a few years in the Navy, then came back home and became a drug user, then a drug dealer, then an inmate when he got caught and was sentenced to 10-20 years in prison. He was released after seven. When he got out, few people wanted anything to do with him. "Everybody turned away," he said. "My family — my brother and my mom and my dad — were pretty much the only ones that stood by me and were there for me as much as they could be. But all the people who were all my so-called friends never talked to me." But he was a changed man, he said. He'd become religious. He sobered up. Kept out of trouble. Worked hard. Met Heidi in church and married her. And he started his own chicken farm, something he had wanted since he was a kid, when he watched his mom raise a few birds for the family. He loves his chickens. During good times and bad times, they've been the one reliable constant he's had. "I've always liked chickens," he said. "And I said I'd just like to do that for a living. But up here, we're so far from any populace or anywhere that would buy the needed amount to sustain or to make a living, so it's never really panned out." His luck always seemed bad. He got a job as a lineman for an electric company, then got hit by a truck on the job. When he recovered, the company let him go. He fell behind on his high-interest mortgage and was on the verge of losing his house. Even when his fortunes seemed to be changing, they really weren't. This spring, he'd bought a lottery ticket and misread the results, and thought he'd won a million dollars. He and the store clerk were jumping up and down in excitement. Then they realized he'd won only $100. "I thought I saw a lot more zeros," he admitted. But he kept buying tickets. Two weeks later, everything changed. Too scared to change "At first I was like, 'Oh my goodness, you can quit your job!' cause that's what he really wanted to do,'" said Heidi, 59. "But he's always been a worker, so chances are he'll always be working. I can't see him not having chickens. He just lives and breathes them." Jeff admits he is too scared to change how he lives. "I never had money to invest," he said. "So I don't know anything about that, like I'm totally lost about that. It's just such a big step to trust somebody with investing that money. And then quit your job that you already have and everyone likes you and you're doing halfway decent with that …" The couple opted for the lump-sum payment, which brought their earnings down to $2.1 million. Taxes cut that remainder nearly in half. But it's still a lot of money for a guy who had so little of it for so long. "It was just a relief to know that we have security in retirement now that we never had before," Heidi said. "It's wonderful." They went to the lottery office, taking along their toy poodle Bailey because he's part of the family, too, and smiled as they were given an oversize novelty check. They've still got it in their house. .... a little more to read at the link and some nice pictures of a happy man with his chickens !