Monroe

Let's not forget Captain Kangaroo !!! ... what the heck is all this about ??? ...

Kind of interesting that Snowden maybe used a “web crawler” software to grab all the secrets ... totally fantastic ... who is in charge protecting everything ... there must be more web crawlers. Snowden Used Low-Cost Tool to Best N.S.A. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/us/snowden-used-low-cost-tool-to-best-nsa.html?_r=0 FEB. 8, 2014 WASHINGTON — Intelligence officials investigating how Edward J. Snowden gained access to a huge trove of the country’s most highly classified documents say they have determined that he used inexpensive and widely available software to “scrape” the National Security Agency’s networks, and kept at it even after he was briefly challenged by agency officials. Using “web crawler” software designed to search, index and back up a website, Mr. Snowden “scraped data out of our systems” while he went about his day job, according to a senior intelligence official. “We do not believe this was an individual sitting at a machine and downloading this much material in sequence,” the official said. The process, he added, was “quite automated.” The findings are striking because the N.S.A.’s mission includes protecting the nation’s most sensitive military and intelligence computer systems from cyberattacks, especially the sophisticated attacks that emanate from Russia and China. Mr. Snowden’s “insider attack,” by contrast, was hardly sophisticated and should have been easily detected, investigators found. more at the link ...

Thanks Charlotte, RacerBG and HarryTri for all the information. Nice little program to have handy for a quick check. Was aware of MAMB for several years, just never really checked it out. I thought it might have to be "running" all the time so I never took interest. I saw that right click ... check a file tab, have used it for some downloads. I have three notebooks to update which is simple and quick to do but I sometimes just update one notebook and then manually update the other two myself with the "rules.ref" file and also the "database.conf" located within the Configuration folder. I found these instructions for anyone with a computer not online: Just a quick note ... C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data ... the Application Data folder is a hidden folder so I changed that to be always visible. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (MBAM) I need to get the latest database onto a computer that cannot access the Internet. You can manually copy the database from a working computer using a flash drive or CD onto the infected PC. Our database file is stored in the following locations. Windows XP and 2000: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\rules.ref Windows Vista and Windows 7: C:\ProgramData\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\rules.ref Note: Starting with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.60, you must also copy the file database.conf located within the Configuration folder which is in the same folder as rules.ref listed above. Update: http://data.mbamupdates.com/tools/mbam-rules.exe You can also download a manual update from here - NOTE: This manual update will always be way behind in version level compared to updates from within the program. MajorGeeks - Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Database http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/malwarebytes_anti_malware_database.html TECHSPOT - Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Database http://www.techspot.com/downloads/4844-malwarebytes-anti-malware-update.html ...

I appreciate you going into more depth about MBAM. You wrote about it a few days ago in the XP Security post and I decided to try the free version. I don't like something always running or wanting to update. I like running the program when I just want to do a quick check. I like the free version and it did find three suspicious items on my notebook which probably have been there for sometime. From what I could find on searching around ... these items should probably not be there. Items Found: Registry Data Items Detected: 3 HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center|AntiVirusDisableNotify (PUM.Disabled.SecurityCenter) -> Bad: (1) Good: (0) -> No action taken. HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center|FirewallDisableNotify (PUM.Disabled.SecurityCenter) -> Bad: (1) Good: (0) -> No action taken. HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center|UpdatesDisableNotify (PUM.Disabled.SecurityCenter) -> Bad: (1) Good: (0) -> No action taken. ...

Hey ROTS ... Man that's one of my favorite films ... "Cherry 2000" ... should be required watching before a person graduates from high school ... the way it once was and what the future has become. My toaster oven burned out in Dec and I could have gotten one from "Six Fingered Jake" ... remember all the toaster ovens stacked up in his cave or grotto. Vegas was a wasteland and people were going back to toaster ovens and things that worked and were simple! Cherry 2000 (1988) http://www.amazon.com/Cherry-2000-Melanie-Griffith/dp/B0000542CA/ref=sr_1_3/185-4129164-2590566?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1391459631&sr=1-3&keywords=cherry+2000 Price has gone up on the older DVD but there is a newer cheaper release.

Found this interesting Services Utility chart over the week-end ... maybe some will find it useful or confusing. I never saw it before and it may be new to a few others. It really can be used for many operating systems ... takes a few minutes to figure it out. If you go to the bottom of the chart ... just click on "XP Home / Professional" or any OS you are interested in and the utility will filter all the others out. Vernalex Tools: Services Utility http://www.vernalex.com/tools/services/ Welcome to the Services Utility. This page contains most Windows services; their expected platforms, their default and desired startup types, and clicking on them gives you a very complete explanation of them. This utility contains a great amount of information for Windows services, and is able to be searched from the search box at the bottom. If you are unsure what services are or want more information on Windows services in general then please read my Windows Components guide on services. If you want to know the meaning of the columns and the color codings or if you want to know how to use the search box properly or for other explanations on how to use this page then please see the services legend / reference. ... after I posted this, I started thinking that I may have seen this web site after all sometime back. It doesn't look too familiar to me but in some ways it does ... anyway, maybe it will be new and helpful to someone else.

Well the World Championship game price was news too me ... been out of the gaming loop for awhile. I didn't know about Earthbound also ... that's not chump change. My NES system is from 1988 ... The Action Set, retailing in 1988 for US$149.99, came with the Control Deck, two game controllers, an NES Zapper and a dual Game Pak containing both Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. Went to a Play Station 2 and probably won't get past that ... darn games are too hard with that setup ... liked Tomb Raider and can get pretty far with it. ...

I was going to put this in the General Discussion forum but it is gaming news. I have a mint older Nintendo and a bunch of games but not this one. Only 116 copies were made so it's not in my collection but someone may have one in a box of "old" game cartridges sitting in a closet or somewhere. 'Super-rare' Nintendo game hits eBay 24 January 2014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25878678 An extremely rare Nintendo game is expected to fetch thousands of dollars in an eBay auction. Only 116 copies of Nintendo World Championships were ever made, as part of a special event in 1990. The first bid came in at $4,999 (£3,000), but the game is likely to fetch more, one Nintendo expert said. Unfortunately for collectors, the cartridge is in poor condition - with a ripped label and "Mario" written on it in ballpoint pen. "This is quite unfortunate but happened many decades ago," explained the seller in his description of the "super-rare" item, adding that whoever wrote on the label did not have "a clue what they actually had". Scratched Ferrari Created for the Nintendo Entertainment System - better known as NES - Nintendo World Championships was designed for a competition, and never went on general sale. The game features shortened versions of three classics - Super Mario, Tetris and Rad Racer. Competition entrants were given six minutes to amass points on the games, with whoever came top winning a trophy, a trip to Universal Studios and various other prizes. A detailed history of the contest and its winners can be found on Wikipedia. Each of the 90 semi-finalists was given a grey cartridge like the one now up for auction. Rarer still are the "golden" cartridges of the same game, sent out as part of a separate competition by Nintendo Power magazine. Genuine copies of the game are hard to come by, and so the poor condition would not be too much of a deterrent to keen collectors, predicted Chris Scullion, games editor for Computer and Video Games. "It's like finding the rarest Ferrari but with a scratch - you'd still buy it. "They are considered the holy grail among Nintendo collectors." In 2011, the same game sold at a charity auction for $11,000 (£6,600) - but it was in better condition.

CharlotteTheHarlot ... boy does that bring back memories ... "Rock Em - Sock Em" !!!

dencorso ... see you revived the topic, it was getting ready to go to "Page 2" or into history. I did see the article you posted about and I decided not to post about it, I agree with everything you said. Ok, so military people are replaced that have to be fed three times a day ... instead of a barricks, a warehouse of some sort would give the drones shelter but the maintenance cost might be the same as feeding the troops three meals a day ... keeping them all in working order, installing new generation chips, replacing worn out parts. It's all interesting ... maybe a balance or mix of drones and people will be the way they go in the future. Saw this today ... Swarms of drones could be the next frontier in emergency response 01/25/2014 ... 6 hours ago Nidhi Subbaraman NBC News http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/swarms-drones-could-be-next-frontier-emergency-response-2D11988741 Robots that can buzz, whir, and clamber into some of the most dangerous crime scenes and disaster zones are coming to the aid of police officers and other first responders who put themselves in harm’s way. In October 2013, a parolee barricaded himself in a Roseville, Calif., suburban home of a young couple and their toddler, taking mother and child hostage. A SWAT team from the local police station captured the alleged offender and took him in, but not before gunfire ripped through the one-story home and injured officers. Law enforcement officers on the ground had help from bomb squad robots, that helped push aside the furniture the suspect had piled up as a barricade. But two detectives believe that a bit of unmanned aerial backup would have made a big difference. .... all good points jaclaz about future wars ... Tripredacus ... have to agree, maybe it will always be a dream ... how's this scenario, we have an army of robot drones guarding a city or for an invasion ... there they are facing the enemy in lines and columns ... but the enemy hacks into the "machine army" computer brains, slowly they start turning around to join forces with the enemy to attack us ... people running everywhere for the hills in panic. Could we honestly ever get a good night's sleep counting on a robot drone army to keep us safe. Maybe well into the future after all the kinks are worked out. typo edit ... "the enemy" instead of "he" ...

Facebook article ... Facebook May Lose 80% of Its User Base by 2017 http://www.vocativ.com/01-2014/facebook-will-lose-80-user-base-2017/?ModPagespeed=noscript Eric Markowitz Jan 20, 2014 Social networks function like infectious diseases, according to Princeton researchers. They spread fast—and then disappear. Like the bubonic plague, Facebook will eventually come to an end. According to new research from Princeton, which compared the ”adoption and abandonment dynamics” of social networks by “drawing analogy to the dynamics that govern the spread of infectious disease,” Facebook is beginning to die out. Specifically, the researchers concluded that “Facebook will undergo a rapid decline in the coming years, losing 80 percent of its peak user base between 2015 and 2017.” more at the link ...

JorgeA ... interesting reading "You May Think You Have Nothing To Hide" ... the part "why it is never a good idea to talk to the police" makes me think of the old show "Hogan's Heroes" and Sgt Schultz and him always saying: "I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know nothing!"

I was wondering what the KB number was since it wasn't mentioned in the article ... these were the only two updates I had ... one for XP and one for my Office 2000. MS Updates 01-2014 Security Update for Windows XP (KB2914368) 01/14/2014 Security Update for Microsoft Office 2007 suites (KB2837615) 01/14/2014

Microsoft indicated this week that it has fixed a Windows XP resource-hog problem associated with the system's SVCHOST.EXE processes. Microsoft did not announce the fix broadly. Instead, it released the above statement to Susan Bradley, a Microsoft MVP and moderator of the PatchManagement.org list-serve service, which is a discussion group for IT pros. Apparently, that's the only venue where the statement appeared publicly. Microsoft's January security bulletin announcing four patches and nonsecurity releases did not mention the SVCHOST fix for Windows XP. Microsoft did not announce the fix broadly. Instead, it released the above statement to Susan Bradley, a Microsoft MVP and moderator of the PatchManagement.org list-serve service, which is a discussion group for IT pros. Apparently, that's the only venue where the statement appeared publicly. Microsoft's January security bulletin announcing four patches and nonsecurity releases did not mention the SVCHOST fix for Windows XP. Microsoft's fix took effect on Tuesday. It apparently stops systems from grinding through older Internet Explorer updates before releasing system resources. The fix also seems not to require any actions by Windows XP users or IT pros to take effect. Of course, Windows XP users still face the broader problem of the operating system falling out of product lifecycle support by Microsoft. On April 8, 2014, Microsoft won't issue updates to the 12-year-old OS at all.

I don't think it's off topic, good to have all this information. It may be of use to someone. I just want to add from my first post ... as I said earlier, I do not have an antivirus program installed on my computer but I do keep a current copy of Stinger handy on a flash drive in case of a problem. It seems to be updated everyday and comes in a 32 or 64 Bit download. It may still work with Windows 98SE ... not 100% sure anymore. Stinger http://www.mcafee.com/us/downloads/free-tools/stinger.aspx McAfee Stinger is a standalone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but a specialized tool to assist administrators and users when dealing with infected system. Stinger utilizes next-generation scan technology, including rootkit scanning, and scan performance optimizations. It detects and removes threats identified under the "Threat List" option under Advanced menu options in the Stinger application. ... if you look in the Release Notes on the right side you will see the current dated version. This is what's there now. Stinger Release Notes Build Number: 12.1.0.750 Build Date: 17-Jan-2014

All these new appliances being brought into homes with these "smart chips" maybe could be a problem. I don't have a smart phone but maybe this is similar ... everything being connected? I didn't see this posted anywhere. Hackers Have Used A Refrigerator To Attack Businesses. Security researchers at Proofpoint have uncovered the very first wide-scale hack that involved television sets and at least one refrigerator. * The hack happened between December 23, 2013 and January 6, 2014, and featured waves of malicious email, typically sent in bursts of 100,000, three times per day, targeting enterprises and individuals worldwide. For The First Time, Hackers Have Used A Refrigerator To Attack Businesses Julie Bort Jan. 16, 2014 http://www.businessinsider.com/hackers-use-a-refridgerator-to-attack-businesses-2014-1 Security researchers at Proofpoint have uncovered the very first wide-scale hack that involved television sets and at least one refrigerator. Yes, a fridge. This is being hailed as the first home appliance "botnet" and the first cyberattack from the Internet of Things. A botnet is a series of computers that seem to be ordinary computers functioning in people's homes and businesses, but are really secretly controlled by hackers. The Internet of Things, is a new term in the tech industry that refers to a concept where every device in your house gets its own computer chip, software, and connection to the Internet: your fridge, thermostat, smart water meter, door locks, etc. To a hacker, they all become computers that can be hacked and controlled. In this case, hackers broke into more than 100,000 everyday consumer gadgets, such as home-networking routers, connected multi-media centers, televisions, and at least one refrigerator, Proofpoint says. They then used those objects to send more than 750,000 malicious emails to enterprises and individuals worldwide. In the press release, Proofpoint explains: * The hack happened between December 23, 2013 and January 6, 2014, and featured waves of malicious email, typically sent in bursts of 100,000, three times per day, targeting enterprises and individuals worldwide. * About three-quarters of the emails were sent by regular computers, but the rest, slightly more than one-quarter, were sent by hacked home appliances. * Hackers didn't have to be amazingly smart when breaking into home appliances. Many times they gained access because the home owners didn't set them up correctly, or used the default password that came with the device. Most homes are not yet a part of the Internet of Things, and looks like hackers will already be there to greet them when they arrive. ...

Thanks submix8c for the extra reading. It will be interesting as these few months click by ... less than three months. Then what will develop after that ... an underground group of people with unofficial fixes, of course they don't have to be "underground" but they will be out there somewhere tinkering around ... it's human nature wanting to fix something ... like an old toaster oven or Windows XP, instead of throwing it on the junk pile. With my limited knowledge of the inner workings of XP, I can't think of what I might need to be fixed down the road ... maybe a new Daylight Savings Time update occasionally? I have a good working system ... maybe one day I won't be able to get on the internet, that might be a possibility I guess. I don't use IE 8 except for updates, I still use the old K-Meleon browser (an updated version) and it works just great for my setup. So I guess we will see ... let's get these updates over with ... let the challenge of the "unknown" begin!

I don't use an antivirus program myself, however came across this article for people that like using them. Most antivirus programs to support Windows XP well past its own end date 01/16/2014 ... 5 hours ago http://www.neowin.net/news/most-antivirus-programs-to-support-windows-xp-well-past-its-own-end-date On Wednesday, Microsoft announced that it will continue to provide antivirus signatures for its free Security Essentials program until at least July 2015. Now a new survey of 29 antivirus software companies shows that most of them will continue to support Windows XP for at least two more years, and in some cases even longer. The list was complied by the independent antivirus testing firm AV-TEST, and shows that only Symantec has yet to provide any information about when their Windows XP support will end. Most of the companies have yet to offer specific support end dates for Windows XP, with many saying that it won't end for at least two more years. Microsoft is still planning to stop providing all security and bug fix updates for the OS on April 8th, over 12 years after it launched. There are a few antivirus companies on the list that have set specific end dates for Windows XP antivirus support, besides Microsoft. Avira and ThreatTracker will stop on April 2015, while Sophos shuts down its Windows XP definitions in September 2015. Bitdefender says it will end support for consumers om January 2016, and for corporate customers on January 2017. Trend Micro stops supporting Windows XP in January 2017 and Kaspersky Lab will end support for corporate users in the second half of 2016, but will continue supporting consumers until at least 2018. Webroot has the most distant Windows XP end date; it won't stop supporting the OS until at least April 2019 when the OS will enter it's 18th year!

Thanks jaclaz ... maybe I posted an old article from a year ago that I thought was from yesterday. The article only had Jan 15 ... I added the 2013 which should have been 2014. Still messing up with the new year. So we have a funny company here. ... your zdnet article has 2014 but the one I referenced has no year.

Company claims to have a "secure" phone ... maybe - maybe not. This is also from the article: "The phone is carrier independent so we’re holding out for that T-Mobile upgrade. Of course, just because the company proclaims its immune to hacking, doesn’t mean some programmer isn’t figuring out a way to break into it. Also, it’s unclear if the phone remains encrypted when it’s only operating between two Blackphones." Meet Blackphone, A Highly Secure Device Perfect For Paranoid Sext Fiends Bonus: It doesn't support Path. Jordan Valinsky 1/15 http://betabeat.com/2014/01/meet-blackphone-a-highly-secure-device-perfect-for-paranoid-sext-fiends/ It’s no Lumia, but this sounds impressive: A Madrid-based communications firm said it has created the first fully secure and encrypted smartphone that lets users send and receive calls (and texts) without being vulnerable to hackers or snoopers. Dubbed the Blackphone, its sleek all-black case and touchscreen makes it look like it fell out of the pocket of James Bond’s blazer. The Android-based device uses an operating system named PrivatOS that promises highly secure privacy protection that would make the NSA wince. The yet-to-be-priced phone can transfer encrypted files and features a video chat option.

Just this afternoon Dorian announced that he has finished a beta version of his K-Meleon browser. Kmeleon 74 Beta ... if anyone would want to try it out. Download link in his post. http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/forum/read.php?1,125632,page=9 Posted by: Dorian Date: January 16, 2014 01:29AM Kmeleon 74 Beta Locale file It's a full build and I'm trying different things, a compact theme and an about:home page. I'll make an announcement. Quote Fixed print (but not print preview) Fixed XUL dialog size and duplicate dialog Fixed context menu on XUL Fixed profile initialization (components failing to load, incorrect location for cache) Fixed privacy clear history Fixed bookmarks unicode characters Fixed password manager Added autocomplete for password (and maybe for form filling too) ...

So if I understand this right about future XP updates ... say only two people sign up for these future updates, MS will pay wages and salary ... $50,000 to $100,000 or more to some employees to keep XP updated. Wonder what the "signup" total would have to be to make it worthwhile for MS?

Monday night I came across a radio show that I had never heard of before called Ground Zero, what good timing on my part, they had a guest talking about radiation and Geiger Counters. The show is available for mp3 download, which I just did. It's free at this time ... most of those shows charge or you have to be a paying member to listen to a previous show. I missed the first 20 minutes and I was listening to a station in NY that kept fading in and out. The guest Miriam German talked about a web site that is still being put together ... the goal is to have volunteers across the country (US) maybe also Canada and the world who have Geiger Counters to take readings for "hot spots" to warn people or give them a heads up on a problem area. This may also work with seafood and food in general, not sure ... this is all in the early stages. These volunteers are doctors, teachers, clerks, truck drivers ... just ordinary everyday people feeding their readings into the web site. There already seem to be readings posted from various places. I think I can post about the program that was actually aired Monday night ... I will do so but a moderator may think otherwise. I will post the new web site that is still under construction. Ground Zero (radio program) http://www.groundzeromedia.org/ RadCast.org ... new web site, some of what they do # Monitor radiation levels across the country 24X7 # Field test monitoring of marine life (Seaweed, Starfish, Fish, etc.) http://www.radcast.org/ This was the show from Monday night: 1/13: Nuclear Unclear with Miriam German While it may not yet be time to panic, we shouldn’t kid ourselves into thinking we aren’t going to see effects from ****ushima and future disasters. This future is going to force us to become citizen scientists and active biological researchers in order to survive. Tonight on Ground Zero, Clyde Lewis welcomes Miriam German of RadCast.org to take a reading of our situation that is ‘Nuclear Unclear‘! The broadcast ... mp3 download. There is a Download arrow to the right of Save To Favorites. http://soundcloud.com/groundzeromedia/2014-01-13

As JorgeA would says ... "It just gets worse!" What does someone have to do ... keep your computer in "lead case" ? NSA Reportedly Using Radio Waves to Snoop on Offline Computers Worldwide January 15, 2014 http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/01/15/nsa-maps-pathway-into-computers-report-says/ The National Security Agency has placed software on nearly 100,000 computers around the world that allows the U.S. to conduct surveillance on those machines using radio frequency technology, The New York Times reported Tuesday. The secret technology allows the agency to gain access to computers that other countries have tried to protect from spying or cyberattacks, even if they aren't connected to the Internet, The Times reported, citing NSA documents, computer experts and U.S. officials. The software network could also create a digital highway for launching cyberattacks by transmitting malware, including the kind used in attacks by the U.S. against Iran's nuclear facilities, according to the report. more at the link ...

All interesting comments and nothing against any post ... but I don't really care about anymore MS updates. I updated through the Dec 2013 updates (with my fingers crossed!) and have a fantastic working XP setup with an image backup from a week ago. After the MS XP update fiasco yesterday from when I went from 1 update that later disappeared to 2 new updates ... what is going on? I ran an update check on Mon the 13th and no new updates were showing, then Tue morning I have one required update that is gone in a few hours to being replaced by 2 new updates. Who needs this crap? ... I'm tired of being a "nervous wreck" the week before MS updates are released every month. I don't sleep good ... I sit up in bed sometimes at 3am worrying if I will still have a "working computer" after the updates are released. I'm not going to end up on Prozac because of some stupid MS updates that are probably not important or even actually fix anything. ... OK, I was "over the top" on the update thing, but I have stopped with the December updates till April / May and then will run the update check and go for what shows up as a final ... but I still have my image backup to rely on, if the last updates actually screw up my computer. Maybe there will be more updates after April ... personally, I hope not, I want to be through with them once and for all and finally enjoy Windows XP to the fullest.