Hackers Rig Google To Deliver Malware

Erik Larkin, PC World

If last November you googled one of thousands of innocuous and common search terms, such as "Microsoft excel to access" or "how to teach your dogs to fetch," you were in line for an Internet attack that infects PCs with spam senders, password stealers, and other kinds of nasty malware.

Beginning on November 24 of last year and continuing for less than a week, bad guys loaded up more than 40,000 Web pages with malicious software and thousands of common search terms. They then employed an automated network of malware-infected computers--known as a botnet--to link to those sites in blog-comment spam and other places. The mentions elevated the position of the poisoned sites in search results, often to the first page.

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100 Best Companies To Work For In 2008

CNNMoney.Com surveyed nearly 100,000 employees from 406 different companies and asked them to evaluate their employers. These firms ranked the highest.

1.Google
Best Companies rank: 1
2006 Revenues (millions): $10,605
Headquarters: Mountain View, CA
Get quote: GOOG

What makes it so great? Back in our No. 1 spot, Google continued to mint millionaires as the stock cracked $700. The company gives stock options to 99% of employees.

2. Quicken Loans
Best Companies rank: 2
2006 Revenues (millions): $602
Headquarters: Livonia, MI

What makes it so great? "Ethically driven" is what one employee calls the online mortgage lender. It avoided the subprime crisis by sticking with plain-vanilla loans.

3. Wegmans Food Markets
Best Companies rank: 3
2006 Revenues (millions): $4,119
Headquarters: Rochester, NY

What makes it so great? Shopping is theater at this family-owned 71-store chain. It was named the nation's top supermarket by the Food Network in 2007.

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King Momo Kicks Off "Royal" Carnival In Rio!

RIO DE JANEIRO
(Reuters) - Actors posing as Portugal's royal family joined the fictional King Momo at the start of Rio de Janeiro's Carnival celebrations on Tuesday to mark 200 years since the court's arrival in Brazil. Various samba groups have chosen as their parade theme the 1808 event that briefly made Rio the capital of the Portuguese empire. The royals had fled from Napoleon's advancing armies. Carnival King Momo in red and golden robes and his samba-dancing entourage crossed the city in three antique carriages escorted by 19th-century guards on horseback.

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InDiggNation: The Web 2.0 Honeymoon Ends

By John S. AlwaysOn: The Insider's Network

Why would the founders of Digg, the fast-growing social news site that says it gets more than 20 million unique monthly visitors, keep trying to sell it?
The question could have two answers, both of which may be true: either Kevin Rose and Jay Adelson want to get rich and/or the traffic on the site they run isn't quite what it seems.

The second possibility is more compelling now that longtime Digg users have revolted because of changes the site recently made to its algorithm. Those changes will dilute the power of prolific posters. While the disgruntled Digg veterans now say they're appeased after an online heart-to-heart with Digg's founders, the truce won't change this simple fact: if a sale goes through, Adelson and Rose are about to get rich, thanks in part to their own vision and hard work but also to long hours of effort from people who won't get a dime from any acquisition. Therein lies the great irony of social networking startups: for all the socialist-like talk of building a community, every successful site will eventually be divided into its haves (i.e,, people who will profit from its success) and its have-nots (those who won't.) Digg today is not what it once was.
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"Borg War: Episode 1"

It's 17 years after the return of Voyager. The Alpha quadrant has been preparing for the return of the Borg by investing massive R&D in offensive and defensive weaponry. The Federation/Klingon alliance has worn thin, with younger warriors seeking a return to the old ways. A Borg Cube stumbles onto a Klingon freighter belonging to the House of Mi'qoch, the clan responsible for the Empire's anti-Borg development programme. The Mi'qoch clan sends its mightiest warship to investigate

Black Pharaohs-National Geographic Magazine

By Robert Draper
Photographs by Kenneth Garrett

For 75 years Nubian kings ruled over ancient Egypt, reunifying the country and building an empire. Until recently, theirs was a chapter of history lost in the shadows.
In the year 730 B.C., a man by the name of Piye decided the only way to save Egypt from itself was to invade it. Things would get bloody before the salvation came.“Harness the best steeds of your stable,” he ordered his commanders. The magnificent civilization that had built the great pyramids had lost its way, torn apart by petty warlords. For two decades Piye had ruled over his own kingdom in Nubia, a swath of Africa located mostly in present-day Sudan. But he considered himself the true ruler of Egypt as well, the rightful heir to the spiritual traditions practiced by pharaohs such as Ramses II and Thutmose III.

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Google Translate Bug Mixes Up Heath Ledger, Tom Cruise

CNET NEWS.Com

Posted by Caroline McCarthy

Gawker has unearthed a rather odd bug in the Google Translate software: its English-to-Spanish translator converts the name of the actor Heath Ledger, who died tragically on Tuesday, to the name of another actor--Tom Cruise. So if you enter in "I will miss Heath Ledger," Google Translate will come back with "Voy a perder Tom Cruise."
This looks like a simple bug in the system, perhaps the work of a bored Googler somewhere in the world. It only affects the English-to-Spanish translation; translations from English into other languages leave "Heath Ledger" intact, and "Tom Cruise" remains "Tom Cruise" in a Spanish-to-English translation. And the bug only appears to apply to the name "Heath Ledger," as substituting a number of other actors' names (Owen Wilson, John Travolta, Russell Crowe, Jake Gyllenhaal) also fails to yield "Tom Cruise."
It'd all be pretty funny were it not for the terrible circumstances surrounding Ledger, 28, who was found dead after an apparent overdose of sleeping pills; there's nothing tasteless about it, thankfully, but cracking jokes or hinting at Scientology conspiracies just doesn't seem all that fitting. We've contacted Google for comment. But we're guessing that this won't be a very pressing issue for Mountain View.

2008 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Opens With Calls For Collaborative Innovation. YouTube Launches World Economic Forum Channel

World Leaders Start Their Economic Forum Today In Davos, Switzerland and The So-Called Davos Question Is: What Do You Think World Leaders, Leading Business Enterprises and Global Institutions Must Do To Make This World a Better Place? You have any idea? Well, if you do, submit it in video form to YouTube. That's right. You and I get to be participants in this meeting of the world's big shots decision makers. Its not too late to submit your video to YouTube. The annual meeting began today, and world leaders have been gathering at the YouTube corner in the Congress Centre to view and respond to the videos many of you have submitted. The YouTube Davos channel where you can follow the Economic Forum and upload questions and comments is>>> http://youtube.com/worldeconomicforum. You can also post your responses at the YouTube's Davos website located at http://www.youtube.com/davos. Watch the video for more info.

Posted on January 23rd, 2008
Co-Chairs of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008 open the five-day meeting
Davos, Switzerland, 23 January 2008 – The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008 has opened with calls from the Co-Chairs to exercise “The Power of Collaborative Innovation” to meet the top challenges of economic instability, climate change and equitable growth.
“This is a moment of greater insecurity and challenge in the world today, but it makes a meeting like this all the more important. The theme of the Annual Meeting, ‘The Power of Collaborative Innovation’ is the answer to all the big global challenges we are facing,” said Co-Chair Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1997-2007) and Member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum.

“Within the Meeting’s main theme, I would like to see participants addressing the issues of peace and climate change, as well as the issue of inclusive growth,” said Co-Chair K. V. Kamath, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, ICICI Bank, India. “How can we innovatively collaborate to meet the needs of [poor] people around the world? I will work collaboratively to see how we could do more,” he said on the opening day of the Annual Meeting 2008. Co-Chair Indra K. Nooyi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo, USA, echoed the other Co-Chairs’ emphasis on the timeliness of the Annual Meeting 2008. “In spite of the economic crisis, can we look beyond that and view Davos as a collection of minds to address issues that can be addressed …. My hope is that we are here not only with a can-do spirit, but with a must-do spirit,” she said. Her focus is on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and water in particular. “It would be wonderful if we could assign an owner to each MDG to move them forward,” she said.

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An Important Web 2.0 Tool: Social Networking Sites. Why Should You Join?

By A.B.D from AlwaysOn:The Insider's Network


Facebook or Ceo-world.com (The professional Network), Linkedin (Professional Network), it was hard to convene other internet users or business associates online. If you tried, you would have to rely on chat rooms or instant messaging services like Yahoo or MSN. As nice as these well liked Internet features are, they are not at all times measured secure. With chat rooms or instant messaging programs you were often given little comfort that a person was who they claimed to be. Without profiles, there was no way that you could discover more about a specific Internet profile, even if you wanted to. New Business Social networking websites have altered that.

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Smaller Than The Smallest Sub-Notebook

Makers of Scrabble Target Facebook Version of Game

OnMedia WSJ -- The companies that make Scrabble are trying to shut down Scrabulous, an online version of the game that is one of the most popular applications on the social networking site Facebook.

Hasbro Inc., which owns the rights to the crossword game in the U.S. and Canada, Mattel Inc., which owns the rights elsewhere, believe the game infringes their copyrights and trademarks.

The companies jointly issued cease and desist notices to four parties involved in the development, hosting and marketing of Scrabulous, according to a letter Hasbro is sending to consumers who have contacted them about Scrabulous.
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Colbert Interviews Lou Dobbs As Spanish Alter Ego 'Esteban'

Stephen Colbert Interviews Lou Dobbs In Spanish. This is Hilarious!


Posted by Rachel Sklar, Huffington Post at 8:14 PM on January 18, 2008.

Gimmicks are doing a good job of replacing writers on The Colbert Report, if last Thursday's interview with Lou Dobbs is any indication. Colbert turned the interview on its head with a hilarious conceit of interviewing Dobbs as his Spanish-language counterpart, "Esteban Colberto." Did hilarity ensue? Oh yes -- including an in-studio barbed-wire fence, which Dobbs viewed with approval: "It's very impressive, and better than some of the fence along our border now!"

Dobbs seemed to be taking it all in stride and enjoying himself, especially since Colberto was plugging his book, The War On The Middle Class. More to the point, Colbert conducted the entire interview in Spanish...and Dobbs answered in English. Also, dancing girls! I think Colbert rocks a purple blazer almost as well as Cindy McCain. High praise, that.

Machinina productions "BloodSpell" and "Freeware"

While surfing aimlessly one day, I stumbled upon a machinima animated film. Machinima of machine cinema, is a collection of associated production techniques whereby computer-generated imagery (CGI) is rendered using real-time, interactive 3-D engines, such as those of games, instead of professional 3D animation software. Engines from first-person shooter and role-playing simulation video games are typically used. Consequently, the rendering can be done in real-time using PCs (either using the computer of the creator or the viewer), rather than with complex 3D engines using huge render farms. Usually, machinima productions are produced using the tools (demo recording, camera angle, level editor, script editor, etc.) and resources (backgrounds, levels, characters, skins, etc.) available in a game.

As machinima begins to break out of the underground community of gamers and becomes more widely recognized by mainstream audiences, tools are being developed to allow for faster and easier creation of machinima productions. BloodSpell and Freeware are two very well-done machinima productions. They are really fun to watch.

BloodSpell is a feature-length "punk fantasy" series about a world where "Blooded" mages spill their blood to use their magic, and are hunted by the black-clad Church of the Angels, it created an entirely original storyline.

Visually stunning and action packed, "Freeware" is a 3-D, CG-animated thrill ride through a futuristic world. This sci-fi short follows three cyborgs on a daring race to rescue Maia, an assistant at a powerful IT company, from the grips of its evil CEO.

Michael Jackson's New Comeback Single

From Times Online
January 15, 2008
Exclusive: Listen to a clip of Michael Jackson's new single
Click here to listen to a clip from Michael Jackson's new version The Girl Is Mine
After a long and frequently dramatic time away from the music industry, Michael Jackson is releasing his first new music in seven years.
To mark the 25th anniversary of his record-breaking album Thriller, the man once known as the King of Pop is releasing a new version of the hit The Girl Is Mine.
Originally a duet with Sir Paul McCartney, Jackson has re-recorded the song with The Black Eyed Pea’s Will.i.am.
The single’s digital release today marks the beginning of a comeback attempt by Jackson, whose reputation was battered when he was tried on molestation charges in 2005.
Although the pop star was acquitted, his first attempt to re-enter the music industry was a disaster. Jackson was booked to perform at the World Music Awards in London but managed only a few faltering notes.
His latest comeback attempt is more ambitious. The Girl Is Mine will be on shop shelves on January 28, followed by a new edition of Thriller, featuring remixes by hip-hop heavyweights Akon and Kanye West, on February 11. Then in March the singer starts a three-month-long UK tour.

Other (Famous) People's Lives: Celebrities, Celebrities!

doof social networking and gaming site

doof is a very cool site that is a cross between social networking and games. Their motto is "addictive Gaming. Social Networking" and their website is very-well put together. I have visited several times and played a couple of games. They also have videos, chats, competitions and a bunch of other stuff and as far as I know, the place is free to join but there are fees involved with certain services. This is how doof describes their services on their "terms and conditions":
doof is a Social Gaming Community. We provide a forum for users who register with us (“Users”) to access and play online games (the “Games”), as well as online chat, competition, blogging and other services (collectively the “Service”). While we intend the Site and the Service to be used by persons aged over 16, there is no mandatory age limit in respect of use of the Site or the Service.



Please remember to always exercise caution. I do lots of surfing for content for my blogs and very often come up with all kinds of sites offering all kinds of things. I do my best to research these sites before promoting them on my blog. However, I am not responsible for these sites' content. Please read doof's "terms and conditions" here http://www.doof.com/blog/contact/terms/

Warning Ads For iPod Users: Love It or Leave It!

An advertising agency called DDB in Sydney, Australia has created a print campaign for the NSW Police to bring attention to the number of teenagers dying from being hit by cars while crossing the street while listening to their iPods. There's been a great deal of talk about cities banning iPods on sidewalks, but this campaign certainly takes the anti-walking-with-your-iPod sentiment a step further. What do you think of the message? I personally believe that a message like that is necessary. I don't agree with banning people from listening to their iPods while walking on the sidewalks or while crossing the street but awareness has to be brought to the fact that not paying enough attention to your surroundings can cost a person his/her life. Many people believe that things like that are outside the purview of governmental legislation and therefore infringe upon personal autonomy. No doubt. But I am still in favor of a print campaign like the one mentioned above. In any event, and on a lighter note, my mp3 crapped out on me and I have been looking for a new one. The list below looks interesting...

Visit RadioShack for Great Deals on Portable Audio Players & Equipment!

Did Google Change Its Algorithm?

A story by videos.webpronews.com. In the New Year, Google seems to be changing their algorithm and making the search results more time related. The leading search engine has been ranking items from popular sites like Digg higher than factual or historical sites like Wikipedia.