Tue, November 24, 2009 — IDG News Service — Some Facebook users have been infected with a worm after clicking on an image of a scantily clad woman, which then redirects the victims to a pornography site, according to security researchers.
The worm posts an image on a victim’s Facebook Wall with a photo of a woman in a bikini and the message “click ‘da button, baby.” Wall posts are viewable by a Facebook user’s friends.
If a friend clicks on the image and is logged into Facebook, the image is then is posted to their own Wall. Their Web browser will then open a Web page with a larger version of the same image. A further click on “da button” redirects the friend to a pornography site, according to Roger Thompson chief research officer for antivirus vendor AVG Technologies. Thompson posted a video of the attack on his blog. [read: CIO]
Blue Cat Audio has been around for a few years, I’ve used some of their free plugins in the past and I would recommend them over some of the included DAW plugins. Blue Cat came back on my radar when they announced RTAS (Mac + PC) Beta versions for their Freeware Plugins Pack.
Blue Cat’s Freeware Plugins Pack
All Blue Cat Audio freeware audio plug-ins gathered together in a bundle. It’s here! Save download time and get them all in a single package.
The bundle contains a wide range of modulation effects, an EQ and analysis tools to get you started with your favorite Digital Audio Workstation, for free! This bundle is available for Mac and PC, in VST, RTAS (beta), Audio Unit and DirectX plugin formats. Enjoy!
MySpace, rumored to be on the verge of purchasing the free music streaming site imeem, is struggling to keep up with its own payments to music copyright holders, according to a top News Corp executive — a problem that has plagued every other licensed free music service.
The digital music doubters could be right with the contention that advertising revenue can’t cover the costs of licensing music. Meanwhile, illegitimate free music sources continue to proliferate, rendering paid music subscriptions irrelevant for most music fans.
Advertising was supposed to be music’s magic bullet, enabling fans to get the free music they’re going to find anyway while contributing at least something to copyright holder coffers. That dream is fading fast. As legitimate sources for free on-demand music dry up, fans will likely head back to file sharing networks, which is bad news for everyone involved in music — except for, perhaps, hard drive manufacturers. [read]
Facebook was the dominate force once again, as the time spent viewing video on social networking sites increased 98% over the last year from 503.8M minutes to 999.4M minutes. According to Nielsen, the number of online video streams viewed on social networks and blogs jumped 45% during the same period.
During the last year, Facebook’s online video audience has experienced tremendous growth with total time spent viewing videos increasing 1,840% from 34.9M minutes in October ’08 to 677M in October ’09. The number of unique viewers increased 548% and total streams grew 987% during the year. [read]
Some time during a six-hour space walk last week, astronaut Robert Satcher managed to capture this shot of himself…via himself. Today, the STS-129 will be completing their third and final space walk. [NASA]
Hiring and retaining great employees is a key factor in the success of your business. Without the right people with the right skills, your business can’t consistently fulfill your customer’s needs. Great employees support your business success and also allow you, the business owner, to fulfill your role as the entrepreneurial leader. Without effective managers to lead and organize the work of the business, and technicians to do the work, you wouldn’t have the time to focus on the critical strategy that drives your business.
Imagine what kind of workplace your business would be if you successfully implemented a positive, defined system, so that your employees could think to themselves:
“I’m excited about my work.”
“This is a place where I can achieve my goals.”
“I feel safe. It’s okay to make a mistake, and I will learn from it.”
“I have some great ideas on how to improve things. I can’t wait to share them with my manager.”
American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert performed at the AMA’s, and before the performance was over, the complaints flooded in. Lambert said his goal wasn’t to upset anyone with his performance: “I’m just trying to have a good time onstage. It’s a sexy song. It’s 2009, it’s time to take more risks. It’s about entertainment. People want to be surprised. It’s too bad that people are so scared.” Why? I dunno, ABC censors had to quick-cut to an odd aerial shot of the audience when Lambert had a male backup dancer simulate oral sex on him midsong (Don’t click with kids in the room). ABC, which is Disney owned, should have some control of what goes happens on it’s network during Prime Time. Adam should have some self-control knowing who his audience was that evening. As a father of 3 young kids it sickens me. I don’t care what Adam does during his concert tour because I wouldn’t go near his performance, but to put on a performance like this, 2009 or not, on prime time . . . (I need to censor myself). BTW – ever notice that Adam and Kramer (Seinfeld) have the same hair.
Mon, November 23, 2009 — Computerworld – The holiday season is almost here, and even in a recession huge numbers of people will likely be shopping online for gifts this year.
The rush by shoppers to the Web makes the season a great time for online retailers. It’s also a great time for hackers looking to steal data and money from the unwary millions expected to search for great deals online.
The growth of holiday hackers has annually prompted security analysts, identity theft awareness groups and various government agencies to come up with lists of precautions that consumers can take to avoid becoming a victim of online fraud. Such lists can prove a benefit to consumers, but unfortunately some people ignore it.
For those unwary consumers, Computerworld this year offers a handy list of tips that can help maximize the their exposure to online fraud. [read]
Getting the most out of the limited iPhone camera is one of the hurdles facing iPhone owners, and the sheer volume of camera apps in the App Store can be overwhelming. Snapture, from Snapture Labs, should be one of the first apps you download to get your iPhone camera up and shooting like a pro.
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Mac: Snapture offers thumbnails of each shot you’ve taken with the iPhone’s camera, so you can get a quick look at your results.
For starters, Snapture makes the entire screen of the phone the shutter button. This is handy in a lot of situations, such as taking that sharp self portrait while parasailing. This feature cannot be turned off, though, so there is the chance of an embarrassing accidental snap. [read]
HYPERBOT – Sony is taking a page from the Apple playbook and will open an online store for music, film, books and other digital content next year. Years after iTunes launched and went on to dominate more than 70% of the global digital music market, the electronics and entertainment conglomerate has decided to enter the game. Dubbed temporarily the Sony Online Service, the store is part of a wider plan to return the ailing giant to profitability. “Sony has been too focused on hardware,” says Tokai Tokyo Research Center analyst Osamu Hirose. “It has to focus on networked products [and] delivering digital entertainment to consumers.”
Twitter
Facebook
Flickr
RSS
MySpace, rumored to be on the verge of purchasing the free music streaming site imeem, is struggling to keep up with its own payments to music copyright holders, according to a top News Corp executive — a problem that has plagued every other licensed free music service.
Hiring and retaining great employees is a key factor in the success of your business. Without the right people with the right skills, your business can’t consistently fulfill your customer’s needs. Great employees support your business success and also allow you, the business owner, to fulfill your role as the entrepreneurial leader. Without effective managers to lead and organize the work of the business, and technicians to do the work, you wouldn’t have the time to focus on the critical strategy that drives your business.
Getting the most out of the limited iPhone camera is one of the hurdles facing iPhone owners, and the sheer volume of camera apps in the App Store can be overwhelming. Snapture, from 
