Archive for May, 2009
Pentagon Creates New Posts For Cyberspace Warfare
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon plans to create a new military command for cyberspace, administration officials said Thursday, stepping up preparations by the armed forces to conduct both offensive and defensive computer warfare.
The military command would complement a civilian effort to be announced by President Obama on Friday that would overhaul the way the United States safeguards its computer networks.
Mr. Obama, officials said, will announce the creation of a White House office — reporting to both the National Security Council and the National Economic Council — that will coordinate a multibillion-dollar effort to restrict access to government computers and protect systems that run the stock exchanges, clear global banking transactions and manage the air traffic control system.
White House officials say Mr. Obama has not yet been formally presented with the Pentagon plan. They said he would not discuss it Friday when he announced the creation of a White House office responsible for coordinating private-sector and government defenses against the thousands of cyberattacks mounted against the United States — largely by hackers but sometimes by foreign governments — every day.
But he is expected to sign a classified order in coming weeks that will create the military cybercommand, officials said. It is a recognition that the United States already has a growing number of computer weapons in its arsenal and must prepare strategies for their use — as a deterrent or alongside conventional weapons — in a wide variety of possible future conflicts.
The White House office will be run by a “cyberczar,” but because the position will not have direct access to the president, some experts said it was not high-level enough to end a series of bureaucratic wars that have broken out as billions of dollars have suddenly been allocated to protect against the computer threats.
Free Programs For Windows 7
With Windows 7 constantly being in the news with the anticipation rising as new builds are released, I managed to find this amazing list of free programs for Windows 7. There are some that I am using, but there are also some that I would never touch, but more importantly, they have all been tried and tested, and they all work.
Some of the programs available include:
- AVG Antivirus
- Eraser
- iReboot
- ISODisk
- Network Monitor
- Quick Media Converter
- 7-Zip
Click here to go and have a look at the full list.
Misheard Lyrics – Sean Paul – Temperature
Have you ever listened to a song and not understood half of the song because you can’t hear the actual lyrics clearly? Well in this video’s case, it address one of Sean Paul’s songs. Quite amusing.
Windows Rant
I found this letter on the SevenForums where someone had given their thoughts on Windows 7. This guy doesn’t hold back at all, but he does have some extra valid points. Take a read and tell me if you agree with him or not!
Fired Over Facebook
Johannesburg – An employee has been fired and two others suspended for posting Facebook updates considered unacceptable by the their companies, The Times reported on Wednesday.
A 23-year-old administration clerk at a clothing factory south of Durban lost his job after being reported by a co-worker for calling his boss a “serial masturbator” on Facebook.
Wits Law Clinic Professor Willem de Klerk said the Constitution promotes freedom of expression “provided that what is expressed is based on fact”.
“There is a huge difference between having your say based on fact and using the platform to slag off your employer,” De Klerk said.
Bloggers have previously come under fire for writing defamatory statements about people or employers, but being fired on the basis of a Facebook status update is a relatively new phenomenon to South Africa, say experts.
A 25-year-old Johannesburg-based Facebook user was suspended for punting a competitor?s product on her profile homepage.
Another, also 25, was suspended for venting about his Pretoria-based employer’s alleged laziness.
Malicious comments illegal
De Klerk warned that malicious Facebook comments are as illegal as verbal defamatory statements.
But he suggests that the employer should consider whether that was the only outlet to express a grievance.
“But if the employee crossed the line and deliberately made comments to be malicious, then he should be fired,” De Klerk said.
Labour lawyer Johann van Zyl said many South African companies have blocked Facebook but are also wising up to the need for labour policies designed to prevent employees from bringing the company into disrepute in their private time.
Van Zyl said labour lawyers expect to see more cases of internet abuse and online defamation being brought against employees as the technology continues to grow, the newspaper reported.
How I Met Your Mother Gets 5th Season
For fans of CBS’ How I Met Your Mother, May has been a rough time. Because Mother is only a moderate success, it has to fight to find a spot on the network’s schedule. As a result, CBS waits until the very last minute to decide the series’ fate. Viewers are left to sweat it out, asking “Will the sitcom be renewed for another season?” Well, it looks like their luck is starting to change a bit.
Variety is reporting that Twentieth Century Fox Television has made syndication deals with local stations in several national markets. A separate deal for cable-exclusive rights will be decided in the coming months. Though Mother’s ratings have never been outstanding, the series is very attractive in the syndication market for a couple reasons. The audience typically skews younger and there aren’t too many sitcoms that will be offered in syndication in the near future. Though sitcoms aren’t in big demand in network primetime, they’re a big hit in syndication.
Though it’s nice that fans will be able to see the show five days a week, the great news becomes apparent when you read the “fine print” of the syndication agreements. Mother’sfour-year syndication contract stipulates that the studio will deliver 110 half-hour episodes in the year 2010. At the end of the fourth season (which kicks off on Monday), only 90 episodes will have been produced. That means that, under the syndication deal, the studio is obligated to deliver at least 20 more episodes, ensuring Mother will get a fifth season.
The profitable syndication market has come into play several times over the past couple years. Though their ratings aren’t great, ABC’s Scrubs and According to Jim were both renewed because they’re big moneymakers in syndication. A similar scenario could mean that Mother may continue past the fifth season. If the show goes for additional years, the local station contracts will be extended, ensuring the studio boatloads of more cash.
MXit Skin Builder
Are you tired of those boring, repetive themes on your MXit? You can’t even find a decent one when you are prepared for it. Now you can build your ultimate theme, customised completely to your wants and desires for no cost. Introducing the MXit Skin Builder!
I seriously sounded like a sales person there. Maybe I can do that next year? Below my levels of asperation, but I guess money is money.
Anyway, this is a seriously nifty piece of software and allows you to customise MXit to the exact look and feel you want. I am going to be to making me own theme this week in between exams. I will post it up for you guys and make it available for download.
You can grab all the files you need from here.
New Balence Sponsored Tops
So at practice we finally got our warm up tops! Awesome! They are simple, but very elegant and go extremely well with the rest of our kit! Take a look:
Quite sexy don’t you think? These pictures were taken with my phone so forgive me if they are not the greatest.
Maths > Me
So I started exams today. The teachers were not in a kind mood when they plotted the exam time table as they decided they would give me Maths Paper 1 first. Kind hey?
Well I got my hands dirty, and felt I was fairly well prepared when I walked into school this morning. You could tell that most were nervous, but most tried not to show it. I find it amusing going to a boys school as all the guys try to be all macho and stuff.
So let me cut the long story short. I think I did fairly well. Not amazingly well, but a decent mark. Now it is time to put in some serious effort for paper 2! Trig here I come! I am determined to get an A for this paper.
Anyway time to study some physics.
When Free Means Completely Free!
This is the type of public software license that I think should be implemented across the globe! Ok, well actually only for anything that I don’t code.
Please do excuse the language, but here is the new license
DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE
Version 2, December 2004
Copyright (C) 2004 Sam Hocevar
14 rue de Plaisance, 75014 Paris, France
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim or modified
copies of this license document, and changing it is allowed as long
as the name is changed.
DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
0. You just DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO.
Click here to view the entire document. Quite funny I rate :)
