View your history in thumbnails with ThumbStrips

Windows with Firefox only: The ThumbStrips Firefox extension displays your browsing history in a filmstrip-style series of thumbnail images.

You can browse your ThumbStrips history by clicking the statusbar icon to toggle the ThumbStrips view, then using your mouse to intuitively move back and forth through the history, filtering by sites visited or by live keyword searching. If you don't want ThumbStrips to record for a while, you can start and stop recording at any time. ThumbStrips is free to download, works only with Windows and Firefox.

ThumbStrips [Firefox Add-ons]

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Sync your Firefox extensions and profiles across computers

Since the dawn of time, humanity has longed for a simple way to sync Firefox extensions, themes, bookmarks, and saved passwords between computers so that no matter where you're working, your browser is customized in the exact same way. The solution comes in the form of the Microsoft-owned folder syncing and sharing tool, FolderShare.

Verily I say unto you, I have seen the road to synchronization! The solution comes in the form of the Microsoft-owned folder syncing and sharing tool, FolderShare. It requires a small sacrifice, but in exchange you'll receive the complete automated extension sync we've all been dying for for. Hit the jump to find out how.

The great thing about this method is that not only does it sync all of your extensions, but it also syncs almost all of your profile data. That means that your browsing session, bookmarks, themes, saved passwords, about:config settings, search engines, Greasemonkey scripts, etc. will all sync as well. What's more, this method works across both Windows and Mac (sorry Linux users). Sounds pretty good, right? Let's dive in.

In a nutshell, each time you install a new extension on one machine (or add a bookmark, etc.), FolderShare will distribute those changes across every computer that's running FolderShare. Once you've set up Firefox synchronization with FolderShare, whenever you run Firefox on Computer A, all of the application data that Firefox uses during that browsing session will be synced to Computer B, C, etc. When you fire up Firefox on one of those computers, it'll be using the most recent application data, including the latest extensions you've installed.

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Hacker Posts Possible Harry Potter Spoiler, Illustrating Corporate Vulnerabilities

An anonymous hacker claims to have used computer magic to peer through the extreme secrecy surrounding the ending of the Harry Potter saga and posted online unverified details from the soon-to-be released final book in best-selling series.

The hacker, posting under the handle Gabriel, claims to have gotten a copy of the seventh and final installment of the blockbuster Harry Potter series that chronicles the adventures of a child magician by hacking into Bloomsbury, the series' London-based publisher.
Gabriel said he wanted to spoil the ending to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to protect people from its "Neo Paganism" and was able to get into the publisher's computer network by convincing an Bloomsbury employee to open an email with malware attached.

"We make this spoiler to make reading of the upcoming book useless and boring," Gabriel wrote (Alert: Possible Spoiler Link)."It's amazing to see how much people inside the company have copies and drafts of this book."

In advance of the novel's July 21 publishing date, fans have been rabidly debating which characters the series' author J.K. Rowling might kill off.

The hacker made the claim and posted some plot details Tuesday to a security mailing list called Full Disclosure, which is re-posted on insecure.org, a website run by a white hat hacker known as Fyodor.

However, no portions of the novel were posted, casting doubt on the veracity of the claim.

Kyle Good, a spokeswoman for the book's U.S. publisher Scholastic, said she could not verify the plot details, saying there is a lot of material on the internet claiming to be from the book.
"Anyone can post anything on the internet and you can't always believe what you read," Good said. "The only way to know for sure is to read the book on July 21."

However, the claimed method of attack – known as spear phishing – is completely believable, according to Rick Wesson and Adam Waters, the top officers at the computer security firm Support Intelligence.

"This is being used against the State Department often," Wesson said. "This is how you steal any kind of intellectual property."
"We have so lost fundamental trust [in the security of networks] we can't tell if the story is true or not," Waters added. "Say it was a corporation's financial numbers for next month -- you could move a market with that information."

Even if the hack happened and the plot details are proven, the revelations are unlikely to affect the sales of the book, given the series' intensely loyal fan base.

But Wesson and Waters say the story illustrates that secrets – including copies of unreleased movies, policy statements by politicians and Federal Reserve announcements – are extremely vulnerable to targeted external attacks from hackers who can find their way into a corporate network as easily as sending an email to a summer intern. Read More..

Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos. In this disease, malignant cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body's internal organs. Its most common site is the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and chest cavity), but it may also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity) or the pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart).

Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or have been exposed to asbestos dust and fibre in other ways, such as by washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos, or by home renovation using asbestos cement products. Talc mined in upstate New York has been associated with causing mesothelioma. Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking

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MPack Trojan Attack Claims 10,000 Web Sites

Researchers at Trend Micro are reporting that as many as 10,000 Web sites have been infected with malicious code that redirects unsuspecting users to a server booby-trapped with drive-by exploits—part of a wave of attacks originating in Italy and now spreading through Europe.

Dubbed the "Italian Job" by Trend Micro, the attack was first uncovered June 15. Legitimate sites were hacked to include a malicious iFrames tag redirecting visitors to servers armed with a tool called MPack, an exploit tool that can target security holes in multiple products.

According to Trend Micro, once a user visits any of the compromised Web sites, the affected computer is directed to another IP address that contains the malicious JavaScript detected by the company as JS_DLOADER.NTJ.

The JavaScript attempts to exploit a buffer overflow vulnerability in unpatched browsers to download TROJ_SMALL.HCK, company officials said.

Since June 15, the number of sites affected by the attack has multiplied several times over, said David Perry, global director of education for Trend Micro, based in Cupertino, Calif.

"There are already somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 Web sites affected by this," Perry said. "There's nothing that all these Web sites have in common. I'm calling it a Web-idemic."

According to Websense, based in San Diego, the regions most affected by the situation have been Italy and Spain.

In a blog posting June 15, Symantec researcher Elia Florio advised Italian users to update their anti-virus products and make sure all the recent patches are installed on their machines. Read More..

Windows Live Writer

Windows Live Writer is a desktop application that makes it easy to publish rich content to your blog.

Compatible with your blog service
Writer can publish to Windows Live Spaces, SharePoint, WordPress, Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, Moveable Type, Community Server, and many other weblog services.

WYSIWYG editing
Writer knows your blog's visual theme. So you can see exactly what your posts will look like as you write them, before you publish. No more wasting time previewing your posts online.

Rich media publishing
Writer makes publishing rich media as easy as sending e-mail. Insert and customize photos, maps, tags, and lots of other cool content—then click the “Publish” button. It’s that easy.

Powerful editing features
Creating compelling blog posts is much easier with the ability to insert and edit tables, check spelling as you type, and format and hyperlink content at your fingertips.

Offline editing
Now you can blog anytime, from anywhere. Writer synchronizes drafts on your blog with changes you make when you're offline, so you don't have to worry about reconciling different versions. Read More..

Nasib Indonesia ku

Tahun ini adalah 10 tahun peringatan dan sekaligus “perayaan” peristiwa keterpurukan bangsa dan negara kita pada krisis multi dimensi. Dikatakan peringatan karena kita memang mengingat peristiwa yang terjadi 10 tahun yang lalu, sedangkan dinyatakan sebagai “perayaan” karena sampai saat inipun kita masih berada dalam keterpurukan itu. Issue penggantian para menteri mewarnai spekulasi bahwa saat ini negara kita berada di pintu gerbang kedua terjadinya krisis ekonomi. Beberapa waktu belakangan ini media massa juga tidak ketinggalan untuk menganalisis kondisi keuangan dan ekonomi negara yang kadang membuat miris pembaca dan pemirsanya.

Sementara negara tetangga yang bersama mengalami krisis, sudah bangkit kembali bahkan berkembang – ternyata negara kita masih terseok-seok menata diri seolah masalah itu tidak akan pernah berakhir. Entah karena sombong, malas, mementingkan diri sendiri, kombinasi ketiganya, atau masalah yang lain, ternyata Negara Indonesia dinyatakan lamban untuk belajar dari negara lain – semisal Thailand dan Malaysia – dalam mengatasi krisis negaranya. Rakyat Thailand memercayai raja mereka dan bersatu padu rela menyerahkan seluruh emas mereka kepada negara untuk memperkuat perekonomian mereka. Malaysia memlih untuk tidak tunduk kepada IMF dan sekuat tenaga memberdayakan sumber dalam negerinya. Indonesia juga tidak mau belajar dari Cina di dalam memberantas korupsi dengan menindak tegas koruptor.

Belum lagi masalah penanggulangan banjir seperti yang terjadi di Jakarta Pebruari 2007 ini, Indonesia juga tidak mau belajar dari Negara Belanda yang sejak mula dikenal sebagai “The Netherland” yang berarti “tanah-tanah di bawah (permukaan) laut”. Untuk masalah ini Negara Thailand sudah belajar dari Belanda sejak tahun 1800-an, bahkan Jepang juga sudah belajar tentang tanggul dan kanal-nya Belanda sejak tahun 1890-an. Di negara kita, ternyata mudah saja mencari Kambing Hitam terjadinya banjir. Mulai ungkapan “ini hal biasa karena siklus 5 tahunan”, sampai di DPR pun diketemukan penyebabnya adalah tidak adanya 3 Undang-undang, yaitu UU Pemerintahan Ibukota, UU Tata Ruang, dan UU Bencana Alam. Lha wong banjir kok dilawan dengan rapat membentuk Undang-undang.

Dengan sedih harus diakui bahwa Negara Indonesia adalah negara yang lamban untuk belajar. Namun........... bagaimanapun, inilah Tanah Air, Bangsa dan Negara kita. Lalu.......?

Yah.... sekedar menyadarkan adanya fakta penilaian ini, dan tentunya ingin mengajak “berbuat sesuatu” supaya janganlah kita juga kedapatan ternyata adalah pelaku budaya belajar lamban ini. Apakah kita juga mampu belajar dengan cepat? Read More..

Oracle Files Amended Complaint Against SAP

Oracle today filed its First Amended Complaint in federal District Court in San Francisco in its lawsuit against SAP. Oracle added federal Copyright Infringement claims and Breach of Contract claims to many of the original claims asserted, including violations of the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, violations of the state Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, Unfair Competition, and Intentional and Negligent Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage.

Oracle alleges that SAP engaged in a deliberate, systematic and illegal scheme to access, copy, use and distribute Oracle's copyrighted software products and related materials, in violation of federal and state law. The suit seeks to stop SAP's unauthorized and illegal activity and prevent future violations and to recover damages related to the violations. A copy of the amended complaint can be located at: www.oracle.com/sapsuit. Read More..