Mousetrap Technology - Times Online - WBLG

Angry at the Pope, hackers unleash cyber protest

The street-level demonstrations may have died down, but a cyber protest continues to rage against Pope Benedict XVI's comments on September 12, in which he cited an ancient text critical of Muslims. Gangs of pro-Muslim hackers have defaced hundreds of Western, and primarily Italian, websites in the past two weeks, according to monitors at Zone-h.

As is typically the case in defacement sprees, the hackers are taking down unsecured sites, primarily belonging to private individuals and small businesses, and replacing them with protest messages. One reads: “Hey PAPA! If you want to see wildness look at history of Christianity ! If you want to see cruelty look at the book which you approve sacred!” The majority of the sites contain the ".it" suffix favoured by most Italian websites, Zone-h said.

Social networks go shopping

"When I need to purchase a new gadget, I usually first hit the reviewer sites, of which, there are already an intimidating selection," writes Bernhard Warner in his latest column. "Now there's a new one, Crowdstorm, the idea behind which is that many of us average consumers are capable of helping out a fellow shopper in need. We may not be a paid expert, but we know what works and what doesn’t. Put more glamorously, it's the social network model applied to shopping."

Click here to find out how it works

An act of dog

An AA patrolman needed the help of a dog to start a car, according to the PA news agency. Kevin Gorman was called to Addlestone, Surrey, to fix a problem with Juliette Piesley’s car. She had put a new battery in her car key fob and was surprised that her vehicle would not start.

When Mr Gorman dismantled the fob, he noticed that the immobiliser chip was missing. As they looked for the chip, Ms Piesley’s partner said that he had seen their dog, George, eat something small and black from the floor.

Apple cracks down on "pod" offenders

Podiatrists and podcasters, be on alert. Apple has launched a legal attack on firms who use the word "pod" for unfair commercial gain, saying such action constitutes a trademark infringement, according to a letter written last week by Apple attorneys and obtained by Wired.

The virtual world is not enough

"The notion that the internet will lead people to retreat from the physical world – and real human relationships – in favour of digital facsimiles has been around as long as the net itself," writes Jonathan Weber in this week's column. "Personally, I don't see it. Indeed, I'd suggest that even as virtual worlds become more realistic and people engage in all kinds of alternative online realities, the value of real-world, in-person experiences will only increase."

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A browser for those with something to hide

Torpark, a new web browser that promises anonymous surfing was introduced this week by a team of developers that includes white-hat hackers, privacy advocates and attorneys. It doesn't guarantee 100 per cent anonymity, but it's about as close as you can get to traceless surfing, certainly good enough if you're trying to topple the local dictator or swap CDs with friends.

Virgin Trains to launch on-board wi-fi in '07

Virgin Trains announced today a new on-board, high-speed internet service for its West Coast Main Line routes, which are likely to launch in the first half of 2007. Pricing has not yet been set, but Richard Branson's train service is promising uninterrupted wi-fi service at speeds of 2Mbps, providing household broadband speeds on the line between, say, London and Birmingham.

Bulldog in the doghouse

The Advertising Standards Authority has criticised Bulldog for claiming that its internet service offered speeds of "up to" 8 Mbps when many users would experience a much slower connection.

The "up to" get-out clause is a common feature of broadband advertising, much to the irritation of consumer groups. For their part, ISPs insist that connection speed depends on many factors beyond their control, including the distance between a home and the nearest telephone exchange, and the condition of the wires that link them.

Pirates run aground at the polls

"Was it naïve to think that a populist movement galvanised by a call of ‘downloads for all!’ could sweep into political power?" asks Bernhard Warner in this week's column, reflecting on the Piracy Party's poor showing in the Swedish general election. "A party founded on three basic principles – to reform commercial copyright, eradicate meddlesome patent laws and stop the surveillance of file-sharers – proved to be less popular with the voters than the tax cuts and new jobs promised by the victorious right-leaning Moderate Party."

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The good pirate

The news that Google News will have to stop linking to stories from several Belgian publications after a court ruled that the site breached newspapers' copyright rekindled the debate about copyright and the internet. "The proper role and use of copyright is one of the great, unresolved arguments of the internet era," writes Jonathan Weber in his latest column.

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Beware the technology of cool

"Where is Jarvis Cocker, to show his bared-arsed contempt for this ghastly smugness?" asks Michael Parsons in his latest column, railing against the pseudo-cool of Apple and its chief executive, Steve Jobs. "I couldn’t quite figure out why this made my flesh creep so much, until that old line came into my head, "never trust a hippy capitalist." Absolutely. Steve, you’re beautiful. And we’re beautiful. And that’ll be 200 quid please."

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The bar of the future

Jostling for service at a busy bar may be soon be merely a memory if a touch-screen table-top computer system wins over the nation’s publicans. Customers can browse through the drinks menu, send their order to the bar staff and pay using a swipe card with an RFID chip.

The system is in use at the Ministry of Sound bar in Harrogate and at the University of Westminster Student Union bar (pictured), where the computers also let students order taxis, play games and send messages to friends at other tables.

Who needs an iPod?

"For many European consumers, the brands TrekStor, SupportPlus and Koola are more attractive than the über-cool iPod," writes Bernhard Warner in this week's column, charting the rise of the cheap-and-cheerful MP3 player. He unearths the surprising statistic that between them, the low-end, own-brand players comfortably outsell the mighty iPod.

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Zotob duo sentenced to jail time

Moroccan authorities have sentenced the duo behind the Zotob – a worm that knocked out servers at a slew of media companies last August, including the the Financial Times, CNN and The New York Times – to jail time, according to UK IT security firm Sophos. Zotob was a particular nasty piece of malware that took advantage of a Microsoft vulnerability to gain control of an unsuspecting users' PC.

Once under the virus writer's control, the infected PCs were used to launch a barrage of spam e-mail or participate in a withering denial of service attack. For good measure, the gang would sniff through an Zotob-infected PC for credit card details. "The Zotob gang took over innocent company's computers with the intention of making money. By blasting their way into PCs via a Microsoft vulnerability they ripped control of the computer away from its owner and into the hands of hackers," Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said.

Apple moves into the living room

The dinky new thumbsized iPod shuffle is, according to Steve Jobs, the smallest MP3 player in the world. But don’t be fooled – the main message from Apple’s press event last night was that a company reinvigorated by its move five years ago to put music in your pocket (in the shape of the all-conquering iPod) is now thinking much bigger.

The star of yesterday’s show may turn out to be the unassuming “iTV” gadget that will link PCs and Macs to television sets. Big, flat screen TV sets. The continued absence of a “widescreen” iPod also suggests Apple sees the living room as the next key battlefront. Microsoft already has a similar “media extender” product in the market. But Microsoft hasn’t sold 1.5 billion tracks through its music service. Apple, on the other hand, has – and as a result enjoys a hugely solid platform in digital media distribution.

Fixing a leak the hard way

"The revelation last week that private investigators working for Hewlett-Packard had illegally accessed the phone records of company directors and journalists in search of a boardroom leak touched all manner of hot-button topics," writes Jonathan Weber in this week's column. His conclusion: "the things you have to do to find the source of a leak are almost inevitably more damaging than the leaks themselves. And he should now, having been the victim of a leak himself. Click here to read the full article.

The new iPods

Apple launched its new range of iPods last night, with changes to the complete range. The Shuffle gest smaller, the nano gets thinner and the full-size players get a better screen Find more details of the improvements and prices, as well as information about Apple's new movie download service, here.

Advertisers flock to MySpace, Facebook

This cannot be a good news for MTV. According to BusinessWeek, marketers will spend $280 million (£150 million) in advertising this year on such popular social network sites as MySpace and Facebook, a tally that could surpass $1.9 billion (£1 billion) by 2010. The first wave of advertisers seem to be using the tried and true marketing gimmicks that have scored them success in the past: mainly give-aways and direct-response marketing campaigns – but with a twist. Burger King, according to BusinessWeek, has created a member page on MySpace for its fictitious spokesman "The King". To date, 120,000 members have linked to the page, acknowledging on their own profile that they consider "The King" a "friend". (A friend, it must be noted, who is buying their loyalty with giveaways). It's too early to say if the marketers intend to divert money away from TV to the social networking sites, but the current crop of advertisers has to make for a worrying development inside MTV.

Get your online real fake teenage girls!

"The drama of lonelygirl15, a beautiful teenage video diarist type on YouTube, is only the most recent soap opera to hit the net," writes Michael Parsons in this week's column. "Much of this debate is concerned with two powerful forces around which virtual culture constantly circulates: authenticity and intimacy. If you wade through the thousands of comments (and much spam) appended to Bree's video diaries, many writers appear to feel they're in direct connection with her. Others angrily accuse her of abusing the YouTube community by presenting fake material as real."

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A social networking site that's a bit too social

An interesting insight into the fragile nature of social networking sites is playing out at the moment on Facebook, one of the web's most popular sites and one enormously popular with American college students. Half a million (and counting) Facebook members signed a petition this week for the company to turn off a new alert system that broadcasts every change a member makes to his or her profile. (One user is calling for a boycott.) Suddenly, updates ranging from new photos to new boyfriends are being broadcast to the 9.5 million registered members of the site without a user's permission, prompting breach of privacy complaints.

Cracking a Commodore 64 for clues

Could a Commodore 64 foil the criminal investigation into the kidnapping of Natascha Kampusch? The principal suspect, Wolfgang Priklopil, who committed suicide after Natascha's escape, relied solely for his computing needs on the vintage PC, which as any Pong fan knows, lacks a hard drive.

This is causing problems. According to a leading investigator in the case, Maj Gen Gerhard Lang of Austria's Federal Criminal Investigations Bureau, transferring any relevant information from the relic to a modern police computer -- for the purpose of say, obtaining communications logs on potential accomplices -- could result in data loss.

Yahoo! tight-lipped on Panama while Google panders to papers

Times Online met with Yahoo!'s European management team last night - lots of emphasis on the company' social-search tools and blank looks when questions were raised over when Panama, the revamped search-advertising system which has been delayed, will be ready. "Fingers crossed, it's on track," was the closest we got to a definitive answer.

Yet more delays for PlayStation 3

Bloggers are seriously upset to learn that the PlayStation 3 will be delayed in Europe. The console will now hit UK shelves in March 2007, rather than November this year. The US and Japan will get the machine this Autumn - but only around half the number previously expected. British shoppers thinking of travelling to the US to pick up a machine in time for Christmas should beware - the regional locks Sony will put on the gadget and its games means American units will not work with UK titles. All told, Sony expects costs associated with the PS3 to cut operating profits in half this year. But, from the looks of the blogosphere, the most serious damage could be reputational...

"So not content with overpricing the system, delaying for a year and ensuring it's underpowered compared to its direct competitors [Sony is] now going to ensure the traditional Christmas market is utterly overlooked in Europe," said Kuriyama's Hovel on MySpace.com.

"Of course by this time next year they'll be decrying pirates as the reason they've failed to establish a substantial foothold in the next-gen market in Europe ... After the genius of releasing the Playstation originally, they really have done their best to run themselves into the ground."

Lectures in bed

"In an age where we can view Lost and Desperate Housewives on iTunes a few hours after airing on the tube, why can’t university students get this morning’s Chemistry 101 lecture off the net?" asks Bernhard Warner in this week's column. Click here to read the full article.

Subliminal spam

Spammers who use images instead of text in an attempt to fool e-mail scanners have added a new tool to their arsenal – the subliminal message.

Sophos, an online security company, detected the subliminal message in spam designed to inflate the price of shares in a company called Trimax. An animated GIF image embedded in the e-mail flashed a frame with the text "BUY!!!" every 15 seconds.

The internet: a work in progress

"For all the big problems the internet has helped to solve," writes Jonathan Weber in his latest column, "there are a whole bunch more in which it has made barely a dent. And some of them are the most obvious things."

When booking a hotel, he says, "You can spend all kinds of time chasing down all the possible avenues of research, but most of it is wasted and you never get the sense that you've really seen all the possibilities."

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