Whoo Hoo! Tonight is the 10th Year of 2600 in LA
Noid has flown in... there should be a time capsule also. This is set to be one of those 2600 meetings that everyone is going to show up for. I will have my camera and I will throw in a shirt from Moloch. I don't know if anything is happening after the 2600 meeting, I know that I am donating money to 23.org for 23.org to sponsor the toorcon gathering. I don't know if I am doing any panel for toorcon or not, we will have to see in the next couple of weeks. Check out: www.la2600.org and www.toorcon.org

Working on the web site
Since some of our pictures on the web site get mirrored and sometimes just google image searched, I decided to try to find bigger pictures to be placed on the site. There will be some minor changes to the site, nothing that won't be able to navigate but, please check your links and such.

Smile.D virus, poof of concept
News.com has a story on a new virus that has a new twist to it. The virus moprhs itself in signature, size and works on Windows and Linux. The virus is harmless in the extent that it will only pop up a dialog window on Windows and leave a console message twice a year. Simile.D, also known as Etap.D, is an example of a "concept virus," a lab sample created by the virus underground and published for others to see. The major antivirus companies have already incorporated detection into their software, so Simile.D poses little threat to most users on the Internet who regularly download the latest definitions. More here

Apple recently released a public preview of QuickTime 6
It is able to do MPEG4 now, but there are licensing issues still in the works. My concern isn't that MPEG4 isn't a good technology, because it is. I used MPEG4 codec when I code my video now, the problem in my mind is the streaming or MPEG4 video. The linux desktop doesn't have any easy way of bringing this video straight to the desktop. I currently have Quicktime 5 running through Wine, but I don't know if Quicktime 6 will work. I will give updates when available.

Microsoft hole, not news, but using gopher is
A Finnish security company on Tuesday warned that hackers could exploit an outdated, little-used Internet protocol to seize control of computers running Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser. Ok, real computer people know what gopher is but some people don't so just read the cnet article here

Mozilla v1 finally released
Ok, yeah, it's out. I would like to comment but there isn't much that I am seeing that I haven't seen pre-release. Want to read more about it, check this

Thank you DT and Noid
I get bored at my job sometimes and I happened to click on Defcon Media files. It is now up. Yea! No more boredom at work. I will not need that Calgon bath bead treatment when I get home. There is one more streaming video site to visit. You can find this marvel of technology at www.defcon.org. Don't forget the Moloch videos at moloch.tv also.

Wow, I scanned around the web and found nothing
I don't believe it myself but I was scanning the web looking for some piece of news to comment, complain or bitch about and I am coming up empty today. The only thing on our minds today seems to be the upcoming cons. We have H2K2 in about 30-something days, I don't think I will be attending but I will be in the area and we have DefCon is just 8 weeks away. I will be updating the Cannonball site soon and placing more and more info there. It is also early in the day so there is no telling what news the day will bring.

Cable piracy article on News.com, media hype?
News.com article titled Broadband users cut into cable caught my eye but showed me nothing new. Basically it explains well if you get a cable modem, you have free cable. When I moved to Los Angeles, I asked my good friend Sage to help me get cable-modem and cable access before I arrived. When it was installed, they didn't leave the Cable Box or Cable Modem. I was weirded out for minute, she said all I had to do is pick the boxes up from the office later in the week. I said "I have no cable?" but I did. I had analog cable. I turned on the TV and sure enough, I had 80 or so channels without a box. This doesn't happen like this in NYC but I was ok with it. I have used a pirate box to get PPV and other pay channels but thats if you pay for a cable box. I pay for my cable modem and I pay for the digital cable. I am getting like 30-40 movie channels. That is well worth it for me to pay for it. I still use the analog cable for places that TV is just a time waster, like the bedroom. The news.com article here

Napster files for bankruptcy
Will we ever hear the end of this rocking ship? Quote from cnn.com: The bankruptcy filing is the last step in making the company available for liquidation and, effectively, for purchase by Bertelsmann. While people close to the situation say that it is likely Bertelsmann will come out with ownership of Napster at the conclusion of the hearings, the final decision has yet to be made by a bankruptcy judge. Another bidder likely would have to offer close to $100 million for consideration, topping the total investment by Bertelsmann.

Props to the PLA peeps
We are thankful in the support that the Phone Losers of America are giving us for the Defcon Cannonball Run and for linking us on their site. We are also happy to see that they made Martain Sargent's Twisted List on Friday's show of the Screensavers. It was funny having people walk up to me and say they say the Cannonball logo on Tech TV. Patrick Norton, we hope you are joining us on the run to Defcon.