Ex-Microsoft manager charged with theft dies, sucker!
Remember that guy who sold free company software and bought himslef a yatch and other crap. Well, He's DEAD. What a sucker! Daniel Feussner, 32, died last Friday due to multiple organ failure, but the cause of death could not be determined until further tests were conducted, an investigator at the Medical Examiner's office said. Feussner was out on bail after being fired and arrested in December for allegedly obtaining software meant for internal use and selling it illegally to fund a lavish lifestyle of luxury cars, jewelry and a yacht. "We are very saddened by this tragic event and our hearts are with Daniels' family and friends," said Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake. Yeah Right! They are sorry that they won't see him suffer. The story can be found intact at http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2003/02/11/rtr876922.html

Wired reports "Symantec Claims They Knew About Slammer In Advance"
Right off of Slashdot, they are stating that Wired is reporting 'Symantec claims to have identified the Slammer worm that ravaged the Internet during the last weekend of January hours before anyone else did. Symantec claims in a press release that they discovered the worm "hours before it began rapidly propagating".

IBM with the Linux thing again
IBM Corp. plans to work with the Linux user community to ensure that the operating system achieves increasing security assurance levels throughout this year and 2004.Redhat is claming that the Defense Information Systems Agency is already working with Redhat for Common Operating Environment (COE) certification. COE is a DOD software security and interoperability specification, recognized as a critical computing standard across the U.S. government. Read more here.

Not a biggie...
Just if you didn't hear elsewhere, Kevin Mitnick's company website was hacked. Kevin laughed it off. Many people reported it. It's not like it hasn't happened to a lot of other companies too. It's human nature to error. You can read the article at http://ocregisiter.com or another site...

John Ashcroft is my enemy
Kevin Poulsen posted on securityfocus.com that Ashcroft proposes vast new surveillance powers. There is a leak about a policy that might get appoved. If you are a criminal and use encryption you can get a mandatory minimum term of five years in prison on top of your jail time. So this could mean that you communicated with PGP or even were using online banks. Why online banks? Well, they use encrpytion also. Sounds like the New World Order is scary. I think the new saying should be: "Support John Ashcroft, you are supporting terrorism". Read more here.

Blackberry Pagers Wireless Sync?
Most BlackBerry pagers will be able to use a cellular connection to wirelessly synchronize the information on the devices with that on a corporate computer network, RIM announced Monday. A representative for the company said BlackBerrys with the feature will be available to customers "soon"--perhaps within a number of weeks--but refused to specify a more exact date.

"RIM's new GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) devices promise features that Good Technology has had for over a year," said Andrea Cook Fleming, vice president of corporate marketing at Good.

RIM also announced Monday that Cingular Wireless will begin selling a BlackBerry pager that works on its telephone network, which lets subscribers download e-mails at speeds of between 20Kbps and 40Kbps.

It would be great being in two places at once. Yes, I know that you already know what I am talking about. We missed the 4th Annual Duct Tape Ball. It was held on Feb. 7, 2003, at the 4th Avenue Theater in Anchorage, Alaska. The black-tie affair, sponsored by Henkel Consumer Adhesives, Inc., the developers and marketers of DuckŪ brand duct tape, will benefit local nonprofit agencies Kids Kitchen and H.U.G.S.S. (Help Us Give School Supplies). Read more about it here

The week in review... er sort of.
Well, been working hard so I fell behind a bit but if you have been sleeping too then these will sound new.

Some Chains Charging Internet Sales Tax
Some major retailers this week began voluntarily charging online sales taxes in 37 states and the District of Columbia, a move that could reshape the way business is done on the Web. Time to start buying from shopping malls in industrial zones again or New Hampshire

FBI Probes Fraud Targeting EBay Users
A hacker used a University of North Carolina computer system to steal personal financial information from EBay users, and at least one person lost money, the FBI said. No, Kevin Mitnick didn't do this, it's someone else in North Carolina.

Microsoft Disciplines Employees Over Sales
Microsoft Corp. said it has taken disciplinary action against employees for buying Microsoft software at cost from the company and reselling it for a profit. Don't buy expensive boats and make a web page about it.