Sad news. I am very upset that we lost another friend
"On Monday, Feb 21, Josh flew up to Portland in his Glasair, tail number n262wg. Shortly after Midnight, Feb 22, he left Portland destined for Crescent City, CA. Josh had radar service with FAA Seattle center while in route to Crescent City (CEC). Around 2am, Seattle ATC recieved a message from Josh saying that he had visual on the airport and was terminating radar service, switching to the local airport frequency for his final approach. This is the last transmission he made."

The body of Maria L. Flores was found 700 yards offshore, near the Chetco River. Maria was a passenger in the plane with Josh.

Joshua "Pac-Bell" Cohen. 1978 - 2005
A video of me and Josh in Vegas

FBI issues warning about computer virus
source: USA Today
Glad the FBI is worried about computers instead of terrorists

The FBI warned Tuesday that a computer virus is being spread through unsolicited e-mails that purport to come from the FBI.

The e-mails appear to come from an fbi.gov address. They tell recipients that they have accessed illegal Web sites and that their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI's "Internet Fraud Complaint Center," the FBI said.

The messages then direct recipients to open an attachment and answer questions. The computer virus is in the attachment.

"Recipients of this or similar solicitations should know that the FBI does not engage in the practice of sending unsolicited e-mails to the public in this manner," the FBI said in a statement.

The bureau is investigating the phony e-mails.
The agency earlier this month shut down fbi.gov accounts, used to communicate with the public, because of a security breach. A spokeswoman said the two incidents appear to be unrelated.

Sony to axe Clie PDA
source: AOL

Sony Corporation is to abandon its Clie hand-held computer business in Japan because of the gadget's declining popularity.

The Tokyo-based electronics giant will stop making Clie products in July, Sony spokesman Taichi Yamafuji said.

The company pulled out of the overseas market last year.

Although Sony still leads the domestic personal digital assistant (PDA) market, it plans to withdraw as profits are expected to slide amid severe competition, Yamafuji said.

PDAs have lost ground to cellular phones with advanced features.

Sony launched Clie in 2000.

Sales totalled 500,000 units in 2003, down 26 % from a year earlier, according to market researcher Gartner Inc.

The PDAs were first popularised by the PalmPilot in 1996.

Computer virus pretends to be FBI e-mail
source: Associated Press

The FBI warned Tuesday that a computer virus is being spread through unsolicited e-mails that purport to come from the FBI.
The e-mails appear to come from an fbi.gov address. They tell recipients that they have accessed illegal Web sites and that their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI's "Internet Fraud Complaint Center," the FBI said.

The messages then direct recipients to open an attachment and answer questions. The computer virus is in the attachment.
"Recipients of this or similar solicitations should know that the FBI does not engage in the practice of sending unsolicited e-mails to the public in this manner," the FBI said in a statement.

The bureau is investigating the phony e-mails.

AIDS/HIV list mistakenly e-mailed
source: Associated Press

County officials are "99% sure" a confidential list of thousands of AIDS patients and people with HIV never got outside their control after it was mistakenly e-mailed to health workers, a spokesman said.

Only 10 Palm Beach County Health Department workers opened the message â?? which contained the names of 4,000 AIDS patients and 2,500 people with HIV â?? and technicians confirmed none were saved, printed, forwarded, or stored, spokesman Tim O'Connor said.

"It doesn't look like it got outside at all," he said Monday. "We're like 99% sure right now."

O'Connor said the workers known to have opened the e-mail had been interviewed and reminded of their confidentiality agreements.
Health Department chief Dr. Jean Malecki has asked the state to investigate. Activists have expressed concern the leak could hurt the public's trust in government and discourage people from getting tested for HIV and AIDS.

John W. "Jack" Nolan, the county's top HIV statistician, said last week he accidentally attached the list to a monthly statistics report that was sent by e-mail to 800 employees. Nolan said the list contained names of AIDS and HIV patients in the county, but not their addresses.

O'Connor said Nolan could face disciplinary action, but not prosecution.

Smokers asked to cough up taxes for Web buys
source: CNET

Michigan sends bills to more than 500 residents for cigarettes purchased tax-free over the Web.

Hundreds of Michigan residents are getting a big surprise this tax season--hefty tax bills for cigarettes they bought online over the past four years.

The state sent the bills to 553 residents last week after subpoenaing 13 online tobacco shops for names of Michigan customers and their order histories, a Michigan Treasury Department spokesman Caleb Buhs said on Friday. The tax bills are based on information from just one store, and the state expects to collect more names from the others.

Collectively, the people receiving this first round of bills owe the state $1.4 million, an average of $2,500 per person, Buhs said. They have until March 14 to pay.

"At its most fundamental level, this is an issue of tax fairness," State Treasurer Jay B. Rising said in a statement. "It is only right that out-of-state vendors, who conduct business only online and at arms length, follow the letter of the law. These taxes are collected by brick-and-mortar businesses in Michigan, and Internet vendors should not be allowed to skirt their responsibility."

Michigan, which levies a $2 tax on every pack of cigarettes, collected $993 million in tobacco taxes last year, Buhs said.

eSmokes, one of the top tobacco sellers on the Web, cancelled thousands of orders to Michigan customers after hearing about the tax crackdown, an eSmokes representative said. The representative would not discuss whether the store has been subpoenaed by Michigan or any other state.

Michigan did not disclose which companies it has subpoenaed.

Other states, including California, Washington and Wisconsin, have launched efforts to collect tobacco taxes from residents who dodged them online. A 2002 report (click for .pdf) from the U.S. General Accounting Office said most states tax the sale of cigarettes, and that online sales have cost them millions of dollars in lost revenue.

Internet shops that don't tell states about tobacco purchases by people other than licensed distributors are flouting a federal law known as the Jenkins Act. Laws that exempt online retailers from collecting sales taxes do not apply to tobacco excise taxes, the GAO report said.
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