All Shows

Show of 1-24-2004

  • Email of the Week
    • Keep sending the Newsletter to Austrailia ? Pat Neary
  • GOP staff had access to private Democrat files
    • Infiltration of files seen as extensive, according to Boston Globe
    • Confidential Democratic files in the Senate Judiciary Committee were not password protected
    • This security glitch dates back to 2001
    • When Democrats took control of the Senate after the defection from the GOP of Senator Jim Jeffords
    • A technician hired by Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont,? apparently made a mistake
    • ?Anyone could access newly created accounts on a Judiciary Committee server shared by both parties
    • According to Republicans, their computer technician informed his Democratic counterpart of the glitch, but nothing was done
    • Low level staffer scanned and printed files.
    • Some were released to the press regarding court nominees, particularly ?Estrada?
    • He has resigned to go back to school
  • Beware of Hotel Hackers
      • High speed Internet connections are springing up everywhere
      • Both wired and wireless
      • Many are set up as a single network neighborhood
      • So you can see the other ?guests? on the network
          • Look at shared subdirectories
          • Copy files, view pictures, etc.
          • Use their machines for a mail server of spam
      • Many laptops have shared directories to transfer files to/from the desktop
      • Providers can isolate each guest, but most don?t
      • You can either use Network Neighborhood to view the other guests
      • Serious hackers can use NNap to perform port scans them
      • Closing your ports is as important as, locking the door
  • Site of the Week: www.allofmp3.com
    • Russian MP3 download site now in English
    • Selling MP3 songs in with two billing methods
      • 1 cent per megabyte (or around 5 cents a song)
      • $14.95/month unlimited downloads
    • Accepts Paypal payments.
  • Superbowl Pepsi Ad to Feature Downloaders
    • 20 teens sued by the Recording Industry Association of America will appear in the Pepsi superbowl Pepsi ad
    • Ad kicks off a two-month offer of up to 100 million free ? legal ? downloads from Apple?s iTunes
    • Background music ?I Fought the Law?and the law won.?
    • The teens say ?We are still going to download music for free off the Internet.?
    • Announcer says ?Announcing the Pepsi iTunes Giveaway?
  • Computer Sleuthing Aid Troops in Iraq
    • Use techniques pioneered by big city police departments
    • Use software to predict location and timing of attacks
    • Study clusters of attacks for the time of day, day of week, location
    • Reroutes convoys to avoid hotspots
    • Uses three programs to record data on every bomb blast, every suspect detained, every tip recorded, digital fingerprints of suspects
    • Beginning to see patterns emerge
    • Commercial Off The Shelf Software (COTS)
        • Analyst?s Notebook by I2 Ltd, Cambridge, UK. (www.i2.co.uk)
          • Identifies factors contributing of an issue
          • Evaluates probable cause
          • Increases ability to rapidly achieve a broad-based understanding of complex issues
        • Crimelink by Precision Computing Intelligence, Arizona, (www.pciusa.us)
          • Compiles independent and unrelated data into orderly understandable formats
          • Supports photos, chart annotations, documents, audio, video of people and entities
  • Don?t Get Hooked by Phishing
    • E-mail scam requests info with fake form (PayPal)
    • Scam artists call as ?credit card reps? to verify account info (Visa, Mastercard)
    • Don?t fill out forms asking for critical data like SSN, password, account numbers
    • Don?t answer questions from callers asking for same info
    • Also shred sensitive financial data
  • DOJ Wants VoIP Wiretap Powers
    • DOJ urging FCC ?not to minimize? importance of wiretapping VoIP
    • Part of FCC?s broad ranging discussion of VoIP regulatory structure
    • Traditional telecom regulatory models do not apply
      • Pricing and Taxation
      • Communication Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) which requires facilities for lawful surveillance
    • FCC is expected to rule of the issue in 2004
  • Cyberbrain Behind Dean?s Campaign
    • Meet Zephyr Teachout
        • Wired 32-year old farm girl from Norwich, Vermont
        • Went to Yale as a track star, then Duke Law School,
        • Had 32 jobs before she arrived at Dean headquarters.
        • Known as ?Queen of the Dean Geek Corp?
    • Her vision is
        • Self-organization through peer-to-peer interaction using Meetup.com (meetup.com)
        • No central controls
        • Meetings organization by supporters through connection sites like
    • Created Dean Space (deanspace.org) a set of tools for dynamic website development. Based on Drupal (drupal.org), an open source content management system.
    • Also using open source php for web development
  • Lucrative Domain Names
    • Tiny island of Niue, located off the coast of New Zealand
      • Niue was all but wiped off the map at the end of last week when cyclone Heta sent 300kph winds and 20-metre waves smashing into a population of just 1,200 people. Perhaps 500 will remain
      • Over 100,000 .nu domains have been registered, mostly to the Swedes since "nu" means "now" in Swedish.
      • It also means "naked" in French but the French porn industry has yet to really cotton onto the domain.
      • Most successful domain name launch
    • Tuvalu Islands (population: 11,300)
    • The official rule, set up by Jon Postel in the early days of the Internet, is that if a country is included in the international list of countries (International Country Code Standard ISO 3166-1) then it is given a domain.
    • Four of the 243 quoted country code top-level domains don?t even have anyone living on them.
  • USB Printer Ports Finally on Wireless Access Points
    • The problem with home network printing
    • Netbios print sharing can be complicated with firewall, requires
        • Netbios over SPX/IPX, or
        • Port 137 passthrough
        • One computer always on
    • Network printers and print servers expensive
    • Print server on access point is cost effective and convenient
    • 802.11g Options: Dlink DI824VUP, Netgear FWG114P, IOGear GWA501, SMC2804WBRP-G
  • Stratford News
    • Current News
        • Voice over IP Lab setup for Masters in Telecommunications
        • Wireless security classes make antennas, design wireless link between Tysons and Woodbridge
        • Security classes most popular at the undergrad level
    • Masters Degrees e-Business, Telecommunications
    • Bachelor Degrees in IT, Business Administration, and Hospitality
    • Associated Degrees in Digital Design and Animation, Web Services and e-Business, Networking and Security, Culinary Arts, Hospitality, and Business Administration
    • Website: www.stratford.edu
    • Phone number: 800-444-0804