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per flip218,as he posted those on my site.
Filipino Recipies
All of these recipies are 1) Add ingredients into pot and boil/cook/or simmer till tender .. real easy
Bakarita
2 lbs. stewing meat
6 oz. Tomato paste
1 small red pepper
2 Tsp. sugar
1 garlic clove
little bit of oil
red potatoes (how ever much you want) I like baby reds
Soysauce (enough to get all meat lightly)
1 Tsp. Vinegar
salt & pepper
1 bottle of banana sauce (Very Important. You will have to go to an Asia store to buy. 1 bottle, because you have to put enough in to cover everything ... and don't get the spicy one)
Add all ingredients and cook till meat is tender.
198.81.26.47
Recipe By :
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Copycat
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
3 Pounds Chiken
2 Packages Italian salad dressing mix
3 Tablespoons Flour
2 Teaspoons Salt
1/4 Cup Lemon juice
1 Cup Milk
1 1/2 Cups Pancake mix
1 Teaspoon Paprika
1/2 Teaspoon Sage
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
Makae a paste out of the marinade ingredients. Coat chicken evenly.
Stack chicken pieces in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least for several hours.
Mix pancake mix with other seasonings.
Dip pieces of chicken in milk, then in pancake coating. Dust off excess.
Lightly brown in skillet with 1/2 inch vegtable oil in it. Brown for 4 minutes each side.
Remove and place in a single layer on shallow baking pan. Seal with flour.
Bake for 1 hour at 350 Uncover and baste again with milk.
Return, uncovered, to oven heated to 400, to crisp for 10 minutes.
Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter
2 medium yellow onions, peeled and sliced
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and sliced
3 cups milk
5-1/2 cups homemade chicken stock or use canned
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, whole
1 cup light cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped fresh chives
6 slices lean bacon, crisply fried and chopped
Instructions
Heat a 6- to 8-quart stockpot, add the butter and onion, and cook gently. Do not let the onion brown. Add the peeled and sliced potatoes, milk, and stock. Add the herbs. Cover and cook gently for about an hour.
Prepare a roux: Melt the butter in a small saucepan and whisk in the flour. Let the flour and butter mixture (roux) bubble for 2 minutes on medium-low heat, stirring constandly. Thicken the soup with the roux, whisking carefully to avoid lumps. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes and then puree the soup in a food processor or food blender. Add the cream and gently reheat, but do not boil. Season with the salt and pepper. Serve with chopped fresh chives and the crisply fried bacon as garnishes. This soup can also be made with the chopped white part of 5 or 6 large leeks instead of onions. Additional garnishes you can use instead of bacon are chopped prawns or a small dice of lobster.
Yield: 8-10 servings
Irish Potato Cheese Soup
6 servings
* 3 cups thinly sliced or diced peeled potatoes
* Very cold or ice water as needed
* 1˝ cups thinly sliced or coarsely chopped peeled onion
* 2 tablespoons butter, melted
* 1 cup hot water or 1 cup room temperature Guinness Stout or other Irish beer or porter
* 4 chicken bouillon cubes, divided
* 3 cups milk or reduced-fat or skim milk, divided (see note)
* 1 cup half-and-half (see note)
* 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese or Irish Cheddar-style cheese or reduced-fat cheddar cheese
* Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
* Minced parsley ( no stems) and/or crumbled crisp-cooked bacon as desired for garnish
Peel and slice or dice potatoes; immediately immerse in very cold or ice water to prevent discoloration and set aside. In a large heavy saucepan, saute onion in butter (or liberally coat saucepan with butter-flavored non-caloric vegetable cooking spray) over moderate heat until tender. Drain potatoes. Add potatoes, hot water or Guinness Stout, and 1 chicken bouillon cube to onions in saucepan; cook, covered, until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Add 2 cups milk, mixing well. Transfer mixture, a small amount at a time, to a blender container; cover and blend at medium speed until smooth. Return potato mixture to saucepan; add remaining 3 chicken bouillon cubes, 1 cup milk, 1 cup half-and-half, and cheese. Stir over low to moderate heat until cheese is melted and soup bubbly hot. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot in soup mugs. Garnish each serving with a sprinkle of minced parsley and/or crumbled crisp-cooked bacon as desired.
Note: May omit half-and-half; if desired; increase milk or reduced-fat or skim milk to 4 cups.
Variation: Add a few drops Worcestershire sauce and/or hot pepper sauce to soup mixture, if desired.
Irish Potato and Leek Soup Recipe #19315
This is a tasty, hearty soup for a cold winter's day or anytime.
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 cups leeks, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 medium potatoes, coarsely chopped
4 cups vegetable stock or water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 cups light cream
2 teaspoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh dill, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh tarragon, chopped
4-6 servings Change size or US/metric
Change to: servings US Metric
1 hour 30 mins prep
Irish Potato Soup Recipe #138986
Comfort food from Ireland with what else? Pototoes!!! We like our soup a little chunky so I dont use the sieve just do a light mash, and I normally always use chicken stock, and we sprinkle our bowls with anything from bacon to cheese to sour cream.
2 lbs potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 large onion, finely sliced
2 ounces butter, melted
1 quart vegetable stock
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon chives or parsley
nutmeg
1 pinch salt & pepper
1 teaspoon cornflour
4 servings Change size or US/metric
Change to: servings US Metric
50 minutes 10 mins prep
Hearty and traditional Irish lamb stew. It's best to refrigerate the stew overnight, and reheat it the next day for eating. This soup 'ages' well!"
Original recipe yield: 10 servings.
* 1 1/2 pounds thickly sliced bacon, diced
* 6 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 2 inch pieces
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 1/2 cup water
* 4 cups beef stock
* 2 teaspoons white sugar
* 4 cups diced carrots
* 2 large onions, cut into bite-size pieces
* 3 potatoes
* 1 teaspoon dried thyme
* 2 bay leaves
* 1 cup white wine
DIRECTIONS:
1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside.
2. Put lamb, salt, pepper, and flour in large mixing bowl. Toss to coat meat evenly. Brown meat in frying pan with bacon fat.
3. Place meat into stock pot (leave 1/4 cup of fat in frying pan). Add the garlic and yellow onion and saute till onion begins to become golden. Deglaze frying pan with 1/2 cup water and add the garlic-onion mixture to the stock pot with bacon pieces, beef stock, and sugar. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
4. Add carrots, onions, potatoes, thyme, bay leaves, and wine to pot. Reduce heat, and simmer covered for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender.
DVDFab is simply the easiest way to copy a DVD movie. Just insert the movie and a blank DVD then press Start.
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DVDFab Decrypter is a simple version of DVDFab Express. It copies entire DVD movie to hard disk, and removes all the protections (CSS, RC, RCE, Macrovision, UOPs and Sony ARccOS) while copying.
It copies entire DVD movie to hard disk, and removes all the protections (CSS, RC, RCE, Macrovision, UOPs and Sony ARccOS) while copying.
Changes from DVDFab Decrypter 2.9.6.6 to DVDFab Decrypter 2.9.6.8 Beta 2 :
- Change: Improved copying engine.
- Change: Fixed problem that DVD Shrink cannot locate main movie, when copying some Sony ARccOS protected DVDs, like "The Cave" (US).
- Fix: A corrupt data problem when copying "Wedding Crashers" (US).
- New: Added support for a new version of the Sony Arccos
protection as found on "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" R2 (Swiss German)
to the option to remove "Protection based on unreadable
Sectors"
NOTE: This Arccos version is not yet supported with
DVDShrink and Nero Recode. With elby CloneDVD 2.8.5.1
the quality bar will not work, but this is only a cosmetic
problem. We will try to support this Arccos version better
in the future.
- Updated languages
http://www.slysoft.com/en/download.html
Security researcher Mark Russinovich, the man who alerted the world to the presence of Sony BMG's XCP rootkit, is at it again. Russinovich and a team from F-Secure have discovered another rootkit in a commercial piece of software, this time from Symantec, a company known for their own security offerings. Symantec's Norton SystemWorks includes cloaking technology that hides a particular directory from the Windows APIs. While the goal of the software was a worthy one (the hidden directory was designed to keep users from deleting key files accidentally as part of SystemWorks' NProtect feature), the use of rootkit technology has inherent weaknesses that can be exploited by malware authors.
Since the hidden directory is cloaked from Windows, it is also hidden from most antivirus scans. Virus writers who know that the directory exists can use it to hide their own lethal payloads. While the exploit only poses a theoretical risk at this point, virus writers wasted no time in making use of Sony's rootkit once it became known. Symantec has issued an update for users of SystemWorks that will uncloak the directory.
This latest flap over root kits will no doubt heighten the controversy about whether a company can ever legitimately make these sorts of changes to a user's operating system. Russinovich argues that the answer is no, simply because of the massive potential for abuse.
"It's a bad, bad, bad idea to start hiding things in places where it presents a danger. I'm seeing it more and more with commercial vendors," Russinovich said in an interview with eWEEK. "When you use rootkit-type techniques, even if your intentions are good, the user no longer has full control of the machine. It's impossible to manage the security and health of that system if the owner is not in control."
Mikko Hypponen is the director of anti-virus research at F-Secure, and he is willing to concede that the issue is complicated?even so, he also stresses the inherent insecurity of these cloaking techniques. Like Russinovich, he also claims that rootkits are more widespread in commercial software than is generally known.
"The area is a little gray. We've seen a dozen or so commercial vendors hiding folders. Some are actual folder-hiding applications to handle things like parental controls where the target audience actually wants the folder hidden. But, even so, the risk of someone malicious making use of that hiding place is not something to ignore."
Symantec, of course, has always been famous for writing software that is difficult to uninstall and often requires manual intervention to be removed successfully. Most of their products integrate with this system at a very deep level, so it's not as though the rootkit functionality is a stylistic departure from their normal pattern. Usually this approach only creates software that is unfriendly to users, but in this case it appears to cross the line into being dangerous.
Speaking of rootkits, Sony BMG is also in the news again today, as a judge provisionally approved a settlement that will end the class action lawsuit against the company. If you are the proud owner of the disc that contains the infamous XCP technology, you've just won our lovely showcase of prizes! If you're holding a MediaMax disc, then thank you for playing, and we have some lovely parting gifts for you on the way out.
As we reported earlier, XCP owners not only can exchange their disc for a clean copy, but they also get a clean MP3 copy of the music on the disc, a cash payment of US$7.50, and one free album download. Users can also forgo the cash in favor of two more album downloads. You can send the discs in for replacement now, but willl have to wait until the settlement is finalized for the rest of it. Users who have MediaMax 3.0 discs are eligible only for a clean MP3 copy of their music, while those with version 5.0 get the MP3s and one free album download. The EFF has prepared a helpful FAQ about the settlement, should you have any further questions. One interesting item of note is that the settlement will force Sony to waive several of the most egregious elements of its EULAs, including those that limit fair use, resale of the disc, and your right to listen to the music should you go bankrupt. While this settlement should put an end to the class action lawsuit, it does nothing to halt the suits from the Texas Attorney General and other states.
Symantec Caught in Norton 'Rootkit' Flap
Reason number 4 Billion why I use NOD32 as my AV.
The anti-virus vendor admits to using a rootkit-type feature in Norton SystemWorks to hide a folder from Windows APIs, and ships an update to eliminate the risk of attackers using the feature to hide malicious files.
- Eweek.com
Symantec Caught in Norton 'Rootkit' Flap
By Ryan Naraine
January 11, 2006
1 comment posted
Add your opinion
Symantec Corp. has fessed up to using a rootkit-type feature in Norton SystemWorks that could provide the perfect hiding place for attackers to place malicious files on computers.
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The anti-virus vendor acknowledged that it was deliberately hiding a directory from Windows APIs as a feature to stop customers from accidentally deleting files but, prompted by warnings from security experts, the company shipped a SystemWorks update to eliminate the risk.
Symantec, of Cupertino, Calif., is the second commercial company caught in the flap over the use of rootkit-type techniques to hide files on computers. Rootkits are programs that are used to give a remote user access to a compromised system while avoiding detection from security scanners.
Music company Sony BMG faced a firestorm of criticism after anti-rootkit scanners fingered the use of stealthy rootkit-type techniques to cloak its DRM scheme. After malicious hackers used the Sony DRM rootkit as a hiding place for Trojans, the company suspended the use of the technology and recalled CDs with the offending copy protection mechanism.
A spokesman for Symantec referenced the Sony flap in a statement sent to eWEEK, but downplayed the risk to consumers. "In light of current techniques used by today's malicious attackers, Symantec re-evaluated the value of hiding the [previously cloaked] directory. Though the chance of an attacker using [it] as a possible attack vector is extremely slim, Symantec's update further protects computers by displaying the directory," the spokesman said.
PointerMicrosoft to zap Sony DRM 'rootkit.' Click here to read more.
He explained that the feature, called Norton Protected Recycle Bin, was built into Norton SystemWorks with a director called NProtect that is hidden from Windows APIs. Because it is cloaked, files in the NProtect directory might not be scanned during scheduled or manual virus scans.
"This could potentially provide a location for an attacker to hide a malicious file on a computer," the company admitted, noting that the updated version will now display the previously hidden directory in the Windows interface.
Despite the very low risk of this vulnerability, Symantec is "strongly" recommending that SystemWorks users update the product immediately to ensure greater protection. "To date, Symantec is not aware of any attempts by hackers to conceal malicious code in the NProtect folder," the spokesman added.
Mark Russinovich, the Windows internals guru who blew the whistle on Sony's controversial DRM rootkit, was credited with the SystemWorks discovery along with researchers at Finnish anti-virus vendor F-Secure Corp.
eWEEK.com Special Report: The Rise of Rootkits
Russinovich, creator of the RootkitRevealer anti-rootkit utility, said the use of rootkit-type features by commercial vendors is "very worrisome."
"It's a bad, bad, bad idea to start hiding things in places where it presents a danger. I'm seeing it more and more with commercial vendors," Russinovich said in an interview with eWEEK.
"When you use rootkit-type techniques, even if your intentions are good, the user no longer has full control of the machine. It's impossible to manage the security and health of that system if the owner is not in control."
Russinovich said Symantec was "very receptive" to the warnings that the hidden directory presented a real risk to computer users. "In Sony's case, it was meant as a benefit to Sony. In Symantec's case, they really believed it was a benefit to the consumer. I don't see the benefit but I think they had good intentions. They did the right thing by making this change," he added.
PointerSecurity vendors clueless over rootkit invasion. Click here to read more.
Russinovich, who plans to publish more evidence of commercial vendors using rootkits at Sysinternals.com, also pinpointed another big problem. "When you have different vendors changing the way Windows works, they start interfering with each other. Two or three rootkits on a machine could seriously change the way Windows behaves and that's another big concern," he said.
Mikko Hypponen, director of anti-virus research at the F-Secure Corp., said his company's BlackLight Rootkit Elimination Technology also detected the NProtect directory, which was hidden from the Windows FindFirst/FindNext APIs.
"We found out about this when we shipped the first BlackLight beta in March 2005 and started getting reports back from users. Then we tested it in our own labs and confirmed the functionality in Symantec. It's not a huge problem, but I'm glad they've now fixed it," Hypponen said in an interview.
eWEEK.com Special Report: Securing the Network
He confirmed Russinovich's contention that more and more legitimate commercial vendors are using cloaking mechanisms, warning that it is a "dangerous trend," even if the it's not an offensive, malicious rootkit.
"The area is a little gray. We've seen a dozen or so commercial vendors hiding folders. Some are actual folder-hiding applications to handle things like parental controls where the target audience actually wants the folder hidden. But, even so, the risk of someone malicious making use of that hiding place is not something to ignore," Hypponen said.
"That's the big risk. For now, it's completely a theoretical problem. But, as we saw in Sony's case, the bad guys figured it out within days that they could put a Trojan in the rootkit and sail by anti-virus scanners."
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1910077,00.asp
Businesses, educational institutions, governmental agencies and other organizations around the world are converting1 their computer operating systems from Microsoft Windows to Linux at an increasing pace. They are likewise converting their application programs from commercial software to free software (also referred to as open source software). There are at least 25 reasons for this situation, including:
(1) Because it is licensed under a free software license2, Linux (as well as other free software) is available at no cost. It can be downloaded from the Internet for free, and it can be purchased in disk or box form at trivial cost. One copy can be used on as many computers as desired with no restrictions. This is in sharp contrast to Microsoft Windows, which can easily cost US$100 or more per computer.
(2) Because it is free software, Linux is also free in the sense that anybody is permitted to modify it, including its source code, in any way desired. If modified versions are not redistributed (i.e., given away or sold outside of an organization), they can be kept secret. This is also in sharp contrast to Microsoft Windows, for which modification of the software is generally not permitted. Source code is the original version of a program as it is written by a programmer using a programming language and before being converted by a compiler into a form such that its instructions can be understood directly by a computer's CPU (central processing unit); it is generally necessary to have the source code in order to be able to make changes to a program. This ability to freely experiment with and modify the source code, and to do so without disclosing the modifications to outsiders, has been a very important consideration for a number of large organizations3.
(3) High quality support for Linux is available for free on the Internet, including in newsgroups and other forums. Some people claim that this support is at least as good as that provided for proprietary (i.e., commercial) operating systems for a fee. Linux support can also be purchased on a commercial basis if desired. Among the types of support that can be required for operating systems are help with customization, assistance in installing new programs, patches to cope with new security threats and patches to fix newly discovered bugs (i.e., defects). Fortunately, the need for the last two types is relatively infrequent for Linux.
(4) There is little possibility that support for Linux will be discontinued at some future date due to planned obsolescence or for any other reason. This is because the source code will always be available to anyone who wants it, including individuals who provide support for free over the Internet and businesses which provide it for a fee. In contrast, with Microsoft Windows and other proprietary software for which the source code is usually kept secret, obtaining support becomes difficult (from both a technical and a legal point of view) if the developer decides to withdraw it (for example in order to try to force users to pay for upgrades to newer versions).
(5) There is little or no fear of major obsolescence, planned or otherwise, with Linux. This is because the UNIX architecture on which it is based has been exhaustively tested and refined for more than 35 years and has proven to be extremely efficient, robust and secure. Improvements continue at a rapid pace, but new versions remain basically compatible with the underlying UNIX architecture.
(6) There are no forced upgrades4 for Linux users. This because older versions continue to be supported (e.g., with the development of new security patches and device drivers) and because newer versions, if desired, are available for free (as is all free software) and are typically highly compatible with older versions. The developers of proprietary software, however, have strong financial incentives to engage in planned obsolescence, namely, in order to induce users of earlier versions to spend money to buy or lease new versions.
(7) Should a user decide to upgrade to a newer version of Linux, there are no licensing fees or other software costs if the user selects a free distribution (i.e., version). Moreover, the training, program modification/conversion, hardware acquisition and other costs associated with upgrading to a new version are also relatively low due to the compatibility with earlier versions.
(8) Linux has no onerous requirements for keeping track of licenses. In a company with hundreds or thousands of computers, a number of full time personnel can be required just to make sure that all of the computers in use are in compliance with the complex licensing terms of the EULAs (end user license agreements) for Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office and other proprietary software. And for Linux users there is no fear of surprise audits by the BSA (Business Software Alliance)5, with possible severe penalties for minor license violations.
(9) Linux features superior security, including a very low rate of infection by viruses, trojans, worms, spyware and other malware. This is because UNIX and all of its descendants (including Linux) been designed from the ground up with security in mind, rather than having attempts at security tacked on as an afterthought. For example, users do not routinely use the system as the root (i.e., administrative) user, thereby protecting key system files even in the event of a break-in by a malicious intruder. Also, a robust firewall is included in major distributions and it is enabled by default. Another important factor is the free availability of the source code, which allows thousands of people around the globe to search for security vulnerabilities in it6.
(10) Linux is highly resistant to system crashes and rarely needs rebooting (i.e., restarting). This can be very important for large organizations for which even a few minutes of down time can result in a substantial cost. The reason is that Linux has been designed from the ground up to be an extremely stable and robust operating system, incorporating all that has been learned about attaining these goals from the more than 35 years of history of Unix-like operating systems.
(11) An extensive selection of high quality application programs is available for use with Linux, most of which are also free software (including nearly all of the most popular ones). Many of them have features and performance equal or superior to those of comparable applications for use with Microsoft Windows. In fact, users often find that all the applications that they want are available freely on the Internet and that it is no longer necessary to purchase any commercial software.
(12) There is a choice of numerous distributions (several hundred) of Linux, each with its own unique set of characteristics but all basically compatible with each other. This allows users to select the versions which best meet their specific requirements. It also means that if one provider of Linux were to go out of business, there would still be many others from which to choose. Moreover, it fosters a healthy competition among them, thereby contributing to the continuous improvements in Linux's quality and performance. If the choice seems overwhelming, it is usually difficult to make a mistake by selecting one of the most popular distributions, such as Red Hat or SuSE.
(13) Linux features a high degree of flexibility of configuration, and a great deal of customization can be accomplished very easily and without having to modify the source code. For example, it is a simple matter to configure Linux during installation so that it will be optimized for use as a workstation, desktop computer, notebook computer, web server, database server or a router. Likewise, the appearance and behavior of the desktop, including icons and menus, can be configured in an almost infinite number of ways, according to user tastes or requirements. They can even be made to resemble Microsoft Windows. Should this not be enough, the ability to freely access, revise and recompile the source code allows virtually unlimited flexibility of configuration.
(14) Linux and other free software uses open format file formats. These are formats for word processing, spreadsheet and other file types that conform to industry-wide standards and which can be used by any developer of software to create compatible programs, in contrast to the closed formats commonly used by some proprietary software. This eliminates the problem of lock-in to proprietary standards, with the consequent difficulty and expense of switching to other software in the future. It allows the user to have complete control of its data, particularly in the event that at some future date the developer who originally created the software goes out of business or stops supporting its earlier software.
(15) Linux is generally faster for a given set of hardware specifications. This is due to greater optimization of the source code, including far less code bloat.
(16) Linux features a high degree of compatibility with other operating systems. For example, it can read, write, copy, erase and otherwise manipulate data that resides on Microsoft Windows partitions on the same hard disk drive (HDD), act as a Windows server for a network containing Windows clients, format disks for use with Windows, and even run Windows programs directly if necessary. In contrast, the Microsoft Windows operating systems cannot access HDD partitions that contain other operating systems, cannot format disks for other operating systems, etc.
(17) Very high ethical standards are maintained for Linux and other free software, in large part due to the very openness of their development process and the free availability of the source code. Linux has never been convicted in a Federal court of violation of U.S. antitrust laws or other crimes, nor has it had to pay penalties for the unauthorized copying of technology developed by other companies.
(18) Linux reduces the need to upgrade or replace hardware when upgrading to newer versions. This is because its code is very efficient and compact, thus allowing it to work effectively on older computers that are not suitable for the newest versions of Microsoft Windows.
(19) Linux is capable of operating on a wide variety of platforms (i.e., processor and system types), rather than just being limited to Intel-compatible processors and computers. It scales well and is well suited for use on a diverse array of equipment ranging from supercomputers to industrial robots to electronic medical equipment to cell phones (and can even run on a wristwatch).
(20) Linux is a superior choice for use in academic institutions for a number of reasons. Among them is the fact that there are no secrets (in sharp contrast to proprietary software), thereby providing students the opportunity to study how computers really work rather than to just learn how to use them. Many educators are convinced that it is far more important for students to study computer science fundamentals than to practice specific applications (such as Microsoft Word or Microsoft PowerPoint). One reason is that computer science fundamentals will still be valid many years from now, whereas the specific application programs, especially the proprietary ones that do not conform to industry-wide standards, are constantly changing and those currently in use will likely become obsolete in a few years7.
(21) For governmental agencies, Linux and other free software allows for transparency of data because it stores the data in formats consistent with industry-wide standards. This is in contrast to the proprietary, closed formats characteristic of commercial software. Such transparency is important for maintaining an effective democracy. Keeping non-secret data in standards-compliant formats allows anyone to access it without having to purchase expensive proprietary software. Also, storing secret data in standards-compliant formats is widely regarding as being more secure than keeping it in proprietary formats.
(22) With Linux and other free software there is little reason to fear the existence of backdoors, in large part because all of the source code is available for inspection. A backdoor is a secret method for obtaining remote access to a computer. There is a (not unjustified) concern by many foreign governments and corporations that back doors have been covertly inserted into proprietary software that could allow the software developer and agencies of other governments to snoop into their most confidential data.
(23) Using and advocating Linux helps foster a healthy diversity and increased competition throughout the software industry. Such competition can promote technological advance, improve performance and lower costs for open source software and proprietary software alike. Both economic theory and hundreds of years of real-world experience clearly show that monopolies have little incentive to innovate, tend to produce shoddy products, charge inflated prices and tend to corrupt the political system.
(24) Linux and other free software have not only caught up with, or some cases surpassed, their proprietary counterparts, but they are also developing at a faster pace8. This trend will accelerate as demand for such software continues to grow and more and more individuals and organizations become actively involved it its development.
(25) Linux and other free software provide the opportunity for users to contribute to the advance of software technology because the source code is freely available to study, improve, extend and redistribute. This has been fairly common, and the most notable corporate example has been IBM. In addition to giving back to the software community and being a virtue in itself, such contributions can have great public relations value.
There are also several situations in which businesses and other organizations might benefit from converting their operating systems from Linux to Microsoft Windows:
(1) An organization that is downsizing its operation and already has valid but unused licenses for Microsoft Windows might be able to reduce personnel costs by replacing its Linux experts with Windows administrators, as the latter can generally be hired for significantly less than Linux administrators.
(2) Were Microsoft to offer an organization an extremely low cost incentive package, including providing long-term licenses (and upgrades) at nominal cost, paying for new hardware and providing free training and support, this could be a very attractive proposition. In fact, it could be a win-win situation because of the great publicity value that could accrue to Microsoft from a company or other organization converting from Linux to Windows.
________
1For links to articles about some recent conversions to Linux, see Linux Success Stories, The Linux Information Project, December 2005.
2Linux and most other free software is licensed under the GNU Public License (GPL). This highly successful license has been specifically designed to provide as much freedom as possible for users, both in a monetary sense and with regard to use. The GPL allows anyone to freely access the source code for software licensed under it in order to study, use, modify, extend and redistribute it as desired with only the very minimal requirements of always making the source code for redistributions of modified versions freely available and including a copy of the GPL text with the software.
It should be pointed out in this context that there are also compiled versions of Linux that are not free in a monetary sense, which is also permitted by the GPL. However, they are not necessarily any better than the free versions. Businesses and other organizations have the option of selecting whether they want a free or non-free version, and if they select the former, they have many distributions from which to choose.
3This is a major reason that Google selected Linux, according to industry sources.
4Forced upgrades occur when the developer stops supporting an earlier version of its software, and thus security patches for the newest viruses and other malware become unavailable and drivers are no longer developed for new hardware. Thus, many users have little choice but to purchase or lease the newest version. This can be very costly because of the licensing fees or other payments that must be made to the software developer or vendor. Further adding to the cost is the frequent need to purchase new hardware to accommodate the bloated code in the new versions of the software. In addition, installing the new software and troubleshooting it can be very time-consuming for system administrators and disruptive for business operations.
5 The highly controversial BSA is an international organization that was set up by major developers of proprietary software. It is empowered by the mandatory EULAs accompanying such software to make surprise audits on users and to levy heavy fines in the event of violation.
6 The is the same principle that is employed by public key cryptography (PKC), which is the most secure form of data encryption. And it is the opposite of the approach used with proprietary software, for which an attempt is made to keep the source code secret as a means of hiding security vulnerabilities.
7 For a more detailed look at the reasons that Linux is the best choice for use in educational institutions, see Linux and Education, The Linux Information Project, March 2004.
8Numerous examples could be cited. For example, Apache is the dominant web server, hosting far more web sites than any of its proprietary counterparts. Likewise, it is widely agreed that the free FireFox and Opera web browsers are far more advanced (in terms of security, usability, etc.) than Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer is free in a monetary sense, but it is not free software because the source code is not made available and users are prohibited from modifying it.
http://www.bellevuelinux.org/reasons_to_convert.html
DVD KNIFE..........Simple tool for extracting video clips from your DVD. The extracted clips will be stored in VOB(DVD) format only. You may copy part of the DVD movie from DVD to hard disk directly. DVD clips unlike video cd are stored in MPEG-2 format.....(free).....GO THERE!
http://www.vcsoftwares.com/
SpeeDefrag 3.0
Wanna defrag your hard disk fast just download SpeeDefrag and feel the difference
Copy Cat 2.0
Wanna copy scratched DVD's or CD's download Copy Cat and feel the fun.
Mp3 Knife 3.0
Wanna cut mp3 songs into pieces just download Mp3 Knife and feel the difference..
Shutdown After 1.0
Wanna schedule windows shutdown download ShutDown After and feel the fun...
DRM has only one purpose: To make you pay multiple times for the content you
used to be able to pay once and enjoy. Instead of owning a CD, you might only
own some bits that evaporate after being viewed a number of times, or an
expiration date. The content cartel wants to create a future where you never
really "own" any content, but only "rent" it.
VIRTUAL CD-ROM CONTROL PANEL..........Create a virtual CD drive on your Windows hard disk. For anyone unfamiliar with the terms 'virtual CD' or 'CD emulator', they mean that you can copy the entire contents of a CD-ROM to your hard disk and run the programs or access the files without the need for the original CD. This can make files more accessible, faster and more convenient. Given the speed and size of today's hard drives, you could easily fit a number of CDs onto your hard drive without noticing the difference. Assuming you had 30 full CDs, these would take around 20GB on a hard drive and all will be accessible after a few clicks of a mouse. Hard drives are about 10 times faster than a CD, plus you can instantly access the file instead of grabbing the CD case, inserting the CD and awaiting for the contents to load. It's true, you could try copying the files over to the hard drive, but this can get messy, plus some programs require a CD to be loaded in order to run. This virtual CD program 'pretends' it is a CD drive (even though the files are on your hard drive), so your programs will run as normal. (Link is to the great folks at Softpedia!) .....(free).....GO THERE!
http://www.softpedia.com/get/CD-DVD-Tools/Virtual-CD-DVD-Rom/Virt...
irtual CDROM Control Panel description Download
This free program for Windows XP lets you create a virtual CD drive on your hard disk. Some visitors to the site have confirmed that it works with Windows 2000 too (but this is not stated in Microsoft's official readme).
For anyone unfamiliar with the terms 'virtual CD' or 'CD emulator', they mean that you can copy the entire contents of a CD-ROM to your hard disk and run the programs or access the files without the need for the original CD. This can make files more accessible, faster and more convenient. Given the speed and size of today's hard drives, you could easily fit a number of CDs onto your hard drive without noticing the difference. Assuming you had 30 full CDs, these would take around 20GB on a hard drive and all will be accessible after a few clicks of a mouse.
Hard drives are about 10 times faster than a CD, plus you can instantly access the file instead of grabbing the CD case, inserting the CD and awaiting for the contents to load. It's true, you could try copying the files over to the hard drive, but this can get messy, plus some programs require a CD to be loaded in order to run. This virtual CD program 'pretends' it is a CD drive (even though the files are on your hard drive), so your programs will run as normal.
It only works with ISO images
Installation instructions
=========================
1. Copy VCdRom.sys to your %systemroot%system32drivers folder.
2. Execute VCdControlTool.exe
3. Click "Driver control"
4. If the "Install Driver" button is available, click it. Navigate to the %systemroot%system32drivers folder, select VCdRom.sys, and click Open.
5. Click "Start"
6. Click OK
7. Click "Add Drive" to add a drive to the drive list. Ensure that the drive added is not a local drive. If it is, continue to click "Add Drive" until an unused drive letter is available.
8. Select an unused drive letter from the drive list and click "Mount".
9. Navigate to the image file, select it, and click "OK". UNC naming conventions should not be used, however mapped network drives should be OK.
You may now use the drive letter as if it were a local CD-ROM device. When you are finished you may unmount, stop, and remove the driver from memory using the driver control.
p2pnet.net Feature:- p2pnet's Movies File Share Top Ten is compiled from statistics supplied by p2pnet research company Big Champage.
Only on p2pnet.
If you want to see how BC develops them, head over to the music FSTT, or go to our Q&A with ceo Eric Garland here.
(Note: If a movie returns after being out of the charts for two weeks or longer, it's designated 'new'.) 'Return' means back after a week's absence.
Movies Top Ten File Share Downloads, Global
Week ending January 12, 2006
Ranking Movie Number of Downloads
01 >>> The Chronicles of Narnia (unchanged) 1,020,650
02 >>> King Kong (unchanged) 1,004,540
03 >>> Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire (unchanged) 991,594
04 >>> Mr & Mrs Smith (unchanged) 956,307
05 >>> Fantastic Four + #6 936,333
06 >>> The 40 Year Old Virgin 932,444
07 >>> War Of The Worlds - #5 929,932
08 >>> Four Brothers (new) 890,515
09 >>> Batman Begins (unchanged) 882,979
10 >>> Fun with Dick and Jane (unchanged) 880,491
Movies Top Ten File Share Downloads, USA
Week ending January 12, 2006
Ranking Movie Number of Downloads
01 >>> The Chronicles of Narnia (LWW) (unchanged) 552,225
02 >>> King Kong (unchanged) 538,707
03 >>> Mr & Mrs Smith + #4 528,646
04 >>> Fantastic Four + #5 526,961
05 >>> Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire - #3 510,158
06 >>> Four Brothers (new) 505,606
07 >>> The 40 Year Old Virgin + #8 504,302
08 >>> Fun with Dick and Jane - #7 490,836
09 >>> The Family Stone - #6 475,858
10 >>> The Wedding Crashers (new) 450,993
http://p2pnet.net/story/7592
p2p news / p2pnet: SunnComm is touting its 'new' MediaMax Version 6 on the MediaMax Technology web site.
The Sony-BMG Settlement Agreement precluded Sony-BMG from using MediaMax V3 or V5 in the future, but no sooner had the agreement conditions been made public than SunnComm trolls were suggesting on various message boards that MediaMax V6 would be quickly released and it would be back to business as usual.
With the publication on the web site of the V6 features yesterday, the trolls were posting on Freedom-To-Tinker that Sony-BMG had already decided to use MediaMax V6 on a new release this month:
I hear Sony-BMG are thrilled with V6. It's GO GO GO from here on in. Those who just want to steal music and those who pretend to be for consumer rights (but really just want to steal music too) lose again. And I hear Sony will be using V6 on a major release this month.
The V6 PDF file on the MediaMax Technology web site makes interesting reading. Functionally, it's identical to MediaMax V5, except for comments regarding the redesigned EULA. However, this paragraph from the PDF file begs for further scrutiny....
Additional certifications pending ? MediaMax has become the most scrutinized battle-tested software in the world. This newest version is designed from the ground up using Microsoft?s latest development tools with a constant awareness of potential security vulnerabilities. As with all previous versions of MediaMax, there is no use of rootkits or other hacker-like elements and no hidden files.
Calling MediaMax the most scrutinized, battle-tested software in the world is a bit rich. It didn't take Alex Halderman long to discover it could be defeated by simply holding down the shift key. And when the EFF arranged for MediaMax V5 to be tested, it was quickly discovered that the product created serious security exposures.
It's also nonsense to suggest V6 was designed from the ground up when it's the same as V5, apart from the fact it could hardly have been redesigned and redeveloped in a few short weeks.
But it's the last line of the paragraph above that puts beyond doubt the lack of credibility of the whole document. It claims, "like all previous versions of MediaMax, there are no hidden files".
Much to the chagrin of SunnComm ceo Peter Jacobs (upper right), all of the Q&As from his AskThe Prez web page have been archived to message boards and provide a permanent record of his answers long after they've been removed from the AskThePrez web site itself. The answers have often come back to haunt him and, like before, he'll have to eat his own words when it comes to MediaMax (including previous versions) not having hidden files.
Here's his reply to a question shortly after Princeton graduate Halderman exposed the Shift Key DRM bypass.
My friend, I´m going to print your letter as it represents the 1000´s of emails I´ve received from like-minded people who, like you, didn´t bother to read enough to understand the Princeton situation.
SunnComm´s position was that Mr. Halderman violated the DMCA by revealing the hidden MediaMax management file name that is placed on a user´s PC, along with instructions on how to remove it.
The SunnComm-alleged violation had NOTHING to do with the Shift Key. He knows it and we know it.
By publicly saying things like, "Gee, if telling people about the Shift Key is a violation of the DMCA, then we need to change that bad law," Halderman is purposely mis-directing the debate, and, by doing so, stoops to a level far below that of his adversaries. The ends NEVER justify the means. I think he´s had enough computer science classes. He needs some time in morality class.
Sorry for the long response, but you did ask me what I thought.
Sincerely,
Peter
The only reason the MediaMax file is no longer hidden is because Halderman told us about the file. But to suggest it was never hidden, or that there never was an intention to hide it, is proven false by Jacobs own words.
One could even add this comment that Jacobs made in an article to further highlight the intent to hide the file:
Future versions of the SunnComm software would include ways that the copy-protecting files would change their name on different computers, making them harder to find, Jacobs said. Moreover, the company will distribute the technology along with third-party software, so that it doesn't always come off a protected CD, he added.
Because SunnComm has in the past managed to get away with publishing a press release on a deal that turned out to be ficticious, - the customer, Will-Shown Technology, didn't even exist - perhaps it believes it can get away with this as well.
The Professional Device Hole
Thursday January 12, 2006 by Ed Felten
Any American parent with kids of a certain age knows Louis Sachar?s novel Holes, and the movie made from it. It?s set somewhere in the Texas desert, at a boot camp for troublemaking kids. The kids are forced to work all day in the scorching sun, digging holes in the rock-hard ground then re-filling them. It seems utterly pointless but the grown-ups say it builds character. Eventually we learn that the holes aren?t pointless but in fact serve the interests of a few nasty grown-ups.
Speaking of holes, and pointless exercises, last month Reps. Sensenbrenner and Conyers introduced a bill, the Digital Transition Content Security Act, also known as the Analog Hole Bill.
?Analog hole? is an artfully chosen term, referring to the fact that audio and video can be readily converted back and forth between digital and analog formats. This is just a fact about the universe, but calling it a ?hole? makes it sound like a problem that might possibly be solved. The last large-scale attack on the analog hole was the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) which went down in flames in 2002 after its technology was shown to be ineffective (and after SDMI famously threatened to sue researchers for analyzing the technology).
The Analog Hole Bill would mandate that any devices that can translate certain types of video signals from analog to digital form must comply with a Byzantine set of design restrictions that talk about things like ?certified digital content rights protection output technologies?. Let?s put aside for now the details of the technology design being mandated; I?ll critique them in a later post. I want to write today about the bill?s exemption for ?professional devices?:
PROFESSIONAL DEVICE.?(A) The term??professional device?? means a device that is designed, manufactured, marketed, and intended for use by a person who regularly employs such a device for lawful business or industrial purposes, such as making, performing, displaying, distributing, or transmitting copies of audiovisual works on a commercial scale at the request of, or with the explicit permission of, the copyright owner.
(B) If a device is marketed to or is commonly purchased by persons other than those described in subparagraph (A), then such device shall not be considered to be a ??professional device??.
Tim Lee at Tech Liberation Front points out one problem with this exemption:
?Professional? devices, you see, are exempt from the restrictions that apply to all other audiovisual products. This raises some obvious questions: is it the responsibility of a ?professional device? maker to ensure that too many ?non-professionals? don?t purchase their product? If a company lowers its price too much, thereby allowing too many of the riffraff to buy it, does the company become guilty of distributing a piracy device? Perhaps the government needs to start issuing ?video professional? licenses so we know who?s allowed to be part of this elite class?
I think this legislative strategy is extremely revealing. Clearly, Sensenbrenner?s Hollywood allies realized that all this copy-protection nonsense could cause problems for their own employees, who obviously need the unfettered ability to create, manipulate, and convert analog and digital content. This is quite a reasonable fear: if you require all devices to recognize and respect encoded copy-protection information, you might discover that content which you have a legitimate right to access has been locked out of reach by over-zealous hardware. But rather than taking that as a hint that there?s something wrong with the whole concept of legislatively-mandated copy-protection technology, Hollywood?s lobbyists took the easy way out: they got themselves exempted from the reach of the legislation.
In fact, the professional device hole is even better for Hollywood than Tim Lee realizes. Not only will it protect Hollywood from the downside of the bill, it will also create new barriers to entry, making it harder for amateurs to create and distribute video content ? and just at the moment when technology seems to be enabling high-quality amateur video distribution.
The really interesting thing about the professional device hole is that it makes one provision of the bill utterly impossible to put into practice. For those reading along at home, I?m referring to the robustness rulemaking of section 202(1), which requires the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to establish technical requirements that (among other things) ?can only with difficulty be defeated or circumvented by use of professional tools or equipment?. But there?s a small problem: professional tools are exempt from the technical requirements.
The robustness requirements, in other words, have to stop professional tools from copying content ? and they have to do that, somehow, without regulating what professional tools can do. That, as they say, is a tall order.
That?s all for today, class. Here?s the homework, due next time:
(1) Table W, the most technical part of the bill, contains an error. (It?s a substantive error, not just a typo.) Explain what the error is.
(2) How would you fix the error?
(3) What can we learn from the fact that the error is still in the bill at this late date?
This entry was posted on Thursday January 12, 2006 at 6:52 am and is filed under Uncategorized, DRM, Analog Hole. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
41 Responses to ?The Professional Device Hole?
1. Kevin Says:
January 12th, 2006 at 7:26 am
Hmm, did you and I spot the same error? The dog that didn?t bark in the night?
2. Phil Says:
January 12th, 2006 at 8:43 am
?Professional? equipment isn?t that hard to get. I?ve got a professional video time base corrector, used to clean up analog video (I use it when capturing video for online editing and transfer to homemade DVDs), that coincidentally happens to remove Macrovision copy protection. I?ve got a professional converter for digital audio that allows me to input cable-based SPDIF (from my home theater DVD player) and output fiber-based SPDIF (for my home theater amp), which just happens to reset or turn off SCMS copy management. The grand total for both items was well under $200 on ebay.
3. Quarthinos Says:
January 12th, 2006 at 8:50 am
As far as table W? It seems to me that automatically assuming that an ?INCONSISTENT STATE? means that the media has been tampered with and should automatically be treated as protected is bad practice. I would think it?s possible that some form of hardware or software error, or just a scratch on the disc, might cause an ?INCONSISTENT STATE? for media that was never copy protected.
(2) is left as an excercise for the reader.
(3) that Hollywood has tried to keep the text of this bill hidden for as long as possible to increase it?s chances of passing?
4. Anonymous Says:
January 12th, 2006 at 9:02 am
Laugh all you like, but when SunnComm releases products using the technology our parner company Mediamax Technology aquired from DarkNoise, the analog hole will be a thing of the past.
Wow, I can?t tell if the spew about darknoise is a troll or just another clueless idiot who doesn?t understand the the so-called ?analog hole? is unavoidable without side effects that even the media industries don?t want. Sit back and relax, I say: the media industries have survived player pianos, cassette tapes, and home VCRs.. they?ll survive CD & DVD burners too.
6. Tim Howland Says:
January 12th, 2006 at 9:53 am
Wow, so the government is going to be involved in certifying who is and isn?t ?professional?, and therefore allowed to buy ?professional equipment?? Because if too many non-professionals are allowed to buy the equipment, the government will have to sanction the manufacturer?
Suddenly free speech- and publishing- only applies to people using media production tools for ?lawful business and industrial purposes?? Not exactly what Jefferson and Franklin had in mind, I suspect.
Seems like even if the idiots in washington pass this bill, the odds of it surviving judicial review are pretty slim. Of course, the odds of anyone who breaks an American?s TV set getting re-elected are also pretty slim.
Anyone got a list of the members of congress who voted this moronic bill out of comittee, so we can encourage them not to proceed with their foolishness?
7. Dave Says:
January 12th, 2006 at 10:22 am
The whole bill is the ?error.?
8. Chad Says:
January 12th, 2006 at 10:27 am
@Quarthinos
I think it is even more telling that table W refers to ?bits? in analog data. It would be more appropriate to refer to ?signal?,
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=954
Music labels could be in trouble over how they charge subscription services
1/13/2006 2:02:44 PM, by Eric Bangeman
I don't know whatever happened to the old brokerage firm EF Hutton, but I still remember the commercial tagline, "when EF Hutton talks, people listen." Here's an updated version: "when New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer talks, the music industry listens." Spitzer recently launched an investigation into price fixing in online music sales. As the investigation continues, some are calling (subscription required) for him to look into prices offered to the subscription services as well.
Currently, subscription services lack the popularity of the per-song download model. Whether that is because consumers don't understand the value proposition of a all-you-can-listen-to subscription model or don't like renting music is a discussion for another time. At issue here are the prices that services such as Microsoft, Yahoo, Napster, Real, and others pay to the labels in order to offer the music.
According to sources inside the music industry, each of the agreements signed with the music subscription services contain a "most favored nation" clause. MFNs guarantee a label the best possible rate from the services by forcing the likes of Napster to increase its payments should another label sign a more lucrative deal. So if Sony BMG has a deal with Yahoo that pays it 10˘ (note: all numbers are purely hypothetical) each time a song is streamed to a Yahoo! Music subscriber and the EMI Group subsequently comes to terms with Yahoo for 12˘, Sony BMG will also have its payments raised to 12˘ per song.
It is a common practice for companies to negotiate MFN agreements with their suppliers (e.g., a large corporation negotiating long-distance rates with a telecom) as well as in retail, where large chains have MFN clauses with their wholesalers. When it comes to the music business, such agreements are frowned upon.
"Seller-side MFNs are inherently price-increasing and anticompetitive," says Jonathan Potter, executive director of the Digital Media Association, a trade organization whose members include Apple, Yahoo, Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, Microsoft Corp.'s MSN, RealNetworks, Napster, Viacom Inc.'s MTV, and MusicNet Inc.
The end result is collusion on pricing, or something so close to it as to be indistinguishable. Subscription services are then forced to eat the additional costs of MFN agreements or pass them on to consumers in the form of higher prices. The US Department of Justice looked into MFN clauses and their effect on online services back in 2003 and decided not to take any action. However, the market has evolved markedly in the two-plus years since then.
Music services dislike MFN clauses, and while they resist, they are often forced to sign on the dotted line in order to get access to the labels' catalogs. One wonders whether MFNs played a role in Microsoft's struggles to create its own subscription service prior to the launch of Urge.
Regardless of your feelings about music subscription services, this is a story worth keeping an eye on. Record labels haven proven themselves to be avaricious when it comes to selling and licensing their content, and they've been busted for it. Given Eliot Spitzer's history as an entertainment industry watchdog, the labels' greed may land them in another pot of anticompetitive hot water.
p2p news / p2pnet: Has the MPAA fallen into a black hole?
We just surfed over to the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) media site at MPAA.org/MPAAPress/index.htm" class="korostus" target="_blank">http://www.MPAA.org/MPAAPress/index.htm to check out the latest PR drivel and got:
The page cannot be found
The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.
So we went to MPAA.org/MPAAPress/" class="korostus" target="_blank">http://www.MPAA.org/MPAAPress/ and saw, "The page cannot be found".
MPAA.org" class="korostus" target="_blank">http://www.MPAA.org was next and, Bad Request (Invalid Header Name)
MPAA Taiwan bust
p2p news / p2pnet: Expect soon to see mainstream media reports saying MPAA clone the MPA has busted a movie pirate in Taiwan who was burning more than 1,500,000 CDs a year, pulling in over $8,330,000 annually.
Hollywood's Foundation for the Protection of Film and Video Works (FVWP) representing the Motion Picture Association (MPA), the overseas version of the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), "joined Taiwan?s IPR Police Task Force in a raid on a pirate optical disc manufacturing and distribution facility in Hsinchu City, seizing a total of 101 DVDR and CD-R burners and arresting a 32-year-old man on suspicion of infringing Taiwan?s Copyright Law," says the MPAA.
Last summer the MPAA's Keystone Kops raided what they said was an illicit disc-burning operation nearer to home ? in Los Angeles, in fact. Helped this time by the Southern California High Tech Task Force, the MPAA ?raided? New Century Media, a legal LA duplicating business. Afterwards, it claimed it had seized ?$30 million in illegal stampers and DVDs".
However, the $30 million figure was pure Hollywood fiction, no ?pirate? product was seized and, "False allegations" have "slandered our name and reputation and damaged the business that my husband and I spent 14 years to build," said company owner Jennifer Yu.
The MPAA dreamed up the figures by estimating the value of the DVDs seized, and the value of DVDs that might have been produced using the equipment".
In the Taiwan exercise, "The seized burners were capable of producing as many as 1,706,400 pirated DVD-Rs and 1,584,000 CD-Rs in one year, yielding revenues of $8,332,017, assuming the burners were in operation ten-hours-a-day, seven-days-per-week," said the MPAA.
Where would the MPAA be without "estimated" or "suspected" or "capable of" or "as many as" or "assuming"?
Also See:
illicit disc-burning operation - MPAA kops in another 'raid', June 25 12, 2005
Hollywood fiction - IFPI 'ravaged by pirates' report, June 24, 2005
This thread is getting better than the AD Newsletter for info. I am really getting in the know about current news. Keep it going, I am enjoying it very much :)
This is the May 26, 2004 revision of the official Internet DVD FAQ for the rec.video.dvd Usenet newsgroups.
(See below for what's new.) Send corrections, additions, and new questions to Jim Taylor <jtfrog@usa.net>.
This FAQ is updated at least once a month. If you are looking at a version more than a month old, it's an out-of-date copy. The most current version is at DVD Demystified.
* [0.1] Has the DVD FAQ been translated into other languages?
* [0.2] This FAQ is too long and technical. Is there a simpler version?
* [0.3] Is this FAQ any good? Who wrote it? How do I know it's accurate?
* [0.4] How big is this thing?
# [1] General DVD
* [1.1] What is DVD?
* [1.2] What are the features of DVD-Video?
* [1.3] What's the quality of DVD-Video?
* [1.4] What are the disadvantages of DVD?
* [1.5] What DVD players and drives are available?
o [1.5.1] Which player should I buy?
* [1.6] What DVD titles are available?
o [1.6.1] Where can I read reviews of DVDs?
o [1.6.2] How do I find out when a movie or TV show will be available on DVD?
o [1.6.3] Why isn't my favorite movie on DVD?
o [1.6.4] How can I find DVDs with specific features or characteristics?
o [1.6.5] Why do some rental stores and retailers not carry widescreen DVDs?
* [1.7] How much do players and drives cost?
* [1.8] How much do discs cost?
* [1.9] How is DVD doing? Where can I get statistics?
* [1.10] What are "regional codes," "country codes," or "zone locks"?
* [1.11] What are the copy protection issues?
* [1.12] What about DVD-Audio or Music DVD?
* [1.13] Which studios support DVD?
* [1.14] Can DVD record from TV/VCR/etc?
* [1.15] What happens if I scratch the disc? Aren't discs too fragile to be rented?
* [1.16] VHS is good enough, why should I care about DVD?
* [1.17] Is the packaging different from CD?
* [1.18] What's a dual-layer disc? Will it work in all players?
* [1.19] Is DVD-Video a worldwide standard? Does it work with NTSC, PAL, and SECAM?
* [1.20] What about animation on DVD? Doesn't it compress poorly?
* [1.21] Why do some discs require side flipping? Can't DVDs hold four hours per side?
* [1.22] Why is the picture squished, making things look too skinny?
* [1.23] Do all videos use Dolby Digital (AC-3)? Do they all have 5.1 channels?
* [1.24] Can DVDs have "laser rot"?
* [1.25] Which titles are pan & scan only? Why?
* [1.26] How do I make the subtitles on my Pioneer player go away?
* [1.27] Why does playback sometimes freeze for a second?
* [1.28] The disc says Dolby Digital. Why do I get 2-channel surround audio?
* [1.29] Why doesn't the repeat A-B feature work on some discs?
* [1.30] What's the difference between first, second, and third generation DVD?
* [1.31] What's a hybrid DVD?
* [1.32] What's the deal with DTS and DVD?
* [1.33] Why is the picture black and white?
* [1.34] Why are both sides fullscreen when one side is supposed to be widescreen?
* [1.35] Why are the audio and video out of sync?
* [1.36] Why does the picture alternate between light and dark?
* [1.37] How do I find "Easter eggs" and other hidden features?
* [1.38] How do I get rid of the black bars at the top and bottom?
* [1.39] How should I clean and care for DVDs?
* [1.40] What's a Progressive DVD player?
* [1.41] Why doesn't disc X work in player Y?
* [1.42] How do the parental control and multi-ratings features work?
* [1.43] Which discs include multiple camera angles?
* [1.44] Is it ok to put labels or magnetic strips on DVDs?
* [1.45] What's the difference between Closed Captions and subtitles?
* [1.46] What do the "D" codes on region 2 DVDs mean?
* [1.47] What's firmware and why would I need to upgrade it?
* [1.48] Are there discs to help me test, optimize, or show off my audio/video system?
* [1.49] What do Sensormatic and Checkpoint mean?
* [1.50] What are Superbit, Infinifilm, and other variations of DVD?
* [1.51] I don't know the parental control password for my player. What do I do?
* [1.52] Can my DVD player get a virus?
* Compatible CD Recorder or DVD drive (IDE).
* 4 securing screws (supplied with your CD Recorder / DVD Writer).
* Cross-point (Philips) Screwdriver suitable for your PC case.
* IDE Cable (if required).
* Anti-Static Wrist-strap (if available).
Disconnect the power and remove your PC's cover, see our guide.
The first step (after removing the case covers) is to remove the "blank" plastic front from the position in which you want to install the cd writer (fig 1.1), if you have a CD-ROM drive installed then if possible leave a gap in-between the CD-ROM and the CD-WRITER, this will enable a sufficient amount of air to flow between the two drives.
If you have trouble removing the "blank" you can use a flat ended screwdriver to ease the blank out, taking care not to damage the case.
rive will be in the IDE configuration, some CD Writers work best when they are the master, others work fine regardless, always consult the manufacturers instructions that came with your CD Writer.
There are 3 options, Cable Select, Slave, and Master.
Selection is done by means of a jumper, the option you choose will depend on your system set-up.
* Master should be selected if this will be the only device on a single IDE cable, or, if it is the second device to be connected and the other device is set to slave.
* Slave should be selected if this will be the second device on a singe IDE cable, for instance, if you do not already have a CD-ROM drive then you could attach the new device to the same IDE cable as your hard drive (where your hard drive will be the master).
* Cable Select should be selected only when the devices are to be attached as the cable depicts, ie, the first connector (working away from the motherboard) is the slave and the last connector is the master device.
In fig 1.3 to the right you can see a standard IDE Cable, note there are 3 connections (notice the difference in distance between the connectors), connection A plugs into the motherboard and then the slave and master connections are used for IDE devices such as hard drives, CD-ROM Drives and CD Writers.
If you need to attach a second IDE cable refer to your motherboard's manual.
Connecting the cables
The next step is to attach the IDE and power cables (fig 1.6)
The power cable (fig 1.7)
will only fit one way, so you won't put it in the wrong way round, but as a guide the red wire should go to 5v.
The IDE cable will be marked down one side with a red or black strip, this denotes Pin 1, match this with the Pin 1 indicator on the back of the device, further, some IDE cables have a blank in one hole to stop you inserting it in incorrectly.
If you would like to attach an audio cable to the device follow the manufacturer's instructions.
Finishing the Installation
Double check all connections and make sure the device is set correctly as master or slave.
You may wish to test the device is correctly installed before replacing the covers, but it is advisable to replace the covers before reconnecting the mains.
When you reboot your machine the bios should automatically detect the new drive, and then when you get to the windows screen, go to My Computer and you should see your new drive there. The letter assigned to the drive will depend on your machine's configuration.
Next follow the manufacturer's instructions to install your CD Writer software, we will shortly be publishing a course for Nero® burning software which you will find in the courses section.
symantecThe Genesis song ?Jesus he knows me? has the line ?Just do as I say, don?t do as I do? about a priest that does everything for money except what he?s suppose to? Well it seems that Symantec is like that priest. It seems that they created an hidden directory in Windows that nothing can find it.
They hidden the folder by using Norton Protected Recycle Bin to a folder named NProtect. Now on that folder they placed files that they did not want others to delete. Or in other words: They created a rootkit. SecuriTeam Blogs » The Dark Side of Symantec
the story
The Dark Side of Symantec
Ido - January 12, 2006 on 3:21 pm | In Privacy, Full Disclosure, Virus |
The Genesis song ?Jesus he knows me? has the line ?Just do as I say, don?t do as I do? about a priest that does everything for money except what he?s suppose to?
Well it seems that Symantec is like that priest. It seems that they created an hidden directory in Windows that nothing can find it.
They hidden the folder by using Norton Protected Recycle Bin to a folder named NProtect.
Now on that folder they placed files that they did not want others to delete. Or in other words: They created a rootkit.
The person that discovered this rootkit is Mark Rosonovitch that also found the Sony rootkit.
And if you really want to remove it (why should you? don?t we want to have rootkits on our system?!), Symantec released a ?fix? for this vulnerability.
Now I have an open suggestion for law enforcement and legislators out there: Please define such acts like Sony?s and Symantec as a crime and fine Sony and Symantec for it.
qtA security update to Apple Computer's popular QuickTime media player software is being blamed for causing problems for some Mac OS X and Windows users.
People have reported a variety of glitches on discussion boards on Apple's Web site. Mac OS X users appear to be having the most trouble, including deleted applications and files, unplayable movie files and the disappearance rights to use the professional version of QuickTime, according to postings on Apple's support forum. QuickTime patch hits trouble | Tech News on ZDNet
QuickTime patch hits trouble
By Joris Evers, CNET News.com
A security update to Apple Computer's popular QuickTime media player software is being blamed for causing problems for some Mac OS X and Windows users.
People have reported a variety of glitches on discussion boards on Apple's Web site. Mac OS X users appear to be having the most trouble, including deleted applications and files, unplayable movie files and the disappearance rights to use the professional version of QuickTime, according to postings on Apple's support forum.
Apple released the update, QuickTime 7.0.4, on Tuesday to fix a handful of serious security vulnerabilities. The flaws put computers running Microsoft's Windows and Apple's Mac OS X operating systems at risk of being commandeered by an outsider. An attacker could exploit the flaws by tricking the user into opening a malicious file, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company said.
But Apple's patch apparently has bugs of its own. One user, "Erik Nanstiel," wrote on an Apple forum: "I'm having lots and lots of problems after upgrading to the latest QuickTime. Now I'm contemplating reinstalling my entire system just to get rid of the cursed upgrade."
A woman who said she is a film director wrote that she uses Final Cut Pro and lost all the QuickTime Pro features after installing the update. "Anyone with any clue on how to regain my pro features in QuickTime without buying Steve Jobs another turtleneck?" she asked in the support forum.
Some who installed the new version of QuickTime on Windows PCs say the media player is having trouble connecting to the Internet after installing the update. Other Windows users report not being able to download the software at all when they use the update feature in QuickTime itself.
Apple has published a tool for Mac OS X users that removes the suspected culprit, QuickTime 7.0.4, and restores QuickTime 7.0.1, according to the Mac maker's Web site. People in the forums also report that QuickTime 7.0.4 was pulled from Apple's Web site for some time and then reposted.
windowsMicrosoft has quietly extended the support lifespan of Windows XP Home, which as recently as last week was scheduled to be put out to pasture at the end of this year.
Analysts had pointed out that XP Home, and most other XP operating systems, would be cut off from technical support on Dec. 31, 2006, a potential problem since XP's successor, Windows Vista, isn't to release until shortly before that date
In a blog written last Wednesday, JupiterResearch analyst Joe Wilcox put the blame at Windows Vista's door. "It's more a problem of product delays, that Microsoft repeatedly delayed release of Windows Vista," he wrote. TechWeb | News | Microsoft Extends XP Home Support To '08
Microsoft Extends XP Home Support To '08
By Gregg Keizer, TechWeb News
Microsoft has quietly extended the support lifespan of Windows XP Home, which as recently as last week was scheduled to be put out to pasture at the end of this year.
Analysts had pointed out that XP Home, and most other XP operating systems, would be cut off from technical support on Dec. 31, 2006, a potential problem since XP's successor, Windows Vista, isn't to release until shortly before that date
In a blog written last Wednesday, JupiterResearch analyst Joe Wilcox put the blame at Windows Vista's door. "It's more a problem of product delays, that Microsoft repeatedly delayed release of Windows Vista," he wrote.
In an updated support lifecycle listing, Microsoft said that all Windows XP products--which include Home, Pro, Embedded, Media Center, and Tablet PC--will enjoy mainstream support for "two years after the next version of this product is released."
I stumbled on a post about a member?s very first post here on aD and thought that was something I should look up as well. I forgot what mine was about until I found it, great to see one's very first post. Here?s the thread and it looks like ireland was part of it as well. Some of the names that are in it haven't been around in a while... Boy does that bring back memories!
