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Defense officials in Israel claim that Facebook, a social networking site, compromises national security. They released a set of rules preventing members of the armed forces and employees of the Defense Ministry from posting classified information on their social networking sites. Officials said that some soldiers posted photographs of themselves with equipment that are deemed classified. They are not prohibited to create accounts on social networking sites, officials said; they are only not allowed to reveal their identities and other information that would tell of what they do and where they work and information that could possibly threaten national security.

More details at Time.

Image source: IMEMC

Be very careful when filling out various forms on the Internet that require pertinent, personal and confidential information. Exposing one’s self on the Internet poses risks of being susceptible to junk emails, cyber bullies, identity theft and the like.

When sending emails to more than one contact, place the addresses of the other recipients on the Bcc field to protect them from people who take advantage of mass emails. Ask your contacts to do same.

On social networking sites such as Friendster and MySpace, be wary of posting one too many information about your life. Change your viewing settings. For safety purposes, show your complete profile only to the people in your immediate network.

When checking your accounts and doing business online, ensure that the sites that you go to are secured and has the capability to provide secured transactions. Secured websites have URLs that begin with https:

Here are the top 100 host names, from nw.com

872992 www 3638 host5
141835 host 3558 host1
84130 mail 3538 pc22
62756 dummy 3532 host11
22849 router 3526 pc21
17225 ns 3523 host10
14759 ftp 3522 host12
13680 gw 3487 pc23
10102 server 3471 host13
9884 user 3422 pc24
9615 gateway 3406 pc25
9520 pc1 3396 venus
8837 pc3 3394 host2
8776 pc2 3356 host6
8454 smtp 3350 pc26
8445 pc4 3347 pc27
8306 ns1 3284 mars
8160 pc5 3252 pc28
7994 www2 3229 zeus
7737 pc6 3188 host7
7592 a 3154 host8
6994 ns2 3131 host9
6426 broadcast 3111 ppp1
6397 pc10 3087 pluto
6150 pc11 3073 host14
6121 pc12 3072 pc29
6072 ip 3020 web
5979 proxy 2971 host27
5544 pc7 2965 jupiter
5410 pc8 2920 host20
5332 gate 2917 admin
5314 test 2913 host15
5284 pc9 2899 ppp2
5270 dns 2898 host22
4973 news 2884 host18
4714 mailhost 2883 host28
4592 pc13 2880 host23
4420 network 2876 host25
4280 s0 2873 host19
4135 pc14 2870 host24
3919 home 2864 host21
3835 pc15 2857 host26
3761 pc16 2846 firewall
3745 pc18 2837 mercury
3725 pc17 2834 pc30
3707 host3 2810 alpha
3705 host4 2809 host29
3696 pc19 2766 host17
3672 pc20 2765 ws1
3666 cisco 2758 ws2

by: Jennifer LeClaire, newsfactor.com Fri Dec 21, 1:33 PM ET

Apple and Think Secret, a Mac rumor Web site published by Nicholas M. Ciarelli, have come to an agreement in a nearly three-year-old lawsuit. The financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Ciarelli has agreed to shut down ThinkSecret.com.

Ciarelli posted a press release on his Web site that said the agreement results in a “positive solution” for both sides. “I’m pleased to have reached this amicable settlement, and will now be able to move forward with my college studies and broader journalistic pursuits,” Ciarelli said in a statement.

Apple was not immediately available for comment.

Ciarelli’s Argument

Apple targeted Ciarelli with a lawsuit after he posted details about the Mac Mini computer prior to an official announcement at January 2005’s MacWorld. The suit also named Ciarelli’s company, dePlume Organization LLC.

The suit claimed that Ciarelli induced company employees to break confidentiality agreements with Apple. Ciarelli, the complaint argued, obtained the information illegally by posting an online request for Apple insiders to disclose trade secrets.

Ciarelli, who was also an editor at the Harvard Crimson, launched Think Secret when he was 13 years old. After Apple filed suit against Ciarelli, he told the Harvard Crimson he had a right to the same protections as other investigative journalists.

“I talk to sources of information, investigate tips, follow up on leads, and corroborate details. I believe these practices are reflected in Think Secret’s track record,” he told the paper in 2005. Ciarelli’s attorney based his arguments on the First Amendment right to free speech. Ciarelli had a right to publish the information, he said, because it was legally obtained.

Continue reading from: news.yahoo.com

Rich Site Summary, or more popularly known as RSS, is a form of Web content delivery system. Most news websites, blogs and others syndicate their ever changing content as an RSS Feed to subscribers.

RSS keeps users up-to-date by collecting the most recent content from the subscribed sites. It is a big time-saver because the user does not have to visit that particular site each time. It also ensures the user’s privacy because subscription to the site’s newsletter would not be necessary.

A feed reader is a software that gets RSS feeds from sites and generates a display for easy reading. Popular RSS readers include FeedReader, NewsGator, My Yahoo, Google Reader, Bloglines and Amphetadesk.

More information on RSS at WhatIsRSS.

Image source: FTPB

NEW YORK—In a year that saw the release of such best-selling products as the Motorola RAZR 2 V8 and the wildly popular Casio XD-SW4800 handheld dictionary, no personal electronics product launch was more highly anticipated than the November 13 debut of the second-generation Microsoft Zune mp3 player.

The sleek new Zune, whose record-breaking sales have made the Zune name synonymous with “mp3 player,” was so sought-after that thousands formed long lines outside hip, minimalist Microsoft Stores across the country days before the device went on sale. In Midtown Manhattan, the hysteria reached such a fever pitch that some were willing to pay as much as $200 for a spot in line.

“How could you not want one?” said self-described “Microsoft fanatic” Maria Arkin, who, like many others scrambling to be among the first to get their hands on the new Zune, expressed disappointment upon learning that sales were limited to just two units per customer. “It’s amazing. There’s just nothing else like it on the market.”

Continue reading from: theonion.com

NAD Electronics, global leader in manufacturing audio/video components, will debut its Masters Series M4 Analog/Digital Tuner at CES 2008. Based on latest digital technology and featuring sophisticated style and ultimate build quality, the M4 Tuner delivers enhanced sound quality from the input broadcast.

Delivering interference free reception, the easy-to-use Tuner is designed keeping in mind FM, AM or XM broadcasts. In the 40-station preset memory, user can save selected channels either in front panel or through IR remote control. Transparent Audio Tuning technology selects the stations in given area. RDS capable, a two-line dot matrix displays information about channels, stations IDS, songs and artist.

Read the rest of this entry »

Software giant Microsoft offered to acquire Yahoo in January of this year, only to be rejected in February, saying that Mr. Gates’ company underestimated their value. Now, the company is being more aggressive and set an April 26th deadline for Yahoo to accept its $41 billion proposal, with a warning that if Yahoo still would not budge, they would initiate a hostile takeover for a lower value.

Since Yahoo’s initial rejection of Microsoft’s offer, it began to consider deals with Google, MySpace and AOL, but has not come up with an alternative to Microsoft’s proposal. Microsoft, on the other hand, is determined to do anything to close the deal.

More details at CNN.com.

Image sources: Yahoo, Wikipedia.com

Almost everything now is done through the Internet – from bank transactions to keeping in touch with family and friends – as long as you have an account with a site, you are required to come up with a password. To keep your password safe and secure, be sure to keep in mind these following tips:

Avoid using dictionary-accepted words, names of persons, places or things and foreign-language words.
Avoid incorporating any personal information in your password (i.e. employee number or birthday).
Make sure your password is made up of at least six characters.
It is recommended to combine uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters in your password.
Create a unique password for each account that you have.
Do not let a soul know what your password is.

More tips at SecurityFocus.

Image source: VirtualTypingServices

As long as there is the Internet, there will also be scammers. Every one of us were surely ripped off at least once or encountered or heard of one of the many scams out there. For the still clueless out there, here are the top Internet and e-mail scams that are circulating the Web.

Nigerian scam or 419 – you will receive an e-mail from supposedly one of your contacts who claims that he or she is stuck in Nigeria and is asking for a large amount of money to get out.

Fees for a loan or credit card – a loan or credit card company will ask for a fee upon sign-up.

Lottery scams – you will receive an e-mail telling you that you have won a large amount of money in a lottery and will ask for a fee before you can get your money.

More information on scams at About.com

Image source: Consumer World