Blog Tools
Edit your Blog
Build a Blog
RSS Feed
View Profile
« February 2009 »
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
You are not logged in. Log in
Entries by Topic
All topics  «
Announcements
Links
Sydney dailyphotos
Brisbane City Daily Photo
Aussie Slang
Aus TV programs (sucks?!)
ninemsn Videos
Ch 7 todaytonight
Singapore Food
Singapore on Flickr
*flashgames
Blog
Blog Anywhere
Blog Reader
Blog Archives
Nov 2007
Sep 2007
Apr 2007
Jan 2007
Nov 2006
Aug 2006
Apr 2006
Dec 2005
Nov 2005
RSS News
Sydney News
Singapore News
SGINAUS BLOG
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Ridiculosities of technology

I recently received a voice mail from some anonymous person or anonymous company that played an almost 40 minutes anthem ...

It used up all my phone credit ..I didn't realise till now you could spam someone's phone with this sort of thing ; I thought SMS was the only way you could spam someone else's phone.  The problem with this was that most voice mail menu features provided by the phone company only allows you to delete your voice mail after you have finished listening to it - that is really a loophole FLAW !

And to top this up...

This error message popped up from a RSS feed I often has no issues with:

Google
 Error  

We're sorry...

... but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To protect our users, we can't process your request right now.

We'll restore your access as quickly as possible, so try again soon. In the meantime, if you suspect that your computer or network has been infected, you might want to run a virus checker or spyware remover to make sure that your systems are free of viruses and other spurious software.

If you're continually receiving this error, you may be able to resolve the problem by deleting your Google cookie and revisiting Google. For browser-specific instructions, please consult your browser's online support center.

If your entire network is affected, more information is available in the Google Web Search Help Center.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope we'll see you again on Google.

Could it be that Google is lowering down it's quality and standard with the retrenchment of its workforce ?

Posted by pui-chee at 9:51 AM EADT
Post Comment | Permalink
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Second job website hit - same one again!

Job website hit by major breach

Hackers are believed to have stolen the personal details of millions of people using the online job site Monster.

Users around the world have been affected, including the 4.5 million users of the UK site.

If all are affected it would make it the biggest data theft in the UK since the details of 25 million child benefit claimants went missing last year.

The recruitment giant has advised people to change their passwords and be on the lookout for phishing e-mails.

Recruitment sites have proved rich pickings for criminally-minded hackers in the past and it is not the first time Monster has fallen foul of cyber thieves.

In 2007, 1.3 million details were downloaded to servers based in Ukraine.

Phishing danger

Last year the details of 1.6 million jobseekers was stolen and followed by sustained phishing attacks, where people are fooled into installing malware via links in emails.

Monster first revealed that its database had been attacked again on 23 January but has remained tight-lipped about the scale of the attack.

"We recently learned our database was illegally accessed and certain contact and account data were taken," said Monster senior vice president Patrick Manzo in a statement.

He went on to admit that hackers had stolen user names, passwords, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, alongside demographic data, birth dates, gender and ethnicity.

CVs had not been accessed, he said.

The statement warned people to be on the look-out for phishing e-mails built around the details surrendered to Monster.

"Monster will never send an unsolicited e-mail asking you to confirm your username and password, nor will Monster ask you to download any software tool or access agreement in order to use your Monster account," it read.

Graham Cluley, a senior consultant with security firm Sophos, said hackers armed with details from Monster accounts, could target other online information.

"It is surprising just how many people use the same password for a variety of sites. They need to change all passwords that are the same as that for their Monster login," he said.

[source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7853251.stm]

Job seekers warned over CV theft

Job seekers have been warned to be particularly careful when sending their CVs to employers' websites or online recruitment agencies.

An experiment involving a fake website lured 107 people into submitting their CVs, full of personal information that could have led to identity theft.

Of the CVs, 61 contained enough information to apply for a credit card.

The experiment was staged during the recent national identity fraud prevention week earlier in October.

It involved a CV company called iProfile, with the backing of the Police and the Information Assurance Advisory Council (IAAC), setting up a website for a bogus company called Denis Atlas.

The fake firm placed an advert in a national newspaper for a job as an office manager, inviting people to apply by sending in their CVs to the website.

Although 107 people did so, a quick search of the website would have shown that it was in fact a fake operation.

Personal details

"Many people are happy to send their CVs 'blind' without thinking about the consequences if their information fell into the wrong hands," said Neil Fisher of IAAC.

The CVs that were submitted contained an average of eight different pieces of information that might have been useful to an identity fraudster.

The most common ones were full address and date of birth. One application included both a passport and national insurance number.

"We advise everyone not to post personal details on the internet which could collectively be used to clone your identity," said Det Supt Russell Day of the Metropolitan Police.

The most useful items of information for criminals, which should be omitted from an online CV, are date of birth, marital status, and place of birth, according to iProfile.

Story from BBC NEWS:
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/7680091.stm]

Posted by pui-chee at 11:16 AM EADT
Post Comment | Permalink
Monday, 26 January 2009
Another Job website hacked

This time it is the Government job website and at stake is the personal information of applicants to this site

Perhaps the public should take class action on these series of job websites / portals who don't do a good job with their IT systems and push for more reliability in their systems without compromising the privacy of their clients .

Strangely enough, this was never covered in the news report in any of the channels on the news network

[Read source here.]


Posted by pui-chee at 10:32 PM EADT
Post Comment | Permalink
Australia Day 09

 

Aussie Day is always a good day to watch vintage cars but of all the things I look forward to, is to get a glimpse of the interiors of the parliament house free.

 

Especially the showcased circular fountain you find here.

 

 

 

 

 

At least this is much better than the Government House which bans all form of photography except the exterior, of course

 

 

 

 

To view more of the photos I've taken , check out below link:

Link


Posted by pui-chee at 6:24 PM EADT
Post Comment | Permalink
Seeing double on 26 Jan 2009

Today marks the day where Australia day and CNY of the Ox  falls on the same day. It is also the day that the new Australian of the year , Professor Dodson has called on the government to change the date as it is the same date that the First Fleet landed on Sydney Cove to began the colony and this raises the question of the "stolen generations" of the indigneous aboriginals.

Sydney has also decided to hold its CNY festivities with the first ever twilight parade on 1 Feb instead so as to not coincide with the events held on OZ day.I guess OZs do know how to take the opportunity to have double celebrations even though the day may not reflect the actual event date.

You may also jolly well say the nation come before the race in OZ!


Posted by pui-chee at 11:02 AM EADT
Updated: Monday, 26 January 2009 6:38 PM EADT
Post Comment | Permalink

Newer | Latest | Older