August 8 2008 COOLSITES Newsletter #177 by Mark Donaldson

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I have published the August 8 2008 COOLSITES Newsletter #177 by Mark Donaldson.

The following is an excerpt from this weeks newsletter. To see the full newsletter with all of the COOLSITES links please click and bookmark this link: http://luem42.googlepages.com/coolsites.html and check it each week. Thank you. Mark.


August 8 2008 COOLSITES Newsletter #177 by Mark Donaldson

Almost everyone got this week's newsletter. Since I have 2 AOL news links this week I expected AOL to block it which is their habit. AOL didn't block it so I'm surprised.

I still may have problems from time to time so here is what I have done. Subscribers may use a private link to download the newsletter in the text ( .txt ), html (.html ) and the MS Word Doc ( .doc ) format in a zip file. I will upload the zip files to my archive site right after I send out the newsletter on Friday morning. If a subscriber doesn't receive the newsletter, by 8am EDT, they can quickly download it, unzip it and peruse it offline. You can also read it online from there.

If you are a subscriber and don't know the private link you can email me for it. These zip files are less than 40K which is smaller than the 100K or more newsletter email.

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Semper Gratis (forever free) of cost

COOLSITES is a list of safe, fun, useful, informative and just plain cool websites and programs that are FREE, FREE and FREE. All of the programs and websites I list are free. If I list anything that is so good but isn't free I will list the price with it.

My website is Dialup Friendly. All pages except "Just The Links" and "Specialized Search Engines" load up in under 15 seconds.

Wherever you go if you see the user name LUEM42 that's me

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Pirillo's Picks for February 13 2007

"And if you think that's a lot of links, you should see how many http://luem42.com/ collects every day. It's enough to make you wanna never leave the house again as long as you live" Yours Digitally, Chris Pirillo http://chris.pirillo.com/


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Clif Notes Newsletter, Feb 2007 http://freewarewiki.com/ClifNotes

"The COOLSITES Newsletter - find the coolest links here. This fella named Mark Donaldson has been sending out his lists of cool sites since 2003. I'd never heard of him before last week. One day I was Googling myself to see who was posting links to my newsletter, and I found his website. I guess he's mentioned my newsletter at least 3 times. I like the COOLSITES website too, but I think it could use some reformatting to make it a bit easier to read. What I really like is the content there. Mark must really read a lot of stuff on the web and he takes the best links then tells you about them." http://freewarewiki.com/CoolSitesNewsletter


Welcome to Clif Notes Newsletter
August 3, 2008

Here are the headlines from this week's newsletter.

# There's always more to the story...
# REVIEWS
1. Kid Protect your PC using Windows SteadyState
2. The Lupo PenSuite of portable applications
3. VJPEG - quick and unique image viewer
4. Mini-Putt - addictive putt-putt golf online
5. Xpy - disable undesired XP settings and services
6. Old Newsletter

# TIPS AND FEEDBACK
1. What free software do you need?
2. How to set up OpenDNS to surf faster and safer
3. Goog-411 - another Google great
4. Internet Fixes Weekend Windup
5. Comments last week

# COOL WEBSITES
1. CoolSites Newsletter this week
2. CommandWindows.com - great techie resource
3. App-Stick.com - directory of portable freeware
4. PicReflect.com and WaterEffect.net - add reflections to images online
5. BookMooch.com - exchange books for new reading material
6. Gi?t Mua Thu - studying Vietnamese Music

# NEW NEWS
1. SnapFiles.com - new and updated freeware
2. News from Sarah in Tampa
3. Security news from Malware Advisor
4. A view from CyberNirvana

Last Newsletter http://freewarewiki.com/ClifNotesNewsletter080803

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Security News

Websense® Security Labs(TM) ThreatSeeker(TM) network has discovered a rogue Beijing Olympics ticket lottery Web site.

The Web site uses the hostname beij***2008.cn, a clear typo-squat to the official Olympic Games Web site at http://www.beijing2008.cn/. Benefiting from the hype around the purchasing of tickets for the Games, the social engineering tactic behind this scam is to lure users into dialling a toll number to retrieve an access code for an available ticket. The toll number is likely an additional revenue generator for the scammers as callers would then be charged a premium rate for making that phone call.

Users who input the supplied access code are forwarded to a further Web page designed to collect personal information. They then have the incentive to enter credit card details, to pay a relatively small sum of RMB600 for the ticket (approximately 87 USD).

This phishing Web site goes a step further than most phishing sites by employing a phone-call "verification" step. This higher level of interactivity and supposed verification garners more trust from unsuspecting users.



To view the details of this alert http://securitylabs.websense.com/content/Alerts/3152.aspx



Websense® Security Labs(TM) ThreatSeeker(TM) Network has discovered that a CNET Networks site has been compromised. The main page of the CNET Clientside Developer Blog contains malicious JavaScript code that de-obfuscates into an iframe that loads its primary malicious payload from a different host.

The malicious code is observed to exploit a known integer overflow vulnerability in Adobe Flash (CVE-2007-0071). At the time of this alert, the site is still hosting the malicious code. Visitors who are not patched against this vulnerability will be infected without any user interaction.

Software vulnerable to this attack includes:
- Adobe, Flash Player, 9.0.115.0, and previous
- Adobe, Flex, 3.0
- Adobe, AIR, 1.0

Websense Messaging and Websense Web Security customers are protected against this attack.

To view the details of this alert http://securitylabs.websense.com/content/Alerts/3151.aspx





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Security Links

Some subscribers have indicated that the anti-spyware/adware programs I have listed here recently are "rogues". I get these links from good sources however I do not test the programs myself because I just don't have the time and most new programs won't work on my old 98 system. The definitive source of rogue info is Spyware Warrior and they weren't listed there. Spyware Warrior- Rogue-Suspect Anti-Spyware Products & Web Sites: http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm


‘Fakeproof’ e-passport is cloned and faked in minutes: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4467106.ece
5 Credit Card Traps to be Aware of: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121693396960582351.html?mod=2_1581_leftbox
Apple Bungles Security Fix: http://go.infopackets.com/e20080808-08
Best Free Adware-Spyware-Scumware Remover - Gizmo's Tech Support Alert: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-adware-spyware-scumware-remover.htm
Flash Security Warning - Too Little Too Late. Flash installers are being faked: http://feed.lockergnome.com/~r/nexus/it/~3/357010045/
Giant online DNS security hole getting fixed, slowly: http://apnews.myway.com//article/20080805/D92CCH6G0.html
How to Improve Your Security When Using a Public Terminal: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Cybernirvana/~3/354478188/how-to-improv...our-sec
How to stop an ActiveX control from running in Internet Explorer with a Killbit: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=240797
IE6 more vulnerable to unpatched Microsoft flaw, Symantec says. The problem is within the Snapshot Viewer ActiveX control: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasi...mp;arti
New Worry. Is Your Granite Countertop Radioactive: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/garden/24granite.html?_r=1&partn...rssuser
New. AxBan blocks known bad ActiveX Controls from running on your computer with a killbit: http://www.erratasec.com/research.html
New. Hotspot Shield creates a virtual private network (VPN) between your laptop or iPhone and our Internet gateway. This impenetrable tunnel prevents snoopers and hackers: http://www.anchorfree.com/downloads/hotspot-shield
Next-generation Computer Antivirus System Developed: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080806152434.htm
So You Think Your Fancy Door Lock is Secure: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10002138-83.html?hhTest=1&part=rs...mp;subj
SUPERAntiSpyware is the most thorough AntiSpyware scanner on the market and is recommended by Gizmo: http://www.superantispyware.com/
Twitter targeted by malware attacks: http://ct.download.com/clicks?t=70621312-be56918137808c8d29d6177983a63...-bf&amp
Update. LockCrypt 1.65 Secure Account Management: http://www.lockcrypt.com/
Update. PC Tools AntiVirus 5.0.0.16 Free Edition: http://www.pctools.com/free-antivirus/
Update. PC Tools Firewall Plus 4.0.0.44: http://www.pctools.com/firewall/
Update. Spybot Search and Destroy Detection Updates 08-06-2008: http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html
Update. Spyware Terminator 2.3.0.487 Free spyware removal and spyware protection - Spyware Terminator: http://www.spywareterminator.com/
Vista. Hardware Restrictions In Vista. Vista lets you place restrictions on hardware devices to protect against data theft: http://www.lockergnome.com/windows/2008/08/05/hardware-restrictions-in-vista/
Vista. Securing The Vista Desktop Through The Registry Part I: http://feed.lockergnome.com/~r/nexus/it/~3/355528600/
Vista. Securing The Vista Desktop Through The Registry Part II: http://feed.lockergnome.com/~r/nexus/it/~3/356570709/

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Windows Secrets Newsletter • Issue 164 • 2008-08-7

The following topics appear in our free content

INTRODUCTION
By Brian Livingston
Find any Support Alert article from your browser
New reviews replace old in our software sidebar

TOP STORY
By Scott Dunn
Free tools deactivate unsafe ActiveX controls
An explosion in the number of ActiveX exploits
Protect yourself against flawed ActiveX controls
View only the controls you need to worry about
A less-exhaustive list of troublesome controls
This control killer is undone by media players

KNOWN ISSUES
By Dennis O'Reilly
Product reviews are a change for the better
The new Windows Secrets lineup packs a punch
Driver-update utility is no longer supported

WACKY WEB WEEK
By Katy Chenoweth
There's nothing subliminal about this message


http://WindowsSecrets.com/comp/080807

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Make My Start Page Your Home Page

Try my start page and make it your home page. It has the following convenient logins and links such as: Google Mail Login, Yahoo Mail Login, Windows Live MSN HotMail Login, Froogle Price Search, Google Maps, MySpace Login, Lockergnome Cool Web Links, Weather Radar, BugMeNot, E! Online, Zap2it TV Guide, Snopes, YouTube, FaceBook, and links to my webpages. You can also google the web or my website. It also has a link for your suggestions so you can help me make it better.

The best thing about it is it's simple, small and loads up on dialup in less than one second. Check it out today at: http://luem42.googlepages.com/start.html

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Space Weather News for August 5, 2008

COUNTDOWN TO THE PERSEIDS: The annual Perseid meteor shower peaks one week from today, on Tuesday, August 12th. The best time to look is during the dark hours before dawn on Tuesday morning when forecasters expect 50 to 100 meteors per hour. Get away from city lights if you can; plan a camping trip! The darker the sky, the more meteors you will see.

The source of the Perseids is Comet Swift-Tuttle, which has littered the August portion of Earth's orbit with space dust. The dusty zone is broad and Earth is already in its outskirts. As a result, even before the peak on August 12th, you may see some "early Perseids" streaking across the night sky. Photos of these early arrivals will be featured in the days ahead on http://Spaceweather.com as part of our full coverage of the Perseid meteor shower.

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COOLSITES 120 cool links

I harvest what I believe to be the best links from the best sources that are safe, fun, informative, useful and just plain cool. I categorize them and edit their descriptions for clarity. I may make comments about the links but you will know because I always sign them with "Mark".

To see the full newsletter with all of the COOLSITES links please click and bookmark this link: http://luem42.googlepages.com/coolsites.html and check it each week. Thank you. Mark.