Our first edition of WIG for February is filled with news link goodness covering topics such as Google’s $660,000 French fine for offering Google Maps for free, the EFF’s plans to help users retrieve their MegaUpload data, Firefox 11 Beta gets add-on sync, and more.
Note: The wallpaper for the image shown above can be found here.
Weekly News Links
Photo courtesy of Ars Technica (Aurich Lawson).
- “Slain” Kelihos botnet still spams from beyond the grave
A botnet capable of delivering almost four billion spam messages per day has been confirmed resurrected—more than four months after Microsoft celebrated its untimely demise. - Half of Fortune 500s, US Govt. Still Infected with DNSChanger Trojan
More than two months after authorities shut down a massive Internet traffic hijacking scheme, the malicious software that powered the criminal network is still running on computers at half of the Fortune 500 companies, and on PCs at nearly 50 percent of all federal government agencies, new research shows. - Hackers stole data from VeriSign in 2010
Attackers repeatedly hacked VeriSign’s network and stole information in 2010, the company revealed in a quarterly regulatory filing. - Hacker extracts RFID credit card details
The widespread use, especially in US credit cards, of RFID chips which can be read through clothing or wallets for contactless payments can lead to cards being read without the owners knowledge or permission. - HTC patching Wi-Fi password leak on several smartphones
Some HTC smartphone users may find their Wi-Fi passwords and other information exposed due to a new bug, but the company is rolling out a fix. - Google now scanning Android apps for malware
Google has added an automated scanning process that is designed to keep malicious apps out of the Android Market, the company announced this past Thursday. - Dubious Android apps may not be malware–just ads
Symantec may have mistakenly labeled more than a dozen Android apps as malware, according to security researchers at Verizon-affiliated ICSA Labs. - Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, PayPal go after phishers with new e-mail authentication effort
Major e-mail providers, including Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! are teaming up with PayPal, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more, to implement a new system for authenticating e-mail senders to try to prevent the sending of fraudulent spam and phishing messages. - European Commission turns antitrust lens on Samsung
The patent battle between Apple and Samsung has just taken a very interesting turn. - EU officials want Google to suspend privacy policy change
European Union officials have asked Google to refrain from implementing its plans to share user information across all of its services until the privacy implications can be analyzed, but Google is standing its ground. - Google’s response on new privacy policy ticks off congresswoman
Google apparently isn’t making any friends in Congress after a hearing yesterday on the company’s new privacy policy. - Google must pay $660,000 for offering Google Maps for free
You may like that Google Maps is free, but a French court says it’s actually anticompetitive. - Firefox 11 to get add-on sync
Firefox 11 beta presages some hefty changes for the browser. The biggest one, which wasn’t present in the Firefox 11 Aurora release, is add-on sync. - Mozilla preps the Web to push
Mozilla engineers have begun work on a new API for Web sites that will allow them to notify you when they update, similar to how a mobile app notifies you that it has new content for you to check out. - Firefox stable PPA abandoned, rapid release cycle adopted for Ubuntu 10.04 and +
Due to the release of Firefox 10 that is to replace Firefox 3.6.x (on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS), the Firefox stable PPA will be abandoned. Furthermore Ubuntu 10.04 LTS and Ubuntu 10.10 users will be migrated to the latest Firefox version, and will track the rapid releases going forward, as is currently done in newer releases of Ubuntu. - Microsoft touts plugin-free web, offers desktop fallback for Flash lovers
Microsoft’s new version of Internet Explorer has barred browser plugins in the Metro environment. But Microsoft has revealed a method that plugin-dependent websites can use to leap over Metro’s walls and reach the green fields of the conventional Windows desktop, where Flash is still allowed to roam free. - IBM to close down Symphony, its OpenOffice fork
Going forward, IBM will be putting its efforts behind the Apache Foundation’s OpenOffice instead of its own OpenOffice fork. - Mint’s Cinnamon: The Future of the Linux Desktop? (Review)
Can a back to the past Linux desktop win more fans than GNOME 3.x, KDE 4.x, or Ubuntu’s Unity or HUD? - Ten year support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Red Hat has announced that it intends to maintain versions 5 and 6 of its Red Hat Enterprise Linux distribution for ten years, rather than the previously planned seven. - EFF To Aid Users in Retrieving MegaUpload Data
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, supported by Carpathia Hosting, announced this past Wednesday its plans to assess the scope of the issue facing Megaupload users who are at risk of losing their data.
Random TinyHacker Links
- The Best Tool to Manage the Windows Startup Items
Are you curious to know which is the best tool for managing the startup items in Windows? Check out this thorough analysis. - Report bad behaving websites from Internet Explorer
Did you know that you can do this? - Good looking skins for Windows Media Player
Do you want to know where to get good looking skins for Windows Media Player? Check this roundup out. - What’s Next for the Internet (Infographic)
An interesting infographic predicting how people will spend their time online in 2012. - [Infographic] Want to Get More Clicks on Twitter?
This infographic shares strategies for getting the better click-through rates on Twitter. - Awesome Educational Channel to Follow!
In which John Green investigates the dawn of human civilization. John looks into how people gave up hunting and gathering to become agriculturalists, and how that change has influenced the world we live in today. - Interesting Blogging Stats from Shareaholic
When is the best time to blog and share? Anyone who spends their day on the Internet inevitably wonders this question. - 2011 Best App Awards, Over 1.5 Million Votes Cast
Hundreds of categories but only one Best App Ever, Jetpack Joyride (iOS). Check out 148Apps review and find some new apps for any OS. - Flashback! Fantastic Pink Floyd Documentary
The Director’s Cut of Pink Floyd’s 1972 visit to Pompeii is 40 years old and timeless.
Super User Questions
- How can I wipe a broken hard disk drive before sending it back to the manufacturer for maintenance?
- Format PC without losing Windows 7 license
- How does one generate vertical quotes in Word?
- Page numbers in a PDF are off, how can I change them?
- Using BMP format for lossless/high quality?
How-To Geek Weekly Article Recap
- The Best Wi-Fi Articles for Securing Your Network and Optimizing Your Router
- Desktop Fun: Auroras Wallpaper Collection
- How to Sync Your iPod With Another PC Without Losing Your Music
- How To Extend Your Wi-Fi Network With Simple Access Points
- How to Use Wireshark to Capture, Filter and Inspect Packets
- From The Tips Box: Easy Access to iPad Brightness, 4.5GB of Free Dropbox Storage, Banishing Charging Cable Clutter
- The Best How-To Geek Articles for January 2012
- Find Hidden Features and Easter Eggs on Firefox’s About: Pages
- Hacker Geek: OS Fingerprinting With TTL and TCP Window Sizes
- Ask HTG: Checking Wi-Fi Signal Strength, Syncing iTunes to Android, and Backing Up Windows Home Server
Geeky Goodness from the ETC Side
- The Tools that Software Developers Use [Infographic]
- DIY Electronic Wire Stripper Gives Visual Feedback
- Star Wars Characters Reimagined in Feudal Japan
- NASA Releases First Video Footage of the Dark Side of the Moon [Video]
- What the Angry Birds Look Like after Battling the Pigs [Images]
- Ethernet Cable Hack Extends Your Flash Sync Cord [DIY]
- Build a Stylish Standing Desk for Under $200
- Heroes and Villains D&D Alignment Chart [Awesome Chart Image]
- The Film Industry’s War against Consumer Media Technology Innovation [Infographic]
- Ocean-Side Spaceport [Wallpaper]
One Year Ago on How-To Geek
Note: The wallpaper shown in the screenshot above can be found here.
- Enhance GIMP’s Image Editing Power with Gimp Paint Studio
- Inspire Geek Love with These Hilarious Geek Valentines
- Stop Believing TV’s Lies: The Real Truth About “Enhancing” Images
- How To Make Hundreds of Complex Photo Edits in Seconds With Photoshop Actions
- RGB? CMYK? Alpha? What Are Image Channels and What Do They Mean?
How-To Geek Comics Weekly Roundup
- Virtual Office Technology
- Multiple Monitors
- Need a New Psychiatrist
- Pitching a No-Hitter
- No Undo Button for You
- The Resolution is Really High
- Never Interrupt the Mother-In-Law
How-To Geek Weekly Trivia Roundup
- Which Film First Featured A Completely Computer-Generated Character?
- What Famous Internet Worm Led To The First Federal Computer Crime Prosecution?
- Which Game Console Was The First To Feature Built-In Ethernet?
- Which Laboratory Boasts The Most Nobel Prize Winners?
- Which Video Game First Inspired Widespread Controversy?