Latest Posts from Switched

Federal investigators are currently pursuing a 23-year-old Russian man accused of orchestrating the so-called 'Mega-D' botnet that, at one point, had the capacity to send 10 billion spam e-mails per day. The network of 500,000 infected computers was taken down late last year, but one researcher quoted by the FBI said that Mega-D, at the height of its powers, "was likely the largest botnet in the world, accounting for 32-percent" of the world's spam. Most of the messages sent via the network peddled fake Rolex watches, "herbal remedies," and counterfeit medical prescriptions.

The suspect, Oleg Nikolaenko, had never been linked to the operation or creation of Mega-D, until two convicted spammers, Jody Smith and Lance Atkinson, disclosed their relations with the Moscow resident. At this point, not much is known about Nikolaenko, who allegedly conducted the operation under the online moniker 'Docent.' However, recently obtained financial records and e-mail transcripts reportedly link the spammer directly to the Mega-D botnet.

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You know how frustrated you get when someone successfully documents a thing that you and your friends do all the time, but never thought of successfully documenting yourself? Welcome the Worst of Gilt, a site that shows how insane rich people can get when they think they are getting a deal. Granted, our Editor-in-Chief would go barefoot without Gilt, but we've linked each other to heinous dog tutus and suit-kilts plenty of times. We just didn't think to make a site out of it. Nuts. (Also, as an aside, their picks are spot-on, but Alejandro Ingelmo can DO NO WRONG.)

The trial of alleged Xbox-modder Matthew Crippen began this week, and a stern lecture from the bench has already forced a courtroom apology -- from the prosecution. The unprecedented trial hinges on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), but discrepancies in the Act -- combined with problematic behavior from the prosecution -- reportedly left U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez with "serious concerns about the government's case."

The case's issues relate to the DMCA's ambiguous approach to "fair use," and whether or not Crippen is actually culpable if he wasn't "willfully" breaking the law. Gutierrez also reportedly questioned the "alleged unlawful behavior" of two key government witnesses. One, Entertainment Software Association investigator Tony Rosario, apparently violated California privacy laws when he surreptitiously recorded Crippen's alleged actions. Ken McGrail, the Microsoft security employee who analyzed and identified Crippen's Xbox modifications, reportedly admitted that he had actually performed similar Xbox mods when he was a college student.

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It's that time of year again, and that can mean only one thing: that we're about to start tracking Santa like an ICBM, with the help of NORAD and Google. Since 1955, the North American Aerospace Defense Command has brought joy to youngsters by using its high-tech satellites and radar to track jolly ol' Saint Nick as he crisscrosses the globe, delivering toys to all the good little boys and girls (and bits of depleted uranium to all the trouble makers). In 2004, Google started its own Santa tracking program, but it quickly became clear that dividing their efforts was silly; in 2007, NORAD and Google officially joined forces to create the greatest Santa tracking agency ever.

The countdown has already begun at NoradSanta.org, and, on December 24th, you'll be able to watch as Kris Kringle makes the rounds on the NORAD site, in Google Earth or, if you're out and about, via Google Maps on your mobile phone. Using military technology to monitor Father Christmas is one of the stranger holiday traditions here in the U.S., but we've gotta say, it might be our favorite. Happy holidays!

Researchers at the University of California San Diego have discovered a bug that many sites are using to track the browsing behavior of their visitors. The flaw was found on some 485 websites, including YouPorn, Perez Hilton and Wired, and reportedly reveals all of the other sites that each user has previously visited. Of the 485 sites affected by the bug, 63 were found to be copying the data, while 46 were "hijacking" user information, usually to target ads, or find out which rival sites users had visited.

The bug extracts browsing information via a color-changing mechanism that many browsers use to mark sites that you've already visited. A script on YouPorn, for example, would exploit the privacy leak to check which other links to porn sites have already been changed to purple (meaning that you've already clicked on them). "Our study shows that popular Web 2.0 applications like mashups, aggregators, and sophisticated ad targeting are rife with different kinds of privacy-violating flows," the researchers wrote [PDF].

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As a tech blogger, you know things are getting tricky when you can't even figure out what to call the devices you're writing about. Digital Media Streamers, or Media Extenders? Internet TV Adapters, or Digital Media Renderers? Thus, we witness just one example of the confusion surrounding all these newfangled, mostly black, little boxes that are intended to hook up to your TV and Internet, and bring the glory of streaming video to your living room. We aim to clean up that confusion, and even suggest which ones deserve a place in your home. (And, to make things easier, we'll just call these things Network Enabled Replay Devices, or NERD, until the industry comes up with something better.)

The concept of centralizing all your digital delights isn't new; companies have been struggling for more than a decade to make this convergence dream a reality. The general paradigm until now has been to slap a media-centric operating system onto a fully-functioning, shrunken PC that ultimately gets squeezed into your home theater setup. The fact that you likely don't own such a device speaks to their common failings. They were either clunky in design, missing critical features, unreliable, or required a degree in advanced computing to set up and use.

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Over the course of the past few months, the Egyptian government has taken a particularly hard-line stance against Facebook-based activism, many authorities believing it to pose a legitimate threat to President Hosni Mubarak. In March, a military tribunal unsuccessfully attempted to silence a controversial blogger named Ahmed Mustafa, barely three years after Egypt had jailed another writer for criticizing Mubarak and religious authorities on his blog. And, just last week -- in the run-up to the contentious parliamentary elections that have since engendered heated protests and accusations of fraud -- many political Facebook pages were mysteriously shut down, just a few hours before a mass demonstration organized by opposition activists. Now, the government has once again cracked down on an activist, who, according to prosecutors, threatened the military via a seemingly innocuous Facebook group.

The activist, Ahmed al-Bassiouni, reportedly created a Facebook group with which he shared information on the paperwork and procedures that must be completed before joining the Egyptian military. In the eyes of an Egyptian military court, however, such actions were tantamount to "publicizing defense secrets of the country." On Tuesday, the court sentenced al-Bassiouni to six months in jail, and slapped him with a fine of LE500 ($86.42). It certainly seems bizarre to classify a simple application process as top secret information, but perhaps Egyptian law actually supports the conviction. Considering the country's recent anti-Facebook crackdown, though, we're guessing the case has a lot more to do with institutional paranoia than it does with any real security concerns.

Google is now allowing viewers to skip the commercials that play before YouTube videos. The new ad system, dubbed TrueView, has been in testing for some time, but the format saw a wider roll-out today. When a TrueView ad begins playing, you'll see a counter at the top of the video window. After five seconds, you'll be able to skip the rest of the ad if you so choose.

Surprisingly, advertisers seem okay with the new system, partially because they're only charged for advertisements if viewers don't click the skip button. That could potentially save the companies money, but it also means (presumably) that viewers who actually sit through the commercials are more interested in whatever services or products are being offered. Most importantly, though, it means less obnoxious, unwanted advertising for the viewer.