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Rustock Botnet Reportedly Taken Down, as Spam Volumes Plummet

by Caleb Johnson on March 17, 2011 at 02:50 PM

Rustock botnet taken down.Krebs on Security is reporting that a huge drop in the volume of e-mail spam circulating worldwide on Wednesday was the result of a planned takedown of the Rustock botnet, which, at one point, was the most prolific purveyor of spam in the entire world. According to the Composite Spam Blocklist (CBL), which measures global spam volumes, Rustock spam (usually ads for online pharmacies and male enhancement pills) vanished at around 10:45 EST on Wednesday. Another Rustock watchdog, SecureWorks director of malware research Joe Stewart, told Krebs that none of the 26 Rustock networks he'd been watching were responding on Wednesday afternoon either. "It looks to me like someone has gone and methodically tracked these [addresses] and had them taken out one way or the other," Stewart said. It isn't clear, however, exactly who is behind this takedown, if that's the case.

This isn't the first time it's Rustock has gone quiet. The problem is that Rustock has infected about 815,000 PCs around the world, according to an estimate from the CBL. As long as these machines are active, the zombie network can be reanimated through a preexisting algorithm that tells the bots to visit a website that contains software updates and new instructions for spreading spam. That's why we'd put our money on this drop-off being temporary rather than permanent. But it doesn't mean we can't (and won't) enjoy our less congested inbox for the few days or weeks that Rustock remains offline.
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Visa Takes on PayPal with Personal Payments Service

by Caleb Johnson on March 16, 2011 at 04:05 PM

Visa announced plans on Wednesday for a new personal payments service, with which U.S. customers can send or receive funds from any Visa credit, debit or prepaid bank account across the world. Much like with PayPal, customers with Visa accounts at participating banks will be able to swap money by entering the sixteen-digit account number, e-mail address or cell phone number associated with the ...
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Explore March Madness Arenas in 3-D with Google Earth

by Caleb Johnson on March 15, 2011 at 05:37 PM

Tonight's First Four games in Dayton, Ohio, will tip off the 2011 NCAA men's basketball tournament. Until then, Google has a remedy for March Madness, offering 3-D virtual tours of the tourney's 14 host arenas. You can get a sneak peek, inside and out, at the places in which all the hoop heartbreak and joy will go down. In addition to the 3-D tours, Google has created a map that pinpoints the ...

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Google to Test Mobile Payment System in NYC, San Francisco

by Caleb Johnson on March 15, 2011 at 04:07 PM

nexus sGoogle has purchased thousands of VeriFone's mobile payment registers, intending to install and test the system in stores in New York and San Francisco, according to Bloomberg. With this system, customers could pay for products with their Nexus S (or other smartphone equipped with a near-field communication chips) rather than using cash or physical credit and debit cards in stores. The anonymous Google source told Bloomberg the mobile payment system should be up and running within four months.

Last year, we reported that AT&T and Verizon would test a mobile payment system, but the technology still hasn't really taken off. If this latest report is true, Google's entrance into the mobile payment arena should be a kick in the butt to other companies that hope to be on the forefront of changing the way we buy stuff. In the end, though, they'll still need customers who are willing to trust in a new technology that has potential security risks. New York and San Francisco are good places to start, but the real test would be expanding beyond those markets.
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NBA Referee Slams AP Writer With Twitter Defamation Lawsuit

by Caleb Johnson on March 15, 2011 at 03:07 PM

jon krawczynski's tweet
An NBA referee has filed a defamation lawsuit against an Associated Press reporter over an accusation the reporter made on Twitter. During a Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Houston Rockets game on January 24th, AP writer Jon Krawczynski wrote, "Ref Bill Spooner told Rambis he'd 'get it back' after a bad call. Then he made an even worse call on Rockets. That's NBA officiating folks." Rambis is the Timberwolves head coach who, according to the lawsuit, argued about a foul Spooner called on a T-wolves player during the second quarter of the game. Spooner doesn't deny the exchange with Rambis, but he claims he never promised a make-up call, instead telling the coach he would review the foul call at halftime, according to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal. Spooner is asking fro $75,000, that the tweet be removed, and a published retraction.

Of course, this is a very serious accusation. If Spooner promised a make-up call, he conspired to fix the game. (Some fans believe that happens nightly in the NBA anyway.) That could mean disaster for a league that has struggled with its image. But aside from the impact this case might have on the game, it could also go a long way in defining the legal gray area Twitter resides in.
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Facebook Tracks Status Updates About Earthquake, Tsunami in Japan

by Caleb Johnson on March 14, 2011 at 02:40 PM

The Global Disaster Relief Facebook page has posted a set of time-stamped maps that show how news spread through status updates about the earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan. The site found that 4.5 million updates from 3.8 million users around the globe contained the words "Japan," "earthquake" or "tsunami" in the aftermath of the disaster. Many of the updates originated from places ...
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Apple's Phil Schiller: White iPhone 4 Will Drop This Spring

by Caleb Johnson on March 14, 2011 at 02:10 PM

Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, tweeted yesterday that the white iPhone 4 will finally be available this spring. Schiller didn't reveal any specific details about the mythical phone, like whether it'll be available on both Verizon and AT&T, or its exact release date. But with summer a likely target launch date for the iPhone 5, we'd bet on seeing ...
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Instaprint Creates Inkless, On-Demand Photo Prints From Instagram Snaps

by Caleb Johnson on March 9, 2011 at 12:00 PM

Capitalizing on people's nostalgia for old Polaroid prints, a company called Breakfast will soon beta-test a location-based printer that will create inkless, on-demand photos from the Instagram iPhone app. Instaprint, as it's called, automatically prints photos that are taken with Instagram app and tagged with a specific location or hashtag. Next week, Breakfast will show off two printers to ...

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Verizon Has Best Call Quality Across Nation, Says J.D. Power Survey

by Caleb Johnson on March 7, 2011 at 11:50 AM

In a recent survery released by J.D. Power, customers named Verizon Wireless the service provider with the best call quality in four of six regions across America. Verizon tied with AT&T for best customer satisfaction in another region, and U.S. Cellular was named the best carrier in the other. The survey, which canvassed 26,000 cell phone owners between July and December 2010, used seven ...
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'Angry Birds' Migrating to Facebook This March

by Caleb Johnson on March 6, 2011 at 12:00 PM

'Angry Birds' comes to Facebook in March.
By now, it's pretty clear that no platform is safe from the 'Angry Birds.' According to All Facebook, a new version of the game will debut on Facebook sometime in March. It's unclear exactly what new features the Facebook version of the pig-smashing, flying birds game will have, but Rovio CEO Mikael Hed's use of the word "collaborative" to describe it suggests a new social component. In a profile in the latest issue of Wired UK, according to Develop, Hed said, "There will be completely new aspects to ['Angry Birds'] that just haven't been experienced in any other platform." He went on to say, "The pigs will have a more prominent role."

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'Forced Obsolescence': HarperCollins Makes Libraries Re-Buy E-Books After 26 Checkouts

by Caleb Johnson on March 4, 2011 at 11:40 AM

HarperCollins has placed a restriction on the number of times its e-books can be checked out from a public library. After 26 checkouts, the expired title becomes locked in the library's virtual collection until a new digital copy has been purchased. The idea is that the physical copy of a HarperCollins book would be worn out after about 26 checkouts, and the library would then have to ... Read more »
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THQ's 'Homefront' Balloon Stunt Angers San Francisco Residents

by Caleb Johnson on March 3, 2011 at 12:05 PM

Some San Francisco residents are upset about a promotional stunt that, in support of a video game, sent thousands of red balloons drifting across the city on Wednesday, some landing in the nearby bay. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, game developer THQ released the balloons, which had promotional cards from Gamestop attached to them, to promote its new game 'Homefront' at the Game ... Read more »
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March Madness On Demand to Bring Free Live Games to iPad, iPhone

by Caleb Johnson on March 3, 2011 at 07:30 AM

There's really no reason why college basketball fans should miss any of this year's NCAA basketball tournament, which kicks off on March 15th. Aside from watching live games on TV or streaming for free on the Web, live tournament games will be available for free on the iPad and iPhone for the first time. In the past, you needed a paid app to stream live games on the iPhone. CBS, which is now ... Read more »
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Japanese Robot Baby Helps Treat Depression in Seniors

by Caleb Johnson on March 2, 2011 at 05:00 PM

A Japanese researcher has created a robot that is designed to treat depression in seniors with dementia. Masayoshi Kano's Babyloid, which was inspired by the looks of a baby beluga whale, measuers 17 inches long and weighs about five pounds. It can move its stubby arms, round head, thin mouth and beady eyes while making baby noises. The bot's faces features LEDs that help to mimic human ... Read more »
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Teach For America Giving Teachers Feedback via Wireless Headsets

by Caleb Johnson on March 2, 2011 at 04:15 PM

A group of Memphis-based Teach For America candidates is testing wireless headsets in the classroom. A mentor located in another room provides feedback and support to the teacher through the headset, just like an NFL coach does to a quarterback. Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Memphis TFA branch will study how teachers who wear the headsets adjust to leading a classroom ... Read more »
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