Full Circle Magazine: Issue 33

Issue 33 is out: creating a media center, education, and sync

A new month (well, in two days) and a new magazine issue is out.
This month, we’ve got:

- Command and Conquer.
- How-To : Program in Python – Part 7, Create A Media Center with a Revo, Ubuntu and Boxee, and The Perfect Server – Part 3.
- My Story – Ubuntu in Public Education, and Why I Use Linux.
- Review – Exaile.
- MOTU Interview – Didier Roche.
- Top 5 – Synchronization Clients.
- Ubuntu Women, Ubuntu Games and all the usual goodness!

Read more
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/2010/01/30/issue-33-is-out-creating-a-media-center-education-and-sync/

Get it while it's hot!
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/issue-33/

Issues 0 - Current
http://fullcirclemagazine.org/downloads/

Forums:
http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=270

Wiki:
http://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuMagazine

Spambot Search Tool: v0.43

* Fixed bug when SBST run on Windows Server systems (doesn't seem to like some of the error handling)
* Fixed Colours for new manual submission ;o)

Download:
http://support.it-mate.co.uk/?mode=Products&p=spambotsearchtool

As if by magic .....

... awww, did my last post annoy someone? T'would seem so, as I noticed the following new user registration whilst going through the new account;



Recognize the IP range? (same IP as the Craigslist fraud rubbish, and same range as Blackhatworld - both mentioned in the previous post).

Craigs List: Allow me to beat you over the head (softly of course)

I received an e-mail around 30 mins or so ago, pointing me to craigslistinc.org. The individual that reported it had been called by someone referencing this site, claiming to be an employee of Craigs List.

I did a little digging and yep, it's a phishing scam. I decided to call Craigs List to inform them of the site, and the additional stuffage I found - a decision I was about to regret. Calling the US from the UK isn't cheap, so Craigs List leaving me on hold to wait for an operator, for 25 mins, to then be told AFTER the 25 mins, and AFTER the damn automated voice told me I was "now first in the queue", that there were no CS reps available and to leave a message, has me more than a little annoyed with them.

Dear Craigs List, if you're going to provide a phone number, and going to tell people they're in queue - don't then proceed to tell them there's no-one available, that just annoys the hell out of us. Tell me as soon as the damn automated service answers, and I'll be happy with that, I understand sometimes call centers/offices get extremely "busy" (I've had my share of having to try getting through to BT ;o)). I'd ask why these companies don't just hire more staff if they can't deal with the call volume, but we know the answer to that so lets not bother.

Anywho, the site in question, craigslistinc.org, resides at 74.118.193.100 (AS46664 74.118.192.0/22 VOLUMEDRIVE - VolumeDrive). Looking at it's DNS servers showed quite an interesting little relationship. The sites WhoIs is privacy protected, but the DNS servers WhoIs isn't. The DNS servers domain, dnblocker.com resides at the same IP and is owned by;

Melissa Walker
P.O, Box 122
La Crosse, Kansas 67548
United States
+785 623-8544
Providingservices4u81@gmail.com

If we do a little digging on this one, we see not only are they running a "work from home" scam;


But more interestingly, there's also a tie to Blackhatworld.com (amongst others), which resides on the same /24 (74.118.193.250-74.118.193.253), and which is known for everything from fraud to malware and everything else inbetween.

I'm working on gathering a list of domains owned by "Melissa Walker" (pretty confident the WhoIs details are faked), and will post those as soon as I have gathered them. In the meantime, I'd suggest blocking this entire /24 as I'm not seeing any legit domains residing there.

If you have received an e-mail, or received a phone call, offering anything to do with work from home rubbish, or from someone claiming to be from Craigs List (or any other company), HANG UP!. DO NOT engage them, DO NOT reply to them, and NEVER give them any credit card etc details (doing so opens you up to the risk of identity theft), and if they're claiming to be calling on behalf of Microsoft, Malwarebytes or any other IT/security company, DO NOT give them remote access to your computer (neither Microsoft, Malwarebytes nor any other legit company I'm aware of, will cold-call you).

If someone is calling or e-mailing, claiming to be from a company you are used to dealing with, ask for their name, then hang up and call the company using the number you usually use to deal with them (and this especially goes for those times when they're claiming to be from your bank etc).

Remember: Legit companies should NEVER call you unless YOU have asked them to (i.e. they're returning your call), and even then - always treat them with the utmost suspicion.

Side note: The same content that's at craigslistinc.org was also previously at premiumverification.com (Cached on Jan 15th 2010, but this site whilst still registered, currently does not resolve)

Pinball Publisher Network: The ghost of Zango toolbar has a Facebook fan page

Here’s something they don’t teach in marketing 101: If you’re pushing software that no one wants -- like, say, annoying adware -- and your downloads are going nowhere, what do you do?

Answer: you push somebody else’s popular software AND BUNDLE YOUR CRAP WITH IT!

Remember Zango? It was that irritating adware company that spent years and a million weasel words trying to make its operation seem legitimate. It was fined $3 million in 2006 by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and it unsuccessfully sued anti-virus vendor Kaspersky in Federal Court in 2007 for calling the Zango malcode “malcode?” After several years of sagging revenue amidst a larger collapse of the adware industry, the company finally folded and sold its assets at fire sale prices last April. (Sunbelt Blog story here. )



The buyer, Pinball Publisher Network, is still distributing Zango and sadly enough it still offers users nothing of any value, which is why PPN offers Open Office, 7-Zip and Firefox bundled with it. PPN and its affiliates are simply trying to piggyback on those programs and in the process, leech from their value and good name.

Read more
http://sunbeltblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/ghost-of-zango-toolbar-has-facebook-fan.html