With the Human Rights situation in Tibet making headlines just 100 days before the start of the Beijing Olympics, it’s interesting to see that this issue has become a perfect battleground for Information warfare on the web, and in particular, suspected Chinese hackers who sympathize with the State.

Right now, web site intrusions and malware attacks are seeing a particularly large spike. Part of it has to do with an ongoing SQL injection vulnerability that’s hitting an estimated half a million websites as this is being written. Some of those sites included those belonging to the United Nations, as well as numerous small businesses, nonprofits, and local and state governments. The cause? Running Microsoft’s Web Services Platform, known as IIS.

Microsoft denies blame for the problem. Though, it is kinda funny that so far ONLY Microsoft servers have proven vulnerable.

The bad news? There appears to be no patch as of yet to solve the problem.

The solution? For now, pray. Or, switch to Mac or Linux.

The same advice goes for those whoa re running pro-Tibetan web sites. Pro-open-source site Ironcove.net is distributing a document in PDF format that details an ongoing spate of hacking incidents targeting web sites sympathetic to Tibet. Ironcove also infers that the Chinese government may be involved, or sanctioning the attacks:
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I can never eat at Wendy’s. Ever Again.

Check out Rufus’ mad skillz as he plays the spatula-guitar, and breaks out with his Phat Wendy’s groovelicious moves, yo. The hood ‘be down with all-beef patties. Awww yeah.

Back in 1989, this is the ridiculous stupidity that Wendy’s employees were subjected to. Just think; anyone that flipped your burger during that era was probably rapping this song to themselves, in their heads.

Even for 1989, this is pretty hacky. What the hell were the higher-ups at Wendy’s thinking? And, has Rufus the Phat Burger-Rapper since committed suicide after discovering the horrific error of his ways by appearing in this video?

I’m so lucky I managed to never work in food service. Yuck.

All right, I have to ask: how many people out there have ACTUALLY bought music from Microsoft?

Or better yet: how many people actually KNEW Microsoft had their own music store?

Well, the music store is no longer: MSN Music ceased operations in late 2006, after a botched launch and a total lack of support from MS. Way to counter that whole iTunes threat!

But, while the music store is long gone, its legacy is not coming back to bite the few actual customers in the ass. Microsoft has announced that the Digital Rights Management used to control the access to the music that was sold will expire in August of this year, meaning that the music that people THOUGHT they “owned,” will no longer be playable:

“As of August 31st, we will no longer be able to support the retrieval of license keys for the songs you purchased from MSN Music or the authorization of additional computers,” Microsoft said in an e-mail that was sent Tuesday to former MSN Music customers.

That means consumers who purchased songs from MSN Music and who want to port their library to a new device — in case of, say, a hardware failure or desire to upgrade — won’t be able to do so after the end of August.

Given the life of today’s computer hardware and mobile devices, Microsoft’s decision effectively places an expiration date of about three to five years on song libraries that MSN Music customers thought they had purchased for life.

So, because Microsoft flubbed in their first attempts at a music store, those who actually tried the service and supported it through their music-purchasing dollars are getting screwed. Thanks, Microsoft! Makes you really confident about purchasing music from their existing Zune store, right?

Too bad for Steve Ballmer, videos of the Microsoft CEO’s abject Asperger’s-induced chimp-like stupidity carry no DRM restrictions whatsoever…

I have a confession to make. I LOVE using a Mac. But sometimes, I really HATE Mac users.

There seems to be an unfortunate potential side effect experienced by people who are or become Mac users: they turn into a bunch of smug, self-important assholes. Not ALL Mac users are this way, but there are enough of them – and they are so extremely, annoyingly vocal – that they’ve become a stereotype that is applied to everyone carrying a laptop that happens to have a glowing apple on its exterior.

I’m not talking about the occasional ribbing. You know, when someone asks “why does [insert random feature] work on your computer but not on mine?” you answer “because I have a Mac.” In small measure, that might be okay, and somewhat tolerable. I even do it myself occasionally. Though, if ever you find yourself in a situation where the roles are reversed, be prepared to NEVER hear the end of it.

But no, I’m talking about the uber-fanboys who obsess over silly things, like, insulting people over how they pronounce the name of the Mac Operating System. Or worse, the fanboys who are SO smug and self-superior that they feel they need to pontificate about pronunciation in a crappily-produced YouTube video, all the while thinking they’re The Shit just because they finally figured out how to use iMovie.

By the way, did you know that Macs could talk? Most people don’t, and most people don’t care. But this guy does. Maybe because no one but his computer will talk to him?

Anyway, here’s an example of the smug faboyishness that I’m talking about. I must warn you though: DON’T watch this video unless you enjoy headaches.

You wanna know what my pet peeve is? People who make YouTube videos but can’t hold the stupid camera still if their lives depended on it. The constant back-and-forth-and-around-and-WTF movement gave me a headache 15 seconds into this minute-and-a-half of Aspberger’s syndrome gone unchecked.

But it does prove a point. I think the main barrier to people accepting and adopting Macs as an easy to use, elegant computer system isn’t price, or software availability, or problems transitioning. It’s the fact that there are douches like this using them, and pontificating about how much better they are to other people merely because they know when an X is a “ten” and not really an X. Gee Einstein, you’re really conquering the world’s problems with that little bit of insight! Hats off to ya!

I really don’t care HOW people pronounce “OS X,” and frankly, neither should anyone. What’s important is that people remain willing to try using it, and that people consider it as a POSSIBLE alternative to the unfortunate crap most people put up with when they’re in front of a keyboard. And frankly, people who cop an attitude about piddly thinkgs like correct pronunciation are the same types who perpetuate the stereotype of Mac users being smug, smarmy, self-important, and elitist. If we nitpick on how people new to the platform pronounce the name, how can we expect them to want to associate themselves with the likes of “us?”

Well, this YouTube viral ad for the Jawbone Noise-Canceling Bluetooth Headset certainly gets your attention!

Jawbone: Allowing you to miss those Holy Shit moments in Life. And sometimes, that’s a good thing…

By the way: while my Jawbone headset has never turned rugby players gay, it DOES do the other advertised effect quite well.