The Smurfs Return!

The Smurfs, a favorite cartoon show consisting of mostly blue shirtless people, will be hitting the silver screen in the upcoming year.

Columbia and Sony studios have decided to create this movie for the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Smurfs by the Belgian cartoonist Pierre Culliford.

The movie will be both real (live action) and animated.

I suggest Gary Oldman as Gargamel.

Judiciary precedent

Perhaps more criminals should be penalized this way?

You're sentenced to 100 years, but for every x dollars you give back to the people you stole from you'll drop a month.

What is a botnet?

A botnet is essentially a collection of hacked or otherwise subverted computers that are controlled by a malicious user. It is a negative connotation to the positive, grid computing.

A security researcher and security expert created and annotated, respectively, a graphical representation of what a botnet looks like.

Top 5 YouTube videos: May 2008

#5: Good job! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD7zSLaSXRc
#4: Luminous! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIicqULYhGw
#3: Internationally! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD96Ef_GBdQ
#2: OK Go-like! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWrNCCx2p5U
#1: Do: Laugh, Don't: Watch the last minute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGo1YnmPzyM

You look don't look suspicious, but I want all of your data

A recent ruling by the US appeals court validated the authority of boarder guards to look at electronic devices even if there's no reason to do so. They're also allowed to save the data for future perusal, with no guidelines on retention of data timelines.

The Register article about recent developments.

EFF Suggested Workaround: Move all your data to an online server, delete all local data, then reload your system. Can't use encryption because they can deny your egress/ingress if you don't give them the password.

UPDATE: 11-Jul-08: http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2008/07/10/us-defends-laptop-searches-at-the-border/