Ulanism

Point, Click … Eavesdrop: How the FBI Wiretap Net Operates

…The network allows an FBI agent in New York, for example, to remotely set up a wiretap on a cell phone based in Sacramento, California, and immediately learn the phone’s location, then begin receiving conversations, text messages and voicemail pass codes in New York. With a few keystrokes, the agent can route the recordings to language specialists for translation…

…More than 100 government officials in Greece learned in 2005 that their cell phones had been bugged, after an unknown hacker exploited CALEA-like functionality in wireless-carrier Vodafone’s network. The infiltrator used the switches’ wiretap-management software to send copies of officials’ phone calls and text messages to other phones, while simultaneously hiding the taps from auditing software…

…A wiretap is, by definition, a vulnerability from the point of the third party. The question is, can you control it?…

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The USA government now has the technology to listen in on almost all forms of communication. Almost nothing is private.

Is this really the world we wish to create?

I need to find a way out of this madness.

Re: When I tried to open a web page on the Department of Labor and Industries site to fill out and submit a form and I got an error saying that I needed to be able to script or have scripting on?  Can you tell me how to fix this?

Welcome to the world of non-Microsoft. Unfortunately for all of us, many folks believe the world should only use Windows. On a a rare occasion, you may find that things that do not work quiet right on a Mac. Websites should always work. Unfortunately, sometimes they do not. Here are three things you can do to make them work.

1) Try using Firefox (http://firefox.com)

Firefox is a different “browser”. Internet Explorer is Microsoft’s. Safari is the Apple-made one. Almost every site that works on a PC will work correctly in Firefox.

2) Turn JavaScript on

Safari > Preferences > Security > Enable JavaScript
Firefox > Preferences > Content > Enable JavaScript

All modern computers are powerful enough to leave Java turned on as well. [FYI: JavaScript and Java are not the same. It is too bad they chose to name them the way they did. Turn them both on and forget about it.]

3) Change the User Agent

You can trick any website into thinking you are using Windows browser if you want. You simply have to change the browsers’ “User Agent”. Not sure why Safari and Firefox make this difficult when so many people want this functionality. Follow the links below for instructions:

Safari: http://www.onedigitallife.com/2005/08/03/changing-safaris-user-agent/
Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/59

Iraq Weapons Are a Focus of Criminal Investigations

Several federal agencies are investigating a widening network of criminal cases involving the purchase and delivery of billions of dollars of weapons, supplies and other matériel to Iraqi and American forces, according to American officials. The officials said it amounted to the largest ring of fraud and kickbacks uncovered in the conflict here…

…The enormous expenditures of American and Iraqi money on the Iraq reconstruction program, at least $40 billion over all, have been criticized for reasons that go well beyond the corruption cases that have been uncovered so far…

…Just last week, an Army major, his wife and his sister were indicted on charges that they accepted up to $9.6 million in bribes for Defense Department contracts in Iraq and Kuwait…

…the American military “cannot fully account for about 110,000 AK-47 rifles, 90,000 pistols, 80 items of body armor, and 115,000 helmets reported as issued to Iraqi security forces as of Sept. 22, 2005.”

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Yes… that is right, the USA can not account for 110,000 AK-47’s delivered as of >>2005<<!!! We are now almost 2 years in front of that date. How many weapons are floating around the world now that we do not know about – paid for by USA taxpayers to ensure our freedom. Would it be outrageous to guess that some are sequestered away for a time of need by those who sell death for the USA?

Lisa , thank you for the thoughts on The Art Of Noise. Few people seem to realize just how important non-Black/Hispanic folk were in early Hip Hop. I remember walking the streets of the Village in 1984-85 and hearing Art Of Noise (Beat Box), Malcolm McLaren (Buffalo Gals) and the The Dominatrix (The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight) blasting out of the boom boxes.

Don’t get me wrong, Hip-Hop is def a music that came from the ghetto and primarily from people of color. But when it started there were plenty of white folks who helped get it going. Hell, the Beastie Boys came late to the party (one of the dads is a record label owner. PS: They are playing today in Berkeley!) and Paul Revere had a major impact on how things jumped off.

As with so many things at birth, there was a hope that we could raise above the foolishness of race and class. It is sad to see that for the most part we have not been able to overcome the forces that divide…

PPS: I used to collect records (still own/store a couple thousand vinyl records) and The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight is the most expensive record I ever purchased. Having worn out one copy and losing my backup I paid $30 for the EP at a store in the Castro and feel lucky I got it. That and McLaren’s Madam Butterfly ushered me into Hip Hop and I am thankful for their influence =)

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I remember 3am at Union Square and having a one of my students protect me from his crew so I would not get shot (I was a high school math teacher). I rem another time at the Latin Quarter seeing DJ Red Alert introduce Biz Marki for the first time. Slick Rick at The World and De La Sul opening at The Fun House (that was crazy!) Rakim at the Top (only time I was really scared for my life). Drinks with X-Clan in Bed-Sty or the video with Spike Lee where I got my students (and me!) in front of the camera for Do The Right Thing.

And then there was that time I was run out of a Heavy D and the Boys / KRS 1 / Public Enemy concert in the Bronx cuz the group I was with from Brooklyn had to start shooting the place up. Now THAT was a loooong night…

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Madam Butterfly
The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight
Buffalo Gals
Iko Iko

Just-Ice – Wikipedia entry.
Latoya (an all-time fave!! I could go on for days about this girl named Latoya!!!)
Going Way, Way Back – A nice history lesson

Speaking of De La Soul…
You really MUST watch this remake of the #1 MTV Video by Gorillaz. It is quite fun and the bass line rox! =)

How To Avoid A $3000 International iPhone Data Bill

Oh happy day!!! I got my $1200 data bill reduced to $75 =) Yippeeeee!!! They changed my billing from the $5/month (no data included) international roaming plan to the $25/month one that includes 20MB of data transfer. (Overages are 0.005/KB.) Granted, I did have to sign up for an entire year.

My new monthly $100/month voice plan goes up by $45 (20 + 25) for data. For comparison, Blackberry’s must pay the same $25/month for data on top of their more expensive domestic data package.

OK, now I am loving AT&T. My total bill for the month including travel in Europe for 3 weeks with complete iPhone usage was $400. That is not appreciably higher than my normal bill.

Apple and AT&T need to highlight these charges so they do not get a whole bunch of bad press.

PS: Even when using WiFi to retrieve data the iPhone uses the cell phone network on occasion. This is totally unacceptable. Apple simply >>MUST< upgrade the iPhone so it has a “WiFi Only” option. They have a handy “Airplane” mode. They need a WiFi only mode as well. Until they do, I will bring along a paper clip and take out the SIM card when I do not want to be charged for data ;)

A friend writes:

http://www.thekingdommovie.com/

>Watch the preview. Rarely has an ad gotten me so fired up. Awesome cast. I want to see this. (I hope it ain’t a bunch of propaganda.)

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Thanx for the link but I am so very afraid this will be yet another “Bad Arab” movie. The scene with the “Good American” solider handing out a piece of candy just makes me want to scream. It gets me thinking of all the tales about how some slave owners were “nice” to their slaves (Washington and Jefferson are at the top of my list).

We are rulers of an empire. The Middle East is simply the latest and (so far) most capable area to rebel against their occupiers. Make no mistake, this movie is made by outsiders who need to justify their reasons for being over there. Colonization is a funny thing that way… the colonizers are always trying to show how much “Good” they bring to those they oppress.

So nice to see a descendant of slaves as the lead ambassador of America’s Goodwill™. [Did anyone else notice that after 9/11 both Washington and Berry won Best Actor / Best Actress awards?] What better spokespeople than Black folk to show the world how benevolent the USA is.

Or, as the Martians say just before they blow everything up in Mars Attacks:

We come in peace!

You Are My Sunshine – Elizabeth Mitchell [You Are My Sunshine]

When skies are grey.
You’ll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don’t take my sunshine away

The other night, dear,
As I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms.
When I awoke, dear,
I was mistaken
And I hung my head and cried.

You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You’ll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don’t take my sunshine away.

I’ll always love you
And make you happy
If you will only say the same
But if you leave me
To love another
You’ll regret it all some day;

You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You’ll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don’t take my sunshine away.

The Best 80 Photoshop Text Effects On The Web

It is amazing that people can do this for free! The internet is a wonderful place =)