Google Earth Link to JFK Terror Plot

There’s the old adage that any press is good press. Except when you’re connected to a foiled terrorist plot. Reports are linking the masterminds of the JFK Airport Terror Plot with Google Earth and aerial photographs downloaded from the online service.

But officials said the four men determined to carry out their attack, having conducted “precise and extensive” surveillance of the airport using photographs, video, the recollections of Mr. Defreitas and satellite images downloaded from Google Earth.
(Source: NY Times)

A Google Spokesperson responds, according to this CNET report, of any possible link:

"Google takes security concerns very seriously, and is always willing to discuss them with public agencies and officials. Our experience is that security concerns can best be addressed through dialog with the relevant governmental experts."

This isn’t the first time Google’s mapping products have been connected to negative press. You may recall speculation a few months ago that CNET Editor James Kim may have used Google Maps to receive ill-fated driving directions in Oregon.

TechEd 2007: Photos from the Keynote

As promised, here are some photos I took from the press section during the keynote address. Sorry there aren't more, I had to duck out to do a live shot with Steve & Rebecca on Newsradio 750 KXL. Look for more photos from TechEd throughout the week.










For more photos, visit my TechEd keynote photo gallery.

TechEd 2007: Notes from the Keynote

The keynote just wrapped here at Microsoft's TechEd conference in Orlando. A packed audience listened eagerly to hear a roadmap of upcoming releases and product announcements from the software giant.

Microsoft SVP Bob Muglia appeared on stage with actor Christopher Lloyd of the “Back to the Future” series after a splashy and entertaining video introduction poking fun at previous keynotes (and unrealized “vision”) -- and making light of failed Microsoft Products (the other Bob and his sidekick Clippy). Christopher Lloyd took on the role of “MS-BS Detector” promising to sound a honking noise if the keynote were to drift into “vision” territory. The gimic was certainly memorable, but the keynote itself? Not so much.

Here’s a rundown of the product announcements from this morning’s keynote:

• First public beta of Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5
• Microsoft launched a new strategy known as “Dynamic IT” with a suite of Microsoft Optimization tools
• Windows Server 2008 Core Installation option
• Windows Server 2008 will include Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS7) web server software
• Microsoft Forefront security software sees updates
• Windows Vista’s add-on “Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack” gets new components to virtualiation, asset control, error monitoring, policy management and troubleshooting
• Microsoft has acquired Engyro Corp.
• Microsoft is acquiring Dundas Data Visualization’s Data Visualization products
• Office Business Applications include Open XML – an SDK was released today.

And finally, from the Department of Codename-Translation:

• ”Katmai” is now officially Microsoft SQL Server 2008.
  
• ”Orcas” is now Visual Studio 2008 with a Beta2 available later this summer.

The session ended with video montage timeline respective loook at Microsoft TechEd over the past 15 years. For more on Microsoft TechEd, check back soon or visit Microsoft’s Virtual TechEd site. I took some photos of Bob Muglia and Christopher Lloyd onstage from the press row and will post them here in a few minutes.

Welcome to TechEd 2007!

Microsoft’s annual TechEd conference kicks off today in Orlando, Florida. About 14,000 attendees from around the world are expected to accept Microsoft’s challenge to “Make Your Mark”. Despite arriving late last week, I feel like, well… it’s Monday! :-p

I’ll be here all week tracking the latest developments throughout the conference. Of course if you have any questions, please drop me a line.

First up on the agenda is a keynote by Bob Muglia, Microsoft SVP / Server and Tools Business. We’re expecting to hear updates on the new Longhorn (Windows Server 2008) platform as well as projects with codenames such as Orcas and Katmai. What do all these mean and how will they impact your business’ IT plans for the coming years? Stay tuned – right here – and on the air for the latest from Orlando!

Top-10 Spammer Arrested in Seattle

'Spam King', 27-year old Robert Soloway, was arrested Wednesday at his Seattle waterfront apartment on allegations he sent perhaps as many as tens of billions of illegal unsolicited email -- the Inbox-cluttering junk mail known as "spam".

According to The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, this is not the first time the 'Spam King' has been in trouble.

In 2005, Microsoft won a $7 million judgment against Soloway, after it sued him over spam sent through Microsoft's MSN and Hotmail services. Later that year, an Internet service provider in Oklahoma won a $10 million judgment against him in a spam-related lawsuit.

(Seattle P-I)

What can you do to protect yourself from Spam?

• Use anti-spam filters and enable junk-mail folders in your email program.
  
• Be careful who you give your internet address to -- use a 'disposable' (i.e. Hotmail, or Gmail) address for contests and questionable sites.
  
• Don't click on links in Spam or download images (this tells spammers that the address goes to someone that looks at the email, only making your address more valuable).
  
• Avoid placing your email address on websites as a mailto: link (these addresses can be scraped off your website and added to a spam database). Instead, use a form or mask the address against robots.
  
• Register your domain name to an alternate email address, or choose private registration from your registrar.
  
• Forward copies of "unsolicited commercial email" (aka, "UCE", "spam") to the government anti-spam task force at: spam@uce.gov (Notice how this email is a link? If the spam robots capture *this* address, it'll just save me a step. ;-) )
  
• Finally, NEVER EVER ... EVER ... click on attachments in emails from folks you do not know, or that may appear suspicious. That video clip, "amazing" screen saver, or other attachment is very likely a virus that can cause havoc -- including sending your email address book to -- you guessed it, spammers.
  

Maybe with all the time you'll save with less spam to delete, you can get out, enjoy the sunshine and make some new friends! ;-)

Microsoft Demonstrates the 'Surface'

With various public demonstrations, Microsoft publicly unveils today what it has secretly been working on for years. The new interface is more 'Minority Report' than Microsoft Mouse/Keyboward. A seemingly ordinary coffee table until activated, the device contains small cameras that detect motion from all angles and a projector that displays the action.

“With Surface, we are creating more intuitive ways for people to interact with technology,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said. “We see this as a multibillion dollar category, and we envision a time when surface computing technologies will be pervasive, from tabletops and counters to the hallway mirror. Surface is the first step in realizing that vision.”

Imagine throwing a virtual stack of images onto the screen only to shuffle them around like a shoebox full of old photographs. Pretty cool stuff! Here's a demo video (YouTube):



See more at the following links:

• NBC's Today Show: Microsoft unveils revolutionary device
  
• Seattle Times: Microsoft Surface brings computing to the table
  
• Microsoft.com: Microsoft Surface (official site)

Microsoft's Surface will be on display in New York City next weekend -- as it happens, I'll be in The City -- I'll try to take a peek and let you know how it works!

Sensitive data at Goodwill? Wipe that drive!

A recent story on KXL.com caught my eye today, one that has sadly become all-too frequent: a laptop with sensitive data is in public hands.

This latest episode of an ongoing saga involves a portable computer purchased for eight dollars from a Goodwill store in Portland, Oregon. The buyer got more than their eight bucks worth when they found a spreadsheet with medical records on the used laptop. According to the report, Goodwill generally erase hard drives before reselling computers. Apparently this one fell through the cracks.

So how can you protect yourself and your data when you pass along your computer for recycling or reuse? What should you do to keep your sensitive history from the bad guys?

Wipe that drive!

And of course (or I likely wouldn't have much to blog about ;-) ), it's easier than it sounds. Sorry folks! Simply erasing or formatting your hard drive isn't quite enough. When a hard disk drive is formatted, sure it makes the drive available for re-use and shows no files found, but a clever hacker or curious computer buyer can often dig up the digital remains.

To protect yourself, and be confident the data is gone, gone I recommend the following steps:

• Use a wipe utility that destroys the data completely -- formatting isn't enough as your files may still be hidden beneath the curtain.
  
• Remove the hard drive -- take the drive out and toss it in a shoebox, recycle it seperately, or: destroy it physically (also great agression-reduction therapy!)
  
• Send your computer to a computer recycle shop -- many of the specialists have policies and standards to wipe hard drives... ask when you drop off your old computer.
  
• A business subject to Sarbanes-Oxley controls should ensure their IT department is following appropriate handling of used hard drives.

My favorite computer recycling facility is Free Geek and they have the type of policy you should look for to ensure your hard drive is properly wiped:

At FREE GEEK, we will never boot from a hard drive before it has been wiped of data. Hard drives we are going to keep first have their partition table removed, and then are overwritten five times in the process of testing. If we are not going to reuse a hard drive, it is physically destroyed in our facility before we send it to a responsible e-waste recycler. We do not give or sell hard drives to places that do not have a similar policy. Data on donated hard drives is safe.

(freegeek.org)

I've talked about computer recycling (and Free Geek) on Portland's Morning News before, in case you missed it -- I've got an archive from my hard drive here: kxl_techexpert-recyclepc_20060724.mp3

Finally, if you're looking for tools to wipe a drive, here are a few that do the trick (Please use these tools CAREFULLY -- especially around drives with data you intend to keep, I can't be responsible for their use or misuse):

• Dariks' Boot and Nuke
  
• Kill Disk