Eeyores News and View

What most of the talking-heads fail to mention is that Iran has and is capable of using long range missles.
Report: Iran sends satellite to orbitTEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has successfully sent its first domestically made satellite into orbit, state radio reported Tuesday, another development in the country's ambitious space program that has worried many international observers.
The satellite called Omid, or hope in Farsi, was launched late Monday after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave the order to proceed, according to the radio report. State television also showed footage of what it said was the satellite blasting off in the darkness from an unidentified location in Iran.
The reports could not be independently verified by outside observers. Some western observers have accused Tehran of exaggerating its space program.
Iran has long held the goal of developing a space program, generating unease among world leaders already concerned about its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. One of the worries associated with Iran's fledgling space program is that the same technology used to put satellites into space can also be used to deliver warheads.
The satellite was taken into orbit by a Safir-2, or ambassador-2 rocket, which was first tested in August and has a range of 155 miles.
Despite the anxiety by the U.S. and its allies over Iran's space program, it is not exactly clear how developed it is.
In 2005, Iran launched its first commercial satellite on a Russian rocket in a joint project with Moscow, which appears to be the main partner in transferring space technology to Iran. Also in 2005, the government said it had allocated $500 million for space projects in the next five years.
Iranian officials first started developing the satellite, which weighs 60 pounds, in 2006.
Iran has said it wants to put its own satellites into orbit to monitor natural disasters in the earthquake-prone nation and improve its telecommunications. Iranian officials also point to America's use of satellites to monitor Afghanistan and Iraq and say they need similar abilities for their security.
Iran hopes to launch three more satellites by 2010, the government has said.
The radio says the satellite launched Monday is designed to circle the earth 15 times during a 24-hour period and send reports to the space center in Iran. It has two frequency bands and eight antennas for transmitting data.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2009-02-03-iran-space-satellite_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

Experts question fallout from new Monster hack
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — For the second time in less than 18 months, the job-search website Monster.com was breached, along with USAJobs.gov, which Monster's parent company runs for the federal government. And yet Monster might suffer little fallout — because the overall state of computer security is so bad anyway.
Attacks against websites have become so common, security experts say, that Monster Worldwide Inc. won't necessarily scare customers away with its January disclosure that its database was plundered of user IDs, passwords, e-mail addresses, names and phone numbers. Monster makes money by charging employers that post jobs and scan the resumes of applicants, who use the service for free.
Security experts said Monster didn't appear to be doing enough to secure its computers, but many played down the latest breach because Monster said no Social Security numbers, personal financial information or resumes were stolen. However, Monster didn't say how many records were exposed. In a previous breach, in August 2007, con artists grabbed resumes on 1.3 million people.
Both incidents affected Monster.com, which boasts more than 75 million members, and USAJobs.gov, which has 8 million registered users. They're both alluring targets because people give job search sites all kinds of personal information. Even just the user names and passwords people use on the sites can be golden to a thief, since people often don't change their information from site to site.
Michael Orenstein, a spokesman for Office of Personnel Management, which oversees USAJobs.gov, wouldn't say whether the government is reconsidering its contract with Monster, which is up in about a year. He said there's no indication that information on USAJobs' members has been used against them.
"We will continue to work with Monster to ensure we have the best available security, so that incidents like this do not occur, or when they do, the damage is limited or of an inconsequential nature," he said. "No breach is good, don't get me wrong, but the information obtained was limited."
Monster declined to comment.
Security analysts noted that if the government — or any other Monster user — switched to another online job-listing service, there would be no guarantee against trouble at the next provider.
"No matter what you pick after Monster, they're just as susceptible to fraud as anybody else — it won't solve the problem," said Ori Eisen, founder of 41st Parameter, a security firm. "The fact that they've been hit twice is because they have the goods. A bank with no money doesn't get hacked. It's because they're an absolutely known target."
Companies often don't know when they've been breached, since the most well-crafted attacks come and go silently. And companies with big targets on their backs can be attacked hundreds of times a day.
Monster's latest breach "shouldn't have happened," said Bruce Schneier, chief security technology officer for BT Group. "But you can't understand a company's network security by looking at public events — that's a bad metric. All the public events tell you are, these are attacks that were successful enough to steal data, but were unsuccessful in covering their tracks."
Jeremiah Grossman, chief technology officer for WhiteHat Security Inc., said he questioned Monster's refusal to publicly discuss how its latest breach happened.
"It doesn't look good, but on its own it's not a complete indictment of them until we know more facts," he said.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2009-02-04-monster-breach_N.htm
Strange, diffidently a target, not random
Bomb critically wounds head of Ark. medical board
WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. (AP) - A car bomb explosion critically wounded the head of the Arkansas panel that licenses and disciplines doctors, detonating in his driveway as he was leaving for work, authorities said.
Police said they had no idea why someone would target Dr. Trent P. Pierce, chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board. The explosive device placed on or near the car shattered the front of his white Lexus hybrid in a blast the police chief said could be heard a mile away.
"We don't know if this was a random target or someone specifically targeted him," said West Memphis Police Chief Bob Paudert. He said it wasn't known if the doctor was in his car or outside it when the device exploded.
Pierce, a family physician, was taken to Regional Medical Center in Memphis, Tenn., where he was listed in critical condition, hospital spokeswoman Sandy Snell said.
The FBI said a second person was injured outside Pierce's home, but Paudert said only one was hurt. The discrepancy could not be resolved immediately.
Pierce had been due in Little Rock later Wednesday in advance of Thursday and Friday's medical board meeting. The board agenda includes at least seven doctors who previously faced discipline.
Board attorney William Trice, of Little Rock, said he knew of no heated disputes involving Pierce and that Pierce often didn't even take part in board votes.
"This is just off the wall," Trice said. "It's just such bizarre circumstances."
State police used bomb-sniffing dogs Wednesday afternoon to scan the board's headquarters office. The board regulates more than 8,000 doctors, 3,000 therapists and nearly 400 osteopaths.
Though the motive for the attack was unknown, Gov. Mike Beebe was among those expressing concern for other board members.
"I think law enforcement's reaching out, because you don't know if this was connected to the medical board or it was just something individual," Beebe said. "To be safe, I think everybody's trying alert all the members of the medical board to be able to use extra caution."
Pierce is a family-practice physician who patients include the West Memphis police chief.
"He was loved and respected by everybody in this community," Paudert said. "He was a kind and gentle person."
Pierce's car sat wrecked in his driveway, its hood open and bumper partially torn away.
Police blocked off the tree-lined street about 100 yards from the site. Onlookers could see police officers walking back and forth with dogs, while other investigators wore jackets identifying themselves as members of the Arkansas State Police bomb squad or federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
ATF agents did not immediately return a call for comment. Paudert said he planned to meet with ATF agents.
Neighbor Julanne Ingram said she heard the explosion about 8 a.m.
"It was a huge explosion," she said. "It rattled the windows in this house."
Pierce, who is in his 50s, was to have attended board subcommittee meetings Wednesday in Little Rock.
He was appointed to the board in January 1997 and reappointed in 2005 by then-Gov. Mike Huckabee. The board oversees the practice of medicine in Arkansas and can discipline doctors for wrongdoing, including revoking their medical licenses.
In August, the chairman of Arkansas' Democratic Party was slain by a man who was later killed by officers after he threatened them. The motive for the shooting of Bill Gwatney was never determined.
http://wtop.com/?nid=104&sid=1592909

Google Offers "Latitude" To Track People
Google is releasing free software Wednesday that enables people to keep track of each other using their cell phones.
CNET got a sneak peek at it, and CNET-TV Senior Editor and Early Show contributor Natali Del Conte explained how it works on the show Tuesday.
She says "Latitude" uses GPS systems and what's called cell tower triangulation to do the job. The software seeks the closest three cell towers and, with GPS, combines the data to show where someone is.
It is designed to work on any phone with Internet capabilities, except the iPhone.
"Latitude" is being marketed as a tool that could help parents keep tabs on their children's locations, but it can be used for anyone to find anyone else, assuming permission is given.
"What Google Latitude does is allow you to share that location with friends and family members, and likewise be able to see friends and family members' locations," Steve Lee, product manager for Google Latitude, told CNET. "For example, a girlfriend could use it to see if her boyfriend has arrived at a restaurant and, if not, how far away he is."
CNET points out that, "To protect privacy, Google specifically requires people to sign up for the service. People can share their precise location, the city they're in, or nothing at all."
"What we found in testing," Lee added to CNET, "is that the most common scenario is a symmetrical arrangement, where both people are sharing with each other."
For complete details from CNET on "Latitude," click here.
But how accurate is "Latitude"?
Del Conte found a family willing to give it a try. The results? Mixed:
The family lives in an area with spotty cell phone reception, Del Conte points out. They found that, if they went to more urbanized areas, the accuracy of the program increased.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/04/earlyshow/leisure/gamesgadgetsgizmos/main4774320.shtml?tag=topHome;topStories

Better watch out what you allow on your websites and blogs, it coming here sooner then later.
4 Google execs on trial in Italy for abusive video
Wednesday February 4, 11:03 am ET
4 Google Italy execs on trial in Milan over video showing abuse of disabled youth
ROME (AP) -- Google Italy says four of its executives are being tried in Milan over a video uploaded onto the Italian site that showed a disabled youth being abused.
The company said Wednesday that the four are facing trial on accusations that they failed to control the content of the video, which surfaced on Google's Italian video site in September 2006. Google denies wrongdoing and said in a statement that the trial is "absolutely unjustified."
Google Italy said the opening hearing at a Milan courthouse Tuesday was devoted to technicalities. Proceedings were adjourned until Feb. 18.
The trial was sought by Vivi Down, an advocacy group for Down syndrome.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090204/eu_italy_google_videos.html?.v=1


Canada: 36 farms quarantined for bird flu 02 Feb 2009In Canada, 3 of 4 of the most recent bird flu outbreaks have occurred in British Columbia's Fraser Valley. There are theories, but no evidence, as to why the valley attracts the virus. In the most recent avian influenza outbreak, 60,000 turkeys were culled. Tests indicate the virus has not spread to any other poultry producers within a 3-km quarantine zone.The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has quarantined 7 premises outside the zone and an additional 2 inside, based on an analysis of the movement of people, products and equipment. In total, 36 premises are under quarantine.Third major outbreakThis is the third bird flu outbreak in the Fraser Valley in recent years. Some scientists believe this to be related to the high-concentration of poultry operations in the valley and its location under the Pacific migratory flyway for wild birds that carry the disease.History of AI in the regionFraser Valley's first outbreak occurred in 2004 when an H7-type flu transformed into a highly contagious strain.The second outbreak occurred in November 2005, when 2 duck farms were infected with the H5N2 strain of the virus.In 2007, a highly pathogenic H7N3 strain was found in Saskatchewan on a farm that produced hatching eggs to produce broiler chickens.
http://www.worldpoultry.net/news/canada ... -3544.html