DigitMemo.com

Tens of thousands of Britons’ financial details are sold on the internet

Security breaches that are allowing the financial details of tens of thousands of Britons to be sold on the internet are to be investigated by the country’s information watchdog.

Without paying a single penny, The Times downloaded banking information belonging to 32 people, including a High Court deputy judge and a managing director. The private account numbers, PINs and security codes were offered as tasters by illegal hacking sites in the hope that purchases would follow.

Click for more on Websites sell secret bank data and PINs »

It was actually a ruse used by a co-worker to cover up an accidental vehicular homicide.

Police and a doctor who examined the body of a 33-year-old quarry worker had said on Thursday the victim was found dead with a burning mobile phone stuck to his chest and they were looking into whether he was killed by an exploding battery.

“The co-worker confessed to us last (Thursday) night that he had actually hit him by accident and lied about the mobile phone exploding,” said an official with the Cheongju Heungdeok police station, about 100 km (60 miles) southeast of Seoul.

Click for more on ‘Exploding Mobile Phone’ a Scam After All »

“I cannot think of any other cause of his death other than his mobile phone exploding”

A 33-year-old South Korean quarry worker was found dead with a burning mobile phone stuck to his chest, police and the doctor who examined the man said on Thursday.

The man, who was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital, had burns on his chest, fractured ribs and internal bleeding, the doctor said.

Click for more on Mobile phone may have killed Korean quarry worker »

Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime.

It’s no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity.

In other words, it’s OK to flame someone on a mailing list or in a blog as long as you do it under your real name. Thank Congress for small favors, I guess.

This ridiculous prohibition, which would likely imperil much of Usenet, is buried in the so-called Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act. Criminal penalties include stiff fines and two years in prison.

Click for more on Create an e-annoyance, go to jail »

If you ever have the opportunity to illegally change your grades, think of these two California students - they’re facing up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for exactly that crime.

29-year-old John Escalera and 28-year-old Gustavo Razo were indicted on October 25 for hacking their way into the California State University, Fresno computer system and changing their grades.

According to the charges, Escalara worked in CSUF’s information technology department and was able to slip into the grading database fairly easily.  He allegedly used the password of his supervisor to gain access to some of the university’s most sensitive data banks.

Click for more on Two students charged with hacking into system, changing grades »

The Pirate Bay is currently working on an OiNK replacement and will be released within a week and on the BOiNK.cd domain.

In an attempt to bring the hundreds of thousands of music albums back online that disappeared during the raid, the BOiNK site will be a little different from OiNK. For instance, the tracker will be public and it will start out with a lot less torrents than OiNK had when it was raided. The success of BOiNK will mainly depend on the former OiNK community, who will be asked to upload their old OiNK torrents.

Click for more on The Pirate Bay to Bring Back OiNK »

Microsoft beat out Google on Wednesday in a battle to invest in socializing Web site Facebook, agreeing to pay $240 million for a 1.6 percent stake in the Web phenomenon.

Microsoft also clinched exclusive rights to sell ads on Facebook outside of the United States as part of the investment that valued Facebook at $15 billion — on par with the market capitalizations of retailer Gap Inc and hotel chain Marriott International Inc.

Analysts said Microsoft paid a steep price on a bet that the three-year-old company would be able to transform itself into a hub for all sorts of Web activity.

Click for more on Microsoft beats Google to Facebook stake »

Wired has up an article with a man named Robert Anderson, who was recruited by the MPAA in 2005 to inform on people in the BitTorrent community.

In a tell-all interview with the site, Anderson explains how the powerful media organization encouraged him to obtain the information they were looking for:

According to Anderson, the MPAA told him: ‘We would need somebody like you. We would give you a nice paying job, a house, a car, anything you needed…. if you save Hollywood for us you can become rich and powerful.’ In 2005, the MPAA paid Anderson $15,000 for inside information about TorrentSpy — information at the heart of a copyright-infringement lawsuit brought by the MPAA against TorrentSpy of Los Angeles. The material is also the subject of a wiretapping countersuit against the MPAA brought by TorrentSpy’s founder, Justin Bunnell, who alleges the information was obtained illegally.

Click for more on Hacker for the MPAA Interviewed »

Wii has broken out of it’s intended mould and is being used for good in the world

It seems the Nintendo Wii games console may not just have fans amongst casual gamers, young kids and pensioners, but also physical therapists. The machines are actively being trialled as an effective rehabilitation system for stroke victims and a whole range of other injuries.

Newsday are reporting that the Bridgeport Hospital’s Rehabilitation Unit has introduced the Wii as part of it’s inpatient therapy and is already seeing results.
It tells the story of Barbara Everlith, a stroke victim who finds standing, walking and grasping objects difficult since falling ill. One thing she has started to do though is play tennis, using the remote controller and a copy of Wii Sports on the Nintendo Wii which the hospital has installed.

Click for more on Nintendo Wii used in hospitals for physical therapy »

Transformers is best-selling movie on both standard and high-definition

Transformers is undoubtedly one of this year’s biggest films, so it should come to no one’s surprise that its release on the home video market quickly rose to the of the charts. Paramount Pictures today informed the media that Transformers is the top selling day one high-definition release ever.

Transformers on HD DVD sold 100,000 copies on October 16, making it biggest home video high-definition day yet. The release eventually gathering 190,000 sold over the first week, leading Paramount to boast Transformers as, “the fastest and best-selling week one release on either high definition format as well as the best selling HD DVD ever.”

Click for more on "Transformers" on HD DVD Sets All Sorts of Sales Record »