Archive for October, 2006
October 30th, 2006 | 
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Web Designers and Web Design Clients alike be warned:
IE 7 was released this week and already numerous bugs putting users at risk of phishing attacks, spoofing attacks, and disclosure of personal information (amongst many others), have been discovered.
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Google has added features to exsisting Web design tools like the sitemap tool. They’ve also added a bunch of tools too. Too much to talk about here but it’s worth logging into your google account and checking them out. View them here.
Go here for a detailed summary of the new search engine tools.
A Florida woman has been awarded $11.3 million in a defamation lawsuit against a Louisiana woman who posted messages on the Internet accusing her of being a “crook,” a “con artist” and a “fraud.”
This judgement represents the largest such judgment over postings on an Internet blog or message board. Lyrissa Lidsky, a University of Florida law professor who specializes in free-speech issues, calls the award “astonishing.”
This judgment is made somewhat more disturbing because the defendant wasn’t financially able to defend herself. She lived in Louisina therefore wasn’t able to make it to the courtroom and therefore the plaintiff was automatically awarded everything she asked for. The plaintiff in this case knew the defendant wouldn’t be able to pay but she still forked up the court costs to get the judgement for vindication purposes. Scheff says she wanted to make a point to those who unfairly criticize others on the Internet. “I’m sure (Bock) doesn’t have $1 million, let alone $11 million, but the message is strong and clear,” Scheff says. “People are using the Internet to destroy people they don’t like, and you can’t do that.” Editor note- but it’s okay to use the courts to ruin people?
Another disturbing factor of the lawsuits is that if this woman was able to defend herself she probably won easily. From the info posted by her colleagues on the web forum in question (at a site dedicated to exposing and warning people of abusive schools/programs for “problem” teens), it seems Ms Scheff’s colleagues believe she is quite unethical gets sued often and likes to sue other people, even people she meets in passing.
While some protection is needed against slander commonly found in these forums, protection is needed from people like Scheff who sue and slander defenseless people with the courts system.
Read quoted story
The infamous AOL Search Data Leak
not only exposed the personal searches of 650,000 AOL users searches over a three month period it taught three things:
- It’s way easy to indentify who someone is through their searches
- AOL users really are dumber than the rest of us
- What AOL users are looking for on the internet.*
This article will talk about what they were looking for on the internet:
Intel Corp. and actor Morgan Freeman have paired up to launch a Web site whose goal is to release some independent films on the same day they debut in theaters, challenging long-held Hollywood practices.
The ClicStar Website says: ClickStar, Inc. is a new digital entertainment venture between Intel Corporation and Revelations Entertainment, the production company headed by Morgan Freeman and business partner Lori McCreary that addresses the growing consumer desire for premium entertainment through broadband for the PC and the TV.
ClickStar is an amazing new service delivering premium movies and thematic artist-created channels brought to you by and featuring some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
and about Morgan Freeman’s latest flm:
Morgan Freeman’s new film, “10 Items or Less,” is scheduled to arrive in theaters in December. But you’ll be able to download a pristine copy of the movie over the Internet just days after it rolls into the multiplex.”
It also appears from thier web site that a film from Danny DeVito is forthcoming as well.
Lawyers are preparing to sue the internet giant Yahoo over the imprisonment in China of Shi Tao, a journalist convicted of ‘illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities’ after he sent an email to a pro-democracy website.
In 2004 Shi Tao sent an email to an American pro-democracy site about the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square student protests. It was passed to the government by Yahoo’s Chinese partner company, resulting in Shi Tao being given a 10-year sentence of forced labour. A lawsuit is now set to be filed on his behalf, according to PC Advisor magazine.