Case against author of worm Sasser starts next week

Zdnet Germany reports that the trail against the author of the worm Sasser starts on July 5th at a district court in Germany. When the defendant programmed the worm he was just 17 years old. His worm exploited a security hole in Microsoft Windows XP and 2000. In May 2004 it forced the American Airline Delta Airlines to cancel all its flights of one weekend. It is supposed that Sasser caused a damage of one million euros worldwide.

Attempted bombing of Jewish Community in Berlin solved

The Tagesspiegel reports that the attempted bombing of the Jewish Community Center in Berlin in the fall of 1969 is finally resolved. The story starts like that (translation by me):

The incident is largely forgotten – but did make history. On November 1969 around 250 people gathered in the Jewish Community Center in Berlin to commemorate the victims of the Pogrom Night standing unsuspecting beside a bomb. But nothing happened. A day later a cleaning lady heart a ticking noise in the soda machine.

Note: The Pogrom Night also known as the Kristallnacht, but this name is not used in Germany anymore since it is Nazi slang.

Now it became clear that the left-wing anti-Israel group Tupamaros West-Berlin was behind the assault. For them Israel represented the worldimperialism and the suppression of Palestinians.

• Intro to the book The Bomb in the Jewish Community Center, which covers the assault.
• Some background on the Tupamaros.

The unconstitutional way to new Elections in Germany

The German chancellor Schröder wants to hold new election this fall. The problem is the German constitution does not allow the parliament to suspend itself. The ruling Socialdemocrats and Greens are trying a trick now to circumvent this obstacle. They purposely want to loose a vote of confidence in the parliament to enable the President to suspend the parliament. In 1982 the Constitutional Court ruled that suspend the parliament does not only require the lose of the vote of confidence, which could be abused too easy, but in fact the government lost its support in the parliament. I doubt that this is the case this time.

• Forbes: Germany's Schroeder seeks approval of July 1 vote of confidence
• A very good wikipedia entry (in German)
• The Constitutional Ruling BVerfGE 62, 1 (Bundestagsauflösung) (in German)

Mississippi Burning: 60 years

The Ku-Klux-Klan-Leader Edgar Ray Killen has been sentenced to 60 years in jail for manslaughter. He was found guilty of killing three white students in the "Freedom Summer" of 1964. Read CNN.com on that story

There are two things which irritate me the most about this case. First, that the KKK-Killers were supported by the local police. The three students were arrested for improper driving. After the arrest an officer informed the KKK about the whereabouts of these three students. So the clansmen were ready when the police released them a few hours later. The rest of the story you know...

Second, the flag of the state of Mississippi: it is still the Confederate 'Stars and Bars' flag and the Confederate battle flag. In April 2001 a vote was held if Mississippi should get a different flag. Why did the voters wanted to keep a flag which is so obviously connected to racism and slavery?

66% of all private PCs infected with spyware

Zdnet Germany reports that 66% of all private PCs are infected with spyware. If you include cookies which track users the numbers roars up to 92%. Of buisness computers 55% are infested with spyware, 87% including tracking cookies. The story is based on Webroot State of Spyware Report, which can be read online, but you have to leave quite an amout of information before that. So much for privacy. Plus, you should keep in mind that the Webroot might not be completly neutral since they make their living with selling anti-spyware products.

Anti-Brand? The Blackspot Anticorporation

The Blackspot Anticorporation made a new shoe which they claim is anticorportated and a anti-brand. Alas, they didn't notice that their socalled "anti-brand" is just a plain old brand, nothing else. An anticorporation is a corporation. They only difference is that the blackspot people believe they aren't a coporation. A simple test: Replace on the web page "Blackspot" with "Nike" and you have something like a Nike ad:

Join us. Buy a pair and become a voting shareholder in The Nike Corporation. Your ongoing involvement is critical. Together, we'll revolutionize footwear, and then move on to "Nike" other industries — Big Music, fast food, coffee shops, clothing. Marrying a passion for social activism with grassroots antipreneurial zeal, we'll rearrange the ugly face of corporate capitalism.

Migration from Windows to Linux

I found this German newspost from pinoc which has some pretty good links concerning to migration from Windows to Linux. It features a good link list:

• Migrating from Windows to Linux, Part 1: Preparation.
• Migrating From Windows To Linux, Part 2: Installation.
• Novell: Linux Newbie Cool Solutions™.
• Unbending the Truth: Things Microsoft Hopes You Won't Notice .
• Novell's Linux Links.
• Why switch to Linux? (in German).
• Welcome to The Linux Signpost.

It also compares programms from the windows and linux world:

• Make a transition Overview.
• The table of equivalents / replacements / analogs of Windows software in Linux..
• Red Hat's Application Comparsion List.
• Application Crossover Chart.
• Linux vs. Windows: A comparison.
• Using Linux for everyday tasks.
• Linux Software.

Soldiers have right of freedom of conscious

FAZ.NET has a story about the lasted ruling of the Federal Administrative Court of Germany (Bundesverwaltungsgericht). The facts of the case are that in April 2003 a major refused to right a certain computer program after a direct order from a superior. He claimed that he had problems with his conscious since is was not ruled out that his program was not used in the war against Iraq. The federal administrative court ruled now that a soldier can claim his base right of freedom of conscious also when he is on duty, if he can prove the severity of his conflict of conscious.

Google Maps now with new Satellite Pics

Google Maps added new satelitte pictures to their database. Zdnet has a story about that (in German).

Here some shots of noteworthy places:

• The Eiffel Tower.
• Berlin Airport Tempelhof.
• The Vatican.

Action against German soldiers for abusing inferiors

The public prosecution in Münster brought in an action against a commander and 17 sergeants. They are accused of abusing recruits in a fake hostage taking at Coesfeld base. Some soldiers were pumped so much water in their mouths that they worried about suffocating. Others were given electrical shocks. I guess the German army is already practicing for their own Abu Ghraib.

Read more on:

• FAZ Online (in German).
• Die Welt Online
(in German).

Phisher Tales in Chat Rooms

Lee Gomes wrote a quite interessting story about How Webs of Scammers Pull Off Internet Fraud on The Wallstreet Journal Online:

A phisher, just like his spammer cousin, sends out hundreds of thousands or even millions of emails, knowing that only a tiny fraction of the recipients will respond. These responses vary in quality; the best is a "full," which includes everything about the victim, such as name, account number, PIN and mother's maiden name.

But even if a phisher has a "full," the real work has yet to begin. The goal of most phishers is to use the information they glean to withdraw money from your bank account. Western Union is one way. Another is making a fake ATM card using a blank credit card and a special magnetic stripe reader/writer, which is easy to purchase online.

Posters for Double Citizenship

The German Group Kanak Attak started a poster campaign for Double Citizenship.

Notice how this is a cover of an ad of the tv station ZDF "See better with the second one":

The background is that in Germany you can have only one citizenship. Immigrants don't get the German citizenship if they don't give up their old one. Germans who get a foreign citizenship automatically loose their German one. According to Kanak Attak this happened 70,000 times this year.

Read more in the Border Crossing Blog.

The Insecurity of Security Software

BusinessWekk online has an analysis about computers' insecure security:

Software meant to protect PCs are now attack targets, revealing a rising number of flaws – even more than those of Microsoft products.

Think you're safe because your computer has the latest antivirus program, complete with daily updates via the Web? Or maybe you figure the firewall you have installed will stop malicious software from reaching your machine.

Well, you may not be as secure as you think. Hackers are increasingly finding flaws in the very programs designed to prevent attacks – computer-security software.

You thought are computer is secure? It is not. And not just because security software itself could (and does) have security flaws. But because securing a computer is a never ending story and the worst for security is not realizing that. If you think your system is secure you will not bother with security anymore, on the other hand you will start doing risky operations.

Some links on computer security:

• Slashdot on the same topic.
• Good firewall FAQ with some general concepts about security.

More Details About STAR WARS in 3D And TV Series Revealed!

Flixnjoystix has a story on the new Star Wars 3D movies and the tv series:

With regards to the 3D versions, McCallum said that they would be released within two to three years. It wasn’t made clear if he meant all six films would be ready by then, or if the first of the six would be released. [...]
As previously mentioned, McCallum confirmed that the TV series (and future DVD sets) will take place during the 20-year time period between EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH and EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE. He also said the show would reveal how certain characters ended up together, he didn’t get into specifics about which characters though. He might’ve been talking about Han and Chewie or Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett, but at this point its all speculation.

New German Left-Wing Party against Foreign Workers

The new German Left-Wing Party, probably called Democratic Left-Wing PDS, tries not only the get frustrated voters from the Socialdemocrats, but also want to find supporters in the radical right-wing. At a rally on Tuesday one of their leaders Lafontaine said: "It is the state's duty to make sure, that women and fathers with families don't become unemployed, because foreign workers take their jobs for low wages."

This statement caused quit an uproar, accusing Lafontaine of using nazi-slang. But notice, just today the conservative party CDU started a campaign against immigration. I guess they don't want to leave the campaigning against foreigners to some lefties.

Some sites on that topic:

• Spiegel Story on that topic (in English).
• Fremde Arbeiter (in German).

Germany toughens Fight against Graffiti

The German Parliament passed a bill today which tightens the punishability of graffiti. According to the old law graffiti sprayers could only be punished for malicious damage to property if the substance of the property in question was permanently damaged or its usability permanently lowered. Most sprayings on walls don't damage anything nor do they render houses uninhabitable. The new law now criminalizes sprayers if graffitis change the appearance of the property. Which it mostly does, last time I checked.

Have a look at this piece of art:

Picture taken of local graffiti by Melbourne Graffiti crew. Wikipedia.org obtained an authorization from www.melbournegraffiti.com. This image is copyrighted. The copyright holder allows anyone to use it for any purpose, provided that the website is credited.

Poll: Let's get rid of some Canucks

After Alanis Morisette became American and sang the American anthmen at the first NBA final, I wonder who is next. Or even better, who sould be next? What do you think?

Which Canadian should get the American citizenship (and get rid of his Canadian one)?
	Jim Carrey
	Paul Martin
	Alanis Morissette
	Celine Dion
	Gilles Duceppe
	Wayne Gretzky
	Avril Lavigne
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Leave a comment if you have any other suggestions or feel that you have to argue your vote.

German Internet Providers forced to block abroad Nazi Sites

The district administration of Düsseldorf handed a list with two Nazi websites to different German Internet access providers with the request to block those sites. Access providers are providers who just offer a Internet access to their users. Some providers took this to court. Last Tuesday, June 14th, Düsseldorf administrative court decided (ref-no 27 K 5968/02) that Internet providers can be forced to block Nazi sites. The decision is based on public treaties on media and protection of minors. On both sites prosecution and murder of Jews is played down and symbols of anti-constitutional organizations (e.g. swastikas) are used.

Read the court's press release here (in German) or a Babelfish translation.

I am personally to too convinced that such restrictions have to much success. Nazis will still get there informations and ideologies. And who seriously believes that some teenie becomes a Nazis just because he saw a swastika on a web page? On the other hand I found it sometimes quite interesting to see what Nazis in the US actually think and do.

Holocaust Memorial as Continuation of the "Third Reich"

The Berlin newspaper Tagesspiegel had in laster Saturday's issue an interview with the journalist and Spiegel author Henryk M. Broder and Wolfgang Menge. They discussed the new Holocaust Memorial in Berlin just south of Brandenburg Gate, or how it is officially called the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Here some bits from the interview translated by me:

Broder: There is a embarrassing example for suggestive architecture in Berlin: the Jewish Museum by Daniel Libeskind. If there were two charlatans in architecture, that would be Libeskind and Eisenman. There the worst thing is the Tower of Silence. People go in it, close the door behind them, and leave totally distressed and say, now we know, how Jews felt in a cattle wagon. They know shit. [...]
Broder: I am against normality. The demand for normality is itself abnormal. The German normality towards Jews was always antisemitic. Given that I rather hold onto the non-antisemtic anomality, before I want to return to antisemitic normality. [...]
Broder: [...] That thing is there now, probably for the next 1000 years. I regard the memorial as the continuation of the "Third Reich" with means of sculpture. [...]
Tagesspiegel: Do we need that memorial?
Broder: Me not. Maybe "we". On a trip abroad a few years ago I talked to a German consoler. This fellow told me: We need this memorial. I asked him, how "we" is supposed to be. He said the Department for Foreign Affairs. For our work in foreign countries. Great, I said, just a bummer, that my mum does not live anymore. She would have glad to hear, that she was not in vain in the camp.
Tagesspiegel: Do the Germans react politically correct to the memorial?
Broder:Yes, they ask over and over, why the Jews let themselves just get slaughtered by the Nazis. But when jew don't just let themselves get slauhtered as today in Israel, then that not alright either. Isn't it interesting that 70 percent of all Germans think the biggest danger for world peace is Israel? To learn from history? Bullshit. The memorial does not help much either.

Here you can read the whole interview in a babelfish translation.
Just one more word about Henryk M. Broder. One of his most well know statements is: "The Germans won't forgive the Jews for Auschwitz."

Debian 3.1 (Sarge) Released

Not the hottest news anymore, but still I want to write it too: On June 6th 2005 Debian Stable (3.1) with the codename Sarge got released. Since the last stable release it took the Debian community some years the get the new stable version ready. But that's just the difference to other linuces. Debian doesn't get released before it isn't really ready. Therefore the old answer to questios about the release time is "Debian gets released when it's ready. No sooner or later." Some more articles about this topic:

• Slashdot: Debian 3.1 (Sarge) Released
• Debian Planet: Sarge released!

They already discovered a bug in the stable relase. Just a minor one. But sort of unnecessary after years of testing.