Free Republic

On Thursday, the Senate is expected to vote on S.J.Res.6, the resolution to overturn the FCC’s Net Neutrality rules. This legislation only needs 51 votes, thus making a handful of Democratic votes critical to its passage. The House already passed a similar resolution in April, making the Senate the final step in getting the resolution of disapproval of the Net Neutrality rules to President Obama’s desk before they are implemented on November 20. Notably, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), a long-time advocate for Net Neutrality, sent a letter to her colleagues in the Senate this morning urging them to vote in...

Google has had to pull Android out of another malware nightmare. A variation on the so-called DroidDream malware that appeared weeks ago sprang up again within dozens of app in the Android Market, which Google has now yanked off the shelves. The incident has led to more questions about whether Google should -- or can -- change its vetting process for Android Market apps. Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has reportedly pulled several Android mobile applications that were lousy with malware from its official Android Market. This follows a report earlier this week from Lookout Mobile Security, which claimed it found dozens...

Over the weekend, I got an e-mail from an AppleCare support rep, who was responding to my recent reports of Mac malware being found in the wild. At least one prominent voice in the Mac community dismisses these reports as “crying wolf.” The view from inside an Apple call center says it’s for real: I can tell you for a fact, many, many people are falling for this attack. Our call volume here at AppleCare is 4-5x higher than normal and [the overwhelming majority] of our calls are about this Mac Defender and its aliases. Many frustrated Mac users think...

One of the most hated men in history has been killed by our troops by a Commander-in-Chief who has done everything in his power to demean, de-fund, impose demeaning homosexuality and restrict the ability of our troops to fight terror, including pursuing civilian trials for captured would-be terrorists. Let's be fair here, the average American hasn't a clue what century the French & Indian War was fought in and probably cannot tell you who who Joe Biden is, so the mainstream media will run with this for all its worth. The Media will give 100% credit to Obama and mark...

Apple has pulled the Exodus International app from their iTunes App Store. Recently, Jeff Buchanan, Exodus International’s Senior Director of Church Equipping & Student Ministries, told The Christian Post, “In no way shape or form is our message about trying to cure or do we try to promote that type of methodology or message… This is a label (gay cure app) that has been put forth by opponents to the application to serve as propaganda in order to stigmatize and really label the application in a false way and provoking a response such as you are seeing with the application.”...

(Reuters) - Radiation exceeding health limits for infants was found in a Tokyo city water purifier and authorities are advising that the water not be given to babies, a Tokyo Metropolitan Government official said, confirming an earlier report by NHK public TV.

Two threads have emerged on Apple’s support forum which seem to suggest that some MacBook Pro 2011 units are overheating and locking up in a ‘hard freeze.’ In one of the threads, the first post from March 1st outlines the problems that some owners are facing: Overheat? The fans revved and suddenly I could use nothing but the cursor. Had to hold down the power switch to kill all and then re-power & startup. I wasn’t doing anything unusual, but I had 7 apps open and was amid an auto-backup to TimeMachine. Just a little disillusioned and concerned, wondering if...

(In light of today's New Zealand earthquake) Of the many different natural disasters that exist, nothing is as terrifying and devastating as the awesome power of an earthquake. In just a few moments of time an earthquake can unleash catastrophic damage and the deaths of multitudes. Who can forget the recent earthquake in Haiti in 2010? As we inch ever closer to the coming Day of the Lord, we are seeing a marked global increase in the number and intensity of earthquakes - just as Jesus said we would (see Matt. 24:7-8; Mark 13:8)! "As we inch ever closer to...

Things are happening in our world that are indeed signs of the end times, said evangelist Greg Laurie. While this certainly isn't the first time a preacher has made such a statement, the ongoing chaos in Egypt and other parts of the Middle East, among other things, has prompted the Southern California preacher to prepare Christians for the last days. "What every last days believer needs to know" was the name of Laurie's message, preached to thousands at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., and over the internet on Sunday. "I do believe that these are bona fide signs of...

Call us crazy, but we're having a hard time interpreting this line of fine print in any other way: "To activate WiFi functionality on this device, a minimum of one month data subscription is required."That's listed under Best Buy's most recent ad highlighting the world's first Android 3.0 tablet, and it most certainly sounds both ominous and ridiculous. Hardcore Verizon followers may remember the days of Big Red crippling Bluetooth radios in phones in order to "coerce" users to purchase ringtones and such from them rather than snagging one on the subway from Tom, Dick and / Jane, so we...

End Times: The Unbelief of Man Vs. The Word of God

Hot on the heels of Samsung admitting that it had exaggerated sales of its Android tablet to consumers, it is becoming clear that Google's Android platform definition is being stretched to include Chinese rivals, including China Mobile's Ophone and Tapas OS, a project run by the former president of Google China. A report by Canalys yesterday claimed that Google Android platform had taken the top spot in global smartphone platforms worldwide, edging in front of Nokia and making up about a third of all smartphones globally. That fourth quarter figure, collective of all manufacturers using Android in some fashion, is...

Via Eric Bolling of Fox News: The Suez Canal and the Suez Canal pipeline transport about 4.5 million barrels of oil per day between the two, so when oil investors/traders see protesters on tanks in the Suez, it creates panic because they’re concerned about the delicate balance between supply and demand on the world’s oil. Any disruption in oil supply spikes prices, and these events are certainly cause for disruption. Also very important is the geographic location — just across the canal is Saudi Arabia — the world’s largest producer of oil. If this unrest spills over into Saudi Arabia,...

It seems the panic time for both green enthusiasts and peak oil pundits. According to a new paper by two researchers at the University of California – Davis, it would take 131 years for replacement of gasoline and diesel given the current pace of research and development; however, world's oil could run dry almost a century before that. The research was published on Nov. 8 at Environmental Science & Technology, which is based on the theory that market expectations are good predictors reflected in prices of publicly traded securities. By incorporating market expectations into the model, the authors, Nataliya Malyshkina...

Whether or not you've experienced the iPhone 4's famed death grip, or even believe it's a real phenomenon (and based on extensive personal experience I can assure you that it is), the whole Antennagate scandal undoubtedly left a deep scratch on the iPhone's squeaky-clean sheen. As we all now know, the story ended with a semi-contrite Steve explaining how all cellphones have "weak spots" and that iPhone 4 customers upset with their device's wireless performance would be entitled to a free iPhone case. The offer has since expired, but it had the desired effect: people pretty quickly shut up about...

The rate at which ice is disappearing from Greenland and Western Antarctica has been seriously overestimated, according to new research. Contrasting estimates of Greenland ice melt. Previous analysis in blue: New in red. The colour bands represent uncertainty. Credit: Nature Geoscience 'Deviates rather sharply from general assumptions' - Yes. Measuring a disappearing ice cap is actually quite difficult to do, as the areas in question are remote, hostile environments and the exact depth of ice is often unknown. This has caused a lot of argument among climate scientists regarding how much ice is melting and running into the sea, as...

It challenges previous assumptions that environmental disasters, such as drought and prolonged heat waves, had played a part in triggering unrest. Instead, it says, traditional factors - such as poverty and social tensions - were often the main factors behind the outbreak of conflicts.

Investigation Calls for 'Fundamental Reform' at U.N. Group on Global Warming An independent investigation called for "fundamental reform" at the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, saying the organization's 2007 report played down uncertainty about some aspects of global warming. The probe of the IPCC, a preeminent climate-science body that won the Nobel Peace Price three years ago, was conducted by the InterAcademy Council, a consortium of national scientific academies. Leaders of the IPCC asked the council to conduct the probe following the disclosure of a few errors in its 2007 climate-science report, which concluded, among other things, that...

Step right up! Git yer loosely-supported assertions of facts not in evidence right here! Yes, a number of people who are not lawyers believe Apple may be in violation of U.S. antitrust laws! Meanwhile, one out of one silly pundits agree: Google’s imaginary tablet is an iPad killer! Last but not least, the Winotaur realizes that the first step in any 12-step program is recognizing you have a problem.

There has been much discussion and talk about Sarah Palin's endorsement of John McCain's 2010 reelection campaign on Free Republic. To me it appears most people here at Free Republic seem to accept that descison as a move of loyalty to McCain for picking her as his 2008 running mate and would still like to see Sarah move on be the Republican party's nominee for President in 2012. Up until last week I was hoping Sarah Palin would be able to rise above the series of bad press, negative attacks, lies and smears to be our next President. I found...

Jesus informs John that Gentile pagans will have their diabolical way in Jerusalem for the last half (42 months divided by 12 equals three-and-a-half years) of the about-seven year Tribulation period, the latter closing out the Church Age. The Church Age began with the First Coming of Christ. The Church Age will conclude with the Second Coming of Christ. The “trampling” includes the AntiChrist desecrating the next Temple to be constructed as well as laying low by his armies’ might the city of Jerusalem.

A detailed analysis of the most malign in a recent spate of iPhone worms points to future mobile botnet risks. The IKee-B (Duh) iPhone worm, released in late November, exploited default root passwords on jailbroken iPhones to turn the smartphones into botnet clients under the control of a server based in Lithuania. The worm affected iPhone users in The Netherlands, and specifically targeted customers of Dutch online bank ING Direct. Security researchers at SRI International - noted for top notch work in dissecting the Conficker botnet - published an analysis of the iPhone botnet on Monday that warns users of...

Tuesday, December 01, 2009 12:19 PM by MSRCTEAM Reports of Issues with November Security Updates We’ve received questions about public reports that customers might be experiencing system issues with the November Security Updates (which some are referring to “Black Screen” issues). We’ve investigated these reports and found that our November Security Updates are not making changes to the system that these reports say are responsible for these issues. While these reports weren’t brought to us directly, from our research into them, it appears they’re saying that our security updates are making permission changes in the registry to the value for...

I think the saying goes that those that don’t learn from history are destined to repeat it. This is likely to point with Apple this month as they sit stunned that Windows 7 is doing so well and they are left looking foolish with products priced out of the segment. Their big news this week was a couple of PCs, a new keyboard and a multi-touch mouse. This last will likely go down in history as one of the lamest devices yet as they should know, given the iPhone, that touch is connected to the screen and not anything else....

Myth 1: Macs Are Safer Than PCsThanks to aggressive marketing from Apple, Mac users often think they are impervious to the viruses, Trojans and numerous other assaults that have plagued Windows users for decades. Security experts say that if Mac users are less susceptible to attack, it's simply due to the fact that there are fewer viruses written for Macs than for Windows. That is rapidly changing, however, as Macs gain market share. Meanwhile, users who have the unfortunate experience of being attacked by information-stealing Trojans will likely have their systems compromised and their data stolen ... just like every...

I think we can finally put a certain myth to rest that's been circling around the web for a while now. Microsoft often claimed that netbooks running Linux saw higher return rates than those running Windows, but according to Dell, this is utter nonsense. Todd Finch, Dell senior product marketing manager, spoke at OpenSource World, and in his talk he made it quite clear that Dell's Ubuntu netbooks see no higher return rates than the Windows variants, calling it a 'non-issue'. "They are making something of nothing," he said of Microsoft's claims.

Two new pieces of malware for Apple computers have been found in the wild according to security firm Sophos. The first, Tored-Fam, is a worm that spreads via email attachments and is simply a variant on the well known Tored family of malware that has been in circulation since last year. [NEW? Not by a long shot!—Swordmaler] The worm collects email addresses and attempts to forward itself on. Analysis if the worm’s source code by Sophos suggests it is being used to build a Mac botnet dubbed Raedbot. This is being assembled by a malware writer dubbed Ag_Raed, who is...

Prophets of Doom has been around probably since the beginning of man’s existence on earth. Whether one believe man was created by God from the dust of the earth, or he evolved from a sea creature, a monkey, or matter from a collision of the planets commonly known as the big bang. Whatever your preference for the origin of man it is no secret that from the time he began walking on planet earth he began predicting its end. It’s now estimated that more than 50% of the world population give doomsday prophets some credibility regarding “End Time Events” thereby...

Symantec says a new worm targeting Mac OS X spreads via email and network shares. But is it really a threat?According to Symantec, the Tored worm spreads through network shares and by emailing itself to addresses gathered from the infected computer's Address Book. It opens a back door to the computer, allowing it to be conscripted into distributed denial of service attacks as well as logging keystrokes (which could be used to steal passwords and other confidential information). There is no indication that Tored can execute without user intervention. For example, Symantec does not seem to suggest that there are...

If you want to push through the Democrat Party’s social agenda during a time of economic crisis, you attach it to a so-called “stimulus” package, and voila, you have what conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer calls an “abomination.” David Patten reporting in Newsmax.com on February 14th states that the “gargantuan” bill will actually cost closer to $3.27 trillion, including interest and increased spending many expanded Democrat programs (read pork) will create in the next decade. Here’s some of the pork: Three billion dollars in “neighborhood stabilization;” One point three billion dollars to bail out AMTRAK; that’s throwing bad money after bad:...

Since the 1960s Western Society has been in the grip of a remarkable and very dangerous psychological phenomenon. Again and again we have seen the rise of some great fear, centered on a mysterious new threat to human health and well-being. As a result, we are told, large numbers of people will suffer or die. Salmonella in eggs; listeria in cheese; BSE in beef; dioxins in poultry; the Millennium Bug; DDT; nitrate in water; vitamin B6; Satanic child abuse; asbestos; SARS; Asian bird flu—the list is seemingly endless. Indeed, we are currently in the grip of the greatest of such...

Back in 2002, as Roy Schestowitz calls out, Microsoft was desperately trying to figure out a response to Linux. The problem wasn't Linux as a product-level competitor. The problem, as its Windows chief, Jim Allchin, told a small gathering of Microsoft partners (PDF), is that Linux changes the nature of software competition with odd things like "community" and "GPL licensing," the latter of which Microsoft didn't like one bit : We feel a huge threat from Linux. Maybe we shouldn't, which is a question you could answer from your perspective...There's Linux the community. We're going to learn from Linux the...

Scientists discussed the merits and demerits of pumping sulfur into the Earth’s atmosphere as a temporary “fix” to global warming at a forum hosted in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 21 by the American Meteorological Society (AMS). The idea is to artificially re-create the effects of volcanic eruptions to temporarily cool the planet. In 2006, Nobel Prize-winning chemist Paul Crutzen and National Center for Atmospheric Research Senior Scientist Tom Wigley suggested that “geo-engineering” might be used as a quick, but temporary, remedy for global warming. This idea was one of the issues discussed at the AMS forum. “In particular, Crutzen and...

Apple has taken the place of Microsoft for disclosing more vulnerabilities than any other vendor, according to an IBM security report. The company rose from second place in 2007 to take the top spot away from Microsoft, which had fallen into third place behind open source content management system Joomla.

Apple made some progress on the iPhone security/management front, but it has a looooooong way to go before truly satisfying enterprise concerns - or becoming a suitable alternative to BlackBerry or Windows Mobile, for that matter.After months of speculation, Apple unveiled its next-generation smartphone, the iPhone 3G and solidified its push into the enterprise mobile space with a spattering of business-specific announcements. But how well did these enhancements to the uber-popular device and its software measure up to enterprise users' expectations? Last week, in anticipation of the iPhone 3G's arrival in stores —which, by the way, won't be for another...

Carbon Cult sickos are under fire for an interactive website that tells children they should die because they emit CO2. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's "Planet Slayer" site invites young children to take a "greenhouse gas quiz", asking them "how big a pig are you?". At the end of the quiz, the pig explodes, and ABC tells children at "what age you should die at so you don’t use more than your fair share of Earth’s resources!" It's one of a number of interactive features that "Get the dirt on greenhouse without the guilt trips. No lectures. No multinational-bashing (well, maybe...

Cornflakes in cereal killer warning By Rosemary Desmond May 13, 2008 03:28pm Article from: AAP CLIMATE change could lead to "killer cornflakes" with the most potent liver toxin ever recorded, an environmental health conference has been told. The effects of the toxins, known as mycotoxins, have been known since the Middle Ages when rye bread contaminated with ergot fungus was a staple part of the European diet, environmental health researcher Lisa Bricknell of Central Queensland University (CQU) said. "People started suffering mass hallucinations, manic depression, gangrene, abortions, reduced fertility and painful, convulsive death," Ms Bricknell told the 10th World Congress...

Some people are still under the delusion that Linux is written by unwashed hackers living in their parents' basements whose only social life is playing D&D and having flame wars over IRC (Internet Relay Chat) about whether vi or EMACS better and debating Picard versus Kirk. Nothing, nothing could be further from the truth. The LF (Linux Foundation) has just released a new report, "Linux Kernel Development: How Fast It is Going, Who is Doing It, What They are Doing, and Who is Sponsoring It." This comprehensive study of the last three years of Linux kernel development, from version 2.6.11...

"A security consultant based in New Zealand has released a tool that can unlock Windows computers in seconds without the need for a password," Asher Moses reports for The Sydney Morning Herald. "Adam Boileau first demonstrated the hack, which affects Windows XP computers but has not yet been tested with Windows Vista, at a security conference in Sydney in 2006, but Microsoft has yet to develop a fix," Moses reports. ... Moses continues, "Interviewed in ITRadio's Risky Business podcast, Boileau said the tool, released to the public today, could 'unlock locked Windows machines or login without a password ... merely...

Update title to: Microsoft hoses user data - again! For most users the Office SP3 means that they won’t be able to recover their old documents. They won’t know to install Open Office, access Microsoft support or edit the registry. But bowing to complaints that the data is not literally “destroyed” I’m updating the title here. But anyone who doesn’t think that most users will be baffled and hurt by this doesn’t know many average users. End update. Will Microsofties ever learn? Without warning the Microsoft Office SP3 update blocks over a dozen common document formats, including many Word, Powerpoint...

NASHUA, N.H. -- Former president Bill Clinton yesterday delivered in stark terms a version of his wife's central campaign message: that her experience in Washington better prepares her to "deal with the unexpected." Addressing more than 100 supporters at a VFW hall here Saturday, Clinton used the strongest language he has so far in the campaign to describe the threats facing the nation, making an oblique reference to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and saying that the "most important thing of all" in selecting a nominee is the question of who could best manage unforeseen catastrophes. "You have to...

A series of giant pipes in the oceans to mix surface and deeper water could be an emergency fix for the earth's damaged climate system, says the scientist behind the Gaia hypothesis. Professor James Lovelock, whose hypothesis says earth is a kind of superorganism composed of living and non-living elements, has fuelled controversy for three decades. He thinks the stakes are so high that radical solutions must be tried to fix our climate, even if they ultimately fail. In a letter to the journal Nature, he proposes vertical pipes 100 to 200 metres long and 10 metres wide be placed...

It was a long time in coming. But Microsoft has finally acknowledged that its anti-Linux site had gone past the point of usefulness.On August 23, Microsoft pulled plug on the “Get the Facts” site, replacing it with a new Windows Server “Compare” site.The goal of the site is to offer more in-depth information and customer-to-customer opinions about many of the issues IT administrators face,” a company spokeswoman said. “It turns out people wanted 3rd party validation in addition to people’s experiences making OS purchasing decisions so in addition to customer case studies, research reports that compare platforms the site will...

Anti-depleted uranium activists have enlisted the assistance of all of Hawaii’s leftist alternative weeklies in a campaign against depleted uranium. The Hawaii Island Journal June 30 caries a front page cartoon skeleton in an aloha shirt and the headline “Radioactive us -- danger depleted uranium.” Articles on the alleged risks of depleted uranium appeared in quick succession in Honolulu Weekly, June 13, Maui Time, June 21, and Big Island Weekly, June 27 as well as the Journal. Big Island Weekly points out that the latest anti-DU hype is based on observations in South Kona by an activist armed with a...

He disappointed conservatives during his eight years in the Senate. Is there any reason to think this Washington insider and veteran trial lawyer would be any better as President? The frustration of conservatives is understandable. Faced with the prospects of Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, or Mitt Romney as the next Republican presidential candidate, many are pinning their hopes on former Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee. Could this actor-politician be the new Ronald Reagan? Mainstream media types assure us that he is. His record suggests otherwise. This is the second time conservatives have pinned their hopes on Thompson. When he was...

The first Apple iPhones hit US shops tomorrow and their arrival has thrown the spotlight on the fanatical and burgeoning movement known as the iCult. Already iPilgrims are queuing outside the Apple temple in Manhattan's 5th Avenue to be the first to own the holy handset. The iPhone is the latest "cool tool" from the mind of Steve Jobs. The self-styled techno-prophet appears to believers in a black polo neck at mass religious gatherings known as MacWorld, with revelations of ways they can part with their money. At first, the iCultists were seen as a harmless tech-heads who droned on...

The iPhone as a media event is a wonderful thing but to an IT manager it is Satan Spawned. This is because it is one of those devices and a large number of employees are likely to buy and bring to the enterprise begging, or in the case of executives, demanding support. But we don’t really take phones as seriously as we should and anything that currently showing the popularity this phone is showing should be taken seriously. If the rumored licensing announcement between Microsoft and Apple on ActiveSync is true (and some argue it is not) this would make...

Column: As IPhone Hype Reaches a Crescendo, a Memento Mori for Apple NEW YORK (AP) -- When a Roman general returned from a successful campaign and was rewarded with a triumphal parade through the city, a slave stood behind him on his chariot to whisper the words "Memento mori" in his ear. The Latin phrase means "remember that you are mortal," and was intended to keep the general's pride manageable. With the launch of the tremendously hyped iPhone soon upon us, it may be worth reminding Apple Inc. and the buying public that not every product the company has put...

Oil supplies from non-Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries producers will increase by as much as 4 million barrels a day and peak in 2015 before dropping from then until 2030, OPEC said Tuesday. Conventional non-OPEC crude production is expected to rise to at 50.5 million barrels a day in 2015 and will fall by nearly 2 million barrels a day to 48.6 million barrels a day over the following 15 years, according to a presentation held by OPEC's research director, Hasan Qabazard, in Riyadh. Non-OPEC production stood at 46.8 million barrels a day in 2005, the presentation, entitled "Global Oil...

According to an e-mail message, dated November 1, 2002, that has been entered as evidence in the Iowa consumer antitrust case against Microsoft, some Microsoft executives favored hiding the fact that Microsoft paid International Data Corp. (IDC) for one of the total-cost-of-ownership studies comparing Windows and Linux that the firm conducted at Microsoft's request. (It looks like fear of being outed triumphed, and Microsoft ultimately decided to admit its role in commissioning the IDC TCO and subsequent anti-Linux studies.)