July 2003 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

windows security alert
by jeremy hunsinger 31 Jul '03

31 Jul '03

usually I would not post these things to here, but this one is pretty significant. If you are using windows, please find a way to ensure that this does not affect your system as soon as you can. I also realize that I am posting the USDHS version of the notice, if you want the Computer Emergency Response Team notice, which came out a few days before, that is available also. If you do not know how to solve this problem on your Windows NT, 2000, XP, or Server machine yourself, it is advised that you email this to your local support group or system administrator to get their advice. Thanks, jeremy ---security notice follows--- Title: Potential For Significant Impact On Internet Operations Due To Vulnerability In Microsoft Operating Systems (UPDATED) Original Date July 24, 2003 Updated July 30, 2003 SYSTEMS AFFECTED: Computers using the following operating systems: Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Services Edition Microsoft Windows 2000 Microsoft Windows XP Microsoft Windows Server 2003 OVERVIEW THIS IS AN UPDATE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS) JULY 24, 2003 ADVISORY ON MICROSOFT OPERATING SYSTEMS. The DHS/ Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection (IAIP) National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) is issuing this advisory in consultation with the Microsoft Corporation to heighten awareness of potential Internet disruptions resulting from the possible spread of malicious software exploiting a vulnerability in popular Microsoft Windows operating systems. DHS expects that exploits are being developed for malicious use. (UPDATE: SEVERAL WORKING EXPLOITS ARE NOW IN WIDESPREAD DISTRIBUTION ON THE INTERNET. THESE EXPLOITS PROVIDE FULL REMOTE SYSTEM LEVEL ACCESS TO VULNERABLE COMPUTERS.) Two additional factors are causing heightened interest in this situation: the affected operating systems are in wide spread use, and exploitation of the vulnerability could permit the execution of arbitrary code. DHS and Microsoft are concerned that a properly written exploit could rapidly spread on the Internet as a worm or virus in a fashion similar to Code Red or Slammer. (UPDATE: NO WORM CODE HAS BEEN REPORTED; HOWEVER, AN INTERNET-WIDE INCREASE IN SCANNING FOR VULNERABLE COMPUTERS OVER THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS REINFORCES THE URGENCY FOR UPDATING AFFECTED SYSTEMS.) IMPACT The recently announced Remote Procedure Call (RPC) vulnerability in computers running Microsoft Windows operating systems listed above could be exploited to allow the execution of arbitrary code or could cause a denial of service state in an unprotected computer. Because of the significant percentage of Internet-connected computers running Windows operating systems and using high speed connections (DSL or cable for example), the potential exists for a worm or virus to propagate rapidly across the Internet carrying payloads that might exploit other known vulnerabilities in switching devices, routers, or servers. DETAILS There is a vulnerability in the part of RPC that deals with message exchange over TCP/IP. The vulnerability results from the handling of malformed messages. This particular vulnerability affects a Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) interface with RPC, which listens on RPC enabled ports. This interface handles DCOM object activation requests that are sent by client machines (such as Universal Naming Convention (UNC) paths) to the server. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability would be able to run code with local system privileges on an affected system. The attacker would be able to take any action on the system, including installing programs, viewing changing or deleting data, or creating new accounts with full privileges. RECOMMENDATION Due to the seriousness of the RPC vulnerability, DHS and Microsoft encourage system administrators and computer owners to take this opportunity to update vulnerable versions of Microsoft Windows operating systems as soon as possible. Microsoft updates, workarounds, and additional information are available at http://microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/ bulletin/MS03-026.asp DHS and Microsoft further suggest that Internet Service Providers and network administrators consider blocking TCP and UDP ports 135, 139, and 445 for inbound connections unless absolutely needed for business or operational purposes. Advisories recommend the immediate implementation of protective actions, including best practices when available. DHS encourages recipients of this advisory to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to law enforcement or a DHS watch office. The DHS Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection watch offices may be contacted at: For private citizens and companies - Phone: (202) 323-3205, 1-888-585-9078 Email: nipc.watch(a)fbi.gov Online: http://www.nipc.gov/incident/cirr.htm For telecommunications industry - Phone: (703) 607-4950 Email: ncs(a)dhs.gov For Federal agencies/departments - Phone: (888) 282-0870 Email: fedcirc(a)fedcirc.gov Online: https://incidentreport.fedcirc.gov DHS intends to update this alert should it receive additional relevant information, including information provided to it by the user community. Based on this notification, no change to the Homeland Security Advisory System level (HSAS) is anticipated; the current HSAS level is YELLOW. jeremy hunsinger jhuns(a)vt.edu on the ibook www.cddc.vt.edu www.cddc.vt.edu/jeremy www.cddc.vt.edu/jeremy/blog () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments

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Job vacancies - Brunel University
by Christine.Hine 30 Jul '03

30 Jul '03

BRUNEL UNIVERSITY - FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SCIENCES Vacancy Ref: C3007/1 - Lecturer (two vacancies) Vacancy Ref: C5837/1 - Lecturer / Senior Lecturer (one vacancy) Salary: Lecturer A £21,125 - £25,451 pa plus £1,638 London Allowance pa Lecturer B £26,270 - £33,679 pa plus £1,638 London Allowance pa Senior Lecturer £35,251 - £39,958 pa plus £1,638 London Allowance pa Applications are invited for two posts of Lecturer, and one post of Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Communications. Successful candidates will possess or show clear potential of developing an excellent research profile in Sociology or Media and Communications. Although we welcome applications from those with an excellent research profile in any area of Sociology, Media and Communications which fit broadly with the interests of the Disciplinary Group (as outlined in the further particulars), preference may be given to those with research and teaching interests in one or more of the following specialisms: social theory, work and organisations, media studies, cultural studies, new media. The appointments will be made to the Sociology and Communications Disciplinary Group of the Department of Human Sciences, an interdisciplinary department that also contains Disciplinary Groups of Psychology and of Social Anthropology. The Sociology and Communications Disciplinary Group was rated 5 in RAE 2001 and has an 'Excellent' TQA score of 22/24. Applicants should send a covering letter outlining career highlights they wish to bring to the attention of the Department as well as full details of ongoing and future research plans. The application should also include a full Curriculum Vitae. Informal inquiries about this post may be directed to Professor Michael Wright (Head of Department) or Professor Ian Robinson (Sociology and Communications Disciplinary Group Leader). Telephone: 01895 274000. E-mail: Michael.Wright(a)brunel.ac.uk, or Ian.Robinson(a)brunel.ac.uk. For a downloadable application form and further details please visit Brunel Web Pages ( http://www.Brunel.ac.uk) Alternatively please send a large self-addressed envelope to postal address below quoting the relevant vacancy number. You can also e-mail the address or telephone the number below. COMMITTED TO EQUAL OPPORTUNIES AND REPRESENTING THE DIVERSITY OF THE COMMUNITY WE SERVE Team C, Human Resources, Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3PH or telephone +44 (0)1895 812304 (24-hour answer phone) or e-mail: teamc(a)brunel.ac.uk Closing Date for Applications: September 15th 2003

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(no subject)
by Robert B. Taylor 30 Jul '03

30 Jul '03

Why doesn't someone just tells us what a blog is and how the term got started rather than fussing about how many people don't know what it is and why it isn't in dictionaries?

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friendster observations
by Paul Jones 30 Jul '03

30 Jul '03

i have about 170K people in my net and i've been there a while. i suspect i am also the oldest person in my net. all you need is one party girl in NYC with about 150 friends to hook you up with thousands :-> (an former student who signed people obcessively). but friendster is used among my net members to organize flash mobs, to play jokes with imaginary characters (harry tuttle is being chased by the info-retrieval ministry for example). there is a lot of gamestering going on within my section of friendster and i suspect elsewhere as well. what this means is that friendster is a very blunt tool for looking at social networks quantitatively but could be delightful fun for qualitative work. some great unexpected and unplanned for activities. one other note. friendster was hip for a while, but now hipsters seem to be getting cold on friendster and colder with each lame newspaper report such as http://newsobserver.com/business/story/2734004p-2534502c.html one hipster tells me that his main relationship will be ended if he signs up because his partner says friendster is for lamers and loonies. ========================================================================== Paul Jones "Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation." Alasdair Gray http://www.ibiblio.org/pjones/ pjones(a)ibiblio.org voice: (919) 962-7600 fax: (919) 962-8071 ===========================================================================

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"Beijing losing censorship war on the Net" Straits Times, Singapore & "China Has World's Tightest Internet Censorship, Study Finds"
by George Lessard 30 Jul '03

30 Jul '03

>> Begin forwarded message: >> [See also China Has World's Tightest Internet Censorship, Study Finds Joseph Kahn The New York Times, 4 December 2002 http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=517 >> and Harvard Law School website "Empirical Analysis of Internet Filtering in China" http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/china > From: "Randolph Kluver (Assoc Prof)" <trkluver(a)ntu.edu.sg> > Date: Wed Jul 30, 2003 4:24:26 AM America/Winnipeg > To: <chineseinternetresearch(a)yahoogroups.com> > Subject: [chineseinternetresearch] Beijing losing censorship war on > the Net > Reply-To: chineseinternetresearch(a)yahoogroups.com Full text @ Straits Times, Singapore © 2003 http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/commentary/story/0,4386,201957-10594295 40,00.html? >> or your shorter link to the full text is: http://makeashorterlink.com/?O15125075 JULY 28, 2003 Beijing losing censorship war on the Net By JOHN GITTINGS >> [Excerpts] "... LONDON - The Sars crisis in China has provided intriguing new evidence on how the use of modern communications - particularly Internet and mobile technology - can be used to break down the walls of official secrecy. When Beijing sought to conceal the spread of the virus, millions of Chinese turned to their keyboards and cell phones to access banned foreign reports and censored domestic information. Internet traffic rose by 40 per cent, and cell phone traffic by 30 per cent. The government was forced to issue regulations banning 'rumours about Sars' being circulated by SMS, but to no effect. As the Caijing financial magazine commented later, the choice was between 'listening to back-street gossip or going on the Web'. It was the latest round in an ongoing struggle between a long-entrenched regime and a newly-emerging civil society for freedom of electronic information which has intensified in the past two years. The state apparatus has won some heavy-handed victories. More than 20 journalists and civil rights campaigners have been detained on charges such as 'using the Internet to subvert state power'. Several have been given jail sentences of up to 10 years. Dozens of foreign websites are routinely blocked to anyone attempting to access them through a Chinese server. Discussion groups and news forums are filtered and cleansed of 'inappropriate' material. Some experts calculate that Beijing spent US$200 million (S$350 million) last year on new surveillance equipment. Yet a relatively unfettered traffic in electronic news and comment continues to grow at a pace which no amount of technology can control. Most users observe some common-sense principles of self-censorship: No one is going to criticise a party leader by name or defend the banned Falungong sect. >> ..." >> " ... CHANNELS OF FREEDOM MATERIAL from Nongyou and other social-action websites is often passed on via individual e-mail or posted on bulletin boards. There is also a crossover of material between these sites and a handful of adventurous print newspapers such as the Nanfang Zhoumo (Southern Weekend). In a recent example, protests at the death in custody of Sun Zhigang, a young man held by the police in Guangzhou, were picked up by newspapers after circulating widely on the Web. Material also flows freely between the social-action groups and a number of academic sites such as Xue er Si (Study and Thought), run by Beijing law professor Yang Zhizhu, who organised the online petition calling for justice in the Sun Zhigang case. These in turn have informal links with sites outside the mainland, such as the 21st Century online magazine run from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and some more radical sites in the US. The result is a continuum of argument and dissent, from the most cautious to the most outspoken, which transcends China's national borders. Current issues now being widely debated include China's extensive use of the death penalty, the alienation of the Chinese intellectual, and the government's mishandling of the Sars crisis. >> ..." >> " ... The controls on foreign media vary in intensity: Some, including The Washington Post and Reuters, were 'liberated' last year, but audio links to the BBC and Voice Of America Chinese-language broadcasts are still rigorously blocked. Considerable effort goes into barring access to 'proxy servers' that can be used to mask entry to forbidden sites. Use of the Google search engine 'cache' facility for the same purpose has also been blocked. The censor's technology includes key-word recognition which, for example, prevents anyone from searching for the phrase 'Falungong' (except on official government websites). SUCCESS OR SHAME? >> ..." >> " ... THESE blocking actions are no doubt reported to higher authorities as evidence of success in the struggle against 'poisonous weeds' - and will help justify claims for a higher budget. The operation is run by the Ministry of State Security and is an embarrassment to the Chinese Foreign Ministry which refuses to admit that it exists. Although an intensely irritating form of censorship (especially for foreign correspondents based in China), it is an increasingly futile exercise as far as the Chinese people are concerned. The government is engaged in a losing battle against a news-hungry and increasingly sophisticated people who are finding creative ways to get past the high-tech word-based filters. Chairman Mao Zedong was right when he said that the course of battle was determined not by machines but people. >> ..." >> " ... The writer is a specialist on China at The Guardian and was based till recently in Hong Kong and Shanghai. This article appeared in YaleGlobal Online, www.yaleglobal.yale.edu ..." >> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = >> Via / Excerpted / By / From / Thanks to: http://tinyurl.com/h4m7 http://media002.tripod.com/ > From: > "Randolph Kluver (Assoc Prof)" <trkluver(a)ntu.edu.sg> > School of Communication and Information > Nanyang Technological University > 31 Nanyang Link > Singapore, 637718 > (65) 6790-5770 > Fax (65) 6792-4329 ---------------------- --------------~-> Full text @ Straits Times, Singapore © 2003 http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/commentary/story/0,4386,201957-10594295 40,00.html? >> or your shorter link to the full text is: http://makeashorterlink.com/?O15125075 JULY 28, 2003 Beijing losing censorship war on the Net By JOHN GITTINGS [chineseinternetresearch] To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: chineseinternetresearch-unsubscribe(a)egroups.com >> (c)info http://members.tripod.com/~media002/disclaimer.htm Due to the nature of email & the WWW, check ALL sources. >>> "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." >>>> (Gandhi) >> [See also China Has World's Tightest Internet Censorship, Study Finds Joseph Kahn The New York Times, 4 December 2002 http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=517 "... "Defying predictions that the Internet was inherently too diverse and malleable for state control, China has denied a vast majority of its 46 million Internet users access to information that it feels could weaken its authoritarian power." That's the conclusion of a new survey of internet use in China done by a team of researchers at Harvard University. The six-month study found that "Beijing blocked thousands of the most popular news, political and religious sites, along with selected entertainment and educational destinations." Because all internet traffic is routed through a group of central servers in China, the internet may be easier to control than other forms of telecommunications such as phones and faxes. - YaleGlobal ..." >> Click here to view the study on the Harvard Law School website >> "Empirical Analysis of Internet Filtering in China" http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/china Jonathan Zittrain* and Benjamin Edelman**, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Law School [ Overview - Methodology - Analysis & Summary Statistics - Conclusions - Technical Appendix ][ Specific Blocked Sites - Highlights - Analysis by Google Keyword (details | chart) ] ..."

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new reviews in cyberculture studies (august 2003)
by david silver 30 Jul '03

30 Jul '03

folks, *** feel free to distribute *** New reviews (found at www.com.washington.edu/rccs/) include: Elaine Lally, At Home With Computers. Berg Publishers, 2002. Reviewed by Deborah J. Smith, Center for Distance Learning, Empire State College. Geoff King & Tanya Krzywinska, eds., ScreenPlay: Cinema/Videogames/Interfaces. Wallflower Press, 2002. Reviewed by Bob Rehak, Department of Communication and Culture, Indiana University, Bloomington. John Seely Brown & Paul Duguid, The Social Life of Information. Harvard Business School Press, 2000. Reviewed by G.C. Gupta, Cognitive Science, Centre of Cognitive Science, University of Allahabad, Allahabadm, India. If you or your colleagues are interested in reviewing books for RCCS, contact us directly at <dsilver(a)u.washington.edu>. As always, please feel free to forward this message. david silver To SUBSCRIBE to cyberculture-announce, a low volume announcement list for RCCS events and updates, email: listproc(a)u.washington.edu; No subject is needed. In the body, type: subscribe cyberculture-announce

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Research Validating K-8 Web Based Instruction?
by MSJANEW＠aol.com 30 Jul '03

30 Jul '03

My name is Matthew Newman. I am developing a web-based sports science curriculum for children in grades K-8 called Sports Smarts. This program is geared towards providing sports health and safety information for children using online activities, videos, and games. I am working with Health World Children's Museum in Barrington, Illinois. I am writing you to ask if you know any recent research studies that measure and validate the effectiveness of web-based science and health education for children. In particular, I am wondering if you know of any studies that seek to validate the effectiveness of grade K-6 web-based instruction. Since video will be a component of Sports Smarts, studies validating the effectiveness of web-based video would also be very helpful. If you have any information in these areas, can you let me know what they might be? Thanks, Matthew Newman Executive Editor Sports Smarts

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net politics research opportunity
by S Clift 29 Jul '03

29 Jul '03

Do you have an interesting research idea related to the use of the Internet in U.S. 2004 elections? As you many know E-Democracy.Org is known for implementing low cost (all volunteer that is) projects that lead to relatively large results. Right now we are in the process of launching our "lean and mean" directory of election 2004 links <http://www.e-democracy.us>. Because our site has a strong Google rank foundation, we have found that whatever pages we add our relatively high rankings bring in traffic. As a non-profit, non-partisan effort we work to gather inspired volunteers with an idea they want to carry out. Right now we are putting up the virtual nets to bring in the next generation of "e-citizens." There may be a research opportunity within this initiative for you. At some point we would also be open to some sort of opt-in survey on our site. Because we are non-partisan you might get a more interesting mix of users than on niche or candidate sites. We also have a number of really cool ideas floating around that will probably only see the light of day if various new media/Internet/computer science/etc. university research departments use their resources to implement them as part of their existing research program. We have the brand (since 1994) and the willingness to work with others who bring new ideas to see what works. If you have a research proposal or a special project to propose, please send it along: clift(a)publicus.net (It will soon be too late to generate new knowledge about the Internet's role in the next election, because our ten years of experience tells us that people turn to the Internet when there is a scarcity of information in other media. At the presidential level, the worst three months to study will September, October, and November 2004.) Thanks, Steven Clift Board Chair, E-Democracy clift(a)publicus.net E-Democracy.Org ----------------- The Citizen-based, Non-profit, Non-partisan Online Political Resource http://www.e-democracy.org Three quick updates: 1. Election 2004 The new E-Democracy.US Election 2004 directory is now open at: http://www.e-democracy.us Sections include links to the best election 2004 directories, major media sites with dedicated campaign 2004 news, the best non-profit and government election-related resources, and a special section with Presidential campaign information. 2. White House 2004 E-mail Announcement List Receive press releases and announcements from substantial Presidential campaigns as well as information on new online resources related to the 2004 U.S. presidential election conveniently via e- mail. To subscribe, e-mail: wh2004-subscribe(a)yahoogroups.com Full details on this lower volume, moderated e-mail service is available at: http://www.e-democracy.org/us/2004/wh2004.html 3. Volunteer Ye E-Citizens! E-Democracy launched the world's first election-oriented web site in 1994. We are expanding our volunteer-based, non-profit, non-partisan efforts to increase public use and awareness of reliable, high- quality election information resources in the 2004 U.S. election. This is your chance to help build a comprehensive directory of the best election 2004 resources based on the citizen perspective. We need your help to locate and organize the best election resources that others have spent so much time developing. Please volunteer using our comment form. Please indicate your volunteer interests and your related skills: http://www.e-democracy.org/comments.html E-Democracy.Org ----------------- The Citizen-based, Non-profit, Non-partisan Online Political Resource http://www.e-democracy.org Steven Clift http://www.publicus.net Interested in democracy, politics, government and the Internet? Join the Democracies Online Newswire: http://e-democracy.org/do

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Fw: [cybersociology] Blog stats
by Peter West 29 Jul '03

29 Jul '03

I thought this might be of interest to readers here. -Peter West http://netstudy.ca ----- Original Message ----- From: "jim" <jimdowning2002(a)yahoo.com.au> To: <cybersociology(a)yahoogroups.com> Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 7:30 PM Subject: [cybersociology] Blog stats

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"Personal" or "desktop" ip-videoconferencing research references
by E. Sean Rintel 29 Jul '03

29 Jul '03

G'day all! I'm contemplating research on what people do (interactionally) in point-to-point "personal" or "desktop" ip-videoconferencing, i.e. the sort of thing that ordinary people do using various h323 applications such as Microsoft NetMeeting, GnomeMeeting, CU-See-Me etc. Since this is a move for me from my previous CMC research (on IRC), and the few basic library and web searches that I've done aren't turning up signficant results, can anyone recommend any references on what people do in videoconferences? What is seminal? What's new? I know only of _Personal videoconferencing_ by Evan Rosen but I'm sure there must be some classic work on things like gaze-direction and other non-verbal interactional features, how people understand and use the camera's field of vision etc. I'll compile any references I get and send them back to the list. Thanks in advance, Sean -- E. Sean Rintel Communication Department, SUNY Albany http://www.albany.edu/~er8430

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