The new Alternative Times release has just made it onto the scene. I have to say looking at the track listing this is probably one of the best in awhile.  Look for this one, it’s not to be missed.

Track Listing:

01 - Apocolyptica - I'm Not Jesus              03:33
02 - Foo Fighters - Let it Die                 04:06
03 - The Offspring - Hammerhead                04:40
04 - Carolina Liar - I'm Not over              03:22
05 - Weezer - Pork And Beans                   03:09
06 - Coldplay - Violet Hill                    03:17
07 - Death Cab For Cutie - No Sunlight         02:40
08 - Phantom Planet - Do The Panic             03:34
09 - The Matches - Wake The Sun                03:37
10 - Age Of Daze - Afflicted                   03:26
11 - Panic At The Disco - The Green Gentleman  03:14
12 - We Are Scientists - Chick Lit             03:53
13 - Disturbed - Inside The Fire               03:51
14 - Santogold - Les Artistes                  03:25
15 - Rev Theory - Hell Yeah                    04:12
16 - Foxboro Hot Tubs - The Pedestrian         02:17
17 - The Raconteurs - Salute Your Solution     03:00
18 - The Airborne Toxic Event - Sometime       05:04
Around Midnight
19 - RadioHead - House Of Cards                04:36
20 - Avenged Sevenfold - Afterlife             05:53
21 - Puddle Of Mudd - We Don't Have To Look    03:43
Back

ÄÄÄÄÄ
78:32 min

The release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 not only heralded a long-awaited update of the operating system, it also meant the end of two common Windows Vista anti-activation exploits - the Grace Timer exploit and the Paradox OEM BIOS activation crack. But those who think they can escape by not updating to Service Pack 1 would be sadly mistaken.

That’s because Microsoft has surreptitiously released an anti-hack detection update via Windows Update. Those who chose to have Windows Vista install updates automatically would have this update installed and running by now. If you chose to manually select updates to be installed, you should find this update listed.

Microsoft describes the KB940510 update as such :

This update enables Windows Vista to detect activation exploits that bypass product activation and that interfere with usual Windows operation. An exploit is a form of software that replaces or modifies authentic Windows components. When exploits are present on a system, it indicates that a software or hardware vendor may have tampered with genuine Windows to enable the sale of counterfeit software. Therefore, the security and the privacy of the computer are put at risk. After this update is installed, you will know if exploits are present on the system.

In truth, the KB940510 update installs an anti-hack detector that looks for the two most common hacks - the Grace Timer exploit and the Paradox OEM BIOS activation crack. If none of them are detected, then the update silently exits.

If these exploits are detected though, you will be sent to a Microsoft website that will teach you “how you can remove the exploits”. Removing the exploits will require you to use a valid product key to activate Windows Vista. However, if you refuse to remove the exploits, Windows will disable them anyway, forcing you to activate Windows Vista using a valid product key.

Currently, KB940510 appears to detect only the Grace Timer and the Paradox OEM BIOS hacks. Both the hardware SLIC BIOS mod and the software Vista Loader hack are not affected.

If you do not wish to install this update, you can ignore and hide it. Just right-click on the update in Windows Update and select Hide update. However, Microsoft may eventually require you to install this update should you wish to receive further updates on Windows Updates, just like what they did with the WGA update in Windows XP. It’s a matter of time really.

Do note that this update cannot be uninstalled or rolled-back. If it is installed into a PC with a hacked version of Windows Vista, then the only way to remove it would be to reinstall Windows Vista and avoid the update.

The MPA(A) has announced that it is demanding $15.4 million from the Pirate Bay in the upcoming court case, to cover the damages they suffered from 4 movies and 13 TV-episodes that were made available via the popular BitTorrent tracker.

The movie titles they are claiming damages for are Harry Potter, Syriana, The Pink Panther and Walk the Line and the 13 episodes of the popular TV-show Prison Break. MPAA demands 222,50 kronor ($37) for each download. For Harry Potter, 261,50 kronor ($43) and for the first season of Prison Break 416 kronor ($68).

Wadsted expects the worst now she has announced the claims, even being hacked by Pirate Bay fanboys: “I know that they have an increased interest in my person and that they try to ridicule me. I also count on having my computer hacked. As a business lawyer, I’m not used to these kinds of reactions.”

We’ll see how far this goes.  I suspect nothing will come of this and TPB will get off scott-free.

Microsoft chair Bill Gates today noted at a European news conference that sales of Windows Vista have reached 140 million copies worldwide. The update is the first since the company crossed the 100 million mark at the start of the new year, although Gates doesn’t clarify when the company reached the newer threshold. This demonstrates that Vista continues to sell at a “very rapid” rate, according to the Microsoft co-founder.

If tracked between January and April, the number represents about 10 million copies of Vista sold per month in the first third of 2008 and signals a slight increase in the sales rate for the operating system, which averaged at just over 9 million copies sold per month in 2007. However, the sales rate is half that of the Windows update’s initial results in the first two months of its launch, when it sold as many as 20 million copies per month to cater to early demand.

Nine Inch Nails has made its new ten-song, 44-minute minute album entitled “The Slip” available for free download at www.nin.com (free signup required). The new set includes the songs “Echoplex” and “Discipline” which were both posted online during the last couple of weeks ahead of the new album release.

The music is available in a variety of formats, including high-quality MP3, FLAC or M4A lossless at CD quality and even higher-than-CD quality 24/96 WAVE (licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial ShareAlike license). All downloads include a PDF with artwork and credits.

For those of you interested in physical products, the band plans to make a version of this release available on CD and vinyl in July.

Since the NIN site is getting hammered I set up a mirror of the MP3 version.

Download “The Slip”

News via rlslog

A bad news came today from American Department of Justice: A US man has been jailed for 30 months for copyright infringement over his involvement in the warez scene. David M. Fish, 26, of Woodbury, Connecticut, was further sentenced to three years on probation this week after he pleaded guilty to criminal copyright infringement and circumvention offences. The computer equipment used by Fish to commit the offences was forfeited. Fish served as the site operator as well as a scripter, equipment supplier, broker and encoder for warez sites between January 2003 and July 2005, according to court papers. His work involved circumventing copyright controls on DVDs and uploading content.

In the Southern District of Iowa case, Fish participated in a separate warez site from Jan. 21, 2003, through April 21, 2004. The warez server used in this case was determined to contain approximately 13,000 pirated software titles including movies, games, utility software and music. Transfer logs confirm that defendant Fish assisted in the uploading of 131 software titles and downloading 373 software titles to and from the warez FTP server.

The case is part of Operation Copycat, an investigation by the FBI and the US Attorney’s Office targeting online warez groups that illegally distribute newly-released movies, games, software and music online. Operation Copycat has resulted in 40 convictions thus far as part of a larger federal crackdown against the illegal distribution of copyrighted materials, known as Operation Site Down. Affected groups included such names as MYTH, Centropy, HOODLUM, VENGEANCE or Corrupt.

I just saw this posted on Neowin.net:

Windows XP SP3 is finally here for those that use Windows Update, and here is a direct link to the stand-alone version of SP3 for x86 XP systems (32 bit).

Here is an interesting article regarding SP3 performance, ignoring the fact that Vista SP1 is still faster than XP SP2/SP3 users will enjoy a performance boost over SP2. When will people learn that Vista ain’t all bad!

Windows® XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released updates for the operating system. This update also includes a small number of new functionalities, which do not significantly change customers’ experience with the operating system. This white paper summarizes what is new in Windows XP SP3.

Download: Stand-alone installer for Windows XP SP3 English, 32 Bit (316 MB)
Link: Service Pack 3 for Windows XP via Windows Update (Size varies)

Since its now the end of the weekend I thought I’d leave a message indicating that I will be away next week. I’ll be at a customers site and be away from home starting tonight through Thursday. This means that posting will most likely be kept to a minimum. While I do have access to a computer I simply will not have as much time to be posting.