Via StumbleUpon, I discovered Songbird.  Via Google, I discovered this article that describes how to install Songbird by downloading the tar.gz offered on the official site, creating a directory for it, decompressing it, using sudo and chown to change permissions, and eventually installing it.  Well, I'd like to offer you a much easier way.

Here's an Ubuntu package for songbird.  Simply click here to download and install it.

For those who don't know, Songbird is a really nice-looking free cross-platform audio player written using XUL.

Dr. Housing Bubble comments on the credit bubble we're currently facing. Great article.

Wikipedia defines bookmarklets as "a small JavaScript program that can be stored as a URL within a bookmark in most popular web browsers." Basically, they're buttons you can add to your browser to give you a little extra function and convenience.

I've gathered for you a list of what I believe are the world's best bookmarklets - the ones I've found most useful and probably couldn't continue without. They appear as links; to use them, simply click and drag them onto your browser interface. I tend to keep mine just under my address bar.

frmget - Many web-driven applications accept input in the form of GET variables as opposed to POST variables, despite defaulting to the POST method. By using this button to convert POST forms to GET forms, variables are modifiable in the Address Bar and search results often become bookmarkable where they were not before.

remove maxlength - Ever start typing in a text box only to find that the websites's author set a limit on the text length for no good reason? This button will remove those annoying limits and will allow you to type as much text as you like. I often find this very useful. However, this will not help you when the text length is checked on the server-side.

show hiddens - This bookmarklet will turn all hidden variables into modifiable (and labeled) textboxes. This often comes in handy when you want to see (or change) what data is secretly being passed, without having to sift through the page's source.

view passwords - Are your remembered passwords being sent to your browser in plaintext every time you go to login? Use this button to reveal the content of those masked password boxes.

undisable - Have you ever wondered what would happen if you somehow click those greyed out checkboxes or buttons somehow, even though they're greyed out? Find out by clicking this one first. It will undisable/enable all elements on the page including check boxes, radio buttons, text boxes, and just about anything else that would otherwise be disabled.

toggle checkboxes - Toggle (check or uncheck) all of the checkboxes on a page at once.

Alexa - Check the Alexa ranking of any site with a single click.

zap style sheets - Find out what the page you're on would look like without any Cascading Style Sheets

YSE - Explore other indexed content on a site without having to follow all the links with the Yahoo! Site Explorer

Y - Find out what pages link to the one you're looking at (according to Yahoo!)

MS - Find out what pages link to the one you're looking at (according to MSN)

Please keep in mind that I didn't create any of these bookmarklets. They came from of the following places, which are great places to find more:

Jesse's Bookmarklets Site

Steve Kangas's Bookmarklets.com

As we grow up, we're lead to believe certain things whether they're taught to us or they're implied by the people we're around… many of these things are true, but some simply aren't.  Please note that the intent of this article is not to advocate the use of drugs but to assail the use of misinformation.  Without further delay, here is my top 10 list of marijuana-related myths:

1. Marijuana is more harmful than tobacco - Many people think smoking marijuana is just as harmful as smoking tobacco, but this is not true for many reasons.  (For example, most marijuana smokers smoke the bud, not the leaf, of the plant. The bud contains only 33% as much tar as tobacco; Not one case of lung cancer has ever been successfully linked to marijuana use; Cannabis, unlike tobacco, does not cause any narrowing of the small air passageways in the lungs.) Click here for more details.
2. Marijuana is a gateway drug - We were taught in school that people who try marijuana eventually move on to crave harder drugs, usually with the implication that marijuana is addictive and coke or crack are just the next step. In hindsight, this is absurd.  The primary basis for this "gateway hypothesis" is a recent report by the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), claiming that marijuana users are 85 times more likely than non-marijuana users to try cocaine. This figure, using data from NIDA's 1991 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, is close to being meaningless. It was calculated by dividing the proportion of marijuana users who have ever used cocaine (17%) by the proportion of cocaine users who have never used marijuana (.2%). The high risk-factor obtained is a product not of the fact that so many marijuana users use cocaine but that so many cocaine users used marijuana previously.  It is hardly a revelation that people who use one of the least popular drugs are likely to use the more popular ones - not only marijuana, but also alcohol and tobacco cigarettes. The obvious statistic not publicized by CASA is that most marijuana users - 83 percent - never use cocaine. Indeed, for the nearly 70 million Americans who have tried marijuana, it is clearly a "terminus" rather than a "gateway" drug. Click here for a recently-released 12-year study on the subject.
3. Marijuana causes brain damage - The most celebrated study that claims to show brain damage is the rhesus monkey study of Dr. Robert Heath, done in the late 1970s.  This study was reviewed by a distinguished panel of scientists sponsored by the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences.  Their results were published under the title, Marijuana and Health in 1982.  Heath's work was sharply criticized for its insufficient sample size (only four monkeys), its failure to control experimental bias, and the misidentification of normal monkey brain structure as "damaged".  Actual studies of human populations of marijuana users have shown no evidence of brain damage.  For example, two studies from 1977, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) showed no evidence of brain damage in heavy users of marijuana.  That same year, the American Medical Association (AMA) officially came out in favor of decriminalizing marijuana.  That's not the sort of thing you'd expect if the AMA thought marijuana damaged the brain.
4. Marijuana use is increasing at an alarming rate - Reports of slight increases in marijuana use, especially among youth, are being used to convince Americans that a renewed campaign about the drug's dangers is necessary to avert an impending epidemic.  According to government surveys of the general population, marijuana use began decreasing in 1980, after more than a decade of steady increase. By 1990, the downward trend showed signs of slowing, but use-rates remained substantially lower than those recorded in the 1970s.  Today 34.3% of high school seniors claim to have smoked pot in the last 12 months which is down from 52.8% in 1976, 50.9% in 1986, and just barely higher than the 33.1% of 1996.  See for yourself.
5. Marijuana is more potent today than in the past - This myth is the result of bad data.  The researchers who made the claim of increased potency used as their baseline the THC content of marijuana seized by police in the early 1970s.  Poor storage of this marijuana in un-air conditioned evidence rooms caused it to deteriorate and decline in potency before any chemical assay was performed.  Contemporaneous, independent assays of unseized "street" marijuana from the early 1970s showed a potency equivalent to that of modern "street" marijuana.  Actually, the most potent form of this drug that was generally available was sold legally in the 1920s and 1930s by the pharmaceutical company Smith-Klein under the name, "American Cannabis".
   
6. Marijuana is an addictive drug - It is now frequently stated that marijuana is profoundly addicting and that any increase in prevalence of use will lead inevitably to increases in addiction.  Essentially all drugs are used in "an addictive fashion" by some people. However, for any drug to be identified as highly addictive, there should be evidence that substantial numbers of users repeatedly fail in their attempts to discontinue use and develop use-patterns that interfere with other life activities.  National epidemiological surveys show that the large majority of people who have had experience with marijuana do not become regular users.  In 1993, among Americans age 12 and over, about 34% had used marijuana sometime in their life, but only 9% had used it in the past year, 4.3% in the past month, and 2.8% in the past week.  A longitudinal study of young adults who had first been surveyed in high school also found a high "discontinuation rate" for marijuana. While 77% had used the drug, 74% of those had NOT used in the past year and 84% had NOT used in the past month.  Compare this to a truly addictive drug, such as the nicotine in smoked tobacco with a 90% addiction rate, and the argument for possible marijuana addiction starts to sound very silly.
7. Marijuana damages the reproductive system - This claim is based chiefly on the work of Dr. Gabriel Nahas, who experimented with tissue (cells) isolated in petri dishes, and the work of researchers who dosed animals with near-lethal amounts of cannabinoids (i.e., the intoxicating part of marijuana).  Nahas' generalizations from his petri dishes to human beings have been rejected by the scientific community as being invalid.  In the case of the animal experiments, the animals that survived their ordeal returned to normal within 30 days of the end of the experiment.  Studies of actual human populations have failed to demonstrate that marijuana adversely affects the reproductive system.
8. Marijuana suppresses the immune system - Like the studies claiming to show damage to the reproductive system, this myth is based on studies where animals were given extremely high — in many cases, near-lethal — doses of cannabinoids.  These results have never been duplicated in human beings.  Interestingly, two studies done in 1978 and one done in 1988 showed that hashish and marijuana may have actually stimulated the immune system in the people studied.
9. Marijuana smoke contains over a thousand chemicals - True but very misleading.  The 31 August 1990 issue of the magazine Science notes that of the over 800 volatile chemicals present in roasted COFFEE, only 21 have actually been tested on animals and 16 of these cause cancer in rodents.  Yet, coffee remains legal and is generally considered fairly safe.
10. Marijuana is a drug without therapeutic value - Proposals to make marijuana legally available as a medicine are countered with claims that safer, more effective drugs are available, including a synthetic version of delta-9-THC, marijuana's primary active ingredient.  For thousands of years, throughout the world, people have used marijuana to treat a variety of medical conditions.  Today, in the United States, such use is prohibited. Although 36 states have passed legislation to allow marijuana's use as a medicine, federal law preempts their making marijuana legally available to patients.  People undergoing cancer chemotherapy have found smoked marijuana to be an effective anti-nauseant - often more effective than available pharmaceutical medications. Indeed, 44% of oncologists responding to a questionnaire said they had recommended marijuana to their cancer patients; others said they would recommend it if it were legal. Marijuana is also smoked by thousands of AIDS patients to treat the nausea and vomiting associated with both the disease and AZT drug therapy. Because it stimulates appetite, marijuana also counters HIV-related "wasting," allowing AIDS patients to gain weight and prolong their lives.

These are all myths I heard growing up.  Perhaps not everyone was subject to the same misinformation, but I feel it's fairly safe to assume that there are others out there who had similar experiences.

The facinating part of this to me is not the drug in question, but the way the US government treats it.  If you're interested, check out this article about why it became illegal in the first place, and if you think that was written by some pot-smoking hippie, check out the hour-long special that runs on the History Channel or consult your nearest history professor.

Again, I'm not advocating drug use.  I do, however, oppose the spread of misinformation… just because it's illegal to speed doesn't mean it makes sense to tell people their cars will blow up once they hit 88 MPH.  Taking this approach with students seems much more harmful than educating based on truth.  At a young age children tend to accept parents and teachers as an authoritative and reliable source of information.  However, as they get older and find out on their own that some of the things they were scared into believing are not accurate, they'll likely lose trust in their original sources of information and discard important knowledge that could prevent them from making decisions that could ruin their lives.

Over the last several months, I've done my best to seek out every podcast related to computer security concepts.  I started with a list of just under fifty podcasts and gradually eliminated the ones that consistently failed to offer interesting ideas or were simply too watered down.  I'm left the following list of podcasts that I feel are worth listening to.  Since each podcast certainly isn't for everyone, I've included some details to make it easier to pick that ones that would most likely interest you the most.  This list is in a blatantly-subjective order.  If your podcast hasn't been included, contact me and I'll let you know if it was because I couldn't find it on my own or because I thought it sucked.  If you have something to add, please leave a comment and I'll update my list.

Name: PaulDotCom Security Weekly
Main Subject: anything related to computer security
Format: Casual
Approx. Updates Per Month: 4 to 5
Recent Subjects Covered: mobile malware, hacking ATM machines, tool that allows for hosts to communicate over wireless without being associated, Spamhaus in trouble, Filtering IM for kids, Hacking Web 2.0 Applications with Firefox
Justification: All kinds of good stuff week after week.  Highly recommended.
Rss Link: http://pauldotcom.com/podcast/psw.xml

Name: Security Now!
Main Subject: computer security and basic technology concepts
Format: Formal
Approx. Updates Per Month: 4 to 5
Recent Subjects Covered: Parallels, Virtual PC, Application Sandboxes, Blue Pill, Vista's Virgin Stack
Justification: The show still touches on a number of interesting subjects that are worth tuning in for.
Rss Link: http://leoville.tv/podcasts/sn.xml

Name: Binary Revolution Radio
Main Subject: hacking, phreaking, computer security
Format: Casual
Approx. Updates Per Month: 4 to 5
Recent Subjects Covered: Toorcon, IPv6, Covert Channels, Phishing, Tunneling
Justification: Less organized but offers fresh information and interesting discussion each week
Rss Link: http://www.binrev.com/radio/podcast/

Name: PLA Radio
Main Subject: Phreaking
Format: Very Casual
Approx. Updates Per Month: 1 to 2
Recent Subjects Covered: Free Phone Calls, Beige Boxing, Deaf Relay Operators (IP Relay), Social Engineering
Justification: Covers topics related to "phone hacking".  While the format is a bit strange, some of the older episodes had me laughing uncontrollably and are worth a listen.
Rss Link: http://www.phonelosers.org/rss.xml

Name: Off The Hook
Main Subject: General technology, phreaking, politics
Format: Semi-formal
Approx. Updates Per Month: 4 to 5
Justification: This show, hosted by Emmanuel Goldstein, has been running since the 80's and has become somewhat legendary in the Hacking and Phreaking communities as it's been there to document the evolution of technology.  Definitely worth a listen.
Rss Link: http://www.2600.com/rss.xml

Name: SploitCast
Main Subject: new vulnerabilities, exploit code, security and technology news
Format: Casual
Approx. Updates Per Month: 1 to 4
Recent Subjects Covered: Interview with Johnny Long, ping tunneling, sensitive data on stolen laptops, Zfone, high level ISP hacks, darknets
Justification: They haven't been releasing much lately, but their episodes are usually pretty interesting.  I can't find any other podcasts that discuss exploit code in great detail.
Rss Link: http://sploitcast.libsyn.com/rss

Name: Blue Box: The VoIP Security Podcast
Main Subject: VoIP Security, of course
Format: Semi-casual
Approx. Updates Per Month: 3 to 6
Recent Subjects Covered: Skype security news, interviews, VoIP fraud, recent vulnerabilities
Justification: Covers some great VoIP-related security-centered information.
Rss Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/BlueBox

Name: TWAT Radio
Main Subject: All things technology with a slight security focus
Format: Casual
Approx. Updates Per Month: 10+
Recent Subjects Covered: Newsgroup readers, Wireless attacks for dummies, Eggdrop, Wake On Lan, Network Recon, VPNs, The GIMP, Cygwin
Justification: Covers a great deal of different technology subjects
Rss Link: http://www.twatech.org/wp-feed.php

Name: Basenet Radio
Format: Casual
Approx. Updates Per Month: 2 to 4
Justification: Underground feel, great information
Rss Link: http://www.basenetradio.net/rss2.xml

Name: LugRadio
Main Subject: Linux and Open Source
Format: Casual
Approx. Updates Per Month: 0 to 2
Recent Subjects Covered: the Portland Project, trusted computing, comparison of Linux distributions, Software Freedom Day
Justification: Possibly the most popular Linux-related podcast
Rss Link: http://www.lugradio.org/episodes.rss

Name: The Linux Link Tech Show
Main Subject: The cutting-edge in Linux-based technology
Format: Casual
Approx. Updates Per Month: 4
Recent Subjects Covered: Linux Home Automation, OpenWRT, Asterisk, Debian vs Mozilla, DRM
Justification: Lots of good Linux-related information
Rss Link: http://www.thelinuxlink.net/tllts/tllts.rss

Name: StillSecure, After all these years
Main Subject: All things related to information security with a focus on a business environment
Format: Formal
Approx. Updates Per Month: 2 to 5
Recent Subjects Covered: Interview with Steve Hanna of Juniper Networks, TCG/TNC, The IETF, 3rd party patching
Justification: This podcast includes some great interviews and information centered around enterprise security
Rss Link: http://clickcaster.com/clickcast/rss/1653

Name: Symantec Security Response Podcast
Main Subject: Security updates
Format: Formal
Approx. Updates Per Month: 2 to 4
Justification: A consistent source of security updates - great for people who are charged with defending a network for a living
Rss Link: http://www.symantec.com/content/en/us/about/rss/sr/sr.xml

Name: Network Security Blog
Main Subject: Network Security…
Format: Formal
Approx. Updates Per Month:
Rss Link: http://www.mckeay.net/secure/index.xml

Back in the late 60's this book, written for Children, was pulled from all public libraries and store shelves by the government. It was said that the experiments and information contained herein were too dangerous for the general public. A big fuss was made of a 1995 incident near Detroit in which child chemist, David Hahn, attempted to build a nuclear breeder reactor in his backyard shed. A book by Ken Silverstein called 'The Radioactive Boyscout' tells the whole story, but you can get a summary on Wikipedia. This book is thoroughly interesting and is full of ideas and inspiration, it is the bible for any young chemist-in-training. Used copies on Amazon are rare and are currently priced between $237 and $690 for very used copies. However, because it was published in 1960, before the US copyright laws were rewritten, and because its original copyright was never renewed (yes, I checked myself), it's legal for me to share with you online.

Click here to download your FREE copy!

(This file is currently being hosted by Found on the Web, not by me!) 

 If you liked this article, please consider grabbing a shell from silenceisdefeat.org

For all of those who thought Linux just wasn't that appealing to the eye and that Microsoft would offer something much cooler to look at, please take a second to watch this video.  The effects offered by Novell's newly-released Xgl, which is a version of the X server powered completely by OpenGL, takes the PC desktop to a whole new level of eye candy.  I've never been a fan of flashy visual effects, but this makes OS X look like Windows 95.  I can't wait to try it.

Back in the day when I was using Windows on my desktop, I used to use DVD Shrink to back up my DVD movies.  Now, with stronger protection like ARccOS and RipGuard DVD, it's a little harder to make those backups.  No worries.  A new program called RipIt4Me will make copying those DVDs an easy task.  Enjoy.