All 14 photographs posted below belong to their respective owners. I have posted the photos here via Flickr. I take no credit from the published photographs.

Balvin

Serenity

Serenity
Originally uploaded by Special.

night tag

night tag
Originally uploaded by robbroccoli.

Lolly (1)

Lolly (1)
Originally uploaded by Special.

Cracked

Cracked
Originally uploaded by Special.

A cracked trashcan, which seems to have only contained keystone beer cans.

Bus Station

Bus Station
Originally uploaded by Cthulhu Steev.

Excellent....Bus station :)

-Balvin

Guisborough High Street

Guisborough High Street
Originally uploaded by Cthulhu Steev.

Woah.......Pretty shot

-Balvin

Trash Compact0r

Trash Compact0r
Originally uploaded by Cthulhu Steev.

Looks like the sky is about to close up, squeezed about the concrete world. Nice shot

-Mark Humphries

Corridor2

Corridor2
Originally uploaded by Cthulhu Steev.

Amazing perspective. Great Stuff.

-Balvin

Rose - Pale Yellow and Pink

Rose - Pale Yellow and Pink
Originally uploaded by Kathleen Andersen.

The area covered by this photo (in real life) is under 3/4-inch square.

Wonderful work Kathleen
-Balvin

The End of the World?

The End of the World?
Originally uploaded by Kathleen Andersen.

Moraine Lake

Moraine Lake - 1
Originally uploaded by Kathleen Andersen.

Spooky Clouds

Spooky Clouds
Originally uploaded by Clickin' Clyde.

Harvester of Sorrow

Harvester of Sorrow
Originally uploaded by Estranh0.

The Haunted Pool

The Haunted Pool
Originally uploaded by john©.

Hi all, Guess I am finally gonna talk about myself...well not exactly myself :)
Since when did this blog of mine turn personal :P

Anyways, the two ratings mechanisms below supposedly state some facts about me - well according to the questions posed of course. Just a point of reminder, the information given by those rating engines does not necessarily say anything about me, so please do not use it to judge or guess what kind of person I am. No comments will be eantertained on the results of the ratings and I really am not expecting any :)

I just think it is sumthing fun to do for the night LOL but it endz there. I posted the ratings for visualization purposes only so please try not to be suggestive :) Thanks and bye all :)

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	6.2
Mind:	6
Body:	5.7
Spirit:	7.9
Friends/Family:	4
Love:	0.8
Finance:	6.8
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

Your Seduction Style: Ideal Lover

You seduce people by tapping into their dreams and desires. And because of this sensitivity, you can be the ideal lover for anyone you seek. You are a shapeshifter - bringing romance, adventure, spirituality to relationships. It all depends on who your with, and what their vision of a perfect relationship is.

What Is Your Seduction Style?

Every word stated in this article does not necessarily state of express any of my own views. It is entirely for the purpose of providing information to the public and the contents belong to

• (MyCERT) NISER

with reference to the following

• Symantec
• Trend Micro
• McAfee
• AusCERT

by Balvin
___________________________________________________________

MyCERT Special Alert: MA-101.012006: MyCERT Special Alert - W32.Nyxem.D Worm

Original Issue Date: 24th January 2006

Introduction

MyCERT received information from various reliable sources regarding the circulation of a particular worm and its variant, known as the W32.Nyxem.D worm (Sophos Anti Virus). W32.Nyxem.D is a mass-mailing worm that attempts to spread through network shares and low ers security settings. Most anti-virus vendors had rated the W32.Nyxem.D worm as MEDIUM in risk assessment and MEDIUM inpotential damage associated to the worm. The W32.Nyxem.D variant was first discovered on 17th January 2006 (UTC Time).

Based on the number of reports received, currently there is no strong evidence indicating widespread infection relating to W32.Nyxem.D worm and its variant in our constituency, but MyCERT advises users and organizations to patch vulnerable systems and take the prevention actions as provided below to prevent infection and future incidents that may target this vulnerability.

Systems Affected

• Windows 95
• Windows 98
• Windows ME
• Windows NT
• Windows 2000
• Windows Server 2003
• Windows XP

Aliases

• W32/Nyxem-D [Sophos]
• W32.Blackmal.E [Symantec]
• WORM_GREW.{A, B} [Trend Micro]
• W32/MyWife.d@MM [McAfee]
• Email-Worm.Win32.Nyxem.e [F-Secure]
• Win32/Blackmal.F [Computer Associates]
• W32/Small.KI@mm [Norman]
• Tearec.A [Panda Software]

Payload

• Turns off anti-virus application
• Sends itself to email addressed found on the infected computer
• Deletes files off the computer
• Forges the sender's email address
• Uses its own emailing engine
• Downloads code from the internet
• Reduces system security
• Installs itself in the Registry

For further description please go to MyCERT's advisory webpage at
http://www.mycert.org.my/advisory/MA-101.012006.html

Serious Winamp flaw gets fix

By Dawn Kawamoto
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Published: January 30, 2006, 9:28 AM PST

Last modified: January 30, 2006, 3:56 PM PST

update Nullsoft has released an update to Winamp to fix a serious security vulnerability that opened up systems to remote attack.

The company posted version 5.13 of the media player online on Monday after Secunia and other security companies issued alerts about the problem. Malicious software exploiting the "extremely critical" flaw was already circulating on the Internet, according to Secunia's advisory.

The security hole, found in the latest version of Winamp 5.12, could lead to malicious attackers taking remote control of a Winamp user's system. Earlier versions of the media player may also be affected, Secunia said.

Even though the security company gave the vulnerability its highest rating for software threats, it noted that the number of people who use Winamp has declined over the years, so the scope of the problem is not as large as it once might have been.

"Winamp used to be the world's most popular MP3 player and is still quite popular, but as Windows Media Player has gotten better, some users have migrated over," said Thomas Kristensen, Secunia's chief technology officer.

The vulnerability could be exploited when a Winamp user visits a malicious Web site and a tainted media file is launched onto the person's system. A buffer overflow is triggered, which allows the attacker to take control of the computer without being constrained by security measures, Kristensen noted.

"We aren't aware of any systems that have been compromised yet, but it's likely to happen since there's exploit code out," Kristensen said.

The update from Nullsoft, a division of America Online, has been made available for download at the Winamp Web site.

The vulnerability, initially discovered by Atmaca, is not the first to be found in the Winamp software. In late 2004, a highly critical flaw was found in the playlist files for the Winamp player.

Cisco Security Advisory: Access Point Memory Exhaustion from ARP Attacks

Summary - from the original advisory

A vulnerability exists in Cisco Aironet Wireless Access Points (AP) running IOS which may allow a malicious user to send a crafted attack via IP address Resolution Protocol (ARP) to the Access point which will cause the device to stop passing traffic and/or drop user connections.

Repeated exploitation of this vulnerability will create a sustained DoS (denial of service).

Cisco has made free software available to address this vulnerability for affected customers. There are workarounds available to mitigate the effects of the vulnerability.

This advisory is posted at http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20060112- wireless.shtml.

Affected Products

Vulnerable Products

This security advisory applies to all Cisco Aironet Wireless Access Points that run Cisco IOS Software. The affected device types include:

• Cisco Aironet 1400 Series Wireless Bridges
  
• Cisco Aironet 1300 Series Access Points
  
• Cisco Aironet 1240AG Series Access Points
  
• Cisco Aironet 1230AG Series Access Points
  
• Cisco Aironet 1200 Series Access Points
  
• Cisco Aironet 1130AG Series Access Points
  
• Cisco Aironet 1100 Series Access Points
  
• Cisco Aironet 350 Series Access Points running IOS

Products Confirmed Not Vulnerable

• Cisco Wireless devices running a VxWorks based image (Version 12.05 and earlier)
  

No other Cisco products are currently known to be affected by this vulnerability.

Climate expert says NASA tried to silence him

By Andrew C. Revkin

Published: January 29, 2006, 2:45 PM PST

The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked to global warming.

The scientist, James E. Hansen, longtime director of the agency's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said in an interview that officials at NASA headquarters had ordered the public affairs staff to review his coming lectures, papers, postings on the Goddard Web site and requests for interviews from journalists.

Hansen said he would ignore the restrictions. "They feel their job is to be this censor of information going out to the public," he said.

Dean Acosta, deputy assistant administrator for public affairs at the space agency, said there was no effort to silence Hansen. "That's not the way we operate here at NASA," Acosta said. "We promote openness and we speak with the facts."

He said the restrictions on Hansen applied to all National Aeronautics and Space Administration personnel. He added that government scientists were free to discuss scientific findings, but that policy statements should be left to policy makers and appointed spokesmen.

Acosta said other reasons for requiring press officers to review interview requests were to have an orderly flow of information out of a sprawling agency and to avoid surprises. "This is not about any individual or any issue like global warming," he said. "It's about coordination."

Hansen strongly disagreed with this characterization, saying such procedures had already prevented the public from fully grasping recent findings about climate change that point to risks ahead.

"Communicating with the public seems to be essential," he said, "because public concern is probably the only thing capable of overcoming the special interests that have obfuscated the topic."

Hansen, 63, a physicist who joined the space agency in 1967, directs efforts to simulate the global climate on computers at the Goddard Institute in Morningside Heights in Manhattan.

Hansen's other run-ins

Since 1988, he has been issuing public warnings about the long-term threat from heat-trapping emissions, dominated by carbon dioxide, that are an unavoidable byproduct of burning coal, oil and other fossil fuels. He has had run-ins with politicians or their appointees in various administrations, including budget watchers in the first Bush administration and Vice President Al Gore.

In 2001, Hansen was invited twice to brief Vice President Dick Cheney and other cabinet members on climate change. White House officials were interested in his findings showing that cleaning up soot, which also warms the atmosphere, was an effective and far easier first step than curbing carbon dioxide.

He fell out of favor with the White House in 2004 after giving a speech at the University of Iowa before the presidential election, in which he complained that government climate scientists were being muzzled and said he planned to vote for Senator John Kerry.

But Hansen said that nothing in 30 years equaled the push made since early December to keep him from publicly discussing what he says are clear-cut dangers from further delay in curbing carbon dioxide.

In several interviews with The New York Times in recent days, Hansen said it would be irresponsible not to speak out, particularly because NASA's mission statement includes the phrase "to understand and protect our home planet."

He said he was particularly incensed that the directives had come through telephone conversations and not through formal channels, leaving no significant trails of documents.

Hansen's supervisor, Franco Einaudi, said there had been no official "order or pressure to say shut Jim up." But Einaudi added, "That doesn't mean I like this kind of pressure being applied."

The fresh efforts to quiet him, Hansen said, began in a series of calls after a lecture he gave on Dec. 6 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. In the talk, he said that significant emission cuts could be achieved with existing technologies, particularly in the case of motor vehicles, and that without leadership by the United States, climate change would eventually leave the Earth "a different planet."