John Hoyle - Web Design and Consulting

After publishing the previous article entitled “Watch out for ‘news alerts,’ I did some updated checking to see if either CNN.com or MSNBC.com have acknowledged the problem and have tried to do anything about it. I’m pleased to say that progress is being made - I think…

MSNBC.com has actually put up a blog article about the “news alert” problem. Why they haven’t given it more visibility and have chosen to hide it back on a more obscure spot on their website is, at the minimum, a mystery. You would think that they would want to get the word out and put more emphasis on the problem. Maybe they are afraid that somehow it will diminish their appeal to their readers. If that is the case, it is definitely a misplaced caution.

One of the comments to the MSNBC.com blog article mentions that in order to watch the live Olympic video NBC.com is offering, NBC.com requires that you download a special viewer program. This is exactly what the sp@@mers are doing - so it is very easy for viewers to get confused? In both cases a properly configured web browser will throw up a caution and require you to confirm that you really want to download the new program. If yours is not doing this, then you need to update your browser to IE7 or a later version of Firefox.

Snopes.com is also reporting this scam and confirming that a very dangerous virus is attached to the program you are asked to download. It also reports that “FBI Bulletins” have been duplicated to spread similar viruses. Take time to read this article as it is very informative. Snopes.com can be relied upon as a good source for information of this type as well as “urban legends.”

I’m disheartened by the fact that CNN.com has not even mentioned the problem - either on its newscasts or on its website. If you go to their website and do a search, you will only get generic Google.com searches. Most of their articles are very out of date and none mention the “news alert” or “CNN.com Top Ten” emails that are being sent out with their design and logos all over them.

You’d think that a big news corporation like CNN.com would want to inform its viewers and readers that such a scam is out their and misrepresenting CNN’s good name. Whatever happened to “The News You Can Use” objective of CNN.com?

I’m sorry, but I have to once again give high marks to MSNBC.com for staying on top of important issues while giving CNN much lower marks for seeming to be oblivious to real news. CNN used to set the industry standard and has the resources to be the real leader in news. But they have faltered in my eyes and are falling way behind MSNBC. In fact, they may only be running neck and neck with FoxNews in terms of relevancy. Sad, very sad indeed.

Over the past few weeks many of my email accounts, especially Yahoo!Mail and Hotmail.com, have been inundated with messages purporting to be from CNN.com and MSNBC.com. They are “phishing” emails, trying to harvest new active email accounts by either (1)registering the emails that actually open the messages, and/or (2) by capturing emails from people trying to unsubscribe by following their bogus links set up for that purpose.

Here is a link to an article about this problem: MSNBC, CNN Breaking News Alerts Really Malware

I’ve reported these incidents to the security departments of both CNN.com and MSNBC.com. I did get one response back from CNN.com affirming that the emails were bogus, but other than simply telling me to delete them, they seemed not to be interested in pursuing the problem any further.

I would think that due to the fact that the spammers are using exact replicas of their webpages and their logos, that both CNN.com and NBC corporation would be all over these guys and do everything in their power to shut them down. It shouldn’t be difficult to trace the sources (I can do it in less than 30 seconds) or the email addresses that any responses are directed.

I think the problem is that these big corporations, when they do decide to go after somebody, usually go after some little guy with a small website and no money. They are easy and quick to comply simply because they don’t have the money to fight. Usually their transgression is to use a logo or photo that is copyrighted or appeared on the larger corporation’s site.

The real problem lies with the governments of China, Canada, and the USA. These guys can block messages (as China has done) that the government deems to be anti-establishment, or to track personal emails (as the USA is doing) supposedly to search out “terrorist” messages. If they have that level of technology and can control and monitor the emails of common people, they can certainly track the source of the millions of spam messages that go out to every email account.

I guess the real question is why they haven’t used their technology to put a stop to these harmful emails? Who is really behind this whole industry? Every so often they do catch one or two of the major spammers, but it usually because these guys have overreached and involved innocent people in their scams.

The bottom line is that there is obviously a lot of money in sending out spam emails and some of it is finding its way into the hands of those who are supposed to be policing this issue.

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 defined what was illegal and what each emailer must do to comply. Among other things, it clearly bans:

• It bans false or misleading header information. Your email’s “From,” “To,” and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person who initiated the email.
• It prohibits deceptive subject lines. The subject line cannot mislead the recipient about the contents or subject matter of the message.

The real problem is that you never really know why the spammers are sending out these emails.  Are they loaded with a virus?  Is there a “spybot” or some other piece of software built in that might be able to clone or take over your computer.  Some software can actually capture your keystrokes and then email them back to the spammer. If you have accessed a credit card or bank account and actually typed in your passwords, then they have everything they need to crack your account and steal whatever they can.

I truly feel that the U.S. government spends so much of its time and resources cracking down on minor or victimless crimes, while letting these internet thieves continue to steal identities, bank accounts, and personal data from the public.  Our governments, both state and federal, would rather punish “sign laws,” the personal use of marijuana, licensing laws, and pornography than to go after mass conspiracies that pass on computer viruses, identity theft, and credit card abuses.

The real question here is “Whatever happened to common sense and real public protection priorities?”

I’ve just returned from a ten-day trip to Southern California with stops in Marin and Sonoma counties. Although the drive was over 2000 miles round-trip, my old Toyota Camry handled it without complaint and just silently purred along at speeds up to 90 mph.

Gas prices ranged from the $3.70 range in Oregon to as high as $4.39 in the San Francisco Bay area. The effect of high fuel prices was immediately evident almost everywhere I went. No waiting in restaurants, motel room prices as low as $29.99, and far fewer vehicles on almost every highway I took.

So there were some benefits to the higher gas prices, but clearly the general economy is in a slowdown. As I passed through the Stockton/Sacramento areas, real estate sponsored shows on AM radio touted the very low prices in that area due to all of the foreclosures and short-sales taking place. Many homes that would have cost well over $500,000 were going in the low $200,000 ranges in Stockton. The Realtors there are claiming that the bottom has finally been reached, but some areas that already look like ghost towns are still adding For Sale signs to the few homes still occupied.

The good news is that I was able to see my oldest granddaughter (age 11) perform in a most wonderful ballet set that included shortened versions of “Alice in Wonderland” and “Peter and the Wolf.” She is a most beautiful young lady and very talented, taking the art and athleticism of her dancing very seriously. Her mother hopes to have DVDs of the performances out to all of the family very soon.

I was also able to see my youngest grandson play Little League Baseball. Roaming center field like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays, he made his biggest contribution early in the game with a hard hit ball to center field that resulted in a couple of RBIs. He added another hit and a run scoring fielder’s choice later in the game that helped his team gain a very impressive win over their opponents. It was a great evening (although very chilly sitting on those metal bleachers) with my daughter Kristen and her family.

To say I am proud of my grandchildren would be an understatement. All six of them are doing very well in school and sports. But most importantly, they are really sweet kids and are a pleasure to be around - at least for this old guy.

A special thank you to my daughter Kim and her family for putting me up for a couple of nights as I passed through their area coming and going, leaving nothing but dirty laundry in my wake.

My brother Denny and his wife Stephanie provided me room and board while I was in The OC. Their wonderful hospitality is very much appreciated. They allowed me to come and go as I needed, but fed me and kept me laughing during the times we spent together. I have a very special place in my heart for them and their daughter - who is now becoming quite the model for her mother’s blossoming artistic photography pursuits. What a great time I had with them all and their love and support made my trip very enjoyable.

Unfortunately I was unable to see my daughter Kelly and her family in Los Angeles on this trip and was only able to visit other family members for very short periods. But we will be back again - hopefully soon - and hopefully when there is a much improved economy and lower fuel prices.

It’s Tuesday and election day in Pennsylvania. Today might mark the beginning of a “new beginning,” or it may be just the beginning of another major political disappointment. The winner of the Pennsylvania Democratic Primary could turn out to be this country’s last hope for a major turnaround from the course this country has been taken under the leadership of George W. Bush.

We’ve been watching several documentaries that cover the events that led up to the Iraq War and the oil crisis. It’s eerie that there is so much information and documentation that proves that there is a relationship between the country going broke paying for a war none of us want to be in - and the growing wealth of the oil companies and their management. Yet the media, namely large newspapers and TV networks, are basically ignoring the situation and nothing is being done by the Justice Department to stop this pilfering of the public treasury.

Follow the money: Bush = oil and energy; Cheney = Halliburton and defense contractors.

For my part, I can only hope that either Senator Obama or Senator Clinton actually follow through on their promises and get us out of the war, improve the economy, restructure the medical insurance industry, and actively promote and finance stem cell research. Based on past history, I would put my money and my vote on Obama. Senator Clinton has already proven that she has past ties to big money and influential corporate lobbyists. For me, having Bill back in the White House is also a scary thought.

My wish is for truth in advertising from the candidates and for the winner of the election to actually do what has been promised. But in America, there is always the old fallbacks: It’s not the President’s fault because Congress wouldn’t vote for it or the Supreme Court found it unconstitutional. Sorry folks - but in spite of all the promises that were made, you’ve likely been scammed again.

Feel free to register and login and comment. I’d love to know what my friends and family think of this whole election process and what they forecast for the future.