July 19, 2008
A few days ago I wrote about some test BMWs I spotted while on vacation near California’s Owens Valley. My post included a couple of photos I shot and links to more photos on my flickr page.
Last night, someone was kind enough to alert me to an article on autofiends that used my copyrighted photos without permission or attribution. The contributing “journalist”, Zach Bowman, clearly copied the photos from my flickr page resulting in willful copyright infringement.
The copied material, since withdrawn after I sent a “cease and desist” letter, is shown here from a screenshot I took:
Photo Thieves Love Flickr
Here’s the original linked from my flickr page:
My Original Photo
When I took this photo and a couple of others they stole, I didn’t have any expectation that I was going to get rich by selling them. However, I did start shopping them around to some of the car “spy shot” sites in case there was value in them. Unfortunately, they did not sell to the first couple of publications I approached.
But as it turns out, some publications and “journalists” think that freely exhibited material on flickr is free for the taking and redistribution without reasonable compensation or even attribution. And I am just a bit player in these copyright infringement cases. Serious, high-quality material from flickr has not only been redistributed around the web but has also shown up in print publications without attribution or permission.
So the next time I have a photo to share with my friends and others, I’ll be pasting one of those big, ugly watermarks all over it. Otherwise, infringers like autofiends and Zach Bowman will have too easy a time stealing my work.
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random | Tagged: Add new tag, autofiends, bmw, cars, copyright, infringement, spy shots, x6, x6 m, zach bowman | 
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Posted by budzinskij
July 16, 2008
I was cruising around the remote reaches of California yesterday and stumbled across something interesting. In the White Mountains near Owens Valley at an elevation of 9000ft, I found a bevy of pre-production BMWs being tested.
It turns out that many automobile manufacturers head to Death Valley and Owens Valley to do testing during the summer. Fortunately, I had my camera at the ready and took a number of photos of the upcoming BMW X5 and X6. I can’t claim that these “spy shots” are new or novel, but it was fun taking them anyway.
M-version of the 2009 X5?
The German engineers driving and testing the cars asked me to specifically not snap photos of the X5 above, but I just couldn’t resist.
M-version of the 2009 BMW X6
The driver of the X6 left the car unattended in order to take a walk at one of the scenic view points. Inside, the car there appeared to be computer equipment for collecting telemetry data. The German warning label near the air bag locations seemed to warn that they were not active.
More of the BMW photos can be found on my personal flickr page.
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random | Tagged: 2009, bmw, california, cars, inyo county, m-series, mules, owens valley, spy shots, test, x5, x5 m, x6, x6 m | 
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Posted by budzinskij
July 1, 2008
Death is probably the fate of most blogs. Somewhere between leaving my last employer SurfControl, looking for a new job, and joining Yahoo, I definitely lost my blogging mojo.
I think part of the problem is that I don’t have enough energy for writing a daily rant. And anyway, rants aren’t really all that interesting. Secondly, working in parts of Yahoo can be quite inwardly-focused since Yahoo has lots of internal challenges which range from technical to organizational (again leaving little time for contemplation). Finally, after you subtract more time for reading about the latest Yahoo lawsuit|re-org|resignation on Valley Wag, well, there isn’t much time left for blogging.
In any event, I’m going to try to float up from the bottom if I can.
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Posted by budzinskij
October 18, 2007
I usually only skim Terms of Service notices for sites I use; however, one caught my eye the other day. The satellite television service DirectTV has this little gem as part of their agreement to use electronic billing:
Computer Virus
You agree that you will be held liable for all damages related to or which flow from any computer virus that is received by DIRECTV through any means, including, but not limited to messages which may contain a virus, from your computer or server.
I have to question why DirecTV really needs this clause in their agreement. Certainly, they would be within their rights regardless to pursue a legal action if malicious intent is suspected and can be proved. But surely this is the exceptional case and doesn’t warrant the above. What really makes it fun is that their web site Terms and Conditions state:
DIRECTV also assumes no responsibility, and shall not be liable for, any damages to, or viruses that may infect, your computer equipment or other property on account of your access to, use of, or browsing in the Site or your downloading of any materials, data, text, images, video, or audio from the Site.
Bottom line, they won’t be held responsible for passing a virus to you. But if you pass along a virus to them, even inadvertently, then look out!
No Comments » | random | Tagged: directv, hippocrates, security | Permalink
Posted by budzinskij
October 6, 2007
Here’s a list of a handful of sites that either were designed specifically for the iPhone or other wise work well on it.
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Amazon
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Bloglines
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Currently in beta. Very basic but serviceable interface.
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Seems to have a few minor drawing issues but can be quite handy for accessing feeds on the go
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Read the rest of this entry »
No Comments » | iphone | Tagged: amazon, bloglines, digg, ebay, facebook, fandango, google calendar, iphone, meebo, mobile, netvibes, new york times, twitter, wordpress | Permalink
Posted by budzinskij
October 6, 2007
Aside from unlock hacks, I’m wondering what the potential is for iPhone targeted malware writing is.
Last year I speculated that the install base was too small for virus writers to bother. I still believe this is the case for the iPhone by itself. But when you add the new iPod Touch to the mix, then you have a potentially much larger base to exploit.
The iPhone and iPod Touch now use the same base operating system — a lightweight version of Mac OS X. Like the iPhone, the new iPod has enabling technologies like WiFi and a web browser (but not an email client). As the existing iPod user base of over 100 million upgrades to this new generation of iPods, then the platform becomes far more interesting to exploit.
On the horizon for mobile services are payment systems, banking, and other common targets of criminals. Already many web sites have created iPhone-specifc sites. As services with greater exploit potential are created, malware authors will look to probe weak defenses.
The simplest deceptions involve preying upon users’ inability to sufficiently recognize social engineering, but there may be other weaknesses lurking in the so far untested Mac mobile operating system.
Weighing in users and Apple’s favor is the closed nature of the iPhone and iPods’ operating system. However as can be seen with the unlock hacks, coders are a determined bunch. And given sufficient profit motive, black hat hackers may view the iPhone and iPod as a green field opportunity.
No Comments » | security | Tagged: apple, hacking, iphone, ipod, mac os x, security | Permalink
Posted by budzinskij
September 30, 2007
Do you publish your family photos on flickr, photobucket, or similar photo sharing/pubishing services?
Recently, some flickr users have found pictures of their children used in bogus profiles on Orkut. The profiles would worry or even disturb most parents. And though the profiles were eventually removed, it was not before a long campaign by victims.
Orkut, a social networking site owned by Google, has been used in the past by pedophiles and resulted in requests by the Brazilian government for details on user profiles (Orkut is *very* popular in Brazil). This latest dark twist could probably have been anticipated but is nonetheless not a welcome one.
If you publicly share photos of your children on a photo sharing site, then you might want to reconsider that decision. Most services allow photos to be restricted to friends and family. Making this change is not difficult but will perhaps give parents greater peace of mind.
Digg users can help raise awareness on the issue here.
2 Comments | internet safety | Tagged: flickr, google, internet safety, orkut | Permalink
Posted by budzinskij
