How Safe Is Your Web Access From A Malware Attack?
August 31st, 2010 by GiGi
Researchers compiled a list of virus and malware attacks by country picked up by AVG security software, with data from more than 127 million computers in 144 countries to determine incidence rates of such attacks.
If malware were biological, the world would be in the grip of the worst pandemic in history. In 2009, more than 25 million different unique malware programs were identified, more than all the malware programs ever created in all previous years.
Just what is malware trying to accomplish? Basically it tries to steal your money through theft of your data, bank transfers, stolen passwords or stolen identities. Each day, tens of millions of dollars are stolen from innocent Internet victims.
Today’s malware is written by professional criminals. In most cases, users are unwittingly tricked into executing a malicious program in the form of a Trojan horse. Users think they are installing needed software, often “recommended” by a site they trust. In fact those sites are recommending nothing of the kind. Malware producers routinely break into legitimate websites using found vulnerabilities and modify existing Web pages to include malicious JavaScript redirects. Or the malicious code is hidden inside a banner ad on a website, supplied by legitimate ad services.
Either way, when the user surfs to the legitimate website, the malicious JavaScript is loaded, and it either prompts the user to install a program or redirects the unknowing user to another website where they are told to install a program.
So, which countries are most vulnerable to Malware attacks?
Seven of the 10 safest countries were from Africa. This could be due to the low rate of internet users on the continent and their low broadband penetration could be contributing to the rate.
Sierra Leone – 1 attack for every 692 users
Niger – 1 attack for every 442 users
Turkey, Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan have the highest rates of virus and malware attacks.
The U.S. ranked ninth with one in every 48 Web surfers at risk, while the U.K was 30th with a rate of one in 63.
Technorati Tags: malware attacks, malware, pandemic, Internet, Trojan horse, Africa, Turkey, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, U.S., U.K
Infidelity May Be New Passtime For Canadians
June 20th, 2010 by GiGiThe statistics say it all from this Toronto survey that was recently conducted. Check out the video on this sex survey or read the stats here:
Cheating Survey
Technorati Tags: infidelity, Canadian, sex
Another Excuse Why You Are Addicted to Sex
June 8th, 2010 by GiGi
A group of people suffering Parkinson’s disease are suing two Australian drug companies over medication which allegedly caused gambling and pornography addiction, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Friday.
More than 100 people in the group have launched legal action against drug companies Pfizer Australia, over its drug Cabaser, and Aspen Pharmacare, over its drug Permax. The drugs are used to treat tremors associated with Parkinson’s disease.
The Federal Court in Melbourne will Friday hear claims that the group of people who took the drugs sustained losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars and were involved in family breakdowns after developing compulsive gambling allegedly linked to drugs they took between 1997 and last year. Some also claim they developed compulsive sexual behavior such as looking at pornography on the internet.
Cabaser and Permax are classed as ”dopamine agonists” drugs which mimic the effects of dopamine in the brain. Scientists believe the drugs produce a “rush” which can cause risk-taking behavior and addictions.
I don’t suppose Tiger and Jesse James will be using these drugs as their excuses!
Technorati Tags: Parkinson’s disease, Australian, pornography, Australia
Driver License After 960 Tries And $3,500
May 22nd, 2010 by GiGi
Cha Sa-Soon, an elderly South Korean woman, has inadvertently reaffirmed age-old jokes about female drivers by closing on a world record for most failed driver’s tests. The 68 year old pensioner from the Wanju county had failed the theory section 775 times over a period of 4 years. She had spent a whopping $3,500 in her failed attempts, but it seems all her hard word has finally paid off !
According to the Huffington Post, Miss Sa-soon has her driving license. She passed the written portion of the exam on November 4, 2009 with a minimum passing score of 60 out of 100. After that came the driving test.
Surprisingly, it took Miss Sa-soon only 10 tries before she mastered the driving test, at least in comparison to her written performance. The irony is that more often than not, the driving test—especially the parallel parking—proves to be the most difficult for potential drivers seeking their license. Apparently, this rule of thumb worked backwards for Miss Sa-soon.]
How many times did it finally take the test get her license? Believe It Or Not – 960
Technorati Tags: South Korea, female drivers, driving license, driving test
Car Stealing From Honda’s To Hearses
May 21st, 2010 by GiGiOhio police on Wednesday found the woman’s body, in a bag and on a gurney, at the intersection specified in the note.
Funeral director Jim Murphy says the corpse was unharmed. It was scheduled to be cremated on Wednesday. The Greenfield Crematory has apologized to the family. It says it was not unusual for the body to have been left in its vehicle, which was locked inside the building.
DID YOU KNOW?
A car is stolen every 26 seconds in the U.S. costing taxpayers around $7.6 billion a year. And surprisingly the cars most likely to go missing are generally older models that you can buy legally for just $3,000 on average.
Chop Shops love the following cars (FROM THE NATIONAL INSURANCE CRIME BUREAU (NICB))
1. 1994 Honda Accord
2. 1995 Honda Civic
3. 1989 Toyota Camry
4. 1997 Ford F-150 Pickup
5. 2004 Dodge Ram Pickup
6. 2000 Dodge Caravan
7. 1996 Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee
8. 1994 Acura Integra
9. 1999 Ford Taurus
10. 2002 Ford Explorer
I wonder where hearses feature on the list?
Technorati Tags: Stealing Cars, Honda, corpse, hearse, Chop Shop
Sexy Australian Kangaroo Stalks Joggers
May 20th, 2010 by GiGi
Picked up this cute story out of Australia where an amorous kangaroo is highly aroused and stalking the ladies on their morning runs.
Is There A Gold Money Tree In The Middle East
May 20th, 2010 by GiGi
Like all kids, I spent half my time asking for “things”. The standard reply from my penny pinching family…..”Do you think that money grows on trees?”
Well apparently it doesn’t grow on trees but I wish I could take my Father to the Middle East as all that glitters may not be gold, but the entrepreneurs in Dubai seem to think the patrons of Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace hotel will think so.
The hotel has installed a vending machine that dispenses gold bars, making the United Arab Emirates the first country outside Germany to install the machine.
The cash-for-gold machines were first tested in Germany in 2009, but Abu Dhabi was chosen for the official launch of the gold machine because of the region’s high demand for gold.
The exterior of the machine is coated with a thin layer of gold and offers customers 320 items to choose from, ranging from gold bars that can weigh up to 10 grams, to customized gold coins.
“All the gold is imported from Germany, and soon we will have a customized gold bar with a print of the Emirates Palace logo, which will be a nice souvenir for guests to take home,” said a the machine’s inventor.
Abu Dhabi, home to about 90 percent of the UAE.’s oil reserves, has weathered the global credit crunch better than the neighboring emirate Dubai as it pursued expansion at a slower pace. The Emirates Palace which often hosts celebrities and visiting government officials offered a $1 million Valentine’s Day package this year.
A Golden Opportunity With Middle East Singles
Technorati Tags: Middle East, gold, Dubai, Emirates Palace, Germany, Emirates, Abu Dhabi, UAE
What Lies Behind The Niqab Cause For Divorce
May 16th, 2010 by GiGi
Dubai’s official government newspaper reported has reported that an Arab Ambassador sought a divorce after his veil-wearing Muslim bride reveals a beard and crossed eyes.
Throughout their short courtship, the diplomat was unable to view his bride-to-be. As is customary, the would-be bride had hidden her face behind a Muslim niqab. But as soon as the marriage was contract was signed in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, he tried to kiss her, before coming face-to-face with her hairy face and strange squint.
‘The bride had a nice personality, but there was a good reason why she was hiding her looks behind a veil. A divorce was inevitable, and the groom went straight to court leaving his new bride in floods of tears.’’
The unnamed ambassador, who is in his 40s and has worked all over the world, including in Paris, told an Islamic Sharia court that he was tricked into the arranged marriage and he claimed the woman’s parents sent his own mother and and father pictures of her far more attractive sister.
Lawyers for the ambassador successfully called for the marriage to be annulled, but his demand for £100,000 to cover the cost of the wedding reception was rejected, following the conclusion of the case on Tuesday.
The ambassador’s legal team also made an application for the woman to be examined for hormonal deficiencies, but when she went to see a doctor nothing out of order was found.
‘She’s devastated by the entire experience,’ added the source.
Find Your Muslim Bride
Technorati Tags: Arab, Muslim bride, courtship, Muslim, niqab, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sharia
Students Take Up Fire-Walking In India
May 12th, 2010 by GiGi- School’s a prison (strangely, schools have much in common with penal institutions – loss of freedom. The main difference is that to get into prison you have to commit a crime, but they put you in school just because of your age.) “When you’re in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, ‘Damn, that was fun.’”
- They hate having their backpacks check for guns (United States)
- They hate having to leave their hockey cards at home (Canada)
- They hate being told what they can’t wear to school (apparently viewing the crack of someone’s ass is considered undignified in some schools)
- Homework – Dhhhh…. homework teaches students that nobody cares about their free time and what they would rather do with it.
- All cell phones/MP3 players should stay in your locker. If one goes off in class, you’ll never see it again.
- Riding a scooter down a flight of stairs is not allowed or tolerated
- No running in the halls or classrooms
- No playing cards/gambling during class hours
It might not be a bad idea for some of the kids to attend a school in India. The students at a private school in the western Indian state of Gujarat made pupils walk over burning coals and broken glass in a test designed to boost their confidence.
According to officials, the exercise was apparently important in making a child strong and determined
“We asked the students to walk with naked feet on fire and on broken glass pieces as it teaches them to deal with their fear and find new ways to overcome it,”
Patel said 80 children aged nine to 14 walked on the hot coals, while 110 students walked over glass pieces. He said no one suffered any injuries..
“The children were reluctant in the beginning but afterwards they exuded confidence,” Patel said, adding that the school had been running the activities for more than a decade.
FYI: Fire-walking has existed as a religious ritual in many cultures for thousands of years. It has also gained some popularity in the United States as a team-building exercise and alternative health remedy.
Technorati Tags: parent, children, school, United States, Canada, India, students, Indian, Fire-walking
Madonna And DeGeneres Have Roots In Canada
May 10th, 2010 by GiGi
Canada has just inherited two big names in entertainment: talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and singer Madonna.Ancestry.ca has traced the roots of the two women back to the early 1600s, and found that they both are linked to a common ancestor – a Frenchman named Martin Aucoin, who left the old country with his daughters and settled in Nova Scotia.
Here’s more from Ancestry’s findings:
Family history experts at Ancestry uncovered that the two entertainment giants are related through a common 10th great-grandfather – a Frenchman named Martin Aucoin. In the early 1600s, Aucoin’s daughters Jeanne and Michele left their native country of France to settle in Nova Scotia, where both Madonna and Ellen’s families remained for several generations.
DeGeneres’s family left Canada in the late 1700s when her 5th great-grandfather Joseph Martin relocated to Louisiana. It wasn’t until the late 1870s that Madonna’s 2nd great-grandmother Emilie Daniel left Quebec and crossed the “Borderline” to Michigan, where the singer herself calls home.
“It’s rare to discover that two icons are related, but when they are similar in their successes and even their interests, it makes the discovery even more fascinating,” said Lesley Anderson, a genealogist at Ancestry.ca. “They are the same age, they are both published authors who have gone on tour, and are both recognized internationally for their impressive dance moves. And now that Ellen is on American Idol, they are both entrenched in the music industry as well.”
The new-found family connection between DeGeneres and Madonna is one of many interesting discoveries uncovered by Ancestry. In 2009, Ancestry.ca revealed that Emma Watson, who plays Hermione in the Harry Potter movie series, is related to a 16th-century woman accused of witchcraft.
Technorati Tags: Canada, Ellen DeGeneres, Madonna, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Michigan