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Republicans resort to cybersquatting?

scaredpoet

Looks like republicans in Massachussetts are so worried about losing, and so desperate to stifle competition from potential Democratic candidates, that they’ve resorted to cybersquatting:

The party paid $200 last week to register four Web site names that Attorney General Tom Reilly might have wanted to use if he runs — as expected — against Republican Gov. Mitt Romney in 2006, the Boston Herald reported Monday.

The names include reillyforgovernor.com, tomreillyforgovernor.com, reillyforgovernor2006.com and reillyforgovernor06.com.

The GOP hasn’t put any content on the sites, yet.

“It was bought with the intention to have some fun if he is indeed the nominee,” Republican party executive director Tim O’Brien told the newspaper.

What kind if fun can one actually have in these kinds of underhanded tactics to stifle an opponenet’s voice?

T-Mobile users beware

scaredpoet

If you have been a T-Mobile customer within the past year, you’d better keep a careful watch on your credit reports, and change your voicemail access codes. A hacker has apparently had access to T-Mobile users’ personal data, e-mail and voicemail pins for at least a year, including access to the e-mail and account info of Secret Service agents, and even the photos taken and shared by Sidekick users:

Twenty-one year-old Nicolas Jacobsen was quietly charged with the intrusions last October, after a Secret Service informant helped investigators link him to sensitive agency documents that were circulating in underground IRC chat rooms. The informant also produced evidence that Jacobsen was behind an offer to provide T-Mobile customers’ personal information to identity thieves through an Internet bulletin board, according to court records.

What’s really abhorrent is the apparent hush-hush nature in which this case was handled. Millions of people are potential identity theft victims, and presumably to avoid bad publicity, T-Mobile seems to have tried hard to keep this on the down-low.

Yeah I know, I just can’t shut up about this.

scaredpoet

Well, the Mac mini is upgradeable… by “an authorized Apple representative.” In other words, upgrading won’t be cheap.

And this article details some of the pricing structure for additional options. Here’s what I don’t get: towards the bottom, doubling the RAM from 256Mb to 512MB will set you back an extra $75. But going to 1 GB of RAM? Well, that’ll cost you $425 extra. ARE THEY NUTS?!

If we want to belabor my earlier comparison: doubling the RAM to 1GB on the shuttle would be less than a fourth of the cost. Or I could put in two 1GB modules and go with double the RAM that the mini is capable of for about $410.

Apple is clearly gouging its lemmings users.