Mikie, I do believe you are right. This world is missing the sanity, and clarity of mind, of Agent 86 :)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/2012/07/16/gJQAoNvLpW_story.html

FDA lawyers authorized spying on agency’s employees, senator says

Congressional investigators said Monday that the chief counsel’s office at the Food and Drug Administration authorized wide-ranging surveillance of a group of the agency’s scientists, the first indication that the effort was sanctioned at the highest levels.

I guess if anyone wants to have privacy nowadays you need at least one secret identity or something... maybe it's time to revive the Cone of Silence? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cone_of_Silence

Thanks mikiem2 " That said, & in all fairness, the US approach is said to be capture everything, storing it in a HUGE data center," not just in the us but in new zealand & (WA) Australia

Add to that, everything I'd read says experts figure most every network has already been hacked/compromised, so where questionable hardware isn't used, that's still no guarantee anything's secure. Seems most everything runs through a server somewhere.

That said, & in all fairness, the US approach is said to be capture everything, storing it in a HUGE data center, http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter/

http://www.zdnet.com/former-pentagon-analyst-china-has-backdoors-to-80-of-telecoms-7000000908/

Former Pentagon analyst: China has backdoors to 80% of telecoms

Summary: A former Pentagon analyst reports the Chinese government has "pervasive access" to about 80 percent of the world's communications, and it is looking currently to nail down the remaining 20 percent. Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE Corporation are reportedly to blame for the industrial espionage.

The Chinese government reportedly has "pervasive access" to some 80 percent of the world's communications, thanks to backdoors it has ordered to be installed in devices made by Huawei and ZTE Corporation. That's according to sources cited by Michael Maloof, a former senior security policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, who now writes for WND:

In 2000, Huawei was virtually unknown outside China, but by 2009 it had grown to be one of the largest, second only to Ericsson.

As a consequence, sources say that any information traversing "any" Huawei equipped network isn't safe unless it has military encryption.

projects taking place in Malaysia with DiGi, Globe in the Philippines, Megafon in Russia, Etisalat in the United Arab Emirates, America Movil in a number of countries, Tele Norte in Brazil, and Reliance in India. and New Zealand

http://www.liquidmatrix.org/blog/2012/05/29/chinese-backdoor-in-military-chips/

Chinese Backdoor In Military Chips?
So, what was all the hub bub about a Chinese backdoor in chips in US military hardware?

http://erratasec.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/bogus-story-no-chinese-backdoor-in.html

Update: the researchers respond
In this article, the researchers respond to this post. It's a bit humorous, because they simultaneously say that the issues their research exposes are "[Trustworthiness] of chip developers who are subcontracted by military but mainly outsource their designs and chip fabrication to China and India" and "we have no idea why people have linked the Chinese to this as it did not come from us".

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/6700841/Hacker-claims-Chinese-defense-contractor-breach

A hacker has posted thousands of internal documents he says he obtained by breaking into the network of a Chinese company with defence contracts, an unusual extension of the phenomenon of activist hacking into the world's most populous country.

told Reuters he got inside Beijing-based China National Import & Export Corp (CEIEC).

He posted documents ranging from purported US military transport information to internal reports about business

The Beijing company, better known by the acronym, CEIEC, did not respond to a request for comment. US intelligence and Department of Defense officials had no immediate comment.

CEIEC's website says the company performs systems integration work for the Chinese military.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10795703

Australia and the United States say a giant telecommunications company at work in New Zealand could be spying for the Chinese Government. Andrew Laxon asks if we should be worried.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10795024

Chinese espionage fears could damage NZ's global relations - analyst

"If the United States and Australia now believe that the Chinese have access _ or have the potential to engage in - electronic espionage on New Zealand directed at the Echelon system ... that may jeopardise the downstream flow of intelligence from the US and Australia to New Zealand,'' he said.

"The Americans in particular may say 'we can't trust them' and, let's be honest, New Zealand's internet security has been found wanting in the past - think of the (Murray) McCully emails that were just leaked and sent out.''

Mr Buchanan said the belief that Huawei was a private company with no connection to the Chinese government was "ludicrous''.

"There is no such thing as true private enterprise in China. If it is important, the Chinese state has a stake in it,'' he said.

Chinese multinational, founded by a former People's Liberation Army engineer, has in the past also run afoul of US regulators and politicians on concerns it is closely connected to the Chinese military and Beijing.

There are a couple of things I think are worthwhile to realize about the US gov, especially when it comes to anything tech...

1st, like any gov I guess, whatever they tell you or leak is released to shape public opinion, &/or to help whatever politicians get reelected or otherwise stay in power.

2nd, very few real tech pros will work with the US gov proper -- they get fed up with the politics & glacial pace of change & quit. That's not to say there's not some sharp people working on the staffs of different candidates or Congressional Reps/Senators -- just rarely in the ranks of the gov itself.

3rd, most serve themselves first, the people & their government 2nd or 3rd... There's a Huge intelligence contractor industry in the US, whose main, underlying purpose is to keep their contracts & get more, bigger contracts. [type "us government intelligence contractors" in Google] The officials doling out those contracts often have their own agendas, priorities, &/or people that they want [need?] to please.

So... Has some group or agency in China hacked into whatever gov systems? More than likely, because it would be in their country's interest, just like I'd imagine several other countries who have very likely done the same thing -- China is relatively young when it comes to tech, so it makes sense to me that other intelligence agencies with more experience have been doing the same things longer, & perhaps better. [When it comes to intelligence agencies, the US itself is comparatively young.]

I'm not disagreeing with anything -- just saying don't put absolute faith in anything the US [or any other] government says publicly, & maybe ask: "Why"? In this case [Huawei] it may not make sense to you or I, but it has to make sense to someone(s) or else they would be banned. What's the benefit to or for Optus, Telstra and Vodafone? What's the benefit to the government, or the people in the government? Yes, governments do stupid things, but that's from our perspective rather than those in power -- they don't do anything that doesn't further some goal, be it their legacy, ideology, *retirement* plan, or whatever. :)

http://www.news.com.au/business/breaking-news/china-hits-out-at-australia-over-huaweis-nbn-telco-ban/story-e6frfkur-1226312917090

Chinese multinational, founded by a former People's Liberation Army engineer, has in the past also run afoul of US regulators and politicians on concerns it is closely connected to the Chinese military and Beijing.

The computers of Australia's Prime Minister, Foreign and Defence ministers were all suspected of being hacked in March last year, with the attacks thought to have originated in China.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/huaweis-threat/story-fn558imw-1226311785872

The ban is based on a US congressional committee's finding that Huawei could pose a security threat to the US. This is based on the fact that Huawei's founder was in the Chinese military in 1984.

What is more absurd is that Optus, Telstra and Vodafone are signing up Huawei to build new mobile phone infrastructure across the Australian mainland. If Huawei poses a threat to our security, shouldn't the government ban all dealings with it?

uk & nz Vodafone & 2degrees

Prime Minister John Key says he is comfortable with Chinese telco Huawei's involvement in the Government's ultra-fast broadband scheme, despite the company being banned from a similar Australian project because of cyber attack concerns.

Australian got it right cyber attack concerns from Chinese if they make it, can make back door best to be safe.

as for speed we be slow if you don't pay good money you don't get it why most kiwi are off to Australian as for key say we same pay be for long is a joke

Well, whoopee! And exactly how far ahead will the rest of the world be in 2019? We are way behind everyone else (nearly) and that's how it will remain. Not that I care, I pay for a wireless satellite and am very satisfied with the speed I get in a rural, solar power only, no landline setting. (makes a rude gesture toward the government.....)

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10794816

"Huawei sources have also hinted that the Chinese government will retaliate strongly against Australia if the ban on the company's tenders is not lifted," the AFR reported.
Australia's federal parliamentary interests register shows Huawei has been courting senior coalition figures and sponsoring their trips to China and Hong Kong.

OK for NZ
The fibre lines laid as part of New Zealand's UFB scheme will offer 75 per cent of New Zealanders download speeds of at least 100 megabits per second by the end of 2019.

04th March 2011.
Link to the stand-alone installer for IE9 RC :
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/internet-explorer/downloads/ie-9/worldwide-languages
[The executable is a 19 Mb download].

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/4606052/Internet-Explorer-users-exposed-to-hackers

Users of other browsers such as Google Chrome and Firefox were not affected.

The Government was reviewing the vulnerability yesterday, but had not issued an alert to corporate networks, including government agencies.

The Interim Fix a workaround.

Go to http://support. microsoft.com/kb/2501696 Scroll down and click "Fix It" under the "Enable" heading. Follow the download and installation instructions.
Read The Readme Fist.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/2501696.mspx

http://us.generation-nt.com/answer/mhtml-fix-help-201954012.html

Maybe that's why I switched to Mozilla Firefox as my browser??

https://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/2501696.mspx

Microsoft Security Advisory (2501696)
Vulnerability in MHTML Could Allow Information Disclosure
Published: January 28, 2011

Suggested Actions

Enable the MHTML protocol lockdown

Note Workarounds refer to a setting or configuration change that does not correct the underlying issue but would help block

known attack vectors before a security update is available. Microsoft has tested the following workaround and states in the discussion whether the workaround reduces functionality.

may be better to get Firefox

http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2274050/microsoft-google-flaw-china

Microsoft and Google clash over zero-day flaw release
The release by a Google researcher of a new tool that shows up to 100 Internet Explorer zero-day flaws has sparked a war of words over responsible disclosure.
Michal Zalewski, a security researcher employed by Google, has released a debugging tool called cross_fuzz which allows researchers to expose up to 100 flaws in Microsoft’s browser
Zalewski sent the tool to Microsoft in July warning that he will release it in January, after seeing evidence of investigations into the bugs from China.

get Firefox

http://www.darknet.org.uk/2011/01/internet-explorer-zero-day-accidentally-leaked-to-chinese-hackers/

Internet Explorer Zero-Day Accidentally Leaked To Chinese Hackers

The moral of the story is, once again don’t use Internet Explorer!

As right now, there is a potentially dangerous 0-day for IE in the wild

I wonder if part of the slow response isn't just lack of demand. German, French and Italian mirrors seem to get a reasonable, if modest number of comments per day, but since it's been up the Japanese site has only gotten one software comment and the Spanish and Portuguese pages are also not faring very well.

Further, if the software is only available in English and Latin languages, it seems extraneous to put up a page for it in anything else... if you have to read English to use the program anyway, I mean.

just my 2 cents. can't say anything about email turnaround because I've never emailed the team myself.

WoW!! a multi-language GAOTD website!
cool!! :P

Hi,

You're not alone. I offered them launching GAOTD Hungarian. No answer. Neither via E-mail nor contact form. Not very polite.

Andsmith

When do we get the Klingon GOTD?

cool, GAOTD in chinese! now i can practice my chinese online! :)

Use the front page.

If you get no answer then try again.

Hi,

I sent message via contact form since last month, but I never got reply.

I'm a webmaster who have experience in CMS and I could help you to translate GAOTD to Chinese version.

If you like me to translate GAOTD to Chinese version. Please PM me [snipped] (no email postings thanks)
Thanks,
Bob

no. BBpress doesn't have pm abilities

We have PM ability here? Wow! Cool!

I would like to suggest providing different language options for the Ticker so that it could be a more language compatible content for none-English web sites.
Should you need any helps for Chinese ticker, feel free to PM me.