Shacknews LoL

For those of you who haven't seen Windows 10 pre-loading, you can initiate the update to Windows 10: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 The media creation tool will give you an option to upgrade your current system when you run it.

Hand & Wrist Exercises For Gamers by Dr. Harrison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiRC80FJbHU


Take care of your wrists and hands, nerds.

VICE Talks Film: George Miller on 'Mad Max: Fury Road'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9_VxcSHyWI

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I am being constantly amazed at Cities: Skylines modding scene. In less than a week, almost everything in the game is being picked apart and put back together.

I just saw this one 5 minutes ago that totally changes the balance of traffic, workers, and employment (built off the work of the no-despawn mod):
http://www.reddit.com/r/CitiesSkylinesModding/comments/2z683m/wip_proper_hardness_mod/

There is the route query tool that was a lot of people's #1 request going into the game:
http://www.reddit.com/r/CitiesSkylines/comments/2z1x8o/wip_route_query_tool_inspect_vehicle_paths_fix/

Changing 2-way roads into 1-way roads:
http://www.reddit.com/r/CitiesSkylines/comments/2z40db/someone_has_released_a_mod_that_allows_you_to/

Some stuff in progress I'm looking forward to:
http://www.reddit.com/r/CitiesSkylines/comments/2z3918/daybreak_daynight_cycle_mod_work_in_progress/
http://www.reddit.com/r/CitiesSkylinesModding/comments/2yvz26/pedestrian_path_zoning_coming_soon/

This game is already fun, in a year from now it's going to be incredible.

I thought I would put a post together that might help people. I know there are several other information security Shackers who can either correct me if I'm wrong, have a different opinion, or offer additional lessons they've learned. Lots of this is stuff many of you know already.

There are 82,000 new malware variants per DAY seen in 2013 according to PC World. That's 30 million per year. I didn't see 2014 figures from a quick google. http://www.pcworld.com/article/2109210/report-average-of-82-000-new-malware-threats-per-day-in-2013.html

Here are some things that I consider good practice.

1. Patch your operating system. Check daily or at least several times per week, either set it to automatically update, install, and reboot or manually make a routine of doing it when having breakfast or getting ready for bed. OSX and Linux you're not immune either, patch.

2. Patch your applications. Java, Adobe, Silverlight, web browsers, everything. Some (like Java) are notorious for being exploited. If you can update it, keep it updated. If you can't update it, uninstall that garbage. Be selective of the software you download and from where. Do you really need that "BeFrugal" browser toolbar that notifies you of a deal? Less savory software will often be bundled with stuff you don't even want to install. Adware, spyware, and information scraping toolbars get in this way a lot of the time.

3. Commerical anti-virus products are heavily reliant on signature based updates. That means it can only catch what the company writing the signatures has already been sent or discovered. As stated above, do you think your AV is catching 80k new variants a day? That number is only going to go up per year. Malwarebytes, NOD32, BitDefender, and Kaspersky are all rated highly in this area. If you download the free version be aware that often it's not actively monitoring your system, and you have to pay the yearly subscription for that plus maybe a couple other features. Malwarebytes Pro is an example of this model. Apparently Malwarebytes and probably others also offer heurestic scan modes, I don't know how effective they are but don't be complacent as soon as you install AV.

4. Browsers, lock them down in addition to your responsible browsing habits. The browser is the way in for a whole lot of bad things. Compromised web sites/web servers can redirect your browser to completely different content on another server 100% without you even being aware. Your machine is then checked by a script for your super out of date Java or Adobe etc install with a known vulnerability, and you're then pushed the actual malware that exploits it. Now maybe your machine begins communicating with a command and control server controlled by a dashboard some 15 year old logs into, or maybe some legit hacker is using your machine as a node in some other monetizing scheme. You are now a commodity, botnets are bought and sold which you're a part of.

Exploit Kits:

https://blog.malwarebytes.org/intelligence/2013/02/tools-of-the-trade-exploit-kits/

https://blog.malwarebytes.org/exploits-2/2015/01/exploit-kits-a-fast-growing-threat/

https://zeltser.com/what-are-exploit-kits/

Extensions: I personally use uBlock, uMatrix, and HTTPS Everywhere right now. I block all ads because advertisement content is served by a third party, not the site you are visiting. I understand it's for revenue but I'm sorry not at the expense of my security: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malvertising.

uBlock is billed as having a very low resource footprint which I appreciate in software. uMatrix allows you to allow or deny just about every single thing a webpage does from the scripts it runs to the CSS it loads to the cookies and other tracking. Disclaimer that yes this will break websites you visit until you white list them and allow the elements that enable stuff. For example it breaks the login feature on the Shack until you white list the scripts. It takes 30 seconds to fix. I feel like the increased security coverage is 1000% worth it. Both are currently rated 5 stars on Chromes store.

HTTPS Everywhere: https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
uMatrix (Chrome): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/%C2%B5matrix/ogfcmafjalglgifnmanfmnieipoejdcf?hl=en
uBlock (Chrome): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/%C2%B5block/cjpalhdlnbpafiamejdnhcphjbkeiagm?hl=en

Also turn on the "Click to play" options for Flash etc in your browser. http://www.howtogeek.com/188059/how-to-enable-click-to-play-plugins-in-every-web-browser/

Since its soundcloud and free (and therefore not piracy), I've rehosted the sound for easy download here:

I ID3 tagged all the tracks, and put them up here:
http://shacknws.com/aphex/user487363530/

I uploaded a zip of the folder here:
http://shacknws.com/aphex/user487363530.zip

The Bible: So Misunderstood It's a Sin

http://www.newsweek.com/2015/01/02/thats-not-what-bible-says-294018.html

Excellent read, covering the history of Bible and Christianity.

Goddamn THIS is why I listen to Metal.

This is the intro to the latest Omnium Gatherum album, and it is just perfect. So damn gorgeous.

Don't worry, it's purely instrumental - no growling whatsoever!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkrQsaaEZcI (Omnium Gatherum - Luoto)

I know hyperbole will generate natural kickback, but I don't care. The whole album is a freaking glittering melodic jewel set in a bed of silky harmony*.

* with a dude growling in the background, but somehow the roughness of his vocals emphasizes the beauty of the music itself

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