Unmasking the "Anonymous" Hackers

This week, there has been a lot of breathless press surrounding Wikileaks cyber-warring minions, Anonymous.  The loose-knit collective of hackers is being credited with some impressive technical feats, as ABC News trumpeted:   “What’s most surprising about "Operation Payback," cybersecurity experts say, is the simplicity of its approach to wreaking havoc on the web.  The massive hack attack appears to have been orchestrated by a handful of organizers with control over a virtual army of tens of thousands of computers. The networks -- called botnets -- can inundate their targets with denial of service attacks, so overwhelming a site's server that regular customers can't get through.”
So who are Anonymous?  Anonymous didn’t start with Wikileaks.  They formed, more or less, on 4chan.org, a website where people upload and discuss random images culled from the Web.   A monster truck DeLorean.  A pink-eyed chinchilla.  The images must be legal, other than that anything goes.  Whenever a thread is particularly weak, discussants mark it with an image of Guy Fawkes, the pyrotechnic 16^th century revolutionary, as re-imagined in the Wachowski Brothers’ dystopian movie V for Vendetta.
The point, besides laughs, is free expression, and to foster it they register on 4hcan under the same handle, Anonymous.   Compared to ordinary life offline - where, like everyone, they have to watch what they say - the power they feel while cloaked is awesome.  They can say anything, and some do with abandon.  As the FAQ on 4chan reads, “Anonymous is not a single person, but rather, represents the collective whole of 4chan.  He is a god amongst men.”  
Empowered by anonymity, Anonymous began doing online pranks they called Raids.  Once, hackers in the group busted into an online children’s game, flooding an animated swimming pool with their own characters.  Another time, they posed as kids to entrap an Internet pedophile.  Critics have accused them of more nefarious deeds, from flooding a guy’s MySpace page with pornography to calling in bomb threats at the Super Bowl.  Because they’re unknown and anyone can claim to be among them, you never really know what, if anything, Anonymous is responsible for at all.
Anonymous went wide in 2008 when they waged a global protest against the Church of Scientology, which they accused of censorship and unjustified tax exempt status, among other things.   It was an epic battle waged from YouTube to Utah. Scientology websites got flooded with denial of service attacks and crashed.  Prank calls rang at Scientology headquarters off the hook.  Black faxes spooled through Scientology faxes depleting the ink.  Pizzas arrived at Churches around the world, including a reported 300 at the headquarters in Amsterdam alone.  The Church of Scientology released a statement calling Anonymous members “cyberterrorists who hide their identities behind masks and computer anonymity.”
Anonymous marks something far larger and more interesting:   all the fears and fascination of online anonymity made real.   As one member of Anonymous told me, “We identify with Guy Fawkes.  He’s a symbol of reform.  He’s mysterious.  You never know who he is.  You never get his identity.” 

Source: Aretha Franklin is alive, Web rumors wrong

Aretha Franklin performs at the swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. (Ron Edmonds/AP)

Aretha Franklin has not died, contrary to rumors rocketing across the Internet, a source close to the singer told the Free Press late Monday.

The Detroit singer, who has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, is "home, alive and recovering," said the source, who requested anonymity because of sensitivity about Franklin's health.
Rumors that Franklin had died began simmering online Monday, hitting a frenzy tonight on Twitter and other social media.
False celebrity death reports pop up frequently on Twitter, with celebrities such as Morgan Freeman and Bill Cosby among the recent targets. In Franklin's case, the Monday mixup may have been spawned by legitimate reports about the death of singer Teena Marie, who was frequently described as the Ivory Queen of Soul.
Franklin is known as the Queen of Soul.
Franklin has been in and out of Detroit hospitals several times since the late summer, canceling all concert appearances and staying out of the public eye. She has offered minimal comment since news of the pancreatic cancer emerged in early December.

Metro-North resumes service to station at Yankee Stadium

NEW YORK — with the start of the baseball season, Metro-North Railroad has resumed game-day service to its new station at East 153rd Street, a short walk from Yankee Stadium.
New timetables that include the extra stops before and after games are available at Grand Central Terminal and at mta.info/mnr.
The station, on the Hudson line that runs from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central, is also accessible from the Harlem and New Haven lines.
Commuters with monthly or weekly tickets for travel to the city on any of the three lines can use the service at no extra charge.

Joanna Yeates Was Strangled, Police Confirm

A murder hunt is under way after police confirmed Joanna Yeates, whose snow-covered body was found by dog walkers on Christmas Day, was strangled. Skip related content

Detective Chief Inspector Phil Jones, who is leading the investigation, said a post-mortem examination showed the 25-year-old died from "compression to the neck - in other words strangulation".

Speaking at a press conference at midday, he offered "heartfelt condolences" to Miss Yeates' family and urged anyone with information to contact police.
He added: "Somebody out there does know what happened to Joanna."
The landscape architect's body was earlier identified by her parents David, 63, and Theresa, 58, who have made an emotional visit to the site where she was discovered.
Miss Yeates was discovered in a quiet lane three miles from her home in Clifton, Bristol, on Christmas morning.
Police now believe her body - which was found fully-clothed - had been at the spot for several days.
But the frozen condition of her body meant pathologists could not immediately examine it - leaving detectives and family members waiting to find out the cause of her death.
Police are following various lines of inquiry - including CCTV footage from the Clifton suspension bridge in Bristol, which is on the main route from Miss Yeates' house to where she was found on a verge in Longwood Lane.
Miss Yeates lived with her boyfriend Greg Reardon, who reported her missing on Sunday night after returning home from a weekend away in Sheffield visiting family.
Questioned by reporters, Det Chief Insp Jones said Mr Reardon was being treated as a witness, not a suspect.
His laptop and mobile telephone have been examined by detectives but officers have stressed that this was a routine procedure in such inquiries.
Miss Yeates was last seen alive on December 17, when CCTV showed her in a Tesco store on her way home to her flat in Canynge Road.
She earlier left the Ram pub in Park Street at about 8pm after a work night out.
Footage of Miss Yeates buying the pizza in Tesco has become a key part of the investigation as there was no trace of the pizza or the box in her home - despite the fact that the receipt, the coat she was wearing and her mobile phone and keys were inside.

Elton John, Husband Welcome New Son

Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, first child for singer and husband David Furnish, was born on Christmas Day.


Elton John must have been really nice this past year. The legendary singer and songwriter and his husband welcomed a new child into their lives on Christmas Day.

The "Benny and the Jets" singer and filmmaker David Furnish are the parents to a 7-pound, 15-ounce boy named Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John. The baby was delivered through an unidentified surrogate mother.

The child is the first for John, 63. The Associated Press confirmed the adoption on Tuesday (December 28).

In a joint statement, the pair said of the adoption: "Zachary is healthy and doing well. [We are] overwhelmed with happiness and joy at this very special moment."

In the past, the British native attempted to adopt an HIV-positive child from the Ukraine with Furnish, but was forbidden to by government officials due to both John's age and marital status.

John, who married Furnish in 2005, however, is the godfather to several children, including Sean Lennon, Elisabeth Hurley's child and Victoria and David Beckham's first two sons.

Recently, John and Lady Gaga recorded a new track together, "Hello, Hello," for the forthcoming Disney flick "Gnomeo & Juliet."

Blizzard Strands Travelers Across U.S.

Associated Press

Crews work to clear runways at Philadelphia International Airport Monday after a powerful coastal snowstorm strangled travel fro two days, leaving people bunking in air and rail terminals.

Airline flight cancellations mounted into the thousands Monday as fallout from a powerful East Coast blizzard rippled across the country.
Travelers were stranded from San Francisco to Syracuse, N.Y., because flights to and from the East Coast were canceled and airlines weren't able to find seats for them on future flights, which were already booked solid ahead of New Year's weekend. Some fliers could face days-long waits for seats.

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She beat her child, and was arrested

'Teen Mom' Amber -- Arrested for Beating Baby Daddy

" Teen Mom " Amber Portwood is currently behind bars in an Indiana jail -- stemming from allegations she beat up her baby daddy ... TMZ has learned. Amber allegedly attacked Gary Shirley three separate times between August 2009 and July 2010...more