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The virtual play-by-play: talking StarCraft 2 with Mike Husky

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StarCraft 2 has been doing some serious business: Blizzard has recently announced that the game has sold 3 million copies in the first month of availability. Mike Husky is certainly doing his part to keep the game popular; his YouTube channel has just under 200,000 subscribers, and his videos have over 64 million lifetime views.

The demand is there for high-quality commentary on StarCraft 2 matches, and Husky wants to help fill it. "It is my goal to support and promote StarCraft as much as possible," he told Ars, and his success shows the promise of "on-air" personalities in competitive gaming.


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New malware detects browser, shows fake malware warning page

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Microsoft is warning about a new piece of malware, Rogue:MSIL/Zeven, that auto-detects a user's browser and then imitates the relevant malware warning pages from Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Chrome. The fake warning pages are very similar to the real thing; you have to look closely to realize they aren't the real thing. The ploy is a basic social engineering scheme, but in this case the malware authors are relying on the user's trust in their browser, a tactic that hasn't been seen before. 

Beyond the warning pages, the actual malware looks like the real deal: it allows you to scan files, tells you when you're behind on your updates, and enables you to change your security and privacy settings. Performing a scan results in the product finding malicious files, but of course it cannot delete them unless you update, which requires paying for the full version. Attempting to buy the product will open an HTML window that provides a useless "Safe Browsing Mode" with high-strength encryption. To top it all off, the rogue antivirus webpage looks awfully similar to the Microsoft Security Essentials webpage; even the awards received by MSE and a link to the Microsoft Malware Protection Center have been copied.

While the malware is a pretty good attempt, it's not perfect. The goal is to get the user to download and install something, shelling out some cash in the process, which neither of the three browser vendors would ever recommend. The Firefox warning page, meanwhile, has an obvious typo ("Get me our of here"). In addition, it's suspicious that a webpage is going out of its way to tell you it is protecting your purchase. It's also not hard to check that the supposedly detected files do not actually exist on the user's computer. All of these missteps should raise red flags immediately; having said that, we've still not before seen this level of detail and effort from the bad guys.

Malware progress

Just two years ago, a fake malware warning page and a fake antivirus looked like this:

 

Drumroll, please: the top Web scams of the decade

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"Men," said he, "must have corrupted nature a little, for they were not born wolves, and they have become wolves." —Voltaire, Candide

One of the less pleasant aspects of our online Age of Anxiety is that most of us now get anonymous e-mails on a daily basis from people who, given their druthers, would rob us silly as fast as technologically possible. Of late, I've been getting a frenzy of bogus missives thanking me for the five thousand dollars or so worth of software, gadgets, self-help books, and lingerie I supposedly purchased on a famous online shopping service over the last five minutes.

Of course, if this message was a mistake, I'm helpfully directed to an online form, where, upon disclosing my credit card data, someone will presumably clean my financial clock in nanoseconds.

What fun. Good to know that there are so many people out there who care. But better to know what the most common scams look like. Here is security vendor Panda's new list of the biggest Web scams of the decade.


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Hands-on: Twitter officially comes to the iPad

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When Loren Brichter in June, he made two things clear: 1) Tweetie (now branded simply as "Twitter" after the company was acquired by the microblogging service) would definitely be coming to the iPad, and 2) Loren was really looking forward to exploring the larger screen touch interface.

Now, the official Twitter client for iPad is in the form of a universal app. The team has clearly put some effort into utilizing parts of the multitouch experience in ways that third-party Twitter apps have not, and the app is certainly feature-rich. However, the interface can be confusing at times, and many of the features are not easily discoverable without some help.

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Apple's trouble with TV

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Apple TV has been a persistent loser from a company that usually only tolerates winners. It's clear that Apple wants to do something "in the living room," but damned if it can figure out exactly what that is. Yesterday, Apple took another run at this thing, announcing .

As with any new electronic gadget, I must be of two minds about the new Apple TV. The first, most difficult question is, will the new Apple TV be a successful product for Apple? The second question is easier: is this a product I want to buy for myself?

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Hands-on with iTunes Ping, sans Facebook Connect

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Because we all need another social network in our lives, Apple as part of iTunes 10 during its big media event this week. Described by Steve Jobs as "Twitter and Facebook meet iTunes," Ping aims to let the already-existing (and quite massive) audience of iTunes users friend each other, stay up-to-date on their friends' musical tastes, and like/comment on things found around iTunes.

Getting started with Ping is fairly easy, although it takes some time to figure out how to do all the things you would want to do with the service. Ping requires and is not turned on by default—it looks as if Apple is trying to head off complaints about privacy by making users turn it on themselves. Once you install iTunes 10, you can click on "Ping" in the everything-is-now-gray left-hand sidebar to get started.

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Deals & Coupons


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Saturday, 04 September 2010 00:43
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HP has the HP Wireless Deluxe Laptop Keyboard & Mouse Set (FK977AA#ABA) for $30 - 15% off with coupon code ACY58341 = $25 with free shipping. ... Read more
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Mwave has the Sans Digital TS1U-B 1 Bay SATA to USB 3.0 Enclosure for $30 + $0 shipping = $30 shipped with free "M" Club membership. Features ... Read more
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Through September 6th, CafePress is taking 20% off orders with coupon code LBRSALE. Shipping starts at around $5 for the first item and $0.50 for ... Read more
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Thursday, 02 September 2010 07:00
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Wednesday, 01 September 2010 07:00
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Wednesday, 01 September 2010 00:55
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Holabird Sports has the New Balance 740 BB Men's Running Shoes for $60 + $6 shipping = $66 shipped. Features air mesh upper with synthetic leather ... Read more
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Newegg has the Panasonic SDR-SW21 SD Card Standard Definition Shock & Waterproof Camcorder, Orange for $250 with free shipping. ... Read more
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ZipZoomFly has the Sennheiser Street Line MX370 Headphones for $15 with free shipping. Includes storage pouch for headphones & iPod nano and fits all ... Read more
Monday, 30 August 2010 18:42
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Electronics Expo has the Olympus PEN E-PL1 12.3MP Live MOS Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera - black with 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko ... Read more
Monday, 30 August 2010 12:42