Mac trojan in the wild October 31, 2007
Malware for OS X is rare, but here’s a new trojan that Mac users should be know about:
A malicious Trojan Horse has been found on several pornography web sites, claiming to install a video codec necessary to view free pornographic videos on Macs. A great deal of spam has been posted to many Mac forums, in an attempt to lead users to these sites. When the users arrive on one of the web sites, they see still photos from reputed porn videos, and if they click on the stills, thinking they can view the videos, they arrive on a web page that says the following:
Quicktime Player is unable to play movie file.
Please click here to download new version of codec.After the page loads, a disk image (.dmg) file automatically downloads to the user’s Mac. If the user has checked Open “Safe†Files After Downloading in Safari’s General preferences (or similar settings in other browsers), the disk image will mount, and the installer package it contains will launch Installer. If not, and the user wishes to install this codec, they double-click the disk image to mount it, then double-click the package file, named install.pkg.
If the user then proceeds with installation, the Trojan horse installs; installation requires an administrator’s password, which grants the Trojan horse full root privileges. No video codec is installed, and if the user returns to the web site, they will simply come to the same page and receive a new download.
Cut and Paste 2007 World Tour Update
The International Cut and Paste Digital Design Tournament which kicked off on 8 September has been hosting live design events in various U.S. and European cities over the last couple of months with an Asian and Australian leg of the competition still to come. Watching Cut and Paste grow from their start in NYC, we’re happily impressed to see of how far they’ve come in the couple years they’ve been around. A big part of their success is an ability to throw a great party and on the global tour the parties are bigger than ever.
Based on the idea that immersive design is good cause for cultural gathering, each event features eight designers going head to head to create an original design in 15 minute rounds while projectors stream their living designs across the venue and as a webcast.
Audience members and home viewers are encouraged to vote in real-time by text message or online and the prizes include a Adobe CS3 Master Collection.
Having completed events in Boston, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, London and Berlin, exciting events in Tokyo (this Saturday, 3 November), Hong Kong (11 November) and Sydney (17 November) are still to come. After the jump see more photos of the events and a few of the winning designs.
Video tribute to designer Paul Rand - video
Marco says: “Paul Rand left a huge mark on American graphic design thanks to his corporate logo designs you’ve all probably seen. It was only recently that the UPS logo was redesigned from his original look.
“Here is a 4 minute Quicktime film tributing Paul’s work, a delicious animated journey through very familiar shapes and colors as Paul explains graphic design. In short, it looks really great.
“Paul Rand was inducted to the One Show Creative Hall of Fame this week.”
Bamboo microscopes made in India for $4
Mason says:
Bamboo microscopes that cost just $4 are being made in India by a group called Jodo Gyan. They’re hoping to supply kids with more hands-on learning, and get away from rote memorization.Nature has an article about this, with photos of the microscope and of a woman making them.
Stuff found in jail library books
Jumbled Pile is a volunteer for the Jail Library Group, which provides reading materials to the residents of jails in Dane County, Wisconsin.
Occasionally, he comes across notes and sketches placed between the pages of the books. He scans these and posts them to his Flickr site.
Link (Thanks, Seán in Seattle!)
Today on Boing Boing Gadgets
Today on Boing Boing Gadgets we saw a disgusting automatic donut maker, an interview with the writer of Portal, a bungee-strap for your laptop case, another rentable tank, the Asus Eee sub-notebook on sale, new versions of The Secret Life of Machines, a better painter’s masking tape, a 900-lumen metal halide flashlight, a calculator belt buckle, and Portal papercraft.
Today’s also the last day to get in on our latest contest with the prize of one Neuros OSD. (Team bOING bOING has taken second place overall in the Cosmology@Home distributed computing program!)
Brain Bag
Known for stretching the fashion limits with his avant garde design for the label Undercover, Jun Takashi recently came out with this Brain Bag. An intricate knit of wool resembling the three-pound jelly structure encapsulated by the skull, it’s playful but also looks mature and sophisticated and holds its own among other designer handbags.
I will spare you most of the puns, but for any of you needing or wanting a bit more brain, the one-off handbag is available at Someday.
Schwarzenegger says Marijuana not a drug
Dan says: “Here is a great story I found about Arnold Schwarzenegger telling a British journalist that marijuana is not a drug. He was trying to deflect suggestions that he had used drugs in the past by saying weed is ‘not a drug. It’s a leaf.” Then the PR machine began, predictably, to crank into full gear.”
Aaron McLear, Schwarzenegger’s press secretary, said the governor made the comments in a lighthearted context, noting his interviewer was Piers Morgan, one of the judges on “America’s Got Talent.” Morgan is a former British newspaper editor.
“The governor was doing an interview with the host of ‘America’s Got Talent,’ the newest version of the gong show,” McLear said. “I think it’s important to keep that quote in the context of the environment where it was said.”
BBtv: Zombie Yoga. 100 undead doing poses in the park.
Today’s Boing Boing tv episode:
The invite said “Bring a Yoga Mat - Dress Like a Zombie.” When filmmaker and Boing Boing pal Jason Wishnow set out to create a trailer for Scott Kenemore’s new book “The Zen of Zombie : Better Living Through the Undead” (yes, people make video trailers for books!) a vision came to his brrraiiiiinns. Why not gather 100 people in a Brooklyn park, dress them as zombies, and film them all doing yoga? There’s no inner peace like undead inner peace.
So today on Boing Boing tv, in honor of Halloween, we’ve produced a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Jason’s Zombie Yoga trailer (we’ll share his actual trailer tomorrow!). Oh, and — watch out for flying guts when they do “downward decapitated dog” or “corpse pose.” (Music by T.bias.)
Link to video. Happy Halloween from Boing Boing! Zombies are forever.
Jenny Ryan’s comic book embroidery
Via Joshua Glenn’s Hermenaut:
Eric Reynolds of Fantagraphics sez: “Jenny Ryan embroidered this awesome cover for Nickelodeon Mag’s “Comic Book” section this month, based on a drawing by her husband, Johnny Ryan.”