A new report by McAfee chronicles the evolution of botnets, including the use of sites like Twitter and LinkedIn as command and control mechanisms. – Botnet operators are always on the lookout for ways to get around the
security community a fact that has led some to turn to Web 2.0 to gain an
edge.
In
a new report (PDF), researchers at McAfee examine the evolution of
botnets as well as examples of people using sites like Twitter
and Lin…
Wong Gang has been appointed independent director/audit committee member wef Aug 16
Work experience: Advocate and solicitor; partner, Shook Lin & Bok LLP
WEDNESDAY, AUG 25
CATCH Chestnuts 3-D : Fried Monty aka A Nightmare on Glee Street, another parody fest by Jonathan Lim who, together with Rodney Oliveiro, Judee Tan and Dwayne Lau, take digs at everything from The Full Monty, Lady Gaga to JJ Lin.
Date: Aug 25 to Sep 4
Time: 8pm
Venue: Jubilee Hall, Raffles Hotel
Tickets: $35 and $50 from Sistic
Â
Eastern Asia Technology (E08.SG) +28.6% at 11-month high of $0.135 on above-average volume as interest in otherwise thinly-traded stock piqued by privatisation offer worth $0.138/share from DJR International, vehicle of company’s founder Liou Jeng Lin.
DJR, which currently owns 27.07% stake, has secured pledges from some management staff, Liou’s family members to accept offer, made at 31.43% above last transacted price, 38.99% above average price for past month.
SGX-listed Eastern Asia Technology, the maker of speakers and digital audio-video (AV) products, says it has received a delisting proposal from DJR International, a company largely owned by Eastech’s founder and CEO Liou Jenq Lin and his family.
DJR and the parties acting in concert with it collectively own 30.41% of Eastech’s total issued share capital of 454,237,246 ordinary shares.
Under the delisting proposal, DJR will make an exit offer of 13.8 cents in cash for each offer share.
Lin Yu Chun — the Taiwanese chubster who’s eye-popping rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” on an Asian talent show made him a YouTube sensation — has inked a recording contract with Sony Music!Lin is learning English and will release an album of both Chinese and English covers in July! Chun’s Cinderella [...]
Teo Eng Lin been appointed CEO wef July 1
Work experience: COO, PCI Ltd; asst COO, PCI Ltd; VP, business devt, PCI Ltd
A chubby young man in Taiwan is threatening to steal Susan Boyle’’s thunder after he stunned judges on the Taiwanese talent show Super Star Avenue with his rendition of Whitney Houston classic ‘I Will Always Love You’.
Just like Boyle, who received worldwide recognition on Britain’’s Got Talent in 2009 after singing I Dreamed a Dream, [...]
Teo Kheng Lin has been appointed CFO wef Jan 1
Work experience: Financial controller, Sinwa Ltd; was an auditor with a big four public accounting firm
News Analysis: As Google’s Android platform prepares for its move to tablet computers, a key component is missing: an effective competitor to Apple’s iTunes. Here is why a Web-based iTunes competitor from Google might be the best way for the search giant to compete with Apple and its multitouch mobile juggernauts.
– In a recent interview, Acer President Scott Lin said Acer
won’t be offering an iPad competitor. He said Acer opted not to introduce a
tablet PC because of the competitive barrier presented by Apple’s Tunes and the
multitouch features on the iPad and iPhone.
Furthermore, Lin said it’s iTunes tha…
The global economy is poised to grow 2.7 percent this year, but the recovery will be slow as the impact of fiscal stimulus wanes, the World Bank has said in a report.
The Global Economic Prospects 2010 report released Wednesday said the recovery “that is now underway will slow later this year as the impact of [...]
Words by: Cal Roach
The King Khan & BBQ Show :: 12.01.09 :: Mad Planet :: Milwaukee, WI
 The King Khan & BBQ Show |
You may have heard the show-biz cliche that “even bad publicity is good publicity.” The exception to this rule is when an act cultivates a reputation that it can’t always live up to. The hype surrounding The King Khan & BBQ Show centers more on the notorious spectacle than the music, and on this cold Tuesday night in Milwaukee, the two weirdos at the helm just didn’t seem up for putting on a circus.
Yes, there was the shimmery, lavender backdrop, Khan’s immaculate blond wig and gold dress, BBQ’s pink towel headdress and purple robe, and plenty of scatological shrieking. Visually, they were a virtual parody of Cheech and Chong’s Alice Bowie from Up In Smoke, itself (obviously) a parody. The line between irony and ingenuity has been blurred beyond all definition for these guys, yet their reputation for outlandish performance makes it tough to judge them purely on musical merit.
With relatively little shock value, what the band delivered was pretty much just a good old fashioned rock show, grunge-meets-the-Trashmen. BBQ’s obtrusive screaming comes close to mocking a death metal growl, but then he’s also got the pipes to belt out some melodious soul, almost Mike Patton caliber at times. “Too Much In Love” featured some great call-and-response action; Khan can be a powerhouse on vocals as well. “Tastebuds,” from the just-released Invisible Girl (In The Red) album, shook the room with laughter and bitchin’ rock action; gross but somehow gratifying. Still, it served to highlight the duo’s status as a hard-edged Flight Of The Conchords. The goofiness makes it hard to take them seriously, and I doubt that they care.
 The King Khan & BBQ Show from last.fm |
Khan’s snaky, tremolo fuzz guitar sound is a refreshing way to wring some novelty out of the over saturated garage idiom, but it becomes a bit monotonous when he uses the same effect for nearly every song. He’s got a distinctive sound, but there have to be some more crazy ideas rolling around in that head. He radiated a slightly deranged charisma that I’m guessing is infectious on a good night, but it all just felt a bit forced this time.
The show was solid fun, but I just didn’t feel the abundance of manic energy I was expecting. Some bizarre heckling and stage crashing ought to have been perfect fodder for Khan’s wit, but he seemed bemused by the proceedings, even a little cranky. The crowd was largely intoxicated and rowdy, which the band has surely come to expect by now, but the entities just weren’t connecting on this night.
Khan also suffered just a bit due to the ferocious energy of the two opening acts. Milwaukee’s Drugs Dragons just put a smile on my face for proving that there are still kids out there playing real, Ramones worshipping punk rock with Bruce Loose style vocals. They had occasional psychedelic flourishes, but mostly it’s just Boris The Sprinkler on codeine. And Those Darlins (out of Murfreesboro, Tennessee) lashed out with enough obnoxious girl grit to make the Go-Go’s run for cover. Hired drummer Sheriff Lin only seemed to know the beat from “Walk Like An Egyptian,” which made the songs sort of run together after a while, but the three frontwomen packed a wallop, both vocally and in sheer attitude, that got the crowd stoked and probably a little turned on. Capped by a raucous cover of “Shakin’ All Over,” the Darlins’ set left the crowd wanting just a little more than Khan and BBQ were able to put out, but there’s still no way anybody had a bad time at this show.
JamBase | Wildin’
Go See Live Music!
DBS Group China Chief Executive Officer Teresa Lin will leave her position be replaced by Melvin Teo, the Singapore-based bank’s head of private equity.
Lin will remain at DBS in a senior advisory role with effect from Jan 1, Southeast Asia’s biggest bank said in an e-mailed statement. Her deputy, Jethro Lau, joined Hang Seng Bank, Hong Kong’s biggest lender by market value, on Aug 31, and will be a deputy chief executive officer for China following regulatory approval, Hang Seng said in a statement today.
Hundreds of people are feared dead in Taiwan after Typhoon Morakot triggered a mudslide that buried an entire village on the south-west coast.
Officials said about 600-800 people are missing in Shiao Lin village after part of the mountain collapsed on sleeping villagers’ homes on Monday morning.
Most of the dead are thought to be the elderly and children.
Elsewhere in Taiwan, the number of confirmed deaths is 37, with 35 injured and 52 missing, officials said.
Typhoon Morakot dropped some 2m (80in) of rain on Taiwan this weekend, causing the worst flooding in decades.
See map of storms in East Asia
The typhoon is now battering southern China, forcing the evacuation of a million people from their homes. Six deaths have been reported there.
In Japan, Typhoon Etau has set off flash floods and landslides that have killed at least 12 people.
Trapped
Taiwanese television earlier reported that about 200 homes in Shiao Lin village were buried by mud.
Animated guide: Typhoons In pictures: Storms hit East Asia Eyewitness: Pacific storms
The BBC’s Cindy Sui, in Cishan village, some 40km (25 miles) away, says about 50 people had been rescued and another 150 found alive in another part of the village.
Our correspondent says many of those rescued said their family members were still trapped inside.
Rescue efforts have been complicated as many of the roads leading to Shiao Lin have been washed away and the unstable ground makes it difficult for rescue helicopters to reach the area.
In another incident in Taiwan, an entire hotel – empty at the time – collapsed into the raging waters.
Morakot has also contributed to heavy rains in the Philippines. At least 10 people were killed in flooding and landslides in the north of the country last week.
Typhoons and tropical storms are frequent in the region between July and September.
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Are you in the Western Pacific region How have Typhoon Morakot and Typhoon Etau affected you Send us your comments and experiences using the form below.
Send your pictures to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to +44 7725 100 100. If you have a large file you can upload here.
At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Hu Jintao and Ma Ying-jeou talk of peace in a sign of improved relations that could lead to historic summit
First came direct flights, then freight links, and now a single telegram. The presidents of Taiwan and China exchanged direct messages today for the first time in 60 years, in the latest sign of their thawing relations.
Hu Jintao wrote to Taiwan’s Ma Ying-jeou to mark the latter’s election as chairman of the Nationalist party.
Bacuse of the enduring mutual sensitivities, the message was sent simply to Mr Ma, while Ma’s reply was addressed to Hu as general secretary of the Communist party.
Beijing still claims sovereignty over Taiwan, which has been self-ruled since Chiang Kai-shek fled there following his defeat in the civil war in 1949. China has warned it could use force if Taipei pursued formal independence.
“I hope our two parties can continue to promote peaceful cross-strait development, deepen mutual trust, bring good news to compatriots on both sides and create a revival of the great Chinese race,” said Hu in his telegram.
“We should continue efforts to consolidate peace in the Taiwan Strait and rebuild regional stability,” Ma replied, adding that they should “put aside disputes”.
Ma was elected president in spring last year on a platform of improving relations with China and because of widespread dissatisfaction with the ruling Democratic People’s party.
But while he has signed landmark trade deals, he has avoided political issues, due in large part to powerful anti-Beijing sentiment on the island.
Lin Chong-pin, a strategic studies professor at Tamkang University in Taipei, told Reuters that the telegram suggested the Chinese leader wants to meet Ma eventually. “It’s sort of expected … It is in Hu Jintao’s benefit or advantage to meet,” Lin said. “It would be a personal feat.”
But analysts believe both sides may take years to weigh up the risks before proceeding.
By Jonathan Head
BBC News, Bangkok
Bangkok’s showcase new international airport is no stranger to controversy.
Built between 2002 and 2006, under the governments of then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the opening date was repeatedly delayed.
It has been dogged by allegations of corruption, as well as criticism of the design and poor quality of construction.
Then, at the end of last year, the airport was shut down for a week after being occupied by anti-government protesters.
Now new allegations have been made that a number of passengers are being detained every month in the duty free area on suspicion of shoplifting, and then held by the police until they pay large sums of money to buy their freedom.
That is what happened to Stephen Ingram and Xi Lin, two IT experts from Cambridge, as they were about to board their flight to London on the night of 25 April this year.
They had been browsing in the duty free shop at the airport, and were later approached by security guards, who twice asked to search their bags.
They were told a wallet had gone missing, and that Ms Lin had been seen on a security camera taking it out of the shop.
The company that owns the duty free shop, King Power, has since put the CCTV video on its website, which does appear to show her putting something in her bag. However the security guards found no wallet on either of them.
Despite that, they were both taken from the departure gate, back through immigration, and held in an airport police office. That is when their ordeal started to become frightening.
Interpreter
"We were questioned in separate rooms," Mr Ingram said. "We felt really intimidated. They went through our bags and demanded that we tell them where the wallet was."
The two were then put in what Mr Ingram describes as a "hot, humid, smelly cell with graffiti and blood on the walls".
Mr Ingram managed to phone a Foreign Office helpline he found in a travel guide, and was told someone in the Bangkok embassy would try to help them.
The next morning the two were given an interpreter, a Sri Lankan national called Tony, who works part-time for the police.
They were taken by Tony to meet the local police commander – but, says Mr Ingram, for three hours all they discussed was how much money they would have to pay to get out.
They were told the charge was very serious. If they did not pay, they would be transferred to the infamous Bangkok Hilton prison, and would have to wait two months for their case to be processed.
Mr Ingram says they wanted £7,500 ($12,250) – for that the police would try to get him back to the UK in time for his mother’s funeral on 28 April.
But he could not arrange to get that much money transferred in time.
‘Zig-zag’ scheme
Tony then took them to an ATM machine at the police station, and told Ms Lin to withdraw as much as she could from her own account – £600 – and Mr Ingram then withdrew the equivalent of £3,400 from his account.
This was apparently handed over to the police as "bail", and they were both made to sign a number of papers.
Later they were allowed to move to a squalid hotel within the airport perimeter, but their passports were held and they were warned not to leave or try to contact a lawyer or their embassy.
"I will be watching you," Tony told them, adding that they would have to stay there until the £7,500 was transferred into Tony’s account.
On the Monday they managed to sneak out and get a taxi to Bangkok, and met an official at the British Embassy.
She gave the name of a Thai lawyer, and, says Mr Ingram, told them they were being subjected to a classic Thai scam called the "zig-zag".
Their lawyer urged them to expose Tony – but also warned them that if they fought the case it could take months, and they risked a long prison sentence.
After five days the money was transferred to Tony’s account, and they were allowed to leave.
Mr Ingram had missed his mother’s funeral, but at least they were given a court document stating that there was insufficient evidence against them, and no charge.
"It was a harrowing, stressful experience," he said.
The couple say they now want to take legal action to recover their money.
‘Typical’ scam
The BBC has spoken to Tony and the regional police commander, Colonel Teeradej Phanuphan.
They both say Tony was merely helping the couple with translation, and raising bail to keep them out of prison.
Tony says about half the £7,500 was for bail, while the rest were "fees" for the bail, for his work, and for a lawyer he says he consulted on their behalf.
In theory, he says, they could try to get the bail portion refunded.
Colonel Teeradej says he will investigate any possible irregularities in their treatment. But he said any arrangement between the couple and Tony was a private affair, which did not involve the police.
Letters of complaint to the papers here in Thailand make it clear that passengers are regularly detained at the airport for alleged shoplifting, and then made to pay middlemen to win their freedom.
The Danish Embassy says one of its nationals was recently subjected to a very similar scam, and earlier this month an Irish scientist managed to flee Thailand with her husband and one year-old son after being arrested at the airport and accused of stealing an eyeliner worth around £17.
Tony told the BBC that so far this year he has "helped" about 150 foreigners in trouble with the police. He says sometimes he does it for no charge.
The British Embassy has also warned passengers at Bangkok Airport to take care not to move items around in the duty free shopping area before paying for them, as this could result in arrest and imprisonment.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
