Recommended High-Profile Espionage Movie for Watching!

Dear blog readers,

Remember the DVD of the Weekend blog post series? I've decided to resume posting high-quality YouTube video and movies worth watching with the idea to continue the series. In this post I've decided to share the Red Joan movie trailer which is a high-profile espionage movie which you should definitely consider watching.

Stay tuned!

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DVD of the Weekend - War Games

Hi folks, as it's been a while since I last posted a quality post, I feel it's about time I catch up with some recent events. What I'm currently working on, is gathering a very knowledgaable bunch of dudes in order to open up a discussion on the emerging market for 0day vulnerabilities, and I'm very happy about the guys that have already showed interest in what I plan to do -- more on that around the week, or the beginning of the next week.



As you're all hopefully aware by now, yet another 0day IE vulnerability is in the wild, so either change your browsing habits for a little while(don't or you lose the battle, as secure surfing is still possible to a certain extend), or consider switching to another alternative -- security through obscurity isn't the panacea of fighting the problem in here, instead it's just a temporary precaution. On the other hand I'm desperately trying to promote my RSS compatible feed URL to make it easier for everyone to keep up to date with posts, whereas the majority of readers seem to enjoy reading the blog directly,


I appreciate that!



As always, it's disturbing how "quality" always becomes the excuse for security, in respect to MS delaying patches (or is it just patches only?) whereas WebSense is already aware of over 200 web sites disseminating the exploit code, I wonder are they counting the hundreds of thousands of zombie pcs acting as propagation vectors. In one of my previous posts "5 things Microsoft can do to secure the Internet, and why it wouldn't?" I tried to summarize some of my thoughts on the problem, while on the other hand things definitely change pretty fast as always -- for the good I hope! Was the participants' secrecy in place, in order not to get a "shame on you" look from fellow hackers, whatever the reason, I doubt anyone is going to change their hats soon.



UPDATE :
Déjà Vu as Third Parties Ship IE Patches, and the patches themselves, while on the other hand it's great that anti-virus vendors have as well started detecting malicious sites using it.



Going back this weekend's DVD (check out the previous DVDs and vibes as well) War Games has shaped not just imaginations back in 1983, but acted as an important factor for the rise of another generation -- not wardialers, but wannabe hackers obsessed with command'n'control strategies such as Civilization 1 or Dune II, or at least that's how I remember it. Today's War Games have another dimension and it's called Network-Centric Warfare, or military communications and control over IP, and while there's a little chance an AI would malfunction and cause Doom's day, human factor mistakes will always prevail. As always, SFAM seems to have reviewed the majority of cool movies, so check out the review.



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Weekend, War Games, Cyberpunk Continue reading →

DVD of the Weekend - The Immortals

The Lawnmower Man : Beyond Cyberspace was among the several other classic techno thrillers I was watching and mostly remembering pleasant times from the past. I actually got in touch with SFAM from the CyberpunkReview.com, and intend to contribute with another point of view to his initiative I highly recommend you to keep an eye on.



This weekend, I want to recommend you one of the best European film productions ever, namely Enki Bilal's adaptation of his Nikopol Trilogy - The Immortals.



Here's an excerpt from a review, and another one :
"New York City, year 2095. A floating pyramid has emerged in the skies above, inhabited by ancient Egyptian Gods. They have cast judgment down upon Horus, one of their own. Now he must find a human host body to inhabit, and search for a mate to continue his own life. Below, a beautiful young woman with blue hair, blue tears and a power even unknown to her, wanders the city in search of her identity. Reality in this world has a whole new meaning as bodies, voices and memories converge with Gods, mutants, extra-terrestrials and mortals."



The Matrix did shock, and set a new benchmark by combining Hollywood's passion for entertainment, and Japan's culture, still, European productions such as the 5th Element, and The Immortals, are on my hall of fame for effects and the stories themselves. Enjoy it!



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Lone Gunmen, The Outher Limits, Lawnmower Man, Immortals, Enki Bilal, Nikopol Trilogy, Techno Thriller, Cyberpunk Continue reading →

DVD of the (past) weekend

Hi folks, as I've been down for a couple of days, I'm actively updating my blog, so watch out for some quality posts later on and apologies for the downtime. Thanks for the interest and the questions received whatsoever!





So, after the "Lone Gunmen", and "The Outer Limits - Sex And Science Fiction Collection" it was about time we go beyond cyberspace with the second part of the "Lawnmower man" a classic techno thriller, with a lot of VR, Cyberpunks, and futuristic scenarious.





Favo quote from part one - "I find a way out, or I die in this diseased main frame" which is also worth watching as a matter of fact. I'm so excited of seeing Ray Kurzweil's views of the future in a DVD box. I am especially interested into Cyberware, and the biological adaptation with technologies. As a matter of fact, there have already been reported cases of people with implanted RFID chips, and while they wish they had Johnny Mnemonic's view of the Internet, that must be some kind of a joke. Picture yourself scanned and monitored wherever you go while walking around with a false sense of security. RFID is a lot of buzz, I feel the potential for information sharing, and resources cutting is outstanding, still, the levels of security or lack of understanding on the privacy implications is the biggest downsize so far.



Would we someday build an AI that would crawl the Universe forever colonizing the obeying the morale we learnt "it" to? I find this such a great idea :)





Some resources on Cyberware and Cyberpunks :

The Cyberpunk Project
Cyberpunk
"Cyberpunks in Cyberspace"
Cyberanarchists, Neuromantics and Virtual Morality
Cyberpunks and their online activities
Cyberpunk - Ebook

Cyberware Technology
Realistic and Affordable Cyberware Opponents for the Information Warfare BattleSpace
Cyberware Implants





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DVD of the Weekend - The Outer Limits - Sex And Science Fiction Collection

"A sextet of sci-fi tales opens with Alyssa Milano as a woman whose "close encounter" leaves her with an insatiable lust in "Caught in the Act"; the sole survivor of a nuclear holocaust gets some computer-generated companionship in "Bits of Love," with Natasha Henstridge; Sofia Shinas is "Valerie 13," a robot whose emotions become all-too-human; a man who's lived his life onboard a mysterious spaceship meets his female counterpart in "The Human Operators," with Jack Noseworthy and Polly Shannon; a nerd becomes a ladies man via a high-tech "image enhancer" in "Skin Deep," with Antonio Sabato, Jr. and Adam Goldberg; and an alien plant becomes a deadly and
seductive "Flower Child," with Jud Taylor."



Get it, find out more, and listen to the wisdom from previous episodes. Continue reading →