Computers-Plus

The cloud is clearly where it’s at when it comes to apps, data storage, and even productivity software. Google Apps has been in on this game for some time, and now the traditional business software giant Microsoft is ready to get into the market.

At long last, Office 365, now emerged from private beta, migrates the old familiar Microsoft Office applications to the web. The software juggernaut expects to leverage the legion of office workers already accustomed to the MS Office environment. For example, users of Office 365 can create, edit, and share web-based apps for Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. I

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Imagine resting comfortably in your college apartment or dorm only to have the FBI storm in and interrogate you about World of Warcraft

Well, that’s exactly what happened to two University of Michigan students – who are currently under investigation for “potentially fraudulent sales or purchases of virtual currency that people use to advance in the popular online role-playing game World of Warcraft”

Among the items seized during the recent raid were laptop computers, hard drives, video game systems, credit cards, a cell phone, paperwork and other computer equipment 

The bust was part of a larger FBI investigation of possible gold farming, where people sell virtual goods for real life cash or auction, often illegally

Law enforcement officials believe at least one person in the apartment was involved with a “scheme to set up fraudulent bank accounts to buy and/or sell ‘virtual currency’ or ‘gold’ to be used in the game”

However, the students swear the FBI has it wrong , claiming neither have ever played World of Warcraft

“They thought we were involved in some kind of fraud,” one sophmore  told AnnArborcom

“I’m pretty sure they have the wrong people, but they took all my stuff [anyway]“

It may seem like petty crime, but a Canadian Botnet Analysis Report describes a “dark universe” where “virtual world terrorism facilitates real world terrorism: recruitment, training, communication, radicalization, propagation of toxic content, fund raising and money laundrering, and influence operations” within online games

The report goes on to claim that inside these virtual worlds, terrorists have stacked games to make Allied troops the default enemy so potential terrorists can be recruited and trained The virtual worlds are also allegedly capable of breeding and funding terrorists, while supporting state-sponsored espionage

In addition, layer-to-player text and VOIP are purportedly used for “covert” communication between cells, illegal agent networks or the ephemeral ‘clans’ or ‘guilds’ in MMOG

“These environments allow players to conduct real-money transactions RMTs in virtual worlds and permit the unregulated currency exchange of virtual credits for real funds

“‘Gold farming’ and ‘power levelling’ operations of criminal organizations are some of the novel means of exploiting the medium The encrypted exchange of zero-day network exploits is present as is the out-of band control and tasking of bot-nets,” the report concluded

Clearly, the FBI is taking what seems like outlandish allegations somewhat seriously, as it did when it first created the Reynard Project to monitor terrorism, crime and espionage online

The project, originally budgeted for 2008-2012, was created to profile and collect data on gaming behavior so US intelligence agencies could track “suspicious behavior” in games like WoW and virtual worlds such as Second Life

Although it’s unclear if the FBI believes illicit gold farms are connected with terrorism, the Reynard Project is obviously alive and well 

Via Computer World 

AT&T’s announcement Sunday that it will acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom drastically alters the mobile industry. But what does it mean for customers? Following are the seven most significant changes for customers likely to result from this monstrous merger.

AT&T massively reshaped the US mobile industry landscape Sunday with its planned purchase of T-Mobile USA. The stunning $39 billion acquisition will merge AT&T, the second largest wireless carrier, with T-Mobile,  the fourth largest , to create the biggest mobile company in the county.

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Webcast On 11 March at 11am, we have a few special guests to talk us through the finer points of managing a data centre efficiently. Tim Phillips from The Register is the host for the day and he’s joined by Tony Lock from Freeform Dynamics, Greg Charman from Microsoft and Graham Rushton from Avanade.

For some people, managing the services that the data centre delivers is very much a manual job. But with the creeping demands of the business there’s a steady march towards automation taking place. We’re not talking about full-scale automation here, mind. R

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