Multiple websites have shown up calling for a boycott or repeal of the policy and even if this doesn’t have traction is the negative publicity something any retail center want when times are as tough as these?

FaceBook – Boycotting Hanes Mall

Hanes Mall Petition Site

Of course neither site appears to have much traction so maybe it will be much to do about nothing as the saying goes. There is even less traffic on this within the Twitter crowd we one would expect to be abuzz if the younger crowd was upset about this so one might assume the number of “kids” Hanes Mall is ejecting is limited to a small group of teens.

We are fighting today for security, for progress, and for peace, not only for ourselves but for all men, not only for one generation but for all generations. We are fighting to cleanse the world of ancient evils, ancient ills.

Our enemies are guided by brutal cynicism, by unholy contempt for the human race. We are inspired by a faith that goes back through all the years to the first chapter of the Book of Genesis: "God created man in His own image."

We on our side are striving to be true to that divine heritage. We are fighting, as our fathers have fought, to uphold the doctrine that all men are equal in the sight of God. Those on the other side are striving to destroy this deep belief and to create a world in their own image—a world of tyranny and cruelty and serfdom.

That is the conflict that day and night now pervades our lives.

No compromise can end that conflict. There never has been, there never can be, successful compromise between good and evil. Only total victory can reward the champions of tolerance, and decency, and freedom, and faith.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, January 6, 1942

Exposure:

Today, Microsoft released two security bulletins describing seven vulnerabilities found in components that ship with Microsoft Office XP and 2003 for Windows, and Office 2004 for Mac. These bulletins do not affect the more current versions of Office, such as 2007 Microsoft Office System or Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac.

The vulnerabilities affect different versions of Office to varying degrees. Though the seven vulnerabilities differ technically, and affect two different Office components, they share the same scope and impact. By enticing one of your users into downloading and opening a maliciously crafted Office document, an attacker can exploit any of these vulnerabilities to execute code on a victim’s computer, usually inheriting that user’s level of privileges and permissions. If your user has local administrative privileges, the attacker gains full control of the user’s machine.

According to Microsoft’s bulletins, an attacker can exploit these flaws using many different types of Office documents. In one bulletin, Microsoft specifically states PowerPoint documents are vulnerable. However, they also mention any "Office file" in their other alert. Therefore, we recommend you beware of all unexpected Office documents.

If you’d like to learn more about each individual flaw, drill into the "Vulnerability Details" section of the security bulletins listed below:

•  MS10-003: Multiple PowerPoint Code Execution Vulnerabilities, rated Important
•  MS10-004: Microsoft Office MSO.DLL Code Execution Vulnerability, rated Important

Solution Path

Microsoft has released patches for Office to correct all of these vulnerabilities. You should download, test, and deploy the appropriate patches throughout your network immediately, or let the Microsoft Automatic Update feature do it for you.

MS10-003:

•  Office XP w/SP3
•  Office 2004 for Mac

MS10-004:

PowerPoint update for:

•  Office XP w/SP3
•  Office 2003 w/SP3
•  Office 2004 for Mac

We posted back on October 27th that it had been reported that CEO William Rodgers had signed away any interest in the company. What information was available appeared to point to Lee Booth had taken various assets and was likely setting up shop in Burlington however that is about all that was known or maybe rumored would be better. It appears the attorney appointed by the courts to handle this case is as much in the dark as everyone else as he was quoted as saying, “I will examine corporate officers under oath to determine the ownership.” Edwin Allman III who was appointed as Trustee further went on to say if he can recover any assets the legal fees will be paid first then creditors with the 400 or so employees owed back pay “would be pretty high up" the list of creditors”. While I would like to think he is right I have enough experience with things like this to know employee back pay will be considered  unsecured debt while the multiple companies owed $10 million or more will likely be seen as secured debt  and secured debt always gets paid first.

Of course there are still charges against William Rodgers for failure to pay insurance premiums while months later the N.C. Labor Department is still “investigating” the failure to pay wages.

My last comment on this is at what point is the Airport Commission called to the carpet on allowing PACE to go a year without paying it’s lease obligations? Remember the Airport Commission is also in hot water for allowing it’s contractor in charge of runway expansions per a 1997 Grant to not pay it’s subcontractors. I’ve not heard or seen anything else on this and the Journal certainly hasn’t covered this.

The latest rumor to show up is all about a new Android phone from Motorola called the Devour. Basically it appears to be a slightly less advance version of the Motorola Droid so expect to see pricing be slightly lower although it will run Android 2.1.

It also appears HTC will be releasing an update for the Eris to push it to Android 2.0 or 2.1. Of course how quickly Verizon will make the update available is anyone’s guess. If your wondering why running Android 2.x is such a big deal it has several major updates such as supporting multiple Exchange accounts as well as a browser update.

Of course with CES coming up there’s always a lot of news and rumors about new products and not to be outdone Palm is rumored to have a new Palm Pre Plus ready for Verizon. This will be a slightly larger and newer version of the Palm Pre.

Lastly will there be an iPhone for Verizon? It was a given last year but as the year ended most had cast doubts on Verizon’s iPhone plans. There are those however that still see an iPhone in Verizon’s future probably sometime in the summer as Apples releases it’s newest version of the huge successful iPhone. With little to go on the belief is the new iPhones will be smaller, have a 5MP camera, be built by AsusTek vs. Hon Hai which makes the current models, use a Qualcomm hybrid CDMA/WCDMA chip that allows multiple cell carrier signal types  and show up mid year.

Of course let’s not forget to warn anyone looking at Verizon for a new phone they have enacted a new $350 cancellation fee on their “Smartphone” line so if your thinking of buying now and switching if and when they release an iPhone you may want to change those plans.

They also warn of a zero day flaw in Illustrator CS3 and CS4

Severity: High

9 December, 2009

Summary:

§ This vulnerability affects: Adobe Flash Player 10.0.32.18 and earlier, running on all platforms. Some flaws also affect Adobe AIR 1.5.2

§ How an attacker exploits it: By enticing your users to visit a website containing malicious Flash content

§ Impact: In the worst case, an attacker can execute code on your computer, potentially gaining control of it

§ What to do: Download and install the latest version of Adobe Flash Player and Air

Exposure:

Adobe Flash Player displays interactive, animated web content called Flash, often formatted as a Shockwave (.SWF) file. Adobe’s Flash Player ships by default with many web browsers, including Internet Explorer (IE). It also runs on many operating systems.

In a security bulletin released on the same day as Microsoft Patch Day, Adobe warned of at least seven critical vulnerabilities that affect Adobe Flash Player 10.0.32.18 for Windows and Macintosh (as well as all earlier versions). Some of the flaws also affect Adobe Air 1.5.2 as well. Adobe’s bulletin refers to seven CVE numbers, which suggests that their update fixes seven security vulnerabilities. The bulletin doesn’t describe the flaws in much technical detail. However, it does warn that if an attacker can entice one of your users to visit a malicious website containing specially crafted Flash content, he could exploit many of these unspecified vulnerabilities to execute code on that user’s computer, with that user’s privileges. If your Windows users have local administrator privileges, an attacker could exploit this flaw to gain full control of their PC. If you use Adobe Flash Player in your network, we recommend you download and deploy the latest version throughout your network as soon as possible.
On a related note, the day before releasing the Flash update, Adobe also released an advisory about a critical buffer overflow vulnerability in Illustrator CS3 and CS4. The flaw has to do with Illustrator’s inability to properly parse specially crafted .EPS files. If an attacker can entice one of your Illustrator users into opening a malicious .EPS file, he can also exploit this flaw to execute code on that user’s computer, with the user’s privileges. There is no patch for this flaw yet. Adobe plans to release one in January.

Solution Path

Adobe has released a new version of Flash Player and Air. Specifically:

§ Flash Player 10.0.42.34

§ Air 1.5.3

If you use these products in your network, we recommend you download and deploy their updates as soon as possible.