XP SP3 Issues
According to an article published by Information Week, the newly released XP SP3 is causing systems to blue screen (aka BSOD) on AMD based systems. Microsoft and HP seem to think its center around the Power Managment feature. Here is an example of a message you might receive:
HP has posted a work around that has you go boot into Safe Mode and disable the Intel Power Management.
Apparently there are other problems with SP3 according to the article. If you have deployed XP3 and have encountered the BSOD or other major issues with SP3 please let us know. If you haven't deployed XP3 and your waiting, I'd like to know the reasons behind this as well. Remember there are some caveats that you need to be aware before deploying this service pack. Check out this ISC article for more information.
UPDATE
ISC contributors also sent in links to a blog by Jesper Johansson. The blog contains loads of information on the issue and a link to Jesper's "small tool that will detect the IntelPPM problem and mitigate it before installing the service pack".
For free SP3 MS support call (866) 234-6020 ("Free unlimited installation and compatibility support is available for Windows XP, but only for Service Pack 3 (SP3). This support for SP3 is valid until April 14, 2009).
Disaster donation scams continue
Now that you are done regenerating SSH keypairs and SSL certificates on your Debian and Ubuntu machines, we return you to our usual programming. Oh, wait, we have an oldie but goody that has returned. Ever since Hurricane Katrina back in 2005 (see http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=643), we've seen after every significant natural disaster, the scammers start registering domains and try to collect donations. The last 2 weeks have seen Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar and then the big earthquake in China and as expected, we've seen registration of domains related to those disasters. These may not all be scams, but we repeat the advice we first gave nearly 3 years ago, if you wish to donate money to help the victims of these disasters, we suggest you stick to the established charities that you have a relationship with (such as the Red Cross or Church World Service or the like) through their main web pages or the phone.
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