I took the AutoIt3 engine I had for monitoring when Explorer opens a folder and just converted it to a complete application.  FolderCache.

This implementation is much simpler than others I've done. Leave it run in the system tray.  Hit Shift-PgUp to open the launch window.  The GUI is no great shakes but I made it wide to avoid the need for horizontal scrolling to see all of the folder name. It should be usable in screen res 800x600 or higher.

Right now there are no user configurable options. It's hard-wired for a max of 24 folders. There's no install needed.  To have it start with Windows just make a shortcut in the Startup folder.

(One note, the launch window is created dynamically when opened and destroyed with each close.  While it is open, the folder monitor function is paused.  No folders will be added to the cache while the launch window is open.  For this reason there is no minimize button on the window frame.  If you change your mind about opening a folder in the window, just click the close 'x' on the window frame or click the Open Selected Button with nothing selected, to close it.)

DC member Gothi[c] has looked at and experimented with a ton of 3d game engines, and Panda3d is currently his top pick, which says a lot.

While there are a lot of 3d engines out there, this is one of the more well-rounded ones, and it's actually been used in Disney's pirates MMORPG, so it seems like a good choice for larger-scale multiplayer stuff.

It's multiplatform and open source.

Panda3D is a 3D engine: a library of subroutines for 3D rendering and game development. The library is C++ with a set of Python bindings. Game development with Panda3D usually consists of writing a Python program that controls the the Panda3D library.

Panda3D is unusual in that its design emphasis is on supporting a short learning curve and rapid development. It is ideal whenever deadlines are tight and turnaround time is of the essence.

http://panda3d.org

1. Newsletter Editorial

Greetings all, and welcome to another edition of the DonationCoder.com newsletter.

First and foremost, it's time to say thank you to everyone who helped make our 4th anniversary fundraiser in March such a great success.  We raised over $13,000 dollars thanks to the generous contributions from both new and long-time members.  That's enough money to pay for our web hosting costs and server administration for the next two years -- Yay!

We also wrapped up our first public survey and we've posted the results online for everyone to read.. Learn what your fellow readers think about the site and our software, and what we should concentrate on in the future.

So on behalf of everyone at the site, let me again say "Thank You."  Starting with this newsletter, we shall now return to normal, non-fundraising mode..

I'm finally going to try to make a portable system to carry around with me.  Can anyone recommend to me the absolute best USB stick to buy?  I don't really care about looks or price, more for reliability, speed, quality.

usually, I'll just whatever USB stick is around, i don't care.  But I was kind of wondering if there actually are differences in quality among sticks, and not just aesthetic.

Looking forward to the responses!

In much the same way as they handled Conficker, the mass media have had a field day spreading sensationalism regarding the so-called "GhostNet". For those of you interested in a more factual report, give this and read and let me know what you think.

GhostNet was discovered by a research outfit called Infowar Monitor (IWM), who represent a joint venture between two Canadian entities, the Secdev Group and the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto to follow the use of cyberspace as a strategic domain. IWM had been working with the Tibetan government in exile, who suspected that their computer network had been infiltrated.

Over the course of a 10 month long investigation, IWM managed to trace infections across 103 countries. GhostNet seems to mark high-profile political and economic targets (known as whaling or spearphishing, as opposed to standard phishing) for infection, accomplishing their goal via social engineering techniques which they use to convince the victim to open an infected email attachment.

During their investigation of GhostNet, IWM determined that the attackers, and the infection itself originated from Chinese IP addresses geographically located on the island of Hainan. It is perhaps worth mentioning that Hainan is home to the Lingshui signals intelligence facility and the Third Technical Department of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. IWM also determined one of the servers used to coordinate the infection was stationed at a Chinese Government run facility.

The Remote Access Trojan/Tool (RAT) used in GhostNet is known as gh0st. It is open source software, and can be obtained in full with a quick internet search. A machine infected by gh0st RAT can be controlled and/or viewed in almost any manner by the attacker. gh0st RAT is fitted with remote desktop, webcam and microphone monitoring, and keylogging capabilities. gh0st RAT reports back from the infected machine to what's known as "command and control" servers, which send instructions to, and receive data from the Trojan.

In the specific case of GhostNet, the infection is spread via social engineering, which is a method used by potential attackers to gain the trust of the target such that they are convinced to follow the attackers directions. The attackers monitor email or verbal communication between two parties, one of which is already infected thus making said monitoring possible. The attackers monitor the exchanges until an opportunity presents itself for the attackers to pass themselves off as the infected party. At this point, the attackers craft an email to the uninfected party, posing as the infected party, containing material that appears relevant to the original exchange. Attached to the email is (usually) a PowerPoint presentation which, once opened, infects the previously uninfected party with gh0st.

Despite a substantial lack of evidence to implicate the Chinese government in the operation of GhostNet, some reports have taken the standpoint that they are behind it. It could be argued that, given the press this story has received, and the high profile of the victims, that the Chinese Government is perhaps complicit with the acts of those running GhostNet.It is also possible that they're being fed valuable confidential information retrieved via GhostNet. There have been reports of people held in Chinese custody being shown transcripts of private email conversations by Chinese officials. None of these possibilities have, or can be, confirmed.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GhostNet and source reports
http://www.f-secure....rchives/ghostnet.pdf
http://www.cl.cam.ac...s/UCAM-CL-TR-746.pdf
http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Infowar_Monitor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Rat

Ehtyar.

Table of Contents for this Week's Edition:

1. EBay Plans Skype Public Listing
2. PIN Crackers Nab Holy Grail of Bank Card Security
3. Evidence Suggests First Zombie Mac Botnet is Active
4. They're Gone! After Outcry, Time Warner Uncaps the Tubes
5. The Pirate Bay Verdict: Guilty, With Jail Time
6. Attack Sneaks Rootkits Into Linux Kernel
7. Wikipedians to Vote On Creative Commons License Adoption
8. Microsoft Owns Up to "E74" 360 Errors, Expands Warranty
9. How To Make A Baby