"Merry Christmas – and God bless all of you" from Apollo 8

On the 24th of December 1968, in what was the most watched television broadcast at the time, the crew of Apollo 8 read in turn from the Book of Genesis as they orbited the moon. Bill Anders, Jim Lovell, and Frank Borman recited Genesis chapter one, verses 1 through 10, using the King James Version text.

Read about & listen to this truly "out of this world" Christmas message at wikipedia

Wishing everyone a truly happy & blessed Christmas. May God bless you!

Crews tackle fire in Portsmouth (Albert Road, Southsea) dry cleaners

A fire has destroyed a dry cleaners in Portsmouth.

Crews were called to Albert Road, Southsea after the fire broke out in the shop shortly before 06:00 GMT.

About 40 firefighters in 10 fire engines with an aerial ladder were used to bring the fire in the terraced building under control.

The road remains closed both ways between Victoria Road South and Fawcett Road. Motorists are advised to avoid the area.

www.bbc.co.uk

Street pastors will save NHS £13million during festive period

Street Pastors are set to save the NHS millions of pounds as they divert drunks away from A&E during the festive period.

On most British high streets a group of Christians will patrol the night time economy providing support and help for people who have had too much to drink.

Premier has calculated that street pastors will save the health service around £13 million in the month of December.

www.premier.org.uk

Blood bikers: The volunteer motorcyclists who help the NHS

Across the UK, a group of volunteer motorcyclists is helping the NHS by delivering blood. What motivates them, asks Simon Fry.

Isabel Kydd is on call for 80 hours of one week each month. At very little notice, she can be woken in the night and find herself riding a motorbike with a vital delivery for a hospital.

But she's not an NHS employee. She's just a volunteer, one of 1,400 advanced qualified riders of the Nationwide Association of Blood Bikers (NABB).

In 2013, the association's bikers responded to around 35,000 rapid transport requests from 262 UK hospitals. They are almost a Deliveroo for the NHS.

www.bbc.co.uk

NETGEAR Security Advisory: Urgent Router Firmware Updates

NETGEAR is aware of the security issue #582384 that allows unauthenticated web pages to pass form input directly to the command-line interface. A remote attacker can potentially inject arbitrary commands which are then executed by the system.

NETGEAR has tested the following products and confirmed that they are vulnerable:

R6250***

R6400***

R6700*

R6900*

R7000***

R7100LG*

R7300DST*

R7900*

R8000***

D6220*

D6400*

All products followed by a single asterisk (*) have beta firmware fixes available. 

All products followed by three asterisks (***) have production firmware fixes available.

kb.netgear.com

The Salvation Army at Christmas

This Christmas, Salvation Army centres across the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland will bring joy to those who are lonely, give food and shelter to people with no home and ensure no child goes without knowing that it’s Christmas. Please, take just 30 seconds to watch our video and see for yourself the joy that your support is bringing this Christmas to people in need.

Christmas in Uganda - Advent with Compassion

Please watch this video. 

Be grateful for life, and what we take for granted in the west.

This dear girl, Lyz tells of Christmas in Uganda,

The fellowship, food, worship, excitement & anticipation.

Lyz also mentions some presents that she received in past Christmases:

a mattress, shoes, a mosquito net... 

A simple gifts that could positively change or save a life.

My prayer is that we can reflect on the true meaning of Christmas:

God's gift of Jesus to the world, to bring love & salvation to all.

And for us (mea culpa) to not fixate on the "stuff"...

A crazy thing happens to this guy at a party!

Is he drunk?

Is he in a parallel universe?

Or is this divine intervention?

Yahoo’s billion-user database reportedly sold on the Dark Web for just $300,000

Yahoo, which admitted to two separate breaches that saw 500 million users’ and then 1 billion users’ details stolen by hackers – the New York Times reports that a billion-user database was sold on the Dark Web last August for $300,000.

That’s according to Andrew Komarov, chief intelligence office at security firm InfoArmor. He told NYT that three buyers, including two prominent spammers and another who might be involved in espionage tactics purchased the entire database at the aforementioned price from a hacker group believed to based in Eastern Europe.

It’s lovely to know that it only costs $300,000 to be able to threaten a billion people’s online existence – which means each account is only worth $0.0003 to hackers who can ruin your life online in a matter of minutes.

Yahoo also doesn’t yet know who made off with all the data from the attack in 2013, which is said to be the largest breach of any company ever.

In addition to full names, passwords, birth dates and phone numbers, the database also contains security questions and backup email addresses that could help with resetting forgotten passwords.

www.thenextweb.com

Hey 2016! What happened to the love?

It's been a rough year for so much of the world.

At Christmas we ask, where is the love?

And where is the light and the hope?

Yahoo Suffers World's Biggest Hack Affecting 1 Billion Users

Yahoo has discovered a 3-year-old security breach that enabled a hacker to compromise more than 1 billion user accounts, breaking the company's own humiliating record for the biggest security breach in history.

The digital heist disclosed Wednesday occurred in August 2013, more than a year before a separate hack that Yahoo announced nearly three months ago . That breach affected at least 500 million users, which had been the most far-reaching hack until the latest revelation.

Both lapses occurred during the reign of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, a once-lauded leader who found herself unable to turn around the company in the four years since her arrival. Earlier this year, Yahoo agreed to sell its digital operations to Verizon Communications for $4.8 billion — a deal that may now be imperiled by the hacking revelations.

abcnews.go.com

Microsoft has just released a patch to fix the recent Windows DCHP issue

Microsoft is investigating reports that a recent Windows update is stopping some PCs from connecting to the internet.

Update (13 Dec 2016): KB3206632 was released to resolve this issue. Customers should first try restarting their PC, if they are then still unable to connect to the Internet, should then install the update. 

Visit the Windows Update FAQ for more information on keeping your PC up to date.

www.microsoft.com

SR-71 Blackbird pilot Brian Shul: My life at Mach 3.5

Some people live truly extraordinary lives, and US Air Force pilot Brian Shul is certainly one of them. Shot down and burned half to death over Cambodia, he worked his way back to the top of the game, eventually flying the most extreme aircraft ever built.

A small, select group of men had the privilege of flying the SR-71, chiefly on surveillance missions where its ability to flat-out run away from fighter planes and surface-to-air missiles gave it a perfect record – none of the 32 built was ever shot down.

And of this small group of pilots, one stands out – not for his flying skills, but as a superb storyteller. You've probably already read Brian Shul's hilarious story about trolling a fighter pilot with ground speed tower checks, and maybe you've also heard about the slowest SR-71 flyover ever attempted. Both are terrific, go read them if you haven't.

Read more at: www.newatlas.com

Microsoft just completed its $26B LinkedIn acquisition

Microsoft's deal to buy professional social network LinkedIn for $26.2 billion has officially closed.

Microsoft announced completion of the deal, the largest in Microsoft’s history, just two days after getting the final regulatory sign-off from the European Commission, with conditions. Microsoft announced the acquisition in June, and regulators in the U.S. and other countries had already cleared the deal.

Microsoft had faced opposition from Salesforce, which had competed for LinkedIn and asked European regulators to investigate the competitive implications of the deal.

www.geekwire.com

Netgear R7000 and R6400 router - critical vulnerability

Netgear R7000 and R6400 routers and possibly other models are vulnerable to arbitrary command injection.

An exploit leveraging this vulnerability has been publicly disclosed. By convincing a user to visit a specially crafted web site, a remote unauthenticated attacker may execute arbitrary commands with root privileges on affected routers.

Exploiting this vulnerability is trivial. Users who have the option of doing so should strongly consider discontinuing use of affected devices until a fix is made available.

CERT - Computer Emergency Response Team

Windows 10 Anniversary Update bug drops Wi-Fi connections

If your Windows 10 Anniversary Update PCs (version 1607) are suddenly dropping their Wi-Fi connections and the Network Diagnostics troubleshooter is spouting "Wi-Fi doesn't have a valid IP configuration"; you're not alone.

Although the vast majority of Wi-Fi problem reports come from Win10 version 1607 systems, there are other reports of the same problem on Win 7 and 8.1 PCs using domain-connected and not-connected systems with a wide array of ISPs, routers, and network cards.

If you're having issues with Broadband / Internet access, or getting messages about "incorrect IP configuration", contact Donline for assistance.

BT or Virgin customer with networking issues? Contact Donline for help!

I've been getting lots of calls this week from clients with networking issues. 

These are usually where the ISP is either BT or Virgin.

If you are currently having issues with Broadband, or getting messages about 

"incorrect IP configuration"

contact Donline for assistance.

Child of Hope Uganda - Christmas Party

Thank you so much to everyone who has already donated to our Christmas party appeal – we're well on the way to organising an amazing party, plus gifts, a slap-up meal and clothes each.

We are 40% of the way to our goal... the party costs roughly £4 per child, and there will also be parents, siblings and local VIPs.

Chan (pictured) and all the kids love this annual event, putting on lots of dances and drama... it goes on for hours!

If you've not yet had a chance to donate, please could you help us? Just £4 will pay for a child... but feel free to give more. You can donate safely online by credit/debit card or Paypal, or you can post a cheque or donate via Justgiving.

www.childofhopeuganda.org

"Like and Comment and See What Happens to the Picture" Facebook Like-Farming Scams

A number of Facebook posts are circulating that claim that if you 'like' a picture and then type a number or a word 'something will happen' to the picture.

 A great many people who see the posts obey the instructions in the vain hope of seeing the image miraculously change in some way.

Here is what happens if you do like the picture and type the specified word or number. Absolutely nothing whatsoever! The image will not change in any way. However... 

Read more at: hoax-slayer.com

Thought for the day: The Gift of Safe Water

“And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” Matthew 10:42 ESV

In a country where one in four people lack access to safe water, these children in Rwanda are celebrating the fact they have clean water thanks to a RESPOND Initiative.

“The children are very grateful for this intervention. [They] are very happy to have clean water. And they can use it in many different ways. We have water filters, so they can drink water freely.”

Thank God that we can just turn on a tap and drink: without worrying about contracting stomach worms, dysentery, or cholera. The things that we take for granted, eh? 

www.compassionuk.org

More TalkTalk bad news: Wi-Fi router passwords stolen

TalkTalk broadband customers' wi-fi passwords have been stolen following a malware attack that blocked their internet access last week.

The researcher who discovered the issue said other details had also been taken that would let attackers pinpoint where the equipment was being used, making more targeted hacks possible.

Donline note: frankly I'm amazed that people still use TalkTalk. 

If you have had enough of this shoddy ISP - contact me!

www.bbc.co.uk

Quicksilver: the motorcycle that held the electric land speed title for 38 years

The great tale of how things used to get done. Climbing a power pole with five sets of jumper leads, a young Mike Corbin tapped into mains power to charge up his electric bike for a Bonneville run. Powered by silver "borrowed" from a US Navy vault, Quicksilver went on to set a land speed record that stood for an amazing 38 years. Here's his story.

www.newatlas.com

Crooks can guess Visa details in six seconds

Criminals can work out the card number, expiry date and security code for a Visa debit or credit card in as little as six seconds using guesswork, researchers have found.

Experts from Newcastle University said it was “frighteningly easy” to do with a laptop and an internet connection.

Fraudsters use a so-called Distributed Guessing Attack to get around security features put in place to stop online fraud, and this may have been the method used in the recent Tesco Bank hack.

According to a study published in the academic journal IEEE Security & Privacy, that meant fraudsters could use computers to systematically fire different variations of security data at hundreds of websites simultaneously.

Within seconds, by a process of elimination, the criminals could verify the correct card number, expiry date and the three-digit security number on the back of the card.

www.independent.co.uk

The Shack

Based on the New York Times best-selling novel, The Shack takes us on a father’s uplifting spiritual journey. 

After suffering a family tragedy, Mack Phillips (Sam Worthington) spirals into a deep depression causing him to question his innermost beliefs. Facing a crisis of faith, he receives a mysterious letter urging him to an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Despite his doubts, Mack journeys to the shack and encounters an enigmatic trio of strangers led by a woman named Papa (Octavia Spencer). Through this meeting, Mack finds important truths that will transform his understanding of his tragedy and change his life forever.

The Shack Trailer

TalkTalk and Post Office routers hit by cyber-attack

Thousands of TalkTalk and Post Office customers have had their internet access cut by an attack targeting certain types of internet routers.

A spokeswoman for the Post Office told the BBC that the problem began on Sunday and had affected about 100,000 of its customers.

Talk Talk also confirmed that some of its customers had been affected, and it was working on a fix.

It is not yet known who is responsible for the attack.

www.bbc.co.uk

National Lottery accounts feared hacked

About 26,500 National Lottery accounts are feared to have been hacked, according to its operator Camelot.

The firm said it did not believe its own systems had been compromised, but rather that the players' login details had been stolen from elsewhere.

The company said that no money had been taken from or added to the compromised accounts.

www.bbc.co.uk

It's winter - time to get out the puppy coat!

Calli isn't 100% sure about her coats. She doesn't want to put them on.

However, after she's been for a walk, she doesn't want to take them off!

Coat No1 Coat No2

Legal split imposed on BT and Openreach

Telecoms regulator Ofcom has ordered BT to legally separate from its Openreach division, which runs the UK's broadband infrastructure.

Openreach should become a distinct company within the BT group, the regulator said.

BT had not voluntarily addressed competition concerns Ofcom laid out in July, it said.

However, BT said its proposals were "fair and sustainable", and that it would continue negotiating with Ofcom.

The regulator said it was preparing a formal notification to the European Commission to start the separation process.

Ofcom has resisted calls to split Openreach off entirely, which telecoms rivals have sought.

Ofcom said BT had not gone far enough to address its concerns about BT's ability to favour its retail business when making investment decisions in Openreach.

www.bbc.co.uk

Video: Jetmen join French Air Force aerobatic team for insane formation flight

Three jetmen have taken to the skies of southern France to join the Patrouille de France aerobatic demonstration team for a "world's first" formation flight. The breathtaking aerial performance was captured on film by Airborne Films and can be seen in this video.

The Jetman Dubai team's Yves Rossy and Vincent Reffet already have an impressive formation flight feather in their cap, after flying alongside an Emirates Airbus A380 passenger jet in October 2015. Now they've been joined by fellow jet-propelled wing flyer, and local boy, Fred Fugen for a nine minute precision dance in the skies above Saint-Christol in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France for the first flight with the iconic Alphajet team.

www.youtube.com

www.newatlas.com/

Join Atul Kochhar for Curry for Change Week 2016

From 21-28 November 2016 we’re bringing together all things Curry for Change for one whole week of food, friends and most importantly, fundraising, to help change the lives of families who suffer from hunger.

www.curryforchange.org.uk

New method for distributing malware through images through social media applications such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

Check Point researchers identified a new attack vector, named ImageGate, which embeds malware in image and graphic files. Furthermore, the researchers have discovered the hackers’ method of executing the malicious code within these images through social media applications such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

According to the research, the attackers have built a new capability to embed malicious code into an image file and successfully upload it to the social media website. The attackers exploit a misconfiguration on the social media infrastructure to deliberately force their victims to download the image file. This results in infection of the users’ device as soon as the end-user clicks on the downloaded file.

In the past week, the entire security industry is closely following the massive spread of the Locky ransomware via social media, particularly in its Facebook-based campaign. Check Point researchers strongly believe the new ImageGate technique reveals how this campaign was made possible, a question which has been unanswered until now.

Check Point recommends the following preventive measures:

• If you have clicked on an image and your browser starts downloading a file, do not open it. Any social media website should display the picture without downloading any file.
• Don’t open any image file with unusual extension (such as SVG, JS or HTA).

blog.checkpoint.com

Kate Bush: Before The Dawn - the new live album!

Just released today!

We were blessed to have been there at Hammy Odeon (as we used to call it) on Fri 5th September 2014. A fantastic gig & a brilliant triple (yes triple!) album.

Go on, treat yourself - I know I did!

"Before the dawn" was recorded during the incredible run of 22 sold-out shows performed by Kate at London's Hammersmith Apollo in 2014. The album will be released on Fish People and distributed by Rhino on November 25 2016.

In March 2014 Kate Bush announced plans to perform 15 shows in London in August and September that year, her first live shows since 1979.  The shows sold out so quickly that a further 7 were immediately added, with all shows selling out in 15 minutes.  This very website crashed with the demand.

The first night of the shows prompted a complete media frenzy with the Evening Standard declaring that the show was "an extraordinary mix of magical ideas, stunning visuals, attention to detail and remarkable music – she was so obviously, so unambiguously brilliant, it made last night something to tell the grandchildren about."

www.amazon.co.uk

Deal of the day: Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker

Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker, 6 Litre, 1000 W, Brushed Stainless Steel/Black

No more rattles and hisses, no more adjusting the heat to regulate pressure because the Instant Pot Duo does it for you

Duo is a 7-in-1 Multi-Functional Cooker,Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Saute/Browning, Yoghurt Maker, Steamer and Warmer

Large, easy to use control panel with 14 built-in Programs, Dual pressure, Automatic keep-warm and 3 temperatures for saute and slow cook

10 proven safety mechanisms; Highly energy efficient and kitchen friendly emitting hardly any noise, heat or steam

3-ply Base stainless steel cooking pot, steam rack, manual, recipe book and cooking time tables

RRP: £169.99

Deal Price: £69.99 

You Save: £100.00 (59%)

We have one of these - it's our favourite kitchen gadget!

www.amazon.co.uk

Deal of the day: Microsoft Office 365 Home. 5 Users / 1 Year Subscription

5 Users - 1 Year Subscription: £49.98

The Office 2016 versions of: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook. 

1 TB of online storage in OneDrive.

For 5 PCs or Macs, 5 tablets including iPad, Android or Windows, plus 5 phones.

Easily install Office Mobile on multiple smartphones including iPhones, and Android phones (Office Mobile is already installed on Windows phones).

Includes Office 2016 for Mac.

www.amazon.co.uk

Intego security and utility software for Apple products with 50% off!

Thanksgiving always makes us happy at Intego. There is so much to be grateful for — our safety and happiness, our families and friends, and so much more. Today also gives us the opportunity to express our gratitude to you!

Thanksgiving weekend through Cyber Monday has become the biggest online shopping event of the year. For the most part, shopping online is safe — but there are always fraudsters out there looking to steal your financial information.

As our way of saying thanks, and to keep you safe this year while you shop online, beginning today through Cyber Monday you can enjoy 50% off all Intego software!

Use coupon code GIVETHANKS at checkout to get any Intego X9 software for 50% off MSRP.

www.intego.com

The Compassion Advent Calendar

I'm delighted to share this year's Compassion Advent Calendar with you.

Behind each advent door you’ll discover brand new stories and inspiring videos from Compassion-supported children, alongside a daily Bible verse and prayer point.

Sign up here to receive a daily advent email from 27th November – 24th December.

Be encouraged and unwrap joy as we share incredible stories in the lead-up to Christmas!

www.compassionuk.org

Two Wheels for Life - saving lives with support from the world of motorcycling

Riders for Health was the vision of Barry and Andrea Coleman. Barry was working as a correspondent and feature writer for The Guardian newspaper in Britain. Andrea had worked in motorcycle racing and had been a professional rider for four years. In 1986, with racing legend Randy Mamola, Save the Children told them that one of the biggest problems they had in getting the children immunised was reaching the ones in remote village because transport was so unreliable. The Colemans went to Africa - saw broken motorbikes abandoned by aid workers and ministries of health. Some only needed small repairs - or a $3 part. They realised that something must be done about this vital but neglected piece of development. Without any background in international development they made this their sole focus.  So Riders for Health was born.

Motorcycles are well-suited for harsh African landscape, where roads can be impassable with a four wheel vehicle. Barry started training programmes for riders and technicians and began to build relationships with ministries of health. They first established a fleet of 47 bikes in Lesotho that delivered health-care services from 1991 to 1996 without a single breakdown. 

25 years on, Riders has ensured that 24 million people in rural Africa now have access to health care. And Riders for Health is now Riders for Health International with the development and  management of the programmes firmly in the hands of African leadership – still using the original Riders’ systems which are sustainable, replicable and capable of operating on a large scale.

Two Wheels for Life has been established to continue the wonderful fundraising events within the world of motorcycles, such as Day of Champions. The funds raised will continue to support Riders for Health International and programmes in Africa, helping them to reach remote rural communities with life-saving healthcare. Two Wheels For Life - official charity of MotoGP™ and the FIM.

CCM Motorcycles: The New GP450 Adventure

Taking the DNA from CCM’s rich motorsport heritage, the GP450 handles as you would expect a bike should with such a sporting pedigree. A true dual-sport machine, the GP450 is as happy in Kensington as it is in Kazakhstan. The standard seat height starts at 890mm with the optional high seat increasing that to 950mm. And the great news is that there is a factory lowered option reducing that further to 790mm (or 850mm with high seat) and its now available as a NO COST option! GP450 your way – with the extensive range of accessories on offer the GP450 is ready for you to add your own personality to your bike to suit your lifestyle. BTW: the GP450 is very light at 125 kg (dry)!

www.ccm-motorcycles.com

BullGuard "Black Friday" Sale: 70% off!!!

BullGuard Internet Security

Powerful online protection consistently ranked the best

Now multiplatform - available for Windows, Mac & Android

Protects your PCs, Macs and Android devices with one single license  Robust, layered protection against all forms of viruses, spyware, malware and other online threats Potent firewall that protects you againstnetwork attacks and keeps out intruders  Powerful Parental Control helps to protect kids from cyberbullying and predators

1 Year / 3 Devices - currently £14.99!!!

http://www.bullguard.com/