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Posts with tag norwich connecticut

Filed under: Internet, Security, News, Windows

"Things may change" for Porn Pop-up teacher

After weeks of e-mails and bad press discrediting the District Attorney's prosecution of the case, the tide may be turning for So-called porn pop-up teacher Julie Amero. According to Hartford Courant reporter Rick Green the DA may be thinking about backing down from his shameless attack on Amero, her character and her livelihood. District Attorney Smith is quoted as saying that things "could very well change" between now and Thursday's sentencing, which in the worst case could see Amero headed to prison for 40 years. Sources close to the case say that officials are looking for a way to avoid the sentencing hearing altogether, and that the state's attorney's office in Norwich is "reconsidering it's aggressive approach."

All this while the Norwich Bulletin publishes yet another boneheaded editorial in which a nameless pundit with an obvious bias opines on Amero's fate and the reasons why she deserved to have her life ruined through court battles and public shame. Against all logic, reason and testimony the op-ed attempts to pull together a convincing tale to discredit every single computer expert who has looked at the facts in this case. Some say small time print journalism is almost dead; Frankly I'm anxiously awaiting the day I can dance on the grave of the Norwich Bulletin and it's pseudo-journalistic witch-hunting ways.

Amero's sentencing is scheduled for March 29th and you can bet your malware infected, unpatched Windows 98 machine that we'll be following developments in this case as closely as possible.

See Also:
Conn. Profs urge deeper investigation in porn-pop-up case
Julie Amero sentencing postponed, Norwich "expert" speaks
Porn pop-up teacher gets new attorney, PC World outs juror
Malware victim faces jailtime; Write Connecticut's Governor

Filed under: News

Julie Amero sentencing postponed, Norwich "expert" speaks

Julie Amero, the substitute school teacher convicted of being an internet n00b in a classroom with a severely outdated and unmaintained computer has had a brief, non-permanent reprieve from her sentencing on four felony counts. The hearing to decide her fate, which could see her spending up to 40 years in prison, was postponed until March 29th. The Norwich-Bulletin does its typically biased job of updating events in the case, and reminds us, "forensic investigation of the computer used that day revealed she was actively surfing the sites nearly the entire school day."

According to reports however, the Norwich Police's only "computer expert" Mark Lounsbury has little if any IT training, and relied primarily on his free "certification" on the ComputerCop Pro software, and the reports which it generates. The big issue: ComputerCop Pro is incapable of determining whether the URLs opened by Internet Explorer 5 were the result of human action, or of programmatic control through spyware or malware. Nevertheless, Amero was convicted on the back of testimony offered by Lounsbury.

Lounsbury has himself admitted to criminal activity in the past. In 2001 Detective Lounsbury admitted to drinking alcohol while driving a minor child in a police vehicle while involved in an underage drinking sting operation. He was never charged, and as far as searchable records show, the investigation essentially died a quiet death, leaving Detective Lousbury in his position as the chief investigator of computer crimes involving children for the Norwich Police Department.

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Featured Time Waster

Forumwarz - a potentially offensive time waster

I pwn UAfter spending the better part of an hour on Forumwarz I still can't decide if it's just sick or if it's kind of fun. It's a bit like a car wreck on the highway. I know I shouldn't be looking but I can't quite turn away.

It's sick, it's twisted, it's the internet on it's worst level and darn it, it's kind of fun. At least for a little while.

Forumwarz is a parody role-playing game that takes place on the internet - or at least the Forumwarz version of it. Your goal is to complete missions that are given to you through a mock up of GoogleTalk called Sentrillion.

Your first "friend" is ShallowEsophagus who begins giving you missions to pwn various forums by being a troll. Depending on the character type you are assigned at start up, you have tools like drooling on the keyboard or bashing your head on the keyboard that you can use to destroy forum threads and eventually, pwn a forum.

Future missions involve buying illegal software from the Russians, pwning more difficult forums and other internet oddness.

Completing missions gives you cash, called Flezz in game, and items that you can pawn or use in other missions. The game is NOT for those easily offended. It's crass, coarse and there are frequent f-bombs in the fake chat sessions.

This is also a game for a more mature audience as it requires you to shop at the Drugs R Fun store to get various concoctions to improve your playing, engage in certain cyber activities to get more Flezz and just generally use a more adult perspective.

If you can get past that, here are the more enjoyable and time-wasting aspects.

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