Minnesota Recycling Laws Expand to Include Businesses

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Go Green

recycleRecycling laws in Minnesota have now expanded to encompass all businesses, places of worship and workplaces.

The new recycling ordinance requires:

  • Regular recyclable collection (minimum of twice each month) of all on-site recyclable materials. This includes jars, glass bottles, plastic bottles, metal cans, cardboard and paper.
  • Placement of containers for recycling
  • Posting or distribution of written information on recycling, as well as detailed instructions for tenants or employees.
  • Creation of written recycling plans

According to Minnesota’s Mayor, R.T. Rybak, “Wherever you live, work, learn, worship, play or do business in Minneapolis, you will be able to recycle. This ordinance gives recycling the normal, routine status it deserves. Now it’s up to all of us to do our part to recycle.”

I think we all dream of a day where initiatives like this are so commonplace that they don’t qualify as newsworthy.

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How to make your Morning Coffee Green (not literally!)

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Go Green

coffeeWe have all made an environmental concession or two in our lives. Mine happens to involve coffee, and I really love my coffee. There are far grander ventures I could have chosen, but why not coffee? After all; besides crude oil, coffee is the highest traded commodity on the planet.

Here are some ways to make your java choice easier on our environment.

  1. Buy Local: At least as local as you can, depending on your location.
  2. Purchase shade-grown coffee: This will not only provide a richer flavor, but it preserves the habitat of some migratory birds.
  3. Brew your own: This will allow you to purchase in bulk to save money and excess packaging.
  4. Use a reusable filter: This can keep thousands of paper filters out of our landfills every year.
  5. Compost: Coffee grounds are very high in nitrogen, making it great to use as fertilizer.

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Latest Skype Version may have a Dangerous Flaw

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Go Green

skypeAccording to a group of German security researchers, the latest Skype version may have a dangerous flaw which might allow the malicious injection of an HTML/JavaScript code into the phone session of a user.

The security team released an advisory on Wednesday, which said the following:

“An attacker could for example inject HTML/JavaScript code. It has not been verified though, if it’s possible to hijack cookies or to attack the underlying operating system. Attacker could give a try using extern .js files.”

Skype denied there was any concern by saying the following:

“We have had this reported to us by various media outlets and have confirmed that the person is mistaken, this is not a web window and while it does cause a phone number to be underlined, does nothing other than this.”

The researchers responded by saying that unsafe content can be displayed as a user views a profile that is “booby-trapped,” which would work by inserting the JavaScript command or website address where the phone number would be expected to be, because the entries in (city, office and mobile phone, and home) are embedded by HTML.

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Another Fake Facebook Malware Campaign Hits the Internet

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Go Green

facebookSecurity experts from the M86 Security Labs team have recently intercepted another spamvertised malware campaign that uses fake notifications from Facebook as a social engineering element.

Spamvertised via the Cutwail botnet, this new malware campaign impersonates Facebook as it tries to convince users to click a fake notification message which is supposedly from Facebook. Unfortunately, the HTML source for the email offers a link to a highly malicious iFrame which leads to a BlackHole internet malware exploitation kit. Once a user clicks the link, the exploitation kit checks for any remotely exploitable client applications or browser plugins, and proceeds to administer the malware.

This goes without saying, but Internet users are encouraged to not interact with spam emails or click any links unless you are certain of their origin.

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Is your Car Spying on You?

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Go Green

ezpassToll tags and electronic systems like EZ-Pass are a convenient way to pay a toll. You don’t need to fumble around looking for change, you don’t even need to stop; just proceed through the booth and the cost will automatically be taken from your account.

That’s the good news. The other side of that is that every time you pass through a toll, you are letting people know exactly where you are, and where you are headed.

Toll tags can be valuable to the state running them, including offering information on the flow of traffic. A computer can calculate how long it takes cars to go from one toll to the next, and turn that into traffic data.

Toll tag data is also used in divorce proceedings and criminal cases. (“You were traveling to Colorado to visit your grandmother, you say? Toll records indicate that you were driving through New York at the time of the crime!”)

Every state has different laws governing EZ-Pass data. For instance, in New Jersey toll records are only able to be accessed for court cases, and only by a court order. Records are kept indefinitely.

So, the next time you fly past a toll booth and laugh at all of those people who have to wait in line; think of who may be laughing last…

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