cobolhacker.com

How is it that XMMS continues to surprise? There’s just something about it that formulates the best *random* audio mixes.

It is possible, and even enjoyable, for Joy Division (Transmission) to open for the The Red Hot Chilli Peppers (Areoplane), move into some Wumpscut (Mother), then finish with Carol King (It’s Too Late).

And it’s too late, baby,
Now it’s too late,
Though we really did try to make it.
Somethin’ inside has died
And I can’t hide and I just can’t fake it.
Oh, no, no..

Well you should. Among the many who came to visit today, there were two customers with the same problem. They turned on their computer and discovered the hard disk drive had left the building.

*click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click*

Reboot and Select proper Boot device
or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key

Well it’s done. Your hard drive is toast. All the data on it is effectively gone.

The first guy was like, “well, there wasn’t really anything valuable on it anyway.” I sold him a new hard drive and he took his computer and went on his way.

The second guy didn’t take it so well. “Awww shit. Shit! SHIT! ohnohonohonohfuckfuckfuckohfuck. SHIT!! ohnononononono theyregonnakilmeGONNAKILLME nowhat? what?! WHAT? whatthefuckamigonnado??!!!” He’s mumbling and cursing like a crazy guy on a Toronto street corner and I’m waiting for his head to explode. Kinda like in Scanners.

“I don’t suppose you have a backup?” Ok. Maybe I didn’t really need to ask that.

“shitshitshitfuckshitfuckFuckFUCK!”

I guess not. I told him that he could get a few thousand dollars together and visit Actionfront or CBL in Toronto. They can pull all kinds of stuff off of a dead drive. But at this point all he can stammer out is, “how much do I owe you?” I don’t have the heart to charge him anything, and I tell him as much. He took his computer and went on his way.

I’m not sure what was on that drive that was so important. But it can happen to anyone. You should always keep a backup, just in case.

Here’s my quick opinion of the software Rogers Hi-Speed gives you. It is total crap. And here I thought the Sympatico package was the crappiest. But no, the current stuff Rogers is offering their customers far exceeds it. It exhibits many of the classic features of crap software:

Value to customer unclear? Check. Ya know, like those clock sync programs.

Provides redundant features? Check. The “Self Healing” part is particulary funny. Think about it — even novice users know damn well when their Internet isn’t working.

Adds itself to Start Up group? Check. These days it seems like every freakin program wants to load up at boot. Less than ten percent actually require it.

Bundles with third party content? Check. In this case it’s Yahoo. Because Roger customers love looking at ads on Yahoo as much as Sympatico customers like looking at ads on MSN.

Alters the appearance of Internet Explorer with its logo feces? Check. Just in case you can’t remember who supplies your Internet.

Add functions to Internet Explorer? Check. Just like My Search Bar!

Bitches when you try to un-install it? Check. Just like Cydoor!

Spawns a browser window when you un-install it? Check. Just like Gator!

Doesn’t remove itself from programs list when un-installed? Check.

You know, malware does these things too. At the very least this Rogers junk counts as crapware — it takes up space, doesn’t work right, and slows down your machine. And here’s the funny part! You don’t need any of it! Even Sympatico has something of an excuse for telling you to install their software (for the PPPOE client on pre-XP machines). But Rogers is a big DHCP network. No software needed. Just hook up your machine and go.

So I suspect it’s only purpose is marketing. Just like all the rest of the junk software. Therefore, I pronounce it crap and recommend not to install it, or remove it if it is installed.

And if you’re talking to Rogers tech support and they ask you why it’s not installed you can tell them that you don’t run that crap because Bob said so.

Spyware, and other forms of hostile software, can be a real bugger to get rid of. But it is possible to clean up a system without formatting it. So for those interested in the technical nitty-gritty of our industry, enjoy. These are the most common methods I use to get rid of spyware. Using them I am batting close to a 1.000 average against spyware, conceding only to boxes so badly infested that they just won’t start.

Know What You Are Up Against
It helps if you have an idea of what you are facing. The first thing I do is run msconfig and HijackThis (see below) to check the startup processes. This gives me an idea of what is happening. Sites like Spyware Guide and Liutilities have pretty good lists of applications and processes (both good and bad). I search for unrecognized processes on these sites, the Symantec Security Response database and, of course, Google.

Run A Virus Scan
Viruses and Spyware are slightly different. Many viruses are damaging and dangerous, and are killed quickly by anti-virus software. But spyware tends to be more benign and careful so anti-virus programs often ignore spyware systems. But you can rule out a lot of possibilities by having an up to date anti-virus program scan all the partitions on the hard drive.

Uninstall It
It may sound naive, but a lot of spyware applets will remove themselves from a system if you ask. This often breaks the application that they came bundled with, but well, you shouldn’t have been running that application anyway. Use the Add/Remove Programs applet in the control panel. Unfortunately a lot of experience is required to know which of the installed applications is bad. The bad ones often have words like ‘toolbar’, ’search’, or ‘ad’ in their title. Windows XP gives you a statement on application size and a description. Most spyware applications listed don’t give a description and report their size to be under a megabyte. When in doubt, search the name with google. If it’s spyware, chances are there is lots of bitching about in on various forums.

Spybot and Ad-aware
If you are still able, download and install Ad-aware and Spybot. Make sure you allow them to carry out their updates. Some spyware tries to block access to anti-spyware resources on the net. One of the things you can do to get around this is to download manual updaters from the various sites. We use a USB memory key to move all our anti-spyware software, including installers and the updaters to a machine without connecting it to the net. Run them both, one after another, and delete any file they tell you too. Some of the files may not delete because they are in use and the filesystem has them locked. We can hunt those down later.

Be careful when downloading anti-spyware tools. A lot of evil spyware masquerades as spyware removal tools. Nasty. Although there are a lot of anti-spyware tools out there you won’t go wrong with Spybot and Adaware. They have proven themselves again and again and they refuse to sell out or otherwise compromise the integrity of their product. Best part of all, both of these packages are free. We use both because each has different strengths and weaknesses.

CoolWebShredder
CoolWebSearch is one of the most evil and prolific spyware systems ever conceived. Merijn, one of the more prominent anti-spyware hackers out there, devised a program called CoolWebShredder that automatically rids your system of all but the most recent versions of CWS. Run it a couple of times to see if some of it is resisting deletion.

Merijn has all kinds of interesting downloads on his site.

HijackThis
Also by Merijn, HijackThis is a very useful tool for exposing browser hijacks, BHOs, start-up processes, re-directs, zone changes, and the like. It can view them and remove the ones you specify. It’s an excellent tool for figuring out what is infesting a system. Of course, it doesn’t distinguish between the good and bad so you have to know what you are doing.

LSPFix
Apparently LSPFix was originally used for defeating censorship software, but it is also useful for fixing breakage caused by borked or removed Layered Service Provider programs. LSPs are sometimes used by spyware companies to alter what is happening in the TCP/IP stack. The removal of such programs with Spybot or Ad-aware sometimes causes Internet functionality to break. LSPFix can be used to repair this.

PrcView
PrcView is a useful little program that allows you to look at running processes and their modules. A common trick with modern spyware is to attach itself as a module to a running process (yes, somehow this is possible in Windows). This allows the bad programs to use filesystem locking as a shield to resist deletion. PrcView also allows you to terminate running processes so you can then delete the bad ones. Like Hijackthis, it makes no determination between good and bad processes, so use it carefully.

Safe Mode
Nasty programs will jump from process to process as the host is terminated. Eventually they will find their way to a process you can’t terminate (like services.exe). With these, once you know the name of the bad file, you can always boot into safe mode (or the recovery console) and delete the file manually. Be certain to get rid of all the original infectors too — many of the module attacking trojans are “injected” into the host process by another hostile program. You can tell these because they are almost always in one of the Start Up launch areas (use hijackthis to find them).

Extreme Measures
Some programs will also change their filenames when they are terminated. This means that the very act of shutting down will ensure that you won’t be able to find them. I have before got around this problem by recording the current name of the program, then yanking the power from the tower so nothing gets to do a proper shutdown. I’ve also been looking for better program termination software, something that just wipes the program from memory, but I haven’t found anything yet. It may not be possible for the Windows kernel to do this.

Another practice we have adopted is to remove the hard drive from host computer and attach it to one of our machines so the files can be deleted without any risk of them mutating or otherwise evading us. Anti-virus scans and anti-spyware scans can be done in the same way.

Patch
No machine leaves my shop without getting every security patch I can give it. You should always keep your machine fully patched. There are black hat coders out there who can write software that effectively takes advantage of unpatched exploits days after the exploit is revealed publicly. This is to say nothing of the writers of malicious software who have found unknown and undocumented breaches. So patching at least reduces the number of ways that hostile software can get on to your machine.

Naturally we install Firefox too, but I fear that many stop using it for various reasons.

But the number one way experts get rid of spyware is to not get it in the first place. Explaining this in detail is a whole other blog article. All I can say is be suspicious, patch, use Firefox, and read the End-User Licence Agreement.

This, very frank question, is from a guy who has got to the stage in his life where he has to ask himself: Is it worth it anymore? Why am I doing this?

It’s not just relevant to programmers, it’s for any fast paced job. Perhaps there really does come a time when you no longer feel the pride bragging to your mates, 48 hours this week with overtime, eh? Shit, I work 60 hours every week! Can you really be a bad-ass hacker, working all night, sleeping under your desk, when you are 50?

There is this common wisdom amongst us computer types that it is weak to work less than 60 hours a week. It is also weak go home before seven. It is weak to complain about your shit wages. It is weak to complain about the pain in your arms from typing too much. It is even weak to whine about how you have to get up in the morning, when all of your buddies, who also have to get up in the morning, are getting drunk on a Wednesday because it is someone’s birthday.

But maybe that’s not the road we should be going down. Surely this intensity can’t be sustainable when you’re 65. Surely there has to be some end point where you can say Yep, I used to hack on that, back in the day. But that stuff is a young man’s job and they can have it.

But sometimes you have doubts. You might ask yourself, OK, so now what? How will I avoid becoming boring? Will I still be employable if I’m only willing to work 50 hours a week?

I don’t know what the answer to that is.

I’ve often wondered how corporate decisions are made. I used to think that larger companies had accountants and economists and assorted smart, highly trained people on staff to run the numbers and provide professional business intelligence. But after a few years of working for them, I suspect it isn’t really that organised at the top.

CEO: “Ya know, John old boy, I need to cash in some options so I can by a new yacht.”

President: “Not a bad idea! Now that you mention it, I should probably put couple hundred thousand together so I can put the kids through some decent schools.”

CEO: “Damn straight. Can’t have them going to some State University. Your kids are way to smart to be in with those knuckledraggers.”

President: “So true. So how can we increase our stock price?”

CEO: “Oh, nothing fancy, I reckon. Negotiate a monopoly in an IP market and exploit it! It’s been working for years for Bill down at the club.”

President: “Consumers are getting more leery of that kind of thing. We’ll need to spin it somehow.”

CEO: “I know just the way!”

I doubt these guys write their own press releases. I think they tap the talents of people from a special school trained in the use of corporate press release double-talk. I’ll bet that’s what happened to all the weasely kids in high school who didn’t become stockbrokers.

The seven-year arrangement will dramatically limit the number of baseball video game manufacturers and ensure aggressive marketing and promotion of baseball video games, while promoting competition in the marketplace to drive innovation in baseball product development. Beginning in 2006, Take2 will have exclusive rights among third-party publishers to develop and market simulation, arcade and manager-style baseball video games on the current and next-generation PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, PC and hand-helds. At the same time, manufacturers of video game systems (such as Sony with its MLB franchise) will have the opportunity to develop and publish baseball simulation games for their own platforms.

It just sounds so damn perky and optimistic. Hell it sounds like some really good stuff. The market should get all over that sucker like a fat kid on Smarties.

They must be certain not to have people over think it, however. You would hate to have people asking questions like “how is ‘dramatically limiting the number of baseball video game manufacturers’ going to ‘promote competition in the marketplace’”? That doesn’t really make a lot of sense. Really, it sounds like a marketing spin on the Chewbacca Defence, intended to overwhelm the press and stockholders with bullshit so they won’t notice that this consolidation in the baseball video game business isn’t really that great an idea.

But it’s gonna make some rich guys richer today.

The spammers are getting more artful in their approach. They stitch together these strange emails in an attempt to evade my spam filters. I got this curious masterpiece from some spammer with a return address pointing to a place called britneyclub.com (wonder what they sell over there?). Oddly, this unusual email did not supply any links other than the return address.

Ate our frequent mind, my friends!

Hey, Elise!

this fork broadcasted waiting. when person besought you violently? boldly print told our stitch over tax. we begot your old rail outside parcel. carefully. an cut class until ball, which outbid first, good chalk. Amina threw her dear disease. they outputted August where typewrote us Carl! you backbit second development, that rapped suspiciously… inside prose gave list, box misspelt like the nation before ill leaf:

“which you retod it?”
“it overpaid me free.”

soft credit knee regrew, she lip-Read doubtfully, boastfully, busily. he hanged the tight wash aboard our complete form, who overbore tightly. his electric turn leaned before this unit; new, hard respect. green color key chid, we arose briefly, cruelly, enormously. you brought an electric impulse beneath a sticky circle, that underwent accidentally. that serious twist overbore off this coat; waiting, cruel debt. where opinion miscast you even? gracefully growth swung an wing from skirt. we hewed my chemical colony as note. nearly. i bit her regular parcel between an grey fowl, which withstood less. it regrew his acid air upon a bright company, which chid violently. you partook it loose. Lacy outgrew its male cushion. she ran Wayne where quit us Sonia! i spoonfed some sad friend in his male canvas, which arose neatly. its sticky book forecasted aboard its crime; late, military thought. violent use fold roughcast, he enwound rarely, victoriously, silently. my automatic nation ! read anti an jewel; wet, mixed fight. she besought my past experience with some ready reading, who beset silently. you outbred them thick. she bereft simple breath, which bent monthly.

it wept his private ray aboard this stiff power, which were reluctantly. the small top clung as her support; tall, wise apple. like cover property unslung, you inputted faithfully, fortunately, busily. this necessary room unsaid via a camp; left, automatic idea. he overleaped their tall receipt aboard an chemical argument, that leaned greedily. i dowed him fat. she spent slow brother, that undid too…

ate our frequent mind,
Hunter FRANCIS.

My beloved wireless access point has become moody.

I’m not surprised by this at all, since the thing was borked when I rescued it from the scrapper. My WAP is actually a Dlink DI614+ wireless router combo with the router parts turned off. One of the clips holding the wireless expansion card had broken, but I was able to secure the card with some wire and electrical tape. Very ghetto, but functional. I suppose I could’ve returned it to Dlink but it’s only a 802.11b router and therefore basically un-sellable. So I took it home with me.

It has worked great since the summer, but lately, every now and then it forgets how to be, umm, a wireless access point. Sucky.

But I have a fix that keeps me going while I figure out what I’m going to do about a replacement. I fix it the ole fashioned way — I smack it on the top with my fist. Then it works again. I can’t recommend this solution for all IT problems, but it sure is therapeutic. Now that I think about it, I fix a lot of things around my house this way. Hmm…

Will my fingers ever grow tired?

Since Dan tricked me into all of this, I’ve published one hundred posts. Now I know you are asking yourself: when will the hurting stop? But let me assure you, that on my family honour, there will be a hundred more, muhahahaha!

Sure it may not sound like much, blogs like BoingBoing will post one hundred times in a week, but then again, they do have five editors. Over here, it’s all me, baby. All Bob, all the time.

Astute readers will have noticed that this is actually post number 118. The reason is there have been failed ones — they didn’t live to see the light of day and there was a good reason for it. In fact there are some published posts that should have probably shoulda seen the round file too — but really what can you say except meh?

So here’s to another one hundred posts of my mindless babble! If you dig it, then I salute you. If you can’t stand it, then Screw You Hippie!

Anybody who is — ahem — into movies, probably knew about suprnova.org, once one of the largest torrent trackers on the net. Many were sad to see it shut down, presumably because of the fear of bad words, lawsuits, spankings, hangings or whatever the MPAA have been threatening people with these days.

I was excited to learn that the suprnova guys were developing a ‘tracker-free’ torrent client called eXeem. eXeem didn’t require the use of tracker websites because it would use the same P2P system to distribute an aggregated list of available torrents on clients attached to the eXeem network. Very cool and potentially harder to shut down.

So I downloaded a beta of eXeem. But I became suspicious after rooting around their site and I noticed that instead of a bunch of guys sitting around hacking, eXeem is now a product from a company called Swarm Systems Inc. And you know what that means?

Spyware.

Ever wondered what a licence agreement looks like? I have included theirs for your enjoyment. This section and this section are the whammy. eXeem will be bundled with Cydoor adware trojan shit.

If they are willing to bundle with Cydoor, you just know they are going bundle with worse. So don’t use eXeem, you will regret it.

Click here to skip to the bottom, heh.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY BEFORE CONTINUING THE INSTALLATION OR FIRST USE AND ACTIVATION OF THIS SOFTWARE:

This license agreement (“License Agreement”) is a legal agreement between you and Swarm Systems Inc., located at: Suite 4 Temple Building, Main & Prince William Streets, Charlestown, Nevis (“Swarm”) , sometimes referred to hereinafter as “We” or “Us” You are installing and/or accessing and activating pre-installed software and associated materials and documentation that have been created by or for Swarm or its suppliers or licensors (collectively the “Software”). You understand that the software includes security components that permit digital information to be protected and used to occur only as permitted by usage rules set by Swarm and/or content providers. As such, certain special considerations apply. By installing, copying, or otherwise using the Software, and by accepting any Software updates from time to time, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this License Agreement, and agree to be bound by its terms and conditions. If you agree to be bound by all the terms of this Agreement, click the “I Agree” button below. If you do not agree to be bound by all the terms and conditions of this Agreement, Swarm will not permit your downloading of the Software.

NOTICE: Swarm may from time to time amend, modify, or supplement this License Agreement as it pertains to the Software and Content by posting a copy of such amended, modified, or supplemented license agreement at http://www.exeem.com. Please check that webpage regularly for revisions to this License Agreement. You will be deemed to have accepted the amended, modified, or supplemented terms if you thereafter use the Software and/or Content.

1. Definitions
a. “Software” means eXeem Software with the current functionality provided by Swarm. It also includes any accompanying instructions, documentation, technical data, images, recordings, and other related materials.
b. “Use” means storing, loading, installing, executing, or displaying the Software on a single device, and use of the Software by way of Swarm’s network of servers, which allows peer-to-peer access to other Software users.
c. “License” means the Software license grant and general license terms set forth herein.
e. “Terms of Use” shall have the meaning ascribed to that term in Section 4 of this Agreement.
f. “User” (sometimes referred to as “you”) means the individual or entity who Uses the Software.
g. “This Agreement” means this entire End User License Agreement.
e. “Swarm” means Swarm Systems Inc., located at: Suite 4 Temple Building, Main & Prince William Streets, Charlestown, Nevis, its subsidiaries and affiliates.
1. License to Use Software. Subject to the terms and conditions hereof, Swarm hereby grants you a limited, nonexclusive, nontransferable right (without any right to assign or sublicense) to use the Software, as such software has been delivered to you, on a single computer solely as an end user.

2. Updates, Security, and Revocation. Because the Software includes security components, special rules and policies apply. You agree to abide by the rules and policies established from time to time by Swarm. Such rules and policies will be applied generally in a nondiscriminatory manner to users of the Software, and may include, for example, required or automated updates, modifications, and/or reinstallations of the Software to address security, interoperability, and/or performance issues. These updates, modifications and the like may occur on a periodic or as needed basis without notice to you. In addition, you understand that the Software is capable of monitoring itself for security-related and tamper-detection purposes and communicating information about security incidents. Your copy of the Software and your access to certain applications that communicate with it are subject to restriction and/or revocation (such as being shut down) for security purposes or according to consistently applied Content-protection policies. You understand and agree that this would likely result in Content that was previously available for Use being unavailable thereafter.

3. Activation and Privacy Information. By installing the Software and activating it, you consent to the collection and processing of information you are requested to provide during the registration and installation process. All of this information is collected by Swarm and handled pursuant to the terms of the Swarm Privacy Policy, a copy of which is located at http://www.exeem.com.
4. Terms of Use.
a. As a condition of Use of the Software, You may not Use the Software for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms of Use.

b. You should understand that all messages, e-mail, data, text, photographs, graphics, video and other materials, images or information transmitted via the Software whether posted for general viewing or transmitted to you (“User Content”), are your sole responsibility. You understand and agree that any communication or material you post or transmit via the Software is, and will be treated as, non-confidential and non-proprietary. If you upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit any User Content, you are responsible for its compliance with these Terms of Use. Swarm has no obligation to screen, edit or control User Content and we do not accept responsibility for its truthfulness, accuracy, lawfulness or suitability. Under no circumstances will we be liable in any way for any User Content, including errors or omissions in any User Content, defamatory or pornographic content, content that infringes intellectual property rights, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use or viewing of any User Content.
c. You should be aware that if you voluntarily disclose personal information (e.g., user name, email address) via the Software, that information can be collected and used by others and may result in unsolicited messages from other parties.

d. You agree not to use the Software to:
i. establish an account name or user ID that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise offensive;
ii. upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit any User Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise offensive;
iii. impersonate any person or entity;
iv. disguise the authorship or origin of any User Content you transmit;
v. upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit any User Content that you do not have a right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, proprietary information and confidential information);
vi. upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit any User Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any person;
vii. upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, “junk mail,” “Spam,” “chain letters,” or any other form of solicitation;
viii. upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
ix. interfere with or disrupt servers or networks connected to the Software;
x “stalk” or otherwise harass another; or
xii. collect or store personal data about other users.
e. Installation. When you install the Software, the install program will be downloaded from our web servers. Only updates will be shared among users; updated file will be saved in update folder inside eXeem installation folder.

5. eXeem Shared File List. By saving a file in eXeem Transfers File List, you understand that it will be available for any other user of Software and compatible programs. These users may find your files and subsequently download them from you. By doing so your Internet connection is being used.

6. Third Party Software

6.1 During the process of installing the Software you must install software from third party software vendors pursuant to license or other arrangements between such vendors and yourself (“Third Party Software”), including without limitation those software components noted in Section 6.4 below. Please note that the Third Party Software may be subject to different licenses or other arrangements, which you should read carefully. By installing and using the Third Party Software you accept these Third Party Software licenses or other arrangements and acknowledge that you have read them and understand them. Swarm does not sell, resell, or license any of this Third Party Software, and Swarm disclaims to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, any responsibility for or liability related to the Third Party Software. Any questions, complaints or claims related to the Third Party Software should be directed to the appropriate vendor.

6.2 SWARM MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND CONCERNING THE QUALITY, SAFETY OR SUITABILITY OF THE THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF HE THIRD-PATRY SOFTWARE, IN NO EVENT WILL SWARM BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT,PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES HOWEVER THEY MAY ARISE AND EVEN IF SWARM HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY ADVISE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

6.3 There are inherent dangers in the use of any software available for downloading on the Internet, and Swarm cautions you to make sure that you completely understand the potential risks before agreeing to install any of the Third Party Software. You are solely responsible for adequate protection and backup of the data and equipment used in connection with any of the Third Party Software, and Swarm will not be liable for any damages that you may suffer in connection with using, modifying or distributing any of the Third Party Software.

6.4 Embedded Third Party Software. You will have an option to install (and to uninstall at a later date) certain embedded Third-Party Software.

6.5 In exchange for downloading the Software at no cost, you expressly agree that you accept the Embedded Third Party Software and that so long as you have not entirely deleted the Software from your computer you will not take any action, including downloading other software which modifies, is intended to modify or permits others to modify registry or other settings on your computer to, disable, remove, block, prevent the functioning of, or otherwise interfere with any of the Embedded Third Party Software.

7. Restrictions.
a.The Software contains and/or embodies copyrighted material, trade secrets, patented (and/or patent pending) inventions and/or other proprietary material and intellectual property of Swarm and/or its licensors. All title and ownership rights in the Software remains with Swarm and its licensors, as applicable.
b.In addition to those prohibitions contained elsewhere herein, you agree you will not: (i) rent, lease, loan, sell, copy, or distribute the Software in whole or in part; (ii) use the Software or any portion thereof to create any tool or software product that can be used to create software applications of any nature whatsoever; (iii) remove, alter, cover, obfuscate, and/or otherwise deface any trademarks or notices on the Software; and/or (iv) modify, alter, decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer or emulate the functionality, reverse compile or otherwise reduce to human readable form, or create derivative works of the Software without the prior written consent of Swarm or its licensors, as applicable;
c.You further agree that you shall not tamper with the Software or undertake any activity intended to bypass, modify, defeat or otherwise circumvent (or having the effect of facilitating, modifying, or assisting the bypassing, defeating or circumventing of) proper and/or secure operation of the Software and/or any mechanisms operatively linked to the Software; and
d.Except as expressly provided by this License Agreement, no other licenses or rights (including rights to maintenance or updates) are granted, expressly, or by implication or estoppel. All rights not expressly granted herein are reserved to Swarm and/or its licensors, as applicable.
8.Authorized Use of Swarm Content. The Software may enable you to listen to, view, and/or read (as the case may be) music, images, video, text, and other material that may be obtained by or were in some instances, previously provided to you in digital form. This material, collectively “Content,” may be owned by Swarm or by third parties. However, in all circumstances, you understand and acknowledge that your rights with respect to Content you obtain for use in connection with the Software (including any Content that may have been preloaded with the Software, to your computer, portable device or a CD or other media provided to you) will be limited by copyright law, by the Usage Rules, with which authorized copies of the Content are electronically packaged and by the Terma of Use set forth in Section 4 of this Agreement. “Usage Rules” are the licensing rules assigned by Swarm and/or the pertinent Content owner to Content that limit your access to and use of it. Unauthorized copies of Content (including pirate and other illegal copies) may be electronically packaged with incorrect rules that have not been approved by Swarm and/or the Content owner. The Usage Rules approved by Swarm and/or the pertinent Content owner in respect of Content shall govern your rights with respect to that Content regardless of whether unauthorized rules have been associated with that Content by another party. The supply of this Software does not convey a license nor imply any right to commercially distribute content created or accessed with this Software in revenue-generating broadcast systems (terrestrial, satellite, cable and/or other distribution channels), streaming applications (via Internet, intranets and/or other networks), other content distribution systems (pay-audio or audio-on-demand applications and the like) or on physical media (compact discs, digital versatile discs, semiconductor chips, hard drives, memory cards and the like). You shall not attempt (or authorize, encourage or support others’ attempts) to circumvent, reverse engineer, decrypt, break or otherwise alter or interfere with any Usage Rules or Content.

9. Customer Care. Swarm will provide customer care in connection with the Swarm service and the Software as set forth in the Swarm Terms and Conditions. Information and frequently asked questions regarding Swarm Content and the Software are always available within the Swarm service under the “Help” tab or you can contact our Customer Support personnel by contacting us at support@exeem.com.

10. Remedies. You acknowledge and agree that any unauthorized use of the Software and/or the technology contained in it would result in irreparable injury to Swarm or its licensors, as applicable, for which money damages would be inadequate, and in such event Swarm shall have the right, in addition to other remedies available at law and in equity, to immediate injunctive relief to prevent any such unauthorized use. Nothing contained in this paragraph 7 or elsewhere in this License Agreement shall be construed to limit remedies or relief available pursuant to statutory or other law that Swarm or its licensors may have under separate legal authority.

11. Warranties. You expressly acknowledge and agree that the use of the Software is at your own sole risk. THE SOFTWARE HAS BEEN PROVIDED SOLELY, “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND BY SWARM, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, EMPLOYEES, LICENSORS, PARTNERS AND AGENTS (COLLECTIVELY “SWARM”). TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT ALLOWED BY APPLICABLE LAW, SWARM AND ITS LICENSORS AND PARTNERS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR ANY WARRANTY OF NONINFRINGEMENT. THERE IS NO WARRANTY THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE SOFTWARE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT THE OPERATION THEREOF WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE. SWARM AND ITS LICENSORS AND PARTNERS DO NOT WARRANT, GUARANTEE, OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE SOFTWARE WITH RESPECT TO ITS PERFORMANCE, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, SECURITY CAPABILITY, CORRENTNESS OR OTHERWISE. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY ANY PERSON SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER RELATING TO SWARM AND/OR ANY OF ITS LICENSORS OR PARTNERS. THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES IS NOT PERMITTED BY SOME JURISDICTIONS AND THUS, THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

12. Further Limitation of Liability. In addition to the other provisions hereof, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE TO AND FOR THE BENEFIT OF SWARM AND ITS LICENSORS AND PARTNERS THAT THE SOFTWARE, AS WITH MOST SOFTWARE, MAY CONTAIN BUGS AND IS NOT DESIGNED OR INTENDED FOR USE IN HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENTS REQUIRING FAIL-SAFE PERFORMANCE IN WHICH THE FAILURE OF THE SOFTWARE COULD LEAD TO DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY OR PHYSICAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE. SWARM AND ITS LICENSORS AND PARTNERS SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER FOR ANY LOSS SUFFERED AS A RESULT OF SUCH A FAILURE OF THE SOFTWARE OR A BREACH OF SECURITY INVOLVING THE SOFTWARE, WHETHER OR NOT SUCH LOSS OR BREACH RESULTS FROM THE DELIBERATE, RECKLESS, OR NEGLIGENT ACTS OF ANY PERSON.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL SWARM OR ITS LICENSORS OR PARTNERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY UNAUTHORIZED USE OF ANY CONTENT, OR ANY USE OF THE SOFTWARE TO DEVELOP, DISTRIBUTE, OR USE ANY MATERIAL THAT IS DEFAMATORY, SLANDEROUS, LIBELOUS OR OBSCENE, THAT PORTRAYS ANY PERSON IN A FALSE LIGHT, THAT CONSTITUTES AN INVASION OF ANY RIGHT TO PRIVACY OR AN INFRINGEMENT OF ANY RIGHT TO PUBLICITY, THAT VIOLATES OR INFRINGES ANY THIRD PARTY’S RIGHTS OR THAT VIOLATES ANY FOREIGN, U.S. FEDERAL, STATE OR LOCAL STATUTE OR REGULATION.

IN NO EVENT WILL SWARM OR ITS LICENSORS OR PARTNERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE, EVEN IF SWARM AND/OR ITS LICENSORS AND PARTNERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. TO THE EXTENT AS APPLIED IN A PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCE ANY DISCLAIMER OR LIMITATION ON DAMAGES OR LIABILITY SET FORTH HEREIN IS WHOLLY PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THEN SWARM AND ITS LICENSORS AND PARTNERS SHALL BE ENTITLED TO THE MAXIMUM DISCLAIMERS AND/OR LIMITATIONS ON DAMAGES AND LIABILITY AVAILABLE AT LAW OR IN EQUITY BY SUCH APPLICABLE LAW IN SUCH PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCE. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY CONTRARY PROVISIONS, IN NO EVENT SHALL SWARM’S LIABILITY TO YOU OR ANY PERSON EXCEED, IN THE AGGREGATE, US$10.
Article 13. Your Representations and Warranties; Indemnification of Swarm
13.1 Representations. You represent and warrant that You are authorized to enter into this Agreement and comply with its terms. Furthermore, You represent and warrant that You will at any and all times meet with Your obligations hereunder, as well as any and all laws, regulations and policies that may apply to the use of the Software.
13.2. Indemnification

12.1 YOU AGREE TO INDEMNIFY, HOLD HARMLESS AND DEFEND SWARM AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, AGENTS, CO-BRANDERS OR OTHER PARTNERS, AND EMPLOYEES, AT YOUR EXPENSE, AGAINST ANY AND ALL THIRD PARTY CLAIMS OR DEMANDS, ACTIONS, PROCEEDINGS AND SUITS AND ALL RELATED LIABILITIES, DAMAGES, SETTLEMENTS, PENALTIES, FINES COSTS AND EXPENSES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, REASONABLE ATTORNEY’S FEES AND OTHER DISPUTE RESOLUTION EXPENSES) INCURRED BY SWARM DUE TO OR ARISING OUT OF DATA YOU SUBMIT,POST TO, TRANSMIT OR COMMUNICATE THROUGH THE SOFTWARE,YOUR USE OR MISUSE OF THE SOFTWARE, YOUR CONNECTION TOOTHER USERS, YOUR VIOLATION OF THIS LICENSE,OR YOUR VIOLATION OF ANY RIGHTS OF ANOTHER.

14. Term. Swarm may terminate this License Agreement at any time with or without notice. This License Agreement is subject to immediate termination, without notice, if you breach any provision hereof; provided that if such termination without notice is expressly prohibited by applicable law, then such termination shall occur based upon notice in the event of any breach. Upon notice from Swarm that this License Agreement has been terminated, you must return to Swarm (or destroy) all copies of the Software, including any copies or partial copies.
15. Survival. The respective rights and obligations of you and Swarm under the provisions of paragraphs Sections 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,15, 16
shall survive termination of this License Agreement.

16. Miscellaneous Provisions.
a.Any actions arising out of or in any manner affecting the interpretation of this License Agreement as they pertain to the Software or Content, whether under this License Agreement or otherwise shall be governed solely by, and construed solely in accordance with, the laws of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, excluding its conflict of laws principles. As to any dispute, you hereby unconditionally and irrevocably consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of and venue in a court of competent jurisdiction of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis and: (i) waive any objection whatsoever (including any objection with respect to venue) that you may now or hereafter have to the jurisdiction or venue of said courts. If for any reason a court of competent jurisdiction finds any provision or portion of this License Agreement to be unenforceable, such provision or portion shall be enforced to the maximum extent permissible consistent with the terms hereof, and the remainder of this License Agreement shall continue in full force and effect; and
b.Except as expressly set forth herein, this License Agreement may not be amended, modified, or supplemented by the parties in any manner, except by a written instrument signed by an authorized officer of Swarm. No provision hereof shall be deemed waived (by any act or omission) unless such waiver is in a writing signed by an authorized officer of Swarm. This License Agreement will bind and inure to the benefit of each party’s successors and assigns, provided that you may not assign or transfer this License Agreement, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of an authorized officer of Swarm. This License Agreement represents the entire agreement between you and Swarm with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior and/or contemporaneous agreements and understandings, written or oral, between you and Swarm with respect to the subject matter hereof.
17. Intellectual Property Notices. The Software is Copyright © 2004 – 2005 Swarm and its licensors. All rights reserved. Swarm, the Swarm design, and the Swarm trade dress are trademarks of Swarm in the U.S. and other countries.

18. Customer Contacts. If you have any questions regarding this License Agreement, or if you would like to contact Swarm for any other reason, please contact us at: support@eXeem.com

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Ads Licence Agreement

The software program you are about to install is an “adware” program,
meaning that we have partnered with Cydoor Technologies to deliver
small ads to the main window of the application, in order for Swarm
to bring targeted advertising.
The software will display web content such as banner ads, e-commerce offers,
news headlines and other value-added content. Cydoor Technologies created
this technology, and provides it to software developers to implement in
software programs. In turn, software developers choose to display ads
so that you can enjoy their products for FREE, and they can still earn
revenue from advertising.

How does it work?
The Cydoor component of a software application is simply a caching mechanism, which stores ads on your hard drive, and displays them only while the program is open. When the ads have expired, the component deletes old ads and contacts Cydoor’s servers in order to receive new ones. To do this, the Cydoor component uses your Internet connection, which was designed to take up the minimum bandwidth on your line. Each ad banner on your hard disc is about 10Kbyte.

Finally, Cydoor Technologies, wants you to feel comfortable using this software. Be assured that respecting and maintaining your privacy is Swarm and Cydoor’s top priority ethically and legally. If you have any questions or concerns, please visit the Cydoor website, www.cydoor.com, where you can review its privacy statement.

Whew.