Orkut under Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Attack

Right at this very moment, a cross-site script has been spreading like wildfire in Orkut communities due to a flaw in Google's Orkut.

If you've read the following scrapbook entry in Orkut

2008 vem ai... que ele comece mto bem para vc

from one of your friends, you're infected. Simply viewing the message alone is sufficient for your Orkut account to be added a new community named "Infectados pelo Vírus do Orkut" and be an unwilling new host for the worm. At the time of this writing, the number of Orkut members in Infectados pelo Vírus do Orkut is already at the 400K mark.

According to a posting made by the author of this worm, Rodrigo Lacerda, this script is not malicious in any way, well except for making you an unwitting participant of his experiment. You can verify this for yourself as someone has posted the decoded javascript source of the script at http://paste.uni.cc/17840. The original is located at http://files.myopera.com/virusdoorkut/files/virus.js. Still, changing your password isn't terribly difficult.

From what I can grasp from scanning through the script, it appears to work this way. First, it'll add you to http://www.orkut.com/CommunityJoin.aspx?cmm=44001818. Next, it'll load and extract your entire friends list and send itself to them, thus completing the infection cycle. It is able to do this because of the fact that Orkut allows HTML to be inserted into scraps.

Apparently "2008 vem ai... que ele comece mto bem para vc" is roughly translated into 2008 is coming... that it begins is really good for you. It doesn't seem to look that way for Orkut engineers.

Edit: Btw, the excessive traffic generated by this script is partly due to the fact that it will continually attempt to contact Orkut's servers if it fails to do what it wants on the first try (force you into the above-mentioned community and load your friend's list).

Update: The original script location now returns an empty file. That should prevent any new infections from now on. Note that while many folks think that the flash file is somehow malicious, I'm quite sure that it isn't because http://www.orkut.com/LoL.aspx (source of the flash) doesn't even exist!

The embed code is simply the vector through which the malicious script is loaded. This is because it is crafted in such a way that your browser will parse and execute the javascript contained in the embed code. Hence the best way to mitigate this would be to use the NoScript extension rather than FlashBlock, since javascript is the real culprit here.

Btw, you should thank Rodrigo Lacerda for highlighting this vulnerability in such a manner.

Sources:
[Google's Orkut Hit with a Javascript (Flash?) Worm @ TechnoSocial]
[Orkut XSS @ Sounds From The Dungeon]

Does Removing NoFollow for Blogger Backlinks Even Matter?

Backlinks don't work for me :(

First, to understand how I ventured into this topic, you should know that Blogger backlinks (the section called "Links to this post") won't appear on this blog. I first discovered this issue quite a while back after I changed the blog's template to the present one you see now. :)

The problem doesn't seem to have anything to do with my messing around with the template, as I tried out my template on a test blog and it works there ("Create a link" works). As usual, the answer to most of my problems come from Google.

No answer to no backlinks, but what I found instead...

Needless to say, I didn't find any solution to this issue. :P This is fairly irritating because I would have to 1)debug Blogger's compressed javascript (not a trivial or fun task to do), 2)code my own backlinks (less intimidating than option 1 but why reinvent the wheel?) or 3)forgo backlinks altogether (my current less than ideal choice).

However, my issues aren't the main topic here. :) While googling for an answer to my headache, I came across something else instead - removing nofollow for Blogger backlinks. Quite simply, nofollow was invented to tell search engines not to follow a link if a link was tagged as such. It also has further implications such as not contributing to the linked page's PageRank (a magical number that many people are obsessed with), among others.

What's the big deal?

You may be wondering why I'm kicking such a big fuss over a couple of bloggers removing nofollow from their backlinks. Actually I wouldn't have cared if what they were doing actually worked.

You see, if you read what I wrote earlier, I mentioned that I would have to debug Blogger's javascript in order to find out why backlinks wouldn't work on this blog. The reason for this should be quite obvious - backlinks in Blogger are implemented using javascript.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly certain that search engines do not even execute javascript. And backlinks only exist if javascript is enabled. Put the both of them together and you'll realize the simple folly behind the idea that removing nofollow from backlinks actually matters in Blogger.

Just in case you need to hear it from an official source, here's a relevant snippet from Google Webmaster help:

Use a text browser such as Lynx to examine your site, because most search engine spiders see your site much as Lynx would. If fancy features such as JavaScript, cookies, session IDs, frames, DHTML, or Flash keep you from seeing all of your site in a text browser, then search engine spiders may have trouble crawling your site.

No, Mister Master Baiter, You're Not Allowed to Fly

Sometimes I think Southwest Airlines just wants publicity, whether it's positive or negative. After causing a public outcry in You're Too Sexy to Fly! and it's sequel, You're Too Sexy to Fly! Part 2, Southwest Airlines returns with a new one in its franchise.

This time, it involves a man instead of a woman and it's becoming (more) ridiculous. At least in the short-lived You're Too Sexy to Fly! series there was some room for debate, since the women were slightly under-dressed (for conservative folks anyway).

But this guy, Joe Winiecki, was singled out due to the shirt he was wearing. He had three choices - change his shirt, turn it inside out or skip the flight. Eventually he opted to swap his shirt as he didn't want to miss work.

What was wrong with the shirt? Was it showing too much? Perhaps some obscenity? Nope. All that fuss over two words - "Master Baiter" - which was printed on his fictional fishing shop T-shirt. If you say "Master Baiter" really fast, you'll get another interpretation which could be construed as offensive, but that's really your fault. After all, Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers were rated PG-13 and no one was upset.


My curious mind decided to try googling for the Master Baiter T-shirt and I think this is it. The evil Master Baiter shirt. Potential fliers heed the warning. No Master Baiters allowed.

Testcard TV - Watch Free TV, Movies And More!

What is testcard.tv?

With testcard.tv you can discover, watch and share your favourite movies, tv shows, cartoons, music videos and live tv - all on your PC, all for free

From what I can gather, testcard.tv is a new watch-TV-on-your-PC type of site that launched recently.

Thoughts
Testcard.tv is similar to other sites of its genre - it indexes links from other sites. That being said, testcard.tv has a number of things going for it.

It features fullscreen viewing and frequent updates of new and popular media (eg. Heroes episode 2, Lizards, can be found there).

The site design is also easy on the eye and the integrated search returns relevant results. Other than TV shows and movies, it also has cartoons, documentaries, anime and music videos.

Like other sites however, it suffers from the annoying problem of content being pulled from the originating server. Alternative links are available to combat this, but occasionally even these links go down.

Another disadvantage is that testcard.tv depends on the uploads of others, which means that certain content may not get updated.

Lastly, testcard.tv falls into the gray area of the law, so it could just disappear one day. Not something to look forward to if you're a regular user.

If you're interested in similar sites, leave a comment and I'll come up with something. :)

Ripping CDs? Stop you Thief!

Gabriel asked if it was wrong for consumers to make copies of music which they have purchased, even just one copy. Pariser replied, "When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song." Making "a copy" of a purchased song is just "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy'," she said.

The quote says it all. Taken out of context? Nope. Is that what Jennifer Pariser, the head of litigation for Sony BMG, really thinks? Yes. That was her testimony in court, which as far as I can recall is under oath.

And when you think about it, this is a really stupid idea. Why? Just read these digg comments:

From PistolFred -

I have 2 physical hard drives on my PC. I've copied the music folder from one to the other as a backup. (I know, a power surge or malicious virus could kill them both). By her definition, I stole those songs even if they are still only accessible from a single device.

From Lukesed -

I'm using a RAID array that makes two copies of everything on a pretty low level. Is tht stealing as well?

And what happens when you continue along that line of thought? Madness. Absolute madness.

From dfick -

It's stealing when the mp3 is loaded from the Harddisk to DRAM, and stealing again for each level of cache.

From ToadLeg -

I had to "copy" a song to my speakers in order to listen to it. Did I just steal that song by copying it to my speakers?

The last comment takes the cake not only because it's true according to that twisted theory but also because you can't legally listen to your music at all, if that idea were true. Maybe you should start dumping your CDs and switch over to the radio. Or is that stealing too?

[Source: Sony BMG's chief anti-piracy lawyer: "Copying" music you own is "stealing" @ Ars Technica]

Free Office Live Workspace, But...

Microsoft is launching a free workspace for users to share and access documents online. On the surface, it sounds great especially for students or office workers that travel frequently. It has a storage space for 1000+ documents and other online collaboration features such as editing and commenting.

The Office Live Workspace looks like a real competitor to Google's Docs, except when you get to the part about editing. The catch is that editing documents requires Microsoft Office to be installed. Everything else will probably work without Office installed, but an online workspace sans editing features isn't really a workplace since you can't work on your documents.

This requirement doesn't hit you at first and the Office Live Workspace FAQ doesn't state it either. The only hint of this is from the front page of the Office Live Workspace site, where it clearly states "Works with Microsoft Office". Maybe they should have appended "only" to the header.

[Source: Storing Files on the Internet, Microsoft Style @ New York Times]

iPhone 1.1.1 firmware update, unlocked iPhones dead

A couple of hours ago, Apple released new firmware for the iPhone and iPod Touch, bumping up the version number to 1.1.1. And they've made good on their promise warning about bricking iPhones.

WARNING: Apple has discovered that some of the unauthorized unlocking programs available on the Internet may cause irreparable damage to the iPhone's software. IF YOU HAVE MODIFIED YOUR IPHONE'S SOFTWARE, APPLYING THIS SOFTWARE UPDATE MAY RESULT IN YOUR IPHONE BECOMING PERMANENTLY INOPERABLE. Making unauthorized modifications to the software on your iPhone violates the iPhone software license agreement, and the inability to use your iPhone to unauthorized software modifications is not covered under your iPhone's warranty.

Gizmodo has all the gory details in a massive and regularly updated post, but to spare you the agony of reliving this nightmare over and over again, here's the quick summary.

Don't update your iPhone, period. Wait patiently for the iPhone Dev Team or someone else to release a workaround. anySim or iPhone Sim Free will fail upon updating the iPhone to the latest firmware, resulting in a locked iPhone. The iPhone isn't bricked, but you can't activate/unlock/use it either, so I'm not sure where that actually leaves you. The only exception to the rule is that iPhones unlocked with iPhoneSimFree are able to use AT&T sim cards. Which kinda defeats the purpose of unlocking.

If you remained unconvinced, Jonathan Seff @ Macworld tried it out and was left with an iBrick.

[Link: iPhone Firmware 1.1.1 Out and Tested: Breaks 3rd-party Apps, Relocks iPhones and Sends Them to Semi-Brick Activation Limbo (Updated with video) @ Gizmodo]

Edit: [Link: What does and doesn't work with iPhone 1.1.1 (Updated 9x, now with more bricking but custom ringtones) @ Ars Technica]

Update: How to Downgrade from 1.1.1 to 1.0.2 aka pulling a kmac from the folks that brought you anySIM (the free unlocker), the iPhone Dev Team. a forum member of Hackintosh, Kmac1985. Update: Now the entire iPhone is working, including calls. See Unbricked iPhones Now Fully Working, Calls Included (UPDATED: Works with Both Paid Software Unlock and TurboSIM) @ Gizmodo for details.


***Update***: Bricking can be reversed with iPhoneSIMFree's new SimFree v1.6!

Ultimate Die Hard - Kid Flies in Airplane Wing!

Descended down digg: A 15 year old boy flies in the wing of a Boeing 737 and survives the entire ordeal!

Not sure why it was so incredible? Here's what he was up against:

• 2 hour, 1,300 kilometers (808 mile) flight to Moscow
• Flying at 10,000 metres above ground
• Moving at 900 kmh (560 mph)
• Estimated ambient temperature: -50 degrees Celsius (-58 Fahrenheit) !!!

And he made it through relatively unscathed except for severe frostbite on his hands. Hopefully the doctors can save his hands as well. Then he can take over the Die Hard franchise.

[Pictures: Его судьба в руках бога @ Твой ДЕНЬ (Russian)]
[Pictures: Пролетевшему в крыле Boeing-737 подростку грозит ампутация рук @ NEWru.com (Russian)]
[Source: Teen boy flies inside Boeing-737 wing for 2 hours and loses his both hands @ Pravda]
[Source: Boy survives two-hour flight to Moscow hanging onto plane wing @ RIA Novosti]

eBay hacked?

Did eBay get hacked? According to Ebay Hacked! - Credit Cards, Bank Accounts being posted on T & S in the eBay forums, private details such as credit details and bank information have been leaked in another eBay forum called TrustSafety. Posters noted that that thread has since been locked, although I can't confirm this since I don't use eBay.

To see the list of affected accounts, someone setup a page of possibly compromised accounts on their website.

Edit: AuctionBytes has the full summary story (full summary? What was I thinking...). Legitimacy of info is still in doubt though.

Edit: The eBay Chatter has a post about the leaked details. Seems the contact info could be legit, but your bank/paypal/credit card details are quite safe. They're contacting affected members to see what happened.

[Source: J.N.Lew Design Group]

Haha I got Your Laptop! Oops, You Got My Face?!

Seen on digg: Thieves steal laptop. Caught on camera. Found on Flickr. Hunt the hunters!

Disclaimer: As noted by some diggers and comments at his blog, the person may simply be an innocent man who bought one of the stolen laptops.

[Source: Name that thief @ billmacewen.com]
[Link: Bonus Pics]
[Video: Thieves at work?]

Bus Clips Cyclist, Cop Cuffs Cyclist

Background

Imagine you're (legally) cycling down the road minding your own business when a bus comes along and honks at you. Not only do you have nowhere to move to, you notice that the adjacent lane has no vehicles occupying it!

That is what happened to a cyclist recently when he was on the road. Believing that he was right, he daringly challenges the bus driver by blocking the mammoth tank with his puny bike. He kindly informs her of the hazardous situation she had put him in.

The Twist

"You were in my way. You need to get off the road!" yells the bus driver. The cyclist ignores her and starts to call the cops. Unable to get through, he calls his wife to help him as well.

Starting the engine, she bumps the cyclist with her bus. He doesn't budge. Some of the passengers are now getting impatient. They scream at the cyclist to get away, even though it's clear who's at fault.

When the police arrives, both the cyclist and his wife (who just arrived on the scene) are cuffed! After a long discussion, it was decided that no arrests would be made. However, the cyclist may still get charged, depending on the outcome of the investigation.

Later, the bus driver's unfriendly behavior was explained to the cyclist. “But you have to understand, that’s how they are trained to drive. They are told to honk at road hazards!”

For the unabridged version, go to LAist (link below).

Thoughts

David fights Goliath and in this case, it was more trouble than it was worth. The real mystery however, is why the cyclist and his wife got arrested. And why bus drivers are taught to honk at anything on the road instead of proper road etiquette.

[Source: Hollywood Bus Driver Attacks Cyclist, LAPD Handcuff Cyclist (and Wife!) @ LAist via digg]

Your Pictures on Flickr - Private or Public?

So you're a hardcore Flickr addict who can't wait to upload more photos of yourself dancing, singing or perhaps simply flashing the V sign for the camera. Ever wondered if your photos could be used by someone else without your knowledge? Say a large multi-million dollar company, especially photos with a Creative Commons License?

It seems that Alison Chang found that out the hard way when Virgin Mobile used her picture in their ad without telling her in advance. Alison's photo was taken by her youth counsellor, who posted it on his Flickr page. As you may have noticed, the ad isn't very flattering (Dump your pen friend) and has caused Alison Chang and her family much distress.

Depending on the type of Creative Commons License, the rights of a certain piece of work could range from very little to the full blown rights that everyone is familiar with. What does this mean for Alison Chang and her family?

I am not a lawyer (IANAL), but it looks like it boils down to the type of license that was chosen for that particular photo. In this case, the photo in question has a license that allows usage under the following conditions:

Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).

For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page.
Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder.
Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author's moral rights.

And this is what the family is banking on in this law suit. They claim the photographer was not mentioned by name which is true to an extent. Although the ad doesn't contain the name of the photographer, it does have a link to his Flickr page at the bottom. I guess this is going to be a tough one to call.

If you want to read about what others are saying on Flickr, see the links below.

[Link: Virgin Mobile advertising campaign using Flickr photos at Flickr]
[Link: Dump Your Pen Friend ad photo and discussion at Flickr]
[Image: Alison for peace at Flickr]
[Source: The Sydney Morning Herald]

On another note, isn't it ironic that this story pops up on the International Day of Peace? People are going around promoting peace and harmony while someone is suing over an ad that features them flashing the peace sign. Things are definitely not going well for this year's Peace Day.

SpiralFrog launches!

You could never guess what SpiralFrog actually does from its name. While that's true for many other companies, SpiralFrog makes an attempt to sound descriptive or perhaps deceptive. No one would blame you if you thought they were into croaking amphibians, which was what I thought initially... until I remembered an article I read way back about it.

SpiralFrog doesn't have anything to do with four legged creatures, in fact that's not even close. What SpiralFrog aims to provide though is free music and videos. Wow isn't that great? Just one tiny problem. It's ad-supported. And you have to login once a month to refresh your files. And you can't transfer songs to your iPod. Hey didn't I mention there's only one catch?

There's another reason why this business model may not work out too well - rippers/converters.

Remember the last time AllofMp3 gave away free songs from their catalog? The songs could only be played from their special player but someone designed a way to extract them to mp3 files. And AllofMp3 changed it. And they got around it. And AllofMp3 tweaked it again. But they bypassed it again. Eventually AllofMp3 got sick of it all and stopped the giveaway.

Another company, Qtrax, also has similar ideas, though they aren't quite ready yet. Maybe they should wait to see how SpiralFrog does before going live. AllofMp3's free music lasted only a couple of months.

Edit: By the way, this service is for US and Canada citizens only. International users are stuck with *other ways* of acquiring free songs.

Edit2: Last100 has a detailed review of what you can expect at SpiralFrog.

[Link: SpiralFrog]
[Source: AP]

Halo 3 Ending Leaked!

Somehow someone managed to get his hands on some Halo 3 ending video. He said and I quote

I managed to scam these out of the guy that was selling h3 on ebay early.... All I can say is... wow, What a way to end a trilogy, sent shivers down my spine

Whether this is true or not, no one can confirm it at the moment. But if you see the YouTube link below go poof, I guess you got your answer. So watch it while it lasts. Even though it may be fake.

Edit: By the way, the poster (Enraged Toaster) setup a rapidshare link for you to download the Halo3 ending video in 3gp format.
Edit2: He has another link in wmv format.

And if any of the links go down, you could try tk Video Search (based on Google Custom Search).

[Youtube Video of Halo 3 Ending] This link has become private.

But here's an alternate link: Halo 3 ending at Youtube (may contain spoilers)

Edit: You may also want to check out Halo 3 wallpapers here.

[Source: Halo3 Forum (may not be work safe)]

Guess Who's Back in Business?

Can't guess? It's our spammer/phisher friends again. Yup, they're back again. Same MO, same inline popup. Never seen them before? Find out about them in my original post about them.

They were probably never out of the game, just laying low till they could make a comeback. And what a comeback.

Bestcoolgroup.com is their latest domain with an iframe served at bestunbeatableoffer.com. As usual, it's a newly registered domain which should ring some alarms.

Here are the whois for the websites to see for yourself.

bestcoolgroup.com
bestunbeatableoffer.com

Edit: Screenshot of sites in question.





Edit: Looks like they forgot to prevent directory browsing! You can see how everything works here (Edit: They fixed it a few days later). The list of those who entered their emails and passwords are out in the open! Here's a reminder to change your password if you entered it at the site.

Edit: These sites are joined by officialbestgroup.com (whois link, not link to actual site) in the spam fiesta.

Edit: About crownguard.com, it didn't strike me at the time to do a whois, but if you did one, you'll see that crownguard.com was registered in 2002 and is about to expire soon. Hence unlike what this site says, it's unlikely that this site is related to the spam sites (unless it was compromised). The date and the name of the site don't even match the MO of the other spam sites.

Edit: bestcoolindividuals.com is another one of them.

Edit: Another one popped up at bestfreepeople.com and coolindividual.com and coolindividuals.com.

Edit: They have also changed their landing page to one that asks you to enter your handphone number for ringtones which are, by the way, not for free. Although entering a number doesn't seem to lead to anywhere but perfspot.com.

Something interesting to note is that you could almost always find perfspot.com somewhere in these pages. I noticed this in the previous sites as well. And the sudden surge in traffic to perfspot concides with the recent spamming activity. Could the two be related? Maybe, no one knows for sure (at least I don't).

Edit: Ok, here are a few links that give you a better idea of what perfspot has been doing behind the scenes - XomReviews, Mashable and Project Honeypot Spam Domains List (perfspot is inside the list).

Edit: A new one at friendrateronline.com.

Edit: And at friendstatus.com.

Edit: Another one at celebratedpic.com.

Edit: One more at weirdprofile.com.

You're Too Sexy To Fly! Part 2.

Another sexy flyer, Setara Qassim, was asked to cover up with a blanket even though her outfit isn't very outrageous or skimpy. The first "too sexy flyer" was Kyla (Kayla) Ebbert.

On a hot hot day, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant approached Setara Qassim to ask her if she had a sweater. Naturally she didn't and ended up wrapped in a blanket instead.

NBC has a picture slideshow and video of Setara Qassim (I know that's what you're here for!).

Edit: Found another picture of Setara Qassim at WireImage.

[Pic, Source: NBC]

What Really Happened to DownloadConnection?

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Never Try To Beat A Train

A mother driving a minivan full of kids tried to beat a passing train, but instead, ended up being hit by 2 trains.

In the surveillance video below, the minivan races through a carpark while a train is passing through. At first, it looks like the minivan is going to make it but another train is approaching in the background.

Before you know it, the vehicle is hit by trains on both sides and the result is disastrous. Her two daughters were killed in the crash, while she remains in a critical condition in hospital. Luckily, her sons seem to have escaped with minor injuries as they have been released from hospital.

By releasing this video, it is hoped that other drivers would think twice before trying to beat a train.



[Source: NBC]

You're Too Sexy To Fly!

Two months ago, a 23-year-old college student, Kyla (Kayla) Ebbert, was told to change her clothes by Southwest Airlines because she was deemed to be too hot to fly! According to her, the guy at Southwest thought her entire outfit was inappropriate.

Because she was flying light, she didn't have anything to change into. Other than the very public lecture she received, she also had to endure the embarrassment of covering up her legs with a blanket the whole flight.

In the MSNBC photo on the left, the miniskirt doesn't look very short. I bet you could find shorter skirts on the streets. That is until you watch the video where she wears the same dress as she did that day (link below). That's when you notice the host looking slightly uncomfortable and as the MSNBC article notes, she flashes the audience.

And with this highly publicized incident, questions are brought up about Southwest Airlines dress code and possibly those of other airlines. Where should the line be drawn? Who decides when is too much (or in this case too little)?

In this case though, I think it was a bad call by the people at Southwest. She was definitely dressed in a sexy outfit, but it could have been handled better and with discretion. Something I would have suggested at the time would be to swap seats with someone else. Maybe Southwest should take lessons from Steve Jobs.

Edit: A thread at fark has more pictures of her.

[Video of interview]
[Source: MSNBC]

$100 Credit is Worth More to Apple than You

Recently at 'The Beat Goes On' event, Apple announced a $200 price cut for iPhones and the phasing out of the "older" 4GB iPhone. Now if you didn't know that the iPhone was just released 2 months ago, you could be forgiven for thinking, "Well, that's life", or more bluntly, "Haha, suckers".

However, armed with the knowledge that the iPhone is a new product, would you have bought an 8GB iPhone if you knew that the price would drop by 33% (200/599 * 100%)? In fact, would you buy any product that would depreciate that quickly (a rate of 0.55% a day)? Repeat this simple procedure with the 4GB iPhone and you're looking at a 40% drop.

What's worse it that the iPhone you bought isn't even worth that much anymore, since it's a 2nd hand item. Assuming a secondhand 8Gb is worth $349 (based on refurb iPhone prices), your iPhone value has just dropped 42% in a few weeks (I don't even need to whip out my calculator, since Apple has kindly done the calculations and states "Save 42% off the original price").

Granted, no one can predict the future, but surely Apple had made plans for an event that was only 2 months away from the iPhone launch?

With these figures, you can see why iPhone customers were fuming. Some called it the "iPhone early adopter tax". Others decided to take matters into their own hands and storm Apple outlets to demand refunds (I may be exaggerating but you get the idea).

Which is why Apple responded with an open letter to their loyal customers. In it, the CEO, Steve Jobs, notes that people weren't too happy and justifies the decision to lower the iPhone price in order to target the holiday season, which I'm sure is well received by potential iPhoners.

There's also a paragraph about how technology prices are constantly in flux and suggests how early adopters will probably lose out one way or another. And then he offers a $100 store credit to iPhone users who aren't getting any kind of refund.

That's when you realize Apple may actually be doing something nice for their customers. You think so? Think again. A $100 store credit is not the same as $100 back in your pocket. When Apple sells something for $100, it costs them less than $100 to make it. That's how they stay in business.

Giving out $100 credit encourages people to check out their store and splurge cash on items that they may not have bought if it were $100 more. And there are quite a number of items (hint: new iPods) that may just catch the attention of iPhone users. Which means more business for Apple.

Even if none of them bought anything above $100, the loss to Apple would be less than giving out $100 handouts. Plus, the publicity from this open letter is certainly worth something.

This is a good example of how Apple took a few bad apples and made them good, which shows how shrewd a businessman Steve Jobs is. Anyone who plans on becoming the next Steve Jobs should take note.

And just in case anyone forgot, the price reduction was $200.