Botnet from a Linux kernel vulnerability?

I was reading an article on two men indicted on creating, then unleashing, a botnet attack. What really got my attention was this (my emphasis added):

A few hours later, T35 President Alex Melen responded to Zook's post, blaming the compromise on a Linux kernel vulnerability, and noting that "a lot of companies are dealing with these hacking attacks right now and not a lot can be done."

I found an article which seems to address an issue related to a Linux kernel vulnerability, but I don't know if this is the one addressed in the botnet attack. If it is the same one, they a patch has already been produced. Further, if it is the same one, then that gives me an idea on when this attack occurred (probably in the mid- to late-2009 timeframe).
Just another reminder to be on your toes with respect to computer security, regardless of your platform or operating system.

Hey, FX Networks! You SUCK!

Again, it's my fault. I started watching the new series on FX Networks called "Justified". For whatever reason, I like it. However, I missed the second episode. This has not been a problem on other shows. For example, both "Burn Notice" and "In Plain Sight" (two of my other favorites) provide online episodes. Click to the website, click "Play" and away we go.

Not so with "Justified". First, I'm told that I have to download the "Move Media Player" which will provide "rich and exciting" video to my desktop. If you've read any part of this blog, you'll know that I no longer run Windows as my primary operating system. When I clicked on "Install", I was given a window that stated that "Move Media Player" only works on Windows XP and Vista, as well as Mac OS X.

Strike 1, FX.

I went ahead and fired up my laptop, which runs Vista. Except that Windows decided to go off the deep end. The "explorer.exe" process was running at 100%, making running anything impossible.

Strike 2, FX.

An hour later, I'd created a work-around for that problem. I managed to get the media player loaded. I started the episode I wanted. By the way, that took two restarts of the browser due to several errors I received. Except the episode is the wrong dimensions. Everyone is stretched out vertically.

Oh, and that whole "no buffering" is a whole lot of bullshit. If you're operating on the Internet, you're using a buffer. No way around it. Period.

So, I've downloaded a problem in which the first thing presented is either a lie or a completely made-up piece of bullshit. (My fault.) Then it requires over an hour to get to work. (Their fault.) And, to top it all off, it's probably watching everything I do. (My fault AND their fault.)

Strike 3, FX. You're out.

I'll be deleting the "Move Media Player" from my computer. And telling FX to pound sand.

Yet Another Reason I Like Linux: Panorama Pictures

Under Windows, I had a heck of a time finding decent panorama stitching software. At least, software that didn't cost a gazillion dollars. Under Ubuntu, I appear to have found a great panorama stitching program that is free. It's called "Hugin Panorama". It's actually two different pieces of software; one is the backend processor (called "Hugin Batch Processor") and the other is the frontend GUI (called "Hugin Panorama Creator"). I installed both from the repositories. In this case, it was using the Ubuntu Software Center (Applications -> Ubuntu Software Center, then do a search on "hugin").
The first panorama I created was of a Civil War battlefield (Bolivar Heights) just outside of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Personally, I think it came out stunningly.

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The latest requires a short bit of digression. I used to be a volunteer firefighter. One of the first people I befriended when I joined the department goes by the nickname of "Tink". "Tink" is still with the department, but I'm not. But he wants me back. To try to push me in that direction, he suggested I stop by a building right next to where we have breakfast every Sunday morning. This particular establishment burned down due to the carelessly-thrown away ashtray. I stopped by. But I also decided to see how well Hugin would do with some cellphone pictures. Again, in my most humble opinion, I think it came out real well.

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Consider this. I took this with an LG260 Rumor camera phone. If you don't know anything about this phone, know this: it takes crappy pictures. Yeah, they might tout it as a "1.3 megapixel", but those 1.3 million pixels have obviously had a hard life. I know, I know. It wasn't meant to take studio quality pictures. But, of all of the panorama stitching programs I've had, they always wanted good quality pics. Obviously, Hugin works differently. Or just better. Or differently better. Whatever. I just know it does a great job. (Just finished dropping a few dollars to the developer. Good work like this needs to be rewarded.)
Also, I didn't know the specs on the camera. All panorama programs need to know some basic camera info. Well, Hugin wants to know either the camera's horizontal field of view (shortened as "HFOV") or its focal length and length multiplier. Hell, I felt lucky the manual told me it was "1.3 megapixel". Forget about anything more detailed such as the focal length. I was able to take out a piece of paper, a pencil and a ruler, then actually calculate the horizontal field of view of the camera. It's approximately 52 degrees of HFOV. That works out to a 35 mm lense with a 1x length multiplier. Go figure. Punching that in allowed me to make the panorama shown above.
Hey, Hugin people, you guys rock!