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03rd Jul 2009

The Art of Religious Tolerance

On this Independence Day, I am especially proud to be an American and an artist. I rejoice in my freedoms of speech and religion.

As an artist I often speak with my hands, using a pencil, pen, paintbrush or keyboard. I speak on paper, canvas, board, and via pixels on monitors.

Freedom and tolerance go hand in hand. Without freedom tolerance withers or is imprisoned. Without tolerance freedom become suppressed and dies.

As an artist one of the things I represent is tolerance, especially religious tolerance.

Statue of Liberty at sunset by Judy Rey Wasserman

Liberty Sunset. 2005

[Note: The Statute of Liberty paintings featured on this page were some of Judy Rey Wasserman's earliest Post Conceptual Ungraven Image works and so are not signed with the familiar logo face self portrait, which was create later.]

The founders of the United States of America knew this and wrote religious tolerance into the constitution. Back in 1776 it was a big deal that George Washington was Church of England (now Episcopalian, in USA) while John Adams belonged to a Protestant church that was more to the religious left of Catholicism.

However, the Founding fathers went beyond their Protestant theological differences which today seem to hardy matter. They included those of all religions. Washington even sent a now famous letter to the Jews when he was inaugurated.

Historically, governments that are founded to represent religious beliefs and groups, including atheism (U.S.S.R.) have always end up violating basic human rights and becoming controlled by tyrants who use ‘religion’ for their own means. Artists become pawns of the state or their work is suppressed.

“There is no such thing as a little freedom. Either you are all free, or you are not free.” -Walter Cronkite

statue of Liberty painting by Judy Rey Wasserman

Lady Liberty 2005

Images in the blog article are patriotic and religious. They are all created using strokes are alpha-numeric, phonic and binary. Since binary is synonymous for duality these strokes always refer to concepts found in all of the world’s major religions and paths, plus most others. The symbol set is the original Torah font of the Bible.

The artworks here are Post Conceptual Art, specifically from the branch known as UnGraven Image. Post Conceptual UnGraven Image is the first religious art theory founded in the USA . Being American, it is fully inclusive and tolerant. It is art with a vision we can share.

Fittingly this new art theory was founded in the town of Southampton NY, which was originally settled to promote religious freedom and tolerance in 1640, when a small group of settlers landed a place they called Conscience Point..

Recently my avatar or Twitter (@judyrey) changed from it’s official purple background with gold letters to a green background to show support for Iran’s Freedom Protesters. To celebrate Independence Day it was changed again to show American pride while remaining is support of real democracy and freedom for Iran.

To learn more about Post Conceptual UnGraven Image art and its founder Judy Rey Wasserman, go to http://www.ungravenimage.com Be sure to see the videos. You can also download a free PDF version of the art manifesto: ” A Painting’s Meaning is Inherent in its Strokes”, from the right hand column.

Wishing you and yours, Freedom, Tolerance and Peace– and a very happy July 4th!

Judy Rey Wasserman’s Twitter Avatar for July 4, 2009

Posted by Posted by judyrey under Filed under Art Theory and Show Reviews Comments No Comments »

26th Jun 2009

What is the Job of the Artist?

The essential and original job of an artist is one of the most important in the world. Our job is to lead and heal by inspiration.

But what does that entail?

Today we call the earliest tribal artists shaman. The original shamans were men and women who basically led their tribes, while the chiefs were more managers who headed up hunting, coordinated the tribe’s moves and led any war parties or defenses.

Thus the original leaders, the ones who had or encouraged inspirational ideas in the sciences, arts, human relations and spirituality, were the artists.

The artists were also the original news reporters, what is now known as the fourth estate. This made them early historians they spread the news of their tribe or civilization’s loves, battles, relationship to the divine, etc. via, cave walls, pottery, sculpture, hymns, chants, minstrel songs, stories and plays, which we have today.

Thus artists inspire and lead through communication.

Artists inspire us to see, hear, feel and think about ourselves and our world in new ways. Real art, great art is transformative, even peacefully revolutionary.

This is very different from craftspeople who make useful things, which can be very beautiful that can be much admired and cherished. When an object’s inspirational value surpasses it’s usefulness it is art. No one would use van Gogh’s Starry Night as a floor cloth rug or the Venus de Milo as a hat rack.

Sixty percent of the average human brain is dedicated to the perception of vision. It is our dominant sense by far. This means that visual artists can more readily inspire and influence their community.

Government leaders (the chiefs), have recognized this and used it since, well… recorded history, which means the earliest visual art that we have found! For example, every president of the USA has an official portrait. Not one president has an official song, food (taste), flower or herb (scent) or any kind of texture. The USA has a national anthem and a few patriotic songs, but those are by far outnumbered by our visual symbols that include the flag, the Statue of Liberty, the White House, the Capital building, a bald eagle, the Liberty Bell, Uncle Sam, etc.

Throughout history management and leadership have been confused or intertwined. Leaders inspire and managers help carry out that inspiration in practical ways. Historically, the greatest artists of a period are often found where the greatest political power and wealth resides, however this coincidence is not always due to artists being drawn to their most likely source of income. It is a question of which came first the chicken or the egg.

Most inspirational people have more than one talent. One of the great examples of a leader (writer-orator) is Winston Churchill who was also a fine painter. As a manager, Churchill basically initially proved himself to be a failure. As an inspirational leader who had a team of managers he was a great success.

Inspirational leaders are revealed by those they inspire. Vincent van Gogh’s work does not reveal he is a great artist any more than the opinions of curators or art historians do. What proves van Gogh’s visual leadership are the people who say his work inspires them who continue to attend exhibits so they can see—and see more of it, plus the artists whose work has been inspired to another level of achievement, such as the Expressionists.

Artists are discoverers. Any artist claiming to be exploring something is, at best, in a formational stage. Artists who inspire others have explored—but then made a discovery worth sharing through their art. Columbus , Magellan, or Newton and Einstein are not recognized for being explorers in their fields but discoverers. In fine art, the same can be said for Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Pissaro, Van Gogh, Picasso and Warhol, plus many others.


Artists may use tools to make their artworks but neither the use of specialized tools nor producing what we call works of art prove that a person is an artist rather that a crafts person or entertainer. Using a sculptor’s chisel, a #2 paintbrush, a violin or PC keyboard does not prove one is an artist any more than using a wrench makes a person a plumber or mechanic. Can the artist use the tool to create something that inspires us to a new understanding and possibly action?

Psalm 113 (Vincent van Gogh) by Judy Rey Wasserman

Greek mythology likened the artist to someone who brings the fire down from the mountain of the Gods. Talent, training, technique, and even good connections can help and artist, but people recognize when inspiration is lacking. Eventually people admit that they cannot really see the Emperor’s New Clothes.

The job of the artist is to lead through inspiration, sharing a transformative new and unique (discovered) way of perceiving ourselves and our world. When we truly connect with an inspiring work of art, we know it because we remember it the rest of our lives.

Posted by Posted by judyrey under Filed under Art Theory and Show Reviews Comments 1 Comment »

23rd May 2009

How To Stay Safe from the Current Phishing & Trojan Scams on Facebook (& Anywhere Else)

This week there have been two phishing scams on Facebook, which are especially destructive as they contain trojans that can steal information from compromised computers.  Here is how to stay safe, help others do likewise and help keep the attack from spreading.

How it Works

The attackers are using what is known as “drive-by download” It is especially malicious as it steals the member’s information (whether the member gives it or not) changes their password and then sends the same message—masquerading as being from the member to the user’s friends.

It seems that in the newest scam the phishers have both facebook account info and also regular email info, possibly harvested from the past attack. Plus, since the Trojan is spyware they may have more info from compromised PCs. This means the phishing could come from other Facebook, other social media suites and also arrive as real email.

The scam sends a member an innocent looking Facebook email that says Hello or something that seems innocent. Inside the body of the message is a link that ends with .at (dot at). This link takes the member to a page that seems to be a regular sign in Facebook page – like the one used for Facebook apps. It asks for the member’s email and password.

One of the links used is “areps.at”. Do not click on it or any link that ends with an .at as more than one is in use.

As soon as it has this information it changes the password and begins to send out similar messages to the member’s friends.

What You Need To Do

Be alert! Do not follow any links you receive from anyone—even your mom, mate or best buddies—if there is a “at” at the end of that link This includes if the link comes through your Facebook email, on a FB Wall, in your regular email, you see it in the stream of a social media site such as Twitter, Tumblr, etc.

  1. Use Mozilla Firefox as your browser. Apparently it blocks these addresses. Mozilla has a history of preventing worm attacks and such. It its twitter users safe during the Mikey attacks.

  2. Share this link and the info with all of your friends and even followers. It will help them. It will also help you because if they are not infected it is far less likely that your PC will be.

  3. Only use known and respected Facebook or social media apps. ALWAYS be careful where you five your sign in info and password.

  4. Make sure you use different passwords for all your social media accounts.

  5. IMPORTANT: If you think your PC has been compromised immediately use a friends PC to log into any banking, credit card or important accounts and change all passwords and user names. The trojan being used can get information from a PC and this is the prime info phishers are after.

  6. Always keep your PC virus and spyware protection up to date [Note: this will not always protect you from the newest viruses. It will not protect you if you enter your info to any phishing site].

  7. If you receive an email with a link that ends in at, but are smart and do not click on it your PC is still safe. Cut and paste the sending member’s name and message it to the site’s customer service. You are not tattling on a friend, only phishers. This will help your friend have their account restored and protect others.

I Received the First Facebook Phishing Message

I received the first one, artep.at , but since I did not recognize the friend and there was nothing except a suggestion I click on the link to give me an idea, I was not enticed as I am too busy to willy nilly click on every link.

Facebook has handled the first problem. That email in my in box disappeared. Those links have been blocked.

I do not know if all the Facebook user accounts that were compromised are now restored and what damage has been done.

Next—Continuing updates:

Continue to check back to this site as I will update with new information.

Follow me on Twitter @judyrey as I will announce when this blog article is updated. I will aso post a link to this article and announce updates on my public fan page, Judy Rey Wasserman. [and while you're there become my fan. I'm the artist Judy Rey Wasserman. I'm fouunding Post Conceptual Art, especially the branch known as UnGraven Image.]

The person who brought this information to my attention is Stephen Hultquist who is a member and friend on Facebook and we follow each other on twitter where he is @shultquist.

I found good information on these attacks at http://www.infopackets.com and http://mashable.com/2009/05/21/arepsat/

Posted by Posted by judyrey under Filed under Art & Inspiration Comments No Comments »

17th May 2009

Interview Magazine Uses Warhol Portrait by Judy Rey Wasserman as Twitter Avatar

Tuesday, May 12, began as most days do with me still groggy, drinking my morning coffee while saying: “Good morning” on Twitter. It seemed like an ordinary day until a Direct Message (DM) from friend Brian Sherwin (@myartspace_blog ) asked if my portrait of Andy Warhol was the avatar being used by Interview Magazine @Interviewmag for Twitter.

I know Brain Sherwin through Twitter and Facebook where we have become friends. He is aware of my work and the new theory of Post Conceptual Art that I am founding. Aside from our love of art we share something else. We get and function well in the new world of Social Media. Brian’s blog is one of the highly recognized art blogs. I am the top rated fine artist plus am in the Twitter elite according to both wefollow.com twittergrader based on the number of followers I have (over 67,000) and my active participation. Brain and I each head up Facebook Groups (mine is Sharing a Transforming Vision with over 375 members), plus I have a new fan page.

Brian Sherwin deserves credit for discovering that my work was being used by Interview Magazine as their Twitter avatar. However his initial contact to me was in the form of a question as I had not been promoting Interview Magazine nor the fact my work was representing their Twitter account as I naturally would do.

Here are my initial Tweets to Interview Magazine on Twitter:

@InterviewMag Avatar you’re using is my portrait of Andy Warhol w.Psalm 19 4 strokes. If U credit me & link to my site it’s OK 2 use it.

@InterviewNews OMGosh! You’re using my Psalm 19 portrait of Andy W. for this Twitter avatar 2. My eyes actually filled w. tears of joy TY!

@InterviewMag See: Andy Warhol is a Grandfather to Post Conceptual Art http://is.gd/zaoy [Follow me- I can't follow U /any1 til later 2day]

Clearly my initial, and to some extent continuing response is one of joy that Interview Magazine thought highly enough of my work to use it to represent them. The I tweeted the news to both @artnetdotcom and @whitehotmag,, which are well respected online art magazine Twitter members and friends who I follow and who follow me back. That I ReTweet (RT) art news from those members, Brian’s blog and other art sources but had never RT’d Interview Magazine. At that point I was unaware of Interview magazine’s Twitter presence, plus I tend to RT members who follow me back.

So I called Interview Magazine’s offices, which is Brandt’s publishing and also publishes Art in America. I was put brought to someone who supposedly dealt with their Twitter accounts. I was busy thanking him enthusiastically for using my work when we somehow—and not from my end— were disconnected.

It seemed reasonable and possibly beyond serendipity that Interview Magazine would want to use my portrait of Warhol. According to their posts on their Facebook fan page to promote Interview magazine’s Twitter account on April 24. This seems to naturally follow my blog post from April 17 that Andy Warhol is a Grandfather to Post Conceptual Art . That blog had used my Warhol portrait as an illustration.

Hoping for the best, and still bubbling with joy over the serendipity of having my portrait of Andy Warhol used to represent the magazine that he founded to be the hippest and most avant guard promoter of art, fashion and people I called back This time the phone receptionist sent me to some male who was higher up. I explained ho happy I am to have my portrait of Andy Warhol used as Interview Magazine’s Twitter avatar but needed the work attributed to me somewhere. And, again we were disconnected.

I had not asked for anything but credit for my portrait indicating that I was—and still would be—happy for Interview magazine to use the work as long as I receive credit. Perhaps I am naive, but when someone is happy with me and friendly I am polite and friendly back.

Still, I remained positive and hopeful determined to create good buzz about the fact that my work was selected by Interview Magazine to represent them on Twitter while the conversation with Brian continued in the stream and with other Twitter members who follow either of us.

New media, especially social media person that I am, I kept watching my Twitter stream and Facebook Fan Page wall for a message from Interview Magazine. I was still thinking that the true spirit of Andy Warhol – who was as cutting edge as they come while retaining both cultural and spiritual historical sensibilities—was guiding Interview Magazine. He would have thrived in this new Social Media.

@ myartspace_blog Warhol who also painted religious art is looking down on this & smiling. His portrait’s cre9ted w. my fav Psalm 19.

Then Brian discovered that Interview Magazine was using my Portrait of Andy Warhol for their avatar on their Interview News account.

In the meantime, Brian and I are carrying out a conversation in the Twitter stream and in direct messages (DMs). Although I had recently Tweeted that Twitter is where I get my breaking news, I never expected to be a part of it, even in my small way via my Tweets.

Several weeks previous to this, when the Shepard Fairy trial was making news, Brian Sherwin and I had a long and detailed series of emails regarding Artist’s Rights. Brian is a champion of our rights and although I do not always agree with his tactics we are in full agreement that more needs to be done to protect and inform artist’s rights. I am for educating artists, legislators, enforcement officials, educators, etc., plus opening dialogues as there is a lot of new technology and media that needs to be addressed. Brian’s focus includes mine but he also focuses on specific perceived or adjudicated wrongs and copyright infringements.

I am aware that founding a Post Conceptual Art theory, including the called UnGraven Image puts me in a kind of leadership position. That UnGraven Image is the first theory of religious art (fully inclusive for all) founded in the USA means that need to always take the high road to the best of my ability, especially I the art world. I don’t have the luxury of not standing up for artist’s rights. Brian knows this. Certainly neither of us expected that I would be facing an infringement of my copyright only a few weeks later.

As we continued to message in the stream, I remained very happy about the situation and eager to have my work represent Interview magazine as long as it was attributed to me. Frankly, at that point the idea of receiving monetary compensation did not enter my mind as the recognition and public relations that comes my way from this is a kind of compensation that money cannot buy. Especially as I continue to assert my strong Post Conceptual hereditary art link to Andy Warhol. It seemed fitting that the magazine on the cutting edge in the last century would position itself with Twenty-first century Post Conceptual Art.

In a DM Brian Sherwin informed me that he had a contact at Art in America, which is also owned by Peter Brant, about the avatar situation.

Later that afternoon Kelly Brant called me from the Art in America offices. Kelly is Peter Brant’s daughter and responsible for the online presence of their three magazines.

Excited and happy to finally hear back from someone, this time I managed to hit the button weirdly located on the back of my land-line receiver so we were disconnected. I guess it was fair, except I called back immediately and apologized for the hang up. It surprised me that Kelly was not by now familiar with my web site, that she had not discovered I was founding a new theory of art as mentioned above, have a free PDF manifesto booklet to download, new videos, including on You Tube that have over 1,500 views, etc. What she did know am one of the most followed people on Twitter and an artist.

Kelly was surprised when I explained that the portrait was created by hand with pen and ink symbol-strokes that are the Torah letters of Psalm 19. It is not a manipulated photograph. She asked what my reference was and I answered that I had used several different images that are online.

Kelly Brant had a three o’clock appointment so she called me back about 15 minutes later and we resumed our friendly conversation.

This did concern Kelly as she mentioned the recent Shepard Fairey case regarding the Hope portrait of Barack Obama. However, I had used several reference images, plus there were no multiples being sold, so there was and is no possibility of copyright infringement on my part. Recent court cases ruled in favor of Richard Prince and Jeff Koons as their work is original, not simply digital manipulation, although they referenced other works.

The idea of the Essence Portraits comes from the understandings that our bodies are essentially created of the energy/pre-matter of elementary physics’ strings, which my symbols always refer to, plus we have within us the essence of The Divine. From this first portrait and continuing, I want to show what lies beneath, the essence of a person through these portraits. As with any of my works, while our minds perceive narrative imagery all that is really on the canvas or paper are letters form a text. When we look at my portrait of Andy Warhol, what we really see is Psalm 19 in the original Torah font, which Warhol’s Eastern Orthodox Church reveres.

This Warhol portrait focuses on the expression, the vulnerable punk angry brood that Andy Warhol revealed in his iconic self portrait, Twice Denied. That portrait is full face. I found a photograph that I could use for basic features that is ¾ face while changing the expression to that in Twice Denied. I also referenced many pictures and portraits of Warhol’s wild hair and wig. Clearly he used that feature to sort of hide behind, so in life people would be drawn to the hair that seemed to distract from his face. So my work uses the whole of the white space as the hair and only suggests it. Thus in my portrait the white becomes the hair and a sort of support for the portrait. Plus, of course, I did this in a very minimal way to pay homage to Warhol’s own work.

By the end of the conversation Kelly and I were looking on our computers for place where the mention could reside. She offered a mention on their Twitter profiles, but I declined that as it is such a limited space for them to use to better define the magazine. We thought the bottom right hand column of the online magazine would do but I remained open as long as I was credited somewhere. She then said she would have to ask legal and we agreed to speak the next day.

I was prepared and quite happy to make an announcement that there was just a misunderstanding and that I and Brandt communications have a good relationship and there is no problem. I still hope to make that statement. It is difficult for me to see that this publicity, which I am sure will linger can do anything but help found my career and Post Conceptual Art. If Andy Warhol is looking down on this I bet he is enjoying my current 15 minutes of fame.

I was eager to announce that my work is being used with my permission once I was receiving credit for it from Interview Magazine.

I went off to run some errands land when I returned my portrait of Warhol had been replaced by a photograph on both Interview Twitter accounts.

Brian and I emailed back and forth about that and more. Brian raises many good points and questions. However, I preferred to wait to hear again from Kelly. I hoped that my image would be used and I would receive public credit or at least acknowledgement of my work. I remained enthusiastic that my work had been viewed as important enough to represent Interview Magazine on Twitter. Whether Interview Magazine or anyone at Brandt publishing ever credits me the witnesses and screen shots prove that fact.

I asked Brian to hold off writing his article for just one more day. This was quite a request considering Brian had made the discovery, it was a breaking art news stort and controversy, plus it deals with the topic of artist’s rifgts, which he champions.

The next morning my ongoing Google search greeted me with Brian’s just published controversial article. My first reaction was that I really need to stay off the Internet until I’ve had my first cup of coffee.

Brian Sherwin’s article on article myartspace>blog is a must read. Interview Magazine Copyright Infringement Controversy on Twitter and Facebook . There are many comments to his article and I urge you to leave yours.

All of facts that involve me personally are correct and Brian Sherwin uses my image with permission, plus he credits me. The points he make deserve consideration at least. Brian’s article placed me in the controversy where I would have to respond in some way.

The second and final part of this blog article will be posted soon. I promise some surprising twists and turns as I strive to take the high road. You can scroll down past the previous post to see a larger image Psalm 19 (Andy Warhol) and also read Andy Warhol is a Grandfather to Post Conceptual Art . You are encouraged to leave comments on any of my blogs and please include yout Twitter ID and other social media info so others can easily find you!  All Avatars shown in this post are used courtesy of the Twitter members or they are blurred.

Posted by Posted by judyrey under Filed under Art Theory and Show Reviews Comments 1 Comment »

06th May 2009

TwitterWhack! World Pillow Fight Day –Twitter as Interactive Conceptual Art

On the weekend of April 4th Twitter members celebrated International Pillow Fight day, which began officially on Saturday but due to time zone differences and enthusiasm flowed into Sunday in EST. For almost 24 hours—and even up to a few days latter, people were Tweeting a #pillow at each other giving TwitterWhacks back and forth.

I instigated the Twitter #pillow fight. By the end of the day there were over 56 pages of Tweets that included the #pillow and were a part of the ongoing TwitterWhacking. There are 25 Tweets (messages) to a page on search. Although the Twitter Search function no longer extends far back in time, mentions of the #pillow fight are easily found via Google searches. Over 175 people participated according to my general count, which I skewered a bit low.

Below is a screen capture where you see me, @judyrey call again for a celebration on Twitter of National Pillow Fight Day. That cal is ReTweeted above me and you ca see below that other people are Tweeting now of the topic.

Twitter pillow fight

I had heard of this Pillow Fight holiday the night before on the news. As I sat at the PC, trying to wake up in the morning, I remembered it and thought it could be fun to see what we could do to celebrate on Twitter. My initial invitation had now social experiment or Conceptual Art plan, but that soon changes as #pillows were tossed.

It took my tossing some #pillow Tweets at Twitter friends to really get it started. My Tweets said:

judyrey : National Pillow Fight Day TwitterWacking is a way to have fun will followers. Twitter=Relationships Toss a #pillow

These were the ReTweeted (RT) and soon the fight was on.

Once it really began it dawned on me that even though it was just for fun it was also an example of social media as an impromptu Conceptual Performance Art event.

Twitter’s #pillow fight was fully conceptual. There were no pillows. No pictures of pillows, except later in the day several participants posted links to real pillow fights in NY and elsewhere. The #pillows that were being tosses were symbols – a hashtag word to represent a pillow.

Twitter is a social media site where people interact in real time. Twitter #pillows traveled at the speed of.. well, a real pillow as the fight continued. That the pillows could be volleyed and responded to in real time gave the event an immediacy and reality that it would have lacked if sent in email, posted in forums or discussions.

Here’s my basic Tweet that was always aimed at someone I knew:

judyrey : @workhomexpert #pilliow Gotcha! You’re TwitterWhacked! Celebrate National Pillow Fight Day on Twitter. Toss a #pillow at a follower now!” [Note: the name of the tweet's originator always is shown at the beginning of the message.]

Participants playfully and creatively added to the concept in unexpected ways. The described their #pillow, some had feathers pillows, some pillows were microfiber, some had colorful cases, some were large, others were small.

Once the fight was in full swing I backed out for periods of time, partly as life goes on, but also to see what would happen when the instigator left. The fight grew and waged on. People would come and go, but TwitterWhack new people who usually responded and tosses a #pillow at someone else.

Of course the #pillow fight Tweets all showed up in the regular Twitter stream. It was sort of like a different colored strand in a braid, while the other basic strands just flowed on and on.

At times this added humor as when a spammy Tweet from some marketer, probably sent by an automated service was surrounded by the live action fight Tweets filled with laughter, hashtags and creativity. People were enormously creative.

The conceptual Twitter pillow fight spilled into real life too, as spouses, children and others became involved though the Twitterer Here’s one example:

McBud : @lsbeachrph I laughed so loud Mandy came down stairs and smacked me with a #pillow”

lsbeachrph : @McBud Did I mention that the pillow I used was ORANGE ? #pillow

Above all the fight was a different kind of communication than is usual on Twitter where ideas that have obvious meaning are communicated. The #pillows communicated were concepts of events (tossed pillows) that had no deep significance, offered no insights or information. Any significance was simply in the act of interacting. Everyone participating was punk’d and all were in on the joke as it occurred.

Personally, since the fight I feel closer to the members who PillowThwacked me and participated. To help you relive the fun or give a sense of it for those who missed it here are a few of the Tweets, and you ca n find many more via Google searches.

“kfjelsted : @denyseduhaime Lol now this is getting personal! wak wak #pillow with terkey feathers”

“shellykramer : @Silver_Craig Float like a butterfly, sting like a BEE .. your smacks are butterfly wings to this hard-hitting BEE … WHACK WHACK #pillow”

“Mollyinfolode : @ShellyKramer Ah, there you are. Saved the burnt coffee stained #pillow just for you THWACK”

“dreamworthy : @Mollyinfolode Ow Ow Ow Ow!! What you got in there, Molly?? Bricks? #pillow ”

“Mollyinfolode : @DreamWorthy There you are! (jumps from behind chair w/nubby #pillow ) ”

“judyrey : National Pillow Fight Day TwitterWacking is a way to have fun will followers. Twitter=Relationships Toss a #pillow

“blogomama : @Tekee wait for it, wait for it….COWABUNGA!!!!(running ) SMACK DADDY @Tekee #pillow Take that!”

“TinkerAndPo : @ShellyKramer BWAH HAH HAHHHHH! I have the couch cushion! WHACK! #pillow ”

“ByDezin : @johnlusher *achoo* kitties running everywhere with feathers in their fur… lol #pillow

“DianaRusso : @adamsconsulting #pillow hmm I wonder how the pillow wacky thing is going? like a global pyjama party!”

During the day I discovered that the celebration was actually international, making Twitter’s #pillow Fight actually an international even and art performance. It was conceptual, an excellent ongoing performance, but also fun and real in an inspiring way.

Finally, a couple of hours after the day had actually ended in my time zone, I signed off after a few more TwitterWhacks with @TregorySullivan who was keeping the party going.. I am looking forward to the #pillow fight next year! Hope that you join in then!

“judyrey : After a good day of #pillow fight, I’m heading for mine. Hope you’re happy wherever you are. “see” you in the AM EDT. G’Night.”

Note; If you have comments or memories of the event to share please remember to include your Twitter ID.

Posted by Posted by judyrey under Filed under Art Theory and Show Reviews Comments 3 Comments »

30th Apr 2009

My Twitter Profile with You Tube Video

NEW & COOL!! Click here for my Twitter Page with Video
Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/judyrey

Posted by Posted by judyrey under Filed under Art Theory and Show Reviews Comments No Comments »

17th Apr 2009

Andy Warhol is a Grandfather to Post Conceptual Art

Post Conceptual Art uses symbols for every stroke. It is a direct historical descendant from Andy Warhol’s work, such as the his Last Supper paintings towards the end of his life, where he uses logos (symbols) including from Dove Soap and General Electric to reference religious concepts of the Holy Spirit and Light.

Earlier Warhol focused on images as symbols. This can be seen in his famous portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor and other celebrities. His repetitions of products and people in the media pointed to people being treated as products. For the famous their face was a business and personal logo, which Warhol brilliantly captured.

Unlike previous portrait artists, Warhol was not interested in revealing the inner person, only the outer shell. To emphasize this he made many copies of a radically simplifies image of the person’s face, but altered the background with often garish colors. Purposefully what lies beneath Marilyn’s simplified façade lacks any spirituality or emotion. Like the Campbell ’s soup cans and Brillo boxes, she becomes just a product, a symbol of her Hollywood stardom.

Warhol’s Pop use of symbols helped inspire conceptual artists to use symbols to create concepts or visual ideas. This also includes Word Art, which is all about symbols (letters) that reveal meaning.

A Warhol silk-screen image can be understood as a stroke because all in the same movement and in closely related time the silk-screen is laid on the canvas. A brush stroke also happens in a complete movement and in continuous uninterrupted time. Many logos can be applied with one stroke via a rubber stamp. Thus, Warhol’s symbols and logos may be seen also as singles strokes {for more on strokes see “The Manifesto of Post Conceptual UnGraven Image Art—A Painting’s Meaning is Inherent in its Strokes”]

Once a logo or the black image of a of one of Warhol’s-screen portraits is understood as a stroke, the influence his art has on inspiring my (Judy Rey Wasserman) new Post Conceptual Art theory becomes apparent. It again becomes even clearer when viewing some of Warhol’s Last Supper works where images of Jesus, the disciples, silk-screened motorcycles and logos overlap each other.

While those images and logos remain fully recognizable, once one sees them as strokes it is clear that they would still exist on the canvas and have their intrinsic meaning even if they were overlapped with enough images to become unrecognizable.

In many of my Post Conceptual UnGraven Image work, especially in the Genesis: Sunset-Sunrise and Written on the Wind series, many layers of painted strokes are applied to build up the image. When watercolor pencils are used applying water naturally blends or diffuses some of the strokes, but they are not blended in a painterly way. Warhol’s silk-screens are also an obviously layered process of work.

While the works in the above mentioned series are sometimes mentioned of being reminiscent of Impressionism or Pointillism, these are not styles noted for layering. However there is a relationship between Post Conceptual UnGraven Image Art theory and Impressionism in that both are focused on portraying energy. While Impressionism focuses on the light, the Twenty-first Century art focuses on using symbols to represent the strings of elementary physics, the pre matter and energy, and light is a form of energy.

Psalm 19 (Andy Warhol)




Andy Warhol’s influence as an artist prompted his portrait being the first one created in the original experiment that became the Essence series. The strokes chose are the binary, alpha-numeric and phonic symbols of the original font of Psalm 19. It is my favorite psalm. I hope that Andy Warhol, who dutifully attended the Eastern Orthodox church every Sunday would be pleased.

Andy Warhol’s influence as an artist prompted his portrait being the first one created in the original experiment that became the Essence series. The strokes chose are the binary, alpha-numeric and phonic symbols of the original font of Psalm 19. It is my favorite psalm. I hope that Andy Warhol, who dutifully attended the Eastern Orthodox church every Sunday would be pleased

As time progresses Andy Warhol’s influence on me and other Post Conceptual artists who will come along, will be further shown in our works. Post Conceptual UnGraven Image art theory is a direct descendant of Andy Warhol’s unique Pop Art.

Posted by Posted by judyrey under Filed under Art Theory and Show Reviews Comments 1 Comment »

13th Apr 2009

Mikeyy Continues Twitter Attack for Third Day Is Your $$ Safe?

The weekend attack on Twitter reawakened on Monday morning.

The attacks are revving up and becoming more insidious. While it appears that the worm is just aimed at Twitter code, as reported by @BreakingNews and predicted by this site and owner @judyrey last night, the newest threat is coming from links, especially shortened URLs. This means the attack is now using Twitter to reach people, not simply involving Twitter code.  This stinks of either phishing or infecting PCs with viruses.

This echoes the previous phishing attack on Twitter of January 2009. At the time of that attack, people whose IDs were compromised were quickly warned to change their passwords and information regarding any online banking, credit cards or money accounts, as well as other important accounts, such as web sites they owned. This was especially true if the password was the same as the one used for their Twitter account.

At the time of this writing this is the only blog or article that is issuing the warning about the other accounts. I dislike pointing out how right on I have been so far as to predicting the course this worm is taking. My ego does not need this. But, I am including my past comments and predictions to show that so far I’ve been hitting homers as I call the next event. Maybe that will convince you to take the protective measuers that I advise.

It’s been quite a weekend on Twitter due to the worm attacks launched. Reportedly these attacks are the handiwork of Mikey Mooney a 17 year old Brooklyn resident.  An attack using the words StalkDaily,com beagan on Easter eve.  After that news was tweeted and ReTweeted and people learned the news, wregained access to their accounts and Twitter issued an all clear things seemed to quiet down

I Tweeted that i was waiting for the other shoe to drop. You can see that Tweet  in my timeline.

The next Morning, sure enough, there was a new threat. This time from the Mikey worm. It continued on all day, without Twitter managing to resolve the problem. Again, despite the fact that it was fairly quiet, I letf for bed about 2 AM EDT tweeting that this was only a lull before the storm

Monday morning, EDT, following a Tweet by @spam, Twitter’s cop that it seemed the situation was under control, all heck broke, as as this is written continues to break loose.

As I went to bed, I tweeted, “It ain’t over”. Sad to say, that remains true.

Ask yourself this, would a simple bored teenage prankster go to this much trouble simply to show Twitter that it is vulnerable? If so, why include links, since that clearly moves the problem off of Twitter.

The attacks are obviously well orchestrated. Like a general the campaign progresses. One attack leads to a carefully planned next attack after a lull. I am vey familiar with the Art of War by Sun Tsu. Apparently so is Mikey Mooney or whoever is behind the attack.

The hassle of the worm seems harmless. It is annoying, a time waste, but essentially, that is all. I believe that is what we are being made to think. So we let our guard down after several days of new worm attacks.

I think — and I truly hope that I am wrong– that what happens soon will be one of two things,

The first choice is that people whose accounts are compromised have data stolen from their computers. Most of this data would be financial and personal. It could, and probably will be used to take money out of accounts or use charge cards, etc. This will be done by off shore accounts.

The second and far worse idea is that PCs will be infected with a virus that they will spread to to others, possibly in emails.  Like the conflicker virus it could lie dormant for a while to seemingly remove it from this annoying, but so far legal attack on Twitter.

Although there is a news report that Mikey Mooney, a 17 year old kid is taking credit for the attacks and that the Stalk Daily site is registered to him, there may be more to this.  Others, who may not reside in the USA may be involved.  I cannot prove it, but by the time anyone can a great deal of damage will have occured.

Is this speculation? Sure. But, there has to be a better reason behind the second attack than boredom.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU’RE ON TWITTER NOW

•  DO NOT click on any Avatars or Twitter IDs, for instance, mine is @judyrey. Instead cut and paste them if you want to message anyone directly. Profile pages are infecting visitors, and by the time you can tell a person’s page is infected, it is too late—so are you!

•  DO NOT, send or RT any shortened URLs except for the ones in the updates at http://twitter.com/mashable PERIOD! Do not even trust shortened URLs that seem to come from @mashable in RTs. The sender could be a compromised account.

•  Use only full domain URLs. Such as http://ungravenimage.com/blog . Although this is not actually a direct link to this post, it works and is safe.

•  If you have the browser FoxFire use it instead of I.E. and immediately download the FREE NoScript app at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722

•  Accessing Twitter on the Web use 3rd party app like TweetDeck or Seesmic Desktop for now Am not sure if this will totally prevent infection but you are less likely to be. Again, avoid profiles, which are a source of the infection.

•  If You’re not using Firefox with NoScript then disable javascript in your browser.{Note—readers are requested to post info in comments to this post as to how to disable javascript in IE, Foxfire, Chrome & all other browsers. TY!]

•  If you use the same password on Twitter that you use for any other accounts change your Twitter password immediately!

•  Check your own Twitter settings to make sure your account has not been compromised. Look to see that your location and the URL listed are correct. If they are not correct you are infected.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE INFECTED- OR THINK YOU MAY BE

In your browser settings, clear your cache and cookies (Smart to do now even if you are not infected. I did it last night, although you have to reenter many passwords to sites manually as a result.

  1. Turn off javascript in your browser
  2. Reset your Twitter password
  3. Go to your online financial sites and change your passwords and log in names. Do this even if the passwords and names differ from those on Twitter. Best to be fully safe.
  4. Go to Twitter and fix any changes to your profile such as your website’s URl or your location. Check carefully for any changes.
  5. Change any other valuable passwords where you could be vulnerable, such as to your website(s) or other social media sites.
  6. Re-enable javascript and check the Design section of your Twitter profile. If anything has changed, fully delete it . Then replace with your own avatar, colors or background.
  7. Delete any tweets made on your account by anyone but you, especially look for ones that contain the Mikeyy or Mickeyy name or StalkDaily;
  8. Log out of Twitter.
  9. Log in to Twitter using a third party app or Foxfire with NoScript installed to access Twitter on the web.
  10. to make sure there are no changes to your profile colors. If there are, delete these too and replace with whatever colors you want.

Note that no one has yet reported that their financial info has bee breached, credit cars uses, etc., but this is a holiday weekend. If this happens it will not be immediately noticed. So if your information has been compromise by the Mikeyy or StalkDaily worm take action now. Then watch your credit cards and other information carefully for awhile.

MESSAGES TO WATCH FOR:

Reportedly these messages were launched from compromised accounts. If you see one, avoid going to that Twitter account’s profile page – but at this point you should avoid ALL profile pages. Period. Send a reply using cut and paste only. Do not click on avatars or on @ IDs.

•  UPDATED–Any Tweets with word Mikeyy can come from an infected source or ID. This means that even the people sending good info and updates about the worm, virus or attack can be infected—or not. One of the most insidious aspects of a phishing or worm attack on Twitter is that the messages coming from the people we trust may not actually be from them.

•  Be extra careful about messages that report the attack is over. If you see such messages DO NOT click on any link. Instead check out the info at http://twitter.com/mashable and http://blog.twitter.com directly for yourself. On Monday AM messages were being sent, some mistaken but genuine, some from Mikeyy that the problem was over.

• URGENT- Do NOT click on any shortened URLs! There is no shortened URL that is so important that you must see it.  Think about it. If I’m smart enough to realizs that sending a shortened URL that seems to give info about how to avoid the worm or virus, fix it, or breaking news will get people to click and become infected, then so is Mikey. So only click on URLs that show a complete and known domain. http://ungravenimage.com is such a URL.  Do not click on any domains or URLs with the words, Mikeyy, Mikey, Mooney, Michaelangelo, Stalk or Daily or “Notify Me”.

•  Keep a tab open at http://search.twitter.com and check #Mikeyy  for updates. Keep an eye on the right column’s trending topics. Mikeyy has said another attack will launch to change out Twitter backgrounds. It is quite possible that we can expect more problems.

•  Keep another tab open at http://search://twitter.com and eneter @judyrey to see all my recent updates on theongoing Mikeyy problem Since I am not sending shortened URLs almost everything I tweet right now concens this problem

• BEWARE-NEW-There is a question about any Tweets that contain the words “Notify me”. For now stay away from any URLs that lead to anything with the words “Notify me” . This could be phishing or infect your PC, etc. Until more is discovered you can live without this app. If and when it turns out to be safe, I’ll announce it. However, as soon as I pounced on it in the stream warning others off, it disappeared from the stream. If that app was asking for any Twitter IDs or Passwords, it could be a phishing site.

•  Follow me: http://twitter.com/judyrey I have helped in the prior attacks [See: Life Lessons Learned from the Phishing Attack on Twitter ] I also helped last night [See: Phishing Attack of Stalk Daily Worm on Twitter ]

I have stepped in now and have stepped in to help in the Twitter Village at other times. I will continue to do my best to help my followers stay safe. If you study the lives of artists like van Gogh, Da Vinci, Picasso, Goya, David, etc. you will note that artists often step in to help or alert their communities through their art, but also by participating. In a way, to me, being a helpful part of my community is a part of my job description and role as an artist.

HOW TO BENEFIT FROM THESE ATTACKS

Mikeyy has fond a great way to reveal some of the very best people to follow? Who better top follow that the people who will watch your back, alert and update you to problems?

Use http://search.twitter.com and enter in pertinent keywords, such as #stalk, #stalkdaily, #mikeyy, #phishing. Then scroll down and back as far as you can. You want to follow the early Twitter people who sounded and helped sound the alarm via RTs, and then kept sending and RTing news and updates to help others. Beware the very Johnny-come-latelys who just tweet at the end of the problem. Discriminate between those asking questions or just chatting and those who are really actively Tweeting to send helpful information. Ye, of course, you will see my ID there, but since you are already reading this at my blog, probably you know about me. Find other great people!

DISCLAIMER

I am not in any way associated with Peter Cashmore, @mashable or any of his work. He is an excellent source for information and any seeming promotion is simply because at the moment he is the very best source of breaking news about the current Twitter problem that we have.

However, so far Pete Cashmore has basically re posted info he gets from Twitter’s blog and from @spam. Three times Twitter has announced that they thought the situation was under control and as we know these assurances were mistaken.

FINAL WORD

If you have more good advice please enter it in a comment to this blog. Always add your @ ID so people can find and follow you!

There are two previous blogs about the problem. Skim them but be sure to read the comments.

Please stay safe! Twitter is a wonderful opportunity to make connections. It’s all about relationships! That’s why I follow all followers back.

Posted by Posted by judyrey under Filed under Art Theory and Show Reviews Comments 1 Comment »

12th Apr 2009

Mikeyy Worm — Easter Attack on Twitter

Following an attack the previous night on Twitter, 17 year old Mikey Mooney launched a second worm attack on Twitter today, Easter Sunday The attacks are suspiciously mirroring many of the phishing attacks on Twitter on a weekend in January 2009.

At that time people were infected when the followed shortened URL links to supposedly legitimate sites that were sent by their friends on Twitter. Except, it was not their friends who were sending the links, it was the phishers who had gained access to these accounts.

After last night’s attack of the StalkDaily worm, I wrote in a previous post and in Tweets that I was waiting for the second shoe to faill. Although Twitter assured us the hole in their code was fixed, the similarities were too striking for me.

Also, I did not and do not see the benefit for Mikeyy The self confessed perpetrator of the worms attacking Twitter. According to the news, he was just bored. However as the story unfolds, he is after money and too smart to be bored. The missing factor is how he expects to gain money from the initial or second attacks.

If I am smart enough to recognize that many people use the same passwords and nicknames on many accounts, including bank and credit cards online, so is Mikeyy. I also know that he can and has already gained this information from man Twitter accounts. He does not need to breach these accounts himself from the USA , He can sell the info to people in other countries who cannot be prosecuted.

Is this speculation? Sure. But, there has to be a better reason behind the second attack than boredom.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU’RE ON TWITTER NOW

•  DO not click on any Avatars or Twitter IDs, for instance, mine is @judyrey. Instead cut and paste them if you want to message anyone directly. Profile pages are infecting visitors, and by the time you can tell a person’s page is infected, it is too late—so are you!

•  Do not Open, send or RT any shortened URLs except for the ones in the updates at http://twitter.com/mashable PERIOD! Do not even trust shortened URLs that seem to come from @mashable in RTs. The sender could be a compromised account.

•  Use only full domain URLs. Such as http://ungravenimage.com/blog . Although this is not actually a direct link to this post, it works and is safe.

•  If you have the browser FoxFire use it instead of I>R> and immediately download the FREE NoScript app at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722

•  Accessing Twitter on the Web use 3rd party app like TweetDeck or Seesmic Desktop for now Am not sure if this will totally prevent infection but you are less likely to be. Again, avoid profiles, which are a source of the infection.

•  If You’re not using Firefox with NoScript then disable javascript in your browser.{Note—readers are requested to post info in comments to this post as to how to disable javascript in IE, Foxfire, Chrome & all other browsers. TY!]

•  If you use the same password on Twitter that you use for any other accounts change your Twitter password immediately!

•  Check your own Twitter settings to make sure your account has not been compromised. Look to see that your location and the URL listed are correct. If they are not correct you are infected.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE INFECTED

In your browser settings, clear your cache and cookies (Smart to do now even if you are not infected. I did it last night, although you have to reenter many passwords to sites manually as a result.

  1. Turn off javascript in your browser
  2. Reset your Twitter password
  3. Go to your online financial sites and change your passwords and log in names. Do this even if the passwords and names differ from those on Twitter. Best to be fully safe.
  4. Go to Twitter and fix any changes to your profile such as your website’s URl or your location. Check carefully for any changes.
  5. Change any other valuable passwords where you could be vulnerable, such as to your website(s) or other social media sites.
  6. Re-enable javascript and check the Design section of your Twitter profile. If anything has changed, fully delete it . Then replace with your own avatar, colors or background.
  7. Delete any tweets made on your account by anyone but you, especially look for ones that contain the Mikeyy or Mickeyy name or StalkDaily;
  8. Log out of Twitter.
  9. Log in to Twitter using a third party app or Foxfire with NoScript installed to access Twitter on the web.
  10. to make sure there are no changes to your profile colors. If there are, delete these too and replace with whatever colors you want.

Note that no one has yet reported that their financial info has bee breached, credit cars uses, etc., but this is a holiday weekend. If this happens it will not be immediately noticed. So if your information has been compromise by the Mikeyy or StalkDaily worm take action now. Then watch your credit cards and other information carefully for awhile.

MESSAGES TO WATCH FOR:

Reportedly these messages were launched from compromised accounts. If you see one, avoid going to that Twitter account’s profile page – but at this point you should avoid ALL profile pages. Period. Send a reply using cut and paste only. Do not click on avatars or on @ IDs.

•  Any Tweets with word Mikeyy can come from an infected source or ID. This means that even the people sending good info and updates about the worm, virus or attack can be infected—or not. One of the most insidious aspects of a phishing or worm attack on Twitter is that the messages coming from the people we trust may not actually be from them.

•  Be extra careful about messages that report the attack is over. If you see such messages DO NOT click on any link. Instead check out the info at http://twitter.com/mashable and http://blog.twitter.com directly for yourself.

•  Keep a tab open at http://search.twitter.com and check #Mikeyy and #phishing for updates. Keep an eye on the right column’s trending topics. Mikeyy has said another attack will launch to change out Twitter backgrounds. It is quite possible that we can expect more problems.

•  Follow me: http://twitter.com/judyrey I have helped in the prior attacks [See: Life Lessons Learned from the Phishing Attack on Twitter ] I also helped last night [See: Phishing Attack of Stalk Daily Worm on Twitter ]

•  and have stepped in to help in the Twitter Village at other times. I will continue to do my best to help my followers stay safe. If you study the lives of artists like van Gogh, Da Vinci, Picasso, Goya, David, etc. you will note that artists often step in to help or alert their communities through their art, but also by participating. In a way, to me, being a helpful part of my community is a part of my job description and role as an artist.

HOW TO BENEFIT FROM THESE ATTACKS

Mikeyy has fond a great way to reveal some of the very best people to follow? Who better top follow that the people who will watch your back , alert and update you to problems?

Use http://search.twitter.com and enter in pertinent keywords, such as #stalk, #stalkdaily, #mikeyy, #phishing. Then scroll down and back as far as you can. You want to follow the early Twitter people who sounded and helped sound the alarm via RTs, and then kept sending and RTing news and updates to help others. Beware the very Johnny-come-latelys who just tweet at the end of the problem. Discriminate between those asking questions or just chatting and those who are really actively Tweeting to send helpful information. Ye, of course, you will se my ID there, but since you are already reading this at my blog, probably you know about me. Find other great people!

DISCLAIMER

I am not in any way associated with Peter Cashmore, @mashable or any of his work. He is an excellent source for information and any seeming promotion is simply because at the moment he is the very best source of breaking news about the current Twitter problem that we have.

FINAL WORD

If you have more good advice please enter it in a comment to this blog. Always add your @ ID so people can find and follow you!

Please stay safe! Twitter is a wonderful opportunity to make connections. It’s all about relationships! That’s why I follow all followers back.

 

Posted by Posted by judyrey under Filed under Art Theory and Show Reviews Comments 2 Comments »

12th Apr 2009

Phishing Attack of Stalk Daily Worm on Twitter

There is currently a phishing attack happening on Twitter using  the Stalk Daily Worm. It is suspiciously similar to the phishing attacks in January of ‘09. Although the hacker who was also bothering celebrity accounts was apprehended, no one was caught re the two phishing attacks.

I stepped in during the last one, and I’m stepping in now. I am not a Social Media expert, to call me a marketer would send my friends and family into laughing fits, and I am not an IT or any other type of person whose business could benefit from stepping in now. I am an artist and writer. Read and see my work some other time. Right now we have to deal with the phishing. I stepped in during the last phishing attack in January, along with @PawLuxury & we kind of became command central as people reported the news to us & then we Tweeted and it was ReTweeted. [See: Life Lessons Learned from the Phishing Attack on Twitter ]

How it Began is Being Repeated from January ‘09

Last phishing attack began on a Saturday night also. It’s a good night to pick as most of the social media experts, people with large followings, and others that might thwart an attack are not logged in.

Like last time, a seemingly benign site has been promoted for a while. The site currently is promoted as a better alternative to Twitter, where images and more are allowed. It has the words “Stalk” and also the word “Daily” in the URL. I will not give the URL in this blog lest some curious soul clicks it.

How It Works

The last time people were asked for their Twitter password for an app that had to do wit Twitter. I don’t recall the app and it is long gone. This new scheme seems to be viral and manages to get the password. It could get more. We don’t have enough info yet.

Again, like the last time perfectly wonderful, upstanding Twitter members seemed to be sending messages. Last time the messages changes, but all involved a link, which led to a site asking for info. At that point the real Twitter person was denied access to their account as the phishers took it over to spread their messages. I have heard of one case so far where a Twitter member is locked out of their account, suspect another but have no sure verification as I write this.

What seems to happen is that the phishers get into the innocent members account and begin to send out enticing messages about this great new site that is better than Twitter. As much as I like Twitter, it is possible that there could be a better site However, this one being promotes is a scam and viral.

I do have several absolute verifications from members whose accounts have been used to send out the link to the “Stalk” site.

Last time the phishing attack continued into the early hours of Sunday morning EST when it seemed to quiet down. But then it picked up again late Sunday morning. Then it would ebb and flow, as the phishers found new ways to attack. They promised to give away free iPhones, had messages saying” Your photo is featured on this funny site” (something like that and more to entice. Right now if is sounds out of the ordinary, beware!

So far what has been reported is that when anyone clicks on the Stalk —Daily dot com site they worm seems to get into their PC, and send out messages from their Twitter ID about the stalk site. It also changes their profile so the stalk dot com site is the URL included, not the Twitterer’s own home page.

What to Do – and Not Do Now

First do not click on any links that include the word “stalk” or are shortened URLs. If you do not see a full URL with the complete domain name do not use the link. Personally, until the attack is well over I will not use shortened URLs.

Use TweetDeck or Seesmic Desktop [see Mashable at http://mashable.com/2009/04/08/tweetdeck-vs-seesmic-desktop/] as neither can be influenced with the worm.

Follow my example. l will not be clicking on any links leading to sites I am not familiar with, and certainly not any shortened URLs. I also will not post any shortened URLs. It’s a pain, but it means I will stay safe. You stay safe too.

Help others stay safe. Since last time Twitter did not put out a continuing message about the attack, and has not done so now, there is no reason to think they will do it. We are on our own in the Twitter Village . It is up to us to spread the word. Since many people are away as it is Easter eve that means that everyone needs to be Tweeting and RTing the news.

We need to keep spreading the info as new people will be logging on and off and may not catch a Tweet about the problem.

There are reports of even looking at profile pages possibly being able to infect PCs.

Why Phishers Phish

The major reason is to get money. Many people still use the same password for many of their accounts—including credit card and online banking.

We have no idea how destructive this current worm is and how much access to data it is capable of. gaining. Although you may be smart and use many different passwords, others are more trusting or vulnerable. So we need to keep Tweeting to help others stay safe. It’s called do onto others and it is a major holiday season. So, please, Tweet the news and keep Tweeting!

What to Expect Next

I dunno.

That’s the scary part. No one does. It could be jus this one site or it could be more. Last time it was more.

So far I know there were two Twitter ID’s originally involved. Twitter was alerted to one about eleven hours ago and then the second about four hours ago as of the time of this post. Are there others? Odds are yes.

Consider that anyone smart enough to do the coding is pretty smart and can rcreate a good scam. Be safe.

There is no way to be sure that the Stalking Daily worm is only found at one site.

What To Do to Fix Your Problem:

If your Twitter ID is compromise Immediately change your password!

Log back onto Twitter. Send messages out, again and again about what happened & include #phishing and #stalk in them. That helps your own followers who trust you. Hopefully they will not click on that fraudulent Tweet or Tweets.

At #phishing and #stalk you will continue to find the latest updates and news, inclding newest info on how to fix the problem. Plus there are two links below.

More Sources

Below are links to Mashable’s new post plus  two other blogs about the problem that were posted earlier today.

http://mashable.com/2009/04/11/stalkdaily-twitter/

http://aquaculturepda.edublogs.org/2009/04/12/explanation-of-how-my-twitter-account-was-hacked/

http://kodespark.tumblr.com/post/95149076/the-stalkdaily-worm-on-twitter

Final Word

I will update this blog as needed.

Please stay safe & help others do likewise.

Add you experiences & ides in the comments. Please always include your Twitter ID, for example mine is @judyrey so others can find and follow you!

Posted by Posted by judyrey under Filed under Art Theory and Show Reviews Comments 4 Comments »

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