Latest Information Technology and Security News

Yahoo launches multi-media search revamp

2010-09-17T08:53:00.001-07:00

Searches to yield articles, images, videos and tweets all on one page

Khidr Suleman, V3.co.uk 17 Sep 2010

Yahoo has redesigned its core functionality in an attempt to make searches more relevant and visually compelling as the firm tries to claw back market share from Google.

News searches will be more conveniently organised, with videos, images, articles and tweets appearing on a single page, the firm said in a blog post.

Searches for movies, music, artists or celebrities will also yield "richer content results" by combining images, news articles, videos, tweets, events and ratings.

The 'Trending Now' lists across the Yahoo network will be accompanied by slideshows later this year, allowing users to browse pictures from the entire Yahoo network without leaving the search results page.

"With more searches than ever for information-rich topics like music, movies and news, we'll be launching more visually compelling search results that let you discover information and be entertained all on one search result page," said Kaushal Kurapati, director of product management for emerging markets at Yahoo Search, and Caroline Tsay, director of product management at Yahoo Search.

Google unveiled its Instant search feature at the beginning of the month in an effort to make searching faster and more convenient.

Twitter is also rolling out a redesigned site in an effort to make it easier to share multimedia content and provide more information to about tweets.

Permalink: http://www.v3.co.uk/2269966

This article was printed from the V3.co.uk web site

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Facebook Places launches amid continued privacy concerns

2010-09-17T08:51:00.000-07:00

Geo-location tool allows users to 'check-in' each other

Phil Muncaster, V3.co.uk 17 Sep 2010

Facebook launched its Places geo-location feature in the UK today, but the social networking site is still fighting off criticism related to privacy concerns.

The company has made the functionality accessible to UK users via the Facebook iPhone application and on touch.facebook.com after the US launch last month.

Facebook Places essentially allows users to instantly log where they are via GPS, and display the results on Facebook in a manner very similar to Foursquare.

People using the Places application are also asked to tag any 'friends' that may be at the same location, as with Facebook Photo.

However, privacy concerns persist over the default settings associated with the new tool.

Rik Ferguson, senior security advisor at Trend Micro, noted that it is possible for people to tag friends in their own check-ins, meaning that an individual could be 'checked-in' without their consent.

Users can prevent this by altering their privacy settings, and are notified after the effect with the option to remove the tag. However, the default settings appear to enable checking in by friends, and represent a "risk to individual privacy", according to Ferguson.

"If Facebook persists in allowing check-ins by third parties it needs to ensure that the information is not made public until it has been agreed to by all people identified," he said.

"Otherwise it means that anyone with an interest in the location of their friends, colleagues, partners even ex-partners simply needs to become a friend of a friend, or just frequent the same places, and Facebook will do all the espionage for them."

The concerns echo those made by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California when the tool was launched in the US last month.

"Facebook makes it very easy to say 'yes' to allowing your friends to check in for you. But when it comes to opting out of that feature, you are only given a 'not now' option. 'No' isn't one of the easy options," said a statement from the organisation.

"And if you use Places yourself, you aren't even given a 'not now', you're just told that friends are able to check-in for you and left to discover for yourself that you can change this setting by digging into your privacy controls. "

Facebook released a video soon after the US launch of Places designed to teach people how to change their privacy settings to avoid being checked in by others. First time users also receive an alert asking whether they would like to be checked in.

Permalink: http://www.v3.co.uk/2269977

VMware rumoured to buy Novell's Suse

2010-09-17T08:43:00.000-07:00

Virtualisation firm said to be keen to broaden its enterprise stack

Daniel Robinson, V3.co.uk 17 Sep 2010

Novell is in discussions to sell off its Suse Linux division to VMware, according to various reports on the web.

The rumours indicate that Novell is attempting to sell various parts of its business, including its Suse Linux subsidiary, which the company acquired in 2003.

Various sources, including The Wall Street Journal, claim to have confirmation that VMware is to be the buyer.

Neither company would comment on the story when contacted by V3.co.uk.

VMware is said to be interested in the acquisition in order to widen its product portfolio to offer a complete software stack, and better compete against rivals such as Red Hat and Microsoft.

Although VMware is currently the market leader in virtualisation, Red Hat in particular has been touting its portfolio as offering a complete enterprise stack for customers, especially those planning for cloud computing.

VMware and Novell already have a partnership for development and support of ready-made virtual appliances based on Suse Linux to run on VMware infrastructure, so bringing Suse in-house would appear to make sense.

Other commentators have speculated that VMware could gain from acquiring the Unix intellectual property rights that Novell still owns, especially if it came to patent battles with rivals.

Permalink: http://www.v3.co.uk/2269975

Opera posts security update for Apple and Windows

2010-05-02T09:19:00.000-07:00

Opera Software has released an update for its namesake web browser.

The company said that the 10.53 update would address security vulnerabilities in both the Mac and Windows version of the browser.

Opera said that the update would address a vulnerability which the company classifies as "extremely severe."

The company said that the vulnerability lies within a script that handles document files. An attacker could potentially modify a file to make multiple calls to the vulnerable component and cause an application crash. From there, a targeted system would be vulnerable to remote code execution.

Users of both the MacOS X and Windows versions of the browser are being advised to install the update. Other versions of Operawere not listed as vulnerable to attack.

The update comes as Opera is seeking to expand the reach of its browser business. The company has in recent weeks released an iPhone version of the browser and in March an updated version of Opera for the Android smartphone platform was debuted.

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Twitter reveals app for Android mobile phones

2010-05-02T09:17:00.000-07:00

Twitter has revealed a client for Android mobile phones that it developed with Google.

The application, which was first promised by Twitter at its first annual conference Chirp a couple of weeks ago, will only be applicable to phones running Android 2.1 and above, such as the Droid, Desire, Incredible and Nexus One.

Head of Twitter’s mobile user experience design team, Leland Rechis, described the application in the firm’s official blog as easy to use, and said it will offer users deep integration with Android mobile phones.

“Sharing any link or photo is super simple too – just look for the share button in your favourite application and choose Twitter,” he said.

“Reading tweets is easy in a bunch of places on your phone. Quickly access your timeline with the home screen widget, view a tweet location on a map, and see your friend’s latest tweet in your phonebook, GoogleTalk list or any application that uses Android’s QuickContact bar.”

Rechis joined Twitter last year after working on Android user experience design at Google for four years, according to his LinkedIn profile details.

Rechis said the Google Android team will open source the code used in the application in the near future.

“We look forward to the amazing experiences developers will create using Twitter APIs in their upcoming Android apps,” he said.

Twitter has recently started producing its own applications for mobile phones, rather than relying on third-party developers to do the work. For example, Twitter launched an official application for the BlackBerry under a month ago. The company has also bought Tweetie, the most popular Twitter client for the iPhone.

The strategy coincides with statements made by Twitter investor Fred Wilson, principal of Union Square Ventures, who said third-party developers focused on the Twitter platform should consider more radical innovation, and the creation of "killer apps", rather than filling holes in the Twitter product.

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Blackhat SEO Techniques Could Lead To Scareware infections

2010-04-22T09:42:00.000-07:00

Cyber criminals quick to pounce on McAfee crash story

Security experts are warning users searching for information on the breaking McAfee systems crash story to beware of malicious links in search results that could contain scareware.

Security giant McAfee caused widespread concern among users after it revealed that a problem with its anti-virus product caused some Windows XP systems to crash.

However, cyber criminals have been first to react to the incident, by using blackhat search engine optimisation techniques to ensure that their malicious web pages are returned first in a search for information on the incident.

Many of these will infect the user with malicious software designed to trick them into thinking they are infected and then paying a fee for 'anti-virus software' to alleviate the problem.

"These poisoned pages are appearing on the very first page of search engine results, making it likely that many will click on them,"

said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

"If you visit the links you may see pop-up warnings telling you about security issues with your computer. These warnings are fake and designed to trick you into downloading dangerous software, which could result in hackers gaining control of your corporate computers or the theft of your credit card details."

Rik Ferguson, senior security advisor at Trend Micro, said that he is not surprised that the news had been hijacked by cyber criminals.

"Unfortunately this is an ongoing trend, and we see it related to any newsworthy event,"

he said.

"People cannot afford to blindly trust the results offered by search engines, as abusing search trends has now become one of online crime's primary infection vectors."

ReadFullStory>>>>>>

Google using speed to rank search results

2010-04-11T00:06:00.000-07:00

Google is now using site speed as a consideration when ranking sites in its search results, giving webmasters yet more food for thought.

In a blog post yesterday, Google fellow Amit Singhal and principal engineer Matt Cutts revealed the news, arguing that speeding up the response times of your site is important for both site owners and users.

“Faster sites create happy users and we've seen in our internal studies that when a site responds slowly, visitors spend less time there,”

they wrote.

“But faster sites don't just improve user experience; recent data shows that improving site speed also reduces operating costs. Like us, our users place a lot of value in speed — that's why we've decided to take site speed into account in our search rankings.”

Singhal and Cutts recommended several tools webmasters can use to evaluate the speed of their sites. These include open source Firefox/Firebug add-on Page Speed, Yahoo tool YSlow, and a Google function in its Webmaster Tools section.

However, the web giant did concede that site speed will not be taken into consideration as much as, say, relevance, when evaluating the search rankings of a particular site.

“Currently, fewer than 1 per cent of search queries are affected by the site speed signal in our implementation and the signal for site speed only applies for visitors searching in English on Google.com at this point,”

noted the blog post.

“We launched this change a few weeks back after rigorous testing. If you haven't seen much change to your site rankings, then this site speed change possibly did not impact your site.”

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Twice in two week Glitch diverts net traffic through Chinese ISP

2010-04-10T01:53:00.000-07:00

Internet service providers in China briefly tainted network routing tables on Thursday, marking the second time in two weeks operators in that country have done so, IDG news reports.

The bad networking information originated from IDC China Telecommunication and was soon retransmitted by China's state-owned China Telecommunications. ISPs including AT&T, Level3, Deutsche Telekom, Qwest Communications and Telefonica soon incorporated the data into their tables as well, IDG said.

As a result, routing information for 32,000 to 37,000 networks was affected, potentially causing them to be redirected through IDC China instead of their path. Some 8,000 of the networks were located in the US, including those operated by Dell, Apple, CNN, and Starbucks. Networks in Australia, China and elsewhere were also affected.

The incident comes two weeks after a similar networking anomaly caused people in Chile to be redirected to Chinese networks, potentially blocking websites such as Facebook and YouTube, which are banned in that country.

The snafu underscores the fragility of the Border Gateway Protocol, which is used to route traffic over the internet. The core net underpinning remains susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks that can divert traffic to impostor networks.

At the 2008 Defcon hacker conference in Las Vegas, researchers demonstrated a BGP attack that allowed them to redirect traffic bound for the conference network to a system they controlled in New York. Also in 2008, large chunks of the internet lost access to YouTube when BGP tables inside Pakistan spread to other countries.

It's unclear how widely felt Thursday's incident was outside of Asia, IDG said. Routers frequently subscribe to several BGP routes and follow the shortest path. That means networks physically located in the US, Europe and elsewhere may have ignored the tables that traveled through China.

Twitter leaks details of major redesign

2010-04-09T09:41:00.000-07:00

Twitter has released statistics which it claims prove the site is a "global information network", as it prepares for a radical overhaul.

Matt Sanford, lead engineer for Twitter's international team, said in a blog post that over 60 per cent of new Twitter users have come from outside the US since the beginning of September.

The news follows Twitter creative director Doug Bowman's leaking of a screenshot of the new design for the site, in which user profiles show more information, such as when they joined and how many tweets they post a day.

Fred Wilson, principal of Union Square Ventures, which has invested in Twitter, has published a blog post indicating that the micro-blogging site could be about to undergo a major change.

Wilson said that third-party developers focused on the Twitter platform may have to consider more radical innovation, and the creation of "killer apps".

Wilson sits on Twitter's board of directors, and his views are likely to hold some weight. Twitter platform developer Doug Williams tweeted that Wilson's blog post was "incredibly timely", and that "all Twitter developers should read it".

"Much of the early work on the Twitter platform has been filling holes in the Twitter product. Mobile clients come to mind. Photo sharing services come to mind. URL shorteners come to mind. Search comes to mind,"

Wilson said.

"Twitter really should have had all of that when it launched, or it should have built those services right into the Twitter experience."

Williams warned that the time for developing applications that fill holes in Twitter's platform had passed, and that developers should now focus on areas such as social gaming, analytics and discovery.

He also encouraged developers to focus on applications for vertical markets, like the Stockwits application for finance, and for enterprise use.

ReadFullStory>>>>>>

iPad hardware weighs in at $259, say analysts

2010-04-07T20:33:00.000-07:00

Analyst's teardown lauds "game changing" design

Industry analysts praised the internal design of Apple's iPad in the first major "teardown" reports on the device.

Research firm iSuppli took the iPad apart and found the hardware components and manufacturing costs for each 16GB Wi-Fi iPad added up to around $259.60 per unit. The cost for the 3G-enabled iPad, expected to be released later this month, would be higher due to the additional components.

The most expensive hardware on the iPad is the display. The company estimated that the screen and touch-sensing hard interface for the device costs come $109.50, roughly 44 per cent of the total cost of the device.

Meanwhile the casing for the iPad was estimated to cost $32.50, while the lithium ion battery was pegged at $21. The NAND flash memory for the iPad was also cited as major portion of the costs with its estimated $29.50 price tag.

The 16GB Wi-Fi iPad currently retails for $499 in the US. International release is tentatively scheduled for the end of April.

The firm said that the Apple tablet delivered a "game changing" design in the way it was constructed.

"The iPad’s design represents a new paradigm in terms of electronics cost structure and electronic content,"

said iSuppli principal analyst and teardown services manager Andrew Rassweiler.

The analyst explained that rather than start by designing a motherboard system to power the device and adding on peripherals such as touch screen or displays, the company used the screen and interface as the basis for the design and tailored the computing components to work with those systems.

"Everything is human-machine-interface-centric, with the printed circuit board and integrated circuits all there to facilitate the display of content as well as user inputs,"

he said.

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Shadow Network busted Spies caught plundering secret Indian docs

2010-04-07T01:05:00.000-07:00

An espionage gang that infiltrated Indian government computer networks across the globe has been pilfering highly classified documents related to missile systems, national security assessments and the United Nations, according to researchers who tracked the intruders for eight months.

The gang, dubbed the Shadow Network, was monitored by researchers from the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto and the SecDev Group. With assistance from colleagues at the Shadowserver Foundation, the white hat hackers watched the spies as they systematically compromised computers in government offices on multiple continents.

Shadow Network members also infiltrated the systems of Indian embassies in Kabul, Moscow and Dubai, India's Military Engineer Services, and several private companies. Reports they grabbed were frequently stamped with "Secret," "Restricted," and "Confidential" notices. The plundered documents also included a year's worth of personal email from the Dalai Lama.

The researchers are the same ones who last year discovered another stealthy spy ring dubbed Ghostnet. That group also stole documents from the Dalai Lama and from governments and corporations in more than 103 countries.

It was while following Ghostnet that the researchers stumbled onto the Shadow Network, which is believed to be a separate operation. By gaining access to the control servers Shadow Network spies used, the researchers were able to observe the theft of vast amounts of Indian government documents.

To conceal their tracks and to build redundancy into their operation, the spies configured their control servers to work with a wide range of free internet services, including Twitter, Google Groups, Baidu Blogs, and Yahoo Mail. The free services allowed the attackers to maintain control of compromised computers even if they lost contact with the command and control servers, the researchers said.

Following a trail of digital breadcrumbs, the researchers traced the attackers to China's Sichuan Province, though they noted it's hard to say conclusively that's where the individuals were located. Chinese government officials strongly denied the government was behind the attacks.

Members of the Shadowserver Foundation said they have already reported Shadow Network operations to China's National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team and called on the Chinese government to shutter the spy network.

The researchers' report, titled Shadows in the Cloud: An investigation Into Cyberespionage 2.0, is available here and there are additional details from The New York Times here.

ReadFullStory>>>>>>

PDF security hole opens can of worms

2010-04-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

The security perils of PDF files have been further highlighted by new research illustrating how a manipulated file might be used to infect other PDF files on a system.

Jeremy Conway, an application security researcher at NitroSecurity, said the attack scenario he has discovered shows PDFs are "wormable". Computer viruses are capable, by definition, of overwriting other files to spread. Conway's research is chiefly notable for illustrating how a benign PDF file might become infected using features supported by PDF specification, not a software vulnerability as such, and without the use of external binaries or JavaScript.

The "wormable PDF" research comes days after another security researcher, Didier Stevens, showed how it was possible to both embed malicious executables in PDFs and manipulate pop-up dialog boxes to trick victims into running a malicious payload. Both Adobe and FoxIT are working on a fix against the security shortcomings in their respective PDF viewing packages illustrated by the research.

Conway, who last week published an advisory and proof of concept video demo on wormable PDFs, said he was inspired to hunt for related vulnerabilities in the PDF specification by Stevens' research. A fix capable of blocking the security loophole discovered by Stevens ought to also prevent the possibility of 'worming' PDFs.

"If the vendors figure out a method to prevent Didier’s example this same fix will stop this proof of concept as well," Conway writes.

A follow-up blog post by Conway explains the implications of the security shortcomings of PDF files in greater depth.

"I chose to infect the benign PDF with another, and launch a hack that redirected a user to my website, but this could have just as easily been an exploit pack and or embedded Trojan binary,"

Conway explains.

"Worse yet this dynamic infection vector could be utilised to populate all PDFs for some new O-day attack, thereby multiplying an attackers infection vehicles while still exploiting user systems ('worm-able')."

An informative blog post by Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at net security firm F-Secure, explains how all sorts of unexpected content is supported by the PDF specification.

Media files, JavaScript and forms that upload data a user inputs to an external web server are all supported by the PDF specification in addition to embedded executables. These little-known features go a long way towards explaining both why PDF applications such as Adobe Reader takes ages to load and why the file format has become such a firm favorite with hackers over the last year or so, Hypponen notes.

ReadFullStory>>>>>>

China implicated in another major hacking attack

2010-04-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

Security researchers in Canada have uncovered a new targeted malware network controlled by servers in China which has compromised computer systems in the Office of the Dalai Lama, Indian government, business and academic organisations and even the United Nations.

University of Toronto researcher Nart Villeneuve highlighted the main findings of the new Shadows in the Cloud report, revealing a "complex and tiered command-and-control infrastructure".

"The attackers misused a variety of services, including Twitter, Google Groups, Blogspot, Baidu Blogs, blog.com and Yahoo Mail, in order to maintain persistent control over the compromised computers,"

he said in a blog post yesterday.

"This top layer directed compromised computers to accounts on free web hosting services, and as the free hosting servers were disabled, to a stable core of command-and-control servers located in China."

Any concrete link with the Chinese authorities is unproven, but the report has managed to link the network with two individuals living in Chengdu and to the underground hacking community in China.

The report, which was compiled by Shadowserver Foundation and the Information Warfare Monitor, also claimed that the network had been involved in stealing countless documents marked 'secret' or 'confidential', and that over 1,500 letters sent from the Dalai Lama's office last year had been compromised.

"The nature of the data stolen by the attackers does indicate correlations with the strategic interests of the Chinese state. But we were unable to determine any direct connection between these attackers and elements of the Chinese state," wrote Villeneuve.

"However, it would not be implausible to suggest that the stolen data may have ended up in the possession of some entity of the Chinese government."

The new attack network bears several similarities to the GhostNet system uncovered by the same team of researchers about a year ago which heavily implicated China in cyber snooping activities.

The Chinese government is reported to have issued a stock denial of any such activities, claiming that they had been "stirred up" to cause trouble.

"We resolutely oppose all forms of cyber crime including hacking," China foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu is reported to have told a press conference.

ReadFullStory>>>>>>

iPhone 4.0 to be introduced this week

2010-04-06T02:04:00.000-07:00

Apple is reportedly planning to outline the features for its next iPhone OS build this week.

The company has begun informing media outlets that it will be holding a special event on its campus Thursday 8 April to introduce the iPhone 4.0 firmware.

Little information was given about the new OS or what features it will introduce, but early rumours have suggested that the update could allow multi-tasking, a feature which would allow more than one application to run on the handset.

While the iPhone hardware is capable of multi-tasking, the feature is currently only accessible through 'jailbreaking,' a process of removing security protections that Apple has repeatedly advised against. Such modified handsets commonly have trouble with firmware updates.

The late winter to early spring period is commonly when Apple prefers to unveil its hardware and software updates for the iPhone, The new products are then released to the public later in the summer.

The news comes just days after the company delivered what many consider to be the biggest product release since the original iPhone. Apple said that in its first day of availability, the new iPad tablet delivered some 300,000 units.

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iPad jailbroken in less than a day

2010-04-06T01:45:00.000-07:00

Apple's iPad is selling well but hackers have been busy and the iPad has already been jailbroken, according to postings online.

Yesterday Twitter user MuscleNerd posted a video and picture of what appears to be a jailbroken iPad, credited to hacker Comex. Comex is a member of the iPhone Dev team, who have also said that a jailbreak is possible but have yet to release it.

Both attacks appear to depend on the use of a variant of the Spirit application that is used to crack iPhones.

Apple is playing a continuing game of cat and mouse with those who seek to use their own software on the devices. In the past updates have rendered devices useless and it bans some users from its App Store.

ReadFullStory>>>>>>

Microsoft cuts 'Series' lump from Windows Phone 7

2010-04-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

It's just two months old, but Microsoft has already renamed its next operating system for Windows phones.

Microsoft's dropped the "Series" from the Windows Phone 7 Series - now the software will simply be called Windows Phone 7, according to a Microsoft team Tweet, below.

The Tweet gave no explanation why Microsoft is dumping the clumsy appendage, but David Webster, chief strategy officer in the company's central marketing group, did try to explain to TechFlash the thinking for inserting "Series" into an otherwise perfectly acceptable name in the first place.

Windows Phone is an OS, it's not a phone. The idea was that we needed a handle to refer to the devices that ran Windows Phone 7 - the family, in essence. Now, in a lot of the coverage and a lot of the usage cases, that context, I think, got lost. People got to thinking that the software was Windows Phone 7 Series, when really that was just an effort to refer to the devices that would be running Windows Phone 7.

No doubt the word "Series" made sense in some meeting of marketing drones who justify their existence on the value attached to the position of a comma in a sentence, or how people "connect" with a brand.

That's the kind of thinking at Microsoft that has, over the years, given us MSN versus Windows Live, and .NET on everything then .NET on just some things.

Here's to you Microsoft: keep sweating the message.

ReadFullStory>>>>>>

New Gmail launches for the iPad

2010-04-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

Google has announced an enhanced version of its popular email client Gmail designed for the iPad.

In a blog posting, engineering manager Alex Nicolaou argued that Google’s work to optimise Gmail for touchscreen devices began when the first iPhones and Android handsets came onto the market.

He explained that this new version would take advantage of the iPad’s large touchscreen and tablet form factor to include “an experimental two-pane user interface”.

The new interface will feature a user’s conversations down the left hand side and messages in the right column, he added.

“All the features of the Gmail web app that you're used to, such as offline access and aggressive caching to reduce latency, are present in the iPad version,” Nicolaou explained.

“Tablet devices are still very new, so expect changes as we continue to optimise for this new format.”

The iPad was finally launched to great fanfare in the US on Saturday, with a UK release date expected by the end of the month.

Although it is being marketed, as the iPhone was originally, as primarily a consumer device, its enterprise credentials have been given a boost by the launch of a couple of new Citrix apps.

The latest research seems to indicate Apple could be on to yet another winner after its success with the iPhone. A new survey from price comparison site Kelkoo UK last week found that 40 per cent of consumers are ready to ditch their laptops for a tablet PC like the iPad.

ReadFullStory>>>>>>

A week in security: Apple and Microsoft patch numerous flaws

2010-04-04T08:53:00.000-07:00

A week in security: Apple and Microsoft patch numerous flaws

It was a busy week this week for both Apple and Microsoft, after the two tech giants were forced to patch critical flaws in their products, while Google’s spat with China continued and social networks were found wanting once again.

First, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer product was found wanting again, with the firm forced to issue an out-of-cycle patch for IE6 and IE7, the second time this year Redmond has had to release a patch outside its regular schedule.

"The out-of-band security bulletin is a cumulative security update for IE and will also contain fixes for privately reported vulnerabilities rated 'critical' on all versions of IE that are not related to this attack,"

said the company.

On the same day, Apple issued major security updates for Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) and Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard), as well as additional performance and stability updates for Snow Leopard. The security update includes 69 fixes for various components in Leopard and Snow Leopard, including nine vulnerabilities in QuickTime and four in the ImageIO component.

There was more trouble for Google this week as the tit for tat battle between the web giant and the Chinese government continued.

It emerged early in the week that some of Google’s mobile services were being blocked by China, while a senior Google security researcher argued that the attacks it suffered in January originating in the region represented a much wider threat to the internet.

ReadFullStory>>>>>>

Download Free Need For Speed 4 - High Stakes

2010-03-28T06:57:00.000-07:00

Download Free Need For Speed 4 - High Stakes

Need for Speed: High Stakes (also known asNeed For Speed: Road Challenge in Europe and Brazil) is a 1999 racing video game, developed by Electronic Arts Canada and published by Electronic Arts. It is part of the Need for Speed series, once again featuring a host of exotic sport cars and tracks located in Western Europe and North America.

Career Mode has a chronological set of tournaments that challenges the player to complete a set of 8-car races for trophies to unlock bonus cars and tracks, incorporating a monetary reward system that allows a player to purchase vehicles, performance upgrades as well as repairs while earning cash by racing. In addition, each cup tournament requires that the player compete against one opponent in a "High Stakes" race (only in the PC version, and only after the first tournament). There are more tournaments on the PC version, and they are different from the console one - for example, the PS version separates the Career into two separate modes, Tournament and Special Event.

High Stakes Mode

High Stakes race is a challenge, wherein the winner of the race will obtain the loser's car, while the loser obviously loses his car. On Playstation it is a separate 2-Player mode, which required 2 memory cards inserted and deleted the loser's car immediately after the race to prevent re-loading.

Hot Pursuit Mode,Classic,Getaway,Time racing.

Click Here To DOWNLOAD

Download Free Sony Sound Forge Pro 10.0 + Keygen

2010-03-28T06:46:00.000-07:00

Download Free Sony Sound Forge Pro 10.0 + Keygen

Sony Sound Forge Pro software efficiently and reliably provides audio editors and producers complete control over all aspects of audio editing and mastering. Whether in the studio or field, it's the ultimate all-in-one production suite for professional audio recording and mastering, sound design, audio restoration, and Red Book CD creation. New features in Sound Forge Pro 10 include precise event-based editing, integrated disc-at-once CD burning, musical instrument file processing, and pristine audio conversion and time stretching.

Basic guidelines for anyone having issues:

1. Download and Install Sound Forge.

2. Open the key gen and make sure to "Run as Administrator" otherwise patching fails.

3. Select Sound Forge 10 from the list and click on the patch button

4. Locate the directory where you installed Sound Forge, probable in /program file(x86)/sony/sound forge 10/

5. Patch it.

6. Click generate button and copy the serial number.

7. Run Sound Forge for the first time, it will ask for serial, paste it in.

8. Click next until you see 'register from another computer', select that option, then save the htm file somewhere, click next until it asks for 'activation code'

9. Copy the activation code that was generated along with your serial number. Copy and paste.

10.Click Finish and it should work! Well it did for me at least, finally Good luck!

Click Here To Download

Download Free Ashampoo ClipFisher 1.21

2010-03-27T09:01:00.000-07:00

Download Free Ashampoo ClipFisher 1.21

Download, Edit, Play and Convert Videos from YouTube, MyVideo, GoogleVideo, Metacafe, sevenload, MySpace, VideU and ClipFish!

Thousands of videos have been made available via applicable online portals such as YouTube, VideU, MyVideo, ClipFish and GoogleVideo. They offer amusing fun videos, film trailers, snippets of cult movies and serious documentations. However, on the Net there is frequently a view-only policy – download not possible.

This has now been changed by the Ashampoo ClipFisher. All you need to do is to copy a video’s current http:// address from the web browser and paste it into Ashampoo ClipFisher: immediately, the cunning tool will be flexing its download muscles and starting to transfer the film to your hard drive. In this way, compiling your own little (or big, for that matter) video library is no problem at all.

Highlights:

Transfers videos from YouTube, MyVideo, ClipFish, Metacafe, sevenload, VideU, MySpace and GoogleVideo

Saves online videos in Flash format (FLV)

Converts films to WMV format

Breaks down excessive-sized videos by splitting them into smaller units

Adjusts the videos’ size and quality to your individual requirements

Auto-aspect ratio maintains the correct proportions

All settings may be fine-tuned manually

Integrated player plays all videos straight away

Click Here To DOWNLOAD

Download Free Modeling Autodesk 3ds Max 2010

2010-03-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

Download Free Modeling Autodesk 3ds Max 2010

The world's most widely used professional 3D modeling software.

Create rich and complex design visualization. Generate realistic characters for a top-selling game. Bring 3D effects to the big screen.

Autodesk 3ds Max supports 3D modeling, animation, and rendering software helps design visualization professionals, game developers, and visual effects artists maximize their productivity by streamlining the process of working with complex scenes.

Viewing and Handling of Large, Complex Scenes

3ds Max software delivers new viewport technology and optimizations that result in vastly improved interactivity of even the largest, most complex scenes. Common tasks and operations-selection, material assignment, transform, grouping, cloning, and many more-are now significantly faster, making 3ds Max the most streamlined version of the software ever. Plus, a new Scene Explorer makes managing large scenes-and interacting with hundreds or even thousands of objects-far more intuitive.

Review Rendering

Produce stunning photo-real imagery, faster. With the release of 3ds Max, Autodesk unveils Review. This powerful new toolset supports iterative rendering workflows by delivering interactive previewing of shadows, the 3ds Max sun/sky environment, and mental ray Architectural and Design material settings. Based on the latest game engine technology, Review gives you the instant visual feedback you need to iterate rapidly.

Support for Complex Pipelines and Workflows

Quickly extend 3ds Max or streamline multi-application workflows. The new MAXScript ProEditor provides you with an intuitive interface for working with MAXScript that will streamline the scripting workflow, making it easier to author scripts that automate and customize 3ds Max. Deeper support for the DWG and FBX file formats results in faster, more accurate importing of data from other popular Autodesk applications; plus, new features facilitate working with this imported data.

Artist-Friendly Modeling

Enjoy a less menu-dependent modeling experience. 3ds Max gives you a more streamlined, artist-friendly modeling workflow through a collection of hands-on modeling UI options that let you focus more on the creative process.

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Download Free Avira Antivirus Professional

2010-03-24T00:10:00.000-07:00

Download Free Avira Antivirus Professional

Virus protection for PCs – secure and efficient

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Fast, resource-saving scanning technology which reduces the load on servers and networks existing systems can therefore be used for a longer time
Transparent licensing designed to meet requirements without hidden costs
Free platform change to new or alternative operating systems

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Download Free Avast Pro Antivirus 4.8.1296.0

2010-03-21T01:37:00.000-07:00

Download Free Avast Pro Antivirus 4.8.1296.0

Avast 4 Professional Edition is a complete ICSA & Checkmark certified antivirus, Checkmark certified anti-spyware & anti-rootkit software package for corporate and advanced home use. avast Professional Edition includes an on demand scanner with two user interfaces, a skinnable simple interface: just select what you want to scan and in which way and press the play button, an enhanced user interface: Outlook like UI allows users to set any feature of Avast, prepare and run tasks, store and check task results, on access scanner: special providers to protect: most available e-mail clients, instant messaging: ICQ or Miranda, network traffic: lightweight firewall, P2P protection for Kazaa, BitTorrent, Web shield: all HTTP traffic, script blocker. avast Professional Edition is available in 32 languages. Small, true incremental, updates are downloaded and installed automatically.

* avast! now contains a built-in anti-rootkit protection
* avast! now comes with a built-in anti-spyware protection* new self-defense function to prevent active malware from terminating avast! processes as well as corrupting avast! files and registry items
* scanners now display a progress of current scan (percentage of work done)
* fixed a vulnerability in AavmKer4.sys kernel-mode driver (problem applies to Windows NT/2000/XP, 32-bit only); special thanks to Tobias Klein* improvements in boot-time scanner (detection & removal of hidden or hard to delete files)
* boot-time scanner will not start when booting into Safe Mode (the program was "invisible" in that case, no progress/messages could be seen)
* improvements in many unpackers
* ACE and RAR unpackers now work even in boot-time scanner
* IM Shield: added support for QQ
* improvements in handling of NTFS streams* Internet Mail provider now displays the name of the sending/receiving program in the tooltip of its taskbar icon
* implemented a protection against false positives in critical system files
* removed a small memory leak in one of avast! drivers (Windows Vista and XP 64-bit only)* added support for 64-bit WHS connector (available in WHS Power Pack 1)
* greatly improved performance of the updater, especially in cases where many increments are being downloaded (e.g. avast! installations with outdated virus definitions)* silent installation now also includes scheduled tasks, if any
* resolved a compatibility issue with Acronis TrueImage (XP 64-bit only)
* compatibility tests with Vista SP1 and XP SP3

Windows Phone 7: Microsoft's exercise in self restraint

2010-03-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

Mix10 The key difference between Windows Phone 7 and Windows Mobile is not Silverlight, the Windows Marketplace lock-in, nor the disallowing of native-code applications.

Rather, Windows Phone 7 is Microsoft's best effort at creating a user-centric device, something that is actually a pleasure to use. Its existence has everything to do with Apple and the way it has stolen Microsoft's market - in music downloads, in high-end laptops, soon in tablet computers, and of course in smartphones themselves.And why has Apple succeeded? As Microsoft Research principal researcher Bill Buxton told The Reg three years ago, two words: industrial design. His mission in joining the company was to reform it into one that understood the importance of user experience.

It does not come easy. Intellectually, Microsoft gets this message, but its culture and legacy is against it. The company's annual Mix conference held last week in Las Vegas, Nevada, is meant to be design-focused, but there was just as much developer content, such as detailed sessions on the OData protocol. Some attendees complained that it was too much like the Professional Developers Conference held four months earlier. Adobe has a design community, Microsoft has a developer community - and a transition is hard to pull off.

Further, Microsoft has a problem with its core software products such as Office. There is no more hope of Outlook becoming user-centric than there was for the old Windows Mobile. It does not need a dollop of Office Ribbon, it needs complete reconstruction.

Microsoft's dependency on OEM partners, the engine of its growth, also works against its design efforts. I was reminded of this recently when starting a Windows 7 Toshiba Netbook for the first time, fresh out of its box. Windows 7 is meant to be quieter, but the screen soon filled with ugly dialogs competing for attention, mostly from third-parties. It's this kind of thing that drives users to the Mac.

Lip service to innovation

Here's what Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said during the February press launch for Windows Phone 7: "We want to lead and take complete accountability for the end user experience ... have more consistency in the hardware platform, more consistency in the user experience, but still enable [partner] innovation."

"Partner innovation" is generally a disaster for Microsoft.

Ballmer makes a nod towards it as a matter of good public relations, but by locking down both hardware and software, the company is trying to minimize the extent to which OEMs can spoil the design effort.
During Mix10 last week I asked Buxton what influence he had on the design of Windows Phone 7. He said it was mostly the work of others, but it does show the ascendancy of design at Microsoft. "We kinda changed the water that we drink, in the sense that all through the design community within the company we talk, and we have a common goal in terms of trying to bring a certain change of sensibility," he said.

"For me it's not even about the phone, but what's interesting is that it's the first product in the company with critical mass that's embraced this ... it will have an impact on other parts of the company."

Whether or not he was directly involved, Windows Phone 7 does seem to embody many of Buxton's principles, such as the attention given to transitions between states, with attractive flowing animations. "If you don't have as much detail in the transition as you do in the state, you're going to get it wrong," Buxton said at Mix09.

The priority of design is one reason for the limited features in this release, and for that Microsoft is taking heat from developers. No native code, no multi-tasking, no socket support, no local SQL, no communication between applications - the list goes on. Such features may be opened up gradually in future versions, but only if resource usage and user control are protected.

If users love the phone, these limitations will be forgiven. Microsoft is coming from behind though, and rivals including Apple and makers of Android phones will not be standing still while the company tries to catch up.

Source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/20/windows_phone_7_design/

Royal Navy launches iPhone app

2010-03-20T20:30:00.000-07:00

The Royal Navy has become the latest venerable institution to enter the brave new world of Web 2.0 in an attempt to haul itself into the 21st century and attract new members.

The oldest of the Armed Forces demonstrated a variety of interactive technologies at careers fair Jobserve Live held in London this week, including a new iPhone and Facebook application designed to attract and challenge potential recruits.

The application sets a series of challenges which simulate real life situations encountered by Royal Navy Engineer Officers.

Various training exercises and tasks are bundled into five interactive ‘missions’ requiring quick thinking and decision making. Tasks include engine maintenance, preparing for a simulated missile attack or re-wiring radar systems, according to the Royal Navy.

Mike Davis-Marks, Captain Naval Recruiting, said the Royal Navy and Royal Marines are looking for potential recruits who feel that they need a new challenge.

“Launching the iPhone is very exciting for both serving officers and prospective recruits as it is an interactive challenge which is a cut above other recruiting methods,”

he added.

“The app contains the career and benefits campaign messages as well as a link back to the Royal Navy careers website, providing a clear call to action for those interested in joining.”

The Royal Navy is the first of the Armed Forces to exploit the potential of the iPhone, although the US army has an iPhone app.

Source:http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2259871/royal-navy-launches-iphone-app

Google Street View under fire again

2010-03-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

Google’s controversial Street View service has been in trouble once again, following the nationwide roll out of the technology a fortnight ago.

The system lets users of Google Maps switch from the traditional birds-eye view to a 360-degree street level view of towns and cities photographed by Google's car-top cameras, with approximately 210,000 miles added to the service with the latest update.

However, according to widespread reports the web giant has been hit by yet more complaints, after its cameras were found to have captured the image of murdered teenager Ashleigh Hall standing outside her home just weeks before she died.

The incident raises yet more questions about the service because even though Hall’s face was blurred out as per Google’s usual privacy policy, she was still identifiable and the image therefore branded “an invasion of our privacy” by the family.

The web giant took down the image when notified but the incident will still be yet another piece of unwanted bad publicity. It has also been criticised this week for identifying the entrance to the secret headquarters of the SAS, which has never appeared before on maps for security reasons, according to reports.

Paul Keetch, MP for the area in which the base is located, is reported as branding Google ‘irresponsible’ and possibly aiding terrorists. However, the web giant has said it will not take the images down in this case.

''Google only takes images from public roads and this is no different to what anyone could see travelling down the road themselves, therefore there is no appreciable security risk,”

read a Google statement.

Source:http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2259870/google-street-view-under-fire

Download Updated ESET NOD32 Serial Keys (2010-3-14)

2010-03-20T07:37:00.000-07:00

Download Updated ESET NOD32 Serial Keys

ESET Smart Security 4 keeps your PC safe with advanced proactive detection that blocks most known and undiscovered threats hours or days faster than other Internet security technologies.

Your most effective protection against today's huge volumes of Internet and security threats from the web or emails.

Click Here To Download

Firefox zero-day fix set up for 30 March release

2010-03-19T21:01:00.000-07:00

Mozilla confirmed the presence of an unpatched flaw in its browser on Thursday, with a post promising to release a fix at the end of the month.

The flaw, discovered by security researcher Evgeny Legerov and reported by The Reg last month, creates a means to inject hostile code on vulnerable systems. The vulnerability is due to be fixed in version 3.6 of Firefox on 30 March.

In the meantime, the more technically adept or security-conscious user can update to the beta version of the 3.6.2 release, which already plugs the security flaw.

In other browser security news, Google updated the Windows version of its Chrome browser on Wednesday, addressing nine vulnerabilities of varying seriousness.

Left unfixed the flaws created a possible mechanism to run spoofing attacks or bypass security restrictions, such as sandboxing. Users are advised to update to version 4.1.249.1036.

A flaw in the WebKit engine used by Chrome earned its finder, Sergey Glazunov, the first $1,337 pay-out from Google's bug bounty program.

The release also adds features and fixes stability bugs as explained in an advisory here. Google's update comes just days before the much-watched pwn2own hacking contest at the CanSecWest security conference.

Source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/19/firefox_chrome_security_updates/

Google unveils Skipfish security tool

2010-03-19T20:57:00.000-07:00

Google has released a new development tool aimed at uncovering security holes in web applications.

The company said that the new tool, dubbed Skipfish, will allow developers to scan web applications for possible security vulnerabilities. Currently in beta mode, the tool is designed to support multiple application frameworks and will run on Windows, Linux, MacOSX and BSD operating systems.

Google said that speed and compatibility were the main priorities when designing the tool. Skipfish was written in C and engineered to run quickly while putting minimal strain on processors.

"The safety of the Internet is of paramount importance to Google, and helping web developers build secure, reliable web applications is an important part of the equation," wrote Google developer Michal Zalewsk in a blog posting.

We feel that Skipfish will be a valuable contribution to the information security community, making security assessments significantly more accessible and easier to execute

Protecting web applications and cloud computing services has arguably become the biggest issue in the security world as of late. Analysts and developers alike have noted a distinct lack of trust from users in many web applications, particularly enterprise IT services.

As a result, security vendors have stepped up efforts to offer tools and services to web application and cloud computing developers.

Source:http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2259865/google-unveils-skipfish

Google reportedly planning April shutdown in China

2010-03-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

Google is reportedly preparing to shut down its operations in China over the next few weeks.

Chinese news service China Business News cited companies partnering with Google in reporting that the search giant would be closing its operations within the country on 10 April.

The latest report fits in with a similar report from Monday which said that Google was prepared to walk away from discussions with the Chinese government.

The two sides have been at odds over the year on the issue of censorship. Google has vowed that it will not limit user access within China, while authorities in Beijing have declared that the company will not be able to operate within the country unless it agrees to censor its search results.

Further fanning the flames between Google and China was the 2009 targeted attack on the company's systems. Google believes that individuals working with the government's blessing attempted to infect the systems of Google employees with malware in an effort to steal corporate data.

The company was one of more than 20 firms to report such an incident in a campaign which has come to be known as Operation Aurora. In addition to security concerns, the incident caused other companies working within China to re-examine their own operations.

Source:http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2259866/google-reportedly-planning

Microsoft warns of malware conflict with update

2010-02-12T20:54:00.000-08:00

Microsoft is warning users to scan their machines for malware following a recent string of system crashes.

The company said that one of the patches included in Tuesday's monthly update was potentially causing a conflict with certain malware infections on Windows XP systems.

When installing the MS 10-015 patch, which addresses a vulnerability in the Windows kernel, the infected systems experienced the infamous "blue screen of death" system crash.

In order to avoid the crash, Microsoft is advising users to scan their systems with a trusted, up-to-date antivirus tool.

The news first surfaced Thursday when the company disclosed reports on its security response blog of system crashes with the February update. The issue was later traced to the MS 10-015 bulletin and eventually found to be from a malware infection.

"One of the key components when investigating issues like this are obtaining memory dumps from computers experiencing the problem," wrote senior security communications manager Jerry Bryant.

"In order to get the information we need to fully analyze the issue, some of our support engineers have actually driven to customer locations and picked up affected systems so we can get the needed crash data directly and help inform our investigation."

ReadFullStory>>>

Apple fixes a dozen holes in Mac OS X

2010-01-29T05:17:00.000-08:00

Apple fixes a dozen vulnerabilities affecting Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6 in its first security update for the year released on Wednesday.

The security update addresses several issues with the Flash Player plug-in, including one that could allow an attacker to take control of the computer if the user visits a malicious Web site.

ReadFullStory >>>>>>

Java Runtime Edition 6.0.140.8

2010-01-28T06:30:00.000-08:00

Java software allows you to run applications called "applets" that are written in the Java programming language. These applets allow you to have a much richer experience online than simply interacting with static HTML pages.

Java Plug-in technology, included as part of the Java 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (JRE), establishes a connection between popular browsers and the Java platform. Java allows applications to be downloaded over a network and run within a guarded sandbox. Security restrictions are easily imposed on the sandbox.

Many cross platform applications also require Java to operate properly.

Download Link

Flash Player 10.0.42.34 (Non-IE)

2010-01-28T06:25:00.000-08:00

Adobe Flash Player is the high performance, lightweight, highly expressive client runtime that delivers powerful and consistent user experiences across major operating systems, browsers, mobile phones and devices.

Installed on over 750 million Internet-connected desktops and mobile devices, Flash Player enables organizations and individuals to build and deliver great digital experiences to their end users.

* Immersive experiences with Flash video, content and applications with full-screen mode.
* Low-bandwidth, high-quality video with advanced compression technology.
* High-fidelity text using the advanced text rendering engine.
* Real-time dynamic effects with filters for Blur, DropShadow, Glow, Bevel, Gradient Glow, Gradient Bevel, Displacement Map, Convolution, and Color Matrix.
* Innovative media compositions with 8-bit video alpha channels.
* Blend modes, radial gradient, and stroke enhancements.
* Additional image formats: GIF, Progressive JPEG, and PNG.

This download is the standalone ActiveX installer for Internet Explorer.

Download Link Click Here

Google Chrome 4.0.295.0 Beta

2010-01-28T00:41:00.000-08:00

Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier.

One box for everything

Type in the address bar and get suggestions for both search and web pages.

Thumbnails of your top sites

Access your favorite pages instantly with lightning speed from any new tab.

Incognito mode

Don't want pages you visit to show up in your web history? Choose incognito mode for private browsing.

Safe browsing

Google Chrome warns you if you're about to visit a suspected phishing, malware or otherwise unsafe website.

Download Link Click Here

Firefox 3.6

2010-01-28T00:31:00.000-08:00

The Web is all about innovation, and Firefox sets the pace with dozens of new features to deliver a faster, more secure and customizable Web browsing experience for all.

User Experience. The enhancements to Firefox provide the best possible browsing experience on the Web. The new Firefox smart location bar, affectionately known as the "Awesome Bar," learns as people use it, adapting to user preferences and offering better fitting matches over time.

Performance. Firefox is built on top of the powerful new Gecko platform, resulting in a safer, easier to use and more personal product.

Security. Firefox raises the bar for security. The new malware and phishing protection helps protect from viruses, worms, trojans and spyware to keep people safe on the Web.

Customization. Everyone uses the Web differently, and Firefox lets users customize their browser with more than 5,000 add-ons.

Download Link

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.44

2010-01-27T21:19:00.000-08:00

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware can detect and remove malware that even the most well known anti-virus and anti-malware applications fail to detect. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware monitors every process and stops malicious processes before they even start.

Key Features:

* Support for Windows 2000, XP, and Vista (32-bit only).
* Light speed quick scanning.
* Ability to perform full scans for all drives.
* Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Protection Module. (requires registration)
* Database updates released daily.
* Quarantine to hold threats and restore them at your convenience.
* Ignore list for both the scanner and Protection Module.
* Settings to enhance your Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware performance.
* A small list of extra utilities to help remove malware manually.
* Multi-lingual support.
* Works together with other anti-malware utilities.
* Command line support for quick scanning.
* Context menu integration to scan files on demand.

Download Link

CCleaner 2.27.1070

2010-01-27T21:07:00.000-08:00

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware! :)

Cleans the following:

* Internet Explorer
* Firefox
* Google Chrome
* Opera
* Safari
* Windows - Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, Temporary files and Log files.
* Registry cleaner
* Third-party applications
* 100% Spyware FREE

Download Link

'Aurora' code circulated for years on English sites

2010-01-26T03:51:00.000-08:00

An error-checking algorithm found in software used to attack Google and other large companies circulated for years on English-speaking websites, casting doubt on claims it provided strong evidence that the malware was written by someone inside the People's Republic of China.

The smoking gun said to tie Chinese-speaking programmers to the Hydraq trojan that penetrated Google's defenses was a cyclic redundancy check routine that used a table of only 16 constants. Security researcher Joe Stewart said the algorithm "seems to be virtually unknown outside of China," a finding he used to conclude that the code behind the attacks dubbed Aurora "originated with someone who is comfortable reading simplified Chinese."

"In my opinion, the use of this unique CRC implementation in Hydraq is evidence that someone from within the PRC authored the Aurora codebase," Stewart wrote here.

In fact, the implementation is common among English-speaking programmers of microcontrollers and other devices where memory is limited. In 2007, hardware designer Michael Karas discussed an almost identical algorithm here. Undated source code published here also bears more than a striking resemblance.

"Digging this a little deeper though, the algorithm is a variation of calculating CRC using a nibble (4 bits) instead of a byte," programmer and Reg reader Steve L. wrote in an email. "This is widely used in single-chip computers in the embedded world, as it seems. I'd hardly call this a new algorithm, or [an] obscure one, either."

Two weeks ago, Google said it was the victim of highly sophisticated attacks originating from China that targeted intellectual property and the Gmail accounts of human rights advocates. The company said similar attacks hit 20 other companies in the internet, finance, technology, media and chemical industries. Independent security researchers quickly raised the number of compromised companies to 34.

But Google provided no evidence that China was even indirectly involved in the attacks targeting its source code. During a conference call last week with Wall Street analysts, CEO Eric Schmidt said only that that world's most populous nation was "probably" behind the attacks.

One of the only other reported links between China and the attacks is that they were launched from at least six internet addresses located in Taiwan, which James Mulvenenon, the director of the Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis at Defense Group, told The Wall Street Journal is a common strategy used by Chinese hackers to mask their origin. But it just as easily could be the strategy of those trying to make the attacks appear to have originated in China.

The claim that the CRC was lifted from a paper published exclusively in simplified Chinese seemed like the hard evidence that was missing from the open-and-shut case. In an email to The Register, Stewart acknowledged the CRC algorithm on 8052.com was the same one he found in Hydraq, but downplayed the significance.

"The guy on that site says he has used the algorithm, didn't say he wrote it," Stewart explained. "I've seen dates on some of the Chinese postings of the code dating back to 2002."

Maybe. But if the 16-constant CRC routine is this widely known, it seems plausible that attackers from any number of countries could have appropriated it. And that means Google and others claiming a China connection have yet to make their case.

The lack of evidence is important. Google's accusations have already had a dramatic effect on US-China relations. If proof beyond a reasonable doubt is good enough in courts of law, shouldn't it be good enough for relations between two of the world's most powerful countries?

ReadFullStory>>>>>>

Windows computer boots up slow

2010-01-20T19:30:00.000-08:00

Answer:

A slow Microsoft Windows boot up can be caused by a wide variety of issues. Below are various suggestions and tips that can help improve the overall speed of your computers startup.

Disable startup programs

Programs that are loading up as the computer starts up to remain active in memory, are often one of the main causes of a slow boot in Windows. Disabling programs you don't often use from automatically starting up each time the computer boots can increase the boot time.

A program that makes managing your Windows startup programs easily you can disable any program in any of the locations programs use to start themselves automatically..

Scandisk / Defrag

Running Microsoft ScanDisk and Defrag or similar disk utilities on the computer can help verify the hard disk drive has no errors, as well as make sure the data on the hard disk drive is organized in the most efficient method. We suggest running both of these utilities at least once every few months.

Hard disk drive space

If your computer does not have at least 250MB of free available hard disk drive space this can cause an overall slowdown with your computer as well as decrease the boot time. Make sure your computer hard disk drive has 250MB or more of available disk space.

Add memory

Adding additional memory (RAM) to the computer will help increase the overall speed of the computer and in some cases can also increase the load times of your computer. Today, we suggest all computers be running a minimum of 1GB of memory in their computer. If your computer is running less than this it may be time to upgrade.

Update drivers and Windows

Corrupt, incorrect, and/or out-of-date drivers can cause a number of different issues. Make sure your computer has the latest drivers as well as any available Microsoft Windows updates.

Registry cleaner

Although we don't often recommend registry cleaners in some rare situations running cleaners can help improve the overall performance of Windows including the Windows startup. If you've run through all of the above recommendations you may want to clean your system registry.

Format and reinstall

If after following all the above steps your computer still seems to be slow you may want to erase everything from the computer and re-install Windows. This will clean your computer and make it like new.

Windows plagued by 17-year-old privilege escalation bug

2010-01-19T19:50:00.000-08:00

A security researcher at Google is recommending computer users make several configuration changes to protect themselves against a previously unknown vulnerability that allows untrusted users to take complete control of systems running most versions of Microsoft Windows.

The vulnerability resides in a feature known as the Virtual DOS Machine, which Microsoft introduced in 1993 with Windows NT, according to this writeup penned by Tavis Ormandy of Google. Using code written for the VDM, an unprivileged user can inject code of his choosing directly into the system's kernel, making it possible to make changes to highly sensitive parts of the operating system.

"You can in theory write to memory segments that are otherwise considered highly trusted and sensitive," said Tom Parker, a director in the security consulting services group at Securicon, a Washington, DC-based security practice. "So for example, malware could possibly use it to install a key logger."

The vulnerability exists in all 32-bit versions of Microsoft OSes released since 1993, and proof-of-concept code works on the XP, Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008, and 7 versions of Windows, Ormandy reported. Presumably, Windows 2000 is also susceptible. Immunity, a Miami-based company that makes auditing software for security professionals, has already added a module exploiting the vulnerability to its product called Canvas. The exploit has been tested on all versions of Windows except for 3.1.

Ormandy said the security hole can easily be closed by turning off the MSDOS and WOWEXEC subsystems. The changes generally don't interfere with most tasks since they disable rarely-used 16-bit applications. He said he informed Microsoft security employees of the vulnerability in June.

"Regrettably, no official patch is currently available," he wrote. "As an effective and easy to deploy workaround is available, I have concluded that it is in the best interest of users to go ahead with the publication of this document without an official patch."

Microsoft security officials - who are already working double-duty responding to a potent Internet Explorer bug used to attack Google - said they are looking in to Ormandy's advisory and are not aware of attacks that target the reported vulnerability.

ReadFullStory>>>>>>

Runtime errors

2010-01-19T19:24:00.000-08:00

Cause:

The runtime or run-time error message can be caused by:

1. Confliction with TSR or other running program
2. Software issue
3. Computer Virus
4. Memory issue

Solution:

Before following the below recommendations for troubleshooting your runtime error if you're getting a runtime error with a runtime error code and error message such as "Runtime error 75 path/file access error", skip to the below runtime error listing for a listing of runtime error codes and additional information and causes for these errors.

Confliction with TSR or other running program

If you are encountering a runtime error message while in Windows or above ensure that the issue is not being caused by a third-party program or TSR by end tasking all open programs. Additional information about TSRs and how to end task a TSR can be found on document CHTSR.

If, after end tasking all TSRs, you continue to experience the same issue and are running Windows 95 or Windows 98, verify that no utility or program is being loaded in the autoexec.bat / config.sys that is causing your issue by temporally renaming the files. To do this, follow the below instructions.

1. Boot to a MS-DOS prompt. Information on how to do this can be found on document CHDOS.
2. Once at the MS-DOS prompt, type:

cd\
ren autoexec.bat autoexec.ch
ren config.sys config.ch

Once completed, reboot the computer.

Software issue

If your issue persists it is possible that the program, utility or game causing the runtime error may have issues. Verify through the developer's web site that all updates or patches that may be available have been downloaded and applied.

If no patches or updates are available, attempt to uninstall and/or reinstall the program that is causing the issue. If you are having a runtime error in your operating system, reinstall the operating system.

Add-on, plug-in, or other extra software

Many runtime errors are also caused by other add-ons, plug-ins, or other extra software that has been installed onto the computer and is associated with the program generating the error. If you have any extra software installed that is associated with the program generating the error make sure there are no available updates for the programs and/or try uninstalling each of them to verify they're not the cause of your issue.

Computer virus

Because computer viruses are capable of tampering with the system settings / memory it is possible for a computer virus to generate a runtime error. If you are currently running a virus protection program on your computer ensure it has the latest updated patch or .dat file.

If you do not have a computer virus protection program it is recommended one be purchased or that a demo be temporarily downloaded to scan your computer hard disk drive for viruses.

* Additional information about computer viruses can be found on our virus information page.

Memory issue

Finally, if you have followed all of the above recommendations, it is possible that you may be encountering a hardware / memory related issue. We recommend that you first contact the developer of the program causing the issue for any possible solutions. If no solutions are found, we recommend you contact the computer or motherboard manufacturer for additional recommendations and/or service.

* Additional information about troubleshooting memory related issues can be found on document CH000375.

A complete listing of computer-related companies can be found here.

Runtime error listings

Below is a listing of Microsoft Windows and Windows software runtime error codes and related Runtime error messages. If you're encountering one of the below runtime error codes and have a matching runtime error message see the associated additional information column for causes and information about that runtime. If the additional information does not help resolve your issue try the recommendations under the above solution section.

Runtime error code	Runtime error message	Additional information
5	Illegal function call	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
6	Overflow	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
7	Out of memory	This issue can be caused when the computer does not meet the programs system requirements or to much memory is already being used for the program to run. If your computer meets the requirements try first reinstalling the program to make sure it's not an issues with the program installation. I
9	Subscript out of range	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
10	Duplicate definition	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
11	Division by zero	Problem with a math formula in the program or the programs code. Verify no software updates are available for the program causing this error.
13	Type Mismatch	Make sure your system regional settings are setup correctly and that the program you're running is made for your version of Windows.
14	Out of string space	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
19	No Resume	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
20	Resume without error	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
28	Out of stack space	This issue can be caused by a program or memory error.
35	Sub or Function not defined	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
48	Error in loading DLL	This issue is often caused with a bad installation or an issue caused after another program has been installed that replaced the programs DLL. Close all programs and TSRs and try installing the program again.
52	Bad file name or number	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
53	File not found	File required by the program to run is not found. Program needs to be reinstalled or missing file(s) need to be copied back to the computer.
54	Bad file mode	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
55	File already open	Program or file associated with program is being used and program does not have access to use it. Try closing all open programs and run program again.
58	File already exists	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
61	Disk full	The disk, for example, the hard disk drive does not have enough space for the program to run or for associated files to be copied to. Free up disk space on the computer hard drive.
62	Input past end of file	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
63	Bad record number	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
64	Bad file name	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
68	Device unavailable	A hardware device or necessary requirement for the program is not being found. Verify all hardware and software required by the program is installed. If you continue to have the same issues verify the latest updates are installed for the program as well as any hardware device the program needs.
70	Permission denied	The location of where the program is being copied to does not have proper rights. Or a file that is trying to be copied over because it's currently being used. Try closing all programs and TSRs and running/installing the program again.
71	Disk not ready	Verify you have proper rights to the location you are attempting to install the program to.
74	Can't rename with different drive	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
75	Path/File access error	Program does not have rights or access to a file. Often this is caused when a program is trying to access a network file it doesn't have proper access to either because of network privileges or something is blocking the program. This issue can also be caused when the file is being used by another program or is read-only.
76	Path not found	Directory of where the program needs to be copied to or files associated with the program need to be copied to is missing. Try reinstalling the program.
91	Object variable set to Nothing	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
93	Invalid pattern	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
94	Illegal use of NULL	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
102	Command failed	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
339	A file is missing or invalid	An associated program file is missing or corrupt. Try reinstalling the program.
429	Object creation failed	Program is corrupted, try reinstalling the program generating the runtime error.
438	No such property or method	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
439	Argument type mismatch	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
440	Object error	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
901	Input buffer would be larger than 64K	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
902	Operating system error	Verify the program is compatible with your version of Windows and/or has any software updates.
903	External procedure not found	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
904	Global variable type mismatch	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
905	User-defined type mismatch	A setting either in the program shortcut or being defined by the user is correct. Try running just the program without any additional settings or variables.
906	External procedure interface mismatch	Program error, verify the program has all the latest updates. If updated try reinstalling the program. If you continue to have the same errors contact the software developer.
1001	Out of memory	This issue can be caused when the computer does not meet the programs system requirements or to much memory is already being used for the program to run. If your computer meets the requirements try first reinstalling the program to make sure it's not an issue with the program installation.
1025	DLL is not supported	This issue is often caused with a bad installation or an issue caused after another program has been installed that replaced the programs DLL. Close all programs and TSRs and try installing the program again.

How do I fix illegal operations?

2010-01-18T19:17:00.000-08:00

Cause:

Illegal Operations can be caused by several different factors. Below is a listing of the more commonly known reasons for getting an Illegal Operations.

1. TSR's or Third-party programs causing memory conflicts or other types of conflicts with the program or programs attempting to be run.
2. Data not being read properly from source. Running a program or game with a dirty CD can cause the CD to be read improperly causing Illegal Operations. Floppy diskettes, which may contain errors can cause illegal operations.
3. Installing a program or game on a hard disk drive that has errors or is highly fragmented.
4. Corrupt files.
5. Memory managers.
6. Bad, incorrect or not the latest video drivers.
7. Computer Virus.
8. Added hardware
9. Error in program coding
10. Corruption or problem within Windows.
11. Bad Memory, invalid bits or physically bad memory.

Solution:

TSR's or Third-party programs

TSR's or Third-party programs running in the background are one of the more commonly found reasons for Illegal Operations. If you are receiving an Illegal Operation when attempting to run a game or program it is recommend that you temporarily remove or disable programs running and TSR's running in the background, ensuring that these programs are not causing your issues.

If, after removing these programs, you run the program or game and no longer receive the Illegal Operations, it is recommend that you reboot the computer and disable or End Task each program or TSR one at a time to attempt to determine which program is causing the Illegal Operation.

Data not being read properly from source

When running a program or game from a CD you receive an Illegal Operation, verify that the CD is clean.

Installing a program or game on a hard disk drive that has errors or is highly fragmented

When installing a program or game onto a hard disk drive it is recommended if you receive errors after installing that program or game that you attempt to uninstall that program or game, run a scandisk, then a defrag, and finally attempt to install the program or game again.

If errors exist on the hard disk drive, they will cause the program or game to run improperly and can cause Illegal Operations.

Corrupt files

Corrupt, bad or missing files can cause Illegal Operations. It is recommended that you attempt to uninstall and or reinstall the program causing the Illegal Operation to verify that any corrupt, bad or missing files are replaced or repaired during the reinstallation.

Memory managers

If you are running a memory manager that is used to obtain more memory or handle the computer memory in replace of Windows, it is recommended you temporarily disable or uninstall this program to verify it is not the memory manager causing the Illegal Operations.

Bad, incorrect or not the latest video drivers

Bad, incorrect or not the latest video drivers may cause Illegal Operations when performing such tasks as moving the mouse or dragging data from one source to another as high demands are placed onto the video card. Attempt to decrease the video settings to 640 x 480, 256 colors to verify if the program or game being run is having errors because of the current video settings.

If, after attempting to adjust the video settings, you still encounter the same issue, verify the computer is utilizing the latest video card drivers by visiting our Video drivers section.

Computer Virus

Because computer viruses are loaded into memory and can change the data of program files when infecting a computer, ensure that a virus protection utility is installed on the computer and that you have the latest Virus Definition.

Added hardware

If added hardware has been recently installed onto the computer it is likely that either the hardware is conflicting with other hardware devices on the computer or that the drivers used to install that hardware is causing issues with other hardware or software installed on the computer.

If added hardware has recently been added to the computer, it is recommended that you temporarily remove that added hardware and the software associated with it to ensure it is not causing your issues.

Error in program coding

If you are receiving Illegal Operations only when running a particular program, verify that the program is compatible with the Version of Windows you are running and ensure no available patches or software are available that may fix errors made during the development stages.

Corruption or problem within Windows

Because Windows controls the memory operations as well as the file structure and association, it is possible for Windows or files associated with Windows to become corrupted, causing Illegal Operations or other errors. It is recommended you reinstall Windows if you are experiencing Illegal Operations in Windows or more than one program trying to be run on the computer.

Bad Memory, invalid bits or physically bad memory

It is possible that bad memory can cause Illegal Operations. If you have recently added memory to the computer, it is recommended that it first be removed to verify that you are not experiencing conflicts with the recently installed memory.

Computer is running slow what steps can I do to fix it?

2010-01-17T18:53:00.000-08:00

Cause:

This issue can be caused by any of the below possibilities.

1. Hard disk drive is short on available disk space.
2. Several software programs have been installed/uninstalled leaving behind bad files and/or confusing the software.
3. Data Corruption.
4. Missing Windows updates / Outdated drivers.
5. Computer is overheating.
6. Corrupt OS.
7. Bad Hardware.

Solution:

Below are steps for Microsoft Windows users that should help speed up the computer or determine why the computer is running slow.

Not enough hard disk drive space

Verify that there is at least 200-500MB of free hard disk drive space. This available space allows the computer to have room for the swap file to increase in size as well as room for temporary files.

Hard drive corrupted or fragmented

Run Scandisk or something equivalent to help ensure that there is nothing physically wrong with the computer hard disk drive.

Run Defrag to help ensure that data is arranged in the best possible order.

Background programs

Remove or disable any TSRs or programs that automatically start each time the computer boots. See document CHTSR for additional information. If you're wanting to see what programs are running in the background, how much memory they're using, and their CPU usage open Task Manager. Also, if you are running Windows 7, you can run Resmon to find out which programs are taking up a lot of space.

If you've got an anti-virus scanner on the computer, spyware protection program, or other security utility make sure it's not running in the background as you're trying to work. Often when these programs begin to scan the computer it can decrease the overall performance of your computer.

Hardware conflicts

Verify that the Device Manager has no conflicts. If any exist resolve these issues as they could be the cause of your problem.

Update Windows

Make sure you have all the latest Windows updates installed in the computer. A

Update your drivers

Make sure you've got the latest drivers for your computer. Especially the latest video drivers. Having out-of-date drivers can cause an assortment of issues.

Computer or processor is overheating

Make sure your computer and processor is not overheating, excessive heat can cause a significant decrease in computer performance some processors will even lower the speed of the processor automatically to help compensate for the heat related issues.

Memory upgrade

If you've had your computer for more than one year it's likely you're computer is not meeting the memory requirements for today. We suggest at a minimum the computer have 1GB of memory.

Erase computer and start over

Finally, if none of the above solutions resolve your issues, it is recommended that you either reinstall Windows and/or erase everything and then start over.

Hardware issues

If your computer continues to be slow after going over each of the above recommendations it's possible that your computer is experiencing a more serious hardware related issue such as a failing component in the computer. This could be a failing or bad CPU, RAM, Motherboard, or other component.

Top 10 technologies for tyranny

2010-01-16T22:21:00.000-08:00

In light of Google's spat with China and the ire it aroused we wanted to do something about tyranny and technology this week, but I'm afraid to say we fell prey to the dark side.

The original plan was to write a Top 10 about how to defeat repressive regimes using technology. You'll be getting that next week; it's going to take some interviews and research to do a proper job for the people that actually need it. Besides, as a wise woman pointed out, it's better to go from darkness into the light.

Instead we decided to do a review of the Top 10 technologies for dictators. While I suspect no readers have ambitions to take over the world nevertheless for those that do here's a list of technologies that could see you stroking a Persian cat and telling James Bond your operation.

Honourable mention: Civilization building games

Shaun Nichols: Okay, so they can't help you overthrow your local government and declare yourself king for life, but games certainly let you live out that fantasy.

For pretty much all of us, a copy of Civilization or Sim City is about as close as we will ever get to running a society. And for those that do harbour ambitions of a presidential coup, it's a fine way to hone your skills.

I know that Iain is a huge Civilization fan, but my personal favourite in the genera was Populous, a game in which players took on the role of ancient Greek and Roman gods and attempted to wipe out the opponent's followers with various acts of wrath from the heavens. Say what you will about Grand Theft Auto, but I don't recall CJ or Niko ever wiping out entire cities with tornadoes and plagues.

Iain Thomson: Shaun has it right; I've lost weekends to Civ 2, although the later versions lack the visceral power contained in the original games.

In one of Iain Banks' best works, 'Complicity', the lead character is addicted to the kind of game Civ fans dream of, where the level of control is so refined that it makes the Sims look like a wendy house. While I'm not saying that everyone who plays these kind of games is a megalomaniac they certainly touch a core need in many people.

Mankind is by its very nature a species that seeks to dominate and change its environment. Some of the greatest civilisations in history have come about because of this and also some of our worst disasters. Human beings are not software and I hope that future dictators don't learn this so they will fail to manage the complexities of human civilisation.

Honourable Mention: TV

Iain Thomson: With every revolution the means for communicating with the populace are key to success. Right after the government headquarters the television stations are key to a successful coup.

In days of yore this meant the radio stations but increasingly a top target for revolutionaries is the television system. Much of the world's population gets its information from the TV, the 'glass nipple' as Harlan Ellison famously described it.

The reasons are fairly simple. Since TV is where people get their information a populace that sees a familiar face urging them to remain calm is a very powerful force indeed. If a squad of soldiers starts telling you what to do it's a lot easier to accept if the well-known presenter on the TV tells you it's OK.

TV doesn't just work for revolutions however. In the Cold War BBC continuity announcers were drafted to record messages to be played in the event of a nuclear attack, something one of them described as 'utterly chilling.' Given the effects of EMP it would probably be the last public appearances they ever made.

Shaun Nichols: Even as popular as the internet is, people still have a great amount of trust in what is broadcast on TV.

A silly rumour may elicit little more than a sarcastic chuckle and an eye roll when viewed on a blog or message board, but that same premise gains much more credence when presented by a television personality.

Don't believe me? How about the idea that a nation would be subject to a catastrophic national disaster because of a myth that their forefathers made a deal with the devil to escape the bonds of slavery hundreds of years ago? Pretty silly when read online, yet a fair amount of people lent it legitimacy when the appropriate TV talking head floated the idea.

ReadFullStory>>>>>>

Google hack attack code hits the web

2010-01-16T22:19:00.000-08:00

The code used in the recent Google hack to exploit a vulnerability in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser has been published on the internet, raising the possibility of more attacks.

In a blog posting, McAfee chief technology officer George Kurtz explained that researchers for the firm have seen references to the code on mailing lists and that it has been published on at least one web site.

An attacker could use the flaw to gain control over a user’s system by tricking them into visiting a rigged web page, he said.

“The public release of the exploit code increases the possibility of widespread attacks using the Internet Explorer vulnerability,” warned Kurtz.

“The now public computer code may help cybercriminals craft attacks that use the vulnerability to compromise Windows systems. Popular penetration testing tools are already being updated to include this exploit. This attack is especially deadly on older systems that are running XP and Internet Explorer 6.”

Microsoft issued a security advisory on Thursday admitting that Internet Explorer could be used to allow remote code execution, and said it may release an out-of-cycle patch for the flaw.

“At this time, we are aware of limited, targeted attacks attempting to use this vulnerability against Internet Explorer 6. We have not seen attacks against other versions of Internet Explorer. We will continue to monitor the threat environment and update this advisory if the situation changes,” noted the security update.

The flaw has been taken very seriously by organisations across the globe, with the German government recommending its citizens use an alternative browser to IE until the vulnerability is patched.

ReadFullStory>>>>>>

How to fix a fatal exception error.

2010-01-16T18:37:00.000-08:00

Cause:

Fatal exception error messages are generated when one of the below situations occur.

* Access to an illegal software instruction has occurred.
* Invalid data or code has been accessed.
* The privilege level of an operation is invalid.

Any of the above issues could be caused by one or more of the below possibilities.

* Errors in programming code, either a program, operating system and/or hardware driver.
* Conflicts between two or more programs.
* Physical hardware issue.
* Computer overheating

Solution:

Microsoft Windows and software use exceptions, which allow Windows or other software to communicate in layers and communicate errors or exceptions. If a program is given an exception that is invalid or unknown you'll encounter a fatal exception. Fatal exceptions are also commonly referred to as a Fatal 0E (or improperly as Fatal OE) and is one of the most common fatal exceptions.

When a fatal exception is encountered the error will be in the below format.

A fatal exception has occurred at xxxx:xxxxxxxx

In the above example of the fatal exception the YZ represents the actual processor exception, this can range from 00 to 0F. Each of theses processor exceptions are explained under Extended information.

After the processor exception is the enhanced instruction pointer to the code segment and the 32-bit address. This is exactly where the error exception has occurred.

Search for the error

Often the easiest and fastest method to locate the cause of a fatal exception is to search for the error. However, for some users it may be difficult to know exactly what to search for because of the cryptic fatal exception messages. Below are tips on how to search for these errors.

1. As mentioned above the fatal exception will often have a two character code, for example 0E, if this code is present use this as part of your search.
2. Next, the error message will contain a pointer such as "0028:c001e36", although this can often be found by also adding this to your search query it's important to realize that this pointer can vary from computer to computer. If you're not finding results exclude this from your search.
3. Finally, many fatal exception error messages will also contain a file that generated the error, almost always this is a VXD file. If the fatal exception error contains a .VXD definitely include this as part of your search. The VXD file may also be listed as "VXD VWIN32", which is actually "vwin32.vxd".

If searching for the fatal exception error does not return results and/or help resolve your continue reading through this document for general recommendations in resolving fatal exception error messages.

Revert Windows back to an earlier copy

Update software or check for software patches

If you are experiencing invalid page faults in only one program, verify that the software program is compatible with the operating system you are running the program within. Also verify with the manufacturer or vendor of the software program that there are no available patches or updates for the program that may help or resolve your issue. It's also important that you have all the latest Windows updates.

Hardware drivers

If you're getting a fatal exception when using a hardware device, for example, when you print. It's likely that it's the drivers related to that device that are either conflicting or have errors.

Video drivers are also notorious for causing fatal exception error messages. Because your video card is being used all the time it's difficult to know for certain if it's the cause of the error. Therefore we always recommend users have the latest video drivers on their computer.

Visit the manufacturers web page and get the latest software / drivers from them. See our drivers page for a listing of hardware companies.

Recently installed software / hardware

If you have recently installed new software or hardware attempt to uninstall or reinstall that software / hardware to verify it is not causing your issue. In the case of a hardware device it's suggested instead of installing the software or drivers that came with the device that you visit the manufacturers web page and get the latest software / drivers from them.

Remove all TSRs

Disable any TSRs or programs running in the background as many times fatal exception errors can be caused by conflicts between two or more open programs.

Delete all program temporary files

Delete all temporary files that may still be residing on the hard disk drive from currently or previously running programs.

Overclocked computer

If you have overclocked any component within the computer, set the computer to its factory settings to verify that the overclocked component is not causing the issue.

Verify your computer has more than 200 MB available

If your computer is running low on hard disk space, your Windows swap file will be unable to increase in size when needed, which can cause errors.

Run scandisk / defrag

Attempt to run scandisk / defrag on the hard disk drive as it could be possible your hard disk drive may have an issue causing the swap file or data files to become corrupt or invalid

Heat related issue

Verify that all fans in and on your computer are properly working. If not all fans are working or you do not have enough fans and your computer is overheating, any number of issues including fatal exceptions can occur. I

Disable External Cache in CMOS

If the option is available, attempt to enter your computer's CMOS setup and disable the external cache. If this resolves your issue it is likely that you are encountering a heat related issue.

CPU Core Voltage

If available, verify within your CMOS or by jumper that your CPU core voltage is set to factory specification. This may require that you consult your documentation or motherboard manufacturer.

Bad Memory, invalid bits or physically bad memory

Bad computer memory is also a common cause for fatal exception errors. If you have recently added memory to the computer, it is recommended that it first be removed to verify that you are not experiencing conflicts with the recently installed memory.

Extended Information:

Below is a listing of the more commonly experienced processor exceptions ranging from 00 to 0F.

00 = Divide Fault
Occurs if division by zero is attempted or if the result of the operation does not fit in the destination operand.

02=NMI interrupt
Interrupt 2 is reserved for the hardware Non-Maskable-Interrupt condition. No exceptions trap through interrupt 2.

04=Overflow trap
Occurs after an INTRO instruction has executed and the OF bit is set to 1.

05=Bounds Check fault
The array Index is out of range

06=Invalid Opcode fault
This error can be caused by one of the below conditions.

1. Processor attempting to decode a bit pattern that does not correspond to any legal computer instruction.
2. Processor attempts to execute an instruction that contains invalid operands.
3. Processor attempts to execute a protected-mode instruction while running in virtual 8086 mode.
4. Processor attempts to execute a LOCK prefix with an instruction that cannot be locked.

07=Copressor not available fault.
This error can occur if no math coprocessor is present. This error can also occur when the math coprocessor is used and a task switch is executed.

08=Double Fault.
This error occurs when processing an exception triggers a second exception.

09(OD)=Copressor Segment Overrun.
Floating point operand is outside the segment.

10(0Ah/0A)=Invalid Task State Segment Fault
Can be caused by a number of possibilities as Task State Segment contains a number of descriptors.

11(0Bh)=Not Present Fault
The Not Present interrupt allows the operating system to implement virtual memory through the segmentation mechanism. 0B fault occurs when this segment is not available.

12(0Ch)=Stack Fault
Occurs when instruction refers to memory beyond the limit of the stack segment.

13(Odh)=General Protection Fault
Caused by any condition that is not covered by any of the other processor exceptions. The exception indicates that this program has been corrupted in memory generally resulting in the immediate termination of the program. Also see document CH000224 for additional information about GPFs.

14(Oeh)=Page Fault
Occurs when a paging protection rule is violated (when the retrieve fails, data retrieved is invalid or the code that issued the fault broke the protection rule for the processor).

16(10h)=Coprocessor error fault
Occurs when an unmasked floating-point exception has signaled a previous instruction.

17(11h)=Alignment Check Fault
Only used on 80486 computers. Caused when code executing at ring privilege 3 attempts to access a word operand that is not divisible by four, or a long real or temp real whose address is not divisible by eight.

UK BitTorrent admin acquitted on fraud charge

2010-01-16T02:38:00.000-08:00

Updated Alan Ellis, the former admin of music BitTorrent tracker OiNK, was acquitted of conspiracy to defraud by a Middlesbrough court today.

In a landmark trial, the 26-year-old stood accused of making $300,000 in user donations from the invite-only service, which members used to share high quality and pre-release music.

Ellis' defence argued OiNK was analogous to Google, and that he was not responsible if members used it to infringe copyright.

He had been arrested in a dawn raid by Cleveland police in October 2007, acting on intelligence from the BPI. Police invited TV cameras to film the swoop, dubbed "Operation Ark Royal".

The IT worker smiled as the jury returned a not guilty verdict and made no comment as he left court, the Press Association reports.

The BPI said: "This is a hugely disappointing verdict which is out of line with decisions made in similar cases around the world, such as The Pirate Bay.

"The defendant made nearly £200,000 by exploiting other people's work without permission. The case shows that artists and music companies need better protection."

ReadFullStory>>>>>>

Exploit code for potent IE zero-day bug goes wild

2010-01-16T02:36:00.001-08:00

Updated Exploit code targeting the Internet Explorer vulnerability used against Google and other companies has gone public, increasing the chances that broader attacks will soon follow.

Both the open-source Metasploit framework and the commercial Immunity Canvas software for penetration testers have working exploits that fully compromise computers running earlier versions of the browser. The attacks target a previously unknown invalid pointer reference bug in IE that attackers used to penetrate the defenses of Google and dozens of other companies.

The exploit in Canvas was "fairly reliable" at remotely executing code in tests of IE versions 6 and 7 running on Windows XP SP3, Immunity researcher Kostya Kortchinsky wrote in an email. "It crashed IE 8 and will require a bit more work to get something out of it," he added.

The exploit folded into Metasploit was tested on IE 6 running on the same Windows platform, the framework's chief maintainer, H D Moore, wrote in a blog post.

While the flaw affects all versions of IE except for 5.01 SP 4, security protections built in to more recent versions of the browser and operating system can significantly mitigate the threat. DEP, short for data execution prevention, is enabled by default in IE 8 but must be manually turned on in prior versions. Users of Vista and later versions of Windows should run IE in protected mode, an additional feature that also provides important protection.

We've said it before, and given the particulars of this vulnerability, we'll say it again: security measures like DEP and ASLR, or address space layout randomization, matter. As ugly as this vulnerability is - to say nothing of its ability to remain undetected for nine years - the fact that Windows 7 and IE 8 were able to withstand the "highly sophisticated" attacks that felled Google is testament that Microsoft is making significant progress.

Shortly after this article was first published, Microsoft issued a statement that largely repeated the same mitigation details. But it also said researchers continue to see only "limited targeted attacks affecting Internet Explorer 6." It went on to "encourage" users of IE 6 and 7 to upgrade to the latest version "to benefit from the improved security features and defense in depth protections offered such as data execution prevention and smartscreen."

The advice is sound. If it's at all possible, upgrade to IE 8 now. The computer you save may be your own.

Microsoft hasn't said when it expects to fix the bug. Its next regular update release is scheduled for February 9. Speculation is growing that the company will issue an out-of-band patch.

Moore said the Metasploit maintainers got their hands on the exploit after it was uploaded to Wepawet. Kortchinsky said Immunity researchers believe their exploit is the same one but can't be sure. Anti-virus provider McAfee, which first discovered the exploitation of the zero-day flaw, said here that the public exploits use the same code it has observed.

So far, exploitation of the IE bug has been seen only in highly targeted attacks that hit Google and at least some of the other 33 large companies that experienced similar assaults. With the public release of exploit code, the likelihood of much broader scams targeting the vulnerability are much greater.

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How do I fix the Windows blue screen errors?

2010-01-15T18:33:00.000-08:00

Before fixing a Microsoft Microsoft Windows blue screen or blue screen of death error (BSoD) you must first identify what type of error it is. Since there are different types of blue screen errors.

Note: If you're getting a blue screen and then your computer immediately reboots without being able to read the text in the blue screen, follow the steps below. If you're unable to get into Windows to perform the steps below, boot the computer into Safe Mode.

1. From the desktop right-click on My Computer.
2. Click the Properties option.
3. In the System Properties window click the Advanced tab.
4. In Advanced click the Settings button under Startup and Recovery.
5. In the Startup and Recovery window uncheck the Automatically restart check box.
6. Click Ok.

Other blue screen errors

Windows NT, 2000, XP, Vista, and later versions of Windows will have a blue screen error that's similar to the example shown below. Thankfully these error messages often contain more detailed information, and will contain information that can be more easily searched for and found. If you're not getting a blue screen error that looks like the below skip to the next Fatal exception section.

1. Identify the type of blue screen by locating a line containing all capital letters with underscores instead of spaces, such as the above example: BAD_POOL_HEADER. Write this information down.

2. Get either the STOP: error message at the top of the error, or in the "Technical Information:" portion of the error. For example, in the above error it's STOP: 0x00000019 ... write the first potion of this error message down.

3. Finally, if technical information is shown write down the file and the address.

Once you have the above information you can start troubleshooting the issue.

BAD_POOL_HEADER
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE
INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
STATUS_IMAGE_CHECKSUM_MISMATCH
THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER
UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP
UNKNOWN_HARD_ERROR

Fatal exceptions

Many of the blue screen error messages you'll encounter with earlier versions of Windows will be fatal exception error messages or Fatal 0E messages. If your blue screen message starts out with A fatal exception 0E ... or An exception ... you're encountering this error.

Windows restarts without warning.

2010-01-14T18:22:00.000-08:00

Cause:

This issue could be caused by any of the below possibilities.

1. Software issue or error.
2. Hardware issue or error.
3. Heat related issue.
4. Computer virus.
5. Issue with operating system.

Software issue or error

Errors generated by software programs can cause a computer to reboot unexpectedly or without warning. If you are running Windows XP see the below section "For Windows XP users" before continuing.

If you are not running Windows XP or following the below steps still cause your computer to reboot without warning. Boot your computer into Safe Mode, and let the computer run in Safe Mode.

If the computer is still rebooting in Safe Mode the issue is likely not software related but something else, skip to the next section. If the computer is not rebooting in Safe Mode it is likely you have software related issue. We would recommend you run through the basic troubleshooting section for your operating system.

For Windows XP users

Windows XP is designed to automatically reboot each time an error occurs such as a BSoD. Although this may be nice for errors that do not occur often, users who have a re-occurring error may wish to identify the error to troubleshoot it. Below are the steps on how this feature can be disabled and enabled in Windows XP.

1. From the desktop right-click on My Computer.
2. Click the Properties option.
3. In the System Properties window click the Advanced tab.
4. In Advanced click the Settings button under Startup and Recovery.
5. In the Startup and Recovery window uncheck the Automatically restart check box.
6. Click Ok.

Now if the computer generates and error it should not automatically restart and enable you to display any errors your computer may be experiencing.

Hardware issue or error

Any failing hardware component in your computer could cause your computer to unexpectedly generate an error and/or reboot without warning. If you have recently attempted to add a new hardware device, remove that device to make sure it is not causing your issues.

Make sure you are not encountering any hardware conflicts by viewing Device Manager for errors.

New drivers can also cause this issue, if you have recently performed any hardware driver updates you may wish to try an earlier version of the drivers.

If you have updated drivers and removed any hardware that could be causing this issue and continue to experience random reboots, it's possible that the memory is bad in the computer.

Finally, hardware devices that are not installed properly in the computer can also cause random reboots. Make sure all the cables and expansion cards are connected properly to the computer. The best way to determine this is to disconnect and reconnect all cables and expansion cards.

Computer virus

Computer viruses such as the blaster virus are written to reboot your computer without warning. Usually these viruses will make the computer reboot ever 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes after the computer has booted.

If you believe your computer may be infected with a virus or are uncertain if your computer is infected with a virus make sure your virus scanner definitions are up to date.

Heat related issue

Many computer today are designed to turn off or automatically reboot if the computer, processor, or other device in your computer gets to hot. If you have heard any abnormal noises coming from your computer recently such as a high squealing this could indicate a fan may be failing in your computer.

You can first start by verifying the fan on the power supply is working by examining the back of the computer and seeing if the fan is moving and moving smoothly. For all other fans in the computer you will need to either open the computer and make sure the fan are working (processor fan and case fan) and/or if your BIOS monitors the RPM of the fans enter BIOS and make sure the BIOS does not report any errors.

Users may also be able to determine how hot their computer is by onboard thermal sensors, if your computer comes equipped with these sensors make sure your CPU is not running to hot.

Issue with operating system

If after following each of the above recommendations your computer still continues to reboot it is likely that you are experiencing a Microsoft Windows operating system related issue that cannot be explained. To help make sure this is the case please try the below steps.

1. Reboot the computer and enter CMOS setup as the computer is booting. If you are not familiar with how to enter CMOS please read through document CH000192.
2. After you have loaded the computer in CMOS setup let the computer sit.

If the computer does not reboot while letting the computer sit in CMOS it is likely that you are in fact experiencing an issue with Microsoft Windows and it is recommend that if you have followed all of the above recommendations that you reinstall your version of Microsoft Windows.

Trojan porn dialers make comeback on mobile phones

2010-01-13T18:47:00.000-08:00

After taking a long hiatus, trojan dialers that can rack up thousands of dollars in charges are back by popular demand.

According to researchers at CA Security's malware analysis lab, a new wave of malicious dialers is hitting users of mobile phones. The trojans are built on the Java 2 Micro Edition programming language and cause infected handsets to send SMS messages to high-cost numbers, at great expense to the victim.

"As soon as the application is loaded, this malicious software starts to send premium text messages," CA warned on Tuesday. "The messages sent out are in the typical format to invoke premium services and land the mobile user with heavy mobile bills without the user's knowledge and consent."

Malware that automatically dials pricey premium numbers was all the rage a decade ago, when dial-up internet services required computers to connect to a phone line. With the growth of broadband connections the frequency of dialers waned.

The explosion of smart phone that can run software made by anyone has given malicious dialers a new lease on life. And as was the case in the days of yore, they mostly tap into porn services. More from CA is here.

ReadFullStory>>>>>>

How to spot malware the old-fashioned way

2010-01-13T18:45:00.000-08:00

Security experts reminded users today that sometimes the best form of defence against malware attacks is common sense.

In a blog posting, Sophos senior security consultant Graham Cluley highlighted a recent Spanish-language spam email he noticed, which claims to point to an update for the Adobe Flash Player.

Clicking on the link in the email would take a user to a page requesting they download an "update" to Adobe Flash, which is actually malware. However, as Cluley points out, the email is littered with spelling mistakes, such as "Adoble" instead of "Adobe",

"So how do these tiny clues and mistakes manage to sprinkle themselves into a hacker's attack? Is there some divine intervention that is ensuring that so many cyber criminals keep making daft errors, putting a spanner in the works, and helping to tip off potential victims? Whatever the reason, I hope it continues for as long as there's a malwre problem," wrote Cluley.

Apart from regarding any unsolicited emails with suspicion, users should always visit the vendor's own site for any updates, he advised.

But while some cyber criminals are continuing to leave obvious errors in their emails or malicious sites, which should tip off wary users, the general trend appears to be towards greater professionalism in the cyber criminal world. If it's one thing criminals do well, it's that they learn quickly and stay agile.

So while it's obviously important to keep an eye out for any grammatical or other errors that could set alarm bells ringing, users can no longer be guaranteed that e-mail and web threats will be as easy to spot in future. Comprehensive real-time content scanning tools are an essential addition for any computer user today.

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Google turns on HTTPS as standard

2010-01-13T18:42:00.000-08:00

Google has announced that it is to standardise around HTTPS for its web mail service Gmail.

In a blog posting Sam Schillace, Gmail engineering director, said that the company was now turning on HTTPS as standard on the service to encrypt messages being sent into and out of its servers.

“We initially left the choice of using it up to you because there's a downside: https can make your mail slower since encrypted data doesn't travel across the web as quickly as unencrypted data,” he said.

“Over the last few months, we've been researching the security/latency tradeoff and decided that turning https on for everyone was the right thing to do. We are currently rolling out default https for everyone.”

Google first introduced HTTPS to Gmail in 2008 as an option, and has since been under pressure to roll it out elsewhere. Last year an open letter from security professionals prompted the company to promise HTTPS support on all Google Apps.

Users who are already on HTTPS need do nothing Schillace said, and controls to turn it off were in the settings menu of Gmail.

People using HTTP Gmail offline may experience some problems he said but the company was working on it. In the meantime a Google advisory suggests switching the offline Office applications so that they sync via the HTTPS server.

ReadFullStory>>>>>>

What is hardware?

2010-01-13T18:20:00.000-08:00

Hardware is best described as a device that is physically connected to your computer or something that can be physically touched. A CD-ROM, monitor, and printer are all examples of computer hardware.

How hardware can cause issues

Computer hardware requires resources to correctly operate with the computer and the software installed in the computer. If your computer does not have the available resources, such as available IRQs, this will cause your computer to not properly work and/or the devices to not function properly.

In addition to needing resources, not all computer hardware will work properly with all computers, or may have incompatibilities with hardware that is already installed in your computer.

Finally, almost all computer hardware requires some type of software or drivers to be installed before it can properly communicate with the computer. If these drivers contain problems or do not properly work with the computer, this can cause issues with the hardware device you are attempting to install in the computer.

How software can cause issues

2010-01-11T04:32:00.000-08:00

Software is one of the leading causes of computer related issues. Because of the large variety of computer hardware configurations and other software programs that may be on a computer, it is nearly impossible to program software that is flawless.

Because of the various types of software and the high potential of errors or bugs when the software is created, software can be the leading cause of computer issues. These issues are generally resolved by either not running two or more programs at the same time if they are causing issues with one another, or reinstalling the software. If the software has an actual software bug in the program, these bugs are generally resolved by patches or software updates.

The above information is only applicable to some of the software found on today's market. Generally, when any software is released it undergoes an extensive amount of testing or Beta Testing by the company or individuals whom volunteer their services for a chance to look at and test the software.

What is software?

2010-01-11T04:31:00.000-08:00

Software is a collection of instructions that enables a user to interact with the computer or have the computer perform specific tasks for them. Without any type of software the computer would be useless. Below is a listing of different types of software a user may have on his or her computer. For a computer to be functional, most computers will include a software operating system and a collection of different software programs. Below is a listing of different software programs that may be included on a computer.

Application
Audio software
Game
Operating system
Program
Utilities
Video editing

Mozilla teases surfers with near-final version of Firefox 3.6

2010-01-11T03:54:00.000-08:00

Mozilla spun out a near-ready version of Firefox 3.6 over the weekend, all of which suggests that the final build of the next iteration of the open source browser could be imminent.

The outfit said on Sunday that over 75 per cent of the thousands of Firefox Add-ons had now been upgraded by their authors to be compatible with the Release Candidate version of Firefox 3.6.

Mozilla noted that the RC “may update itself periodically, and will eventually be exactly the same as the final Firefox 3.6 release itself”.

More than 100 bugs have been patched in the latest test version of the browser, which is built on the org’s Gecko 1.9.2 platform.

It comes loaded with Personas, allowing surfers to change Firefox’s appearance with a single click of the mouse.

Perhaps more interestingly, Mozilla has tweaked how third party software bolts itself onto Firefox, to make the browser more secure.

Meanwhile, support for the WOFF font format, HTML 5, CSS, DOM web technologies, full screen open, native video and poster frames have been added to this version. There’s also support for the HTML 5 File API, said Mozilla.

Even though Firefox 3.6 is more of an incremental rather than major upgrade to the browser, the org was still keen to emphasise improved JavaScript performance.

Some Firefox users have complained recently that Mozilla had broken away from its roots too much, and that the surfing tool was becoming increasingly bloated with each new release.

Mozilla did not confirm when it would squirt out the complete version of Firefox 3.6, but unless the outfit is hit by any showstopping bugs it’s likely the browser could land before the end of this month.

At the end of December, Mozilla delayed the release of Firefox 3.6 until the first quarter of 2010. It had previously promised to deliver the next iteration of its celebrated browser before the decade was out.

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'Google' crowned word of the decade

2010-01-11T03:50:00.000-08:00

The American Dialect Society has crowned the verb "google" as its Word of the Decade, while honouring "tweet" as its 2009 Word of the Year.

Mercifully, the "linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarians, historians, researchers, writers, authors, editors, professors, university students and independent scholars" who vote on the matter "act in fun and do not pretend to be officially inducting words into the English language".

Which is just as well, since google saw off strong opposition from "blog". Grant Barrett, chair of the New Words Committee of the American Dialect Society, said: “I really thought blog would take the honors in the word of the decade category, but more people google than blog, don’t they? Plus, many people think ‘blog’ just sounds ugly. Maybe Google's trademark lawyers would have preferred it, anyway.”

Other contenders for the Word of the Decade were "text" (SMS), "9/11" and "Wi-Fi", while CBS describes "un-" as the "decade's dominant prefix".

Doubtless there are those who consider words such as "unfriend" a good example of epic "fail", and they'll be delighted to learn that the American Dialect Society considers the "noun or interjection used when something is egregiously unsuccessful" as the "Most Useful" term of the last ten years.

Chillingly, American Dialect Society executive council member Ben Zimmer told CBS that "un-" represents "a metaphor for the decade". He offered: "It extends into social relations. It has big social ramifications because the whole concept of friendship is changing."

Other high points gracing the society's press release (pdf) include "Any name of the decade 2000-2009, such as Naughties, Aughties, Oughties", considered the "Least Likely to Succeed".

Agreeably, PETA can also take a bow for spawning the choice of "Most Unnecessary" term with "sea kittens", an unlikely appellation for what people generally call "fish".

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Virus myths

2010-01-10T04:29:00.000-08:00

Below are some comments that are common misconceptions when it comes to computer viruses and other malware.

"If I download a file onto a disk, I don't have to worry about a viruses." - This is not true, just because you've placed a file on a diskette or moved a file from a diskette to your hard drive does not mean that your computer cannot be infected. Many viruses are memory resident and capable of loading themselves into memory once a diskette is placed in the computer.

"If I buy sealed software I don't have to worry about viruses." or "If I just buy registered software I don't have to worry about viruses." - This is not always true, just because the program may be surrounded in plastic doesn't mean that it cannot be infected with a virus. When a software program is saved onto a diskette or disc if that computer or program is infected the virus will attach itself. Although this issue very rarely occurs it is still a possibility.

"If I don't download anything off of the Internet I don't have to worry about viruses." - This is definitely not true. Although most companies and web sites will scan the filesviruses before they make them available to download some may not. In addition many people create a site or a file to download with the intention of spreading a virus, spyware, Trojan horses, or other malware. for

"If I just read my e-mail, I will not have to worry about viruses." - Not true; there are viruses out there that are distributed through e-mail; also, files can be attached with e-mail and if executed can infect the computer. Today this is one of the most common ways computer viruses spread around the world.

"If I don't get on the Internet I don't have to worry about viruses." - This, unfortunately, is not the case. Although many viruses are spread over the Internet today it is still possible to contract a computer virus form any diskette or disc you put in the computer.

"You can contract viruses from just looking at web pages." - Not true. However, you can contract a virus if you download and execute a file from that web page. In addition spyware and other scripts can be executed from just viewing a web page. Although these programs are not designed to delete files on your computer they should be considered a privacy violation.

Virus properties

2010-01-10T04:28:00.000-08:00

Below is a listing of some of the different properties a computer virus is capable of having and what the particular property is capable of doing. Keep in mind that not all viruses will have every one of these abilities.

Your computer can be infected even if files are just copied. Because some viruses are memory resident, as soon as a diskette or program is loaded into memory, the virus then attaches itself into memory and then is capable of infecting any file on the computer you have access to.

Can be Polymorphic. Some viruses have the capability of modifying their code, which means one virus could have various amounts of similar variants. This is also true with e-mail viruses that change the subject or body of the message to help from being detected.

Can be memory or non-memory resident. As mentioned earlier a virus is capable of being either memory resident where the virus first loads into memory and then infects a computer or non-memory resident where the virus code is only executed each time a file is opened.

Can be a stealth virus. Stealth viruses will first attach itself to files on the computer and then attack the computer; this causes the virus to spread more rapidly.

Viruses can carry other viruses. Because viruses are only software programs a virus may also carry other viruses making the virus more lethal and help the primary virus hide or assist the primary virus with infecting a particular section of the computer.

Can make the system never show outward signs. Some viruses can hide changes made, such as when a file was last modified making the virus more difficult to detect.

Can stay on the computer even if the computer is formatted. Some Viruses have the capability of infecting different portions of the computer such as the CMOS battery or master boot record. Finally, if a computer is completely erased and the virus is on a backup disk it can easily re-infect the computer.

What viruses may do to a computer

2010-01-09T04:26:00.000-08:00

Below are different issues you may experience when you are infected with a virus. Keep in mind that you also may be experiencing any of the below issues by another computer related issue and not a virus.

Deleted files.
Various messages in files or on programs.
Changes volume label.
Marks clusters as bad in the FAT.
Randomly overwrites sectors on the hard disk.
Replaces the MBR with own code.
Create more than one partition.
Attempts to access the hard disk drive, which can result in error messages such as: Invalid drive specification.
Causes cross-linked files.
Causes a "sector not found" error.
Cause the system to run slow.
Logical partitions created, partitions decrease in size.
A directory may be displayed as garbage.
Directory order may be modified so files, such as COM files, will start at the beginning of the directory.
Cause Hardware problems such as keyboard keys not working, printer issues, modem issues etc.
Disable ports such as LPT or COM ports.
Caused keyboard keys to be remapped.
Alter the system time / date.
Cause system to hang or freeze randomly.
Cause activity on HDD or FDD randomly.
Increase file size.
Increase or decrease memory size.
Randomly change file or memory size.
Extended boot times.
Increase disk access times.
Cause computer to make strange noises, make music, clicking noises or beeps.
Display pictures randomly.
Different and/or undocumented types of error messages.

How viruses may affect files?

2010-01-09T04:19:00.000-08:00

Viruses can affect any files; however, usually attack .com, .exe, .sys, .bin, .pif or any data files - Viruses have the capability of infecting any file; however, will generally infect executable files or data files, such as word or excel documents that are opened frequently and allow the virus to try infecting other files more often.

Increase the files size - When infecting files, virtues will generally increase the size of the file; however, with more sophisticated viruses these changes can be hidden.

It can delete files as the file is run - Because most files are loaded into memory, once the program is in memory the virus can delete the file used to execute the virus.

It can corrupt files randomly - Some destructive viruses are not designed to destroy random data but instead randomly delete or corrupt files.

It can cause write protect errors when executing .exe files from a write protected disk - Viruses may need to write themselves to files that are executed; because of this, if a diskette is write protected, you may receive a write protection error.

It can convert .exe files to .com files - Viruses may use a separate file to run the program and rename the original file to another extension so the exe is run before the com.

It can reboot the computer when executed - Numerous computer viruses have been designed to cause a computer to reboot, freeze, or perform other tasks not normally exhibited by the computer.

Google seeks to become energy trader

2010-01-08T12:05:00.000-08:00

Renewable power for own private internet

As it continues to expand its own private internet, Google has asked US energy regulators for the right to buy and sell power on the wholesale market - just as a utility would.

Last month, the search giant cum world power created a subsidiary dubbed Google Energy, and the outfit has now applied (PDF) with the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to become a power marketer, as reported by The New York Times.

Google has yet to respond to our request for comment. But according to a company spokeswoman quoted by The Times, the company has no plans to become the next Enron. She says Google merely wants the freedom to purchase renewable energy for its worldwide fleet of data centers.

“We want to have the ability to procure renewable energy to offset power usage of our operations,” she said, adding that this would help Google become "carbon neutral," a goal it set for itself in 2007. In other words, Mountain View wants to buy stuff like solar and wind power directly from the source at bulk rates.

Google operates roughly 36 data centers across the globe, part of a vast private network that accounts for roughly 6 per cent of the traffic on the interwebs.

According to a presentation detailing a recent update to its data center infrastructure, Google intends to expand its network to between one million and 10 million servers, encompassing 10 trillion directories and a quintillion bytes of storage. And all this would be spread across "100s to 1000s" of locations around the world.

It's not unusual for a company that consumes vast amounts of power to become an energy trader. Currently, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission lists about 1,500 companies who have subsidiaries approved for such trading, including big-name retailers like WalMart.

Google has asked the commission to approve its application by February 23.

Source Link

Google to mobile industry: ‘F*ck you very much!’

2010-01-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

Winners and losers from the great Nexus shafting

"It’s Google’s autistic approach to relationships," one senior phone exec told me this week. "They don’t know what hurt they’re doing, and they don’t care."

It’s nothing personal, guys. Today, some of the biggest tech companies in the world, who thought they were Google’s closest partners, will begin to understand how, say, copyright holders have felt for some time now. For the first time, I suspect, they’ll be enjoying that recurring tingle of amazement and disbelief that (as Chris Castle explained here), Google would even try and pull off such a stunt. It took EMI Publishing six months to realise that Google had claimed digital rights to its songs, for example. But even if the decision to shaft its closest Android partners and biggest customers is an aberration, a one-off, a fling that Google will later regret - then the size of the parties involved means it’s going to have lasting repercussions.

Even before Google started competing with it head on this week, the mobile industry was already wary of the Mountain View Chocolate Factory, and its inclination to hoover up every morsel of service revenue. Now complaining about that may be a bit hypocritical, you might think, if you look at how much of a transaction operators such as Docomo have traditionally retained, and how much they want to keep now. But look at the alternative, Google told the networks and device makers. That Mr Jobs doesn’t leave anything on the table. And besides, we Do No Evil.

Wakey wakey, networks

If you’re scratching your head wondering what the big deal is, then I suggest you do a quick news search on the number of stories containing the phrase ‘Google superphone’. Imagine how this looks to a punter. There are over a dozen Google phones. Only one is a real Google phone. Only one is a Google superphone. And you can only get that from Google. Won’t Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Acer and Samsung be feeling pleased today? Sony Ericsson’s X10 has a fairly identical spec (plus Sony branding) or better – but it’s not a ‘superphone’. And not the ‘real thing’.

If you thought there was a level playing field, you’ve been mugged. If you’re looking for a differentiator, similarly, you’ve been mugged.

As we discussed earlier, there may be some semantic wiggle room for Google – but it’s a Bill Clinton defence. Andy Rubin not only questioned the definition of sexual relations but also what ‘make our own hardware’ means (phnarr!). Maybe even what ‘is’ is. So despite nods and winks to the contrary, Google is now selling a Google-branded ‘superphone’, alongside its Google ad programs and Google-created software platform.

This is no surprise.

If networks are surprised that Google can turn around and shaft them – then they can’t have been paying close attention to company strategy in recent times. They certainly weren’t reading El Reg, where we’ve been joining the dots for you for years. The evidence was already abundant that Google envisaged a value chain without operators or ISPs. In Google’s vision of the future, there are no $80bn-a-year turnover giants like Vodafone. Instead, masts are merely a dumb transmission network, most likely operated by a monopoly incumbent (such as Arquiva for UK TV and radio), which must be regulated (out of necessity) by an equally dumb transmission network regulator.

With the value of copyright also reduced to zero, (the other arm of Google’s mighty lobbying effort is to kneecap creators and rightsholders,) then the only internet company that could possibly make money would be Google - since it would be the only internet company.

Good, honest lobbying

Google has lobbied for this for years now; it's also why Google has its own private internet. Googlenet already carries 10 per cent of the net’s traffic internally, and this is a testbed for replacements for the open protocols we use today such as http and dns. And it sure as hell isn’t neutral. Google has no obligation to open this to anybody else. The huge data centres are simply the physical manifestation of the private internet – like the vast cooling towers at each end of the Holland or Rotherhithe Tunnels.

Read Full Story:>>>>>>

France plans to tax Google and Yahoo

2010-01-08T11:59:00.000-08:00

Nicolas Sarkozy steps up plea for restrictive internet

In a move that may have repercussions worldwide, French president Nicolas Sarkozy has put forward plans to tax major internet advertising companies like Google and Yahoo in order to raise money to support creative industries.

Sarkozy made the speech (video in French) to French culture officials at the Cité de la Musique in Paris yesterday.

Previous controversial proposals by Sarkozy to help content creators included a 'three strikes' policy to tackle illegal downloading that ended up having its biggest impact in the UK.

Although the idea was rejected by the highest French constitutional court, it was widely debated at EU level, and has been backed by UK business secretary Lord Mandelson.

Sarkozy said yesterday that big advertising companies should be taxed in order to create pre-paid cards for children to buy music online. The announcement was a clear endorsement of the Zelnick report.

The Zelnick report was written by France's former minister of culture, Jacque Toubon, who pushed for the copyright 'three strikes' rule to be included in EU debates, and Patrick Zelnick, who runs a chain of music stores called Naiv. The authors suggested that the new taxation could raise up to £17m.

Sarkozy also called for the French competition authority to investigate Google because of its dominant position in the online ad market.

Oliver Esper, senior policy manager for Google France, argued that taxing internet advertisers is not the right way forward as it would slow innovation, although he did not address Sarkozy's anti-trust concerns regarding Google.

"The better way to support content creation is to find new business models that help consumers find great content, and rewards artists and publishers for their work," said Esper.

Yahoo declined to comment.

Google has been under attack from French copyright officials. Last month a court in Paris ruled that Google was in violation of its copyright laws.

A spokesman for the British Phonographic Institute, which represents the UK recorded music business, said that it would "watch developments with interest".

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which represents the recording industry worldwide, said that it would not comment on the statements made by Sarkozy.

Meanwhile, Jérémie Zimmermann, a spokesman for French citizens' rights group La Quadrature du Net, said that it will be difficult to get Sarkozy's policy through because it is attacking international companies. "It would have to go through the EU first," he said.

Zimmerman added that the most worrying part of Sarkozy's speech was when he put forward plans to filter the internet in order to decrease illegal downloading. "This is a high level threat to human rights," he said.

Andreas Pouros, chief operating officer at search marketing firm Greenlight, argued that Sarkozy's proposals could have a hidden objective.

"The suggestion that the tax will help France subsidise music artists and book publishers doesn't sound like the sole objective here, given that this amount of money won't make much of a difference if it's spread so thinly across France's creative community," he said.

"On this basis it feels like protectionism of the worst sort. Instead of collaborating with successful, innovative companies, or creating an environment that promotes innovation domestically, France appears to want to give its own industries an unfair commercial advantage by taking money from non-French firms. "

Pouros also warned that France would risk war with "some of the world's most innovative online firms" if the proposals are adopted.

"It is, of course, understandable why France would be concerned, particularly given that Google has approximately 98 per cent of the search engine market in that country," he said.

"But instead of treating successful companies as the enemy, it should look to the music and publishing industry to reinvent themselves and offer the consumer an alternative to Google et al."

Source Link

Increase / decrease web page font size

2010-01-08T04:17:00.000-08:00

Quickly increase and decrease the size of the text or fonts on a web page by holding down the CTRL key on the keyboard and scrolling up or down with the wheel on a wheel mouse.

Top 10 unknown Google tricks

2010-01-08T04:09:00.000-08:00

A list of top ten Google tricks many users don't know about.

Definitions - Pull up the definition of the word by typing define followed by the word you want the definition for. For example, typing: define bravura would display the definition of that word.
Local search - Visit Google Local enter the area you want to search and the keyword of the place you want to find. For example, typing: restaurant at the above link would display local restaurants.
Phone number lookup - Enter a full phone number with area code to display the name and address associated with that phone number.
Find weather - Type weather followed by a zip code or city and state to display current weather conditions and forecasts for upcoming days.
Track airline flight - Enter the airline and flight number to display the status of an airline flight and it's arrival time. For example, type: delta 123 to display this flight information if available.
Track packages - Enter a UPS, FedEx or USPS tracking number to get a direct link to track your packages.
Pages linked to you - See what other web pages are linking to your website or blog by typing link: followed by your URL. For example, typing link:http://technolinked.blogspot.com/ displays all pages linking to Computer Hope.
Find PDF results only - Add filetype: to your search to display results that only match a certain file type. For example, if you wanted to display PDF results only type: "dell xps" filetype:pdf -- this is a great way to find online manuals.
Calculator - Use the Google Search engine as a calculator by typing a math problem in the search. For example, typing: 100 + 200 would display results as 300.
Stocks - Quickly get to a stock quote price, chart, and related links by typing the stock symbol in Google. For example, typing: msft will display the stock information for Microsoft.

2016 bug hits Windows phones

2010-01-05T02:15:00.000-08:00

Y 2.01K spreads

The date bug which is interfering with Aussie point of sale transactions has spread to some Windows mobile phones.

The glitch means that text messages received since New Year's Eve will appear with a 2016 date. Card scanners in thousands of Australian shops have also been hit, as we reported yesterday. Bank of Queensland systems, believing it was 2016, rejected most payment cards because they'd passed their expiry date.

The bank introduced a manual workaround which effectively tells systems to ignore the date.

Windows Mobile users, running versions 6.1 and 6.5, may have noticed text messages from the future - all messages received since New Year's Eve will have a 2016 dateline, according to Techradar.com.

source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/05/windows_mobe_bug/

Gunman kills four people in Finnish shopping mall

2009-12-31T06:27:00.000-08:00

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Four people were killed when a gunman opened fire

at a Finnish shopping mall on Thursday, police said, in the country's third multiple shooting incident in as many years.

A 43-year-old suspect, Ibrahim Shkupolli, was still at large and considered armed and dangerous, they said in a statement. The victims of the attack, staged in the town of Espoo near Helsinki as shoppers stocked up for the New Year holiday, were three men and a woman, they added.

National newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported on its website that a fifth victim, which it identified as the suspect's ex-wife, had been found dead in an Espoo apartment.

Finland was rocked by two school shootings in 2007 and 2008, after which it tightened gun control regulations.

A Reuters reporter at the Sello Mall in Espoo saw helicopters overhead and fire trucks around the entrances of the shopping center, which was now closed.

"When we were going out I heard sounds like shots from the third floor, and then I left," said a mall employee, who declined to give her name.

"I paid for my groceries and I wanted to go to my car when I was told that you cannot go there," shopper Jorma Romo told Reuters outside of the mall. "They were hurrying people out and people were asking (why)."

Ilta-Sanomat newspaper said on its website that at least seven shots were fired, but gave no source for the information.

(Additional reporting by Terhi Kinnunen)

(Reporting by Brett Young: editing by David Stamp)

source:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091231/ts_nm/us_finland_shooting

AT&T: The most hated company in iPhone land

2009-12-30T23:41:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Consumer outrage about AT&T's 3G service for iPhones is boiling over, but the dropped calls and spotty service reflect a greater lack of foresight in the wireless industry.

Analysts say AT&T's problems would have happened on any network that carried Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone because of the overwhelming amount of data downloaded by iPhone users. Over the past three years, AT&T's data traffic increased 5,000% because of the iPhone.

"The challenges that AT&T has are being faced by a lot of operators around the world: Very rapidly growing usage coupled with dense populations," said Daniel Hays, wireless expert and partner at consultancy PRTM. "Would it have been different on Verizon? Probably not."

AT&T accurately states that it has the nation's fastest 3G network but it "probably bit off more than it could chew," said Doug Helmreich, program director at consultancy CFI Group. "Now some of their customers are paying the price."

IPhone users in New York and San Francisco in particular have been up in arms about frequent service interruptions. Earlier this month, AT&T's head of mobility, Ralph de la Vega, admitted at an investors' conference that the company's service in those two cities was "below our standards."

It's not just New York and San Francisco iPhone users who are grumbling. An annual Consumer Reports study recently rated AT&T (T, Fortune 500) the worst in customer satisfaction in 19 cities across the country. (Rival Verizon Wireless rated No. 1 in the study.)

In nearly three-quarters of the surveyed areas, AT&T was rated lowest for availability of service, frequency of dropped calls and quality of voice service.

Verizon vs. AT&T

Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500) has had a field day at AT&T's expense.

"There's a map for that" commercials have poked fun at AT&T's smaller 3G footprint. And that has helped Verizon take market share, according to Piper Jaffray.

But studies show that AT&T's network is actually faster than Verizon's, and Verizon's ad campaign may be a bit misleading.

Four recent independent studies from wireless industry analysis firms Global Wireless Solutions and Root Wireless, investment bank Piper Jaffray and tech blog Gizmodo all concluded that AT&T's 3G network was the fastest in the United States.

"We drove millions of miles across the country, and our data support AT&T's claim that it has the fastest 3G data network," said Global Wireless CEO Paul Carter.

The map that Verizon shows in its ads is correct, but AT&T's 3G network still covers nearly 80% of the U.S. population, said Carter. And AT&T's non-3G coverage is also broader than its 3G network.

With that kind of pedigree, analysts say AT&T was likely the best-equipped network to handle the iPhone.

"For Verizon ... we still wonder if the network has the capacity and backhaul to support a device with an adoption curve of the iPhone," said Piper Jaffray analyst Chris Larsen in a client note.

Perception vs. reality

AT&T admits that it has had problems keeping up with the data demands of iPhone users, which has prompted the company to accelerate scheduled improvements in its network.

"There's more work to be done and a sense of urgency to do it, but we feel like we're on the right track with our investments," said Fletcher Cook, spokesman for AT&T.

In the next few years, AT&T said it would double its network speed, and Cook said AT&T has already improved overall network quality by 25%. The company has also deployed more than 20,000 Wi-Fi hotspots across the country, which it says may help alleviate stress on its 3G network.

PRTM's Hays applauded the Wi-Fi solution and AT&T's dedication to improving its network, calling them "critical levers in addressing AT&T's network performance issues." He expects AT&T to go even further, perhaps by integrating tiered data plans that would force iPhone users to pay for the data they download.

Still, perception has hurt AT&T.

AT&T's network is the No. 1 hangup for people who are in the market for an iPhone, according to a CFI Group study. The company's woes have even become the butt of jokes on late-night TV.

"It was reported this week that Google would soon launch its own cell phone as a challenge to the iPhone," said "Saturday Night Live's" Seth Meyers on Dec. 19. "Also a challenge to the iPhone? Making phone calls."

The building frustrations led some angry consumers to take matters into their own hands. "Operation Chokehold," which took place on Dec. 18, was an attempt to overload AT&T's network by running data-intensive apps to try and send a message that consumers "are sick of their substandard network." The ploy failed.

"Unfortunately for AT&T, when it comes to network quality, perception is reality and right now Verizon has a more positive public perception," said Larsen. "If AT&T can continue to show improvement in network throughput, it may blunt some of the impact."

source:http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/29/technology/att/index.htm?cnn=yes

Solution to killer superbug found in Norway

2009-12-30T23:40:00.000-08:00

OSLO, Norway – Aker University Hospital is a dingy place to heal. The floors are streaked and scratched. A light layer of dust coats the blood pressure monitors. A faint stench of urine and bleach wafts from a pile of soiled bedsheets dropped in a corner.

Look closer, however, at a microscopic level, and this place is pristine. There is no sign of a dangerous and contagious staph infection that killed tens of thousands of patients in the most sophisticated hospitals of Europe, North America and Asia this year, soaring virtually unchecked.

The reason: Norwegians stopped taking so many drugs.

Twenty-five years ago, Norwegians were also losing their lives to this bacteria. But Norway's public health system fought back with an aggressive program that made it the most infection-free country in the world. A key part of that program was cutting back severely on the use of antibiotics.

Now a spate of new studies from around the world prove that Norway's model can be replicated with extraordinary success, and public health experts are saying these deaths — 19,000 in the U.S. each year alone, more than from AIDS — are unnecessary.

"It's a very sad situation that in some places so many are dying from this, because we have shown here in Norway that Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can be controlled, and with not too much effort," said Jan Hendrik-Binder, Oslo's MRSA medical adviser. "But you have to take it seriously, you have to give it attention, and you must not give up."

The World Health Organization says antibiotic resistance is one of the leading public healthtuberculosis and malaria, making them harder and in some cases impossible to treat. threats on the planet. A six-month investigation by The Associated Press found overuse and misuse of medicines has led to mutations in once curable diseases like

Now, in Norway's simple solution, there's a glimmer of hope.

---

Dr. John Birger Haug shuffles down Aker's scuffed corridors, patting the pocket of his baggy white scrubs. "My bible," the infectious disease specialist says, pulling out a little red Antibiotic Guide that details this country's impressive MRSA solution.

It's what's missing from this book — an array of antibiotics — that makes it so remarkable.

"There are times I must show these golden rules to our doctors and tell them they cannot prescribe something, but our patients do not suffer more and our nation, as a result, is mostly infection free," he says.

Norway's model is surprisingly straightforward.

• Norwegian doctors prescribe fewer antibiotics than any other country, so people do not have a chance to develop resistance to them.

• Patients with MRSA are isolated and medical staff who test positive stay at home.

• Doctors track each case of MRSA by its individual strain, interviewing patients about where they've been and who they've been with, testing anyone who has been in contact with them.

Haug unlocks the dispensary, a small room lined with boxes of pills, bottles of syrups and tubes of ointment. What's here? Medicines considered obsolete in many developed countries. What's not? Some of the newest, most expensive antibiotics, which aren't even registered for use in Norway, "because if we have them here, doctors will use them," he says.

He points to an antibiotic. "If I treated someone with an infection in Spain with this penicillin I would probably be thrown in jail," he says, "and rightly so because it's useless there."

Norwegians are sanguine about their coughs and colds, toughing it out through low-grade infections.

"We don't throw antibiotics at every person with a fever. We tell them to hang on, wait and see, and we give them a Tylenol to feel better," says Haug.

Convenience stores in downtown Oslo are stocked with an amazing and colorful array — 42 different brands at one downtown 7-Eleven — of soothing, but non-medicated, lozenges, sprays and tablets. All workers are paid on days they, or their children, stay home sick. And drug makers aren't allowed to advertise, reducing patient demands for prescription drugs.

In fact, most marketing here sends the opposite message: "Penicillin is not a cough medicine," says the tissue packet on the desk of Norway's MRSA control director, Dr. Petter Elstrom.

He recognizes his country is "unique in the world and best in the world" when it comes to MRSA. Less than 1 percent of health care providers are positive carriers of MRSA staph.

But Elstrom worries about the bacteria slipping in through other countries. Last year almost every diagnosed case in Norway came from someone who had been abroad.

"So far we've managed to contain it, but if we lose this, it will be a huge problem," he said. "To be very depressing about it, we might in some years be in a situation where MRSA is so endemic that we have to stop doing advanced surgeries, things like organ transplants, if we can't prevent infections. In the worst case scenario we are back to 1913, before we had antibiotics."

---

Forty years ago, a new spectrum of antibiotics enchanted public health officials, quickly quelling one infection after another. In wealthier countries that could afford them, patients and providers came to depend on antibiotics. Trouble was, the more antibiotics are consumed, the more resistant bacteria develop.

Norway responded swiftly to initial MRSA outbreaks in the 1980s by cutting antibiotic use. Thus while they got ahead of the infection, the rest of the world fell behind.

In Norway, MRSA has accounted for less than 1 percent of staph infections for years. That compares to 80 percent in Japan, the world leader in MRSA; 44 percent in Israel; and 38 percent in Greece.

In the U.S., cases have soared and MRSA cost $6 billion last year. Rates have gone up from 2 percent in 1974 to 63 percent in 2004. And in the United Kingdom, they rose from about 2 percent in the early 1990s to about 45 percent, although an aggressive control program is now starting to work.

About 1 percent of people in developed countries carry MRSA on their skin. Usually harmless, the bacteria can be deadly when they enter a body, often through a scratch. MRSA spreads rapidly in hospitals where sick people are more vulnerable, but there have been outbreaks in prisons, gyms, even on beaches. When dormant, the bacteria are easily detected by a quick nasal swab and destroyed by antibiotics.

Dr. John Jernigan at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they incorporate some of Norway's solutions in varying degrees, and his agency "requires hospitals to move the needle, to show improvement, and if they don't show improvement they need to do more."

And if they don't?

"Nobody is accountable to our recommendations," he said, "but I assume hospitals and institutions are interested in doing the right thing."

Dr. Barry Farr, a retired epidemiologist who watched a successful MRSA control program launched 30 years ago at the University of Virginia's hospitals, blamed the CDC for clinging to past beliefs that hand washing is the best way to stop the spread of infections like MRSA. He says it's time to add screening and isolation methods to their controls.

The CDC needs to "eat a little crow and say, 'Yeah, it does work,'" he said. "There's example after example. We don't need another study. We need somebody to just do the right thing."

---

But can Norway's program really work elsewhere?

The answer lies in the busy laboratory of an aging little public hospital about 100 miles outside of London. It's here that microbiologist Dr. Lynne Liebowitz got tired of seeing the stunningly low Nordic MRSA rates while facing her own burgeoning cases.

So she turned Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kings Lynn into a petri dish, asking doctors to almost completely stop using two antibiotics known for provoking MRSA infections.

One month later, the results were in: MRSA rates were tumbling. And they've continued to plummet. Five years ago, the hospital had 47 MRSA bloodstream infections. This year they've had one.

"I was shocked, shocked," says Liebowitz, bouncing onto her toes and grinning as colleagues nearby drip blood onto slides and peer through microscopes in the hospital laboratory.

When word spread of her success, Liebowitz's phone began to ring. So far she has replicated her experiment at four other hospitals, all with the same dramatic results.

"It's really very upsetting that some patients are dying from infections which could be prevented," she says. "It's wrong."

Around the world, various medical providers have also successfully adapted Norway's program with encouraging results. A medical center in Billings, Mont., cut MRSA infections by 89 percent by increasing screening, isolating patients and making all staff — not just doctors — responsible for increasing hygiene.

In Japan, with its cutting-edge technology and modern hospitals, about 17,000 people die from MRSA every year.

Dr. Satoshi Hori, chief infection control doctor at Juntendo University Hospital in Tokyo, says doctors overprescribe antibiotics because they are given financial incentives to push drugs on patients.

Hori now limits antibiotics only to patients who really need them and screens and isolates high-risk patients. So far his hospital has cut the number of MRSA cases by two-thirds.

In 2001, the CDC approached a Veterans Affairs hospital in Pittsburgh about conducting a small test program. It started in one unit, and within four years, the entire hospital was screening everyone who came through the door for MRSA. The result: an 80 percent decrease in MRSA infections. The program has now been expanded to all 153 VA hospitals, resulting in a 50 percent drop in MRSA bloodstream infections, said Dr. Robert Muder, chief of infectious diseases at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System.

"It's kind of a no-brainer," he said. "You save people pain, you save people the work of taking care of them, you save money, you save lives and you can export what you learn to other hospital-acquired infections."

Pittsburgh's program has prompted all other major hospital-acquired infections to plummet as well, saving roughly $1 million a year.

"So, how do you pay for it?" Muder asked. "Well, we just don't pay for MRSA infections, that's all."

---

Beth Reimer of Batavia, Ill., became an advocate for MRSA precautions after her 5-week-old daughter Madeline caught a cold that took a fatal turn. One day her beautiful baby had the sniffles. The next?

"She wasn't breathing. She was limp," the mother recalled. "Something was terribly wrong."

MRSA had invaded her little lungs. The antibiotics were useless. Maddie struggled to breathe, swallow, survive, for two weeks.

"For me to sit and watch Madeline pass away from such an aggressive form of something, to watch her fight for her little life — it was too much," Reimer said.

Since Madeline's death, Reimer has become outspoken about the need for better precautions, pushing for methods successfully used in Norway. She's stunned, she said, that anyone disputes the need for change.

"Why are they fighting for this not to take place?" she said.

____

Martha Mendoza is an AP national writer who reported from Norway and England. Margie Mason is an AP medical writer based in Vietnam, who reported while on a fellowship from The Nieman Foundation at Harvard University.

source:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091231/ap_on_re_us/when_drugs_stop_working_norway_s_answer

Apple ejects Dalai Lama from Chinese iTunes

2009-12-30T23:25:00.000-08:00

Protects Great firewall of China from 'devil'

iPhone apps based on the teachings of the Dalai Lama don't exist on the Chinese incarnation of iTunes, it has emerged, demonstrating that even Apple has to bend to do business in China.

Given the Chinese government's rejection of the Dalai Lama's authority it's no surprise that his only appearance in the Chinese iTunes store is a passing mention in the Buddhist Glossary. In the UK store there are half a dozen apps presenting his quotes and teachings, but it's hard to imagine an Al Qaeda application lasting long over here given our own government's thoughts on radicalisation.

Comparing the Dalai Lama with Al Qaeda might seem insane, but while we might view the Lama as an intelligent and rather amiable chap with a reasonable argument, the Chinese government has very different ideas.

In covering the lack of Lama applications PC World quotes the Chinese government's opinion of him as a "devil with a human face". Cupertino is obliged to follow local laws if it wants to do business locally (and everyone wants to do business in China) and that means Apples and devils remain segregated.

The approval process for iPhone applications is notoriously secretive, and Apple recently dropped one application for not having enough naked flesh (OK - it was called "Tits and Boobies" and consisted of photographs of birds, which is funny, but cheating, so it's been removed along with its companion "Pussy Lovers").

Refusing applications for political reasons might seem overly compliant, but it's not Apple's fault the Chinese don't like the Dalai Lama.

source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/30/apple_china/

Kate Winslet sports top celeb bod

2009-12-30T23:23:00.000-08:00

Thesp Kate Winslet has topped of "most desirable body" poll in which UK women voted wholeheartedly for traditional curves and kicked tanorexic stick insects firmly into touch.

According to the Telegraph, the Titanic star polled 16 per cent of the votes from 2,000 mere mortal females, narrowly beating Kelly Brook into second spot on 15 per cent. The US's assets were well represented by Halle Berry, who took third place with 12 per cent.

Bottoming out the list were Victoria Beckham, Jordan and Kate Moss, each attracting a lean 1 per cent.

The YouGov poll was commissioned by Slimming World, which wheeled out its woman of the year, Rebecca Wheatley, to celebrate the result. The former Casualty actress - who shifted a whopping 12 stone to slim down to a healthy size 12, enthused: "It is fantastic to see that finally women seem to be aspiring towards a healthy body shape that is realistic and achievable. Kate Winslet has always spoken out about the importance of accepting your body. After all, healthy women come in all sizes."

She concluded: "It is definitely a step forward that rather than persuading women to set their sights on being super thin, which can lead to misery when they fail to achieve their target, more celebrities are encouraging inner confidence and a positive body image and showing women how they can be happy with their shape."

Interestingly, a quarter of the women polled didn't pick a "perfect celebrity body" at all, and the fact that topless model Keeley Hazell's 100 per cent natural and ample charms merited just 2 per cent of the vote suggest other factors are at play.

Jordan is hardly lacking a bit of meat, either, but her airbags are strictly Bulgarian, and that may have counted against her.

Here's the full list, and if you don't know who some of these people are, you've got no business hanging around Bootnotes:

Kate Winslet - 16 per cent
Kelly Brook - 15
Halle Berry - 12
Cheryl Cole - 10
Beyoncé - 6
Megan Fox - 5
Lily Allen - 4
Keeley Hazell - 2
Kate Moss - 1
Jordan - 1
Victoria Beckham - 1

And here, purely for scientific reasons, are those gals' rankings in AskMen.com's "Top 99 Women for 2009":

Kate Winslet - 99
Kelly Brook - Unplaced
Halle Berry - 13
Cheryl Cole - 20
Beyoncé - 50
Megan Fox - 2
Lily Allen - Unplaced
Keeley Hazell - 4
Kate Moss - Unplaced
Jordan - Unplaced
Victoria Beckham - Unplaced

Eva Mendes took top spot, in case you're wondering.

source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/30/top_bod/

Steve Jobs gets top dog Noughties honours

2009-12-30T23:20:00.000-08:00

Yet another iDecade accolade

Apple boss Steve Jobs has been crowned the "Person of the Decade" by readers of the Wall Street Journal.

Journal readers voted for the Jobsian one as their favourite person of the Noughties following his triumphant return to the role of CEO at the end of the last decade.

The WSJ pointed out that Jobs had steered the Apple ship around by helping the company's stock rise 700 per cent in value after returning as boss of the Cupertino-based computer maker.

Jobs garnered 30 per cent of the vote to grab the Person of the Decade moniker, for changing "the way people buy and listen to music," with Apple's ubiquitous iPod MP3 player and its online songs and albums store, iTunes.

Holding up the rear in the tech world was Microsoft's Bill Gates, with a total of nine per cent of those polled saying that the software giant's co-founder should take top person of the decade honours.

Of course Gates hung up his Redmond management boots for good in June 2008, since when he has worked full-time with his wife at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - which is a charity that currently boasts a $35bn endowment.

However, Gates's best chum, Warren Buffett, fared better in the poll, pulling in 17 per cent of the vote. The investor was rewarded by WSJ readers for his solid financial prowess when the economy nosedived last year.

Google also jumped ahead of Microsoft's tricky decade with 12 per cent of readers voting for the world's largest ad broker's founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, in the poll. While Google's IPO secured the "Smartest Financial Move of the Decade" and the "Smartest Investment of the Decade" accolades.

Over the past few weeks Jobs has been earning "top dog CEO" points all over the shop from the likes of Harvard Business Review and Forbes. Sadly, that other well-known Steve of the Noughties - y'know, the one who has a penchant for chair-throwing and monkey-dancing - remains notably absent from all the back-slapping.

source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/30/steve_jobs_person_of_decade_wsj/

IT consultant freed after almost three years in Baghdad

2009-12-30T20:48:00.000-08:00

'Absolutely delighted'

Kidnapped IT consultant Peter Moore is on his way home to the UK having been held hostage in Iraq since May 2007.

The release of Moore follows long negotiations between the Iraqi government and the kidnappers, which apparently resulted in no "substantive concessions" but did lead to him being released to local authorities this morning. He's now at the British embassy, and is reportedly in good spirits.

The bodies of three of the other four Britons kidnapped at the same time have already been returned to the British authorities and the fourth is thought to have shared their fate.

Moore is described as being "absolutely delighted" at being released, despite having an "very moving" conversation with Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/30/moore_iraq_hostage/

Court: iPod hearing loss your fault, not Apple's

2009-12-30T20:42:00.000-08:00

'What? What??'

A US court has turned back an appeal of a 2008 ruling that declared that if you blow out your ears by listening to your iPod too loudly, it's your own damn fault.

In a victory for common sense and personal responsibility, the court sided with the iPod manufacturer in the case of Birdsong v. Apple, Inc, originally filed in the Western District of Louisiana by one Joseph Birdsong, who was later joined by Californian Bruce Waggoner.

Both plaintiffs sought to elevate the case to nationwide class-action status. Instead, the US District Court of Northern California, to which the case had been transferred, dismissed their complaint. Birdsong and Waggoner appealed.

In Wednesday's ruling (PDF), Judge David R. Thompson of the Ninth Circuit notes that: "The plaintiffs argue the district court erred... They alleged that the iPod (1) comes with 'stock ear buds...designed to be placed deep into the ear canal rather than over the ears, which increases the danger of hearing damage,' (2) lacks 'noise isolating or cancelling properties,' and (3) lacks any volume meter."

Ignoring the mischaracterization of iPod earbuds as being "designed to be placed deep into the ear canal," Judge Thompson's ruling gets right to the point: "The district court did not err."

Thompson's reasoning is straightforward: "The plaintiffs recognize that iPods play music, have an adjustable volume, and transmit sound through earbuds," he writes, adding that their complaint states that - and the italics are Judge Thompson's: "(1) the iPod is capable of playing 115 decibels of sound; (2) consumers may listen at unsafe levels; and (3) iPod batteries can last 12 to 14 hours and are rechargeable, giving users the opportunity to listen for long periods of time."

Summing up his argument, Thompson writes: "Taken as true, such statements suggest only that users have the option of using an iPod in a risky manner..."

In other words, the law isn't responsible for stopping an idiot from being an idiot.

Thompson goes on to write that "the plaintiffs make no allegations of any history of malfunction, but merely suggest possible changes to the iPod which they believe would make the product safer," such as noise-reducing earbuds, warnings beyond the Apple's existing 60-word Avoid Hearing Damage tips, a digital decibel meter, and "volume-control software" - whatever that might entail.

"The plaintiffs fail to allege, however, how the absence of their suggested changes caused any user an injury," Thompson writes,

In fact, he writes, the plaintiffs didn't even claim to have been injured, nor did they cite any injuries to other. "The plaintiffs simply do not plead facts showing that hearing loss from iPod use is actual or imminent."

Judge Thompson's ruling is akin to the commonsense understanding that if you put your hand down a garbage disposal, then turn it on, you can't blame the disposal's manufacturer if your new nickname is "Stumpy" - especially if that manufacturer had warned you not to be such a thorough chowderhead.

Apple is off the hook, and the nanny state takes one in the teeth thanks to the levelheadedness of one Northern California judge.

source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/30/ipod_hearing_loss_appeal/