XP and Windows Enhancements™

Centrino gets Wireless N addition

2007-01-24T18:47:00.000-05:00

Intel Corporation today introduced the Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N network connection, an upgrade to the wireless component found inside Intel Centrino Duo mobile technology and other Intel-based laptops that helps consumers better connect to wireless networks.

As notebook PCs increasingly download broadband-intense content such as movies, videos and music, a more powerful networking solution is needed. Based on the draft 802.11n Wi-Fi specification, the Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N technology addresses that need by offering users up to five times the performance and twice the wireless range – while providing up to an extra hour of notebook battery life when compared to existing Draft-N products.
In addition, Intel said it has initiated the "Connect with Centrino" program. Through this program, Intel has worked with leading access point (AP) vendors including Asus, Belkin, Buffalo, D-Link and Netgear to better ensure compatibility and performance. Intel's wireless-N product is certified to work with multiple APs and as these AP's successfully pass Intel's rigorous real-world testing certification criteria, they will display a "Connect with Centrino" identifier on their product packaging, allowing consumers a choice for connecting with more confidence.

Microsoft Releases Patches

2006-12-13T14:37:00.000-05:00

Microsoft Corp. put out three software patches Tuesday that fix problems carrying a "critical" rating, the company's highest threat level.

All three could let an attacker remotely run code on a victim's computer. The patches close holes in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser, its Windows Media Player program and its Visual Studio 2005 development software.

Four other patches, for vulnerabilities deemed "important," also were released for Windows and its Outlook Express e-mail program.

Computer users with Microsoft's automatic updates feature enabled in Windows do not have to do anything to get these seven repairs. Others should visit Microsoft's security Web site.

Redmond-based Microsoft is still working on a patch for a flaw disclosed last week in multiple versions of its widely used Word word processor. Microsoft had said it was looking into small-scale reports that hackers had used the vulnerability to take control of computers by sending a rigged e-mail attachment.

Alex Shipp, a researcher for antivirus vendor MessageLabs Ltd., which claims to have discovered the Word flaw, said it appeared that vulnerability was being used by just one criminal outfit in "highly targeted attacks." So far, Shipp said, the overall impact of the flaw is low.

YouTube Times invention of the year 2006

2006-11-07T12:56:00.000-05:00

YouTube has snagged top honours as Time magazine's "Invention of the Year for 2006.''

It beat out a vaccine that prevents a cancer-causing sexually transmitted disease and a shirt that simulates a hug.

Time says YouTube's scale and sudden popularity have changed the rules about how information -- along with fame and embarrassment -- gets distributed over the Web.

It says the video-sharing website came along at just the right time -- social-networking websites are hot, camcorders are cheap and do-it-yourself media is expanding beyond text-based blogs.

YouTube inherits the tiara from Snuppy, a cloned puppy and winner of the magazine's 2005 award.

YouTube was recently acquired by Google for 1.65 (b) billion dollars U-S

Google In The Sunlight

2006-10-17T09:13:00.000-04:00

Google Inc. is converting its renowned headquarters to run partly on solar power, hoping to set an example for corporate America.

The Internet search leader announced what is believed to be the largest solar project undertaken by a U.S. company during a solar energy conference in Silicon Valley on Monday. Google believes the sun eventually can deliver as much as 30 percent of the power at its 1-million-square-foot campus in Mountain View -- a suburb about 35 miles south of San Francisco.

The ambitious project will require installing more than 9,200 solar panels on a high-tech mecca nicknamed the "Googleplex." After leasing the offices for several years, Google bought the campus for $319 million earlier this year.

Once they're in place next spring, the solar panels are expected to produce about 1.6 megawatts of electricity, or enough power to supply about 1,000 homes.

The job is being handled by Pasadena-based EI Solutions, part of a high-tech incubator run by entrepreneur Bill Gross, whose idea to link ads to search engine requests during the 1990 inspired the business model that generates most of Google's profits.

Google wouldn't disclose the project's cost, but it won't strain a company with nearly $10 billion in cash.

The anticipated savings from future energy bills should enable Google to recoup the solar project's costs in five to 10 years, estimated David Radcliffe, the company's vice president of real estate.

"We hope corporate America is paying attention. We want to see a lot of copycats" of this project, Radcliffe said.

Energy costs are a major concern at Google, which already consumes a tremendous amount of power to run the computer farms that keep its search engine humming.

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin also are big supporters of alternative energy. The billionaires began driving hybrid cars shortly after they hit the mass market. Page also is among the investors in Tesla Motors Inc., a Silicon Valley startup developing a sports car that runs on electricity.

Despite technological advances since the first photovoltaic cells were invented 50 years ago, solar power is still two to three times more expensive than fossil fuels in the U.S. and relies on government subsidies to compete.

The solar energy industry nevertheless is expected to grow from $11 billion in 2005 to $51 billion in 2015, estimated Clean Edge Inc., a market research firm.

Google Software

2006-10-13T09:44:00.000-04:00

Those who don't already know, So this is no huge headliner. Google Inc. is making its word processing and spreadsheet programs available for free to all comers on its web site, marking the Internet search leader's latest effort to provide an alternative to Microsoft Corp.'s dominant software applications.

The software package, expected to be available Wednesday, combines a spreadsheet application that Google introduced in June with a word processing program called Writely that the Mountain View-based company bought for an undisclosed amount in March.

As part of the expansion, the Writely name will disappear. The new package will be called Google Docs & Spreadsheets.

Google also had been limiting usage of both the word processing and spreadsheet programs, but the company now expects to be able to accommodate anyone who signs up, said product manager Jonathan Rochelle.

Wednesday's move continues Google's attempt to assemble a suite of software applications that are tethered to an Internet connection instead of a single computer's hard drive. That makes it easier for people to work on the same document from different locations, a convenience that is also meant to encourage more sharing among users with common interests or goals. I'll definately have to try it! for the sharing capabilities

Vista On The Right Track

2006-10-13T09:25:00.000-04:00

Microsoft Corp. said Friday it is on track to deliver the new Windows Vista operating system to its volume license customers around the world in November, and to the general public in January.

The world's largest software maker also confirmed it will be releasing the operating system in Europe and South Korea on schedule, following what it called "constructive dialogue" with the European Commission and the Korea Fair Trade Commission.

Microsoft agreed to make a number of changes to Windows Vista in response to guidance the company received from the European Commission, said Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith. Smith confirmed that the company has also incorporated changes to Windows Vista in Korea to comply with its legal obligations there.

"We recognize that the European Commission does not give 'green lights' for new products, and we have not asked for one," Smith said. "We appreciate the constructive dialogue we have had with the commission and the guidance the commission has provided. Based on this guidance, we have made changes to ensure that we're in compliance with our competition law obligations, and we are moving forward to make Windows Vista available on a worldwide basis."

The EU's antitrust office had warned this spring it had concerns about the new Windows software and EU spokesman Jonathan Todd said "it is up to Microsoft to shoulder its own responsibility to ensure full compliance with competition rules."

Microsoft shares rose 7 cents to $28.29 in premarket trading on the INET electronic exchange.

Patch Patch Patch

2006-10-10T23:36:00.000-04:00

Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday released six patches to fix software flaws that carry its highest threat rating, including three for defects that attackers were already trying to exploit.

The company said all six of the critical flaws could allow an attacker to obtain some access to other people's computers.

The Redmond software maker also released four other patches to fix vulnerabilities that the company deemed less severe.

Customers can download all the patches for free on Microsoft's security website. But the company's recommended method _ setting computers to automatically download such fixes _ wasn't working Tuesday. Microsoft said the problem was with the automated update system itself, rather than the security fixes, and that it hoped to have it fixed by the end of the day.

Microsoft said last month that it knew attackers were already trying to take advantage of defects in its Windows operating system, Microsoft Word software and PowerPoint presentation program.

Christopher Budd, a program manager with the Microsoft Security Resource Center, said that the company had seen limited attacks exploiting the flaws, but were nevertheless recommending that users apply those and other patches immediately.

Such vulnerabilities are rare. In most cases, security experts quietly provide Microsoft evidence of a security flaw, allowing the company to fix the problem in secret and release a patch before attackers can take advantage of it.

But recently, the company has been hit with a number of so-called "zero-day'' attacks, in which flaws are targeted before Microsoft is aware of them or can release patches.

Such attacks have prompted some security researchers to release their own interim fixes. Microsoft also has occasionally taken the unusual step of releasing patches outside of its normal monthly fix schedule, so users can be safeguarded more quickly.

Budd said Microsoft isn't seeing any specific pattern to the burst of zero-day attacks. But he said the company is seeing more focus on attackers trying to infiltrate computers through applications -- such as Word or PowerPoint -- rather than the Windows operating system.

Microsoft software is a constant target of Internet attackers, in part because the company's products are so widely used.

Microsoft has yet to release a patch for one other publicly known flaw _ one affecting the Internet Explorer browser that is part of its Windows operating system. Budd said the company was seeing very few attacks as a result of the flaw.

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Anti-spam group gives warning of Junk mail

2006-10-10T12:24:00.001-04:00

The anti-spam group Spamhaus Project warned more junk e-mail could be on the way as it prepares to lose its domain name thanks to a company it has accused of sending spam.
Executives at the U.K.-based Spamhaus Project said Monday they expect a federal judge in Chicago will soon sign an order that would suspend the domain spamhaus.org because the group has refused to recognize the U.S. court and comply with a $11.7 million judgment.
Spamhaus warned the order could unleash up to 50 billion junk e-mails a day on computer users worldwide, though legal and technology experts were skeptical the effect would lead to millions of clogged inboxes.
According to Spamhaus, more than 650 million Internet users -- including those at the White House, the U.S. Army and the European Parliament -- benefit from Spamhaus' "blacklist" of spammers that helps identify which messages to block, send to a "junk" folder or accept. Losing the domain name would make it more difficult for service providers and others to obtain the lists.
"If the domain got suspended, it would be an enormous hit for the Net," said Steve Linford, Spamhaus' chief executive officer. "It would create an enormous amount of damage on the Internet."
But experts said even if the order filed Friday is executed, it's unlikely people would suddenly see much more junk mail. Experts note Spamhaus' blacklist already is widely available online, and a suspension at most would provide a hiccup Web-savvy systems administrators could easily work around.
"Suspending a domain name isn't the same as suspending a Web site," said Jonathan Zittrain, a law professor at Harvard and Oxford universities. "Spamhaus is intended for use by people who run mail servers -- in other words, technically inclined people. If Spamhaus wanted to, it could simply pick a new domain name, or use no name at all."
Domain names are merely shortcuts to access a site's true, numeric Internet address. Spamhaus could simply distribute that address instead of the domain name.
And it's not even clear U.S. District Judge Charles Kocoras could easily order such a suspension because the Domain Name System is in the hands of organizations and companies that are not parties to the lawsuit. They could challenge any such attempt.
Spamhaus CEO Linford said the group has backup plans in place to keep spam filters functioning, but alerting its customers to change the address their system uses to reference the blacklist would be daunting.
Linford said "mail servers will simply fall over" from a deluge of spam if the filters stop working.
Wheeling-based e360 Insight sought the order after Spamhaus refused to comply with a September ruling that required it to pay $11.7 million and post a notice on its Web site stating that e360 Insight is not a spammer.
Spamhaus officials did not bother defending themselves in the case, arguing that U.S. courts have no jurisdiction and that doing so would open the organization to a tidal wave of lawsuits by spammers that want to fight those who block their e-mails.
Bart Loethen, a lawyer for e360, insists his client does not engage in spamming and said he had to go after Spamhaus' domain until it removes the company from the blacklist.
"They are thumbing their nose at an order of the court," Loethen said. "What else can we do?"

Googletube or Tubegoogle?

2006-10-10T10:44:00.000-04:00

Google Inc., the company behind the Internet's leading search engine, has bought YouTube Inc. for US$1.65 billion.

YouTube is a popular -- but so far unprofitable -- online video website. Visitors can upload and watch videos for free, including everything from amateur webcam clips to some copyrighted material.

Google hopes the site will become a major attraction for advertisers, looking to target youth who spend much of their free time on the Internet.

"We are natural partners to offer a compelling media entertainment service to users, content owners and advertisers,'' said Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive.

Monday's deal marks Google's most expensive acquisition in the company's eight-year history.

YouTube's 67 employees will remain at the company, including co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. Its widely-recognized brand will also remain unchanged.

While Google has its own online video website, analysts said YouTube has remained far more popular.

"This gives Google the video play they have been looking for and gives them a great opportunity to redefine how advertising is done," Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li told The Associated Press.

Following Monday's announcement, Google shares increased by 2.1 per cent to $429.57 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

"This deal looks pretty compelling for Google," Standard & Poor's analyst Scott Kessler told AP. "Google has been doing a lot of things right, but they are not sitting on their laurels."

Hurley, 29, and Chen, 27, started YouTube in February 2005. The site has grown to a major Internet attraction, with more than 100 million videos shown every day.

The co-founders have worked hard to avoid potential legal problems from media companies hoping to keep their content from appearing on the site.

Hurley and Chen have managed to convince companies that YouTube is an effective tool to connect with - and market to - youth, rather than a way to watch pirated material.

Just before Monday's announcement, Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and CBS Corp. all agreed to distribution deals with YouTube, following a similar agreement with Warner Music Group Inc.

Just last month, Universal had threatened to launch a lawsuit against YouTube for copyright infringement.

Google / Youtube

2006-10-06T13:26:00.000-04:00

Internet search leader Google Inc. is in talks to acquire the popular online video site YouTube Inc. for about US$1.6 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Mountain View-based Google and San Mateo-based YouTube are still at a sensitive stage in the discussion, the newspaper reported on its website.

The blog TechCrunch had reported on rumours of the acquisition talks. Representatives from Google and YouTube did not immediately return calls to The Associated Press.

Founded in February 2005 by three former employees of EBay Inc.'s PayPal electronic-payment unit, YouTube is surging thanks to the increased availability of high-speed Internet connections and gadgets such as camera phones and digital cameras capable of taking video. Most of YouTube offerings are short amateur clips, although professional filmmakers and even television networks have posted materials.

YouTube users watch more that 100 million videos daily, and the site's market share tops that of similar services offered by Google and other popular websites, according to some research firms.

When rumours circulated earlier this year that some major media companies were interested in buying YouTube, the company's chief executive, Chad Hurley, said the company was not for sale and a future initial public offering was possible.

Searching in XP? Didn't find what you wanted

2006-10-03T14:29:00.000-04:00

If you've already experienced XP's marvelous (insert Snicker) built-in file search feature, you probably already know that it is limits in many ways. Want to test it? Just create a file named Haha.ttt containing a few strings of test characters and try doing a context search (searching for text within a file) on your C drive for all files containing this text. So, did XP provide you with the expected result? Of course it didn't (unless you already applied the proper registry tweak).

The XP file search engine is flawed in two ways:

It fails to find text inside files with the "wrong" extensions.
It misreports finding the match if the file name has the matching text even if the file content does not.
Fortunately, there's an easy fix to the first point (and unfortunately, none for the second)

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. We cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

Go to Start->run, type "regedit" in the run box and click OK
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ ContentIndex
Create a dword value named "FilterFilesWithUnknownExtensions" (without quote) inside the ContentIndex key and assign an HEX value of 1 to it.
Tada, that's it.

Now, try your search again.

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Online..........Gambling

2006-10-03T13:48:00.000-04:00

Shares in global online gambling companies plummeted Monday following the decision by the U.S. Congress to ban the use of credit cards, cheques and electronic fund transfers for Internet gaming.

Traders said the markets were taken by surprise when Congress rushed through the 'Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act' on Saturday.

The bill prohibits banks and credit card firms from processing Internet gambling payments from customers in the United States.

Shares in British firm PartyGaming -- the world's biggest online gambling company -- were down 55 per cent in afternoon trading in London Monday as a result of the legislation.

Canadian software firm Cryptologic, which announced last week it will move its head office from Toronto to Dublin, also saw its shares slump Monday during morning trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Cryptologic builds the software behind gambling sites, but is also involved in taking wages through its subsidiary WagerLogic.

"Our decision to stop taking wagers on behalf of our licensees who have customers in the United States fully supports a policy that we put in place five years ago which was to migrate our business to European and world markets and move away from the uncertainty of the United States," said Stephen Taylor, chief financial officer of Cryptologic.

Other Canadian companies involved in the industry found their stock similarly stricken by the news, including Las Vegas From Home.com and Internet Bingo firm Parlay Entertainment Inc.

Meanwhile, Britain's Sportingbet, which does more than 60 per cent of its business in the U.S., said it called off takeover talks with World Gaming, while shares in rival 888 Holdings tumbled by more than 30 per cent.

"This legislation indicates Congressional intent to treat Internet gambling, whether sports-related or not, as illegal," 888 Holdings said in a statement.

Several firms have said they will stop taking bets from U.S. customers if the bill is signed into law by U.S. President George Bush in the next two weeks.

Hardest hit companies

The companies hit hardest by the ruling are those that offer betting markets denominated in U.S. dollars, and usually operate from bases in the Caribbean or Central America.

Most of the big British and Irish sites, by contrast, keep their operations in Europe and take deposits only off credit cards denominated in pounds and euros.

The legislation, if enacted, "will make it practically impossible to provide U.S. residents with access to its real money poker and other real money gaming sites," PartyGaming said.

The legislation -- part of a sustained clampdown on online gambling in the U.S. -- was attached to an unrelated bill aimed at improving port securities.

The bill was passed by both the House and Senate on Saturday morning.

Hailing the new legislation, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told reporters that gambling was "a serious addiction that undermines the family, dashes dreams, and frays the fabric of society."

House Majority Leader John Boehner said the new law was a key advance for the Republicans' "American Values Agenda" ahead of the mid-term election.

Canadian addiction researchers say that while online gambling makes up a small minority of all gambling activity, it tends to attract the Internet-savvy generation.

"It's more popular among the younger age groups," said researcher Jamie Wiebe. "In a recent study, we found that the 18-24-year-old group was most likely to engage in that form of activity. They also had the highest rates of gambling problems."

Canada's federal government is monitoring the issue, but plans to focus on prevention and treatment for gambling addicts.

"Our approach, which is to deal with people who have these issues -- I think it's probably the more appropriate one and probably the one that'll have more success," Health Minister Tony Clement said.

Arrests

The move follows the arrests in the U.S. this year of the bosses of two foreign online companies over alleged illegal Internet gambling.

The U.S. Department of Justice claims online gambling violates the 1961 Wire Act -- legislation that was aimed at fighting organized crime.

The legislation outlaws the use of phone lines to place bets across state lines.

"This has come as a major shock to the industry, where most observers expected the legislation to fail," Stephen Ford, an analyst for British broker firm Collins Stewart, told the Associated Press.

Some analysts insisted they were remaining upbeat about the gambling sector, which generated around US$15 billion globally.

And others argue that such gambling is here to stay.

"Prohibition just doesn't work. The U.S. has tried it in the 1920s with alcohol. It just doesn't work. The demand for online gambling product is just not going to go away," said Keith Furlong of the U.S. Interactive Gaming Council, an online gambling lobby group.

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PS3 a concern?

2006-10-03T12:51:00.000-04:00

TOKYO — Fresh concerns about the upcoming release of Sony's much-anticipated PlayStation 3 video game console and reports of erratic performance dragged Sony shares down 2.75 per cent Tuesday.

Technical problems for the PlayStation 3 would be the latest embarrassment for Sony, which has already had to twice delay the product's launch, and is facing stepped up competition from rivals Microsoft and Nintendo.

Sony has also been hit by the recent string of recalls for its lithium ion batteries for laptop computers.

PlayStation 3 units on display at the Tokyo Game Show about 10 days ago operated erratically and had to be repeatedly reset, according to a report released Monday by Macquarie Equities analyst David Gibson in Tokyo.

“While the reason for this is unknown, we suspect it may be due to overheating as a result of enclosing the units and the high temperatures at the venue,” Mr. Gibson wrote. “We are concerned that such a problem has occurred so close to full production and is clearly negative news for the company.”

Sony denied that there was any technical problem with the PlayStation 3.

Earlier in the day, investment firm Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lowered Sony's stock rating to “neutral” from “buy,” citing confusion over the release of PlayStation 3 and concerns that disappointing sales of the PlayStation Portable may weigh on its earnings in electronics operations more heavily than expected.

Sony's stock tumbled 130 yen, about $1.11 (U.S.), or 2.75 per cent, to 4,600 yen, or $38.98 (U.S.) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The PlayStation 3 will hit stores in Japan on Nov. 11 and in the United States on Nov. 17. In Europe, they won't go on sale until March, four months later than planned.

Sony spokeswoman Nanako Kato said any problems at the Tokyo Game Show, where Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo showed off rival offerings under the same roof, were likely caused by one-of-a-kind temperature irregularities.

About 200 PlayStation 3 units were clustered together in close proximity and housed in kiosks that concentrated the heat generated by their processors and provided poor ventilation, Kato said. Overheating under such circumstances is a common affliction at trade shows, afflicting not just Sony products but those of its competitors, she said.

“It's not a problem with the PlayStation 3 unit itself,” Ms. Kato said. “For a normal player at home, there shouldn't be any problem.”

Sony is sticking to its plans to ship 2-million PlayStation 3 units by year's end and 6-million by March 31, 2007, she said.

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corp. rushed its next-generation Xbox 360 to Japanese markets last year to get a head start on its rivals, but it has seen sluggish sales in Japan, which is one of the world's biggest video game markets but one in which players have a deep loyalty to homegrown Sony.

Nintendo Co. meanwhile is planning to launch its new Wii game console in the final quarter of the year and price it below both rivals, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.

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Yahoo Opens Up!

2006-10-02T08:51:00.000-04:00

Yahoo is letting web programmers get their hands on the core code for its e-mail program.
By opening up the code Yahoo hopes to help create a series of innovative ways to deal with e-mail messages.
Eventually it said there could be "tens of thousands" of add-ons and extras for the e-mail reader.
Yahoo is only the latest of the big web companies to open up their main services to the wider code developing community.
Although Yahoo plans to keep control of the code that deals with user names and passwords, programmers will be able to tinker with almost every other part of the e-mail reading program. Yahoo Mail has more than 257 million registered accounts.
The initiative could result in new looks for the Yahoo e-mail reader, innovative ways to display messages to get a quick idea of message contents or a series of add-ons that do more with the information found in mail messages.
"Yahoo is a very large company but we can't build every application that a user might want," Chad Dickerson, head of Yahoo's software developer relations, told the Reuters news agency.
In making this move, Yahoo is following the lead of many web firms including Google, Amazon, Flickr and business software maker Salesforce.com.
Before now only Yahoo's broadband partners, such as BT, have had access to the innards of the e-mail program.

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ThinkPad recall

2006-09-29T12:59:00.000-04:00

Some 526,000 batteries used in ThinkPad notebook computers worldwide are being recalled in the latest problem with batteries made by Sony Corp., the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday.

IBM Corp., based in Armonk, N.Y., and Lenovo Inc. of Research Triangle Park, N.C., recalled the rechargeable, lithium-ion batteries used in ThinkPad computers because they may pose a fire hazard. About 168,500 of the batteries were sold in the U.S., while the rest were distributed worldwide, the CPSC said.

It was the fourth recall in recent months involving Sony batteries believed to be defective. In August, Dell asked customers to return 4.1 million faulty laptop batteries and Apple recalled 1.8 million batteries worldwide, warning they could catch fire. Last week, Toshiba said it was recalling 340,000 laptop batteries due to a problem that caused the laptops to sometimes run out of power.

In the latest recall, Lenovo cited a potential risk following one confirmed report of a Sony battery overheating and causing a fire that damaged the notebook computer. The batteries were sold between February 2005 and September 2006, separately or along with ThinkPad computers. They were distributed by IBM until Lenovo, a Chinese computer maker, bought IBM's personal computer division in May 2005.

The reported battery fire, which occurred in an airport terminal as the user was boarding a plane, caused enough smoke that a fire extinguisher was needed to put it out. There was minor property damage and no injuries were reported.

Julie Vallese, spokeswoman for CPSC, said the overheating problem did not appear to be linked to the defects cited in the Apple and Dell cases. But IBM and Lenovo sought a recall as a precaution given Sony's past problems, she said.

In the previous Dell and Apple recalls, Sony said batteries could catch fire without warning in rare cases when microscopic metal particles came into contact with other parts of the battery cell, leading to a short circuit. Typically a battery pack will power off when there is a short circuit; on occasion the battery would catch fire instead.

In a statement Thursday, Sony said it was working with the CPSC on a worldwide replacement program for certain battery models because of the series of recent incidents. "We believe that this program is in the best interest of both our customers and all consumers," Sony said.

According to the CPSC, the recalled batteries were sold with, or sold separately to be used with, the following ThinkPad notebook computers: T Series (T43, T43p, T60); R Series (R51e, R52, R60, R60e); and X Series (X60, X60s).

The batteries have the following part or model numbers, which can be found on the battery label: ASM P/N 92P1072, 92P1088, 92P1142 or 92P1170; or FRU P/N 92P1073, 92P1089, 92P1141, 92P1169 or 93P5028.

Consumers are advised to stop using the batteries immediately and contact Lenovo to receive a free replacement battery. For more information they can contact Lenovo at 1-800-426-7378 or log on to http://www.lenovo.com/batteryprogram.

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Microsoft Rushes Out Patch

2006-09-27T10:33:00.000-04:00

REDMOND, Wash. -- Microsoft Corp. rushed out a fix Tuesday for a security flaw in its Internet Explorer Web browser after attackers had begun exploiting the vulnerability to take control of computers.

The Redmond-based software maker said it was putting out the fix ahead of the next scheduled security fix release date on Oct. 10 because of the severity of the problem. The flaw carries Microsoft's highest "critical'' rating.

The vulnerability in Microsoft's browser is particularly worrisome to security experts because computer users could come under attack just by visiting a Web site that had been manipulated to take advantage of the flaw. That, in turn, would give an attacker complete control of a user's computer, including access to e-mails, personal information and other data.

Johannes Ullrich, chief technology officer with the security research organization SANS Institute, said it appears that a couple of thousand Web sites have already been manipulated to launch such attacks. The attack also seems to be spreading via e-mail, he said.

Stephen Toulouse, senior product manager in Microsoft's security technology unit, said Microsoft had only seen very limited attacks since the flaw became public a little over a week ago. But he said the activity was enough to prompt the company to release the update ahead of schedule.

"What we're seeing from our end are very specific, limited attacks,'' he said.

This is the latest in a series of flaws that have been publicly disclosed before Microsoft was able to offer users a patch. More typically, security researchers at outside organizations, or within Microsoft itself, discover the flaws and work in secret to come up with a patch before attackers have a chance to take advantage of them.

Ullrich faulted Microsoft for not getting a fix out sooner, noting that attacks are already under way, and urged users to get the fix immediately.

"Installing the patch is definitely the way to go,'' he said.

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Principal Sues over MySpace Site

2006-09-22T14:46:00.000-04:00

SAN ANTONIO -- A high school assistant principal is suing two students and their parents, alleging the teens set up a Web page on MySpace.com in her name and posted obscene comments and pictures.

Anna Draker, an assistant principal at Clark High School, is claiming defamation, libel, negligence and negligent supervision over the page on the popular free-access Web site.

Draker claims two 16-year-olds, a junior and a sophomore, created the page using her name and picture and wrote it as through Draker herself had posted the information, according to Draker's attorney, Murphy Klasing.

Draker found out in April that someone had created a page on MySpace. It had been up about a month before she discovered it.

The site falsely identified Draker as a lesbian. Klasing said Draker, who is married and has small children, was "devastated."

MySpace.com removed the page when Draker told them it wasn't hers.

One of the students also is facing criminal felony charges.

Bexar County Assistant District Attorney Jill Mata would not release information about the case, but confirmed that juvenile charges are pending against a local high school student involving retaliation and fraudulent use of identifying information. Both are third-degree felonies.

Draker is suing for an unspecified amount for damages for emotional distress, mental anguish, lost wages and court costs.

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U.S Tabloids Label Chavez

2006-09-22T13:54:00.000-04:00

'Caracas Crackpot'

NEW YORK -- The tabloids are in a tizzy, and Democrats are joining Republicans in condemning Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's speech at the United Nations in which he called President George W. Bush "the devil."

"I want President Chavez to please understand that even though many people in the United States are critical of our president that we resent the fact that he would come to the United States and criticize President Bush," said Representative Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.).

Rev. Jesse Jackson met with Chavez on Thursday night, saying he was concerned by the name-calling and believed both sides need to tone down their rhetoric.

"Of course he feels that the U.S. government is part of trying to pull a coup on him. . . . But my appeal to him is get beyond the anger," Jackson said.

"I think that he should not be calling President Bush devil. President Bush should not be calling him evil or calling him tyrant," Jackson said. "We must cease these hostilities."

House majority leader, Representative John Boehner (R.-Ohio), labelled Chavez a "power-hungry autocrat" and said his UN speech on Wednesday was "an embarrassment and an insult to the American people."

The New York Daily News headline on Friday told Chavez to "ZIP IT!", and the New York Post called him a "JERK!" and the "Caracas Crackpot."

Chavez stood by his comment.

"Sometimes the devil takes the form of people," Chavez told hundreds of supporters in a church in Harlem on Thursday. He called the war in Iraq criminal and said Bush is a "sick man."

Chavez accused the U.S. of keeping his doctors and his security chief from accompanying him to New York by not granting them visas.

"They're attempts to persuade me not to come, because some people would like for me not to come, but I come. I come to say what I think must be said," Chavez said.

Chavez has said he did not prepare a script for his UN speech, but went in with ideas and spoke spontaneously.

Chavez described himself as a friend of the American people, and announced Venezuela would boost sales of discounted heating oil to poor Americans.

But, he insisted, "we're enemies of imperialism" -- a reference to the Bush administration and the Washington establishment.

Taking a question from a Mexican reporter Wednesday, Chavez mused he would have liked to be a fighter with the revolutionary Pancho Villa nearly a century ago when he led his men in a raid into U.S. territory.

"They invaded the United States," Chavez said. "The only one who has dared to invade the United States was Pancho Villa."

In his speech Thursday, Chavez repeated his warning that his country would halt oil shipments if the U.S. tries to oust him. He added that he would like to see a U.S. president "who you could talk with."

Rangel noted that Chavez was speaking at a church in his district and that he understood that Chavez would announce an increase in the amount of heating oil Venezuela is prepared to give to low-income people in the district.

He called the program very effective and said he expects that next year they will be getting an even larger amount of home heating oil.

"But you don't come into my country, you don't come into my congressional district and you don't condemn my president," Rangel said.

Insults have flown between Caracas and Washington since 2002, when the U.S. swiftly recognized leaders who briefly ousted Chavez, only to have their coup cut short when Chavez returned to power, strengthened by huge street protests.

U.S. officials regularly call the Venezuelan leader a destabilizing force, and despite the fact that Chavez has been elected twice, Bush has declared him a threat to democracy.

The U.S. government has sought to block Venezuela's bid for a seat on the UN Security Council, arguing the Chavez administration would be a disruptive force. Chavez says the Bush government has a twisted view of democracy, and Venezuela would be "the voice of the Third World" if chosen in a secret-ballot UN vote next month.

Some people who turned out to hear Chavez speak said they share the views behind his message, even if they might choose different words.

"He likes to set fires, to do good or just to get people riled up," said Natalia Munoz, a 25-year-old public health co-ordinator who attended a speech. "He gets a lot of people thinking."

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German Train Crash

2006-09-22T11:20:00.000-04:00

LATHEN, Germany --

A high-speed magnetic train carrying 29 people went off a test track in northwestern Germany on Friday, killing at least one person and injuring others in a new blow to hopes for magnetic-levitation technology. A town councilman said the number of dead was expected to rise substantially.

Trains using maglev technology can reach 270 mph, but it was not immediately clear how fast the train was traveling. One such train in Shanghai caught fire last month.

Most of the 29 people were in the front of the train when it crashed head-on with a maintenance wagon on the elevated track.

Hermann Broering, a member of the town council, said 10 people had been rescued and one dead body was recovered. As far as the 18 others were concerned, he said: "We must prepare ourselves for the fact that they are not living any more."

"The magnetic levitation train is hanging halfway off" the track, said Helge Nestler, a police official. Firefighters were using ladders to reach the injured at the accident site on an elevated track.

Before Broering spoke, police said one person had died. Nestler said 25 people were injured, while another regional police department said 21 people were hurt.

The train is made by Transrapid International, a joint company of Siemens and ThyssenKrupp. The track, which runs between the towns of Lathen and Doerpen near the border with Holland, is operated by Munich-based IABG. Official from Transrapid International referred questions to IABG, where officials could not immediately be reached.

German Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee postponed a trip to China to get a firsthand look at the accident site, spokesman Dirk Inger said.

Magnetic-levitation trains use powerful magnets to float the trains just above the tracks, allowing them to glide along without friction. Trains can reach 270 mph on the 20-mile test track.

The technology has been around for years but so far has not caught on as conventional train networks have expanded steadily. Concerns include the amount of electricity the trains use at high speed and the precision with which the tracks must be built.

The technology's image was not helped by a fire that broke out in an electrical storage compartment aboard Shanghai's magnetic-levitation train as it was headed toward the city's international airport Aug. 11, generating large amounts of smoke but causing no injuries.

The Shanghai system is the world's only commercially operating maglev train. Officials are studying the possibility of a line between Munich and its airport.

HSD Plans "New Fence"

2006-09-21T22:51:00.000-04:00

The U.S. Homeland Security Department announced Thursday that it will be installing high-tech devices along the border with Canada as part of a multibillion-dollar plan to reduce illegal entry into the United States.

Under the new plan, Canada's border with the U.S. will, within three years, be patrolled by cameras, sensors, unmarked planes and watchtowers.

While more people are apprehended along the American-Mexican border, U.S. Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar told reporters that Canada's problem is more about border security than illegal immigrants.

"Ten percent of our apprehensions occur along our northern border with Canada," said Aguilar. "The problem is border security...Being able to predict, deter, detect, identify, resolve and respond to any incursions along our border, north or south, is a criticality that we're going forth with."

"One of the problems that we face on our northern border is the vastness and the greatness."

In the first step of the multibillion-dollar plan, the U.S. will implement the technology along a 45-kilometre stretch of border near Tucson, Ariz. This will be followed with similar security measures along the Canadian border.

A $67-million US contract was awarded to Boeing Co. for the implementation of the initial stages of the project.

Speaking to The Globe and Mail, Boeing spokesman Robert Villaneuva said the plan calls for a total of 1,800 surveillance towers divided between the southern and northern borders. When asked how the 1,800 towers would be divided, he responded, "It could be about 50-50."

Villaneuva also said it would take three years to "fully deploy all the assets on both borders."

CTV's Washington Bureau Chief Tom Clark said the move is more about the U.S. trying to appear unbiased.

"The problem is all in the south ... but if you say we're only going to take care of the southern border then you're targeting Mexicans and that's racist," said Clark. "And therefore what's good for the south is good for the north."

"What we are looking to build is a 21st century virtual fence," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told reporters.

T.V Time

2006-09-21T22:47:00.000-04:00

NEW YORK -- The average American home now has more television sets than people. That threshold was crossed within the past two years, according to Nielsen Media Research. There are 2.73 TV sets in the typical home and 2.55 people, the researchers said.

With televisions now on buses, elevators and in airport lobbies, that development may have as much to do with TV's ubiquity as an appliance as it does conspicuous consumption. The popularity of flat-screen TVs now make it easy to put sets where they haven't been before.

Rick Melen, a facilities manager, has three sets in the Somers, N.Y., home he shares with his wife. That doesn't count the bathroom set that broke down and hasn't been replaced or the speakers installed near their hot tub, allowing them to watch a wide screen set through a window.

"It's really just a matter of where your living takes place, what rooms you tend to spend your time in," Melen said on Thursday. "Other appliances you can move from room to room but if you have cable, you can't move a television."

His wife might want to watch something while she's cooking while he's got a baseball game on downstairs, he said.

Half of American homes have three or more TVs, and only 19 percent have just one, Nielsen said. In 1975, 57 percent of homes had only a single set and 11 percent had three or more, the company said.

David and Teresa Leon of Schenectady, N.Y. and their four-year-old twins have seven sets, plus an eighth they haven't set up yet. They include TVs in both the parents' and kids' bedrooms, the family and living rooms and one in the kitchen that is usually turned to a news station.

"No one ever sits down for more than a few seconds in this house," said Teresa, a stenographer. "This way you can watch TV while you're moving from room to room, folding laundry or taking care of the kids."

In the average home, a television set is turned on for more than a third of the day -- eight hours, 14 minutes, Nielsen said. That's an hour more than it was a decade ago. Most of that extra TV viewing is coming outside of prime time, where TVs are on only four minutes more than they were 10 years ago.

The average person watches four hours, 35 minutes of television each day, Nielsen said.

While people are watching more television, ratings for the big broadcast networks have declined steadily. That's a function of the greater number of channel choices available in each home, the company said.

One new Nielsen finding -- that young people aged 12 to 17 watched 3 percent more television during the season that ended in May than they had the previous year -- is a particular relief to TV network executives.

For a few years, Nielsen had been finding that TV viewing among teenagers was flat or even declining, a trend blamed on the Internet or the popularity of electronic games and other devices.

"There are just more opportunities for them to watch whatever they want to watch," said Patricia McDonough, Nielsen's senior vice president of planning policy and analysis.

Oddly, one of the driving factors is teenage girls watching more TV late at night or early in the morning, she said.

Dual DVD Disc

2006-09-20T12:15:00.000-04:00

Inventors have come up with a design for a disc that can store copies of films in rival high-definition formats.

A US patent has been filed for the discs that could hold both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray versions of movies.

Currently movie makers and technology companies are dividing into camps that back either one or the other of the two formats.

The creation of the discs could end the looming battle over the different high-definition formats.

Format wars

The design of the disc patented in the US would have three layers. One for a standard DVD version of a film and then one for each of the competing formats.

The innovation is thought to be possible because the rival formats store data on the discs at different depths.

Using reflective films should make it possible to store data for one movie format in one layer but to see through that, if needed, to the deeper layer which has the same movie in the rival format.

The engineers behind the idea reportedly work for the Warner Brothers movie studio.

The idea could end the potential confusion that consumers face as high-definition films in different formats start to go on sale.

Few movie studios are planning to release films in both high-definition formats the majority are backing Blu-ray. Only three are backing HD-DVD.

This week movie studio Universal announced it would not support the Sony-backed Blu-Ray format.

In late September Warner Brothers will release the first movie in both high-definition formats.

For consumers the issue is made more confusing because Microsoft and Sony have backed different formats for their next generation games consoles.

Industry analysts have predicted that the confusion could mean the market for high-definition movies is stunted until one format becomes dominant.

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Browse Anonymously

2006-09-20T11:21:00.000-04:00

Web users worried about privacy can now use a modified version of Firefox that lets them browse the net anonymously.

The Torpark browser has been created by a hacking group and uses technology backed by digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Torpark uses its own network of net routers to anonymise the traffic people generate when they browse the web.

The browser can be put on a flash memory stick so users can turn any PC into an anonymous terminal.

Hide and seek

The Torpark tool has been created by Hacktivismo - an international coalition of hackers, human rights workers, lawyers and artists.

Torpark uses the Tor network of internet routers set up by the Electronic Frontier Foundation that already has tens of thousands of regular users.

Whenever any computer connects to the net it freely shares information about the address it is using. This is so any data it requests is sent back to the right place.

The Tor network tries to stop this information being shared in two ways. First, it encrypts traffic between a computer and the Tor network of routers - this makes it much harder to spy on the traffic and pinpoint who is doing what.

Second, the Tor network regularly changes the net address that someone appears to be browsing from - again this frustrates any attempt to pin a particular browsing session on any individual.

"We live in a time where acquisition technologies are cherry picking and collating every aspect of our online lives," said Oxblood Ruffin, one of the founders of Hacktivismo, in a statement announcing Torpark.

Mr Ruffin was at pains to point out that the anonymising abilities of Torpark had its limitations. Data travelling between the websites people look at and the Tor network is unencrypted and it could be possible to identify users if they visit sites that do not encrypt login sessions.

The programs making up the free Torpark download are small enough to install on a USB flash memory stick allowing people to take the anonymising browser with them. Before now it has been possible to configure Firefox to use Tor and its associated identity hiding programs but Torpark puts all these elements in one package.

Hacktivisimo said that anyone using Torpark might see a slight reduction in their browsing speed as the package of programs connect to the Tor network and scramble traffic.

The Torpark browser includes an clickable icon that lets people switch between anonymous and ordinary browsing.

It may also cause frustration as the regular change of net address may make some sites think that a new user is visiting and ask once more for login details.

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9-11 A Retrospective

2006-09-11T23:25:00.000-04:00

Five years ago today while i was at work. After a freshly brewed cup of joe

Sitting back and doing the regular morning routine of shootin the sh!t, before the

heavy tasks begin.

Then I heard , " someone just crashed a plane into the World Trade Center."

As the secretary bursted into our office. i jumped outta my chair and started to

go to CNN to see what was up with this. So called the "EX" and tell her to go to

CNN as well. Television. As my eyes came open to the first

tower on fire I was thinking great trick photography and then sat bolt

upright a few seconds later as the plane hit the second tower. My boss whipped

out the small Television, (who an engineering office hasn't got 1).

Everyone was watching the story unfold amid the

terror at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. I did what I though i had to do and kept up

my routine and went to work even though the

visions of the towers collapsing and unknown thousands dead filled my

mind. The schools closed down and events were cancelled, anything where

a crowd might gather. That was the terror that our own children and

towns may be next. And not to meantion the long ass wait on the International bridge, like 2.75hrs

to get across.....

There are many thoughts that roam our minds as we read the words and

look at the pictures of that fateful day - SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 that forever

changed all our lives. and, why there are many thoughts that roam our minds as we read the words and

look at the pictures of that fateful day - SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 that forever changed all our lives.

and, why is it that we feel compelled to continue to write and read

about the day of and the days after that cowardly attack on that country

by the evil terrorists! Perhaps it is because we are still angry and need an outlet; or we need

help in our grieving over the loss of so many lives and so many injured;

or is it because we want to let the rest of the world know that the

people of that great country of the "UNITED" STATES are just that = "UNITED"!

Although I am really tired of having 9/11 rehashed endlessly, I realize that

many people are not. If I were a person whose loved one died on that day, I think I

would just a soon not be reminded of that horror. We can never forget(nor

should we) our loved on and the way they died, but I am wondering if any

good at all comes of bringing up the horror year after year. Seems to me

that would impede healing.

So, bottom line, I have no ideas other than I would like to see a focus on

any good or positive thing which might have come out of it and a total

ignoring of reviving the horror, I do have one heartfelt request. I suppose

it is a small point, but one which still grates on my nerves when, after

five years I still hear people referring to the incident as 9-1-1. It is a

date, folks, as in September 11, or 9/11, not an emergency call number,

although it was a 911 in reality, the biggest we have ever witnessed. If my

request for proper designation doesn't offend anyone(or even if it does)

please say 9/11, not 9-1-1. Today I look at music videos and movies and the WTC , a building I could

not have identified in 2000 stands out and screams out to me," We Are

Gone" That is why we must rebuild bigger and better no matter what the

cost to prove that we will not let terrorists control our lives.....

North Tower 8:46 AM

South Tower 9:03 AM

Pentagon 9:38 AM

Shanksville PA 10:03 AM

XP and Windows Enhancements™

Centrino gets Wireless N addition

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Microsoft Releases Patches

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YouTube Times invention of the year 2006

Google In The Sunlight

Google Software

Vista On The Right Track

Patch Patch Patch

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Anti-spam group gives warning of Junk mail

Googletube or Tubegoogle?

Google / Youtube

Searching in XP? Didn't find what you wanted

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Online..........Gambling

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PS3 a concern?

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Yahoo Opens Up!

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ThinkPad recall

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Microsoft Rushes Out Patch

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Principal Sues over MySpace Site

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U.S Tabloids Label Chavez

'Caracas Crackpot'

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German Train Crash

HSD Plans "New Fence"

T.V Time

Dual DVD Disc

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Browse Anonymously

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9-11 A Retrospective

Five years ago today while i was at work. After a freshly brewed cup of joe

Sitting back and doing the regular morning routine of shootin the sh!t, before the

heavy tasks begin.

As the secretary bursted into our office. i jumped outta my chair and started to

go to CNN to see what was up with this. So called the "EX" and tell her to go to

CNN as well. Television. As my eyes came open to the first

out the small Television, (who an engineering office hasn't got 1).

Everyone was watching the story unfold amid the

my routine and went to work even though the

to get across.....

There are many thoughts that roam our minds as we read the words and

Although I am really tired of having 9/11 rehashed endlessly, I realize that

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