The Register

Amazon patents 'customer review incentives'
Bezos unreformed

?

Jesus Phone vuln delivers fanboys to phishermen
Apple silent on 'pretty dumb design flaw'

A security expert is advising iPhone users to steer clear of the device's default email application until engineers rework what he calls "a pretty dumb design flaw" that could expose users' email addresses to spammers and other online frauds.?

Microsoft plans science of appliance for next SQL Server
2010 or bust

Start your clocks and count the delays: Microsoft has named the first half of 2010 as the window for the next version of SQL Server - codenamed Kilimanjaro.?

Big Blue shares cloudy thinking with developers+dog
Get your apps in the sky on the net

If there was an index for how many times a vendor hops onto a new buzzword and tried to slap it on every product in their catalog, then it is probably safe to say that IBM would be the most actively traded stock on the Cloud Computing Exchange.?

Judge traps RealDVD in legal limbo
Hollywood gets its wish

RealNetworks has been forced to shut down sales of its DVD copying software, RealDVD, while a California judge decides if it violates US copyright laws.?

Windows Update to trumpet Vista Capable debacle?
Class-action call up

Little did Microsoft executives realize when they blessed the seemingly brilliant wheeze of "Windows Vista Capable" as a way of flogging the operating system that the idea could turn into a bitter pill their company might have to swallow.?

Boffins (finally) publish hack for world's most popular smartcard
Mifare weakness official

Two research papers published Monday have finally made it official: The world's most widely deployed radio frequency identification (RFID) smartcard - used to control access to transportation systems, military installations, and other restricted areas - can be cracked in a matter of minutes using inexpensive tools.?

STEC spills prelim Q3 numbers
SSD outfit solid as a rock - for now

EMC's favoured solid-state drive (SSD) supplier STEC has announced excellent preliminary results for its third 2008 quarter.?

Verari noses HP, IBM with third gen blades
It's cooler on the botttom

While Hewlett-Packard and IBM have the lion's share of commercial blade server sales in the world, there are a number of other players hanging on in the space, trying to stay ahead of the crushing marketing force of Big Gray and Big Blue with technology innovation and playing to niches. One of the niche players, San Diego-based Verari Systems, has just updated its blade boxes to have a stronger appeal to enterprise customers.?

Bull lands 200 teraflop German super deal
Taps Sun and ParTec

French server maker and reseller Bull has just become prime contractor for a 200-teraflops cluster called Juropa being installed at Forschungszentrum Jülich. This is a government-sponsored research center located in the German city of Jülich, where some of the most powerful HPC iron in the world warms feet.?

Wired

Meteoroid Predicted to Burn Up in Earth's Atmosphere Tonight
A small meteoroid is predicted to burn up in Earth's atmosphere over Sudan tonight. This is the first time astronomers have been able to predict when a meteoroid will enter the atmosphere.

Wired.com

Judge's Secret Decision Blocks Sale of DVD-Copying Software
A federal judge seals a decision tentatively blocking RealNetwork's sale of DVD-copying software.

Wired.com

Goliath Beats Davids for Pentagon Power Prize
The Pentagon set up a million-dollar prize to get entrepreneurs and tinkerers to come up with radically new ways to supply power to the all those gadgets a soldier has to lug around. But the winner, the Pentagon declared today, is as traditional as it comes: DuPont, the chemical giant -- and military supplier, since 1802.

Wired.com

How to Understand the Financial Crisis
There's a lot of hype surrounding the financial crisis, but what does it really mean? To get acquainted with the financial crisis and what it means to you and me, we've pinged several sources on the internet for economic explanations even we could understand.

Wired.com

Is the Cheapest Genome Sequence Ever for Real?
A biotech company is planning to offer complete personal genome sequences for $5,000, but is it too good to be true?

Wired.com

Toy Robot Intended to Save Humans From Evil
Zeno, a toy robot that may be available for around $300 in 2010, is designed to fend off future robots that are psychotic and lack sympathy for humans.

Wired.com

Who Should Win the Nobel for Physics?
Nobel Prize week kicked off this morning with awards in Medicine given to discoverers of the viruses that cause HIV and cervical cancer. Up next: Physics. And if you'd like to test your significance-assessing chops against those snobs at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, now's your chance.

Wired.com

Wall Street Tumbles Amid Global Sell-off
Wall Street tumble, joining a sell-off around the world, as fears grow that the financial crisis will cascade through economies globally despite bailout efforts by the U.S. and other governments. The credit market remained under strain, and investors piled into government bonds. The Dow Jones industrials skidded more than 300 points.

Wired.com

EBay To Drop 1,000 Employees, Picks Up Two New Businesses
As rumored, EBay is cutting 1,000 employees -- 10% of its workforce. The company also announced the acquisition of an online payments business, Bill Me Later, for $820 million in cash and $125 million in options, and two online classified sites based in Denmark for about $390 million.

Wired.com

The Clone Wars" TV series: Better Than Expected, Still Not Great
I was completely prepared to hate the new "Clone Wars" TV series, but while it's in no danger of making its way onto anyone's list of great sci-fi shows, it's not so bad. Any animated TV series is only as good as its writing, and, if the first two episodes are any indication, the writing for "The Clone Wars" is decent, though unspectacular.

Wired.com

MacWorld News

Analysis: How Facebook changed gaming
The booming resurgence of casual games?games that don?t a huge time commitment?was the focus of some speakers at the E For All Expo this past weekend.


6 Oct 2008 at 4:34pm

So many SMS messages, so little time to delete them
Apple introduced the ability to delete multiple email messages in iPhone 2.0, but what about SMS messages?


6 Oct 2008 at 3:57pm

Report: SEC investigating false Jobs heart attack rumor
Bloomberg reports that the SEC is probing whether a false report of a Steve Jobs heart attack was posted in order to drive down Apple?s stock price.


6 Oct 2008 at 3:04pm

One in three iPhone 3G customers ditch their carriers
A new report from market research firm NPD Group shows above average carrier defections for iPhone customers.


6 Oct 2008 at 2:22pm

eBay buys payment firm, lays off over 1,000
EBay announced two acquisitions Monday, at the same time saying it will lay off more than 1,000 staff worldwide and cut back on recruitment.


6 Oct 2008 at 2:18pm

PC World: Amazon Kindle 2 details and pictures leaked
PC World reports on leaked pictures of the forthcoming incarnation of Amazon?s ebook reader, which appeared on the Web over the weekend.


6 Oct 2008 at 1:36pm

Podcaster returns under jailbreak
Podcaster, the application booted from the App Store for reportedly duplicating the podcasting functionality of the iPhone, is now being distributed via the open-source installer used to place applications on jailbroken iPhones and iPod touches. Christopher Breen has the details.


6 Oct 2008 at 1:07pm

Sanyo laser to enable faster, higher capacity Blu-ray Discs
Sanyo Electric has developed a laser diode that will help lay the ground towards higher capacity and faster Blu-ray Disc systems.


6 Oct 2008 at 12:53pm

Mac Security: Do you need a third-party firewall?
OS X has not just one, but two, firewalls built in. So when, if ever, do you need a third-party firewall program? Chris Pepper and Rich Mogull explain.


6 Oct 2008 at 12:37pm

Review: Gas station finders for the iPhone
Several apps take advantage of the iPhone?s ability to pinpoint your location in order to help you find nearby gas stations offering the least expensive gas. Rob Griffiths takes three of these gas finders out for a test spin.


6 Oct 2008 at 11:45am

US CERT Technical Cyber Alert System Documents

SB08-280: Vulnerability Summary for the Week of September 29, 2008
Vulnerability Summary for the Week of September 29, 2008

SB08-273: Vulnerability Summary for the Week of September 22, 2008
Vulnerability Summary for the Week of September 22, 2008

SB08-266: Vulnerability Summary for the Week of September 15, 2008
Vulnerability Summary for the Week of September 15, 2008

TA08-260A: Apple Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities
Apple Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities

SB08-259: Vulnerability Summary for the Week of September 8, 2008
Vulnerability Summary for the Week of September 8, 2008

TA08-253A: Microsoft Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities
Microsoft Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities

SB08-252: Vulnerability Summary for the Week of September 1, 2008
Vulnerability Summary for the Week of September 1, 2008

SB08-246: Vulnerability Summary for the Week of August 25, 2008
Vulnerability Summary for the Week of August 25, 2008

SB08-238: Vulnerability Summary for the Week of August 18, 2008
Vulnerability Summary for the Week of August 18, 2008

SB08-231: Vulnerability Summary for the Week of August 11, 2008
Vulnerability Summary for the Week of August 11, 2008

Slashdot

Small Asteroid On Collision Course With Earth
musatov writes "There's talk on The Minor Planet Mailing List about a small asteroid approaching Earth with a 99.8% probability of colliding. The entrance to the Earth's atmosphere will take place October 7 at 0246 UTC (2:35 after this story goes live) over northern Sudan, releasing the energy of about a kiloton of TNT. The asteroid is assumed to be 3-4 meters in size; it is expected to burn up completely in the atmosphere, causing no harm. As a powerful bolide, it may put on quite a show in the sky. For those advanced enough in astronomy to observe, check the MPEC 2008-T50 and MPEC 2008-T64 circulars. NASA's JPL Small Body Database has a 3D orbit view. The story has been already picked up by CNN and NASA."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Enterprise Software Sales Dried Up In September
CurtMonash writes "As I predicted a week ago, it looks as if the third quarter was ugly for software vendors, due to the economic crisis. SAP said 'The market developments of the past several weeks have been dramatic and worrying to many businesses. These concerns triggered a very sudden and unexpected drop in business activity at the end of the quarter.' My old acquaintance John Treadway, who used to work in Sybase's financial services vertical unit, reports that things are even worse than that in the financial services industry, Wall Street and retail banks alike. So now what? Well, IT is a huge part of capital spending, and at enterprises that have to cut back capital spending, IT is going to get hurt. On the other hand, high-growth companies — Web businesses, analytic services providers, etc. — may try to power through the downturn. And the more directly an IT project affects near-term profits, the more likely it is to survive."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Malaysian Blogger On Trial For Sedition
neonsignal writes "Raja Petra Kamarudin, a Malaysian blogger, is in court under the Internal Security Act, under which he can be detained indefinitely. He is well known for his commentary on the Malaysian government, and was arrested after a piece on the murder of a Mongolian woman, who was allegedly killed by two policeman and an associate of the deputy prime minister."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Artists Strive To Wrest Rights From Music Industry
eldavojohn writes "The funny thing about the RIAA & BPI is that the artists are just as tired as the fans with how online music is being handled. So they're trying something new called the Featured Artists' Coalition. FAC's site states in their charter: 'We believe that all music artistes should control their destiny because ultimately it is their art and endeavors that create the pleasure and emotion enjoyed by so many.' As digital releases are increasing, the artists aren't seeing any more money. With the advent of online distribution, are the traditional music industry functions of promotion, samples, radio, and marketing now nothing but costly overhead for the artists? From Iron Maiden to Kate Nash to Radiohead, some big names are backing this new organization."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

NSA Open Sources Tokeneer Research Project
An anonymous reader writes to mention that the Tokeneer research project has been released to the open source community by the US National Security Agency. The main goal of this project was to show how highly secure software can be developed cost-effectively. "Tokeneer has been written in SPARK Ada, a high level programming language designed for high-assurance applications. Originally a subset of the Ada language, it is designed in such a way that all SPARK programs are legal Ada programs. Ada is the natural choice for mission-critical, high-integrity systems due to its combination of flexibility, reliability and ease of use, and SPARK further adds a static verification toolset that combines depth, soundness, efficiency and formal guarantees."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Scientists Claim Breakthrough On Holographic TV
SpuriousLogic writes to tell us that University of Arizona researchers claim to have broken a barrier in holographic technology by creating an updatable, three dimensional display with memory. While the existing model is only able to update once every couple of minutes, and isn't particularly suited for 3d images, it is certainly a step in the right direction. "Peyghambarian is also optimistic that the technology could reach the market within five to ten years. He said progress towards a final product should be made much more quickly now that a rewriting method had been found. However, it is fair to say not everyone is as positive about this prospect as Peyghambarian. Lecturer in Electronic Engineering at Bangor University in Wales, Dr Justin Lawrence, told CNN small steps were always being made on technology like 3D holograms, but, he couldn't see it being ready for the market in the next ten years."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Ask Blizzard Employees About Things That Matter
In just a few days, some of us will be making the trek to this year's Blizzcon event in Anaheim, CA. In addition to the interesting announcements, sneak peeks, and other distractions, we will be sitting down with several Blizzard employees to answer any questions you might have. So far we have scheduled some time with; Chris Sigaty, lead producer on StarCraft II; Jeffrey Kaplan (aka Tigole), game director for World of Warcraft; Leonard Boyarsky, lead world designer on Diablo III; and Paul Sams, Blizzard COO. Please address your questions to one (or several) of these candidates and try to keep them civil and on topic. Questions about Diablo III's art style will most likely be omitted since we have limited time and that dead horse has already been beaten into submission. The usual Slashdot interview rules apply, but beyond that, the sky is the limit.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Researchers To Build Underwater Airplane
coondoggie writes to tell us that DARPA seems to still be having fun with their funding and continues to aim for the "far out." The latest program, a submersible airplane, seems to have been pulled directly from science fiction. Hopefully this voyage to the bottom of the sea is of the non-permanent variety. "According to DARPA: 'The difficulty with developing such a craft come from the diametrically opposed requirements that exist for an airplane and a submarine. While the primary goal for airplane designers is to try and minimize weight, a submarine must be extremely heavy in order to submerge underwater. In addition, the flow conditions and the systems designed to control a submarine and an airplane are radically different, due to the order of magnitude difference in the densities of air and water.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

OpenGL ES 2.0 Programming Guide
Martin Ecker writes "Mobile phones and other embedded devices are getting more and more powerful each year. The availability of dedicated hardware for 3D rendering is becoming increasingly ubiquitous, and the latest mobile phones come with 3D hardware acceleration that rivals the power of desktop graphics hardware. OpenGL ES 2.0 is the latest version of a cross-platform, low-level graphics API to utilize these new resources available in embedded devices. The OpenGL ES 2.0 Programming Guide published by Addison-Wesley Publishing aims to help the reader make use of the full power of OpenGL ES 2.0 to create interesting 3D applications." Keep reading for the rest of Martin's review.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Commerce Department Pushing For New "Copyright Czar"
TechDirt is reporting that those all-too-familiar "stats" surrounding the cost of piracy are being trotted out in an attempt to push through a new "Copyright Czar" position. "In urging President Bush to sign into law the ProIP bill, which would give him a copyright czar (something the Justice Department had said it it doesn't want), the US Chamber of Commerce is claiming that 750,000 American jobs have been lost to piracy. Yet, it doesn't cite where that number comes from."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Sophos Latest Virus Alerts

7 Oct 2008 Mal/PHPInfo-A

7 Oct 2008 Troj/Dloadr-BUO

7 Oct 2008 Troj/Dloadr-BUP

7 Oct 2008 Troj/Mdrop-BWC

7 Oct 2008 Troj/Zlob-AOX

7 Oct 2008 W32/Dugert-A

7 Oct 2008 Troj/Agent-HVP

7 Oct 2008 Troj/Agent-HVQ

7 Oct 2008 Troj/Agent-HVR

7 Oct 2008 Troj/Dload-DT

Notebook Computers from Amazon