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Sunday the 31st of January 2010

Welcome to the Helpforce Daily Briefing, on Sunday the 31st of January 2010

1. Virus Warnings
2. Daily Technology News
3. Latest Shareware and Freeware
4. FAQ for the day
5. Advice of the day

This is a free service provided by Helpforce.com, to unsubscribe please visit http://www.helpforce.com
For free technical support, visit us at http://www.helpforce.com

1. Latest Virus Alerts From Sophos
---------------------------------------
W32/Autorun-AYZ on 31 January 2010 03:40:03 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/w32autorunayz.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/Agent-MIJ on 30 January 2010 22:27:43 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojagentmij.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/FakeAV-ATE on 30 January 2010 22:27:43 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojfakeavate.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/Inject-LT on 30 January 2010 22:27:43 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojinjectlt.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/PDFJs-HD on 30 January 2010 15:32:54 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojpdfjshd.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/Voiprox-A on 30 January 2010 15:32:54 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojvoiproxa.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/Agent-MIA on 30 January 2010 10:44:31 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojagentmia.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/Agent-MII on 30 January 2010 10:44:31 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojagentmii.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/Banker-EWF on 30 January 2010 10:44:31 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojbankerewf.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/Bredo-AM on 30 January 2010 10:44:31 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojbredoam.html?_log_from=rss

2. Latest Technology News From Slashdot
-----------------------------------------------

-- Chemistry Tasks For the Computer Lab?
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/uDMdcK7jY2s/Chemistry-Tasks-For-the-Computer-Lab)
soupman55 writes "I teach Chemistry to students completing their last two years of high school. Basically it's a 'teach and test' course with a few experiments thrown in. I want to jazz up the course using computer and internet resources. For instance, I could set some tasks that require Excel spreadsheet calculations. Or I could set some web quests where students search for information online. One of the decisions to be made is: Do I use computer/internet tasks to help the students grasp the material that is already in the course, or do I help them become aware of ideas that are extensions to their course? Also, when I compare Chemistry classes with Accounting classes, it strikes me that unlike Accounting where learning to use software like Quick Books is an integral part of the course, that there is no particular software that a chemistry student must learn to use. Or is there? What in terms of chemistry and computers worked for you? Or what is there computer-wise that wasn't in your high school chemistry course but should have been?"Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Facebook Rewrites PHP Runtime For Speed
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/ENP1id1Krms/Facebook-Rewrites-PHP-Runtime-For-Speed)
VonGuard writes "Facebook has gotten fed up with the speed of PHP. The company has been working on a skunkworks project to rewrite the PHP runtime, and on Tuesday of this week, they will be announcing the availability of their new PHP runtime as an open source project. The rumor around this began last week when the Facebook team invited some of the core PHP contributors to their campus to discuss some new open source project. I've written up everything I know about this story on the SD Times Blog."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- UK Gov't Says "No Evidence" IE Is Less Secure
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/NWitZljs91k/UK-Govt-Says-No-Evidence-IE-Is-Less-Secure)
aliebrah writes "Lord Avebury tabled a parliamentary question in the UK regarding the security of Internet Explorer and whether the UK government would reconsider its use. He got an answer from the UK Home Office that's unlikely to please most Slashdot readers. The UK government contends that 'there is no evidence that moving from the latest fully patched versions of Internet Explorer to other browsers will make users more secure.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Japan Will Start 3D TV Programming This Summer
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/PHuoXkdCZUA/Japan-Will-Start-3D-TV-Programming-This-Summer)
An anonymous reader writes "Japan HD TV operator Sky Perfect will start 3D programming this summer, with focuses on live events and sports events. As more Hollywood movies are shot in 3D, and 3D TVs are expected to come onto the market in the very near future, Sky Perfect is hoping that people will switch to 3D TV just like people switched from black and white to color. How about 3D TV in other countries?"Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Give Space a Chance, Says Phil Plait
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/CRvwDaPQvVM/Give-Space-a-Chance-Says-Phil-Plait)
The Bad Astronomer writes "A lot of pundits, scientists, and people who should know better are decrying the demise of NASA, saying that the President's budget cutting the Constellation program and the Ares rockets will sound the death knell of manned space exploration. This simply is not true. The budget will call for a new rocket design, and a lot of money will go toward private space companies, who may be able to launch people into orbit years ahead of Ares being ready anyway."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- US Dir. of Citizen Participation Patents the News
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/3FRNoYVvzvM/US-Dir-of-Citizen-Participation-Patents-the-News)
theodp writes "Ex-Googler and now White House Director of Citizen Participation Katie Stanton is charged with promoting open public dialogues. Last Thursday, Stanton and Google snagged a patent on displaying financial news. Google explains that Stanton's invention — Interactive Financial Charting and Related News Correlation — will 'facilitate and encourage the user's use and understanding of financial information,' which does jibe nicely with Stanton's appointment to Obama's New Media Team. Too bad it'll be encumbered by a Google patent until 2027."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- 7 of the Best Free Linux Calculators
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/DiwWYfncj1g/7-of-the-Best-Free-Linux-Calculators)
An anonymous reader writes "One of the basic utilities supplied with any operating system is a desktop calculator. These are often simple utilities that are perfectly adequate for basic use. They typically include trigonometric functions, logarithms, factorials, parentheses and a memory function. However, the calculators featured in this article are significantly more sophisticated with the ability to process difficult mathematical functions, to plot graphs in 2D and 3D, and much more. Occasionally, the calculator tool provided with an operating system did not engender any confidence. The classic example being the calculator shipped with Windows 3.1 which could not even reliably subtract two numbers. Rest assured, the calculators listed below are of precision quality."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Solutions For More Community At Work?
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/TS8psh4JfyA/Solutions-For-More-Community-At-Work)
CrunkCreeper writes "I work at a tier-2 hosting company (SAP, web servers, Citrix, databases, etc.). I started working at this location two years ago in January. The company had anywhere from 20-30 other employees, and now we are just over 100. People with all different IT experience are employed. At one end of the spectrum, you have accounting, billing, and sales. At the other end you have the help desk, analysts, and engineers. In the past we were hiring mainly people in their 20s, and now we're hiring more senior people in their 30s and 40s. Incidentally with our expanded demographic and recently aggressive hiring, people are not as familiar with each other as they used to be. This happens to some extent and will continue to happen more the larger our company grows, but I would like to curb the corporate feel a bit. I'm trying to bring family or community feel back to the company. The reason for this need is that great ideas are normally discussed in non-formal environments. Beside this fact, I want people to genuinely have more fun and decrease the sometimes uncomfortable discussions with 'that guy' from 'that department.' Being an IT company, I find it more natural for collaboration via computer, but welcome more traditional methods too. How does your company keep or build a community environment using technology?" Read on for some more on how it works at CrunkCreeper's workplace, and give suggestions for how to make things better.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Boot Camp Finally Supports Windows 7 On Macs
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/xdRHO4ONqIc/Boot-Camp-Finally-Supports-Windows-7-On-Macs)
Dave Knott writes "After some delay Apple has updated Boot Camp to support Windows 7 on Macintosh computers. They have also provided an upgrade utility that facilitates transition to Windows 7 for Mac owners who have existing Vista installations. The new version of Boot Camp requires OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Firefox Mobile Reaches 1.0
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/Laoh0LTXUFM/Firefox-Mobile-Reaches-10)
Majix writes "Firefox Mobile, the mobile browser developed by Mozilla based on the same engine as in the recently released Firefox 3.6, has finally hit version 1.0. The first device to be officially supported is the Nokia N900. With a long list of features, Firefox Mobile looks to be the most complete mobile browser to date. Highlights include the familiar Awesome Bar, Weave Sync for sharing your browser state between your PC and mobile, and of course tabbed browsing and Firefox add-ons. With the Nokia 900 and Firefox Mobile 1.0, even Flash content including the normal YouTube site is working, showing that a mobile browser does not have to equal a compromised Internet experience."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Unofficial Qt Environment (and Sudoku) For the Kindle
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/8RbWHb6TDnA/Unofficial-Qt-Environment-and-Sudoku-For-the-Kindle)
An anonymous reader writes "I've just posted packages for installing a Qt-based platform on the Kindle 2 and DX devices, and a Sudoku game to go along with it. The Qt-based platform includes plugins I wrote for the e-ink display, the keyboard, and the five-way joystick thing — so it's a fully interactive and usable environment now. Soon I'll be adding a sample app with source code to go along with it."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- 1Gbps Optical Wireless Network Might Replace Wi-Fi
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/xRASerQa7Bw/1Gbps-Optical-Wireless-Network-Might-Replace-Wi-Fi)
Mark.JUK writes "Pennsylvania State University has developed a new method of indoor Optical Wireless network that does not require a line-of-sight and runs at speeds of 1Gbps+. The system uses a high-powered laser diode — a device that converts electricity into light — as the optical transmitter and an avalanche photo diode — a device that converts light to electricity — as the receiver. The light bounces off the walls and is picked up by the receiver. Traditional radio frequency systems (Wi-Fi , WiMAX etc.) do not require line of sight transmission, but can pass through some substances and so present a security problem. Light, in a room without windows, will not escape the room, improving security."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- "Perpetual Motion DeLorean" Scammers Face $26M Judgment
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/_bOnwPHn50w/Perpetual-Motion-DeLorean-Scammers-Face-26M-Judgment)
An anonymous reader writes "Back in 2002, we discussed a story about the so-called 'Perpetual Motion DeLorean,' which could 'supposedly go "hundreds of miles" at speeds over 100MPH without stopping to recharge.' More than seven years later, the final shoe has dropped on this saga, with a $26 million judgment against Carl Tilley and his wife, who propagated this scam that ran for several years. Probably the height of its audacity was when Tilley told his shareholders in May of 2002 that GE had offered $2 billion 'sight unseen' to buy out the technology."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Astronomers Discover the Coolest Known Sub-Stellar Body
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/yt_FVP6_dtg/Astronomers-Discover-the-Coolest-Known-Sub-Stellar-Body)
Hugh Pickens writes "Science Daily reports that using the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) in Hawaii, astronomers have discovered what may be the coolest sub-stellar body ever found outside our own solar system. Too small to be stars and with insufficient mass to maintain hydrogen-burning nuclear fusion reactions in their cores, 'brown dwarfs' have masses smaller than stars but larger than gas giant planets like Jupiter, with an upper limit in between 75 and 80 Jupiter masses. 'This looks like the fourth time in three years that the UKIRT has made a record breaking discovery of the coolest known brown dwarf, with an estimated temperature not far above 200 degrees Celsius,' says Dr. Philip Lucas at the University of Hertfordshire. Due to their low temperature these objects are very faint in visible light, and are detected by their glow at infrared wavelengths. The object known as SDSS1416+13B is in a wide orbit around a somewhat brighter and warmer brown dwarf, SDSS1416+13A, and the pair is located between 15 and 50 light years from the solar system, which is quite close in astronomical terms."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Evolving Robots Learn To Prey On Each Other
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/dj9jy8v4cpE/Evolving-Robots-Learn-To-Prey-On-Each-Other)
quaith writes "Dario Floreano and Laurent Keller report in PLoS ONE how their robots were able to rapidly evolve complex behaviors such as collision-free movement, homing, predator versus prey strategies, cooperation, and even altruism. A hundred generations of selection controlled by a simple neural network were sufficient to allow robots to evolve these behaviors. Their robots initially exhibited completely uncoordinated behavior, but as they evolved, the robots were able to orientate, escape predators, and even cooperate. The authors point out that this confirms a proposal by Alan Turing who suggested in the 1950s that building machines capable of adaptation and learning would be too difficult for a human designer and could instead be done using an evolutionary process. The robots aren't yet ready to compete in Robot Wars, but they're still pretty impressive."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

3. Latest Shareware from Planet-Shareware
-----------------------------------------------

4. FAQ of the day from Helpforce
-----------------------------------------------

-- Ive reinstalled windows and drivers and my monitor is 16 bit colour only
(http://www.helpforce.com)

Question: My computer lock-up a lot and now that I've tried to update all the drivers now my monitor resolution is in just 16 bit and i can't change it back, how do I put back my computer system configuration back to a date on day before I screwed it up?

Answer: Julio,I'm guessing this problem has come around becase of a bad driver for your Graphics Card.I would first of all advise you to remove all the new drivers you have installed and then re-install the old ones again. Doing this should work.Also it might be worth visiting the manufactuerers website of all the new drivers. See http://www.helpforce.com/main/elinks.shtml or try http://www.google.com.If this doesn't work then you may have to consider re-installing windows. If you are forced to chose this second option make sure that you backup all your important files to zip/CD/etc...

5. Advice of the Day from ask-leo
-----------------------------------------------

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