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Friday the 23rd of July 2010

Welcome to the Helpforce Daily Briefing, on Friday the 23rd of July 2010

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

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1. Latest Virus Alerts From Sophos
---------------------------------------
Exp/Cplink-A on 23 July 2010 10:35:01 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/expcplinka.html?_log_from=rss
Mal/Agent-CF on 23 July 2010 10:35:01 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/malagentcf.html?_log_from=rss
Mal/Banker-AS on 23 July 2010 10:35:01 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/malbankeras.html?_log_from=rss
Mal/Inject-AB on 23 July 2010 10:35:01 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/malinjectab.html?_log_from=rss
Mal/IRCBot-R on 23 July 2010 10:35:01 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/malircbotr.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/Agent-OAS on 23 July 2010 10:35:01 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojagentoas.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/Agent-OAT on 23 July 2010 10:35:01 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojagentoat.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/Agent-OAU on 23 July 2010 10:35:01 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojagentoau.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/Bckdr-RDA on 23 July 2010 10:35:01 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojbckdrrda.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/BredoZp-AW on 23 July 2010 10:35:01 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojbredozpaw.html?_log_from=rss

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

-- Managing the Remotest Data Center In the World
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/XpsNhNmVwnI/Managing-the-Remotest-Data-Center-In-the-World)
blackbearnh writes "Imagine that your data center was in the most geographically remote location in the world. Now imagine that you can only get to it 4 months of the year. Just for fun, add in some of the most extreme weather conditions in the world. That's the challenge that faces John Jacobsen, one of the people responsible for making sure that the data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory makes it all the way from the South Pole to researchers across the world. In an interview recorded at OSCON, Jacobsen talks about the problems that he has to face (video), which includes (surprisingly) keeping the data center cool. If you're ever gripped because you had to haul yourself across town in the middle of the night to fix a server crash, this interview should put things in perspective."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Microsoft Says No To Paying Bug Bounties
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/m2ObPXI7VgA/Microsoft-Says-No-To-Paying-Bug-Bounties)
Trailrunner7 writes "In the wake of both Mozilla and Google significantly increasing their bug bounties to the $3,000
range, there have been persistent rumors in the security community that Microsoft soon would follow suit and start paying bounties as well. However, a company official said on Thursday that Microsoft was not interested in paying bounties. 'We value the researcher ecosystem, and show that in a variety of ways, but we don't think paying a per-vuln bounty is the best way. Especially when across the researcher community the motivations aren't always financial. It is well-known that we acknowledge researcher's contributions in our bulletins when a researcher has coordinated the release of vulnerability details with the release of a security update,' Microsoft's Jerry Bryant said."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Buckyballs Detected In Space
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/v2O84NMtH5c/Buckyballs-Detected-In-Space)
Rhodin writes "Fullerenes, also known as buckminsterfullerenes or 'buckyballs,' were detected about 6,500 light years from Earth in the cosmic dust of Tc 1 (PDF; abstract), an object known as a planetary nebula. 'We found what are now the largest molecules known to exist in space,' said astronomer Jan Cami of the University of Western Ontario, Canada, and the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif. 'We are particularly excited because they have unique properties that make them important players for all sorts of physical and chemical processes going on in space.'"

(More, below.)

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Digital Distribution Numbers Speak To Health of PC Game Industry
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/e3Rpe0fp_Qg/Digital-Distribution-Numbers-Speak-To-Health-of-PC-Game-Industry)
An anonymous reader writes with this quote from PC Authority:
"Over the years many voices have declared PC gaming dead. We have seen developers abandon the platform for consoles, citing piracy as the cause. Game stores have slowly relegated PC games from prime shelf position to one tucked away in the back corner — even Microsoft dumped AAA PC game developers from the company. It seems, though, that the demise of the PC as a games platform has been exaggerated, because until very recently sales data ignored digital distribution, with the latest data released by US company NPD revealing that 48% of PC unit sales in the US in 2009 were digital. That translates to 21.3 million games downloaded in the US. Interestingly, although 48% of games were sold online, it only worked out as 36% of the revenue. This highlights the fact that it isn't just convenience that has PC gamers shopping online; it is also that games are generally cheaper than in stores."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- World's First Molten-Salt Solar Plant Opens
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/6fMhNRiDuoM/Worlds-First-Molten-Salt-Solar-Plant-Opens)
An anonymous reader writes "Sicily has just announced the opening of the world's first concentrated solar power (CSP) facility that uses molten salt as a heat collection medium. Since molten salt is able to reach very high temperatures (over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit) and can hold more heat than the synthetic oil used in other CSP plants, the plant is able to continue to produce electricity long after the sun has gone down. The Archimede plant has a capacity of 5 megawatts with a field of 30,000 square meters of mirrors and more than 3 miles of heat collecting piping for the molten salt. The cost for this initial plant was around 60 million Euros."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Alien Swarm Can Be Played As a Terrifying FPS
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/xPfV7Di-x2I/emAlien-Swarmem-Can-Be-Played-As-a-Terrifying-FPS)
AndrewGOO9 writes "With a few simple commands from the developer console, Alien Swarm can go from being played as an isometric top-down shooter to a first-person perspective. Surprisingly easy, it does make the game, which was released for free via Steam earlier this week, a lot more terrifying. But, anyone who is at home playing games like Modern Warfare or Halo should have no problem slaughtering their way through wave after wave of creatures. In fact, it poses the potential to make the game easier for people who would've otherwise struggled with the overhead view."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- SFLC Wants To Avoid Death by Code
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/iQ7Vl4hxhH0/SFLC-Wants-To-Avoid-Death-by-Code)
foregather writes "The Software Freedom Law Center has released some independent research on the safety of software close to our hearts, that inside of implantable medical devices like pacemakers and insulin pumps. It turns out that nobody is minding the store at the regulatory level and patients and doctors are blocked from examining the source code keeping them alive. From the article: 'The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for evaluating the risks of new devices and monitoring the safety and efficacy of those currently on market. However, the agency is unlikely to scrutinize the software operating on devices during any phase of the regulatory process unless a model that has already been surgically implanted repeatedly malfunctions or is recalled. ... Despite the crucial importance of these devices and the absence of comprehensive federal oversight, medical device software is considered the exclusive property of its manufacturers, meaning neither patients nor their doctors are permitted to access their IMD's source code or test its security.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Sony's Blue-Violet Laser the Future Blu-ray?
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/_RcwP-PYLFU/Sonys-Blue-Violet-Laser-the-Future-Blu-ray)
JoshuaInNippon writes "Japanese researchers from Sony and Tohoku University announced the development of a 'blue-violet ultrafast pulsed semiconductor laser,' which Sony is aiming to use for optical disks. The new technology, with 'a laser wavelength of 405 nanometers in the blue-violet region' and a power out put 'more than a hundred times the world's highest output value for conventional blue-violet pulse semiconductor lasers,' is believed to be capable of holding more than 20 times the information of current Blu-ray technology, while retaining a practical size. Japanese news reports have speculated that one blue-violet disk could be capable of holding more than 50 high-quality movie titles, easily fitting entire seasons of popular TV shows like 24. When the technology may hit markets was not indicated."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Feds Bust Chinese Firm's Hybrid Car Data Heist
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/toNvvOGCYJs/Feds-Bust-Chinese-Firms-Hybrid-Car-Data-Heist)
coondoggie writes "An FBI investigation has led a Michigan couple to be charged with stealing hybrid car information from GM to use in a Chinese auto outfit. A federal indictment charged Yu Qin, aka Yu Chin, 49, and his wife, Shanshan Du, aka Shannon Du, 51, of Troy, Michigan with conspiracy to possess trade secrets without authorization, unauthorized possession of trade secrets, and wire fraud. One of the individuals was also charged with obstruction of justice, said Barbara McQuade, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan in a statement. GM estimates that the value of the stolen documents is over $40 million."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Safari Privacy Bug May Be Leaking Your Data
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/ujr34xmR2TM/Safari-Privacy-Bug-May-Be-Leaking-Your-Data)
richi writes "If you use Safari, your browser may be leaking your private information to any website you visit. Jeremiah Grossman, the CTO of WhiteHat Security, has discovered some Very Bad News. I have some analysis and other reactions over at my Computerworld blog. The potential for spam and phishing is huge. A determined attacker might even be able to steal previously-entered customer data." In short, autofill for Web forms is enabled by default in Safari 4 / 5 (and remotely exploitable), and the data that this feature has access to includes the user's local address book — even if the information has never been entered into a Web form.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Why Designers Hate Crowdsourcing
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/0LPeZJswYxI/Why-Designers-Hate-Crowdsourcing)
An anonymous reader writes "Since Wired's Jeff Howe coined the term in 2006, 'crowdsourcing' has been a buzzword in the tech industry, and a business model on the rise. 99designs.com is a site that hosts design contests for small businesses requiring relatively smaller design projects. Anyone can submit their near finished pieces of work to the contests, but only one winner gets paid. Forbes covers just why established graphic designers are so angry at this business model's catching on."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- WordPress Creator GPL Says WP Template Must Be GPL'd
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/WQ6_VE_QGhM/WordPress-Creator-GPL-Says-WP-Template-Must-Be-GPLd)
An anonymous reader writes "Matt Mullenweg (the creator of open source blog software WordPress), after review by various legal experts, is sticking to his guns that themes and plugins that 'extend' WordPress violate the GPL if they are not themselves distributed under the GPL. Matt has gone so far as to post this on Twitter. According to Matt, the premium template called Thesis should be under the GPL and the owner is not happy about it. WordPress is willing to sue the maker of Thesis theme for not following GPL licensing. The webmasters and Thesis owners are also confused with new development. Mark Jaquith wrote an excellent technical analysis of why WordPress themes inherit the GPL. This is why even if Thesis hadn't copy-and-pasted large swathes of code from WordPress (and GPL plugins) its PHP would still need to be under the GPL."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Open Source OCR That Makes Searchable PDFs
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/4-excTC6vmU/Open-Source-OCR-That-Makes-Searchable-PDFs)
An anonymous reader writes "In my job all of our multifunction copiers scan to PDF but many of our users want and expect those PDFs to be text searchable. I looked around for software that would create text searchable pdfs but most are very expensive and I couldn't find any that were open source (free). I did find some open source packages like CuneiForm and Exactimage that could in theory do the job, but they were hard to install and difficult to set up and use over a network. Then I stumbled upon WatchOCR. This is a Live CD distro that can easily create a server on your network that provides an OCR service using watched folders. Now all my scanners scan to a watched folder, WatchOCR picks up those files and OCRs them, and then spits them out into another folder. It uses CuneiForm and ExactImage but it is all configured and ready to deploy. It can even be remotely managed via the Web interface. Hope this proves helpful to someone else who has this same situation."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Microsoft Makes Major Shift In Disclosure Policy
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/ATj8q9gSrZ4/Microsoft-Makes-Major-Shift-In-Disclosure-Policy)
Trailrunner7 writes "Microsoft is changing the way in which it handles vulnerability disclosures, now moving to a model it calls coordinated vulnerability disclosure, in which the researcher and the vendor work together to verify a vulnerability and allow ample time for a patch. However, the new philosophy also recognizes that if there are attacks already happening, it may be necessary to release details of the flaw even before a patch is ready. The new CVD strategy relies on researchers to report vulnerabilities either directly to a vendor or to a trusted third party, such as a CERT-CC, who will then report it to the vendor. The finder and the vendor would then try to agree on a disclosure timeline and work from there." Here's Microsoft's announcement of the new strategy.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- The World's Strongest, Most Expensive Beer Served Inside a Squirrel
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/_NrT3M1EVrw/The-Worlds-Strongest-Most-Expensive-Beer-Served-Inside-a-Squirrel)
If you have $765 burning a hole in your pocket, and a penchant for drinking alcohol out of a taxidermied animal, the good folks at BrewDog have just the drink for you. Their latest creation, called The End of History, is a 110 proof beer that comes packaged in a variety of small stuffed animals.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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

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

-- Im getting an error when I open explorer on Win ME
(http://www.helpforce.com)

Question: I'm getting an error every to i open explorerIexplorer has cause an error with user.exe restart windows if problem continuesanyone with an idea why this is happening?Thanks

Answer: Well dave, it seems a common problem for Win ME, however, it doesn't have a lot of solutions.First of all, I've found that installing new video cards under ME (Mostly GeForce) may cause some troubles with user.exe, if you have installed new video cards, or if you have a GeForce video card, uninstall their own drivers and let them run with the ME drivers, or download the latest drivers for them.the second option could be a USB modem, if you have one I'd recomend you to get the latest drivers.Also check all the drivers for all you hardware, and try to download the latest drivers or install the drivers that comewith Windows MEif nothing of this works, downgrade to IE 3.11 or use another web browser such as Netscape, it might work for you.My Last recomendation, Upgrade to winXP or installl Win2k pro, those are very stable O/S Reply Posted on 31/8/2002 Althought the above may work i dont belive that there is any need to downgrade your browser or change your operating system - windows ME is know for its problems however! on the windows cd that you should have got with your computer, if u do a search on it for filename user.exe - if you copy this file into the c:\windows folder this should solve the problem!

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

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