6667647
submission
nandemoari writes:
As part of the Japanese Science and Technology Agency's "Erato" project, students at Keio University have created a robot designed to alleviate the burden of performing one specific household chore: folding the laundry.
"Foldy" the robot works with a camera mounted above a flat surface, like an ironing board. A person comes along and places an article of clothing on the surface where its image is captured and displayed on a PC. The person then draws digital fold lines onto the computerized image of the clothing piece and, with the click of a button, the robot does the actual folding.
6667279
submission
nandemoari writes:
The body that controls the way website addresses work plans to allow non-English characters to be used in domain names. The move follows increasing demand for the change, thanks to the rapid growth of Internet use in largely non-English-speaking countries, like China.
ICANN approved the principle of extending names to other alphabets last year but had been exploring the possible technical solutions for some time. It now has a plan for introducing the changes.
The plan would mean individual countries will be able to apply for recognition of the language and alphabet they use. If approved, there will then be a separate register of domain names under that alphabet. If the plan gets the go-ahead at a conference this week, countries will be able to apply to have their alphabet recognized from November 16th, 2009.
6625977
submission
nandemoari writes:
In the aftermath of the much-anticipated Windows 7 release, a large number of users are complaining that their copy of Windows 7 downloaded from Digital River will not install correctly. Many believe the problem has something to do with the Digital River's .BOX file format.
Rather than providing customers with a standard DVD file in .ISO (disc image) format, Digital River delivered an .EXE (executable file) named "Win7-P-Retail-en-us-x64.exe" and two additional files with the .BOX filename extension. When users launched the .EXE file in the hopes of unpacking the .BOX files, they were met with the elusive error message.
According to the Microsoft Answer page, another possibility exists. "Consumers are encountering difficulties installing Windows 7 where the customer is currently running a 32 bit version of Windows such as Windows Vista, but purchased the 64 bit version of Windows 7."
6574249
submission
nandemoari writes:
A major anti-corruption crusade has taken shape in Nigeria, formed in the hopes of cracking down on Internet scammers throughout the country. The campaign recently shut down 800 scam websites and busted 18 networks used by email fraudsters.
According to Farida Waziri, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) boss, "Over 800 fraudulent email addresses have been identified and shut down. There have also been 18 arrests of high profile syndicates operating cyber-crime organizations."
6514171
submission
nandemoari writes:
Security firm Symantec estimates that 93% of computer users who wind up with 'scareware' on their machines have intentionally downloaded it. Symantec also believes some people distributing the scareware could be earning more than a million dollars each year. Symantec says it has found more than 250 different bogus programs. That's because the real goal of the exercise is to get hold of the credit card details of the user when they buy the sham security software.
6430407
submission
nandemoari writes:
A recent survey conducted by online retailer Retrovo reveals that the majority of PC buyers will take a "wait-and-see" approach before buying Windows 7. Microsoft insists that many of the problems plaguing Windows Vista have been fixed with Windows 7, but that remains to be seen.
Of the 448 respondents polled, 47 per cent of the PC users surveyed plan to read reviews of Windows 7 before upgrading their machines to Microsoft's new operating system. About 12 per cent of respondents plan to definitely upgrade and 38 per cent said they would not. A total of 3 per cent responded that they had already upgraded to Windows 7.
6429757
submission
nandemoari writes:
T-Mobile is taking a huge financial hit in the fallout over the Sidekick data loss. But Microsoft, which bears at least part of the responsibility for the mistake, is paying the price with its reputation.
As reported earlier this week, the phone network had to admit that some users' data had been permanently lost due to a problem with a server run by Microsoft-owned company, Danger. The handset works by storing data such as contacts and appointments on a remote computer rather than on the phone itself.
BBC news reports today that Microsoft has in fact recovered all data, but a minority are still affected out of 1 million subscribers.
Amidst this, Microsoft appears not to have suffered any financial damage. However, it seems certain that its relationship with T-Mobile will have taken a major knock. The software giant is also the target of some very bad publicity as critics question how on earth it failed to put in place adequate back-ups of the data. That could seriously damage the potential success of the firm's other "cloud computing" plans, such as web-only editions of Office.
6374577
submission
nandemoari writes:
A British hacker accused of infiltrating computers at NASA and the Pentagon has failed in his most recent attempt to evade extradition to the United States. Gary McKinnon may soon be making his way across the pond to face charges stateside.
For some time McKinnon has been lobbying London's High Court in a desperate attempt to avoid being extradited to America. Unfortunately for McKinnon, the High Court has refused to even hear the case, pointing out that it did not meet "points of law of general public importance." In other words, the case simply doesn't warrant a halt on the extradition.
6321815
submission
nandemoari writes:
It looks almost certain that Microsoft will be redesigning European editions of Windows 7 and its predecessors to offer users a clearer choice of which Internet browser they'd like to use. However, the changes won't be introduced until well past the October 22 launch of the new operating system (OS).
Under the proposed system, when people use a new Windows computer for the first time, they'll see a page explaining what a browser is. The user will then be presented with a list of 12 browsers, each with a link to information about what it offers. The user can choose to either install one browser or to install several browsers and designate one as their default option.
Interestingly, a demonstration screenshot shown by the EU only displays the five main browsers on screen at once, with the rest accessible by scrolling a horizontal toolbar. This doesn't appear to be coincidence as the five appear in alphabetical order, which would suggest they are being given a deliberate advantage rather than the entire list simply appearing in order of market share.
6321195
submission
nandemoari writes:
In a poll conducted by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, the word "whatever" received 47 per cent, almost half, of the total votes when subjects were asked to choose from a list of the most annoying popular phrases. It beat out equally ambiguous phrases "you know" and "it is what it is," which placed second and third, respectively.
6301211
submission
nandemoari writes:
A security researcher claims a virus probably led to the compromising of 30,000 email passwords. However, most other sources continue to blame phishers.
The email details appeared in two lists published by a user on a legitimate website designed for developers to share code. The first list included details of 10,000 Windows Live Hotmail accounts, while the second boasted 20,000.
Mary Landesman of ScanSafe says that while investigating a piece of malicious software in August she discovered the people controlling it had around 5,000 Hotmail user names and passwords which appeared to have been gathered by the malware. She argues that a similar explanation is likely in the current cases.
6299937
submission
nandemoari writes:
Amidst news that thousands of Hotmail, Gmail, and Yahoo accounts have been compromised in recent weeks, there's some good news: over a hundred phishers have been brought to justice in a multinational investigation spanning half the globe.
The United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation yesterday revealed that it had charged 53 defendants with cybercrimes after an investigation found major phishing schemes operating in both the U.S. and Egypt. Egyptian authorities later revealed that they had charged 47 alleged members of the phishing ring on their side of the Atlantic. To date, of the 53 charges by the FBI in the U.S., 33 have already been arrested.
Humorously dubbed "Operation Phish Phry," the investigation was first launched back in 2007.
6282859
submission
nandemoari writes:
It seems as if the massive phishing campaign reported yesterday was not specific to Hotmail.com as was initially believed. According to a report by the BBC, many Gmail and Yahoo Mail accounts have also been compromised.
While the source of the latest attacks has not been determined, many are pointing to the same bug that claimed at least 10,000 passwords from Microsoft Windows Live Hotmail.
Microsoft has done their part in blocking all known hijacked Hotmail accounts and created tools to help users who had lost control of their email. The company posted an online form where those locked out of their accounts can reclaim control of their system and verify their identity. There is also a Microsoft support page available where users can go to learn about the steps needed following an attack.
On their end, Google responded to the attacks by forcing "password resets on additional accounts when becoming aware of [the attacks]."
6264851
submission
nandemoari writes:
Computer manufacturers have been accused of excessive shipping charges for a supposedly free Windows 7 upgrade scheme. The fees mean some buyers could wind up paying as much as $17.03 for shipping: far more than the actual costs of delivering the upgrade.
According to the free Windows 7 deal, people who buy Vista machines before the Windows 7 release date of October 22nd, 2009 will be able to get a "free" copy of Windows 7 upon its release. The aim of the scheme was to minimize the drop in computer purchases over the summer among people who'd otherwise have waited for the new system rather than buy something which was about to become outdated.
6264711
submission
nandemoari writes:
Details of a Hotmail security breach emerged early yesterday, and it's suggested that approximately 10,000 accounts could have been compromised.
While the exact number of accounts has not yet been confirmed, the breach was likely the result of a phishing campaign — a different kind of hack that uses fake web pages in order to acquire all kinds of sensitive information, from login data and passwords (such as in this case) to credit card and social security numbers.
Microsoft is working on the matter, and in the meantime they recommend all Hotmail users should change their passwords immediately.
