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Security

Submission + - MS Confirms Zeroday Flaw, Drive-by Exploits

Submitted by Automatic Pow
Automatic Pow writes: Microsoft has issued a security advisory with confirmation of a zero-day Windows vulnerability in the way animated cursor (.ani) files are handled. The threat is caused by insufficient format validation prior to rendering cursors, animated cursors, and icons. Drive-by exploits against Internet Explorer users have already been picked up in the wild. Windows Vista is confirmed vulnerable.
GNU is Not Unix

Submission + - GPLv3 on the Novell-Microsoft Patent Agreement

Submitted by
jeevesbond
jeevesbond writes: "Groklaw has an article that unravels some of the mystery of GPLv3 and the clauses dealing with the Microsoft/Novell Patent Agreement. From the article:

I take it that the focus is upon preventing Microsoft from being able to pursue its patent strategy, and rather than "punishing" Novell, instead protecting noncommercial developers, and thus depriving Novell of economic benefits of the deal. It really makes it more important than ever that the kernel guys realize that if they do not go to GPLv3, they will be enabling Novell's patent deal and preventing the effects of GPLv3 from taking effect.
"
Music

Submission + - Why the RIAA doesn't want defendants exonerated

Submitted by RageAgainsttheBears
RageAgainsttheBears writes: The RIAA is slowly beginning to find itself in an awkward position when a few among its many, many lawsuits don't manage to follow through. Typically, when they decide a case isn't worth pursuing (due to targeting the wrong person or not having sufficient evidence), they simply move to drop the case and any counterclaims, and everyone goes separate ways. But recently, judges have been deciding to allow the RIAA to drop the case, but still allowing the counterclaim through. According to the Ars Technica article:

If Judge Miles-LaGrange issues a ruling exonerating Tallie Stubbs of infringement, it would be a worrisome trend for the RIAA. The music industry has become accustomed to having its way with those it accuses of file-sharing, quietly dropping cases it believes it can't win. It looks as though the courts may be ready to stop the record labels from just walking away from litigation when it doesn't like the direction it is taking and give defendants justice by fully exonerating them of any wrongdoing.
Editorial

Submission + - Post-It poll

Submitted by Chad
Chad writes: How many post-its surround your work-space?
Software

Submission + - Russian school teacher 'pirate' case re-opened

Submitted by
newtley
newtley writes: "Russian school teacher Alexander Ponosov thought he was out from under after having been accused of "criminally" using Microsoft product. A Russian court threw the case out, calling it "trivial," and Russian president Vladimir Putin said those who make "pirate" goods should be targeted, not consumers, calling the trial "utter nonsense". Now the BBCA Russian court has ordered a retrial, "after pressure from the prosecution". However, Ponosovhas now launched a web site. It's in Russian."
Programming

Submission + - Some History of multiprocessing and Linux SMP

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A lot of great work has gone into the Linux kernel to exploit SMP, but the operating system by itself is not enough. The kernel does its part to optimize the load across the available CPUs (from threads to virtualized operating systems). All that's left is to ensure that the application can be sufficiently multi-threaded to exploit the power in SMP. This article explores the ideas behind multiprocessing and developing SMP applications for Linux
Internet Explorer

Submission + - Has IE 7 turned back Firefox?

Submitted by
roscoetoon
roscoetoon writes: "http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?com mand=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=networking_and_ internet&articleId=9014958&taxonomyId=16

The spin continues about who's gaining what share of the browser markets. It's all in who's point of view you look at.

Firefox's success in chipping away at Internet Explorer's (IE) majority Web browser market share has slowed since Microsoft Corp. began pushing the new IE7 as an automatic update to Windows users last year, a management consulting firm said yesterday. But a Web metrics company immediately disputed the conclusion, and said that IE 7's introduction has helped — not hurt — Firefox.
They battle on:

Firefox's stall, said Janulaitis, meant that it and other IE rivals won't be able to overtake Microsoft's browser "without some major new innovation or driver."
Poppycock, said Geoff Johnston, an analyst with WebSideStory, Inc. of San Diego, Calif. "I'm surprised at how well Firefox has done since IE7 came out," he said. "It looks like the forced migration of IE7 is helping Firefox."
But it's all in 'How You Count the Beans':

"IE7 has almost 31% of the whole browser market," said Johnston, "but its growth has been almost exclusively at the expense of IE6. IE7 has not slowed the pace of either Firefox or Safari. Microsoft's getting it from both those two fronts."
"
Programming

Submission + - Lightning Fast Programs with the SPU of Cell BE

Submitted by IdaAshley
IdaAshley writes: Write optimal code for Cell BE processor's synergistic processing unit (SPU) and have your programs running lightning fast. This installment of the Cell BE processor series covers SIMD vector programming, branch elimination and hinting techniques, loop unrolling, and instruction scheduling. Part 1 gives an introduction to Linux on the PLAYSTATION 3, while Part 2 shows you how to program the SPE's of Sony PS3, and Part 3 dives further into the SPE's of Cell BE.
Databases

Submission + - Sykpe uses Postgresql as the backend

Submitted by
firefly_blue
firefly_blue writes: "Skype confirmed today that it uses Postgresql successfully for its backend by releasing a number of enhancements they have made for the database. This includes SkyTools used for replication and failover, PgBouncer a lightweight connection pooler and PL/Proxy a language for creating proxy functions that call actual functions from a partitioned database. A quick overview of Postgresql's use in Skype is presented in a white paper."
Caldera

Submission + - Score: IBM - 700,000 / SCO - 326

Submitted by
The Peanut Gallery
The Peanut Gallery writes: "After years of litigation to discover what, exactly, SCO was suing about, IBM has finally discovered that SCO's "mountain of code" is only 326 scattered lines. Worse, most of what is allegedly infringing are comments and simple header files, like errno.h, which probably aren't copyrightable for being unoriginal and dictated by externalities, aren't owned by SCO in any event, and which IBM has at least five separate licenses for, including the GPL, even if SCO actually owned those lines of code. In contrast, IBM is able to point out 700,000 lines of code, which they have properly registered copyrights for, which SCO is infringing upon if the Court rules that it has, in fact, repudiated the GPL. If this were a game show, I suspect SCO would be complaining that their buzzer wasn't working right about now."
Privacy

Submission + - RIAA sues paralyzed stroke victim

Submitted by Stangger
Stangger writes: Just when you thought they couldn't do any worse, the RIAA is suing a paralyzed Stroke victim for alleged copyright infringment in Michigan. Of course, he lives in Florida, but that shouldn't be more than a minor glitch in the lawsuit. Article: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/riaa-boycott/riaa-tires -of-suing-babies-and-elderly-moves-on-to-paralyzed -stroke-victims-244108.php
Media

Submission + - Most Americans think media has liberal bias

Submitted by
MCraigW
MCraigW writes: "The vast majority of American voters believe media bias is alive and well — 83% of likely voters said the media is biased in one direction or another, while just 11% believe the media doesn't take political sides, a recent IPDI/Zogby Interactive poll shows. Nearly two-thirds of those online respondents who detected bias in the media (64%) said the media leans left, while slightly more than a quarter of respondents (28%) said they see a conservative bias."

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