Reuters Technology News
Fri Dec 29, 2006. NEW YORK (Reuters) - "RSS" is one of the coolest things you've never heard of when it comes to the Internet.
Short for "Really Simple Syndication," a name that seems designed to induce maximum eye glazing, RSS is in fact one of the best time-savers online. And it's getting easier to use.
RSS is a way for Web surfers to keep up with the latest news or catch hot deals on travel packages, concert tickets and nearly anything else people use the Internet to buy.
Instead of typing in 20 different Web site addresses every time you want to see what's new on washingtonpost.com, craigslist.org or your cousin's blog, just get "RSS feeds." Every time a page updates, you get an alert.
Media blogger Jeff Jarvis is one of the converted. "I don't use bookmarks at all, ever," said Jarvis, who offers RSS as a way to read his blog at Buzzmachine.com. "If a site doesn't have RSS, I find it a great irritant."
RSS comes in handy in a variety of everyday situations, said Forrester analyst Charlene Li.
"I'm currently looking for tickets for The Jersey Boys," she said. "And it's completely sold out. But every once in a while something shows up on Craigslist."
Instead of constantly checking Craigslist, Li sets up an RSS feed searching for four tickets, and if someone posts an ad for tickets, the feed will alert her.
LITTLE ORANGE BUTTONS
So, why are so few people using it?
Only 2 percent of online consumers bother, according to Forrester, and more than half of that group is 40 years old or younger.
For starters, the name is deadly for attracting "average" Internet users -- people who use the Web and handle e-mail, but quail at inscrutabilities like "service-oriented architecture" and "robust enterprise solutions."
Then there are the orange buttons you find on Web pages. Clicking one produces a jumble of computer codes. It's hardly the path to popularity.
"RSS is a horrible name," said Li. "And those little orange buttons don't do anybody any favors."
People often do not realize that the computer code is useless. What they must do is copy the Web address in their browser, and insert it into their RSS reader. The lack of clear instructions on many Web sites dooms the service to obscurity.
Some of the top U.S. news Web sites are changing that, including The New York Times site.
The site's managers plan to offer readers feeds dedicated to topics, reporters and columnists sometime in the first half of 2007, but in an easier way.
"Once we start doing that, you won't get that very geeky screen," said Robert Larson, nytimes.com's vice president of product management and development.
"It should be incredibly easy for anybody, no matter what their technical level, to click a button and add a feed to their MyTimes page," he said.
Washingtonpost.com is sprucing up its RSS system for sometime in early 2007, said Ann Marchand Thompson, the site's editor for discussions, e-mail and RSS.
"We want to let people sign up for the news that they want to receive without having to feel like they need a technical background to do it," she said. "They don't need to know the code behind it."
Getting RSS going on your computer is also simpler today. The two easiest ways are using newer version of the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers, which contain RSS readers.
Yahoo and Google also offer easy-to-use RSS options. Specialized RSS readers like Bloglines and Newsgator are slightly more sophisticated and take a little more experimentation, but are tough to put down once you get the hang of them.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Injured man wins damages for sex overdrive...
Reuters News
Tue Dec 19, 2006. LONDON (Reuters) - A devout Christian who said an accident at work boosted his libido and wrecked his marriage as he turned to prostitutes and pornography was awarded more than 3 million pounds ($5.89 million) in damages Tuesday.
Stephen Tame, 29, from Suffolk, suffered severe head injuries in a fall, transforming him from a loyal newlywed into a "disinhibited" character who had two affairs.
He was in a coma for two months after falling from a gantry while working at a bicycle warehouse shortly after his marriage in January 2002. Doctors said it was a miracle he survived.
Awarding him 3.1 million pounds in compensation at London's High Court, Judge Michael Harris said: "His life and the life of his young wife were shattered."
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Tue Dec 19, 2006. LONDON (Reuters) - A devout Christian who said an accident at work boosted his libido and wrecked his marriage as he turned to prostitutes and pornography was awarded more than 3 million pounds ($5.89 million) in damages Tuesday.
Stephen Tame, 29, from Suffolk, suffered severe head injuries in a fall, transforming him from a loyal newlywed into a "disinhibited" character who had two affairs.
He was in a coma for two months after falling from a gantry while working at a bicycle warehouse shortly after his marriage in January 2002. Doctors said it was a miracle he survived.
Awarding him 3.1 million pounds in compensation at London's High Court, Judge Michael Harris said: "His life and the life of his young wife were shattered."
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Skype worm on the loose...
ZD-NET Australia:Security News By Munir Kotadia, ZDNet Australia
19 December 2006. Internet security firm Websense has discovered a worm that uses Skype to propagate.
Skype is best known for allowing its subscribers to make free telephone calls over the Internet. The company has over seven million subscribers and was acquired just over a year ago by online auction firm eBay for US$2.6 billion.
Early reports indicate the worm sends messages via Skype Chat, which is an instant messenger tool, asking recipients to download and run a file called sp.exe.
Once the file is executed, it installs spyware that can steal passwords and other personal information. It also connects to a remote server to download additional code.
According to Websense, the worm seems to have come from the APAC region -- possibly Korea.
The number of people affected is still unclear.
19 December 2006. Internet security firm Websense has discovered a worm that uses Skype to propagate.
Skype is best known for allowing its subscribers to make free telephone calls over the Internet. The company has over seven million subscribers and was acquired just over a year ago by online auction firm eBay for US$2.6 billion.
Early reports indicate the worm sends messages via Skype Chat, which is an instant messenger tool, asking recipients to download and run a file called sp.exe.
Once the file is executed, it installs spyware that can steal passwords and other personal information. It also connects to a remote server to download additional code.
According to Websense, the worm seems to have come from the APAC region -- possibly Korea.
The number of people affected is still unclear.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Microsoft tries to stop Vista piracy monster...
ZD-NET REVIEWS By Ina Fried, CNET News.com
15 December 2006.Microsoft has issued an update to Windows Vista that's intended to stop a piracy monster.
The software maker said on Thursday that the update is aimed at thwarting a technique that was letting some people use pirated versions of the operating system without going through the software's built-in product activation. Microsoft has dubbed the approach "frankenbuild" because it works by combining test versions of Vista with the final code to create a hybrid version.
"Windows Vista will use the new Windows Update client to require only the 'frankenbuild' systems to go through a genuine validation check," Microsoft said on its Windows Genuine Advantage program blog. "These systems will fail that check because we have blocked the (product) keys for systems not authorized to use them."
Although Vista was only released to businesses last month -- and won't hit retail shelves until late January -- it has been making the rounds on the Internet, and there have been several reported hacks to bypass its built-in security mechanisms.
A second known issue, Microsoft said, involves using virtualisation technology in conjunction with the mechanism Microsoft uses to allow large businesses to activate multiple copies of Vista.
"Piracy is evolving and has made the expected jump from Windows XP to Windows Vista," David Lazar, director of Genuine Windows, told CNET News.com. "We are already starting to see some workarounds to the Vista licencing requirements."
In a statement, the software company said it hoped the actions would help discourage people from trying to bypass its security mechanisms.
"Microsoft hopes that by taking this action now, we can send a message to counterfeiters and would-be counterfeiters, and help protect our legitimate customers from being victimised by further distribution of these tampered products," the company said.
Microsoft has been more aggressively targeting pirates over the past two years, including a stepped-up program for checking to make sure software is properly licenced. With Vista, software that doesn't pass such authentication will go into severely reduced functionality after 30 days. At that point, only the Web browser will work and then only for an hour at a time.
In addition to that reduced-functionality mode, users can also still boot into Windows "safe mode". That allows full access to data and applications, but offers limited screen resolution, fewer colors and prevents the use of most third-party software drivers.
While Thursday's update addresses only the "frankenbuild," Lazar said Microsoft is also working on a method to counteract the other hack, which uses virtualisation and Microsoft's Key Management Service.
"The update that we are releasing today does not specifically address that, but we are working on an update that will specifically address the KMS workaround," Lazar said.
Vista represents Microsoft's strongest technical effort yet to build antipiracy features into its software. In addition to the activation requirements, some features within the operating system require the software to be validated as genuine. Those include the Windows Defender spyware fighter, Aero user interface and ReadyBoost, a technology that uses USB flash drives as added system memory.
"Vista is the hardest system to pirate that we have yet released," Lazar said.
15 December 2006.Microsoft has issued an update to Windows Vista that's intended to stop a piracy monster.
The software maker said on Thursday that the update is aimed at thwarting a technique that was letting some people use pirated versions of the operating system without going through the software's built-in product activation. Microsoft has dubbed the approach "frankenbuild" because it works by combining test versions of Vista with the final code to create a hybrid version.
"Windows Vista will use the new Windows Update client to require only the 'frankenbuild' systems to go through a genuine validation check," Microsoft said on its Windows Genuine Advantage program blog. "These systems will fail that check because we have blocked the (product) keys for systems not authorized to use them."
Although Vista was only released to businesses last month -- and won't hit retail shelves until late January -- it has been making the rounds on the Internet, and there have been several reported hacks to bypass its built-in security mechanisms.
A second known issue, Microsoft said, involves using virtualisation technology in conjunction with the mechanism Microsoft uses to allow large businesses to activate multiple copies of Vista.
"Piracy is evolving and has made the expected jump from Windows XP to Windows Vista," David Lazar, director of Genuine Windows, told CNET News.com. "We are already starting to see some workarounds to the Vista licencing requirements."
In a statement, the software company said it hoped the actions would help discourage people from trying to bypass its security mechanisms.
"Microsoft hopes that by taking this action now, we can send a message to counterfeiters and would-be counterfeiters, and help protect our legitimate customers from being victimised by further distribution of these tampered products," the company said.
Microsoft has been more aggressively targeting pirates over the past two years, including a stepped-up program for checking to make sure software is properly licenced. With Vista, software that doesn't pass such authentication will go into severely reduced functionality after 30 days. At that point, only the Web browser will work and then only for an hour at a time.
In addition to that reduced-functionality mode, users can also still boot into Windows "safe mode". That allows full access to data and applications, but offers limited screen resolution, fewer colors and prevents the use of most third-party software drivers.
While Thursday's update addresses only the "frankenbuild," Lazar said Microsoft is also working on a method to counteract the other hack, which uses virtualisation and Microsoft's Key Management Service.
"The update that we are releasing today does not specifically address that, but we are working on an update that will specifically address the KMS workaround," Lazar said.
Vista represents Microsoft's strongest technical effort yet to build antipiracy features into its software. In addition to the activation requirements, some features within the operating system require the software to be validated as genuine. Those include the Windows Defender spyware fighter, Aero user interface and ReadyBoost, a technology that uses USB flash drives as added system memory.
"Vista is the hardest system to pirate that we have yet released," Lazar said.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Town to enforce ban on "sexy" dress...
Reuters News
KUALA LUMPUR, Tue Dec 5, 2006(Reuters Life!) - A town in Muslim-majority Malaysia has threatened to fine non-Muslim women for wearing "sexy" clothes, infuriating some women's organizations.
Authorities in northeast Kota Baru, which calls itself an Islamic city, will slap fines of up to 500 ringgit ($140) on women who expose navels, wear body-hugging outfits, mini-skirts or see-through blouses, the Star newspaper said on Tuesday.
"Such outfits are prohibited here as it smears the reputation of Kota Baru and affects its status as an Islamic city," the Star quoted municipal council spokesman Azman Daham as saying.
Some women's groups have voiced anger over the council's decision to use an existing by-law against indecent dress to curb non-Muslim fashions. In Malaysia, almost half the population is non-Muslim and national government is secular.
"It is not the job of the council to become the 'moral police'," Honey Tan, head of the All-Women's Action Society, told the Star.
Kota Baru is capital of Kelantan state, which is run by opposition Parti Islam se Malaysia, whose official platform is to turn the country into an Islamic state.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
KUALA LUMPUR, Tue Dec 5, 2006(Reuters Life!) - A town in Muslim-majority Malaysia has threatened to fine non-Muslim women for wearing "sexy" clothes, infuriating some women's organizations.
Authorities in northeast Kota Baru, which calls itself an Islamic city, will slap fines of up to 500 ringgit ($140) on women who expose navels, wear body-hugging outfits, mini-skirts or see-through blouses, the Star newspaper said on Tuesday.
"Such outfits are prohibited here as it smears the reputation of Kota Baru and affects its status as an Islamic city," the Star quoted municipal council spokesman Azman Daham as saying.
Some women's groups have voiced anger over the council's decision to use an existing by-law against indecent dress to curb non-Muslim fashions. In Malaysia, almost half the population is non-Muslim and national government is secular.
"It is not the job of the council to become the 'moral police'," Honey Tan, head of the All-Women's Action Society, told the Star.
Kota Baru is capital of Kelantan state, which is run by opposition Parti Islam se Malaysia, whose official platform is to turn the country into an Islamic state.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
A saucy mistake about a sex problem...
Reuters News
Fri Dec 1, 2006. LONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters Life!) - Nearly two-thirds of Britons think the fiery Italian sauce Arrabiata is a sex infection, according to a survey on Friday.
The survey, of 1,015 people and released on World AIDS day, also showed nearly half were unable to identify a range of common sexual complaints.
"What is very worrying is the lack of knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) revealed in the survey," said sex therapist Emily Dubberley.
"Sixty-three percent in the UK thought an Italian sauce was an STD and over 43 percent
couldn't identify any of the common sexual complaints we asked about.
The survey, conducted by pollsters MYVOICE, also found that 48 percent of respondents found body odor and poor personal hygiene a turn off against just 4 percent who felt the same about a refusal to wear a condom.
The poll also found that 35 percent of people looked for information about sex on the Internet against 27 percent who consulted magazines.
In contrast only 4 percent went to their doctors.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Fri Dec 1, 2006. LONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters Life!) - Nearly two-thirds of Britons think the fiery Italian sauce Arrabiata is a sex infection, according to a survey on Friday.
The survey, of 1,015 people and released on World AIDS day, also showed nearly half were unable to identify a range of common sexual complaints.
"What is very worrying is the lack of knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) revealed in the survey," said sex therapist Emily Dubberley.
"Sixty-three percent in the UK thought an Italian sauce was an STD and over 43 percent
couldn't identify any of the common sexual complaints we asked about.
The survey, conducted by pollsters MYVOICE, also found that 48 percent of respondents found body odor and poor personal hygiene a turn off against just 4 percent who felt the same about a refusal to wear a condom.
The poll also found that 35 percent of people looked for information about sex on the Internet against 27 percent who consulted magazines.
In contrast only 4 percent went to their doctors.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
"Finland's sexiest man" ends romance with txt msg...
Reuters News
Fri Dec 1, 2006. HELSINKI (Reuters) - Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, dubbed Finland's sexiest man, broke up by text message with the girlfriend he had met on the Internet, she said in a magazine interview.
"Matti dumped me in a text message, where he said 'that's it'," Susan Kuronen told the magazine Me Naiset (Us Women) in an interview published on Friday.
Her relationship with Vanhanen, a divorced 51-year-old father of two, ended a few weeks ago, but continues to make headlines as Susan, 36, pours her heart out in local media.
Vanhanen, who declines to comment on the relationship, was cited as Finland's sexiest man by French President Jacques Chirac earlier this year, when Finnish tabloids were running daily front-page details of the romance.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Fri Dec 1, 2006. HELSINKI (Reuters) - Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, dubbed Finland's sexiest man, broke up by text message with the girlfriend he had met on the Internet, she said in a magazine interview."Matti dumped me in a text message, where he said 'that's it'," Susan Kuronen told the magazine Me Naiset (Us Women) in an interview published on Friday.
Her relationship with Vanhanen, a divorced 51-year-old father of two, ended a few weeks ago, but continues to make headlines as Susan, 36, pours her heart out in local media.
Vanhanen, who declines to comment on the relationship, was cited as Finland's sexiest man by French President Jacques Chirac earlier this year, when Finnish tabloids were running daily front-page details of the romance.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
China's Great Wall? "Just a pile of earth"
Reuters News
Tue Nov 28, 2006. BEIJING (Reuters) - Three people have been detained for digging up part of the Great Wall just days before strict new penalties are introduced to protect China's most famous tourist attraction, Xinhua news agency said.
The men used excavators to take earth from the remains of part of the Great Wall in Inner Mongolia, built at least 2,200 years ago, to use as landfill for a village factory.
"It's just a pile of earth," Erhaihao village head Hao Zengjun was quoted as telling officials from the Municipal Office on Cultural Relics Protection.
The Great Wall, which snakes its way across more than 4,000 miles, receives an estimated 10 million visitors a year, mostly to the tiny portion open to tourists at Badaling, the nearest stretch to Beijing.
The wall, which the United Nations listed as a World Heritage Site in 1987, has been rebuilt many times through the centuries, and many sections of it have suffered serious damage from weather erosion and human destruction.
Visitors climb wilder, crumblier sections that are not officially open to the public and stretches have become popular sites for summer raves.
Under the current law, those who damage key cultural relics deliberately can be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
From December 1, people taking earth or bricks from the Great Wall will be fined up to 500,000 yuan ($62,500).
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Tue Nov 28, 2006. BEIJING (Reuters) - Three people have been detained for digging up part of the Great Wall just days before strict new penalties are introduced to protect China's most famous tourist attraction, Xinhua news agency said.The men used excavators to take earth from the remains of part of the Great Wall in Inner Mongolia, built at least 2,200 years ago, to use as landfill for a village factory.
"It's just a pile of earth," Erhaihao village head Hao Zengjun was quoted as telling officials from the Municipal Office on Cultural Relics Protection.
The Great Wall, which snakes its way across more than 4,000 miles, receives an estimated 10 million visitors a year, mostly to the tiny portion open to tourists at Badaling, the nearest stretch to Beijing.
The wall, which the United Nations listed as a World Heritage Site in 1987, has been rebuilt many times through the centuries, and many sections of it have suffered serious damage from weather erosion and human destruction.
Visitors climb wilder, crumblier sections that are not officially open to the public and stretches have become popular sites for summer raves.
Under the current law, those who damage key cultural relics deliberately can be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
From December 1, people taking earth or bricks from the Great Wall will be fined up to 500,000 yuan ($62,500).
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Centrelink-Australia-ID card takes shape...
By Steven Deare, ZDNet Australia
23 November 2006. Centrelink staff will be the first Australian government employees to be issued with a smartcard following a request for tender, which it published yesterday.
The social services agency will combine three cards employees currently use to access Centrelink properties, into a single integrated chip, or smartcard, which will be issued in August 2007. Centrelink has 26,000 staff.
The Centrelink Staff Identification Card would standardise employee access and comply with government best practice, Centrelink said in tender documents.
The card will be the first developed in accordance with the government's fledgling Identity Management for Australian Government Employees Framework (IMAGE). Smartcards are one component of IMAGE, to be implemented across government by 2008.
For security, the card will contain a tamper-resistant, optically variable device in the form of the Australian coat of arms.
Currently, Centrelink staff carry: a photographic identity card, a Vasco token for building access, and a Vasco password-generating token for each computer logon.
"These three physical devices are carried in a single clear plastic envelope in such a fashion that the package allows all three devices to operate, but physically masks the surname of the employee from view," said the tender documents.
The new card will combine logical, physical and identity data. There will be no major changes to how staff use the card.
Centrelink said it would select its tenderer in March before the first production cards are issued in August.
23 November 2006. Centrelink staff will be the first Australian government employees to be issued with a smartcard following a request for tender, which it published yesterday.
The social services agency will combine three cards employees currently use to access Centrelink properties, into a single integrated chip, or smartcard, which will be issued in August 2007. Centrelink has 26,000 staff.
The Centrelink Staff Identification Card would standardise employee access and comply with government best practice, Centrelink said in tender documents.
The card will be the first developed in accordance with the government's fledgling Identity Management for Australian Government Employees Framework (IMAGE). Smartcards are one component of IMAGE, to be implemented across government by 2008.
For security, the card will contain a tamper-resistant, optically variable device in the form of the Australian coat of arms.
Currently, Centrelink staff carry: a photographic identity card, a Vasco token for building access, and a Vasco password-generating token for each computer logon.
"These three physical devices are carried in a single clear plastic envelope in such a fashion that the package allows all three devices to operate, but physically masks the surname of the employee from view," said the tender documents.
The new card will combine logical, physical and identity data. There will be no major changes to how staff use the card.
Centrelink said it would select its tenderer in March before the first production cards are issued in August.
German police get their phoney US Highway Patrolman...
Reuters News
Thu Nov 23, 2006. BERLIN (Reuters) - German traffic police were shocked to see a California Highway Patrol car cruising along the motorway, driven by a man dressed as an authentic American cop, authorities said on Thursday.
But they recovered sufficiently to book the 35-year-old Goettingen resident, whose uniform badge read "T.J. Lazer", for possessing a replica Smith & Wesson revolver without a license and having out-of-date registration plates.
"He was sitting at the wheel with his elbow on the window like in the best TV crime series," said Osthessen police spokesman Martin Schaefer.
"Because wearing such a uniform in public is also prohibited, he had to exchange it for civilian dress after a shopping trip with 'real' colleagues," he added.
The man told police he had been taking the 30-year-old vehicle to Bavaria to sell it and wanted to impress the buyer.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Thu Nov 23, 2006. BERLIN (Reuters) - German traffic police were shocked to see a California Highway Patrol car cruising along the motorway, driven by a man dressed as an authentic American cop, authorities said on Thursday.
But they recovered sufficiently to book the 35-year-old Goettingen resident, whose uniform badge read "T.J. Lazer", for possessing a replica Smith & Wesson revolver without a license and having out-of-date registration plates.
"He was sitting at the wheel with his elbow on the window like in the best TV crime series," said Osthessen police spokesman Martin Schaefer.
"Because wearing such a uniform in public is also prohibited, he had to exchange it for civilian dress after a shopping trip with 'real' colleagues," he added.
The man told police he had been taking the 30-year-old vehicle to Bavaria to sell it and wanted to impress the buyer.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Microsoft says "Gears" game sells 1 million copies...
Reuters Technology News
Wed Nov 22, 2006. SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it had sold 1 million copies of its game "Gears of War" in two weeks, making it the fastest-selling title for its Xbox 360 video game console.
Microsoft has been counting on "Gears of War", which went on sale on November 7, to steal some thunder from the recent launches of rival gaming machines from Sony Corp. (6758.T: Quote, NEWS, Research) (SNE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Nintendo Co. Ltd. (7974.OS: Quote, NEWS, Research).
Game sales also are important because Microsoft loses money on each Xbox 360 machine it sells, so it relies on game sales to make the business profitable.
Microsoft said earlier this month that "Gears of War", which puts players in the role of a futuristic soldier battling invading aliens, had booked the biggest number of pre-orders of any of its games since 2004's "Halo 2", the second installment of the flagship franchise for the original Xbox.
Pre-ordering is the retail practice in which consumers pay money in advance to ensure a copy of a game on launch date.
Still, "Gears of War " did not come close to matching the draw of "Halo 2", which sold $125 million -- roughly 2.5 million copies -- in its first 24 hours of availability.
"Halo 2", however, had the benefit of building on the successful formula of its predecessor, and it also came three years into the life of the original Xbox, meaning there was a bigger pool of potential buyers.
By contrast, "Gears of War" is an all-new game and arrived just a year after the Xbox 360 hit the market. Its price tag is 20 percent higher than that of "Halo 2" when it was launched.
Microsoft also said subscriptions to its Xbox Live online gaming service have increased because of "Gears of War". Paid registrations per day for the online gaming service have climbed 50 percent since the game's debut.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Wed Nov 22, 2006. SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it had sold 1 million copies of its game "Gears of War" in two weeks, making it the fastest-selling title for its Xbox 360 video game console.
Microsoft has been counting on "Gears of War", which went on sale on November 7, to steal some thunder from the recent launches of rival gaming machines from Sony Corp. (6758.T: Quote, NEWS, Research) (SNE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Nintendo Co. Ltd. (7974.OS: Quote, NEWS, Research).
Game sales also are important because Microsoft loses money on each Xbox 360 machine it sells, so it relies on game sales to make the business profitable.
Microsoft said earlier this month that "Gears of War", which puts players in the role of a futuristic soldier battling invading aliens, had booked the biggest number of pre-orders of any of its games since 2004's "Halo 2", the second installment of the flagship franchise for the original Xbox.
Pre-ordering is the retail practice in which consumers pay money in advance to ensure a copy of a game on launch date.
Still, "Gears of War " did not come close to matching the draw of "Halo 2", which sold $125 million -- roughly 2.5 million copies -- in its first 24 hours of availability.
"Halo 2", however, had the benefit of building on the successful formula of its predecessor, and it also came three years into the life of the original Xbox, meaning there was a bigger pool of potential buyers.
By contrast, "Gears of War" is an all-new game and arrived just a year after the Xbox 360 hit the market. Its price tag is 20 percent higher than that of "Halo 2" when it was launched.
Microsoft also said subscriptions to its Xbox Live online gaming service have increased because of "Gears of War". Paid registrations per day for the online gaming service have climbed 50 percent since the game's debut.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Drunken bus driver asks to continue school run...
Reuters News
Wed Nov 22, 2006. CANBERRA (Reuters) - A bus driver who was 13 times over the legal alcohol limit while driving a bus load of schoolchildren had a simple request for police who arrested him for drunken driving, an Australian court heard Wednesday.
"Can I finish my run, at least to drop these kids off?"
A country court in New South Wales state was told 50-year old David Stack had a blood alcohol level of 0.26, which is 13 times the legal limit for a bus driver, when he was stopped on November 7.
The court was told two adult passengers had alerted police after Stack's bus was speeding and swerving across the road.
Stack, who pleaded guilty to the drunk driving charge, said he regretted his actions and had apologized to the children on the bus at the time.
Now unemployed, Stack will be sentenced in February.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Wed Nov 22, 2006. CANBERRA (Reuters) - A bus driver who was 13 times over the legal alcohol limit while driving a bus load of schoolchildren had a simple request for police who arrested him for drunken driving, an Australian court heard Wednesday.
"Can I finish my run, at least to drop these kids off?"
A country court in New South Wales state was told 50-year old David Stack had a blood alcohol level of 0.26, which is 13 times the legal limit for a bus driver, when he was stopped on November 7.
The court was told two adult passengers had alerted police after Stack's bus was speeding and swerving across the road.
Stack, who pleaded guilty to the drunk driving charge, said he regretted his actions and had apologized to the children on the bus at the time.
Now unemployed, Stack will be sentenced in February.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Free Viagra spices up small town life...
Reuters News
<--- A bottle of Viagra pills is seen in an undated file photo. The mayor of a small Brazilian town has begun handing out free Viagra, spicing up the sex lives of dozens of elderly men and their partners. REUTERS
Mon Nov 20, 2006 BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - The mayor of a small Brazilian town has begun handing out free Viagra, spicing up the sex lives of dozens of elderly men and their partners.
"Since we started the free distribution of sexual stimulants, our elderly population changed. They're much happier," said Joao de Souza Luz, the mayor of Novo Santo Antonio, a small town in the central state of Mato Grosso.
Souza Luz said 68 men over the age of 60 had already signed up for the program, which was approved by the town's legislature and has been dubbed "Happy Penis," or "Pinto Alegre" in Portuguese.
But the program has also had the unforeseen consequence of encouraging some extra-marital affairs, Souza Luz said.
"Some of the old men aren't seeking out their wives. They've got romances on the side," he said.
To discourage such illicit canoodling, Souza Luz said the city had decided to begin distributing the Viagra pills to the wives of the men who signed up for the program.
"That way, when the women are in the mood, they can give the pills to their husbands," he said.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
<--- A bottle of Viagra pills is seen in an undated file photo. The mayor of a small Brazilian town has begun handing out free Viagra, spicing up the sex lives of dozens of elderly men and their partners. REUTERS Mon Nov 20, 2006 BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - The mayor of a small Brazilian town has begun handing out free Viagra, spicing up the sex lives of dozens of elderly men and their partners.
"Since we started the free distribution of sexual stimulants, our elderly population changed. They're much happier," said Joao de Souza Luz, the mayor of Novo Santo Antonio, a small town in the central state of Mato Grosso.
Souza Luz said 68 men over the age of 60 had already signed up for the program, which was approved by the town's legislature and has been dubbed "Happy Penis," or "Pinto Alegre" in Portuguese.
But the program has also had the unforeseen consequence of encouraging some extra-marital affairs, Souza Luz said.
"Some of the old men aren't seeking out their wives. They've got romances on the side," he said.
To discourage such illicit canoodling, Souza Luz said the city had decided to begin distributing the Viagra pills to the wives of the men who signed up for the program.
"That way, when the women are in the mood, they can give the pills to their husbands," he said.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Yahoo in ad partnership with newspapers...
Reuters Technology News By Robert MacMillan
The Yahoo corporate building is seen in an undated file photo. Yahoo Inc. said on Monday it has agreed to have at least seven newspaper groups use its technology to sell advertising on their Internet sites. REUTERS/Handout
Mon Nov 20, 2006. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc. said on Monday that it struck a deal with the publishers of 176 U.S. newspapers to let them use its technology to sell help-wanted advertising and offer a variety of local information services.
The move is an attempt by Yahoo to expand its reach into local markets, viewed as a key growth prospect as it battles rivals such as Google Inc. for advertising dollars.
For publishers, it is a bid to expand their audience and advertising revenue as more readers drop the print editions of their papers in favor of getting their news and classified ads from the Internet.
The publishers include Belo Corp., Cox Newspapers Inc., Hearst Newspapers, Journal Register Co., Lee Enterprises Inc., MediaNews Group and E.W. Scripps Co..
Their newspapers circulate in 38 U.S. states, and include major metropolitan dailies such as the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News and the Los Angeles Daily News.
"We believe the local segment is largely untapped and provides significant opportunities to expand audience engagement and subsequently grow local advertising," Yahoo Chief Executive Terry Semel said in a statement. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In a key element, advertisers who list jobs in the papers will also be able to post them on Yahoo's HotJobs Web site, potentially widening the appeal of print help-wanted ads, which have lost ground in recent years to online recruiting sites. Continued...
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
The Yahoo corporate building is seen in an undated file photo. Yahoo Inc. said on Monday it has agreed to have at least seven newspaper groups use its technology to sell advertising on their Internet sites. REUTERS/HandoutMon Nov 20, 2006. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc. said on Monday that it struck a deal with the publishers of 176 U.S. newspapers to let them use its technology to sell help-wanted advertising and offer a variety of local information services.
The move is an attempt by Yahoo to expand its reach into local markets, viewed as a key growth prospect as it battles rivals such as Google Inc. for advertising dollars.
For publishers, it is a bid to expand their audience and advertising revenue as more readers drop the print editions of their papers in favor of getting their news and classified ads from the Internet.
The publishers include Belo Corp., Cox Newspapers Inc., Hearst Newspapers, Journal Register Co., Lee Enterprises Inc., MediaNews Group and E.W. Scripps Co..
Their newspapers circulate in 38 U.S. states, and include major metropolitan dailies such as the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News and the Los Angeles Daily News.
"We believe the local segment is largely untapped and provides significant opportunities to expand audience engagement and subsequently grow local advertising," Yahoo Chief Executive Terry Semel said in a statement. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In a key element, advertisers who list jobs in the papers will also be able to post them on Yahoo's HotJobs Web site, potentially widening the appeal of print help-wanted ads, which have lost ground in recent years to online recruiting sites. Continued...
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Warm weather wrecks bears' winter slumber...
Reuters News
A four-month-old bear cub looks around as it is released for the first time outside a family farm some 400 km west of Moscow, April 12, 2005. Insomniac bears are roaming the forests of southwestern Siberia scaring local people as the weather stays too warm for the animals to fall into their usual winter slumber. By Sergei Karpukhin
Wed Nov 15, 2006. MOSCOW, Nov 15 (Reuters Life!) - Insomniac bears are roaming the forests of southwestern Siberia scaring local people as the weather stays too warm for the animals to fall into their usual winter slumber.
The furry mammals escape harsh winters by going to sleep in October-November for around six months, but in the snowless Kemerovo region where the weather is unseasonably warm, bears have no desire yet to hibernate.
"Due to weather conditions, bears didn't go into the winter sleep in time," said Tatiana Maslova, chief expert at a regional environmental agency in the city of Kemerovo, about 3,500 km (2,190 miles) southeast of Moscow.
"Our teams are making sure there is no damage to farming and to local residents," she told Reuters on Wednesday, adding that every patch of land is watched by a specially assigned inspector.
To survive the prolonged winter rest, bears have to put on extra body fat -- up to 180 kg (396 pounds) -- and so spend the preceding months devouring as much food as they can find.
"At the moment there is enough fodder, so they are not wreaking any havoc," Maslova said.
Hunters, out in the woods stalking birds and hares now that the hunting season is open, need protection from restless bears the most, she added.
"We have observers who ensure there are no attacks on hunters."
Bears den in dry places usually covered by snow, and wet weather makes finding a suitable "bedroom" for the winter difficult.
Russian media reported that in the Kemerovo region and other areas, normally cold and snowy by now, there are fresh buds on trees and some flowers have blossomed for the second time this year.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
A four-month-old bear cub looks around as it is released for the first time outside a family farm some 400 km west of Moscow, April 12, 2005. Insomniac bears are roaming the forests of southwestern Siberia scaring local people as the weather stays too warm for the animals to fall into their usual winter slumber. By Sergei KarpukhinWed Nov 15, 2006. MOSCOW, Nov 15 (Reuters Life!) - Insomniac bears are roaming the forests of southwestern Siberia scaring local people as the weather stays too warm for the animals to fall into their usual winter slumber.
The furry mammals escape harsh winters by going to sleep in October-November for around six months, but in the snowless Kemerovo region where the weather is unseasonably warm, bears have no desire yet to hibernate.
"Due to weather conditions, bears didn't go into the winter sleep in time," said Tatiana Maslova, chief expert at a regional environmental agency in the city of Kemerovo, about 3,500 km (2,190 miles) southeast of Moscow.
"Our teams are making sure there is no damage to farming and to local residents," she told Reuters on Wednesday, adding that every patch of land is watched by a specially assigned inspector.
To survive the prolonged winter rest, bears have to put on extra body fat -- up to 180 kg (396 pounds) -- and so spend the preceding months devouring as much food as they can find.
"At the moment there is enough fodder, so they are not wreaking any havoc," Maslova said.
Hunters, out in the woods stalking birds and hares now that the hunting season is open, need protection from restless bears the most, she added.
"We have observers who ensure there are no attacks on hunters."
Bears den in dry places usually covered by snow, and wet weather makes finding a suitable "bedroom" for the winter difficult.
Russian media reported that in the Kemerovo region and other areas, normally cold and snowy by now, there are fresh buds on trees and some flowers have blossomed for the second time this year.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
In sin city Vegas, erotic dancers must keep distance...
Reuters News
Sat Nov 11, 2006 7:55pm ET SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A court has upheld a Las Vegas city regulation barring erotic dancers from raunchy physical contact with their customers, in a ruling that runs counter to the gambling city's sinful reputation.
Nevada's Supreme Court on Thursday reversed two lower court rulings that found the regulation improperly curtailed "expressive conduct" protected by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment.
The high court judges said that even if the constitutional amendment did apply, its protection was not absolute, and added the city measure helps curtail prostitution, sexually transmitted disease, drug offenses and criminal activity.
The city rule bars dancers from physical contact of a sexual nature with customers.
The decision echoes a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year that backed a California city's regulation requiring at least two feet (0.7 meter) distance between erotic dancers and the audience.
Voters in Seattle took a different view this week, rejecting a measure on Tuesday that would require erotic dancers to stay at least four feet from patrons.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Sat Nov 11, 2006 7:55pm ET SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A court has upheld a Las Vegas city regulation barring erotic dancers from raunchy physical contact with their customers, in a ruling that runs counter to the gambling city's sinful reputation.
Nevada's Supreme Court on Thursday reversed two lower court rulings that found the regulation improperly curtailed "expressive conduct" protected by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment.
The high court judges said that even if the constitutional amendment did apply, its protection was not absolute, and added the city measure helps curtail prostitution, sexually transmitted disease, drug offenses and criminal activity.
The city rule bars dancers from physical contact of a sexual nature with customers.
The decision echoes a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year that backed a California city's regulation requiring at least two feet (0.7 meter) distance between erotic dancers and the audience.
Voters in Seattle took a different view this week, rejecting a measure on Tuesday that would require erotic dancers to stay at least four feet from patrons.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
"Sexist" urinals sell out...
Reuters News
Mon Nov 13, 2006. VIENNA (Reuters) - Four urinals shaped like a woman's lips were sold on eBay Sunday for a total of 5,343 euros ($6,877) after their owner removed them from a public toilet in Vienna following protests that they were sexist.
Designed by Austrian artist Rudolf Scheffel for the "toilet-bar Vienna" next to the National Opera, the urinals featured lips covered in red, orange or blue lipstick, a bright red tongue and gleaming white teeth.
The urinals were in the toilets for three years but raised an outcry in the run-up to Austria's October 1 parliamentary election when they were used by political party supporters attending rallies nearby.
Women's rights campaigners said the urinals were sexist and misogynist. The toilet's operator Gerhard Neuhold said on eBay they would be restored to their original condition before being delivered to their new owners.
One of the two red-lipped urinals proved most seductive in the auction, raising 1,510 euros from Austria-based eBay user "abv06." The other three went to another bidder in Austria, according to the eBay online auction web site.
Neuhold told Austrian tabloid newspaper Kronen-Zeitung that the amount was at the lower end of the range of his expectations. He will donate a quarter to a charity.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Mon Nov 13, 2006. VIENNA (Reuters) - Four urinals shaped like a woman's lips were sold on eBay Sunday for a total of 5,343 euros ($6,877) after their owner removed them from a public toilet in Vienna following protests that they were sexist.
Designed by Austrian artist Rudolf Scheffel for the "toilet-bar Vienna" next to the National Opera, the urinals featured lips covered in red, orange or blue lipstick, a bright red tongue and gleaming white teeth.
The urinals were in the toilets for three years but raised an outcry in the run-up to Austria's October 1 parliamentary election when they were used by political party supporters attending rallies nearby.
Women's rights campaigners said the urinals were sexist and misogynist. The toilet's operator Gerhard Neuhold said on eBay they would be restored to their original condition before being delivered to their new owners.
One of the two red-lipped urinals proved most seductive in the auction, raising 1,510 euros from Austria-based eBay user "abv06." The other three went to another bidder in Austria, according to the eBay online auction web site.
Neuhold told Austrian tabloid newspaper Kronen-Zeitung that the amount was at the lower end of the range of his expectations. He will donate a quarter to a charity.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Microsoft goes for Google's jugular...
C-NET REVIEWS Rafe Needleman
Microsoft brings 3D mapping to Internet Explorer.
November 06, 2006. Enlarge photo Microsoft is about to upgrade its mapping product, Live Local, to Microsoft Virtual Earth, a competitor to Google Earth. [See news story.] We got a live preview of the product a few days ago and will have a hands-on review shortly. These impressions are based on the demo.
In a word: Wow. Microsoft is doing with its Earth program what I've wanted from Google for a while: creating one integrated mapping and globe-exploring service, not two products with different interfaces. With Virtual Earth, you get all of Microsoft's Live Local features (traffic data, e-mail integration, bookmarks) with the additional capability to zoom around the 3D planet and see your locations from any angle.
Microsoft, like Google, has 3D buildings in its virtual world, but Microsoft's are photo-realistic, not just gray boxes. There is expected to be 15 cities with 3D buildings at launch, with 100 by next summer. In the San Francisco city demo, the buildings looked great.
The service will have an API, so people can use the Virtual Earth globe in their own apps and mash-ups. However, don't expect too many people to create Virtual Earth mash-ups, since the service works only in Internet Explorer.
But Virtual Earth is great eye candy, and if you're an Internet Explorer user, the integration between it and Microsoft's online mapping product is very powerful.
Microsoft brings 3D mapping to Internet Explorer. November 06, 2006. Enlarge photo Microsoft is about to upgrade its mapping product, Live Local, to Microsoft Virtual Earth, a competitor to Google Earth. [See news story.] We got a live preview of the product a few days ago and will have a hands-on review shortly. These impressions are based on the demo.
In a word: Wow. Microsoft is doing with its Earth program what I've wanted from Google for a while: creating one integrated mapping and globe-exploring service, not two products with different interfaces. With Virtual Earth, you get all of Microsoft's Live Local features (traffic data, e-mail integration, bookmarks) with the additional capability to zoom around the 3D planet and see your locations from any angle.
Microsoft, like Google, has 3D buildings in its virtual world, but Microsoft's are photo-realistic, not just gray boxes. There is expected to be 15 cities with 3D buildings at launch, with 100 by next summer. In the San Francisco city demo, the buildings looked great.
The service will have an API, so people can use the Virtual Earth globe in their own apps and mash-ups. However, don't expect too many people to create Virtual Earth mash-ups, since the service works only in Internet Explorer.
But Virtual Earth is great eye candy, and if you're an Internet Explorer user, the integration between it and Microsoft's online mapping product is very powerful.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Telstra's ADSL2+ finally arrives, access limited....and about time!
PC World
Sydney 10/11/2006.On the tenth anniversary of BigPond's launch, Telstra has finally flicked the switch for uncapped high speed ADSL and ADSL2+ broadband services. However, its new 24Mbps capable ADSL2+ will only be sold in locations where competitors already offer the same service.
The availability comes some 18 months after its competitors, including iiNet and Internode, have been offering ADSL2+ speeds. Until now, Telstra's fastest DSL offering has been capped at 1.5Mbps.
Telstra's new uncapped ADSL plans can reach speeds of 8Mbps and will cover 2,400 exchanges and 91 per cent of the population. Its limited ADSL2+ offering will allow download speeds of up to 20Mbps, just shy of this technology's 24Mbps capacity.
In an ASX statement, BigPond group managing director, Justin Milne, said the decision to limit exchanges to locations where competitors also offer ADSL2+ was due to "regulatory constraints".
"Cleary, this is a very defensive move by Telstra and not at all an offensive one," said Ovum research director, David Kennedy. "It's consistent with that fact that they are not looking for a fight from their ADSL2+ competitors because they are not undercutting their prices."
Kennedy said Telstra's avoidance of a price war was a wise move on its part and believed the telco would instead look to achieve growth by consolidating services through BigPond's range of deliverable content and its marketing clout.
Telstra's high speed 20,000/1000kbps 60GB plan is priced at $149.95 per month. In comparison, Internode offers its high speed 24000/1000kbps 80 GB shaped plan for $119.95 per month.
"Today it does look like Telstra has finally, (six years late) and lurchingly, blinked," said Internode's Simon Hackett in a posting on the Whirpool forums. "I am sure that (one way or another) our customers will gain access to higher speeds nationally as a result of this, and I'm very much looking forward to being able to offer the entire Australian ADSL population the ability to see just how fast the Internode national and international backbone is, by removing that ridiculous 1500/256 bottleneck from their lives at last."
Ovum's Kennedy said that despite having the technical capability since last year to offer ADSL2+ services, Telstra had delayed availability while it sought clarification from the ACCC that it would not have to provide competitors with access to its ADSL2+ infrastructure.
Sydney 10/11/2006.On the tenth anniversary of BigPond's launch, Telstra has finally flicked the switch for uncapped high speed ADSL and ADSL2+ broadband services. However, its new 24Mbps capable ADSL2+ will only be sold in locations where competitors already offer the same service.
The availability comes some 18 months after its competitors, including iiNet and Internode, have been offering ADSL2+ speeds. Until now, Telstra's fastest DSL offering has been capped at 1.5Mbps.
Telstra's new uncapped ADSL plans can reach speeds of 8Mbps and will cover 2,400 exchanges and 91 per cent of the population. Its limited ADSL2+ offering will allow download speeds of up to 20Mbps, just shy of this technology's 24Mbps capacity.
In an ASX statement, BigPond group managing director, Justin Milne, said the decision to limit exchanges to locations where competitors also offer ADSL2+ was due to "regulatory constraints".
"Cleary, this is a very defensive move by Telstra and not at all an offensive one," said Ovum research director, David Kennedy. "It's consistent with that fact that they are not looking for a fight from their ADSL2+ competitors because they are not undercutting their prices."
Kennedy said Telstra's avoidance of a price war was a wise move on its part and believed the telco would instead look to achieve growth by consolidating services through BigPond's range of deliverable content and its marketing clout.
Telstra's high speed 20,000/1000kbps 60GB plan is priced at $149.95 per month. In comparison, Internode offers its high speed 24000/1000kbps 80 GB shaped plan for $119.95 per month.
"Today it does look like Telstra has finally, (six years late) and lurchingly, blinked," said Internode's Simon Hackett in a posting on the Whirpool forums. "I am sure that (one way or another) our customers will gain access to higher speeds nationally as a result of this, and I'm very much looking forward to being able to offer the entire Australian ADSL population the ability to see just how fast the Internode national and international backbone is, by removing that ridiculous 1500/256 bottleneck from their lives at last."
Ovum's Kennedy said that despite having the technical capability since last year to offer ADSL2+ services, Telstra had delayed availability while it sought clarification from the ACCC that it would not have to provide competitors with access to its ADSL2+ infrastructure.
Microsoft struggles with patch...
ZDNet News By Ina Fried, and Dawn Kawamoto, CNET News.com
October 10, 2006. Microsoft on Tuesday released a slew of patches for Windows and Office, but a glitch prevented the company from pushing the updates out automatically.
The patches, which include critical fixes for both Office and Windows, can be manually downloaded from Microsoft's Web site. Early on Tuesday, the fixes were not available via Microsoft's more automated tools, and Microsoft said its technical teams were "working around the clock" to solve the updating problems.
"Due to technical difficulties experienced on the Microsoft Update platform, security updates released today are not currently available via Microsoft Update, Automatic Updates, Windows Server Update Services or Windows Update v6," the software maker said.
The issue was resolved by late afternoon Tuesday and the patches were sent out via the automatic updating service, Microsoft said.
The company had said last week to expect 11 patches. However, a representative for the software maker said on Tuesday that a planned critical Windows patch "did not meet the quality bar" and so was not issued.
Tuesday's 10 security bulletins, which include six critical fixes for both Office and Windows, are designed to fix more than two dozen flaws in Microsoft's software--the largest bunch so far this year, said one security company.
"Although there are only 10 patches, they address 26 vulnerabilities, and it's the largest release for Microsoft this year," said Jonathan Bitle, manager of technical accounts at Qualys. "This could be overwhelming for IT managers because they'll have to navigate what to patch and which to patch first."
The second-largest release was in August, when Microsoft's 12 patches put right 23 flaws. A CNET Reviews rundown of the October bulletins can be found here.
Antivirus company Symantec said the updates include patches for Office flaws for which exploit code already exists, including an Excel vulnerability that surfaced in July and a Word exploit that emerged last month.
"The quantity of Microsoft Office vulnerabilities this month illustrates this emerging attacker focus, and users should consider the installation of these patches to be a critical component of a smart security strategy," Symantec Security Response director Oliver Friedrichs said in a statement.
IT administrators may want to work particularly quickly in deploying three of the patches--MS06-057, MS06-058 and MS06-060-Qualys' Bitle said.
Microsoft also noted that it expects to release Windows Internet Explorer 7 later this month, with the browser update scheduled to be delivered shortly thereafter via Windows Update and Automatic Update. The company said it is providing a blocker tool that will allow businesses to prevent their computers from receiving the new browser. Businesses that don't want IE7 should have the blocking tool in place by November 1, Microsoft said.
October 10, 2006. Microsoft on Tuesday released a slew of patches for Windows and Office, but a glitch prevented the company from pushing the updates out automatically.
The patches, which include critical fixes for both Office and Windows, can be manually downloaded from Microsoft's Web site. Early on Tuesday, the fixes were not available via Microsoft's more automated tools, and Microsoft said its technical teams were "working around the clock" to solve the updating problems.
"Due to technical difficulties experienced on the Microsoft Update platform, security updates released today are not currently available via Microsoft Update, Automatic Updates, Windows Server Update Services or Windows Update v6," the software maker said.
The issue was resolved by late afternoon Tuesday and the patches were sent out via the automatic updating service, Microsoft said.
The company had said last week to expect 11 patches. However, a representative for the software maker said on Tuesday that a planned critical Windows patch "did not meet the quality bar" and so was not issued.
Tuesday's 10 security bulletins, which include six critical fixes for both Office and Windows, are designed to fix more than two dozen flaws in Microsoft's software--the largest bunch so far this year, said one security company.
"Although there are only 10 patches, they address 26 vulnerabilities, and it's the largest release for Microsoft this year," said Jonathan Bitle, manager of technical accounts at Qualys. "This could be overwhelming for IT managers because they'll have to navigate what to patch and which to patch first."
The second-largest release was in August, when Microsoft's 12 patches put right 23 flaws. A CNET Reviews rundown of the October bulletins can be found here.
Antivirus company Symantec said the updates include patches for Office flaws for which exploit code already exists, including an Excel vulnerability that surfaced in July and a Word exploit that emerged last month.
"The quantity of Microsoft Office vulnerabilities this month illustrates this emerging attacker focus, and users should consider the installation of these patches to be a critical component of a smart security strategy," Symantec Security Response director Oliver Friedrichs said in a statement.
IT administrators may want to work particularly quickly in deploying three of the patches--MS06-057, MS06-058 and MS06-060-Qualys' Bitle said.
Microsoft also noted that it expects to release Windows Internet Explorer 7 later this month, with the browser update scheduled to be delivered shortly thereafter via Windows Update and Automatic Update. The company said it is providing a blocker tool that will allow businesses to prevent their computers from receiving the new browser. Businesses that don't want IE7 should have the blocking tool in place by November 1, Microsoft said.
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