Date: 06/21/06     Keywords: yahoo

Creative announced Zen V which offers great features in a tiny, flash-based form factor (about the size and shape of a smooth-cornered Zippo lighter). The player gives you everything you get with the iPod Nano except iTunes compatibility, and adds a few solid extras. Key features: Support for subscription services (Yahoo Unlimited, Napster-To-Go, Rhapsody-To-Go. FM radio: With headphones [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/tiny-new-mp3-and-video-player-from-creative-improves-upon-ipod-nano/

Date: 06/21/06     Keywords: no keywords

For old-timers (myself included) hacking is not intrinsically unethical, unlike what is potrayed by traditional media. Hacking is a mindset of exploring and solving problems. A renowned Scotland University has decided to offer three year degree in “ethical hacking”. The University of Abertay, based in Dundee, will offer the 3-year course from this September with [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-get-ethical-hacking-degree/

Date: 06/21/06     Keywords: software, security, microsoft

While Microsoft developers are scrambling to patch a security hole in Excel, a hacker has now posted code that exploits a second vulnerability in the popular spreadsheet software. Microsoft says that criminals are not yet using this code in attacks, but the software could be used to run unauthorised programs on a PC, according to Marc [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/yet-another-microsoft-excel-vulnerability/

Date: 06/21/06     Keywords: virus, antivirus

A new e-mail worm, Sixem-A, is on the loose that preys on the intense worldwide interest in the football World Cup. It began circulating earlier this week, and has just recently been blocked by few antivirus vendors. Victims receive messages with subjects like “Naked World Cup game set,” or “Soccer fans killed five teens,” and [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/email-worm-sixem-a-targets-soccer-world-cup-viewers/

Date: 06/20/06     Keywords: ebay

Robert Knowlton, an avid eBay user, bought a pair of slippers from a very reputable dealer on eBay. Soon after he got an e-mail that looked like it was from the dealer where he bought the slippers. They wanted him to login. “The next thing they do is change your password to theirs, your addresses [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/ebay-paypal-users-targeted-by-new-phishing-scam/

Date: 06/20/06     Keywords: software, security, virus, google

A new Internet worm capable of stealing bank details and other personal data from users is circulating via Orkut, Google’s social networking service, FaceTime Communications, Instant-messaging service provider, warned on Monday. FaceTime said its software security lab had detected the spread of the electronic virus, the third such threat to disseminate itself via messages posted on [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/googles-orkut-hit-by-malicious-internet-worm/

Date: 06/20/06     Keywords: no keywords

MySpace, the super-popular social networking site, is to use the UK as a base for a push into Europe that will see it link up with “old media” companies and mobile phone operators to attract more users. Chris DeWolfe, co-founder and chief executive of MySpace, told the Financial Times on Monday that he had earmarked [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/myspace-targets-11-countries-for-expansion-including-india-and-china/

Date: 06/20/06     Keywords: no keywords

When you are coding a C extension for Ruby, and you use mkmf to create your Ruby Makefile on a Solaris box, make install may fail. Solution: Add -lsocket -lnsl after -lingres. That’s it. Hat tip: Jared

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/installing-ruby-extensions-on-solaris/

Date: 06/20/06     Keywords: software

Apple added new features and yet dropped the price of its video compositing and effects software by more than 80 percent. The new version, Shake 4.1, will be priced at $499 as opposed to $2,999. Shake 4.1 is used in conjunction with Final Cut Studio, Apple’s video and audio editing suite. Shake is known for [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/apple-drops-shake-price-by-80/

Date: 06/20/06     Keywords: technology

Researchers at I.B.M. and the Georgia Institute of Technology will announce today that they have broken the speed record for silicon-based chips with a semiconductor that operates 250 times faster than chips commonly used today. The researchers, using a cryogenic test station, achieved the speed milestone by “freezing” the chip to 451 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/new-ibm-silicon-based-chip-breaks-spead-record-at-500-ghz/

Date: 06/20/06     Keywords: technology

Researchers at I.B.M. and the Georgia Institute of Technology will announce today that they have broken the speed record for silicon-based chips with a semiconductor that operates 250 times faster than chips commonly used today. The researchers, using a cryogenic test station, achieved the speed milestone by “freezing” the chip to 451 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/new-ibm-silicon-based-chip-breaks-speed-record-at-500-ghz/

Date: 06/20/06     Keywords: no keywords

For weeks, Apple Computer has been talking with executives at all the major studios — including the Walt Disney Company, 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers and Universal Studios — about adding movies to its popular iTunes music store, several people involved in the negotiations said. Mr. Jobs, who is Apple’s chief executive, has been participating in [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/movies-on-itunes-is-next/

Date: 06/20/06     Keywords: security, web

A 14-year-old Travis County girl who said she was sexually assaulted by a man she met on MySpace.com sued the MySpace for $30 million, claiming that it fails to protect minors from adult sexual predators. The lawsuit claims that the Web site does not require users to verify their age and calls the security measures aimed [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/sexually-assaulted-teen-sues-myspace-for-30-million/

Date: 06/20/06     Keywords: no keywords

Foxconn Electronics (the registered trade name of Hon Hai Precision Industry) has sternly denied a report insinuating that the company was making iPods for Apple Computer in sweatshops. Edmund Ding, spokesman for Foxconn - chief maker of iPods - said there were huge discrepancies between the truth and the claims in the report, which he said [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/foxconn-denies-ipod-sweatshop-claims/

Date: 06/20/06     Keywords: technology

Chinese students have adopted ingenious and sometimes dangerous devices (including microscopic earphones and wireless devices) for unprecedented hi-tech cheating. Chinese students upped the ante in the high-tech battle to counter cheating during university entrance exams this month, putting some in hospital as a result. Some universities installed cameras and mobile-phone blocking technology at exam halls to [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/hi-tech-exam-cheating-in-china/

Date: 06/19/06     Keywords: php, google

I use Google Sitemap generator WordPress plugin in this blog which creates a compressed (gzip) version of the sitemap data. Suddenly the plugin has stopped working! On investigation I found that the gzencode routine (in php) is failing for unknown reason. Any pointers on what could cause this?

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/sudden-failure-of-gzencode-php/

Date: 06/19/06     Keywords: web

My blog is worth $261,946.56.How much is your blog worth? This evaluation was done using Technorati data and Tristan’s research on Weblogs Inc. deal. The key premise is: “Many in the blogosphere say that traffic is not a good measure of what blogs are but that conversation, as represented by links and indexes like Technorati, represent [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/h0w-much-is-this-blog-worth/

Date: 06/19/06     Keywords: google

Google Inc. unveiled a search site today to help you find U.S. government information. Google U.S. Government Search features on its entry page government-related news articles from media outlets and official announcements from the White House, the military and Congress. Aimed at government employees, contractors and the public, the site allows users to search content contained on [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/google-unveils-us-government-search-site/

Date: 06/19/06     Keywords: no keywords

Bonita v2 offers out of the box workflow to handle and administrate processes. Bonita 2.0 introduces the following new features: * XPDL support allowing to import XPDL files within the workflow engine * Pagination pattern is now available for getter methods in both UserSession and AdminSession Beans [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/bonita-20-open-source-workflow-software-suite-released/

Date: 06/19/06     Keywords: no keywords

XBox 360 consumes 145 Watts simply turned on. Compare that with 4W for Playstation 1. What about when you are playing with them? Let’s see how they are going to cost you in energy bills each year. XBox 360 consumes 165 Watts while playing one single player race. PS1 consumes 6 Watt in comparison. Assuming you play [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/xbox-360-is-an-energy-hog/