petersaville.net

Google is preparing its own distribution of Linux for the desktop, in a possible bid to take on Microsoft in its core business - desktop software. A version of the increasingly popular Ubuntu desktop Linux distribution, based on Debian and the Gnome desktop, it is known internally as 'Goobuntu'.

Google has confirmed it is working on a desktop linux project called Goobuntu, but declined to supply further details, including what the project is for.

But it's possible Google plans to distribute it to the general public, as a free alternative to Windows.

Whatever Google's intentions, the input of Google engineers and developers, writing new features and fixing bugs, will be a huge boost to the Ubuntu project.

Ubuntu, funded by the South African internet multimillionaire and occasional cosmonaut Mark Shuttleworth, is already emerging as a leader in the desktop Linux world.

SOURCE: The Channel Register

The Kama Sutra worm — also referred to as Nyxem.E and Grew.A — is unnerving because, unlike other e-mail worms, it appears to be detached from any profit motive.

It is designed to destroy all Microsoft Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint documents and Adobe Acrobat and Photoshop files on all hard drives connected to an infected PC.

The worm appears in e-mail in-boxes with subject lines such as "hot movie," "A Great Video" or "Crazy illegal Sex!" enticing the recipient to click on an attachment. One variation makes reference to the ancient Sanskrit book on sexual positions.

By clicking on the attachment, the victim launches a program that disables anti-virus protection. The infected PC then begins to send copies of similarly tainted e-mail to every e-mail address on the victim's hard drive.

Text: USAtoday

But while most e-mail worms also plant a back door to give an intruder control of the PC, or a program to steal log-ons and passwords, this worm's sole purpose is destruction. It implants a program to erase common work files on the third day of the month, hitting even external data-storage devices connected to the infected PC.

It looks to be a big year in information technology as we will see the launch in Australia of the new XBOX 360, Windows Vista and Apple leap into bed with Intel leaving poor old Motorola out in the cold and locked out of the desktop computer stakes, or will it???

An open source group seems to indicate that a new bunch of hardware guru’s and linux nuts might just get their heads together and keep the Motorola processor that apple purists so much loved because it was more faster than the intel Pentiums on the market.

Apple purists are singing ding dong the witch is dead to Microsoft’s media player as it has announced it is discontinuing any further development for the Apple Operating System. Whilst, general mac users are pretty dam annoyed about that as most of the good bits on video are in windows media format.

Broadband in Australia is set to explode and by 2008 dial up will be almost a thing of the past except farmers who will still be in a communications pickle as Telstra discovers that discontinuing the CDMA network leaves people more isolated.

In 2006 there will be a massive take up of 3G phones and technology as phone companies roll out more towers and many Australians grow second heads from the additional EMF floating around. The wide use of 3G technology will indeed bring a new range of ethical issues as well. Last year we say email issues when two legal secretaries were sacked after they got into an email flame war over who put what sandwich in what fridge on what floor of the building this email snow balled into a world wide fiasco, well with 3G phones having email that can send video and pictures it will be only a matter of time before someone gets the sack because they have emailed a video of something no one was supposed to see.

The Shortage of XBOX 360 devices in the united states has spread to Australia and set back the device's launch in Australia and may cause the company to miss its second-quarter sales forecast. After announcing last year that the Xbox would debut here on March 2, Microsoft has pushed back the date to March 23.

The Xbox 360 in the USA sold out days after it went on sale on November 22 and it does seem that demand for the machine will probably outstrip supply for the next two quarters.

The XBOX mark 1 when it went on sale at a similar price was sluggish on sales at best. However, Microsoft may have been caught down napping as the play station 3 will be released by Sony before Microsoft has the chance to catch up.

Source: The Australian

Technology used in the Commonwealth Games Queens Batten relay could have been useful in saving the life of a Sydney Taxi driver who was bashed to death in tragic circumstance in Cabramatta.

How? The Batten has cameras that are linked to a satellite uplink and images are transmitted back to the mission control. The Taxi’s in NSW could be fitted with a similar CCTV system that stores the images in evidence quality but also transmits lower grade images in real time via satellite for review back at the taxi base. With Taxis in capital cities (Sydney) already being tracked by the global positioning system as the images are transmitted back Taxi base operators would be able to dispatch law enforcement and emergency services vehicles to the specific location in minutes.

Government funding: This sort of technology comes at a cost but its needed for all public transport vehicles and funding to offset the costs for such would be a necessity otherwise fares would have to rise.

Blackworm Virus

A computer virus called 'blackworm' may activate Feb. 3 and start destroying files on computers it has reached, a data security expert said.

The virus has infected about 300,000 computers in several countries and continues to spread over the Internet. The blackworm resembles early computer viruses that spread in the 1980s and 1990s in that it destroys data such as Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets and Power Point presentations. More recent virus attacks have typically been programmed to carry out tasks such as taking over the computer, while not destroying data on it

The blackworm overwrites the content of the file, instead of deleting the file, so users may not immediately realize the content is destroyed. The virus is programmed to overwrite the content of certain

Not the best position for the Feb 3.

People just don’t get it do they, the old style worm called Karma Sutra is written in Visual Basic, you have to open the attached file to infect your PC. Yet people still have not learned not to open files they’re not expecting.

The worm is also known as Nyxem, but was dubbed the Kama Sutra worm because although it can have a variety of subject lines and text, they are generally sexual in nature and can include references to the Kama Sutra, the ancient book about sexual positions.

The worm actually has a site which keeps count of the number of infections and according to F-Secure, that site showed 510,000 infections on Saturday, as well as being the most commonly caught virus in the last 24 hours (at the time of this writing, 16.1% and #1 ranking).

Besides setting itself to run at reboot the worm also tries to disable antivirus software and (of course) tries to propagate itself via email.

The worst thing about Nyxem is that on the 3rd of every month it is set to delete certain files, including Office files. This threat requires human interaction so once again we have to say: stop opening those attachments! How many times do people have to be told?

Source: Technews.com

MSN messenger 8 in is beta mode and many people unable to get an invite have been paying almost 40 bucks for an invite to try it. The same thing happened to googles gmail when it first launched people swapped almost anything for an invite.

Microsoft Corp. has confirmed that it's considering plans to build its own portable music player to rival Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod, which has captured the lion share of the market at the expense of competitors offering devices with Microsoft's music player.

The software maker is working on plans to develop its own device, rather than just rely on partners to take on Apple, which is becoming a dominant player in entertainment on the Web. Microsoft would seem to have put together a team to consider the business behind such as initiative so hopefully Microsoft may issue a media player down the track.

Xbox Shortage Leaves Fans Out in the Cold

Apparently, only wo months after its debut, the new version of Microsoft's game console remains scarce. The company could be losing its chance to grab market share before Sony releases a new PlayStation.

Microsoft's continued inability to meet demand for Xbox 360 has irritated customers and disappointed video game publishers, raising questions about whether the company has squandered an opportunity to grab market share before consumer electronics giant Sony Corp. releases its PlayStation 3 later this year.

For its part, Microsoft said it expected the shortage to ease in coming weeks, thanks to an additional manufacturing plant coming on line, and the balance between supply and demand should stabilize before the end of June.

June may be too late, according to some Wall Street analysts and in Australia the cost of the unit may also be an issue. Many remember spending 600+ dollars on an xbox 1 when it was first released only to have its price driven down by serious competition by Sony’s play station 2. If Microsoft wants to eat into the market here in Australia they need to run the price at the same cost of the xbox 1.


SOURCE: LATIMES.COM

Novell Corporation has always been a real smart company, its investments in software companies have provided it with cutting edge technologies. Although I recon they are probably spewing chunks in the realization they should never have sold the word perfect corporation to to Corel. Why is this because Word perfect for their Suse linx distribution would have serious kicked so arse.

Novell Inc. and Concurrent Computer Corp will jointly sell and support a real-time version of Novell's SUSE Linux operating system aimed at banks and telecommunications providers. Its truly about time I can tell you as other distros have done so but not with prestige of Novell behind it. SUSE is a linux package that feels like its been assembled by a group of switched on techno geeks with the user in mind.

The new product, Concurrent Real-Time Extensions Powered by SUSE Linux will be targeted at financial companies with trading-floor and market-data servers, as well as telecommunications and military users with time-critical requirements in their data centers. Both companies will provide professional services and technical support for the specialized operating system.

Source: PCworld America

The worlds biggest utilized search engine and internet company Google has become the latest technology company to founder against the Great Firewall of China, with the news it will censor its search engine to give it greater access to China's fast-growing market.

A number of human rights organizations are concerned with the move as they say the move by Google is the latest example of a big corporation kow-towing to the Chinese government's stringent demands on internet content.

They say Google has sold out on its corporate mantra: "Don't be evil".

Google.cn, the company's site aimed at boosting its market share in China, was launched yesterday but will censor itself of politically sensitive material to satisfy authorities in Beijing.

The new version could restrict access to thousands of sensitive terms and websites and make searching for information on topics like Tibet, Taiwanese independence and the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre even harder.

There are 111m internet users in China and the number is rising swiftly, prompting a campaign by the Chinese government to keep a beady eye on the booming sector.

But a growing market of that size is too big to ignore.

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/

I would like to congratulate the local people chosen for the Commonwealth Games Relay in our section of the relay, their hard work in our community has been recognized by the chance to hold aloft an amazing batten and piece of technology.

Past Commonwealth Battens have contained a paper scroll message but this batten has the message stored electronically. The batten also with the assistance of Global Positioning, utilizes real time imaging as the baton makes its way through 71 countries to reach Melbourne, Australia, in 2006, and technology inside the baton enables details of each runner’s name, location and speed to be transmitted via satellite to the Commonwealth Games website.

The batten has a pulse with 71 lights on the baton progressively light up as the baton makes its way through 71 countries to reach Melbourne.

It really is an amazing piece of Australian technology and design. Have a look at the website http://qbr.melbourne2006.com.au/?s=qbrroute

Apparently, according to the register dot com, more than three quarters of web surfers don't realize Google records and stores information that may identify them This suggests that the battle for internet privacy is far from over.

The websites around the world that link into the largest web search engine, Google maintains a lifetime cookie that expires in 2038, and records the user's IP address. But more recently it has begun to integrate services which record the user's personal search history, email, shopping habits, and social contacts.

After first promising not to tie its email service to its search service, Google went ahead and opted its users in anyway. The conundrum for Google now is does it come clean with the data it stores about users, or does it simply hope that the majority of users don't care?

I certainly do care, I feel that Google should be telling users exactly what information that it does collect about its users. Many people utilize cookie cleaners to make sure sites like Google do not have the opportunities to keep such records, however, then become increasing frustrated when sites slow down or do not supply the correct information or layout.

In the survey, 56 per cent of users said Google should not turn over information to the Government, and only 14 per cent were happy for Google to turn over information even in criminal cases.

SOURCE: www.theregister.com

Students who use computers regularly are getting a headstart on their peers when it comes to school subjects, according to a new OECD study.
The report, "Are students ready for a technology-rich world?", claims that school students who use computers regularly perform better in key school subjects than those with limited computer experience or a lack of confidence when it comes to performing basic computer tasks.
I could have told them that, teachers tend to mark higher an essay that is typed than a hand written one. I found this out over ten years ago from bitter experience, then again my hand writing did look like a pissed spider had fallen into an ink well and run across the page.
The study found that students who had been using computers for less than a year scored significantly below the OECD average, while students who had been using computers for more than five years scored well above it.
The poorer performance of those who do not have access to, or have only recently accessed, computers can also be attributed in part to their background. The report notes that students with low access to computers at home are typically from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The good news is that in Australia we have a number of organizations that recycle old working computer hardware into systems for the disadvantaged.
In our area we have a couple of computer recyclers
Coffs Harbour Coffs Care Community group (02) 6658 0055 NSW
Local Community Community groups Donna Rooney donna@lcsa.org.au Services Association
SOURCE: The Register dot com and SMH dot com dot au

BIG OOPS!
At half-past noon on Jan. 9, cable TV contractors sinking a half-mile of cable near Interstate 10 in rural Arizona pulled up something unexpected in the bucket of their backhoe: an unmarked fiber-optic cable. As the fiber came spooling out of the desert soil like a fishing line, long-distance service for millions of Sprint PCS and Nextel wireless customers west of the Rockies blinked off. Transcontinental internet traffic routed over Sprint slowed to a crawl, and some corporations that relied on the carrier to link office networks found themselves electronically isolated.
In Australia a similar thing occurred some 6 years ago on the Central Coast of NSW when a Backhoe doing work for the railways managed to snare a communications cable blacking out the entire north coast of New South Wales.
Experts say that these outages are indeed a reminder that with all the attention paid to computer viruses and the latest Windows security holes, the most vulnerable things are the worlds critical infrastructures lie literally beneath our feet.

Excavators may be held financially responsible by the asset owner should they damage underground networks.
When excavating, you can be held responsible for damage caused to underground networks. This means a cut may lead to a financial penalty. For this reason and for the reason of safety, it is imperative location plans are obtained, followed and all care is taken to ensure no damage is done.
Careless digging can :

1. cause death or serious injury to workers and the general public


2. inconvenience users of electricity, gas, water and communications


3. lead to criminal prosecution and damages claims


4. cause expensive financial losses to business


5. cut off emergency services


6. delay project completion times while the damage is repaired

In Australia we have a service originally launched by Telstra’s legacy business Telecom Australia and now subscribed to by every infrastructure provider in Australia. This means you can access information on the site where you need to dig quickly and easily to make sure you don’t cause issues to infrastructure.
The website is http://www.dialbeforeyoudig.com.au/
Source: wirednews.com and dialbeforeyoudig.com.au