Pop-up blocker problem found in Firefox browser ... Samsung unveils touchpanel cell phone

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Pop-up blocker problem found in Firefox browser
News: Samsung next with touchpanel cell phone
News: HP appoints new general counsel
News: Capgemini acquires Software Architects
Unix Tip: Tracking down disk usage
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Ultraviolet light: the Barry White of the spider world


NEWS UPDATES

Pop-up blocker problem found in Firefox browser
A flaw in the pop-up blocker of the open-source browser Firefox could allow an attacker to access local files, according to security analysts.

Samsung next with touchpanel cell phone
Telephones with touchscreen displays that occupy most of their front face are starting to looking like the next big thing in the cell phone market. On Thursday Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. became the third company in almost as many weeks to show a handset with such a design.

HP appoints new general counsel
Hewlett-Packard Co. appointed as its new general counsel the lawyer it hired last year to conduct an independent investigation into the spying scandal at the company.

Capgemini acquires Software Architects
Capgemini SA has agreed to acquire the software services company Software Architects Inc. to expand its presence in key U.S. cities, the French IT services provider said Thursday.

Mobile ads: The next Internet gold rush?
As mobile phone executives converge on the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, which runs from Monday to Thursday, many plan to meet and discuss how they can benefit from the rush toward ad-funded mobile services.

EMC to spin off part of VMware in IPO
Three years after being bought by EMC Corp., VMware is going public. EMC announced plans Wednesday to offer 10 percent of its virtualization software subsidiary in an initial public offering.

Microsoft tweaks IE 7 for performance
Microsoft Corp. has quietly released a patch aimed at improving the performance of Internet Explorer 7's phishing filter ahead of the company's regular patching schedule, which occurs on the Tuesday of every month.

Low-cost CDMA handsets hit $30, group says
Handset makers continue to drive down the cost of CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) handsets, making them more affordable to customers in developing markets, such as India and China.

Lenovo pushes SMB notebook sales with Best Buy
In a move to sell more notebook PCs to small business buyers, Lenovo Group Ltd. said Thursday it would expand its arrangement to sell computers through Best Buy Co. Inc. stores.

ACLU slams final San Francisco Wi-Fi contract
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has turned up the political heat on EarthLink and Google's plan for Wi-Fi in San Francisco, telling the city's Board of Supervisors that the proposed contract doesn't have enough privacy or free speech protections.


UNIX TIP

Tracking down disk usage
By Sandra Henry-Stocker

Whenever you run across a root file system that's 100% full, the first thing you are likely to do is ascertain which of many directories are actually stored, rather than simply mounted, within /. Variations of the df and du command are likely to come in handy. However, the process of detailing how disk space is being used and identifying files or subdirectories that can be removed often takes a lot longer than most of us would like.

In this week's column, we'll look at a simple script that can help you
determine which directories in / are abnormally large.


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Daily IT News Audio Update
EMC to take VMWare public ... Windows Mobile 6 to get mobile Office applications ... Video games could improve your vision


ITWHIRLED

Ultraviolet light: the Barry White of the spider world
Turns out that jumping spiders also need the right lighting to get in the mood -- but their mood lighting is invisible to the human eye.