Malicious software plays on legal fears

HIGHLIGHTS

News: Malicious software plays on legal fears
News: Google offers mobile access to calendar service
News: Microsoft Zune team invited to give up iPods
News: EarthLink to build out Philadelphia Wi-Fi network
News: RIM plans Wi-Fi/cellphone BlackBerry
News: VA Software drops software, becomes Sourceforge Inc.
News: Trade group forges e-waste proposal
News: Skype worm jumps to ICQ, MSN too
News: 'Harmless' worm hops past OpenOffice security
News: NetSuite goes wireless with help from its friends
News: Dell moves beyond direct sales with Wal-Mart deal
News: Netgear to ship Infrant desktop NAS
News: IBM busts the remote 3D graphics barrier
ITWhirled: Crime inspires math


NEWS UPDATES

Malicious software plays on legal fears
Hackers are trying to play on business' fear of legal action from customers to trick them into downloading a harmful program distributed through e-mail.


Google offers mobile access to calendar service
Users of Google Calendar can now access their schedules from their mobile phones.


Microsoft Zune team invited to give up iPods
In what can be seen as either a joke or a real attempt to get employees to give up Apple iPods in favor of the Zune MP3 player, the team at Microsoft Corp. that builds Zune has set up a bin at its headquarters so employees can drop in iPods they don't want to use anymore.


EarthLink to build out Philadelphia Wi-Fi network
The sun came out for EarthLink Inc.'s Philadelphia Wi-Fi network on Thursday even as prospects for its San Francisco project remain shrouded in fog.

RIM plans Wi-Fi/cellphone BlackBerry
Research In Motion Ltd. expects to start selling a BlackBerry with both cellular and Wi-Fi wireless capabilities, the company's CEO said Wednesday.


VA Software drops software, becomes Sourceforge Inc.
One of the survivors of the early days of Linux has changed its name and folded its software division in favor of doing business entirely on the Web.


Trade group forges e-waste proposal
The Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA), a trade group representing manufacturers of tech products, has come up with a recycling agreement supported by both television and computer hardware makers, it said Thursday.


Skype worm jumps to ICQ, MSN too
A new variant of the Stration worm, which has been plaguing Windows users for the past year, has made the jump from Skype to the ICQ and MSN Messenger networks.


'Harmless' worm hops past OpenOffice security
The first cross-platform worm specifically tailored for the open-source OpenOffice.org and StarOffice productivity suites has raised a few hackles in open source circles, since it appears to tarnish the suite's reputation for security.


NetSuite goes wireless with help from its friends
NetSuite Inc. announced Thursday that three of its partners now provide extensions to the vendor's hosted midmarket applications suite so that the software will run on mobile devices.


Dell moves beyond direct sales with Wal-Mart deal
Dell Inc. will begin selling two models of its desktop PCs at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on June 10, fulfilling a series of recent hints from CEO Michael Dell that the company would move beyond the direct sales model that once made it the world's largest PC vendor.


Netgear to ship Infrant desktop NAS
Netgear will ship Infrant's desktop and rackmount NAS systems next week, following its recent acquisition of the company.


IBM busts the remote 3D graphics barrier
IBM is promising high performance 3D graphics from a new, blade-format workstation that's remotely accessed by a thin client. Thin clients, whether in this format or as virtual machines, have previously been unable to reproduce 3D graphics or real-time video for remote viewing with the performance of a fat client workstation.


ITWHIRLED

Crime inspires math
A bold gang of Germans followed the motto "think big" when they planned their crime: they stole more than 4 km of disused railway line, amounting to more than 500 tons of metal, to sell for scrap. The heist has become so notorious that the local schools are using it as a basis for math problems, asking students to compute the weight, volume and value of the stolen steel.