Thursday, September 13, 2007

Microsoft forces Messenger upgrade ... Department of State Web sites hacked ... Alcatel-Lucent slashes revenue forecast

TOP STORY
_________________

Microsoft forces Messenger upgrade for 'security' reasons
Microsoft Corp. is forcing Windows Live and MSN Messenger users to upgrade to the newest version due to a security update included in that release, according to a posting on a Microsoft blog.


IN THE NEWS
___________________

Sophos: St. Petersburg consulate Web site was hacked
Security vendors are warning that two U.S. Department of State Web sites based in Russia could contain malware and should be avoided.

Report: Yahoo mistakenly blows the lid off new service
As if Yahoo Inc. didn't have enough trouble already in social networking, a company public relations representative tipped a New York Times reporter by mistake about a new, unannounced service called Yahoo Mash.

Microsoft: 'Secret' updates were for Windows Update itself
Microsoft Corp. claims updates sent out to Windows XP and Vista machines without users knowing about them were for the Windows Update mechanism, though the company acknowledged it could have been more "transparent" before changing files on user computers.

Online video popularity keeps climbing
People in the U.S. have steadily increased the amount of time they spend watching videos online, as Google Inc.'s YouTube remains by far their preferred video site, according to a study.

Alcatel-Lucent slashes forecast for year
Alcatel-Lucent SA cut its revenue forecast for the year on Thursday, underscoring the challenges the newly merged company faces in a highly competitive communications equipment industry.

Data explosion shakes up IT
In just three years, the bytes of data generated by digital cameras, mobile phones, businesses IT systems and devices will equal the number of grains of sand on the world's beaches.


TIP
___________________

Replacing batteries on a Sun StorEdge disk array
By Sandra Henry-Stocker,ITworld

I had only recently come to notice that the batteries had expired. Using the sccli (StorEdge controller command line interface) command, I had noted the expiration dates were well enough in the past that replacing them as soon as possible was a good idea. When I checked the batteries, the battery status information looked like this:


OPINION
___________________

iPhone Price Cuts Triggers Whining
By Dan Blacharski

It's not too often that dramatic price reductions in a popular product elicits whining as a reaction, but such is the case with the Apple iPhone. Apple's expensive iPhone, which debuted just a few short weeks ago at $599, is now $399. Personally, I won't spend more than twenty bucks on a mobile communications device, but I suppose I would be bitterly disappointed had I waited in line to pay $599 for something that was $200 cheaper just a little over a month later. But as everybody knows, in the world of technology, early adopters always pay a higher price for something that inevitably becomes cheaper later. I'm not surprised that the iPhone came down in price. What is surprising is that it came down so quickly.


GADGET GIVEAWAY
_______________

It's Fall, and we have a new gadget giveaway ... just for the heck of it. We've brought back the ultimate geek tool, the Swiss Army knife equipped with USB flash drive, LED light, and ballpoint pen.

Enter now for a chance to win!


ITWHIRLED
___________________

Sign of the times: Fruit-picking robots
According to the California Farm Bureau Federation, harvesting California's crops requires about 225,000 year-round workers (and twice that in summer). But with border-tightening in the offing, some farmers are seeking high-tech help.

Subscribe to the ITwhirled alert - weird tech news direct to your inbox.

No comments: