MTX - Not So Low Risk Anymore
Security experts are now saying that a virus initially labeled as Low Risk on its debut back in August, may have been a bit lenient in their initial judgement. The virus, MTX, is slowly making its way around the Internet now, with its unique ability to prevent users from getting help should they catch the virus.
Once a user is infected with MTX the virus propigates itself and prevents said user from visiting anti-viral Web sites or sending e-mail to anti-virus firms. The virus also deceives users by randomly choosing not only the e-mail subject-line, but the attachment name as well as the extension.
Can We Join the Club?
GlobeDrive, based in New York, is set to unveil its flagship software, amidst a growing controversy and legal war being waged on the music front. The new peer-to-peer file sharing application developed at GlobeDrive allows users to connect and share files much the same as other applications, but its one distinct feature has the RIAA and the music industry sweating bullets.
This distinct feature makes it so that not just any person can view the network and share files, but only special invited people may. The password protected, invite-only network keeps the wandering eyes of the legal watchdogs away from your activities.
FrontPage 10 Beta 2 Released
Microsoft has unleashed beta 2 of its upcoming release of FrontPage version 10. The new release expands testing to some 10,000 beta testers instead of the rather small group of 3,500 testers Beta 1 had. One major new feature in the new software, entitled SharePoint, allows a team to set up and Intranet or Internet site to collaborate information or group projects.
Users can edit or add content directly from their browser rather than uploading files and such. Also in the next release, developers will have the ability to automatically add MSN headlines and searches to their sites without hastling through a massive amount of code.
Ever See That Movie Bicentennial Man?
Okay, so this article isn't about the movie, and its not going to tell you that a company has developed a robot as good as the robot played by Robin Williams in the movie. What it is going to tell you is that Sony has developed a robot, the SDR-3X, that has 24 moving joints and the ability to walk, stand on one leg, dance, kick, get up, and change directions. Reuters will have the full story soon enough, as the world inches one step closer to robots like in Bicentennial Man.
MusicMatch Jukebox for Linux
MusicMatch, Inc. has announced the availability of a Linux version of its flagship software, MusicMatch Jukebox. The software currently competes with many other software programs including Microsoft's Windows Media Player, and Nullsoft's Winamp 3.0. MusicMatch Jukebox features media cataloging and player abilities, CD creating capabilities, online radio station tuning, and music recording. This completes a "hat trick" for the company, now with Jukebox versions for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. You can get more information by visiting www.musicmatch.com. Download MusicMatch Jukebox for Linux from FileForum now!
'Romeo and Juliet' Not So Romantic
Two European antiviral companies have both confirmed the risk of a new type of e-mail virus attack brewing on the net. The new virus, lovingly named 'Romeo and Juliet' is easier to catch than a common cold. If a user receives and views, or even previews a message containing the virus, the dirty work begins. While limited at this time, only cropping up in a few cases in Poland and the US, it could pose a serious threat if it spreads. Keep checking back as the story develops over at MSNBC.
Windows Whistler Advanced Security Features
Jim Ewel, Vice President of IT infrastructure and hosting for Microsoft, told reporters in London that the next build of Windows codenamed Whistler, will feature several new security options. One such feature, set to prevent the onslaught of viruses and other scripting problems, prevents Windows from executing any single application lacking a digital signature.
The new security measure was first instated to prevent worms such as the Love Bug from spreading across the Internet, but according to Ewel, has been extended to "every piece of code executing on the machine."
New Web Image Format
The Internet has become a place where images rule, and visually pleasing Web sites reign over the simpler, more text-based sites. With the increasing number of images, load times and file sizes have shot through the roof in some instances. LizardTech is reporting that its new image fomat, the DjVu, is the answer to those load time and file size problems.
The company touts that its file format compresses at a rate 150 times faster than that of the popular PDF format from Adobe, and as much as 20 times faster than the leading Web graphics formats JPEG and GIF.
Intel Ships Wrong BIOS With Some P4s
In another embarrassing event for chipmaker Intel, it appears that some of its brand new Pentium 4s had been shipped with the wrong BIOS software. While none of the chips with the bad software reached consumers, errors have plagued Intel recently, such as problems with the Pentium III 1.13GHz processors, and inabilities to keep up with demand for its processors. Many have questioned the value of the Pentium 4 recently, citing lack of motherboard support and unimpressive benchmarks for the fastest processor to come from Chipzilla yet. Check out MSNBC for the rest of the story.
Sega Pokes Fun at Sony
Wired News got ahold of this humorous story, as Sega pokes fun at Sony this holiday season. A post card was sent to the press by Sega with a trite little note that read "Our deepest condolences to Sony on their PS2 shipping difficulties," with a picture of a little freckle-faced boy sticking his tongue out. You can view the post card by visiting wired.com.
EMI Launches US Services
British music company EMI has teamed up with Streamwaves to launch a subscription based service for North America. According to executives at Streamwaves service subscribers will have access to an uninterupted variety of music all day every day. This is just another service that many netizens suspect will die shortly due to the large lack of demand for pay-to-listen services considering the vast number of programs for sharing files available on the Internet.
Office 10 Beta Two Unimpressive
eWeek writer Peter Galli reports that beta testers of the developing Microsoft Office 10 seem unimpressed at the Redmond giants ability to offer much improvement over Beta 1. Testers are saying that the lack of feature functionality in the first beta has been little improved as the desktop productivity suite has progressed, and is set to hit retail next year. Most talked about is the new speech recognition feature, which according to the article still needs a lot of work. Bill Gates has touted Office 10 as "the most significant release of Office ever," and many look forward to its new features and improvements. Read the eWeek article here.
New Chipset From NVidia
For those of you who may not have heard, the chipset made by NVidia, features technologies developed at AMD to link the bridges in "Crush" via an LDT bus. Currently Asus, Abit, MSI, Gigabyte en Acer are working on a motherboard for the chipset.
"Crush" as the hardware is named, features a peak bandwidth of 800 Mb/sec and a PCI controller transfered to the South Bridge.
FileFunnel - Coming Soon From the Makers of GetRight
A new application is currently being developed by the same people who brought GetRight to the net. The new application, dubbed FileFunnel, "is designed to act as a bridge to convert between "other" protocols and the "web" protocols HTTP and HTML," according to the software's Web site.
The application works right through your browser window, allowing you to currently search Napster, with many more to come in the future. Through the software you can either download the file with GetRight, or stream them directly to Winamp, Windows Media Player, or any other MP3 player while the file is downloaded. View a screenshot of the application here.
New BSD Applications Search Opens
Thanks to a BetaNews reader for pointing us to a new site on the net that helps you BSD-based system owners find applications for virtually anything you need. The new site, BSDSearch.com, has everything organized into categories for easy navigation if you are unsure of the exact application name. It also features the latest headlines from around the net regarding BSD and other tech information. Check it out at www.bsdsearch.com.
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