Ed Oswald

A new worm on the AOL Instant Messenger service is believed to be the first that will actually "talk" with a victim in an attempt to trick them into downloading a malicious file. Security firm IMLogic warned of the worm, dubbed IM.MySpace04.AIM on Tuesday.

According to the IMLogic advisory, the conversation will start out with "lol thats cool". When a user responds to the IM, the worm will respond with "lol no its not a virus" or some other message to attempt to trick the user into downloading the file.

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The release of Firefox 1.5 has helped Mozilla gain additional traction against IE, according to details of a survey released on Wednesday by Web statistics firm NetApplications.com. The market share of the alternative browser reached 8.84 percent in November, up over one percentage point since September.

The findings suggest that Mozilla could still be on track -- although a bit later than hoped -- to attain a 10 percent market share by the end of 2005.

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California-based software company Grouper unveiled a free video sharing service on Wednesday, which would allow for the easy editing, sharing and transfer of user-created videos. Grouper is moving away from its previous incarnation as a private P2P network to focus on video.

The 2.0 beta release of Grouper also allows users to format their videos for playback on the video iPod, PSP and other portable devices. The company says it will not put limits on the number, size or duration of content being shared on the service by any one user.

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Sun on Tuesday ushered in a new era for the company by introducing a line of servers using its UltraSparc T1 processor, code-named Niagara. Rather than focusing on megahertz, Sun says, developers instead looked to pack more throughput onto each piece of silicon.

The first two servers to use the Niagara chip will be the SunFire T1000 and T2000 servers, introduced at the company's quarterly launch event in New York on Tuesday.

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Seven large radio conglomerates said on Tuesday that they had forged a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of HD Digital Radio. Called the HD Digital Radio Alliance, the charter members will include Bonneville, Citadel, Clear Channel, Cumulus, Emmis, Entercom, Greater Media and Infinity.

The organization will help coordinate the rollout of the technology, as well as work to encourage adoption by automobile manufacturers. The companies also plan to help make the technology affordable, and aid in the marketing of HD digital radio products.

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Cingular on Tuesday introduced its answer to Verizon and Sprint's wireless broadband offerings by launching BroadbandConnect, the first HSDPA-based 3G cellular data network in the United States. The service will initially be available in 16 major metropolitan areas, with plans to expand the network rapidly in 2006.

The first cities to receive Cingular BroadbandConnect will be Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland, Ore., Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Calif., Seattle/Tacoma, and Washington D.C..

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The fight between Sharman Networks, the owner of the Kazaa peer-to-peer service, and the Australian music industry intensified on Tuesday.

The record industry accused Sharman of failing to comply with a September mandate that it install filters to weed out copyrighted content. In turn, Sharman accused the record industry of attempting to sidestep the decision and have the service shut down altogether, which was not part of the ruling.

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Time Warner and Microsoft are close to an agreement on an advertising pact that would create a service similar to Google's AdWords program, sources close to negotiations told the Wall Street Journal Tuesday. However, there still is a chance talks could break down and AOL could opt to strengthen preexisting ties with Google.

The deal would ostensible combine the advertising departments of MSN and AOL's new portal business. An agreement is expected close to Christmas.

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Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich publicly expressed his frustration with a U.S. District Court ruling that struck down a new state law banning the sale of graphic video games to minors, and has vowed to appeal the decision.

Supporters of the ban argue that children are harmed by the exposure to such games and say something should be done so parents do not have to be concerned about their children purchasing video games with questionable material without permission.

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Microsoft has been sued by a Chicago man who bought the company's new Xbox 360 game console over alleged overheating and lockup issues. The suit, which asks for class-action status, accuses Microsoft of rushing to market a flawed system to ensure it beat competitors Sony and Nintendo to the punch.

According to Reuters, the suit seeks damages and litigation related expenses, as well as a replacement or recall of Xbox 360 consoles.

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WiBro, short for wireless broadband, will receive a test run in Italy during the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, Telecom Italia said on Monday. The company has signed a deal with Samsung Electronics to test out South Korea's answer to WiMax technology. The implementation would be the first for the nascent technology in Europe.

WiBro can offer wireless data speeds of up to 30 megabits per second, and work is being done to make the standard compatible with WiMax. Samsung launched a trial version of the service in South Korea last month and unveiled the first WiBro-enabled phone at that time. The 2006 Winter Olympics will run from February 10 to 26.

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AOL announced on Monday that it now offers RSS feeds of video programming from MTV Networks. Content will be added to the company's search engine from the MT, Comedy Central, Logo, MTV, MTV2, mtvU, The N, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Nick Jr., Nicktoons, Noggin, Spike, TV Land and VH1 networks.

Video content is available through AOL's video on demand tab on its main site, through AOL Search and Singifish, the company's video and audio search engine. AOL's video on demand archive now includes over 18,000 video clips, including content from the company's own library.

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British cable company NTL on Monday offered 817 million pounds ($1.4 billion USD) to purchase Virgin Mobile, and announced plans to create a media giant under the Virgin brand consisting of TV and Internet, as well as fixed and mobile phone service.

Richard Branson, the billionaire entrepreneur that owns 72 percent of Virgin Mobile, would become NTL's largest shareholder with a 14 percent stake in the combined company.

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RealNetworks said Monday that it planned to offer a Web-based version of its Rhapsody subscription music service, opening up the service to Mac and Linux users. It also answers a growing call by consumers for services that can work anywhere regardless of location.

No desktop application aside from a Web browser will be required to access Rhapsody via the Web, the company said. A beta version of the service will be made available on Monday.

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Following two fairly high profile incidents regarding the anonymous editing of articles on the popular open-source online reference tool Wikipedia, the site said that it would make changes to how it operates to prevent future problems.

On November 29, an op-ed piece appeared in USA Today penned by John Seigenthaler, a former aide to Robert Kennedy. Seigenthaler said that for 132 days, the Wikipedia entry under his name falsely accused him of being a suspect in Kennedy's assassination.

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