A potential security vulnerability has been discovered in Trillian, an alternative instant messaging client created by Cerulean Studios that supports AIM, ICQ, MSN and Yahoo IM networks. The flaw involves a buffer overflow that could be exploited to gain control of a Trillian user's PC.

LogicLibrary, maker of software development tools, says its BugScan application uncovered the buffer iteration overflow in Trillian's handling of HTTP 1.1 response headers. The vulnerability has existed within several of Trillian's plug-in components since version 2.0, but was mostly eliminated with the release of Trillian 3.

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MIT Media Lab might have the answer for individuals who just can't get out of bed in the morning. Research associate Gauri Nanda has created an alarm clock, called "Clocky," that drives off a bedside table and hides as soon as the snooze button is pressed. And to ensure its owner awakes, Clocky hides in a different spot each day.

Clocky sports wheels and is enveloped in a shag carpet to prevent damage during its fall. Inside, a processor calculates a new hiding place each morning. All told, Clocky costs about $20 USD to manufacture, its creator says.

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Following a release to MSDN subscribers last week, Microsoft has made its March Community Technology Previews of Avalon and Indigo available for public download.

Avalon and Indigo are two "fundamentals" of Longhorn, the next release of Windows. Avalon is the presentation subsystem and Indigo is a platform for Web services.

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Siemens has opened a beta test program for mobile phone enthusiasts to try out its latest upcoming models before they hit the streets. The company is currently preparing its M75 phone, due in June, which packs a 1.3-megapixel camera, MP3 player and multimedia card in a rugged, protective outer shell.

Siemens is taking a different approach to its tests than most companies; all feedback will be public. The company has joined the Web log craze and testers will post their opinions on a blogging platform that will be integrated into the Siemens Communications site.

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Nearly three years after the project was first announced, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has approved the new top-level domain suffix .eu. ICANN has appointed Eurid to manage the domain, which will be available to the public starting in early 2006.

Eurid says it is "busy writing the full registration policy and procedures" that will be taken to the European Commission for approval. The .eu domain was expected to launch in 2003, but delays plagued its arrival. ICANN and Eurid have been in discussions about final approval since October of last year.

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Yahoo is testing out a new search engine devoted entirely to content licensed under the Creative Commons project. Creative Commons is a non-profit organization that provides flexible copyright protections for creative works. Much of the content available under the license can be modified, extended or even sold.

Content available in the search can include a photograph or a song, and even articles and textbooks. Creative Commons has found many Web supporters among blogs, but the project is intended to extend to all types of work and "reduce barriers to creativity."

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Reports in a number of Apple enthusiast sites state the company is nearing completion of Mac OS X 10.4, code-named "Tiger." Recent builds of Apple's new operating system contain just one known issue, and sources claim Tiger will be released to manufacturing before the end of the month.

The most recent Tiger beta build, labeled 8A420, was seeded to developers on Wednesday, along with a test release of Mac OS X 10.3.9. Apple rumor site Think Secret reports that Mac OS X 10.4 will officially be unveiled on April 1, with retail availability slated for April 15. This schedule puts Tiger well ahead of its previously expected June debut.

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In what Warner Music is calling a first for the mobile phone industry, the record company is offering customers the ability to create ringtones based on whichever part of the song they desire. Normally, ringtones come as preset 30-second clips, but companies are looking for new ways to capitalize on the emerging market.

Warner's new CD single "Baby" from rapper Fabolous comes with software to create the custom ringtone. The global ringtone market has proven a new cash cow for the record industry, and is worth an estimated $3 billion. Even Billboard magazine last year launched a weekly chart of top ringtone sellers.

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While it continues to pursue lawsuits against those who leaked information on its upcoming products, Apple has settled one suit with an individual who leaked a pre-release copy of "Tiger," the next release of Mac OS X. Apple sued Doug Steigerwald, a student, in late December for sharing the beta code.

Steigerwald will pay an undisclosed sum of money to Apple, but is still under investigation by the federal government for his actions. "Although I did not mean to do any harm, I realize now that my actions were wrong and that what I did caused substantial harm to Apple and for that I am truly sorry," Steigerwald said in a prepared statement.

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Internet Explorer product manager Dave Massy has refuted claims made by Mozilla Foundation president Mitchell Baker that Firefox is, and always will be, more secure than IE. Massy attacks Baker's claims that IE is inherently vulnerable due to its direct integration with Windows.

Baker's remarks came during a speech at the PC Forum conference in Arizona. She explained that "not being in the operating system is a phenomenal advantage for us," and rejected claims that IE is only more vulnerable because it has more users.

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The Electronic Frontier Foundation has appealed a court ruling issued earlier this month that would force Web sites to hand over their sources to Apple. California Superior Court Judge James Kleinberg ruled that journalist protections not apply to the sites, as trade secrets were revealed in violation of state law.

In its appeal, the EFF said the decision violated First Amendment rights and that Apple should first subpoena its employees before going after journalists. The EFF also noted the ruling could have sweeping consequences for all members of the media, not just fan sites.

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Microsoft has increased the size of its board of directors to 10, appointing Dina Dublon to the board and its audit committee. Dublon, now retired, was the executive vice president and chief financial officer of JPMorgan Chase. Microsoft's board now includes 8 independent members, along with Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.

"Dina's extensive financial and accounting expertise will add to the board's strengths in those areas," said Microsoft chairman and chief software architect BilL Gates. "We're very pleased to have her join us." Microsoft's board now includes 8 independent members, along with Gates and company CEO Steve Ballmer.

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Starting late next month, Yahoo will increase the storage space given to its free Web mail users to 1GB. The move puts Yahoo's e-mail offering on par with Google's Gmail, and comes as rumors speculate that Gmail will leave its beta confines and open up to the public on April 1.

Google began offering 1GB of e-mail storage since the launch of Gmail last year, but the service has remained in limited testing. Nonetheless, Gmail's announcement caused both Yahoo and MSN to respond by offering 250MB for free e-mail accounts. Yahoo says it will take up to two weeks for all users to see the 1GB boost.

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Former Napster parent Bertlesmann said Tuesday it would be offering a peer-to-peer platform called "GNAB" to clients such as mobile phone operators and television stations, which could be used to download large files from participating companies legally. But the P2P aspects are mainly designed to offset distribution costs.

The software is being developed by Bertlesmann subsidiary Arvato, which manages IT systems and touts partnerships with SAP and Microsoft.

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California State University, Chico is informing students and staff that as many as 59,000 may have had their personal information accessed after a hacker broke into the school's computer systems. According to a school spokesperson, "a great deal of information" was compromised, as well as some of the files possibly being downloaded.

"We still have no indication that the information was used for anything other than somebody wanting to have illegal access to this server," spokesperson Joe Wills said. "Typically, on a college campus that can be to download files, music and games."

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