Hackers have discovered a new way of duping users onto fraudulent web sites: fake parking tickets. Cars in the US had traffic violation tickets placed on the windscreen, which then directed users to a web site. The web site claimed to have photos of the alleged parking violation, but then tricks users into downloading a virus
The latest version of Google Maps for Mobile adds a new feature that lets you share your location with friends and see their locations in real-time. Google Latitude is the first step for adding more social features to Google Maps and to other Google services
Windows 7 will come in six versions, although Microsoft recommends only Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Home Professional. Microsoft will continue to offer other versions, including Home Basic, Starter, Enterprise and Ultimate. Windows Enterprise will offer IT tools, while Windows Ultimate will offer everything in Windows 7
The Linux Defenders Network is a new organisation sponsored by the Open Invention Network, the Software Freedom Law Center, and The Linux Foundation to help the community defend itself against patent trolls. Three models, or IP rights management tools
, are offered: Peer to Patent, Post-Issue Peer to Patent, and Defensive Publications — via Slashdot
Taking a leaf from the beauty industry, scientists have devised a way to make solar panels cheaper and more efficient — by spraying them on. Researchers from the Australian National University (ANU), in Canberra, solar company Spark Solar Australia, and Finnish materials company Braggone Oy are collaborating on a three-year project that could transform the production of solar cells
Freeview will be coming to a television near you from March this year, but the organisation’s head has said that you may need to buy a new TV to get the most out of it. Freeview CEO Robin Parkes said that the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) due to launch at the end of 2009 would not work with existing televisions: It’s not backwards compatible
Despite numerous warnings from industry experts, the Rudd Labor Government continues to push ahead with its plan to censor Australia’s internet
Google launched a new service to allow internet users to explore the depths of the world’s oceans from the comfort of their homes on dry land. The Ocean in Google Earth
feature will allow users to dive beneath the water surface, explore 3D underwater terrain and browse ocean-related content contributed by marine scientists
One of the largest social networking sites in the world is based in Sydney but most Australians probably don’t even know it exists. Friendster, which has nearly 100 million registered users and, according to ComScore, more than 30 million monthly visitors worldwide, is run out of an office in The Rocks
Facebook intends to capitalise on the wealth of information it has about its users by offering its 150 million-strong customer base to corporations as a market research tool. The appearance, later this year, of corporate polls targeted at certain parts of the Facebook audience because of the information they have posted on their pages, is likely to infuriate privacy campaigners
Human error caused a glitch that returned the message this site may harm your computer
for all Google search results for about an hour Saturday morning, the company said, but the mistake was Google’s and not StopBadware.org’s. Google Saturday morning released an update to its list of URLs known to install malicious software and unfortunately (and here’s the human error), the URL of ‘/’ was mistakenly checked as a value to the file and ‘/’ expands to all URLs
, Google Vice President of Search Products and User Experience wrote in an official Google blog post explaining the glitch. Fortunately, our on-call site reliability team found the problem quickly and reverted the file
Expect seven new languages in Google Translate soon: Albanian, Estonian, Galician, Hungarian, Maltese, Thai and Turkish
Complete power failure in a Melbourne data centre has affected numerous ISPs such as iiNet, Internode, Netspace and Westnet
Netspace has released the results of its customer survey on ISP level filtering, which shows strong opposition to the federal government’s plan. The survey found that 78.9% of the almost 10,000
respondents disagreed with the federal government’s plan to mandate ISP level filtering for all Australians, with 61.8% of those strongly
disagreeing. Over 70% of Netspace customers also showed strong opposition to the potential for increased broadband prices and a reduction in Internet performance as a result of filtering
Google has launched Measurement Lab to reveal whether a flaky Internet connection is caused by an ISP, an application, your PC, or something else. Developed with academic researchers, Google’s M-Lab can shed new light on Net neutrality. Google’s Vint Cerf and Stephen Stuart said M-Lab will resolve measurement problems with existing data tools
Telecom New Zealand has announced that its wholesale division will be rolling out super-fast VDSL2 (Very High Speed Digital Subscriber Line 2) technology, allowing it to offer one of the fastest broadband services in the world
A federal court today spanked two telemarketers with some $1.2 million in civil penalties for violating the Federal Trade Commission’s Do Not Call (DNC) Rule. According to the FTC, the companies called consumers whose phone numbers were on the Do Not Call Registry without having obtained their express written agreement or having an established business relationship
with them
Western Digital has gained the honour of releasing the first two-terabyte drives in the market, with units turning up on Australian shelves
Wireless access points could be used by hi-tech criminals to spread viruses and worms. Security holes and the popularity of the devices in cities make them ideal for spreading malware. Using modelling methods from real diseases the team showed how a worm could gradually infect all access points in urban areas. They found that the majority of vulnerable access points would be hit in the first 24 hours of an outbreak
Too many of us suffer from a condition that is going to leave our grandchildren bereft. I call it personal digital disorder. Think of those thousands of digital photographs that lie hidden on our computers. Few store them, so those who come after us will not be able to look at them. It’s tragic. Charlie Stross has a good write-up on how he’s tackled this issue over the years and ways to avoid it in the future
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