Depending on what planet you’ve been living on for the last week or so you may not have heard the latest security threat to all versions of Windows from 98 onwards. I know we’ve heard this sort of thing before but this one seems pretty serious……
The WMF vulnerability appears to take advantage of a security ‘hole’ in Windows Meta Files (WMF) that can open the door to your system to various different viruses, Trojans or spy ware and malware. With no official Microsoft patch due until the 10th January, there is a simple precaution that could reduce the likelihood of an infected system;
2006 is gonna be a lot of fun. With the scheduled release of Sony’s PS3 and Nintendo’s Revolution towards the back end of next year they are gonna join an already crowded market vying for the space in you living room. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 launched in November and is undoubtedly the hot Christmas present this year thanks to a combination of a technically impressive games console, lack of direct competition and massive shortage of units. This machine has undoubted gaming potential but Microsoft’s attempt at offering a device that keeps everyone happy was never gonna happen. Short of ideas as an innovative media centre or even as a central hub for all your AV devices there still leaves a big gap in a potentially very lucrative market.
Whoot, Del.icio.us is up and running again! After Del.icio.us has been down, on and off, for the last week I was delighted to find this morning it up and running again. With the initial power outages that disrupted their datacenter and the resulting problems that snowballed around them, I am very relieved to find what appears to be no loss of data, certainly to my account anyway. It has made me realise how much I appreciate this valuable service though and how much I rely on it.
While I am on the subject of Firefox Extensions, Google has pushed some more goodies into their ‘technology playground’ they call Google Labs. With two Extensions released yesterday, Google is continuing to promote Firefox as the web browser of choice – surely simmering rumours of a possible Opera acquisition. Google Safe Browsing and Blogger Web Comments have hit the Beta stage of testing, the point where Google has found that people make the most fuss about them, and are freely available to download.
As a user of Skype, the Voip app, the news of the integration with Thomson Local comes as a potentially excellent addition and shows signs of foresight and innovation I had thought had ceased to exist since the EBay buy out. While its certainly a step in the right direction for Skype, until it is seamlessly integrated with the browser, without out the need for the clunky toolbar, its use will be limited.
