Pac-Man in the Moon

The Cassini spacecraft, in orbit around Saturn, has revealed a new view of the tiny moon Mimas.

Readings taken by probes measuring the temperature differences across the moon’s surface have produced a map which appears to depict 1980s video game icon Pac-Man. Clearly visible is the character’s open mouth and what could be viewed as a pill he is about to eat.

Scientists are unaware why the moon displays such variations in temperature, but it’s thought the diversity of textures in the surface materials are the cause.

source BBC News

Labour’s Super Fast Broadband For All?

Gordon Brown has said Labour plans to give every home in the UK access to super-fast broadband.

In a speech, the prime minister called high-speed web access “the electricity of the digital age” which “must be for all – not just for some”.

The Conservatives say they have made a similar pledge and have attacked a £6-a-year landline levy planned by Labour.

The PM also promised to create a single website bringing together all government and public sector services. The “MyGov” portal will allow people to manage pensions and benefits, pay council tax, apply for school places and jobs, and book doctors’ appointments online.

source BBC News

Firefox Security Patch Released

Mozilla has released Firefox 3.6.2 almost a week early after security issues were found in earlier versions.

Firefox 3.6.2 was originally due to launch at the end of March, but is available to download now from the Mozilla website.

The security hole had led the German government to issue a warning about Firefox 3.6.

The Federal Office for Information Security made a similar ruling on the safety of Internet Explorer in January.

It warned that the Firefox vulnerability, confirmed by Firefox makers, could allow hackers to run malicious programs on users’ computers.

Germany’s official cyber-security response team – BurgerCERT – had recommended that users stop using Firefox until the tested fix was released.

It was a move remarkably similar to the January announcement, in which France followed suit just days later.

Fox swap?

The original Firefox vulnerability was confirmed by maker Mozilla last week on its security blog, when it promised that the next official release would address the issue.

It is only the current version that is affected but, given that prior releases have different vulnerabilities, reverting to an older version of the browser is ill-advised.

Switching to a different browser may not be a good solution either, said Graham Cluley, senior technologist at security firm Sophos.

“Switching your web browser willy-nilly as each new unpatched security hole is revealed could cause more problems than it’s worth,” he said.

“What are you going to do when your replacement browser itself turns out to contain a vulnerability?

“My advice is to only switch from Firefox if you really know what you are doing with the browser you’re swapping to. If you stick with Firefox, apply the security update as soon as it’s available.”

A Mozilla spokesperson said: “Last week we informed our users that the upcoming security release of Firefox 3.6.2 would include a fix for an exploit that was disclosed to us just over a week ago.

“Mozilla is aware of the BergerCERT recommendation to avoid using Firefox 3.6, and encourage users to download… Firefox 3.6.2.”

Facebook to Introduce Changes to “Become a Fan” Button.

Facebook has made a number of significant changes to its social networking site over the past few months, which has left a high numbers of users somewhat disappointed with its service. Despite this it seems that Facebook are launching yet another major change. However rather than the change appearing to be a functional one, it will be a change in terminology to a popular and familiar button.

An email sent by Facebook to advertising agencies, indicates that they will change the phrase on the well known “Become a Fan” button to “Like” in the near future. The reason for the upcoming change according to the Facebook communication is that users on the site have been twice as likely to click the “Like” button as opposed to the “Become a Fan” button. The email further explains:

‘Like’ offers a simple, consistent way for people to connect with the things they are interested in. These lighter-weight actions mean people will make more connections across the site, including with your branded Facebook Pages. We believe this will result in brands gaining more connections to pages since our research has shown that some users would be more comfortable with the term ‘Like’. The goal is to get the most user connections so that you can have ongoing conversations in the news feeds of as many users as possible.

So, the question is will Facebook users appreciate the change to the “Become a Fan” button to “Like”? Or will it simply increase the levels of disappointment for the already dis-gruntled user?

“Geek” Discrimination!

I get really fed up with the attitude of so called “professionals” toward “computer experts”, in referring to “us” as “geeks”, with the reference very much in a negative / derogatory term.

My feeling is further compounded by the fact that I work as an IT Professional within the Education Sector. Here, I work with individuals of a supposedly high intellect, but for some, have extreme difficulty in actually turning on a computer, let alone connecting it to a network! Yet these “professionals”  who more often than not, display less technical savvy than a 5 year old, continue to undermine the actual experience and knowledge of the IT Professional! For we are Geeks and not relevant!

My feelings of “Geek Discrimination” were further confounded, by the current news relating to Barack Obama having his “Twitter” account hacked! As I was happily reading through the various online posts, I came across ‘Geek’ seized for Barack Obama Twitter hacking. It may be just be me, but I found the reference to a “typical geek” offensive! I was further annoyed with the Wikipedia definition of Geek, which only seems to add to the derogatory opinion. However, it does make me wonder where the “so called professionals” would be without us “Geeks” to save the day!

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) Beta 1, Try it Folks!

The desktop CD allows you to try Ubuntu without changing your computer at all, and gives you the option to install it permanently later. This type of CD is what most people will want to use. You will need at least 256MB of RAM to install from this CD. (Please note that this isn’t the final secure release).

There are two images available, each for a different type of computer:

PC (Intel x86) desktop CD

For almost all PCs. This includes most machines with Intel/AMD/etc type processors and almost all computers that run Microsoft Windows, as well as newer Apple Macintosh systems based on Intel processors. Choose this if you are at all unsure.

64-bit PC (AMD64) desktop CD

Choose this to take full advantage of computers based on the AMD64 or EM64T architecture (e.g., Athlon64, Opteron, EM64T Xeon, Core 2). If you have a non-64-bit processor made by AMD, or if you need full support for 32-bit code, use the Intel x86 images instead.

For more 10.04 news / updates, check out the Lucid Release Schedule.

Firefox Security Patch Released

Mozilla has released Firefox 3.6.2 almost a week early after security issues were found in earlier versions.

Firefox 3.6.2 was originally due to launch at the end of March, but is available to download now from the Mozilla website.

The security hole had led the German government to issue a warning about Firefox 3.6.

The Federal Office for Information Security made a similar ruling on the safety of Internet Explorer in January.

It warned that the Firefox vulnerability, confirmed by Firefox makers, could allow hackers to run malicious programs on users’ computers.

Germany’s official cyber-security response team – BurgerCERT – had recommended that users stop using Firefox until the tested fix was released.

It was a move remarkably similar to the January announcement, in which France followed suit just days later.

Fox swap?

The original Firefox vulnerability was confirmed by maker Mozilla last week on its security blog, when it promised that the next official release would address the issue.

It is only the current version that is affected but, given that prior releases have different vulnerabilities, reverting to an older version of the browser is ill-advised.

Switching to a different browser may not be a good solution either, said Graham Cluley, senior technologist at security firm Sophos.

“Switching your web browser willy-nilly as each new unpatched security hole is revealed could cause more problems than it’s worth,” he said.

“What are you going to do when your replacement browser itself turns out to contain a vulnerability?

“My advice is to only switch from Firefox if you really know what you are doing with the browser you’re swapping to. If you stick with Firefox, apply the security update as soon as it’s available.”

A Mozilla spokesperson said: “Last week we informed our users that the upcoming security release of Firefox 3.6.2 would include a fix for an exploit that was disclosed to us just over a week ago.

“Mozilla is aware of the BergerCERT recommendation to avoid using Firefox 3.6, and encourage users to download… Firefox 3.6.2.”

Chinese net-users divided over Google Decision

China has condemned US giant Google’s decision to stop censoring search results and direct its users to an unrestricted Hong Kong site – effectively shutting its mainland Chinese search service. But what do Chinese net users make of it?

Apparently there is quite a division between the reactions from Chinese internet users on websites that lie inside and outside Chinese government censorship. The vast majority of the comments and blogs on Chinese mainland websites appear to express hate and anger towards Google.

But tweets and comments that appear to come from users in mainland China on websites based outside the country express sympathy and support towards Google, and anger towards the Chinese government.



Facebook Under Threat From “Password Stealing” Virus!

Hackers have flooded the Internet with virus-tainted spam that targets Facebook’s estimated 400 million users in an effort to steal banking passwords and gather other sensitive information.

The emails tell recipients that the passwords on their Facebook accounts have been reset, urging them to click on an attachment to obtain new login credentials, according to anti-virus software maker McAfee Inc.

If the attachment is opened, it downloads several types of malicious software, including a program that steals passwords, McAfee said on Wednesday.

Hackers have long targeted Facebook users, sending them tainted messages via the social networking company’s own internal email system. With this new attack, they are using regular Internet email to spread their malicious software.

A Facebook spokesman said the company could not comment on the specific case, but pointed to a status update the company posted on its web site earlier on Wednesday warning users about the spoofed email and advising users to delete the email and to warn their friends.

McAfee estimates that hackers sent out tens of millions of spam across Europe, the United States and Asia since the campaign began on Tuesday.

Dave Marcus, McAfee’s director of malware research and communications, said that he expects the hackers will succeed in infecting millions of computers.

“With Facebook as your lure, you potentially have 400 million people that can click on the attachment. If you get 10 percent success, that’s 40 million,” he said.

The email’s subject line says “Facebook password reset confirmation customer support,” according to Marcus.

Nintendo aims to get DS into Schools

The man behind the massively popular games franchise and the best-selling Wii console says he’s devoting most of his energy to turning Nintendo’s DS handheld consoles into tour guides and educational aids.

Japanese video game guru Shigeru Miyamoto says the console is already being used in museums, galleries, and aquariums in Japan and that he’s working on introducing the console to junior high schools in the country.

In an interview, Miyamoto framed the project as part of his company’s effort to broaden the audience for gaming consoles.