IE, Outlook run malicious commands without scripting. No patch, but the workaround works [The Register]

An attacker can run arbitrary commands on Windows machines with a simple bit of HTML, an Israeli security researcher has demonstrated. The exploit will work with IE, Outlook and OutlooK Express even if active scripting and ActiveX are disabled in the browser security settings.

The problem here is data binding, an old 'feature' going back to IE4 in which a data source object (DSO) is bound to HTML.

Yep, this really works see http://els413.alw.emory.edu/byteme.htm for example.

2:21:00 PM    

BMWs hit the road with Microsoft. The automaker's 7 Series, just released in the United States, boasts Windows CE software that allows BMW drivers to navigate, make calls and control other features of the sedan. [CNET News.com]

Cars in BMW's new line, the BMW 7 Series, are equipped with a special kind of Windows: the Microsoft kind.

Microsoft's Windows CE software will allow BMW drivers to navigate, make calls and control many of the cars' other features. The BMW 7 Series was launched in Germany last fall and has just been released in the United States.

The new line of BMWs use a navigating system from Siemens, called the Siemens VDO Automotive AG, which includes Microsoft's operating system. Microsoft also recently announced the launch of Windows CE for Automotive v3.5, the newest version of its software for cars based on Windows CE.

Does this mean lots of Beemers pulled over whilst re-booting? What happens if you have get a fatal exception at 120 MPH?

2:00:18 PM    

San Francisco top wireless hot spot. They might be shrouded in fog and clouds for much of the year, but a new survey ranks Seattle and San Francisco as the hottest metropolitan regions in America for wireless. [CNET News.com]

They might be shrouded in fog and clouds for much of the year, but a new survey ranks San Francisco and Seattle the hottest metropolitan regions in America.

That's because those areas have more wireless Internet access points, or "hot spots," than other regions in the United States, according to HereUare Communications. The San Jose, Calif.-based company helps entrepreneurs build and maintain wireless Internet access, also known as Wi-Fi.

According to the second annual Hot Spots Report, Internet users in the San Francisco Bay Area can tap wireless connections at 257 public access points, including restaurants, hotels, cafes and airports. Seattle-area residents have 154 public access points. New Yorkers have 107 places, and people in the greater Dallas area have 105 places.

1:37:57 PM    

From informationweek.com:

Mainframes are still vital IT systems, but some companies are
getting rid of the equipment because they can't find replacements
for retiring mainframe experts, and they don't want to pay the
high prices mainframe consultants command. (Just who are you
calling a dinosaur?)
http://update.informationweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eGHs0Bcf1e04e0BXK80Ay

8:27:20 AM    

Flash: More than just eye candy. For most Web surfers, Flash is the blinking, animated frosting on Web sites. Now Macromedia wants to make it the whole cake. [CNET News.com]

For most Web surfers, Flash is the blinking, animated frosting on Web sites. Now Macromedia wants to make it the whole cake.

The software maker is pitching Flash MX, the new version of the software to be announced Monday, as a one-stop resource for designing entire Web pages and associated applications. The update signifies a greatly expanded role from Flash's initial function as animation software.

The promised payoffs include Web-based forms that don't send people back to the starting point if information is missing and transaction screens that don't try a customer's patience with screens telling them to "please wait."

8:25:26 AM    

Palm unveils new color handhelds. In a move aimed to show it still has a bright future, the handheld maker announces two new color models. [CNET News.com]

In a move aimed to show it still has a bright future, Palm on Sunday announced two new color handhelds.

As previously reported, the m515 is an incremental improvement to the top-of-the-line m505, adding more memory and a brighter screen. The m130 is a new midrange color model similar to the m125, but with a 16-bit color screen.

8:15:44 AM    

Scholars Who Dig-itize Gutenberg. In an ambitious project, the Library of Congress is digitizing its perfect rendition of the Gutenberg Bible. These high-resolution images could reveal more about Gutenberg's invention of moveable type. By Kendra Mayfield. [Wired News]

When people think about the printing revolution, one name comes to mind: Johannes Gutenberg.
But what if Gutenberg didn't actually invent the revolutionary technique of mass-producing words as we know it today?
Scholars will soon get a chance to examine in exquisite detail what is considered the first book printed with moveable type.
A project is currently underway at the Library of Congress to digitize its copy of the Gutenberg Bible. The library has partnered with Octavo to photograph, scan and digitize every binding, endsheet and page of the three-volume Bible.

8:10:00 AM    

House Cool to Copy Protection. Key legislators in the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives aren't keen on embedding copy protection controls in consumer electronic devices. Declan McCullagh and Robert Zarate report from Washington. [Wired News]

The U.S. House of Representatives doesn't seem willing to intercede in an increasingly bitter dispute over embedding copy protection controls in all consumer electronic devices.
Key legislators in the House have indicated they're skeptical of the government mandating anti-piracy technology, an approach that Democrats of the Senate Commerce Committee endorsed during a hearing last Thursday.

8:08:24 AM    

Thanks to Anthony Awtrey, who writes:

I am pleased to announce the recent successful K12 Linux Terminal Server Project deployment at the St. Mary's Catholic School in Rockledge, Florida assisted by volunteers from the Melbourne Linux Users Group, Inc. (Melbourne, Florida USA). The school estimates it has saved thousands of dollars in license fees and has been able to field lower powered, dontated computer equipment than would have been possible otherwise. I am very proud of the work done by the K12LTSP developers, the St. Mary's school and the volunteers from the MLUG and I.D.E.A.L. Technology Corporation. There are pictures and more details available here, here and here.

8:07:08 AM