Google New Results Prefetching Feature

Google added a new controversial search feature for Firefox and Mozilla users (Sorry, I.E. and other browser users this feature is not supported yet in your browser). It allows your browser to start downloading the top search results before you click on it. This feature allows your destination pages to load faster than before.

There is some debate about the PROs and CONs of this feature. Some people like it, and others worry about what your browser could be downloading without your knowledge.

Gummi bears defeat fingerprint sensors (Article)

The Register reports how easy it is to defeat fingerprint biometric systems, here is an excerpt from the article: "A Japanese cryptographer has demonstrated how fingerprint recognition devices can be fooled using a combination of low cunning, cheap kitchen supplies and a digital camera."

The Ultimate Toilet (Just What You Needed...)

Here is the ultimate toilet, if that is your thing. I don't like posting such weird stuff, but this thing just got my attention.

Here is an excerpt from a brief article on this toilet, "Toto's new 'Intelligence Toilet' system brings health measurements only a bathroom away. For mere thousands of dollars, the Intelligence Toilet system will measure urine sugar, blood pressure, body fat and weight on a daily basis." That's not all, "Sony Online Entertainment has announced the next version of Everquest will interface with this as well, so creating an in-game likeness of yourself is as easy as going to the bathroom."

In my humble opinion this product is just dumb and a waste of money. Who would want to spend a few thousand dollars on a toilet? If you have this much money just burning a hole in your pocket and you want to buy this thing. Go over to your current toilet, open it up put the money in and just flush it. This will save you the trouble of having to install this thing.

World's Smallest Linux Box Fits in RJ-45 Jack

German electronics company Kleinhenz is shipping a network-enabled Linux system built into an RJ-45 Ethernet jack. "Picotux" has a 55MHz ARM processor, 2MB of Flash, 8MB of RAM, a serial port, and five lines of GPIO. It measures 0.75 x 0.75 x 1.4 inches (19 x 19 x 36mm), and weighs 0.64 ounces (18 grams), packaged in a metal housing. A wireless 802.11 version appears to be on the horizon, too.

French Military Victories (Humor)

You have to see this web page to appreciate it. Also check out the cover this new French miltary magazine.

Free Tax e-Filing

Intuit the maker of TurboTax, is offering a free Tax e-Filing service for people who are going to submit a 1040EZ or standard federal tax form (i.e.: 1040 and 1040A).

Although, if you want more advance services you will have to pay $29.95 for their premier service. See the site for more information about your different options.

Note: State tax eFiling is an additional charge.

Optical Camouflage (Believe It, or Not)

Optical Camouflage technology seems like stuff out of science fiction, but at the same time when you first see it looks somewhat primitive.

When I first saw this technology demonstrated, a little less then a year ago. I thought the idea was pretty cool, but I also saw that it had a long way to advance in its current form. The way this technology works is by projecting a background image on to a 'masked object', and it appears that the object is virtually transparent.

Then I visited this web site today. I am not sure if the technology has advanced significantly since I first saw it or if I have finally seen a decent demonstration of its capabilities. Watch some of the QuickTime movies and judge for yourself.

Segway's Next Big Thingamajig

Popular Science reports Dean Kamen's next generation Segway (if thats really what it is). Its hard to describe exactly what it is without seeing it. When you first look at it, you might think it is an adult four wheel bike. You really need to see the slideshow to get a better appreciation for it.

Engineering a Better Bulb (Popular Science)

This is an interesting article that talks about the inefficiencies of modern lightbulbs, and suggests a new alternative. They estimated that we can save about US$35 billion dollars here in America by changing our production away from the traditional tungsten lightbulbs to a newer zinc oxide type bulb.

Here is an excerpt from the Popular Science article: "The lightbulb has remained virtually unchallenged since Edison invented it more than a century ago, but now scientists believe that zinc oxide-the same chemical that keeps diaper rash at bay-could provide a much-needed alternative to the inefficient lights that dominate our homes."

Firefox 1.0.2 is Available

Firefox 1.0.2 is now available for download. This update primarily just contains known security fixes. It is advisable that you download and install this update as soon as possible to ensure that your computer remains secure.

Microsoft Shares Longhorn Networking Details

Here is the latest news that I found on Microsoft's next generation operating system code name 'Longhorn'. This article talks about some of the new networking capabilities of the new OS. Although, it only contains limited details

Phone Phishing, Spoofing and SPIT

Criminals are now using VoIP (Voice over IP) technology to fool caller ID systems by spoofing phone numbers. This could allow fraudsters to impersonate your bank or other financial institutions by spoofing their phone number. Then try to persuade you into revealing your personal information to commit fraud or identity theft.

Debt collectors and private investigators are also using this technology to get people to answer their phones. Then there is the threat of SPIT (SPam over Internet Telephony). This is where telemarketers could use VoIP to send a huge numbers of voice messages to consumers.

This just mean that we will have to be that much more careful about giving out any personal information over the telephone or trusting the caller ID displays.

Spyware Writers Play Cat-and-Mouse with Rootkit Detectors (Article)

If viruses, trojan horses, worms, SPAM, spyware, adware, identity theft, and all the other security issues that we need to worry about are not bad enough. Now, it appears that 'Rootkit' attacks may be on the rise. Rootkits are nothing new, and have been around for years.

SecuritySearch.com defines a 'rootkit' as: "a collection of tools (programs) that a hacker uses to mask intrusion and obtain administrator-level access to a computer or computer network. The intruder installs a rootkit on a computer after first obtaining user-level access, either by exploiting a known vulnerability or cracking a password. The rootkit then collects userids and passwords to other machines on the network, thus giving the hacker root or privileged access."

Rootkits are generally hard to detect, they're designed that way. Well now, Rootkits are being designed to be even harder to detect. This article goes into more detail about the subject.

Yahoo Service Combines Blogging, Social Networking

Yahoo, is playing 'keep up with the Jones' with Google, they're beta testing a new community service that lets users share blogs, photos, music and other content. The new service is called Yahoo 360, and its currently in an 'invitation-only' beta test. It is scheduled to be opened to the public on March 29.

Firefox TV Ad

Here is a Firefox TV ad created by Eric Edwards. It is an interesting watch, althought I don't believe it has ever been aired on regular TV. But thank you, Eric Edwards for your hard work.

Microsoft Considering WinFS Support In Windows XP

Microsoft is considering releasing support for key Longhorn technologies in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Microsoft plans to have a beta-test version of WinFS available when Longhorn ships. WinFS is built on top of the current NTFS File System in Windows and uses relational engine technology from Microsoft's forthcoming SQL Server 2005 database as well as XML.

Indigo, Avalon Community Technology Previews Released

ENT News reports: "Microsoft on Wednesday released its first Community Technology Preview (CTP) of 'Indigo,' the code-name for the company's new communications subsystem for Windows, and a second CTP of 'Avalon,' a new Windows presentation subsystem." For more information read the rest of the article.

Corzine Unveils Sweeping Identity Theft Bill (Article)

With all the instanstes personal and corporate identity theft, Senator Jon S. Corzine (D-NJ) introduced a new bill called 'Identity Theft Prevention and Victim Recovery Act'. This new bill tries to prevent ID theft incidents and provide consumer protections to victims. One of the more notable points of this legislation is that a company's chief compliance officer (or CEO) would have to attest that security systems are in place to prevent theft of sensitive personal data.

Latest Looks at the 64-Bit Future (Article)

Have you been hearing all the hype about the new 64-bit CPUs and OSes. Are you confused about what this means for you? This article gives you a brief introduction to the technology. Although the article doesn't answer compatibility questions, about: software, drivers, and hardware.

Here is an excerpt from the article: "Though 64-bit computing has been around for some 14 years or so, until recently it has been accessible only to those operating high-end servers running RISC-based processors such as Sun Microsystem Inc.'s SPARC, IBM's Power and Hewlett-Packard Co.'s PA-RISC."

DNS Cache Poisoning (Technical Article)

SecurityFocus has published an indepth article on the subject of 'DNS Cache Poisoning'. If you want more information and history on this subject, its a pretty good read. This article is very technical, so if you don't understand DNS and TCP/IP, it might be boring.

Here is an excerpt from the article: "The old problem of DNS cache poisoning has again reared its ugly head. While some would argue that the domain name system protocol is inherently vulnerable to this style of attack due to the weakness of 16-bit transaction IDs, we cannot ignore the immediate threat while waiting for something better to come along. There are new attacks, which make DNS cache poisoning trivial to execute against a large number of nameservers running today. The purpose of this article is to shed light on these new attacks and recommend ways to defend against them."