Google Inc. plans to release a version of its desktop search tool for computers running on the Mac operating system from Apple Computer Inc. , Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said on Friday.

Schmidt did not set a timetable for a Mac version of Google Desktop, saying it had to be rebuilt from the ground up because of the fundamental differences between the Mac OS and Windows.

“We intend to do it,” Schmidt said at a University of California-Los Angeles conference commemorating the 35th anniversary of the Internet.

Google released the desktop tool earlier this month, staking out early ground in a battle for personal information retrieval that is expected to eventually include players like Microsoft Corp. and even Apple.

Google’s high profile webmail service, Gmail, is vulnerable to a security exploit that might allow hackers full access to a user’s email account simply by knowing the user name, according to reports.

The security flaw allows full access to users’ accounts, with no need of a password, Israeli news site Nana says . Using a hex-encoded XSS link, the victim’s cookie file can be stolen by a hacker, who can later use it to identify himself to Gmail as the original owner of an email account, regardless of whether or not the password is subsequently changed. Following up a tip from an Israeli hacker, journos from the site confirmed the attack and verified the exploit with local security firm Aladdin Knowledge Systems.

All the users who are surfing the net have their own favorite sites. Usually you create a bookmark for the sites you visit the most. But as your list of site grows finding the right bookmark in the midst of dozens of bookmarks might not be as fast as you’d like.
Fortunately modern browsers allow you to assign a keyword to a site, and by typing the keyword in the address bar will take you to the site.

To assign a keyword in FireFox follow these steps.

1. Create a bookmark of your favorite site. (If it does not already exist).
2. Find the bookmark in the menu and right click on it
3. Select Properties.
4. In the properties window fill in the field “Keyword”.
5. Click OK.

Now every time you’ll type the keyword in the address bar the browser will take you to the site.

Microsoft Windows users need to watch out for several flaws in non-Microsoft media players, security experts said.

Apple Computer and RealNetworks have both issued fixes for their Windows software to patch serious security vulnerabilities. Apple released Quicktime 6.5.2 on Wednesday to plug two holes in its Windows media player. On Tuesday RealNetworks advised users of its RealPlayer 10, RealPlayer 10.5 and RealOne Player software to use the “Check for Updates” feature to download the latest patch.

Source: News.com

America Online Inc. said Thursday it had filed a federal lawsuit accusing numerous unnamed defendants of violating federal and state laws by sending bulk messages known as “spim” to instant message accounts and Internet chat rooms.

The lawsuit, filed late Wednesday in federal court in Alexandria, Va., marked the first time AOL has expressly targeted spim in a legal action.

AOL and its Anti-Spam Alliance partners — EarthLink Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. also said Thursday that they had filed another series of lawsuits targeting spam, the bulk e-mail messages that can clog e-mail inboxes and annoy some users. The lawsuits were filed in courts in Georgia, Virginia, Washington and California.

Web-based caller I.D. spoofing is back, and this time it’s available to everyone.

A new website offer subscribers a simple Web interface to a caller I.D. spoofing system that lets them appear to be calling from any number they choose.

Called “Camophone,” the service functions much like the Star38.com site that struggled with an abortive launch last month: a user types in their phone number, the number they wish to call, and the number they’d like to wear as a disguise. The system instantly dials back and patches the call through with the properly-forged caller I.D.

Read full article at: Security Focus

Mozilla posted Firefox 1.0 release candidate on their FTP servers.

This move has come after a relative long period of time since they released the preview version of FireFox.. There are almost no changes from the preview release, and this version mostly contains bug fixes and security enhancements.

Search enabler Google says it has acquired digital mapping company Keyhole for an undisclosed sum.

Keyhole maintains a multiterabyte database of digital images of geographic locations, culled from satellite and aerial snapshots. Users can enter an address and pull up an image of the specified area; they can also create flyover animations of locations such as venues and neighborhoods.

Google said it is not ready to discuss how it will integrate Keyhole’s technology with its other services, which include its flagship search engine. However, the company immediately slashed the price tag on Keyhole’s consumer-aimed Keyhole 2 LT downloadable software from $70 to $30. Keyhole also offers a more expensive Keyhole 2 Pro application, which allows more extensive data manipulation.

Source: PCWorld

Yahoo for the first time is letting mobile phone users query its search engine, giving them access to conventional Web results, local business listings and related information, as well as images such as pictures and maps, the company says.

The service will launch Wednesday on several U.S. carriers. Users can access the services from a data-enabled phone by going to mobile.yahoo.com.

The mobile search service also features “search shortcuts” that let users request specific information, such as weather data, stock quotes, sport scores and flight information.

Yahoo had previously provided mobile-phone access to its e-mail and instant messaging services.

The Yahoo service should benefit users of Internet-enabled multimedia phones, because many of those users have found it difficult to access that type of content, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group in San Jose, California.

Source: PCWorld

Apple on Wednesday posted Security Update 2004-10-27. Also available for download through the Software Update system preference pane, the update “delivers a number of security enhancements and is recommended for all Macintosh users,” according to Apple. The release includes an updated version of Apple Remote Desktop v1.2.4 running on Mac OS X v10.3.

The problem only affects Macs running Mac OS X v10.3 and Apple Remote Desktop v1.2.4, where:

* A user on the client system has been enabled with the Open and quit applications privilege;

* The username and password of the Apple Remote Desktop user is known;

* Fast user switching has been enabled;

* and a user is logged in, and loginwindow is active via Fast User Switching;

“If the Apple Remote Desktop Administrator application on another system is used to start a GUI application on the client, then the GUI application would run as root behind the loginwindow,” explained Apple in detailed technical information available from their Web site. “This update prevents Apple Remote Desktop from launching applications when the loginwindow is active. This security enhancement is also present in Apple Remote Desktop v2.1. This issue does not affect systems prior to Mac OS X 10.3. Credit to Andrew Nakhla and Secunia Research for reporting this issue.”

Source: Mac Central

Apple Computer Inc. on Tuesday offered a crowd of developers, consultants and IT managers here a preview of Mac OS 10.4, the next version of the company’s Macintosh operating system, code-named Tiger. The software is due in spring 2005, Apple managers said.

Demonstrated at the O’Reilly Media Inc.’s Mac OS X Conference here, Apple provided attendees perhaps the second up-close look at Tiger, since its premiere at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in June.

Bourdon described the new Apple audio/video architecture slated for Tiger: Core Audio, Core Image and Core Video. These Xcode components, built into Tiger’s system, will allow the system-wide addition of special effects to music, image, and film-editing applications.

Three frontline features in Tiger are a system-wide search utility called Spotlight; a version of the Mac OS X browser, Safari, that supports RSS (Real Simple Syndication); and the new Automator scripting environment.

The new internal search engine, which categorizes everything in a computer and uses metadata for seek and discovery, uses some familiar Apple software—the iTunes music storage and cataloging system—as a foundation, Bourdon said. Attendees commented that the functionality is similar to Google Inc.’s Desktop Index internal search engine, now in beta release.

Read full article at: eWeek.com

Online travel agent Orbitz on Tuesday threw a challenge to rival companies when it said it will guarantee that tickets purchased on its Web site are the cheapest.

The company said it will give a $50 voucher to any customer who buys a ticket on Orbitz.com and can find a published fare for the same flight that is at least $5 cheaper, excluding fees.

The offer is valid with tickets purchased both from Orbitz.com and from the Orbitz for Business site. The company offers flights through 455 airlines. The offer is valid for domestic flights only.

To qualify for the offer, a customer must fill out a claim form, available on Orbitz.com, on the same day he or she buys a ticket from the online agent. The $50 coupons will be redeemable on any future flights, hotels, rental cars or vacation packages purchased on Orbitz.com.