There are reports from a number of people that experienced some problems after installing one of the patches released by Microsoft, MS05-051 Vulnerabilities in MSDTC and COM+ Could Allow Remote Code Execution (902400).

Some of the problems reported are Inability to visit Windows Update, The Search tool in windows is not working, Symantec LiveUpdate is broken, After login you’ll get a blank screen with no icons, problems with Office, and SpySweeper is not working.

There might be also some other problems related to this patch.

If you are having problems with your system after installing the latest updates you might want to uninstall patch 902400, this seems to fix the problems for most people. In order to uninstall the patch go to Add/Remove Programs, check the “Show Updates” box and you will get the list of hotfixes. Select the 902400 hotfix and uninstall it.

Update: Microsoft posted an advisory on its web site with instruction of how to fix this problem

Apple Computer’s rapidly growing iPod business will get a new leader next year when the current head of the division retires.

Tony Fadell, head of iPod engineering, will succeed Jon Rubinstein as senior vice president of the iPod division next year, the company said on Friday. Rubinstein plans to retire in March.

The company also announced the appointment of a chief operating officer, assigning Tim Cook, its chief of sales, to the post. Cook briefly took over as acting chief executive when Apple boss Steve Jobs underwent cancer treatment last year.

Source: News.com

Hollywood filed a new round of copyright-infringement lawsuits Thursday against a half-dozen Web sites, alleging that they attempted to fool consumers into thinking the sites were legitimately offering copyrighted motion picture images for download.

In fact, the suits allege, the sites falsely claim or imply that by using their services, consumers can download movies legally on the Internet. Actually, they merely connect users to peer-to-peer sites that have pirated copies of movies, according to the Motion Picture Assn. of America (MPAA), the trade group representing the major studios. Should they download such movies, the consumer commits copyright infringement, which can bring serious consequences.

The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District Court of New York against http://wwwDownloadshield.com, http://www.Full-movie-downloads.com, http://www.MP3eternity.com, http://www.Moviesadvance.com, http://www.Thedownloadplace.com and http://www.Easydownloadcenter.com.

According to the MPAA suits, these Web sites charge a subscription fee ranging from $20 for a three-month trial to $40 for lifetime membership ostensibly enabling the member to download an unlimited number of movies online from P2P networks, which often include movies still in theaters.

Noting that these downloads are unauthorized and illegal, the MPAA is seeking a court order forbidding the sites to continue operating.

Source: Reuters

Microsoft has announced an anti-fraud partnership with Nigeria, the country of origin for some of the Internet’s most notorious email scams.

The agreement is designed to foster cooperation to combat issues such as spam, phishing, spyware, viruses and counterfeiting.

The email scam, known as a 419 scheme after the relevant section of the Nigerian Criminal Code, is a computer age version of a con game that goes back hundreds of years and is sometimes called “The Spanish Prisoner.”

Source: Reuters

After facing what seemed an insurmountable decline in desktop PC sales during the first six months of 2005, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) captured a 52% share of the US retail desktop PC market in September, according to Current Analysis. AMD’s performance during the back-to-school shopping season topped chip giant Intel’s 46% share by six points, said the market research firm. Despite its past successes in surpassing Intel desktop sales in select retail sales weeks, September 2005 marked the first time AMD was able to outperform Intel for an entire month, the research firm stated.

Source: digitimes.com

Toyota Motor has issued a recall for about 160,000 Prius cars sold mainly in the United States and Japan due to a potential software glitch that may cause sales of the gas-electronic hybrid to stall.

A spokesman said there were no safety concerns but Toyota had decided to offer repairs free of charge.

The problem may cause the gasoline engine to stall but the electrically-powered brake and steering operation would continue to function normally, he added.

Of the affected vehicles, about 75,000 were sold in the United States, 70,000 in Japan and 15,000 elsewhere.

Source: AFP

Counterfeit software from Symantec and Adobe Systems has been seized in an operation that netted the largest ever crop of illegal CD manufacturing equipment in the US.

Pirated copies of Symantec Norton Antivirus 2005, Internet Security 2005, PC Anywhere and Adobe’s Photoshop CS were among more than 325,000 CDs seized following searches at separte locations in California’s Silicon Valley and in Texas.

Five individuals were arrested and indicted under the swoop, for various charges related to copyright infringement and trafficking.

The illegal discs were seized under Operation Remaster, a joint undercover investigation targeting large-scale suppliers of pirated software, music and movies across Northern California, and involving units from the FBI and US Secret Service.

Source: The Register

The acclaimed film director has agreed to develop three original games with EA’s Los Angeles studios.

Work has already started on the first of the three projects, which EA says will be a next generation game which appeals to a broad audience.

The deal is a further sign of how Hollywood and the games industry are moving closer together.

Earlier this month, another Oscar-winning director, Peter Jackson, signed up to work on movie version of the best-selling sci-fi shooter Halo.

Jackson, whose latest project is King Kong, has also been closely involved in the game version of the giant ape film.

Source: BBC

Microsoft on Friday is set to deliver new software that will more closely link its forthcoming Xbox 360 gaming console into the company’s plans for delivering digital entertainment.

The company said that as part of an update to its Media Center Edition of Windows, it will add the capability to stream digital media–music, videos, photos television and movies–from Media Center PCs to any television or device via Xbox 360. The move has been expected. Company executives discussed plans to build the software earlier this year.

Source: News.com

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with HP announced a voluntary recall of HP and Compaq Notebook Computer Battery Packs.

The recalled lithium ion rechargeable battery packs are used with various HP and Compaq notebook computers. The recalled battery packs are a subset of those manufactured March 2004 through September 2004, and will have a bar code label starting with GC, IA, L0 or L1.

There are about 135,000 faulty battery packs worldwide, including about 85,000 in the U.S. which an internal short can cause the battery cells to overheat and melt or char the plastic case, posing a burn and fire hazard.

Consumers should stop using the recalled batteries immediately and contact HP to arrange for a free replacement battery by visiting the Battery Replacement program Web site or by calling HP. After removing the recalled battery for their notebook computer, consumers should plug in the AC adapter to power the notebook until a replacement battery arrives.

Recalled battery packs have bar-code labels starting with GC, IA, L0, or L1