Web search leader Google Inc. on Wednesday launched a site devoted entirely to the Bard, http://www.google.com/shakespeare, that allows U.S. users to browse through the full texts of his 37 plays. Readers can even plug in words, such as “to be or not to be” from “Hamlet,” and immediately be taken to that part of the play.

The site, which was introduced in conjunction with Google’s sponsorship of New York’s “Shakespeare in the Park,” also provides links to related scholarly research, Internet groups, and even videos of theater performances of Shakespeare plays.

Source: Reuters

A new crash-report-driven Driver Quality Rating system will be used in Windows Vista to rate drivers. Drivers that rate poorly in real world use by users will lose their logo certification status, which would be bad news for OEMs and the device manufacturers themselves.

Source: Slashdot

Cardinal, the Beta 1 version of Firefox-based browser Flock, was released Tuesday with many polished features. Some of the features include drag-and-drop photo uploading for Flickr and Photobucket, an in-built RSS aggregator, direct blogging tool, and shared favorites/bookmarks.

Flock is available for Linux/Mac/Windows, and you can download it here.

Source: Slashdot

Internet retailer Amazon.com Inc. has started selling groceries on its Web site, a cautious step into a business that was one of the biggest casualties of the dot-com collapse.

The service is limited to non-perishable goods such as cereal, pasta and canned soup, but Amazon can ship those items to any customer, unlike online grocers that only deliver to limited areas.

Source: Reuters

While many headlines spell doom and gloom when it comes to computer-related misdeeds, the average losses at businesses due to cybercrime continue to drop, according to a new survey.

For the fourth straight year, the financial losses incurred by businesses due to incidents such as computer break-ins have fallen, according to the 2006 annual survey by the Computer Security Institute and the FBI. Robert Richardson, editorial director at the CSI, discussed the survey’s findings in a presentation at the CSI NetSec conference here Wednesday.

Respondents in the 2005 survey reported an average of $204,000 in cybercrime losses, Richardson said. This year, that’s down to $168,000, about an 18 percent drop, he added. Compared with 2004, the average loss is down 68 percent.

Source: News.com

Playing video games is the only way most people live out their pro sports dreams. For Brad Coleman, all those hours locked away in his bedroom helped turn his hopes into reality.

Two weeks after graduating from high school, Coleman debuted in NASCAR’s Busch Series. He’s had a documentary crew filming him for nearly a year for a possible cable television series, and perhaps the only question is how soon he jumps to NASCAR’s Nextel Cup.

Source: AP

The Stephen M. Ross School of Business, part of the University of Michigan, and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business have both launched iTunes U sites. The sites offer content for students, faculty and the general public using Apple’s iTunes software.

iTunes U is a hosted content distribution system that enables colleges and universities to provide audio and video files recorded from lectures and other school events through iTunes. Users can download content that interests them and can even subscribe to podcasts. The University of California, Berkeley, Stanford and others are participating. Schools can choose to make the content public or restrict it only to students and faculty.

Source: Macworld

AOL, the online unit of media conglomerate Time Warner Inc., on Wednesday said it plans to expand its Internet business in Europe — but raised the possibility of getting out of the dial-up business in the region.

“We believe we have a very good future and need to be on the Web in Europe,” Jonathan Miller, AOL’s chief executive officer, said.

Source: Reuters

Even though the veracity of that Daily Mail story about supposed substandard working conditions in several Chinese iPod factories is still up in the air, the Apple PR machine has already begun rolling out something of a damage control campaign, issuing a statement that reemphasizes the company’s commitment to internationally-recognized manufacturing codes of conduct.

Source: engadget

After yesterday’s patchday, sans started to receive a number of reports about newly released exploits for vulnerabilities announced on Tuesday.

Here a quick lists of what they have seen so far:

MS06-024: Windows Media Player.
Exploit released by penetration testing vendor to customers.

MS06-025: RRAS
Exploit released by penetration testing vendor to customers.

MS06-027: Word remote code execution
Exploit available before release of patch.

MS06-030: SMB Priviledge Escalation.
Two exploits released to the public.

MS06-032: IP Source Routing Exploit.
DoS exploits released privately (trivial exploit)

MSN Video will broadcast the Dixie Chicks’ first concert appearance in over two years — in London on Thursday, June 15 — to a worldwide audience at http://dixiechicks.msn.com. The sold-out concert at Shepherds Bush Empire, the same location of lead singer Natalie Maines’ now infamous words, will be the group’s first concert webcast and is part of their partnership with MSN Video for delivering content and a more detailed, intimate glimpse into their world. The performance, which will be captured by numerous digital film cameras, will be broadcast at 10 p.m. EDT on June 15 and adjusted globally in different time zones to better accommodate viewers from around the world.

A NASA investigation board said the crash of its Genesis lander in September 2004 was the result of deficiencies in prelaunch processes that led to faulty switch design.

The spacecraft traveled for three years to bring back solar-wind particles so that scientists could study the solar system’s birth and development. The Genesis return capsule crashed into the Utah desert.

Lockheed Martin built Genesis at its Waterton Canyon facility in Jefferson County.

Source: Denver Post