Google has launched an invite only test of CPA (cost per action) AdSense ads. So instead of getting paid per click or per impression, you now can get paid for an action, such as a sale or lead referral.”

Source: Slashdot

Public Knowledge.org is reporting that the oft-defeated broadcast flag DRM scheme is being sneaked into Senator Steven’s Telecommunications bill. Aside from the fact that it has no business being in that bill, and making no exceptions for fair use, this particular version calls for an Audio Broadcast Flag that would affect digital and satellite radio as well. The bill goes to committee on Thursday, so there is still time for public comment.

Source: Slashdot

The nation’s largest consumer electronics retailer is testing the possibility of selling Apple Computer Inc.’s full line of computers in its stores. Currently, Best Buy carries only Apple’s iPod music player and accessories.

Best Buy has added Apple computers in seven stores and it’s considering expanding Mac sales across the chain, Best Buy Senior Vice President for Merchandising David Morrish said at the company’s annual meeting on Wednesday.

Source: AP

An Inquirer reader attending a conference in Japan was sat just feet away from a laptop computer that suddenly exploded into flames, in what could have been a deadly accident.

The Australian government announced that free filters to block pornography on the Internet would be made available to every family.

The filters will not be compulsory for home users and will let parents set access limits based on what they think is appropriate.

They will be available through Internet service providers (ISPs) and are expected to be taken up by at least 2.5 million families over the next few years.

All ISPs will be required to offer the filters free of charge to their customers, who will be able to choose from a broad range of software available for download from a dedicated website or sent to them on CD-ROM.

Source: AFP

Samsung Electronics will consider later this year if it will launch a high-definition movie player compatible with both the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD formats, it says.

Samsung is already working on a drive that handles both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD, said Kim Du-Hyon, an assistant manager in Samsung’s home-platform product planning division, in a briefing with reporters at the company’s headquarters in Suwon,
South Korea.

“We don’t have a plan to make an HD DVD-only player but are considering a universal player,” he said. “We are preparing HD DVD [support] now and if we launch a universal player it will be the end of this year or early next year.”

Source: PCWorld

Zone Labs has fixed a bug in a recent upgrade to its security software that is causing trouble for some Eudora and McAfee users.

The problems relate to ZoneAlarm 6.5 products released last week, the company said Tuesday. One glitch means the software won’t install alongside McAfee antivirus products, while another interferes with date and time stamps in Qualcomm’s Eudora e-mail client. Users had complained about the issues in Zone Labs’ forums, a representative for the San Francisco-based security software maker said

Source: News.com

Symantec Corp. said on Wednesday the release of its new Web-based security service would depend on response to user trials and would be held back if required tweaks meant it would miss the key holiday period in the United States.

The firm said it would also announce details of its product, which aims to give online users better protection from cyber criminals when paying bills and buying and selling over the Internet next week.

Source: Reuters

Highly critical vulnerability discovered in WinAmp, which can be exploited by malicious people to cause a DoS (Denial of Service) and potentially compromise a user’s system.

The vulnerability is cause due to a boundary error within the MIDI plug-in (in_midi.dll) when handling MIDI files. This can be exploited to cause a heap-based buffer overflow via a malicious “.mid” file with a specially crafted header.

Successful exploitation crashes the application and may allow execution of arbitrary code.

The vulnerability has been confirmed in version 5.23 and has also been reported in version 5.21. Other versions may also be affected.

Source: secunia

Microsoft and the Creative Commons on Wednesday plan to release a free tool that will let people attach a Creative Commons copyright license to Microsoft Office documents.

Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that has written licenses that allow content creators to share information while retaining some rights.

Currently, some Web-based tools let people associate a Creative Commons license with information. But Microsoft is the first vendor to embed a license-selection option inside its applications, said Lawrence Lessig, the founder of the Creative Commons and a Stanford Law School professor.

Source: News.com

Ohio University said Tuesday it has suspended two information technology supervisors over recent breaches by hackers who may have stolen 173,000 Social Security numbers from school computers.

The school said in April it had discovered a computer breach at its training center for fledgling businesses. Since then, electronic break-ins also were reported at the school’s alumni office, health center and the department that handles records for businesses the university hires.

Fresh from a fight with US officials over the sanctity of online search information, Google joined an alliance of technology firms calling for federal legislation protecting consumer privacy.

“Today we live in a digital economy where both beneficial and potentially harmful uses of personal information are multiplying,” said a statement from the Consumer Privacy Legislative Forum, whose roster includes such technology powerhouses as Microsoft, Intel, Oracle, Sun Microsystems and Hewlett Packard.

“The time has come for a serious process to consider comprehensive harmonized federal privacy legislation to create a simplified, uniform but flexible legal framework” for protecting consumers, it said.

Source: AFP