On the directions of the government of India, Indian ISPs have started censoring and blocking web properties. This was first noticed by Indian bloggers and upon inquiring with their respective ISPs, the actions are confirmed. Unfortunately, Blogspot and TypePad are the targets till now.

Source: Slashdot

Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS) offers a reliable, highly scalable hosted queue for storing messages as they travel between computers. By using Amazon SQS, developers can move data between distributed application components performing different tasks, without losing messages or requiring each component to be always available.

Source: TheServerSide

Microsoft is making the latest build, No. 5472, available to a select group of technical beta testers only. Microsoft is opening up the new build to its Technology Adoption Program (TAP) members, Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers and other selected technical testers only.

The newest Vista build is not a full-fledged beta. It is one of the interim builds that Microsoft has committed to make available to testers on a monthly basis until Vista is released to manufacturing.

“Microsoft is distributing this in order to provide testers with a more recent build and to encourage application and device driver developers to accelerate development on Windows Vista,” according to a statement provided by a company spokeswoman. “This build includes quality and performance improvements based on feedback Microsoft has received on Beta 2 to date.”

Source: microsoft-watch

SanDisk Corp. on Monday announced a 4-Gbyte SD card that will go on sale this month.

The 4-Gbyte SD High Capacity card will be given a suggested price of $199 or 159 euros, and will be bundled with a free MicroMate USB 2.0 reader (normally priced at $19.99) that can accomodate both SDHC and standard SD cards.

The reason that a card reader is being bundled with the new cards is that the new 4-Gbyte card is SD 2.0-compliant, a new standard that is not backwards-compatible with traditional SD cards.

Source: extremetech

BitDefender has joined a growing list of security vendors testing tools for rootkit detection and cleanup.

The Bucharest, Romania, anti-virus vendor on July 7 unveiled an anti-rootkit utility that promises to spot and delete stealthy software programs that are used by malicious hackers to hide malware.

BitDefender’s rootkit cleaner will be available as a free stand-alone utility for registered beta testers.

The company’s immediate plan is to add rootkit-detection features to its product suite, starting with the next iteration of its consumer Internet security suite.

Source: eWeek

On July 12, a day after Microsoft shipped a mega-patch to cover eight Excel vulnerabilities, security researchers warned that at least two critical—and publicly discussed—flaws affecting users of the spreadsheet program remained unpatched.

Proof-of-concept exploit code for both vulnerabilities has been published on the Internet. In the absence of patches, Microsoft, of Redmond, Wash., strongly urged customers to avoid accepting and opening files from untrusted sources.

One of the bugs, rated “highly critical” by Secunia, a security information aggregator based in Copenhagen, Denmark, is actually a code execution hole in Windows that’s exploitable via Excel.

Source: eWeek

The tornados, flooding and wildfires recently experienced in parts of the country are another reminder of how critical it is for Americans to prepare for emergencies. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Ready Campaign today launched an updated version of its Web site, to educate Americans about the simple steps they should take to be ready for a variety of emergencies.

“All Americans have a responsibility to take steps now to be prepared for emergencies whether they are caused by nature or by man,” said Homeland Security’s Under Secretary for Preparedness George W. Foresman. “At Ready.gov individuals can find information and resources that detail some of the basic things they can do to keep their family safe for emergencies large and small.”

Ready, a national public service advertising campaign was launched in February 2003 to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies. The campaign encourages individuals to use http://www.ready.gov to learn how to get an emergency supply kit, make a family emergency plan, and be better informed about the types of emergencies that are most likely to occur in their area. The campaign’s Web site has received more than 1.9 billion hits and 23 million unique visitors.

The redesigned Ready Web site includes updated emergency preparedness resources, including special preparedness information for pet owners, senior citizens, and individuals with disabilities and special needs. It also provides Americans with increased state and local information so they can learn about the types of emergencies that are more likely to happen in their area and the plans that have been established to deal with these emergencies.

Raising the bar in the Blu-ray Disc vs. HD DVD battle, Walt Disney is creating a series of short films to be shot in high-definition to accompany select films the company will release in the Blu-ray format.

It’s the first move by any studio to develop original content for the Sony-developed Blu-ray format, a step observers feel is critical to giving the format the upper edge over Toshiba’s rival HD DVD.

Since Steve Jobs is the major stock holder in Disney, it is very likely that Apple will start integrating Blu-ray drives in future computer systems, thus tipping the scale towards Sony’s preferred format.

Staff at Intel Corp’s Haifa research center have been forced into bomb shelters as Hizbollah rockets rained on the northern Israeli city, but they are still working, thanks to wireless connections underground.

The U.S. chip giant’s R&D center in Haifa, responsible for developing the Centrino and many other Intel chips, has equipped its bomb shelters with a wireless network, said Kobi Bachar, a spokesman for Intel Israel.

“We can work from the bomb shelters because there is wireless there,” he said.

Source: Reuters

Malicious-software writers are increasingly using open-source methodologies when developing their code, according to antivirus vendor McAfee.

In its Global Threat Report for 2006, McAfee warned that more hackers are sharing source code and ideas freely. This includes distributing source code with documented explanations and annotations of how that code works, which helps programmers adapt it.

McAfee said that this can be an extremely effective way of developing code, both legitimate and malicious.

“Like any powerful tool, open source can also be used for malicious purposes, particularly in security,” McAfee said in its Global Threat Report for 2006.

Source: News.com

On Monday, Yahoo touts a new look for its front page by asking people to pull out the video camera, open up the editing software and create 12-second commercials for Yahoo. There is no cash reward, nor even a prize for best ad. But Yahoo hopes the enthusiasm of its customers will result in great work. The ads will be shown at video.yahoo.com.

Yahoo Vice President Allen Olivo says user-generated advertising is just another way of having customers do testimonials for the site.

Source: USAToday

Today, AOL expects to release a beta version of Total Care, its soup-to-nuts security and PC performance software suite that will compete with similar all-in-one products from Microsoft, Symantec, and McAfee.

Total Care will be available as a premium service to both AOL and non-AOL members when the final version is launched, but the free beta will be available to AOL members only. Pricing and a launch date for the final release of Total Care have not been announced.

The beta version of the suite will be available to AOL members through the company’s beta.aol.com site.

Source: PCWorld