Microsoft released a non-security update for Internet Explorer 7 two weeks before the next patch day, and urged Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 users to download and install the fix if they notice the browser mysteriously slowing down while surfing.

Earlier this week, the Redmond, Wash. developer pushed several updates to Windows Vista users, the new operating system that launched to consumers on Tuesday, including one to fix performance problems with IE 7’s anti-fraud filter. The update has also been posted for IE 7 on Windows XP and Server 2003.

Source: InformationWeek

France is to offer tax credits to encourage local companies to develop video games, the Ministry of Culture said on Thursday.

Parliament has approved a measure that will offer tax credits to producers of video games “with a cultural dimension” to finance 20 percent of a company’s production costs to a maximum of 3 million euros ($3.91 million) a year, the ministry said in a statement.

It said the move, intended to keep video game production in France, had been decided in recognition of the growing cultural importance of video games, which it said were played regularly by 15 million people in France.

Source: Reuters

Fancy trying your hand at creative writing but can’t quite find the time? Tired of scribbling away all by yourself?

British publisher Penguin may have the answer — a Web-based, collaborative novel that can be written, edited or read by anyone, anywhere thanks to “wiki” software, the technology behind Web encyclopaedia Wikipedia.

The novel, “A Million Penguins,” went live on Thursday and its first lines are already being written, edited and rewritten by enthusiasts on www.amillionpenguins.com.

Source: Reuters

George Ou writes in his blog that he found a remote exploit for the new and shiny Vista Speech Control. Specifically, websites playing soundfiles can trigger arbitrary commands. Ou reports that Microsoft confirmed the bug and suggested as workarounds that either ‘A user can turn off their computer speakers and/or microphone’; or, ‘If a user does run an audio file that attempts to execute commands on their system, they should close the Windows Media Player, turn off speech recognition, and restart their computer.

Source: Slashdot

Microsoft has introduced a new product combining the Whale Communications virtual private networking (VPN) software it bought last year with the latest version of its Internet Security and Acceleration Server (ISA Server), the company said Wednesday.

Called the Intelligent Application Gateway 2007, (IAG 2007) the software will give remote users a way to access Outlook e-mail accounts as well as corporate applications while outside of the company firewall. Whale’s software uses the secure sockets layer (SSL) protocol and can be used to gain VPN access via the browser.

Source: Yahoo

For the first time, a ‘cracked’ Blu-Ray movie has been uploaded to BitTorrent. And no, it’s not that ‘Vivid’ title that the TWiT hosts seem to be oh so familiar with. It’s just the opposite. The first Blu-Ray movie on BitTorrent is the children’s animation flick, Ice Age 2.

Source: TorrentFreak

Dell is gearing up to take on Nintendo’s DS and Sony’s PSP with a gaming-oriented handheld console of its own, the company has admitted. That said, it’s keeping mum about the details.

Speaking last week at a Dell event in Spain, the company’s head of gaming products, Abizar Vakharia, confirmed that the company has its eye in the direction of a gaming handheld,

Source: Reg Hardware

In the biggest executive shake-up yet after a string of disappointing earnings, eroding market share and an ongoing federal accounting probe, Michael Dell has returned to his role as chief executive officer of Dell Inc. - the company he created in his college dorm room nearly 15 years ago.

Dell’s return at the helm of one of the world’s largest computer manufacturers is effective immediately and comes after a nearly four-year hiatus during which he had now-departed CEO Kevin Rollins deal with day-to-day operations.

But despite a plan to fix the company’s mounting problems, the changes apparently weren’t happening fast enough for Wall Street, which cheered Rollins’ resignation.

Investors sent shares up 94 cents, or 3.9 percent, in after-hours trading after falling 7 cents to close earlier Wednesday at $24.22 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Source: AP