In a software-centric world where we already have many, many languages to program in, from scripting to bytecode compiled languages, to frameworks on top of languages and embedded languages, now Redmond wants to bring ANOTHER language to the table, titled ‘M’ (for Microsoft?).

The new language is to be a part of Microsoft’s new Oslo development and service-oriented strategy, incorporating features from XAML while being textual and domain-specific. M is to be used directly with 2 other components to be released with M along with Visual Studio 2010: Quadrant, a tool for building models visually, and a repository for storing and viewing models in an SQL database.

Microsoft has not said much other than that about the new language, but it will presumably be a compiled .net language (goodbye true native code), and from what Microsoft said, M is to strive to be cross-platform…. with a catch.

By “cross platform”, Microsoft means, “cross platform as long the other platform authors write a backend for the code, and the SQL database MUST be hosted on MS SQL, a proprietary Microsoft Windows service”.

Scammers are exploiting meltdown in the banking sector in an attempt to trick users into handing over sensitive financial information.

Phishing emails commonly pose as security checks from a prospective mark’s bank. The latest generation of the scam imitates communiques about bank mergers.

US consumer watchdog the Federal Trade Commission warned customers on Thursday not to take the bait. The FTC’s alert - Bank Failures, Mergers and Takeovers: A “Phish-erman’s Special” - can be found here.

An investigation by Apple shows some MacBook Pros may have faulty Nvidia graphics processors after all, despite Nvidia’s earlier assurances to the contrary, the computer maker has announced.

Apple said it will repair at no charge MacBook Pros where the Nvidia GPU has failed, or fails within two years from the purchase date. Problem signs include distorted or scrambled video, or no video on the screen though the computer is turned on. Models that might be affected are 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros with Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics processors. The computers were made between May 2007 and September 2008.

Hollywood isn’t suing RealNetworks over piracy–that’s just a smokescreen, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The group that advocates for the rights of Internet users said in a blog post Friday night that the the primary reason the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) filed a copyright suit against RealNetworks and is trying to halt the sale of the RealDVD software is to make sure the company, and anyone else wishing to build movie players, gets Hollywood’s permission first.

“It has nothing to do with piracy and everything to do with controlling innovation,” said Fred von Lohmann, EFF’s senior attorney.

Confidential data on 30 million German phone users could be consulted on the Internet as a result of an error until the phone company locked access, a spokesman for Deutsche Telekom said Saturday.

Confirming a report in Monday’s edition of the magazine Der Spiegel, the spokesman said on Thursday and Friday the company, Europe’s leading telecommunications firm, had managed to secure the data — including bank accounts — relating to its clients.

The data had been accessible and easy to manipulate, he said. The company had no indication of a possible theft of the information.