A security researcher has published attack code for an unpatched flaw in Mac OS X, the latest vulnerability in the “Month of Kernel Bugs” campaign.

The proof-of-concept code exploits a security hole in the way Apple Computer’s operating system handles disk image files, the researcher wrote Monday on a blog devoted to the campaign, which promises to reveal details of a new flaw in low-level software every day this month.

“Mac OS X com.apple.AppleDiskImageController fails to properly handle corrupted DMG (disk image) image structures, leading to an exploitable memory corruption condition with potential kernel-mode arbitrary code execution by unprivileged users,” wrote the researcher, who goes by the initials “LMH.”

Source: News.com

Microsoft won’t require businesses that deploy Office 2007 to activate the suite, the company said Thursday in an updated document on its Web site.

Unlike the retail versions of Office 2007, copies installed using volume license keys — the typical way large organizations purchase Microsoft’s software — will simply skip product activation, the process where keys must be entered and judged legitimate.

As with earlier editions of Office, the 2007 version will use what Microsoft dubs “Volume Activation 1.0.” VA 1.0 is also the procedure used to install Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 in corporations. “The 2007 Microsoft Office system will continue to use product keys that bypass product activation,” Microsoft said in the online document.

“So Office 2007 is using the old way of activating,” said Rob Helm, an analyst with Kirkland, Wash.-based Directions on Microsoft, “which is really no activation at all.”

Source: InformationWeek

The terms of the Vista EULA, like the current EULA related to the ‘Windows Genuine Advantage,’ allows Microsoft to unilaterally decide that you have breached the terms of the agreement, and they can essentially disable the software, and possibly deny you access to critical files on your computer without benefit of proof, hearing, testimony or judicial intervention. In fact, if Microsoft is wrong, and your software is, in fact, properly licensed, you probably will be forced to buy a license to another copy of the operating system from Microsoft just to be able to get access to your files, and then you can sue Microsoft for the original license fee.

Source: Slashdot

Google investors have a lot to be thankful for as shares of the search giant reached and exceeded $500 for the first time.

Shares were trading at $507.52 in mid-day trade on Tuesday, up 2.5 percent for the day and about 20 percent since the beginning of the year.

Source: News.com

Scientists for the first time have grown human heart valves using stem cells from the fluid that cushions babies in the womb, offering an approach that may be used to repair defective hearts.

The idea is to create new valves in the laboratory while a pregnancy progresses and have them ready to implant in a baby with heart defects after it is born.

The Swiss experiment follows recent successes at growing bladders and blood vessels and suggests that people may one day be able to grow their own replacement heart parts, in some cases, even before they are born.

It is one of several tissue engineering advances that could lead to homegrown heart valves that are more durable and effective than artificial or cadaver valves.

Source: New York Times

Samsung Electronics announced that it has developed the thinnest reported LCD panel, one no thicker than a credit card at 0.82mm, which is 0.07mm thinner than the panel previously reported to be the world’s slimmest. The company also announced that it has developed a new mobile technology, which it is calling, “i-Lens�?, for integrating the entire panel assembly, including a protective layer, into a single, thinner module that is more shock-resistant and easier to read than conventional panels.

Today, a typical mobile phone screen leaves a 2 to 3mm space above the panel before attaching a reinforced plastic sheet to protect the LCD module. In Samsung’s new i-Lens process, a shock-resistant protective sheet is fastened directly to the LCD module, thereby eliminating the space between it and the panel surface. With i-Lens, the thickness of the LCD module is reduced to a mere 0.82mm, while resolving the sunlight reflection problem inherent in the use of reinforced plastic. As a result, the panel is much easier to view outdoors.

The new LCD screen is available in 2.1 inch-diagonal and 2.2-inch-diagonal screen sizes. It features qVGA (240 x 320 pixels) resolution, 300nit brightness and a 500:1 contrast ratio. Mass production is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2007.

Google and Yahoo both gained search market share in October at the expense of Microsoft and Time Warner, according to a report released Monday by Internet metrics company comScore.

Google sites processed 45.4% of U.S. search queries, a gain of 0.3 percentage points from September. Yahoo handled 28.2% of searches during the same period, up 0.1 percentage points from the previous month.

At the same time, Microsoft’s search market share dropped by 0.2 percentage points to 11.7% while Time Warner’s search share declined by the same fraction, leaving it with 5.4% of the query market. Ask’s share of U.S. searches remains steady at 5.8%.

Source: InformationWeek