Yahoo Bookmarks: straightforward and useful

Yahoo just launched a beta of Yahoo Bookmarks, a hugely improved version of its current bookmark saver. It's a useful tool. I found it to be limited in scope, but that's actually a good thing right now. There are some really interesting information collection tools on the Web right now that are probably too complex for most users (yes, I'm talking to you, Diigo). Yahoo even has two other bookmarking tools itself: Del.icio.us and Yahoo My Web, both of which are more geared towards sharing bookmarks than saving them for yourself. [See related blog post.]
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Spoofing bug found in IE 7

Security experts have found a weakness in Internet Explorer 7 that could help crooks mask phishing scams, the type of attack Microsoft designed the browser to thwart.

IE 7, released last week, allows a Web site to display a pop-up that can contain a spoofed Web address, security monitoring company Secunia said Wednesday. An attacker could exploit this weakness to trick people into believing they are on a trusted Web site when in fact they are viewing a malicious page, Secunia said in an alert.
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Hacker claims to have cracked iPod restrictions

A hacker known for cracking the copy-protection technology in DVDs claims to have unlocked the playback restrictions of Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod and iTunes music products and plans to license his code to others.

The move by Jon Lech Johansen, also known as "DVD Jon," could pit the 22-year-old against Apple's lawyers, experts say, but if successful could free users from some restrictions Apple and its rivals place on digital music.
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A first look at Gaim 2.0

The Gaim 2.0 release is nearing its home stretch. The Gaim team released beta4 last week, with a number of new features and UI improvements. Gaim 2.0 is shaping up as a net improvement over Gaim 1.5, though some features have not changed for the better, and voice support for Google Talk is still missing in action.
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Windows Media Player release skips a beat

Microsoft had hoped to release the final version of Windows Media Player 11 on Tuesday, but the company said the jukebox software was not quite sounding the right note.
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Telephone banking system recognizes your voice

RSA product aims to use voice recognition to identify customers for financial transactions conducted over the phone.
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AMD's "Fusion" processor to merge CPU and GPU

Sunnyvale (CA) - AMD today announced that it has completed the acquisition of graphics chip developer ATI. The company does not waste any time to make use of the acquired knowledge: In 2007, AMD will be upgrading its mobile platform and offer a Centrino-like platform as well as integrated solutions for commercial and media systems. And there will be a processor with built-in graphics.
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Sony suits sink game retailer

Lik-Sang, a Hong Kong-based online game retailer, is closing down after Sony's latest court win against the company.
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The 30 Products and Services We Miss Most

Time and technology march on, but not without a few tears shed by our editors in memory of their favorite products and services of times past. Sure, we love our high-powered computers; our wireless networks; and our always-on, anytime/anywhere Internet access--but we also remember the good old days of DOS and diskettes and, later, the dot-com/dot-bomb epoch.
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Korean sought mammoth meat from Russian mafia

Disgraced South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-Suk told a court in Seoul that his attempt to clone extinct mammoths was based on material he bought from the Russian Mafia.
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AMD: we will not kill ATI brand

So is ATI gone forever, as a brandname at least? Apparently not, AMD Chief Technology Officer Phil Hester revealed today. He also indicated the two companies' fusion may not necessarily mean it's curtains for ATI's Intel-oriented chipsets.
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The New Mozilla Recommended Add-ons List: The Winners and the Losers

In anticipation of the imminent release of Firefox 2.0, Mozilla has relaunched its “recommended add-ons page” this afternoon. (Update: FF 2.0 has officially launched.) The page lost its beta status and gained a picture of a flaming motorcycle (see below). Out goes the old list of 11 recommendations and in comes a new list of 20. The lists are quite different and there are both winners and losers. One company just added to the list told us they saw 2,500 downloads in the first hour after the new add-ons page was quietly made available.
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Digg Does The Acquisition Dance With News Corp.

San Francisco-based startup Digg has been in recent acquisition discussions with a number of companies, including News Corp., according to multiple sources close to the negotiations. However, the company was unable to land an offer in the price range they’re looking for - at least $150 million - and will likely close a Series B round of financing instead.
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Yahoo Bookmarks Enters 21st Century.

Yahoo is unveiling an entirely new Bookmarks product this evening at new.bookmarks.yahoo.com - new interface, new back-end, the works. A screencast created by Yahoo developer Tom Chi is here which gives an excellent overview of the service (Chi also created the background music for the screencast). Compare that to the existing Bookmarks product (screenshot is here) and it’s clear how significant the overhaul is.
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Zombies continue to chase Windows PCs

Malicious remote control software continues to be one of the biggest threats to Windows PCs, according to a new Microsoft security report.

More than 43,000 new variants of such insidious software were found in the first half of 2006, making them the most active category of malicious software, Microsoft said in a Security Intelligence Report published Monday. In June Microsoft also flagged zombies as the most prevalent threat to Windows PCs.
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Microsoft's free anti-spyware hits market

Microsoft announced on Tuesday the general release of its free anti-spyware program, a move that significantly steps up the software maker's competitive challenge in the security industry.

Windows Defender anti-spyware is now available in English to Windows XP users, with other languages set for delivery in coming weeks. Windows Defender will also be bundled with Windows Vista, Microsoft's next-generation operating system, when it is released in January.
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Eco house of the future is no hippie commune

TOKYO--Can consumers cut back on greenhouse gases and still own a really cool home?

Matsushita Electric thinks so. The Eco & UD House at Panasonic's technology showcase in Tokyo is a prototype of a home the company said could start being built by 2010. Using the appliances displayed there, a typical family of four could reduce its carbon dioxide emissions, and knock heating bills down some 60 percent, according to the company. (Panasonic is Matsushita's lead brand in most markets.)
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