| |
May 31, 2003
|
 |
Yahoo issues IM, chat security patches
Yahoo issued on Friday security patches for its Yahoo Instant Messenger and Yahoo Chat clients in an effort to fix a buffer overflow vulnerability discovered in the software.
When users of the software log on to the IM network or enter a chat room, Yahoo is prompting them to install the patches. In addition, the company posted the patches on its Web site.
A buffer overflow is a common security vulnerability in computer programs written in C and C++ that allows more information to be added to a chunk of memory than it was designed to hold.
|
|
|
NASA, USDA alliance to assist farmers
Farmers may soon be able to increase their productivity using the latest in Earth science and mapping technology.
A memorandum of understanding signed May 30 will give the Agriculture Department access to NASA's monitoring, mapping and systems engineering technology. The idea behind the partnership is to improve farmers' yields and provide NASA with information for an initiative to study the Earth's response to farming.
"Precision agriculture practices are helping farmers improve productivity while protecting our natural resources," USDA Secretary Ann Veneman said in a statement.
The agreement has initiated a $1 million, three-year program to determine the geographic information and remote sensing needs of the agriculture community. Geospatial extension programs at land grant universities will allow specialists to work closely with NASA and the USDA to address those needs.
|
|
|
Mock shuttle foam test causes 'significant' damage
A piece of foam shot at the leading edge of a model shuttle wing Thursday cut a 22-inch gap in the surface and knocked loose a seal -- a finding termed "significant" by a Columbia Accident Investigation Board official.
The test is the first of several that investigators probing the space shuttle Columbia disaster plan to conduct to try to determine what caused the craft to break up February 1, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
One of the leading theories into the accident has been that a piece of foam insulation that hit Columbia's wing during liftoff damaged insulation tiles or the leading edge of the wing, eventually leading to the shuttle's disintegration during re-entry.
|
|
|
Microsoft Under Playstation Pressure
It appears that the tentacles of the octopus truly do stretch in many directions.
Only two weeks after announcing plans to release a handheld gaming device (the PSP) to challenge Nintendo's Game Boy, Sony has delivered another shocking rollout plan for 2004.
This time, rival Microsoft should feel the heat, as Sony announced a new piece of gaming hardware with striking similarities to the company's power-packed Xbox console. Sony's new PSX will come with both a built-in 120-gigabyte hard drive and Ethernet support. The built-in hard drive was one of the most vaunted specs of the Xbox, basically eliminating any need for videogame players to purchase memory cards. Upcoming PS2 games such as Final Fantasy XI will require the use of a hard drive for optimum game play (a 40-GB drive will be made available at the time of the game's 2004 release for regular PS2 owners).
|
|
|
Microsoft to abandon standalone IE
Microsoft is phasing out standalone versions of its Internet Explorer Web browser, according to statements attributed to IE program manager Brian Countryman in an interview posted on the software giant's Web site.
"As part of the OS (operating system), IE will continue to evolve, but there will be no future standalone installations. IE6 SP1 is the final standalone installation," Countryman said in the the May 7 interview.
Microsoft issued a standalone browser with IE 6, following a court ruling that found the company had violated antitrust laws by bundling IE with its Windows operating system. The company has since settled the case with the Justice Department and most of the other parties to the suit, although a handful of holdouts continue to press for additional remedies.
In the May 7 interview, Countryman dismissed suggestions that the decision to drop a standalone browser was related to antitrust issues, hinting that planned new security enhancements for the upcoming version of its Windows operating system, code named Longhorn, was the driving force behind the move.
Longhorn is expected to include a major security overhaul dubbed Next-Generation Secure Computing Base, formerly known as Palladium.
|
|
|
|
