By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

It’s been a few days since the WMF (Windows Metafile) vulnerability was uncovered. Microsoft has released a workaround, but no patch yet. Hopefully you can count on your antivirus (AV) program, but not all of them cover all the variants.

AV-Test, which tests anti-malware products, has been tracking the situation closely and has, so far, analyzed 73 variants of malicious WMF files. Products from the following companies have identified all 73:

Alwil Software (Avast), Softwin (BitDefender), ClamAV, F-Secure Inc., Fortinet Inc., McAfee Inc., ESET (Nod32), Panda Software, Sophos Plc., Symantec Corp., Trend Micro Inc., VirusBuster

These products detected fewer variants: 62 — eTrust-VET, 62 — QuickHeal, 61 — AntiVir, 61 — Dr Web, 61 — Kaspersky, 60 — AVG, 19 — Command, 19 — F-Prot, 11 — Ewido, 7 — eSafe, 7 — eTrust-INO, 6 — Ikarus, 6 — VBA32, 0 — Norman

Source: eWeek

We Say: The “big 2″ (McAfee, Symantec) do fine, but it’s interesting that Kaspersky, generally thought of among alternative AV users as the best, only caught 61 of the variants. I’ve always picked an AV program with strong heuristics (detecting the virus by identifying the basic techniques of the exploit, rather than looking for specific signatures), as well as good signature support, so that I am protected even before the signature database is updated. My AV is not in the big 2 (and I don’t feel comfortable advertising it), but it is on the list above. Also, if you look at this AV-Test spreadsheet with regard to the MS05-039-based attacks from earlier in the year, you can also see which AVs reacted proactively (heuristically) to the threats (note that McAfee, Symantec, and Kaspersky didn’t proactively catch them, but my AV once again did). Don’t get me wrong; no AV is going to catch everything. Just make sure you have a good one and be careful out there (and that means both on the Web and out driving tonight. Happy New Year!).

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

I’ve been watching some of my Frasier DVDs lately, and if any of you watched that show, you will recall that he and Niles are major wine snobs. Well, a Carnegie Mellon University professor is building computer models he hopes will eventually provide wines that always satisfy their taste buds.

Lorenz “Larry” Biegler, who teaches chemical engineering at the university, is working on mathematical formulas to automate the fermentation process, adjusting ingredients and conditions to ensure robust flavors and higher yields from grape harvests.

Scientists don’t fully understand the delicate mix of compounds that emerge during fermentation and why they create such pleasing sensations for wine drinkers. Biegler’s research focuses on yeast, which consumes sugar and produces alcohol.

“We would like to come up with a reasonably good model of how this yeast cell behaves … then control this fermentation process so we can make better-quality wines,” he said.

One company, Enologix, of Sonoma, Calif., takes juice samples from grapes, analyzes them and, using proprietary software, recommends how to make wines that please leading critics. Source: AP via Yahoo! News

We Say: Obviously Frasier and Niles don’t have to worry about competition from wine-tasting software, at least not yet, but this is an interesting exercise. Additionally, as the article says, there’s a lot of art to the making of wine so I’m not sure how successful this will be. But there might be a way to increase consistency of the wine-making process.

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

Gadgets may be addictive, but charging them is not only annoying, it is starting to get unsightly. I felt like an electric bag lady at the airport when I noticed my backpack was filled with corded chargers for a cell phone, Blackberry, laptop, Bluetooth headset, MP3 player, digital camera, and so on, with more at home. What a mess. Then I saw a charging bucket call the “Multipot” where you dump all the cords in the bucket and then gently set your gadgets on top of it. At closer look, it seemed like you end up with a big old overheating bucket topped with phone, Blackberry, camera, Mp3 player and so on. But they were onto something, however, at close to $300, let’s just say the price was not right. Today I found something more my speed. It’s called the Personal Power Station and at $25.00 you can buy 10 of these and still have money left over for a real bucket. Nice.

The adjustable docking area holds your personal electronics firmly secure and in place. It’s easy to use. Equipped with three recharging transformers, and circuit protection guards against voltage and power surges. 3 AC outlets included, reset button, an extension cord to use for larger or odd shaped adapters. Designed to use on your tabletop or counter. It measures 10½”W x 4¼”H x 5″D. Comes in Gray. Cord length 6 feet. $24.95

Personal Power Station Product Page
Source: Hollywood Gadgets

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Since the Xbox 360’s launch, there have been complaints about overheating … and crashing due to overheating. CES 2006 is right around the corner and CoolIT Systems will be showing off a liquid cooled Xbox 360. If there is enough interest, the company may take the product to retail.

“Basically, the Xbox 360 cooler is an updated and modified version of our Freezone PC coolers,” said (Geoff) Lyon (chief executive of CoolIT Systems).

While the liquid cooled Xbox 360 is a prototype, Lyon told us that it could become a retail product and adds, “At CES we will be gauging interest to see if we can go retail.” Assuming the product goes retail, Lyon says that it may be sold as a retail customer kit, complete with tools and instructions for taking apart the Xbox 360, or as a unit to system integrators. “If we go to market, the cooler will likely take both forms,” says Lyon.

CoolIT’s liquid cooler runs off the existing Xbox 360 power supply. “Our engineers found that liquid cooling lowers the power consumption, however the cooling system does use some of that saved power,” said Lyon. Source: TG Daily

A Freezone CPU Cooler is pictured above.

We Say: Although most liquid cooling kits are built with overclocking in mind, a lot of users would welcome additional cooling to the stock unit, specifically those who have experienced crashes due to overheating (or those concerned about it). On the other hand, Lyon also said he’d be thrilled if the unit was used to overclock the Xbox 360. This could prove very interesting to modders if this unit makes it to retail.

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Ever see something, some idea that made someone rich and think “Why didn’t I think of that?” Or “I thought of that years ago!” Well, if you’re the envious type, stop reading now.

Because chances are, Alex Tew, a 21-year-old student from a small town in England, is cleverer than you. And he is proving it by earning a cool million dollars in four months on the Internet.

He had the brainstorm for his million dollar home page, called, logically enough, www.milliondollarhomepage.com, while lying in bed thinking out how he would pay for university.

The idea: turn his home page into a billboard made up of a million dots, and sell them for a dollar a dot to anyone who wants to put up their logo. A 10 by 10 dot square, roughly the size of a letter of type, costs $100.

He sold a few to his brothers and some friends, and when he had made $1,000, he issued a press release.

That was picked up by the news media, spread around the Internet, and soon advertisers for everything from dating sites to casinos to real estate agents to The Times of London were putting up real cash for pixels, with links to their own sites.

So far they have bought up 911,800 pixels. Tew’s home page now looks like an online Times Square, festooned with a multi-coloured confetti of ads. Source: Reuters

We Say: Why didn’t I think of that!? Sob!

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Cookies, cookies, cookies. You get them all the time at many, if not most of the sites you visit. Most of these are used to track your shopping carts, preferences, etc. Yesterday it was revealed that the National Security Agency (NSA) website has been using cookies as well, and a great furor arose. But are these any different from what you usually are subjected to?

The answer is “probably” not, but after the New York Times revealed the Bush administration’s secret domestic spying program … well, this sort of thing doesn’t sit well with most people, and especially not with privacy advocates. In fact, session cookies are OK; it’s persistent cookies, those that survive ending the browser session, that are not.

In a 2003 memo, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget prohibits federal agencies from using persistent cookies — those that aren’t automatically deleted right away — unless there is a “compelling need.”

A senior official must sign off on any such use, and an agency that uses them must disclose and detail their use in its privacy policy.

Peter Swire, a Clinton administration official who had drafted an earlier version of the cookie guidelines, said clear notice is a must, and `vague assertions of national security, such as exist in the NSA policy, are not sufficient.”

Daniel Brandt, a privacy activist who discovered the NSA cookies, said mistakes happen, “but in any case, it’s illegal. The (guideline) doesn’t say anything about doing it accidentally.”

Don Weber, an NSA spokesman, said in a statement Wednesday that the cookie use resulted from a recent software upgrade. “After being tipped to the issue, we immediately disabled the cookies,” he said. Source: AP via Yahoo! News

Update: The White House Friday announced its website would continue to use cookies and Web bugs, deciding that they aren’t prohibited after all under 2003 federal privacy guidelines.

We Say: It’s not like the Administration is installing spyware but, as I said, in light of recent developments this is bound to set off a storm … and perhaps, based on the domestic spying story, it’s not unjustified. Personally, I don’t like persistent cookies anyway, and you can set your browser to block cookies at specific sites (in the Privacy settings). This story isn’t going to go away, though. Today it was revealed that the White House website also uses persistent cookies. We’ll probably see a lot more coverage in the next several days.

By Mark Evans
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

So what are the best Web 2.0 applications? Technorati? Skype? Flickr? With 2005 winding down, there’s no lack of best-of lists. Michael Arrington (a.k.a. TechCrunch) offers up his must-have list. If anyone in the blogosphere has a good take on what’s good, it’s Michael who tries 100s of them. His faves include Pandora, Flickr, Memeorandum, Omnidrive and Technorati. I think the enthusiasm surrounding Web 2.0 is great but there also needs to be some thought into about how these cool apps becomes solid, viable businesses. There has been far too much focus on what’s cool rather than what’s cool and how do we make money from offering them - other than selling out to Yahoo or Google. If 2005 was the year of the Web 2.0 developer, 2006 needs to be the year of the business developer/strategist.

We Say: A much-needed dose of pragmatism needs to be included in the Web 2.0 mix in 2006.

For more thoughts on the realities facing the Web 2.0 world, click here.

By Martin Regtien
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

You might recall the First Impressions review of the AnexTEK moboDA 3360 PocketPCPhone, and here’s the link to the long awaited follow-up!

Check it out here.

The moboDA will be available worldwide and this is the first in-depth English review of this beauty.