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I've got good news and bad news for those of the misguided perception that Linux is somehow impervious to attack or compromise. The bad news is that it turns out a vast collection of Linux systems may, in fact, be pwned. The good news, at least for IT administrators and organizations that rely on Linux as a server or desktop operating system, is that the Trojan is in a download that should have no bearing on Linux in a business setting. An announcement on the Unreal IRCd Forums states "This is very embarrassing...We found out that the Unreal3.2.8.1.tar.gz file on our mirrors has been replaced quite a while ago with a version with a backdoor (trojan) in it. This …

Today, we're announcing the completion of a new web indexing system called Caffeine. Caffeine provides 50 percent fresher results for web searches than our last index, and it's the largest collection of web content we've offered. Whether it's a news story, a blog or a forum post, you can now find links to relevant content much sooner after it is published than was possible ever before. Some background for those of you who don't build search engines for a living like us: when you search Google, you're not searching the live web. Instead you're searching Google's index of the web which, like the list in the back of a book, helps you pinpoint exactly the information you n…

Adobe issued an alert late Friday night to warn about zero-day attacks against an unpatched vulnerability in its Reader and Flash Player software products. The vulnerability, described as critical, affects Adobe Flash Player 10.0.45.2 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Solaris operating systems. It also affects the authplay.dll component that ships with Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX operating systems, Adobe said. From Adobe’s advisory: This vulnerability (CVE-2010-1297) could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. There are reports that this vulnerability is be…

VirtualBox is a family of powerful x86 virtualization products for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). See "About VirtualBox" for an introduction. Presently, VirtualBox runs on Windows, Linux and Macintosh hosts and supports a large number of guest operating systems including but not limited to Windows (NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista), DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4 and 2.6), and OpenBSD. Download: VirtualBox 3.2.4 View: …

The Microsoft DirectX June 2010 release provides updates to DX11 and previous versions of DirectX. This is the driving force behind PC games and multimedia on end user PCs. Download: DirectX Redistributable Homepage: Microsoft DirectX Link: Lunarsoft

Half of the enterprise computers running the aged Windows XP operating system are still relying on the soon-to-be-retired Service Pack 2 (SP2), a researcher said today.According to security risk and compliance management provider Qualys, 50% of the several hundred thousand PCs it monitors for its clients are still running Windows XP SP2. "The normal thing for IT is not to muck around with something that works," said Wolfgang Kandek, chief technology officer for Qualys, as he tried to explain why corporations have stuck with 2004's SP2 and not updated to SP3, which debuted two years ago. Microsoft will officially retire Windows XP SP2 on July 13. After that date, alt…

Intel announced it will wait an additional year before adopting the newer, faster USB 3.0 format by delaying the format’s motherboard chipset. This recent news announcement will likely only anger some of Intel’s OEM partners, as the companies look to try and integrate USB 3.0 support into new product lineups. The USB 3.0 format was first introduced in November 2008, but many people doubted the industry-wide demand for such a format. In 2009, some PCs announced they’ll release USB 3.0 products, but very few were released. Since then, more companies have launched USB 3.0 chipsets, HDDs, and other devices using the preceding USB 2.0 technology. In April, it…

Microsoft said it will deliver 10 security updates next week to patch a record-tying 34 vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer, Office, and SharePoint.The patches will also quash two bugs that Microsoft acknowledged in February and April. "I'd actually call this a moderate month," said Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Security. "Looking at the criticality of the bulletins, and the fact that the number [of bulletins] is low, it doesn't look like a huge month to me." By the numbers, however, next week's updates will be huge. Although the 10 updates fall short of the record of 13 -- first set in October 2009, then repeated in Febru…

In recent posts we’ve talked about the new Messenger and the re-invention of Hotmail. Today, we’re going to spend time on the new Windows Live Essentials. Windows Live Essentials – the essential software for Windows Windows Live Essentials includes Messenger, Mail, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Writer, Sync and Family Safety. Essentials is available for free and in many cases may already be installed on your PC with Windows. If not, you can get it from http://download.live.com. In the upcoming release, we focused on achieving two important goals with Essentials: Making everyday tasks simpler and enabling new possibilities on your PCConnecting Windo…

Do you type enough on your iPad that you can make the case for a keyboard, but don't want to lug around a separate input device? ClamCase might have your answer: the first iPad case designed with an integrated keyboard. While there's no set ship date, much less a price, ClamCase has managed to design a pretty slick housing for the iPad. A video rendering of the case shows how it can be used in laptop mode, or in a tablet setting with the top portion folded backward. There's no official word on availability yet; ClamCase claims it'll ship "later this year," whatever that means. Their website is currently being Slashdotted, so everyone's in the dark regarding pri…

Seagate, the worldwide leader in hard drives and storage solutions, today introduced the next evolution of the company's award-winning FreeAgent external hard drives—its new GoFlex storage solutions. This new family of external drives and accessories introduces a new level of flexibility to traditional USB 2.0 storage that will change the way people store, access, enjoy and share their digital content. The FreeAgent GoFlex storage family includes easy, plug-and-play portable and desktop drives, with an array of interchangeable cables and desktop adapters that allow each drive to adapt to the interface or device being used. GoFlex hard disk drives are also specially des…

Microsoft has already started building Windows 7’s successor, a release referred to as Windows 8, but the company is keeping all details under a tightly closed lid. This is, of course, of no surprise, especially considering that the company is mum on Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), which, by all accounts, is much closer. Market analysis firm Gartner is telling business customers not to wait for Windows 8, especially if they continue to be running Windows XP. Gartner is advising customers to start planning for the migration to Windows 7 by the end of 2010. Fact is that, while XP might seem to still have a lot of life left in it, companies need to start upgrading lo…

In mid-March 2010, Microsoft started the discussion on the first service pack for Windows 7. While announcing that the successor of Windows Vista was poised to get nothing more than a minor upgrade with SP1, the Redmond company did indicate that new features would be introduced, but focused on Windows Server 2008 R2. Because they share the same core, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 will receive a single service pack together. However, based on the actual operating system, customers will be able to enjoy features such as RemoteFX and Dynamic Memory, or not. Both RemoteFX and Dynamic Memory are reserved for Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, with Microsoft having yet to di…

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware has been an excellent anti-malware application since it was first released to the public in January of 2008. Previously you had to purchase a license online. But now, that's changing. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware is now being sold in retail stores for around $29.99. A few of the benefits of the paid version over the free version are is that the paid version provides scheduled scans, real-time protection and a flash memory scanner. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware is now moving into retail stores in addition to online sales. If you would like to own a Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware retail box, you can find them at a Fry's Electronics store or on the F…

The developers of the open-source cross-platform video player VLC have released a version that supports the new WebM video format, which Google open-sourced at its developers conference last week. VLC 1.1.0 Release Candidate 1 also comes with support for hardware-based decoding of H.264-encoded video on some platforms. The new version of the software can be downloaded here (hat tip to The H). The release of a standalone player for WebM video represents a significant step for the adoption of the new video format. Up until now, users had to download special nightly builds of Firefox, Chrome or Opera to play WebM videos on their systems, and not everyone is …

VirtualBox is a family of powerful x86 virtualization products for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). See "About VirtualBox" for an introduction. Presently, VirtualBox runs on Windows, Linux and Macintosh hosts and supports a large number of guest operating systems including but not limited to Windows (NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista), DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4 and 2.6), and OpenBSD. Download: VirtualBox 3.2.2 View: …

OpenOffice.org is the open source project through which Sun Microsystems is releasing the technology for the popular StarOffice productivity suite. It is an international office suite that will run on all major platforms and provide access to all functionality and data through open-component based APIs and an XML-based file format. It establishes the necessary facilities to make this open source technology available to the developer community. OpenOffice.org is a multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project. Compatible with all other major office suites, the product is free to download, use, and distribute. Download: OpenOffice.org 3.0.0 | …

Pidgin is a multi-protocol instant messaging (IM) client for Linux, BSD, MacOS X, and Windows. It is compatible with AIM and ICQ (Oscar protocol), MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, SILC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, Lotus Sametime, and Zephyr networks. Gaim users can log in to multiple accounts on multiple IM networks simultaneously. This means that you can be chatting with friends on AOL Instant Messenger, talking to a friend on Yahoo Messenger, and sitting in an IRC channel all at the same time. Pidgin supports many features of the various networks, such as file transfer, away messages, and typing notification. It also goes beyond that and provides many uniq…

NexusFont Windows Font Viewer / Manager If you have been searching for an alternative to the somewhat clumsy way Windows handles working with fonts, NexusFont may be the tool for you. NexusFont Features: Supports TrueType, OpenType, Adobe Type1 Fonts Install, Uninstall Fonts Find Duplicates, Add Tags Print, Export as Image Anti-Aliasing, Rename, Multi-Language Support Intuitive Search Tool Create Groups and Sets Supports Windows XP, 2003, Vista, 7 Small, Free, and Portable (zip version) Download: NexusFont v2.5.2 (.zip) NexusFont Help: Online Help in English Homepage: NexusFont on the Web Note: NexusFont will want to check for updates, creating a …

CCleaner 2.32.1165 May 26, 2010 CCleaner is a system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware! Download: CCleaner v2.32.1165 Standard / CCleaner v2.32.1165 Slim Release Notes: Screenshots: CCleaner Screenshots Homepage: CCleaner on the Web

Pidgin is a multi-protocol instant messaging (IM) client for Linux, BSD, MacOS X, and Windows. It is compatible with AIM and ICQ (Oscar protocol), MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, SILC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, Lotus Sametime, and Zephyr networks. Gaim users can log in to multiple accounts on multiple IM networks simultaneously. This means that you can be chatting with friends on AOL Instant Messenger, talking to a friend on Yahoo Messenger, and sitting in an IRC channel all at the same time. Pidgin supports many features of the various networks, such as file transfer, away messages, and typing notification. It also goes beyond that and provides many uniq…

foobar2000 is a comprehensive, easy to use audio player for Windows. Featuring full Unicode support, advanced tagging capabilities, customizable hotkeys, ReplayGain to help correct your audio and many more useful utilities to assist your media library. There are multiple ways to configure and customize your user interface. foobar's developer also includes an open component architecture allowing third-party developers to extend functionality of the player. foobar2000 allows you to easily use multiple playlists and utilize features to remove both duplicates and dead items. foobar handles multiple popular audio formats, including: MP1, MP2, MP3, MP4, MPC, AAC, Ogg Vorbis,…

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware is a full-blown anti-malware program that has recently left the labs and can be considered the next step in the detection and removal of malware. Malwarebytes Team put together a host of new technologies that were specially designed to quickly detect, deter and destroy any malware that could reside in your computer. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware monitors every process and actually stops malicious processes before they even start. It uses an impressive technology that is in fact a completely novel way of heuristic scanning and it is the teams response to the increasingly complex malware threats. And, as they did with Malwarebytes' RogueRemover we…

CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. CCleaner can also clean very quickly, usually taking about ten seconds to run. Download: CCleaner 2.31.1153 Slim Screenshot: Image Previews View: Version History Homepage: CCleaner Source: Lunarsoft

Ubuntu is a free open source operating system, a Linux distribution. LTS means that it is a Long Term Support release. It includes a new theme, Ubuntu One Music Store (DRM-free), and is social from the start with integrated support for Facebook and Twitter. http://www.ubuntu.com/ http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/1004features http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_%28operating_system%29 I got an SSD and on my computer it boots in 6 seconds! ;)