The Register

SanDisk flashes notebook flash
Third generation with the secret sauce

SanDisk has unveiled faster notebook flash SSDs using its ExtremeFFS technology and with a new controller, a day after attacking the netbook market.?

Carder linked to TJX hack jailed for 30 years by Turkish court
Ukrainian boards Midnight Express

A Ukrainian fraudster linked to the infamous TJX hack was sentenced to a 30 year prison sentence in Turkey on unrelated charges this week.?

Asus demos touchscreen Eee
Swivelling screen for tablet use

CES Asus has treated CES attendees to a preview of its upcoming touchscreen Eee PC.?

Wrath of Spielberg smites Welsh uni leaflet
Unauthorised use of image, lawyers thunder

The "little-known" Lampeter campus of the University of Wales is certainly now familiar to Steven Spielberg's lawyers after they fired off a letter to the seat of learning accusing it of using the director's image without his permission.?

The incredible vanishing Satyam boss
Profits evaporate, chairman disappears

Satyam's founder and chairman B Ramalinga Raju has disappeared, a day after he admitted to years of false accounting at the outsourcing giant.?

Powermat cuts ties with cabled power
Wireless charging for phones and laptops

CES Power sockets clogged with gadget chargers and swamped by a cable spaghetti will soon be just a memory, if Powermat has its way.?

Virus peddlers set up shop on Google code project
Skin-flick codec scams follow MSN Spaces abuse

Internet scoundrels have begun abusing Google code hosting projects to distribute malware and promote smut. The assault follows a bout of the same kind of abuse against Microsoft's comparable MSN Spaces beta site dating back a year, net security firm McAfee reports.?

US doc demands $1.5m for donated organ
Missus runs off with kids, kidney

A US doctor is demanding his ex-missus stump $1.5m after she ran off with their three kids and one of his kidneys, the New York Daily News reports.?

Deception of 'up to' broadband speeds exposed
Ofcom reveals true download speeds

The average downstream broadband speed received by consumers is just 3.6Mbit/s, according to data released today from the most accurate UK internet access survey ever published.?

Where will EMC's restructuring axe fall?
Content Management and Archiving is sick

Comment The years of unrelenting double digit quarterly growth are over - VMware's growth is falling back, and EMC's mighty revenue train is slowing as it hits the steep recession grade. CEO Joe Tucci is starting to throw excess weight off the Hopkinton express.?

Wired

Video: Windows 7 Beta Unveiled at CES Keynote
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer kicked off CES 2009 with a keynote full of notable announcements. Microsoft showed off Windows 7 Beta, Windows Live, a flexible display, and boasted big spending on research and developement over the past year.

Pentagon Wants Loving Chat-Bot to Calm Troops' Kids
The Defense Department wants help in developing a robot that can soothe the children of soldiers posted overseas by mimicking the missing parent. Not everyone thinks this is a great idea.

Obama Still Fighting For His Right To Blackberry
There aren't many people who can tell the president of the United States what to do, but Barack Obama acknowledges that he is still in "a scuffle" with the Secret Service (and his lawyers) over his beloved Blackberry, which they say he must give up. The president-elect hasn't used the "cold, dead hands" defense yet -- but it ain't over until it's over.

The Polaroid is Back -- In Digital (Shaking Still Pointless)
Polaroid is set to announce Thursday at CES that it is introducing a $200 digital camera that produces prints right on the spot. You can even call them "instant" prints, but they take nearly a minute to appear, so they're only as "instant" as the old film prints. Essentially, the PoGo is a camera that contains a built-in color printer.

Viewer's Cut: Interactive Film Gives Editing Tools to You

Watch Late Fragment straight through and you won't really understand why a young woman kills her doting father. Take control of the film, unlocking hidden footage and shuffling scenes around, and you learn that Dad may dote a little too much. Because the truth is, our perception of stories and characters shifts as we learn more about them. On this filmfest-and-DVD-only feature from a trio of Canadians, you delve deeper by using your remote: Click at the beginning of a scene and you'll be taken somewhere totally different than if you do so at the end. Any given viewing might weave 90 or so of the 139 available scenes into a Pulp Fiction-like circular story arc.

Inspired by videogames and multi- and nonlinear films like The Usual Suspects and Memento, the auteurs linked the scenes together with an interactive video system used by the likes of Daft Punk and Radiohead. "Audiences are getting used to participating in their entertainment experience," says Ana Serrano, one of Fragment's producers. "And we wanted that participation to be on two levels: physical, by clicking the remote, and also cognitive, where audiences are trying to figure out what's happening in front of them."

Next, Serrano teams up with Fragment codirector Anita Doron to make an interactive musical, which will use Blu-ray technology to let viewers save specific scene paths. "There are users who become obsessed with their cut of the film, and they won't stray from it," she says. Sounds like every director in Hollywood.

How it works
In Late Fragment, group therapy scenes function as a visual menu. Click when Theo is in the frame to find out why he cuts himself, or click when you see Faye to learn who she's visiting in jail. Why is Kevin waiting so calmly for the police? Click your remote to learn more.

Think Your Desktop Is Cluttered? Try World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft authorName= Robert Ashley and Daniel Salo -->

Beware, all ye who enter World of Warcraft. For here you will find an insanely obstructive mosaic of menus, Health bars, widgets, and chat windows. Well, if you play it right, like we do.

As Blizzard Entertainment's designers created it, WoW is set in a pretty, almost placid Tolkienesque universe. But for the hardcore gamer, that pristine landscape is begging for augmentation. There's just too much to track: At any given moment, a player might be expected to coordinate an upcoming event with scores of guildmates across four continents, juggle a massive inventory of items, and track online auctions, all while fighting wave after wave of evil trolls. Here's a look at a typical WoW desktop, with explanations for n00bs.

1 Ventrilo // When dozens of players need to coordinate, text chat just won't do—voicechat app Ventrilo helps prevent anarchy. It's a party line for orcs and gnomes.

2 Cartographer // The standard map in WoW is woefully inadequate. This add-on highlights important locations, like resource-rich mining nodes.

3 Character Status // This little display tracks your avatar's well-being. When the green Health bar gets low, it's time to break out some healing potion.

4 Bartender // These buttons represent your character's available actions, from sorcery to swordplay. High-level players who've amassed scores of abilities need Bartender to keep them all straight.

5 Auctioneer Suite // Shopping for some new Leggings of Beast Mastery? This bot scans auction houses and ranks goods by price and availability.

6 ItemRack // It never fails—dress in a cotton tunic and leather trousers and suddenly a wave of murlocs attacks. Changing into armor takes forever, but ItemRack lets you switch into battle gear with a single click.

7 Combuctor // This search function helps sift through the hundreds of outfits, keys, potions, and weapons in your inventory.

8 Group Calendar // Just because you live in your mom's basement doesn't mean you can't network like a big shot CEO. This calendar helps guilds coordinate 40- player, eight-hour raids.

9 Bejeweled // Worried that 30 hours a week of WoW isn't enough gaming? Fire up this game-within-a-game version of the addictive puzzler Bejeweled to fill in the inevitable downtime.

10 Twobox Toolkit // The pink chat text is being generated by TwoBox, an app that helps players control two or more characters at once. "Dual boxers" log in their extra avatar on a second computer and keep tabs on it through text chat.

Sporty BMW Pocket Truck Runs Errands in Style — for a Sticker-Shock Price
BMW's pocket truck is handsome and well equipped, and you'll love the company's trademark sports-car feel. But is it worth the hefty price tag?

Jan. 8, 1790: Father Knows Best — Embrace Science

1790: During his first ? and the nation's first ? State of the Union address, President George Washington urges the young nation to encourage the sciences and literature, calling knowledge "the surest basis for public happiness."

He also called for importing "useful inventions from abroad" while encouraging homegrown genius to flourish, by means of offering patent protection for inventors.

Attaching importance to the study of science and literature reflected not only Washington's views, but the general attitude of the gentry toward classical education. The Founding Fathers, most of who came from this class, were children of the Enlightenment, the philosophy of rationalism that rose in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Faith in science was a central pillar of that philosophy.

Washington, of course, was also looking to the country's economic future, not to mention its military security.

Washington, who delivered his address at Federal Hall in New York City, saw these kinds of presidential pronouncements as a unifying force. He was also fulfilling his obligation to the Constitution, which stipulates that the president "shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient."

That first address was focused very much on the business of nation-building. Among Washington's other suggestions:

The establishment of a strong standing army. ("To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.")

The establishment of a national university to bind the "seminaries of learning already established."

That the government should be able to "distinguish between oppression and necessary exercise of lawful authority."

To welcome immigration as a means of helping the country grow.

To provide a means of "pacifying" restive Indian tribes posing a threat to settlers encroaching on their lands.

In response to Washington's request , Congress passed a patent act. Washington signed it into law April 10, and the United States granted its first patent July 31, 1790.

Source: Various

Microsoft Releases Windows 7 Beta as a Free Download
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer uses his first appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show to announce that his company will make the Windows 7 beta available worldwide as a free download this week.

Terror, Anthrax, Explosives and More in Free, Downloadable 'Counterterrorism ...
The Justice Department puts out a free 2009 calendar depicting some of America's most wanted terror suspects, complete with info on explosives and biological and chemical threats. Get yours while supplies last.

MacWorld News

Take your iPod for a spin with new Philips offering
The SBD8100 and SBD700, announced by Philips as part of the Consumer Electronics Show, feature a rotating dock for realigning your iPod to a horizontal orientation.



by Blair Hanley Frank
8 Jan 2009 at 11:29am

Expo Notes: HP serves up product news
Among the highlights from Hewlett-Packard at this week?s Macworld Expo are its cross-platform MediaSmart Server and an iPhone app that lets you print photos directly from your mobile device.



by James Galbraith
8 Jan 2009 at 11:11am

CES: New SD standard will allow for 2TB cards
The SD Association released a new memory card specification that could drive storage of SD media to 2TB.



by Agam Shah
8 Jan 2009 at 10:33am

Expo creative tools: Pretty prints and stock audio clips
Two things that caught Kelly Turner?s eye during this week?s Macworld Expo: Mpix.com?s Press series for printing photo books, calendars, and cards on beautiful papers, and iStockphoto.com?s plans to bring audio clips to its stock image and video site.



by Kelly Turner
8 Jan 2009 at 10:30am

Alternative methods of zooming in Excel 2008
Learn some other ways to increase or decrease the zoom level for your Excel 2008 worksheets.



by Rob Griffiths
8 Jan 2009 at 10:17am

CES: PC is just one of ?three screens,? Ballmer says
Computing has spread from PCs to phones and TVs, and Windows will be on them all, CEO Ballmer said Wednesday.



by James Niccolai
8 Jan 2009 at 4:05am

Expo: Intuit prepping native app for Quicken.com users
Look for a native app in two to three months that ties into the online personal finance service run by Intuit.



by Philip Michaels
8 Jan 2009 at 3:55am

Expo: Paragon Software releases ?talking? dictionaires for OS X
The maker of electronic dictionaries for mobile devices and PCs is bringing 30 SlovoEd dictionaries to the Mac platform.



by Dale Roe
8 Jan 2009 at 3:44am

Town Hall gives clues to future directions for Macworld Expo
In front of a standing room-only crowd Wednesday night, Expo organizers, exhibitors, and attendees discussed ideas about the future of the annual Mac trade show now that Apple has said it won?t attend future events.



by Jim Dalrymple
8 Jan 2009 at 3:29am

Review: Dropship for iPhone
This retro-style space shooter requires you to navigate through increasingly intricate levels to retrieve cargo. Ngmoco?s game offers a surprising amount of fun.



by Chris Barylick
8 Jan 2009 at 2:07am

US CERT Technical Cyber Alert System Documents

SB09-005: Vulnerability Summary for the Week of December 29, 2008
Vulnerability Summary for the Week of December 29, 2008

SB08-364: Vulnerability Summary for the Week of December 22, 2008
Vulnerability Summary for the Week of December 22, 2008

SB08-357: Vulnerability Summary for the Week of December 15, 2008
Vulnerability Summary for the Week of December 15, 2008

TA08-352A: Microsoft Internet Explorer Data Binding Vulnerability
Microsoft Internet Explorer Data Binding Vulnerability

TA08-350A: Apple
Apple

SB08-350: Vulnerability Summary for the Week of December 8, 2008
Vulnerability Summary for the Week of December 8, 2008

TA08-344A: Microsoft Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities
Microsoft Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities

SB08-343: Vulnerability Summary for the Week of December 1, 2008
Vulnerability Summary for the Week of December 1, 2008

TA08-340A: Sun Java Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities
Sun Java Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities

SB08-336: Vulnerability Summary for the Week of November 24, 2008
Vulnerability Summary for the Week of November 24, 2008

Slashdot

Sophos Latest Virus Alerts

8 Jan 2009 Mal/Banker-G

8 Jan 2009 Troj/Bckdr-QRB

8 Jan 2009 Troj/DwnLd-L

8 Jan 2009 Troj/FakeAle-KU

8 Jan 2009 Troj/FakeAle-KV

8 Jan 2009 Troj/Renos-CI

8 Jan 2009 Troj/Dloadr-CEL

8 Jan 2009 Troj/Dwnldr-HMU

8 Jan 2009 Troj/Dwnldr-HMV

8 Jan 2009 Troj/PWS-AXP

Notebook Computers from Amazon