British authorities are asking Microsoft to build a back door into the
encryption system to be used in the forthcoming Vista operating system:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4713018.stm
EEYE Digital Security discovers a critical bug in Windows Media Player. An
unchecked buffer overflow in WMP allows malware to be embedded in BMP files:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=29698
Now even phising sites are getting themselves valid SSL certificates. One
wonders what SSL certification fees are actually for:
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/02/the_new_face_of_phishing_1.html
PalmSource reveales details of its Linux-based mobile phone OS, ALP.
This can run legacy Palm OS apps, Java apps, and native Linux/GTK:
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS4663700447.html
http://www.access.co.jp/english/press/060214.html
The Nokia 6136 phone has both GSM and WiFi connectivity, with smooth handover of
calls between the two. Expected to be available Q2 2006:
http://press.nokia.com/PR/200602/1034442_5.html
Sanyo and Nokia form a joint venture to make CDMA phones for the American
market. Nokia's stake in the venture will be a minority one:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2006-02-14T164825Z_01_T114837_RTRUKOC_0_US-SANYO-NOKIA.xml&archived=False
The first "space elevator" cable, a mere mile high, is tested in the Arizona
desert. The robot climber got about 460 metres up:
http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn8725
An improved form of the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) called FIRAT is produced
that is 100x faster and can reveal details on surface interaction:
http://www.gatech.edu/news-room/release.php?id=858
And finally. A joint UK/.Japan university team develop a hexapod robot
controlled by slime mould, emulating the mentality of a TXTing driver:
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8718
News collated from various sources by Vik Olliver for Diamond Age Solutions Ltd. The views presented in this document are the personal opinion of the collator, and should not be taken as any more than that.