802.11n draft proposal approved

The standards body for the electronics industry, the IEEE, has voted to accept a working draft specification for the emerging 802.11n standard for wireless networking. The unanimous vote accepting a Joint Proposal specification took place during the IEEE's bi-monthly meeting in Kona, Hawaii. ...more

Google feedback flaw leaves way for phishing

An Italian computer expert has discovered a bug in Google's feedback pages that allows the insertion of code that can be used in phishing scams. Salvatore Aranzulla found that because Google fails to filter text entered on the User Feedback page, the sub domains Google uses to serve its text and image-based adverts can be used to modify the page by entering HTML or Javascript code into the feedback field. Any browser with JavaScript enabled would fall foul of this flaw, and Aranzulla includes a link to show such an exploit in action. ...more

ATi thinks media encoding is better in software

Doing MPEG2 encoding in hardware is no longer necessary, according to ATi. Its new app takes advantage of powerful processors to offer this function in software and free up a PCI slot in computers. ATi's software MPEG2 encoder for PCs, the ALL-IN-WONDER Encode, means that the company can combine TV card capabilities on a single AGP graphics card. ...more

IBM drops some counterclaims against SCO

IBM has dropped a number of counterclaims against its opponent SCO because it believes it is not economically worthwhile to do so. In other words, SCO is too small a fish to fry for a slice of its sales. The decision to drop four of IBM's patent counterclaims surfaced in a document filed Thursday in opposition to SCO's requests for an additional 25 depositions. ...more

InDesign plug-ins mark the end for PageMaker

Adobe is to discontinue development of its PageMaker page layout software by offering existing users an upgrade path via new plug-ins for InDesign. The decision will mean the end for the software which was originally developed by the now-defunct Aldus and was central to the desktop publishing revolution of the 1980s. Adobe InDesign CS PageMaker Edition comprises the full version of InDesign CS plus the PageMaker Plug-in Pack, which adds a number of PageMaker tools including: story editor, control palette, PageMaker toolbar, position tool, build booklet, data merge and bullets and numbering. ...more