] Microsoft pulled a security improvement for its Windows
] XP operating system after it apparently crippled many of
] the Internet connections of the roughly 600,000 users who
] installed it. According to this Associated Press report,
] the patch ('recommended' update 818043) was posted on the
] Windows-Update service last Friday, but didn't quite get
] along with Symantec products. The patch was intended to
] modify the way IPSec encryption was utilized by machines
] behind firewalls, as well as to improve the support of
] virtual private network VPN clients behind network
] address translation (NAT) hardware.

So what else is new?

broadband » News » MS Recalls Troublesome Patch - Windows XP Update pulls internet plug for many

] When June Medford came up with the idea to use tiny weeds
] as weapons in the war against terrorism, she figured most
] people would call it a joke. But the federal government
] didn't laugh.
]
] Now, armed with a half million-dollar grant from the
] Pentagon, the Colorado State University plant biologist
] is trying to genetically engineer Arabidopsis plants to
] change color rapidly if they sense a biological or
] chemical agent.
]
] If her plan works, the technology could be used to turn
] forest evergreens, backyard shrubs or even pond algae
] into sentinels for scientists. One day, everyone in
] America might be able to use a cheap houseplant as an
] early-warning system. It could be the proverbial canary
] in a coal mine for the post-Sept. 11 age.

Bugs, weeds, houseplants could join the war on terror

Need web-based access to WHOIS, reverse lookup, ping, tracert, spam database lookup, IP routiong info and more? Check this site out for several useful networking tools.

DNS Stuff: DNS tools, WHOIS, tracert, ping, and other network tools.

] Sharman Networks said its Kazaa file-sharing software was
] on track to set a record Friday as it becomes the
] most-popular free program on the Web with over 230
] million downloads.
]
] By hitting that total, Shaman said Kazaa would surpass
] the popular ICQ instant messaging program, owned by CNN's
] parent company AOL Time Warner.

Fuck Kazaa and its spyware. http://www.winmx.com for your P2P file sharing needs - spyware free! Spread the good word!

Most downloaded program on the Web?

] It was once the stuff of science fiction movies: soldiers
] equipped with high-tech gear that made them stronger,
] swifter and smarter %u2014 invulnerable to bullets and
] able to survive the harshest conditions.
]
] On Thursday, the U.S. Army and the Massachusetts
] Institute of Technology unveiled a joint project that
] generals and scientists said could make fiction a reality
] within this decade.
]
] The new Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies at MIT
] will use a five-year, $50 million grant from the Army to
] develop tiny machines that are the size of molecules to
] give U.S. military personnel an edge on the battlefield.
]
] Some of the ideas being explored include battle suits
] that are embedded with tiny devices that can seal against
] chemical attack, administer immediate medical care and
] even %u2014 no joke, scientists say %u2014 give soldiers
] the power to leap small buildings.

I ***NEED*** some of those pants! :D

Laughing Boy

High-tech project aims to make super-soldiers

Requires Java.

Visual Google Browser. Type in a URL, and it displays a visual representation of that URL and all the other URLs that are related to it (somewhat similar to visualthesaurus.com, if you've played with that).

Extremely cool to look at and play with.

TouchGraph GoogleBrowser V1.01

Elonka wrote:
] ] This VisualRoute Server provides a graphical traceroute
] ] from this server to any other network device you choose,
] ] useful for pinpointing network connectivity problems and
] ] identifying IP addresses. To trace back to your computer,
] ] just press the button with your IP address below. To
] ] trace to any other network device, enter the host name or
] ] URL below and press Enter.
]
] Requires Java. Watch a visual trace route appear, overlaid
] against a map of the world, as it runs a tracert to far away
] domains (for example, try bbc.co.uk for England, or
] yellowpages.com.au for Australia).

VERY cool! Thanks Elonka! :)

RE: Visual Trace Route

] The Senate agreed Tuesday to lift a 10-year-old ban on
] the research and development of low-yield nuclear
] weapons. The vote was a boost to the Bush
] administration's goal of expanding the U.S. nuclear
] arsenal.
]
] The Senate voted 51-43 to table and thus kill
] an amendment to keep the ban in place.
]
] The ban prohibits the research and development of nuclear
] weapons with an explosive force of 5 kilotons of less.
] That is one-third the power of the nuclear bomb used at
] Hiroshima in August 1945.
]
] "Don't think low-yield, think small apocalypse," said
] Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. "There is no military need today.
] What we do here will be emulated by other countries. That
] is the nature of world leadership."
]
] But Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., said the ban means
] scientists cannot even start developing new weapons.
]
] "With many of the new and emerging threats in the world,
] we cannot afford to be ill-prepared," he said.

Why? Why why WHY?? Why are we trying to develop more nuclear weapons? "low yield" weapons are not needed - the recently developed MOAB is as powerful as a low yield nuke, and doesn't have the fallout associated with it - either nuclear OR political fallout. If we use a tactical nuke in battle, thats a "green light" for every rogue nation to use them, and then all hell breaks loose. We need to keep the nuclear genie in the bottle where it belongs.

Laughing Boy

Senate OKs ending ban on nuclear research

] SAN DIEGO Rarely is an invention so unique, so
] visceral and so simple that in 15 seconds most people who
] experience it realize it could alter everyday life.
]
] But that's what happens to just about anyone who steps
] out to the back parking lot of American Technology Corp.
] (ATC) here for a demonstration of its invention called
] HyperSonic Sound (HSS).
]
] Essentially, HSS for the first time does for sound what
] the laser did for light %u2014 intensely focuses and
] channels it so it can travel great distances without
] dispersing. In the demo, a technician points a speaker
] the size of a cereal box at someone standing 100 yards
] away. Amid the din of the nearby freeway, the technician
] plays a recording of ice cubes clinking into a glass.
]
] To the listener, the sound comes across as if it were
] through headphones, totally unlike a sound blaring from a
] distant speaker over oppressive car noise. Take two steps
] to the side, out of the sound beam, and you hear nothing
] at all. Step back in, and there it is again.

EXTREME coolness! Coherent audio??? I want!

Laughing Boy

Sound technology turns the way you hear on its ear

] Software maker Roxio announced Monday it has acquired
] online music service pressplay for about $40 million, in
] preparation for the relaunch of a new service under the
] Napster brand name.
]
] Santa Clara-based Roxio bought pressplay for $12.5
] million in cash and approximately 3.9 million shares of
] Roxio common stock. Pressplay, based in Los Angeles, is
] the joint venture of Universal Music Group and Sony Music
] Entertainment, record companies that were seeking a legal
] alternative to Napster.
]
] Roxio bought the Napster brand on the cheap after the
] company dissolved, and appears ready to relaunch the
] brand as an online music store.
]
] "With our acquisition of Napster we obtained the most
] powerful brand in the online music space. Now, with our
] acquisition of pressplay, we have the most complete and
] scaleable legal technology infrastructure to use as a
] platform to relaunch Napster," said Roxio's chairman and
] CEO, Chris Gorog.

Napster to relaunch