Microsoft's update to its anti-piracy tool is now available via Windows Update, the company has confirmed. Called Windows Activation Technologies, or WAT, the update adds technology to detect some 70 activation exploits that pirates have come up with to bypass Windows 7's activation protections, according to Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).

"This update for Windows Activation Technologies helps detect validation errors and activation exploits. This update also detects any tampering attempts made to important Windows 7 system files," Microsoft said in a Knowledge Base article describing the update.

The article adds that many hacked copies of Windows 7 are also infected with malware -- malicious code meant to violate the user's computer security, steal information or hold the PC hostage, for instance.
source : internetnews

The decision by Google Inc to join battle with the Chinese government censors and hackers adds huge drama and immediacy to a long-running story. This interesting battle features two very different but hard-nosed protagonists. It is difficult to imagine either side emerging with glory, but in Thailand and most other countries, Google has already taken the high ground. China has the means to win this conflict. But Beijing risks alienating huge numbers of its own citizens as well as much of the world if it simply escalates its disagreeable positions over freedom and crime on the internet. read more...

Google gave the first public look at its Chrome OS four months after declaring its intention of developing the PC's main software, a move that pits it directly against Microsoft Corp and Apple Inc. True to Google's Internet-pedigree, the Chrome OS resembles a Web browser more than it does a traditional computer operating system like Microsoft Windows, matching Google's ambition to drive people to the Web -- where they can see Google ads. Google said the software will initially be available by the holiday season of 2010 on low-cost netbooks that meet Google's hardware specifications, such as using only memory chips to store data instead of slower hard drives, the current standard. Netbooks running Chrome OS will only be able to run Web applications and the user's data will automatically be stored on the Web in the so-called cloud of Internet servers, Google executives said at an event at the company's Mountain View, California headquarters on Thursday. "It's basically a Web browsing machine," said Altimeter Group analyst Charlene Li, referring to the netbooks powered by Chrome OS. read more...

Now there's a new diet trend for people who love the Internet and shame in equal measure.

It's called Tweet What You Eat (TWYE), and it's basically an online food journal. Except that unlike most food journals, this one gets shared with the public, so the entire world gets to know that you just ate an entire can of whipped cream for funzies. The idea is that once you know everything that you're eating, you can tell where most of your calories are coming from and get your diet under control -- TWYE just has the added bonus of making you really embarrassed about pigging out on Wheat Thins.

While we won't argue that keeping a food journal can be very helpful for people trying to lose weight, it's the notion of also sharing it with the world and setting yourself up for fear of judgment from others that really takes this diet from handy online calorie counter to new method of dietary torture. Besides, do you really think we care what the Internet thinks of our breakfast cookie habit?

We knew it was coming soon, and now we know when: tomorrow, or - depending on whether you read this post before midnight - today. Yes, Microsoft Security Essentials is set to shed the beta tag and will be available for public download starting September 29, 2009. Many of our readers have been using the successor to Live OneCare since it first appeared as a leaked (and then official) beta build back in June of this year. Reviews have generally been very favorable. MSE has been praised for its good detection rates, infrequent false positives, scanning performance, and minimal resource utilization.

Once the download is live, you'll be able get Security Essentials right from Microsoft's web site. Chances are good that you will also be able to get your hands on the final version from Softpedia - just in case you need a backup plan. MSE will be offered to users in 19 countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

A ring of Indonesian hackers on Monday claimed to have attacked a list of more than 120 Web sites as retribution for Malaysia’s alleged theft of Indonesian cultural items and abuse of migrant workers.

A statement was posted on a Blogspot blog titled "Terselubung" saying that a number of Malaysian Web sites had been hacked and defaced to “celebrate” Malaysia’s Independence Day, which fell on Monday August 31.

“Today, August 31, 2009, an uncreative country, a country who likes to steal Indonesian culture, a country whose citizen is the mastermind of bombings in Indonesia, a country who has tortured many of our sisters — the migrant workers who worked there, a country who abused our national anthem, a country who harassed Indonesia on the Internet, a country that has stolen Sipadan and Ligitan islands, a country which has trespassed our water illegally, a country which received their independence from Britain, is celebrating its anniversary,” the Web site stated.