Information, Knowledge, Science & Technology

The Inquirer : "CRACKERS have unleashed a worm with a Crimbo theme. Dasher, more famous for being the name of one of Santa’s reindeer, has been evolving over the last few weeks and can now turn off antivirus applications, allow remote access to a computer system and scan and infect other vulnerable computers". Read More

Information Week : "Earbud headphones, the type that rest inside the ear, can lead to permanent damage after just an hour of high-volume music in the 110- to 120-decibel range, equivalent to the noise level of a concert." The earbud-style headphones packaged with iPod and MP3 players can cause serious hearing loss, a Northwestern University professor and audiologist said last week. "Insert earphones can boost the signal by as much as six to nine decibels. That's about the difference between the sound of a vacuum cleaner and a motorcycle," said Dean Garstecki, a professor at Northwestern in a statement. "It's a significant difference." Earbud headphones, the type that rest inside the ear, can lead to permanent damage after just an hour of high-volume music in the 110-120 decibel range, equivalent to the noise level of a concert, Garstecki said. The large amount of storage space on iPods also contributes to problems, said Garstecki. ...

vnunet.com : "Microsoft plans to discontinue support for its Internet Explorer browser on Mac OS X at the end of this year. The software developer mothballed the browser, which is currently on version 5.2, in June 2003 after Apple released Safari. Development ever since has been limited to the release of security patches." Microsoft's website as recent as last November touted Internet Explorer as an "award winning" browser that "makes it easy to view and find information on the internet." That webpage was changed last week and is now informing visitors that: "In accordance with published support lifecycle policies, Microsoft will end support for Internet Explorer for Mac on December 31st, 2005, and will provide no further security or performance updates." Microsoft plans to pull the download from its website on 31 January. Internet Explorer was once the dominant web browser on the Mac platform and was bundled with the OS X operating...