Basic Computer User

Firefox boss fumes as Apple ’forces’ Safari upgrade
Mozilla CEO John Lilly has hit out at Apple, accusing the company of doing a disservice to Windows users everywhere by including its Safari browser as a default add-on installation in the latest iTunes update, likening it to the way malware is distributed. more

Microsoft investigates targeted Word security flaw
Microsoft on Monday said that it is looking into a vulnerability that could affect users of Microsoft Word. more

How much money do we waste by leaving a monitor on for 16 hours?
I want to encourage members of my staff to turn off their monitors overnight. more

Microsoft admits it knew about, but didn’t patch, bugs
Microsoft’s security team Tuesday acknowledged that it knew of bugs in its Jet Database Engine as far bask as 2005 but did not patch the problems because it thought it had blocked the obvious attack vector. more

We are seeing dramatic increases in spam across the world.
Our expectation from the global trends is that spam will only increase. NetBox Blue chairman, John Fison, said.

XP Service Pack 3 remains in testing
Microsoft releases a new test version of the Windows XP update, with final availability still slated for sometime in the first half of this year. more

Windows XP may get new reprieve
Deadline looms for big PC makers to stop preloading the older OS, but signs suggest Microsoft will have to issue another extension. more

Red Hat: Open source driven by anti-US sentiment
Anti-U.S. feelings are boosting the international market for open source software, according to the president and chief executive of Red Hat, Jim Whitehurst. Other commentators prefer to credit national pride in non-U.S. countries. more

Mozilla fixes critical Firefox, Thunderbird flaws
Mozilla has fixed seven vulnerabilities in the latest release of Firefox, with SeaMonkey and Thunderbird also affected. more

Vista SP1 fails to spark migration
Microsoft’s latest efforts to persuade customers to upgrade to its much-maligned Vista operating system have met with a cool response from users. more

Microsoft steps up work with police
Microsoft has been stepping up its co-operation with law enforcement communities worldwide in an effort to combat electronic crime. more

Google board opposes ethical stance
Google’s board is asking shareholders to vote down attempts to set up a review body to examine the company’s role in human rights and to take any steps to stop web censorship. more

Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit (Version 7.2x)
This is a free tool for all you lucky people who have a personal computer not on a commercial network access here

Attackers booby-trap searches at top Web sites
Growing number of sites are affected including USAToday.com, Target.com, Walmart.com, and several sites owned by CNET Networks, the publisher of News.com. More...

Wikipedia hits 10 million total articles Including entries in approximately 250 languages, user-created encyclopedia marks a milestone. more

Google in trouble over data security
Organisations and individuals using Google’s applications suite have no right to data privacy, a case in arbitration has shown. more

Miss Bimbo game sparks outrage
An online game aimed at young girls has sparked outrage among parents for encouraging children to have plastic surgery and take diet pills. more

Microsoft updates Excel security patch
Microsoft has issued an update for a flaw previously addressed in Excel, admitting that the patch caused errors. more

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Advanced Computer User

Sun’s ’macrochips’ to extend Moore’s Law
Forget the shrinking size of conventional electronic components -- bigger is better in a new computer chip design that could yield low-cost supercomputing. more

Windows Server 2008: a great Vista killer
Thanks to the musings of a (hopefully still employed) Microsoft engineer, some disaffected Vista users have discovered that Windows Server 2008, properly configured and tweaked to be more Vista-like, makes a killer workstation OS. more

The death of the silicon computer chip
The reign of the silicon chip is over, according to physicists who predict that the conventional silicon chip has no longer than four years left to run. more

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Health

Jon Barron on childhood immunizations and vaccinations.
Are they safe or aren’t they? here

Broccoli Boosts Aging Immune Systems
A chemical in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables may help to restore your immune system as you age. more

Can Anise Cure What Ails You?
These licorice-flavored seeds have been treasured for some very good reasons since ancient times. more

Why This Type of Soy is Better
Whether or not soy is healthy for you is a hotly debated issue. The debate stems largely from the fact that health benefits of fermented soy have been misconstrued as being applicable to nonfermented soy as well, which is simply not the case. more

Bet You Didn’t Know This Drink Can Help You Digest Better
Who would have known that green tea extract can help you digest better? more

Treating Cancer -- With Herbs
Is the use of herbs your best option for treating and preventing cancer? more

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Other

A Note from Michael Moore
Monday, March 24th, 2008
Friends,

It would have to happen on Easter Sunday, wouldn’t it, that the 4,000th American soldier would die in Iraq. Play me that crazy preacher again, will you, about how maybe God, in all his infinite wisdom, may not exactly be blessing America these days. Is anyone surprised?

4,000 dead. Unofficial estimates are that there may be up to 100,000 wounded, injured, or mentally ruined by this war. And there could be up to a million Iraqi dead. We will pay the consequences of this for a long, long time. God will keep blessing America.

And where is Darth Vader in all this? A reporter from ABC News this week told Dick Cheney, in regards to Iraq, “two-thirds of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.“ Cheney cut her off with a one word answer: “So?“ “So?“ As in, “So what?“ As in, “F*** you. I could care less.“

I would like every American to see Cheney flip the virtual bird at the them, the American people. Click here and pass it around. Then ask yourself why we haven’t risen up and thrown him and his puppet out of the White House. The Democrats have had the power to literally pull the plug on this war for the past 15 months -- and they have refused to do so. What are we to do about that? Continue to sink into our despair? Or get creative? Real creative. I know there are many of you reading this who have the chutzpah and ingenuity to confront your local congressperson. Will you? For me?

Cheney spent Wednesday, the 5th anniversary of the war, not mourning the dead he killed, but fishing off the Sultan of Oman’s royal yacht. So? Ask your favourite Republican what they think of that.

The Founding Fathers would never have uttered the presumptuous words, “God Bless America.“ That, to them, sounded like a command instead of a request, and one doesn’t command God, even if they are America. In fact, they were worried God would punish America. During the Revolutionary War, George Washington feared that God would react unfavourably against his soldiers for the way they were behaving. John Adams wondered if God might punish America and cause it to lose the war, just to prove His point that America was not worthy. They and the others believed it would be arrogant on their part to assume that God would single out America for a blessing. What a long road we have traveled since then.

I see that Frontline on PBS this week has a documentary called “Bush’s War.“ That’s what I’ve been calling it for a long time. It’s not the “Iraq War.“ Iraq did nothing. Iraq didn’t plan 9/11. It didn’t have weapons of mass destruction. It DID have movie theaters and bars and women wearing what they wanted and a significant Christian population and one of the few Arab capitals with an open synagogue.

But that’s all gone now. Show a movie and you’ll be shot in the head. Over a hundred women have been randomly executed for not wearing a scarf. I’m happy, as a blessed American, that I had a hand in all this. I just paid my taxes, so that means I helped to pay for this freedom we’ve brought to Baghdad. So? Will God bless me? God bless all of you in this Easter Week as we begin the 6th year of Bush’s War.

God help America. Please.

Michael Moore
www.MichaelMoore.com

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE OFFICE OF HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA
Contacts: Chhime R. Chhoekyapa, Secretary: Mobile + 91 (09816021879)
Tenzin Taklha, Joint Secretary : Mobile + 91 (09816021813

I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to world leaders and the international community for their concern over the recent sad turn of events in Tibet and for their attempts to persuade the Chinese authorities to exercise restraint in dealing with the demonstrations.

Since the Chinese Government has accused me of orchestrating these protests in Tibet, I call for a thorough investigation by a respected body, which should include Chinese representatives, to look into these allegations. Such a body would need to visit Tibet, the traditional Tibetan areas outside the Tibet Autonomous Region, and also the Central Tibetan Administration here in India. In order for the international community, and especially the more than one billion Chinese people who do not have access to uncensored information, to find out what is really going on in Tibet, it would be of tremendously helpful if representatives of the international media also undertook such investigations.

Whether it was intended or not, I believe that a form of cultural genocide has taken place in Tibet, where the Tibetan identity has been under constant attack. Tibetans have been reduced to an insignificant minority in their own land as a result of the huge transfer of non-Tibetans into Tibet. The distinctive Tibetan cultural heritage with its characteristic language, customs and traditions is fading away. Instead of working to unify its nationalities, the Chinese government discriminates against these minority nationalities, the Tibetans among them.

It is common knowledge that Tibetan monasteries, which constitute our principal seats of learning, besides being the repository of Tibetan Buddhist culture, have been severely reduced in both in number and population. In those monasteries that do still exist, serious study of Tibetan Buddhism is no longer allowed; in fact, even admission to these centres of learning is being strictly regulated. In reality, there is no religious freedom in Tibet. Even to call for a little more freedom is to risk being labeled a separatist. Nor is there any real autonomy in Tibet, even though these basic freedoms are guaranteed by the Chinese constitution. I believe the demonstrations and protests taking place in Tibet are a spontaneous outburst of public resentment built up by years of repression in defiance of authorities that are oblivious to the sentiments of the local populace. They mistakenly believe that further repressive measures are the way to achieve their declared aim of long term unity and stability.

On our part, we remain committed to taking the Middle Way approach and pursuing a process of dialogue in order to find a mutually beneficial solution to the Tibetan issue.

With these points in mind, I also seek the international community’s support for our efforts to resolve Tibet’s problems through dialogue, and I urge them to call upon the Chinese leadership to exercise the utmost restraint in dealing with the current disturbed situation and to treat those who are being arrested properly and fairly.

DALAI LAMA
Dharamsala
18 March, 2008

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