If you haven’t updated your virus/malware prevention software, now is a good time to do it and run a full-scan with it BEFORE Feb. 3rd.

A classic e-mail virus is on the loose and is posed to delete crucial files on the third day of each month. MyWife (W32.MyWife@mm) (aliases include CME-24 (US-CERT), Tearec (Panda), Nyxem (Sophos), Blackmal (Symantec, Computer Associates, Vet), and GREW (Trend)) lures potential victims with a promise of sexual content.

There are several variations of the worm available, most of which delete or disable security protection from Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro, and Kaspersky security products. Worse: on the third day of each month, MyWife overwrites data files with the following extensions: DOC, XLS, MDE, MDB, PPT, PPS, RAR, PDF, PSD, DMP, and ZIP. According to Sans.org, the files are overwritten with an error message "DATA Error [47 0F 94 93 F4 K5]." MyWife affects all versions of Windows; it does not affect users of Mac OS, Linux, or Unix. Because Mywife spreads via e-mail and could damage system files, this worm rates a 6 on the CNET/ZDNet Virus Meter.

The City of Philadelphia is reporting that its contract with EarthLink to create a huge Wi-Fi hotspot calls for the telecommunications company to own the 135-square-mile network, with EarthLink to pay the city for rights to locate transmitters on city light posts.

Details of the 10-year contract were reported Monday by city officials. EarthLink will build and maintain the network, but the city’s Wireless Philadelphia unit will have some say in its operation.

Wireless Philadelphia will charge a $9 monthly wholesale fee to ISPs providing service to end users, who would likely be charged less than $20 a month for the service. A 15-square-mile area in the city will first be fitted with the technology to test its feasibility.

Although the latest development clears important hurdles, the contract will go to Philadelphia’s City Council for approval. City officials said they hope the citywide network can be up and running in the spring of 2007.

Symantec Corp. expects to begin offering a new consumer security service similar to Microsoft Corp.’s Windows OneCare Live by September of this year, a company executive said Monday. Code-named Genesis, the service will integrate components of Symantec’s security, PC tuning, and backup software into a single service that is accessible over the Internet.

"It’s a new product that we’ve got coming out in the fall of 2006, and it’s essentially destined to be an all-in-one security solution for consumers delivered as a service," said Tom Powledge, director of product management at Symantec. "We’re taking components of the technologies from our other products and wrapping them up under a much more integrated interface."

Genesis will include antivirus and antispyware capabilities taken from the Norton Internet Security suite, system tools from the company’s SystemWorks line, and antiphishing technology based on technology it acquired in its September 2005 purchase of WholeSecurity, Powledge said.

StopBadware.org will spotlight the companies that make millions of dollars by tricking Internet users to download malicious spyware, adware and malware programs they don’t want. The multiyear initiative will empower consumers to fight back against badware. It is being supported by prominent high-tech companies, including Google, Lenovo and Sun Microsystems. Consumer Reports WebWatch, a grant-funded project of Consumers Union, has agreed to a pro-bono role as special consumer adviser.

The Berkman Center and Oxford Internet Institute hope this initiative serves as a deterrent by publishing names and reports of companies spreading badware and as an educational tool for software developers by providing principles they can follow to provide a positive user experience. A new website has been launched, www.StopBadware.org, where Internet users will be able to check to see if programs they want to download are badware and alert others to malicious programs they have encountered.

In its article entitled "Draft 802.11n Could Cause Confusion Among Wi-Fi Users ", Gartner Research advises those considering jumping on the new 802.11n bandwagon to wait until 2007.

More discussion is likely to occur before the 802.11n specification is ratified, which could lead to further changes, and interoperability testing by the Wi-Fi Alliance is still required. This process could take another year; thus, the outcome remains uncertain. Nevertheless, chip vendors have been quick to support the standard, whose adoption could enable them to raise prices on WLAN products to cover the costs of modification. Already, Broadcom and Marvell have made statements regarding their products’ compliance with the 802.11n specification. Gartner believes that such claims may be misleading to customers, in part because they are premature, since the specification is likely to undergo changes over the next year. Also, customers may mistakenly infer that these chips can be made compliant through upgrades. In the past, with 802.11g, a similar rush to marketing occurred and included promises regarding the ability to upgrade that were not met.

After 12 years of development and with the help of NASA’s Embedded Web Technology software, the TMIO company is delivering its first smart ovens. You can monitor these refrigerator-ovens from any Internet connection. For example, you can adjust and control the oven settings from your cell phone and be sure that dinner is ready when you get home. But cooking from your office or your car won’t come cheap: these ovens carry a price tag of $8,699. Right now, they’re only available in North America, but I bet there soon will be distributors in other parts of the world.

TMIO Web Site

NASA Article "Cooking Dinner at Home — From the Office"

                   Washington Post article "Dinner’s A Phone Call Away"

In 2005, the price of Digital SLRs dropped dramatically, but there were relatively few technological innovations. Most models were 6 or 8 megapixels, with modest zoom lenses and generally very similar feature sets. But today’s announcement of the Olympus Evolt E-330 will bring photographers a completely new point of view in 2006.

What makes the new Evolt E-330 so different, and so appealing, is that it’s a dual sensor D-SLR that employs a live, through-the-glass view on the large 2 1/2 inch, HyperCrystal LCD screen. Up to this point, no digital SLRs allowed photographers to compose their images using an LCD panel; that has been reserved solely for reviewing images.

Most users of low-end digital cameras will be right a home with framing pictures on the LCD, but the E-330 is the first interchangeable lens D-SLR with this feature that still uses the optical viewfinder. To achieve this, they’ve added an 8-megapixel CCD sensor to read the image that is sent through the viewfinder and present it on the display in real time.

Read Olympus press release here

It’s the oldest story in the book: Robotic dog turns up on your doorstop looking cute and winsome, learns a few words and tricks, and then gets canceled just as you’ve gotten to love it.

As part of its ongoing cost-cutting and reorganization effort, Sony has cut its line of robotic Aibo dogs, along with another, more-expensive, humanoid robot called the Qrio, which was never sold as a product.

According to a company representative, more than 150,000 Aibos have been sold since they went on the market in 1999. But the overall company is in the midst of an historic belt-tightening, and the robotics unit didn’t make the cut.

"Our core businesses are electronics, games and entertainment, but the focus is going to be on profitability and strategic growth," said Sony spokeswoman Kirstie Pfeiffer. "In light of that, we’ve decided to cancel the Aibo line."

Sony’s $2,000 electronic dog had always fallen more in the gee-whiz category than into the realm of viable mainstream consumer product, though it has helped unleash dozens of lower-tech plastic knockoffs, as well as a few big-brand copycats.

On its debut, Aibo was both an early use of Sony technologies such as the Memory Stick and its proprietary embedded operating system, as well as advanced robotics technology from the company’s research and development labs.

Over time, the dog became more sophisticated, with the latest version able to speak 1,000 words; react (in theory) appropriately to an owner’s commands and motions; keep blogs, complete with pictures taken by cameras behind its eyes; and play music.

See related NJ4T post about Aibo’s possible demise

See NJ4T post about Aibo voice upgarde

Belkin Corporation today announced that it has received an Editor’s Choice Award from Popular Mechanics magazine for its CableFree USB Hub, the first USB Hub that does not require a cable to connect to the computer.

Belkin’s CableFree USB Hub was among 13 other products honored by Popular Mechanics. A full list of these winners will be featured in the March 2006 issue of Popular Mechanics.

In early spring 2006, Belkin will offer a four-port hub and dongle set that will enable immediate high-speed wireless connectivity for any USB device without requiring software. The CableFree USB Hub gives desktop computer users the freedom to place their USB devices—such as printers, scanners, hard drives, and MP3 players—anywhere in the room without running long cables. Laptop users gain the freedom to roam wirelessly while still maintaining access to their stationary USB devices.

The Federal Trade Commission has reiterated that despite the claims made in e-mails circulating on the Internet, consumers should not be concerned that their cell phone numbers will be released to telemarketers in the near future, and that it is not necessary to register cell phone numbers on the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry to be protected from most telemarketing calls to cell phones.

The truth about cell phones and the DNC Registry is:

* Contrary to the e-mail, cell phone numbers are NOT being released to telemarketers, and you will NOT soon be getting telemarketing calls on your cell phone.

* There is NO deadline by which you must register your cell phone number on the Registry.