Internet Explorer is used by the vast majority of the world’s computer users. “Microsoft is continuing its investigation of public reports of attacks against a new vulnerability in Internet Explorer,” said the firm in a security advisory alert about the flaw.
The security flaws attacks against IE 7.0 but said the “underlying vulnerability” was present in all versions of the browser. Other browsers, such as Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Safari, are not vulnerable to the flaw Microsoft has identified.

10,000 websites have been compromised since the vulnerability was discovered, report says.
PC Pro magazine’s security editor, Darien Graham-Smith, said that there was a virtual arms race going on, with hackers always on the look out for new vulnerabilities. “The message needs to get out that this malicious code can be planted on any web site, so simple careful browsing isn’t enough.”

Every browser is susceptible to vulnerabilities from time to time. It’s fine to say ‘don’t use Internet Explorer’ for now, but other browsers may well find themselves in a similar situation.

MICROSOFT SECURITY ADVICE

1. Change IE security settings to high (Look under Tools/Internet Options)
2. Switch to a Windows user account with limited rights to change a PC’s settings
3. With IE7 or 8 on Vista turn on Protected Mode
4. Ensure your PC is updated
5. Keep anti-virus and anti-spyware software up to date

For a visual introduction to what 2.7 is, check out this video (available in HD, and full screen):

Download Wordpress 2.7

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A single license of McAfee VirusScan Plus 2009 costs $39.9, Enter coupon code XXXXXXX and click Checkout and you can download it for free. This offer is valid till 31st Dec 2008 and you will receive free update for one year.

Update:

Please do not display this McAfee promotional code.   This offer is for people who were potentially affected by a domain name redirect incident and is not intended for users beyond this user group.  The people who posted this code are not authorized to do so, and are almost certainly in violation of your site’s terms of use.   People who download this software with this code but do not meet the criteria of the specified user group could be subsequently charged full retail price and/or investigated for fraud.

Hence removing the download link and promotion code.

Send SMS text messages right from Gmail. You chat from your comfy computer and reach your friends on the go; they get your messages as texts and can peck out replies on their little keyboards.

To get started with these Labs features and more, click Settings and go to the Labs tab. Then select “Enable” next to the features you want to turn on and click “Save Changes.”

Note: SMS is available only for the US phones

Gmail New! Colors and themes

Visit www.missworld.com and vote for your favorite beauty and she will be crowned Miss People’s Choice at the Miss World Pageant.

Pantaloons Femina Miss India World 2008 Parvathy Omanakuttan. Vote for Parvathy here

India’s Parvathy Omanakuttan, the Pantaloons Femina Miss India World 2008, is looking for the support from all Indians, as she is trying to get the crown back to India after a gap of eight years. Voting for Parvathy is simple. You just need to go to the Miss World website at www.missworld.com , register, select ‘Contestants’, choose India under ‘Visit contestant’s profile’, then select ‘10’ when asked to rate her as ‘Miss People’s Choice’. The higher the ratings Parvathy receives, the better her chances of winning.

Parvathy is competing with 111 contestants at the 58th Miss World final, which will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, on December 13.

The stunning Indian beauty, Parvathy, is already a hot favourite in South Africa. She captured South Africa’s attention by wearing an apron and a white chef’s hat and helped whip up a traditional Zulu dish. Parvathy’s interested in “experimenting with world cuisines”. With her long, black hair and stunningly fit body, Parvathy has the potential to be a global beauty. Not only that, she can impress you with her sexy dance moves – be it Latin or classical ballroom.

It’s up to Indians now to make Parvathy the next Miss World 2008. Parvathy’s motto in life has been: dream with your eyes open. And she’s dreaming of bringing back the crown.

Vote for Parvathy here

On Wednesday evening, terrorists seized five-star hotels of the city- Taj and Oberoi Grand and also took over CST and three hospitals in the vicinity. Groups of terrorists launched coordinated attacks on at least 10 landmarks in Mumbai. The terrorists started firing indiscriminately and blasted their way through Taj and Oberoi hotels, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Cama Hospital.

A night long terror attack took place in several places in Mumbai. Death toll has reached 87 and almost 200 people are reported injured. First instance of shooting took place near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Station and near Cafe Leopold in Colaba

Attacks also took place at three five-stars hotels, namely the Taj Mahal Hotel, The Oberoi and at Ramada Hotel in Juhu. There was also a bomb blast at a petrol pump in Colaba. Terrorists also opened fire at the VT station and the Cama hospital. Boat with explosives was also found near the Gateway of India.

In the shootouts, two terrorists were killed in the Taj Hotel and two suspected terrorists were killed in Girgaum. Whereas, almost eleven police officers are reported dead in the attacks. Additional Commissioner Ashok Kamte was shot dead in the shootout. ATS Chief Hemant Karkare died in shooting near VT station. Mumbai police’s encounter specialist Vijay Saluskar was also shot dead.

The attacks began at about 9.30 pm with firing at Cafe Leopold, a popular restaurant in the Colaba area of South Mumbai. This is a place frequented by foreigners. Shortly after, at least two men armed with AK-47 opened fire in the passenger hall of CST railway station.

Meanwhile, at least 4-5 people are killed at Cama hospital, situated close to CST. Some patients are also taken hostage. The hospital continues to be under seige. A major gunbattle also broke out near the Metro Cinema, near CST just down the road. Terrorists hijacked a police van and fired indiscriminately, injuring several people. Several hotels also came under the attack. Armed men entered the Taj Mahal hotel and took hostages. A series of loud explosions were also heard. Three members of Parliament and at least 100 tourists are also stranded inside.

Latest Report:

• COPS CLEAR CAMA HOSPITAL, TAJ BURNS
• TERROR NON-STOP: 101 killed in Mumbai attacks
• COMMANDOS ENTER TAJ, OBEROI HOTELS
• Army storms Hotel Oberoi to flush out terrorists
• 2 gunmen in Taj Hotel, 7 foreigners among 15 hostages

Google’s SearchWiki is a feature that lets people elevate, delete, add, and annotate search results. Google remembers the changes a person made to search results, so repeat searches will show the same customizations and notes.

This is a search feature that gets a user more control over their search results,” said Cedric Dupont, Google’s SearchWiki product manager.

There’s also a collaborative element: people can see how many customazation done by others, by clicking a “See all notes for this SearchWiki” link at the bottom of each search results page. That shows notes and how people have promoted or deleted pages in aggregate.

Google will use people’s voting behavior as an input to the regular search algorithm that determines the order of search results. Google already employs human judgment in its algorithm by virtue of its PageRank technique, which judges a Web site’s merit in part on how many other Web sites link to it, but people promoting or deleting specific Web addresses could be another signal.

New! Colors and themes
Check out the Themes tab in Settings to personalize the look and feel of your inbox or return to the classic look.

November 19, 2008 Gmail launched the themes to personalize your inbox. There are 30 themes launched today. To customize your inbox, go to the Themes tab under Settings. They will be rolling out themes to everyone over the next couple of days, so if you don’t see them yet, check back soon.

In some of the theme gmail modified its logo also to make sync with the theme. Those who doesn’t like the logo can use them.

Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy will make its debut on the band’s MySpace page starting Thursday, according to a Reuters report Wednesday. Myspace users will be able to stream Guns N’ Roses’ long-awaited album for free before it goes on sale Sunday in an exclusive deal with Best Buy. However, listeners will not be able to download tracks from the site.

MySpace Music is a joint venture with Vivendi’s Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Warner Music Group. Giving fans an early crack at the albums could be a big win for MySpace, which launched a music joint venture with several record labels this year to challenge Apple Inc’s iTunes online music store.

“Chinese Democracy” has aroused interest because of its notoriety; it is the first album of new Guns N’ Roses material in more than 17 years, and has taken nearly as long to finish.

The band built its reputation on its hit debut “Appetite for Destruction” and “Use Your Illusion I” and “Use Your Illusion II,” but tension among members led to all of the original members but Rose, 46, leaving.

CEO Vikram Pandit intends to reduce headcount by about 14% to 300,000 in the ‘‘near term’’, a presentation on the firm’s website said on Monday. Pandit has already cut 23,000 jobs, leaving the New York-based bank with 352,000 employees as of September 30.

About 100,000 jobs have already been lost at the largest banks and brokerages. In the last month, Goldman Sachs Group Inc began cutting 3,200 jobs, while Morgan Stanley said it would cut 10% of the jobs in the unit housing its investment banking operations.

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4. Jet Airways layoff 800 employees Kingfisher may follow