An update for Yahoo! Messenger has been released. It isn’t confirmed yet if this is an emergency update in response to a vulnerability found in the software which could be exploited by a specially crafted address book entry.

A direct download link for the offline installer is provided below:

http://download.yahoo.com/ycs/msg/dl/msgr8/us/ymsgr810_413_us.exe

You can also try updating via the Yahoo! Messenger application (Help - Check for Updates) or through the YM download page.

Sources:
Yahoo! Messenger and Trillian Hit With Critical Vulnerabilities via A Little Tech + Photoshop
Critical IM Bugs Hit Yahoo, Trillian via PC World
Yahoo! Messenger 8.1.0.413 via 9Down

According to a BBC article on global broadband prices, countries that had switched to fibre networks had the best speeds at the lowest prices.

Japan has the cheapest price for broadband per Mbps at $0.22. The most expensive is Turkey at $81.13. In the US, the cheapest megabit per second broadband connection is $3.18 while in the UK it is $3.62.

Data is based on the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report. The OECD represents 30 of the leading democratic economics, from Australia to the US, France to Japan.

Cheapest Entry Level Broadband Per Month:

1. Sweden $10.79
2. Denmark $11.11
3. Switzerland $12.53
4. US $15.93
5. France $16.36
6. Netherlands $16.85
7. New Zealand $16.86
8. Italy $17.63
9. Ireland $18.18
10. Finland $19.49

*Source: OECD. Figures for October 2006

Read more about Global Broadband Prices Revealed.

Secunia released an advisory last July 10, 2007 regarding a URI handler in Firefox (including the latest version, 2.0.0.4) that allows it to execute arbitrary commands in a user’s operating system (remote command execution). Secunia has labeled the said vulnerability as highly critical. No patch has been released yet.

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This is old news- a five-year-old antique. Most of you may have already watched this video podcast (16m 59s). The methods used may either be of little use or overused nowadays. However, they are still good demos of security’s greatest weakness- the users. Fast forward to 2007. Methodologies have evolved and smarter tools have been developed, but people seem to have remained the same. Wardriving into a neighborhood would still produce the same results, maybe even better. Others wonder why they still have an Internet connection even if their cable modem is off. It turns out that they’re sharing with their neighbor’s bandwidth. On the other hand, the Pizza 4 Life trick could still be applicable. A user from YouTube even commented that he has done it hundreds of times. This just goes to show many are still unaware and that they could repeatedly fall victim to these kinds of tricks.

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I’d compare Yoomba to Skype, but without the registration part. I also also like to call it the Trillian, or the meebo of Internet voice calling.

Wouldn’t it be great if you can chat with your friends even if the network that their account belongs to is different from yours? Wouldn’t it be convenient to have a centralized communication platform where you can talk (or chat) with your friends from various e-mail networks such as Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, AOL and Hotmail? For example, if you have a Yahoo! account and your friend only has a Google Account, how will you be able to communicate in real time? Chatting through e-mail will most likely be inconvenient. Thank goodness there’s Yoomba! Yoomba acts as a mediator between several e-mail networks so you can use your e-mail account to chat or make calls with your contacts. You simply have to type in an e-mal address in the Yoomba contacts field and you’re one step away to chatting or talking with that person. It’s that easy. No registration needed! I suggest you try it out.

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World in Conflict is an RTS game for the PC (Xbox 360 soon) developed by Massive Entertainment. World in Conflict takes place in an alternate reality in the year 1988 where economic troubles were experienced by the now defunct USSR. The game gives the players an experience of what the Cold War would be like if it became really hot. Players can choose from 4 roles- infantry, air, support and armor. There are reportedly 3 factions that players can choose from- USA, the Soviet Union, and NATO. According to the Wikipedia article, there will be no base-building or resource gathering in the game. Instead, players will be given a pre-determined amount of in-game credit to buy units with.

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