John Lister

Republican Congress members have taken the first step in blocking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from enforcing net neutrality rules. But the political landscape means the final outcome is far from clear. The move follows a hearing by ... the House of Representatives committee that questioned all five FCC members about their decision in December to issue controversial guidelines attempting to enforce net neutrality (the principle that all lawful Internet traffic should be treated equally). (Source: pcworld.com ) With Republican politicians unimpressed by the evidence given by the ... (view more)

Microsoft says it's unlikely that hackers will successfully exploit a recently discovered security bug in Windows. The company says that if the bug is abused, it would likely result in a denial of service attack instead. As noted on Wednesday, the ... problem involves system files related to Windows network file and printer sharing. Hackers are often particularly interested in exploiting such system files as they are a potential entry point between a networked computer and the outside world (via the Internet). Denial of Service Risk to Windows In this case, the Windows exploit appears to have two ... (view more)

Microsoft has unveiled what should be the final version of Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) before its official release to the public. The company says the latest round of changes take into account 17,000 different suggestions by beta users . The Internet ... Explorer 9 download currently available is in the Release Candidate (RC) stage. This is a stage forward from beta testing and represents the point at which Microsoft believes the current version of the program is (with a few exceptions) relatively bug-free, and good to go. At the Release Candidate stage, it usually means that there won't be any ... (view more)

The chief executive officer of Twitter says the site is helping maintain interest in live TV broadcasts, even in the era of the personal video recorder. Dick Costolo also claimed Twitter itself was making money -- though was unclear about the ... company's future financial strategies. Speaking at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Costolo said that Twitter use had helped encourage people to once again watch TV shows at the time of their original airing, rather than catch up with them later. That's because watching "live" allows users to discuss the show with one another in real time, ... (view more)

When Microsoft first announced it had discovered a third party was responsible for mysterious data use on some Windows Phone 7 handsets, it didn't confirm rumors that Yahoo was to blame. Now, it's firmly pointing the finger at Yahoo -- which is in ... turn passing the blame back to Microsoft. The problem emerged last month when some users noticed particularly high levels of data use even when their phones weren't being used. That led to complaints that some users risked unintentionally going over monthly data limits and facing blocks or excess use fees. Microsoft later said that the problem ... (view more)

A company offering a special discount on ordering flowers on line -- just in time for Valentine's Day -- was forced to shut down the deal a day early because customers complained the "offer" meant they saved little if any money. The offer came from ... Groupon, which issues a daily deal from retailers aimed at users in a particular geographical area. The way the deals work is that the offer is only good if a set number of people sign up to take advantage: that encourages more retailers to take part as they know they'll pick up enough extra business to make it worth their while. The all-or-nothing ... (view more)

Apple appears to have loosened a policy that previously exempted iPods from warranty cover if they showed signs of water damage. But it's unclear if the change will apply to more expensive devices. iPod Hardware Contains Liquid Sensors Although it's ... a clearly-stated part of Apple's user guides and conditions of sale that the company disclaims any responsibility for damage caused by liquid, most people do not realize that doesn't simply apply to cases where the damage is very visible. Instead, all the company's portable devices have a tiny liquid contact indicator: in the iPod it's at the ... (view more)

Elite hackers and ethical computer security enthusiasts are preparing themselves for the Pwn2Own competition, which challenges participants to break through security of popular software programs (such as web browsers). Once software is breached, it ... is referred to as an "exploit", in which hackers are then able to gain access to other areas of the computer's operating system without restrictions. It's these types of attacks which occur on web sites frequently, where visitors become instantly infected just by visiting a malicious website containing an unknown exploit (also referred to ... (view more)

Microsoft has finally put the brakes on a feature in Windows XP and Vista designed to automatically run applications (and virus infections) on a USB drive. The feature had been open to abuse by virus creators and was blamed for helping the wide ... spread of the Conficker virus, which wreaked havoc PCs back in January of 2009. Back then, it was estimated 9 million PCs were infected with Conficker, which was first discovered only 3 months prior . Automated Virus Infection as Easy as 1-2-3 The exploit involves two separate technologies: Windows AutoRun, which automatically runs a setup program as ... (view more)

Events in Egypt have shown how a citizenry will react when a government attempts to shut off local Internet access . Since then, there's been considerable discussion as to whether this could happen in the U.S., but experts say that even if such a ... move were legally possible, it would be practically unworkable. Connections between Egyptian computers and the outside world were cut off for a little over a week, almost certainly under government orders in an attempt to limit communications between protestors. It led to some creative responses from the public, ranging from using dial-up connections ... (view more)