The bug documented in SecurityFocus | Bugtraq | another fatal bug in NT/2000 "Command Prompt" I/O thread affects XP too by all accounts. According to a colleague - thanks Tim. Don't try the following unless you wan't to reboot XP and viciously so - no error, no BSOD, just a big black screen!:

#include <stdio.h>

void main(void)
{
    for(int i = 0; i < 5 ; i++) printf("t\tb\bb");
}

The Register | Apple seeds 1.6GHz Power Mac G5s

I have just ordered the version update of BBEdit 6.5:

BBEdit is a high-performance HTML and text editor for the Macintosh. It is designed and crafted for the editing, searching, transformation, and manipulation of text. BBEdit provides an array of general-purpose features which are useful for a wide variety of tasks, and includes many features which have been specifically developed in response to the needs of Web authors and software developers.

This will be about the fourth version upgrade that I've paid for out of my own pocket. What higher accolade could there be? It sure doesn't suck! ;-)

Ace's Hardware | Upgrading to eXtreme Performance

Luckily, Intel's exceptional compiler department, recently reinforced by the brilliant software wizards from the famous Compaq Alpha compiler group, has come to the rescue. Applications optimized - Maya 4 being a prime example - with this relatively new compiler, make the choosy "Netburst" architecture far more competitive with AMD's Athlon MP. Still, even with optimized software, the best chips of Santa Clara have a difficult time defeating the superb Palomino core, despite the fact that it is running at a 30% slower clockrate

Thanks to one of my students - Brian - for JESUSIFIED: [52.225] CAD.... It's soooooo funny and eerily apt in places. The only downside is the annoying music so before visiting turn off those speakers ;-)

One for Scripting News perhaps? - The Scotsman Online -| Now and Then - 2 November

1619: Patent granted to Nathaniel Udwart of Edinburgh for a monopoly in the manufacture of soap.

Monopoly? Soap? Hmm, here have I seen those two words used together before ;-)

DaveNet : The Microsoft settlement

In conclusion, as an independent developer and investor, I don't believe that the agreement will, in any substantial way change or limit Microsoft's practices, nor is there much hope that Microsoft will self-impose restraint in the interest of a vibrant software marketplace. It's not a good settlement for independent software developers.

Lots of feedback in response to a question posting to the http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/website-info-mgt.html list: Cross-site branding on distributed academic websites - any success stories? [Search]

Stealing MS Passport's Wallet

By cobbling together a handful of browser-based bugs with flaws in Passport's authentication system, Slemko developed a technique to steal a person's Microsoft Passport, credit card numbers -- and all, simply by getting the victim to open a Hotmail message.

Microsoft Passport to Trouble

It is very clear that either Microsoft does not have sufficient resources in place to properly review the security of their services and software (it only took me about 30 minutes to come up with the basics of the example exploit, why didn't they notice the same issues?) or that they are aware of the shortcomings but decided that attempting to gain market share was more important than their user's security. Either way, extreme caution is necessary when considering the adoption of Passport technologies and, by implication, any technologies built on top of Passport

BBC News | BUSINESS | Q&A: The Microsoft deal

The three-year court battle between US software giant Microsoft and the US government, with the support of 18 US states, appears to be drawing to a close. The two sides have agreed an out-of-court settlement, but the deal has not been sealed yet. BBC News Online looks at the issues surrounding the case.