Competition for Google
A group of Carnegie Mellon graduates have put together a search engine that they hope will prove to be serious competition for Google. The site, clusty.com, is intended to provide shorter, more aggregate groupings (or "clusters") of search results. The company, which was founded by the graduates four years ago, is profitable and has made most of their money by selling search technology to corporations.

JPEGs May Now Contain Viruses
Software has been released that allows hackers to add malicious code to JPEG image files, a common type of image file used on the Internet. To download the code, a user simply views the image in Internet Explorer. The code calls a remote computer that can then take over the user's machine. The JPEG flaw affects users of Windows XP and later, and some specific software programs. See the article for more information.

Credit Card Numbers Continue to be Compromised
Recent disclosures by Washington Mutual and BJ's Wholesale Club show how common it is for credit card information to be exposed to hackers. One source says that last year, 60 million accounts were compromised, and this year, that figure will double to around 120 million. On the bright side, another source says that only about one percent of cards are compromised before they can be cancelled and replaced. Visa and Mastercard are trying to implement tougher security measures for merchants that keep credit card data, but securing the information is not an easy or inexpensive task.

Reward for Turning in Spammers
The Federal Trade Commission is trying to determine how much money it takes to get someone to turn in someone they know is sending spam. They estimate the number to be approximately $100,000. Right now, the FBI pays less money ($50,000) for tips leading to the arrests of most of its top 10 fugitives.

The Disabled Want E-Voting
Though many people are worried about the validity of e-voting, the disabled look to it as a way to re-gain privacy at the polls. Previously a blind person had to go into the voting booth with three other people. By 2006, all disabled people are supposed to have equal access to privacy at the polls. Many states have implemented this by buying computerized voting systems that provide headphones for the blind, and large print for those who have trouble with their eyesight. Many disabled people who have tried the machines are elated at the freedom it gives them.

California Takes Step in Preventing Spyware
Governor Schwarzenegger signed a bill on Tuesday that outlaws certain types of spyware. The bill bans software that transmits computer viruses or that may cause a machine to be used as part of a denial of service attack. It also bans software that deceptively collects personal information such as passwords or credit card numbers. Critics say that this bill is not sufficient to prevent the majority of spyware that users unwittingly install on their computers.

Credit Checks on Job Applicants Gaining Popularity
Privacy advocates and employer groups say there has been an explosion in the use of credit checks for pre-employment screenings. Credit checks have almost doubled in recent years and privacy advocates wonder about the validity of these checks. Employers say that for those handling cash or personal information, credit checks are necessary, along with criminal background checks. And most of the time employers only run credit checks to get previous address information, not financial information.

Print the Contents of a Directory
You can create a function on your machine to print the contents of a directory. All you have to do is right-click on the folder and the command "Print Directory Listing" will appear. To do this, see this Microsoft knowledgebase article.

Make Your Quick Launch Toolbar Float
The Quick Launch toolbar is just to the right of the Start button. Sometimes there are so many shortcuts on this toolbar that you might not see all of them. You can drag this toolbar to your desktop to make it float. To do this, click the left edge of the Quick Launch toolbar, hold down the mouse button and drag it out to a blank area on the desktop, then let go. You should see a small window with all of your shortcuts appear on the desktop. You can resize this window, or right-click the title bar and choose "Always on Top" so that it will never be hidden by any open programs.

Create a Hotmail Shortcut on Your Desktop
To create a shortcut to Hotmail on your desktop, right-click and choose New > Shortcut. In the Target field, type %windir%\System32\rundll32.exe "%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\hmmapi.dll",OpenInboxHandler. Name the shortcut Hotmail or whatever you'd like. You can then double-click the shortcut on your desktop to open Hotmail.

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