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INTERVIEW: FOR AOL/GOOGLE, THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS — I had a good conversation with Marissa Mayer this morning, who had the unfortunate task of clarifying the terms of Google's recent deal with AOL. I say unfortunate for two reasons: one, I did sort of call her out after her post went up …
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Revisiting The "No Banners On Google" Declaration — I wrote previously of Google promising that the terms of its deal with AOL wouldn't see a flood of banner ads flowing onto its pages nor the selling out of Google's principles. But I still felt there was some "wiggle room" in that "no banners" isn't the same as "no graphical ads."

Microsoft Security Advisory (912840) — Vulnerability in Graphics Rendering Engine Could Allow Remote Code Execution. — Microsoft is investigating new public reports of a possible vulnerability in Windows. Microsoft will continue to investigate the public reports to help provide additional guidance for customers.
Discussion:
Sunbelt BLOG
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New exploit blows by fully patched Windows XP systems — We saw a new nasty exploit yesterday around 5:00 PM. This is a totally new exploit and is not the same one posted by FrSIRT back on 11/30/05. — We have a number of sites that we have found with this exploit. Different sites download different spyware.
Discussion:
Spyware Confidential, websensesecuritylabs.com, F-Secure, Scobleizer, Neowin.net, Geek News Central … and Tech.Life.Blogged

New WMF 0-day exploit — There's a new zero-day vulnerability related to Windows' image rendering - namely WMF files (Windows Metafiles). Trojan downloaders, available from unionseek[DOT]com, have been actively exploiting this vulnerability. Right now, fully patched Windows XP SP2 machines machines …

Malicious software targets Google AdSense ads — It was only a matter of time before a trojan or virus targeted AdSense or YPM for malicious activity, and the time has come. A new trojan horse discovered by an Indian publisher replaces Google AdSense ads with their own ads …
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A Trojan Horse program that targets Google ads has been detected by an Indian Web publisher — Techshout.com reports that a new, deceptive Trojan Horse program has surfaced. The program is engineered to produce fake Google ads that are formatted to look like legitimate ones.
Discussion:
AdMoolah News and Views

Hole In Fuselage Forces Emergency Landing — SEATTLE - A foot-long hole in the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines jet caused the plane to lose cabin pressure, forcing the crew to make an emergency descent from 26,000 feet and return to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, authorities said Tuesday.
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Towards a two-tier Internet — In this week's podsession Om and I discuss network neutrality and the tolls paid by content networks to network providers to boost the performance of online applications. The telecom world is emboldened after the Supreme Court decision last summer in the case …
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Sources: Intel developing next-generation Power Mac for Apple — In a move that may surprise some Apple watchers, reliable sources tell AppleInsider the Mac maker has contracted the design duties for its next-generation Power Mac motherboard over to industry heavyweight Intel Corp.
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What can we expect from Microsoft in 2006 — Just like last year I made a list of what released we can expect from Microsoft in 2006. Last year's list turned out to be pretty accurate, the only things wrong weren't my mistake but delays or change of plans.

Online Ad Growth Accelerates, Outpacing Newspaper, TV Spending — Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) — The move to online advertising is happening faster than analysts anticipated as companies devote more of their budgets to the Internet than traditional media. — The market for online ads …
Discussion:
The Voice of Online …

Geek to Live: Top underrated apps of 2005 — Last week I pointed out 2005's best apps - and most of my choices were pretty obvious. (Flickr and Gmail, anyone?) Today I'd like to shout out a few great desktop and webapps that you may not have heard of or taken the time to try out.

Why Bloggers Need Google's Help? — The Blog Plagiarism post has resulted in a wide ranging conversation - and well, now I can point to two that make a lot of sense and bring up different issues. Mike over at Techdirt thinks me flipping out is a pointless. Its a battle one cannot win perhaps?
Discussion:
mathewingram.com/work, Smalltalk Tidbits …, Geek News Central …, Threadwatch.org, Techdirt and Paul Kedrosky's …

Winners and Losers 2005 — What were the best and worst tech stories of the year? Our expert separates the good from the bad. In some cases, they're the same. — It was the best of years, it was the worst of years. In fact, 2005 was a lot like any other year, only for some reason it seemed longer than most.

The 10 Biggest Microsoft Surprises of 2005 — What were the most surprising Microsoft moments in 2005? Here's our list. What juicy items did we miss? — So many Top 10 lists, so little time. And when your beat is Microsoft, the Top 10 options are as numerous (albeit, only sometimes as humorous) as David Letterman's.