The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!
March 29th, 2009
Well-informed Chad’s News readers may have heard about the latest variant of the Conficker worm and the fact that it’s going to do something on April 1st. Simply put, the impact of this worm has been exaggerated. First, all that will happen is that the worm will change how it operates. Second, any effects will occur on systems that have already been infected. Keeping Windows updated and using current anti-virus software should be sufficient to keep yourself protected.
Link: http://www.networkworld.com/…
(via Slashdot)
Check out these sculptures, made using only the natural colors of the melon itself. Some of them are fantastic, especially towards the end of the page.
There’s a serious Firefox exploit that’s been published on the web. It relies on the user viewing a maliciously coded XML file. Mozilla is working on a patch, but until it’s ready, I recommend being careful about where and what you’re browsing.
The Houston Chronicle allows you to 
(1) In a recent security contest, 
We’ve made some changes to our mobile device support here at Chad’s News. Previously we used a free service to do the conversion, but they append advertisements to the website—some of which are not safe for work. So our crack team of web developers jumped into action and wrote a new style sheet for mobile devices. If you’ve got an internet-enabled phone, direct your browser to chadsnews.com and check it out. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.
DNA can be used to make a one-way process suitable for encryption. I don’t completely understand the details, but the concept is interesting. I’m also thinking that DNA cryptography might be easier to implement than quantum cryptography.
Is 
The release version of Internet Explorer is available for download. If you’re not an early adopter, it’ll be available via Windows Update in the upcoming weeks.
The creator of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, predicts mobile devices are the future of the web, especially in developing countries. Here at the Chad’s News network command center, we’re way ahead of the curve on this. Browse Chad’s News with a phone, and you’ll automatically be transferred to our 
Here’s the lowdown on how thieves stole tens of millions of dollars worth of diamonds from the Antwerp Diamond Center. Such a theft was considered impossible because of the extensive security measures in place. Almost all of the robbers were later caught, but they would have gotten away with it except for one weak link in the group. (Note to self: when performing a $100 million diamond heist, don’t rely on others to destroy the evidence.) What I found most interesting, however, is the claim that the theft was just a cover for insurance fraud.
According to the interface specifications, all of my hard drives should be running at about 160MB/s. After using the HD_Speed utility, however, I found that actual, sustained transmission times are a fraction of the theoretical maximum. While this wasn’t a huge revelation, I was surprised to find a drive running at one-third the speed of the others.