Koobface Virus Targets Facebook Users

With 120 million users Facebook is increasingly becoming the target of virus writers. Facebook users are being advised that a new threat has been uncovered which is being dubbed the Koobface virus. The virus is propagated via Facebook's messaging system and shows up as a message with subject headers like, “You look just awesome in this new movie,” upon opening the message the user is directed to a website which prompts them to download a file that it claims is an update of Adobe's Flash player. Once infected the virus takes users to contaminated sites when they try to visit search engines from Google, Yahoo, MSN and Live.com. Facebook is telling members to delete contaminated e-mails and has provided directions on how to clean infected computers at http://www.facebook.com/security.

Globe and Mail story.

Doctor Uses Text Messages To Instruct Colleague On Tricky Surgery

David Nott, a vascular surgeon from London, was coached by Professor Meirion Thomas via text messages on how to preform a difficult forequarter amputation. Nott, who was attending to a teenager in Congo Africa while volunteering with Doctors Without Borders knew that the teens only chance was to have the operation which he had never attempted. A call to Thomas was responded to within 10 minutes. Thomas provided Nott with the 10 steps to the amputation then reportedly signed off with "Easy! Good luck." Nott says "I felt I had like my guardian angel on my left shoulder showing me what to do. I just got on with it, and everything he told me, I just did".

What a great story!

CNN story.

Logitech Makes 1 Billionth Mouse

Swiss company Logitech is celebrating the shipment of it's one billionth mouse while analysts are predicting the demise of the device within 5 years. "It speaks volumes to the success of the mouse that they (Logitech) have produced a billion and good luck. But past performance is not a guarantee of future success. "The world has changed and the nature of machines has changed. The multi-touch interface I believe really does seal the coffin of the mouse," says Gartner analyst Steve Prentice. Mean while Logitech's General Manager Rory Dooley says "The fundamental functionality of the mouse has not changed for 40 years and that is one of the keys to its success. We do not envisage unlearning all those years of learning but that doesn't mean to say there will not be a place for touch interfaces. "Touch will augment the things you can do today with the mouse and keyboard interface,"

BBC Story here.

YouTube - Calling All Musicians

If you've ever aspired to play your music in front of a large audience on a world stage, then YouTube is looking for you. Yesterday YouTube put the call out for musicians to join the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. According to the Official Google Blog "This is a chance to perform alongside world-renowned conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, learn from composer Tan Dun and many members of the London Symphony Orchestra, and consult with pianist Lang Lang." Video entries will be combined into a collaborative virtual performance, and people around the world will choose their favorites to perform at Carnegie Hall in April 2009.

Check out the YouTube Symphony Channel.

Pownce Shutting It's Doors - Team Joining Six Apart

My inbox contained an e-mail this morning from the Pownce Team which prompted me to visit the company's blog for confirmation. Indeed, Pownce will be shutting it's doors December 15th! In a blog post to the Pownce community, co-founder Leah Culver announced the closure of Pownce and that she, Mike Malone and the Pownce team will be joining Six Apart. "We’re very happy that Six Apart wants to invest in growing the vision that we the founders of Pownce believe so strongly in and we’re very excited to take our vision to all of Six Apart’s products. Mike and I have joined Six Apart as part of their engineering team and we’re looking forward to being a part of the talented group that has created amazing tools for blogging and publishing." Culver writes. In the mean time you have two weeks to export your content before the plug is pulled on the site.

Canadians Heavy Social Network Users

86.5 percent of Canadian Internet users will use one sort of social networking site or another while in the U.S. that number is 70.2 percent. “We joke that it’s because of those long winter nights up there,” said Andrew Lipsman, a senior analyst at comScore. It seems Canadians’ are generally heavy users of sophisticated Internet features like online video as well, as comScore shows a consistency amongst it's numbers with these sites and the social sites.

NYTimes story.

Nokia Creates Mobile Home Control Centre

Nokia is working on a linux based mobile home automation system that could allow you to control your homes temperature, preheat your oven, or draw a bath from your mobile phone. The Home Control Center is expected to go on sale at the end of 2009. Nokia acknowledges that many of the pieces already exist in one form or another however "Nokia’s aim is to integrate state-of-the-art solutions from each area to the framework so that the systems can be controlled via mobile device. This provides the systems with remote access via the same user interface regardless if you use a mobile phone, web browser or an internet tablet, also enabling the different home systems to talk to each other."

The Telegraph.co.uk