NEWS IN BRIEF
For the record 14 August
14-08-2007
by Stephen Errity
Facebook source code leaked | Researchers demonstrate paper battery
Source code for the social networking site Facebook appeared on the internet on Saturday due to a misconfigured web server, the company said. The code appeared on a blog called 'Facebook Secrets' and was still available to view on Monday. A spokesperson for Facebook assured users that the leak did not constitute a security breach and that users' personal data was not compromised. However, security analysts have warned that hackers could analyse the code for any vulnerabilities that could be used to extract personal information or break into private areas of the website.
A paper battery slightly larger than a postage stamp that can generate 2.3 volts of electricity has been demonstrated by a team of researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The battery is currently powerful enough to illuminate a small lightbulb. Although the technology is still in its infancy, Professor Robert Linhardt of the Institute says it is a 'glimpse into the future' and that one day reams of paper could be used to power cars. The battery contains carbon nanotubes, each about one millionth of a centimetre thick, which act as an electrode. The nanotubes are embedded in a sheet of paper soaked in ionic liquid electrolytes, which conduct the electricity.
Search engine Yahoo may be falling far behind rival Google in terms of user numbers, but it has managed to outdo the Mountain View company in one area: customer satisfaction. Yahoo came out tops in the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) report on e-business websites, released Tuesday. The annual ACSI e-business report includes measurements of search engines and portals as well as online news and information sites. Yahoo's customer satisfaction score of 79 on the ACSI's 100-point scale is up almost 4 percent this year, while Google's slipped 3.7 percent to 78, its second yearly decline in a row.
Companies have been warned to be aware of the security risks that come with the use of 'Web 2.0' features such as blogs, wikis and social networking systems. Analysts at Gartner say that although these risks are manageable, enterprises must put security measures in place in the early stages of developing Web 2.0 apps. Speaking at a conference in Sydney, Australia, Gartner fellow Joseph Feiman said many of the concepts of web 2.0 technologies run against traditional IT security practice and force companies to relinquish a "level of control that they historically would not tolerate", meaning a rethink of security is essential.
The Weather Channel has secured the rights to a dot-mobi (.mobi) domain, the new domain name suffix dedicated to mobile websites. As a result of the agreement, consumers will have a new method for accessing weather information and features provided by The Weather Channel via their mobile phones. Terms of the agreement between the channel and the dotMobi consortium were not disclosed.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 