New group joins Russians in PDF attack

[eWeek] The PDF file installs several different pieces of malware, including the Zeus variant of the PRG Trojan. It uses anti-debug/anti-VMware tactics to evade analysis and slowly downloads other files to the infected host via BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service), a lightweight HTTP-based protocol that is usually allowed through firewalls because it's what Microsoft Update uses, Jackson said.

OLPC '$100 laptop' now $200

[Reuters] The One Laptop per Child Foundation, founded by MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte, has started offering the lime-green-and-white machines in lots of 10,000 for $200 apiece on its Web site.

Hulu prepares for launch of online TV

[NYT] Hulu is presenting select episodes of some 90 television shows, including new and old programs from NBC (“The Office,” “The A-Team”), Fox (“24” and “The Simpsons”) and an assortment of smaller broadcasters like USA Networks. It has also added two new partners, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which distributes programs like “Chapelle’s Show” and “Reno 911,” and Sony Pictures Television, which will make selections in its archives like “I Dream of Jeannie,” available on Hulu.com.

Colbert nation one million strong

[NYT] A group created by Raj Vachhani and titled “1,000,000 Strong for Stephen T Colbert” — has grown to more than a million members in just over a week, making it the most popular political group on Facebook by far. “What amazed me the most was how [Barack] Obama’s 1 Million Strong Group took more than 8 months to get about 380,000 members, but Colbert’s 1 Million Strong Group took less than a week to get 750,000 members,” he wrote in an e-mail message Wednesday.

Free Jammie: the coffee mug, the thong

[News.com] Jammie Thomas is pulling out the stops in her bid to defend herself in court. The 30-year-old woman has begun selling men's and women's undergarments, coffee mugs, canine apparel, and baby bibs to raise money to pay her legal fees. All the merchandise is stamped with the new "Free Jammie" logo created for her by one of her supporters.

Negroponte: OLPC openness means Windows too

[News.com] "It would be hard for OLPC to say it was 'open' and then be closed to Microsoft. Open means open," Negroponte said.

EU digs deeper on GOOG/DoubleClick

[Dow Jones] he European Commission wants more industry views on the proposed takeover by Google Inc.'s (GOOG) of Internet advertising broker DoubleClick, according to a document seen by Dow Jones Newswires. The regulator has sent out a second questionnaire to the companies' customers, especially targeting publishers, seeking their reactions to the takeover, said a lawyer familiar with the publishing side of the deal.

ICANN considers scrapping Whois

[AP] It will have a tough time winning approval — and could create chaos. But the fact that abandoning Whois is on the table underscores frustrations among privacy advocates that ICANN appears on the verge of launching new studies and deferring a decision yet again after some six years of debate.

RedHat pursues Asian governments

[IDG] Asian governments are pivotal to Red Hat Inc.'s goal of earning 60 percent of its revenue from outside the US by the end of 2009, said Matthew Szulik, the company's chairman, chief executive officer, and president, in a conference call on Thursday.

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