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Computerworld - Microsoft today warned users of a vulnerability in the 64-bit versions of Wndows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 that could be used to hijack systems. The bug is in Windows' Canonical Display Driver, which blends the operating system's primary graphics interface, dubbed Graphics Device Interface (GDI), and DirectX to compose the desktop. According to Jerry Bryant, a group manager with the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC), the vulnerability affects any machine with the flashy "Aero" interface, which is the default on all but the least-expensive editions of Windows 7. Aero is an optional install on Windows Server 2008 R2. "If exploited, it would likely cause the affected system to stop responding and restart," said Bryant in an entry on the MSRC blog. "Code execution, while possible in theory, would be very difficult due to memory randomization both in kernel memory and via Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR)."

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Facebook boasts 400 million users and billions of display ad impressions, but the latest privacy concerns have some users threatening to delete their accounts with the social networking service. Additionally, a survey indicates that negative perceptions of Facebook are on the rise among older users. To counteract this, Facebook has issued new security tools, along with assurances that it does everything possible to protect individual privacy.

For Facebook, it's the best and worst of times.

On one hand, the social networking site now boasts 400 million users, and new data from analytics company ComScore suggests it earned about 176 billion display ad impressions in the first quarter of 2010, good enough to place it ahead of Yahoo and Microsoft. Facebook's newly redesigned site, according to Jefferies and Co. analyst Youssef Squali, offers more opportunities for ads per page; if its subscriber numbers continue to grow, Facebook's CPMs (costs per thousand impressions) could eventually pass those of Microsoft's or Yahoo's sites.

On the other had, though, Facebook now faces something of an uprising from users increasingly concerned about the Website's privacy controls and how their personal information may be used to increase that all-important ad revenue. On May 13, a European group of data protection authorities sent Facebook a letter complaining that alterations to the Website have potentially "changed the default settings on its social networking platform to the detriment of a user." And U.S. lawmakers have been urging the Federal Trade Commission to take action regarding social networking sites' privacy controls.

A YouGov BrandIndex survey found that the "buzz score" for Facebook among users over the age of 35 had dropped from 26.7 to 21.2 in the past few months, indicating a more negative perception of the site for that age group. At the same time, however, "buzz" among 18-to-24-year-olds rose from 32.8 to 44.8. Given the time frame, that negativity among older Facebook users could very well be due to privacy concerns.

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Firefox 4 release plan: the need for speed

Mozilla hopes to release Firefox 4 in October or November, a new version that has speed among its top goals.

"Performance is a huge, huge, huge thing for us," said Mike Beltzner, vice president of engineering for Firefox, in a Webcast on Tuesday about plans for the browser. "We created the performance story, and we've got to keep at it."

Among other features planned for Firefox 4--and Mozilla emphatically cautions that plans can change--are support for high-speed graphics and text through Direct2D on Windows; a tidier user interface with more prominent and poweful tabs; support for several newer Web technologies; 64-bit versions; and compatibility with multitouch interfaces.

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So this was in one of our tech forums and had to post it. Think we found the original poster but it was in German and Google was not translating, so no text. This is prooof of the old adage, "picture is worth a thousand words".