Critical flaw found in PowerPoint - Secunia

An extremely critical security flaw in multiple versions of Microsoft PowerPoint has been discovered in the wild. The vulnerability is caused by an unknown error when parsing certain strings in a specially crafted document and successful exploitation allows remote execution of arbitrary code. Security firm Secunia recommends that PowerPoint users do not open any untrusted documents until the flaw has been patched. ...more

Euro iTMS Grand Prize: Tell a Friend to win

How can you win Apple's Euro iTMS Grand Prize - for purchasing the 100 millionth entry from a European iTunes Music Store - without making a purchase? This was the question we asked when noting that the first item in the Terms and Conditions was that no purchase was in fact necessary. 'The music fan who purchases the 100 millionth song in Europe will receive a prize that is just as dramatic and makes the digital music experience complete,' reads the promotional web page, but Apple has kindly pointed out that we could also "Tell a friend". Rather than having to buy a music track for a chance to scoop the big prize promotion - a 17-inch iMac G5, a 30GB iPod and a 10,000-song Gift Card are up for grabs - you need only email a friend a track recommendation. ...more

Sony PlayStation news round up

In one big dollop of news, we cover Sony's new PlayStation portal, the launch of the PS One and which games will be released with the PlayStation 2 on 24 November. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has launched a new web portal for its PlayStation range which links onto 14 adapted European sub-sites, covering five languages and creating 21 different versions of the initial site. The new design was conducted by agency Icon Medialab and will be hosted from London. ...more

AMD swings jobs axe

Cost cutting measures have lead struggling AMD to shed approximately 2,000 jobs worldwide. This represents 15 per cent of its workforce. AMD is hoping the move will save $350m and help it move towards profitability again in 2003. ...more

Skype adds voicemail service to its IP telephony

Net telephony giant Skype has updated its eponymous application to include voicemail and other new features. For about ?10 a year, Skype users can leave voicemails up to 10 minutes long for any other Skype user, even if they are not subscribed to the voicemail service. Voicemail has been in beta along with Skype's SkypeIn - giving Skype users a standard phone number that can be called from landlines or mobiles - since April. ...more