Detailed exploit code for a critical Windows worm hole has been published on the Internet, putting millions of users at risk of PC takeover attacks. The code, which was posted to the Milw0rm Web site, attempts to exploit a known–and already patched–vulnerability in the DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) Client service. Microsoft released the MS06-036 bulletin on July 11 to correct the flaw, and warned that a successful exploit could allow remote code execution on Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

Who’s to blame when a Web site crashes? The site owner? The host? The supplier of the back-end software? The blame game doesn’t seem to have started–at least not publicly–in the case of MySpace.com, the latest mega-Web site to go down. MySpace is one of the largest sites on the Web. As of February 2006, there were more than 64 million registered MySpace users, with 260,000 new registered users signing up each day. A power outage in the company’s Los Angeles-area datacenter took the entire MySpace site down completely for hours, starting on the evening of July 23. For hours after that, performance of the site was erratic.

The Carbon Project is pleased to announce the third generation of its open-geospatial .NET toolkit CarbonTools, CarbonTools PRO, is now available. CarbonTools PRO is a new software development toolkit that enhances the Microsoft .NET framework for advanced location content handling and sharing. With CarbonTools PRO you can develop powerful location-based social networking applications.

Microsoft is hoping that the release of the second public beta of Exchange Server 2007 on July 24 will undo some of the harm caused by the limited-release first beta, which was feature-incomplete and provided little of the familiar Exchange GUI. The lack of GUI led to the widespread belief that there would be significant training costs associated with learning the new command-line interface in Exchange Server 2007. Beta 2 includes an improved Exchange Management Console, the GUI that simplifies the navigation tree to three layers. It also includes the new Exchange Management Shell, the command-line interface formerly known as Monad that automates routine and repetitive tasks.

Advanced Micro Devices will acquire graphics processor maker ATI Technologies in an effort to emerge as a more formidable supplier of chips for business computers. AMD has traditionally worked with multiple partners whose chips can be used with its processors to build PCs. But the company intends to use the tie-up, announced on July 24, to deliver more tightly integrated processors and supporting chip sets, in an effort to lure more businesses.

LEAD Technologies announced the release of version 5 of LEADTOOLS ePrint file conversion software. Version 5 brings a new design, an updated, interface and a completely new document manipulation application, which adds several new features that will take file conversion to the next level. LEADTOOLS ePrint, now called LEADTOOLS ePrint Professional, includes much more than the traditional printer driver/file converter found in previous versions. ePrint 5 has been re-designed to include an advanced Workstation application that gives you much more power and flexibility over your document.

Kevin Turner has come a long way from the checkout line at Wal-Mart. Turner joined Microsoft nearly a year ago as the company’s chief operating officer. Before that, he spent nearly 20 years at retail giant Wal-Mart Stores, working his way up the ladder from part-time cashier to CEO of the company’s Sam’s Club unit. He sat down with CNET News.com to discuss what he’s learned at Microsoft so far, what it’s like to be an outsider, and the importance of beating Google.

Scammers have set up an exact copy of the download page for Google’s Toolbar plug-in in an attempt to lure users to download a Trojan back door. Reported by security outfit Surfcontrol, some versions of the scam even spoof the correct Google Toolbar Web address for Internet Explorer, using Google’s own redirection service in an attempt to hide the real, non-Google address. The Trojan itself, W32.Ranky.FW, is designed to turn the PC into a bot zombie, and is spread using the conventional technique of asking recipients of a spam email to follow an embedded link.

While high-profile open-source efforts like MySQL and PostgreSQL slug it out with the big four commercial databases, a Tasmanian newspaper is betting on the lesser-known Firebird SQL server for its B-to-B Web applications. Two years ago The Examiner, based in Launceston, Australia, began investigating software for its new online B-to-B initiative, which started as proof-of-concept, so a "cheap" database that could handle hundreds of simultaneous users was sought by the company’s systems developer, Nigel Weeks. Weeks started out with MySQL, which is "brilliant for light reads and simple queries," but "curls up its toes" when it comes to complex queries and business logic.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said that it will donate $287 million worth of grants over the coming five years to help build an international team of scientists and researchers to develop an effective AIDS vaccine. Dr. Nicholas Hellmann, acting director of the Gates Foundation’s HIV, TB and reproductive health program, told the AP the contribution is much needed. "Unfortunately, developing an effective HIV vaccine has proven to be tremendously difficult, and despite the committed efforts of many researchers around the world, progress simply has not been fast enough," Hellman told the AP.