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New Scientist is carrying a story on the success of a prototype fully autonomous rock climbing robot named Lemur.

While other climbing robots are designed to scale the sides of flat structures using suction cups or magnets for grip, tackling uneven geological surfaces is a far more difficult task. With a central body and four triple-jointed limbs, Lemur's gait resembles that of a human rock climber as it manoeuvres up an indoor climbing wall at Stanford.

At the moment, the robot cannot stick to a sheer wall. But on uneven surfaces it can use the claw at the end of each limb to hook into a foothold. "It's like a human climber using a single finger," Bretl says.

More information along with videos can be seen here.

In what is probably the first phishing scandal to hit an Indian bank, ICICI customers were targeted by e-mails requesting them to confirm their a/c details on a spoofed website.

E-mails from `support@icici.com' with the subject `Important information from ICICI Bank' and `Official information from ICICI Bank' started circulating from Monday. Once opened, the mail asked customers to click on a link.

"For security purposes your account has been randomly chosen for verification. To verify your account information we are asking you to provide us with all the data we are requesting. Otherwise we will not be able to verify your identity and access to your account will be denied. Please click on the link below to get to the ICICI secure page and verify your account details. Thank you," the e-mail said.

The bank has said that it is aware of no financial losses at this point. Sify is carrying this article.

Two new vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer have been identified which will provide a malicious script complete access to a Windows PC.

In simple terms, the link uses an unknown vulnerability to open up a local Explorer help file -- ms-its:C:WINDOWSHelpiexplore.chm::/iegetsrt.htm. It delays executing anything immediately but instead uses another unknown vulnerability to run another file which in turn runs some script. This script is then used to run more script. And finally that script is used to run an exploit that Microsoft Corp. has been aware of since August 2003 but hasn't patched.

That exploit -- Adodb.stream -- has not been viewed as particularly dangerous, since it only works when the file containing the code is present on the user's hard disk. The problem comes in the fact that the Help file initially opened is assumed to be safe since it is a local file and so has minimal security restrictions.

Computerworld Australia is carrying this report.

The Economic Times is carrying a story on the rise of Linux as the operating system of choice for many of Asia's governments.

Linux accounted for 10 per cent of server shipments in Asia ex-Japan in 2003, up from seven percent in 2001, and the figure is forecast to jump to 25 percent by 2008, according to International Data Corp (IDC).

That would be equivalent to an annual growth rate of more than 38 percent, making Linux the fastest-growing server platform in the region. The growth rate worldwide in the same period is forecast to be about 27 percent.

To address some of these concerns, Microsoft has implemented a Government Security Program (GSP) providing limited access to Windows source codes, said Chris Sharp, Microsoft's director of platform strategy in Asia Pacific.

The full story can be read here.

Rediff is one of many to report on NASSCOM's recently released list of the top-15 third party ITES (call center & BPO) companies for 2003-2004. The ranking were as follows:

1. WNS
2. Wipro Spectramind
3. Daksh e-Services
4. Convergys India Services
5. HCL Technologies BPO Services
6. Zenta Technologies
7. ICICI OneSource
8. MphasiS BPO Services
9. EXL Services
10. Tracmail Group
11. GTL Ltd
12. vCustomer
13. Hinduja TMT
14. 24x7 Customer
15. Sutherland Technologies

The full article can be reached here.

Computerworld reports that upcoming WIndows and Redhat releases will support CPU-based security features designed to prevent malicious code from being executed.

The improved security feature has been included in 64-bit CPUs from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. since last year, but operating system makers haven't yet built support for the technology into their code, said Jeff Lowe, desktop marketing manager at Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD. That will change when Windows XP SP2 is released later this year and when Red Hat's new enterprise Linux OS ships in August.

Red Hat is now working on the new NX -- or "no execute" -- technology in prototype form for use with x86 processors from Intel Corp. and with Intel's 64-bit extension technology, said Tim Burke, director of server development at Raleigh, N.C.-based Red Hat. NX prevents an operating system from executing malicious code at the CPU and memory levels so it can't infect a computer or system.

The entire story can be read here.

Reuters is carrying a report on plans by The Beatles to license their music online.

Negotiators for the Beatles have talked with several companies, with a particular emphasis on Microsoft Corp's MSN, which is expected to open an Internet music store late this summer, people familiar with the talks told Reuters.

"MSN is working very closely with the music industry to build a top-quality music service for consumers, which includes providing a wide selection of music, but has nothing specific to announce at this time," said a Microsoft spokesman.

The emphasis on MSN is most likely due to current disagreements with Apple over the Apple trademark.

ABC Australia reports that the total number of registered Internet addresses has reached a new high of 63 million, after a record increase of 4.7 million in the first quarter of this year.

The total number of 63 million is roughly one for every 100 people living in the world today.

"This number is greater than at any time in the Internet's history, surpassing even the heights that were seen during the Internet 'bubble.'" VeriSign said in a statement.

The spike in demand is at least partly driven by the recent availability of Arabic, Chinese and Russian characters within domain names, VeriSign officials said.

The full story is available here.

Sony and McDonald's have worked out a promotion deal where McDonald's Big Mac customers get a free download of a song of their choice from Sony Connect.

The tie-up comes as Sony plans a late-June launch for its online music store, Sony Connect, in France, Germany and Britain, with the Nordic and Benelux regions to follow by year-end and Spain for next spring, Sony said.

Thursday's alliance is the latest link-up between a mass market consumer brand and a technology firm to promote a fledgling online music store and tempt teenage song-swappers away from free download services such as Kazaa and WinMX.

ZDNet is carrying this story.

AMD is all set to introduce the successor to its low cost family of processors named Sempron.

The new brand -- AMD Sempron -- was designed for both desktop and mobile PCs and should be readily available in the second half 2004, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company said in a statement Monday.

The chip essentially replaces AMD's previous discount Duron family for what AMD calls "mature markets." The company confirmed it is still producing Duron cores to satisfy market needs in emerging countries like China and Latin America.

AMD would not discuss the details of the Sempron products, but its is believed it will be derived from K8 (Athlon64), with less cache and probably without 64-bit extensions that are the core function of the company's Athlon XP desktop and mobile processors.

Internetnews.com is carrying this article.