SecurityFocus.com: “Due to a flaw in the handling of specially crafted ad hoc queries, it is possible for a logged in user
to utilize the ad hoc query in such a way that the use of the system administrator’s cached
connection would be invoked rather than that of the user. This would enable the user to access the
database with administrative privileges.”

Slashdot links to a Python mailing list post about the “first GPL compatible release in a long time.” The release is actually a downgrade from 2.1, so unless you really need something GPL friendly, don’t do it.

NetImperative.com:

“The Internet Action Plan (IAP), an EC-sponsored initiative to raise awareness of safe surfing practices, was
dealt a blow when hackers closed IAP?s Safer Internet Awareness Exchange website.

The site, which launched in January, aims to be a central clearing house or virtual meeting-place for
information about European activities to promote safe surfing. The two attacks were launched at the same time
as details of a EU cybercrime treaty were finalised in Brussels – a move that is unlikely to be coincidental.”

ZDNET: “An Internet computer file purporting to show video of the execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh actually contains a harmful program that gives malicious hackers backdoor access.”

LinuxSecurity:

“This week, advisories were released for tcpdump, exim, imap, xinetd, man-db, and LPRng. The vendors
include Debian, Immunix, Mandrake, Red Hat, and TurboLinux. It has been a rather slow week for advisories.
This week, you should take a look at the Postfix document noted below. It goes into great detail and would be
helpful to any administrator running the Postfix Package.”

– By Tina Gasperson –

Eric Lee Green has lots of opinions. No one but he knows just how many, but he’s seen fit to share many of them at his Web site, Badtux.org. His latest tirade isn’t really a tirade at all; it’s more like a look at a computer guy’s delight: Setting up his new laptop with Linux.The laptop saga helps to prove that Green isn’t just a curmudgeon with a grudge against Microsoft. But my favorite essay at Badtux is entitled, “I bought it, it’s mine.” It’s a cutting, logical argument against proprietary software licenses and UCITA, one that stands out in a sea of rants on a topic that is the cornerstone of the Free Software philosophy.

For instance, he describes the problem with paying for software before we even understand the license to which we must agree in order to use it legally:

“Let’s talk about contract (‘tort’) law for a moment. Traditionally, contract law required that there be a ‘meeting of the minds’, where two people got together and agreed to something. One person could not make an agreement in somebody else’s name and have it binding or valid. Thus traditionally, contracts have been required to be signed by representatives of both parties.”

He also gives a great argument that copyright law is sufficient to protect Microsoft from what it calls “piracy,” and that its attempts at ever more restrictive licensing are simply to suck as much money as possible without allowing people full access to software that they paid for and own.

All the essays about at Badtux are worth noting. They are well-written and put the author’s points across convincingly, and entertainingly.

Badtux.org also contains a selection of Green’s original music, birthed of musical influences from Woodie Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Bob Dylan. There’s also a selection of headlines that have sparked more commentary from Green, and a great big all-day-long explorable collection of bookmarks about much more than just Free Software.

Badtux ain’t bad. See what you think.

The Government Computer News reports that the US Government Printing Office is to retrofit 30,000 archived web pages to comply with disability access rules, even though government sites are exempt from the law.

CNet reports that Airbus has acquired a 30% stake in Tenzig, a company which makes in-flight Internet access equipment, to go head-to-head with Boeing which will soon be offering in-flight Internet access on 1500 of its aircraft.

Space.com reports on efforts to break a number of parachuting records by parachute jumping from the stratosphere, the low end of what is technically outer space.

ZDNet reports on yet another flaw in Microsoft Office, this time in Word. This bug in word has been exploited to steal passwords from unsuspecting users.