LinuxSecurity.com wraps up this week’s Linux security updates and advisories: “This week, advisories were released for pgp4pine, vixie-cron, ssh, CUPS, glibc, bind, and sendmail.  The vendors include Immunix, NetBSD, Mandrake, Red Hat, SuSE, TurboLinux.  It is critical that you update all vulnerable packages.”

In a press release at LinuxPR, Rauch Medien announced the release of their new high availability clustering product today. The RM HA Cluster consists of rack-mounted servers running Red Hat Linux with “RM enhancements.” Load balancing and the Piranha GUI (for remote administration) are also included.

Alan Cox posts details of the latest Linux kernel update. This third release of the 2.4.2 kernel adds documentation for the FB interface, a work around for the APIC disable_irc hardware bugs, and a few tulip updates and merge bits from 0.92. There are a few other new items, too.

Wondering what to do with those extra function keys at the top of your keyboard? You’re in luck: Linux.com’s Josh Boudreau outlines an easy way to put those extra buttons to work. All you need is the scancode of your keyboard, the use of the xev program, and… well, you get the idea. It’s easier than it sounds.

Linux developer Command Prompt, Inc. announced today that it has signed a deal that will provide managed Linux server services to theKompany.com. Among other duties, Command Prompt will assume the administration and management of theKompany.com’s dedicated Web server. Read the press release at LinuxPR.

In a press release at LinuxPR, SuSE Linux announced the launch of its Consulting Services group in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The new group aims to provide IT consulting that leans toward enterprise application of Linux and Open Source technologies.

ZDNet reports: “Congress is growing more responsive to calls for online privacy legislation, but a major conflict looms that could hurt efforts this year to enact consumer safeguards against prying Web sites.”

Dan Marlin writes “Projectmayo.com has just released the DivX4Windows 4.0 Alpha 48 Core Codec. The Windows version has been significantly improved by using a DirectShow filter on the decoder. The visual quality has also been improved in scenes with fades and cross fades. This new version is definitely worth downloading.
The key piece is DirectShow, with a good video card it plays back great and is now 100% MPEG-4 compliant. They are looking to crush some of these DirectShow bugs as it is the latest addition to the codec. So do some testing and give them some feedback.”

Creators of the popular ‘Bess’ Internet filter have abandoned plans to sell the surfing habits of millions of schoolchildren. The negative publicity surrounding its sale of the data branded N2H2 a “corporate predator,” and spooked the United States Department of Defense into abandoning a purchase of that information. MSNBC has the full story.

From Slashdot: “An anonymous reader writes: “Tumbleweed, ‘secure’ email via http with SSL, so, not really end-to-end secure, just got the patent on private URLs; “Tumbleweed IME generates a private URL for each secure delivery. The private URL that IME creates is unique, tied to the sender of the package or transaction, to the content being sent, and to the intended recipient.” I guess I can’t tell my buds to surf to a non-public directory on my website to download stuff anymore.””