MS buys Winternals

Microsoft has bought Winternals Software, a small maker of Windows utility programs, in a deal the company hopes will add key technical talent to its operating system development team, reports ZD Net.

Terms of the deal were not announced. Among the software that Winternals offers is a set of freely downloadable tools known as Sysinternals.

As part of the deal, Winternals` co-founder Mark Russinovich is being named as a technical fellow.

HD Moore, creator of the Metasploit hacking tool, has crafted a search engine that finds malicious software using Google queries. The malware search engine finds Web sites hosting malicious files, reports CNet.

To find the malicious software the new search tool uses a fingerprint of the executable and then searches for it using Google, according to the Web site. However, those who do try it won`t find much.

Google has not indexed most malware yet and the signature database is still tiny, according to the Malware search site.

In the wake of Mumbai bomb blasts, the Indian government has found a scapegoat: blogs. The government has ordered 150 Internet service providers operating in the country to block access to 18 blog sites, reports EFY Times.

The government claims the content on these blogs is anti-national, fanatic and provocative. The decision has created a major blog blackout, the first in the country, affecting millions of bloggers active in India.

Under India`s IT Act of 2000, Web sites can be blocked if they are found to be promoting hate, violence, terrorism or pornography.

TV network Sky is hoping to change the UK broadband Internet market. Whether it will fulfil the promise of a "free" service for its satellite-TV subscribers remains to be seen, reports Hexus.

The service offers download/upload speeds of up to 2Mb/400Kb, a free wireless ADSL router and a year`s free subscription to McAfee Security Suite.

This is subject to a 2GB monthly-usage cap and subscribers will need to pay lb40 (R524) for an activation fee and might need to spend a further lb50 (R655) if opting for professional rather than DIY installation.

Nuance Communications is claiming its latest speech recognition software, Dragon NaturallySpeaking, is the first application of its kind that does not require voice training, according to the Software Journal.

This is unlike most other applications available in the market, which require some training by the user so the software can get used to the pitch and tone of the user`s voice.

Nuance said it has solved the problem by enabling high-quality dictation out-of-the-box and the program quality would improve with usage.