Our latest edition of WIG has lots of news link goodness covering topics such as Google’s demotion of Chrome in search results, Ramnit malware’s theft of over 45,000 Facebook logins, WebOS’s second chance in Healthcare, and more.

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Weekly News Links

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• Japan develops malware cyberweapon
  The Japanese government has been quietly developing a cyberweapon since 2008, which reportedly is able to track, identify and disable sources of online attacks, one report stated.
• Iran squeezes Web surfers, prepares censored national intranet
  Iranians have lost the right to surf the Web anonymously at Internet cafes as the government reportedly moves closer to its ultimate goal of replacing the global network with a censored national intranet.
• Google reportedly faces maximum fine from Korean trustbuster
  Google could face the maximum fine for allegedly obstructing a Korean investigation of its business practices, the head of the Korean Fair Trade Commission told that country’s fourth-largest newspaper.
• Google demotes Chrome in search results over pay-for-post promo
  Google has demoted its Chrome home page in results for a search using the keyword “browser” following an effort to have bloggers promote the Google browser that backfired.
• What IE6′s slow death says about us
  Usage of Internet Explorer 6 has dropped below 1 percent. Microsoft and security pros everywhere are happy about IE6′s demise.
• Mozilla Continues To Tweak Firefox’s Memory Usage
  According to a few tickets that are floating around the bugzilla.mozilla.org web site, it looks like the company behind the open source web browser is really determined to save you as many bytes of memory as possible.
• Mobile browsing reaches all-time high
  If you haven’t whipped your Web site into shape for easy viewing on small-screen devices, you’d better get cracking.
• Google, Facebook, Amazon May Go Black in SOPA Protest
  CNet reported that Google, Amazon, Facebook, and similarly large, anti-SOPA companies are mulling over the option of taking their websites off the air to replace them with an anti-SOPA message, asking users to contact their elected officials.
• Microsoft will add Linux virtual machines to Windows Azure
  Microsoft is preparing an expansion of the Windows Azure virtual machine hosting technology that will let customers run either Windows or Linux virtual machines, as well as applications like SQL Server and SharePoint.
• Linux Market Share On Desktop Increased By About 50% In 2011
  Desktop Linux market share had a growth of about 50% last year according to the recent data by NetMarketShare.
• Mandriva in danger of closing its doors
  Signs are not good that Mandriva will be continuing much longer in its current state. That’s the news coming out of France this week, as rumors and vague confirmations point to the French Linux company possibly shuttering its doors on January 16. The reason? An apparent shareholder fight that is blocking an influx of much-needed capital.
• WebOS Gets Surprise Second Life in Healthcare
  Hewlett-Packard’s WebOS is making unexpected inroads in healthcare as medical researchers develop applications for the newly open-source platform.
• Seagate says HDD demand will outstrip supply in 2012
  Hard disk drive supplier Seagate Technology provided a financial update today, reiterating that demand for HDD units will exceed supply in 2012 in the wake of flooding last year in Thailand.
• Richard Stallman Was Right All Along
  Thirty years ago, when Richard Stallman launched the GNU project, and during the three decades that followed, his sometimes extreme views and peculiar antics were ridiculed and disregarded as paranoia – but here we are, 2012, and his once paranoid what-ifs have become reality. Whether you agree or disagree this does make for an interesting read-through.
• Americans more susceptible to online scams than believed, study finds
  Last May, long before the iPhone 4S was released, a bunch of Facebook users got tricked into spreading spam by clicking on a link attached to this headline: “First Exposure: Apple iPhone 5.”
• EFF concerned over AIM privacy
  The Electronic Frontier Foundation has expressed concerns about recent changes to AOL’s Instant Messenger service and recommends that “AIM users do not switch to the new version, as it introduces important privacy-unfriendly features”.
• Time stamp bug exposes photos on locked iPhone
  A Canadian tech consultant has discovered a bug in iOS 5 that makes the photos on a locked iPhone viewable, if the phone’s clock is set to the past.
• Worm steals more than 45,000 Facebook logins
  A nasty bit of malware making the rounds on Facebook has reportedly made off with the usernames and passwords of more than 45,000 users.
• “Lilupophilupop” infects a million URLs
  It has been estimated that more than a million URLs have been infected with an SQL injected script. First detected by SANS ISC at the beginning of the December 2011, the attack appears to target ASP sites with Adobe Coldfusion middleware and an MSSQL database.
• Keylogging threat could lead to more attacks, say researchers
  A new threat is looming for browsers and it’s not related to JavaScript. Based in the relatively new technology that allows for animated complex vector graphics in the browser, called SVG animation, the vulnerability allowed for a malware writer to detect key strokes even when JavaScript was disabled.

Random TinyHacker Links

• Infographic: Top Features in Windows 8
  This infographic details the exciting features that will be available in the upcoming Windows 8 operating system.
• The Most Underrated Tool for Providing Remote Support
  Windows Remote Assistance is a perfectly working Windows tool for providing remote assistance and support to people who need it. Why install third-party tools?
• For Microsoft Outlook Users – Upgrade Your Time Management Skills!
  Are you a heavy user of Microsoft Outlook? You might want want to consider this book to help improve your skills for managing time and work.
• How to win a free copy of Norton Internet Security 2012
  Together with Symantec, we are celebrating our 2.5 years anniversary. We’ve got 5 one-year licenses of Norton Internet Security 2012 to give away to our faithful readers. If you are interested in learning how to win them, read this article for details.
• Enable Hundreds of Extra Emoticons in iOS
  Great tip from the New York Times Gadgetwise blog.
• Electronic Gadget Battles (Infographic)
  It seems the most effective and efficient product comes out as top dog.

Super User Questions

• Possible to burn a music CD with additional files?
• How to store and preserve lots of data?
• Is it possible to use a storage disk (such as a USB drive) as RAM?
• Which malfunctions cause old computers to slow down and crash?
• Why does Windows Progress Bar always give such horrible estimates?

How-To Geek Weekly Article Recap

• The 20 Most Popular How-To Geek Articles of 2011
• How to Use Your Android Phone as a Modem; No Rooting Required, Redux
• The How-To Geek Guide to Buying the Right Printer
• Ask HTG: Finding Good Airline Seats, Leaving Monitors On To Save Energy, and Extending Your Network with a Wireless Repeater
• How To Add (and Remove!) Watermarks, Text, or Logos To And From Images
• Desktop Fun: Sci-Fi Cities Wallpaper Collection Series 2
• How To Make Photoshop Cartoons In About One Minute
• The Best How-To Geek Articles for December 2011
• Ask The Readers: What’s Your Source for Awesome Wallpapers?
• What You Said: The Best Sources for Awesome Wallpapers

Geeky Goodness from the ETC Side

• The Top 10 Photoshop Disasters of 2011
• Geeks versus Non-Geeks when Doing Repetitive Tasks [Funny Chart]
• The Truth About Battery Meters [Humorous Image]
• The Perfect Pillow for Internet Addicts [Humorous Comic]
• Cat Hates DVD Drive [Video]
• Classic Atari Games Updated with Realistic Titles
• Where are the Memes of 2011 at Now? [Humorous Image Compilation]
• Increase Phone PIN Security By Repeating a Digit
• DIY Car Hack Turns iPhone into Remote Starter
• The Commodore 64 Turns 30 This Week

One Year Ago on How-To Geek

• How to Easily Automate Your Firefox Profile Backup with Batch Files
• Boost Your Email Writing Productivity with Microsoft Word Mail Merge
• Use Evernote’s Secret Debug Menu to Optimize and Speed Up Searching
• 45 Different Services, Sites, and Apps to Help You Read Your Favorite Sites (Like How-To Geek)
• How to Be More Productive in Ubuntu Using Keyboard Shortcuts

How-To Geek Comics Weekly Roundup

• The Wrong Kind of File
• What is and is not in His Blind Spot
• Definitely Playing For a While
• No More Navigation System
• The Sandbox Experts

How-To Geek Weekly Trivia Roundup

• Which Keyboard Layout Is Faster Than The QWERTY Configuration?
• What Mobile Phone Service Preceded Modern Cell Phones?
• Who Performed Darth Vader’s Iconic Light Saber Duels?
• Which Computer is the Best Selling Personal Computer of All Time?
• What Was The First Domain Registered?