Slow internet in Malaysia again

Malaysia's largest internet service provider, TM reported that some of their undersea internet cables named Asia-Pacific Cable Network 2 (APCN2) are damaged once again. Altough no reason of the damage could be made available, it is greatly suspected that the damage was caused by Typhoon Marakot.

According to TM, internet users would experience slow connection to sites located in Taiwan and the USA due to this damage. However, they also assured that their technicians are working around the clock to rectify the problem as son as possible.

British Children Doing 'Sexting'

'Sexting' or swapping sexually explicit images of oneself over mobile phones are becoming a huge hit among British children. According to Britain's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center (CEOP), there has been a huge jump in reports regarding this concerning behavior.

CEOP also said that sexting is dangerous because these children would be easy targets for bullying and victimizing as those sexual images can be used against them in the future.

The report produced by REUTERS also quoted CEOP as saying that there is no law to prosecute children distributing sexual elicit images, as the law is made up for adults, hence making the restriction of sexting very difficult.

Malaysian Government Cancels Internet Filter Plans

The Star reported that the government has decided to do away with the filter over the internet. According to the report, the government would enforce current laws including the seditious law enactment over those whom misuse the internet.

Last week, Datuk Seri Rais Yatim whom is in charge of the Information, Communications, Culture and Arts Ministry confirmed that the government is putting out a tender to filter the internet. The plan, which is said to be similar to China's failed "Green Dam" project roared Malaysia's online community with huge protest coming from almost every corner. Formar Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir also made a statement over his displeasure of such move, shall it be implemented.

Nevertheless, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was quick to quash any allegations on the plans, and today, Datuk Seri Rais Yatim himself confirmed that the plans have been shelved for good.

Malaysia Only Filter Porn

Update @9pm: Malaysian PM has said that the governmont does not plan do filter the internet.

Datuk Seri Rais Yatim, the minister incharge of the Malaysian Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture clarifies today that the planned internet filteration in the cuntry wuld only involve pornography.

In a report produced by The Star, Datuk Seri Rais was said to agree that a tender is being called out to companies whom are willing to do such filter for the country which is similar to China's Green damn project. Apart from that, Datuk Seri Rais also made it a point that pornography is dangerous to young naive children, hence the need for some regulation on internet content.

In recent days, the majority of the Malaysian online community has expressed rage over the governments possible filter of the internet, citing it is against the Malaysian Super Corridor (MSC) agreement. Speculations have also mounted to the extend that the government is trying to curb the opposition parties from using the internet to gain support. However, with this recent statement, it is expected that Malaysians will be receptive on the internet filter idea, as pornography is also considered as one of the many causes of the decline in Malaysian eastern moral values.

REDtone Wants Nation Wide Wimax License

Broadband service provider, REDtone believes that they should be given the license to introduce their WiMAX service nationwide. According to a report by the Star Online, REDtone believes they have achieved the 25% broadband penetration in Sabah and Sarawak which was set by the government.

The report also quotes REDtone as saying they currently have 1,000 broadband subscribers within Sabah and Sarawak despite the odds and difficulty faced to set up such service.

REDtones ambition to expand comes as the government is pushing hard for a 50% broadband penetration in Malaysia. Nonetheless, their presence in Sabah and Sarawak in fact remain limited and very much unknown to this date. In addition to that, their subscribtion rate is also considered a little higher than rival broadband providers.

Malaysia May Filter The Internet

The recent street protest on ISA is changing Malaysia. Reuters reported that the Malaysian Information, Communication and Culture Minister, Datuk Rais Yatim is looking at the possibility of filtering the internet access for Malaysians. He wa quoted as saying that the huge penetration of the Internet in Malaysia comes with the good and the bad, and the government would need to take steps to overcome the bad.

Malaysia, under the premiership of Dr Mahathir and Abdullah Badawi has stressed that the internet would not be filtered, hence encouraging companies such as Microsoft Corp and Sisco Systems to invest.

Nevertheless, recent months have seen websites and blogs deemed dangerous and offensive to Malaysians being blocked and closed by the government, altough not many have questioned their moves due to the fact that these website are porn and quick scheme related. However, shall Malaysia finally decide to regulate internet content in the country, there is a huge posibility to notice an oproar among the tech savvy users whom prefer to enjoy the freedom of surfing any website the like.

AVG Comes in BM Version

AVG Technologies has released a BM version of their famoust Antivirus software. According to The Star Malaysia, the BM version is available in the form of Internet Security 8.5 and Anti-Virus 8.5 and is suitable for home and small office use.

According to AVG, the products mentioned above provide protection for trojans, spyware, viruses and rootkits.

Chrome Themes

Google has introduced themes for their web browsing tool, Chrome. According to a CNET report, there are 29 themes made availabe by Google. Among the theme's made available are Transparent, Star Gazing and Dots.

Meanwhile, high riding Mozilla Firefox on the other hand has introduces their version of a themed web-browser since March this year, calling it 'Personas'. With having almost a 5 month head start, Firefox boast of over 20,000 themes to date, leaving Chrome gasping for users.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that Chrome has managed to 'steal' some of Firefox's loyal users due to it's practicality, and its speed in loading.

Is your password strong?

Passwords are vital nowadays. Every private application or account online needs a password.

The main question is: "How secure is your password?"

Acording to Microsoft, "A strong password should appear to be a random string of characters to an attacker. It should be 14 characters or longer, (eight characters or longer at a minimum). It should include a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols."

This basically means that a good password would be difficult for even yourself to remember, hence making it dificult for others to copy. Microsoft also provides a free online application known as 'Password Checker' to check wether your password is strong or not. It can be found here.

While it is good to have a strong password, it is also advisable to change your pasword once a while .

MySpace introduced MySpace Mail

MySpace has taken social networking into a new whole level by intorducing MYSpace Mail. According to a web report, MySpace Mail would be made available to all 130 million MySpace users in stages in a couple of weeks.

The e-mail service would end with MySpace users putting their username infront of '@myspace.com'. According to a statement by MySpace, the new MySpace Mail signals the readiness of MySpace to take on larger companies such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. At the current moment, MySpace Mail is still at it's beta phase testing, and once ready is expected to boast a lot of additional functions, most notably thier unlimited storage space.

Curently, MySpace is gaining stiff competition with Facebook, while old time favourite, Friendster is finding itself lagging behind.

Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) Does Little for Windows 7

ZDNet reported that Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), which is used primarily to detect pirated Windows has failed once again. This time, it is with Windows 7, Microsoft's latest product which is set to be launch very soon.

According to ZDNet, whenever Microsoft found a vunrebility in their system, hackers would be quick to get around it, hence creating new patches to enable unlicense use of the software. The latest problem with Windows 7 comes with hackers finding a leak to the Loveno OEM master key, hence giving them unlimited access to the genuine product.

Windows have been trying hard to counter piracy through the years, but their effort has largely been dissapointing.