Big
web bounty for Osmond funeral shots
The poor Osmond family – even in death, they can’t
catch a break. Fans contacted the Osmond Brothers’ Utah-based company to
inform them that a web site has posted a $30,000 bounty for a photograph
of family matriarch Olive Osmond in her coffin, surrounded by her
children. While the rumor has not been confirmed, the Osmond family has
already beefed up security at Provo’s Oak Hills LDS Stake Center, where
the funeral
will
take place
Saturday. Undercover guards will keep an eye out for cameras
and other recording devices to ensure that photos of the event do not end
up as tabloid fodder. Osmond, who was 79, died last Sunday of
complications from a debilitating stroke more than two years ago. The
entire Osmond family – including Olive, her husband George, and their
nine children – has toured internationally, and two of the Osmond
children hosted the popular TV program “The Donny and Marie Show” in
1976. Olive Osmond, while not a star in front of the cameras, was known as
the driving force behind her family’s success.
Wallon
worm deceiving Yahoo users
A new worm on the scene called Wallon is out to
hurt
internet users. Antivirus experts are warning that the worm uses false
links to Yahoo.com to lure users to download malicious programs. Wallon
showed up last Friday and spreads via email messages. Symantec and Network
Associates’ McAfee Antivirus Emergency Response Team say Wallon is a
low-level threat. However, there have been many reports of the worm.
Similar to its fellow mass-mailing worms, Wallon has its own SMTP engine
and takes email addresses from files stored on infected computers.
Messages generated by Wallon arrive with titles that read “RE” and an
HTML link to the web page drs.yahoo.com, according to antivirus companies.
Once activated, it sets off a chain of events that result in the user’s
browser being redirected to a non-Yahoo web site, which is controlled by
the author of the virus and triggers an Internet Explorer security hole.
Study:
Straights surf less than gays for political info
A new study shows more gays log on to the internet for
political news and are more susceptible to advertising found there than
their heterosexual counterparts. The survey, conducted by Harris
Interactive and Witeck-Combs Communications, found that 16 percent of
gays, lesbians and bisexuals (GLB) use online communications to obtain
political updates compared to 6 percent of heterosexuals. However, the two
groups do see eye-to-eye on their top online activities: keeping in touch
with friends and family, and finding general news and information. The
survey’s findings also showed that GLB adults use the internet slightly
more than heterosexuals for buying consumer goods (22 percent to 17
percent), but heterosexuals use the web more for hobbies, games and
entertainment (35 percent to 21 percent). Forty-two percent of gays said
that ads on the web have influenced their purchasing decisions, while 35
percent of heterosexual respondents said ads had the same effect.
Sony
goes portable for new PlayStation version
As if PlayStation 2 wasn’t wildly popular enough, Sony
Computer Entertainment has unveiled a portable version. Its PlayStation
Portable, or PSP, game consoles will be marketed worldwide early next year
aimed at a segment currently dominated by the Nintendo GameBoy. The
subsidiary of Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp. claims the PSP has
online gaming capability and that its graphics and sound quality surpass
those of the latest GameBoy. The company anticipates first-year global
sales of 3 million units of the portable device, which measures 17
centimeters (6.75 inches) by 7.4 centimeters and weighs 260 grams (9
ounces). Sony didn’t reveal the price of the new console. Nintendo’s
GameBoy series controls more than 95 percent of the portable game console
market, according to Sony.
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