WordPress 1.5.2 is out, featuring security fixes, improvements to plugin API as well number of bugfixes.
An easy upgrade guide can always be found at the WordPress Codex.

WordPress Development Blog - WordPress 1.5.2

In order to lock out both copied games as well as homebrew software, including the GNU/Linux operating system, Microsoft built a chain of trust on the Xbox reaching from the hardware to the execution of game code, in order to avoid the infiltration of code that has not been authorized by Microsoft. The link between hardware and software in this chain of trust is the hidden “MCPX” boot ROM. The principles, the implementations and the security vulnerabilities of this 512 bytes ROM will be discussed in this article.

The Hidden Boot Code of the Xbox - Xbox-Linux

A short controversial article that focus on using Google or other search engines to harvest chinese, russian and similar countries pirate sites. Since it’s pretty obvious that the software companies will have a harder time fighting those websites compared to those in EU or US and the like.

Learn a few token-strings from the language (download, cracked, english version, pro etc..) and you’re basically ready to go warez hunting across the borders.

(Of course this should not be attempted, ever - since it’s illegal, but it’s pretty interesting to surf on foreign sites and attempt to make sense of it all..)

Finding warez using Google

Google China

Google Russia

/. geekdreams writes “Brad Fitzpatrick, the founder of LiveJournal, has launched OpenID, an ‘actually distributed identity system’ for websites that accept user comments. The system utilizes decentralized servers to authenticate users, and aims to replace centralized ID systems such as Microsoft’s Passport and SixApart’s TypeKey. The first implementation of OpenID can be seen on LiveJournal comments pages.” Previously mentioned on Slashdot, now out of development.

Slashdot | LiveJournal Founder Launches OpenID System

Tiberius_Fel writes “Informit.com is running an extensive article about the anatomy of a hack against a sample network. It’s an excerpt from a book titled Protect Your Windows Network: From Perimeter to Data. Even though it makes references to Windows, the techniques can be applied to other operating systems fairly easily.” From the article: “Although attacking networks can be fun and informative — not to mention illegal if you do not have all the proper permissions–the fact remains that the vast majority of us do not need to know how to do so. Frankly, becoming a good penetration tester (pen tester) takes more than a week-long class. It takes commitment, dedication, intuition, and technical savvy, not to mention a blatant disregard for the rules and the right way to do things.”

* Slashdot | Anatomy of a Hack