Anti-spoofing tech may curb spam

America Online (AOL) has begun experimenting with anti-spoofing technology, reports The Whir. The technology allows Internet service providers (ISPs) to verify the validity of the sender in e-mails seeming to be from AOL, and is among the latest in anti-spam moves.

A variation of the Sender Permitted From (SPF) protocol, the technology ties sender ISP address to DNS records, allowing the receiving e-mail systems to validate the "from" address of a message, matching it to the IP addresses published on the DNS service.

Like a contented beehive, New York`s Javits Centre is abuzz with happy LinuxWorld goers, reports eWeek. SCO may be suing Novell and trying to lobby Congress, and it may be bitterly cold in New York, but this isn`t dampening the mood of the exhibitors inside, the site reports.

The exhibitors there prove Linux has gone mainstream - Computer Associates, HP, IBM, Novell, Oracle and all the other companies supporting Tux, the penguin, are there. Microsoft also has a booth and the smaller, pure-Linux play companies are present as well, with RedHat leading the way. But there aren`t many of them: Gentoo, Debian, Steeleye, Xandros and a handful of others.

Oracle`s $7.3 billion hostile bid for PeopleSoft may be facing stronger headwinds, with the US Justice Department moving closer to a decision to block the deal, lawyers close to the case told The Wall Street Journal.

Government lawyers, who deposed Oracle CEO Larry Ellison this week, are continuing to gather evidence to be used in a possible suit to challenge the deal on anti-trust grounds. "A final decision won`t be made before the end of February, but Justice Department staff members are leaning against recommending approval of the deal," the site quotes lawyers as saying.

Google tiptoed into the hot market of online social networks with the quiet launch of Orkut.com yesterday. CNet reports that the search company is flexing its power with its fans by constantly offering new services, including comparison shopping and news search. "Orkut could be the clearest signal that Google`s aspirations don`t end with search."

Orkut is an online trusted community Web site designed for friends. A Google representative said the site is an independent project of one of its engineers, Orkut Buyukkokten, who works on user interface design for Google. Buyukkokten was a computer science doctoral candidate at Stanford University before joining Google. Google was seen recruiting employees at LinuxWorld too.