Second Life releases code

The creator of the popular virtual world, Second Life, is releasing some of its code to the open source community, reports BBC News.

Access to the source code for its Viewer software will allow residents to have a say in new developments. The software enables gamers to control their in-world avatars, interact with each other and buy and sell objects.

Linden Lab described the move as the most important it had made in the seven years of Second Life. "While it is clearly a bold step for us to proactively decide to open-source our code, it is entirely in keeping with the community-creation approach of Second Life," said Cory Ondrejka, CTO at Linden Lab.

Microsoft has released high-priority fixes for serious vulnerabilities in its Outlook and Excel applications, but there are no patches in the January batch for known Microsoft Word flaws that are currently under attack, reports eWeek.

The software maker released four bulletins with patches for 10 vulnerabilities, most rated "critical", but there is no sign of fixes for the known code-execution Word bugs that have been exploited in zero-day attacks since December 2006.

Microsoft originally planned to ship eight bulletins this month but four were pulled at the eleventh hour, suggesting there were problems with the quality of the updates.

Rwanda president Paul Kagame has committed his government to providing each primary school pupil with a laptop within the next five years, reports Tectonic.

The announcement follows a New Year's meeting in Urugwiro village between Kagame and One Laptop Per Child project founder Nicholas Negroponte.

Kagame said the decision had been made "in recognition of children being Rwanda's most precious natural resource".

Warner has introduced a hybrid hi-def disc that can be played both in HD-DVD and Blu-ray players, reports TG Daily.

The announcement follows one earlier this week by LG, which launched a hybrid HD-DVD - Blu-ray player.

"Warner Bros has a history of embracing and promoting new technologies, from producing the first sound movies, to being early pioneers in 1950s television, to the creation and proliferation of DVDs," said company chairman and CEO Barry Meyer at a press conference.