Peter Jackson is forging a bigger relationship with Microsoft Corp. by creating a video game studio to be named Wingnut Interactive and confirming two upcoming titles. They will collaborate with Microsoft’s Bungie Studios to develop a new title in the hit science fiction Halo game series. The director - celebrated for his digital wizardry in giant ape film King Kong - will produce a series based on the Halo video game franchise, but admits he’s still not sure how it will work, Microsoft said in a statement.

Microsoft Ropes in Peter Jackson on Games Studio Deal source

The Windows Live Messenger service is now under attack by the latest worm called Heartworm. The previous worm that did damage on their IM service was called Pipeline, which secretly delivers an executable file disguised as a JPEG that then installs rootkits and Trojans on systems running AOL’s Instant Messenger service. Heartworm with its real name W32.heartworm.a, affects users of Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger service (formerly MSN Messenger), presenting users with a link to a Web site that tells them a virtual greeting card is waiting for them.

According to computerworld :

That link brings unsuspecting users to an image of a heart with a poem written in Portuguese, which secretly installs files on the user’s PC that record personal and financial information. According to FaceTime researchers, who wrote about Heartworm in a Sept. 22 blog posting, the heart-shaped message appears to be hosted on a site dedicated to exposing online hoaxes, perhaps in an attempt to encourage visitors to click through.

The new Vista Build 5728 is out to beta testers. According to the Windows Vista Team Blog, the 57xx builds are reserved for Release-to-Manufacturing (RTM).

New Vista Build 5728 source

In a case of “too late and done that before”, the guys at Microsoft are coming up with some scaled down online versions of its Office suites. Big deal. With so many so called Web 2.0 services around, why should I even bother to wait for them ? They will have to give me free t-shirts before I use their site. Good thinking ?

techdigest says

Presumably in a bid to compete with the ever diversifying range of online products from Google, amongst others, there are reports emerging that Microsoft may consider releasing free, scaled-down web versions of its popular Office software.