Hasta La Gadget!

Rabbis in the ultra-orthodox community are reportedly readying a Facebook ban. The religious leaders will bar other ultra-orthodox Jews from the popular social networking serving on the grounds that the site promotes online communication of the sexes, thereby leading to questionable conversations, photographs, and activities.

The group argues that the site is has no business use (huh?), and is therefore a waste of precious time. A more othrodox-friendly social network might be promoted in place of the risqué Facebook.

Although it’s more rare to see in th US, it’s not as unusual to see people wearing face masks  to filter out pollution in many large Asian cities. Japanese company Thanko has devised a mask that not only makes you look like an adorable kitty, but also filters the air you breathe.

The mask is embedded with a tiny and quiet internal fan that filters clean air. It can be charged via battery or USB. It’s only available in Japan right now, and it may never actually make it to the US. If it did though, it would cost $24.

[Via dvice.com]

Google is taking a risk in light of the recent news about the new Internet Explorer bug. The company is placing a bet with computer hackers that they cannot hack into the Chrome browser. If they prove Google wrong they win $20,000.00 and a brand new  CR-48 Chrome OS notebook. The contest is called Pwn2Own. It will take place on March 9th through the 11th.

Google appears to believe that the Chrome browser will not be hacked into, but is willing to take the risk to drive home their point. This is the first time ever that any software company has placed a bet and target on their own product. Also, around the same time of this contest, TippingPoint will also host other hacker contest for different devices and other browsers.

I have to say that I am not sure that Google is making the right choice here. In light of the IE bug, why draw attention to your own browser? Also, I am sure Chrome can be hacked into simply because they have had viruses attack the browser before. After all, if you claim something cannot happen it usually does end up happening to you at some point.

Via Digital Trends

In a move that is sure to garner criticism from all over, a lawmaker in Norway nominated embattled site WikiLeaks for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

“I think it is important to raise a debate about freedom of expression and that truth is always the first casualty in war,” explained Snorre Valen, a member of the country’s Socialist Left Party. “WikiLeaks wants to make governments accountable for their actions and that contributes to peace.”

The 26-year-old politician praised the site’s fight for free speech and democracy, comparing it to last year’s controversial winner, Liu Xiaobo. Valen cited, among other things, the role the site played in the collapse of Tunisia’s presidential family.

Prize winners will be announced in October.

Reportedly around 900 million Internet Explorer users where hit with a massive bug in their browser. According to Microsoft, the bug allows hackers to run a script via Internet Explorer that could result in personal data being stolen.

The bug affects all current versions of Windows, including Windows XP. The threat should be taken serious, and all users of Internet Explorer should download the patch from Microsoft. Even if you do not use IE very often, you should still download the patch as extra precaution for your own security.

Check out the full Microsoft press release for more information after the jump!