Police have rescued five children who were being kept as sex slaves by paedophiles who broadcast the abuse on the internet.

The boys and girls, aged from seven to 13 years old, were snatched from the suspects in a series of raids across the UK.

Three of the youngsters were discovered at addresses in Scotland, and two in England.

The children were being attacked on a daily basis, and footage of the abuse was streamed live on websites.

All are now receiving counselling and support.

Officers said a number of suspects were arrested in the operation.

Scotland's National Sex Crimes Unit, which was set up in March this year, said legal proceedings have begun against them.

Senior prosecuting counsel Derek Ogg QC, who heads the unit, praised police for the "good old-fashioned detective work" that led to the arrests.

Officers began the operation after a man was arrested for other alleged sex offences.

Children were identified and the raids were launched across the UK.

Mr Ogg told Sky News Online: "When you discover this going on in your own back yard, in your home country, it really brings it home to people.

"This was all down to good old-fashioned police detective work."

He added: "It was carried out by incredibly dedicated officers who worked night and day to put an end to these children's daily ordeal.

"I can't stress enough the credit that the police take in these cases.

"It takes amazing dedication sifting through the evidence to get success like this."

I can only hope that our dismal justice system for once does the right thing and a sensible judge puts these evil bastards away for the rest of their lives and while inside they get their genitals amputated.

As a father of 3 myself, I can only imagine how the parents of these children must be feeling right now, it is certainly a heart wrenching decision when you have to decide between what you want to do and what you should do in the best interest of your kids, when sadly vengeance, no matter how much you want it or deserve it will only make the situation worse.

Security researchers are raising an alarm for a potent malware cocktail - backdoor Trojans and password stealers being pushed to Windows users from about 55,000 hacked Web sites.

According to Mary Landesman, a researcher in ScanSafe's security threat alert team, the cybercriminals have embedded a malicious iFrame into tens of thousands of Websites to fire exploits at unsuspecting PC users who surf to one of the rigged sites.

The iFrame points to an intermediary exploit site which in turn loads additional exploits and malware from up to seven different malware domains, Landesman said.

She ran a Google search on the iframe script tag and found it embedded on about 54,900 sites, many  of them legitimate online destinations.

Victim sites include www.feedzilla.com, latindiscover.com, and a number of charitable and nursing facilities, including howellcarecenter.com, sweetgrassvillagealf.com, www.foodsresourcebank.org, and morningsideassistedliving.com.

At the time of writing this blog post, the number of hacked sites listed in Google results climbed to 56,000.

It is not yet clear which vulnerabilities are being exploited in this attack but, judging from recent history, end users should ensure that operating system and desktop software programs are fully patched.

The most common programs under attack include Adobe Flash, Adobe PDF Reader, Apple's QuickTime, WinZip and RealPlayer.  In addition to Microsoft Windows patches, these desktop applications should be updated to the newest version immediately.

If you run a website then I would suggest you do a file search for the aforementioned code and make sure your site has not been hacked, especially if you use 3rd party scripts that may be vulnerable.

I recently decided to try out the latest Windows 7 RC2 on my old PC seeing as I had migrated everything over to my new Windows 2008 server which I was using as a workstation. This plan has now turned into a fully fledged windows 7 RC2 as my primary workstation since my new 2008 machine decided to totally die, which is rather annoying as all the hardware is actually relatively new, the motherboard was 2 years old, but only just came out of the box recently and that appears to been the catalyst. Anyhoo being without a PC for any length of time is of course not an option for me so I have started to give windows 7 a good test and thought I would report my findings so far.

SYSTEM (32Bit)

• Motherboard: Intel D915PBL
• CPU: P4 3.0 ghz
• Memory: 3gb (2.75 usable)
• Graphics: NVIDIA Geforce 7300GS

I would have gone for 64bit but my hardware doesn't support it.

Which gives me a Windows Experience Index of 3.5, which is pretty good for such an old system.

The system actually runs just as fast as a newly installed windows XP with all the 3D and aero effects enabled, much better than windows vista performed on my newer core 2 duo system.

All hardware was detected automatically, I have not had to manually install any drivers so far.

All the software I have installed so far has not had any major issues and has generally been working. If there have been any compatibility problems then windows has informed me of this fact and has re-installed the application in windows XP compatibility mode instead, which resolved the problem.

What's Cool

Well if looks cool, essentially windows 7 is a cleaned up Vista with the pointless fluff removed and made to run fast. Aero is still there but it is faster and some of the pointless effects are simplified, turned off by default or have been removed. The windows minimize and maximize for example seems much faster and simpler, the task swapper pops up a windows with a thumb of each task, and as you toggle through the tasks with ALT-TAB or point your mouse at them, the screen changes to preview that app, but will only change to that app if you stop/click on it, otherwise it reverts back to the original app, certainly does the job nicely without the need of that silly 3D rotating gallery that vista had.

The taskbar has also had a welcome overhaul, it now combines the quick links and open applications together. You can pin any application to the taskbar much like you would have added it to the quick links toolbar, but now once you click that link to open it, it then becomes an active application on the taskbar, and clicking on it or mousing over it will show a task switcher just for that applications open windows, which is very handy for things like Internet Explorer or Windows Explorer where you will have more than one open window. It also does a very slick morph between the task switcher windows as you move between apps, all very slick and very smooth and really works well.

There are also some rather natty little tools included with windows 7 which come in very useful.

Snipping Tool

You can use Snipping Tool to capture a screen shot, or snip, of any object on your screen, and then annotate, save, or share the image. Simply use a mouse or tablet pen to capture any of the following types of snips:

Free-form Snip.  Draw an irregular line, such as a circle or a triangle, around an object.

Rectangular Snip.  Draw a precise line by dragging the cursor around an object to form a rectangle.

Window Snip.  Select a window, such as a browser window or dialog box, that you want to capture.

Full-screen Snip.  Capture the entire screen when you select this type of snip.

After you capture a snip it is automaticallyatically copied to the mark-up window, where you can annotate, save, or share the snip.

I certainly find this very handy indeed as it saves me having to install any 3rd party apps to do this.

Sticky Notes

Already as necessary as pencils and paper clips, Sticky Notes just got more useful. In Windows 7, you can format a note’s text, change its colour with a click, and speedily resize, collapse, and flip through notes.

If you've got a Tablet PC or a touch screen, Windows 7 Sticky Notes support pen and touch input, too—you can even switch between different input methods within the space of a single note. Sticky Notes is available only in the Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate editions of Windows 7. OK so it is nothing new and there have been apps like this around forever, but it is again nice to have this built in and handy for those people who never used any 3rd party note apps and still use pen and paper. For those that want something extra then there is still Microsoft One note.

Magnifier

The new magnifier I find works really well and finally how such a tool should work. Instead of just magnifying a small part of the screen as it worked in XP, it now magnifies the whole screen and scrolls the screen around with your mouse pointer, being short sighted myself I found this very handy. You still have the option of a magnifying lens of docked zoom window if you prefer.

Overall I am impressed, windows 7 seems to have the bells and whistles that you see on the Mac or Linux without being bloated. If you have an older machine that runs XP just fine but wont run vista, or even a newer machine that runs like a dog with Vista, then it will most likely run windows 7 just fine, at worst you may need a better graphics card for the aero FX or just turn them off, but based on my experience so far I certainly wouldn't waste my time with Vista now.

SOFTWARE

Here is the software I have installed so far, I will update this list as I go along.

• Microsoft Office 2007 – for some reason outlook would not send and receive after I copied all my files and settings from old pc and Ihad to import my massive PST and recreate all my rules, acocunts, sigs etc, but that may not be a windows 7 issue.
• Windows Live apps
• 7-zip
• ColdFusion 8
• Free Download Manager
• Genie Backup Manager
• eWallet
• Kaspersky Antivirus 8 (technology preview for windows 7)
• Adobe Reader 9
• PrimoPDF
• Adobe Coldfusion Builder
• Plaxo
• Adobe Air
• Tortoise SVN
• CF Builder Beta
• sync Center
• Skype
• Plaxo
• Beyond Compare 3

One of my all time favourite games, Monkey Island, is now available on XBox Live.

Forgoing the history lesson on an almost-20-year-old game, The Secret of Monkey Island is a point-and-click adventure in which you assume the role of a wannabe pirate named Guybrush Threepwood. In order to become a pirate, Threepwood must prove himself as a swordsman, a treasure hunter, and a thief, which means you must prove that you can both solve puzzles and move a cursor around a screen--often simultaneously. You can expect to hit a few brick walls when you encounter some of the more baffling puzzles, but the all-new hints system does a great job of pointing you in the right direction if you choose to use it (although I would advise only rto use it as a last resort), and the writing is entertaining enough to keep you interested during extended periods of head-scratching if you don't. An option to play the game in its original form or with greatly enhanced audio and visuals is the foamy head on this Special Edition pint of Grog, and you won't want to stop drinking until you can see the bottom of your tankard.

The Secret of Monkey Island is an easy game to pick up, regardless of whether or not you've played this kind of adventure game before. You can use either analogue stick to move a cursor around the screen, and when you're pointing at something you want to interact with or a location you want to move to, you push the A button. Other actions, such as "speak to," "pull," "use," and "give," are assigned to onscreen buttons that, depending on whether or not you're playing with the updated visuals, either appear at the bottom of the screen at all times or in a pop-up window mapped to a shoulder button. Items in your inventory also appear onscreen at all times when playing with the original graphics, but they are mapped to a second pop-up window in the new interface. It's great that you can switch between the two modes on the fly because there are pros and cons to both. The Special Edition looks much better and is the only way to play if you want to hear, as well as read, what characters are saying, whereas the original game's interface is less clunky.

 

Monkey Island isn't a game that wastes any time throwing seemingly useless items and satisfying puzzles at you. Shortly after starting out on Melee Island, you visit a bar where pirate leaders drunk on Grog (a drink so acidic that you have to consume it before it eats through the tankard) give you three challenges to complete; a surly chef refuses you entry to his kitchen; and a hungry seagull makes it difficult for you to pick up what may or may not be a red herring. Before you know it, you're walking around the island with all manner of items stuffed into Threepwood's physics-defying pockets, and you'll spend the majority of your time figuring out how to combine or use those items. Using the "look at" option on an item will afford you an amusing description that often doubles as a clue to its intended purpose. You might still end up solving some puzzles through trial and error, but you'll also kick yourself for not spotting the clues to the puzzle's solution before resorting to that time-tested technique.

This conversation was amusing in 1990...

When you're not attempting to combine a staple remover with a banana or wondering how to get past a group

of deadly piranha poodles, much of your time is spent navigating dialogue trees with characters that include belligerent buccaneers, cholesterol-conscious cannibals, and a used boat salesman named Stan. Some of the conversations are laugh-out-loud funny, and while the actors' delivery isn't always up to the standard of the writing, the voice work is such a great addition to the game that it's difficult to go back to the original edition. Lengthy conversations with the aforementioned salesman can be a little irritating when you have to listen to--as well as read--his persistent patter, but he's still an amusing and memorable character in a cast composed almost entirely of amusing and memorable characters.

In The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, meeting and interacting with these characters is every bit as enjoyable as it was almost 20 years ago. The puzzles, the humor, and the Caribbean-sounding tunes that keep you company as you ponder your next move continue to defy their age, and even the original visuals still have plenty of pixel-perfect charm. The Special Edition update employs a colorful art style that's more reminiscent of the style in The Curse of Monkey Island (the third game in the series) than other games, but it retains the primitive (but pleasing) animation of the first game. Switching between the two available art styles is something that you'll almost certainly do from time to time just because you can, and it's interesting to see how faithfully and brilliantly such locations as the Scumm Bar and the cannibal village have been updated.

and it's even better in 2009 because you can hear it.

It's possible to beat The Secret of Monkey Island in just a couple of hours if you go into the game armed with a complete solution. However, if you take the time to enjoy it and solve the puzzles yourself, it should last you anywhere between five and 10 hours. If you have a rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle, two sticks of cinnamon, a length of rope, and 800 Microsoft points in your pocket right now, the best advice I can give you is this: Spend the points on The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition and then figure out for yourself what to do with the rest of that stuff.

Even after all these years it seems I still remembered enough about this game to plough through certain parts quickly, but I had also forgotten enough to make me resort to using the hint system far too quickly just because it is there.

 

Have you been watching the new series of Knight Rider? It is actually rather cool I have to say. I was sorely disappointed after watching the pilot, as were many others judging by the online chatter, Kitt had none of the cool features from the original series other than being bullet proof, and the only new feature was his ability to morph, which was also rather lame in the pilot, and quite frankly the car just didn't look anywhere near as cool as the old trans-am, and I really wasn't feeling at all excited about the new series based on this.

Thankfully it seems the producers have listened to the complaints and things are vastly better in the new series, Kitt can now turbo boost, shoot lasers and rockets, emit emp's, xray and all manner of other scanning and computer wizardry. He can also generate just about anything it seems from a 3D molecular imaging device, has a super pursuit mode (now called attack mode) and the morphing is truly cool even if totally unbelievable allowing Kit to transmogrify into all manner of different vehicles to match the terrain or simply to blend in.

I still do not think the car looks as cool as the original trans-am, but this is far less of an annoyance now that everything else is cool and you can accept the fact that the car is meant to be able to blend in and not stick out like a sore thumb.

The car aside, the cast are also pretty good, the new Michael Knight (it is explained why he has the same name) is a proper ass kicking ex-marine agent type, so the fight scenes are far more exciting and action film like instead of the lack lustre unrealistic fights from the old 80's series that just made Hasslehoff seem like a smooth talking James Bond wannabe.

Back at HQ there are the genius geeks who keep Kitt up and running and help Mike on his missions with all their gadgetry and ability to remotely hack into just about anything, as well us providing us with eye candy as most of them just happen to be extremely hot babes who of course all lust after Michael Knight, lucky guy.

Everything in this new series is totally unbelievable and technically impossible by any stretch of the imagination, but as long as you are not anal about this and are not one of those people that needs to over analyse everything instead of simply enjoying it, it is great fun to watch whether you were a fan of the original series or not and is I think a great reboot of a classic series for the 21st century and is at least for me a must watch programme each week.