Network

Mad cows on net

The newest site where the mad cow
disease has struck is the Web. The
research group CAB International
hassetupahomepage at http://www.cabi.org/whatsnew/bse containing
more t~an309sc.ientific references
on bovIne spongIform encelopathy
and Cruetjfeldt-Jacob disease. The
British ministries of agriculture,
fisheries and food badly hit by the
recent fiasco, have set up the site
www.open.gov.ukfmaff(bse and
mainly clarifies unsubstantiated
rumours about the disease and publichealth, in general. Ariothersite at
institute public frepo rtshas in -depth
scientific information about all
aspects ofspongiform encephalopathies.

Flaw in Java

A team of researchers from Princeton University, New Jersey, US, led
by EdwrtrdFelten, a professor of
computer science, discovered a major
flaw i" the widely used Java programming language from Sun Microsystems Inc NetscapeNavigator. Java
is the most popular software for
browsing the Net. The flaw could
enable unscrupulous hackers to
destroy fIles and even invade into the
hard disc of any personal computer
that uses the Navigator programme.
Sun Microsystems was soon alerted
by he Princeton team and is testing a
software fix it has developed for the
Navigator software.

Hooking in children

Advertisers' use of computer sites
and children's use of computers-
two fast-growing trends are combining to produce a new type of cus-
tomer -the 'cybertots':Marketing
can take several forms -Kellogg's
clubhouse site has the favourite cartoon characters Snap and Crackle
greeting the surfers, Pepsi's site
offers a free trip to the SeaWorld at
Orlando, Floride offers a chat with
basketball star ShaquilleO'Neal and
Nintendo, the leadingvideo-game
manufacturers, offer models of their
latest games as prizes.