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Chrome’s share of the browser market is growing at a breakneck pace, according to data from Net Applications. Between February and March, Google’s browser rose to capture a full 6.1% share of the market, maintaining its lead over browsers such as Safari and Opera and closing the gap between Firefox, which currently holds a 24.5% share. While most browsers rose a fraction of a percent, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer continued to decline, losing almost a whole percent over the past month alone. ...

A year-long international investigation concluded in the last few weeks with 700 police in Romania launching raids and taking into custody 70 people from three gangs. Those arrested were part of a four-year long wave of Internet auction fraud that victimized 800 people and netted over $1 million (US). Yesterday Romanian Police released information on the raids which were organized by prosecutors at the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism. The police served 101 warrants in 12 Romanian cities. ...

I could talk about how The Matrix was a pretty big deal for me back in the day, or how The Matrix Online is (to date) the only MMORPG I ever liked enough to pay a monthly subscription for, or how I think people doing Kung Fu in bullet time is still the best thing ever. Mostly, I’ll just show you this: And this: Is there a glitch in the Matrix? You bet. Unfortunately it seems the website of one of the actors from Reloaded / Revolutions (Harry Lennix, who played Commander Lock) has been hacked and is now, bizarrely, the scene of some Cyber Kung-Fu gone wrong as two warring factions go to, er, war. ...

In March, the Windows team announced the upcoming release of Service Pack 1 for Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2, but did not set a date of availability. At the time, Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc said, “For Windows 7, SP1 includes only minor updates, among which are previous updates that are already delivered through Windows Update. SP1 for Windows 7 will, however, deliver an updated Remote Desktop client that takes advantage of RemoteFX introduced in the server-side with SP1 for Windows Server 2008 R2.” ...

This just in from the “Strange Bedfellows” department: apparently Nintendo has enlisted the help of Google to create a Wii game where players compete to guess the most popular search terms. The game, entitled Ando Kensaku, will be out in Japan on April 29 and won’t likely see much of a release elsewhere given its quirkiness. The screenshot above gives you an idea of the cutesy avatar style of the title, featuring 14 mini-games where several players can choose from a multiple choice search term spread. ...

If you like downloading or installing programs on your PC related to XBox gaming, you might want to take heed of this writeup. There’s a fake application kit in circulation that allows an attacker to create a website claiming to be an XBox Live application that takes the form of a Java install. Upon visiting a site related to this scam, the end-user will see a blank webpage with nothing other than a Java notice and a fake Softpedia award at the bottom of the screen: ...

Taken from Official Google: Let’s say that you have x different stocks, and the plots of their prices over time. You want to print them in newspaper, printing multiple plots on the same chart to save space. But here’s the catch: no two plots on the same chart can overlap, lest the readers be confused. Look at the plots and figure out the smallest number of charts required. Looking for a challenge like the riddle above? And I mean an exciting brain-twisting and turning kind of challenge. I mean competing with fellow coders from around the world for top bragging rights kind of challenge. ...

Google has released a new video aimed at teens about making Google Buzz a safer experience. The video was released in conjunction with the new Buzz privacy reset issued yesterday. This new focus on privacy and privacy options comes amidst class-action lawsuits and a request for FTC investigation regarding the service’s launch and explanation to consumers. Although aimed at teens, the tips are good for anyone using Buzz to keep in mind. ...

As expected, Microsoft has pushed out a mandatory update to the Xbox 360 today, which adds support for USB storage devices, expanding the memory capacity of the five-year old video game console. The update will ostensibly allow any FAT32-formatted USB storage device between 1GB-16GB in size to be used to save profiles, game saves, and downloadable content. There are, however, a number of caveats, which mean users can’t just plug anything in and have it work. ...

Rob VandenBrink has written a piece on the SANS web site Diary (“The Many Paths to Security Awareness”) with an interesting take on the very large topic of computer security awareness. “Security Awareness does not mean the same thing to everyone in a company,” sums up his point. “From a Security Awareness perspective the blanket term ‘end user’ grows to encompass many audiences – not only folks with basic desks and phones, but developers, senior managers, salespeople, engineers, health-care professionals, all kinds of people with different concerns, different goals, and a different set of reasons/excuses for exceptions to one thing or another,” he wrote. ...

The iPad already has an app for credit card transactions thanks to Twitter creator Jack Dorsey’s Square project. Originally planned for the iPhone, the app works with a peripheral credit card scanner that attaches to the headphone jack. Once the scanner is in place, you can use your iPad as a mobile cash register. Customers will be impressed by the multi-touch interface, and they will be able to sign for their purchases on the screen. The app then verifies the credit card transactions through Square’s servers for a flat fee plus a small percentage of the sale. ...

The FBI has said it will be checking to see if any federal wiretapping or computer-related laws were broken by a Pennsylvania school district in connection with an incident in which someone turned on the webcam in a school-issued computer and spied on a student in his own home. The incident occurred in Lower Merion School District, located in Montgomery County near Philadelphia. The county district attorney also is investigating. ...

A very dodgy looking PDF file appeared on Nintendo’s Japanese investor relations site with the title “Launch of New Portable Game Machine” (PDF available here). In the document, Nintendo quietly announced that it will be launching “Nintendo 3Ds” during the fiscal year ending in March 2011. The new handheld gaming console will support 3D effects without the need for special viewing glasses, and Nintendo will talk more about it at the E3 conference in June. ...

Virus Bulletin is reporting that a recent survey it conducted found that about one out of five people are still using the dangerously-out-of-date version six of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. There are probably a number of reasons for this: — They are using IE6 at work with legacy systems that require IE6 (or IT never got around to updating the company’s browsers.) — They are using IE6 at home and don’t know that IE6 is frighteningly insecure. — They are using IE6 at home and don’t know that there is such a thing as an update to browser software. — They are using IE6 at home and don’t know there is such a thing as computer security. ...

A spokesperson for Adobe told us that on the morning of April 12 at 11:00 a.m. EDT, the company will hold a global online launch event for all of the components of its Creative Suite 5. Among the most anticipated new components — or as Adobe tends to present them in its periodic table, “elements” — is a vastly improved HD video rendering engine called Mercury. Unlike other manufacturers, Adobe tends to retain the cool names for its products and platforms even after public release. Mercury will utilize the graphics processing power of video cards to expedite the decoding and playback of HD-encoded formats, especially for the Premiere Pro editor. ...