Adobe, a leading publisher of multimedia software, acknowledged that their Adobe Shockwave player contains a security flaw that could allow a hacker to take control of your computer. The flaw only affects Microsoft Windows computers, according to the company's website. Shockwave Player is an Internet browser plug-in that allows multimedia files to be played directly inside your browser. Adobe states that there are over 450 million installations of their Shockwave player.

The good news is that adobe has fixed the problem and users can patch their machines by installing the latest updated version of Shockwave (version 11.5.0.600). Go to Adobe's Shockwave website and follow the directions for updating your computer.

Pre-order Windows 7 between Friday, June 26th and July 11th and receive at least a 50% discount off of the estimated retail price. Two editions of Windows 7 will be discounted: Home Premium Upgrade for $49 and Windows 7 Professional Upgrade for $99.

Microsoft said the discounts are meant "as a way of saying thank you to our loyal Windows customers." Given that there really isn't a competitive operating system (i.e. I mean one that integrates just as well with a server operating system) and Windows Vista flopped like Windows ME did, I'm viewing it as more of an apology in the form of money. Let's face it; those who adopted Windows Vista (like me) were the guinea pigs for the rest of the world and Microsoft should give us some of our money back. Thanks, Microsoft.

• Pre-order your Windows 7 Upgrade Today!

Does Microsoft give anything away for free? Well they do now! Microsoft has announced their new "No cost, no hassle security software for your home PC" branded as Microsoft Security Essentials.

According to their website,

"With Microsoft Security Essentials Beta, you get high-quality protection against viruses and spyware, including Trojans, worms and other malicious software. And best of all, there are no costs or annoying subscriptions to keep track of.

Security Essentials is easy to install and easy to use. Updates and upgrades are automatic, so there's no need to worry about having the latest protection."

Currently the product is only available in a beta test version and only available for download in the US, China and Brazil. Microsoft tried this before with Windows Defender. I tried that product too and hated it. I thought it performed poorly, didn't catch everything that it said it would and then Microsoft wanted to charge you for updates. I will be curious to see how long "free" will stay "free".

Today Congressman Eric Massa from Corning, NY introduced the Internet Fairness Act (H.R. 2902) that would limit Internet Service Providers (ISP) from charging excessive rates after a customer's internet usage exceed a predetermined cap. The bill was prompted by Massa's constituents complaining that Time Warner Cable in Rochester would start charge them in addition to their regular monthly service fee, after they downloaded a certain amount of data. In effect, the bill gives the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) more power to regulate ISPs if they feel the company's policy would limit competition or take advantage of an unfair market position.

In our neck-of-the-woods (western New York), we have Verizon FIOS, Roadrunner, DSL and a few other products and small players too. The business world is becoming more and more dependent upon the Internet to survive. If we limit what people can do on the internet by capping how much they download, we will in effect be limiting the economy. Businesses need more freedom to grow. We don’t need limitations inflicted by the major communication companies.