Definition: The Electronic Control Unit (ECU) controls the fuel injection system, ignition timing, and the idle speed control system. The ECU also interrupts the operation of the air conditioning and EGR systems, and controls power to the fuel pump (through the control relay). The ECU consists of an 8-bit microprocessor, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), and an input/output interface.

Based on information from the input sensors (engine coolant temperature, barometric pressure, air flow, etc.), the ECU determines optimum settings for the output actuators (injection, idle speed, ignition timing, etc.).

CBS) It all started on the social networking Web site MySpace.com, reports CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes. A 14-year-old girl began receiving graphic messages from a much older man, asking whether she was "OK with me being 38?"

It wasn't the first time the alleged predator, Robert Wise, trolled the Internet looking for sex, according to Sgt. Dan Krieger of the League City, Texas, police department.

"We assumed her online identity and started chatting with this guy," Krieger explains. "During that point, he made it very clear he wanted to meet her for sex. We were able to find another 14-year-old female that he's actually had sex with."

Wise is now in custody, charged with multiple counts of sexual assault.

But the incident is just one of many cases nationwide — and some of them have ended tragically.

In New Jersey, Majalie Cajuste is grieving the murder of her daughter Judy. The 14-year-old reportedly told friends she met a man in... more

By Gary Krakow
Columnist
MSNBC
Updated: 10:34 p.m. ET Jan 30, 2007
Microsoft's Windows Vista, the operating system replacement for Windows XP, has been a long time in the making.

It's been five years since Windows XP was introduced — eons in computer years. It also took a lot longer than Microsoft had originally promised. And a late January release means that nearly the entire computer industry missed the 2006 holiday sales season.

continue....http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16774761/

REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 16, 2005 — Microsoft Corp. has for decades been on the cutting-edge of technological innovation. Company co-founder and chairman Bill Gates spoke to Peter Jennings today at the corporation's headquarters.

Gates talked at length about Microsoft's effort to upgrade security in the computer industry, his foundation's charitable work and his goals for the company.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=506354

Cyber scams are increasingly being committed by organized crime syndicates out to profit from sophisticated ruses rather than hackers keen to make an online name for themselves, according to a top U.S. official.

Christopher Painter, deputy chief of the computer crimes and intellectual property section at the Department of Justice, said there had been a distinct shift in recent years in the type of cyber criminals that online detectives now encounter.

'There has been a change in the people who attack computer networks, away from the 'bragging hacker' toward those driven by monetary motives,' Painter told Reuters in an interview this week.

Although media reports often focus on stories about teenage hackers tracked down in their bedroom, the greater danger lies in the more anonymous virtual interlopers.

'There are still instances of these 'lone-gunman' hackers but more and more we are seeing organized criminal groups, groups that are often organized onl... more

Online payment specialist PayPal agreed to pay $5.2 million to settle two class-action suits and pledged to better explain how it protects users' financial data.

PayPal, a unit of eBay since 2002, said in a statement it reached a preliminary settlement deal to pay customers $3.5 million in a class-action suit filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn last year.

The suit alleging that PayPal did not clearly communicate information about its consumer protection programs related to specific types of transactions.

The settlement will be presented for preliminary approval to the district court in the coming months.

In the second suit, the popular online payment unit of eBay will pay the attorneys general of 28 states $1.7 million, and promised to 'shorten and streamline its user agreement and communicate more information relating to its protection programs.'

The attorneys general involved in this deal represent: Alabama, Arizona, California, ... more

As the Black Hat conference descends upon Las Vegas this week, internetnews.com presents a series of articles addressing security issues past and present.

LAS VEGAS -- Think cyber criminals are unorganized? Think again.

The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (ICC) is at the nexus of the fight on Internet crime. It's at the receiving end of those that have been violated as it fights the fight against organized cyber crime.

Dan Larkin, ICC unit chief, kicked off the Black Hat 2006 conference with a keynote on what the FBI is doing to fight organized cyber crime.

Larkin also tried to make the case that the FBI needs the help of people such as Black Hat attendees to combat cybercrime.

Larkin told the standing room only capacity crowd (with overflow in a separate room in which the keynote was simulcast) that the ICC gets about 22,000 complaints a month.
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3624271

The European Commission today fined Microsoft (Quote, Chart) 280.5 million euro ($357 million), saying it failed to comply with the commission's demands that the software giant unbundle its media player from Windows and disclose information that would allow rivals to interoperate with Windows.

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3619431

Laptop computers have become prime targets for both the casual and experienced thief. With laptops valued up to $5,000 the incidence of thefts are increasing. Even though the theft of laptops at Winona State University is very low, thefts do occur.

There are a number of strategies that may either prevent the theft of laptops or aid in their recovery if you should become a victim. Some of these are just plain common sense; while others feature a more physical approach to the issues.

Record the make, model and serial number of you computer and any other devices associated with it. The University will generally keep a record of your laptop, however, you should also.
Keep your laptop away from accessible windows where the thief can quickly break the window, reach in and remove the machine from your room.
Keep your residence hall room locked at all times.
In a residence hall, be mindful of leaving a laptop unattended in common spaces such as study rooms, k... more

FBI warns of latest expensive Internet traps and tricks
The FBI, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Earthlink have jointly issued a warning on how the growing ranks of Internet crooks are using new tricks called 'phishing' and 'spoofing' to steal your identity.

http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/consumer/a/aaspoofing.htm