Today's Tidbits

In the personal security department: by now, I presume everyone has the WMF patch for the gaping Windows security hole that was somehow overlooked for 15 years. Crikey.

No such patch for locatecell.com, a US company selling itemized records of cell phone and landline calls, addresses of unpublished numbers, and other sensitive info for under $100. More here.

And, of course, a hostage update, this time from the Painfully Stupid Kidnapper files: French hostage Bernard Planche has been freed escaped in Iraq.

Planche, who worked for a non-governmental organization called AACCESS, was kidnapped Dec. 5 on his way to work at a Baghdad water plant. Militants later released a video of him sitting between two armed men.

Arab news channel Al-Arabiya, which broadcast an excerpt of the video, said the militants denounced the "illegal French presence" in Iraq and demanded the withdrawal of French troops from the country. France has not sent forces to Iraq.

And finally, more good news from the sandbox: Iraq wants to join NATO.

Defense Minister Sa’doun ad-Duleimi has referred to the determination of the government to develop ties with NATO, reaching to join this alliance. In addressing speech he delivered on this occasion held by the Ministry of Defense on the 85th anniversary of founding the Iraqi Army, said that the Iraqi government seeks to make the Iraqi Army as an active element to realize security and stability in the region.