Weekly Roundup: The NBN seems further away and an astronaut outs aliens on heavy metal radio

With the news last week that the Government is extending the deadline for the national broadband network, critics whinged that the NBN seems even more unrealistic than ever before.

Telecommuniations analyst Paul Budde, however, believes the problem lies not with the Government, but with Telstra's uncooperative nature and refusal to accept any kind of competitive market.

Internet service provider Internode has invested in Internet Protocol version 6 as part of its standard service, which the company says will offer a number of longer IP addresses.

Managing director Simon Hackett believes this new service will enable customers to "future proof" their networks and give customers enough time to transition their networks to any possible new address schemes.

A new technique for building light-emitting diodes (LEDs) could mean low cost, more energy efficient lighting to households. The new method uses low cost silicon wafers, rather than the currently used, more expensive sapphire. LEDs are more environmentally friendly than flourescent lights and have a lifespan for up to 15 years.

A security flaw that was scheduled for disclosure next month was accidentally released early. The problem lies in the DNS system and can allow an attacker to use a 'cache poisoning' attack to redirect traffic. Though security experts had known about the flaw for several months, they wanted to wait to reveal in to allow vendors times to patch the vunerability.

Analysts at IDC has said that none of the three Australian iPhone carriers provide the best value to consumers. While some may offer better pricing, they may not have the best network range or leave too much room for huge excess usage fees.

IDC believes that if 3 Mobile, who offers some of the most competitive iPhone prices in Asia, were allowed to carry the device, Aussie consumers may get more bang for their buck.

A former Apollo 14 astronaut announced the existence of aliens in a recent interview on a heavy metal radio station. He said the aliens looked similar to traditional images on movies and TV, and that their technology is highly sophisticated and advanced. NASA has denied his claims.