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McDonald's has disclosed that one of its customer databases was hacked but insists that no financial information was stolen in the breach.

The fast food chain reported yesterday that the hacker was able to grab e-mail addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers, birthdates, and other customer information of people who signed up online for special promotions. In a statement e-mailed to CNET, the company said that no credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, or other sensitive financial data were compromised.

McDonald's said it was informed of the breach by one of its business partners, Arc Worldwide, which had collected … Read more

Those users choosing to do their photo editing in Apple's Aperture 3 may find that when ordering a book they have created, the order window may turn white, resulting in a failure to process. This issue generally occurs after filling out the order form and clicking the "Place Order" button. … Read more

I love checking out car restorations and seeing what some people are doing to their old-school rides. Well it doesn't get much more old school than this: a 1937 BMW 328 Roadster, and in Wednesday's blog post we got to see and hear about the work that was being done by Black Horse Garage to improve the body shell. In today's clip we join up with the Black Horse gang to see what work they are doing to the engine, and it should be quite interesting.

This video begins with a Black Horse Garage tech checking out … Read more

Proving that good things come in small packages, the 4GB Cowon E2 MP3 player ($64.99) delivers outstanding, iPod-crushing sound in a space no larger than a key ring. In fact, the big metal ring built into the top of the E2 can literally attach to your key ring. It can't clip, though, so fitness types will need to find a way to get the E2 on a necklace, wrist strap, or carabiner (none are included).

Aside from the lack of a built-in clip, the Cowon E2 further distinguishes itself from the iPod Shuffle by including actual buttons for … Read more

Updated 10:30 p.m. PDT with comment from ESET.

SAN FRANCISCO--Computer equipment is arriving on stores shelves in the U.S. with viruses and other malicious software, but industry insiders said at the RSA conference on Tuesday that they don't know whether it's the result of intentional manipulation or just poor manufacturing processes overseas.

In 2007 and last year, digital photo frames sold around Christmas time were found to be infected with malware, and in previous years GPS devices, hard drives, laptops from Toshiba, iPods, and USB keys that accompany Hewlett-Packard servers were found to have similar … Read more

Justin calls Wilson out for being happy with his life, so they decide to name the show after the popular '80s song Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves. Meanwhile, Justin hates his life because New York City ruined his evening. Stay tuned for that story on today's The 404.

Jeff talks about a dangerous e-mail chain letter about entering your PIN number in reverse to call the police during a robbery. Too bad, it ain't true. You might just get stabbed in the stomach if you try this one. Speaking of your health, you can help stop the spread of the flu this year with Twitter. We also suggest not licking the subway poles, but hey--to each his own.

Also, Apple quietly introduces data tethering to the iPhone OS 3.0. Apparently, it takes a little minor hacking, but you'll be able to tether your iPhone 3G to your computer over USB. Bluetooth support is a few more hacks away. Hopefully, you don't take down the entire AT&T network when you BitTorrent the latest "Battlestar Galactica" over your iPhone 3G connection.

Microsoft releases the latest version of Internet Explorer 8 for download. The tech community gives a collective yawn (except for IT managers), while we get creeped out by a Japanese robot model.

Finally, our tagline contest is coming to an end, and before we decide on an official winner, we'd like you to chime in by taking our poll. Click here or look up and to your left. Jonathan Coulton had to reschedule but will make his appearance in the coming weeks, so hold onto your horses. Be sure to support our very own Natali Del Conte's Smackdown for Charity!

In 2007, U.S. officials recalled melamine-laced pet food that caused the deaths of cats and dogs and lead-coated toys that endangered toddlers. Now, digital photo frames infected with computer viruses are the latest problem import from China.

"That phenomenon apparently has bled over to the digital side as well," Marcus Sachs, director of the Internet Storm Center at the SANS Institute (SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security), said of the Chinese manufacturing problems that get exported. "Essentially, it's a supply chain problem. We've become dependent on a cheap source coming out of Asia."

The culprit … Read more

Got a friend or family member who just loves to send you chain e-mails? The kind that have been forwarded a hundred times over and have so many indents and signatures on them that the original sender probably sent it off years ago? If you secretly enjoy these, but want to find a place where others have compiled their own in-box gems, check out FwdItOn, a simple service that lets you share images, videos, and text e-mails with others in one huge pool.

The service shares a lot of its core functionality with Digg. There's an upcoming section, a … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Lots of companies here are touting green design and environmental thinking, though in some cases it seemed more sloganeering than anything very deep. Here are just a few samples from the floor at the Consumer Electronics Show:

Among other things, Nokia was showing off their reduced packaging (50 percent smaller; most of their phones now shipping in it; have saved them $150 million to boot)

HP had a large area of their booth dedicated to their environmental efforts, and like Nokia had several people on hand … Read more