Tech News Online

2005-06-19T09:49:00.000-07:00

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New Site

2005-06-19T07:32:00.000-07:00

I have bought hosting, the server change should happen in the next hours. The old website is likely to be there by tommorow. Thanks for the patience, everyone. :)

Flickr

2005-06-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Blogging T-Shirt

2005-06-18T14:21:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago i found this link in my dashboard, but since i was all confused and worried about my hosting and stuff, i didn't have the time to post it. Here it is: Funny, the things Google comes up with, my question is: Is there anyone out there willing to buy this? Myself i can Blog without it :). Via Google Store

3D Maps in Google Earth

2005-06-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

Last week the story got out that Google was pushing into 3D maps, rolling around San Francisco with laser imaging equipment. Neglected in my review of Google Earth was the fact that 3D rendering already appears in nearly 40 cities; you just have to turn it on. (Check out newrecruit’s detailed summary of Google Earth features, with plenty of screen shots.) Google Earth (and its predecessor Keyhole) also renders natural landscapes in 3D Two main problems exist with Earth’s 3D rendering of buildings. First, the towering images are plain gray with no detailed surface features. They present a ghostly look of animation in what is otherwise a realistic window on the world. Second, and more important, flipping the 3D switch in a city drastically slow the program. Buildings take a long time to load, during which period panning, zooming, and tilting become jittery, halting features. In fact, my test machine is throttled completely when Earth is crunching through the display of 3D buildings.

Google is really improving their services. We might also see some more surprises coming from Google in the next weeks.

Longhorn BETA this summer

2005-06-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK, June 16 (newratings.com) – Microsoft Corporation is planning to launch a beta version of its long-awaited Longhorn operating system for home users by this summer, while the next version of the company's Windows Server, Longhorn Server, is unlikely to be released until 2007.eWeek Thursday quoted the senior vice president of Microsoft's Windows Server division, Bob Muglia, as saying that the company is planning a home server edition of its upcoming Windows operating system, Longhorn. According to eWeek, Muglia said on an online forum that the software giant plans to release a beta version of the Longhorn server about the same time when the Longhorn beta version is released. Microsoft plans to launch a beta version of the desktop version of Longhorn this summer, while the final version is likely to be released in 2H06, the report added.

A BETA version of Longhorn? Looks nice, but it's only going to run on 64-bit machines. Too bad I still use my old P4. Via newratings.com

2005-06-18T10:35:00.000-07:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

About technewsonline.net

2005-06-18T05:19:00.000-07:00

The site was up till 06/15 (that's 4 days ago), but then for no reason, my host (polyopticshosting.net) suddently dropped. It's not just my site, in fact all the sites hosted with them have disapeared. So now i have no hosting, but in the next days I will buya new hosting account with a more reliable host, so please bare to me till the new site is up. You mighthave noticed that all the posts here are in random order, thats because I'm using Blogger to back up my site, because for some reason, i forgot to download my backups from the other server. All the permalinks, trackbacks and comments should work, once the new site is up. Again, Please wait a few days. I might not post a lot till the new site is up, so just check www.technewsonline.net in a day or 2. If you feel you have something to tell me, drop me some lines to: technewsonline.net -at- (no spam please) gmail dot com. Or use this link EMAIL ME!

Microsoft offers beta of Acrylic

2005-06-18T04:30:00.000-07:00

Microsoft is now offering a beta release of their new graphics application, Code Named Acrylic. Microsoft acquired it with its 2003 purchase of Hong Kong company Creature House, and is based on Expression. The beta download is 77MB and expires Oct. 1. Microsoft said it, “brings together pixel-based painting and vector graphics features.” Read the rest here.

Apple Lets Loose ‘Tiger’ OS

2005-06-18T04:20:00.000-07:00

The latest version of Apple’s OS is “Tiger”. Slated for release late Friday, the Mac OS X 10.4 client brings more than 200 new features, notably Spotlight, Apple’s new desktop search technology. “It’s the holy grail of search on the desktop, and Apple got there first,” said Kevin Langdon, owner of Crywolf Computers. Recently, Steve Jobs defended Apple’s view on environmental issues. In Job’s speech he joked about how long Longhorn will take to release. Apple said there will be 150+ new features in their new OS including: Spotlight, Apple’s new search tool iChat, and a few more. iChat instant-message and audio/video conferencing application–designed to work in tandem with Apple’s iSight Webcam–lets users hold audio conferences with up to 10 people and video conferences with up to four people in a 3D virtual conference room. “The search is just awesome. I’m personally thinking of switching my e-mail from [Microsoft] Entourage to Apple Mail, just so I could take advantage of Spotlight,” said David Lerner, co-owner of TekServe, a New York-based Apple VAR. You can read the rest by click here. *This post is with permission of the AMCP Computer Privacy TECH BLOG. All rights reserved.

Trend Micro Releases a ‘bad’ upgrade

2005-06-18T03:57:00.000-07:00

This week Trend Micro released a software update, wich sucked up computer resourses and made computers that downloaded it lose computer perfomance. It affected a lot of business, wich couldn’t even use the computers for 2 days. The problem was that a pieceof code had not been checked, and didn’t even work with Windows XP SP 2. Trend Micro plans no compensation to business resulting from this faulty upgrade. UPDATE: Information can be found here: http://www.technewsonline.net/archives/9

‘http://isnoop.net/gmail’ shut down by Google

2005-06-18T03:47:00.000-07:00

Yea, Google finaly decided they didn’t want to get that many Gmail users coming from isnoop.net’s free Gmail invites pool. The webmaster from the site got contacted by Gmail’s Product Manager, and was forced to shut down the site. A short quote from insoop.net’s site:

I have gotten the word from Gmail’s Product Manager that my service is no longer tolerable. At midnight PDT June 7th, 2005, this service was disabled. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all who contributed to this service. Your generosity helped out a vast number of people and for that you should be proud. The gmail spooler email account is now deactivated and any mail sent to it will bounce. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to drop me a line: email@isnoop.net

Too bad for all the users that didn’t get the change to get a Gmail account. But hey, even 10-year-olds have a Gmail account, is there anyone out there still in the need of one?

Michael Jackson Virus

2005-06-01T05:13:00.002-07:00

SANTA MARIA, California: Beware! Interest in Michael Jackson can get your comp infected with a trojan! Computers running on Windows OS across the world have received e-mails suggesting the popstar-singer has attempted suicide, but hold on! The message contains a click-through that can activate a virus attack.

Like anyone still cares about Michael Jackson.

Apple being sued….. again

2005-06-01T05:13:00.001-07:00

Apple got sued again.The reason: Apple Corp was formed back in 1960 to publish the Beatles’ music, and in 1980 Steve Jobs founded Apple Computers. Of course Apple Computers got sued in the 80’s, and Apple Corp told Apple Computers to change its name if they wanted to continue selling music making computers. Back then Apple agreed to stay out of the music business, and payed a $26 million settlement.Now, Apple is being sued by Apple Corp, because of the same reasons: Apple’s iTunes music store and Apple’sa iPod are both big players in the music business, but they infridge Apple Corp’s trademarks, and Apple will have to go to court again, Apple Corp suing for damages.The date, March 27 2006

Why Apple Switched to Intel

2005-06-01T05:13:00.000-07:00

Check this link out, it has some interesting information on why Apple switched to Intel microprocessors: Why Apple Switched by ZDNet’s Dana Blankenhorn — “We’re thrilled that we seem to be in stock in most places, which is something we didn’t do before.” Seems to give some valid points, doesn’t it? Please give feedback on this.

iPod Video??

2005-06-01T05:10:00.000-07:00

There’s been a lot of blogging about this in the latest days, so i though i’d give my opinion:Apple as launched a new feature for the iTunes music store: Music Videos download. This is a logical step in the online music selling business, but also could mean a new iPod from Apple, since most of Apple’s revenues come through iPods, while the iTunes music store is more of a way to expand the revenues a little more. Some people even say Apple doesn’t even make a revenue from iTunes, but as it still dominates the market, a new service could start a need for the video iPod.And there’s also another interesting fact, Apple has signed a deal with Alphamosaic, a British chip maker, that will provide Apple with it’s powerful chip that handles music and video.I personally wouldn’t be surprised by a iPod Video being released before Christmas, or maybe even before, since Apple doesn’t really care about that kind of stuff (Mac Mini and iPod Suffle were released after holidays).We’ll see how this turns out to be.

PS3, best machine?

2005-06-01T05:06:00.001-07:00

This year’s E3 isn’t all about Nintendo’s GameBoy Micro and Nintendo Revolution, Sony also showed some good stuff: I think PlayStation 3 is gonna rock, so i gathered a few specs so you don’t have to read the whole press release:The processor, graphics card, and design were all designed by various by players in the Tech world, like Apple, IBM, NVIDIA, Toshiba, and of course Sony.The PS3 will outstand the Nintendo Revolution in specs, but we still need to see price figures. Revolution is expected to cost less than $200, while the PS3 could easily be around the $400.Again, we still need to see how this turns out.The release date is set for spring 2006. Here’s the press release, for those who are interested in reading a lot: Los Angeles, CALIF., May 16, 2005 – At a press conference held in Los Angeles, California, today, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) revealed the outline of its PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3) computer entertainment system, incorporating the world’s most advanced Cell processor with super computer like power. Prototypes of PS3 will also be showcased at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the world’s largest interactive entertainment exhibition held in Los Angeles, from May 18th to 20th. PS3 combines state-of-the-art technologies featuring Cell, a processor jointly developed by IBM, Sony Group and Toshiba Corporation, graphics processor (RSX) co-developed by NVIDIA Corporation and SCEI, and XDR memory developed by Rambus Inc. It also adopts BD-ROM (Blu-ray Disc ROM) with maximum storage capacity of 54 GB (dual layer) , enabling delivery of entertainment content in full high-definition (HD) quality, under a secure environment made possible through the most advanced copyright protection technology. To match the accelerating convergence of digital consumer electronics and computer technology, PS3 supports high quality display in resolution of 1080p(*) as standard, which is far superior to 720p/1080i. With an overwhelming computing power of 2 teraflops, entirely new graphical expressions that have never been seen before will become possible. In games, not only will movement of characters and objects be far more refined and realistic, but landscapes and virtual worlds can also be rendered in real-time, thereby elevating the freedom of graphics expression to levels not experienced in the past. Gamers will literally be able to dive into the realistic world seen in large screen movies and experience the excitement in real-time. In 1994, SCEI launched the original PlayStation® (PS), followed by PlayStation®2 (PS2) in 2000 and PlayStation®Portable (PSP®) in 2004, every time introducing the latest advancement in technology and bringing innovation to interactive entertainment software creation. Over 13,000 titles have been developed by now, creating a software market that sells more than 250 million copies annually. PS3 offers backward compatibility enabling gamers to enjoy these enormous assets from PS and PS2 platforms. PlayStation family of products are sold in more than 120 countries and regions around the world. With cumulative shipments reaching more than 102 million for PS and approximately 89 million for PS2, they are the undisputed leaders and have become the standard platform for home entertainment. After 12 years from the introduction of the original PS and 6 years from the launch of PS2, SCEI brings PS3, the newest platform with the most advanced next generation computer entertainment technology. With the delivery of Cell based development tools that has already begun, development of game titles as well as tools and middleware are in progress. Through collaboration with world’s leading tools and middleware companies, SCEI will offer full support to new content creation by providing developers with extensive tools and libraries that will bring out the power of the Cell processor and enable efficient software development. Preparations are under way for launch of PS3 and new generation software in the spring of 2006. “SCEI has continuously brought innovation to the world of computer entertainment, such as real-time 3D computer graphics on PlayStation and the world’s first 128 bit processor Emotion Engine (EE) for PlayStation 2. Empowered by the Cell processor with super computer like performance, a new age of PLAYSTATION 3 is about to begin. Together with content creators from all over the world, SCEI will accelerate the arrival of a new era in computer entertainment.” Ken Kutaragi, President and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.. Supporting comments from third party developers and publishers (In alphabetical order of company name) “With the new generation PlayStation platform, we can create “GUNDAM WORLD” with the quality no one has ever imagined. The philosophy, connecting millions of Cell together, makes reality get closer to the world of SF films. We are delighted to share the vision of Ken, ARCHITECT, Kutaragi.” Shin Unozawa, Managing Director, Leader, Game Software Group, President, Video Game Company, BANDAI CO.,LTD. “The PLAYSTATION 3 has us really excited! So much so in fact that we are already working our hardest to get Devil May Cry 4 out for this new platform. New hardware always yields more options for developers to create exciting and fresh gameplay experiences. I believe that the PS3 is one piece of hardware that will test the mettle of our development team and help us to create some of the most amazing games, limited only by our imagination.” Keiji Inafune, Managing Executive Officer, Research & Development Division, Capcom Co., Ltd. “Each generation of PlayStation has made a dramatic improvement in how we create and play videogames. PLAYSTATION 3 will be a breakthrough in how the world experiences entertainment. EA is fully aligned with Sony Computer Entertainment – we share their vision and applaud their success. ” Larry Probst, Chairman and CEO, Electronic Arts “President Kutaragi has thrown down a gauntlet. That gauntlet is called the PLAYSTATION 3. We here at Koei have gladly taken up the challenge, and are striving day and night to take full advantage of all the PS3’s new possibilities. Our goal is to combine cutting-edge technology with a full range of artistic expression to deliver the ultimate form of entertainment, and please people everywhere.” Keiko Erikawa, Chairman & C.E.O., KOEI Co., Ltd. “With the arrival of the next generation computer entertainment system PLAYSTATION 3, I believe it will be possible for graphic expressions, more beautiful than before, to coexist with more deep and evolved game play which utilize the Cell architecture. I also have high expectations for the evolution by the online features that will be enhanced. We will utilize the features of the new platform and will strive to create contents that will bring new excitement for our users world wide, so please have high hopes for Konami. ” Kazumi Kitaue, CEO, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc “Each time SCEI launches a console, the video games business moves to the next level. With PLAYSTATION 3 it looks as if it might be time for interactive entertainment to become, finally, the world’s dominant artistic medium. ” Sam Houser, President, Rockstar Games (Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.) “We at Namco have used and will continue to use the advancements in audio-visual technology to deliver games that are not only appealing to the eyes and ears, but that stir emotions, speak to the heart, and remain in players’ minds for years to come. We are confident that the PLAYSTATION 3 is an entertainment system that will enable us to do just that.” Shigeru Yokoyama, CT Company President, Namco Ltd. Hisao Oguchi, President and Chief Operating Officer, SEGA Corporation “Next-generation hardware platforms will enable SEGA to create new game concepts that offer more immersive interactive experiences. SEGA continues to pursue the fusion of creativity and technology by publishing only the best, more innovative content to gamers around the world.” Yoichi Wada, President, SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. “Square Enix is extremely honored to have had the chance to provide you with this technical demonstration of what the Cell processor can bring to the PLAYSTATION 3 and the world of gaming. We are committed to fully backing SCEI’s new computer entertainment system and plans to bring the FINAL FANTASY series to the PS3 are just beyond the horizon.” Yves Guillemot, President and CEO, Ubisoft “Ubisoft was one of the first major international developers to have its teams start focusing on next generation consoles. We are looking forward to developing outstanding games on Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.’s new system. Its powerful features will help take the industry to an even higher level in the very near future.” (*)1080p/720p/1080i: “p” stands for progressive scan method, “i” stands for interlace method. 1080p is the highest resolution within the HD standard.

Nokia develops a new browser for Series 60 by using open source software

2005-06-01T05:06:00.000-07:00

Nokia Connection 2005, Helsinki, Finland - Nokia announced today that it is using best-of-breed open source software as the basis of a new mobile browser for its world leading smartphone software, the Series 60 Platform. The new browser aims at an unparalleled user experience when browsing full Web pages on a smartphone screen - over wireless connections with the top performance in the mobile industry. The flexibility and extensibility of the new browser will allow Series 60 licensees to further innovate and customize the browser, for example to meet their operator customer needs.

Nokia Connection 2005, Helsinki, Finland - Nokia announced today that it is using best-of-breed open source software as the basis of a new mobile browser for its world leading smartphone software, the Series 60 Platform. The new browser aims at an unparalleled user experience when browsing full Web pages on a smartphone screen - over wireless connections with the top performance in the mobile industry. The flexibility and extensibility of the new browser will allow Series 60 licensees to further innovate and customize the browser, for example to meet their operator customer needs.

A key component of this development has been Nokia’s cooperation with Apple, as the Series 60 browser will use the same open source components, WebCore and JavaScriptCore, that Apple uses in its popular Safari Internet browser. Based on KHTML and KJS from KDE’s “Konqueror” open source project, this software has enabled Safari to achieve industry-leading features and performance. Nokia intends to continue its collaboration with Apple and actively participate in the open source community to further develop and enhance these components, contributing Nokia’s expertise in mobility.

By adapting WebCore and JavaScriptCore components for its smartphone platform, Nokia and other Series 60 licensees will be able provide a rich Web browsing experience that takes full advantage of today’s fast wireless networks and advanced mobile devices.. According to the “Smartphone360″ study - Nokia-conducted consumer research among Series 60 smartphone users - over 50 percent of data traffic was generated by browsing.

“Nokia is excited to enrich Series 60 with optimized mobile Web browsing. Open source software is an ideal basis for development since it enables Nokia to leverage and contribute to speedy software innovation and development. As a result, the entire Series 60 value chain, from manufacturers and operators to end-users, will benefit from the flexible architecture, full Web compliance and a truly enjoyable user experience,” said Pertti Korhonen, Chief Technology Officer, Nokia.

“Open source development also enables close cooperation with the industry’s best innovators, such as Apple. Both Apple and Nokia share a commitment to Internet standards and the use of a common code. The unified and compatible browser base will offer a very compelling choice for Web content developers,” Korhonen continued.

“Apple is pleased to assist Nokia in creating their new Series 60 browser based on the same KHTML open source technology that powers Apple’s Safari,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The Safari Web Kit’s blazing performance, efficient code base and support for open standards make it an ideal open source technology for projects like Nokia’s new Series 60 browser.”

The new Series 60 browser will be available to all Series 60 licensees as a standard Series 60 application during the first half of 2006. The browser will support all features of the current Series 60 browser as well as being enhanced with increased performance and exciting new features.

About Series 60
The Series 60 Platform, built on the Symbian OS, is the leading smart phone platform in the world. It is licensed by some of the foremost mobile phone manufacturers in the world including LG Electronics, Lenovo, Nokia, Panasonic, Samsung, Sendo and Siemens. The flexibility of the Series 60 Platform allows for various hardware designs and software configurations. This is demonstrated through the multitude of Series 60 based phones already available on the market. Through its award-winning user interface, extensive support for new mobile services and the innovation potential for partner solutions, the Series 60 Platform provides an open and scalable business opportunity for mobile operators and 3rd party developers. www.series60.com provides up-to-date and unique information about the Series 60 Platform, devices and community, including the latest news. The site is now also available in XHTML format for convenient mobile access.

Mac OS X Tiger for x86 machines already leaked for download

2005-06-01T04:59:00.001-07:00

The Intel-based Mac OS X PCs over at Apple’s developers conference are running on simple P4 PCs. This means that almost any PC in the world would be able to run Mac OS X, since the developers OS uses common Intel chips and graphics cards.Now, Mac OS X for PCs is availible for download from ilegal download sites and P2P networks.This is by far, the most interesting marketing scheme, it’s possible that Apple released a copy of their ‘almost done’ Mac OS X, and since it includes a full, working copy of iLife’05, it’s a way to let users get a taste of Apple’s latest OS working in their Windows PCs. This could also make a lot of users change to Macs, when the x86 version comes out to the public in 2006. This theory seems to be right, since at the time when Tiger was in development, ilegal copies of the developer’s OS where distributed through download sites and P2P networks. You can read the original article here UPDATE: The torrents are reported to be fake.

Apple sued over for its new OS

2005-06-01T04:59:00.000-07:00

Why, you might ask yourself.Well it’s because ‘Tiger’ is a registered trademark owned by TigerDirect.com, an online compuer store.Apple might even have to change it’s OS name.

Ask Jeeves’ Web Answers

2005-06-01T04:58:00.000-07:00

Web Answers will let users extend their use of Ask Jeeves’ Smart Search technology.The service will let users find answers for their search keywords. Ask Jeeves is also rolling out a new service suggesting alternative searches and direct answers . More competition for Google.

Longhorn will give standard users more

2005-06-01T04:57:00.001-07:00

Microsoft wants to keep more users using the standard ( or limited user) setting in the upcoming Longhorn.The next OS will let standard users do more, without having to be logged on administrator accounts. This is to prevent loading malicius software.The problem with limited accounts in Windows XP is, that users are very limited when using this setting.Longhorn will provide more flexibility in choosing limited user settings and (hopefully!) let limited accounts to do more, while protecting core settings from being changed.A way to do this may be by giving passwords for certain things, like downloading plugins for installed software, or allowing a limited user to change some common-use Windows settings.

New Rhapsody

2005-06-01T04:57:00.000-07:00

RealNetworks released its new Rhapsody music download service. Users can now download 25 free songs per month.Here’s a short description of Rhapsody services: Rapshody 25 allows anyonew in the US to download 25 free songs from Rhapsody’s library. Also users can purchase songs and can share playlists. Rhapshody Unlimited costs $9.99 and lets users download unlimited songs (songs remain accesible to the user as long as he/she remains a subscriber). Subscribers also get access to 100 Internet radio stations, more than 50000 artist-based stations and can view more than 1500 music videos online. Rhapsody To Go costs $14.99 and lets users download unlimited songs to any compatible portable music device. ( Apple’s iPod isn’t compatible) This is another service meant to threaten Apple’s iTunes and Napster in the music download business.

iTunes 4.8

2005-06-01T04:56:00.000-07:00

On monday, Apple released iTunes 4.8, an update to it’s popular music jukebox/music selling product.The new 4.8 version includes improved video support, letting users view, store and manage video. The update also fixes a buffer overflow bug, wich caused iTunes to terminate or even execute arbitrary code, while playing some MPG4-encoded videos. The software also includes new Music Store features and is availible to download from Apple’s website. iTunes is still a market leader in legal music downloads, but this could change in the near future mainly because of new competitors like Yahoo MusicMatch, Napster, and Rhapsody.

FireFox: over 50 million downloads

2005-06-01T04:55:00.000-07:00

FireFox had been downloaded 50 million times till this morning and by the time i’m writing this, its already over 50 millions.This is a great for the open source comunity, and also is a big step in the race against Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.Also the support for FireFox is higher than ever, with some sites now refusing IE users, or giving hints to download FireFox.Myself I think FireFox is the best that has happened to web-browsing in the last years.Good work to everyone involved in this project.

Trend Micro to pay for Computer Repairs

2005-06-01T04:54:00.000-07:00

Trend Micro announced a compensation payment for repairs resulting from Trend Micro’s latest update.More information on the update can be found here: Trend Micro’s updateTrend Micro will also give 1 month extra support to all customers who where affected by the update.Corporate clients will also be compensated on a case-by-case basis.All users who don’t give a receipt will get 3 extra customer support service for free, instead of the repair costs.This compenstion plan is on for Japan. Overseas customers will have to wait for a decition regarding this.

PS3 with iTunes?

2005-06-01T04:53:00.000-07:00

The newest rumor about the upcoming PlayStation 3, is that it is going to include Apple’s iTunes music software, allowing users to play and possibly buy and download music to their iPods. PS3 is also expected to support iPods as media storage drives (maybe for game files storage too). Apple and Sony are also coperating on the design of the PS3, given that Apple’s computers and iPods design are very popular.

Microsoft’s latest effort to take on iTunes

2005-06-01T04:52:00.001-07:00

With little sign that Apple Computer’s digital music dominance is on the wane, Microsoft’s top Xbox executive is helping to look at ways to refocus the software company’s music strategy.
It’s not officially a corporate reshuffle, and he definitely isn’t giving up his duties launching the upcoming Xbox 360. But Senior Vice President Robbie Bach, a 16-year veteran of some of Microsoft’s most successful projects, is starting to look more closely at ways to improve the company’s position in the music business.
As first reported in the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has asked Bach to help rethink the company’s digital music strategy, currently fragmented among multiple divisions and a multitude of partners with different, often incompatible Windows-associated products.
The company is stressing that Bach is not taking his eyes off the Xbox release, and that his new role is coming largely within the context of his co-chairmanship of a cross-division consumer products working group.

How to make an Air Conditioning unit for less than $30

2005-06-01T04:52:00.000-07:00

This cool project, called ‘HOMEBREW AC’ will let you make a simple air conditioning to help you survive the hot summer.

Here’s the basic setup. The garbage can is filled with ice water, which is then fed by gravity (a siphon) through the copper tubing coiled along the back of the fan. The hot air passing through the tubing warms the cold water, cooling the air. Waste warm water is then pumped outside.

The system will cool an average room to a comfortable level in approximately 15-20 minutes. Depending on flow rate, a full bucket of water will last approximately 1-3 hours.

You can find the full instructions here.

Security Flaw Found In Netscape

2005-06-01T04:51:00.001-07:00

If you are a Netscape user, you should consider switching to Firefox for a while.A security firm announced a critical flaw in was found. It’s a buffer overflow vulnerability and could let hackers create a website wich executes the code of their choise and gain control over visitor’s computers.The flaw was confirmed in Netscape 7.2 and 6.2.3 and could exist in former Netscape versions.The flaw is related to a similar one found in Firefox(Firefox shares code with Netscape) last month, wich has already been patched.

Mac OS X 10.4.1 update

2005-06-01T04:51:00.000-07:00

The update on Apple’s OS X 10.4 was released earlier this week, here are some details on the bugs fixed:The Dashboard hole, that could possibly let someone to take control of your computer. A bug in the kernel, that allowed access to hidden files. The other hole involved Bluetooth file transfers, allowing access to folders outside of the user’s shared folder. Just a little comment:Apple seems to be getting closer and closer to Microsoft, releasing bugged sofware, and constantly having to update it. Let’s hope this doesn’t repeat itself too much..

Chech for typos when visiting Google.com

2005-06-01T04:50:00.000-07:00

If you are like me and do a Google search every time you need to find something on the internet, you might need to double-check the adress for typos, before hitting the ‘Go’ button.The reason is simple: a website wich address is almost the same as Google.com, attemps to download malicious software to your computer. Googkle.com trys to download a set of trojans, spyware and backdoors.This site is aimed at hurried typists, wich may unintentionally type a ‘k’ before the ‘l’, given that in most keyboards the ‘k’ sits next of the ‘l’.These URL typo websites are not new, for example people who type Google, using for ‘o’s will be redirected to a non-Google site.A good advice to everyone:Don’t even try to go to Googkle.com, because your computer will get loaded with phising trojans, wich try to steal bank account information and many other malicious software.

MSN helps China to censor Blogs

2005-06-01T04:49:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Corp. is cooperating with China’s government to censor the company’s newly launched Chinese-language Web portal, a spokesman for the tech giant said. The policy affects Web logs, or blogs, created through the MSN Spaces service, said Adam Sohn, a global sales and marketing director at MSN. Microsoft and its government-funded Chinese business partner work with authorities to omit certain forbidden language, Sohn said, declining to provide specific examples. The ‘forbidden language’ are words like ‘freedom’, ‘human rights’, ‘politics’ and so on.China and Microsoft are partnering to censor bloggers, but by doing this, MSN Spaces could lose many users, since (at least in my opinion), a blog is about giving your opinions, no matter if they are ‘pro-government’ or using ‘bad’ words, and complain about stuff.Bloggers should have the right to write what they want.

Lenovo Group now officially owns IBM’s PC division

2005-06-01T04:48:00.001-07:00

Lenovo Group announced that the 1.75 billion dollars acquisition deal had been completed. The acquisition of IBM’s PC division was expected to be completed in June, and the recent acquisition as bumped Lenovo’s annual revenue from $3 billion to $13 billion.Now Lenovo Group is the world’s 3rd largest PC vendor, behind Dell and HP. Lenovo Group has also moved headquartersto New York. Lenovo is expected to expand it’s PC business and offer products outside China. The popular Thinkpad Series will be offered with new features including wireless LAN, and in some models a rotating screen. Lenovo Group acquisition of IBM’s PC division was expected to be completed in June.

Microsoft facing new EU fines in the next weeks

2005-06-01T04:48:00.000-07:00

Microsoft now has only weeks left until the European Commission decides to take steps towards fining it up to $5 million a day, because of EU’s anti-trust ammendment. Most of the problems are because of Microsoft’s restrictive and expensive solution for making their server protocols available to 3rd parties. This could happen in the next weeks, when the European Commission decides Microsoft has had enough time to comply with the decition, and open a procedure to fine for non-compilance. Microsoft continues to have problems with the EU, previous cases included the dispute over Media Player being distributed with Windows, because in EC eyes, a user should be able to decide wich music software he/she buys.

iBook G4 and PowerBook G4

2005-06-01T04:47:00.002-07:00

From Apple’s website: In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and other international safety authorities, Apple is voluntarily recalling certain lithium ion rechargeable batteries that were sold worldwide from October 2004 through May 2005 for use with the following notebook computers: 12-inch iBook G4, 12-inch PowerBook G4 and 15-inch PowerBook G4. These batteries were manufactured by LG Chem, Ltd. of South Korea. The affected batteries could overheat, posing a fire hazard to consumers. Apple has received six consumer reports of these batteries overheating. If you have a recalled battery, please stop using it and order a replacement battery immediately. Once you have removed the battery, plug in the AC adapter to power the computer. If you must temporarily use your computer with the battery, do not leave it unattended and check for signs of overheating. Apple has initiated a worldwide exchange program and will provide eligible customers with a new replacement battery, free of charge. For additional information on replacing your battery, please go here

Microsoft issues call to Bloggers

2005-06-01T04:47:00.001-07:00

Microsoft wants 20 bloggers to help promote Longhorn, in an effort dubbed “Team 99,” Microsoft employee, evangelist, and blogger Robert Scoble wrote on his blog, which is widely read by Microsoft workers and Microsoft watchers. “Microsoft can’t deal with millions of people all at once,” Scoble wrote explaining why the company wanted a small number. “It’s impossible to listen to that loud a crowd.” The group, he went on, would be asked to “tell us where we’re screwing up, what we’re doing well.” Last week Microsoft targeted bloggers for having screenshots of some Longhorn features. All Team 99 members will have to sign a NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreements) said Scoble, but because everyone must be a blogger, they’ll also be a conduit for Microsoft to proselytize Longhorn as it reaches beta this summer, and moves toward a late 2006 scheduled release. Copyright 2005 AMCP Computer Privacy TECH BLOG. All rights reserved. AMCP Computer Privacy TECH BLOG’s Alexander Morganis has been nominated for Team 99!

Internet Explorer flaws found

2005-06-01T04:47:00.000-07:00

Two vulnerabilities have been reported in Microsoft Internet Explorer, which can be exploited by malicious people to disclose sensitive information and compromise a users system. 1) The vulnerability is caused due to a boundary error in the PNG rendering engine. This can be exploited to cause a buffer overflow by tricking a user into visiting a malicious web site or view a malicious email containing a specially crafted PNG image. Successful exploitation allows execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running Internet Explorer or another program using the PNG rendering engine. 2) The vulnerability is caused due to an error in the verification of redirects from XML resources. This can be exploited by tricking a user into visiting a malicious web site. Successful exploitation allows exposure of information from remote resources and local files. Security Firm Secunia qualifies both as ‘highly critical’ and my advice to everyone still using IE, is to switch to Firefox . Or you can install the patches listed here. Another reason to switch to Firefox?

Microsoft Launched “The Hive”

2005-06-01T04:46:00.000-07:00

The Hive, a new online resource designed to bring together leaders in the Windows community and open the lines of communication between the company and its evangelists, was just launched by Microsoft. It is Microsoft’s newest attempt to have better communication with consumers, instead of listening to developers. It is designed to bring the “buzz” back in Windows. Microsoft even admits that it has left users in the dark. Unlike MSDN Channel 9, made for developers and another Microsoft website, “The Spoke”, which is a website focused on is a digital lifestyle club for students around the world, where film, music, gaming, sports and culture merge with technology; The Hive focuses on us, the consumer, and tries to educate people of what is happening in the Windows world. Members will receive insider news and information, and be able to share ideas with others. However, you must be a Online Community Leader to join The Hive, so again, Microsoft forgets the normal people. Via AMCP Computer Privacy TECH BLOG

Google Personalized Homepage

2005-06-01T04:45:00.001-07:00

Google has unveiled a new service, offering a customised website (like MSN and Yahoo do). The customised site let’s users get feeds from Gmail, Slashdot, Wired News, Google News, and some more. It also let’s users add weather, local news and some other cool stuff. Of course, the Google search is also there. Everyone can start enjoying this service, because.. It’s not inlimited BETA!! The bad news is that you can’t add other feeds, but Google’s help site says this feature will be availible in short time. Google Personalized Homepage can be found at www.google.com/ig

My Web, Yahoo’s personal search engine

2005-06-01T04:45:00.000-07:00

Yahoo relaunched it’s personal search engine, wich now is called My Web. The service now lets users save web pages, and track web searches. Like the former My Yahoo search, the service is integrated with Yahoo Mail and lets users share web searches via e-mail. The new version offers also integration with Yahoo instant messenger service and will be integrated with Yahoo’s new blogging service: Yahoo 360.

Leading E-Mail Organizations to Speak at Email Authentication Implementation Summit 2005

2005-06-01T04:44:00.001-07:00

NEW YORK — June 7, 2005 — Recognizing the need for businesses to authenticate e-mail to help protect consumers, organizers of Email Authentication Implementation Summit 2005 today announced the preliminary agenda, a confirmed-speaker list and more than three dozen underwriters for the upcoming conference to be held at the Marriott Marquis in New York City on July 12. The goal of the summit is to share lessons learned and prescriptive advice to help all Internet domain holders implement e-mail authentication technologies today to increase protection for consumers in time for the upcoming holiday season.

Attendees will learn from leading experts in safety and online security including Cisco, Microsoft, Sendmail, Symantec and Yahoo! as they share best practices from working with leading e-commerce sites and financial institutions. In addition, marketing and brand executives will learn from the DMA, ESPC, Bigfoot Interactive and others on how domain holders can join in the fight against spam and phishing. Information about the full agenda, speaker list and registration can be found at http://www.emailauthentication.org/summit2005.

“E-mail authentication is crucial. We need to start implementing and teaching businesses how to deploy today. When you add reputation to the validation of the known identity of senders, we move toward better protecting users and businesses from deceptive e-mail exploits including spam and phishing,” said Dave Jevans, chair of the Anti-Phishing Working Group.

The Email Authentication Implementation Summit has attracted additional support from industry underwriters including the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), CNET Networks Inc., Go Daddy Software Inc., OmnTi Inc., MarkMonitor, Message Level, SKYLIST Inc. and VeriSign Inc. This industry-defining summit will provide detailed technical information to help counter spam, phishing and e-mail fraud through the implementation of e-mail authentication solutions. Following on the edict from the Email Service Provider Coalition (ESPC) requiring members to publish Sender Policy Framework (SPF) records and the Direct Marketing Association’s ongoing call to action on authentication, the sending community clearly recognizes the value and importance of authenticated e-mail.

“We can no longer sit on the sidelines while consumers are having to fend for themselves. With forged e-mail, phishing and spyware on the rise, now is the time to take action; e-mail authentication needs to be mandatory,” said , executive director of ESPC.

“The level of support for the Email Authentication Implementation Summit demonstrates the industry’s commitment to protecting consumers and the viability of e-mail as a critical communications and commerce tool,” said Craig Spiezle, director of the Technology Care and Safety Group at Microsoft. “It is our responsibility as an industry to move e-mail authentication forward — anything short of this is unacceptable and only plays into the hands of the spammers.”

Event organizers expect more than 300 information technology (IT) professionals, business leaders and e-commerce executives to attend the summit at the Marriott Marquis, 1535 Broadway, New York. In addition to the aforementioned underwriters, the summit has attracted broad industry support from more than three dozen companies and groups: the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), Barracuda Networks Inc., Bigfoot Interactive Inc., CipherTrust Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Cloudmark Inc., Digital Impact Inc., the Direct Marketing Association (The DMA), DoubleClick Inc., the ESPC, Goodmail Systems Inc., Habeas Inc., Harte-Hanks Inc., Internet Identity, IronPort Systems Inc., MailFrontier Inc., Microsoft, The Open Group, Piper Software, Port25 Solutions Inc., Quris Inc., Release 1.0, Sendmail Inc., Return Path Inc., StrongMail Systems Inc., Symantec Corp., TRUSTe, Tumbleweed Communications Corp., and Yahoo! Inc.

More information can be found here.

Sober.N Detected in the Wild

2005-06-01T04:44:00.000-07:00

A new virus discovered very recently, is spreading through attachmenst in e-mail messages with English or German texts. The virus’s alias’s include: Email-Worm.Win32.VB.aj, W32.Sober.N@mm, W32/Sober.o@MM. The worm is written in Visual Basic. The worm’s file is a modified UPX packed PE executable about 73 kilobytes long. The worm sends different types of e-mail messages with English and German texts and an attachment. The attachment is a ZIP archive containing the worm’s executable. The worm composesWorm opens text file messages with subject lines such as “I’ve_got your EMail on my_account!” and “FwD: Ich bin’s nochmal” with attachments such as your_text.zip. Copyright 2005 AMCP Computer Privacy TECH BLOG. All rights reserved. Read the rest here.

Another theory on why Apple switched to Intel

2005-06-01T04:42:00.001-07:00

Cringely offers an alternate theory for Apple getting in bed with Intel:

Microsoft comes into this because Intel hates Microsoft. It hasn’t always been that way, but in recent years Microsoft has abused its relationship with Intel and used AMD as a cudgel against Intel.

Even worse, from Intel’s standpoint Microsoft doesn’t work hard enough to challenge its hardware. For Intel to keep growing, people have to replace their PCs more often and Microsoft’s bloatware strategy just isn’t making that happen, especially if they keep delaying Longhorn.

Enter Apple. This isn’t a story about Intel gaining another three percent market share at the expense of IBM, it is about Intel taking back control of the desktop from Microsoft.

Thought:
Apple could also get more users, and if they (not likely to happen) let users install Mac OS X on common PCs that are running Windows right now, they could get a higher share in the market.

via: > ZDNet

iTunes with Quicktime support

2005-06-01T04:42:00.000-07:00

The release of a new iTunes featuring Quicktime support for videos, makes me thing if Apple is going to step in the unexplored music videos selling business. This isn’t really a big surprise, since it’s likely for people to buy them, but all those iPod fans won’t…. (at least i wont). I’ll keep you posted about this news.

Blo.gs sold to Yahoo

2005-06-01T04:35:00.002-07:00

welcome yahoo blo.gs has been acquired by yahoo!. Be sure to read Jim Winstead’s post about the news and if you are a cloud listener note that we’ve changed the cloud port and we now need to know your IP address. Also, yahoo! is keeping the blo.gs privacy policy.

So are the latest news to be found in http://blo.gs.
A while ago, blo.gs announced they had found a buyer, but the identity remained secret (though we already knew the privacy policy would be kept).
Now Yahoo owns it, and i think good changes will happen to this popular Blog tracking site, since Yahoo is very serioues about Web Logs, and even includes RSS feeds in search results. They also have the resources ( and will use them), to promote and work on the blo.gs interface and keep it up to date with competition

Gmail Clips

2005-06-01T04:35:00.001-07:00

Many Gmail users have notices a new feature recently: you now can add RSS feeds to your Gmail account. The bad news are Gmail Clips are still in beta (like many other cool Google stuff) and are only availible to a limited, random selected, group of Gmail users. If you do have Gmail Clips enabled heres How to use them: 1. Log in to your Gmail account. 2. Click ‘Settings’ at the top of any Gmail page, and then click ‘Web Clips.’ (You’ll be directed to a list of clips that are currently displayed in your account.) 3. Click ‘Add more clips >>.’ A new window will open. 4. Click ‘Add’ next to the clips you’d like to view. * To add an RSS or Atom feed, open the ‘Custom Clips’ tab. Enter the feed URL in the appropriate field, and click ‘Add.’ 5. Close the new window once you’ve selected your clips. Each clip displays the source from which it was received, how long ago the clip was published, and a link to access the entire story or page containing the clip. From your inbox, you can scroll through clips you’ve already seen by clicking ‘< ' or see new clips by clicking '>.’ More information in Gmail’s help site.

New virus takes on AIM

2005-06-01T04:35:00.000-07:00

AIM users should think carefully before licling on a link recieved from a buddy using AIM. The reason is a new virus called Oscarbot-B, wich after infecting a users PC, it tries to take control of aim, sending a link all AIM buddys. The link sends you to a site wich tries to install the virus in your computer. The links message should be something like: Hey check this out. The virus also installs a backdoor into IRC to download and run files, on istruction of the attacker, and giving remote access to your computer. The virus might or may not try to send the links through AIM after being infected, wich makes it confusing. My advice to all of you is to stop using AIM untill you get an updated antivirus, wich can handle the problem.

A New Variant of the Bagle Virus is out there

2005-06-01T04:34:00.000-07:00

p>MessageLabs has already intercepted over 70 000 copies of this e-mail, wich contains a trojan, that will try to download itself. After infecting a computer the virus will act as an e-mail harvester and will use the e-mail addresses stored on the PC’s hard-drive to send the same message containing the trojan.
The e-mail was originated from one of the many Yahoo! Groups.

Here’s the Press Release from MessageLabs.

31 May 2005, 5pm BST – MessageLabs is warning computer users to be on their guard against a new variant of the Bagle downloader which appears to have originated from an address purporting to be within Yahoo! Groups. MessageLabs has intercepted almost 70,000 copies already; first copy was stopped today at 13:24 GMT (14:24 BST).

Within the last hour only (3-4pm BST), 45,769 copies have been stopped.

How it works
This most recent Bagle downloader variant drops a trojan that attempts to download itself from a vast list of locations. Computer users who have been successfully tricked into activating the file attached invoke the virus, which harvests email addresses it finds on the hard drive. The virus then forwards itself onto the list of email addresses it has discovered in the infected computer.

Email characteristics:
Subject lines:
Body Text:

Damage
Once activated, the Bagle downloader variant drops a copy of an executable file onto infected computers, which in turn polls a vast list of URLs for the availability of a new mass-mailing component.

The full story can be found here

My advice is, read both subject and sender’s address before opening and e-mail, and even if it comes from a ‘trusted’ person, try to make sure he/she has really sent it, and use an Anti-Virus to scan your e-mail in the server if you are using a service like Microsoft Exchange, or make sure the e-mail service you have scans e-mail before sending it to your inbox.

Fedora Core 4 Available!

2005-06-01T04:32:00.000-07:00

The Fedora Project has made availible the last version of the popular Fedora Core. Fedora Core 4 is availible for all IBM-compatible computers, and there is also an intallation guide, if you need it.
You can download Fedora Core 4 here.
Here’s the official announcement from Fedora Project’s website:

Fedora Core 4 is now available from Red Hat and at distinguished mirror sites near you, and is also available in the torrent. Fedora Core is available for x86-64, i386, and ppc/ppc64. Please file bugs via Bugzilla, Product Fedora Core, Version 4, so that they are noticed and appropriately classified. Discuss this release on fedora-list

Browser Shares [UPDATED]

2005-06-01T04:31:00.001-07:00

Tech News Online visitor’s browser share is now at: Browsers Percent MS Internet Explorer 74.6 % Firefox 14.1 % Unknown 8.4 % Netscape 0.7 % Mozilla 0.7 % Safari 0.6 % Opera 0.2 % Konqueror 0.1 % W3C HTML Validator 0 % W3C CSS Validator 0 % Others 0 % FireFox’s share went higher since i’ve put the Internet Explorer alert on the site. Firefox has already been downloaded almost 52 million times ( excluiding updates), and the number gets higher every day. UPDATE(5/24/05): Firefox’s share has been decreasing in the last days, and also i had to remove the IE alert, because of my new template. Safari and Netscape look promising though, i think they’ll continue to grow in the next weeks. Update: Firefox’s share continues to grow, but other browsers are getting more users, too. We’ll see how this goes, check every week, i will update constantly the list.

New flaw found in Windows

2005-06-01T04:31:00.000-07:00

Security Firm Secunia warns users about a new flaw found in Windows:

A vulnerability has been reported in Microsoft Windows, which can be exploited by malicious people to compromise a user’s system.

The vulnerability is caused due to an integer overflow within HTML Help and can be exploited to cause a heap-based buffer overflow via a specially crafted Help (.chm) file with a very high value in a size field.

Successful exploitation allows execution of arbitrary code.

The solution for this, is to apply the following patches (depending on your OS):

Microsoft Windows 2000 (requires Service Pack 3 or Service Pack 4):
http://www.microsoft.com/downloa…46AE-4807-42F4-95E2-8F5FAE321102

Microsoft Windows XP (requires Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2):
http://www.microsoft.com/downloa…3B94-AF70-47BD-872C-033A3F0E982A

Microsoft Windows XP 64-Bit Edition (requires Service Pack 1) (Itanium):
http://www.microsoft.com/downloa…07F2-AD02-4D15-A198-CF8A728B3A25

Microsoft Windows XP 64-Bit Edition Version 2003 (Itanium):
http://www.microsoft.com/downloa…A26D-CFDA-428F-9F9B-16908DB88C80

Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloa…AE3B-4FA4-4576-8539-AB49E575A98F

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (with or without Service Pack 1):
http://www.microsoft.com/downloa…EE21-7DF2-4B95-A4C5-44C6CAA5AF9A

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (with or without Service Pack 1) (Itanium):
http://www.microsoft.com/downloa…EE21-7DF2-4B95-A4C5-44C6CAA5AF9A

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloa…16F7-3A81-4482-8C92-2A2DC3C2F782

Microsoft XP Edition N

2005-06-01T04:30:00.000-07:00

Microsoft is releasing a new version of the Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional for the European market. The reason: EU’s antitrust rules. Microsoft has been forced to ship a version of XP without Media Player, because it gives Microsoft an unfair advantage, and makes other players like RealNetworks’ RealPlayer and Apple’s iTunes get less potential custumers. The ruling is based in the fact that users are supposed to be able to choose wich media player they want to use, and shipping Windows with Media Player is a way to force users to use it, since the average computer user doesn’t even know he has other choises. Microsoft XP Home Edition N and Microsoft XP Professional Edition N will be availible in Europe in the next weeks. The lenguages availible will be English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. The only thing that in could stop people from actually buying this version of XP, is the fact that PC vendors are not likely to ship it with new computers, because the Edition N costs the same as the standard XP. Microsoft is finaly ‘complying’ with EU’s antitrust rulings from last year, but we still need to see how they comply with the other EU’s rulings, since Microsoft has requested more flexible terms. My Opinion: I don’t really think anyone is going to pay the same for a stripped-down Wondows XP, and I’m sure Microsoft will do everything they can to stop people from buying this, and the name isn’t appealing either.

Security Flaw Found in FireFox

2005-06-01T04:29:00.000-07:00

Yea, again… this could stop users from switching from IE, but anyways here’s the story: A new flaw was found, wich envolves a critical security hole and exploit code, and is already being transmited in some websites. The flaw could allow the attacker to take control of your system, so watch the sites you are visiting. The patch will arrive shortly, but meanwhile you can protect yourself simply by turning off JavaScript. More information will be availible in the next days.

Nintendo hits E3

2005-06-01T04:27:00.000-07:00

The E3 has been the focus of attention in the last days, and now you can check Nintendo’s latest consoles. Enjoy… Here’s Nintendo’s latest surprise, GameBoy Micro, a remix of the SP. I personally like the design, though i don’t see a reason to buy it, since the PSP and the DS are already out… but up to Nintendo. Anyway it’s supposed to arrive this fall. The Nintendo Revolution, Nintendo’s tiny console, to be released next year. The console is really small, it’s size is almost the same as of 3 DVD cases stacked together. PS3 and Xbox 360 showed some good stuff too, we’ll see who sells more next year. Should be interesting.

iPod Shuffle Going 4 GB

2005-06-01T04:26:00.000-07:00

Today i found out that the iPod Shuffle is going to be availible in 2 more sizes. The new iPod Suffle will carry up to 4 GB worth of music or data, or 2 GB depending on the model. This is just a simple and logical step for the iPod Shuffle line, because of the flash memory chips becoming cheaper in the last months. The new flash chip will hold up to 16 GB, and will replace the old 8 GB mark, meaning lower-priced chips, and cheaper and a better iPod Shuffle. The new and improoved iPod Shuffle is expected to arrive in the next weeks. iPod Shuffle better and cheaper? This will take over the flash players market.

A Computer case made of fans

2005-06-01T04:09:00.000-07:00

I found this really cool project on Slashdot:

I work in a computer store building PCs all day. With every new case there are one or two 8cm case fans included. Most of the systems we build do not need any more cooling than is supplied by the CPU fan as most of our customers generally don’t go in for all this “overclocking malarky”.
Looking around the stock room I discovered two large boxes of unused 8cm case fans.

Surfing through case mod sites, the most popular mod you see (besides Lexan windows) is some form of whizzy cooling device, be it fan or waterblock. People go to great lengths to keep their PCs cool.

Now… putting these two things together…

Here’s the link.

Yahoo’s PhotoMail

2005-06-01T04:08:00.000-07:00

Yahoo will be offering a new service called PhotoMail, starting thursday. PhotoMail will change the way photos are sent in E-Mails, making it easier for people with an small inbox to recieve them.
The service will let users send a small thumbnail, instead of the full-sized picture, and will allow the recipient to click on it to show the original, full-sized picture.

The photos will be stored on a Yahoo Photo’s server, and will be availible to see from Yahoo Photos interface, much like Flick does with pictures in websites.

Yahoo PhotoMail will be released in beta, and will only be available to a small group of Yahoo Mail users, but everyone thats interested in testing it can sign up here.

It’s good to see Yahoo improving their E-Mail service. I’m guessing they got the idea from Flickr, wich they recently bought.

FireFox bugs fixed!

2005-06-01T04:02:00.000-07:00

Mozilla has patched 2 critical flaws in FireFox. The flaws have been patched now and FireFox 1.0.4 has been released and is availible since Wednesday on Mozilla’s website. The flaws as previously reported, allowed attackers to gain control to a user’s computer by installing malicious software, taking advantage of the trusted site’s flaw. The update can be found in Mozilla’s website. Firefox users are adviced to update inmidiatly.

Confirmed: Apple switching to Intel Chips

2005-06-01T04:01:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs announced yesterday the move to Intel Chips.As previously reported, Apple was expected to announce this this week.The move was driven by the fact that the PowerPC chips cannot deliver as much speed and perfomance as the Intel chips, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said.An interesting fact is that Apple was planning this change since 2000, since they have developed two Mac OS X versions, for both PowerPC and Intel powered computers.The transition period will start mid-2006 and is expected to be fully complete by the end of 2007.The only problem Apple could create, is the compatibility issues and the need of software to be remade, to work with Intel chips. But Apple could avoid this problem, since Microsoft and Adobe, two inportant software developers, said they will support both old and new Mac PCs, either using the PowerPC microprocessor, or the Intel’s counterpart. This could make other Mac software developers be more interested in the upcoming change.

UMD format cracked

2005-06-01T04:00:00.000-07:00

Paradox ( a pirate group) claims to have cracked Sony’s UMD disc format, and has already distributed copies of PSP games through P2P networks. The games, include a little text file, wich says they can’t actually be played, since there is no PSP emulator, nor a way to burn UMD discs. Sony has already said they wont ship UMD burners, so these cracked games can’t be played, unless they run off a Memory Stick, but Sony says the PSP only reads Sony-made memory-card media. This is a little bit confusing, because someone has already made the PSP run third-party software stored on a Memory Stick. This kind of cracking is not new, but software pirates might have a big trouble making the cracked games work on a PSP. This means less piracy, and also higher profits for Sony.

Google Print

2005-06-01T03:59:00.000-07:00

Google has launched a new and expected feature: Google Print.
The new service lets users search through a extensive list of books from the New York Public Library, the University of Michigan, Harvard, Stanford and Oxford Universities. The project was to digitalize an extensive list of public domain books, and then let users get information through the internet.

A simple test search gave me titles of recent books, and the posibility to read some introductory pages, as well some common information like number of pages and publishing year.

Google Print as already been subject of critics, mainly from the Association of American University Presses and the EU, wich has launched a project of their own, to digitalize books in languages other than english.

If you want to use Google Print (of course it’s still in BETA, it’s from Google ), click here.

New Google Tool for Webmasters

2005-06-01T03:57:00.000-07:00

For all the webmasters, and Bloggers out there, there’s a new tool, wich allows users to send XML (using a special Google format) sitemaps to Google, making it easier for the Googlebot to find every page in your website.
From Google’s website:

What is Google Sitemaps?

Google Sitemaps is an experiment in web crawling. Using Sitemaps to inform and direct our crawlers, we hope to expand our coverage of the web and improve the time to inclusion in our index. By placing a Sitemap-formatted file on your webserver, you enable our crawlers to find out what pages are present and which have recently changed, and to crawl your site accordingly.

Basically, the two steps to participating in Google Sitemaps are:

Generate a Sitemap in the correct format using Sitemap Generator.
Update your Sitemap when you make changes to your site.
Who can use Google Sitemaps?

Google Sitemaps is intended for all web site owners, from those with a single web page to companies with millions of ever-changing pages. If any of the following are true, then you may be especially interested in Google Sitemaps:

You want Google to crawl more of your web pages.
You want to be able to tell Google when content on your site changes.

How much does it cost?

Absolutely nothing. Google has never charged for placement in our search results, and we don’t have any plans to do so.

Why is Google doing this?

In alignment with Google’s mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible, this collaborative crawling system will allow our crawlers to optimize the usefulness of Google’s index for users by improving its coverage and freshness.

For Wordpress users, there is also a plugin, wich makes the whole process a lot easier, and involves only the instalation of a PHP script, and changing some permissions. Here’s the link. (thanks to Blogger Pro for finding this nice plugin)

The instructions are availible here.

New AIM with voice chat and new design

2005-06-01T03:55:00.001-07:00

AOL launched a beta version of it’s polular messenger service AIM.
The new version allows users to have a multiple party voice chat, and features a completly new design.
The new AIM is code-named Triton.
The beta (test) version can be found here. Please note that it is an early beta version, meaning it could be really different from the final product (to be released in fall).

Google Turning Into Big Brother?

2005-06-01T03:55:00.000-07:00

Here is a very interesting article on Google, and what it does with the information it gets from the more than 19 million visitors every day. http://www.capeargus.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=467&fArticleId=2550494

Beware of fake Windows Update emails

2005-06-01T03:54:00.000-07:00

A new virus has been reported, being distributed through e-mails, containing a message alerting you about Mircroft’s latest Windows XP patch, and includes an attachment, containing a W32.Pinfi variant, a memory-resident virus capable of being replicated via mapped drives and network shares. The email will try to make the user install the ‘update’, supposed to fix some serious bugs in IE and Outlook. In my opinion, the best way to avoid these kind of virus is by ignoring all e-mails coming from ‘Windows Update’ or any related name, a good spam filter also helps.

Wordpress now takes over Browse Happy

2005-06-01T03:53:00.000-07:00

Wordpress, a popular Blogging software, is now taking over Browse Happy, wich the The Web Standards Project (WaSP) has stopped suporting, aparently they have decided to keep neutral in the browser war between IE, Firefox and Apple’s Safari.

From Wordpress’ Development Blog:

Browse Happy is a site dedicated to educating people about browser alternatives that will give them a better online experience. We’ve promoted Firefox for a long time within our administration interface, this will allow us to expand our promotion to cover other excellent browsers as well.

Wordpress’ article can be found here

Here’s the press release.

Microsoft OneCare

2005-06-01T03:52:00.000-07:00

MIcrosoft begun a limited distribution of it’s expected OneCare security suite, wich features an anti-virus, a personal firewall, and Microsoft’s already widely used Antispyware BETA among other features. The beta version of OneNote, will be given out to Microsoft employees this week, and an invitation-only beta test is expected to start early this summer. A wider beta version will be availible by the end of the year. Microsoft OneCare is going to be released as a suscription service, with a yearly fee, like many polupar antivirus programs, like Norton Antivirus, and Trend Micro. The security suit is also going to include a disk cleaning utility, and back-up to external drives or cds, among other system maintenance work features. Microsoft OneCare is targeted to the average windows home user, (70% Windows users lack an antivirus software) and could mean a threat to all big antivirus business players, but it could also be a big failture, mainly because of it’s price, wich is expected to be around $80, because users can already get all those tools for free, two good examples of free antivirus/spyware cleaner are AdAware Free, and AVG Free.

Magneto OS, newest Microsoft’s OS

2005-06-01T03:51:00.000-07:00

PDA users will be able to enjoy themselves using a new OS. A new version of Office for PDA’s will also be released, including new versions of Word and Excel, as well as PowerPoint Mobile. The new OS also features improved contact functions and a better navigation. Magneto is expected to be announced in a scheduled Microsoft press release in London, on tuesday.

OS X Tiger: over 2 million copys

2005-06-01T03:50:00.000-07:00

p>Apple is going to deliver the 2 million copy of Mac OS X Tiger this week, here’s the press release:

WWDC 2005, SAN FRANCISCO—June 6, 2005—Apple® today announced it expects to deliver over two million copies of Mac OS® X version 10.4 “Tiger” by the end of this week, including copies sold at retail, copies delivered under maintenance agreements and copies bundled with Mac® systems shipped, making Tiger Apple’s fastest selling OS release ever. Developer support for Tiger is also setting new records with hundreds of developers including Microsoft and Adobe announcing support for Tiger. To date third party developers have released more than 400 Dashboard widgets, 550 Automator actions and 40 Spotlight plug-ins for Tiger.

“The response to Tiger is off the charts,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Critics are raving, customers are delighted and developers are creating hundreds of widgets and applications that take advantage of Tiger’s incredible innovations like Spotlight, Dashboard and Automator.”

“With the new technologies in Tiger, we worked closely with Apple to ensure that Office 2004 customers would benefit by making it even easier to search, share and manage information,” said Roz Ho, general manager of the Macintosh Business Unit, Microsoft Corporation. “Whether searching for an Office 2004 document using Spotlight or synchronizing data in Entourage to another supported device, the innovation in Tiger means Office for Mac users will be more productive now and in the future.”

“Tiger is an excellent release and will be relied on by millions of Adobe customers who, as creative professionals, change the way the world looks every day,” said Shantanu Narayen, president and chief operating officer at Adobe. “The combination of Adobe Creative Suite 2 and Tiger delivers a powerful design and publishing platform that will accelerate creative workflows worldwide.”

Tiger delivers more than 200 new features and innovations including Spotlight, a revolutionary desktop search technology that lets users instantly find anything stored on their Mac, including documents, emails, contacts and images; and Dashboard, a new way to instantly access important information like weather forecasts and stock quotes, using a dazzling new class of applications called widgets.

Pricing & Availability
Mac OS X version 10.4 “Tiger” is available through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), at Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $129 (US) for a single user license. The Mac OS X Tiger Family Pack is a single-residence, five-user license available for a suggested retail price of $199 (US). Volume and maintenance pricing is available from Apple. Tiger requires a minimum of 256MB of memory and is designed to run on any Macintosh® computer with a PowerPC G5, G4, or G3 processor and built-in FireWire®.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning desktop and notebook computers, OS X operating system, and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital music revolution with its iPod portable music players and iTunes online music store.

Apple is becoming quite popular these days. I wonder what would happen if they ever licensed their OS X Tiger to other PC makers (of course the new x86 version). It could be some serious competition for Microsoft.

Maybe in the next months Apple could surprise us…

Next Office will use XML

2005-06-01T03:46:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has announced that the next version of Microoft Office will use XML (eXtensible Markup Language) as default of ducuments created on Word, Excel and Powerpoint. The change to XML will improve the compatibility and make easier for other programs to read Office documents. This is a big step towards real compatibility between Office documents and third party software, because in the past Office documents couldn’t be interpreted correctly by some of them.

Netscape 8.0.1 Review

2005-06-01T03:45:00.001-07:00

Okay, so we have been writing a few posts about flaws in Netscape and if it’s “Evil”, but now we decided to do a review on it. It’s interface is a bit more sleek than Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox with great password managment and security features. The browser really didn’t change from the public beta released in February. The beta software was so buggy that it crashed once or twice an hour, but the current version isn’t much different. Don’t get us started with the installation. The installation was terrible. The way they try to get you to download adware doesn’t help their image: A weather package from the Weather Channel and a set of games software. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of software tries to do the same thing, but agreeing with InternetWeek’s review: it still creates a bad impression when you’re installing software that’s supposed to protect you against adware, spyware, and phishing.Yet the great thing about Netscape 8.0 is it can render in Firefox (Gecko) and Internet Explorer. So you can update your computer through Windows Update. However, since you need Internet Explorer, Netscape 8.0 is only for Windows systems. This also brings in important security issues because through flaws in IE, you can get hacked through flaws (in IE) using Netscape. We did test out the AntiSpyware website feature. It was so hard to find a website that had the warning. We were searching Google, Yahoo, MSN, just looking for trouble; and we found some: SearchItQuick.com. Netscape did what it was said to do: It displayed a red warning urging us not to download anything from the website and to stay clear. Read the rest here.

A new rival for the iPod

2005-06-01T03:45:00.000-07:00

PalmOne is expected to release a new handheld called ‘PalmOne LifeDrive Mobile Manager’, wich features video and music playback. The handheld is already being displayed in Amazon.com but it’s status is set ‘Currently not availible’. The price is set to be $500. The ‘Mobile Manager’ will also get the usual PalmOne stuff, like e-mail, contacts, web-browsing, and is supposed to feature an internal hard-drive. The first of these line of products will arrive later this month, and could mean serious competition for the iPod. The bad news are it’s price: $500 seems a little bit too high, even the iPods are cheaper than that.

Longhorn to be touch-sensitive

2005-06-01T03:43:00.000-07:00

Microsoft announced touch-screen funtionality as a feature for Longhorn - Microsoft’s code-named future Windows version -. Microsoft hopes this new feature will encourage PC vendors to add touch screen funtionality to mobile PCs, mainly Tablet PCs. Currently Tablet PCs only support pen-based input, using Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. The touch-screen support may be only a feature for Longhorn Table PC Edition, but it could also be included in all Longhorn packages.

New Site

2005-04-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

OK, the new site is up. Please clichere: http://www.technewsonline.net

Gmail now open for everyone?

2005-04-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

Today in Gmail's website: Also in Google Accounts Website: If pictures dont show up, just go to http://gmail.google.com and http://www.google.com/accounts to see it. Though you might want to hurry up, since Google has already done this over the last week and had it changed within the hour. Only bad thing is that when i tried to login using my Google-only account, it said i had to get an invite. We should expect Gmail to go public in the next weeks or maybe even days so stay tuned for more news.

Google Video Upload Program

2005-04-15T08:16:00.000-07:00

Google has officially launched its Video Upload Program, wich lets users upload their home-made videos, but not yet allows everyone to search for them using Google Video. The company said the use of Google Video would be availible in the future. Some videos wont be able to be sent to Google's Video Upload Program, because of copyright infringement and obsenities.

Mac OS X Tiger ships April 29

2005-04-12T14:04:00.000-07:00

Apple announced on tuesday that the latest Mac OS X operating system will arrive April 29. The new Mac OS X features Apple's own desktop search software called Spotlight. It lets users search the computers hard drive to find emails, pictures, documents and music and its similar to Google's Desktop Search will still is in BETA stage. Mac OS X Tiger will be sold for about $129 and Apple announced a "family pack" wich allows the operating system to be installed in up to 5 computers in a single house for $199.

New XBOX to debut on MTV

2005-04-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

Stay tuned to MTV on May 12, if you want to learn more about the new XBOX. That's what Microsoft said about the new XBOX this week. The new XBOX will be presented to the public on a 30-minute show on MTV channels all over the world. The show starts 9.30 pm eastern time for the US and will be hosted by Elijah Wood and The Killers. Local times for the show in other regions are: Japan/ Asi 11.30 am; France and Germany 7 pm; Australia 7 pm; Netherlands 7.30 pm, UK, Romania and Portugal 8 pm; Poland 9 pm; Italy 11.30 pm; Scandinavia 10 pm and Spain 9.30 pm.

Got a home made video? submit it to Google

2005-04-06T08:11:00.000-07:00

Google in an effort to expand its video search service will now let users submit their personal video clips, or home videos. Google's video searching website launched a couple of months ago, but its still in beta stage, like many other popular Google sites like Gmail and Google News. Google's video search service supports video feeds from Fox News, the NBA and PBS. If you are interested in searching for video just go to http://video.google.com/. Only if you could download them...

Gmail Still Giving more Space!

2005-04-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

today Gmails free sotrage quota for all users was at 2054 MB. It promisses users, that they wont EVER have to delete emails again, as the storage keeps and keeps on getting bigger. Gmail is geting better and better, but you should also expect Yahoo! and Hotmail increase the users quota for their free email services.

Web Design

2005-04-01T10:04:00.000-08:00

The first think you need to know before you make a site is, webdesign. Many blogers see it as a nightmare, because of the coding you have to do. But there are many ways to do it: you can get yourself a css/html programming book, a Photoshop 7 book, and learn the hard way (many like to do this...), or you can just use that ugly Template given to you by your host. But also, if you have SOME money to spend, you can hire a webdesigner to do all the hard work for you. Only thing is, this kind of designers can charge you up to 500$ or maybe even 1000$ for designing your site. Maybe you should just try to learn the CSS/HTML

Gmail now going 2GB

2005-04-01T07:19:00.000-08:00

Yes, now this popular free Webbased Email service is going 2GB, meaning a whole lot of space for you! currently my inbox has 1376MB and if you go to www.gmail.com, you can see the number go up.. From the Gmail site: 'G is for growth Storage is an important part of email, but that doesn't mean you should have to worry about it. To celebrate our one-year birthday, we're giving everyone one more gigabyte. But why stop the party there? Our plan is to continue growing your storage beyond 2GBs by giving you more space as we are able. We know that email will only become more important in people's lives, and we want Gmail to keep up with our users and their needs. From Gmail, you can expect more.'

Free 1TB Email!

2005-03-29T10:14:00.000-08:00

A new free email service is out there: but its different because it offers 1TB free space for emails and attachments, BTW it lets you send 500MB attachments. Now comes the bad stuff: 1. Loads of ads 2. Sign Up can be confusing 3. More Ads! 4. WebMail sometimes wont even work http://www.hriders.com/ started offering this service a short while ago, but the website is loaded with advertisement and the sign up process isnt user-friendly. Also when i tried to sign up, i couldnt login for the webmail. The service doesnt look professional, and the site isnt even focused on providing Email services, the slogan says: 'Hellacious Online Biker Search Engine' even more confusing. Looks like I wont be replacing my old Gmail soon

Yahoo to offer 1GB free Email service

2005-03-27T09:17:00.000-08:00

Since Google launched its free 1GB Gmail service last april, big email providers, like Yahoo and Hotmail, have been increasing the space given to users. Now Yahoo is to increase its popular Yahoo Mail from 250 MB to 1GB for free, due mid-may. Paid accounts also get a new boost by providing 2GB webspace and the ability to send 20MB attachments. Google's free Gmail webmail had set a new standard for free webmail services, by providing 1GB space, at a time when big Companies like Yahoo and Microsoft's Hotmail gave only a couple MB.

iPod in your car

2005-03-22T19:30:00.000-08:00

If you are a lucky owner of one of those hot 2005 BMW, Volvo or Mercedes-Benz you can enjoy playing your iPod music directly through your car's speaker system. Now GM announced its new 2006 models would come with a stereo system that can play iPod music, as well other Mp3 players stored music. The car's stereo system will come with a front audio input jack, so you can directly plug you iPod to your stereo system. Other car makers announced their new stereo systems would support the iPod. More good news to all those iPod freaks.

Google removes AFP news

2005-03-22T19:03:00.000-08:00

Google started taking out AFK news headlines and pictures from its Google News news search website. AFP had filed a law suit against Google for displaying pictures and headlines without having AFP permission. AFP said Google News was violating copyright laws, by reproducing AFP website contents. Google was sued for 17.5 million dollars for displaying AFP's copyrighted content without paying a fee/ having permission. A Google spokesman said the company started taking out AFP news material off its news site, but also said Google didnt have a timetable for when all links and material copyrighted to Agence France-Presse.

IAC buys AskJeeves

2005-03-22T14:37:00.000-08:00

InterActiveCorp announced it would buy AskJeeves, a search web site that currently holds about 3% North American Market share, for about $1.85 billion dollars. IAC chairman thinks AskJeeves has the potential to become a leader search website. AskJeeves will now focus on local search, content and merchant information. This could mean another competitor in a Google dominated web search business.

Nintendo DS sets a new selling record

2005-03-21T10:37:00.000-08:00

Nintendo DS has already sold 87,000 consoles in its first 2 days in the market, setting a new record in the UK. The previous record holder was Nintendo's Gamecube console wich sold 69,000 in its first weekend. Nintendo is likely to sell a lot more in the UK, since the console is priced £99. The PSP launch in Europe has been delayed a couple of months, and thats another reason to make Nintendo happy, since the PSP has many interesting features the DS hasnt, incluiding deals with movie studios, to make movies in Sony's new UMD format.

Sony PSP

2005-03-20T12:07:00.000-08:00

PlayStation Portable, the new Sony handheld, wich is supposed to take over the Nintendo dominated portable gaming. The PSP is to be released this tuesday. Price is $250 though it's set to first arrive in bundled sets wich will be expensive, to get extra stuff like spare batterie packs for example. Things that some users wont need at all. The PSP is going to arrive with some Sony made action titles, all of them to cost $40. There is going to be also other games released this tuesday. Gamers will get to choose from 24 games during PSP first week. The only thing that might stop people from buying the PSPSP is the price, $250 and $40 for the games. But it should be a big success, like PS2 is.

Tech Blogs

2005-03-20T07:48:00.000-08:00

If you use a RSS or XML news reader, you can add this blog by just copy the ATOM Feeds url. ATOM Feeds are RSS, if you use Firefox just clic on the link and then bookmark it, it will show as news in the bookmarks section. If you use Thunderbird, then you can use its integrated RSS reader by just adding the URL.

Sites Up

2005-03-20T07:34:00.000-08:00

Well i finally got my blog to work, im still new to this, but im going to start blogging like mad in the next days. Below are a couple of my articles, if you like my blog , or want to suggest a topic for me to blog just email me.

Durig this week im going to add a lot of new articles, as well a shoutbox or comment box (whatever you want to call it) for the whole blog. Keep checking this site out, ill post some interesting technology news.

Nintendo DS, It's about having fun..

2005-03-20T07:07:00.000-08:00

After the DS being released in the USA, Japan and UK,we've seen it has a lot of success, but isnt the PSP better?? Well it has better graphics and the design is better, but do we really need a Handheld? or just a portable gaming console? Both Nintendo and Sony call DS and PSP handhelds. Nintendo DS will be the right handheld for you if yu only plan to play games and maybe * browse the internet with it. PSP has more features as well a better processor and display. The PSP will be released this tuesday. (Expect a big nice PSP review :) ). The Nintendo DS features 2 displays, (1 of those being for PDA funtionality) and it can connect to Wireless Networks (WiFi) and it has its own wireless multiplayer support. The DS already has over 500 games, that means you can play all GBA games. The PSP will be released with 24 titles, a lot for a new system. Nintendo DS is not about the graphics and processor, i've already said it, but the thing that makes it attractive to gamers, is that besides it supporting all old GB games, the new games are fun. Well at least Nintendo games, i.e. Donkey Konga, these games are designed to entretain gamers, not just to show good graphics. If you are a serius gamer, you might want to consider getting a $250 PSP, it has more power and promesses good graphics and the popular PS2 games. It can also play Movies stored in Sony's new disc format. The PSP supports both local and internet multiplayer gaming. The PSP can also play Mp3's altough i dont think you'll stop using that iPod. Over all, if you are a Nintendo fan, i recommend you get the Nintendo DS, the price is fair $150 is not that much....

Firefox, IE rival

2005-03-19T22:33:00.000-08:00

Firefox, Mozilla Foundation newest browser, has been a short while out, as written in the official firefox site, this is the description: "Why Use Firefox?“Beware of spyware. If you can, use the Firefox browser.” - USA Today“Better than Internet Explorer by leaps and bounds.” - FORBESPopup Blocking Stop annoying popup ads in their tracks with Firefox's built in popup blocker. Tabbed Browsing View more than one web page in a single window with this time saving feature. Open links in the background so that they're ready for viewing when you're ready to read them. Find out more... Privacy and Security Built with your security in mind, Firefox keeps your computer safe from malicious spyware by not loading harmful ActiveX controls. A comprehensive set of privacy tools keep your online activity your business. Smarter Search Google Search is built right into the toolbar, and there is a plethora of other search tools including Smart Keywords (type "dict " in the Location bar), and the new Find bar (which finds text as you type without covering up anything). Live Bookmarks RSS integration lets you read the latest news headlines and read updates to your favorite sites that are syndicated. Find out more... Hassle-Free Downloading Files you download are automatically saved to your Desktop so they're easy to find. Fewer prompts mean files download quicker. Fits Like a Glove Simple and intuitive, yet fully featured, Firefox has all the functions you're used to - Bookmarks, History, Full Screen, Text Zooming to make pages with small text easier to read, etc. S, M, L or XL—It's Your Choice Firefox is the most customizable browser on the planet. Customize your toolbars to add additional buttons, install new Extensions that add new features, add new Themes to browse with style, and use the adaptive search system to allow you to search an infinite number of engines. Firefox is as big or small as you want. Setup's a Snap At only 4.7MB (Windows), Firefox takes just a few minutes to download over a slow connection and seconds over a fast connection. The installer gets you set up quickly, and the new Easy Transition system imports all of your settings - Favorites, passwords and other data from Internet Explorer and other browsers - so you can start surfing right away. A Developer's Best Friend Firefox comes with a standard set of developer tools including a powerful JavaScript and CSS error/warning console, and an optional Document Inspector that gives detailed insight about your pages. " I installed Firefox a month ago, since the first time i used it, i couldn't go back to IE, and if it wasnt for Windows Updates, i would have tried to delete IE (i know its impossible, because windows explorer is IE based, meaning u couldnt browse through your files and stuff without it). The best of using firefox is the tabbed browsing, simply by right-clic on a link, it opens a new tab, wich can be really usefull if you are like me and have 50 websites open at the same time. Firefox has a lot of plug-ins (or extensions like Firefox calls them) that let you do almost everything from the browser window, you can manage your music, use commands like stop, play, next, etc. You can use this extension with Media Player, iTunes, RealPlayer, and many other popular players. A big point that Firefox has over IE is security. Since Firefox doesnt work with ActiveX, you wont see spyware programs be loaded randomly to your computer just by surfing. Also the popup blocker works fine, but there are still some leaks, i would say it works like Google toolbar popup blocker. I would recommend Firefox to the average user that doesnt need to use Microsoft based web apps. Firefox wont work fine with some common enterprise apps, so it wont be used for work purposes for a while, at least till the compatibility is fixed. If you want to get firefox, just go to GetFirefox.com and download it. I promess you wont regret making the change.

Free iPod? think again

2005-03-19T21:09:00.000-08:00

You might have seen a banner or text ad promoting a site that gives out free ipods. If you ever cliced on one of those ads, youll be taken to a site where you have to sign up, complete sponsors offers, and finally youll get the "free" iPod. What the average user doesnt know is that by signing up, you will have to pay for a sometimes useless product or service, like Human Growth Hormons, wich can cost you about $60. After you complete the offer, you have to complete a second one, or in sites like FreeiPods.com you have to refer 5 friends, wich also have to complete the offer for you to get the promised iPod. If you do a Google search, you can find that there are more than 18 million sites about "Free iPods", many of them are scams, tricks to get you to pay something and finally give you a refurbished iPod, but theres a site that actually gives you an iPod after completing the offer. FreeiPods.com a site from Gratis Network, will give you a free iPod after you complete a sponsor offer and refer 5 friends that have to do the same thing. Gratis Network also has sites where it gives out free items like PSP handhelds, MacMini's and even Flat Screens. If you are going to try one of this offers, my advice is, make sure the site is legit, and try to find a good offer, that you can actually like, something like DVDs for example. Also keep in mind that these kind of stuff takes a lot of time, so dont go all desperate if after 1 week you still havent got your "Free iPod". And finally if you have to do a referer program to get your free ipod, the easiest way is to tell your friends about it, that way you all get a "Free iPod". Good Luck!

Gmail: Going Public?

2005-03-19T15:58:00.000-08:00

This week i found out some people were getting invitations by going to googles homepage. This could mean that Google is gettting ready to release its popular email service. Gmail as been in beta stage since last april, when it first launched by sending invites to a selected group of users like Web APIs and Google Staff. They all got 6 invites to give out to friends anf family, the new users also got 6 invites to give out. Right now the only way to get Gmail is by knowing someone who can invite you, but many websites started giving out free invites to everyone. last month Gmail users found out they had 50 invites to give out. Also Google has already sent invites to everyone who signed up for news about Gmail last year. Now 1 of 100 people that go to Googles Homepage, get 1 invite through a small link in the bottom of the page. Theres been rumors that Gmail is going public on April 1st. But Google could just leave it in beta for a long time, a very good example of this is Google News (in beta since 2001) and Google Groups, which still dont have a final release.