ARCHIVE COMPUTERS & INTERNET

Face Book Privacy issue crop up again:

2011-09-26T23:02:00.000+08:00

CIA’s Facebook Knows Where You Go On the Web

Remember when Mark Zuckerberg said you need to get over the fact that there is no privacy on the internet?He meant it.Many of you have likely viewed the video below. It documents Facebook’s connection to the CIA.Many people, however, think the fun of posting on and the interaction of Facebook overshadows the downside, or they merely ignore the negative aspects.

Well, it turns out it is worse than we previously thought.Hacker and writer Nik Cubrilovic has a post on his blog today revealing some really scary and downright police state Stasi-like aspects of the popular “service” that doubles as a data-mining operation for the CIA.Cubrilovic writes that Facebook keeps track of every website destination you visit, even if YOU ARE LOGGED OUT OF FACEBOOK.

It does this through the cookies it routinely plants on your computer.This is somewhat of an overstatement. In fact, Facebook is only able to do this on pages that have its “Like” button on it, which is to say a lot of webpages, although hardly all.

Full report & video | Pakalert Press - 26 Sept 2011

moving announcement

2009-12-11T18:22:00.000+08:00

We have moved > >> . . .

Panda Cloud Antivirus Free Software

2009-12-05T23:45:00.002+08:00

Among all of the free antivirus software we tested for our latest roundup, Panda Cloud Antivirus was the best app at blocking known malware. However, its work-in-progress status and its unique methods kept us from ranking it on our free antivirus software chart.

Panda Cloud Antivirus is still in beta and not feature-complete, unlike the other beta product we tested in this group (Microsoft Security Essentials). At this writing, it's easy enough to install and use, but Panda is still adding features, and some bugs (large or small) may remain. For example, during our testing, we ran into a performance glitch, but since then it seems to have been fixed.

Rather than using your PC's processing power, this cloud-based app sends data about potentially malicious files and programs to Panda's servers for analysis. The approach is intended to take advantage of the latest signatures without the need for signature-database updates--and if its excellent showing at detecting malware in AV-Test.org's zoo of half a million samples is any indication, the approach works. Panda's app produced an impressive 99.4 percent overall detection rate.

However, the program's design also meant that it could not work with our current method of proactive-protection testing, which requires us to use two- and four-week-old signature databases to simulate how well an antivirus tool performs against new, unknown malware. The same goes for our on-access scan tests, which gauge how much slowdown a program introduces when it scans files that the user copies. Panda uses a multitiered scanning model that only blocks access and does an immediate scan for programs that attempt to run, which it considers the highest risk. Files on a hard drive (preexisting and newly copied) are tagged for background scans only during idle time, to improve performance. (The app checks downloaded files right away, but doesn't block the files before the scan).

On a full on-demand scan, it offered middling speed, coming in fourth (among nine contenders). It was reasonably good at cleaning existing malware, and it detected all ten test infections. But it failed to disable one infection, and it failed to remove Registry entries and other largely harmless junk after every cleanup attempt.

For now, we can't give Panda's app a complete score, but its impressive ability to detect malware makes it well worth keeping an eye on.

Review, by Erik Larkin on PC World

Wanna try safari v4.

2009-11-26T21:12:00.001+08:00

Download Apple Safari 4 browser for Windows XP and Vista:

Apple has launched a version of its web browser Safari for Windows, competing head to head with Microsoft's Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox.

According to Apple's website:

"The fastest web browser on any platform, Safari loads pages up to 2 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2. And it executes JavaScript up to 2.8 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2. What does all that mean for you? Less time loading pages and more time enjoying them.

A test version of Safari 3 for Windows XP, Vista and Apple Macs running OSX, is available for download from the Apple website. Apple is hoping to replicate the success of iTunes, which has proved enormously popular on both Macs and Windows machines.

"We think Windows users are going to be really impressed when they see how fast and intuitive web browsing can be with Safari,"

said Mr Jobs."

DOWNLOAD APPLE SAFARI 4 BROWSER FOR WINDOWS XP / VISTA

Twitter, what I’m going to do with it.

2009-11-23T11:24:00.000+08:00

I join twitter to follow the US Presidential election. Since taking over America from the Red Indians, USA has been the pace setter. US did what the Red Indian would consider it, as against mother nature. Basically they screwed up the world, and the rest follow. That’s the reason why we have to keep in touch with developments there.

It was interesting, the campaign against Obama. It started with calling him a Taliban from Indonesia, then a socialist trying to wrack USA then the Anti-Christ to destroy American Christianity. What a world, but then, they said he won because the Republican wanted him too. The level of the global rejections of US leadership and hegemony has been too high. They need that break. Then, I used twitter to follow their nemesis’s development, the Iranian Presidential Election.

Now, I thought … thinking aloud, I am going to proceed using twitter. I have locked it. I intend to make it like a dairy. Accessible only to my immediate family members. Malaysia had in their 2010 budget allows a tax deduction of RM500 per year for broadband. It high time that I ask my working kids to install broadband in their houses. They then can access my twitter, the “family diary” and update it with their inputs and hence we shared the necessary information about our immediate family.

Five Years of Firefox

2009-11-23T09:14:00.002+08:00

LONG LIVE OPEN SOURCE

Five Years of Firefox

Posted using ShareThis

Nov. 10, 1983: Computer ‘Virus’ Is Born.

2009-11-10T17:17:00.000+08:00

1983: Fred Cohen, a University of Southern California graduate student, gives a prescient peek at the digital future when he demonstrates a computer virus during a security seminar.

Read entries. >>

The Best youtube downloader

2009-11-04T22:57:00.001+08:00

A while ego, I added 2 videos showing an easy way to convert a video into yor PC. You may store the video as movies or music such as mp3.

This is Downloadhelper , the one click downloader. Let me tell you the big deal about this extension, if you can play a file ( by file i mean movies, videos, mp3, and so on...) on your web browser, it can save it. It is not just for you tube.

Downloadhelper is Add-on for Firefox (Firefox is a Browser for those who don't know). There are other extensions and 3rd party websites that claim to do the same thing, but this one is the Best, its fast and very simple to use.

Be smart, you can use this extension with a lot of websites out there, not just with youtube, myspace, dailymotion, etc... You Find something on the web you like, Downloadhelper will do the trick.

Build Your Own PC.

2009-10-27T02:52:00.006+08:00

It is increasingly popular to build your own computer

. In most cases, it saves money, and it guarantees you get what you want. It also assures you avoid proprietary designs many companies use to keep you coming to them for new parts. Best of all, having built the system yourself, you become very familiar with that system and with computers in general.

People from all walks of life today build their own PCs. Executives, engineers, students, housewives, they all do it today. But, at the same time, pre-built PCs have come down in price quite a bit. Today, one is left to wonder whether it is best to build a PC yourself or to simply buy one off the shelf. I’ll address that here.

If you are a real PC enthusiast, this question may be a non-issue. The answer may be as obvious as the color of the sky. This is predictable, of course. When one builds their own PC, they are able to not only understand their PC better because they built it, but they are able to choose each component that goes into their PC. There is really something to be said for choosing your own components, and I’ll go into that further below. There is also a certain sense of satisfaction with having built a PC. One spends a few hours (or less for those more familiar with the process) to put the thing together. Then comes the moment of truth when one hits the power switch for the first time. If it works on the first try, its beer time!

But, besides the joy of it, is it worth it? Is it a practical use of your time? Will it really save you money? The answer to that question today has become a bit gray. A few years ago, the answer was obvious. Pre-built PCs were typically built from OEM, cheap components. The performance was average to simply awful. The choice was obvious: If you wanted a decent PC, you better build it. Today, the line has blurred. Where many off-the-shelf PCs today still use cheaper components in an effort to save money, there are more pre-built PCs today which do use quality hardware and whose performance ranks up there with the best of them.

Let us look at some of the key areas of interest in this:

Component Selection

Most commercial PC buyers (except for the ones who build higher end models) do not make a big deal of which components they use. They will, of course, tell you the specs of the system, but often do not elaborate on the brands of the equipment they use. Most lower to average priced pre-built PCs use more or less generic hardware. It gets the job done, but what you get is what you get. Upgrading can be a problem for this reason. In contrast, building your own PC means you can handpick all components in your system. You can ensure you get good, name brand hardware which will have proper manufacturer support and driver support. Most importantly, you can ensure you get hardware that will perform. One aspect of pre-built is that compatibility issues are taken care of by the manufacturer, but there is a tradeoff made in that guarantee.

Price

In general, you can get more bang for your buck building your own PC. In many cases, you will find equally priced and comparable PCs, where one is pre-built and one would be homebuilt. You can buy PCs cheaper than you can build them, but when you consider the hardware choices within, the price is offset in favor of homebuilt. One thing to consider here is the value of your time. If you are a very busy person where time is money, then you most likely want to buy a pre-built PC. If you don’t mind taking the time, though, you can do better doing it yourself.

Support

Available support is a key concern for do-it-yourselfers. When you build it yourself, there is nowhere to take the PC for service. You can’t say “Here, make this work.” On the other hand, pre-built machines typically do come with manufacturer support. But, support is anything but consistent. Some manufacturers have questionable records on support whereas some are quite good at it. Having support for your PC is no guarantee of having a problem-free user experience, and it is certainly no guarantee that they will take responsibility for your PC if it doesn’t work. The good news for do-it-yourselfers is that the community of people who do this kind of thing themselves is increasing. There is a lot of data on the internet, and community sources for assistance. I’m compelled to mention our own forums where a community of thousands is available to help you out on your PC.

Warranty

On pre-built PCs, there is typically a warranty on the whole system, and in many instances, you are offered an extended service plan at the time of purchase. Home built PCs do not have full system warranties, of course, but if you buy good name brand hardware, most of the components will themselves have warranties. So, really, either way, you can be covered here.

Software

Pre-built PCs often come with much software on it, most importantly the operating system itself. The actual price of the software is pretty good, because manufacturers get great deals on this software because they buy in bulk. On the flip side, though, these PCs sometimes come with too much software, meaning garbage that you do not want and just clutters the hard drive and bugs you to buy stuff. It can be quite annoying. On homebuilt PCs, you might pay a little more for the software per unit, but you will get what you want and only what you want, plus you can set it up how you want.

In general, I’m a big fan of the homebuilt PC. I’ve never used a PC I didn’t build myself. I think its a huge money saver. In my case, I built it myself, and then as technology progressed, I incrementally upgraded the machine. This saves a lot of money in the long run, because with a pre-built commercial machine, once it goes out of date, you pretty much need to start anew with a new PC. >> more videos below:

MORE GUIDES ON PC HARDWARE

Signs of Malware

2009-09-04T09:34:00.001+08:00

You all know there are millions of malware infections out there today. It seems as if there are tons of new infections that pop up everyday. In the past, I've written about how antivirus software and anti-spyware software don't always find all of the infections on your computer. After writing that article, I received several e-mails asking, "How do I know if I have a virus?" Well, today, I will cover some of the signs your computer will show if it's possibly infected with a virus or some other type of malware.

1.) Your computer slows down majorly. If your system slows down drastically, you may have an infection. Viruses and adware use resources on your computer. They can destroy files, send spam e-mail, redirect your browser and many other things that will slow your computer down.

2.) Internet browser crash. If your Internet browser stops working or shuts down often, you may be infected. Since most malware programs use the Internet to spread themselves, they will affect the performance of your browser. If your Internet browser just starts closing with no warning, you need to check for viruses.

3.) Random e-mails. Many viruses spread through e-mail. If you use an e-mail client, such as Outlook Express, MS Outlook or Thunderbird, a virus could infect it and start sending spam e-mail out to all your contacts. If you start to receive strange e-mails like "Message Undeliverable" or "Mailer Deamon," a virus may be sending e-mail with your address.

4.) Error messages at startup. If you start receiving error messages when you turn your computer on, you may have some type of malware infection. Malware programs usually turn on at startup and they sometimes cause errors, so you need to keep an eye out for that.

5.) Things look "strange." I know that seems a little vague, but sometimes you open something and it just looks funny. If you didn't install something or make a change to your system, there's no reason why something would change. Computers don't make decisions on their own. If something has changed and you didn't initiate it, you should scan for viruses and malware.

Those are the five most common signs of an infection. Many of them may indicate a virus, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're infected.

Some of the signs could indicate a hardware issue or a program conflict. As a general rule, if you know of a recent change that caused the actions, it's probably not a virus. If the signs happen for no reason at all, you should be concerned and get your computer checked. Until next time, stay safe out there, my friends!

~ Gary

IP version 6

2009-06-30T12:59:00.000+08:00

07 June 2007 - this is a serious problem with the internet that nobody seems to know about. Allow me to shed a little light on the subject to hopefully make you guys a little smarter.

Google Holodeck: StreetView In 360 Degrees.

2009-06-29T17:47:00.002+08:00

May 27, 2009 - Google StreetView images are pretty cool, in how you can virtually spin around and see what’s on a street in all directions. But far cooler is a Google StreetView “Holodeck” simulator that Google has at its Mountain View campus. Climb into this, and you get StreetView scenes animated, projected on screens all around you, as if you were inside the camera itself.

I first saw Holodeck back in October, and it’s been kept pretty quiet within the company since. But now Google has brought it out as part of its Google I/O conference today.

Think of it as CircleVision For Streetview, CircleVision being the popular Disneyland and Disneyworld rides where cameras were used to film in 360 degrees. Images were then projected on the walls all around the audience and could produce such a sense of montion that people used handrails to keep themselves stable at times.[more]

For Firefox & Internet Explorer 8 users!

2009-06-20T22:00:00.000+08:00

Attention Firefox & Internet Explorer 8 users! Have you ever closed a tab, only to realize too late that there was something important on there? What did you do? Re-browse to the site?

That's too much work.

Next time you're in this situation and you want to re-open the tab you just closed try the combination:

Ctrl+Shift+T

This will re-open the last tab you closed, saving you an extra couple of minutes of frustration!

~Andrew

What does "IP" stand for?

2009-04-07T01:38:00.002+08:00

Outside the computer world, IP sometimes stands for Intellectual Property.

In computer lingo, IP stands for "Internet Protocol". You'll often see it paired with TCP, "Transmission Control Protocol." Together, TCP/IP allow two different computers to talk back and forth over the internet.

Every computer and server (email servers, IP hosts) has an IP address.The IP address acts like a return postal address stamped on packets of data that your computer sends through the internet.

IP addresses are made of four numbers separated by periods, for example, 69.44.18.176. This stamp on data sent through the net tells receiving computers what country, service provider, host, and computer sent the info.

Some routers and software can make you anonymous over the internet by masking your IP address. In addition, less scrupulous computer masters can take control of a remote computer and thus have that computer's IP (return address) stamped on their evildoings.

~ Chris (worldstart.com)

Did you know? Technology.

2009-03-31T06:03:00.002+08:00

November 16, 2008 - This is an amazing video about stuff we never knew.

Hope you enjoy!

Internet users: Beware of new malicious spam

2009-03-30T20:43:00.001+08:00

SINGAPORE, March 30 - reported by malaysianinsider - source : Bernama

A new, large scale malicious spam, posing as an email from courier firm DHL is on the loose, warned IT security and control firm Sophos today.

It said in a statement here that internet users would receive messages that the courier company had tried to deliver a parcel to them on March 14.

"The messages also stated that they needed to print out the attached invoice which contained a zip file and bring it to the DHL office," it explained.

According to Sophos, computer users who fell for the scam and opened 'dhl_n756512.zip' would not see an invoice but actually download a malicious Trojan horse, known as Troj/Agent-JJP onto their computers, giving hackers remote access.

The emails all used the subject line, 'DHL Tracking number' but had a randomly generated reference number it said, adding that the scam was the second in the space of a week masquerading as DHL.

Quick Tip - do you know the MENU key?

2009-03-25T14:30:00.001+08:00

I made a new friend today. It was there all along and I never noticed it on the right side of my keyboard between the Window Key and the Control Key. I don't even know it's true name, so I'll call it the "Menu Key". Why? Because when you press it, it opens up a drop-down menu for whatever program you're in. The menu includes all the information you would see if you right clicked, so I guess you could also call it the "Right-Click" Key.

So, next time you're typing away and need an edit menu or some other feature that you normally right-click to get, just head down to the Menu Key. Pretty soon it'll be your friend too.

~ David (worldstart.com)

Today's Feature : Safari 4

2009-03-20T15:15:00.001+08:00

How many of you out there use Safari as your main Web browser? Well, if you do, you might be interested to know that Apple has released Safari 4 Beta! If you don't use it now, this would be a great time to check it out. The new version packs a big punch with only a couple drawbacks. Let's check it out!

First, the new version of Safari is fast! I installed it and it loads pages faster than any other browser I've ever used. Secondly, version 4 is well laid out. The tabs have moved to the top of the screen, which is a great idea. Also, the menu bar is greatly reduced so that you have more screen available to see your favorite Web pages.

Now, there are a couple other great features, but they come with a warning. The two coolest features of Safari 4 are Cover Flow and Top Sites. Those features allow you to look at your Web sites in a whole new way! Top Sites provides you with a live view of several sites at once. You can even choose to move them to a full screen version. Cover Flow works just like Apple's iTunes to allow you to scan through sites one by one. The problem with those features is they don't work on older computers. You need to have a newer and more powerful video card to be able to use them. If your computer doesn't meet the requirements, the buttons you need to use the features will not appear.

So, if you have a new computer that meets the requirements for Safari 4, you should check it out in all its glory! If you don't, it's still a very fast Web browser, just without all the fancy thrills.

The system requirements for Safari 4 Beta can be found here. You can also download Safari 4 Beta for yourself right here. Enjoy!

~ Gary

Worms and Viruses

2009-03-19T13:00:00.003+08:00

VIRUS

A virus is an unwanted program that, in almost all cases, the user accidentally installs onto his or her computer. Some are relatively harmless and cause little, if any, damage. Some are much more hazardous and can render the information on your computer's hard drive useless.

So why do people make viruses?

Well, some (maybe most) do it just to see if they *can* do it. Some are genuinely looking to cause havoc. Others, and these are the ones to watch, are trying to get personal information from you. Many of the viruses out there are used to send their creator information from your computer via e-mail. Sure, there are more than just those 3 reasons, but I believe those are probably the primary ones.

Worms and Viruses

I got a question the other day from a reader wanting to know what the difference between a worm and a virus. So, without further adieu, here we go!

Viruses are self-replicating programs that embed themselves into other programs, or even the operating system , and use the host to carry out its function. Unless it attaches itself to an email, a virus stays put on the victim's computer.

A worm is also a computer program that makes copies of itself. They spread from computer to computer (instead of file to file), infecting whole systems, using up resources in the affected computer, and causing heaps of damage. Worms penetrate the computer's memory from a network, find network addresses of other computers, then send their own copies to these addresses. Once launched, a worm can email itself to everyone in an address book or launch a trojan horse.

So, worms are designed to spread out to many computers while viruses generally stay put. Worms take over your computer while viruses destroy files.

Regardless of the differences, though, they are both destructive to your system.

~ Andrew (worldstart.com)

Microsoft to give users IE removal option

2009-03-08T04:53:00.001+08:00

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 19:26:22 GMT | PressTV

Internet Explorer can be removed from the new version of Windows 7

The Microsoft Corporation is designing an option in the beta version of Windows 7 that will enable users to turn off Internet Explorer.

After releasing Vista, Microsoft came up with Windows 7 in which Internet Explorer is pre-installed. Google Inc. and Mozilla foundation, which have their own browsers, believe that Microsoft is trying to dominate the market by leaving users no choice but to use its own software.

In January, European regulators accused Microsoft of "abusing its dominant market position by bundling its Internet Explorer Web browser with its Windows operating system," Reuters reported.

While the software would be available in the market next year, the primary version is widely used by many around the world.

"Windows 7 is becoming more and more important for Microsoft," said Michael Cherry, an analyst for the research group Directions on Microsoft, "You don't want anything that gives anyone even a doubt as to whether or not they should upgrade".

Instacalc Online Calculator

2009-02-26T12:15:00.001+08:00

I found this online calculator Web site to be very interesting. To get started, I recommend scrolling down to the Ready to Use section and taking the tour. It will walk you through the features for the calculator.

What I love about it is you don’t have to press Enter to get an answer. Also, you can use multiple lines to do more than one step in a problem!

To switch between styles of math you want to compute, use the drop down box on the calculator. Perhaps you need to do trigonometry or find a volume. If so, just switch it from Basic Math to whatever you need.

You’ll find examples on the calculator as well. They're demonstrating how to put in the information so that you get the right answer. I would have been lost without the square root example!

You can also find other kinds of calculators here: BMI, Unit Conversion, Home Loan, Video Game Prices, Web site Bandwidth and Web site Earnings, just to name a few. To use those calculators, just click on the links under the Ready to Use section.

You can also share the calculators either via a link or you can embed them into your Web page. For more instructions on that, check out the Hassle Free Sharing section underneath the calculator.

I’ve been using this calculator when I can’t find my own to do my math homework. I love it and I think you will too!

instacalc.com

courtesy ~ Amanda

What's new in Windows 7: Faster & easier

2009-01-12T17:11:00.001+08:00

Windows 7 was built around your feedback, so you'll see a lot of things you've asked for. You asked us to make everyday tasks faster and easier, make your PC work the way you want it to, and make new things possible. And that's exactly what we're doing. Click below to see how it's coming to life!

Here's a first look at what's coming in Windows 7. It's early, so be sure to watch for more details as we get closer to launch. Thanks again for taking the time to help make this a great product.

Improved taskbar and full-screen previews

The taskbar at the bottom of your screen is what you use to switch between the applications you've got open. In Windows 7 you can set the order in which the icons appear and they'll stay put. They're easier to see, too. Click once on the new large icons or bigger preview thumbnails and you're ready to go. You can even see a full screen preview before switching to the window.

[download window 7 ]

Computers 101 - SERVERS

2008-12-21T16:28:00.001+08:00

Everyone's always talking about servers, but I'm still not quite sure what a server is or what it means to me. Can you please explain? Thanks!

Excellent question! Basically, a server is a service that allows clients (that's you) to be able to use programs within your computer. Servers are run through specialized computers, which are, ironically, also called servers. In other words, a server serves the information needed to a computer that it's connected with so that you can access your programs, files, etc.

Now, there are different types of servers you may have running through your system. One is a print server. That server works with the computer the printer is connected to, so when you go to print something, it's all able to work. Another server is a Web server, which you may have heard more about than others. Those are set in place so that you can visit Web sites everyday. When you type in a URL, that Web site has to send a request to the Web server in order for you to be able to view and browse through it. That's also an example of how fast servers work!

Two more main types of servers are a file server and an e-mail server. The file server is pretty self-explanatory, but it works to store the files you save and then deliver them when you need them. The e-mail server is what allows you to send out e-mail. It sends and receives the e-mails you write and get back everyday.

Servers are very dependable and you can always count on them to get you what you need while you go about your daily computing. You may have several servers running through your system, helping you to get your work done, so you definitely have to be thankful for them. They're lifesavers!

~ Erin (courtesy worldstart)

Windows Live SkyDrive

2008-12-21T16:07:00.001+08:00

I’m always moving my files from one computer to another using my flash drive, but sometimes it’s just not practical to use it. One of my computers only has a USB port in the back, which makes it hard to access and even more, sometimes my drive gets so full, I can't fit anything else on it. Well, that's when Windows Live SkyDrive comes in handy. Let's check it out!

Windows Live SkyDrive is like a USB drive, but it’s Internet based. Simply put, you can upload your documents and download them on any computer that has access to the Internet. Want to learn more? Well, here’s how you can get the service for yourself!

1.) First, go to the SkyDrive Web site here.

2.) Next, click on the Get Started button at the bottom of the page.

3.) You’ll need a Windows Live ID to use SkyDrive. If you already have one, go ahead and sign in. If you don’t, here’s a Sign Up button on the next page.

4.) Once you’re all logged in, you'll find yourself on the SkyDrive personal homepage. To edit your profile, click on Edit Profile.

5.) Here’s how I set up my profile:

6.) Once you’re done editing, click Save.
7.) Now, to add files to your SkyDrive, click Add Files, which is located half-way down the page.

8.) Select the folder you want to add your files to (documents, favorites, etc.) and then use the upload tool to upload to your heart’s content!

To access your files again, simply log in and click on the file you want. Easy as pie!

~ Brandon Zubek

Stop Using Internet Explorer!

2008-12-17T13:11:00.000+08:00

You should stop using Microsoft Internet Explorer for surfing the web. This is because:

It is insecure. Many exploits were discovered in it so far, and more are constantly discovered.
It lags behind other browsers in standards-compliance and so prevents web designers from using some very nice tricks in their pages. Some of this is caused by the many bugs it has.
It does not have many of the usability features that more modern browsers like Mozilla, Opera, Google Chrome or Konqueror have. Use a different browser for a while and you wouldn't want to switch back.
You'll need to upgrade the OS, in order to update it, as Microsoft announced that it won't be updated separately anymore.

I hereby testify that my pages will remain fully clean and standards compliant, but not necessarily viewable correctly with Explorer. This is in fact, different than writing web-sites that function perfectly in MSIE, but not in other browsers. All of this is because:

Latest versions of MSIE and above are specific to a certain operating system and architecture. Mozilla and similar browsers are truly cross-platform. - as such MSIE may not be available on the development platform of the web designer. I design all my sites on Linux and have tested them on MSIE by using a different Windows computer. Now, I'm not going to bother.
MSIE is not open source. Mozilla is - I cannot fix the bugs there even if I wanted to. If bugs exist in an open source project I can either fix them myself, hire someone else to do it, or blame myself for not doing either. With MSIE, I have every right to blame Microsoft for their incompetence. And I can have them eat their own arrogance.
Users can always switch to Mozilla or whatever - I can always tell them to do so. On the other hand, I cannot switch to Internet Explorer if I'd like to use Linux (which I do).
MSIE is not standards compliant while other browsers are - in fact, a prominent Microsoft engineer said standards-compliance is not a high priority for the MSIE team. Since I design according to web standards, I don't want the new Netscape Navigator 4 to be in my way.
MSIE is not going to be maintained independently - the only prospect of getting a browser upgrade for MSIE is to buy a new OS. Buy a new OS just to get a new version of the browser? That's the joke of the month. Other browsers come with periodic upgrades with many improvements - all for free.
Internet Explorer does not have a public, accessible bug tracker, similar to Mozilla's Bugzilla or what other similar browsers have. This makes bugs harder to report, reproduce, check and track and undermines the users and web developers.

So expect to see more and more non-MSIE-compatible embellishments on my sites, or otherwise pages that were not tested there. Please use a different browser to browse my sites, trust me - you'll like it. Theoretically, these pages should have looked OK, but if they don't - blame Microsoft not me.

courtesy : Shlomi Fish

MySpace streams online video to smart phones

2008-12-06T04:59:00.000+08:00

Thursday 04th December, 06:24 AM JST

SAN FRANCISCO —

MySpace is launching a mobile video streaming service that lets members of the global social-networking website watch favored snippets on the move.

News Corp-owned MySpace teamed with video coding specialty firm RipCode to create a way to let people use Internet-linked “smart phones” to watch videos they uploaded to MySpace profiles or mark as “favorites” at the website.

“Video is a natural next step for us in mobile,” said Mobile for MySpace vice president John Faith.

“MySpace will continue to grow our video library as we increase delivery channels in order to keep pace with our users’ accelerating desire for video consumption.”

MySpace says its new video streaming service works with most popular handset models but has yet to be adapted to Apple’s hot-selling iPhones.

Apple uses “progressive downloads” of video in iPhones, meaning digitized data must be downloaded to handsets before viewing can commence.

The free service, which is in a beta test phase, uses RipeCode technology to stream video in real time to individual mobile devices on-demand instead of calling on people to download files for storage in handset libraries.

“As the volume of video grows and the number of mobile devices supporting video continues to expand, companies have to find alternative solutions to deliver content to their customers across multiple screens,” said RipeCode chief executive Brendon Mills.

MySpace Mobile at m.myspace.com boasts about 10 million monthly users.

Wire reports

Online fraudsters 'steal £3.3bn'

2008-11-26T06:56:00.001+08:00

Hi-tech thieves who specialise in card fraud have a credit line in excess of $5bn (£3.35bn), research suggests.

Security firm Symantec calculated the figure to quantify the scale of fraud it found during a year-long look at the net's underground economy.

Credit card numbers were the most popular item on sale and made up 31% of all the goods on offer.

Coming in second were bank details which made up 20% of the items being offered on criminal chat channels.

Kaspersky - on cyber threats

2008-11-22T13:16:00.001+08:00

New IT Developments: New Internet Threats

Viruses, hacker attacks and other cyber threats are now a part of daily life. Malware spreading throughout the Internet, hackers stealing confidential data and mailboxes flooded with spam are the price we pay for computing convenience. Any unprotected computer or network is vulnerable.

All computers need internet security

Home users can lose valuable personal data with one click to the wrong website. Children trading games also exchange viruses unknowingly. You receive an email requesting an update to your payment details, and a hacker gains access to your bank account. A backdoor is installed on your machine, and your PC becomes a zombie, spewing out spam.

Address the risks

It's not just home users who suffer. For businesses of all sizes, the risks are manifold. Crucial data distorted by viruses, financial data misappropriated by cyber criminals, and mountains of spam reducing ROI on human and technological resources. An effective risk management strategy is essential for business success.

New technologies - new anti-malware solutions

As cyber threats have evolved, so has software to deflect such threats. Sophisticated antispyware and antivirus solutions capable of detecting the most complex new viruses are now available. New personal firewall programs designed to identify the stealthiest hacker attacks can hide your computer on the Internet. And the latest anti-spam products filter out up to 99% of unsolicited mail, protecting computers from malicious code and saving time and resources.

Forewarned is forearmed

In addition to providing a wide range of cutting-edge antivirus solutions, we at Kaspersky Lab believe that information is an essential element of safe computing. The Virus News section of our website (click 'about us' tab, then click 'press center' tab) offers information about all current cyber threats, ranging from basic definitions to thorough analysis and the Kaspersky Virus Encyclopedia, a comprehensive library of virus descriptions.

courtesy : Kaspersky

Google Chrome -WebBrowser

2008-11-02T06:52:00.000+08:00

a word from them

A fresh take on the browser

At Google, we spend much of our time working inside a browser. We search, chat, email and collaborate in a browser. And like all of you, in our spare time, we shop, bank, read news and keep in touch with friends - all using a browser. People are spending an increasing amount of time online, and they're doing things never imagined when the web first appeared about 15 years ago.

Since we spend so much time online, we began seriously thinking about what kind of browser could exist if you started from scratch and built on the best elements out there. We realized that the web had evolved from mainly simple text pages to rich, interactive applications and that we needed to completely rethink the browser. What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that's what we set out to build.

So today we're releasing the beta version of a new open source browser: Google Chrome.

On the surface, we designed a browser window that is streamlined and simple. To most people, it isn't the browser that matters. It's only a tool to run the important stuff - the pages, sites and applications that make up the web. Like the classic Google homepage, Google Chrome is clean and fast. It gets out of your way and gets you where you want to go.

Under the hood, we were able to build the foundation of a browser that runs today's complex web applications much better . By keeping each tab in an isolated "sandbox", we were able to prevent one tab from crashing another and provide improved protection from rogue sites. We improved speed and responsiveness across the board. We also built V8, a more powerful JavaScript engine, to power the next generation of web applications that aren't even possible in today's browsers.

This is just the beginning - Google Chrome is far from done. We've released this beta for Windows to start the broader discussion and hear from you as quickly as possible. We're hard at work building versions for Mac and Linux too, and we'll continue to make it even faster and more robust.

We owe a great debt to many open source projects, and we're committed to continuing on their path. We've used components from Apple's WebKit and Mozilla's Firefox, among others - and in that spirit, we are making all of our code open source as well. We hope to collaborate with the entire community to help drive the web forward.

The web gets better with more options and innovation. Google Chrome is another option, and we hope it contributes to making the web even better.

But enough from us. The best test of Google Chrome is to try it yourself.

Download

team up against lottery hoax e-mails

2008-10-28T23:55:00.000+08:00

Microsoft, Yahoo - Posted by Elinor Mills

You know all those hoax e-mails that arrive in your in box saying that you've won a lottery? You don't click on them, obviously, but many people do, enough to prompt Microsoft and Yahoo to form a coalition to warn consumers about the scam.

Microsoft, Yahoo, Western Union, and The African Development Bank are partnering to educate Internet users about the dangers of falling prey to the fake lottery winner e-mails.

In such scams, victims are told that they have won a lottery, often in a foreign country, and are then asked to provide their personal and financial information to claim the winnings. In the current economic downturn, the fear is that desperate people will be more likely to take the bait.

The announcement of the coalition, made at the 6th German Anti Spam Summit in Wiesbaden, Germany, coincided with the release of Microsoft-commissioned research on lottery scams in Europe.

Of 4,930 people surveyed, 113 people reported losing money to an Internet fraudster in the last year. Twenty-seven percent of Internet users surveyed predicted they would become a victim of a lottery scam and more than half said lottery scam e-mails scared them off from buying things online.

Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service, and the Associated Press. E-mail Elinor.

Topics: Privacy & data protection
Tags: Microsoft, Yahoo, fraud, e-mail, lottery
Bookmark: Digg Del.icio.us Reddit , Yahoo! Buzz

Yahoo Adds Two E-Mail Domains To Saturated Yahoo.com

2008-06-24T03:17:00.000+08:00

The new addresses will open up many more options for subscribers in the United States, as well as for localized versions of the namespace in other countries, Yahoo said. People who sign up under the new domains will have access to the same features as the older domain, such as unlimited storage, integrated instant messaging, and spam and virus protection. In many markets, Yahoo will help users transfer e-mail and contacts to their new address and notify friends of the change. . . more

Firefox 3 Easily Exceeds Download Record

2008-06-20T06:20:00.000+08:00

By David A. Utter - Wed, 06/18/2008 - 6:08pm.

Current tally of 8.3 million cited by Mozilla

Once the Guinness Book of World Records authenticates the download activity, the Mozilla Foundation should see a figure in the range of 8.3 million downloads of the Firefox browser in a 24-hour period.

FIREFOX fans kept the servers busy at Mozilla during the organization's Download Day. The day aimed to deliver a world record number of downloads to Firefox's global fans.

Mozilla CEO John Lilly noted a few of the highlights of the day on his blog. Though they recorded over 8.3 million downloads, Lilly expects that number to decrease a little as they review counts over the next few weeks.

Their network witnessed impressive traffic numbers, once some early issues caused by heavy demand were resolved. "At the peak, we were serving 17,000 downloads a minute (283 per second!), and saw sustained download rates in excess of 4,000/minute," Lilly said.

Once the dust cleared, Firefox ended up with a 4 percent global share of the browser market. World leader Internet Explorer, via a cake delivered to Mozilla, congratulated the group on shipping the latest version of Firefox.

Firefox aims for download record

2008-06-18T00:52:00.000+08:00

More than one million
people have pledged
to download Fir

Version 3 of the popular Firefox web
browser is going on general release
on 17 June.

With the release, Firefox developer Mozilla
is attempting to set a record for the most
downloads over 24 hours.

"It's a global effort to make history," said
Paul Kim, head of marketing at Mozilla.

Click the wrong link and wind up in jail

2008-06-12T00:16:00.000+08:00

by John Sheesley, Section Editor Tech Republic

In the 10 Things blog, Deb Shinder recently pointed out 10 ways you might be breaking the law with your computer and not even know it. There’s yet another way that wasn’t mentioned in that article. Specifically it has to do with recent arrests made by the FBI in suspected child pornography cases.

As has been reported in News.com and elsewhere, the FBI has been recently employing fake Web sites to lure people into child pornography. A suspect doesn’t have to have any child pornography on his computer either. Merely clicking the link is enough to trigger an investigation, search warrants, and the resultant perp walk, whether or not there was any intent to indeed consume child pornography as part of the clicking.

ClickBait

With most normal criminal law, part of the element of the crime is the intent to commit the offense that you’ve been arrested for. Not so in this case. The FBI has been using a small clause in the U.S. Code related to “Certain activities relating to material involving the sexual exploitation of minors.” The relevant fine print is down in Subsection (b):

(1) Whoever violates, or attempts or conspires to violate, paragraphs (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (a) shall be fined under this title and imprisoned not less than 5 years and not more than 20 years…

(2) Whoever violates, or attempts or conspires to violate, paragraph (4) of subsection (a) shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both…

The bold and italics on “or attempts” are mine. It’s to highlight the fact that the mere attempt, which can, and has been construed to, mean merely clicking a link, is enough to enact the statute. Don’t be surprised. Lawyers and law enforcement often fight over the meaning of a single word. As a matter of fact, the Supreme Court ruled that the entire law was constitutional as written.

The only defense that can be made to the charge is that if there are found to be less than 3 images on a computer and the user:

(2) promptly and in good faith, and without retaining or allowing any person, other than a law enforcement agency, to access any visual depiction or copy thereof—

(A) took reasonable steps to destroy each such visual depiction;
or
(B) reported the matter to a law enforcement agency and afforded that agency access to each such visual depiction.
Improbable cause

But what if the user didn’t know the images were on the computer? Or what if the user didn’t know what the Web site was before it was clicked?

Sorry. That doesn’t count. The link got clicked. The images are on the computer. Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Don’t pass Go. Don’t collect $200.

Certainly such a thing wouldn’t happen, right? The only way someone could go to a kiddie porn site was to find the link and intentionally click it. As an IT leader you do, or should, know better.

There are many, many different ways users can be tricked into clicking things or winding up on sites they shouldn’t have. First, there’s the obvious things that can happen when viruses or other malware redirect browsers to go places they’re not supposed to. Someone could program a simple redirect in a Web site, maybe through something as simple as a clear gif, forwarding a browser to the target Web site. Even something as simple as creating a link in TinyURL that points to
the site.

TinyURL is especially dangerous, because there’s no way to know exactly what the destination address is before the user goes there. It could be an easy tool for one user to use against another as a cruel joke or some form of retaliation.

Even some modern browsers can potentially cause problems and automatically visit a site without a user clicking a link. Some browsers like Firefox may precache links to Web sites, loading the images and content for a site without your even having to click through to the site. Theoretically this is to speed load times for a user in case he or she decides to go to a linked site. As you can see, however, if the link goes to the FBI’s site, a click wouldn’t even have to occur. The browser would contact the site and attempt to pull content.

The agent who has pinned your user to the floor and is rummaging through your company’s office space doesn’t know whether the user clicked the content or a browser precached it. Nor does he particularly care. An attempt was made, and that’s all it takes.

Extrapolate the problem

It’s bad enough if the attempt occurred at an employee’s home. The FBI may choose to expand the search warrant to the employee’s place of business, potentially wreaking havoc on your entire business. Just think about the problems that could occur if such a violation occurred from within the workplace itself. In such a case, the entire workplace could be disrupted as law enforcement tries to figure out exactly who the perp is.

This would also be a good place to remind you about the implications of an unsecured wireless access point. Should the access to the faked site come from your organization but from an unsecured access point, you’re still going to be in for a whole lot of headaches.

The bottom line for IT leaders

As if you didn’t have enough to worry about on a day-to-day basis, add to the pile the possibility of a visit by law enforcement because of the accidental, precached, or tricked-into clicking of a fake child pornography site. It’s impossible to defend child pornography, but the way the law is currently written and zealously enforced, you need to be aware of the potential problem. The current broad interpretation can lead to extreme problems for your users, your organization, and you personally.

Have an acceptable use policy in place. Make sure users know where they should and should not go, both at home and especially at work. Warn them about the dangers of clicking through any TinyURL link. Consider banning the usage of TinyURL from work and blocking the domain. Reinforce the information about malware that may redirect them to places they don’t want to go.

Make sure your entire network is secure from unauthorized remote access, especially unsecured wireless access points. Remember, the violation only has to come from somewhere within your organization. A hacker in the parking lot surfing free Internet is just as bad as Mary in Accounting accessing one of these sites.

Make sure your users inform you if they wind up on a site with illicit content. Don’t violate the law yourself by viewing the content, but make sure you thoroughly remove any potentially incriminating files. The best way to do so is from the command line.

Finally, keep the company’s lawyer on speed-dial. Consult your company’s attorney to see what to do from there.

10 ways you might be breaking the law with your computer

2008-06-06T21:58:00.000+08:00

For many years, the Internet was the “final frontier,” operating largely unregulated — in part because of the jurisdictional nightmare involved in trying to enforce laws when communications crossed not just state lines but also national boundaries. That was then; this is now.

Legislation that affects the use of Internet-connected computers is springing up everywhere at the local, state, and federal levels. You might be violating one of them without even knowing it.

In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the existing laws and some of the pending legislation that can affect how we use our computers and the Internet. Nothing in this article should be construed as legal advice; this is merely an overview of some of the legislation that’s out there, how it has been interpreted by the courts (if applicable), and possible implications for computer users.

Note: This information is also available as a PDF download.

#1: Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

Most computer users have heard of this law, which was signed in 1998 by President Clinton, implementing two World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties. The DMCA makes it a criminal offense to circumvent any kind of technological copy protection — even if you don’t violate anyone’s copyright in doing so. In other words, simply disabling the copy protection is a federal crime.

There are some exemptions, such as circumventing copy protection of programs that are in an obsolete format for the purpose of archiving or preservation. But in most cases, using any sort of anti-DRM program is illegal. This applies to all sorts of copy-protected files, including music, movies, and software. You can read a summary of the DMCA here.
If you’re a techie who likes the challenge of trying to “crack”DRM,” be aware that doing so — even if you don’t make or distribute illegal copies of the copyrighted material — is against the law.

#2: No Electronic Theft (NET) Act

This is another U.S. federal law that was passed during the Clinton administration. Prior to this act, copyright violations were generally treated as civil matters and could not be prosecuted criminally unless it was done for commercial purposes. The NET Act made copyright infringement itself a federal criminal offense, regardless of whether you circumvent copy-protection technology or whether you derive any commercial benefit or monetary gain. Thus, just making a copy of a copyrighted work for a friend now makes you subject to up to five years in prison and/or up to $250,000 in fines. This is the law referred to in the familiar “FBI Warning” that appears at the beginning of most DVD movies. You can read more about the NET Act here.

Many people who consider themselves upstanding citizens and who would never post music and movies to a P2P site think nothing of burning a copy of a song or TV show for a friend. Unfortunately, by the letter of the law, the latter is just as illegal as the former.

#3: Court rulings regarding border searches

Most Americans are aware of the protections afforded by the U.S. Constitution’s fourth amendment against unreasonable searches and seizures. In general, this means that the government cannot search your person, home, vehicle, or computer without probable cause to believe that you’ve engaged in some criminal act.
What many don’t know is that there are quite a few circumstances that the Courts, over the years, have deemed to be exempt from this requirement. One of those occurs when you enter the United States at the border. In April of this year, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the right of Customs officers to search laptops and other digital devices at the border (the definition of which extends to any international airport when you are coming into the country) without probable cause or even the lesser standard of reasonable suspicion. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and other groups strongly disagree with the ruling. You can read more on the EFF Web site.
Meanwhile, be aware that even though you’ve done nothing illegal and are not even suspected of such, the entire contents of your portable computer, PDA, or smart phone can be accessed by government agents when you enter the United States. So if you have anything on your hard drive that might be embarrassing, you might want to delete it before crossing the border.

#4: State laws regarding access to networks

Many states have criminal laws that prohibit accessing any computer or network without the owner’s permission. For example, in Texas, the statute is Penal Code section 33.02, Breach of Computer Security. It says, “A person commits an offense if the person knowingly accesses a computer, computer network or computer system without the effective consent of the owner.” The penalty grade ranges from misdemeanor to first degree felony (which is the same grade as murder), depending on whether the person obtains benefit, harms or defrauds someone, or alters, damages, or deletes files.

The wording of most such laws encompasses connecting to a wireless network without explicit permission, even if the wi-fi network is unsecured. The inclusion of the culpable mental state of “knowing” as an element of the offense means that if your computer automatically connects to your neighbor’s wireless network instead of your own and you aren’t aware of it, you haven’t committed a crime — but if you decide to hop onto the nearest unencrypted wi-fi network to surf the Internet, knowing full well that it doesn’t belong to you and no one has given you permission, you could be prosecuted under these laws.

A Michigan man was arrested for using a café’s wi-fi network (which was reserved for customers) from his car in 2007. Similar arrests have been made in Florida, Illinois, Washington, and Alaska. See

#5: “Tools of a crime” laws

Some states have laws that make it a crime to possess a “criminal instrument” or the “tool of a crime.” Depending on the wording of the law, this can be construed to mean any device that is designed or adapted for use in the commission of an offense. This means you could be arrested and prosecuted, for example, for constructing a high gain wireless antenna for the purpose of tapping into someone else’s wi-fi network, even if you never did in fact access a network. Several years ago, a California sheriff’s deputy made the news when he declared “Pringles can antennas” illegal under such a statute.

#6: “Cyberstalking” laws

Stalking is a serious crime and certainly all of us are in favor of laws that punish stalkers. As Internet connectivity has become ubiquitous, legislatures have recognized that it’s possible to stalk someone from afar using modern technology. Some of the “cyberstalking” laws enacted by the states, however, contain some pretty broad language.

For example, the Arkansas law contains a section titled “Unlawful computerized communications” that makes it a crime to send a message via e-mail or other computerized communication system (Instant Messenger, Web chat, IRC, etc.) that uses obscene, lewd, or profane language, with the intent to frighten, intimidate, threaten, abuse, or harass another person. Some of the lively discussions on mailing lists and Web boards that deteriorate into flame wars could easily fall under that definition. Or how about the furious e-mail letter you sent to the company that refused to refund your money for the shoddy product you bought?

Closely related are the laws against “cyber bullying” that have recently been passed by some states and local governments.

The best policy is to watch your language when sending any type of electronic communications. Not only can a loss of temper when you’re online come back to embarrass you, it could possibly get you thrown in jail.

#7: Internet Gambling laws

Like to play poker online or bet on the horse races from the comfort of your home? The federal Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 criminalizes acceptance of funds from bettors — but what about the bettors themselves? Are they committing a crime?

Under this federal law, the answer is no, but some state laws do apply to the person placing the bet. For example, a Washington law passed in 2006 makes gambling on the Internet a felony. The King County Superior Court just recently upheld that law, although challengers have vowed to take it to the Supreme Court.

Be sure to check out the state and local laws before you make that friendly online bet.

#8: Security Breach Disclosure laws

A California law passed in 2003 requires that any company that does business in California must notify their California customers if they discover or suspect that nonencrypted data has been accessed without authorization. This applies even if the business is not located in California, as long as you have customers there, and no exception is made for small businesses.

#9: Community Broadband Act of 2007

This is a piece of pending federal legislation that was introduced in July of 2007 as U.S. Senate Bill 1853. In April 2008, it was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders and is still winding its way through the legislative process. This federal law would prohibit state and local governments (municipalities and counties) from passing laws that prohibit public telecommunications providers from offering Internet services.

This is in response to laws passed in a few states, as a result of lobbying from the telecom industry, that prohibit cities from installing and operating public broadband networks, such as public wi-fi networks. The big telecom companies have a vested interest in preventing cities from establishing networks that could compete with their own services by providing free or low cost Internet services because the public services are partially or wholly taxpayer-subsidized.
If this law passes, it could make it easier to find free or low cost ISP services in cities that choose to build public networks. On the other hand, it could (depending on how it’s funded) cause tax increases for those who live in those municipalities, including those who don’t use the public networks.

#10: Pro IP Act

Back on the copyright front, the House of Representative recently approved by an overwhelming majority HR 4279, which imposes stricter penalties for copyright infringement. It creates a new position of “copyright enforcement czar” in the federal bureaucracy and gives law enforcement agents the right to seize property from copyright infringers.

This may all sound fine in theory, but when you look at the way other seizure and forfeiture laws have been applied (for instance, the ability of drug enforcement officers to seize houses, computers, cars, cash, and just about everything else that belongs to someone tagged as a suspected drug dealer — and in some cases not returning the property even when the person is acquitted or not prosecuted), it makes many people wary. Read more about the bill here.

Some local jurisdictions have already established seizure authority for piracy. See this article for more information.

Courtesy Tech Republic , Author: Debra Littlejohn Shinder
Date: May 16th, 2008

Design revamp for '$100 laptop'

2008-05-29T22:34:00.000+08:00

The XO2 looks and acts like an electronic book

The wraps have been taken off the new version of the XO laptop designed for schoolchildren in developing countries.

The revamped machine created by the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project looks like an e-book and has had its price
slashed to $75 per device.

OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte gave a glimpse of the
"book like" device at an unveiling event at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The first XO2 machines should be ready to deliver to children in 2010.

Mr Negroponte said he hoped the design would also be used by other manufacturers. . . more

Now Available : Firefox 3 RC 1

2008-05-25T11:35:00.000+08:00

Here's a quick update on what's happening in the world of Firefox 3 these days!

As you may recall, last week, I told you the Mozilla company was planning to release the Firefox 3 Release Candidate 1 in late May 2008. Well, they kept their promise, because it is now available for download! It made its debut on May 16, 2008 and while anyone is welcome to download it, you should keep in mind that it is for testing purposes only. At this stage, Mozilla is just basically looking for feedback and they will release the final version when they feel it's up to par for its users.

Firefox 3 comes along with several new features that will improve its performance, memory usage and speed. Of course, all of that will be tweaked as the process goes along and you shouldn't expect the RC1 to perform at 100 percent. For example, you might run into some trouble when working with your add ons. That's to be expected. But you can help by downloading the Firefox 3 RC1 and giving your feedback. It is available in more than 45 languages and you can download it right here. Simply choose your language, your operating system and then click on the Download link. Happy testing!

~ Erin (courtesy computer tips)

Google mulls Microsoft response

2008-05-20T19:57:00.000+08:00

By Rory Cellan-Jones
Technology Correspondent, BBC News, Hertfordshire

Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke at the Zeitgeist conference on Monday

Google's bosses are meeting in Britain on Monday evening to discuss a response to Microsoft's new talks with Yahoo.

. . . . read more

Why Microsoft Is Desperate for Yahoo

2008-05-20T01:58:00.000+08:00

Monday, May. 19, 2008 By JOSH QUITTNER

There are a ton of great jobs in the world, but running Microsoft? No thanks. I'd rather run Iraq. . . more

$100 Laptops embraces windows XP

2008-05-16T12:48:00.000+08:00

Microsoft has joined forces with the developers of the "$100 laptop" to make Windows available on the machines. . . . . read more

Office 2007 update available June 16

2008-05-11T00:24:00.000+08:00

Published: May 10, 2008 at 9:12 AM

REDMOND, Wash., May 10 (UPI) -- Microsoft will roll out its Office 2007 Service Pack 1 via the Windows automatic update feature starting on or around June 16, company technicians say. . . more

Microsoft Releases XP SP3 After Delay

2008-05-11T00:03:00.000+08:00

Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service | Tuesday, May 06, 2008 1:20 PM PDT

Microsoft Tuesday released the third service pack for Windows XP to the Web after last week delaying its scheduled release because of an incompatibility with one of its other software applications. It also resumed automatic distribution of Windows Vista, Service Pack 1 (SP1), which had been halted because of a similar problem. . . . read more

Microsoft closing external Hotmail access by end of June 2008

2008-05-03T18:56:00.000+08:00

April 22, 2008

Summary: Microsoft are disabling WebDAV access to all hotmail.com accounts. This means Hotmail Pop Links and Outlook Express access to hotmail.com accounts will stop working at the end of June 2008. You should download all your Hotmail email ASAP and tell people to stop using your @hotmail.com email address as soon as possible.

For many years, Microsoft has provided external access to hotmail.com accounts via a protocol called WebDAV. This is the protocol FastMail uses on the Options -> Pop Links screen to allow downloading of email from hotmail.com accounts. It’s also the same protocol that Outlook Express uses to access hotmail.com accounts.

In 2004, Microsoft said they would be disabling or charging for WebDAV access to hotmail.com accounts. It seems that what happened at the time is that they disabled WebDAV access for newly signed up free accounts, but left it for existing accounts.

Since then, Microsoft have changed to using a new protocol. Rather than offering an open and standard protocol such as POP or IMAP, they’re using a new one they call DeltaSync for their live.com and new hotmail.com accounts. This protocol is not an open or standardised protocol. It’s a Microsoft proprietary one and only works with their Windows Live Mail, Vista Mail and Outlook Office Outlook Connector. There’s been no documentation anywhere on how the protocol works. We spent some time trying to reverse engineer the protocol, but got stuck at the proprietary compression system they’re using. Others have also tried to help, but I don’t yet know of anyone that has successfully reverse engineered it.

Microsoft have now announced that they will be disabling WebDAV access to all hotmail.com accounts from the end of June. This means that apart from the web interface and the above 3 programs, there will be no way to access your email in hotmail.com accounts.

Free & Independent news

2008-04-29T18:23:00.000+08:00

Microsoft and News Corp. lock arms for Yahoo bid?

2008-04-10T12:19:00.000+08:00

April 9, 2008 8:28 PM PDT

Posted by Dawn Kawamoto |

Are Microsoft and News Corp. locking arms for a joint bid for Yahoo?

That would be something.

According to a report Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal, the two industry titans are in "serious talks" over such a matter. Details as to why Microsoft feels a need to bring another party into its Yahoo bid are unclear.

The software giant could afford to pay more for Yahoo on its own, given the size of its cash reserve and the volume of cash that flows from its business. And despite the weakening economy and credit crunch malaise that's hitting Wall Street, Microsoft could easily obtain more financing if needed to do the deal.

Is there some sudden strategic reasoning that went off like a lightbulb for the dudes in Redmond that made the notion of a News Corp. partnership suddenly seem attractive for its Yahoo buyout bid? Or maybe there is some tangible benefit to chatting with News Corp., who might have gotten a glimpse of Yahoo's books, whereas Microsoft to date has been shut out.

The day-by-day, nearly hour-by-hour, developments involving Yahoo since Microsoft on Saturday issued a three-week deadline for its reluctant target to do a deal is enough to make your head spin--from the Legg Mason investor offering support to Yahoo should Microsoft lower its bid to Yahoo looking at a two-week test for Google search ads to the never-ending noise that Yahoo is looking at doing an asset swap/investment with Time Warner's AOL.

One thing is for certain as the days count down to the three-week deadline: the volume of noise is going to get even louder and more frequent...

Topics: Yahoo, Microsoft, Search

Tags: Microsoft, Yahoo, News Corp. mergers and acquisitions

View UN refugee camps thru Google

2008-04-10T06:10:00.000+08:00

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:38:47

Computer users can now view images of refugee camps in Chad, Iraq and Colombia viewing details from broad topography to shots of tents.

Called Google Earth Outreach, the new program gives UN workers the ability to use Google Earth and Maps to highlight conditions of refugees and programs to help them in any area of the world.

Take digital notes from paper without PC

2008-03-24T20:14:00.000+08:00

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 12:18:12

IOGEAR digital pen takes note from plain paper.

The first functional pen ever to capture handwriting from any surface and store it with a digital receiver for future use is unveiled.

Without any need for a special notepad, digital pad or ink, you can write on paper and upload your notes later on your PC or laptop via USB.

The updated IOGEAR Mobile Scribe captures 50 pages of natural handwriting and doodles on any surface, using regular ink.

The device allows you to store notes written on any paper by using an ultrasonic transmitter and a special infrared pen.

Handwriting recognition software (OCR software) in the pen turns handwriting into digital text.

The system can recognize 12 different languages, including English, Spanish, Chinese, French, Dutch, Italian, German, Portuguese, Swedish, Korean, Japanese and Russian.

NAT/JC/GM

1st Sony Ericsson with windows mobile

2008-02-16T07:32:00.001+08:00

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:16:17

New XPERIA X1 by Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson unveils its first premium handset using Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system to capture the web connecting market.

Blending multimedia with mobile web communication in its first product using Microsoft's operating system, the XPERIA X1 is expected to be launched in the second half of 2008.

After long time collaboration with Symbian Operating System, it marks the first time Sony Ericsson is using Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional.

The new XPERIA X1 looks to be a very impressive new device with its arch slider design which slides up to expose the full keyboard.

The notable list of features continues with a 3.2 mega-pixel camera with auto focus and GPS navigating system as well as Wi-Fi networking technology.

The X1, which measures 110 x 53 x 16.7 mm and weighs in at 145 grams, is to be released sometime in the second half of 2008.

NAT/GM

Apple delivers world's thinnest laptop

2008-01-17T13:44:00.000+08:00

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 07:07:26

Steve Jobs shows the MacBook Air

Apple's Manager Steve Jobs has launched the world's thinnest laptop, the MacBook Air which almost disappears when you flip it on its side.

"There's clearly something in the air today," said Jobs, who wasn't kidding. He delivered the world's thinnest notebook computer.

The laptop is 0.406 centimeters thick at its thinnest point and 1.93 centimeters at its thickest.

It will cost USD 1800 for the basic model, which is powered by Intel Core 2 Duo processors running at 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz, a 13.3-inch display, five hours of battery life, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and a large trackpad.

It also comes standard with 2GB of memory, an 80GB hard drive, and best of all a fully backlit keyboard, which not only makes it easier to type in the dark but, more importantly, looks pretty cool.

AGB/RA

Microsoft camera fights memory loss

2008-01-01T05:23:00.000+08:00

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 17:26:44

Microsoft Corp. makes a breakthrough by creating a wearable digital camera which can help individuals suffering from memory problems.

The newly-developed 'SenseCam' camera takes snapshots of daily events every 30 seconds so they can be reviewed later at high-speed to rekindle the patients' memory.

Experts anticipate that it could provide promising assistance to people with general memory loss and more serious conditions such as Alzheimer's, Epilepsy and Dementia.

"Once people in the early stages of Alzheimer's or other conditions involving memory loss realize they can't remember events, people and places they stop doing things because of the frustration of not being able to remember later," said Dr Chris Moulin, a neuropsychologist at the UK Leeds University.

"A great use for such a camera would be for such events - things out of the normal routine. Having the camera could mean that they can revisit not only the facts of such events, but the essential feelings that are so much part of memory," He concluded.

SBB/HGH

Internet may collapse by 2010

2007-11-29T22:56:00.000+08:00

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:14:10

Collapse of the internet would severely affect our daily life.

A report issued by a US-based technology analysis firm has warned that by the year 2010 the Internet could collapse due to excessive data.

Nemertes Research Group has reported that the increasing demand by users and customers to download and upload data may well clog the information superhighway in a few years.

The study suggests that the network is now struggling to conduct the huge amount of data, which contributes to reduced speed.

The study suggests that the improvement of the network's capacity would require a total outlay in the region of 137 billion dollars.

The Internet infrastructure and capacity might be insufficient to support popular Websites such as Google and YouTube and the projected slowdown could severely affect their operation.

Experts worry about serious effects resulting from the collapse of the Internet on the life of people in the electronic world of today.

NAT/GM

Mozilla patches three Firefox security vulnerabilities

2007-11-28T07:21:00.000+08:00

November 27, 2007 5:32 AM PST
Posted by Robert Vamosi

Mozilla on Monday released Firefox version 2.0.0.10. The update addresses three high-impact security vulnerabilities. Two concern cross-site request forgeries, which can be used to steal personal information while visiting certain sites, and one concerns memory corruption.

The update is being pushed out to all current Firefox users. New users can download the current Firefox release from the Mozilla site (or download the English versions for Windows or Mac from CNET Download.com).

The first cross-site request forgery vulnerability could allow an attacker to generate a fake HTTP referer header by exploiting a timing condition when setting the window location property.

Mozilla says the referer header is supposed to reflect the address of the content that initiated the script. "Instead, the referer was set to the address of the window (or frame) in which the script was running, and this vulnerability arises from that tiny difference." It credits Gregory Fleischer with reporting the issue.

The second cross-site request forgery vulnerability concerns the JAR ZIP format, which enables Web sites to load pages packaged in ZIP archives containing signatures in Java archive format.

According to Mozilla, a Beford.org blogger noted that redirects confused Mozilla browsers about the true source of the JAR content: it was "wrongly considered to originate with the redirecting site rather than the actual source. This meant that an XSS attack could be mounted against any site with an open redirect, even if it didn't allow uploads."

A proof of concept demonstrates how to exploit this vulnerability to steal a user's Gmail contact list. Mozilla credits security researchers Jesse Ruderman and Petko D. Petkov with reporting the issue.

The final update concerns memory corruption, and Mozilla says there are three specific fixes that improve the stability of Firefox. The concern here is that with enough effort, some of these memory crashes could be exploited to run arbitrary code.

Source: News.com
URL: http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9823744-7.html?tag=~

One Laptop per Child Project by MIT Prof

2007-11-27T20:36:00.000+08:00

Europe the leader, not the follower in open source

2007-11-25T07:35:00.000+08:00

November 23, 2007 6:50 AM PST

Posted by Matt Asay

Matthew Aslett of The 451 Group quotes from Viviane Reding, European commissioner for information and society, on Europe's need to capitalize on its open-source assets:

As online software, or software as a service, replaces traditional packaged software, Europe has advantages that give it a "window of opportunity to develop a leadership position in software." These include a large home base of demand to build on, high levels of qualified talent, and the fact that 70% of open source developers worldwide are of European origin. However, "the window is small and it will soon be closed if we don't act," since 90% of the economic benefits of open source are being won by US companies.

Despite this, as Matthew goes on to say, Europe is a bit conflicted on open source. Its public policy statements tend to be affirmative of open source, but its purchasing policies tend to be neutral. I think it's just a matter of time before the rhetoric gives way to purchasing decisions.

Indeed, I've already seen it firsthand. Most open-source companies operating in Europe do a steady and growing stream of business with European governments (while, interestingly, much of the sales in the US are to private corporations).

Regardless, open source has a large home base in Europe. Indeed, I'd argue that open source is distinctively European in its roots and mindset, and that VCs who want to find the best open-source investments may well have to get on a plane to find them (even if they ultimately succeed in getting European executive management to move back to the US, as with Marten Mickos of MySQL and others).

The economic impact of open source on Europe should not be understated. Europe needs to accept this and buy accordingly. Its future is not in exporting euros to the U.S. Its future lies in building its own IT ecosystem with open source.

Google’s OpenSocial: What it means

2007-11-05T13:57:00.000+08:00

Google’s open social networking platform play is the buzz of the blogosphere tonight. (see Techmeme). Indeed, it is called OpenSocial in that the set of APIs allows developers to create applications that work on any social network that joins Google’s open party. So far, besides Google’s Orkut social net, LinkedIn, hi5, XING, Friendster, Plaxo and Ning (see Marc Andreessen’s post) have joined the party.

Oracle and salesforce.com are also supporting Google’s OpenSocial efforts, which indicates that they have plans to add social networking elements to their application platforms. OpenSocial will officially launch on Thursday.

Plaxo emailed a statement about OpenSocial this evening, getting ahead of the stampede:

“Dynamic profiles redefine what users should expect in terms of how they can represent themselves in a social or business network,” said Todd Masonis, Co-Founder and VP of Products for Plaxo. “We believe that users should have full control over what they share with whom – and that the catalog of widgets that they can choose from should be as open and diverse as the web itself. We are excited to support in dynamic profiles any application written to Google’s just–launched OpenSocial APIs. ”

According to TechCrunch, which first reported on Google’s larger social networking ambitions, OpenSocial consists of APIs for profile information, friend information (social graph) and activities, such as a news feed. OpenSocial users Javascript and HTML rather than a markup language as Facebook does.

This comes on the heels of the Facebook’s dynamic growth based on opening its social graph to developers and Microsoft’s $240 million investment for 1.6 percent of the company. However, unlike Google, Facebook doesn’t open its APIs to support other social networks. The other social networking giant, MySpace, is also planning to open its platform to developers.

This openness is part of what Vic Gundotra, Google’s head of developer programs, meant when he said last week, “In the next year we will make a series of announcements and spend hundreds of millions on innovations and giving them away as open source.”

He explained the newfound openness as more than altruism: “It also makes good economic sense. The more applications, the more usage. More users means more searches. And, more searches means more revenue for Google. The goal is to grow the overall market, not just to increase market share.”

What does OpenSocial mean for Facebook?

Facebook has a lot of wind behind its sails, but OpenSocial will cause developers to rethink their priorities. Developing OpenSocial applications will be easier than creating Facebook apps and will work across different social networks. However, Facebook is winning because 50 million users like the service and the applications. Unless the other social networks, which in aggregate have more members, have greater appeal to users, Facebook will continue to gain ground and developers won’t abandon the Facebook Platform. Facebook could also consider supporting OpenSocial in addition to its own APIs and markup languages as a way to be more open. It will be interesting to see how Zuckerberg and company, as well as the MySpace team, respond.

The New York Times story by Miguel Helft and Brad Stone quotes Google’s Joe Kraus on the Facebook topic.

Joe Kraus, director of product management at Google, said that the alliance’s conversations preceded Microsoft’s investment in Facebook. “Obviously, we would love for them to be part of it,” Mr. Kraus said of Facebook. Facebook declined to comment.

What does OpenSocial mean for Google?

As cited above, OpenSocial is part of Google’s quest to increase usage of the Web. More applications can mean more searches and ad searches. You could also expect some new advertising services based on tapping into the OpenSocial APIs that work across all compliant social networks. In addition, Google will weave OpenSocial across its services beyond Orkut, such as iGoogle, and eventually embed the social graph in the Internet fabric for its users.

This could create some issues for Facebook, which is rumored to be cooking up a targeted ad service that can follow its members across the Web. And, Google, taking a page from Microsoft, has some confidence that over time it can build or buy its ways into a leading social network. Google will try to have its cake and eat it too.

What does OpenSocial mean for users?

For users, it means more applications that can tap into user data, social graph, feeds and other content on a variety of social networks. They will have more choice of social networks and potentially some degree of portability as the APIs evolve and Google and other heavyweights push for more standardization.

What does OpenSocial mean for developers?

For developers, they have more opportunity to spread their work across different networks without significant cost and complexity. Many of the top Facebook developers are expected to support OpenSocial APIs. In the end, the top developers will flock to the social networks that have traction, leaving room for others to build apps for the less popular networks.

What does OpenSocial mean longer term?

It could become a kind of identity fabric for the Internet–with user profile data, relationships (social graph) and other items associated with an individual, group or brand that is used as a basis for more friction-free interactions of all kinds.

OpenSystem Unleased into the Wild

2007-11-05T13:44:00.000+08:00

Now that OpenSocial has been partially release into the wild, the effects on the ecosystem are being felt. TechCrunch reported on a hack of an application on Plaxo’s OpenSocial-compliant host. Plaxo shut down the application. Plaxo’s chief platform architect told Mike Arrington the OpenSocial platform is a work in progress and a few kinks need to get ironed out.

It’s early in the life of OpenSocial. The APIs are not yet stabilized and developers are just starting to test out the code in the Orkut sandbox. Plaxo jumped the gun with public access to an OpenSocial widget (Emote) on its service.

For enterprises, such as Oracle and saleseforce.com who jumped on board in support of OpenSocial on day one, the road to implementing the APIs will be longer than the consumer social networking services, given more sensitivity to security and identity management issues. But there should be no doubt that next year, OpenSocial will have significant impact and at least bring thousands of applications across the divide.

Five Facts About Google Phone

2007-11-04T06:45:00.001+08:00

Written by Om Malik

Monday, September 3, 2007 at 12:01 AM PT

Is Google (GOOG) Phone fact or fiction? Engadget says Google’s entry into mobile phone business is for real, and the company is going to announce it soon. Scott Kirsner talked to a bunch of folks over who are intimately familiar with the effort and outlined his findings in an article for The Boston Globe.

The story talks about a handful of Boston entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who have seen the phone, but are under NDA and can’t talk about it. Rich Miner, a co-founder of Android, a mobile software company he started with Andy Rubin (formerly of Danger) is based in Boston.

Google bought Android in August 2005. Later Google snapped up Reqwireless and Skia, two tiny start-ups with mobile expertise, and since then has been hiring mobile-focused folks at a pretty steady clip.

The news (or rumors) were enough to get me dialing-for-dirt over the big holiday weekend. These are the tidbits I picked up from a reliable source:

Google Phone is based on a mobile variant of Linux, and is able to run Java virtual machines.
All applications that are supposed to run on the Google Phone are java apps. The OS has ability to run multimedia files, including video clips.
The user interface is similar to a UI typical of mobile phones, and the image (with red background) floating around isn’t representative of the Google Phone UI. The entire UI is said to be done in Java and is very responsive. The UI, of course has a “search box.”
There is a special browser which has pan-and-browse features that are common to modern browsers such as browsers for iPhone and Symbian phones. The entire browser is apparently written in Java. But then others have told us that the browser is based on the WebKit core, the same engine in Safari and in iPhone, and Google has been making optimizations to speed it up. This is one aspect of the Google Phone I am not sure about.
Initially there was one prototype, but over past few months Google has the mobile OS running on 3-to-5 devices, most of them likely made by HTC, a mobile phone maker, and all have Qwerty apps. The model that folks have seen is very similar to the T-Mobile Dash. Around 3GSM, there were rumors that Google, Orange and HTC were working together on mobile devices.

These tiny-bits of information are pretty close to what Simeon Simenov, a VC with Polaris Venture Partners had very clearly outlined on his blog eons ago. I can’t seem to find that post, so here is is an alternate link. Simenov also wrote a pretty good post on what should be an ideal mobile stack. Google is pretty close to what Simenov had outlined.

We will post more details as they come our way. I had initially thought that it could be a more viable option to the $100 PC. While that argument still remains true, I think this is a strategic move by Google to keep Windows Mobile’s growing influence in check. Microsoft has spent billions on its mobile efforts including buying companies such as Tell Me Networks.

Release: AIM 6.5

2007-10-21T01:28:00.000+08:00

Here's one for all you AIM users out there (and I know there's a bunch of you!) I just received word the other day that a new version of the popular AOL instant messaging program, AIM, has been released. Yep, AIM 6.5 is nwo available for download. How exciting is that?! If you're a long time AIM user, I guarantee you're not going to want to miss out on what this latest version has to offer. Keep reading for details on all the new updates, all the new features and everything else that comes along with it. Let's check it out!

One of the things I love the most about AIM 6.5 is that you can now personalize it beyond your wildest dreams. With new features like WeeMee and Wallmations, you can really show off your true personality. You can even change the color of your buddy list for a new way of expressing yourself. Along with all of that, AIM 6.5 also offers new cell phone features, brand new status options for when you're away from your computer, more games to choose from and there are even some new voice and video chat features as well. It's totally awesome!

And that's not all! AIM 6.5 also brings you new options when it comes to updating your buddy profile. You can now include RSS feeds, your personal blog, more photos and there's even a new feature for inserting your favorite quotes. I mean, your friends enjoy reading about you, so why not give them some cool things to look at, right?! Along with that, you also now have the ability to receive offline messages. If someone sends you an IM after you sign off, it will be waiting for you when you sign back in. How cool is that?! There's also a new feature for your IM history and there are some brand new options when it comes to your picture sharing. This new version really does cover everything and all you have to do to enjoy it is download AIM 6.5 right here. Check it out today and take your instant messaging experience to the next level. Yes!

~ Erin

Don't stop now! Keep reading to learn all about virtual memory and what it does for your computer, find out how to rule your own way in MS Word and learn all about the new Windows Vista Aero Glass interface and how it can make your Vista experience that much more enjoyable. Also, find out how you can easily send your photos via your e-mail account with today's video tip and as always, don't miss out on Amanda's Cool Site of the Day. Enjoy!

Google Tops world search engines

2007-10-14T19:18:00.000+08:00

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 23:21:02

Google is the most popular search engine in the world.

Google has powered more than 37 billion out of 61 billion search requests carried out around the world in August, according to a report.

A global study carried out in August revealed that more than half of 750 million users turn to Google for searching the web, BBC reported.

Yahoo was the second most used engine, followed by Baidu, the Chinese language search engine, the report said. Microsoft's MSN and Korea's NHN stand 4th and 5th, respectively.

The study revealed that most search activity happens in the Asia-Pacific region, which includes countries such as China, Japan and India.

More than 258 million unique users in the region carried out 20.3 billion searches in August, said the report.

Europe had the second largest total of searchers (210 million), followed by North America (206 million).

According to the report "the search market in the Middle East-Africa region is the most underdeveloped thus far, with the fewest searchers (30 million)."

MHE/MMA

2007-10-09T19:52:00.000+08:00

First Muslim image database launched

2007-09-03T12:27:00.000+08:00

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 21:43:33

The dome of Sheikh Lotfollah mosque, Isfahan, Iran.

The Dubai-based Muslim Heritage Consulting has launched the world's first online image database to give an insight into the Islamic culture.

The new website offers stunning images from celebrated photographers like Werner Forman and manuscripts from Turkey's Soleymaniye Library.

Many of the images mark critical moments in history, such as the first surgeries carried out in the Middle East, centuries before similar treatments were available in Europe.

“Museums have always faced a great challenge to relate Islamic realities of the past through images,” said Samia Khan, the website spokesperson.

“The website has brought together thousands of images of manuscripts, and photos of Muslim culture, history and people and made it accessible using a simple online format,” she added.

www.MuslimHeritageImages.com also presents images about Iran, including numerous historical and ancient Islamic sites.

Yahoo Mail Raises the Stakes

2007-08-30T15:57:00.000+08:00

Chinese spying on German government computers: report

2007-08-25T23:41:00.000+08:00

Berlin, Aug 25, IRNA

Numerous computers of the German government are infected by Chinese espionage programs, the weekly Der Spiegel news magazine said in a report to hit the newsstands on Sunday.

The so-called 'Trojan' programs which enable the unnoticed spying of computers, have been discovered in several ministries a few months ago, Der Spiegel cited a probe by Germany's domestic Verfassungsschutz intelligence agency and the Federal Office for Information Technology Security.

Chinese cyber spies snooped reportedly on computers in the chancellery, the foreign and economic ministry as well as the research ministry.

According to the Verfassungschutz, the Chinese hackers are believed to be linked to China's People's Army.

China is continuing its efforts to plant Trojan programs via the internet on German government computers, Der Spiegel said.

Reacting to the report, the Chinese embassy in Berlin dismissed it as "irresponsible speculation without any basis of proof".

Chancellor Angela Merkel was due to embark on Sunday on a one-week visit to China and Japan.

The German media has repeatedly reported on extensive Chinese economic espionage inside Germany.

True Budget Computer USD99

2007-08-09T16:54:00.000+08:00

News Corp. Explores MySpace Swap deal with Yahoo

2007-07-22T02:41:00.000+08:00

Yoono Version 4.0.1 — 05.06.2007

2007-06-09T01:58:00.000+08:00

Improved 'Suprise Me' feature

When you use the 'Surprise Me' feature, you will be able to check a checkbox so that a new page is displayed automatically each time you launch Firefox. This will not overwrite your home page, but open a new tab instead.
A new context menu (right click) is added to your bookmark folders so that you can ask a Surprise that will be based on the URLs within the folder : a nice way to discover stuff on a given topic.

Bug fixes

Autologin on your Buzzlog from the Yoono toolbar menu
Web pages already visited will no longer appear as 'Surprise' pages
Terms of use more easily readable before signing up

Tech Connection #5

Gmail Theater: Why Use Gmail?

2007-06-06T22:19:00.000+08:00

Had Microsoft bought Yahoo?

2007-05-23T06:20:00.000+08:00

In the second week of May there was a big news about a big offer made by Microsoft to buy over Yahoo. Has the deal been closed? I have not received any news on this.

Microsoft wants to buy Yahoo for USD$50billion

HardWareZone | 10 May, 2007 12:50

If you haven't heard about this, you might want to now!
Microsoft, the maker of the recent Windows 6 (Vista) Operating System, wants to buy its online rival Yahoo, for a staggering USD$50billion!

This isn't the first time Microsoft has made an offer to Yahoo - they're refused before - but Microsoft is hoping the higher USD$50billion is going to change the yodelling online giant's mind.
In the online space where Google buys YouTube and Newscorp buys MySpace, the best method
to eliminate your enemy is to just buy them over.

With Yahoo Messenger 8 being able to use MSN Messenger (or Windows Live Messenger since version 8) user names, the battle between the top IM (Instant Messengers) just got tougher for Microsoft. Since Microsoft isn't the kind to allow you to use Windows Live Messenger for your Yahoo IM user name, people just might switch over to Yahoo's IM to use both Yahoo and Microsoft IM user names.

Taking over Yahoo would also increase Microsoft's Web search market share by 38%, putting them right behind Google - Microsoft's ultimate rival. Yahoo's current value is around USD$30 to 40billion - so that's a cool USD$10billion extra to just say yes to Microsoft. Will Yahoo accept it?

Source: The New York Post

State Censorship

2007-05-18T14:32:00.000+08:00

Last Updated: Friday, 18 May 2007, 01:02 GMT 02:02 UK

Global net censorship 'growing'

China filtered a wide range of topics, said the report

The level of state-led censorship of the net is growing around the world, a study of so-called internet filtering by the Open Net Initiative suggests.

The study of thousands of websites across 120 Internet Service Providers found 25 of 41 countries surveyed showed evidence of content filtering.

Websites and services such as Skype and Google Maps were blocked, it said.

>>>>cut

The survey found evidence of filtering in the following countries:

Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Burma/Myanmar, China, Ethiopia, India, Iran, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, UAE, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen.

Is PC guy an Achilles heel for Gates' pride?

2007-05-13T22:27:00.000+08:00

By: Marius Oiaga, Technology News Editor

There is one subject that is taboo for Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. You can talk to Bill about a lot of things. You can talk to him about the fast pace at which Google is extending its search and advertising

Internet business while Microsoft is lagging behind. You can mention the muted adoption of Windows Vista. And you can even praise the piracy of Microsoft software products in his presence, just consider the example of Romanian President Traian Basescu.

However, there is one subject that is totally off limits. You cannot speak of it, comment on it and if possible, not even think about it in the presence of Bill Gates. What is it you ask? Well, the Mac ads of course.

It seems that Bill Gates is quite irate with Apple's PC guy vs. Mac guy video commercials that have flooded the Internet. So much so that he fails to retain the high level of diplomacy that characterizes him. At the beginning of February 2007, Gates simply smiled while the President of Romania applauded piracy. But when a journalist mentioned the Mac ads, Bill experienced something close to a blue screen.

Bob Garfield, a columnist with Advertising Age asked Bill Gates to comment on John Hodgman's character PC guy in the Mac ads. Bill Gates refused to answer the question, stating that he could not provide an opinion on Apple's ads. Garfield did not let Gates get off so easily and he raised the stake asking about the resemblance between Gates and PC guy. Gates simply left at this point, and barely managed to utter a “goodbye.”

15 short Ads = Apple Mac Guy -VS- PC Guy

U.S. Search Engine Rankings, February 2007

2007-05-13T03:08:00.000+08:00

Click Here to read it in the post section

DOMAIN SQUATTING

2007-05-04T17:31:00.000+08:00

CYBERSQUATTING

The US administration passed the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer protection in August 1999. The law enable trademark holders to obtain civil damages of a maximum amount of USD100k from those that register their trade names or similar-sounding names as domain names.

There was a case in 1999 where a domain was sold for one million USD. That domain was registered in 1994 at a cost of USD 70. The domain was wallstreet.com There were people who registered a common name and name combination they can think of with the hope of selling it a exorbitant prices and make a life time killing. Registering an Internet domain name for the purpose to sell later for a profit is termed as Cybersquatting

TYPOSQUATTING

Generally, the victim site of typosquatting will be a frequently visited website. The typosquatter's URL will be similar to the victim site address: Once in the typosquatter's site, the user may also be tricked into thinking that they are in fact in the real site; through the use of copied or similar logos, website layouts or content. Sometimes competitors of the victim site will do this.

Have you ever experience this. Say you have some sticky key. Now it causes you to key into your navigation bar typo errors for example. Instead of spelling blogspot it becomes logspot or in rush we mis-spell it as blogsport. Then you say to yourself why another site appear. Upon checking you discover a spelling error in your navigation bar. Well, that was done by design, read below. (bloggers note)

Typosquatting also called URL hijacking, is a form of cybersquatting which relies on mistakes such as typographical errors made by Internet users when inputting a website address into a web browser. Should a user accidentally enter an incorrect website address, they may be led to an alternative address owned by a cybersquatter.

Alternatively, the user will be forwarded to a site of a completely different nature to what they intended. This tactic was infamously used by John Zuccarini, who redirected domains targeting children to pornographic websites. Sometimes, the typosquatters will use the false addresses to distribute viruses, adware , spyware or other malware. Some are also shock sites. More common are benign domain parking sites, selling advertising to firms based on keywords similar to the misspelled word in the domain.

As with cybersquatting in the past, the term typosquatting has been used by covetous parties in an effort to unseat domain registrants from brandable variants of generic domain names The shortage of poignant and generic domain names in the coveted .com generic top-level domain has left many hopeful registrants with no alternative but to locate catchy variants of existing generic words e.g. Orbitz.com (popular travel site with "z" to replace the "s") in an effort to find "new land" on which to build their website.As in the preceding example the line between typosquatting and registering a brandable variant of a generic domain name blurs dependent on the circumstance of each situation.

A company may try and preempt typosquatting by obtaining a number of websites with common misspellings and redirect them to the main, correctly spelled website. For example www.gooogle.com, www.goolge.com, www.gogle.com www.gewgle.com, and others, all redirect to www.google.com. In another example, actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger is reported to control the domains with the ten most common misspellings of his surname.

Microsoft has released new software to help combat this issue. The software is called "Strider Typo-Patrol". This is a tool that scans and shows third-party domains that are allegedly typosquatting. It also lets parents restrict access to typo-squatting domains that show sexually oriented ads on typos of children's web sites.

"Typosquatting" is a meaningless term where the law is concerned. Laws generally are not concerned about registrations of domain names that are similar to other domain names or similar to existing trademarks, unless some other important factor is involved.

from experience and reference answers.com

The genesis of dual-core technology

2007-04-17T10:14:00.000+08:00

The road to dual-core processors really began when Intel and AMD discovered that the goal of improving processor efficiency and performance by increasing the clock speeds towards the 3-GHz mark and beyond was actually having the opposite effect. The faster clock speeds were producing more heat and consuming more energy, both of which were hindering the efficiency and performance of the processors. Both companies realized that they needed to move towards dual-core processor technology in order to continue to improve processor performance.

Dual-core processors contain two processor cores on one chip; consequently, they can simultaneously perform calculations on two streams of data, which increases efficiency and speed when running multiple programs. This is especially true when running new, multi-threaded software, such as video and audio editing applications.

excerpt from techrepublic

SSL

2007-04-01T01:40:00.000+08:00

What does SSL mean? Well, to begin, it stands for Secure Socket Layers and it is basically what makes secure sites secure. Here's how it works.

When you log into a secure server, it communicates with your Web browser for a few seconds. During this communication, it sends your browser encryption information, that only it and your browser can read, out. Once this encryption is set, it acts like a normal Web page, except that all the information coming or going is encrypted. This encryption makes it extremely difficult for any third party (anyone who would intercept the transaction) to decipher it. All this extra protection is why secure servers seem to run slower than their unsecured counterparts.

Secure connections only protect the information as it's coming and going, not when it's just sitting on the server. With that being said, you probably have a better chance of getting ripped off by a sales clerk copying your credit card number at a department store than getting your information stolen over the Internet. Also, you can tell if a site is secure by the first part of its Web address. If it starts with https:// rather than http://, it's secure as can be. Stay safe!

~ Quoted from Steve

My Top Four FireFox addons

2007-03-27T16:46:00.000+08:00

Cooliris Previews by The Cooliris Team

Cooliris Previews gives you the power to browse and share Web links and rich media instantly. Just mouse over any link, and the Cooliris preview window immediately appears to show you the content. No more clicking back and forth or losing your search context. To send a link, just click.

Answers by Asher Szmulewicz

1-Click Answers™ saves you time by instantly delivering the information you are looking for. Press Alt (or Option on a Mac) and click any word to get a quick, relevant definition or explanation, drawn from a collection of over 100 reference titles. You don't even need to highlight the word!

Download Statusbar by Devon Jensen

Manage your Internet downloads from a tidy toolbar, without the download window getting in the way of your Web browsing. Despite its compact size, Download Statusbar packs in more useful features than the standard download window. The fully customizable interface auto-hides when not in use, allowing full control without interruption.

( the status bar is at the left bottom corner of the screen )

Yoono by Yoono

Yoono instantly suggests similar sites, blog notes and people sharing the same interests while you are surfing, for each page you open.
Zero effort required - no more tagging, typing keywords or changing interface. Let Yoono bring you the best that others have discovered.
Yoono is easy, fun, addictive and designed for everyone.

As well, Yoono synchronizes your favorites automatically between computers and provides favorites export features in XBEL and OPML formats

This extension comes with a customizable toolbar that you can move almost wherever you like, and a sidebar that allows you to display at the same time another sidebar of your choice !

Please read our privacy policy page: http://www.yoono.com/privacy.html
Yoono does not store any personal user data except:
- the favorites which have not been declared "secret"
- data freely and optionally given to Yoono by the user himself.
This is the data filled-out in the User Profile tab, it can be edited any time.

In no case Yoono markets or communicates to a third party any personal data collected. The data that is stored is necessary for the service to function or as the sole object of improving the quality of the service provided to users.
Yoono does not record the browsing of its users but uses the URL of the page viewed by a user to send back suggestions to his browser.

USE FIREFOX BROWSER IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO USE THESE ADDONS

My top 4 favorite buttons.

2007-02-03T07:52:00.000+08:00

On browsers.

We access the Web via a paid service in Malaysia the most well known are the TMnet dial up service or the streamyx DSL service. The navigation tools that we need to navigate through the web, is called a browser – which is basically a software. Internet Explorer (IE) is an example of a browser. In the early days of the personal computers (pc) the Netscape Navigator was the most popular browser.

In the mid 90s that Netscape popularity was over taken by IE. For a decade or so IE had dominated the market completely until recently losing ground to Mozilla Firefox (FF). In recent years, the open-source browser FF has earned praises from the public. It enable third party developers to easily create extensions that add functionality of the FF browser. There are thousands of home brewed add-ons and extension for FF. IE add-ons are also available but its closed framework make it difficult for developers.

On toolbars.

The tools that we can make or give instructions to the browser what to do are available from the toolbar. Each item on the toolbar are called buttons. Each buttons gives a specific instruction. This buttons are needed when we browse the web. The best method and the fastest are very much dependent on our ability to use these buttons effectively.

I uses both IE and FF browsers. For both browsers I installed tab browsing buttons. On the IE browser I installed the Yahoo toolbar and on the FF browser I installed the google toolbars. I have been using about 80% of the time, FF in 2006. On the FF google toolbars I had placed all of my favorite buttons.

My top 4 favorite buttons.

I called then my favorite buttons because these buttons gave me considerable ease and save a lot of time. These buttons are the

1. tab browsing button – it allows me to open windows on another tab so I do not have to close all the previous windows. That helps a lot when I need to make a cross references to another site when I am browsing and I cannot leave the present site. It also assists me in doing postings to my blogs. I could open many sites or pages for different functions or reasons at the same time. It also works perfectly well with my two other add-ons developed by third parties, which I shall highlight in later postings.

2. groups button – this button is placed to the google or yahoo toolbars. They are google and/or yahoo buttons. With a click on the button we are in our list of groups (a drop down menu for yahoo) and we can pick which one we want to go into.

3. mail button – it is placed on the respective toolbars too for yahoo & google. Using this button we can get into our mailbox with a click on a button. There are mail button that comes on a third party tool3bars that we can place three or four different mailboxes on to the button – when pressed there is a drop down menu which allow us to elect which mailbox we want to go into.

4. Autofill – if you are filling up many forms like I did for the whole months of December 06 January 07, having this buttons will allow your finger tips some rest and will avoid unnecessary typo errors that is normally associated with such routine work.

The Blogger recommends Firefox browser to enable you to use the buttons.

Add Firefox Buttons

Are you one of the many who use Firefox as your main Web browser? If so, you may think that there just aren't enough buttons to choose from in the regular interface. Well, if you have a feeling something is missing from your button options, the only thing I can think of to do is add some more! And even better, you can do that easily with the FirefoxMenuButtons 2.0.1 extension. Shall we see how all this works?!

Once you download the extension to your Firefox browser, you will have a grand total of 41 more buttons to choose from on your regular toolbar. And let me tell you, everything is covered. There's a button for everything from Save As to Open File to Send Link to Print Preview to Undo to Send Message to Preferences to Page Info to Previous Tab to Full Window and so many more. It's amazing what all you can add to your browser with this one little extension.

Now, there may be some buttons you really want, but a few you don't want, so you can also add and delete any of the buttons as you go along. Talk about convenient! If you're interested in adding these buttons to your Firefox browser, click here for the download. Just click on the link that says "Download FirefoxMenuButtons 2.0.1" to get started. You can read more about this extension from the link above as well. Do keep in mind that this is only for Firefox 2.0. So, if you have that, go have some button fun and enjoy all your new additions!

~ Erin

Windows WOW launching gave ideas ....Top 10 things to try with Windows Vista

2007-01-30T07:21:00.000+08:00

Here are a few of the top things you can do to evaluate Windows Vista for your organization, plan your deployment, and make yourself more productive.

Plan an easier deployment: Get the Business Desktop Deployment (BDD 2007) and install the latest deployment tools and guidance on deploying Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system. In addition, you can use this step-by-step guide to familiarize yourself with some of the major tools and technologies to help you with deployments. Our guidance will show you how to build an image using ImageX, configure it, and create an unattend.xml file using the Windows System Image Manager. Then, configure Windows Deployment Services to deploy the customized image to test machines in your organization. Explore the full range of innovations we've developed to make deployment simpler, including updating an image in an offline state and customizing the Windows preinstallation environment.

To get the BDD 2007, visit the Desktop Deployment Center on TechNet.
Improve security and compliance: Encrypt your drive using BitLocker drive encryption. Take advantage of User Account Control and deploy a test group as standard users and see how much easier they are to support. Apply group policy settings that prevent data transfers to removable media like flash drives and CD-Rs. Run as a standard user on your own PC. On Windows Vista, everyday activities like browsing the Web with Internet Explorer 7 will be more secure because of the built-in anti-phishing filter and Protected Mode.
Manage your PC: Explore more than 500 new group policies to see everything you can manage centrally. New policies include the ability to control installation of devices and power management settings, which can help you save energy costs on each PC. Use the Event Viewer to get a consolidated view of all of the events on your system. (Just type "Event Viewer" in the Quick Search menu to bring it up.) You can right-click any event to schedule a task that will start automatically the next time that event happens.
Optimize your network: Restrict authorized use of the network by configure the new outbound blocking capabilities of the Windows Firewall. You can use the same integrated MMC Firewall snap-in to configure server and domain isolation using IPSec. See how Quality of Service policies can help you manage the use of precious bandwidth and define the priority of traffic for applications. If you ever have trouble connecting to a network, just right-click on the connection icon in your system tray and choose "Diagnose." Windows Vista will help you identify the problem and guide you through the solution.
Test your applications: Download and use the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0. Take inventory of the applications in your environment, record any issues you find, and synchronize your findings with other testers using the Microsoft Compatibility Exchange. The tool will also find issues with Web sites you are visiting and applications that may not work well for standard users.
Be more productive: With the Windows Aero user experience, the windows feature a transparent glass effect that makes it is easier to manage your open windows with less distraction. Press Windows+Tab to experience the dynamic "Flip 3D" window management feature. Use Instant Search, which is built right into the Start menu to easily find your documents, e-mails, Web sites, and even applications. Insert a ReadyBoost-capable storage device, such as a USB 2.0 memory drive with at least 512 MB capacity. When prompted, click "Speed up my system" to get an extra boost of performance.
Go mobile: Windows Vista is designed to work especially well on mobile hardware, so install it on your laptop or Tablet PC, too. Press Windows+X to start the Windows Mobility Center, which puts the most frequently used mobile PC settings in a single location. With the Sync Center, it is easy to keep your files, data, and devices in sync and move seamlessly between online and offline states. You can also configure Folder Redirection so roaming users can access any folder, not just the five that could be roamed in Windows XP. If you are using a Tablet PC, you'll notice that improved handwriting recognition, cursors, visual feedback, and new Pen Flicks will make it even easier to use.
Share information and collaborate: Try Windows Meeting Space (previously known as Windows Collaboration) to collaborate with a co-worker who is also using Windows Vista. You can share your screen with others and take turns working on a file. Use Microsoft's new read-only XML-Paper Specification (XPS)archival file format to store and share documents in a more secure way. To create an XPS document, simply print it and chose "Microsoft XPS Document Writer" as the printer. You can share the XPS document with other Windows Vista users or with Windows XP users who have installed the .NET Framework 3.0.
Use the Web more effectively: With Internet Explorer 7 on Windows Vista, you can browse the Web more easily and securely. Right-click a link and chose "Open in New Tab" to experience the new tabbed browsing. Press Ctrl+Q to open the Quick Tabs (thumbnail view) of all your open tabs. Even printing is improved—select “Shrink to Fit” printing and the sides of your Web pages won't be cut off. You can use the built-in RSS reader to subscribe to the Windows Vista Blog or other feeds to get the latest information.
Join the community: Share your experiences in a blog, get help from other users, and share tips you discover—there are a number of ways you can interact with others around the world who are using Windows Vista. TechNet offers managed forums where you can ask questions and get support from your peers. In the Windows Vista Start menu, you will also find links to community resources and support options in the Help and Support section.

Windows Vista is designed to work well with Microsoft Office 2007. Visit the 2007 Office system site and take a test drive to see how they work better together.

Messages from Gmail team.

2007-01-03T02:56:00.000+08:00

Gmail is different. Here's what you need to know.

Built-in chat, keyboard shortcuts, customized addresses and more. Sound cool? We think so too. Welcome to Gmail.

We hope this email will help you learn about some of the features that make Gmail unique. To get started, you may want to:

Check out the Gmail Tour in our Getting Started section.
Import your contacts to Gmail from Yahoo! Mail, Outlook, Hotmail and others.
Visit our Help Center to learn about Gmail's features, like free POP access.

Gmail has super-fast mobile access, and it also works great with other Google products like Desktop for offline searching, Picasa for sending your pictures, and Google Talk for making free calls and sending instant messages to your friends.

As you're using Gmail, you might notice that there aren't any large, blinking, irrelevant ads. That's because we only show small text ads that are matched by computers and designed to be relevant to the messages you're viewing.

Users have often told us that the more they use Gmail, the more they discover its added benefits. So go ahead and give Gmail a try. We'll keep working on making Gmail the best email service around. Thanks for joining us for the ride. We hope you'll enjoy Google's approach to email.

Thanks,

The Gmail Team

* * * * * *

It's easy to switch to Gmail!

Did you know that Gmail was voted #2 in PC World's Top 100 products of 2005, right after Firefox? Why wouldn't you want to switch? Well, because it can be a pain to switch to a new email address. We know.

But, it doesn't have to be. We want to make it easier for you. So, we've created a new switching guide to make the transition easier. The guide covers how to:

Import your contacts into Gmail
Announce your new address
Remind friends that you've changed addresses
Still use your old address to send mail

There's even personalized help for switching from the email service you no longer care to use. But if you're not ready now, we understand. Play around with Gmail for awhile. Send and receive some messages. We think you'll like it (you might miss all that spam, though). And, when you're ready, the switching guide is in our Help Center.

Change is good. It can be easy too.

Thanks,

The Gmail Team

Sharing : Sedikit cara ambo mengurus e-mel

2006-12-15T06:30:00.000+08:00

1. Muqadimmah

Bila ambo cuba fikirkan untuk menulis rencana ini untuk kita kongsi bersama terlintas di kepala ambo tentang satu doa yang pernah di baca oleh seorang ahli sufi yang berbunyi “Ya Allah, bebaskan lah daku dari lautan nama-nama ini”. Dalam konteks memberi pengertian kepada sesuatu perkara, ianya amat bergantung kepada sikap seseorang sama ada jenis optimis atau pessimis. Serupa kata sesetengah orang bila seseorang tenggok air dalam gelas – dia boleh kata gelas itu separoh penuh atawa separoh kosong. Dalam konteks doa yang disebut diatas ambo terjemahkan doa itu sebagai satu permohonan untuk menjadikan lautan nama-nama atau benda-benda berkaitan kepada satu perkara yang boleh di uruskan bukannya satu doa untuk melarikan diri dari lautan itu. Memandangkan nama-nama banyak la ni, terutama nya hak jenis teknikal maka ambo terpaksa guna juga istilah inggeris asal kerana kurang arif dengan terminologi dalam bahasa Malaysia.

2. Benda yang ambo guna

Benda yang ambo guna untuk urusan e-mel adalah

2.1 Streamyx.

Ambo telah menyelia atau monitor, berapa kos sekiranya di gunakan dial up tmnet dan mendapati kosnya melebihi langganan broadband streamyx. Ini memandangkan anak-anak ambo pun guna juga. Atas pandangan ‘minister of home affairs’ ambo, ambo tidak menyekat anak sekolah menengah keatas untuk menggunakan nya.

Ambo rasa berbaloi kerana anak ambo selain dari bertukar-tukar emel dengan kawan mereka yang berada di sekolah lama / dulu. Mereka berhubung melalui e-mel dan friendsters dan download filem-filem dan siri-siri TV. Mereka juga telah jadi lebih kreatif dan arif dari ambo hingga ambo boleh belajar daripada mereka. Perlunya broadband bertambah lagi sebab ambo sendiri pun suka melawat akhbar dan website alternative seperti Democracy Now, Counterpun,IRNA ( Islamic Republic News Agency ), Ynet, Aljazeera dan Muslimedia International (ini adalah website pengeluar Crescent International, sesiapa yang belajar di UK / Seberang laut mungkin biasa mendengarnya, Crescent International di haramkan di Malaysia sekitar tahun 1995 oleh kerajaan Tun Mahathir). Tujuan untuk mendapat berita mengikut pandangan mereka, yang tidak boleh di dapati melalui CNN dan RTM. Contohnya kalau nak tahu pasal isu panas di Malaysia seketika dulu, ia itu “Bank Negara main penukaran mata wang asing (Pound Sterling)” sepenuhnya, eloklah melawat juga “blog” Kit Siang. Tapi, ni tidak bermakna ambo sokong Kit Siang atau ahli DAP. Sesiapa di antara pembaca yang ada binari logik tolong ubah sikit pemikiran.

Ambo di Machang tiada pilihan lain melainkan Streamyx untuk perkhidmatan broadband. Satu lagi baiknya broadband. Kita boleh guna Komputer dan talian talipon sekali ( bersama dalam satu masa ). Kalau dengan Tmnet dial up kena guna salah satu, samada e-mel (computer) atau talipon, kecuali dengan guna dua line satu khusus untuk talipon dan satu khusus untuk tmnet dial up baru boleh guna kedua sekali ( bersama dalam satu masa ). Dengan broadband, walaupun satu line kalau ada call in ianya tidak memaksa pengguna computer yang melayari lamanweb berhenti.

2.2 Firefox sebagai Browser melayari alam siber.

Ambo dapati firefox lebih baik daripada hak Microsoft buat, internet explorer. Firefox tiada pop-up, iklan dsbnya. Firefox senang di dapati dari websitenya dan boleh download percuma sahaja. Firefox ini di perkenalkan oleh anak ambo. Firefox ambo guna untuk melawat websites, melayari alam siber. FF2 tidak mudah terganggu seperti IE6 atau IE7.

Walapun Bill Gates merahsiakan Operating System dia, hinggakan Microsoft kena denda ANTI-TRUST di Eropah baru ini. Firefox antara yang bagus dan senang untuk digunakan dengan Microsoft Windows. Cuma di ingatkan disini bila nak download pastikan version windows anda boleh menerima software yang di kehendaki itu.

Selain dari firefox (FF2), dalam PC ambo ada browser lain seperti Avant, Opera dan IE7. Ambo baru install flock yang di minati oleh anak ambo hok form three untuk friendster dia. AOL browser ada ambo download tapi telah uninstall kerana di dapati slow. Ambo boleh kata the fastest dan kurang kerenah sekali adalah Firefox2.

Firefox, FF juga membenarkan communiti untuk membina addons dan extension untuk browser FF. Ambo tahu hal ini apabila ambo bina personal google pages ambo. Yahoo pun ada function ini, untuk membuat personal pages. Masing boleh buat addon dan extension mengikut selera dan kehendak hati masing-masing. Sekiranya sesiapa nak cuba bolehlah masuk komuniti Google firefox mozilla thunderbird tersebut. Jadi banyaklah addons dan extension Firefox dan Ambo happy kerana kita boleh pilih untuk download addons dan extension kepada browser FF2 itu mengikut selera dan keperluan kita.

2.3 Email Address (Addy)

Ambo pakai melebihi tiga “e-mail address” yang berkekalan streamyx, yahoo dan gmail. Dulunya semua ID sama tapi sebab lupa password yahoo, terpaksa tukar ID Yahoo, sebab ID bila ada dah di guna orang kita tidak boleh guna lagi. Jadi dari segi yahoo ID hok ambo dulu telah digunakan orang. Untuk ringkas dan cepat dapat khidmat yahoo balik ambo buat ID lain dengan password baru.

Streamyx ambo guna untuk urusan peribadi yang “official” seperti berurusan dengan “utility companies”- seperti air, api, telekom, Pihak atau Badan Kerajaan, Bank dan kelab. Streamyx agak leceh untuk posting kita tidak boleh tunggu lama akan keluar “session out”. Kalau slow atau typing panjang habis. Gapo lagi kalau nak tingal posting dan melayari web semula, kaedah streamyx ini tidak membolehkan kita optimize “tab browsing”. Kalau banyak guna dtreamyx akan keluar “WTF!”.

gmail ambo guna untuk egroups. Memandangkan “memory” gmail besar, berita dan rencana dari Malaysiakini dll (seperti yang kita boleh arahkan “Yahoo Alert” misalnya berkenaan Irag) juga diterima melalui gmail dalam spam yang akan dibuang dengan sendiri selepas 30 hari kalau tak penuh atau dengan prinsip “first in first out (FIFO)”. gmail juga ambo guna untuk berurusan dengan AJK PERWI untuk membezakan dengan mel biasa.

gmail ini lain sikit cara penyusunan mel dengan Yahoo, setiap mel disusun mengikut satu rangkaian susulan perbualan itu, jadi amat sesuai dengan group yang aktif yang perbincang berdasarkan tajuk dan banyak tajuk dalam satu hari dibincang. Ianya tidak sesuai dengan group yang tidak aktif, tidak berbincang secara bertajuk dan banyak mengirim attachment seperti rencana dan gambar. Begitu juga dengan googles group – bagus untuk perhubungan “perkataan bertulis”, tiada simpanan database atau gambar di dalam “grouppage” nya.

Sekarang ini ambo edit rencana lama. Paragraph di atas tidak sesuai dan tepat lagi. Ada boleh guna picasa2 untuk gambar-gambar. Kebelakangan ini gmail telah improve dan berkembang begitu cepat dan pesat sekali. gmail pun sesuai untuk attachment dan gambar-gambar. Google group beta begitu hebat sekali sehingga ada yang telah hijrah (migrate) dari yahoo group ke google group. Yahoo pun kebelakangan itu membuat revision dalam business nya untuk bersaing dengan google.

Cara Yahoo menyelesaikan berbualan berangkai ini juga lucu sikit. Misalnya apabila seorang membalas kemudian seorang lain menjawap kemudian seorang lagi kemudian seorang lagi mengulas, sekiranya kita guna versi yahoo melayu akan keluar tajuk, “balasan balasan balasan”. Anda boleh fikir apa akan jadi sekira rangkaian perbualan itu telah melebihi “double digit” (berbelas atau berpuluh).

Satu lagi yang perlu di atasi adalah “double posting” kepada kita. Ini berlaku apabila ada overlapping “egroup” yang kita sertai berhubung dengan keahliannya. Mithalnya Batch ambo dengan egroup Alumni ambo. Cara ambo atasi ialah dengan memilih satu e-mail yang mengeluarkan beberapa ayat di bawah tajuh nya. Dengan melihat ayat tesebut ambo boleh tahu samaada telah membacanya atau belum. Kalu telah ambo boleh terus hit “DEL”.

2.4 Untuk Keluargawanishak egroup

Yang paling sesuai digunakan untuk keluargawanishak ialah yahoo. Ada kelebihan lagi selain dari kemudahan untuk memasuki webpage dan lihat kesemua apa yang ada di situ seperti database, gambar, files, links berkaitan dan boleh pakai voice mails dan IM (Instant Messaging). Perkara yang teknikal tertulis di ruangan ini ambo serahkan kepada yang lebih arif, dalam AJK ICT, untuk menghuraikan cara penggunaan nya.

Dari segi menyimpan nama-nama ahli, cara ambo buat adalah dengan menggunakan ruangan First Name mengisi nama/gelaran ahli misalnya “Na” dan ruangan Last. Last Name ambo isi nama kelaurga misalnya “Mok Ngoh”. Ambo sort arrangement dengan Last Name. Sebab itu, kalau ambo mail dengan cara “first principle” – dari Compose and menggunakan “insert addresses” – akan keluar “Na Mok Ngoh<>”. Dengan cara begini ambo dapati senang untuk cari seseorang. Misalnya nak cari Kak Mie, Ambo cari Che Nab, dan boleh “tick” sahaja untuk hantar emel kepada Kak Mie. (Nota, version Beta telah di ubah fungsi ini).

Satu lagi kita boleh buka dan buat list. Cuba tenggok menu Address. Ada satu “LIST”. Sebagai contoh ambo buat list untuk senaraikan anak beranak Arwah Wan Som. Ketika hendak hantar email dalam mode “insert Address”, klik “Categories” kemudian boleh klik nama list tersebut misalnya “wansom” semua nama yang ambo senaraikan itu akan keluar di ruangan “TO”. Tidak perlu taip banyak kali yang akan boleh menyebabkan ada kesilapan menaip. “List” kita boleh adakan dengan menggunakan “Last Name”, letakan semua yang “Last Name” yang sama dalam satu list (ini berdasarkan versi original, bukan Beta, belum cuba dengan Beta).

Kegunaan “List” pada pandangan ambo akan menjadi penting di egroup “keluargawanishak”. Dulu ambo pernah sarankan untuk menggunakan kaedah ini bagi kumpulan yang pejabat mereka telah “block” mel egroup ( orang gomen la ). Sebabnya age group, professional group dsbnya dalam egroup keluarga ini amat luas. Mungkin puak Che Gu nak bincang hal berkaitan dengan penguruan mereka saja. Atau pun mungkin “contents” ada hal yang melanggar AUKU ataupun age limit. Ataupun mungkin hanya untuk orang yang pandai cakap Jepun sahaja, ha..ha! Third language will be very fashionable soon as we go Global! Jadi masing “sub-group” ini hanya perlu buat “list” sahaja dan tidak perlu buat e-group.

Satu lagi kegunaan “LIST” adalah bila ada di antara kita yang menggunakan Secretary di Pejabat, selalu on the move dengan tugasan dan mengarahkan / delegate the secretary membuka emel kita. Tentulah hanya mel yang resmi/official, seperti perhubungan antara AJK yang sesuai untuk di baca oleh Secretary. Jadi “office email address” hanya diletakan didalam “LIST AJK” dan address lain seperti Yahoo atau gmail di letakan didalam egroup untuk hubongan harian – yang ada kala sedih, ada kala serious dan ada kala gelak ketawa dan bukan untuk “consumption” orang luar seperti secretary kita.

gmail ada satu fungsi group, fungsi ini boleh digunakan dan diadaptasi untuk tujuan “LIST” seperti Yahoo.

Hal-hal teknikal lain seperti masok gambar, buat album, voice mails, hantar video, instant messaging dan sebagainya ambo tinggal ko orang lain untuk teruskan ruangan ini.

3. A Caveat – clearing the air

Ambo tulis rencana ini sebagai permulaan sharing dalam bab ICT. Kita tahu dan faham isu hok di bincang ini isu teknik saja. Jadi kita selalu dengar, “there is more than one way to skin a cat”. Bukan satu cara untuk melepah kulit kambing. Cuma orang India kata orang Melayu gatung kambing kepala keatas sebab itu kambing Melayu lepah berbau. Orang India gatung kambing kepala kebawah ketika melepah kulit jadi tidak berbau. Itu lah moralnya.

Mungkin ada cara lain hok molek lagi dari segi teknik mengendalikan apa yang ambo telah huraikan, silalah kemukan dan buat kita faham – ambo pun nak tahu jugak dan gunapakai gapo hok sesuai dan sejiwa dengan selera ambo. Kita nak achieve “personal satisfaction and optimization” in using ICT. That is Rome. And we know that there is an English proverb, that says “all roads lead to Rome”.

<the article will be rendered into English for the benefit of our English readers >

Ma6 matlesen
Dec 2006 AD