Tech News
Video Audio Player can play video audio multimedia files such as mp3 wmv mpeg mpg m1v dat wma wav aiff au aif mid midi rmi snd avi asf VCD etc. If you have installed more audio or video decoders/codecs, the player can play more video and audio files. The player is easy to use, has small size and mini interface.
Download: Video Audio Player 1.0 Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP
Batteries in the computer maker’s MacBook Pro laptops may be substandard and need replacing, Apple has warned
Apple has launched a worldwide product exchange programme for the rechargeable batteries supplied with its 15-inch MacBook Pro laptops.
In a statement posted to Apple’s Web site over the weekend, the company explained it had recently discovered that some 15-inch MacBook Pro batteries supplied to Apple did not meet its performance standards.
The batteries will be replaced free of charge, via Apple’s Web site. They were sold between February and May 2006, and have model number A1175 and a 12-digit serial number that ends with U7SA, U7SB or U7SC.
Read more: ZDNet UK
If you’ve ever lent something only to lose it forever (A book, a DVD, tools from the garage and so on) then yLend is for you. You can add a loan in seconds: enter name, item and date and the loan is permanently recorded. When the item comes back, delete the entry!
yLend is deliberately kept simple, because otherwise you wouldn’t bother to add records. It’s free to use, so why not give it a try?
Download: yLend 1.0.8 No Spyware / No Adware
How much is a user worth?
A member of social news site Digg has put their account up for sale on Ebay.
The user, going by the name Geekforlife, announced the auction on Digg.
The member profile is currently ranked 73, making it one of the top 100 users. Users in the top 100 are believed to have greater influence in promoting submitted items to the front page than normal users.
Announcing the sale, Geekforlife wrote: “I was reading the story about how the Digg user was worth $2.00. [i] said what the hell, I could use a couple bucks plus [would like to] see if that is true, so I have my profile up for auction on eBay.”
Full story: vnunet.com
Textview is a handy software program for Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP to quickly review large collections of text files, like i.e. CD-ROMs full of source codes or extensive web-projects with many html-, java-and other scripts.
Features
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ Explorer-like browser window
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ Display Unicode, UTF-8, UTF-7 and Mac text files
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ Back, forward, run and quickview commands
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ Create new file, save as, delete
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ Open shell links
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ Drag & Drop support
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ Favorites management
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ Mostly adjustable
Download: Textview 6.0.12
Security researchers have found a way to use JavaScript to map a home or corporate network and attack connected servers or devices, such as printers or routers.
The malicious JavaScript can be embedded in a Web page and will run without warning when the page is viewed in any ordinary browser, the researchers said. It will bypass security measures such as a firewall because it runs through the user’s browser, they said.
“We have discovered a technique to scan a network, fingerprint all the Web-enabled devices found and send attacks or commands to those devices,” said Billy Hoffman, lead engineer at Web security specialist SPI Dynamics. “This technique can scan networks protected behind firewalls such as corporate networks.”
A successful attack could have significant impact. For example, it could scan your home network, detect a router model and then send it commands to enable wireless networking and turn off all encryption, Hoffman said. Or it could map a corporate network and launch attacks against servers that will appear to come from the inside, he said.
“Your browser can be used to hack internal networks,” said Jeremiah Grossman the chief technology officer at Web application security company WhiteHat Security. Both SPI Dynamics and WhiteHat Security came up with the JavaScript-based network scanner at about the same time, he said. The companies plan to talk about their findings at this week’s Black Hat security event in Las Vegas.
Full story: ZDNet Australia
X-Ray Mail Assistant is an email header filter and POP/SMTP server switching tool. It runs as a local POP/SMTP relay server and scans your incoming and/or outgoing mail for user specified mail headers. Once it finds a match it can change the header, remove it, replace it or perform some other special modifications. In addition, the program allows you to set up multiple profiles for POP and SMTP servers and switch between them from the system tray.
Major features of X-Ray Mail Assistant are:
• Filtering Kludges (Headers) in incoming/outgoing mail.
• Fast change of SMTP/POP server.
• Work with ‘News by Mail’ servers.
• Cyclic change of POP server.
• Saving of program settings to “Schemes” and fast changing of current “Schema”.
• Works as service under WinNT.
X-Ray Mail Assistant is primarily intended to work with Rit Labs’ email client “The Bat!,” but will work with any email program that sends mail via SMTP and receives it via POP 3.
Download: X-Ray Mail Assistant 1.5.0.152 Beta
RemoveWGA enables you to remove the Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage Notification tool, which is calling home and connect to Microsoft servers every time you boot. Futures updates of this notification tool will (officialy) setup the connection rate to once every two weeks.
Once the WGA Notification tool has checked your OS and has confirmed you had a legit copy, there is no decent point or reason to check it again and again every boot. Moreover, connecting to Microsoft brings security issue for corporate networks, and privacy issues for everyone. It is also unclear which information are transmitted (Microsoft published an official answer, but an individual study brought some questions). All of that, along the fact that Microsoft used deceptive ways to make you install this tool (it was told you it was an urgent security update, whereas it is a new installation giving you no extra security) makes me calling this tool a spyware.
Also, Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications is different than Windows Genuine Advantage Validation. RemoveWGA only remove the notification part, phoning home, and does not touch the Validation part. As the time I’m writting this, the Validation part is mandatory for some not critical downloads from Microsoft, but the Notification part is not mandatory at all, and you are able to install all of the security updates without installing this one.
Download: RemoveWGA 1.2 Windows XP (SP1/SP2)
Anti-Twin is a useful tool that helps you to increase your hard disk space by searching it for duplicate files. Found identical files can either be sent to the recycle bin or directly deleted.
As the identification of duplicates is based on the entire file content, the file name is not important. The tool?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s basic principle is: ?¢‚Ǩ?ìName is but sound and smoke - size matters! And never lose sight of the inner values.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù
Anti-Twin offers an excellent possibility to e.g. find and delete duplicate downloaded MP3 files in a download folder, or duplicate images.
Free for private use.
Download: Anti-Twin 1.5 Windows?Ç¬Æ 98/ME/2000/NT 4/XP
Nokia launched yesterday its very first public test of Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), an innovative mobile communications technology that facilitates seamless handover between WiFi and cell networks. Nokia’s dual-mode UMA phones automatically use VoIP when WiFi connectivity is available, and use GSM as a fallback when compatible WiFi networks are inaccessible. The device is capable of switching between networks during roaming as accessibility changes.
Fifty families are participating in Nokia’s UMA pilot program, which is being rolled out in the city of Oulu, Finland. The city, which is equipped with numerous publicly funded WiFi hotspots, is an ideal location for the experiment. Pilot program participants will use Nokia 6136 phones, which are equipped with dual-mode UMA components and are said to provide “smooth and seamless transitions” between quad-band GSM and 802.11b/g wireless. Support for seamless handover is what distinguishes Nokia’s UMA technology from existing dual-mode solutions, like the BT Fusion service.
Full article: Ars Technica
APO Usb Autorun is a simple, but very handy functionality allows you to create an autorun menus in the same way you would for a CD and use it with your USB drive, or launch playlists, html pages and any other type of file as soon as the USB drive is inserted. It automatically searches for the standard autorun.inf (as used with CDs) and executes it.
In addition to the autorun functionality, the program also allows you to quickly access the files on the USB drive(s) from the tray icon menu.
APO Usb autorun now comes with online updates, multi-language and 2 addtional modules: APO Autorun.inf Builder and APO Starter.
Download: APO Usb Autorun 1.6
Microsoft plans next week to charge a nominal fee for Office 2007 Beta 2 downloads, in a move that runs counter to the practice held by most software companies.
Consumers who download the 2007 Microsoft Office system Beta 2 will be charged $1.50 per download, beginning next Wednesday at 6 p.m. PDT, a Microsoft spokeswoman said.
“Since the end of May, Beta 2 has been downloaded more than 3 million times…That’s 500 percent more than what was expected,” the spokeswoman said. “The fee helps offset the cost of downloading from the servers.”
Read more: CNET News.com
Windows 9x Power Pack is a compilation of Patches and Updates for Windows 98 Gold, SE, And Windows Me.
What’s included?
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ All Unofficial Service Packs for 98 Gold, SE, And Windows Me.
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ MDGx’s 98SE2Me
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ Tihiy’s (re-release) RPLite v5, and instructions/zip for lameskin v6 preview.
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ 7-Zip
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ Windows Media Player 9.0 + Codecs
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ MDGx’s Windows Media Player 10.0 for Win98SE
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ Xeno86’s Kernel Update Project v0.2.7
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ Maximus Decim’s NUSB, NUSB Decorator patches
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ Maximus Decim’s MDAC update package
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ Maximus Decim’s IE6.0 components update for Win98SE
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ Microsoft XML Update
?¢‚Ǩ¬£ and more…
Download: Windows 9x Power Pack 4.1 Patch
November debut could be pushed back, say analysts
Fresh concerns are mounting that Microsoft’s Windows Vista could face further delays.
The news is already worrying technology manufacturers tied to the much awaited upgrade, so much so that Microsoft’s shares dropped on Nasdaq.
Windows Vista is due to be shipped to corporate customers in November, but this date may have been pushed aside.
Kevin Johnson, co-president of platforms and services at Microsoft, told financial analysts that the company will “ship Windows Vista when it is available” and that Microsoft is taking the Vista project “milestone by milestone”.
The new version of Windows has already met with several delays during the five years it has been under construction.
Full story: vnunet.com
The browser company has given a preview of its plans for the next incarnation of Opera, following the recent release of Opera 9
Opera is making plans to steal market share from Microsoft.
Although a launch date for Opera 10 hasn’t yet been set, Opera is hoping that the application will lure users away from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7 by building on Opera 9’s use of small Web applications called Widgets.
Opera 9 was released on 20 June, and is intended to combat IE 7’s release later this year, according to the company.
“Opera 9 is the first salvo towards IE 7. We’re trying to give a user-friendly experience and eliminate problems,” said Thomas Ford, public relations manager for desktop Opera software.
Opera wants version 10 to work on and across any platform, a continuation of its work to make Opera 9 compatible with different platforms such as Nintendo DS games consoles, as a way of differentiating the browser from Microsoft’s offering.
Read more: ZDNet UK
SANTA CLARA, California — Intel officially closed the books on the Pentium era on Thursday with the Core 2 Duo, its most important product launch in 13 years.
“This is not just an incremental change; this is a revolutionary leap,” Intel CEO Paul Otellini said at a launch event here, held in a heavily air-conditioned tent. The last time the company held such an event at its headquarters was when it introduced the Pentium processor in 1993, a similarly important milestone in its history.
Back then, the PC market was a fraction of its current size, Otellini said. Pentium quickly became one of the computer industry’s most recognised brands, albeit in a much different competitive environment.
The Core 2 Duo launch comes as Advanced Micro Devices narrows the gap between the two companies with better-performing products for desktops and servers. At the same time, the PC industry is searching for a boost after a bad financial quarter and yet another delay in the launch of Microsoft’s Windows Vista update.
However, Intel thinks it’s back. Early reviews of the Core 2 Duo have been stellar, and the chipmaker has accumulated more design wins for the new processors than for any other new processor in its history, Otellini said.
The Core 2 Duo is based on Intel’s Core microarchitecture, an offshoot of its work over the last decade to shift away from chasing clock speed as the holy grail of performance. Simply put, chips based on the Core microarchitecture do more work per clock cycle. Intel designers changed the way instructions move through the processor and developed a more sophisticated cache memory design to improve its performance and alleviate the inefficiencies of its front-side bus, or the link between the processor and the main memory.
Full article: ZDNet Australia
iResize can instantly resize a number of images into a different resolution. However it does much more than that.
Using its straightforward interface you can also save the resulting images into different image formats (Jpeg, Bmp, Tiff, Png and Gif).
For those who have bought a widescreen monitor (or a laptop that is equiped with one) and want to convert their 4:3 wallpapers into the 16:9 image resolution, this is easily done by simply checking on the “Wide” option and choosing the target resolution (1280 x 800 for instance).
Note that in order to execute it you will need the .NET 2.0 framework installed in your computer.
Download: iResize 1.03
100% Free RSS/Atom News Reader for Firefox
The Wizz RSS News Reader, is a very simple RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and Atom news aggregator. It is an XUL application, implements as a Firefox extension and is absolutely 100% free of charge. Wizz RSS does NOT contain ANY spyware or adware.
The Wizz RSS extension works with Atom 0.3, Atom 1.0 and with all versions of RSS. It has been fully tested on Windows XP, Windows 2000, Linux (Mandrake 10.0) and Mac OSX 10.3.
Wizz RSS News reader only works with Firefox.
Download: Wizz RSS News Reader 2.1.5
In its latest effort to further the open-source programming movement, Google opened a site Thursday where programmers can host their software projects.
As expected, Google engineering manager Greg Stein announced the project hosting site during a talk at the O’Reilly Open Source Convention in Portland, Ore.
“One of our goals is to encourage healthy, productive open-source communities. Developers can always benefit from more choices in project hosting,” Google said on a frequently-asked-questions site.
One choice for programmers is VA Software’s SourceForge.net, which hosts more than 100,000 open-source projects.
Google’s hosting service, which accumulated dozens of new projects on its opening day, features mechanisms to store software, discuss it with mailing lists and track bugs. Google permits projects under a variety of open-source licenses–but not the full range.
“We’d like to see projects standardize on the most popular, time-tested ones. The selected licenses offer diversity to meet most developer needs,” Google said.
Full article: c|net News.com
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