Tech News
Astro Info is an open-source astronomical ephemeris/almanac for PalmOS. It displays some basic information useful to star gazers, such as rise, trans and set times, coordinates, magnitude and phase information for Sun, Moon, the other 8 planets and stars. It also features a rotatable and zoomable map.
Requirements
Astro Info requires at least PalmOS 3.0. It also works with PalmOS 5.0.
Download: Astro Info 2.5.9 Alpha
Intercepts and decodes all instant message traffic sent/received by the computer (currently AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ and MSN but will support Yahoo in version 0.8). A high performance engine delivers real time message logging. Conversations can be viewed immediately or saved for later analysis. This program is intended for concerned parents/spouses as well as network administrators.
Required Files
Included in 0.7 installer
- Visual Basic Runtime (included with XP)
- Winpcap
Freeware
Download: IM Sniffer 0.8.42 Beta
Software developer acts on complaints about oversized ‘ribbon’ feature
Microsoft is changing the new user interface for its forthcoming Office 2007 productivity suite.
The application will introduce a new feature dubbed the ribbon. Replacing the current menus and toolsbars in the top of a window, the ribbon will change depending on the task that a user is performing. The technology aims to better present the application’s features which previously could be buried deep into the menus.
Testers had complained that the ribbon in its current version takes up too much screen real estate.
Users in the next test version will be able to permanently minimize the ribbon. The application will display a mini toolbar with tabs that lets the user perform basic tasks.
Full article: vnunet.com
That many people in one place has to be tempting…
Social networking portal MySpace is becoming a major target for cyber criminals, with credit card fraud, phishing attacks and spyware all growing concerns for users of the site.
One reason for the problems arising is the overwhelming popularity of the site which has created an ecosystem ripe for the picking by criminals, according to one security expert.
Mark Sunner, CTO of MessageLabs, told silicon.com: “MySpace appears to be coming under fire from all sorts of angles.
“Anywhere on the internet that you get a community you will make money. Whether it’s Amazon or eBay - or now MySpace - it will make money for its owners but it also doesn’t take the criminals long to wake up to the potential.”
And as Amazon and eBay users have been targeted, most notably by phishing scams, so Sunner says it is now the turn of MySpace.
Full story: silicon.com
The Internet Explorer 7 Blocker Toolkit enables IT Administrators to disable automatic delivery of Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority update via Automatic Updates and the Windows Update and Microsoft Update sites.
To help our customers become more secure and up-to-date, Microsoft will distribute Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority update via Automatic Updates for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 soon after the final version of the browser is released (planned for fourth quarter 2006). Microsoft is making a non-expiring Blocker Toolkit available for those organizations that would like to block automatic delivery of Internet Explorer 7 to machines in environments where Automatic Updates is enabled.
System Requirements
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1; Windows XP Service Pack 2
Download: Internet Explorer 7 Blocker Toolkit
ntel has taken a sharp knife to its price list, slashing what it charges for its microprocessors by up to 61 per cent as the company makes way for its Core 2 Duo desktop and mobile CPUs. The chip maker also introduced some old-style Pentium D parts.
The new Pentium Ds are the 3.4GHz 945 - a version of the existing 950 but without Virtualisation Technology. It comes in at $163, operates over an 800MHz frontside bus, has 4MB of L2 and is fabbed at 65nm. The 805 - 2.66MHz, 533MHz FSB, 2MB L2, 90nm - is introduced at $93.
Other Pentium D 9xx chips saw their prices cut today by 18 per cent to 40 per cent - the 920 and 930 were left untouched, at $178. The 820 now costs $113, down 37 per cent. Selected Pentium 4 5xx and 6xx chip prices were reduced eight per cent to 61 per cent.
Celeron D prices were also cut, by between eight per cent and 19 per cent.
Read more: reghardware.co.uk
PALO ALTO, Calif.–In about five months, you’ll be able to watch high-definition video on your iPod.
San Carlos, Calif.-based ATO will come out with a sleeve with a built-in LCD (liquid crystal display) screen that slips around Apple Computer’s iPod–whether it’s a video iPod or not–and turns it into a portable high-definition video player, John Scott, CEO of the start-up, said at the AlwaysOn Innovation Summit taking place this week at Stanford University here.
The HD player will sell for between $199 and $250 and will be released in five months. The initial players will be able to handle MPEG 4, Divx, HD.264 and other video formats. The battery on the device will last about five hours.
The company launched its first iPod video sleeve, the iSee 360, earlier this year and is selling them in Wal-Mart Stores, Best Buy and other retailers. “Sales are going well,” Scott said.
Physically, the device is a sleeve. The iPod slips in the bottom, locks into a USB 2 connector, and effectively vanishes into the larger iSee.
Full article: CNET News.com
Microsoft plans to automatically push Internet Explorer 7 to Windows XP users when the browser update is ready later this year.
IE 7 will be delivered in the fourth quarter as a “high priority” update via Automatic Updates in Windows XP, Gary Schare, Microsoft’s director of IE product management, said in an interview Tuesday. Automatic Updates is a Windows feature typically used for security updates, but Microsoft has also used it to push its antipiracy tool WGA Notifications.
“The justification, of course, is the significant security enhancements in IE 7,” Schare said. Microsoft recommends that all Windows users install the new browser when it ships, he added.
IE 7 will be the first major update to Microsoft’s ubiquitous Web browser in five years. Security was the No. 1 investment for the update, Microsoft has said. Critics have likened predecessor IE 6 to “Swiss cheese” because of the many security vulnerabilities in it. A third and final beta of IE 7 was released late last month.
Full article: ZDNet
The Network Diagnostics for Windows XP tool analyzes information about your network connectivity to help you troubleshoot network-related problems with your computer. Typically you will do this along with a support professional, either on the phone or over the internet. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.
System Requirements
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ Supported Operating Systems: Windows XP Service Pack 2
Download: Network Diagnostic Tool (KB914440)
Tell me wi-fi…
With much about Microsoft’s iPod rival still shrouded in secrecy, its wireless capability stands out as something novel to take on Apple.
Microsoft confirmed on Friday it will launch its first Zune device this year but the company offered few details other than confirming there will be a wi-fi connection.
The software giant hasn’t even specified the purpose of the wireless connection in the Zune device. In an interview with Billboard magazine, Microsoft general manager Chris Stephenson said the company is still considering seven or eight “scenarios”, including using the wi-fi connection for direct music downloads and sampling music from other nearby listeners.
Gartner analyst Michael McGuire said: “They are being coy.” Regardless of how Microsoft uses wireless abilities for the Zune, McGuire said the key will be how easy or difficult the gadget is for consumers to use. For example, designing an interface that enables downloading music from a catalogue without using a keyboard is tricky.
McGuire said: “That’s going to require a nuanced and very deep understanding of user interface.”
Full story: silicon.com
Responding to concerns about click fraud in the online-ad industry, Google will be revealing to advertisers the number of invalid clicks on their ads with changes it’s set to make to its AdWords system late Tuesday.
Now advertisers will be able to see the number of invalid clicks Google found, as well as what percentage that represents of total clicks registered, said Shuman Ghosemajumder, business product manager for trust and safety at Google.
Click fraud occurs when Web site publishers click on ads on their site to boost their revenue or when companies click on rivals’ ads to eat away at their advertising budgets. Invalid clicks, for which Google does not charge advertisers, include inadvertent double clicks on an ad, according to Ghosemajumder.
“Advertisers asked us for more transparency on this issue,” he said. “Until now advertisers haven’t had a great deal of data to compare from their own accounts in order to be able to understand what Google is doing for them.”
Without relevant click fraud data from Google, advertisers have had to rely on estimates from third-party companies that provide services to combat click fraud and that Google accuses of inflating numbers to drive more business.
Industry reports say fraudulent clicks range from 14.1 percent to 14.6 percent to as high as 20 percent of total clicks.
Full story: CNET News.com
Security war heats up
Yahoo has launched an internet security software suite that offers antivirus and a firewall.
The application is available online from Yahoo’s home page at an introductory price of $49.99.
The suite’s functionality is similar to Symantec’s Norton Internet Security application which retails at $69.95.
The offering comes one month after Microsoft launched its Onecare consumer security suite.
Read more: vnunet.com
DVD Shrink is software to backup DVD discs. You can use this software in conjunction with DVD burning software of your choice, to make a backup copy of any DVD video disc.
DVD Shrink will also burn your backup DVD, if you have installed the latest version of Nero or if you download CopytoDVD. You can also download a demo version of Nero. If you already possess alternative burning software and prefer to stick with it, then you can still use DVD Shrink. The output from DVD Shrink can be saved as files on your hard drive, which you can then burn with software of your choice.
DVD Shrink is free software.
Download: DVD Shrink 3.2.0.15 Windows 9x/2000/XP
Apple has launched the wireless incarnation of its Mighty Mouse multi-button, scroll-ball fitted input device. As anticipated from recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filings, the rodent used Bluetooth 2.0 and drops LED optical tracking for a laser-based system.
Like the previous, wired version, the wireless MM has a pair of side-mounted buttons - hopefully, they’ve been moved to a slightly more comfortable position this time - while two sensors mounted beneath the single plastic cover detect touches to emulate the action of a two-button mouse. The tiny ball on top allows users to scroll diagonally as well as horizontally and vertically, trackball fashion.
Read more: reghardware.co.uk
Say what?
A new study suggests the quality of voice over IP is getting worse.
Brix Networks, a company that develops monitoring tools for service providers, analysed data it gathered from a free website it created two years ago called TestYourVoip.com, which allows consumers to test the quality of their VoIP services.
While it’s no secret net phone services don’t offer the same call quality as traditional phones, in its study - published on Monday - Brix discovered VoIP call quality has declined by about five per cent in the past 18 months.
With almost one million VoIP connections tested through its website, Brix said about 20 per cent of all calls had unacceptable quality. This is up from about 15 per cent of calls made about a year ago.
Kaynam Hedayat, chief technology officer for Brix, said the decline in voice quality is happening because voice services are increasingly competing for resources on the same IP network as other services such as video, music downloads and interactive gaming.
Read more: silicon.com
Y!Go is an J2ME client for Yahoo Messenger.
Based on own modified version of jymsg API (http://jymsg9.sourceforge.net) wants to be a base futured client for Yahoo Messenger. Does not require any gateway, it connect direct to Yahoo server.
Download: Y!Go Alpha 2
MP3 Checker is an easy to use tool that quickly scans MP3s for any type of corruption.
MP3 Checker uses 3 independent methods to detect all kinds of different fake mp3s:
1- MPEG Header Frames verification - corrupted MP3s
2- Reads audio data using rule based checking - fake MP3s
3- Cross reference for repeated mpeg audio frames - repeated or looped mp3s
MP3 Checker is completely free to use.
Download: MP3 Checker 1.08
Be afraid, be very afraid
Hidden malware search capabilities within Google which were reserved for antivirus and security research firms just weeks ago have been cracked by hackers, according to security industry sources.
The key to finding malware in Google lies in having the signature for the specific malware program, according to researchers from enterprise IT security firm Secure Computing.
However, the company reported that these previously hidden search capabilities have recently fallen into the hands of hackers.
“Why bother creating a new virus, worm or Trojan when you can simply find one and download it using Google?” said Paul Henry, vice president of strategic accounts at Secure Computing.
Read more: vnunet.com
The company launches its much-awaited Rosedale II mobile WiMax chip, a crucial step in the mobile data race ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äù and war of words ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äù against super-3G
Intel’s Rosedale II mobile WiMax chip was announced on Monday, which the company hopes will help further popularise the high-speed mobile technology.
The chip will see commercial trials in Europe by the end of this year, according to Chris Beardsmore, Intel’s market development manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“Rosedale II is our first silicon that supports [mobile Wimax]?¢‚Ǩ¬¶ which gives us a migration story from [fixed Wimax] networks being deployed today,” Beardsmore told ZDNet UK on Friday.
While fixed WiMax networks are planned for some areas of the UK, mobile WiMax has lagged behind in development. Mobile WiMax promises to bring high-speed, long-range wireless connectivity to laptops and handheld devices and is seen as rival to HSDPA or Super 3G, which is being pushed by many of the mobile operators such as Orange and T-Mobile.
Intel’s Beardsmore claimed Rosedale I ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äù used in fixed WiMax devices ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äù had allowed manufacturers to bring their costs down, but Rosedale II would further extend the market for Intel’s WiMax offerings.
“What we’re seeing with Rosedale II is, not only have the vendors who bought Rosedale I said they’ll buy it, but we’ve also seen people like Alcatel enter the market,” he said.
Full article: ZDNet UK
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