Mozilla Firefox users are the safest Web surfers on the Internet, according to a study by The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Google and IBM’s Internet Security Services. According to the study Firefox users were the most likely to use an updated version of their browser.

Researchers determined Firefox users are by far the safest Web surfers on the Web during an 18-month study. The study based its conclusions of safety on how often users of different browsers updated to the most recent version of browser software. Much of the credit to Firefox’s safety ranking stems from its ease of self updating by the software. Unlike IE which has to update via Windows Update, Firefox has a self-contained updating mechanism which translates into Mozilla users being far more likely to have the most up-to-date (and safest) version of their browser.

According to the study titled “Understanding the Web browser threat: Examination of vulnerable online Web browser populations and the ‘insecurity iceberg,’” 83 percent of Firefox users had the most recent version. Next, Safari users (65 percent) were likely to use the latest version of the browser. The study concluded that only 48 percent of IE users were surfing the Internet with the most recent version of IE.

Of course Firefox has not been immune to security flaws. Just hours after the most recent Firefox release last month, researchers discovered an undisclosed security flaw. Despite this difficulty, however, Mozilla’s browser has been increasing in popularity with a current market share hovering around 19 percent.

The study comes out on the heels of a warning from US-CERT that Internet Explorer, the most widely used browser, has some serious security flaws that can leave you vulnerable to malicious browser attacks. The security hole found by researchers report the IE flaw affects three versions of Internet Explorer: IE6, IE7 and IE8, beta 1.

Microsoft is still at a loss to fix the problem, because unlike most malicious software the zero-day flaw allows code to be embedded into the user’s operating system and shows no signs of any unusual activity, at least by current modes of malware detection.

Last week, Microsoft unveiled a part of its new security apparatus which could help combat the new threat, but it’s only available for IE8, beta 2 which comes out in August. The new IE8 will cross reference Web sites with a ‘blacklist’ on Microsoft’s servers and will prevent a user from visiting any unauthorized sites. However, unlike Firefox which updates its ‘blacklist’ several times a day and keeps a list of potential threats on the user’s computer, IE8 beta 2 will check with Microsoft’s servers every time it opens up a new page.

We will have to wait and see if Microsoft’s plan to deliver real-time threat information to IE8 will make the browser safer or just slower.

Source: http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/007215.html

asked Valenin: “why did you create XHTML Challenge”?

I started this project because I wanted to have a place to check up sites quickly markup-wise. There’s a lot of CSS galleries out there, but not many look under the hood at the code and check them out. I plan to add a few other facts regarding the code of the sites challenged.

The site is created using a homemade PHP framework. The facts about the sites challenged are analyzed in the background after submission, and periodically after that. The thumbnails of the sites are taken from a 3rd party provider.

Valentin Agachi, XHTML Challenge

Thoughts…

The concept is fun and creative, however, there are areas that I think it could improve:

• The voting system could be enchanced by Ajax. It is very annoying because the page reload every time make a vote.
• The site is missing a commenting system. People like to comment, who doesn’t?
• The vote count should be based on user’s login, not cookie (and IP address I believe). This will prevent the same user from voting on the same challenge under different network or when the cookie is expired.

Check out some of the interesting challenges:

Mac OS X Leopard vs Window Vista

Del.icio.us vs. Digg

Facebook vs. Hi5

Barack Obama vs. Hillary Clinton

Firefox vs. Windows IE

Freelance Switch vs. Freelance Folder

Performancing vs. Problogger

Adobe released on Tuesday the first Reader application to bake movies and animation into the Portable Document Format.

With Adobe Reader 9, users can play Flash movies, Shockwave animation, and other rich media content without needing to open a third-party player.

With Reader 9, one click would play a Flash movie embedded in the PDF shown here.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

PDFs are reaching new levels of interactivity with this release. Past versions of the nearly ubiquitous and free application, by contrast, have enabled dynamic forms but served largely to open print-ready PDFs.

The update is supposed to load more quickly than version 8, addressing the gripes of many users who felt that Reader slowed down Web surfing.

Adobe has described this release as potentially leading to a one-size-fits-all media player. Acrobat 9, released in June at between $299 to $699, will embed video and animation within PDFs.

Acrobat 9 document-creation software can embed videos and animation as well as custom-developed applications alongside maps that preserve geospatial data, 3D models, images, word processing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations in common formats. The priciest, Pro Extended flavor of Acrobat can convert multiple video formats into Flash.

Security enhancements to the refresh of Acrobat and Reader include support for digital signatures and 256-bit AES encryption.

Adobe’s launch of an online word processor and conferencing tool via Acrobat.com in June enables users to comment and collaborate simultaneously on documents, and to convert documents to PDFs.

The Adobe Reader 9 download for Windows and Macs requires at least 128MB of RAM on either a Windows 2000 SP4 or newer system, or an Apple Mac G4 or newer running OS 10.4.11 or higher, respectively.

Source: http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9982192-2.html?tag=bl

Adobe announced late Monday night that it was providing optimized Adobe Flash Player technology to Google and Yahoo to help them better index dynamic Web content and rich Internet applications that include the Shockwave Flash file (SWF) format.

It sounds exciting, but what exactly does it mean for Web searchers, Webmasters, and Flash creators? CNET News.com asked Adobe, Google, and Yahoo and got some answers.

Q: What is Adobe doing?

A: Adobe is providing Google and Yahoo with optimized Adobe Flash Player technology so that their search engine spiders will be able to find and index SWF content, including Flash “gadgets” such as buttons or menus and self-contained Flash Web sites.

Q: How does this work?

A: When a search engine spider hits a normal HTML page and encounters Flash content it will load it in an optimized Flash player on the search engine server. Google has developed an algorithm that explores Flash files in the same way a person would, such as by clicking on buttons and entering input. The algorithm then indexes all the text it encounters through the navigation.

Q: How will the search experience change as a result?

A: The text that people see when they interact with Flash files, such as captions and introductions, will now be used when Google generates a snippet that appears below the URL on the search results page. The words that appear in the Flash files can now be used to match query terms in Google searches. In addition, the URLs that appear in Flash files will be fed into Google’s crawling system and be indexed.

Overall, more content will be indexed and search engine result rankings will change to reflect the additional content and its relevance. The snippets will give better information about the page on the search results. You can also expect search engine optimizers to figure out ways to improve rankings of Flash-based Web sites just like they do with HTML-based sites.

Q: Why is this necessary?

A: More than 98 percent of the Internet-connected desktops have Flash Player installed and Flash is hugely popular. Until now, the search engines were able to index some static text and links within SWF files, but much of the content was not getting indexed because of the dynamic aspect of the rich media files. Currently, all that content that was essentially invisible to the search engines will appear in the search results and the small amount of content that gets indexed appears on the search results page in jumbled words and code that are of no use to the Web searcher.

“Now, you are losing all the context of what content was near each other and running at the same time,” says Justin Everett-Church, a senior product manager for Adobe Flash Player. He likened the impact to the difference between reading the index of a book and reading the contents of the book.

This screen shot shows what results look like on Google for Flash content that is indexed without optimization with the new Adobe Flash Player Technology.

(Credit: Google)

Q: Do Flash developers or Web masters have to do anything differently?

A: No. However, blog site Search Engine Land suggested that Flash developers should still spend time on search engine optimization and create distinct URLs for each piece of content.

Q: Will searchers be able to see more Flash-based content composed only of images and video as a result of this optimization?

A: Not at this time. Only text and hyperlinks will be indexed. However, Everett-Church said “there is no reason why images and video can’t be supported in the future. It’s up to our search partners if and when they choose to do that, but it is a possibility.” A Google representative declined to comment on any future plans.

Q: Any other limitations?

A: Yes. Google doesn’t crawl all types of JavaScript, which is used to execute most of the Flash content on the Internet. Google won’t specify which types of JavaScript are executed, but said the company was working on executing all types. Adobe’s Everett-Church says: “This is our initial implementation… I think there will be some areas to expand on there, as well.”

In addition, text in all languages is supported with the Flash optimization, except for bi-directional languages such as Hebrew and Arabic.

Q: When will Web searchers see the impact of these changes?

A: Google has already started rolling out the changes. Yahoo expects to offer improved Web search capabilities for SWF content in a future Yahoo Search update, but could not specify when that might come.

Q: Will this optimization mean Web surfers will see more Flash pages?

A: “This will change the way sites are designed,” Everett-Church says. “It will allow more creative ways of interacting with the browser…and sites won’t have to sacrifice searchability.”

Q: Can Google users disable the optimization if they don’t want to see more Flash results?

A: Sort of. Google users can go into Advanced Search Features and put a minus sign for “filetype:swf.” But this will only eliminate pages that are SWF extensions and not necessarily all pages with Flash embedded in them.

Q: Will Adobe be providing the technology to Microsoft for use on Live Search?

A: An Adobe spokesman said the company couldn’t comment on its work with other vendors, but said it is exploring ways to make the technology more broadly available. Microsoft has a competing technology to Flash, called Silverlight. A Microsoft spokesman was attempting to get comment about the company’s plans on Tuesday.

More information about the effort is available on Adobe’s Web site and through Google’s Webmaster Central Blog.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9982137-7.html?tag=bl

Bill Gates may have only just said his goodbyes, but the Microsoft machine keeps on running with the company announcing information about the release of Windows 7.

The paint may not have even dried on the Windows that is Vista, but it seems that Microsoft is already looking to launch its successor within the next two years.

In a letter to enterprise and business customers on Tuesday, vice president of Microsoft Bill Veghte announced that the approximate launch date for Windows 7 is January 2010.

Seventh heaven

In the letter, Veghte wrote: “Our plan is to deliver Windows 7 approximately three years after the January 2007 general availability launch date of Windows Vista.

“You’ve also let us know you don’t want to face the kinds of incompatibility challenges with the next version of Windows you might have experienced early with Windows Vista.

“Our goal is to ensure that the migration process from Windows Vista to Windows 7 is straightforward.”

Well, if Intel is anything to go by, it won’t be the migration from Vista to Windows 7 that will be the problem, it will be the migration from XP to Windows 7 that most computer users will be worried about.

Source: http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/windows-7-date-is-confirmed-410016

The latest release of Firefox 3 should give Microsoft something to worry about. I wasn’t an avid Firefox user until the pre-release days of Firefox 3. And by the time I made the switch, it dawned on me how Firefox 3 was light years ahead of Internet Explorer 7, and the lackluster Internet Explorer 8 beta. I won’t go on and on about the virtues of Firefox, rather what pointers Microsoft can take from Mozilla to build a better Internet Explorer and hopefully regain their dwindling market share.

1. Conform to better web standards

Internet Explorer (IE) is anything but a fully compliant web standard browser. Every other browser, including Opera and Safari is standards compliant. What this means is that IE users can’t “see” the page exactly how the web designer wanted it to be viewed. But due to the widespread, albeit declining, popularity of IE, more sites are designed for IE users which means that the site appears broken in other browsers. A newer version of IE, with stricter regard to web standards will save viewers, as well as web developers, countless headaches. Nowadays, a website appears broken in Firefox once in a blue moon, ie. never.

Nowadays, more and more websites are being developed within the guidelines of web standards, so IE users risk having a “broken browser” while other users are happily browsing. Microsoft should concentrate on adhering to stricter web guidelines. Their IE 8 Beta is a step in the right direction.

2. Let’s see some innovation in Internet Explorer

Graphical updates aren’t innovative, Microsoft. Let’s be honest. What new features have we seen lately and those that are actually useful? While Microsoft is scratching their heads, Mozilla has come up with the “awesome bar” in Firefox 3. You can search your entire browsing history just by typing a word in the address bar, and Firefox displays the most relevant results. It has saved me the trouble of having to type in common web addresses that I regularly visit.

Then there is the crash recovery feature in Firefox, which automatically restores your previous browsing session in case of a power out or if Windows crashes(which it does often). And the best thing that Microsoft has come up with in IE 8, is Activities and Safari-like Webslices.

3. Build a robust and more secure browser

Face it. If the underlying code is flawed, hackers will continually find ways to exploit holes, no matter how many patches you push out to frustrated customers. Although noting is perfect and even though a security hole surfaced in Firefox 3, but having a robust and reliable base from the ground up will go a long way in terms of security and reliability, and less development time spent on fixing and patches.

But is Microsoft alone to blame? It appears that hackers deliberately target IE because of it’s widespread popularity. That way, if they can successfully exploit a hole, they have greater chances of infecting a wide array of PCs. But that trend is soon to change, with Firefox’s increasing popularity.

4. Open source and a plethora of plug-ins

While IE may never go open source, but Microsoft can at least work to have a wide range of plug-ins for their users. Another reason for Firefox’s growing market share is that is is highly customizable with the tons of plug-ins available. With a simple download, Firefox can be anything you want it to be. A full-fledged and much better RSS feed reader or even a blog editor, which I use :-). And even the look of Firefox can be changed with themes.

It is impossible for a single company to meet the needs of millions of users and that’s where open source comes in. With the combined resources of hundreds of developers, Microsoft can ensure that its browser will appeal to everyone’s needs.

5. Have a faster and more efficient rendering engine

According to a PCWorld.com test report in May 2008, Firefox took a mere 3.61 seconds to load a page from the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark site. IE 8 (Beta) isn’t much far behind, at 10.2 seconds, compared to the dismal 50 seconds it took IE 7 to complete the benchmark. Even I feel a new sense of speed after switching to Firefox 3. Pages load much faster on my turtle-speed net connection than IE 7. Kudos to Mozilla for building a great and free browser.

I use Firefox 3, do you?

The best thing I did was moving to Firefox 3. To read a complete review of Firefox 3, I recommend heading to the Winsupersite. And if you’ve made up your mind, you can Get Firefox with Google Toolbar. Yes, I get a commission every time someone downloads.

Source: http://www.gamersworldbd.com/2008/06/firefox-impressions-for-better-internet-explorer.html

Three people will essentially fill the void left behind when Bill Gates retires from the company he and friend Paul Allen co-founded in 1975.

Since Gates began his transition from leading Microsoft to heading his personally-bankrolled charity, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, his job as chief software architect has been handled by Ray Ozzie.

Craig Mundie inherited Gates’ chief research and strategy officer duties, while former Harvard classmate Steve Ballmer became chief executive officer at the Seattle-based software colossus.

Gates left Harvard after two years to found the firm that became global powerhouse Microsoft. He later received honorary degrees from Harvard and other universities.

After retiring, Gates will remain chairman of the Microsoft board of directors and its largest shareholder.

“I don’t think anything is going to drastically change the day he leaves,” said Matt Rosoff of the private analyst firm Directions On Microsoft.

“If he thinks something is important and tells Steve Ballmer, Ballmer will listen to him.”

Still, Gates’ bespectacled nerdish visage is an integral part of Microsoft’s image and his departure is symbolic, according to analysts.

“The challenge Microsoft has when the founder departs is remembering its heart,” said analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.

“At some point the firm has to take the essence of what made Bill Gates successful and make sure that is preserved. Whether it is a company or a person, once you’ve lost your heart there isn’t much left but a shell.”

Analysts say there are signs Microsoft has been struggling since Gates stepped away from managing operations several years ago.

The Windows and Office software on which its fortune is built have stumbled.

Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system released in January of 2007 has flopped with customers, many of whom are clinging to its predecessor Windows XP.

“They are in trouble on the desktop (computer software),” Enderle said. “Microsoft started as a desktop vendor and suddenly it is its weakness.”

Meanwhile, Apple’s Macintosh computers have been gaining popularity.

While Windows is still used on 90 per cent of the world’s computers, Macintosh computers using Apple operating systems have grown rapidly.

The software giant also sees its bottom line threatened by Google, which offers free online programs that compete with Office and other packaged software sold by Microsoft.

Microsoft failed in a recent bid to buy Yahoo for nearly US$50 billion in order to combine online resources to better battle Google in the internet search and advertising market.

Enderle said he didn’t see Gates’ fingers in the attempted takeover, and Gates was likely to have been among board members who backed pulling the plug on acquisition talks.

Microsoft’s server and tools division is its most profitable unit. It’s entertainment unit, which sells Xbox video game consoles and gaming software, has yet to make a profit.

“You could see Microsoft struggling after Bill Gates steps out of day-to-day roles,” Enderle said.

“A founder takes such a larger-than-life role and directs a company in very subtle ways that are often forgotten when a founder leaves. That gap, for a lot of companies, has been almost terminal.”

Source: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/soa/Microsoft-in-trouble-as-Bill-Gates-leaves/0,130061733,339290022,00.htm

It’s been a long, leak-filled wait, but Apple finally took the wraps off its 3G iPhone. Thinner edges, full plastic back, flush headphone jack, and the iPhone 2.0 firmware — Apple’s taking a lot of the criticisms to heart from the first time around. Obviously 3G is at the forefront, but they’re also making sure it’s available all over internationally, works with enterprises, runs 3rd party apps… and does it all for cheaper. Apple claims its 3G speeds trounce the competition, with pageloads 36% faster than the N95 and Treo 750 — and of course it completely trounces the old EDGE data speeds.

Battery life isn’t getting put out to pasture though, with 300 hours of standby, 8-10 hours of 2G talk, 5 hours of 3G talk, 7 hours of video and 24 hours of audio. GPS is also a go. Apple is using A-GPS, which supplements regular satellite GPS data with info from cellular towers for faster location. (WiFi data is also worked into the mix, which should give users a pretty solid lock on where the heck they are on this planet.) Unfortunately, as expected there’s no front-facing cam, and while its edges are thinner than before it’s still about a millimeter thicker at the center (12.3mm over 11.6mm before). Apple hopes to launch in 70 countries this year, with the black 8GB going for $199 and 16GB for $299 in black or white. (Both price points require a contract, of course.) Apple will be hitting the 22 biggest markets, including the US, on July 11th. More info after the break.

Update: Just bought an iPhone? Listen up: “Customers who purchased a 2.5G iPhone on or after May 27 and want to swap it out for a new iPhone will be able to do so without incurring an additional handset charge for the new device. They will of course need to turn in their 2.5G iPhone.” And for the rest of you, AT&T says there’s no way to buy it without agreeing to a contract. So sorry. More details here.

We’ve got our hands-on impressions right here.

Get the full roundup of iPhone 3G coverage here!

Other tidbits:

• It’s a teensy bit thicker. 4.5 by 2.4 by 0.48 inches (115.5 by 62.1 by 12.3 mm), and weighs 4.7 ounces (133 grams).
• Radios galore: Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), UMTS / HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100MHz), GSM / EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz), Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• A SIM ejector comes in the box, at last. That would be a paper clip.
• There’s no dock included, just a USB power adapter and dock connector.
• On AT&T unlimited iPhone 3G data plans for consumers will be available for $30 a month, on top of voice plans starting at $39.99 a month. Unlimited 3G data for business users will be $45 a month, on top of voice. There’s a minimum two-year agreement, but we’re not positive what that’ll look like for those currently enslaved to an AT&T contract — you could be looking at a solid four years of time if you just took the plunge.
• Apple’s new MobileMe service will be coming with the iPhone 2.0 software, bringing push email and contacts for all.
• Apple’s official page is here, and you can watch the new ad here.
• Available on July 11th in: Australia, Austria, Belgium (French), Belgium (Dutch), Canada (English), Canada (French), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland (French), Switzerland (German), UK, USA
• The rest of these are slated to get the phone this year: Argentina, Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, C. African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, India, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macau, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Niger, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Singapore, Qatar, Slovakia, South Africa, Turkey, Uruguay.
• On the chatting front, developers will be able to ping a centralized push server with their apps, to keep down battery usage and app overload on phones.
• No mention has been made of MMS, video recording or built-in iChat. What gives, Apple?
• Yes, it’s in the FCC.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/09/iphone-3g-is-finally-official/ ]]> http://www.kash-if.com/iphone-3g-is-finally-official-starts-at-199/feed/ http://www.kash-if.com/the-best-graphics-cards-for-the-money/ http://www.kash-if.com/the-best-graphics-cards-for-the-money/#comments Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:05:36 +0000 admin http://www.kash-if.com/?p=43 Detailed graphics card http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_processing_unit specifications and reviews are great—that is, if you have the time to do the research. But at the end of the day, what a gamer needs is the best graphics card within a certain budget.

So if you don’t have the time to research the benchmarks, or if you don’t feel confident enough in your ability to make the right decision, fear not. We at Tom’s Hardware Guide have come to your aid, with a simple list of the best gaming cards available.

May Review and June Updates:

Unlike the massive price reductions we’ve seen in previous months, the May market was relatively stable when it comes to graphics cards. Some prices shifted slightly, but the biggest mover was, strangely enough, the Geforce 8600 GTS with a 20% price hike to the same price point as the vastly superior 9600 GSO. Needless to say, the 8600 GTS has been removed from the recommended list!

Speaking of the 9600 GSO, it has arrived in force. The interesting thing is that these cards are basically rebranded 8800 GS cards, so they don’t really bring anything new to the market, although they seem to be a little cheaper than their 8800 GSO brothers. Why, we can’t say.

These 9600 GSO cards are held back a bit because most of them have 384 MB of RAM; there are some 768 MB versions of the card out there, but they are harder to find, and their price is too close to the better-performing 9600 GT.

The really big news for June is the anticipated arrival of the next generation graphics cards, rumored to arrive in the next couple months: ATI’s R700 series and Nvidia’s G200 series. With no concrete evidence of anything yet, we can only report the rumors: the R700 series is supposed to be cheap and powerful, while the G200 is rumored to be even more powerful but very expensive. None of that means anything until we have benchmarks to see, but when these cards arrive, it will undoubtedly change the graphic card landscape really quickly.

Some notes about our recommendations

A few simple guidelines to keep in mind when reading this list include:

- This list is for gamers who want to get the most for their money. If you don’t play games, the cards in this list are more expensive than you need.
- Prices and availability change on a daily basis. We can’t offer up-to-the-minute accurate pricing info, but we can list some good cards that you probably won’t regret buying at the price ranges we suggest.
- The list is based on some of the best U.S. prices from online retailers. In other countries or at retail, your mileage will most certainly vary.
- These are new card prices. No used or open box cards are in the list—you might get a good deal on these, but they are outside the scope of what we’re trying to do.

Source: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-cards,1942.html

The search giant updated its favicon, the eensy little 256-pixel logo that appears in browser locations such as bookmarks, URL location bar, and window tabs. The old icon, a capital G in a multicolored box, has been supplanted by a cuddlier-looking blue lower-case g.

It’s a minor change, to be sure. But coming from a company obsessed not only with design choices but also the effect those choices have, I can’t help but draw attention to it. And given how often most Web users see that icon sprinkled across their browsers, it’s probably smart to pay some attention to that aspect of branding.

Note that the new favicon doesn’t appear on all Google sites yet. And in some areas, there are other favicons: Google Docs, for example, shows different icons for online spreadsheets, word-processing files, and presentations. Conveniently, those favicons are color-coded with the same green, blue, and red colors used by Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9956237-7.html?tag=nefd.riv

The company has put out a call to its global community of users to pledge to download the new 3.0 version of Firefox on the day the browser is made available to the public.

Given that there’s no established Guinness World Record for software downloads, Mozilla is destined for the record book no matter what happens. A Mozilla spokesperson said the company is working with the Guinness Book Of World Records to verify the record attempt and will be furnishing 10% of the company’s download logs for an extrapolated final download count.

Justin Fitzhugh, director of IT for Mozilla, is confident that Mozilla will be able to handle the bandwidth surge, which he said is likely to be a fraction of the load Mozilla bears when it releases automated browser updates to its installed base of users. “We’ve scaled for this already,” he said, noting that in addition to the servers in its own data center, Mozilla relies on donated server capacity around the world.

Mozilla claims that it has 175 million users in more than 230 countries. The United Nations recognizes 192 member states. Presumably, Mozilla is counting perhaps a dozen countries with limited or substantial international recognition (Taiwan), several would-be countries not recognized by other nations (Abkhazia), and a variety of territories (Norfolk Island).

Over at SpreadFirefox.com, there’s an interactive map that lists by country those who have pledged to download Firefox 3.0 on the designated day. At the time this article was filed, the United States had the lead, with almost 38,000 promising to participate in the download event. In Turkmenistan, only six people have committed. Enthusiasm for the download record attempt is clearly higher in neighboring Uzbekistan, where 50 people have pledged to participate.

About two weeks ago, Mozilla released Firefox 3.0 RC1, a version of the new browser deemed stable enough for public testing. Mozilla says the official 3.0 release will occur in June.

Firefox 3.0 RC1 is noticeably faster than version 2.0. It also handles memory better.

As of May 29, Firefox has 17.76% of the global browser market share, according to Net Applications. Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) Internet Explorer accounts for 74.83%, and Apple’s Safari accounts for 5.81%.

Source: http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/browsers/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208401028

Microsoft is spending much of this week offering glimpses of its next operating system at the All Things Digital Conference. If the previews are any indication, MinWin has joined BOB on the ash heap of Redmond’s abandoned projects.

Indeed, Windows 7 looks like it’s going to include many of Vista’s useless CPU and memory hogging “features” and then some. In other words, it will be time to upgrade the hardware again when Windows 7 ships in the next year-and-a-half or so.

(Memo from Intel CEO Paul Otellini to Steve Ballmer: “Thanks again, pal.”)

Exhibit A: The “Multi-Touch” technology that Microsoft plans to offer in Windows 7. As my colleague J. Nicholas Hoover reports, the technology is designed to allow users to open and close windows, launch applications, and perform other functions by touching the screen and using an assortment of hand gestures.

That’s uh, interesting, if it works; the history of failed direct input technologies is long and inglorious.

But, like Vista’s seldom used Flip 3-D interface, it’s nothing more than a resource-hungry novelty that will be used infrequently by people who spend most of their day on a PC. It’s simpler, faster, and ergonomically better to use a mouse for most functions.

Microsoft also previewed another gimmicky new function in Windows 7 called Concierge, which is basically a circular pop-up menu. Whoa, that’s worth buying another 2 GB of RAM!

So what’s the harm? Users not drawn to such bells and whistles can just turn them off, right? That’s only partly true. Vista requires considerably more processing power and memory than Windows XP, whether or not you use all its features.

And most users don’t want or all these googahs, especially if they require hundreds of dollars worth of additional hardware. In fact, computer users — in business or at home — in general want a machine that can handle word processing, e-mail, and the Internet, and that’s about it.

That’s why Wal-Mart’s $199 Linux PC sold out within days of its appearance on the retailer’s Web site. That’s why a story I wrote about a software tool that lets users strip all the gunk from Vista proved to be one of our most popular articles of the year.

Microsoft appears to be in denial about all of this, if early glimpses of Windows 7 are any indication. The company once again has adopted the kitchen sink approach to OS design. MinWin, apparently, was nothing more than a science fair project.

Microsoft’s problem is that its business model has come to rely on selling operating systems that cost more than the hardware on which they reside. It knows this can’t be sustained indefinitely, there’s too many new options in the marketplace. Apple is resurgent, Google’s eyeing the desktop, and there’s those Wal-Mart Linux PCs.

But Ballmer and company have apparently decided that they can sell a few more big fat operating systems until they get this whole Internet thing figured out (or buy their way into it).

It’s a risky strategy. (Otellini to Ballmer, circa late 2009: “Steve, the users are revolting!” Ballmer to Otellini: “Tell them to bathe!”)

Source: http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/05/windows_7_shows.html

Adobe Systems is offering two-day trials of three beta applications from its next Creative Suite package.

The previews of Dreamweaver for Web design, Fireworks for image editing, and Soundbooth for audio editing became available Monday.

Trials expire after 48 hours for most people, but registered CS3 users get to keep using the CS4 betas until the final applications replace them.

Adobe hasn’t publicly confirmed its planned shipping date or the name for the next Creative Suite, which we’re nicknaming CS4. Adobe Creative Suite 3 was released in March 2007.

We took a quick test drive of the Dreamweaver trial and liked some of the changes. Among the touted enhancements are a Related Files Toolbar and Code Navigator. The Properties panel integrates HTML and CSS coding, which could save time for those who edit dynamic sites. A new Live View Mode, driven by Webkit open-source rendering, previews pages within Dreamweaver, eliminating the need to open a browser. Adobe intends for this feature to make it easier to debug JavaScript as well as to work with Flash animation.

The interface of Fireworks, originally from Macromedia, finally resembles those of other applications in the Creative Suite. Fireworks features compatibility with Adobe’s AIR, Flash, and Flex Builder as well as HTML. And users can export design mockups as high fidelity, interactive, and secure Adobe PDF files.

Soundbooth adds support for multiple track editing as well as volume matching across audio files. Users can preview the compression settings before saving MP3s. Speech recognition is supposed to enable quick, searchable transcripts of dialog content.

There’s no word yet on whether the next rough draft of Photoshop will be available for a free trial. However, Photoshop’s next iteration may become available in widgets, enabling users to mix and mash up some features with third-party content, according to a blog post last week by Photoshop product manager John Nash. We suspect that there will be more opportunities to blur the lines between the desktop, the Web, and mobile platforms within the next Creative Suite.

System requirements for the Windows trials demand a machine running XP or Vista with at least 512MB of RAM, 1 gigabyte of disk space, and a Pentium 4 processor. Mac users must have OS X version 10.4.11 or later on a PowerPC G5 or Intel-based system. Soundbooth, however, won’t run on a PowerPC Mac.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9953503-7.html?tag=nefd.top

1: Hyperwords - All in the Right Click!

This is undoubtedly one of the best Firefox extensions available and my favourite too. It adds a huge number of options to the mouse right click, thereby saving you a lot of time.

For example you want to look up the meaning of a word, translate it to a different language, check it in Wikipedia, find the Whois or Google links info about a page, you get all that in the right click. You don’t need to open a separate tab and go to another web page. These were just a few examples and once you install this and explore it, you will be amazed to find the number of options there. See screenshots below.

2: Paste Email - No more repetitive typing!

The Paste Email extension helps you to paste repetitive texts in forms or emails with one or two clicks through the context menu / right-click. It is very helpful if you deal with a lot of emails everyday and have to type words like ” See ya ” or ” Thanks buddy ” again and again. This extension will help you to insert these repetitive words easily and save your time there.

3: Read it Later - Just a click to Save!

There may have been times when you are in a hurry and you want to save a webpage for reading later. Now adding it to the Bookmarks could be a little tedious and you just hope if you could have done it with a single click. Thats when Read it Later comes into play. Mark has already described it in great detail here.

4: Shareaholic - The easiest way to share!

If you are active in multiple social networks like Facebook, Stumbleupon etc and you want to share a link with your friends then going to each of the sites separately and submitting the links there could be quite time taking. Here the Shareaholic Firefox add-on comes into the picture. It creates a small button just beside the browser address bar from where you can easily share the link in multiple networks. You can customize it and it also supports Twitter and Friendfeed. It also helps you to email a page if you have a Bzzster email account.

5: Next Tab - Open links in the next tab

If you are a heavy tab user like me, then you will find this extension to be very useful.

Lets say if you have 10 tabs open and you click on a link in the first tab. You will find that the link opens at the end and you need to go to the end of the list to check the page. Next Tab firefox add-on solves this everyday problem and helps you to open the link just beside that tab. Simple and effective solution.

6: TinyUrl Creator - Easy Tiny Url Creation

If we want to shorten a long link to a short one we know we can go to tinyurl.com and do it from there. This add-on creates an option in the tools menu to easily create a tiny url from a web page. Now I know that you can use the tiny url bookmarklet too, but this is better. Thats because it also saves you from the hassle of copying the tiny url. It saves it directly to the clipboard. See screenshots below.

I hope you like these extensions and they help you become more productive with Firefox.

Source: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-excellent-firefox-extensions-made-to-save-you-time/

After a good deal of–ahem–lively discussion, the editors at PC World have completed this year’s list of the 100 best technology products available today. How did we do it? After nominating hundreds of devices, apps, sites, and services we knew to be good, we rated each one on its design, functionality, performance, and impact; the ones garnering the highest total scores made our list. Note that we chose not to rate products specifically on their price or value, focusing instead on their overall quality. After the scoring was over and the dust had cleared, we had a list that served, among other things, to remind us of what an exciting time in tech this truly is, with game-changing product development happening on many fronts.

More on the Best Products of 2008

• The 100 Best Products, in Ranked Order
• The 100 Best Products, in Alphabetical Order
• The 100 Best Products, in Category Order
• In Pictures–The Best Products: Most Anticipated Products
• In Pictures–The Best Products: Readers’ Favorites
• Reader’s Top Choices, by Category

The Number 1 Product of the Year

1. Hulu (video site, free/ad-based) Hulu may offer the best-looking, most watchable Web video to date, rivaling the standard-definition content of regular TV. A well-financed joint venture of NBC Universal and News Corporation, Hulu is ultimately a one-stop on-demand repository for high-quality programming–the holy grail of online video.

Hulu’s content includes current prime-time shows from Fox, NBC, MGM, Sony, Warner Brothers, and others, plus TV reruns new and old. Hulu’s list of full-length movies has burgeoned since the site’s debut last October. The high-def content gallery is mostly a clipfest so far, but it should blossom as video compression and broadband speeds improve.

Hulu also lets you cut and share clips with friends as you watch. If Web video is destined to clobber cable and satellite by giving us more control over our TV viewing experience, Hulu represents easily the best attempt yet at that ideal.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,146161-c,electronics/article.html

We have been saying it for a while now, mainstream applications need GPU acceleration to ring in the next major evolutionary step in software development. Far too long we have been stuck in a cycle of programming that relies on increasing clock-speeds, brings acceleration with new CPUs and a slow-down with new software releases. Even if Photoshop supports multi-core CPUs, it is one of those applications that always are very time intensive to use and especially if you are a professional user and work with huge images, then you are very familiar with “The Great Wait”, which typically describes the time lost when opening a big file or when applying a filter.

But there appears to be a very effective solution on the horizon, a solution that is most likely more effective than anything else we have seen before and in our experience using Photoshop over the past 14 years. During a demonstration at Nvidia’s headquarters in Santa Clara, we got a glimpse of Adobe’s  “Creative Suite Next” (or CS4), code-named “Stonehenge”, which adds GPU and physics support to its existing multi-core support.

So, what can you do with general-purpose GPU (GPGPU) acceleration in Photoshop? We saw the presenter playing with a 2 GB, 442 megapixel image like it was a 5 megapixel image on an 8-core Skulltrail system. Changes made through image zoom and through a new rotate canvas tool were applied almost instantly. Another impressive feature was the import of a 3D model into Photoshop, adding text and paint on a 3D surface and having that surface directly rendered with the 3D models’ reflection map.

There was also a quick demo of a Photoshop 3D accelerated panorama, which is one of the most time-consuming tasks within Photoshop these days. The usability provided through the acceleration capabilities is enormous and we are sure that digital artists will appreciate the ability to work inside a spherical image and fix any artifacts on-the-fly.

According to information we were given, all of these new features are part of the next-gen Photoshop, which should be a part of the “CS Next” suite. The package is expected to be released on October 1.

Source: http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/37611/140/

Note: Firefox 3 hasn’t been officially released yet—a public preview release is available and intended for testers only. While it’s a very stable preview, only use it if you’re willing to deal with bugs and instability as the Mozilla teams ready the official release.

That said, our favorite Firefox 3 features include:

10. Souped-up Add-ons manager

A big part of what makes Firefox so special to power users is its extensibility with extensions, add-ons, plug-ins and themes, and Firefox 3’s Add-ons dialog got the attention it deserved. The Fox’s Add-Ons menu is more robust and intuitive on at least two fronts. You can search and install extensions and themes right from the pop-up box, no browsing required. Also, a new plug-in manager lets you enable and disable third-party helpers like Flash, QuickTime, and anything else that makes content work (and causes you grief).

9. More intuitive interface overall

Mozilla tweaked and updated a whole lot of little things here and there throughout Firefox 3, which amounts to a big overall boost in usability. Most noticeably when you first switch, the Back button only appears on the address bar if there is a page to go back to, and when it does, it’s bigger and easier to click. Users who want to make sites with small text more readable permanently are in luck; Firefox 3 can increase the size of images and text, or just the text, on hard-to-read sites. In addition, Firefox 3 applies favicons more consistently to bookmarks, you can click a site’s favicon to get extended site identification information, you can resize the search box to hold more than two words, and the find-on-page search box automatically grabs the currently selected word, just to name a few new UI improvements.
In the long term, once webapps catch up, Firefox 3 will let you do really neat stuff in your browser, like register your favorite webapps to open certain file types, and access your online data even when you’re not connected to the ‘net. To get a taste, see how you can configure Firefox 3 to launch Gmail for mailto links.

8. Stronger phishing and malware protection

Firefox 3 has stronger filters and protection against malware, phishing sites, cookies, and other tools that compromise privacy and security. A malware warning shows up when you visit sites known to install malicious software, Firefox 3 doesn’t show the content of knock-off sites (like PayPal “Update Your Account” phishing scams) by default, and Firefox 3 checks against Google’s ever-growing blacklist of phishing sites. Now you can feel even better switching your less tech-aware relatives over to the open-source browser.

7. Improved download manager

Never wonder where a download came from, or went to, again. Gran Paradiso’s download manager lets you search through recent files, resume big downloads after a crash or restart, and lets you keep an eye on your transfers in the status bar.

6. Native looks for every system

Your browser is a serious part of your computer time, so having it look like nothing else on your system can be seriously annoying. Firefox’s designers made system integration a priority with this release, and it shows—even Windows XP’s and Vista’s button layouts have subtle differences in color and shading. There’s differences at deeper levels, too, with Cover Flow-type styling in the add-ons manager for OS X, transparencies in key places in Vista and OS X, and other tweaks that make your browser feel like a natural extension of your system.

5. Streamlined “Remember password” handling

No more guessing whether you’re saving the right password or clicking “Cancel” on unnecessary pop-up requests. Gran Paradiso only asks you to utilize its password-saving function once you’re already in and sure everything worked, and it won’t block you from seeing the logged-out version of a page if you don’t want to sign in.

4. Smart bookmarks

Much like iTunes’ Smart Playlists, Firefox 3’s new Smart Bookmarks function can analyze your browsing habits and create lists of links based on it. The default bookmark toolbar only comes with three standards, “Most Visited,” “Recently Bookmarked,” and “Recent Tags” (more on that later), but it’s none too hard to make your own.

3. Places Organizer replaces the Bookmark Manager

Previous versions of Firefox’s bookmark organizer have been pretty utilitarian affairs that make you drag and drop your links around nested folders. With Firefox 3’s new Places Organizer, those with reams of URLs can find them using boolean rule searches and multi-column results, as well as keep them better organized with a tagging system. Better still, you can save those smart searches for when you next need them.

2. Smart Location Bar learns how you browse

Like a personal assistant who telepathically knows when you’re going to need just the right phone number (or Starbucks fix), Firefox 3’s address bar, now dubbed the Smart Location Bar, helps you get to your frequently visited, or recently discovered, sites in super-quick fashion. That application you just read about on Lifehacker, but can’t remember the name? Type “li” into your address bar, and Firefox instantly pulls the relevant sites from your history. The bar also learns through repetition, so the next time you start searching with “li,” it knows you’re looking for Lifehacker, not Linux.

1. Insanely improved performance

It’s not flashy, and it doesn’t have any social networking features, but Firefox 3’s actual performance is the best reason anyone should consider upgrading, or making the switch to the ‘fox. Firefox’s engineers claim that their third major release is 9.3 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 in JavaScript performance, and 2.7 times faster than Firefox 2. This means snappier browser performance when you’re using webapps like Gmail, Remember the Milk, and more. Even more important, especially for Mac users, is the improved memory usage and more than 15,000 improvements that make for a less crash-prone browser. I’ve seen noticeable speed-ups in page loading in Linux, XP, and Vista, but the real reason I’ve switched over to using Release Candidate 1 is that I haven’t had to cross my fingers every time a Flash-based video loads. Graphed comparison of memory use amongst browsers in Vista courtesy of John Resig.
As you can tell, we’re completely geeked out about the upcoming Firefox 3 release. For more about the new version of the browser, check out our continuing coverage:

• The Complete Field Guide to Testing Firefox 3
• Make Your Extensions Work with Firefox 3
• Firefox 3 Robots Easter Egg
• Set Firefox 3 to Launch Gmail for mailto Links
• Firefox 3 RC 1 Portable Edition Now Available

What features or changes have made you a true believer in Firefox 3? What upgrades are you still waiting to see added to the mix? Let’s hear your take in the comments.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/392160/top-10-firefox-3-features

Mozilla VP of engineering Mike Schroepfer claims that Firefox 3 is 9.3x faster than Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and 2.7x faster than Firefox 2 in terms of JavaScript performance. In terms of Gmail message load time, he claims Firefox 3 is 6.8x faster than IE7 and 3.8x faster than Firefox 2. And he says Firefox 3 beats Apple’s Safari, which is also faster than Firefox 2.

Barring major bugs, RC 1 could become the final release of the third major iteration of the ‘fox, slated to officially drop in June. Check out our complete field guide to testing Firefox 3 if you want to make your extensions work with the RC. If you’re already using Firefox 3, be sure to type about:robots into the address bar to discover a fun little Easter egg. For a detailed list of what Firefox 3 has to offer, check out its release notes.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/391547/firefox-3-on-track-to-be-speediest-browser

The performance-level Core 2 Quad Q9650 with a core frequency of 3GHz will launch priced at US$530 in thousand-unit tray quantities, while the Core 2 Quad Q9550 will drop around 40% from its original price of US$530 to US$316.

The Core 2 Quad 9450, currently priced at US$316, will be phased out of the market to be replaced by the Core 2 Quad 9400 at 2.66GHz and a price of US$266. The Core 2 Quad Q9300 and Q6700 will both be phased out at the same time too, leaving the Q6600 as the only 65nm quad-core CPU left in Intel’s lineup, and which will drop from US$224 to US$203.

For dual-core CPUs, Intel will launch the Core 2 Duo E8600 at 3.33GHz and US$266, and will phase out the Core 2 Duo E8300. The company will also drop pricing for the Core 2 Duo E8500 and E8400 from US$266 and US$183 to US$183 and US$163, respectively.

Intel will also add the Core 2 Duo E7300 at 2.66GHz and US$133 to its entry-level line and to drop the price of its Core 2 Duo E7200 from US$133 to US$113.

With the updated pricing, motherboard makers and channel vendors both expect increased demand in the third quarter, with motherboard makers predicting an average sequential growth of 15% in third-quarter revenues.

Source: http://www.digitimes.com/NewsShow/MailHome.asp?datePublish=2008/5/20&pages=PD&seq=205

The graphics industry evolves extremely quickly and it is quite an achievement when you can leapfrog your own performance milestones in succession like we have done with these GeForce 8 Series GPUs.

That’s a subtle, video card industry version of telling ATI they got served.

But seriously, $1000 for a video card? My entire PC cost $1000 and I can run Vanguard with all settings maxxed as silky smooth as Vanguard can get at 1920×1080. I cannot imagine anything much faster than that. Don’t get me wrong…I want one, but I am pretty sure I don’t need one right now. Hit the jump for some facts and figures. Michael Fahey

New NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra Enables World’s Fastest Gaming Platform

News Facts:

* Today NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) introduced the world’s fastest graphics processing unit (GPU), the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra.
* The NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra performs an average of between 10 and 15% faster[i] than the GeForce 8800 GTX GPU, previously considered the fastest GPU on the planet,[ii] across a wide range of top games and applications.
* NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI-based motherboards for Intel processors provide the fastest and most feature-rich platform for the GeForce 8800 Ultra. NVIDIA refers to these systems as the “definitive gaming platform”.
* Consumers will be able to experience high-resolution, visually rich gaming and high-definition video playback with support for Blu-ray and HD DVD content.
* Definitive gaming platforms built with any nForce 600 Series motherboard are forward compatible with the new Intel processors with support for 1333FSB technology.
Product Facts:

* Graphics cards equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra GPU and 768MB of video memory will be available at e-tailers and retailers worldwide by May 15th. NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra graphics card launch partners include Asus, BFG, EVGA, Gainward, Galaxy, Gigabyte, Innovision, Leadtek, MSI, PNY, Point of View, Sparkle and XFX.
* Prices around 699 inc. tax
* GeForce 8 Series GPUs are the first shipping DirectX 10 GPUs and are the reference GPUs for Microsoft DirectX 10 API development.
* GeForce 8800 GPUs are the developer’s platform of choice for this year’s top DirectX 10 titles, including Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Crysis, Age of Conan, Hellgate: London, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, World in Conflict, BioShock, PT Boats, and Cryostasis.
* Developers creating next-generation OpenGL titles, such as Enemy Territory: Quake Wars are also using GeForce 8 Series as their development platform of choice.
* GeForce 8 Series GPUs include all required hardware functionality defined in the Microsoft Direct3D 10 specification, with full support for the DirectX 10 unified shader instruction set and Shader Model 4 capabilities.
* DirectX 10 is included with Microsoft Windows Vista and delivers unparalleled levels of graphics realism and film-quality effects for games, all rendered in real-time on a GeForce 8 Series DirectX 10-capable GPU.

Source: http://kotaku.com/gaming/world.s-fastest-video-card/nvidia-unleashes-worlds-fastest-gpu-again-257069.php

The path started in Tokyo and stretched 20,000 miles going through Chicago, Amsterdam, Seattle and then back to Tokyo.  The initial try on December 30th achieved speeds of 7.67 gigabits per second.  After some tuning, the scientists reached 9.08 Gbps on New Year’s Eve.

The theoretical limit of the Internet 2 is 10 Gbps on a single link.

Source: http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/31802/103/

1. Netscape Navigator (1994)