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Mozilla freezes Firefox 3.0 Beta 3

Mozilla

As Mozilla Corp. began the final push on Firefox 3.0 Beta 3 this week, it also announced that at least one more beta will be necessary before it starts building release candidates.

On Tuesday, Mozilla “froze” the code for Firefox 3.0 Beta 3. Testing of the beta is scheduled to start on Monday.

At the same time, in a message to the mozilla.dev.planning newsgroup, Mike Beltzner, Mozilla’s interface designer, said that a fourth beta would be required.

“[We] will be adding another milestone before moving on to Release Candidate builds,” Beltzner said. “Our goal is to do a quick turnaround on Firefox 3 Beta 4, but we cannot provide a good estimate until we know the size and scope of blockers remaining after the Beta 3 code freeze.”

As of Beta 3, all efforts will turn to addressing bugs that could stymie the preview’s release, Beltzner added. “We will be driving the list of blocking+, P1, target=beta 3 bugs to zero,” he said. As of Thursday at 9 p.m. (EST), there were three bugs that met his criteria; in Mozilla’s nomenclature, such bugs are dubbed “blockers,” meaning they are crucial enough that they require solutions before the beta is allowed to ship.

According to notes from a Tuesday meeting, Beta 3’s tentative schedule points toward a release on or about Feb. 13.

Those same notes also noted the status of efforts to make the browser’s add-ons compatible with the upcoming preview. Approximately 41% of all extensions, by usage, have been modified so that they will work with Beta 3, Mozilla reported. Several widely-used add-ons, however, do not yet support Firefox Beta 3, including IE Tab, Forecastfox, Fasterfox and Firebug.

Mozilla released Firefox 3 Beta 2 on Dec. 18, beating a self-imposed deadline by several days. The company regularly declines to set a release date for the final version of the browser.

source:computerworld 

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Adobe touts Flash Server 3

Adob

Adobe has unveiled the latest versions of Flash Server allowing site owners to stream content to users via Flash media files. The addition of video streaming has been a major selling point for the Flash 3 line, which also includes client software for PCs and mobile phones. Flash Server 3 comes in two packages. Smaller businesses will be offered the $995 Flash Media Streaming Server to stream conventional and HD video content. High-end users will be offered the $4,500 Flash Media Interactive Streaming server, which also includes support for DRM and access control software along with bundled software tools. The two new packages will also support the Flash Lite mobile plug-in, and Adobe’s Air software which allows web-based Flash applications to be used off line.

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IE6 Stops Responding in Windows XP with SP2 or SP3 Due To urlmon.dll

ie6

Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) in Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Service Pack 3 (SP3) may stops responding and crashing when users try to a visit a Web site. The IE6 not responding problem also affects shell browsers based on IE engine such as GreenBrowser and TheWorld. In these cases, all IE windows and tabs will be not responding, closing and exit with the following error message.
ie6-crash

Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

If you were in the middle of something, the information you were working on might be lost.
Please tell Microsoft about this problem.

We have created an error report that you can send to help us improve Internet Explorer. We will treat this report as confidential and anonymous.

To see what data this error report contains, click here.

If user clicks on the error report link, there following error-signature information will be shown.

AppName: iexplore.exe
AppVer: 6.0.2900.2180
ModName: urlmon.dll
ModVer: 6.0.2900.3231
Offset: 0003b5ce

urlmondll

The issue is caused by security update 942615 (MS07-069) which was released in December 2007, which probably rolled out KB942367, which also requires users to manually create and enable the Iexplore.exe registry entry. The problem has been identified by Microsoft, and KB946627 hotfix or patch have been made available to address and fix the error by creating the required registry key.

Download and install the WindowsXP-KB946627-x86-ENU.exe, or use the following alternative manual steps or run registry key file to add the registry key.

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key.
4. Type FEATURE_PROTECT_DECOMPRESSION_FILTER_FROM_ABORT_KB942367, and then press ENTER.
5. Right-click FEATURE_PROTECT_DECOMPRESSION_FILTER_FROM_ABORT_KB942367, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
6. Type an asterisk symbol (*), and then press ENTER.

Note The asterisk symbol (*) represents any process name that uses Urlmon.dll. If you want to make this change for an individual application that uses Urlmon.dll, you can use the name of that application instead of the asterisk symbol (*). For example, you can use Appname.exe.
7. Right-click the asterisk symbol (*), and then click Modify.
8. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
9. Exit Registry Editor.

An easier workaround is to simply download and execute the iekb942367.reg file to insert the missing registry value.

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Startups Rush to Pave Way for Web Video

you tube

Video on the Internet has gone from being the next big thing to the current big thing. But murky YouTube videos are just the start – there’s a lot of room for improvement.

A raft of startups are rushing to supply the tools to make better and more profitable video available. Nearly a dozen video-related startups will be presenting at the DEMO 08 technology conference, starting Monday in Palm Desert, California.

The biannual conference, which gives startups and more established companies six minutes on stage to pitch their new products to investors and media, has been the launching pad for several successful ventures over the years, including the Java programming language, TiVo Inc. and Half.com.

Several of the 77 companies presenting this time have been tackling the problem of taking video quality to the next level. It’s quite possible to send high-definition video over the Internet, but the cost of doing it at scale is daunting, because it requires about 40 times the bandwidth of a YouTube-quality video.

“If you run any infrastructure that lets people share video, it’s really, really expensive,” said Dan Putterman, chief executive of San Francisco-based Squidcast Inc. The company is launching a service that allows users to send video they’ve shot with their high-definition camcorders to friends and relatives at full resolution, for free.

To do this, users will take help from other users, in a manner similar to peer-to-peer file sharing programs like BitTorrent and KaZaa. Each file that is uploaded gets distributed in small chunks among many computers (whose owners won’t notice the chunks or be able to look at them).

The intended recipient gets an email with a link. Clicking it starts the download, which pulls the chunks together from the network of user computers like a squid pulling in its tentacles. In other words, Squidcast itself doesn’t need to devote computers or buy bandwidth to transfer user’s files. It will finance the service by showing short video ads to the recipients while they download.

Atlanta-based Asankya Inc. is trying to solve the same problem, but for Hollywood rather than home movies. CEO Scott Ryan puts the current cost of distributing an HD movie online at about $3. Considering movies rent for $4 to $5 and the creators have to be paid, there’s no real money in it for distributors.

The technology was developed by a Georgia Institute of Technology professor and uses servers placed at strategic points on the Internet in addition to information sent in by receiving computers. The catch is that Asankya is mucking around with fairly basic networking technologies, ones that are built into operating systems. For now, receiving computers need software that only runs on Windows XP.

BitGravity Inc. is aiming for the same market, with a network of servers designed to deliver high-definition video. It launched the service three months ago, and at the show, the company plans to announce that it will be expanding the service to deliver live, streaming video.

Live streaming has been a luxury only the big media companies could afford, said Perry Wu, BitGravity’s CEO, leaving a lot of unsatisfied demand, for instance for regional sportscasts. “Whether its basketball or field hockey or water polo or swimming, the number of people who want to watch that in real time is tremendous.”

Demonstrations on BitGravity’s Web site show high-resolution – if slightly jerky – video that starts almost immediately.

Other startups such as Eyealike Inc. and Visible Measures Corp. are tackling further problems that plague content providers. Eyealike of Bellevue, Washington, will be demonstrating software that can scan videos submitted to websites to see if they contain copyright material.

Such filters are already in place, for example at YouTube, but Eyealike President Greg Heuss said the startup’s product is better than the competition in that it can identify video that’s had its audio stripped out or been cropped to as little as a quarter of the original frame.

Boston-based Visible Measures will be touting its service, which lets Web sites track how viewers play their videos: where they pause, what they rewind to see again. That should help the sites figure out which videos and ads actually hold viewers’ attention, said Matt Cutler, the company’s vice president of marketing.

source:tech2

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Yahoo may offer ad-supported music service

Yahoo

Yahoo is in early discussions with major record labels over offering unprotected MP3s either for sale or for free as part of an ad-supported service, two record company executives familiar with the talks said Wednesday.

The talks, held as recently as last month, were preliminary because Yahoo is still working out the details, said the executives, who requested anonymity because of the discussions were confidential.

Yahoo hopes to launch the service this year, they said.

Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group Corp., and EMI Group PLC have in recent months begun licensing their music for sale as MP3 files online through retailers like Amazon.com.

Unlike music files that come with copy protections embedded, MP3 files are compatible with most portable music devices, including Apple’s market-leading iPod media players, Microsoft’s Zune and mobile phones that play music.

Carrie Davis, a spokeswoman for Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo, said the company has often said it wants to offer music without copy protections and the subject has been part of its ongoing talks with record labels.

But Davis denied that discussions with record labels on the matter have stepped up in recent weeks or that anything is imminent.

Representatives for the labels declined to comment.

Yahoo offers free streaming audio, music videos, Web radio. It also operates a music subscription service and a premium Internet radio service.

The company’s management said last fall it had begun to de-emphasize its subscription model in favor of an advertising-supported music service. Yahoo also expanded it online music pages by adding song lyrics.

The Internet pioneer recently announced plans for a multiyear restructuring plan that calls for the elimination of some of its existing areas of business.

Last fall, the company inked a licensing deal for user-created video content with Sony BMG that calls for the record company to receive a share of advertising revenue.

Sony BMG is a joint venture of Sony and Bertelsmann AG.

source:usatoday

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Top Digg users revolt against algorithm change on site

Digg

The volatile users at social news ranking site Digg.com today launched a new revolt against the site, protesting a new algorithm that would let a more diverse set of users determine which stories reach the top of its rankings.

A group of Digg users organized a temporary boycott of the site because they felt the new algorithm would leave submissions from some Digg “power users” stuck in the queue.

In an open letter to Digg’s executives posted this morning, four of the site’s so-called top users — Andy Sorcini,  David Cohn , Muhammad Saleem and  Reg Saddler — said they plan to stop submitting to Digg.

“The alternatives are plenty — now is the time to venture into new territory,” the letter said. “Digg is, in part, a game. It always has been — and that is one of the reasons we love it. Unfortunately the rules to the game have never been under the community’s full control. The latest change in the algorithm, along with rumors of secret editors, auto-buries, etc., have led us to believe it is time to break ties with Digg.com.”

In addition, the group later organized a live podcast where about 125 users discussed the changes and thousands more listened in, according to Saleem.

The latest revolt is the second collective move by Digg users in less than a year. In May, many of the site’s users staged an “Internet riot”  by continuously posting a software key for cracking the encryption technology used to limit the copying of HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs after Digg management had removed it. The users prompted Digg to relent and allow the key to be posted.

In the latest letter, the group cited several grievances against Digg, including a lack of communication and disregard for the community, the unexplained banning of some top users and a lack of transparency by not showing stories that are not “Dugg”.

“Digg users hunt down the stories online, craft the descriptions and titles, Digg the stories, provide all the comments,” the letter said. “Despite this dependency, anecdotal evidence suggests that Digg has repeatedly failed to respond to its users and address their concerns.”

In addition, the users criticized Digg’s autobury list, noting that dozens of sites are buried after a certain period of time with no explanation.

“In short — the site has become too powerful a media force and its lack of transparency and faith in the community is reason for concern,” according to the letter. “The collective ‘WE’ built this site from the ground up and while it is sad to leave it, the time has come to move on.”

Saleem noted on his blog that Digg founder Kevin Rose and CEO Jay Adelson joined the podcast and listened to the problems noted. Rose and Adelson “acknowledged that there were issues and promised to address them as soon as possible,” Saleem wrote.

“It was never our intention to cause harm to Digg (though every protest naturally gains that element as it intensifies) and ultimately all we needed was to be assured that our concerns were being listened to and that the community we have helped build was going to address them in a timely fashion,” Saleem wrote. “Big things are coming ahead for digg, based on what we have learned from our conversation, and with the channels of communication now open, hopefully we will all be a part of the conversation.”

In a blog post (blog.digg.com) published before the protest, Rose said the changes to the algorithm were aimed at ensuring the most popular content Dugg by a diverse, unique group of users reached the home page.

“Our goal is to give each person a fair chance of getting their submission promoted to the home page,” he wrote. “When the algorithm gets the diversity it needs, it will promote a story from the Upcoming section to the home page. This way, the system knows a large variety of people will be into the story.”

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Researchers build bionic eye

eye

people hearken back to the Bionic Woman or other sci-fi shows. Engineers at the University of Washington, however, say it’s not all movie magic fantasy.

University researchers reported that they have used nanotechnology manufacturing techniques to combine a flexible, biologically safe contact lens with an imprinted electronic circuit and lights. Perfecting virtual displays could mean that traveling executives could surf the Net or check their e-mail on a floating virtual display screen that only they could see. It also would mean that drivers could see their speed projected onto the windshield, or gamers could become far more immersed in their virtual worlds.

“Looking through a completed lens, you would see what the display is generating superimposed on the world outside,” said Babak Parviz, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Washington, in a statement. “This is a very small step toward that goal, but I think it’s extremely promising. … People may find all sorts of applications for it that we have not thought about. Our goal is to demonstrate the basic technology and make sure it works and that it’s safe.”

Don’t expect this particular contact lens to give you 20/20 vision. The latest prototype is not designed to correct vision problems, but researchers said the technology could eventually be used on a corrective lens without obstructing the person’s vision.

Right now, the prototype of the bionic eye includes an electric circuit and diodes that emit red lights for the display. While the diodes are in place in the prototype, it doesn’t light up yet. Researchers noted in a report that a major challenge was building the nanotechnology needed for the circuitry on delicate lens material. They ended up creating the circuits by layering pieces of metal that are only a few nanometers thick, and making the diodes one-third of a millimeter across.

Parviz said engineers will soon begin working to add wireless communications to and from the lens. He added that they hope to power the system by using a combination of radio frequency power and solar cells.

Parviz added that he hopes that putting in or removing the bionic eye will be as easy as dealing with a normal contact lens. Researchers said the prototype was tested on rabbits for up to 20 minutes without any signs of adverse reactions.

The project was funded by the National Science Foundation and a Technology Gap Innovation Fund from the University of Washington.

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CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 is available now

Corel

This latest version of the Corel suite delivers better workflow, new tools for putting work online and improved user guides.

In face, overall, Corel says it has added 50 new and “significantly enhanced” features for graphics projects ranging from creating logos and web graphics, to multi-page brochures, to signage and digital displays.

New facilities include a Live text formatting option, which allows users to preview text formatting options before applying them to a document.

Next up is an update to the package’s font identification abilities. CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 now integrates with WhatTheFont, the online font identification service from MyFonts.com.

In addition to this, Corel has added new fonts in CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 including single-line engraving fonts and OpenType cross-platform fonts, which offer enhanced language support for Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic outputs in
WGL4 format.

Corel adds that users can now control and edit layers independently for each page of a document. Users can also add independent guidelines for individual pages and master guidelines for an entire document.

And new interactive tables has been included to let users create and import tables to provide layout for text and graphics. Users can align, resize, or edit tables and table cells to suit their designs.

Windows Vista integration has also been added including integration with the platform’s search facilities allowing Corel users to look for files by author, subject, file type, date, keywords, or other file properties.

Additional file support is another key update and the package now supports Microsoft Office Publisher, Microsoft Word 2007, Adobe Illustrator Creative Suite 3, Adobe Photoshop CS3, PDF 1.7 (Adobe Acrobat 8), AutoCAD DXF and AutoCAD DWG, and Corel Painter X.

Corel adds that CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 now includes 80 customisable templates that are accompanied by Designer Notes that provide information on the design choices made for the template, tips for outputting a design based on the template, and instructions for customising the template while still adhering to design principles.

For Corel PHOTO-PAINT, which is part of the suite, Corel has added RAW camera file support, a new straighten image tool, enhanced tone curve adjustments, and an integrated histogram.

The CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 includes CorelDRAW X4, Corel PHOTO-PAINT X4, Corel PowerTRACE X4 (for converting bitmaps into editable vector graphics), Corel CAPTURE X4 the one-click screen-capture utility, and the CorelDRAW Handbook.

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 also includes two hours of training videos on the DVD.

source:sky

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TrekStor launches 1.8-inch microdisk

Microdisk

TrekStor has launched a pocket-sized hard disk, the DataStation microdisk, that measures 9×5.7×0.64cm, and is available with 20, 80 or 120GB of storage capacity.

The 1.8-inch hard disk does not need an external power supply, comes delivered with software for easy backups and can be password protected.

Weighing between 65 and 75 grams with an aluminium case, the disk is pre-formatted for immediate use and comes with Nero BackItUp 2 Essentials, which allows users to save individual files or entire drives immediately at the press of a button. The software also works to reduce the backed- up data by compressing it on the fly.

The DataStation microdisk comes complete with a USB 2.0 cable, the software-CD and user manual.

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First Android Prototype!!

Android

 

A La Mobile is a small software developer dedicated to Linux-based platforms and open source technology. However, it was today that this virtually unknown start-up began to make history, as the small company unveiled today the very first suit of applications based on the brand new Google-endorsed operating system, Android.

The company chose to install its applications on a smart mobile phone made by HTC, the Qtek 9090. The suite of applications includes a Google browser, Google maps, an audio player, a phone dialer for making voice calls, calendar, games, camera, contacts manager, notes, calculator, and others. A La Mobile claimed this is the first Android prototype and it has plans to pitch the suite to mobile phone makers.

A La Mobile also said that the prototype it unveiled on Monday proved that Google’s Android can deliver on its promise of making it easier for cell phone users to get access to all kinds of applications on their handsets.

HTC, the company that created the first smart phone to host Android, is one of the 34 companies in Google’s Open Handset Coalition. However, A La Mobile is not part of the Coalition

Source: usatoday