Saturday, July 11, 2009

Byte Into It - 15 Jul 09

Better Gmail 2 Updated for Gmail’s Label Enhancements - Better Gmail - Lifehacker
Firefox only: Google's recent improvements to Gmail's labels broke one of Better Gmail 2's most-loved features: Folders4Gmail. Grab the newest version 0.8.3 of Better Gmail 2 to get back Folders4Gmail functionality as well as Hide Spam Count. Until Mozilla Add-ons approves the newest version of Better Gmail 2, check off "Let me install this experimental add-on" next to version 0.8.3 at Mozilla Add-ons.

Inside Gazelle, Microsoft Research's "browser OS" - Ars Technica
It builds on the concept of multiprocess browsing but uses more fine-grained isolation to expand on the security advantages that are already delivered by existing multiprocess browsing models. But is it an operating system, Microsoft Research's analogue to Google's Chrome OS? Not quite.

Wang's characterization of Gazelle as a "multi-principal operating system" for the Web has been widely misinterpreted by the press. Although Gazelle's architecture is loosely modeled on the underlying concepts of operating system design, it is not actually an operating system, it's not intended to replace Windows, and it won't compete with Chrome OS. It is a browser prototype that runs on Windows Vista, is coded in C#, and has a conventional user interface that is built with .NET's WinForms framework.

Multiprocess browsing, which is supported in Google's Chrome Web browser and recent versions of Internet Explorer, uses separate operating system processes to isolate the rendering of individual pages. As we have recently discussed in our coverage of multiprocess browsing, this approach generally boosts security and stability. It prevents a rendering bug that affects a specific page or plugin from tanking the whole browser.

Multiprocess browsing is advantageous, but it does have some downsides. Processes tend to generate a lot of resource overhead, especially on Windows. In order to minimize the impact of using multiple processes, Chrome and IE try to use some number of processes that provides a good balance between resource efficiency and stability. For example, if you have multiple tabs open that show different pages from the same website, the browser might put them all into one process.

The Gazelle project casts aside that balance and aims to maximize security and stability by using more processes. Instead of just using a separate process for each site or tab, it will use separate processes for individual page content elements that originate from other domains. For example, if you have an iframe in a page, the iframe will be managed and rendered in its own process separate from the rest of the page.
How Much Does Google Like Twitter?
That’s 44 accounts by my count. Where are all those Jaiku accounts?

Still think they have no interest in the micro-messaging service? Of course they do. It just may cost them more than a billion dollars to satisfy their fixation. And Microsoft is starting to get a fixation too. Remember when the two had a bidding war over a stake in Facebook?

The Future is Now: Multi-touch Wall Comes to Cannes (Video)
Just in time for the 2009 Cannes Advertising Festival, Schematic, an interactive agency who helped come up with the futuristic advertising seen in Minority Report, is debuting their large multi-touch wall. It's a 12-foot by 5-foot display
Best Party Trick Ever: Multi-Device Wireless Broadband from Sprint MiFi
It's the length and width of a credit card. It's the thickness of a couple nickels. It'll let you and a few friends get an Internet connection just about anywhere with no wires whatsoever.

It's a MiFi, Sprint's new wireless broadband device - when do we see these things in Oz?
Weave Now Syncs Firefox Preferences, Auto-Logins - Weave - Lifehacker
Firefox 3.5: Weave, Mozilla's add-on to synchronize bookmarks, passwords, and now preferences and automatic logins across Firefox browsers, updated to a 0.4 beta, just in time for the release of 3.5.

We've previously covered Weave's major release, albeit still as an experimental product, and found ourselves intrigued at its plans to provide automatic web site logins. This release includes those automatic logins and OpenID support, for sites that support it, and can sync your browser preferences across systems, giving it a leg up on cross-browser solutions like Xmarks. This version of Weave also works with the Fennec mobile browser 1.0 beta 2, just released for (touchscreen) Windows Mobile and Maemo devices. The big missing feature is syncing for add-ons and their preferences, but you can get halfway there by creating your own add-on collection and using the Add-on Collector to keep it updated.

Mozilla Weave is a free download, works wherever Firefox 3.5 does.
Speed Up Firefox 3.5 Start-Up on Windows - Firefox 3.5 - Lifehacker
Firefox 3.5 pulls data from certain file locations for randomized security purposes. Sometimes, though, that can lead to annoying slow start-ups in Windows. You can speed things up by cleaning out certain folder locations.

For whatever reason, having too many temporary, history, or recent document files sitting in your Windows locations slows down Firefox 3.5's data generation processes, as has been reported as a bug. The Mozilla Links blog recommends cleaning out these folders to move the browser's work along:

C:\Documents and Settings\*user*\Local Settings\History
C:\Documents and Settings\*user*\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files
C:\Documents and Settings\*user*\My Recent Documents
C:\Documents and Settings\*user*\Temp\

On Vista or Windows 7 systems, simply replace "Documents and Settings" with "Users." Setting up Firefox to automatically clean out your temporary files after browsing, as explained at the link below, helps prevent the accumulation from building again, but users who trade browsing time with Internet Explorer may have to occasionally work this manual method to wipe out those files.
Australian anti-censorship video trying to get on Qantas - Boing Boing
Itsumishi sez, "Remember that absurd Internet Filtering Scheme Stephen Conroy and the Australian Government has been continuing to push onto the Australian population? Well GetUp the amazing organisation that has been involved in a lot of great campaigns in Australia has created a very hilarious advertisement they're hoping to get onto every Qantas flight in the country while for next sitting in Parliament. The idea is that most politicians will be flying at some time during this time and they'll be a captive audience. Anyway, the ad is brilliant and they need donations to get it on air, please help!"
Creative Commons comes to Google Image Search - Boing Boing
Fred sez, "Image search on Google has just become a bit easier and a little less scary: Google officially launched the ability to filter search results using Creative Commons licenses inside their Image Search tool. Searches are also capable of returning content under other licenses, such as the GNU Free Documentation License, or images that are in the public domain."
Universal/TuneCore deal opens major doors for indie artists - Ars Technica
Independent musicians who want to retain the rights to their own songs will now have the opportunity to do so while marketing their offerings through a major label—Universal Music Group. UMG announced a partnership today with TuneCore, a company that represents independent artists and allows them to sell their music directly to fans through major online stores. The deal will let artists essentially have their cake and eat it too by letting them call all the shots while having access to major opportunities.
Apple proposes HTTP streaming feature as IETF standard - Ars Technica
When Apple discussed the new features of the forthcoming iPhone OS 3.0, SVP of iPhone Software Engineering Scott Forstall said that the iPhone would be capable of streaming video and audio directly over HTTP. Apple also advertised HTTP streaming as a feature of QuickTime X, the update of its media architecture coming in Snow Leopard. What it failed to explain, at least publicly, is how this streaming would be accomplished. Fortunately, Apple submitted its proposed protocol last month to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in the hopes that it will become a ubiquitous standard.

Apple identified what it considers a few issues with standard streaming, which generally uses the Real Time Streaming Protocol originally developed by Netscape and Real in the late '90s. The biggest issue with RTSP is that the protocol or its necessary ports may be blocked by routers or firewall settings, preventing a device from accessing the stream. As the standard protocol for the Web, though, HTTP is generally accessible. Furthermore, no special server is required other than a standard HTTP server, which is more widely supported in content distribution networks, and more expertise in optimizing HTTP delivery is generally available than for RTSP.
Cameras: a solution for multiple cameras in Mac OS X - Ars Technica
If you have multiple cameras and a Mac and are tired of having the same software launch for your different uses, Flexbits may have a solution for you. Cameras acts as a preference pane that lets you decide which app to launch for which device—very helpful for people who use point-and-shoots, DSLRs, and iPhones all on the same machine.

20 Totally Overused Words in Game Names - Video Game Features, PC Game Features
There are roughly a million officially recognized words in the English language, but these 20 crop up everywhere when it comes to naming video games. Is it due to a lack of originality or just a set of universal themes? Flip open your dictionaries and join us for a definitive look at the most overused words in game names.
Australias Net Will Filter MA15+ Games
I was feeling bad for Germans as there was a proposed banning for all violent games but Australia is about to take it much harder. To further complicate things, Australia does not have even have a R18+ rating. For video games, MA15+ is as high as it goes while movies and such has R18+ and X18+. Games will be required to modify the their content to meet the MA15+ guidelines in order for distribution.

So far, this has only applied to local stores selling physical copies of games, but a spokesman for Senator Conroy confirmed that under the filtering plan, it will be extended to the net and the filter will be set at the ISP level blocking all flash games, downloadable games and all web games that does not meet the MA15+ standards.

From our understanding, if a website hosts questionable content the Classification Board believes exceeds the MA15+ standard, it’ll be blocked. Same goes for MMOs and even worst, overseas online retailers. I wonder how this would effect sites such as eBay, GameStop and all the large distributors.

Businesses will get Windows 7 'by end of July' - News - PC Authority
Windows 7 will be available to business users who have bought volume licenses with Software Assurance contracts, before the end of July, according to reports overseas.

A ZDnet.com report cites a tweet by Microsoft enthusiast “Deeper2K”, who posted a picture on the micro-blogging site of an official Microsoft mailing to its reseller partners, in Russian.

Next to the twitpic Deeper2K writes, “Yay! Windows 7 RTM will be available to SA customers by the end of July!”

According to the report, Deeper said that Microsoft will extend a special Windows 7 promotion, whereby users who purchase SA before 31 August will “have the rights to upgrade to Windows 7 on PCs they purchased starting on August 1, 2008”, with 15 per cent off. At the time of writing Microsoft Australia had not made any announcements regarding this.

For its part, Microsoft said last week that it is still on track to release its new operating system to manufacturing before the end of July.
Internet is broken says original designer - News - PC Authority
Lawrence (Larry) Roberts, who designed the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, or ARPANET, has said that the current system of packet data isn't suitable for the uses to which the internet is being used currently. Rather than viewing data as packet it needs to be seen as a flow, and this will require fundamental retooling.

“The Internet is broken. I should know: I designed it,” he writes in the IEEE's Spectrum.

“Directing traffic in terms of flows rather than individual packets improves the utilization of networks. By eliminating the excessive delays and random packet losses typical of traditional routers, flow management fills communication links with more data and protects voice and video streams. And it does all that without requiring changes to the time-tested TCP/IP protocol.”

Traditional routing technologies are unsuited to modern applications like VoIP or video transmission he says because the routing protocols were never designed to handle that kind of traffic

Microsoft releases Office 2010 details, test code | Beyond Binary - CNET News
However, the release of the software will be limited. Attendees of this week's Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans, as well as the recent TechEd show, will gain access to the desktop versions of Office 2010. Microsoft has also been taking sign-ups via its Office 2010: The Movie teaser Web site.

Also, it won't show off the program's biggest change--the addition of browser-based versions of Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and OneNote.

Those so-called Office Web Applications are being demonstrated on Monday, but the technical preview of the Web apps won't come until later this year. For consumers, Microsoft plans to make the browser-based versions a free part of Windows Live next year, but hasn't decided whether they will include advertising.

The applications, which run in Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer, are aimed at both expanding the number of Office users within businesses as well as holding the ground threatened by Google Docs and other Web-based productivity programs.

On the desktop side, Microsoft plans a broader beta of the software later this year, with a final release in the first half of 2010
TwInbox Adds Twitter To Microsoft Outlook | Lifehacker Australia
Windows only: Microsoft Outlook add-on TwInbox lets you update, reply, search, and archive your Twitter messages right from your Outlook inbox.

Once you’ve installed the add-on into Outlook, you’ll need to take a trip to the Options panel to enter your Twitter account details, and you’ll probably want to choose a new folder to place incoming Twitter messages so they don’t get mixed in with your regular email. Once you’ve completed that step, you should be able to start sending, replying, or retweeting messages easily—but the really interesting feature is the ability to track keywords with a search term, and filter through those messages locally.
A tech bill of rights to curb public gadget faux pas - Jul. 10, 2009
If a recent survey by Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) is any guide, the first commandment of cell phone behavior would be "Thou shalt not use text or email while driving."

According to a poll conducted for the company by Harris Interactive, more than 90% of us are frustrated with how our neighbors use their phones. Almost three quarters of the 2,000 people surveyed said they were most annoyed by people who text or email while driving. More than 60% said people talk too loudly in public. More than half have been annoyed by people on phones in restaurants, and close to half felt the same way about what transpires in movie theaters.
0:00 /2:39Almost mobile TV

Forty one percent mentioned use of phones in grocery stores as a pet peeve, and 26% were grossed out by others who talk and text in public restrooms. (Interestingly, only 38% of respondents admitted to having any annoying cell phone habits of their own.)
Google Apps to become OpenID provider - Software - Technology - News - iTnews.com.au
The move will allow web users to sign into numerous sites using their Google Apps login details.

"Google Apps can now become an identity and data hub for multiple software-as-a-service [SaaS] providers," said Eric Sachs, senior product manager for Google security, on a public OpenID board.

"The service is important not only to the individuals in those organisations who can interact with a variety of consumer web sites with a single credential, but to the organisations themselves who are increasingly reliant on multiple SaaS solutions from different vendors.

"The Google Open ID Federated Login API enables a single Google Apps login to provide secure access to services like Salesforce.com, SuccessFactors and WebEX, as well as business-to-business partners, internal applications and, of course, consumer web sites."
3 Reveals iPhone 3GS Pricing | Lifehacker Australia
On 24-month contracts, you can choose between $39, $49 or $79 caps, but you’ll pay an extra per-month charge for the phone on everything except the $79 cap, and even on that option you can’t have a 32GB model for nothing.

The extra data packs (priced per month and only available with a new phone) cost $6 for 500MB, $10 for 1GB or $20 for 3GB. The latter seems a reasonable deal if you plan on tethering.

At $929 for the 16GB 3GS or $1,129 for the 32GB, outright prices are again a little higher than from Apple itself.

3 is also allowing customers who pre-registered for its deals to buy the phones on July 16, while existing customers can migrate their existing plan to an iPhone for between $35 and $45 a month, depending on model. (This is a lousy deal for an older 3GB iPhone, frankly, especially if you’re near the end of your contract, but OK for the newer 3GS models.)

Swiss Postal Service lets users check snail mail online - Ars Technica
Imagine a world where your snail mail would be converted to digital form before cluttering up your mailbox, allowing you to trash those coupon and credit card offers with a single click while having the important stuff forwarded directly to you. If you live in Switzerland, this dream is even closer to a reality thanks to a partnership between the Swiss Postal Service and a startup called Earth Class Mail.

First, an explanation of what Earth Class Mail does. The company allows customers in 170 countries (including the US) to sign up for an address where they will have their mail delivered. When the mail starts coming in, its outer packaging/envelopes are scanned—without being opened—and an image is e-mailed to you. From there, you can decide to recycle the junk (according to the New York Times, Earth Class Mail customers recycle 90 percent of their mail), have the mail forwarded, or have it opened and the contents scanned.
live-android - Google Code
Welcome to LiveAndroid, a LiveCD for Android running on x86 platforms.


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  1. [...] using the ‘traditional’ desktop client, such as Outlook, Outlook Express or Thunderbird. Byte Into It – 15 Jul 09 - byteintoit.wordpress.com 07/10/2009 Better Gmail 2 Updated for Gmail’s Label Enhancements – [...]

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