Clipmarks | hotdoge3's clips

Chrome is 42x faster than IE7, 9x faster than FF3

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:19:08 GMT

clipped by: hotdoge3

Chrome is 42x faster than IE7, 9x faster than FF3

I’ve been testing the new Google Chrome browser and one thing’s for sure: they weren’t kidding about great JavaScript performance in this beta. Check out these numbers I got from running Google’s V8 benchmark suite (higher is better):

IE7: 30
FF3.0.1: 131
Chrome Beta 1: 1279.6

That’s a whopping 42.6 times improvement over IE7, and 9.7 times over FireFox 3. Keep in mind that these benchmarks were chosen by the team that wrote Chrome’s JavaScript engine (V8). Other benchmarks show a lesser, but still significant, improvement.

Google Chrome - first benchmarks. Summary: wow.

Google Chrome is insanely fast … faster than Firefox 3.0

Tags: browser

Google Chrome vulnerable to carpet-bombing flaw

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:49:57 GMT

clipped by: hotdoge3

Clip Source: blogs.zdnet.com

Google Chrome vulnerable to carpet-bombing flaw

Clip Source: blogs.zdnet.com

Google’s shiny new Web browser is vulnerable to a carpet-bombing vulnerability that could expose Windows users to malicious hacker attacks.

Just hours after the release of Google Chrome, researcher Aviv Raff discovered that he could combine two vulnerabilities — a flaw in Apple Safari (WebKit) and a Java bug discussed at this year’s Black Hat conference — to trick users into launching executables direct from the new browser.

Raff has cooked up a harmless demo of the attack in action, showing how a Google Chrome users can be lured into downloading and launching a JAR (Java Archive) file that gets executed without warning.

[ SEE: Google Chrome, the security tidbits ]

The Google Chrome user-agent shows that Chrome is actually WebKit 525.13 (Safari 3.1), which is an outdated/vulnerable version of that browser.

Apple patched the carpet-bombing issue with Safari v3.1.2.

Tags: browser

FireShot screenshots of web pages IE & Firefox

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:25:04 GMT

clipped by: hotdoge3
clipper's remarks: Screenshots can be saved to disk (PNG, GIF, JPEG, BMP), printed (NEW), copied to clipboard, e-mailed,I like it hope you do to.

Clip Source: screenshot-program.com

Welcome to FireShot homepage!

FireShot is a extension for Firefox and Internet Explorer that creates and edits screenshots of web pages entirely.

Press print screen and cannot grab the webpage outside of browser window? You need FireShot!

Unlike other extensions, this plugin provides a set of editing and annotation tools, which let users quickly modify captures and insert text and graphical annotations. Such functionality will be especially useful for web designers, testers and content reviewers.

Screenshots can be saved to disk (PNG, GIF, JPEG, BMP), printed (NEW), copied to clipboard, e-mailed and sent to external editor for further processing.

Tired of silly utilites that grab only currently displayed area of the page?

FireShot extension integrates with Firefox and Internet Explorer and provides capturing both entire web page and only currently visible area.

Tags: web

Google pulls the plug on eco-friendly search engine Forestle

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:44:35 GMT

clipped by: hotdoge3

Clip Source: arstechnica.com

Google pulls the plug on eco-friendly search engine Forestle

Forestle was forced to pull the plug late last week, only four days after it went public. When we wrote about the site at the beginning of the week, we noted that the search engine delivered results through Google and that money was made by offering sponsored advertising links at the top of each results page. Forestle said that it was donating all of the site's income from these sponsored links—minus administrative costs—to the Nature Conservancy's Adopt an Acre program that helps to sustain the world's Rainforests.

Forestle turns Google searches green

Tags: google

Lenovo won't refund the Windows tax without an NDA

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:37:35 GMT

clipped by: hotdoge3

Clip Source: arstechnica.com

Lenovo won't refund the Windows tax without an NDA

A clause in the Windows end user license agreement (EULA) says that consumers who do not accept all the terms of the license can return the software for a full refund. When Paral brought this aspect of the license to the attention of Lenovo, the company agreed to pay him roughly $130 for terminating the license.

In order to complete the agreement, however, Lenovo insisted that Paral sign a nondisclosure agreement that would effectively bar him from talking about the deal. Paral refused, then took the story to AbcLinux.cz, which gave him an equivalent amount of money for telling his story to the world.

Although this case may not be particularly unique, it reflects the challenges that consumers face when they attempt to terminate an unused Windows license with the intention of obtaining a refund.

Tags: windows

Open source and the fear factor mentality.

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:17:48 GMT

clipped by: hotdoge3

Clip Source: blogs.zdnet.com

Open source and the ‘fear factor’ mentality

In the current economic climate, businesses of every size are looking to reduce their spending wherever possible. Open source software, which has no upfront licensing fees, is one way of achieving significant savings.

However, in order to protect their enormous revenue streams, large software corporations have invested millions in spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) about the security of open source software. In this post, I will examine and debunk five commonly held myths about open source security and why large corporations are promoting a “fear factor” mentality around open source software.

Tags: open source

Microsoft patent Page Up & Page Down keystrokes

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:05:45 GMT

clipped by: hotdoge3
clipper's remarks: 200 to go.

Clip Source: news.zdnet.com

Microsoft has been granted a patent on 'Page Up' and 'Page Down' keystrokes.

The software giant applied for the patent in 2005, and was granted it on August 19, 2008. US patent number 7,415,666 describes "a method and system in a document viewer for scrolling a substantially exact increment in a document, such as one page, regardless of whether the zoom is such that some, all or one page is currently being viewed".

Microsoft has a long history of applying for, and being granted patents for, inventions that many argue--and can sometimes demonstrate--were based on earlier work carried out by others, or based on a common, self-evident idea.

One example is the company's patent on a mouse wheel that can scroll up and down; another is its patent on double-clicking buttons. The company received its 5,000th patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office in March 2006, and is currently approaching the 10,000 mark.

Tags: windows

Nigerian man to divorce 82 wives

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 09:59:19 GMT

clipped by: hotdoge3

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Nigerian man to divorce 82 wives

A Nigerian religious leader with 86 wives has accepted an Islamic decree ordering him to divorce all but four of them, local authorities say.

A spokesman for the emir of Bida told the BBC that Mohammadu Bello Abubakar, 84, agreed on Saturday to comply with the decree.

Last week one of Nigeria's top Islamic bodies, the Jamatu Nasril Islam, sentenced him to death.

The sentence was lifted but he was threatened with eviction from his home.

Earlier, Mr Abubakar had challenged Islamic scholars, saying there was no punishment stated in the Koran for having more than four wives.

"I have not contravened any established law that would warrant my being banished from the land... There is no law that says one must not marry more than four wives," the AFP news agency reported him as saying.

Many of the wives live three to a room, some have seven children

The former teacher and Islamic preacher lives in Niger State with his wives and at least 170 children.

Tags: wives

How to get thrown into a Chinese prison

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 01:11:55 GMT

clipped by: hotdoge3
clipper's remarks: don't do it.

Clip Source: news.cnet.com

How to get thrown into a Chinese prison

Powderly was among the would-be protesters detained in China without being charged of a crime.

What worked and what didn't go forward?
Powderly: None of them worked. We did nothing. We were arrested and detained in China...for doing nothing except for thinking about it.

While being detained, Powderly snapped this shot of a dozing interrogator.

They told some of my collaborators they were gonna shoot us. They really didn't know what we were doing or who we were...At about the 26th hour, they gave up. So they filed us all in vans...and started driving us way on the outskirts of town... Before long we see this ominous spectre of a giant building surrounded by barbed wire. That was Chongwen detention center.

They stripped us and took photos of us naked. They put us in little red shorts and red shirts, prison clothes, and marched us into general population prison cells...At that point we were in a position no or very few Americans had been before.

Tags: china

Space: The final frontier for computer viruses

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:57:15 GMT

clipped by: hotdoge3

Clip Source: news.cnet.com

Space: The final frontier for computer viruses

The first ever reported computer virus has infected at least two laptops onboard the International Space Station more than 200 miles above Earth.

The worm, believed to be W32.Gammima.AG, steals personal information used to play online games from infected computers and then attempts to send the information back to a remote computer, according to SpaceRef.com, which broke the news on Monday.

The virus was not the first to hit a space station last month, just the first one that was reported, NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries told Wired News. He described it as a "nuisance" that infected computers that are mostly used for applications like e-mail and not critical systems.

Officials were trying to figure out how the virus got onboard. The space station has no direct Internet access--astronauts send and receive mail through a KU band data link, according to Humphries. Reports speculated it may have spread via a USB memory device.

Tags: virus

Hyundai booth raided at German tech fair

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:43:55 GMT

clipped by: hotdoge3

Clip Source: news.cnet.com

Hyundai booth raided at German tech fair

The Hyundai IT booth at the IFA electronics fair in Berlin got some unwanted visitors on Saturday: German customs police.

Police seized flat-screen TVs from the South Korean company's booth as visitors watched, according to Reuters. The raid followed Thursday's German court ruling that Hyundai IT and other companies were planning to display unlicensed patented tech at the fair, Reuters said. A customs official told the wire service that 69 raids had been authorized.

The official wouldn't name the other companies but said about 170 TVs, 140 digital audio players, 21 cell phones, and 57 DVD recorders had been seized so far, Reuters said. The wire service said that Hyundai could not immediately be reached for comment.

IFA, which began Friday and runs through Wednesday, is among the largest consumer electronics shows in the world.

Tags: tv

Microsoft warns of IE8 lock-in with XP SP3

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:27:44 GMT

clipped by: hotdoge3
clipper's remarks: or get Firefox

Clip Source: www.infoworld.com

Microsoft warns of IE8 lock-in with XP SP3

Microsoft yesterday warned users of Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) that they won't be able to uninstall either the service pack or Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) under some circumstances.

The warning was reminiscent of one Microsoft made in May, when Windows XP SP3 had just been made available for downloading. At the time, the company told users they wouldn't be able to downgrade from IE7 to the older IE6 browser without uninstalling the service pack.

In a post to the IE blog today, Jane Maliouta, a Microsoft program manager, spelled out the newest situation, which affects users who downloaded and installed IE8 Beta 1 prior to updating Windows XP to SP3. If those users then upgrade IE8 to Beta 2 , which Microsoft unveiled today, they will be stuck with both IE8 and Windows XP SP3.

She recommended that users instead first uninstall Windows XP SP3, then uninstall IE8 Beta 1; they should then reinstall XP SP3 and follow that by installing IE8 Beta 2.

Tags: windows xp

Apple v Psystar countersuit

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 01:20:51 GMT

clipped by: hotdoge3
clipper's remarks: hope Psystar win's

Clip Source: blogs.zdnet.com

Does Psystar have a legit argument in Apple countersuit?

Apple’s complaint against Psystar also notes that Apple has never authorized Psystar to install, use or sell the Mac OS software on any non-Apple-labeled hardware. That’s the part that has Pedraza fighting back. As for the authorization to sell Mac clones cheaper, Psystar acknowledges that Apple makes a good operating system and Psystar wants to bring it to the masses. But, no one should have to pay “exorbitant” prices for it.

Apple’s end-user licensing agreement (EULA) is clear on prohibiting the installation of Mac OS X on a non-Apple machine. Psystar attorney Colby Springer says that amounts to “restraint of trade,” one of the allegations that he wants a court to chime in on. As part of its countersuit, Psystar is asking the court to void the licensing agreement.

Tags: apple

Vista users turning back to XP

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:26:39 GMT

clipped by: hotdoge3
clipper's remarks: downgrade or is it up?

Clip Source: blogs.nzherald.co.nz

Vista users turning back to XP

US performance and metrics researcher Devil Mountain Software found nearly 35 per cent of the 3000-plus PCs it examined had been downgraded from Vista to XP.

Craig Barth, Devil Mountain's chief technology officer, used data provided by users of Devil Mountain's exo.performance.network which is partnered with Infoworld, a PC Advisor publication - to come up with the figure. By collating such things as the vendor and system model number with manufacturers' catalogues, Barth was able to identify machines that were probably shipped in the last six months, a period when virtually every new PC was offered with Vista preinstalled.

It seems some people are taking advantage of Vista's downgrade rights - Vista Business and Vista Ultimate can be 'downgraded' to XP Professional; businesses that purchase Vista Enterprise can also downgrade to XP.

The site for PC Advisor has posted a guide for those looking to downgrade from Windows Vista to XP.

Tags: windows

A million bank customers' security details have been sold on eBay

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:12:10 GMT

clipped by: hotdoge3

Clip Source: www.nzherald.co.nz

A million bank customers' security details have been sold on eBay with an old computer. Photo / Bradley Ambrose

LONDON - A computer containing banking security details of more than a million people has been sold on eBay for 35 pounds ($92), bank officials said - the latest in a series of losses of personal data in the U.K.

The computer contained account numbers, passwords, mobile telephone numbers and signatures. It belonged to MailSource UK - an arm of Graphic Data, an archiving company that holds financial information for Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and American Express.

The security breach became known when the computer's buyer found the information and contacted authorities.

Britain's Information Commissioner's Office has launched an investigation into the incident. Banks in Britain are obligated under the Data Protection Act to secure personal information. But banking and other highly sensitive information is being lost with increasing frequency.

Tags: windows