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Security

Submission + - Microsoft: Upgrade Messenger or else (computerworld.com)

Submitted by
CWmike
CWmike writes: "Microsoft will force an upgrade on users of its Windows Live Messenger IM software in September to plug a hole the company introduced when a programmer added an extra character to a code library: an extra "&" symbol to be exact. Starting in mid-September, users of Messenger 8.1 and 8.5 will be required to upgrade to Messenger 14.0.8089 if they want to use Microsoft's instant messaging service, the company announced in a blog posted late last week. Last week, Microsoft revised the security advisory for the ATL vulnerabilities to add a section on Messenger. In the alert's FAQ, the company made clear that the upgrade was mandatory. "If you do not accept the upgrade, you may not be allowed access to Windows Live Messenger service," the advisory read."
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - P2P users buy more media (adage.com)

Submitted by
Death Metal
Death Metal writes: "We compared a random set of Vuze users with a national sample of internet users ages 18 to 44, and results revealed that users of P2P technology spend considerable money on traditional media and entertainment. They are, in fact, important and valued customers of the traditional media companies. Our survey shows that the P2P user attends 34% more movies in theaters, purchases 34% more DVDs and rents 24% more movies than the average internet user. The P2P user owns more HDTVs and is more likely to own a high-def-DVD player, too."
Cellphones

Submission + - Spotify wins iPhone App Store approval (goodgearguide.com.au)

Submitted by
angry tapir
angry tapir writes: "Apple has approved a streaming music application from Spotify for use on the iPhone, even though the program will compete with Apple's own iTunes service. Spotify is an advertising-supported music service that lets end-users stream music to their computers free of charge. The service is available in the U.K. and by invitation in countries including Sweden, Norway, Finland, France and Spain. Users can opt to pay for a version of the service without ads."
Mozilla

Submission + - Porn collection put people off upgrading Firefox (pcpro.co.uk)

Submitted by
Barence
Barence writes: "Mozilla's Security team has disclosed a very interesting piece of research which suggests people refused to upgrade to Firefox 3 because they were afraid the browser would expose their porn collection. Mozilla's research found that the number one reason for not upgrading was the new location bar, and the fact that it delved into people's bookmark collections to suggest sites as they typed. "When we expanded the capabilities of the location bar to search against all history and bookmarks in Firefox 3, a lot of people contacted us to say that they had certain bookmarks they didn't really want to have displayed," Firefox's principal designer, Alex Faaborg, tactfully explains. "In some cases users had intentionally hidden these bookmarks in deep hierarchies of folders, somewhat similar to how one might hide a physical object.""
The Internet

Submission + - Why Craigslist Is Such a Mess (wired.com)

Submitted by
Jeff
Jeff writes: "If you're not supposed to argue with success, at least diss it: Wired's Gary Wolf asks, 'how come when you arrive at the most popular dating site in the US you find a stream of anonymous come-ons intermixed with insults, ads for prostitutes, naked pictures, and obvious scams? ... but no odder than what you see at the most popular job-search site: another wasteland of hypertext links...But if you really want to see a mess, go visit the nation's greatest apartment-hunting site...contrary to every principle of usability and common sense, you can't easily browse pictures of the apartments for rent.' An accompanying piece asks how you would redesign CraigsList. Newspaper execs may want to pull their head out of the sand and seize the moment to challenge the site on their own turf."
Operating Systems

Submission + - 28th Anniversary of Linux 2

Submitted by Sam the Nemesis
Sam the Nemesis writes: 28 years ago on 25th August, Linus Torvalds, a 21-year-old university student from Finland, writes a post to a user group asking for feedback on a little project he's working on. He's built a simple kernel for a Unix-like operating system that runs on an Intel 386 processor, and he wants to develop it further. The kernel eventually becomes Linux, which is released in 1994 and distributed over the internet for free.
Businesses

Submission + - Adobe customers on hold for 2 hours

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Looks like Adobe's customer service has gone from bad to worse. Far from waiting 40 minutes anymore, the wait time is now 2 hours before anyone picks up the phone. Looks like this problem is a global one. There's a story on the latest saga here in Australian media.
The Media

Submission + - WTF is wrong with Slashdot? 5

Submitted by Sleen
Sleen writes: WTF is wrong with Slashdot? Whenever I scroll down as I am reading the headlines, at some point something happens and all of the sudden I can't see what I was reading because ALL these older headlines are added to the page making me lose my place. WTF is UP with that? Reading /. used to be so easy. I could read, scroll, read, scroll...all the way until maybe I have to access older posts. Now, every day the main page jumps as I am reading and then I have to scroll ALL THE WAY BACK UP to where I was reading before. Do you fuckers use computers or what? Do any of the devs of slashdot ever read the front page? Am I not using the Vorpal browser of power? This is some seriously stupid shit and it might have to do with some preference buried somewhere that I never indicated I was interested in enabling. Ok, I like the idea of adding more content to a page when the reader gets to the bottom, but the behaviour is wrong and causes 5 times more aggravation than the convenience offers in return. Every day I scroll down and then bam, I lose my place and then scroll back up. Slashdot is one of the sites that I watch regularly and I scan the headlines until I see old shit passing by alot of physorg and googlenews repeats. Why does the front page do this and why can't it be improved? Am I the only one who uses a mouse in an operating system with a graphical user interface? What Fuck Thee?
Announcements

Submission + - USB 3.0 chip details revealed (arnnet.com.au)

Submitted by oranghutan
oranghutan writes: A company producing silicon for the USB 3.0 standard has claimed its SOC (system on a chip) platform can ship data to external storage devices at 500MB per second. Symwave made the announcement at the Hot Chips conference on Monday. The company has produced prototypes and hopes to ship by the end of the year. http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/315997/usb_3_0_chip_will_bring_raid_external_drives
Announcements

Submission + - Watch Miss Universe 2009 Live (blogspot.com)

Submitted by
Gilbien03
Gilbien03 writes: "The Universal Format

Eighty four Miss Universe Contestants from all over the world are expected to vie for the coveted title. During the coronation night, they will grace the stage with their astonishing beauty and brains. Nevertheless the candidates will surely awed the people in the Miss Universe 2009 Swimsuit competition displaying their gorgeous figures.

As expected, the competition will run to its usual format. First, there's the selection of top 15. These lucky fifteen ladies will be judged in three ways: swimsuit, evening gown and first round interview. Rolls on to top 10, whoever obtains the highest tallied scores will advance to final top 5. Special awards like, Miss Photogenic and Miss Congeniality will be given.

Dayana Mendoza, the reigning queen from Venezuela will crown her successor upon the proclamation of the winner. Since May 2009, Mendoza was touring the world in great height. She traveled to four continents and been to numerous countries such as Russia, Bolivia, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Italy, Spain, France, Ukraine, Argentina, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Cuba, Vietnam and UAE. She also had a number of trips to USA. The six major sponsors of the show are BSC Swimwaer, Carlos Alberto, Diamond Nexus Labs, Farouk Systems, New York Film Academy and Nina Footwear. Donald Trump and Phil Gurin remain as the executive producer of the pageant.

Miss Universe 2009 Early Predictions

Who you think will win? One disputable prediction is that one of the early miss universe favorites, Pamela Bianca Manalo will win this year. Manalo is the 21-year-old and 5'10" Manila Girl from Philippines. Her runner up is Miss Universe 2009 Venezuela (Stefania Fernandez) and Miss Universe 2009 Turkey (Begum Kizitug) will be third. This prediction is not measured in accurate ways therefore is not authenticated . However, one thing for sure, whoever wins will stand as a bearer for HIV/AIDS education, research and legislation. So don't miss this event and Watch Miss Universe 2009 Live Streaming in PayPerView of your choice.

P.S. I'm not from Great Britain but my personal favorite is Miss Universe 2009 Great Britain Clair Cooper. I just love her confidence and her answers in probably one of the best interview of all the contestants. Although I have to agree that she needs a new hairstylist. Watch below and let me know your thoughts."
Cellphones

Submission + - A good look at Apple's response to the FCC

Submitted by ZuchinniOne
ZuchinniOne writes: The Consumerist takes a look at Apple's response to the FCC regarding the rejection of a Google Voice App

They don't seem to buy Apple's response saying:

"Too bad it isn't actually true. Techcrunch's sources claim that most of the responses are lies, half-truths, or at best, misleading.The part of Google's statement that deals with this subject is, tellingly, redacted in the version released to the public."

It's an interesting read and definitely thought provoking.
Movies

Submission + - Astronauts Won't See Indy Movies on ISS 2

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "The Guardian reports that astronauts can choose from movies on the ISS including Wedding Crashers, The Princess Bride, and Blazing Saddles but James Mullighan, creative director for an independent film-making collective, was rebuffed when he wrote to Nasa, arguing that "Caddyshack, Cheaper By the Dozen and Beverly Hills Cop might weaken the critical faculties of those on board, possibly even putting their lives and ours in danger" and offered a selection of the alternatives proposed on the group's website. "Our members would like to see Harold and Maude rather than Harold and Kumar, and Man on Wire replace Man on Fire.," wrote Mullighan. Nasa Associate Administrator William H Gerstenmaier wrote back informing Mullighan that "Nasa shares your interest in assuring that a broad selection of entertainment is available for crew members' selection" and told the group that its suggestions "have been forwarded to the crew office for further consideration" (PDF). But Gerstenmaier also made clear that the 150 titles already available on the ISS (released under the freedom on information act) (PDF) were largely the result of crew members' personal preferences and that astronauts had either requested these films or brought them up themselves. "In other words," writes the Guardian. "If the astronauts on the International Space Station want to watch Pearl Harbor, Shanghai Knights or, for that matter, Apollo 13, that's what they're going to watch.""

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