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Firefox

Submission + - MS hides Firefox extension in toolbar update 2

Jan writes: As part of its regular Patch Tuesday, Microsoft released an update for its various toolbars, and this update came with more than just documented fixes. The update also installs an add-on for Internet Explorer and an extension for Mozilla Firefox, both without the user's permission.

Ars Technica

Comment Re:we need to stop coddling stupidity. (Score 5, Insightful) 81

I don't necessarily disagree with you when you say 'We need to let people like that sink or swim', but in this world of tightly connected social networks where friendship among individuals governs their level of access to your details, I'm not so sure about that. You're only as secure as your weakest link. If one of your less technologically-savvy friends on Facebook happens to fall for this scheme and gives up his login information to the attackers, then your information is exposed to them, and you're put at risk. This is why while I sympathize with your point, I still think it's incredibly important that phishing attacks like this be cracked down upon as quickly as possible to prevent exactly that sort of thing from happening.
Microsoft

Submission + - Judge orders Microsoft to stop selling Word 1

fractalVisionz writes: A judge on Tuesday ordered Microsoft to stop selling Word, one of its premier products, in its current form due to patent infringement.

Judge Leonard Davis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a permanent injunction that "prohibits Microsoft from selling or importing to the United States any Microsoft Word products that have the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX or DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML," according to a statement released by attorneys for the plantiff, i4i.
Microsoft

Submission + - Judge orders a halt to MS Word sales (goodgearguide.com.au) 1

angry tapir writes: "A judge has ordered Microsoft to stop selling Microsoft Word products in their current form in the U.S., but legal appeals or technical work-arounds make an actual halt of sales unlikely. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas gave Microsoft 60 days to comply with the injunction, which forbids Microsoft from selling Word products that let people create custom XML documents, according to i4i. The ruling, which also includes additional damages Microsoft must pay, are related to a patent infringement suit filed by i4i."
Microsoft

Submission + - US court tells Microsoft told to stop selling Word (arnnet.com.au)

oranghutan writes: A judge in a court in Texas has given Microsoft 60 days to comply with an order to stop selling Word products in their existing state after a patent infringement suit filed by i4i. According to the injunction Microsoft is forbidden from selling Word products that let people create XML documents, which both the 2003 and 2007 versions let you do. An analyst quoted in the article — Michael Cherry from Directions — said: "It's going to take a long time for this kind of thing to get sorted out." Basically, most don't believe the injunction will stop Word being sold as there are ways of getting around it. However, in early 2009 a jury in the Texas court ordered Microsoft to pay i4i US$200 million for infringing the patent. http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/314620/injunction_microsoft_word_unlikely_halt_sales
Cellphones

Submission + - The Irksome Cellphone Industry (nytimes.com)

gollum123 writes: David Pogue of the NYTimes wonders why congress is worrying about the exclusive handset contracts when there are more whopping things that are broken, unfair and anticompetitive in the American cellphone industry. ( http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/technology/personaltech/23pogue.html?pagewanted=1&hpw ) He lists Text messaging fees — Currently 20 cents each to send and recieve a message, Double billing — getting billed for sending and receiving a call, Why companies do not reduce the price of the contract after you have paid off your cell phone among the major problems not being addressed by congress. "Right now, the cell carriers spend about $6 billion a year on advertising. Why doesn't it occur to them that they'd attract a heck of a lot more customers by making them happy instead of miserable? By being less greedy and obnoxious? By doing what every other industry does: try to please customers instead of entrap and bilk them? But no. Apparently, persuading cell carriers to treat their customers decently would take an act of Congress."
Television

Submission + - Bad news, everybody!

mykepredko writes: "Future episodes of Futurama will not use the vocal talents of Billy West (Fry, Professor, and Ziodberg), Katey Sagal (Leela), John DiMaggio (Bender), Maurice LaMarche (Kif Kroker, among others), or Tress MacNeil (Mom, and several others). Fox released a statement saying "We love the Futurama voice performers and absolutely wanted to use them, but unfortunately, we could not meet their salary demands. While replacing these talented actors will be difficult, the show must go on. We are confident that we will find terrific new performers to give voice to Matt and David's brilliantly subversive characters." Sigh. Read about it here."

Submission + - Audacity: sound editor 1.3.8 released (sourceforge.net)

SF:vjohnson writes: The Audacity Team is pleased to announce the release of Audacity 1.3.8 (Beta) for Windows, Mac and Linux/Unix (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download). It contains a number of significant improvements, plus some bug fixes. Highlights include: * VST Effects now display in GUI mode by default * Updated Nyquist implementation * Improvements to Equalization, Noise Removal, Truncate Silence, Click Track and effects chains * Improved Plot Spectrum analysis and new preferences for Spectrograms * Record more than 16 channels (hardware/drivers permitting) * New \"Mixer Board\" view with per-track VU meters * AMR NB export support via the optional FFmpeg library (http://manual.audacityteam.org/index.php?title=FAQ:Installation_and_Plug-Ins#installffmpeg) * 32-bit float data over 0 dB handled without clipping * Draft Manual/Quick Help included in Windows and Mac installers * Faster waveform drawing and better response in multi-track projects * Various bug fixes, stability and accessibility improvements See New in Audacity 1.3.8 (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/features-1.3-a#details) for more on the latest features and fixes. Note: This release does not support Windows 98 or ME, for which 1.3.7 is still available (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/beta_windows#recdown).
Handhelds

Submission + - iTunes Intentionally Breaks Syncing with Palm Pre (engadgetmobile.com)

SpectreBlofeld writes: Engadget has the scoop:

"Palm itself had warned that the Pre's iTunes sync functionality could be broken at a moment's notice (and at Apple's whim), but we're pretty sure no one expected it'd happen this quickly. We've been able to confirm that version 8.2.1 of the software prevents the sync from working, meaning that you've got to add music the old-fashioned way — the Pre functions as a USB drive, too — until Palm gets around to patching the hack (if they decide to patch it, that is). This could end up being a protracted game of cat-and-mouse, which is entertaining to watch but nightmarish for the consumers down in the trenches actually trying to use this stuff. Funny thing is, Apple's straight up saying in its release notes that the update "addresses an issue with verification of Apple devices" — in other words, they weren't being verified before, and now they are, thank goodness. Peaceful sleep is once again within our reach."

  You stay classy, Apple.

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