The latest version of Microsoft’s browser has finally overtaken Internet Explorer 6, now accounting for 22.3 per cent of the global browser market in January 2010, according to market share measurements carried out by NetApplications.
Interestingly IE8 only took 10 months to become the global browser leader. However, its recent boost can probably be attributed to [...]

This has not been the greatest start to the year for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser. Days after news of the latest security flaw in Internet Explorer, Google is adding fuel to the fire by phasing out support for IE6 for two of its Google Apps products, Docs and Sites (which recently got an aesthetic upgrade).
via [...]

Today, the French government followed suit, issuing an advisory suggesting that all versions of Internet Explorer, which is included with Windows, are vulnerable to the attack that was used against Google, Adobe and an estimated 30 other western companies, by hackers originating in China.
Google said the attacks were used to steal intellectual property and compromise [...]

In a statement issued today, the German Federal Office for Security in Information Technology known as BSI recommends that all Internet Explorer users switch to an alternative browser. They may resume using Explorer after a fix is issued by Microsoft for a critical vulnerability that has been implicated in the Chinese cyberattack against Google.If you [...]

Atrae Pennae – My Letter to michael@dell.com
One of my friends is getting royally screwed by Dell. His story is linked but basically he bought an ultra-expensive laptop with the super-warranty and Dell is refusing to honor it.

Internet Traffic Begins to Bypass the U.S. – NYTimes.com
“Since passage of the Patriot Act, many companies based outside of the United States have been reluctant to store client information in the U.S.,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington. “There is an ongoing concern that U.S. intelligence agencies will [...]

Why women quit technology careers
June 16, 2008 (Computerworld) What if half the men in science, engineering and technology roles dropped out at midcareer? That would surely be perceived as a national crisis. Yet more than half the women in those fields leave — most of them during their mid- to late 30s.
In this month’s Harvard [...]

Web Worker Daily » Archive 10 Tips for Working with the Not-So-Tech-Savvy «It’s easy to forget that the average web worker’s skills and knowhow is
quite specialized, even though Internet use is growing gradually over
the years. Your colleagues might have Facebook accounts, but do they
know how to use it for networking? Likewise, a client may have [...]

Boing Boing: Email gets fourth amendment protection again
In a tremendous victory for privacy rights, the US 6th circuit court has restored the power of 4th amendment protection to emails stored on a remote host like an ISP or Webmail, striking down sections of the Stored Communications Act which have been routinely used to grab emails [...]

Why wireless carriers should be forced into neutrality
Tim Wu, a copyfightin’ net-neutrality-advocatin’ law prof at Columbia, has posted a draft of a new, stunning paper on net neutrality as it might apply to mobile carriers. In “Wireless Network Neutrality,” Wu demonstrates the way that the wireless carriers have adopted the same bad practices that led [...]

UserFriendly Strip Comments
I needed this.

Wired News: The Eternal Value of Privacy
… they accept the premise that privacy is about hiding a wrong. It’s not. Privacy is an inherent human right, and a requirement for maintaining the human condition with dignity and respect.
…For if we are observed in all matters, we are constantly under threat of correction, judgment, criticism, even [...]

LISNews.org | Why You Should Care About Network Neutrality
WWdN: In Exile: why network neutrality matters, and is worth fighting for
Boing Boing: Network neutrality – why it matters, and how do we fix it?
Neutrality of the Net | Decentralized Information Group (DIG) Breadcrumbs

Massachusetts set to switch off Microsoft
[Massachusetts] said on Wednesday that all electronic documents “created and saved” by state employees would have to be based on open formats, with the switch to start at the beginning of 2007.
Documents created using Microsoft’s Office software are produced in formats that are controlled by the Microsoft, making them [...]

Pop-up vulnerability found in major browsers | CNET News.com

According to Secunia, the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer for Mac, Safari, iCab, Mozilla, Mozilla Firefox and Camino are all vulnerable. Opera 7 and 8 are affected, but not 8.01, according to Opera.

Basically, all you have to do is not enter information in pop-up windows.

VoiceOver and Safari: Screen reading on the Mac | 456 Berea Street
The new Mac operating system has a screenreader built in. As Roger says, buying a Mac Mini is less than half of a Jaws license (good for cash-strapped libraries).

Boing Boing: DVD licensing cartel sued under anti-trust
The cartel that controls patents on DVD technologies is being sued by Chinese DVD makers, who are ebing forced to pay $20 per player, much higher than US manufacturers pay. The DVD makers have a good anti-trust case that could seriously bust this cartel.

I’d be happier about this [...]

The closed nature of the system has been a concern for some librarians in regards to the new Google Scholar. In The magic that makes Google tick – ZDNet UK Insight, some of the processes that Google goes through when indexing and searching webpages are explained.

Haven’t we all gotten tired of the “run search, change database, recreate search” routine?

But this issue goes deeper. As the flaws, the breakdowns, the mistallied votes show us, eVoting software is a) not ready for prime time, and b) has been deployed widely without a shred of evidence of working QA and code review. Counting votes is a very simple thing. Creating safeguards, paper trails, and offsite monitoring [...]

As I’m sure you know, the online version of the New York Times is “hidden” behind a registration system. Access is free but that single impediment makes the site unlinkable, which makes it irrelevant for web-based conversation like blogs, emails, newsgroups, and message boards.
According to Boing Boing, it also blocks the Google search engine, [...]

Internet Explorer Is Too Dangerous to Keep Using
In the few days that the sites provided the Trojan horses, hundreds of thousands or millions of users could have had their credit-card, stock-brokerage and bank-account numbers and passwords stolen.
Let me repeat myself: Millions of you may have every bit of your browser-driven online financial security information stolen.
Emphasis [...]

There are a couple of articles about a version of Linux created by a library for their public PCs that apparently is pretty close to Windows.

Living with Linux
Linux in action: A public library’s success story
The software

There is also a Desktop Linux being put out by Red Hat at the end of the month. [...]

TechnoBiblio: Spyware Hints from MS
Hopefully most libraries have locked down their public access PCs running a Windows OS to stop the download of many of the nasty things out on the internet. But as the bad guys get trickier, it never hurts to look for some advice on defeating their efforts.
And even if you have [...]

Open Access News: Tim Berners-Lee wins the Millennium Technology Prize
Finnish Technology Award Foundation. The prize of one million Euros goes to the inventor of the world wide web who put his invention into the public domain and never tried to profit from it. Congratulations to Tim Berners-Lee and kudos to the Finnish [...]

Comcast cutting off spam zombies
Internet service provider Comcast Corp. is cutting off Internet service for some customers whose Windows computers are being used to relay spam messages, according to a company spokeswoman.
The biggest problem with infected machines seems to be that the owners don’t know their infected and most of the unlucky recipients don’t [...]

TechnoBiblio: CAN-SPAM PUT TO THE TEST
An ISP in California is taking a spammer to court claiming they forged header information and neglected to include contact info in about 100 email messages they sent through its service.

Mydoom variant appears, targets Microsoft
A new version of the Windows Mydoom e-mail worm is circulating on the Internet, according to warnings from antivirus companies.
The Mydoom worm variants do not directly affect Macintosh computers, although Mac users may see e-mail and attachments sent to them by infected Windows machines.
Ditto.

Silicon Valley – Dan Gillmor’s eJournal – Microsoft on Patenting XML Formats
Dan Gillmor has posted a reply he received from a MS PR person on the company’s attempt to patent XML.

PCWorld.com – Help! I’ve Been Web-Jacked
“I heard my hard drive churning and clicked on my task manager and saw three executable programs were installing themselves,” says Chris Brandon of Brandon Internet Services. “I knew I was in trouble when I couldn’t get my task manager to cancel the programs.”

By the time he checked his registry, [...]

Allegro serves iTunes to Universal Plug & Play devices
Once installed on your Mac or PC, the Allegro Media Server software locates your iTunes database file. It publishes that information on the network using the UPnP MediaServer standard, making it possible for UPnP-compliant devices to play your iTunes music. UPnP technology could similarly be used to [...]

de-generationx.net :: Korgans News and Ramblings
Microsoft has filed patent #525484 with the New Zealand patent office to lay absolute claim over any “Word-processing document stored in a single XML file that may be manipulated by applications that understand XML”. In otherwords, any XML webpage, all documents created by Star Office, OpenOffice.org and many other programs [...]

Real sues Microsoft, alleges monopoly abuse
I’m shocked, shocked I say.

Bush signs bill aimed at controlling spam
Critics of the bill, however, argue that its effects will be mostly ceremonial. Bulk e-mail operators outside the U.S. will be beyond the law’s jurisdiction, and the act overrides state antispam laws that are in some areas stronger than the new federal regulations.
The critics are most likely right [...]

US House overwhelmingly passes antispam bill
Some think it’s for the best, some don’t but at least it’s a step in the right direction.

A Presentation Architecture for Individualized Content is a little dry but it’s a fascinating look into using the power of XML for individualized computer courses.

TechnoBiblio: Free Speech Under Attack… Again
Diebold, another company more concerned with controlling the rest of the world than with fixing their product. Joy.

OJR article: News That Comes to You
RSS feeds offer info-warriors a way to take the pulse of hundreds of sites
I talked about RSS and aggregators before and now it’s strating to catch on. They really do make keeping up much easier and more efficient.

The Shifted Librarian:Wireless Keeps on Going and Going and Going….
But a growing number of hotels and restaurants have found that it pays to offer free Wi-Fi Internet access. This perk attracts customers and provides a real bottom-line payback for a relatively small capital investment, according to free-Wi-Fi pioneers.
We’re going to have a real problem [...]

California wins first state suit against spammers
In addition to the $2 million fine, the company and its owners were prohibited from sending any unsolicited commercial e-mail, disguising their identity by sending e-mail that appears to originate from an e-mail address that is not their own and accessing and using computers and computer systems of persons [...]

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Pop-up ad pusher X10 files for bankruptcy
The notorious Internet pop-up ads of scantily clad women being viewed from miniature wireless cameras might be gone forever.
I stopped seeing those when I switched to Mozilla but the memories still make me shudder.

U.S. Senate approves antispam bill
The Senate voted 97-0 to approve the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act on Wednesday after a compromise among members of the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee allowed an amendment authorizing a federal agency to launch a national do-not-spam registry.

Mercury News | 10/20/2003 | In open source gain, Bay State locks horns with Microsoft
…despite Microsoft’s lobbying, a Pentagon report concluded that open source was often cheaper and more secure, and that its use, if anything, should expand.

Calif. law protects us from security breaches
As of July 1, a new California statute requires any business with customers in California to alert those customers if anyone steals sensitive private information that could lead to identity theft (like your name combined with your Social Security number, driver’s license number, or financial account information). The notifications [...]

O’Reilly Network: Hardball assessment of the future of media [Sep. 09, 2003]
Many people have predicted that peer-to-peer file-sharing will change the face of media, but this paper by Scott Jensen is the most thoroughgoing research I’ve seen into the commercial and artistic effects that peer-to-peer can potentially lead to. The paper is bold and futuristic, [...]

The Shifted Librarian: Monday, September 08, 2003- Apple: Libraries Circulating Digital Content Is “Impractical”
In other words, Apple (what appeared to be one of�the most customer-friendly and educational institution-friendly companies) doesn’t think enough of the “First Sale” doctrine to build support for it into its digital music product. To them, it’s “impractical” and you might, sort [...]

Universal Music Group drops CD prices
The recording industry continues to attribute slumping music sales to online piracy, but Universal Music Group (UMG) has recently announced an initiative to spur consumers to spend more money in record stores. The commercial music giant is taking a novel approach: It’s dropping the price of CDs.
Emphasis mine.
So many [...]

Government office adds Mac OS X to list
The U.S. government is now officially recognizing and supporting Mac OS X as the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has released a revised version of its Technical Reference Model (TRM) that adds the operating system and Linux to its list of “supporting platforms,” according to Federal Computer [...]

Teenager arrested in Blaster worm case
A Minnesota teenager will appear in federal court in St. Paul Friday to face charges stemming from the release of a variant of the virulent W32.Blaster Internet worm that ravaged computer systems worldwide earlier this month.

The Register: Forget California, it’s time to recall Microsoft
For the second time this year, Microsoft is the source of a major internet security event. First was Slammer/Sapphire in January that seriously impacted networks and corporations around the world, including shutting down ATM machines at some large banks. And now, we’ve got MSBlaster taking advantage of [...]

MacMegasite – Yet another critical Windows security flaw
Joke unneccasary.

Tim Bray, The Door Is Ajar, co-created XML 1.0 and he’s a respected voice in online tech circles. His analysis of the future of web browsers is based on 20 years of experience in the industry. He considers this a good time to try to start getting web surfers to switch to browsers other than [...]

Microsoft TechNet
There’s a flaw in the Windows code from 98 on up that leaves it open to the attack of the hacker’s choice. They recommend running the patch immediately.
Must resist Windows joke.

long live the king?

AOL officially kills Netscape

Netscape No More
Netscape R.I.P.
Netscape Dead
Sorting it Out
Mozilla Lives

AOL has discontinued the work on the Netscape browser. But to keep from completely alienating all of the users and the independent developers who contributed to the open-source project Mozilla (Netscape was almost Mozilla with a corporate wrapper around it), they have [...]

Buyers Bewildered By Techno-Speak
Not news to librarians who deal with the general public, but it does reinforce the idea that there is a section of our population who need beginner classes in modern technology and might be more willing to trust their local librarians than other strangers. As our technology and culture both evolve, [...]

Microsoft plays browser games discusses the possible motives and ramifications of MS’s decision to stop updating Internet Explorer as a separate piece of software for both Windows and Macs. Unless users switch to otherbrowsers web development will be slowed or even stopped until the release of the new Windows OS, supposedly in 2007.

Minnis bows to lobbyists of Microsoft
Essentially, despite demonstrable benefits and cost-savings, the Oregon Speaker of the House “killed” a bill to convert the state government from Microsoft to open-source software “after powerful out-of-state corporate interests showed up at the Oregon Capitol, seeking to make the bill go away. “

“Beyond Productivity: Information Technology, Innovation, and Creativity examines the dynamic intersection of information technology with the world of the arts and design. This intersection has already yielded results of significant cultural and economic value, including innovative architectural and product designs, computer animated films, computer music, computer games, interactive art installations, cross-cultural experimentation, and Web-based [...]

MailWasher- You preview your email headers through mailwasher, and you can delete and/or bounce back the spam, so that the spammer (or undesirable lunatic) will get a message back indicating that they have emailed an invalid email address!

All of the viruses and hacking going around can make you nervous. Especially if you have public computers where you can’t control what all the users are going to do. Below are free (and paid) services that can help you protect yourself a little more.

Zone Labs: ZoneAlarm Pro download, trusted Internet security, small business security, [...]

Spyware is software downloaded to your computer, usually without your knowledge, that “watches” what you do on the Internet and then transmits the information back to its makers.

SimplytheBest Spyware information- A great deal of information and resources about spyware.
Counterexploitation [cexx.org]- A site devoted to fighting Spam and adware. Has step-by-step instructions for finding and deleting [...]

Apple has made a deal with the five biggest music labels to allow iTunes users to download songs at $.99/each. This is a big deal as the first and so far best service for buying the most popular music digitally.

Apple unveils music store – article from C|Net.
iTunes Music Store-Response from a Mac user on the [...]