APR-JUN 2007 Vol 3 Issue13
Limelight
Get Social with Your Browser
Mozilla Labs announced a new project to develop social functionality within the Firefox browser. Aim to “create a fun and easy way to share links with your friends, and to browse the set of links that friends have shared with you. They also want to make it easy to ‘subscribe’ to a friend.”
Firefox could become the place where you keep up with everything online. The main interface consists of boxes representing friends whom you select. Their faces are supposed to light up when they have something to share. More practically, you're able to sort by friends, their content or content type.
This social browser should appeal to users who already spend their days actively tagging and sharing. There are many who use tagging tools like del.icio.us and furl.net, and are accustomed to using their browsers already. For them, the transition seems natural. This also might attract people who actively participate on social sites. It’s a slightly different mindset, since you make your primary social connections on the browser first rather than the domain-based social site. However once you select your friends, it’s a convenient option.
Kaspersky discovers first virus in iPods
Kaspersky have discovered a virus for iPods. The new virus, coined with the name Podloso, has zero negative impact. Podloso working only on iPods running Linux implies that almost 99.9 per cent of all iPods which run Windows or Apple operating systems are spared.
According to the test carried by Kaspersky, once launched, the virus scans the device's hard disk and infects all executable .elf format files. Any attempt to launch these files will cause the virus to display a message on the screen which says "You are infected with Oslo the first iPod Linux Virus".
Intel Launches Quad-core Chip for Desktop Gamers
Intel launches a quad-core chip for desktop gamers. The Core 2 Extreme QX6800 runs at 2.93GHz, the fastest speed yet of the 12 designs of quad-core processors the company has launched since it announced the "Clovertown" Xeon server chip in November. That speed makes the chip a good fit for gamers and digital designers. Multi-core chips can speed up computers that run multi-threaded software, dividing large jobs into several parallel parts. Intel charges US$1,199 for the new Core 2 Extreme QX6800, with an 8M-byte memory cache and 1,066MHz front side bus speed.
Microsoft brings Messenger to Xbox Live
As part of efforts to bridge the divide between PC and Xbox 360 gamers, Microsoft announced that Xbox Live users would soon be able to access Windows Live Messenger.The feature will be added for free through an Xbox 360 Dashboard update - due for release on May 7 - and means that, for the first time, Xbox owners will be able to hold instant messaging conversations with those on a PC.The move will greatly broaden the communication prospects of the 6 million Xbox Live users worldwide, as they will be able to chat directly with the 260 million users on Windows Live Messenger.