Sabily 9.10 Is Based on Karmic Koala

Earlier today (December 27), Mehdi Magnon proudly announced the final release of the Sabily 9.10 Linux distribution. Dubbed Gaza, this new release is based on the amazing Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) operating system and it comes in two main editions: small and full. While the small edition contains basic applications and has 1 GB in size, the full version is 2.8 GB in size and features multimedia, educational, offline Quran recitations and lots of other interesting packages. Sabily 9.10 (Gaza) has new artwork, including the GRUB image and Xsplash, a new structure for the Islamic software and Monajat is now rewritten in the Python language. The following packages were added in Sabily 9.10:

· Noor, a new Quran Browser application;
· Thwab sample books;
· Rejaal: Men around the prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him). A flash bibliography of 60 Sahabi (available only in the full version);
· Fsool: The Sira of the prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him) (available only in the full version);
· Arabeyes Qamoos, an Arabic to English dictionary application (available only in the full version).

Complete with customized artwork and a big collection of Muslim-specific software, Sabily (formerly Ubuntu Muslim Edition) is a robust operating system for Muslims all over the world, be they Arabic speakers or not.

Features of Sabily 9.10 (Gaza):

· New Usplash, GDM & GNOME themes, and Islamic wallpapers;
· Zekr, a great Quran study tool that can also play Quran recitations;
· The Thwab encyclopedia software, now with sample books;
· 100% Arabic-translated desktop;
· A large suite of various applications and pre-installed codecs for both entertainment and educational purposes (only on the full version);
· The WebScript frontend to the popular DansGuardian Web Content Filter for easy parental control;
· Two convenient prayer-time applications: Minbar and "Pray Times" Firefox add-on.

Download Sabily 9.10 right now from Softpedia.

adopted from http://www.softpedia.com

sorwit.com -

sorwit.com -

Softpedia Reviews Apple Magic Mouse

Better late than never is what they say and, in my case, I’m actually glad I waited for it this long. Getting my hands on the all-new Magic Mouse around the holidays made me feel like I got an early Christmas present, and one that I didn’t even deserve. But, a review is a review. So, here’s why I’ve fallen in love with Apple’s newest addition to the accessory line.

The Magic Mouse ships with every new iMac alongside an Apple Wireless Keyboard. But it’s also sold separately. I haven’t upgraded to the new desktop computer yet - the aluminum 20-incher (2Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo) still performs beautifully for my every day work tasks (including some personal business) - but I had to get my hands on this touch-sensitive peripheral that looked like something from the future. So, we ordered it. And the wait was on... Until one day when the little rodent finally arrived!

I didn’t waste any time going through the written documentation provided with the device, and went ahead with setting it up for use with my iMac. Having already installed Mac OS X 10.6.2 (which provides support for the multi-touch nature of the gadget), I was good to go in seconds.

Note: on Leopard machines, the Wireless Mouse Software Update 1.0 is required for compatibility with the multi-touch functionality.

Besides the incredibly comfortable shape and size of the mouse, the first thing I noticed when I made the switch was a new panel for “Mouse” in System Preferences. Instead of the boring old panel showing a bunch of cursors and lines, the new one had all the parameter-tweaking knobs I needed, plus a video preview showing me what each function did. Talk about “built with the user in mind.”

read complete news on http://www.softpedia.com

Create Login Page Using PHP

Overview
In this tutorial create 3 files

1. main_login.php
2. checklogin.php
3. login_success.php
   

Step

1. Create table "members" in database "test".
2. Create file main_login.php.
3. Create file checklogin.php.
4. Create file login_success.php.
5. Create file logout.php
   

Create table "members"

<br />CREATE TABLE `members` (<br />`id` int(4) NOT NULL auto_increment,<br />`username` varchar(65) NOT NULL default '',<br />`password` varchar(65) NOT NULL default '',<br />PRIMARY KEY (`id`)<br />) TYPE=MyISAM AUTO_INCREMENT=2 ;<br /><br />-- <br />-- Dumping data for table `members`<br />-- <br /><br />INSERT INTO `members` VALUES (1, 'john', '1234');<br />

Create file main_login.php
<br /><table width="300" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" bgcolor="#CCCCCC"><br /><tr><br /><form name="form1" method="post" action="checklogin.php"><br /><td><br /><table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><br /><tr><br /><td colspan="3"><strong>Member Login </strong></td><br /></tr><br /><tr><br /><td width="78">Username</td><br /><td width="6">:</td><br /><td width="294"><input name="myusername" type="text" id="myusername"></td><br /></tr><br /><tr><br /><td>Password</td><br /><td>:</td><br /><td><input name="mypassword" type="text" id="mypassword"></td><br /></tr><br /><tr><br /><td> </td><br /><td> </td><br /><td><input type="submit" name="Submit" value="Login"></td><br /></tr><br /></table><br /></td><br /></form><br /></tr><br /></table><br />

Create file checklogin.php
<br /><?php $host="localhost"; // Host name $username=""; // Mysql username $password=""; // Mysql password $db_name="test"; // Database name $tbl_name="members"; // Table name // Connect to server and select databse. mysql_connect("$host", "$username", "$password")or die("cannot connect"); mysql_select_db("$db_name")or die("cannot select DB"); // username and password sent from form $myusername=$_POST['myusername']; $mypassword=$_POST['mypassword']; // To protect MySQL injection (more detail about MySQL injection) $myusername = stripslashes($myusername); $mypassword = stripslashes($mypassword); $myusername = mysql_real_escape_string($myusername); $mypassword = mysql_real_escape_string($mypassword); $sql="SELECT * FROM $tbl_name WHERE username='$myusername' and password='$mypassword'"; $result=mysql_query($sql); // Mysql_num_row is counting table row $count=mysql_num_rows($result); // If result matched $myusername and $mypassword, table row must be 1 row if($count==1){ // Register $myusername, $mypassword and redirect to file "login_success.php" session_register("myusername"); session_register("mypassword"); header("location:login_success.php"); } else { echo "Wrong Username or Password"; } ?><br />

Create file login_success.php
<br />// Check if session is not registered , redirect back to main page.<br />// Put this code in first line of web page.<br /><? session_start(); if(!session_is_registered(myusername)){ header("location:main_login.php"); } ?><br /><br /><html><br /><body><br />Login Successful<br /></body><br /></html>

Logout.php
<br />// Put this code in first line of web page.<br /><? session_start(); session_destroy(); ?>

For PHP5 User - checklogin.php
<br /><?php ob_start(); $host="localhost"; // Host name $username=""; // Mysql username $password=""; // Mysql password $db_name="test"; // Database name $tbl_name="members"; // Table name // Connect to server and select databse. mysql_connect("$host", "$username", "$password")or die("cannot connect"); mysql_select_db("$db_name")or die("cannot select DB"); // Define $myusername and $mypassword $myusername=$_POST['myusername']; $mypassword=$_POST['mypassword']; // To protect MySQL injection (more detail about MySQL injection) $myusername = stripslashes($myusername); $mypassword = stripslashes($mypassword); $myusername = mysql_real_escape_string($myusername); $mypassword = mysql_real_escape_string($mypassword); $sql="SELECT * FROM $tbl_name WHERE username='$myusername' and password='$mypassword'"; $result=mysql_query($sql); // Mysql_num_row is counting table row $count=mysql_num_rows($result); // If result matched $myusername and $mypassword, table row must be 1 row if($count==1){ // Register $myusername, $mypassword and redirect to file "login_success.php" session_register("myusername"); session_register("mypassword"); header("location:login_success.php"); } else { echo "Wrong Username or Password"; } ob_end_flush(); ?><br />

Encrypting Password - Make your Login More Secure

Secure File Upload with PHP

PHP makes uploading files easy. You can upload any type of file to your Web server. But with ease comes danger and you should be careful when allowing file uploads.

In spite of security issues that should be addressed before enabling file uploads, the actual mechanisms to allow this are straight forward. In this tutorial we will consider how to upload files to some directory on your Web server. We will also discuss security issues concerned with the file uploading.

The HTML Form

Before you can use PHP to manage your uploads, you need first construct an HTML form as an interface for a user to upload his file. Have a look at the example below and save this HTML code as index.php.

<br /> <form enctype="multipart/form-data" action="upload.php" method="post"><br /> <input type="hidden" name="MAX_FILE_SIZE" value="1000000"><br /> Choose a file to upload: <input name="uploaded_file" type="file"><br /> <input type="submit" value="Upload"><br /> </form><br /></body><br /></html><br /><br /><br />

There are some rules you need to follow when constructing your HTML form. First, make sure that the form uses the POST method. Second, the form needs the following attribute: enctype="multipart/form-data". It specifies which content-type to use when submitting information back to server. Without these requirements, your file upload will not work.

Another thing to notice is the hidden form field named MAX_FILE_SIZE. Some web browsers actually pick up on this field and will not allow the user to upload a file bigger than this number (in bytes). You should set this value to coincide with the maximum upload size that is set in your php.ini file. It is set with the upload_max_filesize directive and the default is 2MB. But it still cannot ensure that your script won't be handed a file of a larger size. The danger is that an attacker will try to send you several large files in one request and fill up the file system in which PHP stores the decoded files. Set the post_max_size directive in your php.ini file to the maximum size that you want (must be greater than upload_max_filesize). The default is 10MB. This directive controls the maximum size of all the POST data allowed in a single request. Also make sure that file_uploads inside your php.ini file is set to On.

At least, have a look at the input tag attribute: type="file". It is used to designate the input element as a file select control. This provides a place for the URI of a file to be typed and a "Browse" button which can be used as an alternative to typing the URI.

After the user enters the URI of a file and clicks the Submit button the copy of the file will be sent to the server and the user will be redirected to upload.php. This PHP file will process the form data.

Processing the Form Data (PHP Code)

When the file was uploaded, PHP created a temporary copy of the file, and built the superglobal $_FILES array containing information about the file. For each file, there are five pieces of data. We had named our upload field 'uploaded_file', so the following data would exist:

• $_FILES["uploaded_file"]["name"] the original name of the file uploaded from the user's machine
• $_FILES["uploaded_file"]["type"] the MIME type of the uploaded file (if the browser provided the type)
• $_FILES["uploaded_file"]["size"] the size of the uploaded file in bytes
• $_FILES["uploaded_file"]["tmp_name"] the location in which the file is temporarily stored on the server
• $_FILES["uploaded_file"]["error"] an error code resulting from the file upload

The example below accepts an uploaded file and saves it in the upload directory. It allows to upload only JPEG images under 350Kb. The code, itself, is rather clear, but we will give a little explanation. Have a look at the example and save this PHP code as upload.php.

<br /><?php //Сheck that we have a file if((!empty($_FILES["uploaded_file"])) && ($_FILES['uploaded_file']['error'] == 0)) { //Check if the file is JPEG image and it's size is less than 350Kb $filename = basename($_FILES['uploaded_file']['name']); $ext = substr($filename, strrpos($filename, '.') + 1); if (($ext == "jpg") && ($_FILES["uploaded_file"]["type"] == "image/jpeg") && ($_FILES["uploaded_file"]["size"] < newname =" dirname(__FILE__).'/upload/'.$filename;"><br />

Before you do anything with the uploaded file you need to determine whether a file was really uploaded. After that we check if the uploaded file is JPEG image and its size is less than 350Kb. Next we determine the path to which we want to save this file and check whether there is already a file with such name on the server. When all checks are passed we copy the file to a permanent location using the move_upload_file() function. This function also confirms that the file you're about to process is a legitimate file resulting from a user upload. If the file is uploaded successfully then the corresponding message will appear.

Note: Be sure that PHP has permission to read and write to the directory in which temporary files are saved and the location in which you're trying to copy the file.

This example is rather simple and its propose is to demonstrate you how to upload files using PHP. For example, you can add new conditions and allow to upload GIF and PNG images, or any other kind of files that you want. If you are unfamiliar with PHP this tutorial may be a good place to start.

Download Script

site reference http://www.webcheatsheet.com

Create Online Payment Using Paypall IPN

There are several PHP scripts and classes to process PayPal payments using their native IPN (Internet payment notification) feature. Because the whole process is based on the data you need to send via a web form to the PayPal payment processor these script look very similar.

The payment / notification process is shown via the following graphic:

Inside the form there are several required values to process a payment. PayPal gives the advice to post them all to get everything working. The following variables get some special attention:

business = your PayPal email address
cmd = single payments or subscription service (_xclick or _xclick-subscriptions)
return = the URL where the buyer get back after the payment is processed
cancel_return = the URL where the buyer get back if he has cancelled the payment
notify_url = the location where your IPN script is located
rm = how you need the data submitted from PayPal to your IPN script (1=get, 2=post)
currency_code = the currency you accept for your payment
lc = the country version of PayPal where your buyer is send to

There are much more variables, but we think that the other variables (product, order and shipment information) speak for themselves. Find a complete form provided with the example files.

To run some IPN enabled payment process we need a small script which will double check if the data which is send to the IPN script is valid according the data which is stored on the PayPal server. This feature is very important if your e-commerce accepts automatic payments.

The following code is able to check if the payment is valid against the PayPal server. Use this test to decide if the payment is valid or not.

$url = 'https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr';
$postdata = '';
foreach($_POST as $i => $v) {
$postdata .= $i.'='.urlencode($v).'&';
}
$postdata .= 'cmd=_notify-validate';

$web = parse_url($url);
if ($web['scheme'] == 'https') {
$web['port'] = 443;
$ssl = 'ssl://';
} else {
$web['port'] = 80;
$ssl = '';
}
$fp = @fsockopen($ssl.$web['host'], $web['port'], $errnum, $errstr, 30);

if (!$fp) {
echo $errnum.': '.$errstr;
} else {
fputs($fp, "POST ".$web['path']." HTTP/1.1\r\n");
fputs($fp, "Host: ".$web['host']."\r\n");
fputs($fp, "Content-type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded\r\n");
fputs($fp, "Content-length: ".strlen($postdata)."\r\n");
fputs($fp, "Connection: close\r\n\r\n");
fputs($fp, $postdata . "\r\n\r\n");

while(!feof($fp)) {
$info[] = @fgets($fp, 1024);
}
fclose($fp);
$info = implode(',', $info);
if (eregi('VERIFIED', $info)) {
// yes valid, f.e. change payment status
} else {
// invalid, log error or something
}
}

As mentioned before there are some complete solutions available on the internet. If your e-copmmerce site doesn’t have a complex product catalog you should use some static code from the PayPal website. For this guide we checked the PHP toolkit provided by PayPal.

Code condition
The first thing I noticed the code is not very clean and is using a coding style which is based on older PHP versions (f.e. for systems using register globals = On)

Implementation
After some code clean-up it was possible to use the included file together with my shopping cart script. Static variables are defined in one central configuration file and dynamic files are posted via the form in your web application.

IPN features
This script is written to handle the IPN validation process with different methods: cURL, fsockopen, and libcURL. I tried only the fsockopen option because this method looks good to me and should work on almost every web platform.

Documentation
There is a “Readme” file with the information about the most important features. A complete guide is not included and the information about subscription payments is missing in all files and documents. If you decide to start with the original files you should check also the comments within the configuration and example files.

Example files
The included files are good enough to jump start your paypal payment application. All files are included for a single buy button and also for processing the payment f.e. for the items from a shopping cart. The bad thing is that the bad coding style makes it not easy to integrate the script into you own application if you’re an PHP beginner.

As mentioned before I included my own example files to this PayPal payment guide. If you have questions about this code please post them to our forum, we’re glad to help. Don’t forget the code is provided as it is and we’re not responsible for the functions and/or risks while using this code. Download the example code here.

site reference http://www.web-development-blog.com

WordPress 2.9, Now with Built-in Image Editor and Delete Undo.

The latest version of the world most popular self-hosted blogging platform, WordPress 2.9, is now out and available for everyone to download and install. It's been quite a while since the last major update, more than six months actually, and the latest version comes with a few big new features and a bunch of smaller ones as well as updates, bug fixes, the works. The biggest feature is likely the new image editor which allows users to do basic photo editing inside the post editor without having to rely on third-party tools.

I’m here on behalf of the entire WordPress development team and community to announce the immediate availability of WordPress version 2.9 “Carmen” named in honor of magical jazz vocalist Carmen McRae (whom we’ve added to our Last.fm WP release station),” Matt Mullenweg, Automattic founder, the company behind the open-source WordPress platform and the WordPress.com blog hosting service, wrote.

With the new built-in image editor, users can crop, edit, rotate, flip, and scale images until they fit perfectly in the post. Seeing as these are 99 percent of the editing tools any blogger would ever need, the tool is a very welcome addition. It also probably means that you won't need to fire up Photoshop, or maybe Gimp if you're into open source or just too emotionally attached to your money, just to crop out the creepy old dude that keeps popping up in the your artistic shots of the day.

Another new feature which could prove quite useful, even though you wouldn't think you need it until something bad happens, is the new “Global undo/'trash' feature” which basically means that deleted posts don't get obliterated from existence but rather just sent to Purgatory, it's actually called Trash, to make amends.

Batch plugin updates and compatibility checking are a welcomed addition for those with a lot of plugins and an itch to always have the latest and greatest version. The feature comes especially handy when updating WordPress, i.e. right now if you're thinking about upgrading to 2.9, and should make the process a little less painful.

Finally, WordPress uses a little magic to convert most links to videos to actual embed code. The feature works for a bunch of sites like YouTube, Daily Motion, Blip.tv, Flickr, Hulu, Viddler, Qik, Revision3, Scribd, Google Video, Photobucket, PollDaddy, and WordPress.tv and even more are coming. The list of new features doesn't end here but these are the highlights. If you want to know what else is new, you can check out the official post or head over here to see all the 510 bug fixes, updates and new features in WordPress 2.9.

"2.9 has been an exciting development cycle, and I must say it has whetted our appetite for 3.0, which is coming next (probably this spring) and will include at the very least the merge of MU with the WordPress core, and a new default theme," Mullenweg added about upcoming plans.

WordPress 2.9 is available for download here.

adopted from http://www.softpedia.com

50% Cheaper Defragmentation

Computer savvy users are perfectly aware of the importance of regular defragmenting files on the disk. The benefit of the procedure have a direct effect on overall system performance, reducing read/write times, thus leading to snappier opening of applications as well as faster copying data on the hard disk.

One of the downsides users would complain in the past would be the increased resource usage for the duration of the optimization. Lately, this is no longer the case as the standard in most professional defraggers has been raised and the apps come now with the possibility to perform during computer idle times, sparing the CPU and RAM usage when you work on the computer.

Regularly priced at $15, and designed for home users, Ashampoo released the latest version of Magical Defrag

at Softpedia, which offers an exclusive 50% discount. Exclusive download from Softpedia is available until December 20, but the offer will persist beyond this date.

The main advantage of Ashampoo’s defragger, besides the enhanced algorithm that compares with that of professional software of the same kind, is that it has been developed to run in the background, and work during computer idle times. Once activity is resumed on the computer, the defragmentation process will pause, giving you the full power of the computer resources.

Being shaped up with the average home user in mind, the product can start doing its job unattended out of the box, as the beforehand set up default task covers all fix volumes and is configured to run behind the curtain, when no computer activity is recorded. On the other hand, more experienced users are given the possibility to tweak the triggers of the task, such as restricting defragmentation when CPU, I/O or page file activity is above a certain threshold, or when the laptop (if the case) runs in battery mode, or when printing is undertaken.

Ashampoo Magical Defrag is an easy solution for file fragmentation problems, at a great price on Softpedia. The engine doing all the hard work did an impressive job during our tests managing to maintain file fragmentation well under 1% on all partitions, with no other effort then walking away from the computer from time to time and heading to more pressing chores.

Even if Sunday, December 20 is the last day you can download the application exclusively from Softpedia, the discount will continue in the following days, allowing you to grab it for $7.50 from our website.

adopted from http://www.softpedia.com

Download Firefox 3.6 Beta 5

The fifth Beta Build of Firefox 3.6, codename Namoroka, is now available for download. Mozilla is referring to the development milestone as revision 5 of the first, and only (at least in the company’s perspective) Beta release of Firefox 3.6. Earlier this month, Softpedia informed you that yet another Beta of Firefox 3.6 was cooking, and that the browser would not evolve directly to the next phase toward the final release. Despite the “revision 5” label, fact is that although the next iteration of Mozilla’s open source browser was supposed to graduate in Release Candidate stage by this point in time, the development process continues to be stuck in Beta, jeopardizing the chances that end users will be able to upgrade to the final version of Firefox 3.6 by the end of 2009.

“This morning the Mozilla community released Firefox 3.6 Beta 5, making it available for free download and issuing an automatic update to all Firefox 3.6 beta users. This update contains over 100 fixes from the last Firefox 3.6 beta, containing many improvements for web developers, Add-on developers, and users. Over 70% of the thousands of Firefox Add-ons have now been upgraded by their authors to be compatible with Firefox 3.6 Beta,” explained Mike Beltzner, director of Firefox at Mozilla.

It is important to note that Firefox 3.6 Beta 5 is still pre-release software, as the Beta tag implies. In this context the release is not ready for widespread adoption by the public. However, in excess of half a million early adopters were running the Beta Builds of Firefox 3.6 as of November 2009.

“The Beta of Firefox 3.6 / Gecko 1.9.2 introduces several new features for users to evaluate: support for the HTML5 File API; a change to how third-party software integrates with Firefox to increase stability; the ability to run scripts asynchronously to speed up page load times; users can now change their browser’s appearance with a single click, with built in support for Personas; Firefox 3.6 will alert users about out of date plugins to keep them safe; open, native video can now be displayed full screen, and supports poster frames; support for the WOFF font format; improved JavaScript performance, overall browser responsiveness and startup time; and support for new CSS, DOM and HTML5 web technologies,” Beltzner added.

Testers that are already running Firefox 3.6 Beta 4, or earlier releases of the browser, will be served automatic upgrades to the latest development milestone in the coming days. At the same time, early adopters are free to grab the standalone downloads available below.

Firefox 3.6 Beta 5 (Beta revision 5) for Windows is available for download here.

Firefox 3.6 Beta 5 (Beta revision 5) for Mac OS X is available for download here
adopted from http://www.softpedia.com

Softpedia Discounts and Giveaways 2009 Campaign Up and Running

This holiday season, Softpedia is looking to bring a little more Christmas spirit into your life, and we’re going to use software discounts and giveaways as a way to do just that. Today, December 14, is the first day of the Softpedia Discounts and Giveaways 2009 Campaign. Some of you have undoubtedly stumbled upon the banner at the top of the website next to the Softpedia logo. If not, simply refresh an opened Softpedia page a few times and you'll see it.

Of course, there’s even a simpler way to access the special offerings we have in store for you this holiday season – just click this link. For this holiday season, Softpedia has teamed up with some of the most renowned software publishers to bring you these exclusive deals. What you will be able to see is daily special deals designed to delight you, while leaving you with more money in your pockets for additional holiday shopping. 'Tis the season, after all.

You should check out the December 14 giveaways as soon as you can. Today, you are able to download East-Tec Eraser 2009 (from East Technologies) and Platinum Guard (from Reohix) completely free. Some of you, especially those that have been keeping a close eye on Softpedia, already know that we have partnered with software developers such as Ashampoo in order to offer our users free products. The East-Tec Eraser 2009 and Platinum Guard giveaways are the latest additions to this list.

But mark my words, you will need to keep your eyes glued to Softpedia. Additional special offerings and giveaways will be unveiled in the days to come. And no, I’m not going to tell you what products we'll offer in collaboration with our partners, but trust me, they're coming.

In addition to today's giveaways, Softpedia is also bringing you TuneUp Utilities 2010 (from TuneUp Software GmbH) at a 25% discount. On top of this, East-Tec Eraser 2010 (EAST Technologies) can be bought with 30% off, while Fresh RAM (from Reohix) features a price reduction of no less than 75%.

In the coming days throughout December 31, 2009, Softpedia will offer visitors additional discounts and giveaways. More special offerings for this holiday season come from Lavasoft, Copernic, Returnil and many others. There will also be a deal with Ashampoo’s latest product, exclusively on Softpedia by the end of this week.

adopted http://www.softpedia.com

Apple Countersues Nokia, Period

The company responsible for the Mac operating system has issued one of its rare press releases (a strategy, which seems to generate copious amounts of respect from the Apple fan base), saying that it has responded to a lawsuit brought against it by Nokia a while ago by filing (what else?) a countersuit.

It goes without mentioning that we’re better off simply reporting this stuff, instead of making an analysis asking ourselves who’s right and who’s wrong (generally, both parties are... both right and wrong). But we can’t, in good faith, limit ourselves to that.

“Responding to a lawsuit brought against the company by Nokia, Apple today filed a countersuit claiming that Nokia is infringing 13 Apple patents,” reads Apple’s newest press release. In usual manner, the iPhone maker cites someone big for more credibility (not that Apple is lying).

“Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours,” said Bruce Sewell, Apple’s General Counsel and senior vice president.

Right. So, Apple is calling Nokia a thief. When a company like Apple tells a company like Nokia “Hey, you stole from us” right after Nokia told Apple “You stole from us,” how bad does that insult our intelligence, we ask you?

Please take the time to understand that we too like Apple for its business model, the products it creates, its famous presentations and events, and, most of all, its CEO, Mr. Steve Jobs (just look at all the Psystar-won’t-win brainstorming we did). It’s just irritating to see such a short press release saying “Not so fast there, Nokia!” which ends with the company’s standard reminder that it has “ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh.” We know that! We want to know what the deal is with you and Nokia more recently!

Why is it BusinessWeek’s job to explain that “Nokia, the world's largest phone maker, sued Apple in October claiming infringement of 10 patents and seeking back royalties on the 33.7 million iPhones sold since the device's introduction in 2007. Espoo, Finland-based Nokia had said that all Apple iPhone models use Nokia's technology for wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption?”

What happened to good ol’ Apple disclosing all the handy details for the entire world to see the situation is a bit more complicated than one would think? For a person learning for the first time that the two companies are in a fight, it sure sounds like Nokia is the bad guy. But why was Nokia the first to sue, then?

Leaving our frustration aside, Nokia spokesman Mark Durrant reportedly said the counterclaim doesn't change the "fundamentals" of the original patent infringement suit... so, that’s comforting (this is still BusinessWeek info, by the way). According to the report in question, Durrant stated in a telephone interview, "We will need time to study it before we make any direct comment. But it changes nothing in the fundamentals of the original filing made by Nokia in Delaware."

Just to be perfectly clear, we can grasp that the particularities of the countersuit cannot be disclosed (or at least some of them), but Apple, try to be more transparent! This press release is pure ignorance!
adopted from http://www.softpedia.com

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Alpha 1 Has Linux Kernel 2.6.32

While every Ubuntu fan still discovers the powers of the Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) operating system, somewhere deep in the Ubuntu headquarters the Canonical developers are working very hard to bring us all the new stuff that happens in the Linux world today. Therefore we proudly announce that the first Alpha version of the upcoming Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) operating system has been released. As usual, we've downloaded a copy of it in order to keep you up-to-date with the latest changes in the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS development.

What's new in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Alpha 1? Well, first of all we would like to remind everyone that the release schedule for Ubuntu has been changed to 3 Alphas, 2 Betas and a Release Candidate. Ubuntu 10.04 LTS is the third LTS (Long Term Support) release, which will be supported for 3 years on the Desktop and 5 years on the Server. Second of all, HAL has been completely removed, which makes Ubuntu boot and resume faster than ever!

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Alpha 1 is now powered by the freshly cooked Linux kernel 2.6.32 and it uses the GNOME desktop environment 2.29.3, which brings lots of improvements and new features. Other than that, there are now only five games left in the distribution, including AisleRiot Solitare, Gnometris, Mahjongg, Mines and Sudoku.

to read more and download klik here

Google Chrome 4.0 Beta for Linux Arrives

Just in time for holidays, the wonderful developers at Google announced a few minutes ago that the Chrome browser for Linux is finally in a beta state and has been added on the official Chrome website for download! The actual version is Google Chrome 4.0.249.30 and it comes with binary packages for Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora and openSUSE operating systems. Both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures are supported at this time, as well as a preinstalled repository (at least on the Ubuntu platform) for easy updates.

Just like the popular Windows version, Google Chrome Beta for Linux is extremely fast, stable, extensible and last but not least, very secure! Did we forgot to mention that it has support for HTML5? Yes, that's right... it has! Moreover, the new Google Chrome will work very well on both GNOME and KDE desktop environments.

Linux Softpedia on Google Chrome 4 Beta - Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) 64-bit

You can grab the new beta version of Google Chrome for the aforementioned Linux systems by accessing the download page at the end of the article or by going to its official website. Whichever method you choose, please remember that you need to uninstall any existing package of the Google Chrome web browser before installing this new version.

Google Chrome is a revolutionary web browser that makes surfing the Internet more efficient and ergonomic by placing modules on each new opened tab. Instead of showing a blank page, Google Chrome offers you eight thumbnails, displaying the most visited websites, a history search bar and even the last ten closed tabs. Another breathtaking feature of Google Chrome is its amazing speed, from the moment you open it until it is closed.

The Google Chrome interface is simple and clean, allowing websites to benefit from the increased screen space. The tab bar is placed on top of the multi-functional main address bar. Why multi-functional? Because you can not only direct Chrome to a certain address, but also perform history or Internet searches.

Download Google Chrome 4.0.249.30 Beta right now from Softpedia.

adopted from http://www.softpedia.com

Firefox 3.6 Beta 5 Coming Right Up

Mozilla is getting ready to release a new development milestone of Firefox 3.6. And it appears that the upcoming testing build won’t graduate the next version of the open source browser to Release Candidate stage. According to Mozilla, a new Beta release, the fifth one, is currently cooking and being readied for availability. Although the company hasn’t said anything officially, it is already offering testers a taste of Firefox 3.6 Beta 5 via its FTP servers, although, at the time of this article, the development milestone was not yet ready for public release.

As of the end of last week, testers have been able to grab a Candidate of Firefox 3.6 Beta 5. Labeled Firefox 3.6b5-candidates build1, the bits are nothing more than a nightly release. Still, the signal Mozilla is sending is that the fully-fledged Firefox 3.6 Beta 5 isn’t that far off in the distance. On December 1st, 2009, Mozilla noted “Firefox 3.6 Beta - 500,000 active daily users (though only 50% are on the latest beta [namely Beta 4]). Need to get to 650,000 to be able to map stability data onto the general population.”

It is important to note that at the start of this month Mozilla was planning to offer Firefox 3.6 RC by the end of the past week. Obviously, this wasn’t the case, and at this point in the development of version 3.6 of Firefox, show-stopping bugs are solely responsible for delaying the Release Candidate. “Firefox 3.6 Release Candidate - there are 18 code blockers remaining - goal is to get to RC build this week,” Mozilla stated on December 1st.

Another Beta and the further delay of RC can jeopardize the initially set launch date for Firefox 3.5’s successor. Last time it talked about the release, Mozilla emphasized that it was still pushing to have Firefox 3.6 delivered by the end of 2009. However, considering the necessity to attract another hundred thousand testers, as well as to deal with any remaining blockers, a more realist release deadline for version 3.6 is in 2010. Mozilla has yet to confirm officially that Firefox 3.6 has slipped into early 2010.

Firefox 3.6 Beta 4 for Windows is available for download here.
Firefox 3.6 Beta 4 for Mac OS X is available for download here.
Firefox 3.6 Beta 4 for Linux is available for download here.

adopted from http://www.softpedia.com

Rapidshare Auto Downloader 3.8

Download

This application is written for downloading a group of links from Rapidshare.com as a Free user. It cannot remove the limitations of Rapidshare.com for free users; however, you do not need to do the clicking and waiting anymore What is new in version 3.8.2 :

• Deleting incomplete downloaded files
• Adding support for rapidshare.net links
• Adding language support for : Arabic,Bulgarian,Catalan,Croatian,Czech,Danish,Deutsch,Dutch, Farsi,Finnish,French,Greek,Hebrew,Hindi,Hungarian,Indonesian,Italian,Lithuanian,Macedonian, Polish,Portuguese,Romanian,Russian,Serbian,simplified Chinese,Spanish,Traditional Chinese,Turkish,Ukrainian

from http://www.yahoofun.net

Windows 8 Coming into Focus in 2010

Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22nd, 2009, along with Windows Server 2008 R2, and both platforms made it to customers by October 22nd, 2009, with the client flavor of the OS being the last to reach the general availability stage. Undoubtedly, for the latest iterations of the client and server operating systems, the Redmond company will produce the first service pack come next year. There might even be a third service pack for Windows Vista, although Microsoft is keeping all details under a hermetically shut lid. But one thing is certain, as 2010 rolls in, Microsoft will shift its focus to Windows 8, the next generation of Windows.

Users are bound not to come across publicly shared details on Windows 8 from Microsoft for quite some time. Going out on a limb, I would say that the software giant will start unveiling the first Win8 information through official channels no sooner than the end of 2010, or even in 2011. After all, Jon DeVaan, senior vice president, Windows Core Operating System Division, and Steven Sinofsky, president, Windows and Windows Live Division, kicked off the Windows 7 engineering conversation with the public in August 2008, a year and a half after Vista’s GA in January 2007.

Make no mistake about it, Sinofsky continues to helm the Windows project, and Windows 8 is bound to follow in the footsteps of its predecessor, Windows 7. Certainly, Sinofsky will not want to change what proved to be a winning strategy, considering the indications of Windows 7’s early commercial success, with strong sales, outpacing Vista’s by more than double.

In some way, the software giant is already offering Windows 8 tidbits to the public, albeit, all details available are insufficient to contour the company’s plans and strategy for the next iteration of Windows. As Windows 7’s successor starts coming into focus, Microsoft is looking for additional people to join the planning and development efforts behind the Windows project. In this regard, the company has published a variety of Windows 8 related job posts, which have been “harvested” by a variety of Microsoft watchers, including MSFTKitchen.

Microsoft has the Windows 8 job for you

One of the most interesting Windows 8 roles Microsoft is looking to fill is that of Sr. Manager, Partner Skills Development – Launch Lead, in the Worldwide Partner Group (WPG), Small Medium Solutions and Partners (SMS&P) Division for Microsoft Business.

“Do you want to help ready the entire partner ecosystem on all the new Microsoft products and solutions? The Partner Skills Development Team is looking for a senior thought leader and skilled project/product manager to ensure the health of the partner ecosystem through the strategic evolution skills development framework (and its execution) for upcoming Microsoft product launches. For example, in Fy10, the focus will be on Windows Server R2, SQL Server R2, and Wave 14 (Office 2010, SharePoint 2010, and Exchange 2010) and, as we head into Fy11, the focus will quickly switch to Windows 8. In this role you will lead the execution of partner skills development BOMs – by partner type for the entire partner ecosystem – on a WW basis. This role with interact with and influence individuals from across Microsoft, including individuals within the Worldwide Partner Group, Microsoft Learning, SMSGR, the product groups (BGs), Operations, and partner segment teams with SMSG,” Microsoft reveals.

Then there’s the Software Engineering: Program Management job for the Windows Division.

“Are you ready to get closer to Microsoft’s best customers and biggest partners while staying in a highly technical role? The new Ecosystem Fundamentals team in Windows is hiring a Senior PM to work closely with OEMs driving continued increases in performance and reliability while providing tools, testing, training and telemetry. The successful candidate for this critical role will ride the Windows 7 wave of success to enabling continued improvements into the ecosystem. This work includes Windows 8 planning, OEM tool and kit ownership, performance testing and analysis focused on improving the hardware/software ecosystem while working closely with OEMs, ODMs, ISVs, and IHVs in order to strengthen Windows partnerships. Now is the time to move into a great role centered in the Windows group and focused on customer satisfaction improvements based on solid engineering,” according to the company.

“The Windows Fundamentals Reliability, Security and Privacy (ReSP) team will improve the quality of Windows 8 by driving the trustworthy computing pillars of reliability, security and privacy in the Windows operating system. We analyze reliability data from hundreds of millions of machines, making data-driven decisions to improve the ecosystem-meaning Windows itself, other Microsoft products, and our partners such as the OEMs, ODMs, chip makers, ISVs and IHVs. We will extend this to measuring the security and privacy of the ecosystem as well. We believe Windows will transparently recover from failures and will drive scenarios to enable this. We broadly own implementing the SDL process inside Windows, and will extend the SDL concepts to reliability, and possibly other Fundamentals. We have strong technology ownership in support of this mission, including advanced detection, control and reporting components such as the client-side portions of Windows Error Reporting (WER), Software Quality Metrics (SQM), Reliability Analysis Component (RAC), and prevention and recovery technologies such as the WinRE, restart manager, fault-tolerant heap, process reflection, RADAR leak detection, and network hang recovery. We will continue to build on our world-class auto-analysis and expert debugging infrastructure which processes millions of user and kernel mode failures, as well as expanding on tools and test infrastructures such as Longhaul testing, and a Fuzz testing lab infrastructure and expertise for testing protocols across Windows,” Microsoft notes in a job post for the position of Software Engineering: Test in the Windows Division.

A job in Software Engineering: Development for Server & Tools Business deals with Windows 8 Server: “Windows Server is the top-selling server operating system and is growing share in a growing market. Central to the success of Windows Server is the experience of IT Professionals managing Windows Server. For our next release, we are taking that experience to the next level by helping to make IT Professionals more effective and more productive by shipping a product they will love to use.We work closely with UX and a passionate PM & Test team to deliver world-beating user experiences for managing Windows Servers. For Windows 8 Server, we are planning, architecting and building a new UX framework around themes that are key to the success of the entire Server product line.”

“The Application Experience Bug Investigation Team, AEBit, is looking for passionate SDETs that want to make an impact on Windows 8. On the AEBit team you will get the unique opportunity to challenge and grow your debugging skills on issues that span the entire OS. You will have the opportunity to engage with software vendors, OEMs, as well as internal component teams. You will also be applying and enhancing your knowledge of system internals. As part of the AEBit team you will be responsible for driving and ensuring compatibility in Windows by engaging with component teams, root causing application bugs, and authoring mitigations. If you are a strong SDET looking for a challenge we would like to hear from you,” an excerpt from a Software Engineering: Test job with the Windows Division reads.

Microsoft is also looking to develop new IIS features for Windows 8. From the job post for a Program Management position with the Server & Tools Business: “IIS team is looking for an experienced PM to join our core platform team. Your role will span across driving key features into Windows 8 as well as owning several out-of-band modules, including web analytics that will bring business intelligence for the customers that host applications and contents on IIS. Your work will help differentiate IIS and Smooth Streaming from Apache and Flash. You should also be ready to work in a fast-paced environment and have a strong desire for quality, security, and performance. Your feature will be used by millions of customers.”

Of course, Windows 8 and Windows Live will continue to be joined at the hip, as Microsoft brings the Windows client closer to the Cloud. “The Windows Live Mail team is looking for a seasoned Lead Program Manager to drive our next generation Mail client, and manage five stellar PMs. Our client has over 40M users world-wide, and serves as a key component of our Windows Live 'light up Windows' strategy. Our current release is centered on hot new consumer features & better synergies with Hotmail & Windows 7, and our future releases will likely be tightly designed to work best with new Windows 8 platform technologies. We will also work closely with the Outlook team on ways to bring Windows Live to Outlook. Mail is part of the WL Desktop Communications team, which also includes Messenger. Our team values user-centered design, technical and engineering excellence, and attention to detail.”

“The TAG team provides the foundation services and infrastructure to support a unified test and dev workflow. This team’s charter includes – developing and running a unified test submission and execution system for Windows 8, Automating Test pass scheduling & execution, results analysis & automated triage, Windows code coverage services, Developing and running the eBVT quality gate, supporting WinSE’s Windows 7 sustained engineering test needs. This is an exciting time to join the Test Automation and Gates team and lead the next wave of foundation services and infrastructure to ensure delivery of a high quality product. With openings across the team, there’s sure to be the perfect opportunity suited to your specific passion and enthusiasm,” Microsoft mentions in a job for the Windows TAG team.

The Redmond company is additionally looking for a software engineer to influence and contribute to Windows 8 serviceability. “The WinSE UX test team needs a strong SDET to develop new test automation, write robust test plans, designing test cases, debug reported issues across Windows Shell and related UX, help establish sound test engineering processes, and influence and contribute to the serviceability of Windows 8. As an SDET on this team, you’ll design, implement, and execute various types of test automation, including functional, integration and release tests. You will also have several opportunities to write test tools, and work on security bugs, and will be interacting with PM and Dev counterparts in a dev/test/pm trio, and various partner teams. In this team, you will have an opportunity to ship important updates for Windows to solve critical reliability, performance and security issues via the Windows Update mechanism. This position requires strong communication and collaboration skills, and a drive for results. Overall, this position is best suited for a strong SDET looking for an opportunity to showcase your skills and innovate.”

Windows 8 in the making

There’s one aspect that is already set in stone, so to speak, when it comes down to Windows 8, one that not even Microsoft can, or will dispute, for that matter. Windows 8 Server will be a major release of the Windows Server operating system, as opposed to Windows 7 Server, which ended up as a Release 2, namely Windows Server 2008 R2. Microsoft has argued that Windows 7 is indeed a major version of the Windows client, despite having Vista at its foundation, and 6.1 versioning specific of the evolutionary, rather than revolutionary development model chosen.

The intimate connection between Windows client and server releases, following Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 RTM/SP1, continued with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, and is bound to survive with the building of Windows 8 and Windows 8 Server. But, in this context, it remains to be seen whether Windows 8 Server will drag Windows 8 along with it, and make it a new, undisputable, major version of the client, one that Microsoft won’t have to defend.

adopted from http://www.softpedia.com

Public DNS Service from Google Raises New Concerns

It's not exactly a surprise that Google wants to be involved with everything that has to do with the Internet, even marginally, and so far it's been building towards this goal. From the front end, the web browser and now even a dedicated operating system, to the very basics of Internet communications, the HTTP protocol, Google has its hands on everything. Now it's taking it one step further by launching its own DNS service, Google Public DNS, which it says can be faster and safer than the ones provided by the ISPs or the other DNS providers.

The vast majority of users aren't even aware what DNS (Domain Name System) is, not to mention why they would want to switch to Google's offering. In a simplified view, DNS translates domain names like www.google.com into IP addresses which is what computers and networking hardware use to identify themselves in a network environment. Regular, everyday web browsing involved hundreds, even thousands of DNS lookups, but these are handled by the ISPs, most of which provide their own DNS services, so the process is invisible to the user.

“The average Internet user ends up performing hundreds of DNS lookups each day, and some complex pages require multiple DNS lookups before they start loading. This can slow down the browsing experience. Our research has shown that speed matters to Internet users, so over the past several months our engineers have been working to make improvements to our public DNS resolver to make users' web-surfing experiences faster, safer and more reliable,” Prem Ramaswami, product manager, explains Google's motivation behind the project.

But if your ISP already provides the service, why is there a need for a Google one and why should you use it? Google lists several reasons why it believes its service is superior to the ones provided by ISPs and even other open providers. The first one is speed, Google says that it has implemented a number of methods to make things faster and that, even though DNS lookups are just a small portion of the time a site needs to load, it can add up to a lot of wasted time.

The other big reason to switch providers, Google says, is security. Though rare, DNS servers are vulnerable to a number of attacks which could poison the cache in turn sending users to potentially malicious sites instead of the site they wanted to visit. Google claims it has taken several measures to ensure that its service is safer.

Finally, Google claims its service will always provide its users with accurate results and “never blocks, filters, or redirects users, unlike some open resolvers and ISPs.” This last reason may be the most important but also the most controversial. Some ISPs or DNS providers engage in the shady business or redirecting a misspelled domain name to a landing page filled with ads and perhaps some sort of search. Of course, some go even further and redirect even valid domain names or block them altogether, but these cases are a lot rarer.

However, Google's latest venture isn't without its opponents especially as more and more voices are starting to question Google's increasing power. The main argument is that, even though the company claims the best intentions, it would be naïve to think that its intentions are purely philanthropic, there is a lot of money to be made from a DNS service. A commercial version would be an option, though this sounds a bit unlikely. But, even if it won't redirect users to its search engine or something similar, it could still benefit from all the usage data it's bound to gather. Google has come out with a very detailed description of what data it stores and for how long, but there are still those who believe that it would be hard for a company, with the kind of power Google controls at the moment, not to be tempted to abuse it, or at the very least, use for its advantage.

adopted form http://www.softpedia.com

Tell Apple What You Want in Mac OS X 10.6.3

Without a doubt, Apple is already prepping to send out the first alpha builds of Mac OS X 10.6.3 to its testers (if it hasn’t done so already). Remember, the first incremental update to Mac OS X 10.6 came just two weeks after Snow Leopard had been released to the public. The second, Mac OS X 10.6.2, arrived two months later, on November 9th.

If Apple decides to greet us with Mac OS X 10.6.3 before December 25th, we really should make a wish list so that the Cupertino version of Santa can make all its fans happy. Whether you want a few fixes here and there, or new features altogether, be sure to write your wishes in the comments. When we decide we have just enough requests to get Apple’s attention, we’ll post a new article with your thoughts. And here’s a word of advice: be straightforward! Apple likes things neat and clean.

Now, we know what some of you computer-savvy users out there are going to say: Apple mostly provides fixes and security patches with its incremental updates to Mac OS X. That’s true, but we figured the holiday spirit would get the best of the Mac maker. And if the update doesn't arrive by Christmas, it will arrive sometime afterwards. There's no chance Apple will stop Snow Leopard development at Mac OS X 10.6.2.

Perhaps you want something removed, or just out of the way as you start up your Mac. Perhaps you want something new added, like a new way to boot into Mac OS X. How about a new utility app, joining the rest of the programs Apple has thrown in with Mac OS X Snow Leopard (Activity Monitor, AirPort Utility, AppleScript Editor, etc.)? Anything new will most likely delight you, as a fan of the operating system, and surely you have a few suggestions to make, so let’s not waste any more time. Go ahead, tell Apple what you want in the next incremental update to Snow Leopard!

adopted from http://www.softpedia.com