Technically Speaking

Adobe has released its latest version of Lightroom, Lightroom Beta 4. If you have been using the prior versions and liked them then you should surely like this one. One of the main things to note is “the achievement of full feature parity between the Windows and Mac OS versions of Lightroom”. Everything Lightroom offers on Mac can now be done in Windows. A few other enhancements have been listed below. Hurry up and get your free copy today.

Lightroom Beta 4 also features:
• Groundbreaking changes in the way tone curve adjustments are made and displayed, giving you the highest quality results in an interface that’s easier to use than ever before.
• More streamlined and elegant user interface - We’ve made several changes to the look and feel based on your feedback in the earlier beta releases.
• Customizable interface - You can now display only the controls you want to be visible.
• Precision white balance selection tool
• Facility to easily rename and convert files to DNG after they’ve been imported to the Lightroom library
• Increased interaction between Lightroom library organizational structure and the underlying file system
• Filter and search presets to more quickly find the photographs you want
• Better performance and improved interface for the Web module features
• Develop control improvements based on community feedback, including comments from the Pixmantec user community (welcome!)

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The browser wars are heating up, as the first beta of Firefox 2.0 is due on Tuesday July 11th, and Internet Explorer version 7.0 is now on it’s third beta release.

Firefox fans, and browser junkies have an opportunity to get a jump on Tuesday’s beta, as a public “release candidate” has been posted on the Mozilla FTP site. This nightly build is finally feature complete, although it’s still not completely ready for mass consumption.
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Reports from early testers compliment two of the significant new features: an integrated spell checker, and an anti-phishing tool. The spell-checker promises to make blog and forum postings more lucid. The phishing filter (an integrated component of IE 7.0 as well) works with locally stored lists of bad sites, along with Google’s site listing, and possibly others down the road.

The rest of the interface stays mostly the same, unlike the more radical changes in IE 7.0. Firefox 2.0 does include a horizontal scrolling capability for tabs, and an ability to close a tab directly from within the tab itself. The Options dialog has been reworked to include a horizontal, tabbed based interface, and numerous changes have been made under the hood.

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Microsoft has created a thumbnailer/viewer for RAW images on your computer. It is a PowerToy application that makes it possible to view, organize, and print your RAW files within Windows XP.

This software offers the following benefits to digital photographers:

• High image quality. This software uses the camera vendors’ own processing libraries to provide the highest possible image fidelity for RAW images.
• Superior color fidelity. Windows Image Color Management (ICM) is used to render images in the correct color space as determined by the photographer when the image was captured.
• Familiar user experience. This software builds on the familiar Windows user experience and requires little or no learning curve.
• Performance tuned for rapid previews. The software uses background processing and other techniques to ensure a good preview experience even for large images.

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Check it out.

Google enters the IM arena with an application that can make phone calls or IM over the internet. The technology is on par with that provided by Skype and thus Google is now in direct competition with them. The official launch date of the application is today and I am eager to try it out when I get home tonight.

When you go to download Google Talk, this will be what you’ll see:

They say talk is cheap. Google thinks it should be free. Google Talk enables you to call or send instant messages to your friends for free–anytime, anywhere in the world. Google Talk offers you:

* Choice: Get in touch how and when you want to–over email, IM or a call

* Quality: Talk through your computer but hear your friends as if they were in the same room

* Convenience: Your Gmail contacts are pre-loaded into Google Talk so inviting or talking to your friends is just a click away

Google Talk is in beta and requires a Gmail username and password.

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Download it here and if you need a Gmail account send me and email @ Tony-at-tonytalkstech.com and I will do what I can to give you an account. I don’t have many to give out at onetime so you may have to be patient if your requesting an email account.

Firefox 1.0.5 security update has been released. About a dozen security exploits have been addressed including issues relating to remote code execution through shared function objects, node spoofing, javascript prompt origin spoofing, a “same origin” violation, code execution using the “Set as Wallpaper” function, and frame-injection spoofing. So as you can see this is a pretty serious patch. You get it here — Firefox 1.05

But it is a time for many to patch their products;
“It’s been a hectic day on the security patching front. Microsoft’s bulletins for July include patches for three critical vulnerabilities on the same day that Mozilla releases new security updates for Firefox and Thunderbird. Not to be left behind, Apple fixed two Tiger flaws while Oracle issued a critical database server update.”

I found this letter written to the developer of DVD decrypter and was deeply saddened by its content. It appears that the copy protection law passed in October of 2003 applies to the use of this application. So our options for copying DVDs are quickly disappearing.

Hello world,

I’ve got some good news and some bad news. Let’s start with the good…. (tumble weed passes by) Ok, and now onto the bad: DVD Decrypter 3.5.4.0 is the last version you’ll ever see. We hoped this day would never come, but it has, and I can promise you, nobody is more gutted about it than I am.

What started as a bit of fun, putting a GUI around some existing code, turned into something that I can only describe as “part of me” – yes, I know that’s sad As I’ve recently been made aware (by a letter, hand delivered to my door, last Tuesday), due to some law that was changed back in October 2003, circumventing copy protection isn’t allowed.

Ok so it has taken a while (almost 2 years), but eventually “a certain company” has decided they don’t like what I’m doing (circumventing their protection) and have come at me like a pack of wolves. I’ve no choice but to cease everything to do with DVD Decrypter. I realize this is going to be one of those “that sucks - fight them!” kinda things, but at the end of the day, it”s my life and I”m not about to throw it all away (before it has even really started) attempting to fight a battle I can”t possibly win.

If 321 Studios can’t do it with millions, what chance do I have with £50?! As I’m sure most of you have already noticed, the site has been down for a few days. That surprised me as much as the next person (slight breakdown in communication), or I would have issued this statement on it directly.

So anyway, from this point forward, I’m no longer permitted to provide any sort of assistance with anything that helps people infringe the rights of “a certain company.” That means, no more emails, no more forum posts, no PM’s, no nothing! END OF STORY. The domain name will be transferred over to the company by the end of the week (9th June, according to the undertakings I have to sign) so don’t email it thinking “Oh, I’ll just ask LIGHTNING UK! for support on this.” You’ll not be getting the intended recipient and could be landing yourself in sh1t!

With 3.5.4.0 being the last version, it makes sense for everyone to disable the “check for new versions” feature, as obviously there won’t be any. Of course what I really mean is that you should all stop using the program out of respect for the company’s rights.

Anyone hosting DVD Decrypter is advised to cease doing so immediately. I’ve the feeling they won’t stop with just me. I’m having to contact anyone I know of that is (at the very least, the “mirror” sites), and tell them to stop. Copies of those emails must also be sent to the solicitors so they can check I’m doing everything I’m supposed to. If I don’t, I die.

It is of course down to the owners of those sites to react how they want to. It’s not my job to force you to do anything you don’t want to, I’m just giving you some friendly advice. Maybe it’s just me, but I see this as a bit of an “end of an era.” I realize there are other tools, but there’s no telling how much longer they’ll last, and not only that, mine was the oldest! I’ve met loads of great people over the years and I want to take this opportunity to wish them every success for the future - yes DDBT peeps, that includes you lot! : “( I hope you’ve all enjoyed my contribution to the DVD scene and maybe I’ll see ya around sometime.

LIGHTNING UK!
(Author of the once “Ultimate DVD Ripper,” DVD Decrypter)

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DVD Shrink and DVD43 might be one of the last great programs out there that can do the job for you. I suggest you get them now before they to are pulled.

It looks like Yahoo has taken another step in arming themselves to compete with Google. It is now official that Yahoo has bought the online sharing service, Flickr. Along with their recent beta launch of Yahoo 360, a new blogging tool, their instant messaging, Internet radio and of course the search engine/portal, Yahoo may be sufficiently equipped to do battle. (Google has Picasa, Blogger, and the most popular search engine, and Gmail) But what exactly will Yahoo do to make them outshine Google?

Vancouver, British Columbia-based Flickr lets users upload digital photos from computers and camera phones, put together photo albums, and post photos to blogs, among other things.

Joanna Stevens, a spokeswoman for Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo, confirmed the deal Sunday but did not disclose the terms.

“We look forward to working with them for their innovation and product development across the Yahoo Network in the coming months,” she said.

Stevens said Flickr will remain a standalone site for now. The company’s employees, however, will relocate to Sunnyvale later this year.

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Yahoo and Google have many other services that they provide but the ones listed seem to be the big “Money Makers” right now. I think that the search engine is the main component for both companies and Google has control in that arena. Next would probably be email and instant messaging. Yahoo has the upper hand here, for the time being. Once Gmail goes public who knows what will happen, but Google doesn’t do IM. For online photo sharing, Yahoo has it, but Google’s Picasa software is pretty powerful. Over all I think that they are fairly matched and Google may have the people behind them for now. Yahoo has done a great job of positioning themselves and SHOULD be able to tip the scale to their favor. I will be keeping a close eye on this one.

A current light weight version of Mozilla’s browser, named Minimo, works only on Linux-based PDAs. A new version, that will work on the Window’s CE OS, is nearly complete. There are still some integration issues that need to be dealt with but all-in-all the port has went well. If you are interested in trying out the development builds you can do so here. The final build may not be ready for some time but pictures of the browser in action have already started circulating the web.

“The first release to the general public will be in about four months,” he said. “We are hoping to be producing nightly builds starting at the end of March. Nightly builds are…for quality assurance and those that live a bit dangerously.”

Minimo developers have already completed basic work on the project, but they are looking for extra developers to work on improving the user interface, Turner said on the MozillaZine news site.

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Photo Source rebron.org. You can find links to more MiniMo images at this site as well.

Yahoo in partnership with X1 Technologies, will be entering the Desktop Search arena, trying to go head-to-head with Google. The Yahoo desktop search tool will search the contents of the user’s personal hard drive, including e-mail, Word documents, PDF files, music and photos. Yahoo plans to continue to build upon the tool by introducing other features in future iterations; such as navigation for Yahoo’s instant messenger archives, address book and free e-mail service. One thing that will make Yahoo stand out over Google is that Yahoo its product can sift through more than 225 different data types, including many formats that Google’s desktop search can’t index yet. January of 2005 will be the earliest we can check the tool out.

Desktop search, which helps excavate information buried on computer hard drives, is seen as the next frontier in the booming search sector that has generated billions in revenues from ads generated by Web search queries.

Yahoo’s product will use licensed technology from Pasadena, California-based X1 Technologies Inc. to help users search e-mail and a variety of files — from photos and music to PDF-format documents — on their hard drives.

Those search capabilities also will be integrated with Yahoo’s own Web search technology, said Jeff Weiner, senior vice president of Yahoo’s search and marketplace business.

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Sources Yahoo and CNet

If Mozilla’s track record with Firefox means anything then I would say that they have a good chance of taking a nice portion of converters. Last night, Mozilla launched a full version of their email client, Thunderbird 1.0. With it, Mozilla is hoping for a great acceptance from the masses. Check out some of the things Thunderbird has to offer…

Among its features, Thunderbird 1.0 provides a user-controlled spam filter, a built-in RSS reader and new approaches for managing and filtering through e-mail messages. It also can be used as a client for a range of popular, Web-based e-mail services such as the premium version of Yahoo Mail and Google Inc.’s Gmail that support POP3, MacGregor said.

But the foundation isn’t leaving the enterprise untouched. MacGregor said Mozilla plans to retool the application with enterprise-specific features in future versions. Currently, because it supports IMAP, Thunderbird works as an e-mail client with Microsoft’s popular Exchange server, MacGregor said.

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Once again, the main thing that Mozilla is offering is a safer way to interact with the web. If you are concerned about your presence on the web then Mozilla’s products are a must for you.

You can go here to “Reclaim Your Inbox“

A newly discovered bug in the implementation of Javascript allows attackers to utilize the “Infinite Array Sort Denial Of Service Vulnerability”. The exploit can target not only Internet Explorer, but virtually all known browsers that read Javascript; Mozilla Browser, Mozilla Firefox, Opera and Apple Safari.

The bug has been called the Infinite Array Sort Denial Of Service Vulnerability and causes the affected browsers to execute an infinite JavaScript array sort. That operation in turn effectively causes a DoS on the browser in question and causes it to crash by exhausting stack memory.

At present there are no confirmed exploits in the wild that expand the vulnerability to execute malicious code, though that may only be a matter of time.

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The bug has been reported to the various browser distributors but as of yet, there are no patches for the flaw.

The Google Scholar site is a new search tool Google released yesterday. The tool’s purpose is to help search academic research filed within Google’s massive index. Through specialized algorithms this is the first attempt to separate out specific content in Google’s system. If the beta site is successful, Google could start offering custom search sites on specified topics in the very near future.

Although Google already had been indexing the reams of academic research online, the company hadn’t been able to separate the scholarly content from commercial Web sites.

By focusing on the citations contained in academic papers, Google also engineered its new system to provide a list of potentially helpful material available at libraries and other offline sources.

The scholarly search effort continues Google’s effort to probe even deeper into content available online and offline. Last month, Google expanded a program that invites publishers to scan their books into the search engine’s index, enabling people to peek at the contents online before deciding whether to buy a copy.

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The word on the street is that AOL, last owners of Netscape’s technology, has restarted the browser’s development. The newest version will be based on Firefox. A prototype of the new Netscape will debut on November 30, but only a handful of beta testers will be able to review it.

…

But Firefox’s surging popularity has breathed new life into Netscape. Although AOL could not yet comment on what to expect in the prototype, the revamped browser will likely extend Firefox’s feature set with Netscape-specific extensions and retain Netscape’s traditional green user interface.

AOL announced the upcoming prototype in a message to Netscape users, even taking a swipe at Internet Explorer for its recent security woes.

“While other browsers have seen little improvement over recent years — except frequent patches for security leaks — we have consistently added new features to save you time and to make the most out your time online,” the Netscape product team wrote. “As a part of our next evolutionary step, we have developed this new Browser Prototype, which could change the way the world masters the web.”

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Users interested in testing the Netscape prototype can pre-register by visiting netscape.com and entering the registration code: prototype1104.

Their is a newly released Windows version of Skype’s VOIP software, 1.0.0.100, and in it Skype addressed the “highly critical” bug that allows a remote attacker to take control of the Skype user’s computer. Be sure to update to the latest version, it can be found on the Skype website.

An advisory from Secunia based on the bug report from Skype calls the bug “highly critical.” It states that the bug is caused by an error in the handling of command-line arguments. The problem may be induced by a browser link utilizing the “callto:” URI handler, installed by Skype.

Such a link would only function for Skype users, and the problem only affects versions 1.0.*.95 through 1.0.*.98, but successful exploitation could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code on a user’s system.

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If you are one of the lucky ones using Gmail, you may be happy to know that they are in the process of adding POP3 access to the service for free. I have been using Gmail for some time now and I must say that the only main feature that I really wanted was POP3 access. The initial plan for POP3 service was that it would be added in an upgraded pay account type of setup. I guess that idea has changed at least for the meantime.

* Over the next several weeks, we are introducing POP access to all of our users. To make sure the feature is fully stable, we’re giving users access to POP in phases. Once POP access is available to you, a ‘New Features!’ link appears at the top of your account, along with a ‘Forwarding and POP’ tab on your ‘Settings’ page.

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The date is set. Everybody get set for some worry free browsing!

Yes, it is true. Microsoft will promote the Google Deskbar and use it as part of the Partner Pack for Windows.

Google’s Deskbar is included in Microsoft’s Partner Pack for Windows, a collection of Microsoft and third-party products released last week that Microsoft describes on its Web site as “the ultimate application package” for a Windows XP PC.

The Deskbar adds a search box to the Windows taskbar, allowing users to search the Web via Google without having to start a Web browser. Other applications in the Partner Pack include Computer Associates International’s ETrust EZ Antivirus 2005, and Post-it Software Notes from 3M.

Microsoft’s promotion of the Google Deskbar comes as it works to deliver a beta version of its own MSN Search engine and a desktop search application by the end of this year.

“We should see some good MSN search technology in this calendar year, probably late in the second half, and we’re going to have a heck of a great race in search between Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo. It will be really fun to follow,” Microsoft chief financial officer John Connors said last week during the company’s quarterly earnings call.

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How can this be, you may ask? Will it looks as if it is based on a technicality of sorts. Google is partnering with Microsoft’s larger Windows group while they are competing with Microsoft’s MSN search group, a much smaller part of the company. Another reason why Microsoft is using the Google Deskbar is that it is built on Windows technology, this signifies a strong but unspoken message of Google approving of the Windows Framework, says a Microsoft spokeswoman. I’m not to sure about that. The endgame of this chess match will be quite exciting to watch. I think that Google will receive maximum exposer from this partnership and in that they will be extremely strong in the market share. (As if the need Microsoft’s help for that.) When MSN Search completes their desktop search app, the Microsoft Windows group will definitely drop their promoting of Google’s Deskbar and go with MSN’s product, whether it is better than Google’s or not. The only thing that Microsoft will have going for itself is the fact that the MSN product will come bundled with Windows, thus giving it instant popularity and a good portion of the market share.

After a resounding “No” on Microsoft’s Sender ID specification a month ago, they have reworked it and this time it may fly. AOL will be the first to support the newly modified version of the Sender ID e-mail authentication specification.

AOL had rejected a previous version of Sender ID because it lacked backward compatibility for version 1 of the SPF standard, also known as SPF Classic, which AOL had begun to support many months before.

The new version puts the original SPF syntax, specifically support for “mail-from” checking, back into the core specification.

“Specifically, this now allows those of us who have been testing an e-mail authentication technology known as SPF—or Sender Policy Framework—to be included in the Sender ID specification moving forward,” AOL said in a statement. “This means that the over 100,000 domains publishing SPF v1 records—including AOL—will not need to change their DNS listings.”

AOL also plans to begin testing using Microsoft’s algorithm for determination of the “purportedly responsible address” or PRA, as well as many other proposed specifications. This is different from “mail-from.”

The new version of the specification does not address the objections of many over Microsoft’s intellectual property claims for the PRA algorithm, but users may implement the SPF Classic half of the specification without implementing the more controversial PRA detection.

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One of the biggest problems with the specification was the controversy over the PRA algorithm. Microsoft is giving the people a taste of what they ask for, this will undoubtedly leave a bad taste in the mouths of many. Is the backing of AOL enough to keep Microsoft’s Sender ID alive?

Concerns that Google’s new desktop search tool may be used as spyware are valid and alarming. If the software is installed on a public machine, potentially anything the previous users was doing could be saved within the apps search index.

If it’s installed on computers at libraries and Internet cafes, users could unwittingly allow people who follow them on the PCs, for example, to see sensitive information in e-mails they’ve exchanged. That could mean revealed passwords, conversations with doctors, or viewed Web pages detailing online purchases.

“It’s clearly a very powerful tool for locating information on the computer,” said Richard M. Smith, a privacy and security consultant in Cambridge, Mass. “On the flip side of things, it’s a perfect spy program.”

Google Desktop Search, publicly released Thursday in a “beta” test phase for computers running the latest Windows operating systems, automatically records e-mail you read through Outlook, Outlook Express or the Internet Explorer browser. It also saves copies of Web pages you view through IE and chat conversations using America Online Inc.’s instant-messaging software. And it finds Word, Excel and PowerPoint files stored on the computer.

If you’re the computer’s only user, the software is helpful “as a photographic memory of everything you’ve seen on the computer,” said Marissa Mayer, director of consumer Web products at Google Inc.

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Stored caches of websites are one of the main problem areas. A user can type in “hotmail.com” or “password” and get results from the stored caches of messages that previous users have seen, including password reminder messages. You can search for an email address and see all the messages sent to that destination. It looks as if the next features Google should add to the tool are password protection and multi-user support. For the meantime, public PC users can look for a multicolored swirl in the system tray at the lower right corner of the computer desktop. This will mean that the Google tool is installed and running. It can be disabled by right-clicking on it and selecting exit. Also, by using non-IE browsers like Opera and Mozilla, users can bypass the constant collection of search data, although the software may index Web pages already stored before the software gets installed.

The Mozilla Foundation says its open-source browser, Firefox, was downloaded more than one million times in its first four days of preview release — and more than two million times after 10 days of release. Open source browsers are chipping away at Internet Explorer’s dominance, researchers say.

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Why is it so popular, you ask? Download it and find out!