Microsoft Patch Day: Critical Bulletins Expected
“Microsoft Corp. on Thursday announced plans to release eight security bulletins on April 12, including “critical” fixes for flaws in several widely deployed applications.As part of its advance notice mechanism, the software giant said five high-priority patches would deal only with flaws in the Windows operating system.“
Ten Mysteries of about:config
Ten Mysteries of about:config | Linux Journal
“The Firefox Web browser, built by the Mozilla Foundation and friends is a complicated piece of technology-if you care to look under the hood. It’s not obvious where the hood catch is, because the surface of Firefox (its user interface) is polished up to appeal to ordinary, nontechnical end users. This article gives you a glimpse of the engine. It explains how the Mozilla about:config URL opens up a world of obscure preferences that can be used to tweak the default setup. They’re an improbable collection and therein lies the beauty of Firefox if you’re a grease monkey or otherwise technical. At the end you’ll know a little more about Firefox, but only enough to be dangerous.“
AOL Gets VoIP
Slashdot | AOL Enters the VoIP market
“AOL is entering the VoIP market with its new service entitled ‘AOL Internet Phone Service’. The service will be available in 40 cities around the US and offer integrated IM presence indicator, voice/e-mail and features like Call Waiting, CallerID. As a bonus current AOL members will receive a wireless AP when signing-up for the service.“
VoIP is all fine and dandy so long as you actually have the IP part. I’ve been experiencing considerable difficulty with my cable broadband over the past few weeks and it has been a good thing that i wasn’t relying on it for phone service.
This is the basic flaw in VoIP: no way to guarantee the same level of service availability that you get from a telco. When I pick up my land line, I get dial tone. I don’t get that from any other service. My cells are plagues by ‘dead spots’, dropped calls, and poor reception. My cable and broadband are not always there when I want them. If VoIP is ever going to be anything other than a novelty, VoIP and broadband providers need to work together to make sure that the service is up all the time.
Duke to Giveaway Fewer iPods
BetaNews | Duke Modifies iPod Giveaway Program
“However, the faculty will be the deciding factor this year as to which students will receive the iPods.Reaction from students has been mixed, with many claiming the program was a waste of money, as most already owned Apple’s player. Students felt that more pressing issues, such as financial aid and campus security, should have been addressed first.“
More on this here and here. The original release from Duke is here, as is the Duke iPod homepage.