Yahoo launched a free Web audio search service that helps users find, hear and buy everything from music downloads and podcasts to interviews and newscasts. It seems that yahoo is into giving free stuffs, first it was konfab now it is a web audio search service.

Yahoo Audio Search, at http://audio.search.yahoo.com, is still in testing and gives users access to more than 50 million audio files as Yahoo beefs up its entertainment offerings.

For example, a search for “Green Day” yields a list of the band’s albums, song samples and links to download services, including Yahoo’s own music service, Apple Computer Inc.’s (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) iTunes, Rhapsody from RealNetworks Inc. (RNWK.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Napster Inc. (NAPS.O: Quote, Profile, Research).

The service also taps independent publishers and the Web, helping users find such things as music videos, reviews and photographs of the artists.

I have been on the lookout for blogs that would provide well filtered and reliable up to date information, ranging from reviews to latest news, from the web hosting industry. But due to the junky nature of the internet, I could not really find one and therefore, I decided to build one to satisfy the need for one. I named it “Web Hosting Blog” under the domain http://www.hosting-blog.com.

To begin with, I brushed on a little of what, I plan to do. But here it is again.

Starting a web hosting company, and running one, has never been easy. The need to know and the potentiality of the market are still not well presented, especially with the current saturation of the market.

The ever-increasing demand for a reliable and affordable web hosting service, as new potential customers emerge and the old ones migrate from one web hosting provider to another, seeking for a better service has been phenomenal.

Web Hosting Blog compiles and provides, current news, updates, tips, information, reviews and marketing strategies from the web hosting industry with a neutral standing.

So why not pay it a visit, and surely you would come for more. Visit Web Hosting blog now !!

Microsoft has enlisted some outside help for one of the most anticipated new features of its updated Web browser: the ability to alert people that they may be about to enter a fraudulent Web site.

The company has tapped WholeSecurity, a maker of computer security programs in Austin, Texas, to help Internet Explorer 7, the next version of its browser, identify Web sites designed to trick people into disclosing personal data to identity thieves, the companies said. These “phishing” sites mimic legitimate sites, such as eBay and Citibank, and have contributed to a national identity-theft epidemic.

Microsoft released a beta version of the new browser, also known as IE7, this week to a select group of testers. The company plans to release a second beta version for the general public to test before shipping the final version.

WholeSecurity, which is privately held, is helping Microsoft assemble and maintain a list of verified phishing sites, also known as a blacklist. When people try to visit a Web site on the list, IE7 automatically warns them via a dialog box that the site is fraudulent and suggests they “not continue to this Web site.” At that point, people can close the Web page, or continue on if they choose.

Source: Zdnet

In what seems, like should i say not too easy task, 24 hours to be precise, crackers have successfully cracked The microsoft windows genuine advantage validation.

MICROSOFT’S bid to refuse access to updated versions of Windows has been foiled by hackers.

The Vole had demanded that those who wanted Windows updates, other than security improvements, had to download an Active X program that sniffed their operating system to see if their OS had been pirated.

It took about 24 hours for hackers to come up with a solution involving IE script, the hackers claim.

Source: The inquirer

It was cracked by a line of Javascript code! Dem !!

Please note that the trick only applies to Windows Update, it does not work on Windows Download site that allows you to download free Microsoft softwares(e.g. MS AntiSpyware Beta).

Now remember my call for help? It has been answered.

Thank you guys, it doesnt seem Linux would win the battle after all .

Does windows vista interface, looks better than Xp? Oh yeah, i guess so, it looks like an Style Xp styled cool theme, check it out.

The Pictures and Video folder in Windows Vista contains new information about a picture, including the type of camera used and a user-assigned rating.

The Virtual Folders feature in Windows Vista allows users to view documents that share a specific criteria, such as “edited in the last week” or “containing the word ‘budget.’”

A Windows Vista screenshot shows improved desktop search abilities.

A redesigned Start Menu in Windows Vista lets users start typing the name of the application they wish to open.

Source: ZDNET.

But with the inability of downloading updates, for pirated softwares, what would be its fate? I wonder?

From now on, customers looking to get the latest add-ons to Windows will have to verify that their copy of the operating system is legit.

Beginning Tuesday, the piracy check will be mandatory for all customers worldwide who want to download add-ons for Windows XP.

The only exception is for security-related patches. Regardless of whether a system passes the test, security updates will be available to all Windows users via either manual download or automatic update. The Microsoft Update and Windows Update utilities, which provide notifications of new patches, will require validation.

It’s all part of Windows Genuine Advantage, a stepped-up effort by Microsoft to increase the number of Windows users that are actually paying Microsoft for its software. Currently, the company estimates that roughly a third of Windows copies worldwide are not legitimate.

“We really want to cut that rate,” said David Lazar, director of the Windows Genuine program.

With Windows’ share of the desktop market estimated to be well above 90 percent, cracking down on illegal copies of the OS is seen as one of the few ways for Microsoft to grow its Windows business. The two other main ways that Microsoft has identified are increasing the number of PCs per household and expanding computer usage in emerging markets.

Lazar declined to say how much Microsoft hopes to cut into the piracy rate with the Windows Genuine push. However, he said the company does see a need to create a clearer distinction between genuinely purchased and bogus copies of the OS.

“One of ways we are going to do that is by enhancing the value of genuine Windows,” he said.

Continue Reading >>

Should I just stick to windows still and just download the security patches only?
Or should I switch to Linux. Still contemplating though.

It seems i would be switching to Linux sooner, if they get stricter.. Heheheh, yes i am a pirated software user, I am a student for goodness sake, how the hec do you want me to afford, 500 RM ++ for just an OS software. I would say this is a very stupid step, and yes Linux is winning the battle eventually. Well thank Goodness, i am comfortable with some linux distros. Hehehe. Linux supporters, I would be ready to join the club, anytime soon.

Crackers can you do something about the software? I mean really I would love to continue using windows OS with the ability to download and Update Addons, honestly. And I cannot buy the idea of paying such an amount of money for an OS software, with their kind of price tag. So i hope you guys come helpful. Microsot, i dont know what to say to you guys

The Computer-On-a-Stick (COS) is a USB Flash Drive featuring its own Onboard Operating System together with a full suite of Microsoft Office-compatible applications.
A Stick or otherwise known as a thumbdrive Drive featuring its own ultra fast Onboard Operating System with a full suite of Microsoft Office-compatible applications. Is that the future of computer systems?

The Computer-On-a-Stick also boasts the powerful Mozilla Firefox Web Browser, Evolution email, and Yahoo & MSN compatible Instant Messenger for superior Internet connectivity

Plug the Computer-On-a-Stick into your PC or Laptop and instantly transform your old environment into a new and powerful secure workstation – without a hard disk!

The combination of low cost and a powerful Onboard Operating System opens up a whole new paradigm of computing. Users get all the benefits of a thin client solution without changing their existing PC hardware or software.

This product been sold at Computer-on-disk, is quite impressive. I think i am going to get one for backup. It comes with a high but reasonable pricetag of $149 approx RM578 and with colours of blue silver and clear, besides the features which entails

OpenOffice Productivity Suite, including the following applications:

1. Word Processing
2. Spreadsheets
3. Vector Drawings
4. Slide Presentations

I expected him to blabber about the way he did it. But seems the guy is a real matured hacker, and did it to access his own account.

My Conversation WIth Google

So Prior to this post. I informed all that i had to hack into my account back to be able to make postings. Apparently, i didnt do the hacking process quite well because Google(the owners of blogspot) were notified through their server process about some tweaking that went on at so so date. I didnt think this was gonna happen but it did and now i have to face the consequences.

I’m not allowed to publish the mail because it says all that BS about confidentiality and shit but in summary, it mentions a part in the constitution about illegal entry some computer law which was signed by George W himself. Anywayz i cooperated with them and gave them all the necessary information on how i was able to penetrate through their highly secure software. THey were pretty impressed even though i didnt get in through my technical expertise but rather, a minor flaw in their server technology that i read about last semester. I was warned and i promised not to talk about it or reveal the letter if not i could be charged with section bullshit of the US constitution(like i’m not going to be in my counttry soon). To end everything they informed me that i could enter into some competition for programmers called “Summer of Codes” http://code.google.com/summerofcode.html

Continue Reading>>>

Hum i am quite impressed, that he didnt try to prove stubborn, and he was mature about the whole scenario. Google Inc is quiet friendly, if it were another organisation, i guess he would be arrested by now. But is there a possibility of future occurence?

Computer software code writing may not be everyone’s idea of a competitive sport, but thanks to a type of contest that is growing in popularity, things may soon change. How creative can you be, in a competition, with a prize money reaching up to $20,000?

Source: CNN Tech.

Computer software code writing may not be everyone’s idea of a competitive sport, but thanks to a type of contest that is growing in popularity, things may soon change.

U.S.-based company TopCoder runs coding competitions for up-and-coming software programmers.

The contests — called codejams — take place online as well as at venues, attracting up to 60,000 participants for big competitions, with prize money reaching up to $20,000.

During codejams, software engineers are presented with a problem, and they have to write a code that solves it. The engineer who comes up with the best solution in the quickest time, wins.

TopCoder chief operating officer Rob Hughes told CNN that the competitions were growing in popularity among software engineers, as well as among technology companies who use them to scout for future employees.

“In the software development industry, it’s fairly well-known that you can get up to 10 times the productivity gain from a very talented software developer versus an average software developer and our clients are looking for that kind of productivity gain.”

He said the United States was full of discovered talent, but the rest of the world remained untapped.

Online versions of code jams were a way of discovering people from other parts of the world, Hughes said.

Like most big players in the tech world, search engine Yahoo is always on the hunt for top software engineers to join the company.

But Yahoo chief executive Usama Fayyad told CNN that finding the right kind of future employees was no easy task.

He said the code jams gave the company the chance to look at parts of the world it would not normally have access to.

“These are the kinds of candidates who don’t necessarily respond to job ads. They’re not necessarily looking,” he said.

“You need to essentially actively seek them and TopCoder is a good mechanism for us to make connections with this crowd.”

Search engine Google, meanwhile, recently held a code jams in Bangalore, in India, and the company has offered the winner a job.

Well I need to start improving on my coding skills. yes, 20000 usd!!, and come to think of it, I wonder the kind of atmosphere that would be present, everybody concentrating deeply, the aura would be……… I mean especially if you guys are strugling to get a job, in googles case.

Microsoft unveiled its tab browser, in what i would call a step to overcome one of the main feautures that makes Firefox or Mozilla browser have an upper edge over it in terms of easy browsing experience. But it seems Microsoft is closing the gap slowly, from what i can tell. With this new toolbar, that means you can browse from one window using tabs, without opening multiple windows that normally crowds your status bar. The toolbar also comes with other feautures, that ensures that you dont miss the services provided by MSN.

Features:

To Download the toolbar visit the site at MSN TOOLBAR