Feb 10

Internet Explorer 9 RC now available to download, tracking protection in tow (update)

Posted in: download, free, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, now available, NowAvailable, privacy, Today's Chili, web, web browser, WebBrowser

The Internet Explorer 9 beta pleasantly surprised us with Microsoft’s renewed competitiveness in the web browser wars, and the pinnable, hardware-accelerated experience is getting even better today — you can download the IE9 release candidate right now, which streamlines and beautifies the tabbed browsing layout considerably, adds those previously promised, fully customizable tracking protection lists for privacy and freely toggled ActiveX filters, as well as an updated Javascript engine, geolocation support via HTML5, the ability to pin web apps to the taskbar, and a host of assorted speed and functionality improvements. Find the files you need at our source link below, and let us know if the Beauty of the Web captivates you this time around.

Update: We spoke to Microsoft IE9 privacy guru Andy Ziegler, and learned to our dismay that tracking protection lists won’t actually be included in the browser per se; rather, the company’s created a feature where you can generate your own lists or download ready-made one from providers like TRUSTe. The thing is, IE9 won’t suggest one for you, or even curate a group of them when you install — you’ll need to put on your power user hat and do the legwork there yourself.

Internet Explorer 9 RC now available to download, tracking protection in tow (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Feb 2011 13:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 09

CIA adds social media functions that nobody asked for to its website

Posted in: government, Today's Chili
The CIA just revamped its website — that’s right guys — the CIA has a website. Now you may not spend a ton of time trolling the government’s various portals of information but the new and improved CIA website is a veritable treasure trove of data. The CIA isn’t immune to the world around it, either, and its refreshed design brings with it a YouTube channel, a Flickr stream (we culled the photo you see above from there), as well as Quick Links for sharing on various social media sites. Now, we can’t embed the best video we found on the CIA’s YouTube channel (they’re not that social yet) but it’s called “CIA Overview,” and is surely worth your time. There’s a press release after the break.

Continue reading CIA adds social media functions that nobody asked for to its website

CIA adds social media functions that nobody asked for to its website originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 22:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 09

Scientists Building Robots an Internet of Their Own [Robots]

Posted in: robotics, Robots, Today's Chili, top

At the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, scientists are building RoboEarth, a sort of Wikipedia for robots that will let them independently share instructions for tasks they’ve mastered. Needless to say, Oh shit! More »

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Feb 08

Study: 802.11ac devices to hit the one billion mark in 2015, get certified in 2048

Posted in: study, Today's Chili, Wireless

Okay, so there’s a good chance that the developing 802.11ac Gigabit wireless standard will receive its official seal of approval long before 2048, but by 2015? Given that it took 802.11n a full seven years to move on from Draft N status, we aren’t holding our collective breath. Regardless, there’s obviously a need for a far faster interface than what we’re using now, and the Wi-Fi Alliance is obviously doing everything it can to keep on keeping on. According to a loose study by In-Stat, Planet Earth will go from zero 802.11ac devices in 2010 to one billion by 2015, with Vice President of Research Frank Dickson noting that a draft of 802.11ac should be cleared at some point in 2011. As for backwards compatibility? Looks like you’ll just have to wait and see.

Continue reading Study: 802.11ac devices to hit the one billion mark in 2015, get certified in 2048

Study: 802.11ac devices to hit the one billion mark in 2015, get certified in 2048 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 10:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 03

News Corp. set to unload Myspace?

Posted in: business, sale, sales, social networking, SocialNetworking, Today's Chili
We hate to say it, but we could see this coming a mile down the road: After Myspace (or, as the kids say, my[_____]) relaunched itself as an entertainment portal to little effect late last year, and then the company went and laid off fifty percent of its staff, what’s the next step? Tears — a flood of bitter, bitter tears. And after that? Well, it looks like News Corp. is considering a couple options. As COO Chase Carey said on a recent earnings call, “The new MySpace has been very well received by the market and we have some very encouraging metrics. But the plan to allow MySpace to reach it’s full potential may be best achieved under a new owner.” Continuing with the theme, he told Paid Content the following: “There’s been a lot of interest, because there’s been some indication we’re pursuing this path. We’ll consider all options… it could be a sale, it could be an investor coming in to it, it could be us staying in with a restructured ownership structure with management.” Now, that’s a whole bunch of “corporate speak” there, and while the future is up in the air, we’re fairly sure that if you called our man Chase and offered him cold, hard cash, you could probably take Myspace off his hands at a fairly reasonable price. Make sure you ask him to throw in the Blingees for free.

News Corp. set to unload Myspace? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 03

Canadian goverment vows to reverse CRTC decision on usage-based internet billing

Posted in: canada, Today's Chili

It’s happened before when Canadian government overturned the CRTC’s decision and allowed Globalive to enter the Canadian cellphone market, and it looks like Ottawa is about to again weigh in and reverse an even more controversial ruling by the regulatory agency. As confirmed by Industry Minister Tony Clement on Twitter, the government plans to overturn the recent CRTC decision that effectively imposed usage-based internet billing if the agency doesn’t back down and “go back to the drawing board.” Citing a senior government official, The Toronto Star further reports that the reversal could come as early as next week. As any Canadians reading this may well be aware, the issue of usage-based internet billing has been simmering for some time, but it reached a tipping point with the CRTC’s decision last week that affected smaller internet service providers who rely on the major telecom companies’ networks. Under the new ruling, those companies would be have been faced with increased costs that would drastically limit the amount of maximum amount of data they’re able to offer to customers each month — one such ISP, Teksavvy, had in fact already sent out notices to customers informing them that their current 200GB cap would be dropping to just 25GB on March 1st, with any additional data use to be charged by the gigabyte.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: The CRTC has announced that it will review its decision, and delay any implementation of it by at least 60 days.

Canadian goverment vows to reverse CRTC decision on usage-based internet billing originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceThe Toronto Star, @Tony_ClementMP (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments

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Feb 03

Internet Runs Out of IP Addresses

Posted in: Today's Chili

Ethernet-Cable.jpg

Well, the Internet. It was a good run. We’ll miss your funny cat pictures and videos of chubby kids playing with light sabers. I wonder what’s on the TV. Wait, what’s that you say? IPv6 is kicking in? Oh, thank god. I have so many edits left to make to Lady Gaga’s Wikipedia entry.

The long awaited end of IPV4 addresses occurred to day. As Raul Echeberria, the head of the Numbers Resource Organization put it, “This is an historic day in the history of the internet, and one we have been anticipating for quite some time.”

IPv4 offered up around 4.3 billion IP addresses–a number that surely sounded like plenty when it first got up and running, but the sheer number of Internet-accessing devices people own these days, we’re currently blowing past that number.

IPv6 has been around since 1999. The service has an obscene number of addresses available–340 undecillion. Yep–undecillion. It’s an actual number. That’s 340 followed by 36 zeros.

Here you go,

340,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

The transition won’t affect most users, since access it generally URL-based. Businesses, on the other hand, may want to make sure they’re ready for the shift.

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Feb 02

Seven airlines now offering free in-flight Facebook

Posted in: Today's Chili, Transportation, Travel, wifi
Free and fast in-flight WiFi may be an unrealizable dream, but free in-flight Facebook? Wish no more. As of today, seven airlines are running a promotion with Gogo internet to bring your in air Facebook dreams to life. The airlines include Delta, AirTran, American, Virgin Atlantic, Alaska, US Airways, and United, who with Gogo now offer internet on 1,100 commercial and 5,000 private planes. It’s unclear how long the promotion will last — nothing good lasts forever — but get in there while you can and do a few status updates, maybe check out your friends’ awesome Groundhog Day 2011 links.

Seven airlines now offering free in-flight Facebook originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 18:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 02

900 Million Internet Explorer Users Hit With Massive Bug

Posted in: Microsoft, Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili

 

microsoft_ie-logo.jpgReportedly around 900 million Internet Explorer users where hit with a massive bug in their browser. According to Microsoft, the bug allows hackers to run a script via Internet Explorer that could result in personal data being stolen.

The bug affects all current versions of Windows, including Windows XP. The threat should be taken serious, and all users of Internet Explorer should download the patch from Microsoft. Even if you do not use IE very often, you should still download the patch as extra precaution for your own security.

Check out the full Microsoft press release for more information after the jump!

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Feb 02

Microsoft releases H.264 plug-in for Google Chrome, vows to support WebM video in IE9

Posted in: Chrome, Google, Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Software, Today's Chili, web, web browser, WebBrowser, Windows

Hard to believe that the infamous “fragmentation” term is now being bandied about in the web browser world, but sure enough, it’s Microsoft using the term today to describe the brave new realm we’re living in. If you’ll recall, Google defended its decision to not include H.264 support natively in Chrome, but maintained that WebM plug-ins were coming to Safari and Internet Explorer 9. Today, Microsoft’s kinda-sorta returning the favor. Following the outfit’s release of a Firefox add-on to bring full H.264 support to Windows machines, the outfit is releasing a plug-in for Chrome (only the Windows version for now) that provides support for H.264. Furthermore, it’s committed to supporting third-party WebM video plug-ins; to quote, users “will be able to play WebM video in IE9.” It’s fairly obvious that Microsoft’s taking this golden opportunity to push its browser as one that supports everything (rather than just its own preferred format), but regardless of the motives, we’re just happy to see differences put aside and compatibility finding priority.

Microsoft releases H.264 plug-in for Google Chrome, vows to support WebM video in IE9 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 14:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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