Rich for Google, Poor for Yahoo! - Socio-economic difference for real

The differences in audience for the two largest Internet companies fighting for online search supremacy came as a shocker. Hiwise released some data that proved that Yahoo! draws the younger audience,
while Google is most visited by older and more wealthy people, no discrimination intended.

Although some might consider this to be highly disturbing, please take note that Yahoo! is still the number one online traffic destination, due to its portal, clearly overpowering the search engine only Google homepage. The graph on the left, provided by Hitwise, explains how much money the social categories are spending online: "Visits by MOSAIC Group to Search.Yahoo.com are plotted on the y-axis and to Google.com on the x-axis. For example, the top left hand box indicates unique strengths for Yahoo! Search, in that they are groups that are over-indexed relative to the online population on Yahoo! Search but under-indexed on Google.com. The bigger the bubble the higher the propensity to have spent $500 online (based on offline data collected by Experian)," Heather Hopkins, VP Research, explains it.

The rough bottom line of the whole graph is that based on precedents, the groups over-indexed on Google.com are most likely to be big online spenders. While Yahoo! settles for the Struggling Societies, Google is pretty contemptuous with the Affluent Suburbia, that’s the big difference. Microsoft knows this and it wants Yahoo! more than ever just because it wants a destination that would link to it, sort of a ‘while you’re here’. The Redmond based company wants the young, Google just wants ads being clicked and successful advertising campaigns. While it’s not difficult to see why, the very purpose of this research cannot but have some discriminatory feel about it.

There’s no spin off it, it’s clear as crystal: Google is emerging to be a more professional tool while Yahoo! is just a destination for everybody. And surprisingly, ‘everybody’ means less than ‘some’ in this case.

Introducing Beta 1 of Microsoft's 64-bit Windows for Supercomputers - Download Windows HPC Server 2008 whitepaper

Designed to support exclusively the AMD Opteron, AMD Athlon 64, Intel Xeon with Intel EM64T, and Intel Pentium with Intel EM64T processors, Microsoft's 64-bit Windows operating system for supercomputers is designed with the purpose of taking high-performance computing (HPC) mainstream. With Windows Server 2008 at its basis, Windows HPC Server 2008 is the successor of Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 and was released into beta
back in November 2007. But for Microsoft, an introduction of the latest version of its Windows platform, aimed at the high performance computing market, seems to be never too late.

On February 13, 2008, the company made available for download the Windows HPC Server 2008 Overview Data Sheet, a resource aimed at delivering a general perspective on what customers will be getting in the second half of 2008 when the RTM is planned. A beta of Windows HPC Server 2008 is already up for grabs.

"Windows HPC Server 2008 combines the power of a Windows 64-bit Server platform with rich, out-of-the-box functionality to improve the productivity, and reduce the complexity, of your HPC environment. Windows HPC Server 2008, provides a comprehensive set of deployment, administration, and monitoring tools that are easy to deploy, manage, and integrate with your existing infrastructure. Windows HPC Server 2008 enables broader adoption of HPC by providing a rich and integrated end-user experience scaling from the desktop application to the clusters," Microsoft revealed.

According to Microsoft, Windows HPC Server 2008 is set to be at the heart of the next generation of technological innovations via its association with high performance computing. The Redmond company has applauded the enhanced levels of productivity synonymous with Windows HPC Server 2008, as well as the scalable performance, manageable infrastructure and monitoring tools.

"Windows HPC Server 2008 is built on proven Windows Server 2008 x64-bit technology. Windows HPC Server 2008 can efficiently scale to thousands of processing cores and includes management tools that help systems administrators proactively monitor system health and maintain system stability. Integration with Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Microsoft Windows SQL Server 2008 provides failover capabilities in the event of system failure," Microsoft added.

Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Updated - 11.4.0 - It addresses a critical vulnerability that could enable attackers to run malicious code on your Mac

It is the second Tuesday of February and users of Microsoft's Office 2004 for Mac are getting a bit of a treat. Actually, considering the risk they've been exposed to so far, it's more of a life-saver, but we'll just leave it at that. The patch (.dmg file size: 12mb),
available right HERE for immediate download, addresses a critical vulnerability that could enable attackers to run malicious code on your Mac.

"Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.4.0 Update

This update fixes a vulnerability that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer's memory with malicious code," says Microsoft.

11.4.0 also includes AutoUpdate for Mac, to help you keep your software up to date automatically. According to Microsoft, Mac owners can also use it to manually check for new downloads as well, while there's nothing additional to install.



The part you should be most interested in, however, is the fact that Microsoft AutoUpdate for Mac, which comes with Office, keeps your Microsoft software up to date automatically, which means that there's no need to search for critical updates and information when you hear that attackers could again hack into your PC using an exploit in Microsoft Office 2004.

AutoUpdate delivers updates directly to your computer, but that doesn't mean that you can't also use it manually, whenever you want to check for updates.

Here's how it works:
1. On the Help menu, click Check for Updates.
2. If you see a list of available updates, do one of the following:

To install any updates, just click the box next to the updates that you want to install, click Install, and then, when prompted, enter the user name and password for an account that has administrator privileges on your computer.

New Yahoo Mail Goes on a Safari (3.0) - Update to become available within a couple of weeks

With almost everyone that uses the Internet these days having a Yahoo Mail account, it was only fair to make the latest version of the world’s most popular webmail service available to more Mac users, particularly those using Safari 3.0. Updates from Yahoo should be available within the following weeks, according to Yahoo Mail Community Manager, Ryan K.

"Yahoo Mail is now fully accessible from Safari 3.0 on the Mac!"
he says. "Our guys have been working feverishly to make sure that everything works as intended," he went on, adding that "some have even made the occasional trip down the road to 'The Mother-ship' (as many a Mac enthusiast has called it)."

So, we now have confirmation that the new, updated version of Yahoo Mail is going to be available for Safari 3.0 users very soon. Also, Mac owners using Mac OS 10.4.11 aka Tiger, as well as those using any version of Leopard (Mac OS 10.5.whatever.) will benefit from the exact same features, brought available with the new Yahoo Mail facelift: "The rollout is already underway, and we hope to have the updates out to most of you within the next couple weeks," says Ryan K.

As you can imagine, the latest version of the popular webmail service features a couple of extras, besides the new interface, such as keyboard shortcuts. For example, if you're reading an exciting topic and want to forward it immediately to one of your friends, just hit the "f" key and the forward window appears. All you need to do is add a few words yourself (if you wish) and click send. That's it! Also, hit "r" to reply and "n" for a new message, with dozens of other shortcuts being available. Now, tell me you don't want that on Safari.

Mail Classic is already available for Mac owners browsing with Safari and Firefox, but Yahoo wants a broader audience of Mac users to benefit from the new features. And don't forget, as Ryan himself says, "there are some other enhancements that aren’t Mac specific," so those using different operating systems "be on the lookout."

Survey - Computer Users Trust Mac OS X Over Windows for Security - Following the discovery of the first financially motivated malware for Mac

A recent web poll of more than 350 computer users has revealed that 93% believe Macs will be more targeted by hackers in the future. In light of the discovery of the first "financially motivated malware for Mac OS X," Sophos' poll has also revealed that polled computer users did not believe the problem would not be as great as that faced by Windows users today.

The Sophos podcast entitled "Big Mac attack or super-sized hype?" contains the survey results, which show that Mac users "are becoming less
optimistic about the likelihood of their computers being attacked in future." The discovery of the first financially motivated malware for Mac OS X has clearly been a big influence here, since a similar survey conducted two years ago, saw only 79% computer users saying that Macintosh computers would become more commonly targeted.

Survey results look a little something like this:
(Sophos web poll, 29 January-7 February 2008, 355 respondents)

"The first financially motivated malware for Macintoshes has been discovered. Do you think in the future Macs will be targeted more often?

Yes, but not as much as Windows – 50%
Yes - 43%
No - 7%"

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos, had this to say in light of their findings: "Although we have seen the first attempts by criminal gangs to make money through Mac OS X malware, the fact of that matter is that there is only a tiny number of viruses and Trojan horses for Apple Macs when compared to Windows PCs. It seems unlikely that the Mac virus problem will ever be as big as the Windows one. Yes, the Macintosh malware threat is a concern - but it's important to put it in perspective. Sophos's podcast discusses the history and evolution of Macintosh malware, helping IT administrators better understand the problem and protect their systems."

Of course, one can't help but wonder: yes, but what happens if Apple does grow, and more and more computer users adopt their hardware and operating systems? Wouldn't that get Apple where Microsoft is right now, as far as security goes? What are hackers supposed to do, retire?

iPhone Cork Case - If it's not protection you seek for your Apple device... why not?

Case manufacturers usually stick to the design of the devices they're working for, but this time around, Griffin Technology thought to spice things up a bit. Nonconformist to say the least, the Elan Form Cork looks pretty strange on its own, not to mention on Apple's iPhone, but the bigger the consumer population, the larger array of taste right?

Blokes over at ilounge.com even decided to review the thing and revealed that,
although it doesn't offer as much protection as it does style, it manages not to hold its position between add and bold. Here's a closer
Griffin Elan Form Hard-Shell Natural Cork Case for iPhone screenshot #1

As you can see, the Elan Form Cork is not all cork, but just covered in cork. Had it been 100% made of cork, it would have disintegrated within its first week on the iPhone.

But, as most of you will find this obvious, the Elan Form Cork hasn't been especially designed for protection, although it does a pretty good job at that too, according to iLounge, not interfering with the ports, touchscreen and Home button one bit.

Griffin's cork case comes with an included rectangular screen protector that covers only the iPhone’s display, "and not the area around its ear speaker or home button. This is a B level of protection by comparison with other alternatives we’ve tested, and Griffin could definitely have done better for the price," the review goes on.

Griffin Elan Form Hard-Shell Natural Cork Case for iPhone screenshot #2
Enlarge picture
"The cork version of Elan Form is, without question, a comparatively niche product that at best can be described as 'fun,' particularly for sommeliers and other wine aficionados, and less charitably as weird, a design that doesn’t mesh in any way with the iPhone’s aesthetic," iLounge concludes.

Griffin Technology has priced the Elan Form Cork at $30, so that leaves one question for the readers: would you buy the iPhone case?

Apple Files Patent Application for 'Podmaps' - '...choose to subscribe to a particular podcast from a plurality of established podcasts'

Yep, Apple wants to put maps in podcasts, it's no rumor. The patent application for "Creation, Management and Delivery of Map-based Media Items," is right here for everyone to see. It describes "podmaps," as means of delivering maps and other media files that are associated with a podcast.

Apple already knows that people like to take podcasting
personally. All iTune users have to do is open click Preferences and customize the what, where, and when of podcasts on iTunes. You can check for new podcast episodes on an hourly, daily or weekly basis, but it can also be done manually. Users are then able to download every episode or just the most recent ones, while keeping or deleting a specific number based on release date is also available, as far as managing episodes goes.

Similarly, informationweek.com notes that the patent application hints at more personalized podcasts, through "improved techniques to enable podcast users to have greater control over the content provided in or with podcasts. [...] a subscriber can choose to subscribe to a particular podcast from a plurality of established podcasts. However, a subscriber has no control over the content provided in or with podcasts. Unfortunately, however, a subscriber may desire a podcast that is somewhat different from the available podcasts. In many cases, a subscriber is not interested in the entire pre-established podcast but would prefer to modify the podcast in some manner. However, there is currently no way for a subscriber to alter the content within a podcast," the patent application reads.

And that's where "podmaps"/"mapcasts" come in: "[O]ne embodiment of the invention includes at least the acts of: receiving a request for a map-based media item pertaining to mapping a route from a start location to a destination location; obtaining map information based on a determined route from the start location to the destination location, the map information including text directions and at least one map image; causing the text directions to be converted into voice directions; and forming the map-based media item using at least the voice directions and the at least one map image."

Looks like Apple is getting more and more serious about capitalizing on iTunes. Stick around for updates.