By Jacqui Cheng
November 25, 2008 - 11:32AM CT

I have a confession to make: I'm pretty sure I have cancer (multiple kinds), heart palpitations, hypoglycemia, and skin tumors. I haven't talked to a real doctor about it, but Dr. Internet has helped me diagnose all of my symptoms over the last few years. (And if you think I'm trying to be funny in the first sentence, you should find out the truth from some of my friends.)

This is a condition described as "cyberchondria," which Microsoft has spent time researching while trying to improve its search engine results for Live Search. Neurotic self-diagnosis is nothing new; it was put to great comic effect in the opening pages of Jerome K. Jerome's 1889 humorous travelogue Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog), for instance, in which the narrator concludes he has every disease from gout to zymosis (but not "housemaid's knee") after reading medical textbooks at the British Library.

But thinking you're about to die isn't all fun and games. Microsoft's work on cyberchondria shows how easy Internet access to medical information can really affect people. The company has just published a report on its large-scale, longitudinal, log-based study of how people search for medical information based on a 40 million page anonymized sample, combined with a survey of over 500 Microsoft employees about their own health-search experiences.

The results are much as you might expect. People like to use the Internet to better understand their symptoms, but they often find themselves digging deep into WebMD or Wikipedia before discovering—to their horror—that the tiny rash they thought they had is actually a rare skin disease that could (and likely will) kill them tomorrow.

By Heather Havenstein
November 25, 2008

Google Inc. yesterday acknowledged plans to "significantly" reduce the number of contractors it uses, according to a report on the Web site of The Wall Street Journal. The report noted that the company has no plans to cut its permanent workforce.

"We have been thinking for some time, before the acute phase of the economic crisis, about significantly reducing the number of contract workers," spokeswoman Jane Penner, told the newspaper. Google did not immediately respond to Computerworld's request for comment on the Journal report. Penner declined to detail how many contract workers -- Google has approximately 10,000 -- would be cut or when they might be let go.

Google has 20,213 company employees, the article noted. November has been unusually rife with bad news for Google. Just last week, Google announced plans to shutter its Lively virtual world. And the unveiling last week of its new SearchWiki interface for reranking and commenting on search results immediately came under fire from some in the blogosphere for its lack of an opt-out option.

Meanwhile the price of Google stock sunk to multiyear lows this month as the tech sector was dragged down as part of Wall Street's meltdown.

By Scott Gilbertson
25th November 2008 15:02 GMT

Review - Fedora might not be getting a complete makeover or flashy new features in version 10, out today, but some welcome enhancements under-the-hood make this a worthwhile upgrade. If you've never given Fedora a try, now is a great time.

The tenth revision slick and stable and it has a rock solid feel to it that, for our money, trumps even Ubuntu's latest release. Fedora 10 has many of the features we loved in Ubuntu - the latest version of GNOME and the new NetworkManager utility, for instance. As a bonus you also get the always excellent RPM package system, the new Empathy instant messenger framework, PackageKit and host of other Fedora-specific tools.

Something for everyone - For long-time Fedora fans, two noteworthy changes in this releaseshould be welcome news. The first is the new "glitch-free" version of PulseAudio, the underlying audio system in Fedora. So what is this glitch-free version of PulseAudio? The details are quite complex, but essentially what you'll notice is better, smoother sound output.

PulseAudio itself is not new and offers a number of advantages over other audio subsystems. Unfortunately, the version that shipped with Fedora 9, which we a reviewed earlier this year, had some performance and reliability issues. The new version is designed to solve those problems and also improves PulseAudio's integration with other system tools and applications.

By Kelly Fiveash
25th November 2008 11:57 GMT

Apple has pumped Safari with yet another update less than two weeks after version 3.2 of the browser was released. The Cupertino-based company has been scurrying to fix a host of bugs in Safari that left many Mac fanboys in a spin, with the revamped browser consistently crashing on launch. Safari 3.2.1 was shoved out the door yesterday by Apple, which offered a vague maxim about “stability improvements” being added to the browser.

Version 3.2 landed on 13 November and immediately got a frosty reception from Safari users who complained that the update, which came loaded with improved anti-phishing protection and the latest security fixes, caused frequent crashes. Yesterday's stealth patch, which had no Apple fanfare whatsoever, is now available for download both for Mac OS X and Windows XP or Vista.

Apple closed a number of security holes with the release of Safari 3.2 including an update to the framework that underpins the browser – Webkit, and a bug in its autocomplete feature. However, many have grumbled that Safari 3.2 had not been scrutinised and tested enough prior to release. Whether Safari 3.2.1 will right those wrongs remains to be seen.

By Gregg Keizer
November 22, 2008

A federal judge on Friday ordered Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to testify in the "Vista Capable" class-action lawsuit, rejecting the company's contention that Ballmer knew nothing about loosening hardware requirements for the marketing program.

U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman said that Ballmer must meet with the plaintiffs' lawyers within 30 days, and limited the deposition to three hours. "We will, of course, comply with the court's order," company spokesman David Bowermaster said in an e-mail Friday night. Last month, Microsoft Corp. tried to block Ballmer's deposition by arguing that he had no unique knowledge of the Vista Capable program, which the company ran in 2006 to tout then-current PCs as being able to run the operating system when it was later released.

In a declaration, Ballmer echoed that stance. "I was not involved in any of the operational decisions about the Windows Vista Capable program," he said. "I was not involved in establishing the requirements computers must satisfy to qualify for the Windows Vista Capable program. I was not involved in formulating any marketing strategy or any public messaging surrounding the Windows Vista Capable program."

Instead, Microsoft said that former executives Jim Allchin and Will Poole, who left the company in January 2007 and September 2008, respectively, were the most involved in the decisions about Vista Capable. Microsoft's spokesman repeated that assertion Friday. "Mr. Ballmer's knowledge about the Windows Vista Capable program comes from the executives he empowered to run the program and make decisions, and two of those executives already testified in this case," said Bowermaster.

By Sylvie Barak
25 November 2008, 12:14 PM

REDUNDANCY IS A DIRTY word in Silicon Valley at the moment and Google, claiming immunity from recession, has been trying to hold off saying it with the help of a legal loophole. As a public company, Google would be forced to announce if any layoffs were on the cards, and reports have been popping up all over the place claiming that a cull is coming, with 10,000 jobs likely affected.

But what those sensationalist stories don’t take into account is that Google has a massive contractor workforce, which can be let go quietly without any fuss at all. It isn’t as if Google has invented the wheel where contractors are concerned. Companies have been hiring temporary contractors for less money and no benefits for yonks now, but Google has found it also now has a handy way of slashing its workforce, satisfying its shareholders and avoiding announcing layoffs of permanent staff.

A Google spokesperson admitted that, when it came to contractors, "We have 10,000, and we have had a plan in place for a while to significantly reduce that number," but she added "This is something we've been thinking about for a while – six or seven months. It predates the most acute phase of the [current economic] crisis." Googly contractors may find their contracts cancelled or simply not renewed.

At the moment, the search engine giant is not saying which. In the meanwhile, the firm has implemented a slowdown on hiring. So 'lay-offs' may be word Google is trying to avoid saying at all costs, but 'recession proof' may be two words the firm should definitely avoid from now on.

by Zack Whittaker
November 25th, 2008 @ 3:46 am

The last few days have been an eye-opener for me, because I’ve discovered there may in fact be little point in having Twitter. I see Twitter as a pain in the arse, something you have to go out of your way for and tell the world something you really shouldn’t have to. I’m not the sort of person who’ll want to keep the world updated about a) my bowel movements, b) where I’m heading to or c) some other crap which nobody else cares about.

There are two sides to every story (at least), of course. Twitter is what we call an “Enterprise 2.0″ application; not only a web application which tells the world what you’re doing, but is highly influential in the way businesses run, keeping customers and partners informed and gaining feedback on services. Facebook has just been declined a $500m offer for the Twitter brand, name and application, which as Steve Clayton rightly points out, “is a big chunk of cash for something that isn’t making money at the moment.”

However with the massive force behind Facebook, many simply update their status their instead. For those, and us indeed, who are at university, Twitter isn’t something that seems to be catching on. I’ve got many, many friends on Facebook which is used to interconnect the campuses, the counties and the continents, but Twitter just doesn’t seem to have taken off. And thinking about it, how are they making their money? Whether we like it or not, most web startup’s don’t survive the first 18 months; I dread to think what they have to do to keep themselves going.

Whilst it may be a next-generation application, I still struggle to see the point it makes, or the impact it has. With the API and development opportunities, it’s certainly made an impact in developing technologies such as Adobe AIR, but besides this I fail to see why I should continue to update mine; something I haven’t done in months. Whether you’re a Twitter user or not, let me know. I’d much rather find a viable answer to this question than be left in the dark any more.

by Stephen Shankland
November 25, 2008 4:00 AM PST

Sorry if it sounds like I'm drinking the Google Kool-Aid here, but I switched from Mozilla Firefox to Google Chrome as my default browser for the very reason Google's executives said we should: speed. Years ago, Firefox won me over chiefly with plug-ins, tabbed browsing, and some security advantages.

But using Chrome removed a bit of friction from Web I hadn't realized was there. It felt like discovering I'd been driving with the parking brake on just a bit. Here's what coaxed me away: Chrome starts way faster than Firefox. Web pages load faster when I type in an address or click a link. The Omnibox--Chrome's combination location bar and search box--often gets me where I want to go at least a keystroke faster, and I'm not terribly worried about sending Web navigation and search data to Google.

Individually, a few tenths of a second here or there doesn't make much difference. But it adds up fast. I spend hours a day using the Web--not just browsing, but also uploading photos, issuing instructions to my bank, editing documents online, and posting comments. As the Web gets more complex and more deeply embedded in my life, waiting for it gets more annoying. I hadn't set out to convert to Chrome.

I just wanted to see how well it worked, so I used it to run my personal e-mail while at work. Then I added in reading RSS feeds. After a few weeks, I noticed that I was manually copying Web addresses to Chrome and realized that my subconscious mind had made its decision. So last week, I set it as my default browser, despite a range of criticisms (see below).

By Glenn Fleishman
November 25, 2008 - 06:00AM CT

BelAir Networks is known for powering the biggest public WiFi networks in North America: Minneapolis, Toronto, and Cablevision's in-progress New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut network for its cable data subscribers. (See our overview, "Second wind for muni WiFi?")

That might make today's announcement by BelAir of the BelAir20, an indoor 802.11n access point, seem a little odd. For a firm that's known for having its nodes strung outdoors, why point inwards? "Because our customers asked us to, which is a good place to be in," said Stephen Rayment, the chief technical officer and BelAir's co-founder. "Over and over again, we got requests from all these service providers customers: 'BelAir, it's not just outdoors, it's not just beaming indoors from outdoors, there's a totally indoor component to this as well,'" he said.

Rayment said the growing service provider industry, which builds WiFi hotspots and hotzones for hotels, conference centers, hospitals, and mass transit, has specific needs and price points that BelAir thinks it can fill. Rayment acknowledged the industry his firm is in has changed focus enormously since the collapse of many city-wide wireless proposals, and the success in Minneapolis is a rare exception.

"It's now all about targeted coverage as opposed to the silly stuff people were asking us to do three or four years ago: 95 percent of the metropolitan area on day one," he said. "This outdoor WiFi stuff is still tough to do: a lot of the hurdles you have to go over to deploy indoors is less," and that has led to more expansion in interior venues by the companies that BelAir works with.

Publisher's Description:

Songbird is a Web player built from Firefox's browser engine. It is open source and will run on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. It supports user contributed, cross-platform extensions. Play any MP3 on the Web without leaving the page. It can view Web pages as dynamic playlists that it can play, save, or automatically download every day. It plays your music too. It has all the features you expect in a desktop media player.

Released: November 24, 2008
Publisher: Pioneers of the Inevitable
License: Open Source
OS Support: Windows 2000/XP
Uninstaller?: Yes
Skin Support?: Yes

Publisher's Description:

Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier. It has one box for everything: Type in the address bar and get suggestions for both search and web pages. Will give you thumbnails of your top sites; Access your favorite pages instantly with lightning speed from any new tab.

Latest Changes:

* Bookmark manager with import/export
* Privacy section in Options
* New blocked pop-up notification
* This release fixes an issue with downloaded HTML files being able to read other files on your computer and send them to sites on the Internet. We now prevent local files from connecting to the network with XMLHttpRequest() and also prompt you to confirm a

Released: November 24, 2008
Publisher: Google
License: Open Source
OS Support: Windows Vista/XP

TheWorld Browser provides a fast, safe, and easy way to browse the Web. It will revolutionize your internet experience with many useful features that other browsers don't provide. Give it a try, we guarantee our browser is 100% malware free.

FEATURES:

Multi-threaded frame.
TheWorld Browser version 2.0 is among the first multi-threaded frame browser in the world (the first is Internet Explorer 7.0), the multi-threaded window frame can prevent the web pages from freezing.

Intelligent Ad blocking + Blacklist filter.
TheWorld can block popup ad. and float ad. automatically.
TheWorld can block popups and float ads automatically. You can also use a blacklist to filter ads. The blacklist filter works from lower level of HTTP protocol, with regular expression so that you can filter out anything you want.

Web page mute.
TheWorld is the first browser that can disable a web page's sound with one click.

Powerful Tools
Powerful Tools Built in tools like: Flash filter, unlock page script limited, zoom, Proxy quick switching, Auto complete, Quick media saver, Privacy guard, Mouse gestures, Custom hotkeys and Drag & drop support, make TheWorld one of the most powerful browsers around.

Safer.
TheWorld Browser has built-in safe guards that will protect you while surfing.

Built-in Download Manager.
Which consists of multi-thread download, resumable download, with intuitive download management.

Skins and plugins.
TheWorld Browser supports skins and plugins, we have hundreds of skins and plugins to customize the way you browse. TheWorld has native support for Internet Explorer's plugins as well.

Author: Phoenix Studio
Date: 2008-11-25
Size: 602 Kb
License: Freeware
Requires: Win XP/Vista

Orbit Downloader is a great speed, super light,easy-to-use and free rich media downloader. It is based on p2p and multi-source downloading technology and supports HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, MMS and RTSP protocols. Using Orbit Downloader, you can almost download everything online with 500% faster speed, like youtube video, rapidshare files, flash and streaming media etc. Anyway, Orbit Downloader is an indispendsable tool for download acceleration and management.

Author: OrbitDownloader.com
Date: 2008-11-25
Size: 2.06 MB
License: Freeware
Requires: Win All

By David Chartier
November 24, 2008 - 01:30PM CT

Intuit has fired its first significant Quicken Online shot across competitor Mint.com's bow since we compared the two web-based financial organization services back in October. In addition to a complete redesign of the Quicken Online product, Intuit has introduced a number of new features that allow users to see into the future of their bank accounts and stay better informed about spending in specific categories.

Naturally, the most noticeable change to Quicken Online is the new design and UI. But in light of the recent removal of the monthly $2.99 service fee (Quicken Online is now completely free to use), it may be a bittersweet change. The overall design has certainly matured, using color both more responsibly and effectively to separate portions of content.

As users are commenting on The Quicken Blog announcement post, however, the Home page has arguably become less informative now that it focuses on a "What's Left" feature that displays a balance left over after automatically calculating upcoming bills against upcoming paychecks. These figures can also be displayed in a chart, accessible via a popup from the new home page, that plots one's account balance over the next one or two pay periods.

Previously, Quicken Online displayed a much more informative—though arguably cluttered—dashboard with components like "Money In/Out/Overspent," an extensive list of upcoming bills, a small budgetary pie chart, and more. Most of these features are not gone in Quicken Online's new design but simply shifted to other pages.

by Jessica Dolcourt
November 24, 2008 12:49 PM PST

Opera Mini 4.2 beta, a test version released for Java phones just two weeks ago, on Monday became the first third-party browser available for Google Android. Opera Mini for Android, which was previewed in April, includes most of the familiar Mini 4.2 features: zooming, saving, bookmarking, and searching for in-line text has stayed intact, as has syncing via Opera Link and swapping skins.

We couldn't make the video playback workaround that debuted on other Java phones work in this build, though T-Mobile's USA's G1 phone does support video playback. We hear that Opera will address this issue when the mobile browser comes out of beta. What's distinctive and commendable of the Android-optimized build: fast speeds over T-Mobile's 3G network, a very crisp display, and quality that approaches the iPhone when it comes to viewing a zoomed-out Web page, thanks to both screen size and image clarity. The G1's two menu keys also enhance the experience, making Opera Mini's controls easy to access and navigate.

Google Android was low-hanging fruit for Opera. It would have been better, of course, if the browser had been available when the G1 began selling, but of all third-party developers, Opera still managed to bring its free browser first to Android's market--and a very able version at that. We're hoping that Opera will port its more robust Mobile version to Android next, and as always, that Opera will release a version that lets users type directly into a text field without pulling up an intermediary screen.