IT Masala

Microsoft Corp., as part of its outreach to the open-source community, has released a new official Windows Media Player plug-in for Firefox 2.0 that resolves problems with the older one.

The plug-in enables Windows Media Player to work on Firefox for Windows Vista and resolves known issues with the old one, wrote Hank Janssen, the program manager for Port 25, Microsoft's software lab that works with open source, on a company blog Monday.

The plug-in, available on Firefox's add-on site, is compatible with the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the XP SP2 and Vista OSes.

Note : Microsoft is working on another plug-in for Firefox.

There is however one known issue with the new plugin as noted on the Port25 site:

There is a known issue if you are using Firefox version 2.0.0.3 on Windows Vista with the installer failing with error code -203. To work around this simply restart Firefox (you will get a notification that Windows Vista will be changing the Firefox compatibility settings) and then install again - the second time should succeed.

I did not experience this problem and in fact had no problems at all installing the plug-in on Firefox 2.0.0.3 on XP. 

A video from MSNBC.com playing perfectly well inside the WMP 11 Plug-in for Firefox. I often had trouble viewing videos on sites who stream in Windows-based formats.

"Is Microsoft competing with Linux and OSS" Janssen writes. "You bet they are. Is Microsoft working to better interface with some of the Linux and OSS products? …

It took a long time for this to happen but finally their is a WMP plugin for Firefox. !

[ Mozilla Plugins Page ] [ Download Plugin ] [ Microsoft Software Labs ]

Long Live Open Source ! 

Windows/Mac/Linux (All platforms): Free, open source application Shoka is a PDF library manager with a difference.

Shoka has been designed to perform full text searches on all documents in your Shoka library and share documents over LAN, it comes with a simple and attractive graphical interface.

Shoka has some nice features like tagging and smartlists. There is something wrong with the windows version of Shoka. I am not able to use it properly. Tools like Google Desktop already do similar thing of indexing but for exclusive managing of pdf's Shoka is great.

Note : It needs JavaWebStart.  

[ Shoka ] [ Download ] [ Java ]

At Palm's analyst and investor conference in New York Tuesday, CEO Ed Colligan announced that the company was investing in a new Linux-based platform for its line of Treo smart phones.

Colligan said the Linux platform "will build a new foundation for Palm" and give the company, users and developers more flexibility.

The platform has been in development for "a number of years", he said, but emphasized repeatedly that Palm is still committed to the Palm OS and will continue to ship products based on that platform.

Those were the only details provided.

Access purchased PalmSource, developer of the Palm OS in 2005, and last year licensed Palm OS back to Palm. Access then rebranded its version of the platform as Garnet OS and is developing its own Linux version of the platform 

PN:

Other news sources have reported that Palm will introduce products based on its Linux platform later this year. When contacted, Palm was unable to comment on whether these products would be available in the Asia-Pacific region.

via [ cnet ] 

Great News ….NASA scientists plan to announce a new open-source project this month called CosmosCode — it's aimed at recruiting volunteers to write code for live space missions.

Jessy Cowan-Sharp and Robert Schingler set up CosmosCode to help NASA develop open-source software for space exploration.

The program was launched quietly last year under NASA's CoLab entrepreneur outreach program, created by Robert Schingler, 28, and Jessy Cowan-Sharp, 25, of NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. Members of the CosmosCode group have been meeting in Second Life and will open the program to the public in the coming weeks, organizers said.

"NASA is recognizing the value of free and open-source software in other sectors," said Cowan-Sharp, a contractor at NASA Ames in Mountain View, California. "CosmosCode is going one step further by allowing NASA scientists to begin a software project in the public domain, leveraging the true value of open-source software by creating an active community of volunteers."

NASA has already released more than 20 open-source software titles, including World Wind, a 3-D virtual globe similar to Google Earth, and Vision Workbench, a framework for computer vision applications.

via [ wired ] 

Mozilla Corp. late yesterday updated the Firefox browser to patch a single security vulnerability and fix several bugs it unintentionally introduced in earlier versions.

Mozilla currently supports two branches of the open-source application, and the upgrades — Firefox 2.0.0.3 and Firefox 1.5.0.11 — are now available, according to the release notes posted on the company's Web site.

New for Firefox 2.0.0.3 is a single security fix that patches up a hole in the browser’s FTP PASV functionality. A malicious web page hosted on a specially-coded FTP server could use this feature to perform a rudimentary port-scan of machines inside the firewall of the victim.

The main purpose of the update, however, was to fix several "regressions" — unintended flaws introduced by changes to previous versions. Earlier this month, Mozilla said it was working on a fast-turnaround for 2.0.0.3/1.5.0.11 to correct regressions in the browser's password manager, automatic security certificate authentication feature and other areas.

The last time the Firefox was updated was less than a month ago when 2.0.0.2 was released to address issues with AutoComplete, how the "Save" dialog box displays for known file extensions, a bug where a mouse's scroll wheel would stop working, two memory leaks and a number of security-related concerns.

Firefox 2.0.0.3 can be downloaded from the Mozilla Web site in versions for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux in 40 languages. Users can also update the browser using the Check for Updates command in the help menu.

[ Firefox 2.0.0.3 ] via [ Mozilla ] 

Google Summer of Code 2007 is on! They are now accepting student applications. They have also published some additional web app documentation for mentors and organization administrators.

What is Google Summer of Code?

Its a program that offers student developers stipends to write code for various open source projects.

Who can apply ?

Students can submit their applications via the GSoC web app between March 14-24, 2007.

Deadline : March 14-24, 2007

Eligibility :

All college and university students around the world are invited to apply

Prizes to be won ?

Get paid $4,500 USD to work on your favorite open source project this summer. Its not just for $4,500 .. the real big thing is - the competition is conducted by Google and the award too.. ! what more does anyone want ? 

Apply Here :

Guide to the Google Summer of Code Web App for Student Applicants 

PS : WordPress is among the 131 accepted to Google Summer of Code, of more than 300 projects that applied.

Note : Google Summer Code is no longer accepting applications from open source organizations. 

[ Apply ] via [ Google Summer Code ] 

With a tiny 6.76% of the search market, compared with Google’s 60%+ search share dominance, Microsoft has decided it’s time to leverage their massive base of global Windows users with juicy wads of cash to switch search providers!

So Whats the deal ? 

Microsoft’s new program is called “Microsoft Service Credits for Web Search” and has been unveiled by John Batelle’s ‘SearchBlog’. The money on offer is significant, especially when multiplied across thousands of PCs. The deal means that companies can earn between US $2 and US $10 per computer on an annual basis, plus a US $25,000 “enrollment credit” which is a nice big wad of cash that will likely need a large-ish, strong and sturdy brown paper bag to hold securely while being passed under the table.  

For companies that have thousands of computers, this could translate into anywhere from US $100,000 to $200,000 per year, which is money that could be put to good use in the IT department or elsewhere in the company.

Bad part of the campaign :

Microsoft will use a ‘Browser Helper Object’ installed into IE7 to track search queries and send information on search back to Microsoft, so they can use the information to improve the results that Windows Live Search delivers. Because of this, IE7 must be used – it doesn’t work with Firefox, Opera or older versions of IE browsers.

Really this is heights !! Is Microsoft so very irked by open source successes ?? anyway..read on.. 

Robert Scoble comments - "Microsoft sucks": 

“What Windows Live lacks, specifically, is an identity. No one can describe it, no one from Microsoft has even tried.”

Former Microsoft employee and blogger Robert Scoble who served as the online face of Microsoft during his three years at the company is not impressed with Microsoft’s moves in deciding to offer companies money to use search.

PS: Each search at click4thecause.live.com results in a financial donation from Microsoft to provide help with education programs to the refugee kids around the globe.

We all know that Google doesn’t need to pay anyone to use its search services – people use them voluntarily because of the quality of the results.

So, is Microsoft really that spooked by Google's dominating success in search, and why is Robert Scoble so unimpressed with the deal? - The answer is quality !

It will be a loooong time until Micro$oft Live search reaches the level of Google searches..Till then keep trying..Good luck, Microsoft, you’re going to need it!

via [ itwire ] 

Easily Convert RPM, Deb and tgz package formats using Alien- Portable Package Power

Alien is a program that converts between the rpm, dpkg, stampede slp, and slackware tgz file formats. If you want to use a package from another distribution than the one you have installed on your system, you can use alien to convert it to your preferred package format and install it.

Licensed under GPL, this tool converts between the rpm, Debian deb,stampede slp, and slackware tgz file formats.For example, if I want to install Inkscape which is in a binary RPM format in Ubuntu (or any other debian distro), I use the following command:

    # alien -i inkscape-2.1.3.rpm

The above command will unpack the rpm package into a directory, create a deb package and then install it on your system. And to uninstall the package at a later date use the relevent dpkg command.

Note : Alien should not be used to replace important system packages, like sysvinit, shared libraries, or other things that are essential for the functioning of your system

Other things which are required :

- perl version 5.004 or greater.

- Red Hat Package Manager; get it from its website.

- If you want to convert packages into debian packages, you will need the dpkg, dpkg-dev, and debhelper packages, which are available on the Debian packages site. You'll also need gcc, and make. 

Despite the large version number, alien is still (and will probably always be) rather experimental software. It has been used by many people for many years, but there are still many bugs and limitations.

Although no one officially recommends using Alien as a solution for business, I have found it to be a very effective tool. 

Download via [ Alien ]

Nero announced today that Nero Linux 3 will be unveiled at CeBIT in Germany. The new version of the definitive burning application for Linux operating systems will add Blu-Ray and HD DVD data recording support as well as an improved graphical user interface (GUI) that is similar to the look and feel of the current Nero Burning ROM 7 edition.

"Nero has long recognized the importance of including the Linux community in our broad user base," said Udo Eberlein, Chief Operating Officer, Nero AG. "By ensuring that the functionalities of our most popular application are available to users of the Linux operating systems, we are also ensuring that Nero's cutting-edge burning technology is enjoyed by users all over the world."

In addition to Blu-ray and HD DVD burning capabilities, Nero Linux 3 will also natively support 64-bit systems, as well as Unicode in all languages currently supported by Nero's flagship product, Nero 7. A beta version of Nero Linux 3 is expected to be available at the end of March 2007. Nero's OEM partners will be able to bundle Nero Linux 3 starting in mid-May 2007 offering a unique solution to the growing community of Linux OS users and fans. Many Linux distributions will be supported in the new upgrade including Red Hat Enterprises, Fedora Core, SuSE, Debian, Ubuntu, Linspire, and Mandriva.

Source:Press Release

Advanced Micro Devices and Cameron Sinclair, the founder of Architecture for Humanity announced on Friday the first ever Open Architecture Prize at the annual TED Conference in Monterey, California.

According to AMD, the $250,000 prize is to be the largest prize in existence for the field and is expected to attract design teams from around the world. In December, AMD awarded $20,000 prizes to Latin American students in an effort to improve rural computing.

The winning designs will be built as part of the prize and in alignment with the 50×15 Initiative, a program founded by AMD to connect 50 percent of the world’s population to the Internet by 2015.

It brings together architects, designers and community organizers to freely share blueprints, ideas and resources for improvement projects in areas affected by geo-political, environmental or economic hardship.

The Open Architecture Network is hosted on Sun’s Sun Fire servers based on AMD Opteron processors at AMD’s global headquarters in Sunnyvale, California.

via [ 50x15 ]