Google Chrome | hefty boost in speed

Google's latest beta version of its Chrome browser boasts a 30% speed increase on the last version and a 213% improvement over the first beta.

"We've been tuning, testing, and polishing the V8 [JavaScript] engine to give Chrome a hefty boost in speed," said Google developers in a blog post.

They are also claiming a 35% improvement in performance on the previous version, which is 305% better than the first beta.

Google Chrome 5.0.375.29 is available in beta for the Linux, Mac and Windows operating systems.

The new release adds the ability to apply pre-defined browser preferences such as language, themes, and homepage settings in multiple machines through users' centralised Google accounts.

Chrome's latest version also adopts several HTML5 features, including geolocation APIs (application programming interfaces), application caching and drag-and-drop capabilities.

This is the first Chrome beta to feature initial integration of the Adobe Flash Player plug-in, which will enable users to receive security and feature updates for Flash Player automatically.

"Lastly, with this beta's crazy speed improvements, we designed a series of equally unconventional speed tests for the browser," the development team wrote.

A Short Insight - Microsoft Visual Studio 2010

The new release of Visual Studio offers software develoeprs the next version the .net framework, new dev tools plus a new integrated development environment.

The product introduces a new programming language, F#, a functional programming language, which Microsoft hopes will get adopted by algorithmic traders in the City. The .net runtime environment is also 80% smaller, which should speed up distribution of apps.

Among the new additions is an application analysis tool called IntelliTrace, which Microsoft describes as  a "time machine" for developers and testers. It records the application's execution history and provides reproduction of the reported bug. According to Microsoft, this will help developers trace bugs more easily.

BBC news……. Cosmic Rays may harm your cellphones (rumours)

The news is travelling on the internet, mobile networks and several other networks which is a total fake and nothing else but a rumor.
So don't just believe in them and give it a thought, how can such a small signal power transmission can cause these cosmo rays from mars to attract towards your cell phones and burn them or whatever.
The original massage that started circulating was
"Hi all
Tonight by 12.30 am cosmo rays from Mars enter into our atmosphere. You are requested to SWITCH OFF your mobile during that time .This is a request by NASA through BBC . Pls Forward it to all"

I m not believing in this crap and keeping my cell off, there might be somebody special trying to call me and might get upset to find my cell switched off.

Rest of the decision is obviously yours :)

iPad Coming in April

It's officially official. The Apple iPad is now coming to Blighty in April. Probably.

The US release date has been announced as April 3rd, with pre-ordering switched on from the 12th of March. At first, only the WiFi versions will be released into the wild. Our American cousins will have to wait a bit longer for the 3G versions.

However, the fruity computer maker says that folks in the UK (and a bunch of other territories) will get both versions some time in late April.

Office 2010, the latest version of Microsoft's office productivity suite, will ship to business users on 12 May.

The product tackles document sharing by using SharePoint 2010 to allow users to share Office documents. It also features Office Web Apps, which enables users to view and make light edits to Word and Excel documents through their browser.

Microsoft Office 2010 also allows users to work offline through new software - SharePoint Workspace 2010. According to Microsoft, when users reconnect their laptop to the network, the changes they made while offline will be synchronized.

Businesses and consumers who purchase and activate Office 2007 - or a new PC running Office 2007 - between 5 March 2010 and 30 September 2010 will be able to download Office 2010 at no additional cost.

To qualify for the free upgrade, users also need a Windows Live ID and must claim it before 31 October 2010 by visiting Microsoft's Technology Guarantee page.

Oracle unveils plan to integrate software with Sun hardware

Oracle has presented a vision for its $7.1bn acquisition of Sun which will see the company sell integrated hardware and software designed to lower IT operating costs and boost performance.

At an event in London attended by more than 500 of Oracle's customers and partners, David Callaghan, UK country leader at Oracle, said, "Oracle's strategy is about being complete, open and integrated, which brings value by broadening functionality and driving out risk."

Dermot O'Kelly, vice-president of systems at Oracle, said that by combining its software with Sun's server and storage hardware, Oracle was uniquely placed in the market to offer users a fully integrated enterprise system from the application, middleware and database through to the operating system, server and storage hardware

More than 44,000 businesses run Oracle on Sun servers, including Pfizer, Barclays, Avis and Vocalink, he said.

"By combining Sun with Oracle, we are changing the economies of running a datacentre."

The combination of Oracle database and Sun hardware allows Oracle to develop systems that offer a 500% performance boost compared to optimising database software on its own.

This performance boost is possible due to technology such as Oracle's Exadata database appliance and systems built using Sun hardware and Sun's Flashfire, flash memory-based storage.

For large businesses, the complete software and hardware system Oracle will offer will potentially cost millions of pounds. Oracle will be supporting these customers directly. O'Kelly, said, "Our major customers spend millions with us. It is our duty to talk to them directly. We will have a direct sales team for our major customer accounts."

Oracle said it will continue to develop Sun's Sparc hardware and Solaris operating system. The company will focus on developing enterprise systems for Solaris. However, Oracle reassured users that it will continue to support those running Sun's x86 servers and using Windows. Specifically, Oracle will develop Linux and Solaris systems for the SunFire 2200, 4100, 4200, 4400 and 4600 servers.

Microsoft to offer European users alternatives to Internet Explorer

Microsoft is to give Windows users in the European Union the option of choosing another web browser to replace the default Internet Explorer (IE) from 1 March.

The move is in line with a December 2009 agreement with EU competition authorities, who ruled that bundling IE with Windows abused Microsoft's dominant position to entrench its web browser.

The ruling followed an investigation by the EU in response to a complaint by Norwegian browser developer, Opera Software, that other browsers cannot compete with IE because of its bundling with Windows.

From 1 March, existing Windows users with IE set as the default browser will be presented with a ballot screen with a choice of alternative browsers, according to reports.

The ballot screen will be rolled across the whole of Europe as an automatic download in Windows Update for XP, Vista and Windows 7, but is already available in the UK, France and Belgium through Windows Update.

Microsoft has also committed to allow PC makers and consumers in Europe to turn IE off, to allow PC makers to ship any browsers of their choice with no restriction on the default.

Top 25 coding errors

International security organisations have updated and restructured a list of 25 common programming errors that cause security vulnerabilities and expose software users to cyber attack.

The US-funded collaboration project, which is managed by the Mitre and Sans Institute and brings together security experts from more than 30 global organisations, first compiled its list of 25 risky coding practices in January 2009.

The structure of the list has been modified to make it easier to use by distinguishing mitigations and general secure programming principles from more concrete weaknesses, the organisations said.

This year's top 25 entries are prioritised using inputs from more than 20 organisations, which evaluated each weakness based on prevalence and importance.

Cross-site scripting tops the list, which aims to help businesses improve their software procurement by requiring code to be free of these errors.

The goal is to force suppliers to test the security of their software and to provide customers with their test results. No one likes to share test results that show them writing bad code, said Alan Paller, director of research at the Sans Institute.

New York State is changing its procurement language to ensure that the top 25 errors are avoided, with other states expected to follow.

The integrity of hardware and software products is a critical element of cybersecurity, the Office of the Director of US National Intelligence said.

Creating more secure software is a fundamental aspect of system and network security and the top 25 programming errors initiative is an important component of an overall security initiative for our country, it said.

"We applaud this effort and encourage the utility of this tool through other venues such as cyber education," it said.

Google donates $2m to Wikimedia Foundation

Google is to donate $2m to the Wikimedia Foundation, which runs and maintains Wikipedia and other free, multilingual content for wiki-based projects.

The donation was announced in tweets on Twitter from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and Wikimedia Foundation advisory board member Mitch Kapor.

Official announcements by Google and the Wikimedia Foundation are expected to follow the informal tweets, according to US reports.

The donation is in line with Google's generosity to foundations that promote a faster and more open web, but it is not yet clear if the move indicates a decision to abandon the Wikipedia-like Google Knol project launched in December 2007.