You've got new-looking
mail: AOL revamps IM
AOL
instant messaging is getting a makeover in an apparent effort to keep
up with new services being offered by competitors Yahoo and MSN. An early-stage test
of new architecture and code base is being conducted. Dubbed
Triton, the new system allows users to manage a range of AOL IM services through a single interface.
Those services, like mobile messaging, video conferencing, multiparty
messaging and Voice over Internet Protocol, are expected to be added
as the new modular base is developed. Eventually, users will be able
to launch video IM sessions, share files or images, and play games
with one click. Triton is expected to launch later this year. MSN and
Yahoo have both made changes to their IM offerings in the past few
months, giving users more graphic options and integrating many
options onto a single interface as well.
Firefox browser reaches 50 million downloads
Chalk
one up for the little guy. Mozilla
Foundation’s Firefox hit a major milestone Friday, with more than
50 million copies of the program downloaded, according to its
distributors. It's a validation of half a decade of work, and the
beginning of half a decade more, Mozilla developer Blake Ross wrote
on the foundation's web site. Since its full release last November,
Firefox has been growing its share of the web browser market as an
alternative to Microsoft's Internet Explorer and its numerous security flaws.
According to a March report from Brussels-based ScanIT,
Mozilla users were unsafe only 15 percent of the time last year
compared to IE users, who were unsafe 98 percent of last year. While
still safer than IE, Firefox has not been completely immune to
attacks as several critical
security flaws emerged over the past few months. And
Explorer still dominates the market with a 90 percent or so share of
the market.
Parental web
cluelessness may be hurting kids
Here’s
one more way that parents can screw up their children: Parents who
are unable to teach their children to properly use the internet could
be holding back their education and lessening their job prospects, according to a study by the London School of
Economics. And many parents lack the skills to guide their children in using the
internet. The
two-year project found that nearly 20 percent of the parents said
they did not know how to help their children use the internet safely.
The report finds there’s a growing divide among kids not just in terms
of internet
access but the ability to use it properly as well. Researchers spoke
to 1,511 kids 9-19 and more than 900 of their parents.
Fake
Pope Benedict Nazi photos surface online
Rome
judicial authorities are seeking a temporary injunction to stop a web
site that’s carrying doctored photographs of Pope Benedict XVI dressed
in a Nazi uniform. Images of the head of former German Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger pasted on the body of a man wearing a swastika
armband and standing in front of a Nazi flag were posted 10 days ago
on the Italian branch of the Independent Media Center’s web site, an
international news and opinion site (www.indymedia.org).
The pictures violated a national law prohibiting defamation of the
Catholic Church, Rome investigating magistrate Salavtore Vitello said
in a statement. Vitello added that he was also considering taking
action against the owners of the site for insulting the authority and
honor of the Pope himself. While Ratzinger served in the Hitler Youth
in World War II, when membership was compulsory for young Germans, his
family opposed Hitler’s rule and he was never a member of the Nazi
party.
|
