Since the final release of Netscape 8.0 Browser on May 19, 2005, Netscape 8.0 has been facing problems like several publicly known security flaws. Unfortunately, just after a week of the bad news, America Online on Thursday, May 26, 2005, confirmed that a bug in its new Netscape 8 Web browser was breaking certain XML configurations in Microsoft’s IE.

The issue first surfaced on Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer Weblog, where chief IE developer Dave Massy recommended that users completely uninstall Netscape as a possible workaround.

However, AOL spokesman defended that the bug only affects “a very small percentage of IE users” who visit pages using XML technology. I don’t really agree with him as a rapidly growing number of Internet users are using RSS feed to read news, weather reports etc.

Quoted:
According to Microsoft’s Massy, Netscape 8 corrupts the XML rendering capabilities of Internet Explorer, meaning that an IE user navigating to an XML file, such as an RSS feed, is greeted with a blank page.

[Source]

Just a few days after the flash memory based harddisk news, Apple Computer plans to roll out 2GB and 4GB versions of its iPod Shuffle this June and August, 2005.

According to the source, Samsung Electronics was reported to have started volume production of 8Gbit NAND flash memory in April of this year, while Toshiba stated it will begin producing 8Gbit parts this summer.

So, hopefully we will see a huge capacity iPod Shuffle been revealed very soon. :)

[Source]

Intel on Thursday, 26 May. 2005, formally introduced two new chipsets designed for home and office PCs:-

1. Intel’s Professional Business Platform, or the 945G Express Chipset, bundles networking and advanced management technology.
2. The 945P Chipset includes consumer-oriented features such as advanced audio and video capabilities.

Intel has now turned their focus to the combination of chipsets and processors, instead of processor speed as a marketing tool.

Quoted:
With processor speed becoming less of a marketing tool, Intel has turned its focus toward selling “platforms” that combine a processor, chipset and peripherals such as networking or audio capabilities.

The Professional Business Platform (945G) is aimed at IT administrators and introduces Intel’s Active Management Technology (AMT) that aids in monitoring, installation of security patches and remotely diagnosing hardware problems. The 945G chipset also enhances power management, reduces noise and packs in new networking features.

Whereas for the consumer platform, the 945P boasts 7.1-channel surround sound and multiple output jacks for sending audio to numerous devices around the home simultaneously.

Anyway, both 945 chipsets will feature Intel’s Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950, which doubles 3-D performance and supports the latest high-definition displays. Intel says the technology was developed with Longhorn, the next release of Windows, in mind.

[Source]

Dell and HP revenue growth in server market outpaced IBM and Sun Microsystems in server market, while overall growth slowed in the first quarter of 2005.

In summary, the overall market grew 4.1 percent to USD$12.3 billion worldwide compared with the year-earlier quarter, a rate that was slower than that of each quarter since the second of 2003, according to figures Gartner released Wednesday.

Rank in server market:-

1. IBM – 29.8 percent market share, 1.1 percent revenue growth
2. HP – 28.1 percent market share, 13.1 percent revenue growth
3. Dell – 10.8 percent market share, 13 percent revenue growth
4. Sun – 9.5 percent market share, drop 4.2 percent revenue

Rank in Unix server market:-

1. IBM – 30.3 percent market share, 12 percent revenue growth
2. HP – 28.7 percent market share, drop 0.7 percent revenue growth
3. Sun – 27.8 percent market share, drop 6.6 percent revenue growth

Rank in servers using x86 processors such as Intel’s Xeon and Advanced Micro Devices’ Opteron:-

1. HP
2. Dell
3. IBM

Rank in Blade servers:-

1. IBM
2. HP
3. Sun
4. Dell

[Source]

To WordPress Users,

There is a security vulnerability in WordPress that may be triggered if you’re running the default template.

If you would like to apply the fix manually it is relatively simple:

1. Open the wp-includes/template-functions-category.php file in a text editor like Wordpad.
2. Go to around line 103 where it says get_the_category_by_ID.
3. Create a new line after that and paste in $cat_ID = (int) $cat_ID;

or

You can upgrade by overwriting only one of your old WordPress 1.5 files. I’ve added the above codes into my template-functions-category.php. Feel free to download it and use it in your WordPress 1.5.

template-functions-category.php (Updated)

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Intel Corp. introducing three models the Pentium D at a price that’s less than half of AMD’s own dual-core chip on Thursday, May 24, 2005.

The three chips are priced in lots of 1,000 units as the followings:-

• 2.8-GHz Pentium D 820 – USD$241
• 3.0-GHz Pentium D 830 – USD$316
• 3.2-GHz Pentium D 840 – USD$530

Intel also introduced the Pentium 4 670, a 3.8-GHz 64-bit chip that will round out the top end of its single-core platform, at USD$851.

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Intel Launched Cheaper Dual Core Chips