Because of a risk of fire, Apple Computer is recalling 1.8 million batteries that use Sony's battery cell technology, which also was at the root of Dell's historic recall last week.

The Mac maker's recall, while not as large as Dell's, affects users of its iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 laptop models sold between October 2003 and August 2006, according to the Consumer Products Safety Commission. Users are advised to remove the batteries immediately and store them in a safe place.

Apple said it has gotten nine reports of batteries overheating, including two cases in which users reported minor burns and property damage. However, it says no serious injuries have been reported.

"These lithium ion batteries can overheat, posing a fire hazard to consumers," the Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a press release Thursday. Additional information can be found at Apple Web page for the recall.


Apple's recall involves 1.1 million batteries sold in the United States and an additional 700,000 sold overseas online and through retail stores and resellers. The recall is the second-biggest safety recall ever in the U.S. electronics industry, after Dell.

Microsoft has released patches for its forthcoming Windows Vista operating system, which is currently in beta.

The two patches are necessary because Vista is subject to the same security holes addressed in other Microsoft products during the huge patch delivered on 8 August.

The patches fix critical vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer and the Windows kernel as detailed in Microsoft Security Bulletins MS06-042 and MS06-051.

Security patches are not normally issued for beta software, because no one is supposed to be using it in a critical environment. But Microsoft has issued patches for Vista before.

The patch, rated 'critical', covered a similar WMF flaw that hit the company's other operating systems a week earlier.

The vulnerability was in the Graphics Rendering Engine and could allow an attacker to gain control of a target machine.

Microsoft's forthcoming Internet Explorer 7 browser will adopt Firefox's RSS feed icon, the company announced on a blog--effectively making the orange square with white radio waves the industry standard.



RSS, which stands for both Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication, is a system for generating automated feeds of Web site updates--such as blog postings or news--and sending them to an e-mail address or an RSS reader. Some 31% of Web users have used RSS to get information according to market research firm Ipsos Insight.

The seventh IE browser, due out in mid-2006, will be the first version to feature RSS feed searches and bookmarks, but unlike in Firefox, users will not be able to read a list of each feed's headlines.

More than 14% of Americans use Firefox as their main Web browser, according to OneStat, a Web traffic analysis firm.

Mozilla's Firefox, which is compatible with both PC and Mac systems, has seen rapid adoption since it was first released in November 2004. Developed by a group of programmers, spearheaded by wunderkind Blake Ross in 2003, more than 100 million people downloaded the free software and chose to use it instead of Microsoft's Internet Explorer because of the program's extra features like an integrated pop-up ad blocker and tabbed browsing.

Phishers target Google Gmail users

IT security experts warned today of a "widespread phishing email campaign" that tries to swindle unwary recipients by pretending to offer a cash prize from Gmail, Google's popular free email service.

The emails claim that the recipient has been randomly selected for a $500 cash prize, and that the money can be paid automatically if they click on the embedded web link. Part of the email reads as follows:

'You won $500! Gmail congratulates you!
CONGRATULATIONS!
YOU WON $500!
Gmail gives members random cash prizes. Today, your account is randomly selected as the one of 12 top winners accounts who will get cash prizes from us. Please click the link below and follow instructions on our web site. Your money will be paid directly to your e-gold, PayPal, StormPay or MoneyBookers account.'

The embedded link takes users to a web page saying that there has been a problem sending the payment. They are then asked to enter their bank details and pay a membership fee of $8.60.

"Of course this email wasn't really sent by the folks at Gmail, and the $500 cash prize doesn't exist. Anyone tempted to try and collect it is in danger of walking straight into a trap set by these fraudsters," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

"People need to learn that there is no such thing as a free lunch, and be much more wary of unsolicited email communications whoever they may appear to come from."

Sophos revealed in a survey earlier this year that 58 per cent of people receive at least one phishing email every day.

Dell plans to recall 4.1 million laptop batteries after a series of public reports of systems catching fire.

The batteries were originally manufactured by Sony and were used in laptops sold between 1 April 2004 and 18 July 2006.

Users of Dell Latitude, Inspiron and Precision notebooks are urged to visit a special Dell Battery Recall website scheduled to go live on 15 August. They can still use the notebook systems with an AC adapter but with the battery removed.

"There were very few incidents to go on here, and it would have been easy to justify them as anomalies," Alex Gruzen, senior vice president of Dell's mobility product group, wrote on the company blog.

"But we are not willing to do that because, in everything that we do, it is absolutely about safety first."

The issue of Dell laptops catching fire got some major exposure after photos were published of an exploding unit in Osaka followed by additional pictures of charred systems.

Coconutbattery 2.5
One of the pitfalls of owning a Mac notebook, whether it's a Powerbook or the new Macbooks, is the uncertainty of battery life. Typical battery life for a Powerbook and Macbook Pro is around 2-3 hours of constant use. You get a little more juice with the Macbook and previous iBooks. Mac OS X includes a battery gauge that tells you how much battery is left. What it doesn't tell you is the current capacity of the battery and the depreciation of it over time.

Coconutbattery 2.5 is a pretty cool Mac app that tells you the current capacity of the your battery, in relation to what it was originally. In time, you can predetermine a faulty or an aging battery. You can also get information about battery loadcycles, or how often did you fully load the battery; the current charger and whether you attached the right one; and information about the age of your Mac. Pretty useful tool, and most important: It's free!

FlyakiteOSX 3.5

Platform: Windows XP
Type: freeware
Manufacturer: FlyakiteOSX
Size: 30.2MB
Download: Click here

Apple has long been admired for its sense of style and FlyakiteOSX is a complete pack for giving that look to Windows XP.

It is not a complete transformation as that is not possible but it converts the font and icons for

Windows and makes a good job of changing the feel of Windows.

It changes the icons in the Start Menu and Control Panel, and the boot screen for Windows is changed, which is quite hard to do manually.

This also includes the ObjectDock and WinRoll programs for extra elements of Mac OSX that it cannot recreate.

Note that this is not produced or affiliated by Apple Computer. It's purely a visual makeover for Windows and isn't a Mac OS X operating system for Windows. You won't be able to run Mac software on your PC.

Video Downloader

Download videos from Youtube, Google, Metacafe, iFilm, Dailymotion... and other 60+ video sites ! And all embedded objects on a webpage (movies, mp3s, flash, quicktime, etc) ! Directly !
VideoDownloader add a small icon on the status bar at the bottom of your firefox window, and a toolbar button. Just click that and download the video you are watching !

Sites supported:
Youtube, Google Video, iFilm, Metacafe, Dailymotion, Myspace, Angry Alien, AnimeEpisodes.Net, Badjojo, Blastro, Blennus, Blip.tv, Bofunk, Bolt, Break.com, Castpost, CollegeHumor, Current TV, Dachix, Danerd, DailySixer.com, DevilDucky, Double Agent, eVideoShare, EVTV1, FindVideos, Free Video Blog, Grinvi, Grouper, Hiphopdeal, Kontraband, Lulu TV, Midis.biz, Music.com, MusicVideoCodes.info, MySpace Video Code, Newgrounds, NothingToxic, PcPlanets, Pixparty, PlsThx, Putfile, Revver, Sharkle, SmitHappens, StreetFire, That Video Site, TotallyCrap, VideoCodes4U, VideoCodesWorld, VideoCodeZone, vidiLife, Vimeo, vSocial, Yikers, ZippyVideos... and any other webpage with embedded objects.

Works with:
Firefox 1.0 - 1.5.0.* ALL

Install now(20kb)

Acer will ship Symantec consumer security software on new PCs sold worldwide, the software maker said Tuesday. The Taiwanese PC maker will preinstall Norton Internet Security 2006 or Norton AntiVirus 2006 on more than 45 million desktop and notebook computers. Acer buyers will get the typical 90-day complimentary trial and have the option to purchase a full 12-month subscription when the trial period is over.

Intel has admitted to the existence of flaws in its Centrino's wireless technology that could be exploited by malicious hackers to spread code, including worms, wirelessly between laptops.

According to a statement by Intel, the security vulnerabilities exist in the Microsoft Windows drivers for certain versions of their Wireless Network Connection hardware.

“Security vulnerabilities exist in the Microsoft Windows drivers for the Intel 2200BG and 2915ABG PRO/Wireless Network Connection Hardware because of the way that they currently handle certain frames. An attacker could potentially exploit these vulnerabilities which could potentially lead to remote code execution and system control,” Intel stated.

The firm added that these vulnerabilites which “could potentially be exploited by attackers within range of the Wi-Fi station to execute arbitrary code on the target system with kernel-level privileges. These flaws are due to a memory corruption while parsing certain frames”.

Although Intel has published generic updates to its software, which reportedly fix the issue on its website, the company recommends that users contact their laptop manufacturers for vendor-specific information and fixes.

Intel has published more information about the security holes, and information on which hardware is affected, on its website here.

Apple has released a security update that repairs 26 vulnerabilities in its OS X operating system and bundled applications.

Of the patched security holes, 17 could expose the user to an arbitrary code execution.

Four of the remaining vulnerabilities could lead to disclosure of confidential information, two could cause an application to crash. A local user in three cases could exploit a flaw to gain additional user rights.

Apple doesn't provide severity ratings for the security holes it discloses in its software. Some of the arbitrary code execution flaws would generally be considered the most severe vulnerabilities because an attacker can exploit them without any user interaction.

The update, for instance, repairs four arbitrary code execution vulnerabilities in the way that OS X handles images in the GIF, RAW or Radiance formats. An attacker could exploit those by placing a specially crafted image on a website or send it as an email attachment.

Users can obtain the patch through the software update feature in OS X or download the patch from Apple's website.

Skype has released a beta version of its latest client for Mac OS X users.

The new version, 1.5, of the voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) client boasts a new, more streamlined look. However, much of the functionality in the new Mac beta involves the sort of features that Skype's Windows users have enjoyed for some time, such as menu-selectable dialing codes and easy importation of address book contacts.

Skype for Mac 1.5 Beta and Skype for Mac video preview can both be downloaded from the Skype's site.