private

Firefox 3.1 to gain modicum of privacy

Of the two big browsing features of 2008, one seems to run counter to where developers are driving their browsers. The melding of the location bar to the search bar was expected in Firefox and Opera, thanks to beta versions. Chrome has it, too, calling it the Omnibar. What seems to have caught developers off-guard has been the clamor for a universal switch to stop the cache and browsing history from recording anything at all.

Microsoft's InPrivate debuted in Internet Explorer 8 beta 2, and Google Chrome's version is the well-received Incognito feature. So far, in Firefox, the … Read more

IE 8 beta gives other browsers a run for their money

Don't count Internet Explorer out just yet.

On Wednesday, Microsoft released the second public beta for Internet Explorer 8. If anything, this release brings IE up to par with alternative browsers such as Opera, Apple's Safari, and Mozilla's Firefox in terms of security and features. It also pushes Microsoft a little ahead of the competition.

The user interface hasn't changed much since Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1, except to add a Security pull-down menu between Page and Tools on the main toolbar. In addition to blocking phishing sites, IE 8 now highlights the main domain of … Read more

IE 8 to include private browsing feature

As CNET News first reported last week, Internet Explorer 8 will include a way to surf somewhat anonymously, allowing the user to suspend browsing history, cookies, and other identifying information. Mozilla had considered such a feature for its Firefox 3 release, but dropped it for technical reasons. Apple Safari also includes a similar feature.

Known as InPrivate, Microsoft is touting the feature as one of several security enhancements within its next major browser release. The scenarios for using InPrivate include when you're using someone else's computer, when you need to buy a gift for a loved one without … Read more

The Real Deal 123: Encryption

Tom and Rafe give the basics on encryption and examples of how to use it in the real world. Listen now: Download today's podcast History

Coded messages date back to Roman Times and probably existed before.

Sticklers may prefer encyphering an decyphering. reserve decrypt for decoding a message you don't have the key for.

What it means

Types of Encryption

-Symmetric-key

Each computer has a secrte key by which it encrypts and decrypts the data. Only another computer that knows what key was used can decrypt. Problem with key distribution

-Public key - introduced by Whitfield Diffie and … Read more

Activist investor says Circuit City could be sold in two months

If Circuit City gets sold anytime soon, it probably won't be to its chief suitor, Blockbuster, according to one of the electronics chain's most vocal investors.

In an interview with TWICE magazine Friday, Jim Wattles, owner of Wattles Capital Management, which owns 6.5 percent of Circuit City shares, said a sale could happen in the next two months. Wattles also said that Blockbuster, which bid roughly $1 billion for Circuit, isn't the only interested party, and in fact, the likely future buyer will be a private equity firm.

So, essentially, the company has options. It was … Read more

Gadgettes 85: The things that glow episode

Glowing things can be somewhat morbid. They can be somewhat toolie. But sometimes, if you're lucky, they can be totally and completely PRETTTTTY. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 85

The Hanged Man Lamp: Ever so slightly morbid? http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2008/04/the_hanged_man.html

Mood Clock + USB Hub = Twice as much fun http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2008/04/usb_moody_clock.html

Glowing flower pot for the trippy garden owner http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2008/04/glowing_flower.html

Enjoy nighttime bocce ball with LED Bocce http://dvice.com/archives/2008/04/enjoy_nighttime.php

Light-up tweezers enable precision plucking … Read more

Adobe platform executive bolts for private equity firm

John Brennan, a senior vice president of Adobe's Platform group, has left the company to join the middle-market effort of private-equity firm Silver Lake, called Silver Lake Sumeru.

An important executive in Adobe's merger with Macromedia, Brennan had led Adobe's Creative Suite product group, as well as development of platform technologies such as Flash, PDF (Portable Document Format), and AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime).

Silver Lake Sumeru on Thursday said Brennan will work with the firm to improve performance of "established middle-market technology companies."

One of the most prominent private-equity firms, Silver Lake has attracted other … Read more

MIT students simulate life on Mars

It used to be that only a select few scientists could train to become an astronaut, and then even fewer were chosen to venture into space. But now, with the declining influence of NASA and the rise of the commercial space industry, seemingly every private citizen and their mother wants to go into space one day.

For two students at MIT, that day is already here--in Utah. Engineering graduate students Zahra Khan and Phillip Cunio--both from MIT's department of Aeronautics and Astronautics--have set up a site in the Utah desert near Hanksville that simulates conditions on Mars. They've … Read more

SCO gets $100 million to carry on its inane quest

When will SCO die? Once and for all, die? It has had no business for years, yet investors keep squandering money down the SCO rat hole in an attempt to wring legal settlements from the one-time software maker turned ambulance-chasing-law-firm.

This week SCO got its biggest investment of all: $100 million from private equity firm Stephen Norris Capital Partners and partners in the Middle East. $100 million for a company with no real assets, including viable intellectual property, as noted open-source legal expert Mark Radcliffe notes:… Read more