IE9 beta takes a bow

IT'S THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH 2010, I'M JEFF BAKALAR, AND IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED. MICROSOFT HAS RELEASED A BETA VERSION OF INTERNET EXPLORER 9, AND EARLY REVIEWS ARE QUITE POSITIVE. THE NEW BROWSER NOW EXTENSIVELY SUPPORTS WEB STANDARDS LIKE HTML5 AND CSS3, FEATURES A NEW MINIMALISTIC USER INTERFACE, AND MICROSOFT CLAIMS THAT EVERYTHING IS HARDWARE ACCELERATED. IN A BIT OF SURPRISE, I-E-9 ALSO ALLOWS USERS TO "PIN" WEB APPS TO THE TASK BAR. UNFORTUNATELY, THE NEW BETA ONLY WORKS WITH WINDOWS 7 AND VISTA MACHINES. XP USERS ARE OUT OF LUCK. CRAIGSLIST HAS ANNOUNCED THAT IT WILL NOT BE REOPENING ITS ADULT SERVICES SECTION AFTER SHUTTING IT DOWN EARLIER THIS MONTH FOLLOWING PRESSURE FROM LAWMAKERS. WILLIAM CLINT POWELL, THE COMPANY'S DIRECTOR OF CUSTOMER SERVICE SAYS "THOSE WHO FORMERLY POSTED ADULT SERVICES ADS ON CRAIGSLIST WILL NOT ADVERTISE AT COUNTLESS OTHER VENUES" AND HE'S EXACTLY RIGHT. THE OPEN SOURCE FACEBOOK COMPETITOR DIASPORA HAS NOW RELEASED THE SOURCE CODE TO THEIR PROJECT. FOR NOW, THE SOFTWARE IS STILL IN HEAVY DEVELOPMENT, BUT INTREPID GEEKS CAN INSTALL THE SOFTWARE THEMSELVES ON THEIR OWN SERVERS. FOR NOW, DIASPORA CAN SHARE MESSAGES AND PHOTOS PRIVATELY WITH YOUR FRIENDS, ALL IN ENCRYPTED FORM. THE DEVELOPERS PLAN TO ADD FACEBOOK INTEGRATION AND DATA PORTABILITY IN THEIR NEXT RELEASE. APPLE HAS RELEASED A DEVELOPER VERSION OF I-OS 4-POINT-2. THE NEW SOFTWARE FINALLY BRINGS THE I-PAD TO FEATURE PARITY WITH THE I-PHONE AND I-POD TOUCH, BUT ALSO PACKS A FEW NEW FEATURES. DEVELOPERS WILL NOW BE ABLE TO TEST AIR-PLAY, WHICH WILL LET YOU STREAM MOVIES, PHOTOS, AND MUSIC TO ANY COMPATIBLE DEVICE, AND AIR-PRINT, WHICH WILL LET YOU PRINT TO ANY PRINTER SHARED ON A MAC OR PC, OR WIRELESSLY TO COMPATIBLE PRINTERS. EAGER TESTERS WILL NEED THE LATEST VERSION OF MAC OS TEN SNOW LEOPARD TO TRY IT OUT. STARTING SEPTEMBER 21, A PLAYSTATION 3 FIRMWARE UPDATE WILL BRING ALONG 3D BLU-RAY SUPPORT. THE CONSOLE HAS ALREADY BEEN ABLE TO PLAY STEREOSCOPIC 3D GAMES THANKS TO AN UPDATE BACK IN APRIL. OF COURSE YOU'LL NEED A 3D HDTV TO ENJOY THESE FEATURES, SO HEAD OVER TO CNET.COM FOR THE LATEST REVIEWS. THOSE ARE YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY I'M JEFF BAKALAR FOR CNET.COM, AND YOU'VE JUST BEEN LOADED.