HUA HIN, Thailand - Once again, Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser is
attracting attention for all the wrong reasons. A critical flaw discovered in
versions 6 and 7 could allow remote code execution if exploited. The oldest and
newest versions of the browser, 5 and 8 are not affected.
Only 22.52% of users have so far switched to IE8; version 6 still has 19.76%
market share, and version 7 13.57%.
It is the second time in two months that the company has admitted that hackers
were exploiting an un-patched bug in Internet Explorer. No date for a patch has
been set and one was not included in this month's Patch Tuesday, which included
a
number of fixes for other products, including Windows and Office.
Microsoft is expected to announce details of the next version, IE9, at their
developers conference later this month. Compatibility remains a major problem
with IE and the company has acknowledged that more than 2,000 high-profile
websites are still not compatible with IE8.
Every new version attempts to address these issues, but it comes as no surprise
that web developers and publishers the world over still struggle to make their
websites render properly in the crippled and aging browser. If Microsoft
continues to think that webmasters should redesign their sites every time it
updates its browser then it will continue to lose out to rivals who have no
problems producing browsers that adhere to today's web standards.
Internet Explorer market share dropped again last month, by 0.6% to 61.58%.
Mozilla's Firefox also lost some ground, slipping 0.18% to 24.23% as Google's
Chrome continued to attract new users, The relative newcomer increased its
market share 0.41% to 5.61%. Safari and Opera also lost a little ground.
If Mozilla want to fight back, it will have to start marketing its browser in
the same aggressive manner that Google has adopted. The latest release, Firefox
3.6, did not have the uptake that it was hoped for to push its total share over
25%. Microsoft on the other hand is likely to see further drops in IE usage,
especially following the introduction of a browser ballot in Europe. This will
give Windows users a choice of which browser they want to install rather than
having IE forced upon them. We can thank a European Union anti-trust ruling for
that one.
Internet
That relentless Internet-devouring entity known as Google is researching a
television-based search system that allows users to find shows on their
satellite TV services as well as videos on the web. With a keyboard and Google
software installed on a set-top box, users can enter search terms and look for
content on their TV. The move is another step towards marrying TV and the
Internet; Microsoft and Apple have also dabbled in this area.
Google will doubtless be monitoring what people search for and will eventually
run its own targeted advertising through the system when the technology becomes
mainstream!
Gaming
Sony has introduced a motion-sensing controller as the company seeks to compete
with Nintendo's Wii games console, introduced in 2006. When used in conjunction
with Sony's existing PlayStation Eye camera, the PlayStation Move wireless
motion controller can track body movements thanks to the controller's
light-emitting orb, which is recognized by the camera.
PlayStation Move will go on sale towards the end of the year. It is expected to
retail for around US$100 as a package including the camera and one game. Major
game publishers have already started working on titles for it. Microsoft will
also be getting into the motion-sensing market this year with the Natal system
for the Xbox 360.
Science
The world's biggest experiment has been put on hold again - and the end of the
planet has been postponed - as the European Organization for Nuclear Research's
(CERN) Large Hadron Collider is scheduled for shutdown. The 27-kilometer
particle accelerator has been running beams of protons at low energies since
scheduled maintenance last December.
The scientists hoped to ramp up the juice to 7 tera-electron volts (TeV) later
this month in an effort to recreate the conditions at the beginning of the
universe. The big collisions, which some doomsayers claim will create a
planet-threatening black hole, will not be happening for a while yet.
The beams will be running at half power at least until the end of the year to
avoid a repeat of the meltdown that rendered the US$5.6 billion machine useless
in September 2008.
The atomic race track will be shut down at the end of 2011 for at least a year
to address design issues. Work will include strengthening the joints between
the collider's huge magnets and reinforcing the copper sheaths around the
superconducting joints in the tunnel. The closure means that the LHC will not
be able to reach its full potential for at least two years. By that time, the
Mayan calendar, which predicts the end of the world in 2012, will have run its
full course and the planet may have expired anyway.
Martin J Young is an Asia Times Online correspondent based in Thailand.
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