| Weekend misc. news (04.22) Part Deux
Safari zero-day exploit nets $10000 prize: A New York-based security researcher spent less than 12 hours to identify and exploit a zero-day vulnerability in Apple's Safari browser. The Register. Google acquiring Doubleclick a no go? An online privacy advocacy group petitioned the Federal Trade Commission on Friday to halt Google's proposed $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick, arguing that the combination would "give one company access to more information about the Internet activities of consumers than any other company in the world." SF Chronicle. Intel Slashes Prices and Silently Launches New Models: Intel cuts prices on the Core 2-family and silently launches the Core 2 Duo E6320 and E6420, now with 4MB of L2 cache. Dailytech. Ethanol may create dirtier air: Switching from gasoline to ethanol touted as a green alternative at the pump may create dirtier air, causing slightly more smog-related deaths, a new study says.
Air: Pocket Symphony
Over the past decade, French duo Air has diced up electro-jazz, disco and classical music, sauting them to delicious, pretentious perfection. Since 1998's Moon Safari defined their last-joint-of-the-night vibe, Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicholas Godin have made some of the smartest, most interesting chill music this side of Miles Davis. As mood creationists Air is unparalleled, and Pocket Symphony (released March 6 on Astralwerks) has no greater ambition than giving form and life to a single, sustained musical narrative. The hand of producer extraordinaire Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck, Zero 7) is evident in the album's consistent sense of direction. Such consistency, however, does not always work for Air, and at times flirts with predictability. Air's music has always been filled with dark, evocative space and depth.
Mozilla Minimo 0.2 available as a free download
Mozilla's mobile browser product Minimo has been updated to version 0.2 and is available as a free download from their website. The software application is compatible with the Windows Mobile 5.0 platform and the users claim that this updated version is smaller and faster than previous versions. The developers said that this mobile browser has been designed to be an alternative to the browser that comes with Windows Mobile platform. The project however faces intense competition from the other players in the market. Opera already is a dominating player in the mobile browser segment. Nokia is working on their own browser product using open-source components from Apple's Safari browser and Microsoft has just released a new concept mobile browser technology which might become a regular offering from the in the coming years.
Mavis: The African queen
I HAVE been presented with another bottle of French champagne. Cunard must think I am some kind of a lush or something. We headed further south down the Madagascan coast and into the Mozambique channel where it is much cooler, cloudy with some rain. The highlight of the evening was the Out of Africa ball. The Queen's Room was suitably decorated with pseudo palm trees, banana leaves, balloons marked with zebra or tiger stripes, others with leopard or cheetah spots. Zulu shields and spears adorned the walls whilst tribal masks, monkeys and parrots hung from the ceiling.Thomas the compere was attired in a tiger skin and stood against a backdrop of Africa with the words “Dr Livingstone I presume! Emblazoned across it. The QE2 dancers and singers performed “The Circle of Light" dressed as Zulu warriors.We were welcomed to Durban by authentic Kwazulu warriors on the quayside with throbbing drums, chanting, dancing and stamping of feet rhythmically, advancing and retreating, dressed in traditional headdress and loin cloths carrying assegai weapons and giving acrobatic performances.And all this at 7am! Passengers were repeatedly warned not to go into Durban alone.
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