YouTube announced Thursday that it has launched a new landing page to corral all the high-definition video uploaded to the site. Along with the new page, YouTube’s HD player now launches in a widescreen window that takes up the majority of the browser window. YouTube posted an FAQ on how to how to encode HD videos and how to avoid “windowboxing”–images that are surrounded by black bars. The video-sharing site quietly rolled out HD-enabled videos earlier this month by adding a “watch in HD” option where the “watch in high quality” option usually appears. Last month, the site began expanding the viewable width of all videos appearing on the site, creating an image like that of a movie theater screen or high-definition television.

The site is also testing three new landing pages dedicated to the popular categories of news, movies, and music. Each page will be populated with the most popular content on the site related to that category, YouTube explained on a company blog: “The news page will be populated with breaking stories from around the world as well as news drawn from the Google News service; music will feature rising videos alongside playlists dedicated to different genres; movies will showcase some of the most popular short and full-length movies on YouTube today.”

Source: Cnet

Well what do you know? Despite losing in the recently concluded U.S. Elections, Sarah Palin has won in Google’s 2008 search Zeitgeist. Beating search terms including the Beijing 2008, Facebook login, Tuenti a brazilian social networking site, and the rest of the top ten search terms used globally on Google.com. Whereas Google used to present its Zeitgest specific only on US searches, this time around Google decide to included all the search terms made on Google.com by users coming from 30 countries. This could probably explain the reason why, Sarah Palin is the fastest rising search query. These queries may not really be conducted by U.S. residents interested on knowing about Palin, but rather by non-US users who got interested with the VP candidate’s, well what? captivating smile?

Google has also aggregated the search queries per geographic region as well as per categories, including showbiz, politics and sports. Of course for Politics, top searches were made for the four US election candidates. In showbiz, the super hero movies received the top search volumes for 2008 which include, Batman, Iron Man, Hulk, Hancock, and Hellboy.

The complete Top Ten Fastest Rising Search Query for 2008 Globally:

1. sarah palin
2. beijing 2008
3. facebook login
4. tuenti
5. heath ledger
6. obama
7. nasza klasa
8. wer kennt wen
9. euro 2008
10. jonas brothers

For other search queries, check out the Google Zeitgeist 2008.

Microsoft issued an out-of-band emergency patch Wednesday for a zero-day Internet Explorer vulnerability that has opened the door for hackers to install malware on susceptible computers without any user intervention.The flaw, which is given the highest severity rating of critical, affects all versions of Microsoft’s IE Web browser. Specifically, Microsoft’s IE update affects versions of Windows 2000 for IE 5.01: XP, XP Professional, Server 2003 for IE 6; and XP, Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008 for IE 7. The vulnerability was reported after the release of Windows IE 8 Beta 2, but Microsoft still recommends in its MS08-078 advisory that users apply the patch.

The IE security problem is the result of a fundamental flaw in the browser’s data binding function, which ultimately leaves a hole in the memory space that can be accessed by remote hackers. Internet Explorer can then quit unexpectedly while in an exploitable state. Unlike other exploits, users have only to visit a malicious site infused with Trojans or other malware in order to become infected. Hackers can also entice victims to visit a specially crafted site, usually via some kind of phishing or social engineering scheme, or place infected banner ads on legitimate Web sites. Once users open an infected Web page, malicious downloaders are then installed on their computers, which are designed to record keystrokes and steal passwords, credit card numbers, or other financial information. The users’ computer could also become part of a botnet, an infected network of compromised computers, operated by a central command and control center.

Source: CRN

In an attempt to bolster trust with its users, Yahoo has revamped its global data retention policy, promising to anonymise user log data within 90 days, half the period stipulated by the EU. The company added that the new policy will apply to page views, page clicks, ad views and ad clicks as well as search log data, but also said that there would be exceptions when forced to keep the information for fraud, security or legal reasons. Recently Microsoft announced that it would fall in line with EU regulation and reduce the retention time of search information to just six months, while Google still holds on to the data for nine months. According to Yahoo, the move follows a comprehensive review of its data practices across the globe working with privacy and data governance teams to examine the data needs for global products and services.

Google has removed the beta tag from its Chrome browser - just 100 days after the software was first launched. It’s a staggeringly fast turnaround for a company that is now almost legendary for leaving products to gestate in beta for years. GMail remains in beta more than four years after it was first launched, while the photo editing software Picasa only recently dropped its beta status for the first time since it was acquired by Google in 2004. The search giant claims the removal of Chrome’s beta tag is an indication of its maturity. “We have removed the beta label as our goals for stability and performance have been met but our work is far from done,” the company claims in a blog post.

However, critics are suggesting that Google has whipped off the beta tag in an attempt to boost the browser’s disappointing market share. Net Applications claims Chrome commanded only 0.83% of the browser market in November - a mere 0.05% increase on its first month of availability in September. Google may be hoping that companies will be more inclined to install Chrome now that the beta tag has been removed. Last month, the company said it would also pay PC makers to bundle Chrome on new PCs. Google claims Chrome’s performance has improved significantly since September. “Since the first beta, the V8 JavaScript engine runs 1.4 times faster on the SunSpider benchmark and 1.5 times faster on the V8 benchmark - and there is more speed to come,” it claims. The company also says it’s addressed glitches with video and audio playback.

Source: PC Pro

GOOGLE has launched a new feature that allows users to edit, delete, and comment on search results and share them with other users.

The new tool, called SearchWiki, is rolling out worldwide in all of Google’s English-language search services.

It allows users to rate and comment on search results, and see how others have rated theirs, adding a social networking dimension to the services provided by the internet giant.

Users must be signed in to a Google account to use it and the changes only apply to your own  results.

The key benefit is customising results for common search terms. A user who frequently searched for information on “global financial crisis”, for example, could ensure Google returned the same sites every times that term was punched in, as long as the user was signed in to their Google account.
Results can be deleted and users can also add another web page to their search that Google had not identified.

“With just a single click you can move the results you like to the top or add a new site,” Google said.

“You can also write notes attached to a particular site and remove results that you don’t feel belong.”

The company said the modifications would be shown next time users logged on and would not affect searches done by others.

A video explaining the new feature is online at googleblog.blogspot.com/

SearchWiki marks the first time that Google, which dominates internet search with more than 70 percent of all US searches in October according to Hitwise, has allowed users to modify search results.

Lively dead

Google also announced in another blog posting that it was killing off Lively , a virtual world website similar to Second Life, at the end of December.

“In July we launched Lively in Google Labs because we wanted users to be able to interact with their friends and express themselves online in new ways,” Google said.

“but we’ve also always accepted that when you take these kinds of risks not every bet is going to pay off,” it said.

“It has been a tough decision, but we want to ensure that we prioritize our resources and focus more on our core search, ads and apps business.”

- With AFP

If you are looking for a professional photographer, Please check out some of our Limebox hosted clients.

Lukas Lim Photography
Website : lukaslimphotography.com

Yongy Images
Website : yongyimages.com
email :contact@yongyimages.com

Weddings by Darrel
Website : weddingsbydarrel.com
Email : darrel@weddingsbydarrel.com

Chang Photography
Website : chang-photography.com
Email : info@chang-photography.com

Fen Fotography
Website : fenfotography.com
Email : fen@fenfotography.com

Luther Seow Photography
Website : lutherseowphotography.com
Email : enquiry@lutherseowphotography.com

PixelPixie Photography
Website : pixelpixie.biz
Contact : daniel@pixelpixie.biz

BRITNEY Spears reigns supreme in online searches at Yahoo this year despite an historic US presidential election and a global financial crisis.

Yahoo users worldwide have made more online queries about the drama-prone pop star in 2008 than about any other single topic, according to a trend analysis released overnight by the California-based internet giant.

Britney Spears has been the most popular search term at Yahoo for seven of the past eight years.

The second most popular Yahoo search this year came from people trying to pin down information about World Wrestling Entertainment, the organisation behind the garish world of professional wrestling.

US president-elect Barack Obama ranked third, just ahead of Miley Cyrus, an actress that stars as Hannah Montana in an eponymous Disney Channel television show.

Online role-playing videogame RuneScape and Japanese manga series Naruto fleshed out Yahoo’s Top 10 search list, along with star-hunt television show American Idol and actresses Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan, and Angelina Jolie.

“This year people were captivated by the historic US presidential election and Olympic triumphs,” said Yahoo Web Life editor Heather Cabot.

“They also closely followed every facet of the economic downturn and enjoyed a little escapism by devouring celebrity gossip and delving into online video games.”

US swimmer Michael Phelps, who swept an unprecedented eight gold medals in the Beijing games, won top place in Olympics-related queries at Yahoo, followed by Paraguayan javelin thrower and model Leryn Franco.

More information was sought about hurricanes at Yahoo than any other disaster, while “IRS stimulus checks” and “oil prices” were the most frequent economy-related queries.

Angelina Jolie topped Republican vice presidential contender Sarah Palin and television talk-show star Oprah Winfrey in a “most influential women” search category.

The presidential race “fed into a huge rise in popularity” for comedienne Tina Fey, who impersonated Governor Palin on Saturday Night Live television shows, and caused soaring interest in Obama’s wife, Michelle, according to Yahoo.

The Google-owned video-sharing website, in a posting on the YouTube blog late on Monday, invited musicians to submit audition videos to a newly created YouTube Symphony Orchestra channel at youtube.com/user/symphony.

“Video entries will be combined into the first-ever collaborative virtual performance, and people around the world will select their favorites to perform at New York’s Carnegie Hall in April 2009,” YouTube said.

“The YouTube Symphony Orchestra will transform individual performances into a global symphony and change the way musicians connect over the internet.”

YouTube said the audition piece for the online orchestra was called The Internet Symphony, an original work by China’s Tan Dun, who composed the score for the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

A second audition piece may be a classical work of the musician’s choosing.

The deadline for video auditions is January 28, 2009.

YouTube said members of leading orchestras around the world will narrow the entries to a group of semifinalists and YouTube users will be invited to vote for the favourites in February.

The winners will be invited to take part in a three-day classical music learning summit in New York culminating in the Carnegie Hall performance.

YouTube said the April 15, 2009 performance at Carnegie Hall would be directed by conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, music director of the San Francisco Symphony.

THE world’s first personal supercomputer - a machine 250 times faster than the average PC - has been unveiled in Britain.

It will go on sale for more than pound £4000 ($9100), beyond the reach of most consumers but a fraction of what computers with similar capabilities usually cost.

The supercomputers, released in the US last month, will initially be sold to the scientific and research community and universities. PC maker Dell, however, said it would soon be mass-producing them for the general consumer market.

The Tesla supercomputers have such immense power they should be able to help doctors to process the results for brain and body scans much more quickly, allowing them to tell patients within hours instead of days whether they have a tumour.

Scientists believe they could help to find cures for diseases such as cancer and malaria faster than traditional research, because they can run hundreds of thousands of simulations to create a shortlist of the drugs most likely to offer a potential cure.

David Kirk, chief scientist at NVIDIA, the American company behind the new technology, said: “Pretty much anything that you do on your PC that takes a lot of time can be accelerated with this.”

Previous supercomputers have been massive systems consisting of thousands of machines housed in huge rooms, costing millions to build and maintain. Tesla personal supercomputers look like the PCs many people already have in their homes.

“These supercomputers can improve the time it takes to process information by 1000 times,” Dr Kirk said.

“If you imagine it takes a week to get a result (from running an experiment), you can only do it 52 times a year. If it takes you minutes, you can do it constantly, and learn just as much in a day.”

The new computers use innovative “graphics processing units” - a technological breakthrough, the company says, that could bring lightning speeds to the next generation of computers for the consumer market.

Source : The Times