US Government relaxes its grip on ICANN

The US govenrment is relaxing its grip on the ultimate domain name registration authority, Icann. It has signed a four-page “affirmation of commitments” with the net regulator Icann, giving the body autonomy for the first time. Previous agreements gave the US close oversight of Icann – drawing criticism from other countries and groups.

The new agreement comes into effect on 1 October, exactly 40 years since the first two computers were connected on the prototype of the net. The European Commission, which has long been critical of Icann’s alliance with the US government, welcomed the new deal. “Internet users worldwide can now anticipate that Icann’s decisions…will be more independent and more accountable, taking into account everyone’s interests,” said Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for information society and media.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) is a not-for-profit private sector corporation – set up by the US government – to oversee critical parts of the internet, such as the top-level domain (TLD) name system. Top level domains include .com and .uk.

Since its inception in 1998, it has periodically signed accords – known collectively as the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) – with the US Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

source: bbc

Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) free security software goes live

From 5PM today, Microsoft release is free security software, Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) which give PC users basic protection against viruses, trojans, rootkits, and spyware. The full version that is available for download in UK today has been available in US, China, Brazil and Israel for quite sometime under its prerelease code name; Morro.

In a rather un-Microsoft like generosity, the software is available to anyone who wanted to use without the need to register with Microsoft nor the number of time or number of PC you can install it on limited. The software is also not bundled as part of Windows automatic update system, its a completely stand alone software. It is envisaged MSE will help plug some of the security holes in the desktop if PC users in UK, it is estimated that about 50% of PC users do not have up to date security software on their PC.

MSE does not come with firewall, users still need to use their firewall protection and keep their PC updated with latest patches including using the most up to date browser.

Established free anti virus software provider like AVG, Alwil Avast, Avira Antivir and Comodo are sure to give MSE a run for its money but giving the huge brand recognition Microsoft has, it is expected to take a significant slice of the free security software market in very short time.

You can download Microsoft Security Essentials from here. You can discuss computer and webmaster related issues at UK Webmaster Forum.

Bing Sitelinks – edging closer to Google in more ways than one

When setting out plans to become the second search engine on the net within a few year in 2008, Steve Balmer Microsoft chief executive said Microsoft has been know for entering a market late and becoming a marketing leader in that field within a short time. This is true of when Microsoft entered the networking Server market which was then dominated Novell, within a few short year, Microsoft over take Novell server. In the console market, XBox is a relatively new entrant to the market when compared with Sony Playstation, it is now a very well established console.

Bing, Microsoft new search engine is slowly but steadily making progress. Most observers argued that the initial blip Bing made on the share of the search engine market was because of the huge publicity that surrounded its launch, that was true, it is also true that Bing is a much better search engine than all the previous search engines Microsoft created and the fact is that people are actually beginning to like Bing and using it instead of Google.

Some of the things that is contributing to the popularity of Bing includes the fact that its SERP is almost identical to Google’s SERPS for some searches, this blurred the lines between Bing and Google. Bing is also introducing new technology like the visual search recently announced and Bing is adopting features associated with Google such as Sitelinks. A quick search for adult dating site Very Naughty show a comprehensive sitelink listing sub pages of the site.

If Bing continues to innovate at the current rate, in no time it will make significant inroad into Googles huge lead in the search engine market.

Windows 7, a month away (part2)

Another great improvement is the new Windows search – it helps you find files and programs on your computer in seconds. Your files are also organized in libraries, so you can work with them much easier; these libraries group similar files together, even though they are saved in different folder on your hard drive.

Jump lists – these are pretty great too. We all have our favorite programs and files that we use all the time, the jump lists show you the most recent ones that you have worked them, but also allow you to pin files to the list, so it is always there.

And there’s even more – if you have multiple windows cluttering up your desktop, simply grab the one that you want to work with, shake it and all the other windows will disappear, if you want to bring them back just shake that window again. If you want to take a quick look at your desktop, even when you have numerous programs open, simply move your mouse cursor to the bottom right corner of your screen and all the open windows will become transparent.

All this sounds just great, but how does Windows 7 fare when it comes to device management? Microsoft has developed a new technology, called Device Stage, which will make your life easier – you can see, manage, and configure you cameras, phones, printers, or other compatible devices that you have connected from a single window.

Have you ever tried setting up a home network between two computers running XP or Vitsa? That has never been an easy task! Sharing your files, photos, movies, or printers between two or more computers in your house is pretty straightforward with Windows 7: the new feature, called HomeGroup, is installed by default and new computers can be added to the network easily. All you have to do is run a simple Wizard, which will guide you through the process. Compare this to the setting up and networking two PCs running XP – you had to set up a host, set up a client, run a Network Wizard, then configure your computer for file and printer sharing, and it almost never worked.

As far as security is concerned, Windows 7 is adding new security features, which will help protect your computer from various threads, not to mention that the new operating system will annoy its users with less security prompts, which sure is a step in the right direction.

Is there anything bad about Windows 7? Well, we can’t say for sure before we get the final release installed on our computers. Many people have reported different problems with the Beta, but then again, this is what Betas are for – to be tested and later on improved. Some users have experienced hardware computability issues, not getting their second hard drives recognized, the Aero Peek not working properly, crashes during installation, etc., but it looks like Microsoft is listening to the people this time and we all hope that the final product will be as good as we expect it to be!

Haabaa Free Hosted Blog

If you are new to blogging or already have a blog but need to set up a second blog, the chances are that that the last hosted blog provider that will come to your mind is Haabaa hosted blogs. Its like thinking of hiring David to fight for you when you have seen and heard of Goliath’s reputation, naturally you will back Goliath but like the story in the bible tells us, appearances can be deceptive, the big guy does not necessarily defeat the small guy in a fight, that is precisely what would happen should you compare Haabaa blog hosting services with established blog providers such as blog spot and others.

A blogger looking for hosted blog is basically looking for a blog provider who can reliable provide him or her a stable blogging platform, WYSIWYG editing interface and most importantly, a sub domain of his or her choice. Most hosted blog provider excel in all the aforementioned services except the ability to provide a sub domain of your choice, the reason being all the popular sub domain are usually take up in the popular blog provider. Because Haabaa free hosted blog is still young, you have a much higher chances of finding the domain name you want, thereby having the satisfaction of calling your blog exactly what you want to call it.

Here is a quick list of some of the services you get with your Haabaa free hosted blog:

* 10 Megs of premium hosting space.
* A copy of WordPress blogging software automatically installed.
* Free 24-7 support
* Choice of skins and templates to choose from.

To build a blog hosted on Haabaa free blog platform all you need to do is visit Haabaa hosted blogs homepage and start by choosing a name to call your blog, within 5 minutes you will have a blog online. You can find out more about Haabaa hosted blog here.

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