Adobe Flashes Flash 11 Beta

Adobe Flash is used across all platforms on the desktop, as well as mobiles. Adobe has released a new version of the runtime - 11 (Beta 1 11.0.1.60). The latest release is still in the Beta phase. There are a few additions to the new version. One of the key features is called Stage3D Accelerated Graphics Rendering, which basically uses hardware acceleration to render and power the graphics that you typically see in Flash applications. Technically, this should be possible on everything from mobile phones to desktops to smart TVs with compatible hardware. There’s also H.264/AVC video encoding, so video streams from cameras can be encoded in real time using the modern standard. Fighting the HTML5 assault Inefficiency has also been addressed in the new build. Better compression techniques and support for newer JPEG standards (JPEG-XR) are present. 64-bit support is also integrated in the new release. Adobe is claiming that Flash element files can be compressed upto 40 per cent of their original size. Resolution of images used in Flash are no longer limited to 16 megapixel resolutions either. Some of these improvements should also spill over into the new Adobe Air 3 release. Flash 11 builds for Windows, Mac OS and Linux can be downloaded here. 64-bit downloads are also available.

Firefox Leaps Ahead with Versions 6, 7, and 8

Mozilla may have caused a small uproar over its lack of a strategy for businesses when it releasedFirefox 5, but there's no denying that the browser is making leaps and bounds as it marches onward with subsequent versions.

Firefox 6, for example, reached the beta stage on Friday with versions ready for testing on Linux, Windows, Mac, and Android.

Among the new additions to the desktop version are the capability to check that plug-ins are up-to-date directly from the Add-ons Manager, as well as improved Panorama Groups, allowing users to reduce browser startup time by loading only saved tab groups when they use Panorama. An improved address bar, meanwhile, highlights the domain name of the website you're visiting to make it easier to identify where you are online.

Enhanced for Large-Screen Tablets

Also included in the beta version of Firefox 6 are a streamlined site identity block feature, support for Web Sockets with a prefixed API, a new Web developer-specific menu, support for server-sent events, and the capability to quickly build and test JavaScript snippets in the browser.

On the Android side, Firefox 6 starts faster and uses less memory, and it also offers higher-quality image scaling, with less pixelation. The Firefox experience has been enhanced for large-screen tablets, and touch events offer better interaction with Web pages, Mozilla says.

IndexedDB allows Web pages to store data offline for faster access, and there's also an improved form helper, a "fresh visual style" on Gingerbread, and automatic text hyphenation.

Improved Memory Management

Then, of course, there's Firefox 7, which on Thursday entered the Aurora channel.

Particularly notable about this release are that it's "focused on delivering performance enhancements and optimizing memory utilization," in Mozilla's own words, and also that it includes new Web and server technology and tools so developers can build performance tests directly into the browser and boost Firefox's speed further.

Firefox 7 offers a faster startup time on Windows, Linux and Mac, Mozilla says, as well as enhanced font rendering and enabling bookmarks and passwords to sync instantly.

Improved memory management in Firefox 7, meanwhile, results in memory usage reductions of 30 percent or more along with enhanced responsiveness, Mozilla says. Also new is that the JavaScript garbage collector runs frequently to free more memory when Firefox is idle.

20 Percent Faster

As for Firefox 8, it just appeared in Mozilla's Nightly channel, but already reports are suggesting that it's as much as 20 percent faster than Firefox 5 on pretty much every metric, putting it on par with Chrome 14.

In fact, on startup, session restore, JavaScript execution, 2D canvas and 3D WebGL rendering as well as first paint--including not just how long it takes Firefox to appear after its icon is clicked but also how long it takes to re-open previous tabs--Firefox 8 outshines Firefox 5 by a significant margin, according to a Monday report on ExtremeTech.

"This isn't merely an under-the-hood, synthetic-benchmark, on-paper thing either: the difference between FF5 and FF8 is very, very noticeable," ExtremeTech's Sebastian Anthony wrote.

Ongoing Momentum

Overall, Mozilla may have taken a blow in the corporate world by initially disregarding enterprise users with its new, Chrome-style rapid-release schedule. It's now working on that, though, in addition to these exciting new Firefox releases.

I'm betting the result will maintain or even surpass the momentum we saw with Firefox 4.

World Bodypainting Festival 2011( part 1)

GRAZ, AUSTRIA - JULY 03: A painted model poses for photographers on the final day at the World Bodypainting Festival 2011 on July 3, 2011 in Poertschach, Austria. The festival has been taking place since 1998 and this year drew body painting artists from 40 different nations. (Photo by Mathias Kniepeiss/Getty Images)

Anonymous Establish Snitch Sites

Online activist group Anonymous have been a lot in the news lately, most recently for their teaming up with hacker group LulzSec and posting sensitive data about various governments and other high profile targets. Now, a subgroup of Anonymous has started two ‘leak’ websites which contain sensitive data from governments and corporations. These groups are localleaks.tk and hackerleaks.tk.

Hackers helping hackers!

According to a report, the Local Leaks website contains information pertaining to corruption and wrongdoings such as police brutality, work place harassment, etc. at a local level. Users can submit information anonymously and the site states that their first priority is to provide a safe, secure and anonymous way for local government or corporate employees to disclose sensitive information.

The Hacker Leaks website is a place where hackers can disclose sensitive data they obtain. The site states "Hackers helping hackers to leak material of interest. You download it; we’ll disclose it for you.” The site received its first submission which was a list of personal information of Orlando, Florida officials. Anonymous have targeted several Orlando sites in protest of the arrests of members of the group Food not Bombs.

Commander X, Editor-in-Chief of the sites claims that they don’t obtain the material and that they merely publish it. Thereby further stating the fact that these websites do not violate any law.

For more information on Anonymous and other hacker groups,


Hackathon
After the Sony PlayStation Network was hacked, hacker group LulzSec and Anonymous have literally wrecked havoc on the Internet. What may be the hacking coalition of the year, Anonymous and LulzSec together announced the forming of AntiSec. These two 'organizations' have forged what some companies would term an 'unholy-alliance' .

Along with Anonymous and LulzSec many other groups are also attacking and disrupting Internet sites. These hacker groups are mainly targeting the sites for fun using Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. They claim that this form of attack are their most abundant but most mild.