Stan's List

It seems to have been in another lifetime that Computerworld last said the XMl converter was due soon, Well, here we are today still waiting. Computerworld now reports the current expected release date is in June.

Office 2008 for Mac, which uses the XML formate, has been getting a lot of criticism. One of my favorites is a reference to “Vista being dumped for XP and now Office2008 being dumped for Office 2004.”

Some nice new features and improvements:

• One-click site info: Click the site favicon in the location bar to see who owns the site and to check if your connection is protected from eavesdropping.
• Reduced memory usage
• Star button: quickly add bookmarks from the location bar
• New graphics and font handling
• Improvements to our JavaScript engine as well as profile guided optimizations

Give it a spin (download link)

InformationWeek reports non-exclusive contracts were entered into in Austria, Belgium, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Poland , Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland, and others. All set for the release of the new iPhone. Even where there has been a provider before, Apple is allowing such as Orange to access that market. More …

Roving reporter Doug Borchert spotted this one.

If Monday’s earthquake in China sparked a lot of interest in seismology, well in the science blogs. A free program from Suitable Systems’ SeisMac 2.0 takes advantage of the acceleration sensor inside you computer to register when it gets the shakes. The program was developed supported by the National Science Foundation and from the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, a consortium of nearly 100 universities. http://www.suitable.com/tools/seismac.html

Most current laptops, even from the darkside, have an acceleration sensor. This software happens to be only for the Mac. On the same page is SeisMaCalibrate to calibrate your Mac’s Sudden Motion Sensors.

Intel Germany’s managing director Hannes Schwaderer, ‘I was misquoted.’ According to AppleInsider, ZDNet Germany is likely to blame, for reporting something they did not hear. AppleInsider also admits their earlier predictions gave traction to the idea of an atomic iPhone.

It does not mean it won’t happen, but all accounts say Schwaderer did not even come close to hinting any such thing.

With Mac sales at increasing heights and the iPhone threatening the smart phone market, for the first time in history WWDC has sold out. Both the Mac and iPhone are said to prompt the interest. Mac sales have been stellar and Apple is set to sell 10 million iPhones prior to the end of the year. Enough to bring over 5000 to WWDC.

ZDNet Germany predicts Apple will announce that the iPhone will use Intel’s Atom processor and increase the iPhone’s display to 720 x 480 pixels, currently 480 x 320. (Google translation).

Office 2004 for Mac 11.4.2 update addresses security issues. More to the point:

This security update resolves several privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Word that could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Word file. An attacker who successfully exploited these vulnerabilities could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.

In a press release by both HBO and Apple, it was announced HBO programing is now available on iTunes.

New HBO programs on iTunes include the Emmy Award-winning programs “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City,” “Deadwood” and “Rome,” as well as the critically acclaimed hits “Flight of the Conchords” and “The Wire.”

Television shows purchased and downloaded from the iTunes Store can be viewed on a Mac® or PC, iPod® nano with video, iPod classic, iPod touch, fifth generation iPod, iPhone™ or on a widescreen TV with Apple TV®. “Sex and the City,” “The Wire” and “Flight of the Conchords” are $1.99 per episode, and “The Sopranos,” “Deadwood” and “Rome” are priced at $2.99 per episode. iTunes customers can also choose to purchase entire seasons of their favorite programs.

This description comes from MS Security Bulletin MS08-014 – Critical:

This security update resolves several privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Word that could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Word file. An attacker who successfully exploited these vulnerabilities could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.

Download

Portfolio reports that HBO and Apple should have an agreement in a few weeks. “One possibility is that HBO programming will have a higher retail price than the flat $1.99 fee Apple currently charges for video content,” Portfolio said. This would be inconsistent with past agreements and certainly cause other networks to think they should get a similar deal.
More …