Sigate Solutions

Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 Pre-Release

2010-09-16T08:42:00.005+10:00

The long-awaited successor to Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 is now available to the public for pre-release testing. This comes as good news to web developers and technology enthusiasts around the globe due to Microsoft's new commitment to web standards.

Previous releases of the software giant's flagship web browser has been notorious for its lack of support for web standards, slow scripting engine and its overall bugginess. Internet Explorer has lagged behind more cutting edge browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari and Google Chrome for years now.

Among the new features that Microsoft has announced support for are HTML5, CSS3, ECMAScript 5th edition, hardware-assisted graphics, 3D acceleration and more.

More than 70 web companies including Amazon, Twitter, MySpace, Hulu, and Yahoo! are reportedly planing to capitalise on IE9's new features by optimize their websites to be faster, richer and more user friendly in the new browser.

Google Prepares to take on Facebook

2010-08-09T10:26:00.000+10:00

Reports are rolling in about the upcoming release of "Google Me", a Facebook-like service that may make some waves in the world of Social Networking. Facebook is number one with almost a half a billion members and has been on top since it surpassed MySpace early last year.

Google has tried to take on social networking before with Orkut (which only became popular in a few countries) and more recently, Google Buzz which got some bad publicity over privacy issues.

Google has a lot of power and resources and when they set their mind to something, they are often unstoppable. Some rumors claim that Facebook is preparing for the worst this time as the third try might be the charm for the search giant.

It would be an uphill battle for Google to get even a tenth of the members Facebook has, but five years from now, who knows what we'll be using to update our status and post photos.

Developing for the Wider Web

2010-07-30T08:24:00.004+10:00

As most compatibility-conscious web developers understand, it is harder than ever to deploy one website that looks great across the increasingly diverse viewing platforms we see today.

From 9 year-old Internet Explorer 6 (still almost 10% market) to cutting-edge mobile devices like the iPad and mobile phones, there are almost a dozen rendering engines and a number of view sizes.

Mobile browsing now accounts for 1.3% of all browsing, which on a global scale is significant web traffic. It's enough for many high-traffic websites to create a separate mobile- or touch-optimized version of their site. Mobile devices have a much smaller screen-size, less speed and bandwidth, no mouse and often a touch-interface.

By contrast, desktop and laptop computers are getting faster with more memory and can handle heavy multi-media.

The challenge on websites with a moderate-budget is to create a design and layout that functions well on the many desktop web browsers (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari) and yet looks great on Netbook and iPad devices (10-inch screens) and even mobile phones.

This is no small task and it does drive up the cost of website development, but it is also gives an advantage to those of us that stay current, adhere to web standards and produce quality websites that look great in modern browsers and degrade gracefully for older and less powerful platforms.

Microsoft to answer iPad with Windows-based "Slates"

2010-07-16T07:27:00.001+10:00

At Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference on 12 July, CEO Steve Ballmer told partners to expect new Windows 7 slates by the end of this year. The new mobile computing form-factor that was pioneered with Apple's iPad earlier this year has seen world-wide success and competitors are racing to catch up.

A "Slate" as it has been dubbed, exists somewhere between the touch-screen tablet pc concept and the low-power, compact Netbooks that were best sellers in 2009. In that space, the iPad is the first of its kind and the only products currently competing for the iPad's market share are screen-readers geared for eBook presentation.

Microsoft is not the only one with the iPad in its sites. Google has been working on it's Chrome OS for Netbooks and Slate-like devices and there has even been talk of the Android mobile-phone platform being used on future Slates.

In one form or another, expect to see iPad-like devices from a number of manufacturers begin to hit the market soon. As we have seen before with the iPad and the iPhone, Apple sets the trend and others soon follow with devices of lower cost and possibly even more features.

Google's Answer to Microsoft Live SkyDrive

2010-06-23T11:04:00.000+10:00

Following the success of Windows Live SkyDrive, an online storage and file-sharing service, Google has announced early availability of its MemeoConnect for Google Apps or GDrive.

Memeo Connect is a file and document storage and synchronization solution for keeping online copies of your local documents and vice-versa. It is available as a desktop application for Windows and Mac OS X (including the iPad) and appears to be targeted to enterprise and business users.

If previous the current Google Apps model is any indication, it will probably be available in a limited edition free of charge and scale upwards from there. What does this offer that the average internet user cannot find elsewhere? Memeo Connect may be just another incarnation of the usual online storage model offered by other free and pay services. Google, however usually gets it right and brings just a little more to the table the competition (ie. Gmail).

Apple Files Patent for Solar Touch Screen

2010-06-11T15:40:00.000+10:00

As reported by CNET News, Apple recently filed a patent for touch screen technology that would incorporate solar cells under the surface of devices with capacitive touch panels.

It appears their goal is to use power from external light sources to increase the battery life of mobile devices and media players. Sketches of iPod- and iPad-like devices were specifically depicted in the patent application. Third-party sources are reporting that recent design changes to their touch panel technology could reflect a move in this direction. More specifically, "switching the iPhone's backside substrate to a non-metal surface would clearly open the door for Apple to implement a double-sided solar panel design."

Developments like this and other "power assisted technology" ideas may be hitting the market sooner than we think and could significantly increase the amount of battery life we see from our portable devices.

ID scheme proposed for internet users

2010-05-27T16:27:00.003+10:00

An idea that has come up many times before, User Identification, is a hotly debated topic among security experts. The general goal is to reduce certain levels of anonymity on the internet in order to increase accountability and security.

According to an article at Australian PC Authority, security experts like Eugine Kaspersky (co-founder of Kaspersky Internet Security) are recommending government-sponsored ID requirements for computer users that would increase security for banking and other sites at high risk of fraud.

As it stands now, the only identifying information that can be gathered about a website visitor is their IP address and the voluntary information sent by their web browser (user-agent and cookies). In the case of IP address, this is vaguely identifying and can lead to some information about the visitor's geographic location and service provider. On the down side, IP addresses are easily spoofed and often disguised by proxies, network address translation and VPN services. Browser information, including cookies, are all but useless in tracking a cyber criminal.

As proposed, two-factor authentication, biometric based ID and/or physical identification cards would prevent some of the most common threats. Phishing scams, identity theft and bank fraud would be much harder to pull off if you had to scan your fingerprint or retina to log on. Sound a little too futuristic to you? Well you may be right, but many laptops today ship with fingerprint scanners or facial recognition software already.

More realistically, ID card readers could require a form of digital passport for certain levels of internet access. Kaspersky believes IDs could be used to combat security issues associated with popular sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Currently the top places for deception-based scams (phishing) are Facebook, eBay and PayPal all of whom have no identification requirements beyond standard username and password. Physical counter-measures, on the other hand, are much harder for cyber criminals to infiltrate.

Reportedly, some Baltic countries and some British banks already have hardware-based identification in use today. On a larger scale, though, it would be very expensive and would require the cooperation of many governments, PC makers and financial institutions.

Is all this identification a good idea? Well many say no. According to a ZDNet article, there are various reasons why this would never work, including significant privacy concerns, risks of fraudulent authentication, technological hurdles and budgetary challenges.

As most of us know, the internet is a very big, very anonymous place and people should be mindful of the fact that not everything is as it claims. With new identification methods, there may be a less anonymous internet in our future, but for now we need to be alert and aware of the risks and approach online security with a "guilty until proven innocent" mindset.

Fake Anti-Virus makes up 15% of Online Threats

2010-05-17T15:52:00.005+10:00

A report by Google released May 3, analyzed 240 million Web pages and uncovered more than 11,000 domains involved in fake antivirus distribution. That accounts for about 15 percent of all malware (malicious or harmful programs).

The 13-month study conducted between January 2009 and February 2010 is part of Google's efforts towards "Safe Browsing technology" and it shows that scammers are increasingly turning to social engineering to distribute malware rather than exploiting holes in software.

This five-fold increase in fake antivirus (fradulent pop-up warnings designed to scare computer users into installing and often paying for false software) could indicate that people are far too conditioned to pressing OK when prompted without thinking first.

Many experts claim that the more "are you sure" and "are you really, really sure" messages that are presented to users (a big complaint about Windows Vista) the more the user grows accustomed to casually clicking proceed. Instead of causing the user to think twice or read the message, it trains users to think less and click more.

This increase could also be a consequence of protection software getting stricter and vulnerabilities being patched by software makers more quickly. It is reasonable to assume that if cyber-attackers cannot find a breach in the "security fence" then the next logical step is to get let in the front door by simply convincing the user to open up.

This kind of social engineering is nothing new. It can take on many forms aside from fake anti-virus. Take phishing scams for instance. Most of us have received an email at some point making unfounded claims, promising large rewards or attempting to look like it's from our bank. Sometimes the poor wording, or suspicious from-address can give it away, but a well composed look-alike can often fool the best of us.

As always, if you don't scrutinize every claim, you could likely get fooled. It's no fun to get ripped off, but you'll feel even worse afterwards if you realize you basically handed over your money, credit card or password to a scammer.

Death of Flash, Part 2

2010-05-02T11:43:00.000+10:00

A few months ago we talked about the inevitable demise of Adobe's long lived multimedia platform in "The Death of Flash". Most of us in the development community have been aware of the decline in Flash for some time, but now it is catching some serious main-stream attention.

Steve Jobs of Apple Computers, made headlines with the release of his detailed Thoughts on Flash explaining why they will not support the platform on any of their mobile devices (currently the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad). Shortly after, Adobe CEO, Shantanu Narayen, spoke with the Wall Street Journal and tried to assure the Flash community of their ongoing commitment to the technology.

As we mentioned before, the battle is far from over and Adobe still has a very strong foothold on the desktop (where most web browsing takes place) but their fate is likely already sealed. It will take some time before we stop seeing Flash websites, but it is happening already.

There are several technologies taking on Flash from multiple fronts. Most notably, we are seeing HTML5, h.264 (video), Javascript and CSS3 moving in on Flash territory. These are all open standards and already supported on many web browsers and mobile devices.

The web transitioned long ago from a presentation medium to an interactive platform and for many years Flash was the way to give users the richest experience. As web standards have evolved and web-browsing platforms have diverged, we find the role of Flash significantly minimized in the day-to-day web.

Finding Apple on the opposite side of the playing field from Adobe is surprising to some, but it is a clearly strategic business move for them and will accelerate the demise of Flash in a global way.

Windows 7: Rapid Adoption Good News for Microsoft

2010-04-28T10:50:00.005+10:00

A mere six months after its release, Windows 7 is reportedly now installed on one in 10 PC's around the globe. This makes Windows 7 the fastest-selling Windows yet, which is much needed good news for the Redmond-bsed software giant. The release of Windows 7 last October was followed by a great deal of scepticism surrounding whether or not the new operating system would fare better than their previous attempt.

Microsoft's release of Windows Vista in January of 2007 kicked off one of the weakest adoption rates in the company's history. There was a lot of public criticism over the operating system and it made surprisingly few inroads in the corporate sector during its 2-and-a-half year lifespan.

In its first year of availability, PC World rated Windows Vista the biggest tech disappointment of 2007, and it placed second in InfoWorld's ranking of technology's top 25 all-time flops.

Windows 7, on the other hand, is seeing a surprisingly warm welcome among home users and big business, despite its drastically similar underlying architecture. This is not the first time we've seen a heavily-marketed 'Saviour' come out of Redmond. Their most successful operating system ever, Windows XP, followed on the heals of their worst and shortest-lived OS, Windows Me.

Quick Stats on Twitter

2010-04-26T08:51:00.003+10:00

As most of you know, Twitter has been one of the most rapidly growing web technologies of the past few years. It has been gaining so much publicity in such a short period of time that it's nothing short of a buzzword among social networking, the web industry, online marketing, traditional media, cell phone makers and more.

Even among the market analysts, however, things have been a little cloudy as to what exactly their business model is, how this trend is affecting the web as a whole and what Twitter's longer-term affects will be.

Ev Williams (Twitter co-founder) shared some important numbers with the online community at the recent Chirp conference. The brief version is as follows:

This doesn't explain much about their goals, monetization plans or future integration with other web services, but it does help us understand the magnitude of Twitter as a global influence.

Anyone in the industry who though this was a fad that will quickly blow over, is probably thinking twice. Twitter will be around for a while, and those who have already started using it to their benefit are in an advantageous position.

"Crimeware" and the Internet

2010-03-22T10:49:00.001+10:00

What happens when your average computer gets infected with a Virus, "Spyware" or "Malware"? Well in the days of Adware you would see a bunch of pop-up ads and get redirected to places you didn't mean to go on the Internet. The monetization model for the bad guys was simple: make ad revenue from millions of infected PC's.

As infectious programs evolved, so did the method by which they generate money for their creators. Ransomeware is a good example (apparently you can just stick -ware on the end of about any word). Ransomeware often simulates a real virus-protection program and convinces the user that they are infected with all kinds of bad viruses. It disables a lot of your computer's functionality and asks for money to fix things. Masquerading as legitimate software, these programs are a huge source of money and often steal your payment details as well.

The latest source of Crimeware buzz, however, is botnets. Botnet infections are a massive epidemic and often go undetected for long periods of time. Some estimates report that up to a quarter of personal computers connected to the internet may be infected with some sort of botnet program. Other reports have revealed infection rates of up to 48% in certain sample groups.

Botnet is a term for a large network of hijacked or infected computers (bots). Each computer acts as a node (often referred to as a zombie), silently taking instruction from command and control and participating in large-scale attacks or criminal operations.

Coordinated international efforts to shut down botnets have been initiated and several have been successful. A botnet referred to as Waledac, which had control of almost half a million computers, was recently taken down as part of a joint effort between companies including Microsoft and several law-enforcement agencies.

The good news is that international authorities are taking these kinds of cyber-threats seriously. Analysts and researchers are using data retrieved from recent high-profile botnet take-downs to better understand the complex nature of these crimeware networks.

As an end user, it is important to have up-to-date virus protection on your computer, especially if you are running Microsoft Windows. Microsoft operating systems and web browsers have historically been the largest target for malicious software. Fortunately Microsoft is taking big steps to fight back, including giving away their Security Essentials anti-virus suite for free.

For more information read The Current State of Crimeware Threat over at ZDNet.

Visualising the Internet: Top 100

2010-03-15T07:36:00.002+10:00

BBC News posted an interesting article the other day, most notably containg an interactive graphic depicting the distribution of popular internet content.

The data was generated by the Nielsen Group from the number of unique visitors in the month of January from Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the United States.

There are a lot of different methods of gathering this sort of data and each study independently turns up different sites in the top 100. For the most part, however, this gives us a good idea where the average internet user is spending his or her time online.

This is interesting in the field of web development for several reasons. The behaviour of internet users is a complex and rapidly changing thing. To stay ahead of the curve, we need to be mindful of industry trends and cater the websites we create to the content and experience users are after.

Cross-Platform Address Book Sync

2010-03-08T08:42:00.005+10:00

Eight Media, a dutch-based company, is offering a free web service called Soocial.com that promises to actively sync all your contacts and email addresses across several incompatible platforms.

If you have your phone numbers on your iPhone, heaps of important email addresses in Gmail or Hotmail and your work contacts in Outlook, then this may help organize your life. Soocial is compatible with dozens of mobile phones including Blackberry, Android devices, Nokia handsets as well as online services such as Windows Live, Yahoo, Gmail and more.

You can manage your contacts using their web interface and there is even an API for programmers to integrate third-party applications with your contact database.

News Feed Patented by Facebook

2010-03-01T09:10:00.005+10:00

On Tuesday, Feb 23, the US Patent Office awarded Facebook a patent for their news feed feature.

The news feed feature is nothing new to Facebook. If you are familiar with Facebook you probably recognize the image depicted in the patent application and you have probably seen similar news feeds at other social networking sites.

This patent, however, now grants Facebook the right to pursue competitors who are using similar feeds on their sites. It is a big step for the people over at Facebook who are trying to lock down thier lead position as the de facto standard in social networking.

With over 350 million users and one of the top ad-revenue websites on the internet, Facebook has a huge lead in the industry.

Many other Fortune 500 companies, including Google and Microsoft, have long been trying to launch social platforms as successful as Facebook's. Most recently Google's Buzz has made some headlines, but it's a long way up to get the kind of loyal following Facebook now has; even if you're the single largest entity on the web.

The Death of Flash

2010-02-22T12:50:00.003+10:00

Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash) is the dominant platform for delivering multimedia to the web browser, and has been since the turn of the century. According to some reports, over 98% of computers world-wide have Adobe's Flash player installed.

So why are analysts predicting the demise of a ubiquitous, decade-old technology? Two things: mobile devices and openness.

Recent trends have seen a shift away from flash in several of its integral realms. Simple animations on the webpage are moving towards Javascript instead of Flash. Sites like YouTube and Vimeo are supporting HTML5 video (an open standard) over Flash video, and advertisers are ditching flash for more simple elements.

The primary reason for this market shift is the increase in popularity of mobile devices on the web. Apple's iPhone, iPod and upcoming iPad do not support Flash. Blackberry and Google's Android devices do not support Flash either. In fact, the only mobile platforms that ship with Flash capabilities are Windows Mobile and some Nokia devices.

The problem with mobile adoption has several facets including, licensing restrictions, CPU requirements and usability. Flash is owned and licensed by Adobe and several of the big players like Apple and Google do not wish to support proprietary technology in that fashion. Google is backing open-source platforms and community-driven projects like Android.

This brings us to openness. Adobe tried to tackle this problem in 2008 when it announced the "Open Screen Project", an attempt to remove some licensing restrictions and bring Flash to other platforms including mobile devices. The initiative was moderately effective but was not fully embraced by the open-source community. It may have come a little too late, because at this point, there are other alternatives entering the marketplace.

Microsoft released its Flash alternative, Silverlight, in 2007 with marginal success. Silverlight is supported on most mainstream platforms including Macintosh computers, but despite their best efforts to push it out to the masses, even Microsoft still uses Flash on several of their websites.

So if Silverlight is not the Flash-killer, what is? For the most part it's looking like HTML5 and Javascript. These are both approved as web standards by the World Wide Web Consortium (w3c) and HTML 5 is picking up wide acceptance across the web and in all major browsers (except, of course, Microsoft's Internet Explorer).

On top of all this, Google recently acquired On2, a company that holds the rights to several video and media delivery technologies used by Flash, Move and others. This is seen by many as a move to put another nail in the coffin for Adobe. Possible anti-trust implications aside, if there is one company that can seal the demise of Flash, its Google.

There are certain things for which there is simply no viable alternative to Flash. And with a current saturation rate of 98%, Flash isn't going anywhere in a hurry. It is worth noting, however, that the beginning of the end is upon us. As more websites and mobile devices choose open, standards-compliant solutions over Adobe, it won't matter how many computers have Flash installed.

Facebook: Security Threats Go Social

2010-02-15T08:13:00.000+10:00

Facebook recently made headlines as it crossed the 350 million user mark. Even before this point it has been the most popular social network, and the second largest website in the world.

With great power, of course, comes great responsibility and policing a community of 350 million internet users is no small task. Because of its popularity, in fact, it has become a significant target for scammers, hackers and other threats.

According to a report by IT security firm Sophos, malware and spam have risen 70% in the past year. In fact, 61 percent of internet users feel that Facebook poses the highest security risk of any social networking site.

Senior technology consultant for Sophos, in a recent interview, was quoted saying "We shouldn’t forget that Facebook is by far the largest social network – and you’ll find more bad apples in the biggest orchard. The truth is that the security team at Facebook works hard to counter threats on their site."

This is certainly true, and the threat of security is even more serious in the workplace. 49 percent of firms surveyed allow their staff unrestricted access to Facebook at work, which is up significantly from one year ago. 79 percent of these firms said they’re concerned that employee behavior on these sites puts their infrastructures and sensitive data at risk.

What can be done? Well, for one, businesses are beginning to implement policies that control how much company information is posted online by employees (particularly on LinkedIn) as well as what sites can be accessed and by which staff.

On the home front, users need to choose strong passwords, be very cautious about what Facebook Apps you allow to access your profile and be conservative with your privacy settings. Perhaps have a look at the top four facebook risks as reported by Tobias Verhoog.

As always, be careful what you click on and if in doubt, don't. Don't believe everything you read either, because as most hackers know the best way to breach security is often to convince someone to let you in. No need to crack a password if you can talk someone into giving it to you.

Digital Data Shelf-life

2010-02-08T09:54:00.000+10:00

An interesting article about online security, privacy and the future of digital data:

New Website Launch

2010-02-01T16:22:00.000+10:00

Here at Sigate, we are excited to announce that we have launched our new website this morning. We have done a complete overhaul in almost all areas of the site including adding new content, changing the navigation and adding a new theme.

Please head over to www.sigate.com.au and have a browse through our new features and pages. Please let us know if you find any broken links or display errors, as we strive to get all the kinks worked out.

- The Sigate Team

Hosting Now Based in Sydney, Australia

2010-01-28T11:21:00.000+10:00

Sigate is proud to announce that we have new hosting servers located in a high-tech, cutting-edge data centre in Sydney, Australia.

As many of you already know, hosting your website in Australia results in fast, responsive visitor experiences and drastically reduced latency and network congestion. Furthermore, choosing a reliable, secure data centre with redundant power and multiple robust backbone connections, is key to providing the best hosting possible.

We have chosen an Australian company, Crucial Paradigm, as our solutions provider for several reasons. Their high-performance and high-security data centres allow us to provide our customers with the most reliable and effective service possible.

The best part about Sigate's hosting technology is that you don't have to worry about it. Your website is sure to be online and working whenever you need it. All day, all night, all the time.

Visit our website for more details.

- Sigate Solutions

Firefox 3.6 released on the heals of IE's bad press

2010-01-21T18:46:00.008+10:00

Mozilla Firefox, the world's most popular open-source and cross-platform web browser, released version 3.6 today.

This could not have come at a better time for the open-source community considering all the bad publicity surrounding Microsoft's Internet Explorer lately. Information Week is reporting that the governments of several security-conscious nations are urging their citizens to stop using Internet Explorer in the wake of the recent China - Google attacks.

Either way, there are plenty of other choices when it comes to browsing the web. Apple has Safari, Google has Chrome, and most popular is Firefox. Version 3.6 boasts faster and more stable performance, new support for one-click appearance customization, and new feature support like HTML5 and full-screen native video.

There is no such thing as a trusted brand

2010-01-18T11:25:00.002+10:00

Two new developments have surfaced over the China-based attacks on Google and other large US- and Europe-based companies.

The vulnerability that was exploited to start the ball rolling was related to a still-unpatched Microsoft Internet Explorer flaw.
Hackers apparently were able to access a system used to help Google comply with US search warrants and court orders for private information.

The first one comes as a surprise to almost no-one. We see this time and again in the industry. In fact Microsoft's statement on the matter (taken slightly out of context) was: "There are attacks every day. I don’t think there was anything unusual ..." which shows the usual level of concern from the software maker.

More strikingly, however, is the second point. This implies (and other data coroberates) that Google is so compliant with US law enforcement that it has automated systems in place for the government to get otherwise protected information.

If you read Google's prior statements on the China incident, you will notice that, first of all, China's laws disallow certain levels of privacy, and with this Google is uncomfortable, possibly to the level of ceasing all business in the country. Secondly, you may notice that individuals who violate China's privacy regulations have been referred to as human rights activists and fall under the umbrella of those who Google's security measures protect.

The irony here should be obvious. Google as an entity decides for which countries it will support law enforcement and for which countries it will "protect" private data. That sounds like a moral decision. In this case, perhaps the public will agree with Google's decisions because China's government is often viewed as the "bad guy" and the US is possibly held in better regard.

No matter which way you look at it, this should be troubling from an information security standpoint. Inevitably, if an automated system exists for the "good guys" to breach people's privacy (with the right court orders of course) it will only be a matter of time for a determined enough "bad guy" to breach it.

Arguably even more troubling is the decision that must subsequently be made. Which countries get to violate their citizens privacy and which don't? What is a valid reason to track someone's online activity? Suspision of fraud, unpaid traffic tickets, violation of that country's censorship laws?

We don't get to make these decisions, but we do get to choose what companies to put our trust in when it comes to our information and online activity. Maybe we need to pay particular attention to how they make those decisions.

Where did .AU (dot-au) come from?

2010-01-15T14:08:00.002+10:00

The official Australian top-level-domain name (TLD) is .AU (dot-au). The name most commonly identifies Australian websites and internet host names which usually end in one of the following "second-level" domains (2LD or SLD's):

.com.au
.net.au
.org.au
.gov.au

Several other less-common second-level domains have been more recently provisioned for public use including .asn.au for associations, .id.au for individuals. This naming scheme is in contrast to some other countries who allow direct registration of names ending in their two-digit country code (for instance canada.ca).

The dot-au TLD was first designated to Australia in March, 1986 when it was approved by the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute and responsibility was delegated to Melbourne University.

The Australian Academic Research Network (AARNet) was formed in May 1990 and played an important role in dividing the name-space up into several second-level domains like we see today. During the mid-1990s commercial aspects of AARNet was transfered to Telstra, and later some responsibility was delegated to Melbourne IT.

By the late nineties the Australian Domain Name Administration (ADNA) was established as a non-government, internet industry body to manage the dot-au space.

Currently, the au Domain Administration Ltd (auDA) is responsible for administration of all dot-au names under Commonwealth telecommunications legislation. This is a non-profit, self-regulatory body recognized by ICANN and endorsed by the Australian Government.

Sources:

http://www.auda.org.au/

http://www.caslon.com.au/audaprofile2.htm

Google Reviewing China Operations

2010-01-14T10:31:00.000+10:00

According to Google's official blog post here, they are in talks with China regarding security and censorship issues that, if left unresolved, will compel the search giant to close their offices in that country and take down the Chinese site Google.cn.

The statement from Google cites a "highly sophisticated and targeted attack" on their computer network that resulted in several security breaches of varying degrees of severity. The subsequent investigation conducted by Google resurrected several issues that have been building up since launching their Chinese operations in January of 2006. At that time they agreed to certain levels of information censorship in order to comply with Chinese laws that limit freedom of speech. Google claims that one of the primary goals of the recent attack was to access the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, which was apparently not successfully achieved.

During the course of the recent attack's assessment, Google has reportedly unearthed other non-related attempts originating from China to hack into "dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights".

This new information coupled with existing free-speech issues has spurred Google to re-think its decision to do business in that country. They have made the statement that they are no longer willing to filter search results and otherwise comply with Chinese censorship regulations, and if that violates local laws, they will pull out of the nation completely.

Windows 7

2010-01-11T09:23:00.001+10:00

Since long before its release Windows 7 has been talked up as if it will be the operating system that will save Microsoft from its Vista failure (that even Microsoft executives admit) and get the remaining 89% of business that didn't adopt Vista to finally upgrade.

Business analysts and economists agree that the success of something like a software operating system in the consumer sector is easy. Marketing hype, OEM adoption, and simply pulling the old product from retailers will usually do the trick for home users. They buy what is on the shelf at the local technology store. The corporate sector, however, is a very different animal. Businesses and IT Professionals make software upgrade decisions very carefully and weigh out all the options before making a move that can have wide-spread business-critical repercussions.

In the case of Windows Vista, this is where the failure was. Very few companies upgraded on any sort of significant scale and most business workstations are still running Windows XP even 3 years after the release of its successor.

What does that mean for Microsoft? Well in order for Windows 7 to live up to its expectations, it must make massive inroads when it comes to company-wide upgrades. This has yet to come to fruition, but that does not necessarily mean much yet.

Early feedback from the IT industry regarding version seven of Windows was highly favourable. Several months after its public release, it is now getting mixed results, but far better than its predecessor, Vista, who's release is often called the "worst launch in Microsoft's history". The adoption process will be slow at best but the bottom line is this: Even large businesses with heavy pull and good IT infrastructure cannot indefinitely fight upgrading. Microsoft Has the final say when it comes to support and licensing for Windows XP and there will come a day when it simply cannot be purchased anymore.

Further Reading: ZDNet's article Seven perfectly legal ways to get Windows 7 cheap (or even free) may be a good read if you are considering making the move to Win7.