Archive for July, 2006

Jessica Simpson sings for you with new customized songs

Published
by
idl3mind
on 7/15/2006
in News
. 0 Comments

Is this weird or what? OMG

Ever wanted Jessica Simpson to shout out your name in one her songs? Now you can rejoice because next week you will be able to order customized songs where she will yell out your name three times. People with the 500 most common first names will be able to purchase the songs immediately, while those with more unique names will have their songs delivered in one to three weeks.

Fans can listen to one of these customized songs to “Tom” on Simpson’s MySpace page. In it she sings, “Hey Tom” a few times. It’s unknown if Simpson actually had to sing all the customized names or if some audio editing magic was used to shorten the process.

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Meebo - All-in-one Online Instant Messenger

Published
by
idl3mind
on 7/1/2006
in News
. 0 Comments

Meebo is an Ajax site that lets you chat online with your friends that use Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, AIM, ICQ and Jabber (including Google Talk). You can log into all the IM networks simultaneously from your browser. If you don’t want to create a Meebo account, you can get into one IM network at a time.

If you don’t use VOIP or video chat features from the desktop clients, if you think they use too many resources and you don’t like Gaim and Trillian, Meebo is the way to go. If you are at a public PC or at a computer that doesn’t have Yahoo Messenger or the other IM applications or if the firewall blocks them, Meebo can help you get in touch with your friends.

I know what you’re thinking: is it secure? Meebo encrypts passwords with 1024-bit RSA keys and decrypts them server-side using OpenSSL. If you want to encrypt all the traffic between you and Meebo servers you can choose https://www.meebo.com that uses SSL, but it’s slower.

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MySQL gets cosy with Microsoft

Published
by
idl3mind
on 7/1/2006
in Computers and News
. 0 Comments

MySQL, the open source database firm, is to receive Microsoft marketing support along with Visual Studio technical integration.

The company has paid $3,000 to become a member of Microsoft’s Visual Studio Industry Partner (VSIP) program in a move that will help cement the database’s use on Windows. MySQL joins more than 240 other ISVs also working with Microsoft.
Click here to find out more!

MySQL says 40 per cent of its downloads are for Windows, and VSIP membership will provide greater integration between the database and Microsoft’s development environment. Using a plug-in, developers will be able to build forms and objects inside Visual Studio with Microsoft languages lsuch as C# and Visual Basic, browse data and records, and perform basic data management.

VSIP also gives MySQL access to co-marketing opportunities, which include the right to sport the “Optimized for Microsoft Visual Studio” logo on product boxes and its website, eligibility for inclusion in partner promotions at Microsoft developer events, and the ability to participate in VSIP developer labs.

Membership is handy for both companies. For Microsoft, it means developers using Windows with MySQL continue using its tools and don’t drift off into alternatives. It should also ensure companies who need a low-cost database don’t investigate products from Oracle and - as a result - ultimately adopt Linux over Windows, according to MySQL.

“Unlike Oracle, we don’t have a platform agenda. Oracle tries to get people to run from Windows to Linux,” MySQL executive vice president of products Zack Urlocker told The Register. “Microsoft is ultimately a very pragmatic company and their customers are asking them to resolve their issues and support their customers.”

For MySQL, VSIP means greater exposure to developers in the Microsoft user base. Integration reduces the need for developers to switch between different environments, and takes the pressure off MySQL to build its own IDE or forge lots of different IDE partnerships.

Looking ahead, MySQL is investigating integration beyond Visual Studio, including integration with Microsoft’s Operations Manager (MOM). ®

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