It seems that the fine folks that Adobe that now own the fine folks at Macromedia have decided to change the name of the Flash 8.5 beta to Flash 9.0 beta.

Nothing has changed except the name it is claimed.

The new "9.0 beta" for Windows and osX is available at

For Linux Fanboys and Fangirls only

It is possible to experience the new Flash player using Linux with WINE with the Windows versions of Firefox and Flash

I've not tried this with the "9.0 beta" but this works with the "8.5 beta" and with the stable 8.0 release for me.

Sound and Video work ok - including (e:peep) user sounds.

However, when using Firefox and Flash with WINE for estrip.org, some frames have rendering problems. My assumption is that they don't' call it "Flash" because the content of the frames flashs on a regular basis. This bug is duplicated on both Linux boxes.

Generic Instructions

Download and install WINE for your distro.

Download Firefox for Windows and install it with WINE.

Download Flash 8.0 or higher for Windows and install it using WINE.

Here's a brief how-to for Ubuntu that gives a bit more detail:

You should be able to modify this how-to for your favie distro without too much trouble.

--walt ( (e:uncutsaniflush) )

Those people who use illegally obtained ("pirated") copies of WinXP can expect to be nagged by Microsoft until they respond to the nags if they install the Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications application. At the present time, if one updates manually, one can choose not to install the application. However, the application will be installed automatically for those who choose to allow Windows to update automatically

I wonder how many people who thought they had legal copies of WinXP will find out that their copy is actually pirated. Only time will tell.

for more info including descriptions of the actual nags from Microsoft Support check out:

--Walt

I know that (e:paul) likes AJAX so here is something he might find interesting and/or annoying.

Ajaxwrite is a web-based word processor that is written in AJAX with some XUL. It is claimed that it is MS Office compatible.

I've tested it with some old .doc and .wpd files and it read them ok.

Micheal Robertson, the person responsible for mp3.com, Linspire (Lindows), SIPphone, etc, is behind ajaxwrite.

To me the funniest thing about ajaxwrite is that as of right now it only works on Firefox 1.5 and other browsers based on that version of the gecko rendering engine.

In other words, it doesn't work on MSIE. Supposedly MSIE and Safari compatiblity is in the works.

The other day I wrote about the clipboard reading code in IE, I found another example that someone else had made that used different code but had the same effect. They also had a fix. I would suggest doing this. It is probably why (e:ajays) computer didn't report anything. But the default is to have it turned on.

1. Under the Tools menu, select Internet Options

2. Click on the Security tab.

3. In the box labelled, "Security level for this zone", click on Custom Level

4. Scroll all the way down to the Scripting heading

5. Under "Allow paste operations via script" choose the Disable button.

6. Click OK and confirm that Yes you do want to change security settings for this zone.

I just accidentally discovered a major security bug in IE for windows. Copy something into your cliboard from any application and then visit this page I created. The data will be alerted and although I am not collecting the data anyone could use this technology to steal and forward whatever information was in your clipboard when you visited their web page. Just think about what you copy into your clipboard when using IE, your passwords, your bank account info, etc. Get firefox

--paul