Microsoft Gazelle- Browser Based OS

You may have heard updates on Microsoft efforts to built a browser based/controlled OS earlier this year. Here few more updates from MS Research team.


In February of this year, Microsoft Research released a paper (PDF) about a new web browser they’re calling “Gazelle,” which is really less of a browser and more like an operating system. According to the paper, what makes Gazelle different than any other browsers out there today is how it’s able to exclusively control and mange the system’s resources.

Now, in a new article on Microsoft Research’s site, we get a little more insight about what exactly Gazelle can do.

One of the features of Gazelle is its ability to manage devices. Unlike with other browsers, where device management takes place (like accessing a webcam for instance), it’s done via plugin. In the Gazelle model, the browser kernel itself “protects principals from one another and from the host machine by exclusively managing access to computer resources, enforcing policies, handling interprincipal communications, and providing consistent, systematic access to computing devices.”

The kernel also exclusively manages the principles by placing them in a separate protection domain using an OS process. That way, if misbehaving code arises it only affects its own protection domain, leaving everything else including the kernel and host system intact.

Sadly for us, though, Gazelle is not a project that will develop into a workable prototype - it’s just research. “I would like to see Web applications achieve function and quality parity with desktop apps,” says Helen J. Wang, senior researcher in he Systems and Networking group at Microsoft Research Redmond. “That’s the ultimate goal of this research.”

See more here...

Bing Vs Google!

Do you want to know which search engine is better for you, here is website for you Bing vs Google.

Ever since Bing’s launch, there’s been a lot of talk about which search engine is doing a better job. Can Bing compare to Google? Does it do a better job? Or does it do well with some queries and not others? If you’ve had trouble making up your mind about this, there’s a new site that can help you figure it all out. The site is called “Bing vs. Google,” and, like it sounds, it’s a comparison site that pits two sets of search results against each other. Like any other search engine, Bing vs. Google has a simple homepage with just a search box in the middle of the screen and a bit of text explaining what it’s all about. To use the site, all you have to do is enter in a query as usual and hit “search.”

The fun part, of course, is the search results page. Bing vs. Google shows the results in a split screen, bing on the left, Google on the right. Squashing the screens like this can lead to a bit overlapping text in some cases (see, for example, how the results overlap Google’s sponsored links in the image), but it’s still a good way to easily get side-by-side results.

Using the links at the top, you can change the layout of the page to a horizontal split, if you so desire, or you can switch off one engine entirely and show just the one set of results. Either way, if you were having trouble making up your mind (or just making the switch to a new default search provider!), Bing vs. Google can help you put things in perspective.

See more here...

Hacker Watch - By McAfee

Very good real time update by McAfee Anit-Hacker Community.



HackerWatch lets you report and share information that helps identify, combat, and prevent the spread of Internet threats and unwanted network traffic.

Security is becoming increasingly critical as the Internet continues to see a surge in intrusion attempts, phishing, hacking, and worm and virus outbreaks. However, with the assistance of users worldwide, HackerWatch offers a unique kind of Internet reconnaissance: by collecting and analyzing users’ firewall activity, we can identify intrusion attempts, track complex attack patterns, and disclose the sources and targets of Internet threats. The resulting information this provides is lasting in its instructiveness: it helps all of us understand, block, and prevent unwanted Internet traffic and future threats.

An effective way to reinforce security is to expose those elements which threaten it. This is why HackerWatch also provides reports and graphical up-to-date snapshots of unwanted Internet traffic and threats. Snapshots include critical port incidents graphs, worldwide port activity statistics, and target and source maps showing unwanted traffic and potential threats to Internet security.

See more here...

Solar Plan

Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard has unveiled a prototype of the solar-powered plane he hopes eventually to fly around the world.

The vehicle, spanning 61m but weighing just 1,500kg, will undergo trials to prove it can fly through the night.

Dr Piccard, who made history in 1999 by circling the globe non-stop in a balloon, says he wants to demonstrate the potential of renewable energies.

The final version of the plane will try first to cross the Atlantic in 2012.

It will be a risky endeavour. Only now is solar and battery technology becoming mature enough to sustain flight through the night - and then only in unmanned planes.

But Dr Piccard's Solar Impulse team has invested tremendous energy - and no little money - in trying to find what they believe is a breakthrough design.

"I love this type of vision where you set the goal and then you try to find a way to reach it, because this is challenging," he told BBC News.

The HB-SIA has the look of a glider but is on the scale - in terms of its width - of a modern airliner.

The aeroplane incorporates composite materials to keep it extremely light and uses super-efficient solar cells, batteries, motors and propellers to get it through the dark hours.

Dr Piccard will begin testing with short runway flights in which the plane lifts just a few metres into the air.

As confidence in the machine develops, the team will move to a day-night circle. This has never been done before in a piloted solar-powered plane.

HB-SIA should be succeeded by HB-SIB. It is likely to be bigger, and will incorporate a pressurised capsule and better avionics. It is this vehicle which will attempt to circle the Earth (after first making an Atlantic crossing).

It is probable that Dr Piccard will follow a route similar to the one he took in the record-breaking Breitling Orbiter 3 balloon - travelling at a low latitude in the Northern Hemisphere. The flight could go from the United Arab Emirates, to China, to Hawaii, across the southern US, southern Europe, and back to the UAE.

Measuring success

Although the vehicle is expected to be capable of flying non-stop around the globe, Dr Piccard will in fact make five long hops, sharing flying duties with project partner Andre Borschberg.

"The aeroplane could do it theoretically non-stop - but not the pilot," said Dr Piccard.

"We should fly at roughly 25 knots and that would make it between 20 and 25 days to go around the world, which is too much for a pilot who has to steer the plane.

"In a balloon you can sleep, because it stays in the air even if you sleep. We believe the maximum for one pilot is five days."

The public unveiling on Friday of the HB-SIA took place at Dubendorf airfield near Zürich.

"The real success for Solar Impulse would be to have enough millions of people following the project, being enthusiastic about it, and saying 'if they managed to do it around the world with renewable energies and energy savings, then we should be able to do it in our daily life'."

See more details at here...

Mattel Mind Flex

Gamers have largely gotten a bad rep for being lazy, slothful people who spend their hours mindlessly pressing buttons. The Wii changed that a bit by getting kids (and their parents... and their parents) up off the couch, but what about giving their brains a workout too? For your family's little mind freak to-be Mattel is introducing the Mind Flex, a brain-powered game that relies on your mental activity to control the height of a ball suspended in a column of air. Don the headset then start concentrating to make the purple orb rise; relax and it lowers. There are six total game types but all entail getting a ball over, under, and through a variety of hoops and the like, sometimes against a clock so that you can challenge your friends. Sadly you have to actually reach up and turn the dial to move the ball around the course, but in our heads on trial we found the thing to be impressively responsive, gently sinking down when we thought about getting some sleep -- then shooting back up again when we pondered the number of posts left to write tonight. It was challenging for sure, and definitely turned a lot of heads, but we're a little concerned that extended sessions could be headache inducing. Its $80 price tag might cause some temple pain too when the thing releases this fall, but we've certainly spent more money on things that were less fun -- and mentally stimulating. Video of floaty balls and squinting players below.

See more here...

Google Voice - Coming Soon!

Google Voice is a service that gives you one number for all your phones, voicemail that is easy as email, and many enhanced calling features like call blocking and screening, voicemail transcripts, call conferencing, international calls, and more.

Google Voice is currently available for GrandCentral users only, but will be open to new users soon. In the meantime, please leave us your email address and we'll notify you as soon as Google Voice becomes available. To learn more about Google Voice, check out our feature videos.

See more details here...

Flapjax Online Resources

See recent discussions on Channel 9

Still wondering what is Flapjax?

Flapjax is a new programming language designed around the demands of modern, client-based Web applications. Its principal features include:

• Event-driven, reactive evaluation
• An event-stream abstraction for communicating with web services
• Interfaces to external web services

Flapjax is easy to learn: it is just a JavaScript framework. Furthermore, because Flapjax is built entirely atop JavaScript, it runs on traditional Web browsers without the need for plug-ins or other downloads. It integrates seamlessly with existing JavaScript code and other frameworks.

Download here.

Tutorials | Demos | Docs | Complier

Microsoft Hohm Released

Today, Microsoft announced Microsoft Hohm. That's Hohm as in H + OHM, the unit of measurement for electrical impedance.

Microsoft Hohm is a free web based application (running on the Windows Azure platform) that enables consumers to better understand their energy usage by utilizing advanced analytics licensed from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy to provide home owners with personalized energy-saving recommendations.

The beta is now available to all residents in the United States with plans to roll out internationally over the next year and beyond.

Troy Batterberry joined me in the studio to walkthrough Microsoft Hohm and explain how the service can help you reduce your energy consumption, lower your carbon footprint and save some real money.

Sign up & more info: www.microsofthohm.com

Axum Available for Download

A new version of Axum is available for download now.


What is Axum?

Axum is an incubation project from Microsoft’s Parallel Computing Platform that aims to validate a safe and productive parallel programming model for the .NET framework. It’s a language that builds upon the architecture of the web and the principles of isolation, actors, and message-passing to increase application safety, responsiveness, scalability and developer productivity. Other advanced concepts we are exploring are data flow networks, asynchronous methods, and type annotations for taming side-effects. Axum Lite: Contains the Axum command-line compiler and Axum runtime as well as the sample projects. Programmer's Guide: Use this simple and easy to follow programmer's guide to learn how to create safe, scalable, and responsive applications with the Axum language. Language Specification: A detailed specification of the Axum language.

Morro, aka Microsoft Security Essentials Beta

You may have heard rumors lately about “Morro,” the new no-cost anti-malware solution being launched by Microsoft. Now called “Microsoft Security Essentials,” the program will launch into a limited beta today at www.microsoft.com/security_essentials. The first 75,000 visitors to that site will have the opportunity to download and install the new software for free. (This will be available in English to the U.S. and Israel and in Brazilian Portuguese in Brazil.)

For those wanting to run Microsoft Security Essentials, you’ll need to have either a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows XP SP2 or higher, Windows Vista, or Windows 7. The software will not come pre-installed on the Windows 7 OS so you will still have a choice as to which anti-malware program they want to run. However, it will be made available as a download (but not through Windows Update) for those looking for a free and trustworthy solution which you can run without worrying about registration or renewals. Security Essentials users will also have access to free community and email support.

The security features in the new software include real-time protection, a dynamic signature service, and rootkit protection. If an infection is found, users will be prompted to fix it by pressing an action button which will appear on the screen. The process is designed to be a “one-click fix” so it’s extremely easy for anyone to use.

The program has also been made lightweight so as not to slow down your system as many anti-virus software applications have done in the past. To accomplish this, it implements features like CPU throttling, idle-time scanning, smart caching, and active memory swapping. Those last two make it so that signatures not in use don’t take up space in the available memory, a feature which makes Microsoft Security Essentials ideal for older PCs as well as today’s less powerful netbooks.

You can learn more about Microsoft Security essentials here.