Four new themes

Posted by Jake Knapp, UI Designer and Manu Cornet, Software Engineer

Manu: Hey Jake, you still using that same old theme?
Jake: Well, yeah. I mean, I like it -- but I don't know... I guess it just doesn't feel as new as it used to.
Manu: I hear ya. Well, good news! Today four new themes are out there for everybody. Just go to the Themes tab under Settings...and ta da!
Jake: (click, click) There we go!
Manu: Should we tell people about why we created these four themes?
Jake: We should.
Manu: Assuming they're still reading.
Jake: Right. Okay, well, Gmail themes have been out since November, and I know we were ready for some new ones.
Manu: And we heard some of you asking for new ones too. So we thought about what we wanted to stare at all day long, since we work on Gmail.
Jake: I've been living in Zurich for the last year, and I missed Washington State, where I grew up. The Orcas Island theme definitely takes away a little bit of that homesickness with a new image each day of the week.


Manu: Homesickness eh? What about timesickness?
Jake: There's such a thing?
Manu: Totally. Sometimes I find myself timesick.
Jake: For when?
Manu: For a simpler time. For a time when processors weren't too fast. When graphics weren't too realistic.
Jake: Sounds like a real bummer. Too bad there's no cure for timesickness.
Manu: That's where you're dead wrong, my friend. Take a look at High Score. It's like being in a time machine isn't it?


Jake: (click, click) Aren't these colors a little bright?
Manu: Aren't you supposed to be a designer?
Jake: We'll have to agree to disagree, my friend. This one just isn't for me. I need something soothing. Something like laying face down in the grass.
Manu: I suppose you're talking about Turf now. What's the story behind that one?


Jake: Well, who doesn't like the color green?
Manu: And it doesn't change every day, so it was easier for us to make.
Jake: Are you suggesting we're lazy?
Manu: Prove that we're not.
Jake: We just made four new themes. How about that?
Manu: It took us ten months. And the fourth theme (Random) merely cycles through all the others.
Jake: Well, enjoy these themes for now. And, of course, let us know what you think. Maybe we'll have some more for you in the next ten months ;)

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Nokia outs the XpressMusic X6 and X3

I like the XpressMusic line. I really do. It is fun to watch Nokia try something different and these two new models are no exception. The X6 has 32MB storage and Comes With Music unlimited downloads. It will cost about $650.



The X3 looks like a cousin to the Motorola RAZR and has a 3.2-megapixel camera, FM radio, and takes MicroSD cards. It will be $160.

No word on US availability but don’t hold your breath.

via Giz

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Hackers target Xbox Live players

Halo 3 players are a popular target for the Xbox attack

**BBC News**

Xbox Live is being targeted by malicious hackers selling services that kick players off the network.

The booting services are proving popular with players who want a way to get revenge on those who beat them in an Xbox Live game.

The attackers are employing data flooding tools that have been used against websites for many years.

Microsoft is "investigating" the use of the tools and said those caught using them would be banned from Xbox Live.

"There's been a definite increase in the amount of people talking about and distributing these things over the last three to four weeks," said Chris Boyd, director of malware research at Facetime Communications.

Attack tool

"The smart thing about these Xbox tools is that they do not attack the Xbox Live network itself," he said.

He said the tools work by exploiting the way that the Xbox Live network is set up. Game consoles connecting to the Xbox network send data via the net, and for that it needs an IP address.

Even better, said Mr Boyd, games played via Xbox Live are not hosted on private servers.

The tools mean anyone with a few dollars can boot rivals off Xbox Live

"Instead," he said, "a lot of games on Xbox Live are hosted by players."

If hackers can discover the IP address of whoever is hosting a game they can employ many of the attacks that have been used for years against websites, said Mr Boyd.

One of the most popular for the Xbox Live specialists is the Denial of Service attack which floods an IP address with vast amounts of data.

The flood of data is generated by a group of hijacked home computers, a botnet, that have fallen under the control of a malicious hacking group.

When turned against a website this flood of traffic can overwhelm it or make it unresponsive to legitimate visitors.

When turned against an Xbox owner, it can mean they cannot connect to the Live network and effectively throws them out of the game.

"They get your IP address, put it in the booter tool and they attempt to flood the port that uses Xbox traffic," said Mr Boyd. "Flooding that port prevents any traffic getting out."

Skill set

The hard part, he said, was discovering a particular gamer's IP address but many malicious hackers had honed the skills needed to find them.

Some interconnect their PC and Xbox and use packet sniffing software to hunt through the traffic flowing in and out of the console for IP addresses.

The hackers target the way Xbox consoles connect to the net

Others simply use con tricks to get the target to reveal their net address.

The technical knowledge needed to hunt down IP addresses was quite high, said Mr Boyd, but many of those who had the skills were selling their expertise to those keen to hit back at their rivals on the Xbox Live network.

For $20 (£13) some Xbox Live hackers will remotely access a customer's PC and set up the whole system so it can be run any time they need it.

Some offer low rates to add compromised machines to a botnet and increase the amount of data flooding a particular IP address.

Defending against the attack could be tricky, said Mr Boyd: "There's no real easy solution to this one."

Although IP addresses regularly change, people could find it takes hours or days for their ISP to move them on to a new one.

In response to the rise in attacks, Microsoft said: "We are investigating reports involving the use of malicious software tools that an attacker could use to try and disrupt an Xbox LIVE player's internet connection."

It added: "This problem is not related to the Xbox Live service, but to the player's internet connection. The attacker could also attempt [to] disrupt other internet activities, such as streaming video or web browsing, using the same tools.

In its statement Microsoft warned: "This malicious activity violates the Xbox Live Terms of Use, and will result in a ban from Xbox Live and other appropriate action.

It urged anyone falling victim to such an attack to contact their ISP to report it and get help fixing it.

In January 2009 Microsoft announced that Xbox Live had more than 17m members.

Xoopit Marries Facebook Status Updates With Gmail

Xoopit, a social networking email enhancement that allows users to locate files, images and videos in their inbox, has launched a new feature that lets Gmail users immediately see and set Facebook status messages and view profile photos of their Facebook friends while reading emails off a Gmail account.

Users can also quickly see other information such as birthdays and mobile phone numbers. After downloading the feature, a user can easily update their own status directly from a Gmail account using Facebook Connect. Xoopit’s new feature is pretty neat and gives users the ability to bounce between Facebook and Gmail accounts seamlessly. And Facebook’s status message feature is one that most users check most frequently, so its particularly useful to the average Facebook user.

The marriage of social networking and email is not a new concept. Yahoo and Google are both pretty open to incorporating social networking into their email applications, with Yahoo even potentially creating a social network around its email product (Yahoo mail has around 254 million users worldwide, Gmail has around 80 million users).

It doesn’t appear that the Xoopit-Facebook feature is available to Yahoo Mail users but the Yahoo and Xoopit may not be far away from developing a Gmail-like relationship with Yahoo, as we wrote about late last year.

The plug-in was a bit buggy when I downloaded it but I think its a nifty tool as a whole. It certainly saves me the time in switching back to Facebook to check status updates or update my own status. Now if only we could stream the news feed feature into Gmail.

Here’s another screenshot of the new feature:

Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors

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Microsoft: Bounty on Conficker worm creator

Microsoft has announced today that it is offering a reward of $250,000 to anyone who can provide information that can help arrest the creator of the Conficker worm. They stated that this worm is a criminal attack and that citizens from any country can receive the bounty.

Conficker, also known as Downandup, has infected millions of computers around the world since last year. It is difficult to stop because spreads through USB thumb drives or the internet and takes advantage of Windows machines that are missing newer security patches. Once it infects a computer, it can halt automatic updates and security scans, block access to security-related websites and even lock users out of their accounts.

Microsoft has experience with fighting large virus outbreaks like this. Back in 2004, they offered $250,000 for information about the Sasser worm. They later paid out the reward in 2005. They said that this time they are teaming up with security companies, and internet companies like AOL to stop the outbreak. Better late than never, I guess.

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Watch videos right in Gmail chat

Posted by Jessan Hutchison-Quillian, Software Engineer

My friends always hate it when I multi-task in other tabs while chatting with them (they can tell because of my obviously delayed reactions...). But sometimes it's not my fault: if they send me a link to a YouTube video, I have to open another tab in order to watch it. To help with this, we've just added a new feature to Gmail chat: YouTube and Google Video previews. If you receive (or send) a link to a video in a chat message, you'll see a preview of the video right in your chat window.



Click the preview, and the video will play right there. Just remember to say something every once in a while or your friends will probably catch on that you're enjoying the dramatic chipmunk more than their conversation...

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3D formula racing game free racing mobile game download

3D Formula Racing is one of the best 3D race game of Formula 1 races. The game presents a big number of actually existing racing circuits from all over the world.

Choose from three different racecars with different characteristics and controls! Try to win a championship or take part in a single race! Realistic graphics of the game resemble most closely reality. There are several vision modes in the game, such as view from the cockpit or view from behind of the car. Racing cars reach the speed of more than 300 km/h, the car control is as close to reality as possible.In case of crash with another car or dash out off the track your car will be

correspondingly damaged. In the championship mode you will have several rivals at the same time.

Features:

- Incredible graphics

- Full 3D space

- Damage system to racing cars

- Actually existing racing circuits

- Variable camera views

- Accompanying sound

Do you like this 3D F1 racing game? If you like it, dont forget to leave your mobile games reviews, and we will try our best to get you more and more free mobile games!

Please choose the right downloadable file to fit your mobile phone and download to your PC, then transmit the jar file to your cell phone via USB Cable or Bluetooth.





Download 3D Formula racing Here

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Major Pain - Free Shooting RPG Mobile Game Download free for all mobiles

At 2030 IST a meteorite rich in a unique radioactive isotope has fallen in an isolated island controlled by a militant group known by the name of “The Paradigm”. This group is known for its fanaticism and will do anything to get their hands on the isotope. Scientists believe that with the help of this meteorite, they would be able to attain Nuclear Fusion at room temperature. Such power in wrong hands would be catastrophic. You, Major Pain, are therefore deputed on this stealth mission to retrieve the isotope from the militants. Since the island is heavily protected by S.A.M.s, your insertion will be conducted by an AH 64D Apache helicopter. These machines cannot carry a large team, so you’re going to be all alone out there. Make your way through the forest, secure the isotope and turn off all the enemy Radars. You’re the best we’ve got, make us proud. Good Hunting Soldier!!!





Do you like this shooting rpg mobile game? Please write some mobile phone games reviews in the bottom commentform and we will try to get more and more free mobile games for you!

Please choose the right downloadable file to fit your mobile phone and download to your PC, then transmit the jar file to your cell phone via USB Cable or Bluetooth.





Download For All Handsets

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[24.1.2009] ~ Awesome Theme ^_^! ~ Levi's by DzungKTS (240x320) & (320x240)

Theme ~ Full SVG Theme + Icon Levi's Button slyte + 3rd Icons, High quality Background Image (480 x 640 pixel) ... Enjoy!







DOWNLOAD

Code:

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http://www.mediafire.com/?1jlzzmtaiq4

http://rapidshare.com/files/188718001/Levi_s_by_DzungKTS.rar

---

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Flock, MySpace, Vidoop Debut OpenID for Flock

Ever since Flock was founded, we have envisioned the role of the browser to be much greater than an application that simply lets you view your favorite websites. Throughout the many versions of Flock released to the public to date, we have focused on key innovations that help you stay connected with your favorite sites, people, media and content so that you can be a happier, more informed and plugged-in person.

OpenID is an open standard for shared authentication across many sites. Simply, it’s your free, single digital identity that you can use to sign up for and log into many sites without dealing with all the paperwork. This idea has been around for a while, but only until recently has there been a broad enough adoption of both OpenID providers as well as sites supporting OpenID.

Although there has been quiet momentum and support building across the web for OpenID for some time, it was the folks at Vidoop that identified the need for the browser to play a critical role as the common denominator to best serve as the broker between a user’s OpenIDs and the increasing number of sites that support this standard for authentication. Vidoop also founded the Identity In Browser open source project (IDIB) and championed the vision for a browser that could help users discover and manage OpenID’s easily from the comfort of their own browser view.

Flock was introduced to Vidoop by the good folks at MySpace, and without a moments delay a meeting between the three parties was put together at our offices in Victoria, B.C. Our engineers all agreed on the critical role that Flock could play in aiding the adoption and management of OpenID and the result of the brainstorm was an extension we’re calling “OpenID for Flock”. This extension is a reference design for better Discovery, and Management of Identity in the browser and is Flock’s flagship contribution to the IDIB project.

The OpenID for Flock extension is available on our own extension site, as well as on the IDIB group page. We encourage everyone to watch the video above, download Flock 2.0, and install the extension to experience how gratifying it is to traverse the web and log-in to sites seamlessly with the assistance of the OpenID standard.

We’ve enjoyed our collaboration with the MySpace and Vidoop team on this project, and look forward to hearing about your thoughts and interest in getting involved with this project.

Once you’ve had a chance to experience OpenID in Flock, we’d appreciate it if you would help spread the word about Flock and OpenID. The more sites that support the OpenID standard, the better the web becomes for all of us.

-Cheers

Dan Burkhart

VP of Marketing at Flock

Get Flock and Meet Your New Favorite Browser

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Tags: openid, flock, browser, myspace, vidoop, identity in browser, idib, open source, extension

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New in Labs: Turn an email into a Google doc

Posted by Jeremie Lenfant-Engelmann, Software Engineer

More than once, I've had a conversation over email and later realized that the information contained in the messages would make a great starting point for a document. So I built an experimental feature for Gmail Labs that does just that: with one simple click, "Create a document" converts an email into a Google Docs document.

No more copying and pasting the text from your email -- just open the message you wish to convert, click the "Create a document" link on the right side of the page, and voila, you have a brand new document which you can then modify and share!



Even if you're not interested in converting any of your current messages into documents, you can easily open up a blank doc by hitting g and then w (just make sure you have keyboard shortcuts on).


To turn on this feature, go to the Gmail Labs tab under Settings, select "Enable" next to "Create a document" and hit "Save Changes" at the bottom. Though we're temporarily missing the "Send feedback" link for this feature on the Labs page (oops!), we're still anxious to hear what you think.

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