Adobe announced a partnership with Google and Yahoo to make rich Internet applications (RIAs) friendlier to search engines. The enhanced capabilities by search engines are targeted at crawling and reading the Flash file format (SWF). Previously, search engines like Google were able to crawl text and links on static SWF Web content, but the new partnership looks to help bring that information to users immediately.
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Google is asking its users to map out some of the most remote parts of the world.The company has launched a new application known as Google Map Maker. The new service will allow users to mark out their own points of interest as well as updated information on roads, cities and parks. The user-submitted data will then be uploaded to Google’s map service.

Unlike other Google releases, however, the Map Maker service will not be making its debut in the US, Europe or any other traditional computing hotspot.

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Sony will soon add a Google Internet search feature as part of a software update for the PlayStation Portable. On the PSP blog Monday, Sony said the new upgrade, v4.00, “replicates the Google Internet search experience. PSP users will need to be connected to the Web via Wi-Fi. The move represents Sony’s continued efforts to expand the Internet features of the handheld. Of course, what users really want is an easy way to download movies off the Web.

Nonetheless, the company continues to force users to buy the much rejected Universal Media Discs (UMD), the mini DVDs that Sony built especially for the PSP, or hack the device with video converters.

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Struggling search engine almost copies Guardian Unlimited style

Google must have had some feedback about its dull and horribly weak-looking new favicon, which is no doubt appearing in a browser tab very near you. The Official google Blog has put up a not-very-spirited defense. This points out that they hadn’t changed it in 8.5 years — yeah, that’s a really good reason for making something worse.

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Microsoft has warned Web surfers about a Safari vulnerability that could put Windows users at risk. The flaw was one of three first found by researcher Nitesh Dhanjani. One of the bugs Dhanjani found was serious enough to be kept secret until a fix is found. However, Apple said it does not consider the problem Microsoft has drawn attention to a security issue.

A flaw in Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) Safari Web browser has caught the attention of Microsoft’s (Nasdaq: MSFT) security team. The software maker has released an advisory for Windows XP and Windows Vista users running Safari, informing them that Microsoft has begun investigating a vulnerability discovered two weeks earlier by Nitesh Dhanjani, a security researcher.

One of three bugs Dhanjani found in connection with Safari, the flaw exposes PC users to a “carpet bomb” attack, allowing potentially malicious files to be downloaded to and run on a PC without the owners’ consent.

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Developers going home from TechEd 2008 in Orlando (just as the admin folks arrive for the following week’s demos) could find a delightful surprise in their annual tote bags: the newest plug-in for Visual Studio.A very brief notice appearing on the blog of Microsoft .NET developer evangelist G. Andrew Duthie early this morning confirmed news coming from Tech·Ed 2008 for Developers in Orlando: The company’s corporate vice president S. Somasegar told attendees that he expects the next beta of Silverlight 2.0, the company’s portable graphics platform, before the end of this week.

Though no further details were provided about the beta itself, developers expect to be able to be able to more reliably test the 2.0 edition’s key enhancements — most notably, the capability to program for the Silverlight platform using any .NET language through Visual Studio 2008. Currently, Silverlight 1.0 prefers a Web browser-centric JavaScript programming model.

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I’m at the Googleplex in Mountain View for a Google Factory Tour–which involves neither a factory nor a tour. But it is an update on Google search, and should therefore be worthwhile. I’ll update this post as the event proceeds…

9:50am: The event is starting, a bit late. Google’s Marissa Mayer introduces R.J. Pittman, Director of Product Management. He says search is search is important, and then talks about digital photos: 300 million of them are taken every day. Next, he says that there are 360 million image searches a day across the major search properties.

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After disappointing sales, MIT’s Linux-based OLPC project is bringing Microsoft on board

It wasn’t a secret so we all saw this coming, but it’s still going to make a lot of people unhappy. Whether the customers will be unhappy, rather than the OLPC’s open source supporters, is another matter. Either way, Microsoft has just issued a press release that says: continue

This slide most likely produces moans and groans when I display it in front of my fellow techies. I have to show it, though. There have been very discreet movements on the web in the past. We had Web 0.0 which was basically text and bulletin boards. Remember those days? Waiting for the image to load line by line with your 1200 baud modem! (Yes, I know I’m old!)

Web History

Web 1.0 really became the hoard and control era. AOL (remember ‘enter keyword CHEVY) had a great grip on the net and more and more gateway sites appeared on the Internet. If you wanted someone to find you, it cost you dearly with a banner ad on a regional website.

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The takeover battle is dragging on, but could soon come to a head

The deadline for Yahoo to accept Microsoft’s “friendly” takeover offer has now passed, and unless Yahoo says something soon, Steve Ballmer faces a big choice: get hostile or walk away. In this case, a good way to get hostile would be to put up candidates to be elected to Yahoo’s board, replacing the current members, if they get enough votes. The new board could then accept the offer.

The possibilities are discussed in If Microsoft goes fully hostile on Yahoo, on Marc Andreessen’s blog. The analysis is based on input from “expert corporate attorneys — Michael Sullivan and Ed Deibert at Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk and Rabkin in San Francisco”.

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