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The Washington Post's "Security Fix" blog has managed to shut down McColo, a US-based web hosting provider which facilitated more than 75 percent of global spam:

A U.S. based Web hosting firm that security experts say was responsible for facilitating more than 75 percent of the junk e-mail blasted out each day globally has been knocked offline following reports from Security Fix on evidence gathered about suspicious activity emanating from the network.

For the past four months, Security Fix has been gathering data from the security industry about McColo Corp., a San Jose, Calif., based Web hosting service whose client list experts say includes some of the most disreputable cyber-criminal gangs in business today.

Major Source of Online Scams and Spams Knocked Offline [SecurityFix]
Host of Internet Spam Groups is Cut Off [WashingtonPost]

Apple today announced two new additions to their ever-popular MacBook laptop family. Both models have a more durable and incredibly thin designs, instant-on LED-backlit displays, powerful new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics and large glass Multi-Touch trackpads. Engadget has more info on the 13-inch MacBook as well as the 15-inch MacBook Pro.

I have to say that both models are simply stunning... the design is just incredible! Hands down. I think that the time for me to switch from Windows PC to Mac has finally arrived. I don't think I can resist any longer.

Microsoft has announced that the latest version of their flagship Windows operating system, due in the next couple of years or so. The new OS will be officially called - hold your breath - Windows 7. LOL!

Microsoft explains their decision in a blog post on their Windows Vista Team Blog:

The decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity. Over the years, we have taken different approaches to naming Windows. We've used version numbers like Windows 3.11, or dates like Windows 98, or "aspirational" monikers like Windows XP or Windows Vista. And since we do not ship new versions of Windows every year, using a date did not make sense. Likewise, coming up with an all-new "aspirational" name does not do justice to what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows. Simply put, this is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore "Windows 7" just makes sense.

Seriously, "Windows 7"? What's up with that? TechCrunch's Jason Kincaid sums it up best:

It's about time Microsoft adopted a naming system that might actually make some sense to users, but I can't wait for hordes of customers to start asking if they somehow missed Windows 1 through 6.

I'm so not looking forward to this...

TypeNeu: Typography News - Excellent resource for typography obsessives like myself that I discovered today.

The Interwebs are currently full of buzz about the launch of Chrome - the new open source web browser for Windows Vista/XP from Google. I installed the application yesterday morning and have been testing it briefly since then. Why "briefly"? Well.. mainly because of this and this. Anyway, the thing is still in beta, so let's just give them a break and wait for the final release.

Former Microsoft evangelist and tech geek blogger Robert Scoble has posted a bunch of awesome pictures of the new research facility at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington. I have to say that the building looks amazing! One could wish that Microsoft's engineers would come up with some exciting software and online services in the near future. Gasp..

Microsoft's cool new research building, a photostory [Scobleizer]

Time Warner announced Wednesday that it will test metered bandwidth plan in Beaumont, Texas that would limit the amount of bandwidth each customer can use each month before additional fees kick in. Simply put, if you're a TW customer the company is about to put a "roof" over your head.

Obviously, the idea behid this proposed plan is to create a mechanism to ensure that anyone who downloads movies, streams online video or downloads large files, etc. will end up paying the highest price possible. Time Warner spokesman has said the billing system will "impact only heavy users," who account for around 5 percent of all their customers but typically use "more than half of the total network bandwidth".

According to the New York Times, the proposed plan structure would mean that even a single high-definition movie download could significantly increase a subscriber's monthly bill:

Let's say you buy a new Apple TV because you want to rent high-definition movies. And say you are about to move to Beaumont, Tex. If so, you might wind up paying Time Warner Cable as much as $30 when you download a movie using its high-speed Internet service.

What struck me here most is the ignorance of ISPs: Instead of gradually upgrading their current network infrastructure and increasing their bandwidth capacity, those fuckers seem to be doing everything in their power to prevent customers like you and me from enjoying our online experience.

Bandwidth caps are still pretty common in some European countries, including Slovakia where I'm from... and I can tell you for free that being under such ceiling is no pleasure at all.

Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs introduced the new uber-thin and ultra-portable MacBook Air at Macworld on Tuesday. Judging by the initial reactions of numerous A-list bloggers and about a dozen of notable technology blogs, the first impressions or "Air" seem to be pretty mixed so far.

The company's stock price is now down and this won't help them either.

Please note that I have not seen one, nor had a chance to try it, so this post is meant to point out certain aspects and flaws that are (or may not be) immediately obvious. I personally don't like it at all. Here's why:

Processor - Let's face it: 1.6 Ghz or 1.8 Ghz nowadays, even if it is a Core 2 Duo? For any kind of serious work that just won't do it. No other options.

No optical drive - Lack of optical drive strikes me as something of a limiting factor. Also the feeling that I'd have to invest extra just for a CD drive doesn't sit quite well. We all know that both CDs and DVDs are going to die very soon but that time hasn't arrived yet.

Lack of ports - Just a single USB port and one Micro-DVI? Where's FireWire? You gotta be kidding!

Sealed case/battery - What if I travel a lot and need an extra battery on the go? And $129 to replace it? That's a rip off. Lack of a user-replaceable battery is something I wouldn't play with.

Price tag - $1800 is way too much.

CrunchGear sums it up best:

First, let me just say that the Air is an extremely impressive piece of technology. The miniaturization, the optimization of space, the blatant disregard for current standards — it’s everything a revolutionary machine should be. Except it isn't one. It’s a flight of Apple vanity that is completely impractical for anyone who needs to do more than the most basic functions with their computer.

Bottom line: Forget the hype and look at that thing and its hardware specifications closely. I know, it's thin, it's light, it's gorgeous. However, if you do more with your computer than just check emails and browse the Web, maybe then you'll understand why it sucks. I'm sure there's plenty of people out there who will be impressed with this stunning machine and buy it. I'm just not one of them.

Take this you Mac-obsessed PC haters: I still think that Apple's MacBook Pro is the king when it comes to design, but the new Lenovo IdeaPads Y710, Y510 and U110 could easily be the best designed PC notebooks I've ever seen in my entire life. Everything about those new laptops is simply beautiful: widescreen displays, top notch security features, and the keyboard looks awesome too. I think am gonna get one.

Personally, I've been using HP laptops for over 5 years now and can't complain. I tried Dell too but that turned out to be a big mistake on my side.

Introducing Lenovo IdeaPad notebooks [Lenovo.com]

[via CrunchGear]

Via The Netscape Blog:

"While internal groups within AOL have invested a great deal of time and energy in attempting to revive Netscape Navigator, these efforts have not been successful in gaining market share from Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Recently, support for the Netscape browser has been limited to a handful of engineers tasked with creating a skinned version of Firefox with a few extensions."

So that's it. I never really used NN myself and I'm still surprised it lasted for so long.

TechCrunch has more info.

I hate such messages. I want to check my email and RSS feeds: Please log in. News at WSJ.com: Please log in. MySpace? Please log in. Facebook: Same shit. WTF!? How the hell I suppose to keep track of all those different usernames and passwords? And why should I?

MS Passport / Windows Live ID? Nah! TypeKey? Useless. OpenID looks good but that's a long way to go.

So here's what I need from you, entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and beyond: I want a service that lets me log in to all online services I use, including news sites, blogs and message boards with a single username and password. That's all I need - a single universal login. My life would be much more enjoyable after that. Stop developing those so-called "social networking" websites and similar crap and focus on stuff that will actually make our online experience easier.

Thank you and happy new year.

Duncan Riley, one of the bloggers over at TechCrunch, obviously dislikes the annoying and rather pathetic "SuperWall" application which tons of people added (and continue to add) to their Facebook profiles. No wonder, it is so fucking annoying I can't stand it myself. Not that I have tons of friends, not at all. It's just a continuous stream of crap that you don't give shit about and at the same time can't really avoid.

Adam Singer has a new blog, The Future Buzz:

"The Future Buzz is an on-going project of a 25 year-old marketing professional working at an independently owned firm. The purpose of this site is to bring a fresh perspective to the world of marketing/public relations and their complex relationship with blogs, social networks, and the Internet as a whole."

Link

Update: TechCrunch is now reporting that the iPhone doesn’t send an IMEI (the phone’s unique identifier) back to base but only personally unaware data.

9to5Mac.com is reporting that Apple (AAPL) is tracking certain iPhone users data including IMEI number, IP address and stock quote preferences (amongst other things) through a hidden string in some of the built-in iPhone applications.

"From this information, Apple could build a profile on users. Where they travel, where they spend their free time, where they work, where they invest their money, what they browse, etc etc. Obviously most users would like to be able to control who has access to this information. If they connect this data with the credit card that you used to purchase the iPhone (remember, you can't use cash anymore), they could build an even bigger profile on you."

Hey Apple, what's going on!? It looks like both Scoble and Winer are onto something...

Exciting news for Mac fans and Apple (AAPL) shareholders today: The company announced financial results for its fiscal 2007 fourth quarter ended September 29, 2007.

The New York Times has the totals:

"Apple reported fourth-quarter profit of $904 million, or $1.01 a share, up from $542 million, or 62 cents, in the quarter a year ago, an increase of 67 percent. Analysts had predicted profit of 85 cents a share. Sales rose to $6.22 billion, from $4.84 billion. Gross margin also surged, to 33.6 percent, from 29.2 percent a year ago. Apple said it sold 2.16 million Macintosh computers worldwide in the quarter, an increase of 400,000 over the previous record. It does not break out domestic and foreign sales."

Wow!

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) stock hit a new record high today as the price per share climbed over $600 for the first time ever. But the question remains unanswered: how high can it go before the bubble bursts?

As many of you know, Google offers a large selection online applications and services (such as Gmail, Google Reader, Google Calendar etc.) that could easily replace traditional desktop. That's a fact. However, when it comes to actual integration between them, we've got a problem.

Yes, you can set up your own customized tabs using iGoogle - but that just won't do.

Like each and every day, I visited Resident Advisor earlier today. A review of Pantha Du Prince's second LP This Bliss immediately caught my eye. I rarely read music reviews on RA (maybe once or twice in the past) but I had to check that one out just because I simply love the album. I gave up reading after the first paragraph. Not that there was anything wrong with the actual review... I just couldn't stand the dark background and the bright, almost fluorescent, typeface.

So the question is: Why do some web designers still use dark - especially black - backgrounds with bright fonts? Do they actually care how fucking hard it is to read content on such sites? I guess they don't. I can deal with it in some cases (presentations, portfolios, etc.) but using such color schemes on blogs and news sites is stupid.

My fellow web designers out there, here's what I'm asking for:

Stop sabotaging your websites with stupid color schemes. Don't forget the fact that usability is one of the most important factors when it comes to success of any website or blog. Readers are gold. Your site's nothing but waste of time and effort without them. So please: stop losing you readers (and visitors) because of such lame mistakes.

There's been a lot of talks about what exactly will Web 3.0 look like. Silicon Valley entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, co-founder of Weblogs, Inc. and the GM of Netscape, has his own definition:

"Web 3.0 is defined as the creation of high-quality content and services produced by gifted individuals using Web 2.0 technology as an enabling platform."

According to Calacanis, Web 2.0 services are now the commoditized platform, not the final product. Web 2.0 services like Digg, YouTube, even Wikipedia, will evolve into Web 3.0 services with an additional layer of high-quality content, individual user excellence and focus:

"Web 3.0 is a return to what was great about media and technology before Web 2.0: recognizing talent and expertise, the ownership of ones words, and fairness. It's time to evolve, shall we?"

Not so fast here. In my opinion, Calacanis' definition of Web 3.0 fits in with where Mahalo, the user-powered search engine he's trying to build, is heading.

So, is there a personal interest involved in such claims? Of course there is. Both Web 1.0 & 2.0 were all about technology and leveraging data standards. Web 3.0 should focus on accessibility, improving the user experience and, just like Calacanis points out, high-quality content.