Flash

An about-face in Internet Explorer 10 shows Microsoft is not merely backing off from its hostility toward Flash Player, but actually warming up to the Adobe Systems browser plug-in for competitive reasons.

In September 2011, Microsoft declared that browser plug-ins are a relic from the Internet's early days, calling them bad for battery life, security, reliability, and privacy, and said that it would ban them when IE10 was running with Windows 8's Metro user interface, now called the "immersive UI."

But Microsoft gave Flash a reprieve in May 2012 by building a special version of Adobe'… Read more

AUSTIN, Texas--If there's one man in the world who can convince thousands of people to take off their pants in the subway, to follow the disembodied instructions of a downloaded MP3, or to high-five a stranger on an escalator, it's Charlie Todd.

The brainchild behind Improv Everywhere, a New York-based "prank collective" that has been culture jamming society since 2001, Todd knows a thing or two about how to get a group of perfect strangers involved in something very unexpected and very funny.

Over the years, Improv Everywhere has grown from Todd and a couple of … Read more

Everyone loves surfing the Web, but most people do not enjoy intrusive ads. The ClickToFlash for Mac plug-in makes your browsing experience more fluid and less distracting, but does not compromise content accessibility.

Once installed, ClickToFlash for Mac will automatically prevent Flash content from loading and try to convert it to a HTML5 equivalent. The installation part can't be easier, as it takes one click to install this plug-in. Don't get scared by the preference panel that pops up on your first use, as you don't need to understand all the seemingly confusing terms and options. If … Read more

Apple has tightened up security in its Safari Web browser following recent patches to Adobe's Flash technology.

As part of an update that went out yesterday, OS X will now block older and thus vulnerable versions of Flash, forcing users to update to the latest version if they wish to view Flash-based content. In order to block older versions of the software, Apple is using its Xprotect malware scanner, which is built into Mac OS X and can spot and quarantine known malware.

The move comes roughly a month after Apple began blocking older versions of Oracle-owned Java on … Read more

We all know that flash drives are dirt-cheap nowadays, but most of them are designed to ride in your pocket or on your keychain. What if you forget the drive, or don't have your keys with you? What then?!

One item you almost always have with you: your wallet. Hence today's deal: Meritline has the 8GB Black Credit Card Shaped USB Flash Drive for $7.99 shipped. Regular price: $9.99. Savings: two dollars. Woo!

I know, it's barely a deal, but not every day needs to be about TVs, laptops, and other big-ticket items. And this, … Read more

Adobe Systems released an emergency security update today that addresses a trio of vulnerabilities in Flash, two of which the company said were already being exploited by hackers.

Today's surprise update -- the company's third for the browser plug-in this month -- patches holes "that could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system," Adobe said in a security bulletin.

"Adobe is aware of reports that CVE-2013-0643 and CVE-2013-0648 are being exploited in the wild in targeted attacks designed to trick the user into clicking a link which … Read more

For anyone who's actually trying to save money (what a concept, right?), today is going to be a tough one. I've got five -- count 'em, five -- deals, each one better than the last.

As always, these are available while supplies last -- and supplies don't always last long. They're in stock as of this morning, and the prices are accurate as of this morning. That is all.

1. Acer ultrabook So I'm thinking about a new laptop. The one I'm using now is OK, but has a smaller screen (11.6 inches) … Read more

Adobe issued an emergency update to its Flash Player to fix two zero-day threats, the company announced yesterday. The updates affect all versions of Flash on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android.

The vulnerabilities currently are being exploited "in the wild," says Adobe's blog on the patches. According to the Kaspersky ThreatPost blog on the pair of zero-days, one attack targets "aerospace and other manufacturing companies" by tricking people into opening a Microsoft Word document with malicious Flash content embedded in it. The second zero-day targets Firefox and Safari on Mac OS X by tricking you … Read more

Java is not the only runtime that malware developers use to target victims of their attacks, and yesterday Adobe released an update to Flash that fixes two zero-day exploits in its popular Web plug-in software.

The two vulnerabilities in question affect both OS X and Windows systems, and allow malicious Flash content on Web sites to deliver malware to Macintosh systems via Firefox and Safari. The second vulnerability targets Windows users by tricking them into opening an e-mail attachment that contains the Flash-based exploit.

These problems are considered critical, so if you have Flash enabled on your system (which most … Read more