word

Microsoft on Tuesday released its December 2008 security bulletin. The "critical" bulletins affect Windows GDI, Word, Excel, Internet Explorer and Windows Search. The "important" updates affect SharePoint and Windows Media Components.

Microsoft is including within each bulletin an "exploitability index" to help system administrators prioritize the patches. All Microsoft security patches for both Windows and Office software are available via Microsoft Update or via the individual bulletins detailed below.

MS08-070: Critical

Exploitability index: 1-2. Microsoft recommends that customers apply the update immediately. Titled "Vulnerabilities in Visual Basic 6.0 Runtime Extended Files (ActiveX … Read more

Google has retooled AdWords to offer AdWords text and image ads for Mobile Safari on the iPhone. The ads will be available in the future on other mobile devices supporting full (HTML) Internet browsers. Ads will support mobile specific calls-to-action and the ads can be created from currently existing standard Google ads running currently on the Internet.

The advantage of the full HTML browser phones is that the ad links can like before point to regular web pages. Google's pitch is that any advertiser can run a single ad campaign across all Internet-enabled devices. They can then analyze the … Read more

The iPhone and T-Mobile G1 come with pretty much full-fledged Web browsers, and Google now is according them that status by showing search ads on the phones.

Advertisers bidding for search ads through Google's AdWords service now can choose to have ad campaigns run exclusively on iPhones and the T-Mobile G1, the first phone with Google's Android operating system, which also has a robust browser. Alexandra Kenin, product marketing manager for Google's mobile ads team, announced the move on the company's Google Mobile Blog Monday.

By using the "iPhones and other mobile devices with full … Read more

The final Patch Tuesday for 2008 will be big, with six critical bulletins and two important bulletins due, according to Microsoft.

On Thursday, the company announced eight security bulletins set to go public December 9. The pre-announcement is intended as a heads-up for IT departments before Patch Tuesday. Six bulletins are considered "critical," the most serious ranking given by the software giant. Two are considered "important," the next level down.

Among the critical patches, two affect Windows, and there is one each that addresses issues in Word, Excel, Visual Basic, and Internet Explorer. All flaws could … Read more

Web-based blogging tool WordPress.com is getting a big update in a few hours with the release of version 2.7. The update is going out to all WordPress.com users at 5 p.m. PST Thursday, with a release for self-hosted WordPress.org users to follow later this month. Brave beta testers who want to get an early jump on 2.7 early can install the latest release candidate which has been available since Monday.

Version 2.7 brings a host of changes, with the biggest one being a complete overhaul of the blogging tool's dashboard interface. Instead … Read more

For all the wonderful things that OS X does, flipping through folders while opening and saving documents remains a hassle. This award-winning app attaches a toolbar to the side of all your Open and Save dialogs, providing quick access to multiple folders and commands. You can jump to favorite and recently used folders, or even manage files and folders right from the dialog (so you don't need to go to the Finder for simple tasks such as renaming and deleting). Default Folder also lets you assign hot keys and work with recent items right from the Dock. We're … Read more

Years ago, I promised my cousin Bill (who doesn't have a TV show, by the way) that I would convert the family tree he had created into a Web page. It was pretty easy to find various JavaScripts that let you open menus and submenus, either by clicking or simply by hovering over them.

The only problem was the unwieldy HTML coding required to ensure that the lists opened and closed, as expected. What ended up working better for me was Microsoft Word's Outline view, which lets you use headings to show and hide information in a tree … Read more

TextFlow, a new way to collaboratively edit documents, is opening up to everyone Monday morning. Instead of going the real-time route like Zoho and Google Docs, the service opts to let a master editor corral multiple versions of the same Microsoft Word document inside of one file.

Each editor sends in a copy of the file (presumably via e-mail), and the master editor drags and drops all of them into a single bucket. The application then divides the edits into sections, letting the master editor pick whichever revisions make the most sense. When finished, he or she can convert it … Read more

File delivery service YouSendIt announced Thursday that it has released a plug-in (download) for Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007 that will allow users to send any file from Word, Excel, or PowerPoint to recipients through the company's service.

Based on my testing, the plug-in, which requires registration to download, works quite well. After surfing over to the company's plug-in page, which is already populated with other plug-ins for iPhoto, Outlook, Photoshop, and others, I downloaded the file in seconds.

Once installed, the plug-in embeds itself in Microsoft Office. On my version of Office 2007, I found YouSendIt's … Read more