rapid

Common bugs in networking systems are placing PCs, printers and storage devices at risk, according to security researchers.

According to the security team at Rapid7, technology used worldwide in both routers and standard networking equipment is making it possible for hackers to potentially infiltrate approximately 40 million to 50 million devices worldwide.

The vulnerability lies in the standard known as Universal Plug and Play (UPnP). This standard set of networking protocols allows devices such as PCs, printers and Wi-Fi access points to communicate and discover each other's presence. After discovery, devices can be connected through a network in order … Read more

Many of us have relied on rapid diagnostic tests at one time or another, whether it's testing for pregnancy, blood glucose levels, or strep throat.

But while dropping fluid samples on a small strip for near-instantaneous results is affordable and convenient, reading results using the human eye means there is the potential for, well, human error.

So researchers at UCLA have taken the human out of the equation as much as possible and developed a digital "universal" reader for all rapid diagnostic tests, or RDTs, that requires no translation of results.

In the journal Lab on a … Read more

Which cyberlocker service is next to get busted?

That's one of the questions that have lingered since the January 19 raid on the home of Kim DotCom, the founder of MegaUpload. Two of that company's rivals, RapidShare and MediaFire, appear to be trying to make sure that it's not them. They are speaking out publicly now in an effort to show the differences between their services and rivals, especially MegaUpload. Cyberlock services enable people to store their digital media on a third-party's servers.

Danny Raimer, RapidShare's general counsel, told U.S. News & World Report … Read more

Mozilla has embarked on its plan to build its Extended Support Release (ESR) version of Firefox, an edition that stands comparatively still while the ordinary version of the browser changes every six weeks.

Mozilla proposed the ESR version of Firefox last year after encountering serious resistance to its rapid-release development cycle.

The fast releases let Mozilla bring new Firefox features to the world sooner, and Mozilla remains committed to the approach. But it doesn't work so well for companies or other organizations that need to test their software carefully or make sure custom add-ons don't break frequently.

The … Read more

Mozilla is laying claim to big performance improvements for Firefox 9, while Firefox for Android goes in for a shave and a haircut as it gets an entirely different look. Both desktop and Android updates are being released today.

Firefox 9 (download for Windows | Mac | Linux | Android) continues the browser's rapid-release development oscillation, where feature enhancements and performance improvements take the lead in alternating months.

The JavaScript improvement called Type Inference, which Mozilla spent more than a year developing, debuts on the PC version of Firefox. The short version is that sites that heavily rely on JavaScript--like Web apps … Read more

Mozilla has begun notifying Firefox 3.6 users that now is a good time to upgrade to Firefox 8.0.1--and to the browser's new fast-moving ethos.

The change had been planned for at least two other occasions in recent weeks, but Mozilla postponed it. And then yesterday, Mozilla flipped the switch so that when Firefox 3.6 checks with a server to find out if there's an update, it'll find the newest version of the browser.

"It's live, and users should see an update in the next 24 hours," said spokeswoman Erica Jostedt. … Read more

Mozilla has postponed its plan to prompt Firefox 3.6 users to upgrade to the latest version of the open-source Web browser to make sure its servers are up to snuff.

The organization had planned to flip a switch so that users of Firefox 3.6 would be prompted to get the latest version, Firefox 7.0.1. That change that would get a large fraction of people onto Mozilla's rapid-release process--Firefox 3.6 was the second most widely used version of the browser in September, and Mozilla expects the upgrade prompt to encourage a lot of people to … Read more

In a move expected to bring a large number of Firefox users onto Mozilla's rapid-release process, people using Firefox 3.6 will be encouraged to update to the current version 7.0.1 today.

Mozilla has moved to the rapid-release process to try to make Firefox more competitive by getting improvements into users' hands sooner. Google's Chrome, which has been increasing in browser usage at Firefox's expense, pioneered the six-week rapid-release cycle that Firefox now uses, too.

When Mozilla releases new major versions of Firefox, the older browsers don't immediately notify users they can upgrade. But … Read more

Mozilla, faced with business users' stiff resistance to its new rapid update schedule for Firefox, has proposed a slower-moving version of the browser.

Under the proposal, Mozilla would issue a new Extended Support Release (ESR) version of Firefox every 30 weeks. That's five times slower than the new rapid-release cycle for regular Firefox, which updates the browser every six weeks. And each version would be supported for 42 weeks under the proposal.

After Mozilla got an earful in June about how the rapid-release program outpaces some users' needs to test the browser and in-house Web sites that use it, … Read more