Today Opera release an upgrade to the Windows and Linux version of it’s Version 8 Opera browser, labelled as 8.01. At the same time they released version 8 Opera browser for the Macintosh operating system. We don’t mind the Opera Browser to be honest, but find Firefox superior for our purposes for two reasons: (1) Firefox is free and Open Source versus Opera that is proprietary and either a purchased or advertisement supported and (2) we love the Firefox extension system. However, we certainly prefer Opera to Internet Explorer because of much tighter security and better W3C standards compliance. Some sites make a big deal that this is a security upgrade being quietly released. Frankly, all browser upgrades now include some security enhancements and unfortunately if they say that is a major cause of the release, people try to trumpet how they had flaws. Darned if they do and darned if they don’t. Recent and regular updates are the key — and of course they include security enhancements if it is a decent company.

In other browser news, AOL has released an update for Netscape 8 which fixes an IE XML problem and several bugs. You can download the free updated browser here. Microsoft also released a patch to IE in their last patch Tuesday which you should already have if you use XP, but if not you can get it via Windows Update.

According to the Apple Blog at News.com, the Queen of England now has her very own I-Pod. This makes me chuckle because of a recent ipod giveaway over at Mike Industries that had people juxtapose ipods into historical events. It was pretty comical, but now, it may be a case where he preceeded reality as well. Instead of the Queen just nodding off in boredom, you may suddenly realize she is not paying attention when her foot starts tapping on the floor.

Sites like ours that take Paypal (see the donation link at the bottom of each of our pages) have long suffered from a misperception that we do not take credit cards. In fact, Paypal has for a long time permitted people without paypal accounts to complete there transaction using just a credit card — so go ahead and donate here if you wish :-). Anyway, a story on story on News.Com unveils a new plan by Paypal to offer a virtual merchants account that would allow buyers on a merchant site to complete a Paypal/Credit Card transaction without leaving the merchant’s site. The cost for the transaction is the same as the current cost, but there is apparently going to be a $20 per month charge for that. For any kind of volume at all, it just might be worth it.

Rep. Rick Boucher is on a crusade to stop Hollywood and the recording industry from stifling tech innovation and reducing consumers “fair use” rights. Wired has an interview with the good senator which you can find here and it’s well worth a read considering how rare it is to find folks in power looking to defend consumers (the little guys) over companies (the 800 pound Gorillas).

Not that this is likely to surprise anybody, but Fairfax has a report from security expert Bruce Schneier that details that Windows is still the favourite OS of malicious parties everywhere and that DCOM and RPC appear to be the favoured attack vectors used when writing malicious code. Not to mention flaws in web browsers like Internet Explorer. The prediction of future attacks being “blended” in that they target specific software flaws with exploit code and can therefore spread without human interaction is nothing new either since it’s happened several times already. So apparently we can expect more of the same except for the likelihood that such code is going to be able to target several different exploits in the same Virus/Worm package. Interestingly he also predicts that peer to peer networks will be used more in the future as a distribution mechanism for malicious code and that more of them will use search engines to target specific hosts in an effort to hide their presence better.

SecurityFocus has an article that is well worth the read for anybody interested in security and privacy. Specifically how does one balance the need for privacy with the requirement of security? When your library asks for your fingerprints before letting you use their systems, or local councils ask for the same thing, you find yourself wondering just who can get hold of the information about you that is stored away in multiple databases. As the article points out, the Patriot act may make your information available to people you’d perhaps prefer didn’t have access, and there isn’t much you can do about it either. Well worth the read.

In yet another cell phone caper, a phone belonging to Jimmy Buffet is reported to have been found and used to call former President Bill Clinton, according to the Smoking Gun Website. The memory card from the cell phone is still missing.

If you have a cell phone with any sensitive information you should immediately enable a user password that locks the phone against outside use. In addition, consider using coded names or nicknames for your aquaintences so that any Tom, Dick or Marvin could be dialing your friends and selling your contacts. With the advent of pda type of phones, even more sensitive information is often saved in them including financial information.