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VisualWget v2.2.2 (AfterDawn: Software updates)
VisualWget is a download manager, it uses Wget as its core.
Update: RIAA fires MediaSentry (AfterDawn.com)
Yesterday we reported unconfirmed reports that the RIAA had fired their "investigative arm", MediaSentry.
Today the WSJ has confirmed that notion and says the trade group will replace MediaSentry with DtecNet Software ApS, a group it used before hiring MS.
MediaSentry was in charge of collecting evidence to be used against alleged pirates during a lawsuit brought on by the RIAA. Since 2002, over 35,000 lawsuits were brought against P2P users.
MediaSentry has been at the center of controversy for months now and has even been accused of investigating without a license, performing illegal searches and taps, and even destroying evidence.
SlySoft extends promotion (AfterDawn.com)
Citing "tremendous customer response", SlySoft has announced they will be extending their current promotional period until January 11th, giving potential buyers another 10 days to figure out if they want free lifetime updates of the popular programs.
"Based on tremendous customer response SlySoft management has decided to extend both the current 20% promotion and lifetime free updates until Sunday, January 11 2009 to give everybody a chance to sneak a peak at 2009 prices and subscription fees for better comparison.
As of January 11th, 2009, Slysoft will change its update policy from free lifetime updates to an annual subscription fee. All license purchases made before January 11th, 2009 will not be affected by this change; as promised, all licenses purchased before 2009 will still be honoured under Slysoft's free lifetime update policy.
SlySoft announces this step in advance in order to provide its customers with the choice between the old and new licensing model. Buyers who act quickly can get an additional discount with the current ongoing special promotion.
Until January 11 2009 Slysoft offers a 20% discount on all software products--except upgrades. If you are entertaining the thought of purchasing one of Slysoft's products, now is the right time to act!"
If you have been planning to buy AnyDVD, AnyDVD HD, CloneDVD or any other of their products, now is the perfect time to do so, especially considering BD+ has once again been defeated by SlySoft.
Sentences passed down on 'world's biggest' software pirates (AfterDawn.com)
11 pirates, considered the "world's biggest" software pirates, have been sentenced to jail time today by the Futian People's Court in Shenzhen, China.
The group were 'ringleaders' in a counterfeiting syndicate that specialized in 'high-quality' fake Microsoft software. It is estimated that the pirates manufactured over $2 billion USD worth of counterfeits.
The sentences, the longest ever for intellectual property crimes in China, ranged from 1 year to 6.5.
The counterfeits were found in 36 separate countries on five continents and were produced in at least 11 languages.
The Chinese Public Security Bureau (PSB) was responsible for tracking down the pirates and the bureau claims "tens of thousands" of buyers verified the software was fake using Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage.
PlayStation 2 still the most played console (AfterDawn.com)
According to year-end figures provided by Nielsen, it appears that the Sony PlayStation 2 remains the most played video game console, by far. In fact, in terms of "overall usage minutes", the PS2 accounted for just under 32 percent of the total.
Following in the list was the Microsoft Xbox 360 at 17.2 percent and the Nintendo Wii at 13.4 percent. The PlayStation 3 improved to 7.3 percent but somewhat surprisingly, lost to the original Xbox, which managed 9.7 percent of the total.
The PS2's lead diminished significantly from 2007's 42 percent of the total, but understandably so considering Sony has moved all their efforts to the next-gen PS3.
Year-on-year, the PS3 jumped from 2.5 percent to 7.3 percent of the total, the Wii jumped from 5.5 percent to 13.4 percent of the total, and the 360 jumped from 12 percent to 17 percent, all at the expense of the aging set of the PS2, Xbox and Gamecube.
Newspaper goes online only, drops print (AfterDawn.com)
AsianWeek, a newspaper for Asian-Americans, has become the largest US paper to drop its print editions to move to online only.
The 30-year old paper has a circulation of roughly 60,000 and will go online only beginning on Monday.
AsianWeek president and editor James Fang wrote in a letter to all readers that, "There are fewer major newspapers, fewer newspaper readers and fewer newspaper advertisers than ever before. Asian Pacific Americans have led the way in the digital revolution, migrating away from print media and into receiving their news and information electronically."
"To reflect these changing times, AsianWeek will cease regular newspaper publication immediately. We will continue to publish online and in special newspaper editions."
Microsoft Zune bug 'fixed' (AfterDawn.com)
Beginning on December 31st, 30GB Microsoft Zunes around the world began freezing up and complaints flooded in from worried users who were concerned their media device was broken.
The software giant looked into the problem and concluded that the problem stemmed from 2008 being a leap year. The Zune's internal clock had failed to switch over to the new year, and the software bug caused the devices to lock up.
The problem was 'fixed' however yesterday when Microsoft advised all Zune users to let the battery of their device drain out and then turn it on after 7 am on Thursday.
"Wait until the battery is empty and the screen goes black," the company said, "Then power up the devices, but only after 7 a.m. Eastern time on New Year's Day Thursday. No other action is required."
Users may have to re-sync their devices completely today however, to restore any DRM files that come with
copyright-protected songs.
MediaSentry dropped by RIAA? (AfterDawn.com)
Following last week's decision that it would stop lawsuits, and instead pressure ISPs, the RIAA appears to be on the verge of cutting ties with MediaSentry, their unethical "investigative arm."
There is no cause for celebration here however, as the rumor has it that they will be replacing the "watchdog" company with a similar one, such as BayTSP.
Although unconfirmed by MediaSentry or the record industry, the decision to drop MediaSentry should help the trade group retain any integrity it has left. MediaSentry has been at the center of controversy for months now and has even been accused of investigating without a license, performing illegal searches and taps, and even destroying evidence.
Internet Explorer loses more browser market share (AfterDawn.com)
According to new figures from Net Applications, Internet Explorer lost more browser market share in the month of December as minority browsers continue to slowly grow in popularity.
Firefox jumped to 21.34 percent, Apple's Safari pressed on to 7.93 percent, and Google's Chrome browser shifted moved to 1.04 percent share, marking the first time the browser has hit the 1 percent milestone.
Internet Explorer dropped to 68.15 percent share and remains the clear market leader thanks to coming pre-installed in every Windows computer. The browser has lost a massive amount of market share however since it hit its peak in 2003 at 94.43 percent. Even at the beginning of 2008 IE was cited as having just over 77 percent of market share.
Help us to translate AfterDawn into your own language! (AfterDawn.com)
As many of you might have noticed, our site is one of those with various "flags" located in the top-right corner of the site, meaning that our site is published in several languages (currently in English, Finnish and Swedish). Now, we're planning to extend our reach to new language areas and we are hoping for your assistance with this plan.
That being said, if you speak/write fluently any "foreign" language (namely, something other than Finnish, Swedish or English) and are willing to volunteer for our translation project, please contact us via our feedback form.
Our translation projects are typically divided into small chunks, so the workload is quite small for each participating member. Translation includes software descriptions, site navigation elements and some technical terms. The project is meant to be run by volunteers, as we can't pay for your time. But of course, we'll hand out "AfterDawn merchandise" such as T-shirts, coffee mugs, etc to those who have helped us in these projects :-) And if you think your CV might benefit from it, we can also send you a letter describing your volunteer work with our translation project as well.
So, if you think you can spend some of your precious time on getting AfterDawn to your own language, contact us. Pretty much any language is welcomed -- German, Norwegian, Portuguese, Japanese, Danish, Italian, Greek, etc.. Just let us know that you're interested and tell us what your "fluent language" is and we'll see if we can gather a team for that particular language.
Oh, I'd also like to mention that "I read Spanish/German/Swahili back in high school for two years" is typically not considered as "fluent" :-) And ability to use Google Translate can't be considered as "fluent language skill" either..
Giganews has competition (AfterDawn.com)
According to Slyck, the newsgroup server Astraweb has increased its retention to 270 days, hopping over Giganews on its way to being the newsgroup provider with the longest retention.
"Astraweb is pleased to announce that we have just completed an infrastructure upgrade to increase our retention and improve our network. Our retention is currently growing towards 270 days from 160 days."
When the provider will actually hit 270 is still in question though, and whether Giganews will respond is kind is a more important question. On Christmas, Giganews confided they were in the midst of a massive upgrade themselves and that new retention times would be "well beyond 240 days."
Giganews currently costs $30 USD a month while Astraweb only cost $15.
Dolby bringing 3-D to Blu-ray (AfterDawn.com)
Dolby Laboratories, the company best known for its audio technologies, has proposed a new 3-D video technology for Blu-ray movies, following recent proposals from Panasonic and Philips.
The company will give a "first peek" of the technology at the upcoming CES show.
According to CDRInfo, "the technology, which uses a checkerboard pixel pattern similar to techniques employed in current 3-D-ready digital TVs from Mitsubishi and Samsung, can be used with active or passive 3-D glasses. It would work on any 3-D enabled TV with a standard Blu-ray player."
There was no word on when Dolby would release any consumer products using the 3-D technology.
Disney drops third 'Narnia' movie (AfterDawn.com)
Disney has announced that they have dropped the third Chronicles of Narnia film after deciding that co-producing and distributing the film, entitled "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," would prove too costly given the economic downturn.
The decision will leave the production company Walden Media on its own looking for a new partner to release the third film.
The new movie would have had a budget of over $200 million USD but its box office return was uncertain given the current climate and the diminished returns of the second movie in the franchise. The first film, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," grossed $745 million USD worldwide but its sequel, "Prince Caspian" only made $418 million worldwide.
For the time being, it is being reported that 20th Century Fox is a possibility to back the new movie, however they will require a tighter budget.
For a good opinion piece on why Disney is making a terrible mistake, read here: A 'Chronicles of Narnia' voyage Disney should take
Christmas Xbox sales in Europe are 'best ever' (AfterDawn.com)
Microsoft is now boasting that its Xbox 360 gaming console had its "best ever" Christmas sales in Europe, pushing overall sales in the region to just over 8 million consoles.
Unit sales were almost double year-on-year and Microsoft also noted that they are leading the Sony PlayStation 3 by over one million units.
"2008 saw us grow faster than any of our competitors and we over-achieved in sales during the crucial Christmas selling period," added Chris Lewis, regional VP of Microsoft's Xbox business in Europe.
"With eight million consoles sold since we launched, and consistently out-selling PlayStation 3 in EMEA, we're poised to build on this success in 2009.
"This success was only possible through our partnerships with retail and with publishers, with whom we’ve worked closely to build a strong ecosystem in the region and to bring value to our shared customer base."
"As we move into 2009 and an uncertain economic climate, we continue to be committed to offering the right blend of gaming and entertainment experiences at the right price," concluded Lewis.
CD sales fell 20 percent in 2008 (AfterDawn.com)
According to Nielsen SoundScan year-end figures, CD sales fell 20 percent for the year 2008, while digital sales grew 27 percent.
Physical CDs still remain the most profitable media for recorded music, and account for 85 percent of overall album sales.
Over 1 billion digital tracks were sold in 2008, while 362.6 million physical CDs were sold for the year.
Even more disheartening for the record industry is the fact that for the period of September 30th-December 31st, CD sales declined the most. That period is usually the most important time of the year for sales, due to the holidays.
'Popeye' goes copyright free in Europe (AfterDawn.com)
On January 1st the iconic cartoon character Popeye the Sailor Man became public domain in the EU, following the EU law that restricts copyrights of authors for only 70 years after their death.
Elzie Segar, the creator of the beloved character died in late 1938.
The 'Popeye industry' generates $2.5 billion USD in annual sales and merchandise comes in the form of books, toys, computer games, canned spinach and even a fast-food chain. Being public domain means that anyone can sell Popeye drawings merchandise, with no worries of needing authorization for being responsible for royalties.
It is important to note that the character is only public domain in the EU, and is still protected in the US until 2024, 95 years after the creator's death. The Popeye trademark however, is a separate entity and is owned by the Hearst Corporation which should should protect the brand very aggressively.
Adds Mark Owen, an intellectual property specialist at the law firm Harbottle & Lewis: “The Segar drawings are out of copyright, so anyone could put those on T-shirts, posters and cards and create a thriving business. If you sold a Popeye toy or Popeye spinach can, you could be infringing the trademark.”
Mr Owen also notes: “Popeye is one of the first of the famous 20th-century cartoon characters to fall out of copyright. Betty Boop and ultimately Mickey Mouse will follow.”
Xbox 360 adds support for DivX (BitBurners.com)
It's official now: Xbox 360 supports AVI files and to be more precise, MPEG-4 Part 2, Simple and Advanced Simple...
PornTube.com sued by Vivid Entertainment (BitBurners.com)
PornTube is a YouTube look-a-like for X-rated content, that has been sharing porn videos on the Web for quite some...
Google to offer free online storage? (BitBurners.com)
According to the source, Internet company Google is planning an online data storage service that would allow users to store...
Get DivX Pro for Free! (BitBurners.com)
DivX offers a free serial number for their DivX Pro codec. Grab it (http://www.divx.com/dff/index.php) while you still can!
BitBurners.com MediaBase updated! (BitBurners.com)
Our MediaBase project to a big step forward today, as we released version Beta 2 with a number of improvements...