Skype 3.8 for Windows with major improvements in the audio engine has been released. Skype 3.8 version claims to have significantly reduced the background noise, less delay, fewer call drops, and fewer cut-outs, especially when all parties are using Skype 3.8 for Windows. There’s no need to change anything in the sound settings if you replace your headphones or microphone, Skype 3.8 for Windows takes care of it behind the scenes, according to Skype. The new version no longer displays profile images by default, although you can still see the hidden avatar if you click on it. The new version of Skype also includes a number of video-related bug fixes, Skype’s own UPnP implementation and other tweaks.

You may download Skype 3.8 for Windows here

Popularity: 2% [?]

FireRock’s SD Recorder is a standalone telephone recorder with an automatic on/off function that is activated by the line state or by voice so that everything gets recorded. The SD Recorder can be connected to analog or digital telephone lines. It can also act as a caller ID box using its 102 x 64 pixel LCD display which shows all needed call information and recent calls. It has many of the features available on advanced PC based systems and also allows you to transfer recordings to your PC for playback, archive and management at your convenience.

FireRock’s SD Recorder is ideal for SOHO/SMBs and people who would like to have their own independent telephone recording device. With over 340 hours of storage on a standard 2Gb memory card, the SD Recorder is a perfect mix of stand-alone (no PC required) functionality with convenient PC management if and when required.

Secure Digital Telephone Recorder key features include:

• Secure digital call recording, up to 340 hours recording on one memory card.
• Caller ID, digits dialed, time, date, duration and comments stored.
• Battery or mains adapter powered.
• Auto start/stop record using line current detect or voice detect.
• Supplied with FireRock’s world renowned FR Desktop software for call search/playback and management on PC.
• Connects directly to analog line or to digital/IP telephone handset cords.
• Built-in microphone for room/memo recording.
• 102 x 64 dot LCD displays all important call information and lists recent calls.
• Rapid search and playback controls.
  • Playback via built-in speaker or headset socket for privacy (also via PC with software supplied).
• Security features to prevent unauthorized access.
• Add-on Bluetooth adapter for recording mobile telephone calls. (coming soon)

Popularity: 2% [?]

A junior member of OQO Talk forums with TRF initials has successfully hacked his OQO to run OS X Leopard. TRF’s Leopard-running OQO boots in 2 minutes and 30 seconds and everything seems to be working, including WiFi, sound, power management and Bluetooth. The only thing missing is WWAN, which may be within reach.

Popularity: 2% [?]

HP admits that it has accidentally been selling USB flash drives pre-infected with malware. Dubbed the HP USB Floppy Drive Key, the device is a combination flash drive and compact floppy drive and is designed to work with various models of HP’s ProLiant Server line. HP sells two versions of the drive, one with 256MB capacity and the other with 1GB capacity. Since these are normal flash drives, they can also be used to other computers. The worms contained on the USB drives have been identified as W32.Fakerecy and W32.SillyFDC, which spread by copying themselves to removable or mapped drives and could allow an attacker to compromise an infected system running Windows 95/98/XP/Me/NT/2000.

If a compromised drive is plugged into a USB port on any machine on the network, the worms may spread “to any mapped drives on the server,” HP’s alert said.

Users are advised to disable the default autorun settings and make sure that virus protection is active and up-to-date.

Popularity: 2% [?]

SliTaz is a very small Linux distribution that runs completely in memory and can be booted from a CD-ROM or USB flash drive. Even at the size of no more than 24.8 MB ISO image, SliTaz Linux provides a lot of applications, nice desktop effects and even a ready-to-use web server, which makes it more incredible.

Below are some features of SliTaz Linux:

• Root filesystem taking about 80 Mb and ISO image less than 30 MB;
• Ready to use Web server powered by LightTPD with PHP and CGI support;
• Browse the Web with Mozilla Firefox or Retawq in text mode;
• Sound support provided by Alsa mixer, audio player and CD ripper/encoder;
• Chat, mail and FTP clients;
• SSH client and server powered by Dropbear;
• Database engine with SQLite;
• Generate a LiveUSB device;
• Tools to create, edit or burn CD or DVD images;
• Elegent desktop with JWM running on the top of Xvesa (X server);
• Home made graphical boxes to command line utilities;
• More than 440 packages easily installable from the mirror;
• Active and friendly community.

Below are applications inside SliTaz Linux:

• Firefox (web browser)
• gFTP (FTP client)
• Transmission (BitTorrent client)
• LostIRC (IRC client)
• Retawq (web browser)
• ePDFView (PDF viewer)
• Wikiss (PHP Wiki)
• ISO Master (ISO image editor)
• Leafpad (text editor)
• Nano (console text editor)
• XTerm (terminal emulator)
• mtPaint (image editor)
• GPicView (image viewer)
• Gcolor2 (color selector)
• Alsaplayer (audio player)
• Asunder (CD ripper)
• mhWaveEdit (audio editor)
• LightTPD (web server)
• Geany (Integrated Development Environment)

Popularity: 1% [?]

HP introduced the HP Mini-Note 2133, a full-function, mini-notebook designed for the education market.

The HP Mini-Note 2133 is available with a variety of 2.5″ form-factor storage options unlike the ASUS Eee PC. The HP Mini-Note 2133 $499 model will get you a 1.0GHz VIA C7-M processor, 512MB of RAM and a 4GB SSD running Novell Suse Linux. The $549 will get you a 1.2GHz VIA processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 5400 RPM 120GB Hard Disk Drive. For Windows Vista lovers, all you need is to add an an extra $50 for the Home Basic edition. All machines are equipped with two USB 2.0 ports, SDHC slot, an ExpressCard/54 slot, VGA port and GbE. HP also makes 7200 RPM 120GB and 160GB HDDs available as an option.
The HP Mini-Note 2133 has an 8.9″, 1280×768 screen resolution display. The 2133 Mini-Note weighs 2.63 lbs with its base configuration and a 3-cell battery.

Popularity: 2% [?]