Google today announced the release of their own browser which I have been using with not so many problems so far. Still it has some issues here and there:

• It can’t open PDF (and maybe other) files. You have to save those to disk and then open in Adobe Reader
• The only Java version which works with it is 1.6.0_10 which is still a Release Candidate. Installing it may break other Java applications.
• JavaScript parsing is not perfect. I have noticed that some AJAX based web application (think New Facebook interface) do not work perfectly.
• There is no Full Screen mode.

Still, the UI is better than both IE/FireFox and finally someone has put the tabs at right place (at top). Worth a try.

The first ever spam message (the term “spam” was not coined back then) was sent 30 years ago on 3 May 1978, by Gary Thuerk, an employee of DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation), subsequently part of Compaq and now HP.
In 1978, the ARPANET (the precursor to modern internet) already provided email access to many universities and government bodies in the U.S. Thuerk sent the first spam email to 320 recipients (a limit imposed by the email system used at the time) promoting events to showcase the latest models of the DECSYSTEM-20 computers.

Below is the content of that spam email:

Mail-from: DEC-MARLBORO rcvd at 3-May-78 0955-PDT
Date: 1 May 1978 1233-EDT
From: THUERK at DEC-MARLBORO
Subject: ADRIAN@SRI-KL
To: DDAY at SRI-KL, DAY at SRI-KL, DEBOER at UCLA-CCN,
…
…
DIGITAL WILL BE GIVING A PRODUCT PRESENTATION OF THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY; THE DECSYSTEM-2020, 2020T, 2060, AND 2060T. THE
DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY OF COMPUTERS HAS EVOLVED FROM THE TENEX OPERATING SYSTEM AND THE DECSYSTEM-10 <PDP-10> COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE. BOTH THE DECSYSTEM-2060T AND 2020T OFFER FULL ARPANET SUPPORT UNDER THE TOPS-20 OPERATING SYSTEM. THE DECSYSTEM-2060 IS AN UPWARD EXTENSION OF THE CURRENT DECSYSTEM 2040 AND 2050 FAMILY. THE DECSYSTEM-2020 IS A NEW LOW END MEMBER OF THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY AND FULLY SOFTWARE COMPATIBLE WITH ALL OF THE OTHER DECSYSTEM-20 MODELS.

WE INVITE YOU TO COME SEE THE 2020 AND HEAR ABOUT THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY AT THE TWO PRODUCT PRESENTATIONS WE WILL BE GIVING IN CALIFORNIA THIS MONTH. THE LOCATIONS WILL BE:

TUESDAY, MAY 9, 1978 - 2 PM
HYATT HOUSE (NEAR THE L.A. AIRPORT)
LOS ANGELES, CA

THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1978 - 2 PM
DUNFEY’S ROYAL COACH
SAN MATEO, CA
(4 MILES SOUTH OF S.F. AIRPORT AT BAYSHORE, RT 101 AND RT 92)

A 2020 WILL BE THERE FOR YOU TO VIEW. ALSO TERMINALS ON-LINE TO OTHER
DECSYSTEM-20 SYSTEMS THROUGH THE ARPANET. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND,
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT THE NEAREST DEC OFFICE
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE EXCITING DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY.

Apparently a new computer virus / worm is being propagated with the following details. I just got a suspicious email with following details from a mail server in South Korea (58.143.38.157).

Subject: RE: From Me

Body:

With summer time
More love in mind
Think of your honey
Make her life funny
Attached zip file will tell you MORE!

Attachment: Mystic.zip

A quick search on internet doesn’t have any details about this possible attack yet but I will post more details as they become available. GMail virus scan didn’t detect any threat either.

Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, is world’s youngest billionaire at age23 according to Forbes list of 2008 billionaires. Mark also thinks that he is the youngest self-made billionaire in human history!

Forbes calculated his net worth at 1.5 billion dollars based on current valuation of 5 billion for Facebook and his 30% stake in the company.

Right. We accept it. But is the money real? How long the valuation of Facebook is going to be that high? Or will it go even higher? We long to know and sadly we can’t. Only time will tell.

In the meanwhile we can sit here and feel jealous. Or repent on what we did when were in early twenties living on university campus

A very nicely done video song about current (and past) technology bubbles. Thanks David for sharing.