Cody Taylor

AJAX Solutions can be used by web developers to create amazing applications. Dozens of projects, even Gmail, made with AJAX provide new interactivity for applications that can have enhanced user functionality. Using AJAX, better, faster, more flexible web solutions are available. AJAX is the first step toward web applications of the future.

A lot can be learned from Apple.com, so I will use the website as a case-study to go over some of the most important usability techniques in web design.

In a desperate move to amp up her case against The Pirate Bay, prosecuting lawyer Monique Wadsted has asked authors for quotes and support in preparation for her closing arguments next Monday. Unfortunately for her, the friendly request backfired as a befriended author turned out to be a fanatical Pirate Bay supporter.

Cablevision told Chris that his boss’ 95-year-old uncle couldn’t receive basic service without a cable box, “no matter what.” Chris, who installs home theaters, knew that his uncle’s cable-ready tv didn’t require a cable box. Pointing this out to Cablevision’s customer service representative, however, was apparently “disrespectful.”

AMD’s Phenom II quad-core parts launched to strong reviews last month, but will the architecture scale to provide continued competition for Intel’s Nehalem? We at Ars decided to take one Phenom II, add freon, and overclock. Details inside.

We’re having our next virtual Digg Townhall this Thursday, February 26th at 5pm PT/8pm ET. As we’ve done in the past, we’ll be sharing out Digg updates and taking your questions, so please submit and Digg up the questions that you’d like us to answer. Jay and I will respond to the most popular ones live via webcast on the Townhall page. – Kevin

KentuckyFC writes “Supernovae in our part of the Milky Way ought to have a significant impact on the atmosphere. In particular, the intense gamma-ray burst would ionize oxygen and nitrogen in the mid to upper atmosphere, increasing the levels of nitrogen oxide there by an order of magnitude or so. Now a team of Japanese researchers has found the first evidence of a supernova’s impact on the atmosphere in an ice core taken from Dome Fuji in Antarctica. The team examined ice that was laid down in the 11th century and found three nitrogen oxide spikes, two of which correspond to well known supernovae: one event in 1006 AD and another in 1054 AD, which was the birth of the Crab Nebula (abstract). Both were widely reported by Chinese and Arabic astronomers at the time. The third spike is unexplained, but the team suggests it may have been caused by a supernova visible only from the southern hemisphere or one that was obscured by interstellar dust.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

CWmike writes “Sourcefire security researcher Lurene Grenier has published a home-brewed patch for the critical Adobe Reader vulnerability that hackers are exploiting in the wild using malicious PDF files, beating Adobe Systems Inc. to the punch by more than two weeks. Grenier posted the patch on Sunday with the caveats that it applies only to the Windows version of Adobe Reader 9.0 and comes with no guarantees. Also, PhishLabs has created a batch file that resets a Windows registry key to de-fang the hack by disabling JavaScript in Adobe Reader 9.0, giving administrators a way to automate the process.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Plasmoid writes “The NYTimes is reporting that that scientists have starting developing what could turn out to be a ‘universal’ flu vaccine. They created antibody proteins that can neutralize different strains of the influenza virus, including the deadly H5N1 bird flu, the virus behind the 1918 epidemic, and common seasonal strains. These new antibodies target part of the virus that is shared between different strains and thus appear to be broadly effective. However, some experts question whether a universal vaccine of this kind is even possible, since the human body has been unable to come up with an antibody solution. An article on nature.com describes the work further.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.