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DirectX 9.0c June 2008
Microsoft DirectX is a group of technologies designed to make Windows-based computers an ideal platform for running and displaying applications rich in multimedia elements such as full-color graphics, video, 3D animation, and rich audio. DirectX includes security and performance updates, along with many new features across all technologies, which can be accessed by applications using the DirectX API
Download: DirectX 9.0c june 2008
Battlefield Bad Company Demo
The battlefield awaits in this innovative next-generation shooter and now you can get a taste of all the single-player and multiplayer action with the Battlefield: Bad Company demo witch was released for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 today.
The demo reveals how the game's tactical destruction will change the way shooters are played, and it features both single-player and multiplayer modes. You can get an early look into Bad Company's Quest for Gold by playing solo, or go online and try out the new Gold Rush mode on the Oasis map, highlighting land, sea, and air vehicles. And, if you reach Rank 4 in the demo, you'll unlock an exclusive in-game weapon.
View: Battlefield Bad Company Home Page
Mozilla Firefox 3.0 RC 2
Firefox is a free, open-source web browser for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X and is based on the Mozilla codebase. It is small, fast and easy to use, and offers many advantages over Internet Explorer, such as the ability to block pop-up windows.
Firefox 3 Release Candidate 2 is available in more than 45 languages as a public preview release intended for developer testing and community feedback. There is no word about whats new in RC2, but once the release notes are out, I'll update this post.
Download: Firefox 3.0 RC 2 Windows US English
Download: Firefox 3.0 RC2 OS X US English
Download: Firefox 3.0 RC2 Linux US English
View: Mozilla Firefox 3.0 RC 2 Home Page
Windows Live Writer CTP Released
On the Windows Live Writer Blog today, they announced the availability of the Windows Live Writer CTP (Community technology preview). With this new build comes a lot of new features, which I will discuss in this blog post. So why is this a CTP and not just a normal beta? Well the main reason is that it features a new set of plugin APIs (version 1.1) and the whole Technical Preview is more intended for developers rather than consumers. Nonetheless, there are still some nice new additions for consumers.
Changes:
- Everything from Windows Live Writer 2008 plus:
- New and improved category control (you can now search through your categories)
- Image cropping (from the Advanced tab when you have an image selected)
- Word Count
- Tabbed view switching
- Alignment commands in toolbar work on images (not just text)
- Typographic replacement (characters like ©, TM, en-dash, em-dash), also works with “…”
- Automatic linking to terms in your link glossary
- User-interface updates in the menus and command bars (notice the blog has moved to the top right, rather than next to the other buttons on the toolbar.
- Video Upload to Soapbox
- Improved Image Publishing
- Lightbox support (doesn’t work if you don’t have Lightbox installed on your blog)
- Additional Border Effects
- Image tilting
- GIF Support
- Technical Preview Installer UI
- Product Instrumentation Support
- Check For Updates / Update Notification
Download: Windows Live Writer CTP
View: Windows Live Writer Blog
Source: LiveSide
IETester 0.22 Alpha
Like any web browser, IETester has the usual forward and back buttons, refresh, stop, home, and favorite buttons, but it also has a special feature that allows you to launch new tabs which render the web site in different versions of IE. With IE8's public beta just around the corner, web site owners need to verify that their sites are going to display properly in the new browser, which runs in standards-compliant mode by default. You can download IETester for free (donations accepted).
Download: IETester 0.22 Alpha
View: IETester Home Page
Source: Neowin
Battlefield 2142 patch 1.50
The 1.50 patch for Battlefield 2142 has been released after the public beta that was held for this patch. Aswell as the two new maps there is a number of fixes. Be sure to check below for the whole change log:
After a successful open beta phase of Battlefield 2142 Update 1.50 and tweaks and updates being made based on feedback on the forums we have released the final version of Battlefield 2142 Update 1.50. Servers are being updated and the client files are now available for you to update and get into the new content.
As we mentioned with the Beta release we have added a number of new features and added new content to Update 1.50
FEATURES
- Added community maps, Wake Island 2142 and Operation Shingle
- Added the ability to use widescreen resolutions.
- Added No Vehicles mode.
- Added Conquest Assault mode.
- Changed the volume control for the Commander Voice Over on request of the esports community.
- Changes made to pod steering mechanism to improve control while limiting pod surfing.
FIXES
- Fixed the loading issue caused by corrupt Radial.cdb file
- Various changes made to prevent cheating.
Both The Sir. Community (www.sircommunity.com) and Jason Brice (www.MGXCLAN.com) have been hard at work implementing feedback from the Beta to improve and tweak their maps for final release.
WAKE ISLAND 2142
Narrowed down the land bridge
Fixed FAVs not spawning more than twice
Add wrecked gunship to titan deck
Shorten FAV spawn time
Add FAV to Beach
Add crates to top of dock
Create path from Village to other side of island
Add anti tank gun to Village
Add anti air gun to Beach
Add additional blockades against mech movement at entrance to dock
Get rid of Island flagpole
Add crate next to antenna at main base to help people jump up on it
Fix small bug with beached ship at Beach
Add trees back to small island
Reduce the respawn time of EU gunship 30 -> 20
Increased docked titan pod velocity 38 -> 41
Move AA gun at main base
Crates/barrels on Titan deck
Reduce FAV spawn delay
Move PAC assets to island tips
FAV spawn at main base - cars start rolling forwards
At Office and Checkpoint, the antitank can kill the titan AA gun
Put tank barriers in front of dock entrance
Bring consoles on docked titan back to normal strength
Indestructible PAC titan
Limit PAC to only one gunship
Increase docked titan pod launch velocity 35 -> 38
Add ladder on other side of dock
Turn EU gunship 180 degrees
Add spawnpoints on top of dock to Dock CP
Increase the time it takes to capture Core flag
Moved PAC titan back
Replace stairs up to dock with ladder
Fix docked titan pods launching backwards
Reduce the respawn time of EU gunship 80 -> 30
OPERATION SHINGLE
Added NO VEHICLES mode.
Added ASSAULT LINES mode.
Preview Map updated to reflect proper Team positioning
Tickets have been reversed. Attacking team now has extra 30 tickets.
Columns/Command Center/Refugee Camp flags cannot be capped from a level below their locations.
Battle Walkers no longer do the MOONWALK on spawn
Minculldistance has been removed
Download: Battlefield 2142 patch 1.50 Full | Mirror
Download: Battlefield 2142 patch 1.50 Incremental | Mirror
View: Battlefield News
Yahoo! Messenger 9.0.0.1389 Beta
Yahoo! has released a new update to Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 Beta. This version includes a few new features along with bug fixes, stability and speed improvements, plus some changes to the contact list.
Here's a quick look at what's new:
Bigger emoticons
They're not massive, but a little bit bigger so you can express yourself with more oomph.
( vs. ). We also enabled a few more for use in your status message.
Games are back!
We know you missed them in the earlier releases of 9.0, but games are now back! Click the new "Activities" button while you IM to choose a game to play with a friend (or for a plug-in). Checkers, pool, toki toki boom…you know the rest. Note that your friend needs to be on 8.1 or this latest release of 9.0 Beta to play games with you.
Status message improvements
The status message menu has been split into two parts - one where you can indicate your availability (busy, available) and the other for putting in a custom message or a link you want to share. That way even if you’re away from IM, you can still share a funny thought, webpage or video with your friends via your status message.
Yahoo! Updates
Yahoo! Messenger is one of the first products to showcase what your friends are doing on Yahoo!. When a friend buzzes a favorite news story or changes their Avatar, a Yahoo! Update is displayed next to that friend in your contact list (with more detail in their contact card). So even if you’re not actively communicating with them, you can still stay up to date with what they're doing. To manage what Updates you broadcast, click on your display image in the contact list, then click the "Manage my updates" link. We'll add more types of updates in the future.
New contact list format button
When we first launched 9.0 Beta, a lot of users weren't crazy about the extra space in the contact list we created for display images and status messages. So we made two views available for your contact list - detailed or compact. In this latest version, we added a button next to the contact search bar to change it, along with other settings like "Show Offline Contacts".
Import Contacts - new & improved
Select "Import Contacts" from the Contacts menu and you can add friends from address books you have on other sites like Gmail, Orkut, Yahoo! Address Book, Hotmail, AOL and many more. We'll pull in your contacts and make it easy for you to start talking with them on Yahoo! Messenger.
Voice in chat rooms for Vista users & faster Captcha process
We know our Windows Vista users have been waiting a really long time for this. We added a fix to this latest version of Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 Beta that allows Windows Vista users on 9.0 to use voice in chat rooms (and conferences). We also changed the chat room verification process. You can now enter the Captcha code right in the chat room window instead of having to go off to another page.
New IM notification toast
If your IM conversation window falls into the background, this new feature will make sure you don't miss out on the latest message from your friend. When a new message comes in to the background window, a small notification will pop up from the lower right corner of your screen with the beginning text of the IM your friend just sent. (You can turn this off under Messenger > Preferences > Alerts & Sounds.)
Download: Yahoo! Messenger 9.0.0.1389 Beta
View: Yahoo Messenger Beta
Flock 1.2
Flock is a social Web browser, open source, cross platform and based on Mozilla technologies. Currently, the browser implements support for del.icio.us and Flickr. Users can also install alternative hosted bookmarks or photo sharing services. In the search box and the blog manager, Flock offer users a number of choices and the ability to install other services using open standards. Expect the same, over time, for hosted bookmarks, photo-sharing and other services Flock integrates. Flock is based on the open source Mozilla code base.
Flock is focused on fundamentally evolving the browser, bringing a refreshing new approach to how people use and participate on the web and simplifying social and web-based applications by bringing them one step closer to the user and integrating them directly into the browser.
When using Flock, people can easily discover, access, create and share videos, photos, blogs, feeds and comments across social communities, media providers, and popular websites.
New Features in 1.2
* Digg has been integrated as a people service.
* AOL Webmail has been added as webmail service.
* Pownce has been added as a people service.
* Several performance and stability enhancements have been implemented and several memory leaks have been fixed.
Download: Flock 1.2
View: Flock Home Page