Opera 11.62 Maintenance and Security Update Is Out

Norwegian browser maker Opera Software has just released version 11.62 of Opera to the general public. The release is an update to the current stable channel of the browser replacing Opera 11.61 in the process. The web browser update has been released for all supported operating systems, that is Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and various Linux distributions. Existing Opera users can check internally for updates if the update has not been picked up yet by the browser. This is done with a click on the Opera button, and the selection of Help > Check for Updates.

It my take some time before the update may be recognized by the browser. In this case, a download from the official Opera website is an option.

 

Opera 11.62 is a security and stability update for the web browser, which makes it a recommended upgrade for all users of previous Opera versions. The changelog lists five security issues that have been fixed in the new version, including two that could trick users into executing downloads.

The remaining changes are mostly crash and bug fixes. The Windows changelog alone lists more than 20 fixes, including a fix for a WebM decoder freeze in the browser, a fix for scrolling problems in Facebook Chat, and a crash fix when navigating the message list in Opera Mail.

When you look into the future, you will see Opera 12.00 looming at the horizon. This version will introduce major new features, including a upgrade to Opera’s core rendering engine Presto, support for HTML5 and CSS3 features that are not supported yet by the browser, and out of process plugins for 64-bit versions of the Internet browser.

Snapshot builds of Opera 12 are regularly posted on the Opera Desktop Team blog for all supported operating system. These snapshots are test versions that should not be installed in productive environments.

Opera Software Readies Opera 11.51 Maintenance Release
Opera 11.52 Security Update
Opera 9.61 security update
Opera 9.62 Security Update
Opera 9.63 Update Released

Update All of Your Social Network Settings from One Page with Bliss Control [Social]

If you use more than one social network—Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Flickr, Google+, and others—updating your profile picture or bio at once can be a pain. Enter Bliss Control. This webpage is simple one-stop landing page for getting to your social network management settings.

From the same folks who made the previously mentioned Notification Control launchpad for cleaning up your web services' email notifications, Bliss Control is a useful tool to bookmark. Rather than have to click around on every single service to find where to update your info, just start from Bliss Control and find the setting in the easy drop-down.

Bliss Control doesn't require your login information to any of the services it supports, it just directs you very quickly to the right settings pages on each service. Services supported right now are: Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Pinterest, Tumblr, Foursquare, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+, Meetup, Path, Instagram, and Flickr.

You can change your bio, username or password, email, email settings, profile picture, design, 3rd party permissions, and so on. Delete account and recover password are also two quick settings offered.

DownloadCrew UpdateScanner, Software Update Reporting Tool

When I took a second look at the software updates monitor SUMO, I promised to look at other update reporting tools for the Windows operating system. DownloadCrew UpdateScanner was discovered by accident, while browsing the pages of the download portal.

The program is tightly integrated into the website, and it is necessary to create an account at the site before the program can start to verify the update status of installed applications. The DownloadCrew UpdateScanner requires those log in credentials before you can start using the program.

The program by default scans the software on system start, which may not be the most appropriate time to do so. You can switch the check to manual or to a specific hour of each day instead. If you select manual, you can click on the Scan Now button in the preferences to scan for software updates right away. There does not seem to be a button in the main application interface, which feels like an oversight.

I find it necessary to mention that you will find lots of noise in the program interface. Instead of just seeing updates and installed programs, you also get to see the latest downloads, featured products, best selling software and other information that are not related to the scan or updating. You actually may need to scroll down to see the your Updates section at the bottom of the page.

 

Here you see the programs that are not up to date on the system. Listed are the name, developer and version of the installed application, and the latest version among other information. A click on the get button or the see all link opens pages on the Downloadcrew website where the latest program versions can be downloaded. As far as updates goes, the program detected 24 of them, while SUMO only 22. It needs to be noted though that the Downloadcrew program lists all update versions in its interface, which means that it can happen that you see multiple updates listed for the same program. If you discount those, you come up with 20 updates.

At least one false positive was reported by the software. Installed on the test system was the image optimizer RIOT in version 0.4.6, and the software listed an update for the program to the same version. The program, like SUMO, does not link directly to the application’s project homepage. It takes two clicks to get there with this program, while it might take more than that with SUMO. SUMO on the other hand works without having to create an account first.

Interested users can download the latest version of the application from the Download Crew website. Keep in mind that it is currently available as a beta version on the site. It should be a no-brainer for users of the site. Everyone else may be better off with SUMO or other programs that do not require an account or add that many noise to the process.

VLC Media Player 2.0.1 Released, Feature and Security Update

If you have been on the official VLC website in the past 12 hours or so, you may have noticed that an update was posted for the popular VLC media player. The update brings the version of the player to 2.0.1, and while it is already available for download at the official project website, it has not yet been picked up by the player’s internal update checker. Update notifications are likely being rolled out gradually, which means that while VLC users may receive update notifications right now, others may have to wait a bit longer before they get them.

VLC 2.0.1 is a security and feature update, which makes it an important update for all VLC users. The version replaces VLC 2.0 which has been downloaded more than 15 million times since its release on February 18, 2012.

The VLC Security Advisory page lists two security fixes for March 2012 which both have been integrated into the update. The first resolves an issue in VLC’s Real RTSP support, the second a stack overflow in VLC’s MMS support.

 

The VLC development team has added several new features to VLC 2.0.1 that include support for MxPEG files and streams, limited support for Blu-Ray disc menus, and additional interface customization features for Mac OS X users.

About 120 bugs have been fixed in the new VLC version. The most prominent fixes include a fix for playback from splitted RAR archive files, MKV support fixes, and http live streaming support fixes.

VLC Media Player 2.0.1 is as usually available for all supported operating systems and as a source code download.

The developers are still working on improving Blu-Ray disc playback support in the media player, and limited support for menus is a step in the right direction.

Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter. VLC Media Player Security Update
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Adobe Flash Player Security Update About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Monday March 19, 2012 -
Tags:linux software, mac software, media-player, source code, videolan, vlc, windows software

Voice Brief Gives You a Quick Audible Information Update, Even When You're Offline [IPhone Downloads]

iOS: Voice Brief is a handy little app that pulls news, weather, and other information from the web and stores it on your iPhone (or other iDevice). When you want an update, just ask the app and it'll provide one in audio format. It's a nice way to get started in the morning.

We've actually mentioned Voice Brief before in our Daily App Deals but never highlighted it as a featured download—which it is. The concept is very straightforward: it can be tedious to aggregate a quick update of what's going on in the world—both locally and beyond—and you don't always have the time to read it. While Voice Brief will provide you with a quick list of information (similar to your built-in Notification Center, but with a little more detail), you can tap a play button to have it read aloud to you. Voice Brief offers a selection of voices plus a number of items you can add for updates. Email, calendar items, the weather, and news feeds are just a few of the available items. It's free to download, so hit up the iTunes App Store to give it a try.

Remove Corrupt Windows Updates With Windows Update Regenerator

Updates for the Windows operating system can be installed in a number of ways. From using the system’s built-in automatic update feature to downloading and installing updates manually. Automatic Windows updates seem to be the preferred method for the majority of users. We have covered the ins and outs of the Windows Update feature in an overview article previously. If you read it, you should have a solid understanding of how it functions, and of some of the errors that you may encounter when using it.

It can for instance happen that updates do not get installed properly on the system. This can be caused by a variety of reasons, from a crash during the download or update, to a dropped Internet connection or a virus that is preventing updates from being installed.

While it may be possible to reload the update, it can happen that you end up with a broken update in the update list that won’t install, can’t be removed, and can’t be downloaded again.

Windows Update Regenerator is a lightweight portable program for all recent versions of the Windows operating system (that is 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Vista, Windows 7 and even Windows 8) that removes broken and corrupt updates from Windows Update. The program basically regenerates the update listing so that missing updates are no longer blocked by Windows Update because of a corrupt listing.

 

Just run the tool on a system with corrupt updates to resolve the issue. The program displays a short description of what it will do if you press the 1 on the keyboard to start the regeneration:

Repair broken Updates and delete them. After this the system will reboot. You can now search for Updates, new Updates will download and install again. Broken Updates will removed from the Update list, too.

The system will reboot automatically after the operation. You need to start Windows Update manually after the reboot, to check for and install missing updates.

The developer has posted the commands the program is executing.

net stop Wuauserv
attrib -r %systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution /S /D
rd /s /Q %systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution
net start Wuauserv
shutdown -r

The forum thread links to the program download as well. (via Beatmaster’s Winlite Blog)

You can alternatively use Microsoft’s Windows Update Fix-It to resolve common service issues and errors.

XIG Update Pushes Wireless Data to Projects

I’m a big fan of the XBee Internet Gateway. I used it for The Networked On Air Light and a personal project called the Ego Ticker. XIG lets you use XBee radios to wirelessly connect your projects to the internet. Previously, your project would request a URL via serial to the XBee radio and the response (i.e. a webpage’s HTML) would be returned via serial. It works for a lot of different types of wireless projects, but it means that you sometimes have to poll for data, which you don’t always want to do. It’s like asking over and over again “are we there yet?” instead of saying “let me know when we get there.”

The latest version of XIG lets you communicate in both directions with your wireless project, meaning you can do away with the pesky polling. Check out the video above to get a quick demo of how to set up XIG push serial data to your project using the iDigi Cloud and also take a look at the project’s wiki to see a few other ways of communicating with your project from the cloud. According to Jordan Husney, iDigi Solutions Architect, the XIG creates a persistant outbound connection to the iDigi Cloud, so you won’t have to monkey around with your router’s settings to get data from the internet to your projects. I have a few projects in mind that this update is perfect for.

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