Finally, after months of speculation, WordPress 1.5 has been officially released. I was testing a nightly build of WordPress 1.5 on Usayd Server 2005 – but with the new official release you will see some changes to Usayd Network News soon! (This is my favorite part of what I do.) To the 12,126 of you who have already downloaded WordPress 1.5, congrats for being on the ball. We had a “soft launchâ€? on Monday the 14th while we worked out some infrastructure issues and we’re now very ready to announce WordPress 1.5 to the world. This release is named...

Israeli occupation soldiers have shot and killed a Palestinian boy in downtown Hebron, alleging that he tried to attack soldiers with a sharp object. However, Palestinian witnesses dispute the claim, testifying that soldiers stationed outside al-Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron’s Old Quarter murdered 13-year-old Sabri Fayiz Rajub in cold blood. “The soldiers were shouting at the boy, and then shot him in the leg, however as he fell down and was shivering with pain, another soldier shot him in the chest, finishing him off. “It was cold-blooded murder,” said Hilmi Jaabari, a witness. Incorrect...

Deputies were taken aback during a chase involving a suspected burglar. He signaled his upcoming turns, Flathead County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ernie Freebury said Tuesday. Deputies were going to a residence Monday night to arrest a man on a probation violation and investigate some burglaries, Freebury said. A vehicle raced out of the driveway, nearly knocking down the deputies, and then struck a patrol car parked nearby to intercept him, he said. Freebury said the chase never exceeded 70 mph, and the driver even signaled his turns. Oliver Pearson, 28, was arrested and charged with probation...

Today at 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, Microsoft and Nokia announced an agreement to give Nokia handsets the benefit of Windows Media Audio and Windows Media Digital Rights Management 10. Microsoft and Nokia are working to ensure consumers can enjoy music from the newly-launched Nokia and Loudeye mobile music service platform on both Nokia handsets and Windows XP-based PCs. Using the latest technologies like Windows Media® Audio, Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM) 10, Media Transfer Protocol (MTP), and support for Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) digital rights management, Microsoft have...

While internet news sources today have reported that Microsoft is readying to launch its next generation Xbox hardware in America and Europe in the fourth quarter of this year, Eurogamer has learnt that the specific timing for the machine’s roll-out is late October or early November, and merely weeks after the US launch. The exact date is yet to be solidified. Speaking under conditions of strict anonymity, senior American and British development, publishing and retail sources have confirmed the launch window in the past weeks. It is also now widely known among British sources that Microsoft...

New Media Age Napster has revealed that it’s planning an aggressive marketing campaign again Apple’s iPod as part of its plans for a full launch of the Napster To Go portable subscription service later this quarter. The service, which soft-launched in the US in November, is likely to roll out in the UK in March. It’s one of the first services enabled by Microsoft’s Janus technology, which for the first time allows music files bought via subscription services to be transferred from a PC to a portable device. According to Napster CEO Chris Gorog, speaking to NMA at MidemNet...

Intel Corp. will try to liven up the drab desktop PC later this year with new technology that will help convert the home computer into an entertainment hub, but advertising and technology experts say such a product will be tough to market. Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, is keeping details of the technology under wraps. It will introduce a set of chips with a new brand name in the third quarter. Analysts say the chip bundle and software will transform the PC into an all-purpose multimedia device designed to function as a CD and DVD player, digital video recorder, game console, as well...

A security issue in Mozilla, Firefox, Camino (and other IDN-supporting web browsers) has been found which can be exploited by a malicious web site to spoof the URL displayed in the address bar, SSL certificate, and status bar. The problem is caused due to an unintended result of the IDN (International Domain Name) implementation, which allows using international characters in domain names. This can be exploited by registering domain names with certain international characters that resembles other commonly used characters, thereby causing the user to believe they are on a trusted site. Secunia has...