Skype has confirmed it is having software problems on its network, resulting in a lack of connectivity for millions of Skype users. Many users cannot currently authenticate to Skype, rendering all voice, chat, and voicemail services effectively offline. Some users appear to be unaffected, having authenticated before the problems began last night.
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At 2PM GMT (9AM ET, 6AM PT) Skype announced that its engineering team had discovered a software issue that is expected to be resolved "within 12 to 24 hours." The original entry, which has been removed, read: "Due to peer-to-peer network issues there are problems with Skype login. This issue is being investigated. We will give new updates when the issue has been resolved. We apologise for any inconvenience." Skype has pulled its client downloads from the site until the problem is fixed.
Skypeophiles here at Ars tell us that some users are showing up on contact lists already, but they are nonetheless having problems connecting to them for voice or text chat. A chat message I sent to one user arrived after 30 minutes, and we could both "see each other" as being "online" on our contacts list, even though we weren't.
Skype's recommendation is that you leave your client running, so that it can authenticate to the service once it returns to normal.
Oh, you fickle VOIP (?)
What makes this Skype outage surprising is how often it doesn't happen. This is the most significant outage for the service in years, yet we already foresee scores of headlines trumpeting the flaws of VOIP communications based on this outage alone. That's unfortunate because we think Skype network performance has been spectacular on average, given that it's free and heavily used. In fact, it would appear that the Skype P2P network is indeed in fine shape, it's just that the authentication system (which authenticates but also provides location services for routing purposes) is hosed.
On the other hand, for the first time in many, many weeks, I'll be forced to use a real telephone for business as opposed to Skype. It's like traveling back in time to be with Alexander Graham Bell. Or not.
When we learn more about the cause, we'll update here.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Nokia announces product advisory for BL-5C battery
Espoo, Finland - Nokia today issued a product advisory for the Nokia-branded BL-5C battery manufactured by Matsushita Battery Industrial Co., Ltd. of Japan between December 2005 and November 2006. This product advisory does not apply to any other Nokia-branded battery.
Nokia has identified that in very rare cases the Nokia-branded BL-5C batteries subject to the product advisory could potentially experience overheating initiated by a short circuit while charging, causing the battery to dislodge. Nokia is working closely with Matsushita and will be cooperating with relevant authorities to investigate this situation.
Nokia has several suppliers for BL-5C batteries who have collectively produced more than 300 million BL-5C batteries. This advisory applies only to the 46 million batteries manufactured by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006, from which there have been approximately 100 incidents of overheating reported globally. No serious injuries or property damage have been reported.
Consumers with a BL-5C battery subject to this advisory should note that all of the approximately 100 incidents have occurred while charging the battery. According to Nokia's knowledge this issue does not affect any other use of the mobile device.
While the occurrences in the BL-5C batteries produced by Matsushita in the time-period specified are very rare, concerned consumers can request a replacement for any BL-5C battery subject to this product advisory.
It is important to note that the BL-5C battery is not used in all Nokia products and that only a portion of the Nokia BL-5C batteries in use are subject to this advisory.
How to identify a BL-5C battery manufactured by Matsushita during the relevant period
In order to determine if a battery is subject to this advisory, it is necessary to remove the battery from the device. A Nokia battery will have "Nokia" and "BL-5C" printed on the front of the battery. On the reverse, the Nokia mark appears at the top and the battery identification number (consisting of 26 characters) is found at the bottom. Consumers should refer to this identification number to determine if their battery is among the batteries manufactured by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006. A comparison of that number with those subject to this advisory will determine a consumer's ability to obtain a replacement free of charge.
Consumers should visit the website www.nokia.com/batteryreplacement or contact their local Nokia call center.
About the BL-5C battery
The BL-5C is one of 14 different battery models used in Nokia products. As with many of its components, Nokia has a multi-supplier strategy for batteries, including the BL-5C. Matsushita is one of several suppliers Nokia has for the BL-5C battery.
A list of Nokia products that include the BL-5C battery is available at www.nokia.com/batteryreplacement.
About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. Nokia makes a wide range of mobile devices and provides people with experiences in music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games and business mobility through these devices. Nokia also provides equipment, solutions and services for communications networks.
---
This is a product advisory for the Nokia-branded BL-5C battery manufactured by Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd. of Japan between December 2005 and November 2006. This product advisory does not apply to any other Nokia battery.
Nokia has identified that in very rare cases the affected batteries could potentially experience over heating initiated by a short circuit while charging, causing the battery to dislodge. Nokia is working closely with relevant local authorities to investigate this situation.
Nokia has several suppliers for BL-5C batteries that have collectively produced more than 300 million BL-5C batteries. This advisory applies only to the 46 million batteries manufactured by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006. There have been approximately 100 incidents of over heating reported globally. No serious injuries or property damage have been reported.
Consumers with a BL-5C battery subject to this advisory should note that all of the approximately 100 incidents have occurred while charging the battery. According to Nokia's knowledge this issue does not affect any other use of the mobile device. Concerned consumers may want to monitor a mobile device while charging that contains a BL-5C battery subject to this product advisory.
While the occurence in the BL-5C batteries produced by Matsushita in the time-period specified is very rare, for consumers wishing to do so, Nokia and Matsushita offer to replace for free any BL-5C battery subject to this product advisory.
The BL-5C batteries which are subject to the product advisory were used with the following Nokia models or separately as accessories:
“Nokia” and “BL-5C” are printed on the front of the battery. On the back of the battery, the Nokia mark appears at the top, and the battery identification number (consisting of 26 characters) is found at the bottom. If the battery identification number does not contain 26 characters, it is not subject to this product advisory.
If you are interested to know if your battery is part of this product advisory, please follow the two steps below:
1) Switch off your mobile device and check the battery model. If your battery is not a BL-5C model, you are not included in this product advisory and your product will not be replaced.
2) If your battery is a BL-5C model, remove the battery and check the 26-character identification number from the back of the battery. Enter the identification number in the field below and you will be advised if your battery may be replaced.
www.nokia.com/batteryreplacement
---
This is a product advisory for the Nokia-branded BL-5C battery manufactured by Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd. of Japan between December 2005 and November 2006. This product advisory does not apply to any other Nokia battery.
Nokia has identified that in very rare cases the affected batteries could potentially experience over heating initiated by a short circuit while charging, causing the battery to dislodge. Nokia is working closely with relevant local authorities to investigate this situation.
Nokia has several suppliers for BL-5C batteries that have collectively produced more than 300 million BL-5C batteries. This advisory applies only to the 46 million batteries manufactured by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006. There have been approximately 100 incidents of over heating reported globally. No serious injuries or property damage have been reported.
Consumers with a BL-5C battery subject to this advisory should note that all of the approximately 100 incidents have occurred while charging the battery. According to Nokia's knowledge this issue does not affect any other use of the mobile device. Concerned consumers may want to monitor a mobile device while charging that contains a BL-5C battery subject to this product advisory.
While the occurence in the BL-5C batteries produced by Matsushita in the time-period specified is very rare, for consumers wishing to do so, Nokia and Matsushita offer to replace for free any BL-5C battery subject to this product advisory.
The BL-5C batteries which are subject to the product advisory were used with the following Nokia models or separately as accessories:
Nokia 1100, Nokia 1100c, Nokia 1101, Nokia 1108, Nokia 1110, Nokia 1112, Nokia 1255, Nokia 1315, Nokia 1600, Nokia 2112, Nokia 2118, Nokia 2255, Nokia 2272, Nokia 2275, Nokia 2300, Nokia 2300c, Nokia 2310, Nokia 2355, Nokia 2600, Nokia 2610, Nokia 2610b, Nokia 2626, Nokia 3100, Nokia 3105, Nokia 3120, Nokia 3125, Nokia 6030, Nokia 6085, Nokia 6086, Nokia 6108, Nokia 6175i, Nokia 6178i, Nokia 6230, Nokia 6230i, Nokia 6270, Nokia 6600, Nokia 6620, Nokia 6630, Nokia 6631, Nokia 6670, Nokia 6680, Nokia 6681, Nokia 6682, Nokia 6820, Nokia 6822, Nokia 7610, Nokia N70, Nokia N71, Nokia N72, Nokia N91, Nokia E50, Nokia E60
“Nokia” and “BL-5C” are printed on the front of the battery. On the back of the battery, the Nokia mark appears at the top, and the battery identification number (consisting of 26 characters) is found at the bottom. If the battery identification number does not contain 26 characters, it is not subject to this product advisory.
If you are interested to know if your battery is part of this product advisory, please follow the two steps below:
1) Switch off your mobile device and check the battery model. If your battery is not a BL-5C model, you are not included in this product advisory and your product will not be replaced.
2) If your battery is a BL-5C model, remove the battery and check the 26-character identification number from the back of the battery. Enter the identification number in the field below and you will be advised if your battery may be replaced.
www.nokia.com/batteryreplacement
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Google Pack Adds StarOffice
Google Pack, the collection of applications recommended by Google, includes a new software: StarOffice, an office suite developed by Sun. In 2000 Sun released StarOffice's source code, which became the foundation of OpenOffice.org, an open source project sponsored by Sun.
StarOffice 8 is a full-featured office suite that contains a word processor, a spreadsheet tool, applications for presentations, databases, math formulas and drawing. It has support for most Microsoft Office formats (except for the formats introduced in Office 2007), but it can also export documents as PDF out of the box. The software normally costs $70, but it's available for free in Google Pack. It's worth noting that StarOffice has a huge installer (more than 140 MB), so you should download it only if you have a fast Internet connection.
It will be interesting to see why Google didn't choose to include OpenOffice.org, the primary difference between StarOffice and OpenOffice.org being that StarOffice includes some proprietary components like clip-art graphics, fonts, templates and tools for Microsoft Office migration.
The next step would probably be the addition of a plug-in that lets you synchronize local documents with Google Docs & Spreadsheets, so you can have the best of the both worlds: edit complicated documents offline, collaborate and store files securely online. For now, StarOffice is integrated with Google Search and Google Desktop.
Essential Gmail Filters to Unclutter Your Inbox
One of the problems with opening your inbox and finding 20 new messages is that it can be overwhelming. The work required to sort through it all, delete unwanted messages, skip over unimportant ones, and finally get to the urgent ones, can be very daunting.
You don’t have time to do that every day. Let Gmail do it for you.
Of course, you can actually adapt these for the the “rules” of whatever email program you prefer, but the language I use is specific to Gmail filters. It shouldn’t be hard to adapt it to other programs such as Outlook or Hotmail or Yahoo.
The process of setting these filters up will actually take a couple of days (not the entire two days), as you add names and words to the filters to make sure they catch everything you need. But once you’ve set them up, your inbox will be what you need it to be: just the need-to-see stuff.
Gmail Filter Assistant. If you use Firefox (and you probably should be), use the Gmail Filter Assistant script for Greasemonkey (you’ll have to install the Greasemonkey extension first if you haven’t yet). It’ll make the whole process easier — you can create a filter from an email in seconds.
Filter 1: killfile. This is the first process of weeding unwanted emails from your inbox. Gmail should already be catching almost all of your spam (I think I get one spam in my inbox a week). So now you want to delete those emails that you know you never read and that just waste your time. Create a filter with the email addresses or subject lines of common emails you get that you don’t need to read, and make the action of the filter be “delete it”. Here are some common ones:
- Newsletters or mailing lists.
- Emails from companies letting you know about sales or deals.
- People who only forward you chain mail or joke emails. Yes, this would include your Aunt Edna, if that’s all she sends you.
- Notifications that you don’t need to read. For example, I have Google Calendar email me my agenda each day, but if it says “No scheduled items” then I have Gmail delete it. Similarly, I don’t need to read notifications of pingbacks to my blog.
Filter 2: urgent. You probably know the people whose emails you need to read right away. Create a filter with their email addresses, with the action “Apply the label: Urgent”. You can add other things to the filter, in the “Has the words” field, such as words in the subject line or body of the email that you need to see right away. Examples might include “payment” or “invoice”, but which words you need to see right away depend on you.
In addition, you can tell people that if they want you to respond to an email right away, to put the word “urgent” in the subject line.
The “urgent” emails will be left in your inbox, but it’s important to label them “urgent” because of the next filter.
Filter 3: low-priority. Create another filter with the word “urgent” in the “doesn’t have” field, and give the filter two actions: “Apply the label: Low-priority” and “Skip the inbox”. This will get all your non-urgent emails out of your inbox. You may need to tinker with these filters a little to ensure that the right emails are being filtered out of your inbox. For example, if someone always puts the word “urgent” in their emails, but you don’t consider them urgent, you’ll need to create a second “low-priority” filter with their email address in the “Has the words” field.
Now all of your low-priority emails — the ones you don’t want to delete but don’t need to read right away — are out of the inbox and in a separate folder called “low-priority”. I suggest you go through this folder only once a day or every other day (or even once a week). Going through it throughout the day defeats the purpose of getting the non-urgent emails out of your inbox.
Getting your filters right. Now, there will be some emails, especially in the beginning, that get put in the wrong place. For the first couple of days, you’ll probably need to adjust all three filters to ensure that things work right. Look through your Trash folder, and your low-priority folder, to see if emails are being put their when they shouldn’t be.
But once you finish the tinkering process, your inbox should be a place of heaven.
Bonus filter: Spam. This doesn’t really concern your inbox, but if you go through your spam folder and empty it out every day, just so you don’t have the “unread” count next to the spam label, try this filter: “Has the words: is:spam” with the action “Delete it”. Now your spam folder should be emptied automatically.
++Bonus: “This little hack doesn’t require a single tweak to your Gmail settings. Instead, just use the plus/tag every time you enter your address into an online form. Our favorite method is to use the name of the site you’re visiting as the tag, so it’s easy to track later on. So if you buy some vintage kicks at Raresneakers.com, enter your email address as username+raresneakers@gmail.com.
Gmail ignores the plus sign and everything that comes after it, so messages sent to that address will still make their way to you. But if that site sells your address to its spamifying associates, you’ll know just by peeking at the To address in the header. How you choose to exact revenge is entirely up to you.
You can also use this tip to set up filters for registration codes, listservs, and anything else!”
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Google accounts with 9030Mb +
To wrap up the mystery of the increased Gmail storage many of you saw today: Google just released a shared storage program. This new offer merges the storage of different Google products into a single storage back-end. At this time, the Picasa Web Albums photo application as well as Gmail are part of the mix. But we can expect more services to be added to this program in the future. Google Documents (containing word processing documents, spreadsheets, and likely presentations soon, too) is a likely contender. Separate premium accounts, like the one Picasa offered before, are being removed in the meantime.
Now, if you need more storage for any particular application which is part of the shared storage program, you can buy some. The offers range from 6 extra gigabyte for $1/ year up to 250 gigabyte for $500/ year, as the table below shows (your payment will be processed with Google Checkout; note you will not receive the upgrade instantly, and Google says it may take “up to 24 hours" for your new storage amount “to appear in all services”). Especially for those of you for whom Gmail’s “you’ll never need to delete another message” claim was false as the inbox was overflowing, the extra 6 or 25 gigabytes may be worth it.
| 6 GB | $20.00 per year (Was showing $1.00 per year) |
| 25 GB | $75.00 per year |
| 100 GB | $250.00 per year |
| 250 GB | $500.00 per year |
Gmail Going Huge: 9000MB+
Reports we’re getting in the mail say that some Gmail users have seen their storage bumped to over 9GB today - 9030MB, to be exact. If not a glitch (and why would it be?), it means Google is playing catch-up with Yahoo, which now provides unlimited storage.
With no other info, we can only assume the accounts are currently being selected at random. As someone who is just about to exceed his Gmail limit, I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Instant Messaging Toolbox: 90+ IM Tools
For those who think 90+ IM clients are too many for anyone to handle, we wholly agree: that’s why a good number of these are actually tools to aggregate all your IM buddies i
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Friday, August 03, 2007
Microsoft Works to become a free, ad-funded product
Microsoft’s next version of its small-business/home productivity suite, due imminently, will be free and ad-funded.
Microsoft Works 9.0 — which will be the new product’s name, if
Microsoft opts to stick with its current nomenclature — might also
debut at some point as Microsoft-hosted low-end productivity service,
as many have been speculating. A hosted version of Works would give
Microsoft a head-to-head competitor with Google Docs & Spreadsheets
and other consumer- and small-business focused services, analysts have
said.
For the time being, however, the new version of Works will be
ad-funded, according to Satya Nadella, the newly minted Corporate Vice
President of Microsoft’s Search & Advertising Platform Group.
Nadella told me during an interview on July 27 that Microsoft recently
released the new ad-funded version of Microsoft Works.
If Works 9.0 is out, I haven’t found it yet — other than a couple
download links on torrents and other sharing sites. Anyone else seen it?
(I’ve asked Microsoft for more information on the new ad-funded Works suite. No word back yet. Update:
Even though Microsoft’s own vice president discussed the product, no
one will talk. The official comment, via a Microsoft spokeswoman:
“We’re always looking at innovative ways to provide the best
productivity tools to our customers, but have nothing to announce at
this time.”)
Nadella added that Works will be just “the first of the ad-funded
software we are going to do.” When I asked for other examples of
products Microsoft might decide to make free and ad-funded, he
mentioned Office Accounting Express
— a product which is currently available as both a free download and as
a component of certain Office Live paid subscriptions. He also said
software downloads/shareware was another category ripe with products
that could be free and ad-funded.
The decision to make Works ad-funded is not coming out of the blue.
Microsoft Works 8.0, which Microsoft introduced in 2004, sells for $49.95. It introduced the 8.5 OEM update to Works in 2006. Microsoft Works
includes an address book, calendar, database, dictionary, PowerPointŠ¾
Viewer, basic Word, and templates. Traditionally, a number of PC makers
have preloaded the Works product on low-end PCs. But with its Office Ready PC program,
Microsoft has begun pushing PC makers to preload higher-margin
Microsoft Office rather than the cheaper Microsoft Works, on new
machines.
In his October 2005 “Internet Services Disruption” memo, Chief
Software Architect Ray Ozzie noted that “(p)roducts must now embrace a
‘discover, learn, try, buy, recommend’ cycle – sometimes with one of those phases being free, another ad-supported,
and yet another being subscription-based.” He added: “Groups should
consider how new delivery and adoption models might impact plans, and
whether embracing new advertising-supported revenue models might be
market-relevant.”
Even before Ozzie outlined his marching orders, Microsoft was
mulling an ad-funded version of Works. According to a document seen by
News.com in 2005, Microsoft was already running the numbers on what it
would take to do an ad-funded version of its low-end suite. According
to that report:
“If ad revenues exceed 67 cents per year, we could
actually give Works away and still make more money,” two Microsoft
researchers and one person from MSN stated in a paper presented to Chairman Bill Gates at a Thinkweek brainstorming session earlier this year.”
Do you think a free, ad-funded version of Microsoft Works — even if
it’s not a “service” — will help Microsoft fight off Google and other
Web-based productivity suite vendors? Do you still expect Microsoft to
release a non-ad-funded, paid version of Works as a subscription
service at some point.
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