SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Activision Blizzard Inc said on Friday its “Call of Duty” video game franchise pushed past the $3 billion mark in global retail sales.

Overall, the “Call of Duty” series has sold more than 55 million units since its launch in 2003, Activision said, citing data compiled by NPD Group, Charttrack, GfK and internal company estimates.

The company released the sixth title in the series, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” earlier this month to record-breaking results.

The first-person shooter game recorded an estimated $550 million in sales in its first five days on the market. It sold 4.7 million copies on the first day in the United States and United Kingdom alone.

“If you consider the number of hours our audiences are engaged in playing Call of Duty games, it is likely to be one of the most viewed of all entertainment experiences in modern history,” Activision Chief Executive Bobby Kotick said in a company release.

Activision shares rose more than 1 percent in late morning trade on the Nasdaq, even as shares of competitors Electronic Arts Inc and Take Two Interactive Software Inc fell more than 2 percent.

Shares of Santa Monica, California-based Activision rose 13 cents to $11.69.

Credit: http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE5AQ37V20091127

Jetpack is Mozilla’s new API for developers to create add-ons for the Firefox Web browser. Currently, many Firefox add-ons work through an extension called “Greasemonkey,” which some fear may disappear if Jetpack takes off. Jetpack, however, has its advantages in terms of compatibility and the ability to activate new features without a browser restart. It allows developers to create adds-ons using web technologies including HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Jetpack is an open source application programming interface (API) that will let users create add-ons for Mozilla’s Firefox browser using the Web technologies they already know.

Meanwhile, some developers are concerned that the launch of Jetpack could mean Mozilla will kill off Greasemonkey, a Firefox extension that lets users customize the way Web pages look and feel.

“How is this any different from Greasemonkey?” asked Casey in a comment on the Mozilla Jetpack blog. “Aren’t you just risking taking development resources away from them and their community when they already have something great in place?”

Greasemonkey is not a Mozilla project, Raskin pointed out. However, there is no conflict between Greasemonkey and Jetpack.

“Greasemonkey is an awesome Firefox extension,” Raskin said, “but it’s about modifying pages you’re looking at, whereas Jetpack lets you modify the browser.”

With 12,000+ add-ons, it’s no wonder Firefox draws a lot of users’, and by turning to web technologies, Mozilla is hoping to pave the path for more developers to create add-ons.

“We want to grow our community of developers by orders of magnitude through making add-on creation much more accessible, and yet more powerful by developing it as an extensible platform for innovation itself. Many useful Jetpack Feature’s can be written in under a dozen lines of code,” says Mozilla developer Aza Raskin on the company blog.

“Jetpack will be an exploration in using web technologies to enhance the browser with the goal of allowing anyone who can build a website to participate in making the web a better place to work, communicate and play.”

There’s already a few sample add-ons created in Jetpack to play with, including a simple ad blocker program and Gmail notification extension.

More about Jetpack

Jetpack is an exploration in using Web technologies such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript to create add-ons for the Firefox browser, according to Mozilla.

It will let users add new features without having to worry about compatibility and without having to restart their browsers, as is now the case.

“Jetpack is an open source platform on top of which anybody that can write a Web page can now enhance the browser,” Asa Raskin, head of user experience at Mozilla Labs, told LinuxInsider. “We want to make the Web better and make it as personal as it can be.”

The current Jetpack release version is 0.1, which means it needs a lot more work. Mozilla intends to tweak and fine-tune the project with feedback from developers, especially on the API design.

“We ask ourselves, what are the cool innovations we can’t see around the corner that are coming, because all of a sudden there are new communities — students, anyone who can create a Web page — that are making the open Web a better space,” Raskin said.

The launch of Ubuntu One into beta not long ago has sparked a virtual tempest of debate about clouds — cloud computing, that is, and where Linux fits into it all. Ubuntu has already figured prominently in the news of late, both for Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth’s recent assertion that Linux doesn’t need Wine — causing a small gale of controversy in and of itself — and for the even more shocking news that emerged shortly thereafter indicating that the Ubuntu logo had been stolen!

Read more @ http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/67127.html

Microsoft and the Linux Foundation are both opposing a law group’s proposal that would create an implied warranty that software products ship with no material defects.

Finally, Microsoft and the Linux Foundation agree on something.

“While the principles reflect a lot of hard work and thought by the ALI, Microsoft and the Linux Foundation believe that certain provisions do not reflect existing law and could disrupt the well-functioning software market for businesses and consumers, as well as create uncertainty for software developers”, Microsoft deputy general counsel Horacio Gutierrez said in a blog posting.

The ALI is meeting in Washington this week and is scheduled to take up the issue, noted ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley.

Microsoft and the Linux Foundation aren’t the only ones against this. As Foley points out, the University of Houston’s Raymond Nimmer also wrote a biting critique of the ALI proposal.

Linux Foundation chief Jim Zemlin noted in a blog that its partnership with Microsoft makes for strange bedfellows. But, he said, the proposed legal standard would hurt open source and commercial software makers alike.

“The principles outlined by the ALI interfere with the natural operation of open source licenses and commercial licenses as well by creating implied warranties that could result in a tremendous amount of unnecessary litigation, which would undermine the sharing of technology,” Zemlin wrote.

Gutierrez also noted that Microsoft and its partner in this effort don’t necessarily see eye to eye on everything.

“The mere fact that the Linux Foundation and Microsoft are joining forces may be viewed by some as remarkable, given that our differences receive far more public attention than when our interests converge,” Gutierrez said. “Our industry is diverse and sometimes contentious, but if nothing else unites us it is that we all believe in the power of software.”

Gutierrez held out an olive branch, of sorts. “I hope that this represents just one of many opportunities to collaborate with the Linux Foundation and others going forward,” he said. “We have a lot more we can do together.”

The joint letter comes just a couple short months after Microsoft, for the first time, sued a company over its implementation of the Linux kernel. The company eventually settled with TomTom, but the move has created uncertainty over whether Microsoft intends to take legal action against Linux vendors that refuse to take a license to Microsoft’s patents.

Credit: cnet

To widen our audience we are looking for a couple of blog writers to further enhance our blog. Specfically, we would like someone experienced with Linux, as we don’t comment on that. And also someone who is experienced in reviews who can start doing reviews for our blog then that would also be great!

If you’re interested, please sign up at the forums and PM me “Jason”.

Thanks.

Regards,

Jason

OK, I know we’re all anticipating the release of Windows 7 (OK, maybe not everyone) but, there are going to be quite a few who will stay with either XP or Vista. If you are one of those, then the following Windows Vista & XP run commands thread should be useful to you.

Microsoft Learning is providing 3 free online E-Learning Clinics on Windows 7 geared toward 3 distinct audiences.

• What’s New in Windows 7 for Consumers
• What’s New in Windows 7 for IT Professional
• What’s New In Windows 7 for information Workers

These “clinics” focus on many of the new features and functionality seen in Windows 7.

Microsoft Learning also has a Windows 7 Learning Portal that just went live too.

Thanks to Brandon LeBlanc for the information.

PS: If you’re having any problems with Windows 7, then you can always post in our dedicated WIndows 7 forum.

A researcher has discovered a problem in the User Account Control of the beta version of Windows 7.

Security researcher Long Zheng has shown how an attacker could bypass the User Account Control (UAC), although he’s also shown how it can be remedied quite simply.

The UAC has been troublesome to Vista users’, as it notifies the user every time a program tries to alter the system. Many vista users’ disabled the UAC because of its frequent dialog boxes. In Windows 7, though, Microsoft has granted new rules that allow changes to Windows settings without notification, although other alterations still requite notifying the user.

The graphical interfaces system of Windows 7 RC contains old codes from Windows 3.1 where security is not considered when developed. When Microsoft optimizes the graphical interfaces of Windows 7, the incompatibility with old codes leads the system to blue screen.

Attackers will be able to firstly invade the System server of certain object to launch the attack, or to make a potential opportunity for a second attack. Thus, the security hole is a greater threat for the firm and government customers who’re using Windows 7 RC.

Microsoft however, have insisted that “the functionality is ‘by design’, dismisses the security concerns and again leans towards they will not be addressing the issue for the final release of Windows 7.

Microsoft’s Jon DeVaan has posted a response on the official Windows 7 blog with an extensive look at the UAC system in Windows 7 and their decision on the default security policy. In conclusion, they continue to stand by their decision and does not indicate they will change the default UAC policy.

Sorry I haven’t written for a while, but I’ve just been real busy. I plan to post a lot more now.

Enjoy reading.

A new computer worm called Downadup as infected 3.5 million personal PCs by exploiting a vulnerbility Microsoft patched last October. It reached 3.5 million in such a short period of time, using several different methods to spread, and has the ability to download new versions of itself.

This worm is actually pretty clever. It will attempt to call home to a variety of random domains that haven’t been registered which infected machines attempt to establish contact with. All its creators have to do is register one of the generated domains and bingo – they have your personal information

F-Secure’s CFO, Mikko Hyppönen explains: “The bad guys only need to predetermine one possible domain for tomorrow, register it, and set up a website, and they then gain access to all of the infected machines — pretty clever.”

F-Secure also managed to take a peek at the inner workings of the worm by registering one of the randomly generated domains. This has allowed them to analyze the connections that Downadup is making and, in fact, they have gained the ability to modify the worm’s update mechanism to remotely disinfect affected systems. However, for legal reasons, the company has decided not to do so.

Now is a very good time to run an anti-virus scan and also make sure you are using a strong password. And don’t forget to install Microsoft’s latest security updates. Additionally, Microsoft has added detection to the latest version of its free Malicious Software Removal Tool, which is available here.