PHP 6 comming soon

PHP 6, the next major revision of the popular Web application development language, looms on the horizon and promises many changes. It isn’t yet available as a pre-built package, but you can download and install a development snapshot of PHP 6 now to check out the new features and verify your scripts remain functional. Since it removes some backwards-compatibility features you should test your existing code thoroughly.

To compile, install, and run PHP 6, you must have the GNU make utility, a compiler such as gcc, some additional libraries to power new PHP features, and a Web server. Compiling and installing PHP 6 requires:

• Apache with development headers, such as apache-prefork-dev. The threaded MPM version of Apache is not recommended for use by the PHP group for production use.
• An International Component for Unicode (ICU) library, like libicu-dev
• The XML2 development headers, libxml2-dev

Since PHP 6 removes some backwards compatibility features, your main concern is to make sure that your PHP scripts are up to date before upgrading your system. Following the tips in this section—like discontinuing the use of register_globals and magic_quotes—will not only help you get ready for PHP 6 but will also help you to make your code more secure.

In PHP versions prior to version 6, the register_globals setting allowed you to register “EGPCS” (Environment, GET, POST, Cookie, and Server) variables as global variables. For many reasons, using register_globals is a poor security practice that could lead to cross-site scripting holes. An attacker could populate a variable using a query string parameter (GET) where your script was originally looking for cookie values or POST variables. As a developer, you should be sure where your variables are coming from, whether it’s from a GET or POST method or from a cookie. As of PHP 5.3.0, the register_globals feature is deprecated, and as of PHP 6 it is completely removed.

PHP 6 offers Unicode support for Unicode characters in input, output, processing files, and for PHP scripts themselves. The most common of the Unicode encodings is UTF-8, which is the default encoding for many of the PHP 6 functions.

In addition to function changes, PHP 6 will not support compatibility for the PHP 4 object model. If you have objects in your PHP code, make sure they’re PHP 5 objects. The PHP 4 object model compatibility was only available after 5.0.0 and was removed in PHP 5.3.0, so any object that works in 5.3 later versions will work fine in PHP 6.

More information about installing and configuring the yet not officially released version of PHP 6 you can visit the following link: Get ready for PHP 6 on linux-mag.com.

Apple released iTunes 8.1

Apple announced the release of the new version of iTunes, now at version 8.1, the free application for Mac and PC that plays all your digital music and video, syncs content to your iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV and it’s an entertainment superstore that stays open 24/7.

If you are interested in getting the latest features of this great software, here's a small list that is meant to ignite your appetite. The full article can be found here, along with screen shots and a lot more details. The download links as well, of course.

• Genius Playlists - Play a song, click the Genius button, and iTunes creates a playlist of other songs from your library that go great together. Genius playlists help you discover songs in your library you never knew you had — and rediscover forgotten favorites.
• Genius Sidebar - As you select songs in your library, the Genius sidebar displays songs from the iTunes Store that go great with it. The Genius sidebar won’t recommend songs already in your library, and you can preview and buy recommended songs directly from the sidebar.
• High-quality, DRM-free music. iTunes Plus is the new standard on iTunes. - you can choose from millions of iTunes Plus songs from all four major music labels and thousands of independents. With iTunes Plus, you get high-quality, 256-Kbps AAC encoding. All free of burn limits and digital rights management (DRM). So iTunes Plus music will play on iPod, Apple TV, all Mac and Windows computers, and many other digital music players. It’s also easy to upgrade your iTunes library to iTunes Plus. You don’t have to buy the song or album again. Just pay the 30¢ per song upgrade price. (Music video upgrades are 60¢ and entire albums can be upgraded for 30 percent of the album price.)
• HD TV Shows - Purchase select episodes of your favorite TV shows in high definition for just $2.99. Or get the whole season in HD with a Season Pass. And when you buy HD, iTunes doubles your viewing pleasure: You also get an iPod-ready version with a file size and resolution that's ideal for smaller screens.
• Enhanced Accessibility - Tunes 8 is now screen reader friendly on both Mac and PC. Manage your iTunes library using VoiceOver in Mac OS X Leopard or Window-Eyes for Windows XP and Windows Vista. Or use your screen reader to purchase or download content from the iTunes Store - including iTunes U.
• New Visualizer - Turn on the new Visualizer and lose yourself in a 3D-scape of spheres, ribbons, and lights that pulsate to the beat and tempo of the song you’re playing.
• and last but not least, Faster. Smarter. Better. - a lot of great improvements added to the new iTunes 8.1 along with a speed boost, make this a product worth having. And it's free too

For the full list of features in Apple iTunes 8.1, check out this address. To download iTunes, head on over to Apple.com, download section.

Internet Explorer 8 - First Impression

Following the previous post, I installed Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1. The first thing that was absolutely clear is that it is indeed a beta. Actually I would classify it more as an Alpha release. Here are the first things that it spat in my face. Soon after this post I will remove it and wait for a more decent release.

After a restart I was ready to try it out. First off I was surprised that it detected the other browsers I had installed on my system, Firefox and Safari for Windows. I didn't expect that, but as they stated, they aim for interoperability. That is definitely a step forward for Microsoft. After that it offered to import the bookmarks and feed subscriptions from these browsers. OK so far.

One huge surprise was that it detected the Firefox extensions I had installed and asked if I would like them imported as well. That almost made me faint. I said "Sure, go ahead". Afterwards I was asked if I want to enable the anti-phishing filter and a few other things and I was ready to go. After it started, I remembered that it's a beta version. One of those pesky notification bars kept popping up every time I accessed a page, telling me that my current security settings put my computer at risk. No matter what I did, it just didn't go away. It disappeared eventually after I restarted the browser. The overall look is similar, if not identical to IE7. Maybe there will be certain design changes in the final release. But that's not really important now.

I then went on to configure the browser to my own preferences. First thing I checked out was to see if the bookmarks were imported correctly and they were. They even handle favicon (favorites icon), although I think this was implemented in Internet Explorer 7. Then let's set the homepage. I use iGoogle because I like using one service for as many things as possible, like search engine, email, RSS reader and so Google works best for me. The developers said that this version of IE would be CSS standards compliant. I sure doesn't look like it when I access my homepage. From three columns I end up with two and an empty space where the third should be. I later found it under the first column. The widgets refuse to move around and the buttons just don't want to work. The Google Reader doesn't load the feeds and the tags (or folders). It too is placed as a widget on the front page. When I try adding a new tab, instead of the semi transparent layer and the centered dialog box, it get to see a blank page with a black sidebar where the dialog is placed.

I tried to write this post using Internet Explorer, but the buttons were "clickable" only in certain places and the post title input box wasn't visible. At first I thought that there is something wrong with Google, so I decided to try a different portal. Same thing: Netvibes.com shows a blank blue page and Pageflakes.com asks me to confirm my location by clicking a button. Which I can't. I eventually managed to enter the web site by hitting Enter to submit the location form. And things weren't any different here either. At least the widgets can be moved around to some extend, but it's terribly slow and it seems they have a mind of their own. Resizing the browser window threw everything around and the widgets started to overlap each other.

Seeing that I can't get anywhere I though about the Firefox extensions it offered to import. Maybe at least those would work properly. And I would have loved giving them a try and share my experience with you, but I didn't manage to find them. Oh well. At least one thing works properly. On the toolbar, there is one button that gives this release a rating of "not so useless". It's the "Emulate IE7" button. From what I've seen, it works perfectly. Well, you now what I mean, as perfect as IE7 can work. Of course I had to restart the browser, but at least now I could click buttons and move things around. This is the life!

Seeing that it's a Beta release, I didn't expect much from it. But it looks like Microsoft is heading the right way. Yet they're a long way from getting there. What more can I say, I eagerly await your next release. Let's just hope it will be working at least at 50% capability. This one just left a bitter taste in my mouth.

First release of Internet Explorer 8

As I said yesterday, if there will be any other useful information, I will get back to you. So here it is. Microsoft offered it's first public demonstration of it's famous (but not loved) browser, Internet Explorer 8, now in beta 1 version.

Some great features have been added, according to the developers anyway. Things that should have been implemented a long time ago and that others have been using for ages, are now made into sensational by their marketing department. But I guess Microsoft likes to do things at their own speed. I just remember how long they took to implement tabs in Internet Explorer.

If you're asking yourself what this new version of the browser brings, here's short list:

• WebSlices - users can subscribe to parts of a web page. I'm not sure about this, since I'm not a Mac user (can't afford one), but I've read somewhere that Apple has its own Web-clipping subscription method that is part of Mac OS X.
• Cascading style sheets 2.1 compliance - no, I'm not kidding. They really said that it would finally be in compliance with standards (at least a few of them)
• HTML Improvements - like the HTML is the problem. I guess they mean the way the browser treats the HTML files
• Improved namespace support
• Platform performance improvements
• Enhanced protection from deceptive websites - an anti-phishing method that I've seen a lot in Mozilla Firefox and other browsers. Never in Internet Explorer.
  
• Domain Highlighting - "highlights the top level domain in the address bar, allowing users to quickly confirm that the website they are visiting is the site they intended to visit". Also on the anti-phishing problem I guess.

And there might be other interesting changes. We might even enjoy using Internet Explorer from time to time. I you would like to give it a try, you can find the Beta 1 here. I already downloaded it and I'm giving it a try. But I'm pretty certain that I won't give up on Firefox for it.

Google AdSense updates Terms and Conditions

On the official Google AdSense blog it has been announced, for those that are interested, that the "Terms and Conditions" that govern over the program, have been updated.

The blog post states that the changes are there to anticipate future products, blah, blah. The things that seemed a little more interesting were the following two statements:

1. "... we've re-worded some portions of the terms to make them applicable across a broader array of media and formats ..."
2. "... According to this policy, publishers must notify their users of the use of cookies and/or web beacons to collect data in the ad serving process."

Although the first one sounds pretty good to me, the second one, even if it is morally correct, seems almost useless. These days, almost every website you visit collects data about you. It's not something new and the data collected is mostly useless. But then again, who am I to judge one's privacy limits.

The full post can be read on the Inside AdSense blog here.