Apple browser blocks pop-ups

Apple has released Safari Beta 2. The company says Safari has had more than two million downloads since its free public beta release on 7 January.

Innovations include a built-in Google, SnapBack to instantly return to search results; a new way to name, organise and present bookmarks; and automatic "pop-up" ad blocking. The AutoFill feature makes Web form completion easier by using information from the address book or previous forms to automatically fill in name, street address, city, postcode, e-mail and other information.

Safari Beta 2 introduces the Reset Safari option that erases browsing history, empties the cache, clears the downloads window, removes cookies, clears Google search entries and removes any saved names and passwords or other AutoFill text.

A Michigan state law called Act 328 has created a mind-boggling slew of limitations on what users of technology may do with what they own, reports IDG News. Users may not conceal the origin or destination of their communications, in terms of this law. This, according to the site, means if one sends or receives e-mails via an encrypted connection, this is illegal, because the `To` and `From` lines of the e-mails are concealed from the Internet service provider by encryption.

And since network address translation (NAT), a technology widely used for enterprise security, operates by translating the `From` and `To` fields of Internet packets, thereby concealing the source or destination of each packet, this technology also violates these bills. Most security firewalls use NAT, making this illegal too.

There will soon be another entrant in the lopsided Office wars, report TechWeb. IBM, not exactly a powerhouse in desktop applications, has its own attack on the desktop planned for later this year.

IBM Software and its Lotus Software Group have built J2EE-based spreadsheet, document and presentation graphics "applications" that will be bundled for free with the company`s WebSphere portal, sources are reported as saying.