At the Borland Developers Conference, Sybase’s iAnywhere released Advantage Database Server 8.0. Advantage Database Server is a full-featured, high performance client/server data management system targeted at Borland Delphi and C++ Builder developers. Advantage 8.0 provides developers with functionality to easily build scalable business applications with low administration requirements. Major new features of Advantage Database Server 8.0 include a newly designed Advantage Data Architect, replication support, online backup functionality and the addition of SQL scripting and will improve ease-of-use, performance and efficiency, providing developers with the most robust, best performing and comprehensive version of Advantage Database Server to date.

Percussion Software announced that it has formed a strategic partnership with Ephox. At the same time, Percussion introduced Rhythmyx 5.7, the newest version of its Enterprise Content Management System. Rhythmyx 5.7 features a new cross-platform rich text editor, EditLive! for Java 5.0 from Ephox, which offers extensive content authoring capabilities, international language support, and accessibility features for Section 508 compliance. EditLive! for Java 5.0, is certified on all Rhythmyx-supported browsers and platforms–including Netscape, Internet Explorer, and Firefox for Windows and Safari for Mac.

Wavigo has just added support for Google IM (instant messaging) and GMail notification, in addition to already supporting Skype, Yahoo, MSN, AOL and ICQ, in its suite of voice and text communication options. Wavigo includes high quality Voice-over-IP, SMS-text messaging, file transfers/sharing, news, sports, weather, stock feeds, an advanced Internet and travel searching facility, podcast reader, and a full featured multi-media player. Free to download and use, Wavigo enables computers to be full featured world-wide communications, information and entertainment tools. With this release Wavigo introduces the seamless link to Google. With Wavigo, users will now be able to have one product to chat with Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, Skype and ICQ users, and even transparently conference across them. Wavigo supports the highest quality of voice over the Internet, using dialup or broadband.

Federal authorities have announced the first U.S. case against an alleged computer hacker, who is thought to have used an army of zombie computers to net tens of thousands of dollars while on the payroll of several spyware companies. Botnets are big business–at least according to authorities who announced the first U.S. case against an alleged computer hacker, who authorities believe netted $60,000 in cash and a BMW from a personal army of zombie computers. Federal authorities arrested a 20-year-old California man Thursday and charged him with running a network of 400,000 compromised computers called a "botnet," including computers used by the U.S. government for national defense.

An Ohio federal court on Friday sentenced a pair of Internet fraudsters to more than a year in jail for an online car sales scam involving nearly 30 victims. Christopher Sean Justin of Fayetteville, N.C., and April Bates of Gulfport, Miss., took in more than $60,000 in the scam over a four-month period that ended in February, the U.S. Department of Justice said. The two traveled the country, advertising cars for sale on various auto-related Web sites. Once they collected payments, usually cashiers checks, the pair would cash the money and leave town without delivering any vehicles.

Libya has sentenced a blogger to a year and a half in prison after he criticized the government in his online articles, according to Human Rights Watch. The jailing, which the rights group reported Thursday, is one of several recent crackdowns on bloggers by authoritarian governments. The group also confirmed Friday that Egyptian authorities have detained a university student who had criticized the government and Islamic fundamentalism in his blog in what may be the first such case in the country. Meanwhile, free press advocate Reporters Without Borders is calling on China to reopen a blog it shut down recently. The pro-democracy blog was nominated for a free speech award in Germany just days before its closure, the Paris-based organization said.

Less than two weeks before a United Nations summit on the Internet begins, technology firms including Google, IBM and Microsoft are supporting the Bush administration’s efforts to maintain the United States’ unique influence over domain names. In what amounted to a public effort to back the status quo, those firms sent representatives to an event here organized to highlight what some participants touted as the security and stability of the current form of Internet governance. MCI, BellSouth and Cisco Systems also participated.

November 30th is Computer Security Day. P4 Books has released a new ebook to help everyone fight back against the creeps and crooks that operate online and announce a free test to see how clued up or clueless everyone is about online security. Scams, cons, stalkers, sites to corrupt the young and vulnerable, and even terrorists are real dangers that everyone online faces, wherever you are in the world, every time you log on. Some cheat you out of your cash, others wait to trap and corrupt your children and yet more are trying to invade your computer and steal your identity. Ignorance is no defense–in fact it just makes you an easier victim. Get clued up today.

A test version of a new Firefox browser is now available. New features include improved pop-up advertisement blocking and faster back and forward Web navigation features, and added support for Mac OS X. The new release comes at a time when the Firefox browser is gaining more share of the browser market, and thereby proving its mettle against Microsoft and other deep-pocketed competitors and their proprietary Internet browsers.

A Sony BMG CD has secretly installed DRM software and used "rootkit" cloaking methods to hide it. With the story sweeping across the Net, Sony is attempting to clean up its mess. Using technology developed by British software company First 4 Internet, the CDs limit the number of copy-protected backups that can be made. To enforce the restriction, software and drivers are installed without a user’s knowledge when the CD is accessed. The company has decided to issue a patch to eliminate the cloaking and "allay any unnecessary concerns." The DRM software will not be removed, however, only uncovered; that means users will still be unable to delete it without risk of rendering their CD drive inoperable. Customers must contact Sony BMG support for removal instructions.