Since Firefox download sites are clogged, you may be tempted to use an alternate URL you see posted somewhere on the Web. Be careful though, at least one of these links leads to a purported spyware program instead of a browser. Windows users should be especially vigilant.

According to Mozilla, "Firefox 3 is currently only being offered as a full download from http://getfirefox.com/." It might take you longer to get it from there, but if you want to be safe, stick with the official site.

Toshiba is looking to push the envelope in the ultraportable PC market with a new Protege laptop that offers a 128GB solid state drive that comes standard, a 12.1-inch display and weighs 2.4 pounds.

The Toshiba Protege R500-S5007V is the latest in a series of high-end, ultraportable notebooks from the company that are geared toward the enterprise market and especially for company executives.

Photobucket, the popular photo sharing site, had its DNS records hijacked by Turkish Hacking Group to return a hacked page courtesy of the NetDevilz hacking group, a Turkish Web site defacement group most widely known for its defacement of the adult video site Redtube earlier this year. Photobucket users across the world are reporting minor outages of the service and problems when trying to access their accounts, the consequence of what looks like the type of DNS records hijacking that redirected Comcast.net to a third-party domain last month.

Western Digital has introduced its new My Book Mirror Edition dual-drive storage systems, which can automatically store valuable personal content not once, but twice, to maximize data safety. This RAID-based continuous data protection feature, called mirroring, makes WD’s My Book Mirror Edition storage systems the safest place for storing irreplaceable data.

Personal collections of digital content, such as photos, music, and videos, continue to grow on desktop and notebook computers around the world. Consumers are increasingly aware that taking precautions to protect their data is vital and are looking for a simple solution. Consumers can also use the My Book Mirror Edition storage system and the included backup software to automatically and continuously back up their personal computers. The mirroring feature provides users the added assurance of a redundant backup of their data.

The official release of Firefox 3.0 is now available for download. ZD Net’s Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has downloaded it, carried out a few installs, and is ready with some initial thoughts.

Motio (formerly Focus Technologies) announced that it has released MotioCI 1.3, the latest version of their BI monitoring software.

The MotioCI 1.3 release is the most comprehensive upgrade Motio has delivered since the initial product release in 2006, including new functionality to further enhance the Cognos BI developers’ ability to monitor and improve the operational performance of their IBM Cognos BI environments.

EMC announced a partnership with the U.S. Army’s job placement arm, PAYS (Partnership for Youth Success). The PAYS program provides opportunities for secure, quality civilian jobs for members of the military who have finished their commitment.

In a time when nearly all of the largest tech employers are fretting over a shortage of qualified IT workers, whose ranks stand to be diminished soon by retiring Baby Boomers and an insufficient number of younger adults pursuing IT education and careers, these programs stand out.

According to EMC, few are aware of the untapped pool of talent the Army discharges yearly, even though thousands of people work with state-of-the-art technology on a daily basis while enlisted.

The onslaught of cellphone calls, email, and instant messages is fracturing attention spans and hurting productivity. It is a common complaint. But now the very companies that helped create the flood are trying to mop it up.

Some of the biggest technology firms, including Microsoft, Intel, Google, and IBM, are banding together to fight information overload. Last week they formed a nonprofit group to study the problem, publicize it and devise ways to help workers–theirs and others–cope with the digital deluge.

Their effort comes as statistical and anecdotal evidence mounts that the same technology tools that have led to improvements in productivity can be counterproductive if overused.

Is instant messaging an IT irritation, a distraction or an excellent productivity tool? It depends on who you ask. For IT departments, IM is often seen–and rightly so–as a huge security hassle. Users may want it, but it means extra work for the techies who have to clean up the messes it can leave behind. In short, their ideal answer to employees who wish to use it would often be "No."

They’d get little argument from most managers, who see IM as a distraction–something their employees do when they should be doing their work. But a new study discounts at least the latter view, finding that IM actually improves workers’ productivity.

If you’re evaluating, planning, or implementing a Notes and Domino 8 Upgrade, attend THE VIEW’s final ND8 Seminar in North America. Review the full agenda and register by this Wednesday, June 18 to save $100.

Be prepared for the most significant changes to Notes and Domino since the release of R5. Renowned experts Rob Axelrod, Andy Pedisich, and Chris Miller identify the opportunities, risks, pitfalls, and gotchas so you can streamline and accelerate your company’s upgrade with assuredness and ease.

Don’t miss your last chance to get practical, step-by-step instruction and take home valuable tools, time savers, and resources you can put to use right away when you attend THE VIEW’s Lotus Notes and Domino 8 Upgrade Seminar next month in Toronto. Take advantage of the $100 early-bird savings before it expires this Wednesday, June 18.