Tech News

Computer and internet briefs 2

Jan 1, 2012, 3:06 GMT

Origami and cartoons featured on web design performance site

Berlin (dpa) - The eyes of most laypeople glaze over when confronted with the various terms for programming languages and tools used for web design. To get around the maze of WebGL, CSS and HTML 5, one designer, Hakim el Hattab, has sought a way to make these codes come to life at his website: www.hakim.se.

The page promises exciting experiences for surfers because he focuses on tools for designing complicated graphic-heavy sites. That means visitors are confronted with interactive origami animation; a drawing programme that lets users create effects that look like classic cartoons; and other games of skill. There's no point trying to visit the page without an up-to-date browser, otherwise the connection will be spotty. Most of the exhibits are in both plain and technical English, but can be enjoyed without words or a background in programming.

Edit Wikipedia articles in Word

Berlin (dpa) - Articles on the open source internet resource Wikipedia are usually written in programmes that scare off laypeople. But if you're interested in contributing to Wikipedia without messing with the technology, there's an expansion programme for Microsoft Word that can help. The add-on for the 2007 and 2010 versions of the programme directly converts text into the MediaWiki format upon which Wikipedia is based. It also has the advantages of having a spellcheck and allowing writers to save their texts on their own computers without too much fuss.

Hidden update closes security gaps in Winamp

Berlin (dpa) - A security gap in the current version of media player Winamp can let attackers access other computers using videos with the data format .avi, reports the German Federal Office for Information Security. An update to version 5.623, available on forums of Winamp developers, can help. The official download site only has the unsecure version 5.622.