The Active Network
ActiveMac Anonymous | Create a User | Reviews | News | Forums | Advertise  
 

  *  

  Adobe buys Web word processor Buzzword
Time: 02:15 EST/07:15 GMT | News Source: News.com | Posted By: Andre Da Costa

Adobe Systems has officially entered the "Web office" game. The company on Monday is expected to announce that it has acquired an 11-person start-up, called Virtual Ubiquity, that has built a free Web word processor called Buzzword. Financial terms were not disclosed. The move expands Adobe's collaborative software services and steps up its competition with Microsoft and a host of other Web application providers, including Google.

Write Comment
Return to News

  Displaying 1 through 25 of 359
Last | Next
  The time now is 2:38:03 PM ET.
Any comment problems? E-mail us
#1 By 7754 (206.169.247.2) at 10/1/2007 3:43:47 AM
I never realized there was so much interest in really low-powered, lousy word processors....

#2 By 28801 (65.90.202.10) at 10/1/2007 7:01:37 AM
What... you never heard of Open Office?

#3 By 12071 (124.171.8.155) at 10/1/2007 7:55:47 AM
Yeah! Open Office is so bad that it doesn't even know that 850 * 77.1 = 100000 like Excel! What were they thinking supporting a real open standard rather than coming up with their own half assed version full of inconsistencies, mistakes, missing information and really useful tags like "format this the way Word 95 did on a Pentium 100 with less than 512mb ram and a seagate hdd" and not even mentioning what that format should be like. Beginners! They have so much to learn from the great ones.

#4 By 28801 (65.90.202.10) at 10/1/2007 8:37:00 AM
Way to stay on topic Chris!

#5 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 10/1/2007 9:14:26 AM
#4: Pot, meet kettle.

#6 By 13030 (198.22.121.110) at 10/1/2007 9:17:23 AM
#5: No joke.

#7 By 65179 (221.128.147.205) at 10/1/2007 10:08:50 AM
I think it's becoming clear slowly that online is not a desktop replacement.

#8 By 32132 (142.32.208.232) at 10/1/2007 10:33:24 AM
#2 I have!

"In a somber reminder that security vulnerabilities can strike anywhere, security experts have discovered a cross-platform vulnerability in OpenOffice.org that could allow remote code execution on Windows, Linux, and MacOS-based computers.

The vulnerability was discovered by researchers in iDefense, who found that OpenOffice version 2.0.4 and earlier versions were susceptible to maliciously crafted TIFF files. "

#9 By 13030 (198.22.121.110) at 10/1/2007 10:58:32 AM
NotParker, it's a shame you can't keep us up to date with Microsoft vulnerabilities as well as you can with open source vulnerabilities.

#10 By 32132 (142.32.208.232) at 10/1/2007 11:24:40 AM
#9 Microsoft vulnerabilities get tons of publicity. Everyone else barely gets any. I thought I would do my part.


#11 By 28801 (65.90.202.10) at 10/1/2007 11:35:42 AM
These days you don't even have to bait the hook!

#12 By 37047 (216.191.227.68) at 10/1/2007 11:37:43 AM
#9: Give Parkkker a break. He works very hard to find these! After all, he had to go back a half-dozen or so versions of OpenOffice in order to dig this one up! That takes a lot of hard work and dedication to accomplish! After all, it is not like he feels a need to compare the latest OpenOffice version (2.3) to the latest Office version (2007). After all, OpenOffice uses that old math, where 850 * 77.1 = 65535, and Office 2007 uses that new-fangled new math, where 850 * 77.1 = 100000.

Okay. That's enough sarcasm for one post. :-)

This post was edited by MysticSentinel on Monday, October 01, 2007 at 11:39.

#13 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 10/1/2007 12:01:50 PM
#12: I'm positive it wasn't an attempt by parkkker to be deliberately deceptive. This is probably just another case where Hanlon's Razor applies.

#14 By 28801 (65.90.202.10) at 10/1/2007 1:18:41 PM
#12: Yea, and people still prefer it to Open Office.

#15 By 16797 (142.46.227.65) at 10/1/2007 2:01:14 PM
#14 Well.. it's because those people do their math in Excel :-)


#16 By 32132 (142.32.208.232) at 10/1/2007 2:37:29 PM
#12 Actually, 2.3 fixed the security hole.

http://www.openoffice.org/security/bulletin.html

It affected all version before 2.3.

http://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm?cvename=CVE-2007-2834

The certainty that it affected all versions came about 1 week ago.


Will you rescind your lie: "After all, he had to go back a half-dozen or so versions of OpenOffice in order to dig this one up!"?



This post was edited by NotParker on Monday, October 01, 2007 at 14:38.

#17 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 10/1/2007 3:13:35 PM
#16: I notice that whenever you trot out some bug in any open source app to make a (weak) point, the bug has already been fixed. Notice a pattern there?

#18 By 32132 (142.32.208.232) at 10/1/2007 3:34:32 PM
#16 The pattern is that iDefense told OpenOffice about it 5 months ago. It took OpenOffice 4.5 months to fix ... all the while leaving everyone vulnerable.

Then they all announced it on the 17th, dishonestly trying to convey the impression they rushed out a fix to a newly found vulnerability. The usual Microsoft haters and Open source a** kissers went along ... and didn't question the time it took to fix.

http://labs.idefense.com/intelligence/vulnerabilities/display.php?id=593

VIII. DISCLOSURE TIMELINE
05/01/2007 Initial vendor notification
06/14/2007 Initial vendor response
09/17/2007 Coordinated public disclosure



#19 By 32132 (142.32.208.232) at 10/1/2007 3:43:06 PM
This is the interesting thing from the iDefense disclosure form:

"The discoverer of these vulnerabilities wishes to remain anonymous"

Uh huh. How many people did the anonymous person sell this vulnerability to? And when? And what did they do with it for 4.5 months?

This post was edited by NotParker on Monday, October 01, 2007 at 15:43.

#20 By 12071 (203.185.215.144) at 10/1/2007 6:45:07 PM
#4 "Way to stay on topic Chris!"
I'm sorry, I was just following your lead since you have such obvious wisdom in all matters open source.

#14/15 Hey, I'm ALL for my HR department using Excel 2007 to calculate next year's pay rise and bonus! I'd be glad if they didn't use Microsoft software - nothing worse than getting the right answer when performing calculations. I wonder if Microsoft use Excel 2007 as their accounting package... the p&l and balance sheets would be mighty impressive!

#17 I figured I'd have a stab at it since we'll be waiting forever for parkkker to give a meaningful response. Is it because open source software is actually patched rather than putting it on a priority list, checking how much financial impact it might cause to the company and it's shareholders and only then, if it's still important enough, being fixed and released to users several months later?

#21 By 28801 (65.90.202.10) at 10/1/2007 7:30:15 PM
Thank you Chris.

#22 By 32132 (64.180.198.233) at 10/1/2007 9:43:09 PM
#20 "open source software is actually patched rather than putting it on a priority list, checking how much financial impact it might cause to the company and it's shareholders and only then, if it's still important enough, being fixed and released to users several months later"

So ... 4.5 months for the OpenOffice Tiff patch was pure laziness?

What was the motivation for such slothfulness?


#23 By 32132 (64.180.198.233) at 10/1/2007 9:46:41 PM

This is what the BlueHat Security Briefings said :

"I have been told that I can write a blog entry for the BlueHat blog, with little or no editing, and now I sit here and have to make up something interesting to write about. I have a bit of a writers block today, caused by being tired, jetlagged, and already halfways on my way to the airport for my flight back. Also, the first draft of my blog post tried to be witty, and failed spectacularly at that.
Bluehat is an interesting event – it's quite enlightening to talk to the people here. MS usually has problems to solve that are larger (and by extension more interesting) than most other companies.
One has to admit that Vista is arguably the most secure closed-source OS available on the market. Microsoft did do a good job at addressing the issues of previous Windows versions. Progress on all fronts has been achieved, and MS is probably better than any other closed-source software vendor when it comes to the the security of their products.
This makes it difficult for attackers. The cost of developing an exploit for Vista is significantly higher than for any previous versions.
As a result, I think that most of the security researchers will move on to greener pastures for a while. Why try to chase a difficult overflow out of Vista when you have Acrobat Reader installed, some Antivirus software with shoddy file parsing, and the latest ITunes ?
I expect only a small number of remotely exploitable vulnerabilities in Vista. We will see everybody else getting hammered though. But, for a while, there will be (relative) quiet and calm in Redmond.
It is important to keep in mind though that everybody is just waiting for Microsoft to become complacent again. Secretly, all attackers are hoping that Vista will be a failure, security spending will be scaled back and nobody will attempt to build a secure mainstream OS again.
Let's wait and see where this goes. It was fun being here, and I hope that I will be back at some point in the future."

http://bink.nu/news/vista-and-vigilance.aspx

#24 By 28801 (65.90.202.10) at 10/2/2007 7:32:16 AM
Windows is the worst OS - except for all the others.

#25 By 37047 (216.191.227.68) at 10/2/2007 7:45:33 AM
#23: One has to admit that Vista is arguably the most secure closed-source OS available on the market.

2 key points immediately jump to my notice.

1) arguably - This can definitely be argued.
2) closed-source OS - Note the distinction. The author is specifically not making comparisons to open source OS versions. I guess the author doesn't feel that making Vista look worse by comparing it to Linux, Solaris, BSD, etc., for security would help it any.

Write Comment
Return to News
  Displaying 1 through 25 of 359
Last | Next
  The time now is 2:38:03 PM ET.
Any comment problems? E-mail us
User name and password:

 

  *  
  *   *