Macworld reports that Microsoft has planned to release an update for Entourage later this January as a public beta in which Entourage is going to get some important updates behind the scenes. Microsoft has decided to stop using the WebDAV protocol and use Exchange Web Services for better compatibility and performance. The final update is expected to be later this year.

Another surprising information is that Microsoft is bringing SharePoint on the Mac using a new application called - Document Collaboration Companion to work with various SharePoint products and technologies and Office Live Workspace applications. With the help of this application, users would now be able to use document versioning, download & upload of documents and other usual SharePoint features. A private beta is expected this February and a final release later this year.

This seems to be a very important move from the Mac Business Unit(MacBU) which would make things easier for the Mac users to work with their Windows counterparts.

With all the hype around iWork'09 going web, It would be ideal to see Apple also follow a similar path wherein they introduce document collaboration to iWork.

In New South Wales, Australia, virtual reality is about to help rookie cops tame their fear of handling and using firearms in crisis situations. The costs are high (AUD 1 million for the facility and AUD 850,000 for the computer system), but the hope is that police will learn to handle their guns in settings more "true to life" than can be found in a traditional shooting range.

A lack of proper training has been blamed for the current state of affairs which has seen many new cops frightened of touching their weapons. According to one senior officer, "We have a lot of young cops who are scared of guns."

It is also believed that this inexperience can be a danger to public saftey (take the recent accidental shooting of a 48-year-old woman in Sydney by a constable with only two years on the job).

The problem started with a shortage of old-style shooting ranges and a growth in the number of new recruits. Virtual shooting ranges offer a more realistic training option, allowing police to practice with a number of different firearms in a host of scenarios.

Computer simulations are not, however, going to be used to replace traditional ranges entirely. Still, although a new traditional-style shooting range would cost less, the belief here is that virtual reality will complement already available training options and help to reduce gun fear dramatically among police.

Google, alongside other popular web portals, was warned on Monday that they must do more to block pornographic content from reaching Chinese users, in the latest in a series of crackdowns on Internet content by the Chinese government.

Chinese authorities published a list of 19 websites that have failed to get rid of unsuitable material. The list includes American search giant Google and China's top search engine Baidu. According to the BBC, one Chinese official said that the websites could be closed down if they fail to delete the offending material.

Speaking on Chinese Central Television Cai Mingzhao said, "we will continue to expose, punish or close down websites that have a lot of vulgar content."

However, the list also contained Tianya, a site that is popular amongst people who criticise the Chinese government, suggesting that the crackdown is not just about "vulgar content."

Charles Freeman, a specialist on China at the Center for Strategic and International Studies based in Washington, reckons that the pornography is just a decoy. "They're looking extensively at political speech, the sort of things traditionally cast under the First Amendment in this country," Freeman said. According to the Associated Press, Freeman also said that 2009 is a "very sensitive year politically in China," with it being 50 years since the Dalai Lama fled Tibet, 30 years after the democracy wall movement, and 20 years since Tiananmen Square.

Cui Jin, a spokeswoman for Google in China said that the search engine does not generatre any pornographic content and obeys Chinese law. "If we find any violation, we will take action. So far, I haven't seen any examples of violations," she said.

California-based company spokesman, Scott Rubin, added that Google has no control over the content of the billions of pages in its index.

As of today (6 January 2009), Google has been ranked as the third worst "spam service ISP" by Spamhaus.org.

Besides not doing enough to stop dodgy drug companies redirecting unwary consumers through Google Docs, the company has been serving as a major host to those intent on committing advance-fee fraud (one example being the "Nigerian" or "419 letter"), mule fraud (in this case, setting up an email account as a fake "intermediary" or escrow service to dupe an unsuspecting punter), and excessive spamvertising through its Gmail and Blogger services.

No respectable ISP wants to be seen as pro-spam, but the fact is that some companies permit spammers and scammers to operate through their networks. Simple greed could be the motive, or it could be that some companies simply are not targetting their resources effectively to minimise the abuse of their networks.

Microsoft used to be a regular visitor to Spamhaus's dubious top ten, but they seem to have sorted themselves out. According to Richard Cox of Spamhaus, "Microsoft got rid of the bad guys, and off they went to Google, which is now hosting a lot of the stuff that was on Microsoft's domains."

Google, it seems, has a way to go.