Friday, September 08, 2006

Silicon Valley to Get Free Broadband

"The Metro Connect network will be a combination of Wi-Fi and WiMAX and span 1,500 square miles. It includes six tiers of service, two of which are free.

Metro Connect will use mesh wireless technology from Cisco and network design by IBM. Azulstar, an ISP, will be the network operator for service provisioning of the 802.11b/g network. SeaKay, a nonprofit, will work directly with the municipalities to enable the construction and support of the network."
Will you be subscribing? The four remaining levels will have anywhere from 400 to 1,000 kilobits per second and cost between $14.95 and $59.95 per month.
I think I'll stick with my cable!
AlaskaJoe

Thursday, September 07, 2006

'Critical' patch for Office coming | Tech News on ZDNet

"Microsoft plans to release a 'critical' security update for Office next week, one of three bulletins it will distribute as part of its monthly patch cycle."
Do your Windows/Microsoft Updates.

Microsoft Research Builds 'BrowserShield'

This is kind of neat and shows real promise, though it is a long ways from production, to the best of my knowledge.

Basically, the add-on to Internet Explorer deals with malicious code hidden within a web site, cleaning it and preventing execution, yet allowing the user to view the site. Apparently in concert with anti-virus and firewall apps, it is very effective.

Jack

It's not just Linux: Open Source has arrived

Linux-Watch reports on an IDC study which shows the true scale of open source and free software adoption. It's huge! In fact; the scale of FOSS adoption is really the only surprise in the survey, as we've all known FOSS has definitely been a major part of IT in recent years. I think the big numbers will surprise even some of the most rabid FOSS boosters.

Jack

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Free Disk Defragmenter!!

I saw this mentioned in an article on The Inquirer's site.

Auslogic is offering their defragmenter for NT, W2K, XP, and Vista for free. I downloaded it this morning and find it serviceable, though lacking in some features I would use. It is much faster than the Windows defragmenter and seems to do a good job.

Jack

The Dark Side of Windows Vista RC1

Paul Thurrott really unloads on Vista RC1's user interface. Reading the article, he has a LOT of very good points. There are some places where it's just plain nonsense and no amount of talking is going to make a selling point out of it.

The point is made that the new interface is going to require a lot of retraining, particularly for users who are visually challenged. That is not good unless there is a real reason for it, like an improvement in function. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case.

Jack

zCodec is a Trojan

"It is known as adware/ZCodec or Adware/EMediacodec and affects most versions of Windows. Some of the files that the adware has been downloading are particularly nasty, including a rootkit called Ruins.MB, which does what it says on the tin."
SECURITY OUTFIT Panda software says that a video codec which is appearing in the wild offering "up to 40 percent better video quality" is a nasty bit of adware.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Open Season on Unsecured Wi-Fi

Computer World's site has a very, very good article that lays out the problem with unsecured wireless connection. Whether or not you can fully secure your wireless, it is imperative you do all you can in order to escape any legal liability for actions taken by someone who intrudes on your LAN and Internet connection.

Nowhere is it clear that doing so will shield you from liability, but it has worked in a couple cases when the owner proved that he/she had taken all the steps they could, given their equipment.

Jack

Word flaw hit with zero-day attack

An "extremely critical flaw" in Microsoft Word 2000 is currently being exploited by malicious attackers, which could lead to remote execution of code on a user's system, security researcher Secunia advised Tuesday.

The vulnerability affects systems running Windows 2000 and occurs when processing malicious Word 2000 documents, according to Secunia's security advisory.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 09-03-06

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 09-03-06. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.