OnComputers Radio show Podcast 09-25-05

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 09-25-2005. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp. We are now on the new server so there shouldn't be any more issues.

DAILY ROTATION

Here is a really great NEWS site it your a news junky.
Joe

A new era of hurricanes

Admittedly, this isn't the typical high tech computer-related sort of blog that we normally see and post here, nevertheless, it does fall within the realm of scientific study and seemed very interesting in the light of recent severe weather activity in the Atlantic and Gulf Coast. Weather study and prediction has for years been a secondary interest of mine (it affects all of us). If anything is certain, it's that we don't know more than we do know about out planet's weather. So. whaddya think... global warming or not?

BetaNews | New Worm Hijacks Google Requests

"PandaLabs has announced the emergence of a new worm that spreads via peer-to-peer networks including Shareaza and iMesh, which hijacks visits to Google.com and redirects users to a spoofed page that inserts third-party advertising. The browser's start page is also modified to show ads."
This was also from Terry

Microsoft's nightmare inches closer to reality | CNET News.com

"As early as May 1995, three months before Netscape Communications' initial public offering sparked the dot-com boom, Microsoft executives were worried that the nascent World Wide Web could one day become a significant threat to the Windows franchise. "
Will Google become the center of the universe and knock out Windows (like Windows did to IBM) or will Microsoft deal with Google like they did Netscape? With Google sitting on 7 BILLION dollars cash and hiring employees from Microsoft the future could see a new king. It would be amazing if a company that just "looks for stuff" knocks off Microsoft.
from Terry Blount

WSJ: Microsoft's Development Process Broke Last Year

In a page 1 right-hand column story, the Wall Street Journal reported today that Microsoft's process for developing the frightfully complex new operating system, Windows Vista, ground to a halt in mid-2004. After a messy internal battle involving chairman Bill Gates, Windows division manager and computer science PhD Jim Allchin and over 5,000 Windows programmers, a new development process was instituted, and the long-unchallenged practice of programming as a art form was thrust aside at Microsoft. The code to-date for Windows Vista PC was scrapped, and replaced with a new code base from Windows Server. The WSJ story explains why Windows Vista has been so long abirth, and offers reasons for why Microsoft has learned a critical lesson. Better late than never...

Microsoft's market problem is self-evident: competitors like Google and Apple are turning out new products or versions every quarter. Microsoft has devolved to a twice-a-decade product delivery cycle, and risks losing credibility and market share to the more nimble competitors.

Microsoft's technology development problem is not so evident to the lay-person. Here's the gist:

1. Developing a Microsoft OS version like Windows Vista requires more human effort than the entire Apollo man-on-the-moon project. There are between 5,000 and 10,000 technicians working on the Vista generation, which by my count includes 13-15 specific products. Think 50,000 person-years to get the Vista generation out the door. This scope of effort make building the pyramids seem like a child stacking blocks.
   
2. Microsoft hires the best and brightest. These folks want to do things their own way, not be rigid automatons with no freedom to innovate. Mistakes are made. Poorly written code is dropped into the day's "build" and doesn't work. Thousands of co-workers the next day cannot see the integration of their own efforts put to work. Project delays build, and a year or two of overtime, nights and weekends becomes de rigor. Burnout occurs fast in this environment.
   
3. Windows lacks a solid architecture and certainly not a modular one. Modularity would allow Microsoft to plug-and-replace modules with new features. Modularity would certainly speed time-to-market. It might also make certain technology areas incluing security easier to deal with. Think this was not a problem? The Wall Street Journal says a flowchart of how Windows fits together was 8 feet tall and 11 feet wide.

I am pleased Microsoft has cast off its evil ways because it will be a lot easier to innovate in the future from a shear programming standpoint. But I have to say I told you so. I recall an evening discussion with Jim Alchin in 1997 at Bill Gates' house. We were drinking scotch. As an ex-programmer and systems integration program manager, I asked Alchin how he could manage the 5,000 programmers then cranking away on Windows 2000, whether Win2K would ever get done, and how bug free would it be? I was in awe that it could be done the way Microsoft was going about the effort. He said they were confident the project would complete in 1998 and that the system worked because Microsoft could afford to use brute force. Well, Jim Alchin, whom I deeply respect, was wrong.

As Jim Allchin gets ready to retire next year, he can be sure that the changes begun last year in development methodology and process will be enormously beneficial to the company going forward.

Lesson Learned: Brute Force is Not Scalable or Sustainable.

Apple xServer RAID: Zero to 76 Petabytes in Two Years

In 30 months, Apple's xServe RAID storage has put the company on the map with a well-regarded storage system. At 76,000 terabytes in that period, the company has clearly found a nice kicker to the growing xServer business. The fourth generation of xServe storage products was announced this week.

Apple says 40% of the xServe RAID systems are shipped to customers who have no other Apple computer products. That's a lot of market pull made on word-of-mouth. There are many customers with over 100 TB installed. With system-level pricing at around $1.86 a gigabyte, Apple is seeing rapidly expanded uses of midline pools of storage for disk-disk-tape, local storage redundancy, and remote online backup. I see this trend only accelerating.

Linux Watch: Site for All Linux, All the Time

This new site is the sister to Microsoft Watch. Book mark it if you want to keep up with the rapidly changing world of Linux.

ScreenCastsOnline

A peek into my Ipod (figuratively speaking, that is. I use Ipodder lemon and my palm zire 72, but I thought IPod was catchier.)

Today's highlight is ScreenCastsOnline. Its a Video Podcast (vidcast) that runs in QT 7.0. The host, Don captures his screen as he demonstrates various tasks, which have included Internet TV on the Mac, podcast production, RSS feeds and iTunes 5.0. The latest was an application called LaunchBar, which was very kewl. He also provides a discount for LaunchBar, during the podcast. Check it out!

What do you listen to???

--MissM

adfreak: CHP pulls over the Geek Squad

Apparently the California Highway Patrol thinks the paint job on the geek squad cars causes confusion. Tooooo funny.
Do you think its possible? (a blatant attempt to get comments)

--MissM

Update on commenting

As a result of overwhelming demand (ok, so 6 isn't a good sample, but it was 100% of respondents ;) ), I've enabled comments for registered users, of blogger.com? This is a test, as such it may change at anytime. My hope is that we can escape splogging and have a great 2 way dialog with everybody that reads this weblog.

Results of first test: well... the changes didn't happen, though I know I hit save settings. When I tried to post a comment in IE, it said the commenting was restricted to "team members." I will repeat the steps and see what happens.

Update2: It took amazing persistance, but I finally got the comments working for registered users of blogger.com.

Note to Gail: I tried to put my email in the comment notification and it said "," and ";" were illegal characters, and I was out of options.

Mozilla Firefox 1.0.7 Release Notes

"Firefox 1.0.7 is a security and stability release. We strongly recommend that all users upgrade to this latest version.

This version includes several security and stability fixes, including a fix for a reported buffer overflow vulnerability and a fix for a Linux shell command vulnerability."

I admit that I had a few seconds reservation before downloading, because of my V1.5 Beta experience, BUT, it is beta, and this is a security fix. I'm impressed at how fast firefox fixes are posted.
I tried update through the Options window, after seeing the post at SANS and nothing was detected.

--MissM

Download Opera for free

Courtesy of Lifehacker.com Opera's has made their browser free! They gave it away on their 10th anniversary, sometime in the last month, it seems to me, and now they have made it permanently? free?
Kudos to Opera!! I used it several years ago, and I look forward to trying it again.

--MissM

Microsoft Reorganizes Into Three Divisions

This news is so fresh that there is no Internet commentary to point you to, Dear Reader.

By ROBERT GUTH Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Microsoft Corp. announced a major reorganization designed to better equip the software giant against Google Inc., Linux makers and other companies exploiting the Internet to quickly develop and distribute software.
The Redmond, Wash., company said it would create three major divisions, each run by a single president and reporting to Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, according to a person familiar with the company's plans.

The divisions include Platform Products and Services, which for the next year will be co-headed by Group Vice President Jim Allchin and Kevin Johnson, who most recently served as group vice president in charge of Microsoft's sales division. The division will include Microsoft's Windows group and its MSN online business. Mr. Allchin, who now runs the Windows division, will retire late next year, Microsoft said.

Jeff Raikes, Microsoft's group vice president in charge of its Office software unit, will run a new unit called the Business Division that will house Office and Microsoft's business software, which includes software for handling functions such as accounting at small and medium-sized businesses.

The architect of Microsoft's Xbox videogame business, Robbie Bach, will head a new unit to be called Entertainment and Devices that will combine consumer groups including Microsoft's videogame business and its mobile-phone unit.

Mr. Ballmer said in an interview that he reworked the company's structure to exploit the Internet to create new businesses and to enable "transformation in existing businesses."
The reorganization appears to respond, in part, to the increasing threat of new rivals that are exploiting the Internet to sell software. The Web-based companies' more-agile approach in some cases has allowed companies like Google, Salesforce.com and makers of Linux to be quicker to market with software innovations than Microsoft. Microsoft's reorganization could help it counter those new rivals.

Why is Microsoft Re-Organizing? It had become too cumbersome and bureaucratic. Example: there are 1,200 corporate vice presidents, each making $1,000,000 a year salary. The competition and lack of internal innovation are making Microsoft look vulnerable, which if nothing else makes stock options worthless (and investments in MSFT dead money).

Will The Re-Org Make a Difference? Not right away. Every last business has to fit under the three "wings" of the organization. For example, Microsoft Business Solutions (i.e., the Great Plains and Navision apps) are part of the business division. There will be distractions while MBS makes nice with the Office people.

When Will We See the New Go-to-Market Plan? Not until next year. A lot of marketing collateral is gonna get trashed before even seeing the light of day. Lots of midnight oil for the marketing pukes -- who will be sharing Chinese takeout leftovers with the Windows Vista and Office 12 coders. Why? Because the make-or-break 2006-2007 product cycle has to reflect the new divisional structure -- and budgets, personnel, bonus pools, marcom programs, etc. I expect a quiet autumn as Microsoft goes very internal for a while.

What's Missing? Microsoft will never catch up to the vision of Google et al without a whole lot more output from Microsoft's Chief Software Architect, Bill Gates. After 25 years at this job and billions in the bank, you have to soberly ask the question whether Bill still has the focus and stamina to pull a whole new technology vision together, work the concensus internally, and get it programmed. With no programming capacity during the late Office 12 and Windows Vista development cycles, the question kinda answers itself: Microsoft will have no deliverable riposte to Google for literally years. Which makes it sad to see a still great technology company on a trajectory to cede the mantle of visionary leadership to younger, more adept rivals. Sad, but an oft repeated fact of the computer technology industry.

Office 2004 for Mac Service Pack: Macs Fit Better in a Windows/Exchange World

The IT complaint on Apple's Macintosh for a decade has been "poor integration with the mainstream Windows client and server environment." Well, times have changed. Apple's OS X 10.4 (Tiger) looks and acts like a PC on my home network. File and peripheral sharing is seamless. The release of Office 2004 for Mac Service Pack by Microsoft this week makes Macs play much nicer in the oh-so-common Exchange Server e-mail and collaboration environment. As a result of this release, IT managers have even fewer valid concerns about Macs in the office.

With a desktop and laptop OS that works well in a Microsoft-centric LAN environment, the introduction next year of Intel-based Macs will add even more impetus to Apple's re-conquest of the enterprise office. After all, the company had triple its current market share 15 years ago, so stranger things have happened.

64-Bit PCs: The Leading Edge Hits the Tipping Point

ExtremeTech's interesting and thought-provoking article left me with the following analysis and conclusions:

• The 64-bit hardware from first AMD and then Intel was wasted transistors without a mainstream-compatible operating system, Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, which arrived earlier this year. (Please, no hate mail, Linux lovers). That allowed the leading-edge geeks to trade in a copy of XP Pro for the new OS and have fun playing.
• But XP 64 alone is a solitary existence. An OS need applications. XP 64 supports 32-bit apps quite well in isolated address spaces, dubbed WOW (Windows on Windows). In the last few months, many software suppliers have begun to offer or beta native 64-bit applications.
• ExtremeTech benchmarks show a modest (and generally acceptable) hit to performance on some unoptimized 32-bit apps, an improvement in many 32-bit apps (especially on the AMD 64 microprocessor), and a performance win 64-bit-enabled apps. These published findings match the industry and user chit-chat I have been hearing for several months. The situation will only improve as more 64-bit extensions are released in the comping months.
• Therefore, I conclude that leading-edge users may want to more closely consider a 64-bit desktop environment for not just play but production. The caveats are that peripheral driver support (e.g., those USB things hanging off your PC) is spotty; memory under 1GB is a waste of effort; your mileage will vary; and you won't be getting much if any hand-holding from your name-brand PC supplier. With these caveats met, you may be at your personal tipping point.
• However, the PC mainstream is still 3-5 years from a 64-bit desktop with 2+GB of memory.

Google to launch Wi-Fi service?

Sometimes I get the feeling that those who whatch every twitch Google makes do so because they can't afford to travel to Area 51. Certainly the rumor value is about the same. Nevertheless; there is more on the web than the one mention on a web site that this ComputerWorld article mention; albeit only a snippet here and there.

I want it. I hope Google does do it. Perhaps they will bring some democracy to broadband access, which is sorely lacking as things stand today.

Jack

Build a Better Browser

For those of you who are not willing to peruse long lists of browser plug-ins PC World has a list of what they consider the most serviceable ones for Firefox and Internet Explorer. It's worth a look, as plug-ins, or extensions, can change your browsing experience for the better.

Jack

Participatory Blogging?

Currently we only allow members who can post to the blog to comment. Its nice to see so many people reading the blog, but I prefer more of a 2 way communication. I am pondering enabling general comments on the blog, with "word verification." This means that you have to type the word you see, on the webpage to validate that you are a human being, not a spam bot. I realize that this doesn't work for sight impaired people (sorry Riley), and I apologize. I will be trying to stay ahead of spam bots, and if it gets to be an issue, comments will be disabled again.

But, in the interest of spurring some feedback, do you all think we should allow comments?

Should we enable comments?
	Yes
	No
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Thanks for participating!
--MissM

Symantec on Security

Yes, we have (regularly) discussed Symantec software's inability to keep up with malware, but they do a good assessment twice a year that's worth a look see.

Two points here worth discussing on the next OnComputers radio show:

1. Macs are gonna be attacked more in the future because they are getting more popular. [You'll find no quibble from me on that].
2. Firefox had a lot more vulnerabilities reported in the past six months than Microsoft's Windows Explorer. Is Firefox a step "out of the skillet and into the fire"?

Microsoft at Its Apogee

Wow! Being beaten up by Businessweek and Forbes in the same week is tough love -- or whatever the business press administers.

The press moves in cycles, which I put at roughly 18-24 months in duration. You go from nobody to superstar to trash heap in those 24 months. Microsoft, no teenage rock star but distinctly middle age, is at the low point of its press cycle. Trust me, in 18 months they will look more on top in the press -- whether they deserve it or not -- because then they'll be at the perigee.

Symantec: Mozilla browsers more vulnerable than IE | Tech News on ZDNet

"Mozilla Web browsers are potentially more vulnerable to attack than Microsoft's Internet Explorer, according to a Symantec report." The open-source Mozilla Foundation browsers, such as the popular Firefox.
But we all know how well NAV works, However you Mozilla users maybe you need to read this.
Joe

Why is it crucial to defrag your drives daily?

Disk fragmentation causes crashes, slowdowns, freeze-ups and even total system failures. The number one reason for performance bottlenecks is fragmentation. Even the best hardware will eventually slow down unless the drive is defragmented daily.

The disk drive is by far the slowest of the three main components of your computer: CPU, memory and disk. If the drive isn't defragmented the fastest CPU in the world won't improve your system's performance, because information from the disk simply can't be delivered fast enough.

Manual defragmentation just isn't practical—who has time to defrag every system, every day? Manual defragmentation is a break-fix situation. Automatic defragmentation with Diskeeper, the Number One Automatic Defragmenter, is the only true defrag solution. Diskeeper 9 uses "Set It and Forget It"® technology to defrag drives as needed, keeping your systems running as fast as they did when they were brand-new.

The various editions of Diskeeper run on the Intel® x86 platform (including the Intel Pentium™ and Pentium-compatible CPUs from other manufacturers) running Microsoft Windows XP (Professional / Home / Tablet PC / Media Center editions), Windows 2000 (all Professional and Server editions), Windows Server 2003 (all editions), Windows NT 4.0 (all Server and Workstation editions), and Windows 95 / 98 / Me. For more information on compatibility read the Microsoft Knowledgebase article about Diskeeper, view our product compatibility list, or select the type of environment your computers run in from the following choices: Home User, Small Business or Corporate/Government.

PCWorld.com - Apps Launch from USB Drives

"Technology startup U3 is expected to announce Monday the release of USB drives based on its smart computing platform, which lets applications run directly off USB drives, independent of other storage devices. "
This sounds like a great idea for those of us that work away from home sometimes.
Joe

Microsoft sues more resellers in piracy battle | CNET News.com

"Information from an antipiracy hotline and 'secret shoppers' has led to eight lawsuits against companies accused of peddling pirated Microsoft software. "

Verizon Wireless may cut high-speed pricing | CNET News.com

"The No. 2 U.S mobile service and the country's first to sell wireless Web links with speeds comparable to some home broadband services, will cut its $80 a month rate plan to about $60 in a bid to stay ahead of rivals such as Sprint Nextel"

Cities join Intel's Wi-Fi program | CNET News.com

"Intel and several corporate partners launched a program on Thursday aimed at helping cities use wireless networks to better serve their citizens--and perhaps make a little cash on the side. "

Don't trust security to techies alone, Gartner says | CNET News.com

"Businesses should no longer let techies dictate how a company secures itself, analyst firm Gartner said this week."

Google Blog: The illuminated continent

National Geographic overlay on Google Earth in Africa, VERY impressive. All kinds of multimedia available, from National Geographic, through google earth (which, requires a speedy computer and broadband).

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 09-18-05

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 09-18-2005. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp. If you find the FTP link doesn't work because of the server problems, please right click on the podcast link above and save as. We will be moving to the new server in the next week.

Dell Quietly Drops Itanium Support

Dell, which never had its heart in Itanium, is dropping out of the game. The company will not develop or buy the chipset technology necessary to support the next Itanium version, code-name Montecito. This leaves HP and a handful of Japanese companies holding the proverbial Itanium bag. Intel, which is in a real back-alley brawl with AMD for X86/X64 server market share, is at the point where they aren't pushing Itanium down the market chain anymore.

Dell's sweet spot is 2- and 4-way Xeon servers, which the company pumps out like hotcakes. With the impending delivery of Intel of dual-core Xeon chips in the next six months, Dell can easily introduce an 8-core system -- plenty of horsepower for most enterprise applications today.

With a year or two of experience under its belt in scale-out architecture in cooperation with partners Oracle and SAP, Dell's answer to an empty Itanium cupboard is "we can support thousands of SAP users on our scale-out 4-way Poweredge 6850 servers. What's your real need?" A Dell Itanium rack has fallen in the forest. Nobody heard and nobody cares.

LonghornBlogs : Exclusive: BillG Goes To College

Originally from infoworld's blog : "Microsoft's instant classic video of Bill Gates and actor Jon Heder spoofing the cult movie Napoleon Dynamite brought down the house at the Professional Developer Conference. Here is a bootleg version made available by IFILM."

This is TOOOO funny!! Screen shots from a clip shown at PDC this week. Currently hosted, in QT, Windows Media and Real player formats here on Ifilms.

--MissM

Hacking's a snap in Legoland

I found this in the small links at News.com. It's not the sort of story I usually follow.

Evidently, the managers at Lego are more adaptable and sensitive to customer demands and needs than we're used to hearing about in these days of crappy customer service. I thought this story was just fun and worth reading just for the enjoyment value.

Jack

Microsoft's Vista looks to get tablets on write track

Microsoft is intent on melding some of Tablet Edition's features into Vista proper, at least in the more advanced versions. This News.com article is a 2 page teaser. That's the only word for it. If they actually do all that the article discusses (and there is no reason to doubt they will) Vista will be usable in several new ways that cannot help but enhance productivity and make the user experience more pleasant.

Being somewhat narrow minded, I concentrated on the impact of the changes in handwriting recognition and their effect on Tablet Edition users. I expect these changes alone to make the Tablet PC much more attractive and usable.

I'm rather lucky. My handwriting is usually handled relatively well by recognition systems I've come across, but there are two letters which I have had to "train" the system to recognize. Previously, Tablet Edition wasn't quite amenable to this. Now, it will be. And as far as I can see, that is the last real impediment to my using a Tablet PC. From what I can see now, a tablet might be better for me than a notebook, once Vista makes it's debut. This same attractiveness is going to be apparent to many others and it might well be the thing that catapults tablets from the very limited niche they now occupy to a position resembling mainstream acceptance.

Jack

Pretend this was the first poll

Because I got feedback, I thought I'd add what should have been the first poll.
Like I said, this is a learning process, and you all get to watch :)
Are we having fun yet?
--MissM

Are you gonna upgrade TO Windows Vista?
	Yes
	No
	I will wait a few months before upgrading
	I will wait at least 6 months before upgrading
Free polls from Pollhost.com

P.S. This is cool, but I haven't figured out how to get rid of the huge white space at the top.

This is a poll to test a new option, we may offer :)

Which flavor of Vista do you plan on getting?
	Starter
	Home Basic
	Home Premium
	Professional
	Small Business
	Enterprise
	Ultimate
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Thanks for voting, hope this works

--MissM

Win.2K update rollup to be reissued

To update or not to update... aye, that is the question. So far, I've had no problems with the original update rollup on the numerous W2K systems that I maintain, but apparently some have. It is a bit discouraging to realize (months after the original issue date) that problems exist but I guess it's almost become a way of life with O.S. updates. Truly, Microsoft has their hands full trying to keep up with security patches/bug fixes (and overall, do a pretty good job). I'm sure they try really hard to stay ahead of the game as much as possible (and I give them credit for that) nonetheless, as an end-user and tech support person, darn it... it can be frustrating!

start.com

A new configurable home page from MS. Its very similar to google's personalized page. When I click on a url though, it doesn't seem to open a new page, but it does work well in firefox YAY! :)
One advantage over google, in my opinion, is that you don't have to be signed in, so it must be cookie controlled. There's even a place to import your own RSS opml file, which is cool, but I still have privacy concerns. So, I haven't tried that yet. Not like my rss feeds are a secret, but ....

--MissM

tech.memeorandum

This is an aggregator that uses software to link and populate the tech posts made. Its an interesting thing, it just went live, yesterday, apparently. I put it on my google personalized page. I believe its updated every 5 minutes or so. It will be interesting to see how it pans out. I'm impressed so far, and if Scoble blogs about it, it must be da bomb. :) w0w he reads 1389 RSS feeds, I thought 140 was a lot lol

--MissM

RealBasic 2005 for Mac, Windows and Linux

Remember BASIC? It used to be that nearly everyone who took up any programming started with one or another variation of BASIC. It definitely had it's limitations, especially early, less powerful PCs. But if you wanted to program, you could learn the essentials of BASIC and almost immediately be in real control of what your computer did for you.

BASIC is mostly passe', nowadays. However, there is a truly modern and usable version called RealBASIC. It contains a wonderful IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that takes most of the boring stuff out of the programmer's hands and does it in the background, allowing both the beginner and the advanced programmer to concentrate on her or his coding. The link above is to a 3 page review of RealBASIC in The Register.

This variant of BASIC encompasses modern programming concepts such object oriented programming and runs on Windows, Macs and Linux and will allow cross-compilation for all the platforms supported, no matter which one you write the code on. There are free demos for download and if you decide to spring for the whole package, it is affordable. If you have interest in programming, I think this is one you ought to check out.

Many programmers have said that RealBASIC is more truly a "write once, run anywhere" language than Java is because there is absolutely no tweaking needed to run the code on another supported platform, as sometimes happens with the other languages. I'm downloading the demo now.

Jack

SERVER UPDATE

Just to let everyone know, the new server has been provisioned. The next
two weeks will be spent migrating to the new server. Due to this, there
may be times when certain services are unavailable. If I can give
advanced notice of this, I will, but I may not.

After we update the DNS records, you may find that the server in
unaccessible. Please note that this will only be for a time period of up
to 48 hours as DNS changes get migrated throughout the internet.

For future updates, please also check the On Computers Blog at
http://oncomputerstips.blogspot.com. If you have any questions, please
feel free to email me at aaronk123@gmail.com.

Thanks for your understanding.
Aaron

TC2K - anti-telemarketer tool

Hmmm, this looks really interesting. I'm all for ANY tool that fights telemarketers (a spammer by any other name...) Gosh, I could rant and rave all day about how our lives are negatively affected by spammers and telemarketers but I don't want to waste any further blog space on them; they don't deserve it.

Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 is out!

I normally don't do CLWEA, but I trust mozilla, so I downloaded firefox 1.5 Beta 1.
First impressions:
LUV: the font control (though I have to tweak it still), RSS/XML icon in the address bar.
ISSUES: Extensions so far, several don't have updates, yet, and don't work with the new version. FoxyTunes icon went back to the default bottom right of the window, and when I tried to drag it to the menu bar, the icon disappearred.... the official google bar didn't have an update, the firefox google bar worked fine... additional thoughts as the day continues....
Sage works well. FoxyTunes and Sage are the 2 extensions, I use the most. The new default theme includes history and bookmark buttons. I always installed Qute(?) theme. Time to restart to see what happens next....

--MissM

UPDATE: There are no scroll bars, and I had to jump through hoops to get foxytunes to work. Perhaps because of one of those hoops, the wonderful RSS/XML icon is funky looking now, more of a grey button, not an orange thing (?). I had to revert to the "non google" toolbar, the official google toolbar won't work with this (detected as 1.4, will be fixed soon, no doubt).
Oh yeah! The Options window worked, before the above hoops, but now, all I see is the tab titles, and the OK, Cancel and Help buttons on the bottom. Its a transparent window! I have issues with the opacity ;) because I cannot see the options, settings, or ANYthing. I briefly considered going back to 1.6, but I'll give it a few more chances, and keep y'all updated, as the fox turns.... :)
UPDATE2: Further impressions on Firefox Beta 1: I've rebooted the computer, and Options is still a see through window, which makes it difficult to tweak the fonts, but ctrl + mouse scroll wheel makes it larger, and thus readable. One new thing I've noticed is the improved error messages. A screen capture of my hosts file at work blocking ads, is to the right. I find the notification a tad bit irritating, a blank/empty window is my preference. But if the site doesn't show up, there is a try again button, which seems to make it more user friendly for those who don't get refresh or right click.

Final UPDATE: Its beta, there are some bugs. Half of my bookmarks were lost, though the beta doesn't get credit for that, I believe it was related to my hard drive failing during the show. My Options window is still see through. See example:
As you can see here, what would normally be the tabs in the options window.
And
|
|
|
down
|
|
|
|
here....
are the get out of the option window buttons. This looks right as I type it, but I'm not sure how WYSIWYG this is :)

Bottom Line: If you haven't installed it yet, wait. I'll let you know when its ready for prime time. This IS beta, and I expect everything to be fixed very quickly. Your mileage may vary, as the standard disclaimer goes.

NAND memory to replace hard drives

The link above will take you to an article at The Inquirer. More of a teaser than an article, really. I've been thinking the same way for a long time now, and I find it gratifying that Samsung is now thinking the same way.

For years, I have advocated flash memory as a key technology for portable computing. There would be no need for a hard drive, if we did things correctly. And battery life would increase dramatically because storage would only use power when reading or writing and even at those times, much less than any hard drive consumes.

Flash memory is slow, but so are laptop and tablet hard drives. And flash is getting faster. Read and write times are dropping, as is power consumption. It's only a matter of time, I think.

Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 09-11-05

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 09-11-2005. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp. If you find the FTP link doesn't work because of the server problems, please right click on the podcast link above and save as. We will be moving to the new server in the next few weeks.

Windows Vista product editions revealed

If you thought you were confused by XP Pro and XP Home try 7 Vista editions. Of course, I'll be wanting Ultimate, but will my hardware be up to the task? Probably not, so I'll probably be going with a version aimed at business and forego the high-end multimedia stuff.

Bottom line, we still don't know the prices.

PC World: No Microsoft Patches This Month After All

Microsoft has decided not to go ahead with its monthly security update after encountering an unspecified quality issue with the software patch it had planned to release next Tuesday.

Unpatched Firefox flaw may expose users | Tech News on ZDNet

A new, unpatched flaw in that affects all versions of Firefox could let attackers surreptitiously run malicious code on users' PCs, a security researcher has warned.
Maybe it is safe to use IE!
Joe

eBay in talks to buy Skype, report says | CNET News.com

I was wondering what the tie in was. Then I got to nearly the end of the article.

"The person familiar with the situation told the Journal that eBay was keen on adding services that make it easier to buy and sell goods online, as it did when it acquired the electronic-payment processing service PayPal in 2002."

I'm not sure that I want to actually talk to buyers and sellers, though. E-mail has worked just fine for me so far.

What is more interesting is the pay per call mentioned at the very end. Perhaps this would be useful, especially for overseas calls, which are still pretty expensive.

This is in the very early stages so whether you are for or against it, don't count on it.

Enter Crucial's Exclusive World Cyber Games Giveaway

FREE GEAR IS GOOD!
Enter Crucial's World Cyber Games Giveaway
Joe

FEMA to Mac, Linux users: drop dead

This, in my opinion is even more serious than the previous post about the Copywright Office, though I can't find it... ZDNet's article about it. And I'm concerned about the efforts put forth by the volunteers to get the evacuees internet access to find their families....
Should web developers develop to the market or the standard???

--MissM

AnnualCreditReport

Its now nationwide, as a public service I post it here :)

Don't check if you're gonna need credit in the next few months, cause you only get one free check a year. They DO try to sell you other things, but you don't have to buy them! Resistance is NOT futile ;)

--MissM

Microsoft revamps keyboards and mice

Well, we speculated that the gradual cancellation of several models of Microsoft mice and keyboards over thhe past months either meant they were getting out of peripherals or clearing out backlogs of stock in preparation for new models. This Techworld.com article has a nice outline of Microsoft's new offerings and links to the MS press releases.

There are gamer's mice along with new and improved ergonomics on keyboards for touch typists. They're reasonably priced and will almost certainly be discounted fairly quickly. Those of you with failing ergo keyboards for which you have not been able to find replacements will rejoice.

Jack

Katrina public web kiosk project wants volunteers

A Linux developer is organizing volunteers for a public "web station" project to assist Hurricane Katrina victims. Steve Hargadon's plan is to create numerous Linux-based public kiosks that boot directly into the Firefox browser and display a special home page with links to various services.

I know we have geeks everywhere, who want to help, and just might've missed this :)

--MissM

read more | digg story

DRAFT People Finder Interchange Format

Via: Dave Winer Standards drafted to facilitate the database building of lost and misplaced people, devastated by the hurricane.

--MissM

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 09-04-05

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 09-04-2005. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp. If you find the FTP link doesn't work because of the server problems, please right click on the podcast link above and save as. We will be moving to the new server in the next few weeks.

Windows Vista Self-Guided Tour

This "self guided tour" of Windows Vista is intended for someone who has a copy of it running at hand. However; even a quick reading will give you a pretty good idea of what Microsoft wants the product to be and what it actually consists of.

Jack

WinFixer Popup Problem

This article in the LangaList Std Edition 2005-09-01 outlines the WinFixer spyware problem and gives some links about fixing it.

Just an aside, I've subscribed to the pay version of Langalist for several years, but the free version is also very useful and well, it's free. If you never have, now is a good time to check it out.

Firefox 1.5 Beta Expected Soon-PC World

Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 will be available September 8, according to a posting in the section of the Mozilla Foundation's Web site devoted to developer news.

Theft You Don't Even See

From the article:

"How's this for a one-two punch -- software that secretly alters your Google search results, then tries to drop nasty programs on your computer by luring you to a bogus eBay link?"

I've got to give these malcreants a "C" for clever. Just be aware.

Yahoo IM users get more than they bargained for

From the article:

"By accepting Yahoo's 'typical' installation of YIM with Voice, it will also download Yahoo's Search Toolbar with anti-spyware and anti-pop-up software, desktop and system tray shortcuts, as well as Yahoo Extras, which will insert Yahoo links into the Internet Explorer browser. The IM client also contains 'live words,' which will automatically show an icon when the user highlights words online and then hyperlink to Yahoo search results, definitions or translation tools. Finally, the installation will alter the users' home page and auto-search functions to point to Yahoo by default.

To avoid these changes, users must actively choose the 'custom' installation and uncheck five boxes."

I thought "we" (the collective computer using community) had made it crystal clear to companies that these kinds of tactics would cause us to abandon using their services and software. Since they need us to use their services and software in order to advertise to us, this is very counterproductive.

Trusted Computing Best Practices

Further info on a topic Jack and Peter have discussed on the show, by Bruce Schneier, with some informative links, in my opinion.

--MissM

GM drives Hummer-branded laptop

In my opinion a rugged computer is a useful thing. Hummer branding and styling? Ho-hum.

Computer saves drowning girl

I saw this story yesterday but didn't blog it until I read it today. This is truly amazing. After reading this story, I have little doubt that the computerized alert system really did help save this girl's life.

Internet rallies for storm relief

A story about the good use of the Internet.

Scammers Hit Web In Katrina's Wake

A story about the bad use of the Internet.

Creative MP3 players ship with virus

This seems like a rather amazing story. I would think that their production computers would be isolated from this sort of thing. Since this virus surfaced in 2003, it's not like definitions weren't out there.

I've heard of official releases of software containing viruses before, but that was a long time ago and I would have thought that security awareness was a bit higher now. I guess not. All I can do on this one is to sit here and scratch my head.

Yet another reason to continuosly run a high quality, up-to-date anti-virus scanner.

Free Ubuntu CDs!

Courtesy of http://www.spyndle.com/, which I found from listening to this podcast.. Since Jack is so enthusiastic about this linux distro, I thought I'd pass on this link. FYI.

Sorry for the long history, but I want to give credit where credit is due. ;)

--MissM

OT: the blogger button is working great now! Not sure what the issue was, but I'm giddy!

Please don't forget the people on the gulf coast need our help, for info and ways to donate, go here.

Hollywood, Microsoft align on new Windows

Here's what we have to look forward to:

"Although ordinary MP3 files and DVDs will play without any difference, the deep changes in the way the operating system handles some entertainment content will come with costs. The most obvious of these may be the risk of compatibility problems between some older monitors or TVs and Vista computers, particularly when trying to play high-quality video. Vista may also make it harder to do some casual copying, such as recording Internet audio"

Arrgh!

Linux 40 percent cheaper than Windows, exclaims IBM

Are you as tired of all the TCO "studies" between operating systems as I am? I hardly ever read them, any more. As far as I'm concerned, none of them, including this one, are worth the paper they're written on.

While the cost of software and operating systems is certainly important, the only way to know what fits is to study your own needs and operations and see what meets your requirements, then put out for that. On such a basis, winners will emerge from all over the spectrum of offerings. There is no one clear winner, across the board.

Jack

Massachusetts Plumps for Open Document Standards

We reported last January that Massachusets proposed to move all documents produced by the State and any local governments within it to formats conforming to open standards. At the time there was a lot of thought that Microsoft and other vendors would oppose this.

While opposition did arise, Massachusetts stuck to their guns and after repeated rounds of public comment, has implemented their plan. Conversion is to be complete by 1 January, 2007. This specification is open for a last round of public comment now and is expected to be implemented in it's current form, with the planned timing.

Application vendors who do not currently support the required formats are expected to offer plug-ins or other revisions to their products to comply. Microsoft is rumored to already have the required changes made in recent versions of Office ready to go.

Jack

Hidden-code flaw in Windows renews worries over stealthy malware

I mentioned the over-length registry key as a way of hiding malicious code from various system protection utilities on Sunday. The link above is to a story in The Register which contains a bit more information, along with links and pointers to more information.

This is a serious problem, though Microsoft does not see it as an operating system vulnerability (and they may well be correct in this). It can and does mean such things as keystroke loggers are invisible to some security and system health monitoring software. The Internet Storm Center has a partial list of such software. Undoubtedly patches will be issued and at least most of the affected programs updated to handle this. Until that happy day, this story warrants your following it and taking whatever steps are necessary if you are depending on the affected applications for your security.

Jack

Outsourcing warning on Indian law changes

This report in the Australian paper, The Age, says that India is thinking of weakening it's cybercrime laws, as recommended by an expert committee.

India already has serious privacy and data theft problems in the sector of business out-sourced from the US and Europe. Now they intend to further weaken the laws against unauthorized intrusions to a network. They have a real problem.

It is obvious India is not after anything but the money and really doesn't care about the people their businesses serve. They get the technologies and get paidto learn how to use them, then do as they will, allowing profiteers of all sorts to take advantage.

It is time to start telling businesses that you will not deal with them if they outsource to India - period. No exceptions.

Jack

Katrina Disaster

I probaby don't have to blog this because our little On Computers family has a lot of heart and I'm sure most of you have already done something to help out. This is a disaster of epic proportions and has wiped out much of 3 Southern states. The destruction of New Orleans is being compared to the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. I'm pleased to report that when I tried to access a disaster relief agency the secure server was so busy that the Web site couldn't respond. I had to phone it in, which is a good thing.

If you want to help out and haven't yet here are some links to get you started:

American Red Cross

Salvation Army USA

Our best wishes and prayers go out to everyone who has been affected, as well as to their concerned friends and family.

BBC: Apple iTunes phone due to launch

Made by Motorola the handset will have Apple iTunes onboard and will be available via the US Cingular phone service.

The Great Firewall of China

I found this article by Scott Granneman particularly interesting because I remember checking my router/firewall logs several times recently and noticed that it was dropping a rather large number of unsolicited packets from Chinese IP numbers. I recall thinking "What the heck is going on in China, and why?" This may give a little further insight, check it out if you're interested. John B.

WinFS Beta Released. Questions Immediately Arise

After pulling WinFS, a new relational file system, out of the Longhorn/Vista beta, Microsoft has released it as a beta in it's own right. Immediately, analysts and pundits question where it fits in the scheme of things. Fair questions, I should think, though perhaps a bit premature.

The link above is to an article at Technewsworld.com and I recommend you read it, but withhold your judgements until we see where things are heading.

Jack

Zotob worm writer caught by FBI

And more news on the Zotob front this morning...

It is good to see that causing real havoc is resulting in real arrests. Microsoft did have a hand in helping investigators track down the culprits.

Furthermore:

"Microsoft's Smith attributed the fact that relatively little damage was caused by the worms to two things: consumers are becoming more savvy to threats and taking more precautions to shield their software from viruses, and Microsoft is making good on its commitment to create more secure products."

Some XP Users at Risk From Zotob Worm

"Users running certain configurations of Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 1 beware: That pesky Zotob worm that hit Windows 2000 users last week could affect your systems, too. This week, Microsoft issued a new advisory on the expanded Zotob threat. Windows XP SP2 users are not vulnerable to the Zotob attacks, Microsoft said."
I hope you have SP2 installed!
Joe

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 08-28-05

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 08-28-2005. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.
If you the FTP link doesn't work because of the server problems, please right click on the podcast link above and save as. We will be moving to the new server in the next few weeks.

Boy Was I Dumb | this WEEK in TECH

Leo has an issue with feedburner, and I believe its an interesting discussion...

OT: When did the blogger button in the google toolbar quit putting the url in the url box???? Boy that irritates me
:)

--MissM

Big Bait Sinks Alleged Phisher - Los Angeles Times

"The 22-year-old Iowa man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of scamming computer users with fake e-mail notices from Microsoft Corp. Authorities said his scheme backfired when the software powerhouse contributed the legal legwork that led to his arrest." Score another one for Microsoft!
Joe

Sirius Satellite to Sell Portable Player - Los Angeles Times

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., the No. 2 U.S. pay-radio company, will begin selling its first portable device to compete with larger rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and products such as the iPod.
I have4 XM Radio what do you have?
Joe

Alleged Spyware Mastermind, Buyers of the Program Indicted - Los Angeles Times

Alleged Spyware Mastermind, Buyers of the Program Indicted - Los Angeles Times: "Loverspy allowed its users to learn about the e-mails, website visits and passwords used on other people's computers by sending an innocuous-looking electronic greeting card. Every keystroke on the victims' computers was recorded." the Loverspy phenomenon caused a buzz among those in computer security. Companies have cited Loverspy as the reason computer users need anti-spyware and anti-virus software.
The on computers show recommends NOD32 The Anti Virus that works!
Joe

Public largely ignorant of Web threats, but women less so

Girls RULE! ;)

"StreamShield measured online fraud, viruses, spam, unwanted pop-up ads, spyware, phishing and keyloggers. The firm said, in fact, that in all categories women experienced fewer difficulties than men, even though a higher percentage of men are aware of computer viruses, spyware, adware, et al."

I'm soooo proud of us!
--MissM

Tom's Hardware Guide PCs & HowTo: Windows Spyware Survival Tools - Winsock XP

"A very common problem that exists is the loss of Internet connectivity after being infected with or removing spyware. A free utility exists that will completely rebuild your WinSock and restore your Internet connectivity. "
This have a free tool to fix your network connections if spyware breaks it.
Thanks Curtis for this link!

PC World-FCC Extends VoIP E911 Deadline

The FCC announcement Friday acknowledges "significant efforts" made by VoIP providers to gain customer responses. The FCC also asked VoIP providers to detail any plans to use so-called "soft" disconnect options for customers who have not responded to the advisories by September 28. Under a soft disconnect, all non-911 calls would go instead to the VoIP provider's customer service line, while 911 calls would continue to be routed to emergency dispatch centers.

Arrests made in probe of worm that hit ABC, others | Tech News on ZDNet

"Microsoft hails the arrests as an example of a successful partnership between the private sector and law enforcement. 'Our entire industry, especially in partnership with law enforcement, is able to move much more quickly and in a more sophisticated way today than was the case, say, two years ago, and that is certainly part of what made it possible to get to this point within two weeks,' ".
Good job Microsoft and the FBI!
Joe

Cell Processor Details Released

Don't worry. I'm not pointing you to hundreds of pages of technical documents. They are available, should you want to read them, though.

Instead; this is a two page overview of the Cell architecture and it's capabilities, written by Dr H. Peter S. Hofstee. I found it readable enough to inform, without being overly dense.

It is obvious that the Cell is every bit as exciting a development as is appeared early on. Peter and I were right, I guess. This is likely the future of much of our computing.

Jack

Some Net phone customers may be cut off

Do you have VOIP and have you registered with 911?
"NEW YORK - Providers of Internet-based phone services may be forced next week to cut off tens of thousands of customers who haven't formally acknowledged that they understand the problems they may encounter dialing 911 in an emergency."

Spitzer: AOL to reform customer service, pay penalties - Aug. 24, 2005

AOL to reform customer service, pay penalties - Aug. 24, 2005: "America Online, the world's largest Internet service provider, has agreed to reform the way it handles customers who want to cancel service, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said Wednesday."
Thanks to John_B

Another Good Reason to Dump Bluetooth

Bluetooth could be a very useful technology. I don't dispute that. But the link above will take you to an article about plans to "bluecast" ads to mobile devices, particularly phones. Yes, when your device is queried, you have the opportunity to say "no" by not accepting the advert, but who wants to be queried right and left as they walk, drive or what have you?

My wife's laptop is equipped with bluetooth capabilities. We have disabled them because we really don't need it, but also because it is a huge security risk. The best rule is to disable anything you don't use, regardless of risk level. You can always re-enable it when needed.

There have been unconfirmed reports of bluetooth hacks against laptops recently. It is my intention to check this out in detail and try to inform you of what I find, either on the show, our site, or here.

If a device will not let me disable bluetooth, I don't want it.

Jack

Server Upgrade

We are in the process of migrating the media server over to a new box.

This has become somewhat of an urgent issue as there appears to be a hardware issue that may or may not cause us to go down while we are in the process of the migration.

If this happens prematurely, please know that we will be doing our best to get mission critical services back up and running quickly, but there may be some lag and some pieces, ie websites and the newsgroups, may take longer to get up.

We are attempting to back everything up as of TODAY, August 23, 2005, but we aren't sure if we will have everything. This migration should be complete by mid September.

Again, we are hoping to make it through the migration without any issues, but we aren't sure if we will make it. Please take this as notice if there is any unexpected downtime.

Works for Me: First, do no harm - CNET reviews

This is a good way to try to fix a small problem on your computer. It doesn't fix a Harddrive going south on ya. But it might be a way for you to fix your own computer without having to pay someone to do it for you.
Joe

Google planning IM service, report says | Tech News on ZDNet

Are you ready for another IM? Google Talk!
I'm not sure I am.
Joe

Google set to release new toolbar

The link above is to a short article in The Inquirer. You can, of course, also get details at Google, though it is much more of a sales pitch.

There is also an article at The Register "http://www.theregister.com/2005/08/22/google_sidebar/">here.

My wife and I just discussed installing the new desktop on one computer and decided against it, despite being attracted by the functionality it offered. So why did we decide against it? Well, we decided we did not want Google, or anyone else, for that matter, so closely supervising our surfing habits and collecting data about us.

No, I'm not especially paranoid. You know that, if you've listened to me on the show. But I do wonder at all the information that has been collected on me through the use of the Internet and worry both about it's accuracy and what uses it could be put to. In a purely personal decision, I'm drawing the line.

Jack

Moog dies - NY Times

Robert Moog, the creator of the electronic music synthesizer that bears his name and that became ubiquitous among experimental composers as well as rock musicians in the 1960's and 70's, died on Sunday at his home in Asheville, N.C. He was 71.

PCWorld.com - Power-Line Networking: The Next Generation

I used a Power-Line network at a motel in Canada on my drive down the Alcan. It was slick!
Joe

Some great info about the new Zone Alarm

From the Fred Langa newsletter, some warnings about installing the new "full of features" (aka bloat) ZA. The bottom line as I see it:
"I suggest waiting a bit when the new ZoneAlarm is offered (some users are getting the update notices right now...). The pre-update version is fine, and works well -- there's no urgent need to upgrade. Let other braver or risk-loving souls take the plunge, and watch for feedback." The article also includes examples of experiences with the new Zone Alarm.

--MissM

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 08-21-05

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 08-21-2005. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.