Something Untoward in the Latest Yahoo Messenger

This is a personal and anecdotal story, but here's what happened. I just downloaded the latest version of Yahoo Messenger (msgr75us.exe). The first thing I had to do to install it was to turn of Data Execution Protection in Windows. I've had to do that with a few older programs, but what is up with this in a brand new version of Yahoo Messenger? Just how are they burrowing into my computer?

Something smells bad about this. Add to that the fact it crashed on the install in spite of me giving it a pass through DEP, and the fact that it required a Macromedia download when I finally got the install to proceed on the third try, and I got rid of it. I went back to version seven. (OldVersion.com)

This version includes an annoying animated ad at the bottom of the contacts list that I'm unable to hide. That was just the frosting on the Yahoo Messenger crud cake. And the cherry on top is the AT&T co-branding -- yuk! As to the ad, I don't mind looking at an ad in return for a service, but the minute you flash it at me it annoys me and I will do just about anything to get rid of it. I did.

Yahoo Messenger never has been the best of the best, but IMHO right now the current version is worse than useless. And I ask again, just why does it need DEP privileges? Something stinks here. I think I'll run Rootkit Revealer just to be on the safe side.

UPDATE: For the time being, you can get the last stable version (7.02) of Yahoo Messenger here. FYI no version is bug free, but this is the best IMHO.

Lenovo deletes Linux

I have to wonder why this is a story and conclude it's just Microsoft's marketing monies at work and signals Lenovo's move into the top tier of manufacturers in Microsoft's eyes.

There are very few PC companies supporting Linux (as opposed to server makers, most of whom support Linux). HP offers Mandriva Linux in France in what can only be thought of as an experiment in offering Linux and support in a small but ready market. Local or regional "white box" PC makers sometimes support it, but none of the majors do so on the desktop or notebooks they offer.

The problem PC companies have with offering Linux is two-fold. First, they'll probably lose MS marketing monies. Second, they have no support structure in place and building up one would be both expensive and time consuming. They state there is not enough demand for Linux, which is true enough when you consider they mean there is not enough demand to quickly pay for the increased infrastructure they would need AND replace the MS marketing money that would be lost. What we in the trenches see as substantial demand is not adequate to their needs. It's as simple as that.

Jack

Update; Lenovo is now back-tracking frantically. They will continue to offer Linux on their business notebooks, known as the "ThinkPad" models. Considering that it took diligent searching to find their Linux offerings before and that they seemed to discourage the choice of it with unseemly vigor, this is hardly good news for Linux fans. Still, it is there if you want or need it. ZDNet has a story about it, here.

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 06-04-06

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 06-04-06. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.
Due to internet problems we were late starting this morning and the audio is not up to par for us.

Don't upgrade Web software, just keep improving it | By Jon Udell

When I logged in to my bank’s online system to pay some bills last night, I was greeted with the following message: “Bill payment system upgrade completed.”
Uh-oh. That’s a message I don’t want to see.

Thin-client software delivered through the Web can improve gradually and continuously, and that is one of its greatest virtues. When we could ship upgrades only once every year or two, we had no choice but to batch up the changes in ways that were guaranteed to disrupt the work habits of the people using our applications. But now we can trickle-feed those changes so that people can gradually adapt to them and we can more carefully monitor and adjust their experiences.

Unfortunately my bank’s bill payment service provider doesn’t operate that way. Along with a big-bang release of its back-end service, which added a variety of new features, it switched to an all-new Web interface. As a result, it took me a surprisingly long time to rediscover how to do the most basic thing -- namely, pay a bill.

Hint: The link that leads to the bill payment window should probably be labeled “Pay bill.” Or, at the very least, that link’s anchor title -- that is, the text that pops up when you hover over the link -- ought to say “Pay bill” rather than “Opens a new window.”

It gets worse. The old system would queue up payments from multiple accounts in a single screen. The new system, with “simpler navigation that makes paying bills easier,” won’t let me do that. Now I have to make payments from my household account in one batch, and from my business account in another. The forklift upgrade didn’t just temporarily disrupt my online banking experience, it permanently subtracted value from it.

My credit union did the same thing, now when I look at my account I see from the beginning of the previous month. This is useless, in my opinion, I want to see the most recent transactions and their choice was a bad one. I also recently logged on to my Gas Company website, to look at my bill. I had questions about the bill, and didn't want to waste time on hold, so instead I clicked on "Send Email" or something similar to that... and I'll copy my comments to the company:

I find the website very difficult to navigate. My original email was about my bill, but when I tried to struggle through the contact us form, it became more obvious that feedback is very needed. I offer these suggestions because I think it can only get better. :)
1. Send To*: I didn't expect to pick the company, but the department, then it was unclear to me which choice to make to send the email. I know BigCompanyA bought LocalCompanyA, and BigCompanyA was my first choice, but then realized that the operations might not merged yet. I was thinking that Send To* could possibly be changed to "Your local utility name," though I think that is awkward, too. It seems that one address could have rules setup to forward the email to the appropriate division, transparent to the customer.
2. Questions* I have EPP payment questions, and it is not listed in the options. Therefore, I select "What if my question is not listed?" and it opens another window that says "We apologize that you could not locate the information you needed in our "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQ) section. Please contact us by using the link below or calling our 24-hour Customer Service Department at 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX and a Customer Relations Specialist will assist you." and to use this form. This is a totally unnecessary action, in my opinion, and should be removed.
3. When I hit Send (which should be at the bottom of the window, not near the subject line, in my opinion), my account number, which is not required had the dashes eliminated, then told me it was an invalid account number. After double checking, I realized it had truncated the last two digits of the account number, when the dashes were removed.

I received a nice, but not grammatical letter in response, I'll be curious about the results. The only changes I've seen based on the effort I go to to give good feedback are when podcast url's are wrong. Its disappointing, frankly.
Do you have any similar experiences? Relay them in comments, please. :)
--MissM
Don't upgrade Web software, just keep improving it | By Jon Udell

Visual Tour: 20 Things You Won't Like About Windows Vista

I hesitated posting this for a couple days, for fear it would be seen as bashing. I finally decided it had to be brought to your attention as a legitimate opinion piece.

It's worth reading so we'll know more of what to expect from Vista. Of course, that's assuming Microsoft doesn't just junk the whole thing and re-write it around Free Cell Solitaire.

Jack

AMD Introduces Ultimate Enthusiast Platform - 4x4

As an addition to Jack's post about the new AMD processor. The link has pictures! And a few more details for you detail hungry readers!
Join us tomorrow for the live show.
--MissM

PC Perspective - Comments

Why First Generation Apple Products Suck

I'm not sure I agree with everything the author of this piece, Gundeep Hora, has to say. He has a point, though, to one degree or another. It is worth a read, though, if only to argue about just how close he is to the mark.

Personally, I love the two Apple computers we have, though I should note I'm running Linux on them both. The hardware is simply superb! And it's not Apple's fault I was unwilling to learn to work in yet another operating system.

Jack

AMD 4X4 to arrive sooner rather than later

Trust me on this; THE fastest route to insanity is to attempt to understand, then keep up with either Intel or AMD roadmaps. It will indeed make you crazy and old before your time. The ATI and NVidia roadmaps are even worse, but we won't get into that where the children might see it.

AMD is popping for two sockets with a dual core part in each one as an ultimate gamer's machine, though I could see it put profitably to a lot of other uses, like my Seti@home totals.

I have to wonder if I'm missing something here, though. XP Pro can only see two processors, right? Does AMD have some way of foxing this OS to use 4 while it thinks it is using 2? Or is this Linux only until Vista comes out? I don't recall seeing anything about a Vista desktop version able to use more than two cores, either. I could have missed it, and God knows the Vista roadmap has had it's own twists and turns.

So far; I have not been able to clear this up. Hopefully, all will become clear soon.

Jack

Bowing To Adobe, Microsoft Strips PDF Support From 2007 Office

Adobe publishes the PDF standard in its entirety and makes it available for free, without restrictions, to anyone who cares to use it," Adobe Senior Director of Public Policy Michael Engelhardt wrote last year in a letter to a Massachusetts state senator. "No one needs permission from Adobe to build their own product with the PDF standard.

Unless of course you are Microsoft and want to put it in Office 2007. Then Adobe strongarms you to take it out of Office. So you offer it as a downloadable patch. Except that upsets Adobe's apple cart and they want you to charge for it. After all, if end users can save to PDF out of Word, who will buy Adobe's overpriced and bloated Acrobat?

Somebody?

Anybody?

Nobody?

OpenOffice catches macro-virus

It apparently is not out in the wild but is, instead, proof of concept code.

Because of the shared code base, it also affects Star Office.

We've been saying it for a long time now; when an application or operating system reaches a market share of any significance, the bad guys will start paying heed to attack vectors for it. It has recently happened to Apple, both their Safari browser and the Mac OS X itself.

Move along now. Not much to see here.

Jack

My Linux update - Apologies to Arklinux

My original post here

Ok, I think I may have figured out what went wrong with Arklinux. It was my fault. I installed it at the end of a drive. I think that's what hosed the whole file system, on this computer. This time it's at the beginning of the drive, and I formatted the Linux partitions in Win XP with Partition Magic before I installed.
So, sorry Arklinux folks. It was my Boo-Boo not yours. Comments?

The time has come to ditch email

This is an opinion piece in The Register and though I don't totally agree, the writer may be correct in the assumption that we have to scrap email and start over with a more secure and efficient system.

There is a bit more on email and spam here.

Jack

Codes on Sites 'Captcha' Anger of Web Users

The codes, called captchas, are also showing up more often amid a boom in new Web services, ranging from blogging tools to social-networking sites. The trickiest ones 'make you not want to go to those sites anymore,' says Scott Reynolds, a 29-year-old software architect in Ocala, Fla., who lambasted the devices on his blog last year.

We use these captchas on this blog and I hate them, but the alternative is unreleting blog spam. It is another case in which by controlling the bad guys they win anyway because doing this inconveniences anyone else. We also use comment moderation in order to try to keep the comment spam down to a dull roar. If we didn't used captchas, along with moderation, there would be so much comment spam that the moderators couldn't keep up.

Bottom line is that if you hate these captchas, you are not alone. The other bottom line is that Google and others are realizing that there is a need for an alternative for visually impaired people. I think more companies will adopt audio captchas in the future as an alternative and thereby make their sites more accessible.

The Windows XP Command Line

Would you like to dabble in the Windows command line? Here is a nice Web site I found to get you started. If you heard last Sunday's show, you know that we discussed using the command line. To quickly get the CLI (command line interface) just type "cmd" into the run box on the Windows start menu.

Ubuntu to Support Sun 'Niagara' Platform

Up until yesterday, there had for all intents and purposes only been two Linux distributions with real traction in the enterprise space; Red Hat and SuSE. Some of that is sales hype and public perception of it, but a good part of it was real. RH and SuSE were the only distros with real, professional support capabilities. Organizations running other distros (and there are many) either bought support from third parties or did it all themselves.

Yesterday, Sun announced they would partner with Canonical, the parent company of Ubuntu, in porting their Linux to UltraSparc T1 "Niagra" multi-core cpu. This is a HUGE win for Canonical and probably adds Ubuntu to the short list of "top tier" distributions with RH and SuSE.

Jack

AM2: AMD Reinvents Itself

This is from the last page of a comprehensive review over at Tom's Hardware:

With Socket AM2 the (OEM) customer now has the option of DDR2 memory from AMD too. In theory, that should produce a higher memory bandwidth, which in practice is only achieved by the expensive top processors. Compared to 'old' DDR memory-based platforms, the bulk of AMD's CPUs cannot benefit from the higher bandwidth of the DDR2 memory. A closer analysis of the benchmarks even reveals a marginal performance deficit when pitting the 'new' against the 'old'. It's clear that DDR2 memory only begins to pay off at higher clock speeds of 2.4 GHz and above. And that in turn affects only the CPUs from the Athlon 64 X2 4800+ that have a price of at least $600.

My advice on the AM2 platform, is that if you can afford to wait for the next gen and/or for the prices to drop, you will be much happier.

Symantec repairs flaw in anti-virus software

Symantec said its engineers have worked 24 hours a day on the problem since its discovery last week by eEye Digital Security of Aliso Viejo, Calif. 'Symantec is a company used to responding rapidly,' said Vince Weafer, senior director for Symantec's security response unit.

Weafer said consumer versions of Symantec's popular Norton Anti-virus software — sold at retail outlets around the country — were not vulnerable to the flaw. Symantec's anti-virus products are installed on more than 200 million computers

Here is a quick update to a story we have been covering. Kudos to Symantec for fixing it quickly.

News from PC Magazine: Microsoft Releases OneCare

I'm not sure I'd be tempted to switch from another solution that was working for me. From the article it seems like the anti-spyware is not well integrated into the package. So maybe a better name would be two-care. Until more information is available I would proceed with caution, though with a 3 computer license and anti-virus, anti-spyware, a firewall, back-up and maintenance, no one can say you are not getting a lot for the money if it does the job as intended.

China battles rejection of Wi-Fi encryption algorithm

The Chinese Government is upset that the ISO rejected their wireless encryption technology known as WAPI back in March. What was the ISO's concern? The Chinese had refused to disclose some details of their technology so ISO members were not sure that there wasn't a backdoor to WAPI encrypted material. Because of this only 32% of ISO members supported it. The Chinese are crying foul and accusing the US IEEE of conspiracy and unethical behavior since the ISO favored IEEE's 802.11i encryption standard.

Gee. ya think maybe the fact the Chinese government was unwilling to give all the info to the ISO had something to do with it being rejected? I guess if you are totalitarian state it is easier to posture and complain, than to give the details of your standard to the standards folks. Personally, I'm glad the ISO rejected it on that basis, as they should reject any technology which they are not allowed to evalutate to their satisfaction. Anyone want to take bets as to there being a little hidden something in WAPI?

MPAA is charged with hiring a Hacker!

"Rothken said. 'We think it's ironic for the MPAA to claim that they are protecting the rights of the movie studios and then go out and pirate other people's property.'"
I'm posting this for Riley, he wanted to talk about it on the show but we didn't get to it.
Joe

ASUS to Enter Tablet PC Market

Asus will be putting forth a premium price convertible tablet. Convertible meaning it has a keyboard or can be swung around to be used as a "pure" tablet with pen input. The feature list is pretty rich, as one would expect.

Though they remain very much a niche product, tablets are slowly gaining traction in their market. One equipped with XP Tablet Edition and fairly well equipped is something I think would fit right in to my life and it would see a LOT of use.

With flash memory prices falling again and this year's production forecast to be 196% of last year's, it is also quite possible we will soon begin to see tablets equipped with solid state storage. At that point, where the delicate and power-hungry hard drive is no longer part of the package, I think tablets will truly come into their own.

Jack

Early Testers Hit Vista Beta 2 Snags

This is hardly unexpected in a beta testing cycle.

What surprised me is how Vista is so hard on notebook battery life and how notebooks seem to run very hot because so much of the graphics are off-loaded to the GPU, which is usually not very well cooled in a notebook form factor. It is fair to ask if this should limit notebook owners upgrading to Vista and instead holding off until they buy new kit, which will presumably be better suited to the task.

Jack

SIS backs AMD AM2 socket

While I doubt the powers that be at AMD were losing sleep waiting for SiS to support the AM2 socket, this is important. SiS provides a LOT of chipsets for low and middle bracket computers. A few more wins like this and AMD can rest assured the socket won't debut into a vacuum.

I mentioned this to a local white box maker and he thought it exciting.
Evidently there was some worry about chipset availability for the new parts. That's all over now.

Jack

PS3's STI Cell processor gets boffins excited

The upshot of the article is that the Cell processor has grand potential for scientific computing, though it favors 32 bit work over the 64 bit work most scientific computing needs. They're obviously sure that can be overcome, though. You can get a PDF about the findings, if you care to, from a link on the page cited above.

Jack

Mystery Solved

I requested a free USB stick from Microsoft, many weeks ago. I believe it was a couple months, at least. Today I checked my hotmail account, and received an email dated 5/26/06 with this url. They ran out. Dagnabit. :)
Although I was gonna give it away, because I have a few already. Just in case you haven't heard about your USB stick, I thought I'd post this.
--MissM

Mystery Solved

Microsoft bug-checking tools promise fewer crashes | CNET News.com

"Microsoft is readying two tools to help hardware makers create more stable and secure Windows drivers, which should help reduce the number of crashes."

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 05-28-06

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 05-28-06. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.
The Winner for last weeks PodCast give-a-way of Diskeeper 10.0 Pro was:
J.D. Klein
Cave Junction, OR
K7JK-jonny
Congratulation Jonny

HD DVD to carry unwelcome DVD baggage

HD-DVD and Blu-ray is barely here and already, region coding is arriving. It seems like an ill conceived joke since region coding has never stopped a pirate and it has certainly never stopped a determined end user from viewing the DVD's of their choice.

Symantec Says Its Own AV Product Has Zero-Day Vulnerability

They are not giving all the details in order to keep the exploit out of the wild until updates are available. Symantec says tht none of its consumer grade titles are at risk including Norton AV and Norton Internet Security.

The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time

I've just linked to the page that lists the worst 5. I'm either proud or ashamed to admit that I have used 3 of the 5. Which 3 I will leave to your imagination.

Setting Up a Server - Linux Forums

I found this on digg.com and remembered mopguy's post and somebody in the chat talking about setting up linux.

This article teaches you, the reader, how to configure a GNU/Linux based server with three of the most important services that must be provided in a company, at home, a lab or anywhere else, both for clients and internal usage: web, database, mail. So it will be assumed that the idea is to host websites that use certain technologies such as a scripting language and a database (for dynamic sites), and also to act as a mailing tool, for sending and receiving email.

It is deemed worthy of mention because the first command given is "apt-get,"
which is critical, in my opinion, to really, really make installing things in linux easy. It does take typing, and the command line intimidates a lot of people (though I wager, not many of our listeners/readers), but apt-get takes care of all dependencies and makes installing programs in linux as easy as windows. I won't say OS X, because of a guess that it does it even easier, but I have no personal knowledge of installing programs on a Mac. Though I understand you just drag an app to the trash can (if that's the right icon/term) to uninstall. Which always gives me a *ClunK* How easy can it be? moment, when I consider the simplicity of it.... :)
--MissM
P.S. the url in the title, and below, goes to a site that mirror servers shut down, because of the digg effect, analagous to the /. effect. I was able to get to linuxforums.org, but it was slow.
Setting Up a Server - Linux Forums

Office Depot Advertised Specials

HP Pavilion a1400e Desktop Computer
SAVE $430 this is $199.99 after rebates, with an
AMD Sempron Processor 3200+ with 15" LCD and All-In-One Printer
• 256MB Memory
• 80GB Hard Drive
• Burn & Play CDs
• FREE HP 1410 All-In-One Printer
Some nice Upgrade also,
512MB of RAM add $50
CR-RW & DVD-RW Combo Drive add $25
9-in-1 Memory Card Reader add $15
160GB Hard Drive add $50
This offer is not yet available
May 28 - Jun 3
It looks like there are some killer deals out there this weekend.

$129 19-inch LCD and a whole mess o' other pre-Memorial Day deals

"Cheap Geek: $129 19-inch LCD and a whole mess o' other pre-Memorial Day deals" IF you are thinking about getting a new 19" LCD monitor or some other goodies check this out.

Incredibly funny video

This is a test, to see if it woiks. :)



Its a 6 minute video of a guy doing his ode to modern dance. He goes from Elvis to Saturday Night Fever to Michael Jackson, and beyond. I found it... well... incredibly funny. Check it out. Enjoy YouTube too, if you've never run across it.
--MissM
P.S. looks like it does woik! [typo intentional]

Microsoft shows off JPEG rival

I think this is a case of Microsoft suffering from the NIH (Not Invented Here) syndrome. As far as I can see, this is just another proprietary format to confuse things, albeit a particularly good one. Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format already does everything MS' new one does.

PNG is open source and free for all, which of course sticks in Microsoft's craw and they give it only the most grudging support.

Jack

MSRC Blog : Incorrect reports of a new Windows 2000 SMB vulnerability

MSRC is the Microsoft Security Response Center. I wanted to reassure everybody this is an already patched item. Though a different type of exploit, the patch still protects the server.

Hey everyone. Stephen Toulouse here. There has been a bit of a flurry of activity here in Redmond this morning when we noticed a couple of people releasing information about an SMB vulnerability in Windows 2000.

We just want to let everyone know that we've investigated this claim and found the vulnerability being discussed is fixed by MS05-011, a security update released almost 16 months ago. We contacted our partners on this and made sure they understood this is not new. What *is* new is that someone reportedly has found a different way to exploit the vulnerability. But if you have the update, you're protected.

Just as a long U.S. holiday reminder, we watch the secure@microsoft.com email 365 days a year, so we'll have an eye out this weekend. In addition, teams are still working on the Office Word update.

Here's wishing everyone a safe Memorial Day weekend in the U.S., and a safe weekend in general to our international customers as well.

S.

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

--MissM
edit: [consider this the caveat, aka "according to Microsoft"]
MSRC Blog : Incorrect reports of a new Windows 2000 SMB vulnerability

Microsoft wants users to actually use Office 2007

It's a truism that users of office productivity suites use 20% or even less of the available features. This doesn't just apply to Microsoft Office, either. It applies across the board, to Open Office, Star Office and all others, as well.

Microsoft realizes this and is (finally?) taking steps to get users more informed about what is available to them. Don't worry. Clippy is still dead. Instead, they're taking the approach of minimizing the interface options and directing users to whichever features they might wish to use.

If they can succeed in this, it will definitely change the way people work.

Jack

CNN.com - Company: Hackers can crack top antivirus program - May 25, 2006

I don't think I need to give most of our readers any more than one guess as to which company is being referred to in this article. The one surprise to me is that its their corporate edition that is affected, not the home version.

Microsoft: Windows Vista is on target, unless it isn't

I noticed these two opposing statements by Ballmer and Allchin earlier today. Here they are in one neat package. I'm still betting that Gartner was right a while back. I predict that we will not see Vista until 2nd Quarter 2007. And that means on computers in the stores or available for immediate shipment online, no less in the boxes on the shelves.

DefectiveByDesign.org

Evidently protesters wearing yellow Hazmat suits showed up at WinHEC to protest DRM and publicize their new DRM fighting Web site. It got my attention.

Which reminds me, if you haven't written your Senate critters to protest the lastest assault on home recording by the RIAA with a convoluted acronym, check out this. The PERFORM Act would require DRM where none is currently required. My Senate critter Feinstein is a sponsor of this ugly, ugly thing that is something that only RIAA money can buy. I wrote asking her to reconsider (fat chance). I also wrote Senator Boxer from whom I received a polite, non-committal, boiler-plate reply.

Oh, be sure to tell all your friends.

The Curious Incident of Sun in the Night-Time

RMS writes about Sun's making Java Open Source, or not. Forgive the pun but you always have to consider the source. Even though RMS is hard line when it comes to free or open source (and he clearly acknowledges open source) he doesn't think that this step by Sun comes close to open sourcing Java. He mentions that the Java source code is only available under an NDA. That's too bad. Open under NDA does not really equal open in my opinion and certainly not in Stallman's. Let's hope that this is a baby step towards true open source Java by Sun.

Windows in view

I'm starting to feel like today is all Vista all the time. So here is a list of articles on News.com. They have conveniently put them all in one place. The big thing I really want to know at this point is price and that still seems to be a big secret.

Samsung to launch PCs based on flash memory

We knew it was going to happen. Of course, the price is higher than that of a comparable laptop with a hard drive, but that was expected. I did not expect it to be as high as it is, but it's early days and before too long, there will be enough price competition to bring things down to a more realistic premium.

Jack

Schools block MySpace access; kids fight back

Schools are cracking down on access to social networking sites like MySpace in an attempt to make time spent in a computer lab profitable

That seems like a no-brainer. After all, schools have always had the ability to keep materials that the school or teacher thought were distracting away from students. In my case, I can remember a novel I was sneaking a peak at being taken away, as was a crossword puzzle. You can only imagine what a snorer the class was! I only wish that I had a computer when I was in school even with MySpace blocked from my inquiring mind.

What is a little more interesting is the Libertyville school where students in extracurricular programs can be disciplined for what they post on their own time that is considered illegal or inappropriate. "Illegal" should be pretty easy to define. "Inappropriate" is more of a judgment call. I hope that the guidelines are publicized and very clear or that the students get a warning and a chance to remove "inappropriate" before they are disciplined. I'm afraid, given recent history in schools, that is will be an extension of zero tolerance. The good news is that the schools won't be patrolling the Web.

Also, will any measures be taken to assure that the student named really posted the material that is in question? This seems like it would be a very easy way to "frame" someone you didn't like by posting Web content in their name. After all the Web is such a secure place (not). I'm not sure that school administrators will be perusing ISP logs to determine the truth or who posted what when and where. It will be up to students (and parents footing legal fees) to prove themselves innocent in some cases. It could be a lot of time lost and reputations ruined falsely for some students. Enough of that goes on in high school low tech -- like writing on the bathroom wall. I can imagine this rule resulting in some high-tech sabotage.

I can see both sides and there are no good answers, but with school rules just like the criminal justice system, I'd rather see the guilty go free than see one innocent person harmed.

MS Share Point Server 2007 and "Knowledge Network"

Microsoft's Share Point Server 2007 is winding it's way toward users. It's a really hard product for anyone to get excited about, but it is more and more widely used in enterprises. The most interesting thing about SPS'07 might be a freebie add-on called "Knowledge Network" which will be offered to licensed users.

It's a bit hard for me to think of Microsoft as innovative, no matter how much they trumpet their opinion that they are. But in Knowledge Network, they have hit upon an innovation that I think of as truly revolutionary; able to change the way companies and their staffs search out the knowledge held within the company itself.

It's a bit hard to explain, but I'll take a stab at it. It all seems very logical, to the point of "why didn't I think of that?" when you get into it.

Estimates vary wildly, but it is a truism that much of any enterprise's knowledge resides in the heads of their employees and is not recorded anywhere else. I've read figures from 30% to 80% with very good arguments for whatever numbers the writer chooses to espouse. I imagine it varies from situation to situation anyway. The only thing we have to know is that a lot of this knowledge can be unavailable to those who need it, unless you know the right person to ask. Knowledge Network is intended to point you toward the person who has the knowledge you require. Making it part of a collaboration suite is simply logical.

Using keywords and like that, combined with a bit of clever artificial intelligence software, Knowledge Network collects facts that can help others find the person with the knowledge they need, when they need it. The knowledge base is built up over time, from documents generated and records of projects an employee has taken part in.

The database thus constructed and manipulated could be a privacy nightmare and Microsoft recognizes this up front. They talk of "appropriate privacy policies" needing to be in place and most accounts I have seen also speak of allowing the workers to edit their own profiles to avoid privacy problems. With such measures in place, there is no reason for this to be a problem. (Although I have to wonder how many employers will take the problem seriously enough to go to the trouble.) It is expected MS will ship KN with rather restrictive defaults.

Frankly, just the promise of Knowledge Network is enough to make me a fan of Share Point Server '07! Used wisely, it could and probably will be a lifesaver at times and a useful tool the rest of the time.


The link above will take you to the blog of the team developing this at Microsoft. Here's a link to Microsoft Watch's "rah-rah" take on it. And if you're interested, here's a link to Bill Gates' latest missive on knowledge work and handling.

Jack

My intoduction to Linux

I finally decided once and for all to try Linux. Here goes:

So far I’ve tried 3 distributions. Ubuntu, Ark Linux, and White box Linux. In all cases I was dual booting with windows XP pro.

Ubuntu is probably the best all around but, it refused to let me run above 640X480 Screen resolution with an onboard Nvida Gforce
video chip. I even tried to install a driver. Didn’t work. I think because it’s Debian based? I do have it installed on a Mother board with an S3 video chip and it runs fine.

Ark Linux, red hat based did let me do 800 X 600 with the same Nvida chip however, One day it hosed my “C” drive and I had to restore from an image. Still not sure what exactly what went wrong all I Did was plug in a USB “thumb” drive. Next boot entire “C” drive was hosed.

White box Linux, also red hat based, so far so good. However, it is 4 CD’s to down load and takes about 12 attempts to get it to update correctly, if you are lucky.

So, to sum up, all things considered, not bad for free operating systems. I’d have to recommend Ubuntu if you decide to take the plunge. It didn’t hose my system. The only problem was the driver for the Nvida chip. Even then it did run OK at 640 X 480. Comments please, Jack or anybody.

Dell does retail

Apparently, Dell says they were inspired by the Apple stores. That's a little hard to take, as it seems as if the plan is for nothing more than kiosks to allow prospective buyers to see products.

There will be one in Dallas, which is near me, and I'll be over there as soon as it opens. I'll let you know what I find.

Jack

New Yahoo IM Worm Poses as 'Safety' Browser

First discovered by anti-malware researchers at FaceTime Communications, the worm, labeled as yhoo32.explr, is forwarding itself throughout Yahoo's IM system via the contact lists of people whose computers it has already been infected. Once loaded onto a PC, the malicious program automatically hijacks the computer's existing browser home page and encourages users to visit a fraudulent Web site that attempts to load spyware programs onto their devices.

More fun and games from the bad guys.

Introducing AMD's AM2 Platform

It is official, tomorrow is the day AMD will finally announce the AM2 platform for desktop processors. AMD originally had plans to launch the chipset on June 6, 2006, but shortly after the announcement that Intel's Core 2 Duo processor would launch at the same time, AMD bumped the launch date up to May 23, 2006.

I'm sure there will be more news and information tomorrow, but this will do for now.

Tales From Packaging Hell

From Psyclone electronics cables encased in impenetrable layers of thick plastic to DigiPower camera batteries coated with packaging several times the size of the item itself, the hardest part of buying electronics these days is opening the products when you get them home. In many cases, it makes solving Halo 2 seem like a kindergarten project.

This is an all too common problem. This article describes the difficulties encountered with theft resistant packaging and some steps taken to make packaging more user friendly. In the end this is one more case where honest people are inconvenienced and even injured in the attempt to thwart dishonest people.

Microsoft Doesn't Expect Suit To Block Vista Launch

Asked whether the case would have any impact on the Vista roll-out, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer told Reuters: 'I wouldn't anticipate any, but that will go to the courts now.'

Ballmer, speaking in Beijing after a news conference, did not elaborate.

Symantec is also seeking an injunction that would block the further development, sale or distribution of Vista and other products until all Symantec intellectual property is removed.

Juts a little update for those of you who are concerned about this.

Thieves Steal Personal Data of 26.5M Vets - Yahoo! News

Do you trust Uncle Sam?

Wired News: Why We Published the AT&T Docs

As part of the EFF suit against AT&T wiretapping, Wired.com has released the statement from the whistleblower. Good for Them!! I say.

A file detailing aspects of AT&T's alleged participation in the National Security Agency's warrantless domestic wiretap operation is sitting in a San Francisco courthouse. But the public cannot see it because, at AT&T's insistence, it remains under seal in court records.
[snip]
AT&T claims information in the file is proprietary and that it would suffer severe harm if it were released.

Based on what we've seen, Wired News disagrees. In addition, we believe the public's right to know the full facts in this case outweighs AT&T's claims to secrecy.

They also use words like "anonymous source" and a motion to release the documents along with "other news and civil rights organizations that have already done so, including the EFF, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times, the San Jose Mercury News, the Associated Press and Bloomberg.

Before publishing these documents we showed them to independent security experts, who agreed they pose no danger to AT&T. For example, they do not reveal sensitive information that hackers might use to attack the company's systems."
--MissM

Wired News: Why We Published the AT&T Docs

Regarding what I said about Apple closing Darwin for x86 code

I said on the show that Apple was closing the source of the Darwin kernel for x86. Apparently I have mistaken rampant speculation for fact. Here is a post on an Apple mailing list from someone high up at Apple which seems to indicate that no decision has been made.

Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 05-21-06

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 05-21-06. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.
Listen to this show to find out how you can win a copy of Diskeeper Pro 10.0!

The fight against V1@gra (and other spam)

The author of this CNet News.com article seems to think the flood of spam is stabilizing at about 70% of all email traffic. That may or may not be correct. It certainly doesn't hold true here. This morning, I downloaded 802 pieces of mail, 18 of which were legitimate. (And, yes; I DID count.) Oh; and that is AFTER passing through my filters.

That ratio seems to hold pretty constantly, here. Spam to my 10 accounts seems to be growing at the rate of about 10% every 3 weeks. That doesn't sound like stabilization to me. And it sure doesn't seem like stabilization.

The article may or may not be worth reading, depending on how agitated you get when all this stuff is brought to your attention. I thought it was, but I kept two bottles of antacid tablets at hand throughout.

Jack

Apple Store - Fifth Avenue - Gallery

This is purty! :)

As I'm sure everyBODY knows.... The 5th Avenue Apple store opened Friday. Its a glass cube above ground and the store is underground. Its pretty neat. The person who was one of the first two people in line, has a site, all about Apple's retail stores. This store's pre-opening is documented here. I thought the unpeeling video was interesting.

--MissM
And there are some really cool things to look at.
Grand Opening Time lapse, by hour.
Apple Store - Fifth Avenue - Gallery

Alert Raised for MS Word Zero-Day Attack

The exploit arrives as an ordinary Microsoft Word document attachment to an e-mail. However, when the document is launched by the user the vulnerability is triggered to drop a backdoor with rootkit features to mask itself from anti-virus scanners.

Forewarned is five armed -- or something like that.

Dell to use AMD chips in servers

The day has come. After years of only offering AMD to select customers behind closed doors, the company has now said that it plans to use AMD processors in part of its server line to meet customer demand.

I guess the pigs have not only taken to the skies, but they are doing loop-de-loops and barrel rolls. I think sometimes back on one of our shows we even ventured forth with the idea that sooner or later this could happen, but then again we were never that sure.

Windows Vista's recommended settings according to Microsoft, then according to Ars

Microsoft today will unveil a new website aimed at informing consumers about Windows Vista's hardware requirements, among other things. As we reported earlier, there are two levels of recommendations for Windows Vista, those dubbed 'Vista-Capable' and those dubbed 'Premium-Ready.'

This has been all over the tech news today. It think this is one of the better articles on it.

Technology Review: Part 2 of a 3 part series on the Sony Rootkit

This is old news, but very interesting. The complete story of the Sony Rootkit according to Technology Review "an independent media company owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The oldest technology magazine in the world (est. 1899 [wow 1899!])". One thing that surprised me, in the story, was that F-Secure discovered it first, and tried to contact Sony, NOT revealing it , until the company had a chance to respond. To quote from the article " Kangas and his team readied a public report on the rootkit but were waiting for First 4 Internet's uninstaller before releasing it, as courtesy in the Internet security business demands [I thought this seemed a bit 'snooty']. That's when they were beaten to the punch by a Texan named Mark Russinovich." And Russinovich posted it on his blog, without notifiying Sony. I found part 2 fascinating, and with the new [to me] info about F-Secure finding it first, I felt it worthy of passing on.
Part 1
Part 3 (Thursday, May 18) Update: link is live
--MissM

Technology Review: Part 2 of a 3 part series on the Sony Rootkit

Blue Security calls it quits after attack by renegade spammer

After the attack, Blue Security embarked on restoring its community-based anti-spam service to its members. But after working closely with its service providers and partners to help resolve the problems over the last two weeks, it has come to the conclusion that the risk of further attacks remains too great. Despite moving hosting providers and implementing security defences, Blue reckons it's unable to safely reintroduce its controversial service without exposing other members of the net community to potential attack.

While I didn't like Blue Security's "fight fire with fire" methods, I don't like seeing the immolated by a spammer either. I have no doubt that it was the bad guys who won in this case.

Microsoft Tries Working With Open Source Developers

Saying "Microsoft" and "open source" in the same sentence sounds like an oxymoron. It's not. The fact is that while MS isn't exactly sure what to do with open source communities, it would like to attract developers from them, either to proprietary or open source software that runs on Windows. Plus, they have a lot of interoperability issues that need to be worked out. Easing many of those problems are in Microsoft's best interest and they know it, however much they might not want to have to deal with it.

The link above will take you to CodePlex, a Microsoft open source community site. It really is rather cool, if you're prepared to overlook a certain small awkwardness about the whole thing. They're new at it and deserve the break.

You can also view Port25 which is a site by Microsoft's open source labs. Both sites are worth your while.

For Microsoft, it is a matter of adjusting to a new reality of market forces. They are acting in their own interests, to be sure, but that is no reason to disparage their efforts. If they get it right, and there is no reason to think they won't, eventually, we will all benefit.

Jack

Creative Labs User Community Up In Arms

Before going any further, I'd best remind you that I have quit dealing with Creative Labs or their products a while back for unpaid rebates and the way they have treated me over that matter and others.

One Marcin Drzycki has started an online petition asking Creative to fix products that do not perform as advertised, cut the bloat out of their drivers and more. The problems center around Creative's Sound Blaster X-Fi products, for the most part. The petition is a short document and, while worth reading, seems incomplete.

Creative evidently has more of a problem than my being angry with them and I suggest reading this before buying any more of their products.

Jack

Intel Pentium D 805 is Newegg's top selling-dual core chip

It's not bleeding edge and if you're a gamer, just pass this one by. But as we said on the show a couple weeks ago, the Pentium D 805 will give you a LOT of processing power at bargain-basement prices. And a few more bucks will give you a Pentium D 850 with a bit more punch.

While I'm not a fan of either processor, there is no doubt that they can and do give a huge bang for the buck. A wide variety of motherboards are available and they use rather mundane (meaning inexpensive) Intel chipsets, on most of them.

If I had the change in my pocket for a moderately priced dual core workstation, this is the chip I would buy. I won't have as much power as possible, but I'll get a really capable and stable system for about what I'd pay for a single core Athlon 64 box off the shelf. It's almost a no-brainer.

Jack

Free Download - EULAlyzer

Last week on the show we talked about EULAs. So while I was stumbling around the Web today, researching something far less important, I stumbled upon EULAlyzer. As the name implies it is a EULA analyzer. I haven't had anything to EULAlyze yet, but I've downloaded it and am intrigued by it.

It has been around for a while and comes to you from Javacool, the same fine folks who bring you Spywareblaster. You might want to check it out.

Sun to Release Java Source Code

The title says it all. This is huge news. Now we will watch and wait to see what impact this has.

Google Notebook launched

Google Notebook has finally arrived. What is it? Google calls it 'an online 'notebook' where you can organize all your research, add personal notes to it, and share it with others,' and this is an apt description. A more technical description might describe Google Notebook as a kind of 'web clipboard,' inasmuch as you can 'cut and paste' links, text, images, etc., into your online notebook.

I'm going to download and try this as soon as I can. This looks to be a great research tool. If you try it, leave your comments, good or bad, below.

Trojan Deletes Your Porn, Music & Warez

You might want to make sure your porn, music, and warez are backed-up ;-)

Software makes your PC be a Mac

The title says it all. I have not tested it. In fact; I didn't even know it existed until I saw this blurb in The Inquirer. I asked around a little and everyone I know knew about it, except me.

It's worth a look.

Jack

SkypeOut now FREE for US & Canada!

Yes. It is really very, very free. There;s no prepayment, no minimum use, no subscription, no monthly fee, no nothing. You just download and install Skype and then you start calling. Both the caller and the number called must be in either the US or Canada. There are no strings attached.

I know many use Skype and I wanted to pass this on. Thanks Curtis, via GiantOne. :)

--MissM



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OnComputers Radio show Podcast 05-14-06

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 05-14-06. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.

Quocirca's Straight Talking: How Linux is hurting Microsoft

Devoid of almost all hype and speculation, here is a realistic assessment of how open source, and Linux in particular, is infiltrating corporate data centers.
I thought it interesting and hope you will, as well.

Jack

Thank You Qwest dot Org

Thank You Qwest! for not giving our phone records to the NSA for illegal spying on Americans. AT&T, Bellsouth and Verizon all caved, and gave the NSA the phone records of Americans and their calls withIN the United States.
The website quotes articles from USA Today, who broke the story, and Bruce Schneier, a noted security expert who I've quoted before, wrote in Wired, what some of the issues are.
Highlight of the USA Today article from the site:

…Trying to put pressure on Qwest, NSA representatives pointedly told Qwest that it was the lone holdout among the big telecommunications companies.

It also tried appealing to Qwest’s patriotic side: In one meeting, an NSA representative suggested that Qwest’s refusal to contribute to the database could compromise national security, one person recalled.

In addition, the agency suggested that Qwest’s foot-dragging might affect its ability to get future classified work with the government.

Like other big telecommunications companies, Qwest already had classified contracts and hoped to get more.
[snip]
…”It’s the largest database ever assembled in the world,” said one person, who, like the others who agreed to talk about the NSA’s activities, declined to be identified by name or affiliation. The agency’s goal is “to create a database of every call ever made” within the nation’s borders, this person added.

…The usefulness of the NSA’s domestic phone-call database as a counterterrorism tool is unclear. Also unclear is whether the database has been used for other purposes.

Go to the site and post a comment to thank Qwest for protecting their customers against illegal search and seizure.
--MissM
Thank You Qwest dot Org

Killer phrase will fill your PC with spam

Researchers Ben Edelman and Hannah Rosenbaum reckon that typing the phrase 'Free Screensavers' into any search engine is the equivalent of lighting a blue touch paper and standing well back.

For a list of other danger words, read the article. The article mentions SiteAdvisor, which comes in a free version. I recently started using it and so far I've seen no downside to it except like all tools it may give a somewhat false sense of security if you don't use your brain along with it.

MPAA training police dogs to sniff out DVDs

When I first saw this in the Inquirer, I thought it was a droll British joke left over from April 1. But a search on Google news turned up the stories.

I think that the pups, Lucky and Flo, are adorable even if they are being used for an odorous job (forgive the pun). Isn't it nice to know that your DVD of family vacation movies will be sniffed out and that you will have to prove it is legal?

Maybe they can be crossed trained to sniff out something important, like oh let's say, bombs!

Ballmer lashes Google over IE settings

I rarely find myself nodding in agreement with Ballmer, but in this case he is right. Alphabetical is fine. Those who want to default to Google will quickly make that setting change.

Blu-ray Is Doomed

Blu-ray is doomed. I came to this conclusion shortly after reading John Dvorak's thoughtful dissection of the HD DVD versus Blu-ray imbroglio. It was right on the money in all ways but one: Dvorak didn't annoint a winner; he thinks it'll take a couple of years to shake out. I think he's wrong.

I'm not so sure I agree. After all, Blue-ray is a catchier name -- sort of like Sting-ray, only Blue-ray. Oh yeah, Betamax is a catchier name than VHS. Okay, scratch that theory.

Rotten Effort

It's bad enough when Microsoft strong-arms other software vendors into submission as a means of thwarting competition. But when it engages in underhanded tactics to intimidate users in order to land a software deal, we have a very disturbing situation on our hands. And someone needs to have the guts to speak out about it.

And I wonder why MS and I have a love-hate relationship? Just when you think you love them you find out they do stuff like this. Sheesh!

AT&T thinks wireless for broadband

I admit that sometimes I post articles mainly because they directly impact me. Of course, this impacts a lot of other people, too. The picture for AT&T broadband vs. other telco offerings doesn't look too bright further reinforcing my view that AT&T is solely about making money for stockholders and acquisitions -- forget the product and service to customers.

With all of the AT&T foot dragging, I'm happy to say that I'm getting WildBlue shortly and not through AT&T. According to the article, there is no monthly price break for customers who will be getting WildBlue via AT&T, so why bother with them? However, this is good news for WildBlue and current WildBlue customers since this will boost the start-up's long term chance for success.

I called this one correctly when I finlly convinced my SO a few days ago that there was no point in waiting for AT&T to bring DSL to our area. It is not going to happen in the foreseeable future. This news is an admission of that by AT&T. Since it is getting way beyond difficult to get anything meaningful done without broadband, my WildBlue satellite dish is on order.

As to AT&T WiMax, I don't see that rollout occuring quickly and unless they announce it, waiting for someday in any given location is futile with the behemoth telco.

The good news is that finally we all have some information on which to base our broadband Internet service decisions if we live in an AT&T area not currently served by DSL or by a cable company.

The OQO model 01+ ultra personal computer (uPC)

The company, OQO, calls it the smallest tablet. To me, while it does run XP Tablet Edition, and not one of the versions targeted for the "Origami" Ultra Mobile PCs, it's in between the two concepts.

Until I found myself unable to sleep last night and bored enough to start clicking on ads almost at random, this one had slipped completely under my radar.

It sports a 1 GHz Transmeta Crusoe processor, has 512 MB RAM and a bunch of nice features. With XP Tablet Edition, it goes for just under $2100, which is far too high for my budget. Substituting XP Home or Pro lowers the cost some and MS Office Small Business Edition is available installed. The hard drive is 30 GB in shock mountings. The entire spec list is pretty impressive and goes a fair distance in countering sticker shock.

This one is worth a look, if only to keep up with how the market for fuller featured small devices is shaping up. Personally; if I had the bucks, I'd spring for one. I wonder how they feel about freebies for amateur journalists?

Jack

Linus Torvalds comments on kernel "overhaul"

The man himself has put in his two cents worth about the state of current kernel development and he seems to agree with Andrew Morton that there are too many bugs in the current Linux kernel. Of course, one bug is too many, but by any realistic standard, the current kernel has some glaring defects in versions for several architectures. I'm having enough issues here on one x86 and two PPC machines that I have rolled back to an earlier version on the PPC boxes and instituted a couple workarounds and given up on hot-plugging for now on the x86 machine.

The whole thing seems rather laudable to me. Admit the defects and set aside time and effort to fix them. It's interesting that when Oracle, BEA or Microsoft (all of whom face similar issues with upcoming releases) do the same thing (with or without delays) they get hammered in the press.

Jack

Warner Bros set to distribute on BitTorrent

I refuse to comment on any possible ironic content in this scheme.

Warner Bros. choice of Bit Torrent is logical, really, as it limits the amount of bandwidth the distributor will have to provide for pushing all those huge files, thus lowering costs and increasing profits.

You are going to hear a LOT more about this on over the months until it's debut late in the summer. Unconfirmed reports place the online ad budget at $40 million (USD) through the end of the year and a larger but unspecified amount for broadcast ads (TV and such) over the same period of time!

I have to wonder if this is a signal Hollywood is finally getting "IT", but somehow that seems too much to hope.

Jack

The second coming of Intel's Core Duo

This is not much more than a puff piece. However; It does make clear enough the future naming scheme for Intel's consumer processor offerings and reading it is worthwhile for that reason alone.

Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 05-07-06

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 05-07-06. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.

Internet Infrastructure | Cyberspace Running Out Of Addresses

Because of the profusion of devices that need an IP address, IPv4 will run out of addresses in 2012, according to the article at the url.

The IPv4 Internet has room for 4.3 billion addresses. About one-third are already in use, and more than another third are spoken for. IPv6 provides 2^128 possible addresses. Compared with IPv4's 32bits, IPv6's address reads 128 bits long. Imagine the number looking something like this – 360,382,386,120,984,643,363,377,707,131,268,210,929.[snip]
Keep in mind, IPv6 offers features designed to make configuration easier. If one machine on the network is configured as a router, all other IPv6 hosts can configure themselves automatically. IPv6 also builds in IP Security, known as IPSEC, as part of the protocol. This means authentication and privacy live in the protocol, not on at the application layer. This eases IP spoofing and makes spying on someone else's data more difficult.

They also ponder the cost to businesses and the technical options, interesting article, and something I think our readers would like to know.

--MissM
Internet Infrastructure | Cyberspace Running Out Of Addresses

Linux kernel 'getting buggier,' leader says

Andrew Morton, the lead maintainer of the Linux kernel v2.6, has not confirmed this statistically, but he feels bugs are being added to the Linux kernel faster than they are being fixed. It's quite possible that is true, considering the explosive growth of kernel additions.

This echos concerns of power users that have been voiced in various forums for the last year or so. To a regular user, like me, it shows up in the fact that in the 4 months since I installed my Linux system, I have had to revise the kernel 4 times to fix problems. (This is not as bad as it sounds, as such revisions most often amount to simply downloading a new kernel image, installing it, and then rebooting to put it in service.)

While such speculation in public surely does not help Linux' image with those not familiar with open development processes, this sort of discussion and the resultant feedback is an important part of those processes that have given us Linux in the first place. Even if you are not a Linux fan or user, it might profit you to follow this discussion and see how it's worked out. The process is often not pretty, but it is effective.

Jack

Hacker hits Toronto transit message system, jabs prime minister

I guess if ever there was such a thing as a "cute" hack, this is it. It's hard to believe that in this day and age someone didn't think to protect the message system with a password.

Jack

Next Tuesday is Patch Tuesday and Microsoft preps critical Windows, Exchange patches for it

There is something for nearly everyone next Tuesday. At least one critical patch for Windows and patches for Exchange, along with updates to the Malicious Software Removal Tool and new Windows Update software (supposedly with the stricter validation regime to weed out pirated installations). Just about every machine will need a reboot afterwards.

Enjoy, if that's possible.

Jack

Intel Unveils New Low-Cost PC for Developing Nations

It's called "Eduwise", carrying on a long tradition of silly names for computing products.

Seeing as the Intel design cost 3 or more times what the "One Laptop per Child" device does, it is hard to see the two as competitors. They actually complement each other, as far as I can see, and there is a place in the world for both.

Jack

Can Open Source Defeat Microsoft?

This is an interesting article, all 5 pages of it.

However; I fail to see why FOSS has to beat Microsoft or anyone else. It seems to me that we as consumers (on every level from Joe Average to government and the largest enterprise) win if there is a varied software ecosystem out there competing for our hearts and minds.

It's not as if money does not enter into our considerations, but the bottome line is that software has to meet our needs. If it does, we're happy. If not, we are miserable and very likely out of business. And in the end, it's only the ideologues who care where it came from.

Yes, I'm very much a proponent of free software. However; I use and recommend what I think is needed, without compromise, regardless of whether or not it is free software.

Jack

Belkin N1 Hands-on - Gizmodo

Belkin set up a nice test bed to show us how the N1 performed in a “real environment.” They had 17 devices streaming at once including iTunes sharing, HD playback, and Internet radio. Most of them were running at 802.11g speeds, except for the high bandwidth stuff, and there was a nary a jitter.

This is very kewl, I thought Belkin just rebranded other people's hardware, I'm gonna be keeping an eye on this one. :)
--MissM
Belkin N1 Hands-on - Gizmodo

Yahoo faces class-action spyware suit

Ben Edelman, our favorite anti-spyware activist, is involved in this suit. It seeks to force Yahoo to deliver what they've promised without placing ads on questionable sites that also install spyware. It's a good read, short and informative.

Jack

OpenDocument Format Finds Favor With International Standards Group

The ISO has approved Open Document Format as a standard.

Meanwhile; as a related development, the Open Document Foundation has informed the State of Massachusetts that there is a comprehensive plug-in to allow MS Office to open, close, publish and otherwise deal in ODF format.

You can check out the Open Document Foundation here.

Jack

Is a Further Vista Delay Important?

This eWeek post is Mary Jo Foley's take on the reported Vista release delay. I post it for the sake of completeness and not because there is anything world-shaking in it.

Jack

No Rules Poker - How to Make Money Cheating at Online Poker!

This is legal to sell on the Internet. But is it ethical? You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant! :)

I would think twice if you play Poker online!

Retaliation for Antispam Success?

Blue Security's controversial method uses reverse spam, if you will, returning massive quantities of opt-out messages to companies it identifies as spammers.

Apparently the companies on the receiving end don't like it one bit.

I'm not a fan of Blue Secuirty's methods since I believe that two wrongs don't make a right. However, they obviously are having an impact in the spam wars. Maybe if the spammers are busy attacking Blue Security, they will leave the rest of us alone. (Okay, it was jut a thought, and not a real good one at that).

Thanks to Mike Iversen for the heads up on this one.

Spam King Alan Ralsky Not Jailed

We commented on this over the weekend. It turned out to be NOT TRUE. Hope springs eternal, and the hope that a whole network of spammers and other malcreants were going down was just too good to be true. But the thought was fun while it lasted.

Microsoft may delay Windows Vista again -- Gartner

Gartner targets a Windows Vista release in the April-June quarter of 2007, nine to 12 months after Microsoft conducts a second major test, or "beta," release for Vista during the current quarter.

"Microsoft still wants to get it out as soon as possible, but slipping from January to March is nowhere near as bad as slipping from shipping before the holidays to after the holidays," a group of Gartner analysts wrote in the report.

A couple of weeks ago I think we had a premonition on the show while discussing Paul Thurott's review, part 5. We mentioned that since it was not truly feature complete, it would be difficult to release to manufacturing on the previous timetable. Over on Slashdot, there is some shock and surprise, but this is not a shocker to me.

Sen Stevens tries to sneak the Broadcast Flag into law

Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) has snuck the Broadcast Flag into a bill on Net Neutrality. The stealth clause authorizes "the FCC to establish a broadcast flag to allow TV stations to protect digital content from Internet piracy."

What this means is that Senator Stevens is trying to pass a law that will allow broadcasters -- who enjoy free use of billions of dollars' worth of public airwaves -- to veto any features of digital televisions and downstream devices. Ultimately, that means that the FCC would, on behalf of broadcasters, get control over the design of video recorders, optical drives, network interfaces, hard disks, computers and operating systems. A brief far more sweeping than the FCC has ever had before, making them into America's "device czars," charged with ensuring that the business models of the broadcasters and Hollywood studios won't be disrupted by technology.

One element of the broadcast flag proposal is that is prohibits the use of free and open source software in digital TV applications (including PC operating systems, video drivers, etc). That's because the Broadcast Flag requires that devices be built to be "robust" -- that is, to resist the attempts of their owners to modify or improve on them. It's as if Senator Stevens is trying to pass a law requiring the hood of every car to be welded shut when it leaves the factory, to make sure that no driver ever gets to change his own oil. Link (Thanks, Tony!)

Update: Alan reminds us that Sen Stevens previously rejected Broadcast Flags for radio -- seems like someone got to him since January.

The thing that bugs me about this, is the two aspects of this bill are contradictory. I'm not willing to trade Net Neutrality for a broadcast flag.
Boing Boing: Sen Stevens tries to sneak the Broadcast Flag into law. Please contact Senator Stevens and let him know how wrong this is, being polite, of course.
--MissM
Update: More linkage goodness. IPac and Public Knowledge for the actual bill.