'Google' Added as Verb to Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Glad the dictionary is catching up. We all knew it was a verb all along. If you don't know what I mean, go google it. M-W is paying homage to the trademark by capitalizing it, but real geeks already spell it "google".

It is interesting that "spyware" is making the cut, too, but "mouse potato"? That sounds more like something a mouse eats than a geek. Besides, about half of the real geeks I know use trackballs.

Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification

Microsoft said in an advisory Thursday that it will issue four bulletins for Windows flaws and three for Office. At least one Windows and one Office problem are deemed "critical," Microsoft's highest-risk category for security vulnerabilities, according to the advisory.
Remember to do your Microsoft/Windows Updates this coming Tuesday July 11.
AlaskaJoe

Hacker Goes Public with Unpatched Browser Bugs

Let's face it; the web browser is a dangerous application. Because it is what the Internet, with all it's malicious characters, sees of our machines.

H.D. Moore has publicly pledged to announce at least one browser vulnerability per day through July. This is one to watch. Note that he's not just looking at Internet Exploder, either. I can imagine most, if not all, popular browsers coming under his gaze. This is one to watch.

Jack

VIA preps UMPC-friendly chipset

It's a system on a chip. (SoC) About 1 3/8 inch squared (35mm) and containing graphics, cpu, sound and more. Even 6 USB ports! Others are working in the same vein. Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) is also doing a system on a chip, though I'm not privy to the details. There will undoubtedly be others very soon, as well.

High end PDAs might use these, but the real target is UMPCs (Ultra Mobile PCs) and this is what has me enthused. So far, the few UMPCs out are over-priced and suffer from short battery life. This chip, along with the one from SiS and others are intended to provide enough power to run XP in some form, plus Office applications. Samsung already has one out, though it does not use one of these new generation SoCs. The Samsung device is not particularly impressive and costs a LOT more than the $500-$600 bucks that Microsoft envisioned when they started working on devices in this category. These new SoCs will be more efficient, perhaps to the point of adding significant battery life, and without sacrificing function. They will be cheap enough to cut the cost of a UMPCs innards drastically.

I'm actually excited over the potential of UMPC devices. Given sufficient battery life and assuming I have my laptop with me for night-time synchs and backups, I think one would be the handiesst accessory around. I might find as much utility in a tablet PC and wouldn't have to have a laptop around all the time.

I'm glad to see all this effort going in to what will really only be a niche market. Of course they will find their way into entry level desktop and notebook systems, as well, which is probably how the chip companies rationalize the considerable expense and effort it takes to develop something like this.

Jack

Microsoft Caves! Will Support Open Document Format

In what can only be described as a victory for open standards, Microsoft will support ODF in Office 2007 and, later, in earlier versions of Office, as well.

Now; Was all the name calling, lobbying and the ending of at least one public servant's career necessary? Why couldn't MS have simply said "okay" and gone with the flow?

Jack

Two Prominent Mac Boosters say "switch to Ubuntu Linux"

Software developer Mark Pilgrim and author Corey Doctorow, two very prominent Mac boosters, until recently, have switched to Ubuntu GNU/Linux, saying it better meets their needs. (To which I say "amen".)

Supposedly, this has occasioned a huge outcry within the Mac community and some soul searching, as well. Among the reasons given for the switch are repressive DRM and proprietary file formats in the Mac OS X.

Jack

Online Calling Heralds an Era of Lower Costs - New York Times

Competition in the phone business, intensifying this year as Internet-based calling has taken root, has reached the point where many industry experts are anticipating an era of remarkably cheap and even free calls.
Thanks hally

Official Google Blog: Tour de France goes 3D

Tour de France goes 3D with Google Earth

7/06/2006 06:10:00 AM
Posted by Peter Birch, Product Manager

I don't know about you, but with the action and excitement heating up in the Tour de France, it's hard to keep track of exactly where everybody is riding. When you're trying to understand the Herculean effort that these cyclists go through in stages like L'Alpe d'Huez, or which streets in Paris the final stage will pass through, 2D maps just aren't as compelling.

But now you can make sense of it all by flying around the route yourself. A new KML file available on the official Tour de France website lets you see the entire course overlaid on satellite imagery for Google Earth.

This special Google Earth tour is available in French, German, and Spanish as well as English. Pick your language on the Le Tour site, and once you've done that, look for the "Tour on Google Earth" link in the lefthand navigation under Route. Then you can see the starts, the finishes, even information on each of the cities along the way. Just move the KML file into your "My Places" folder on Google Earth, and follow along day by day. (Did you know that Huy has the unique privilege of hosting stages for the Tour de France, the Giro and the Tour of Belgium this year? We didn't either.)

Be sure to try out the tilt feature to see the truly daunting magnitude of all of those climbs where riders are battling it out in this year's wide-open race. "Beyond Category" climbs? No thanks -- we'll stick to the flats and leave those verticals to the pros!

I thought this was a neat idea, and who knows we may have some Tour de France fans. :)

--MissM
Official Google Blog: Tour de France goes 3D with Google Earth

Wi-Fi umbrella to cover 10 NYC parks

From the Daily News. Just thought this was cool. Now can we have a GM in NYC? LOL.

New OnComputers Linux user group NewsGroup

We are announcing our NEW OnComputers Linux user group newsgroup.

You can now post your Linux question here and someone will try to answer them.
The new NG is called OCLUG and is on the same server as News.OnComputers NewsGroup. news://news.mindprobes.net/OCLUG

Let the posting begin!
AlaskaJoe

Windows Anti-Piracy Calls Home Daily

Windows Genuine Advantage, the has actually been in a pilot program for a year, during which it phoned home to Microsoft every time somebody logged into your computer. Well, now they tell us.

To disable this "feature", follow the instructions here, or you can wait for a new version to be downloaded in the normal Windows updates cycle that purportedly does not phone home.

Manufacturers shun SATA optical drives

The link above will take you to one of Charlie Demerjian's patented rants at The Inquirer. You may or may not want to read it. I enjoy his rants but some don't seem to.

He has a point, though. There is a serious shortage of optical drives using SATA interfaces. Those that do are simply IDE drives with a SATA adapter on the back and come at an unjustified price premium.

IDE is dead, dead, DEAD, or at least it should be. SATA trumps IDE in every way and the added cost between SATA and the legacy IDE stuff is negligable. So why don't we have SATA optical drives? Charlie puts it down to stupidity on the part of the manufacturers. I find it hard to be so blunt, but am unable to come up with a better explanation. Newer chipsets will have no legacy IDE support. It looks as if we're going to be living with motherboards that have no IDE support and only one or two makers offering SATA optical drives. They'll charge accordingly, as well.

I'm currently picking out a parts list for 2 high-performance desktops and this is a problem in the process.

Jack

NASA - NASA TV Landing Page

This is very kewl to watch history being made on the Forth of July!
Watch a live launch of the space shuttle. it goes up at 2:38PM EDT
AlaskaJoe

FON Technology of Madrid selling $5 routers in drive to create nationwide WiFi network where users must share - The Boston Globe

At least you have to pay for the privilege of sharing your wifi connection.

They have about 10,000 US users already. I don't understand why you would do this. Though, they do say that the user's network is private, I wouldn't want the risk.

An Alternative to Windows Explorer

It used to be that almost every Windows power user replaced Windows Explorer with some other file manager/browser pretty much as soon as the machine booted after the installation of the OS. A lot of them still do. I, like many, fell out of the habit and limped along with Explorer.

This morning a listener sent me an email asking about Windows Explorer replacements and I went out hunting. There are still hundreds of them under all sorts of licenses from proprietary, pay for it, to the GPL. Lots of them are freeware. The link above will take you to the home page of Free Commander, which I recently installed and recommended in my answer to the listener's query. I pass this along in case some of you miss the good old 2 pane file managers. Much to my surprise, I did and am now happily using Free Commander.

Jack

A Geek's guide to fireworks :Wired Blog

From Wired:
In the spirit of the good ol' red, white and blue, we've collected a geek's guide to getting the most out of the fireworks this year. Here's a round-up of some fireworks-related articles for you to marinate, toss on the coals and wrap up in a kaiser roll.
Monkey Bites
There's a howto on photographing fireworks, analog or digital, DIY fireworks (at your OWN risk) and fireworks for your browser, and a fireworks FAQ.
Happy Independence Day, Americans!
--MissM
And a belated Happy Canada Day, July 1st.

A Real Year of the Linux Desktop–What’s Needed

You've never heard me pronounce that this is the year for Linux to take off as a desktop operating system. There are a whole bunch of reasons for that. Conditions that must be met are not in place. I recognize this even though Linux is my choice for a desktop OS.

Josh Chalifour has written a succinct summary of what conditions need to be met and done a far better job of it than I could. (And, yes, I've tried. All praise to the paper shredder!) It's an interesting read. I recommend it.

Jack

Rumored death of FreeDOS greatly exaggerated

Lots of us disparage MS-DOS. Compared to the command line in Linux, it's not very powerful, but there are communities of folks who still use DOS and know how to make it stand up and dance. Our own Buddwig is one of those.

MS-DOS is long gone, though. FreeDOS is intended to replace it with an open source implementation and has actually pushed it forward some. There is renewed interest in developing it and the team has started working again. Previous versions have been eminently usable and now they are ready to push out version 1.0, with a few more good things about it.

Some of us use FreeDOS on utility disks for rescue work. The Ultimate Boot CD is based on FreeDOS, at least in some versions. And I have several proprietary repair disks which use it. (Makes me wonder if they're in violation of the license, now that I think about it.)

Don't bother with FreeDOS for nostalgia sake. But if you need it, go get it. I boot the 386 Deepak gave me for our wedding with it, occasionally, just to remember how much I've forgotten or never knew. It's fun.

Jack

Meritline Internet & MultiMedia Keyboard (EKB6011M), PS/2 port

"Meritline Internet & MultiMedia Keyboard (EKB6011M), PS/2 port" for just $1.99 + shipping. This is a Forth of July special!
AlaskaJoe

In Pictures: Computer books based on pictures, not text.

Until the end of July (July 31, 2006) you can download for free 'Books in pictures' They have a whole list of books on computers like WindowsXP, Excel 2003, Open Office, Dreamweaver, Photoshop CS2, and more. Check this out!
AlaskaJoe

Real Sex, Virtual Worlds

I'm only BLOGGING this because of the word in the title. SEX! It sells you know. :) Now you can not only have CyberSex; But you can have virtual sex. Personally to me "sex by typing" doesn't do a thing, so why bother? Now the big question is: if they build it, will people come?
I'll pass thank you!
AlaskaJoe

Linux back in the office

I just had to try Linux again in the office. So, found "Blag" Linux It's a Red Hat based Disto. So far so good. Even does MP3's out of the box. Told you I was a CLEW. LOL. Updates to follow.

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 07-02-06

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 07-02-06. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.

Unexpected features in Acrobat 7

Is everyone's software phoning home these days? Here's another one.

Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7 recently became available for machines running GNU/Linux. The link above will take you to a page detailing that the software phones home and what information it transmits. This is the first instance of such behavior in Linux, that I am aware of. I'm sure that is mostly due to the fact that users of the OS tend to stick with open-source or free software, rather than proprietary applications such as the Acrobat Reader.

There are many alternatives to Acrobat Reader in Linux and other non-Windows operating systems. Seeing as I don't want to inform anyone of what I'm doing on my machines, I'll be sticking with the one I am using now and not installing the Adobe app.

Jack

An Alternative Personal Firewall

The new Trustix personal firewall is getting a bit of buzz, with some users saying it is equal to or better than Zone Alarm and others. I have not used it, but it looks interesting enough that I intend to install and try it.

There is no charge for it. You do have to register it, though, giving up some personal information for a perpetual license.

Jack

New malware poses as WGA validation and notification

This is a concern and I wanted to let y'all know about it. In a negative sense of perfect timing, there is malware that masquerades as Windows Genuine Advantage.
From ZDNet's Spyware Confidential:
A new piece of very nasty malware has been recently discovered on spyware help forums, first here and again here. The file name is wgavn.exe and it creates a service named "Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Notification", as seen in this line in the HijackThis log.

O23 - Service: Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Notification (wgavn) - Unknown owner - C:\WINDOWS\system32\wgavn.exe

Thanks to security MVPs at the Aumha forum [ (In our little "brush with greatness) JAE (who owns aumha) was at GM 2001], I was able to get a sample today — this is one nasty little piece of malware. I tested it on a virtual machine running XP Pro, totally unpatched. On execution, wgavn.exe creates a folder, C:\Windows\etc\, that contains a file named services.exe. Wgavn.exe copies itself to the \System32\ folder as shown in the HijackThis line above.

The rest of the article is here lots of good info, and I believe a basic primer on the methods that crackerz use to socially engineer themselves onto a system.

--MissM

IE7 Beta 3 (more RSS goodness)

Stolen in its entirety from Alex Barnett's Blog.
Microsoft's RSS team blog has this news.

"IE7 Beta 3 is here! We’ve snuck in some goodies in the feed reading user experience based on your Beta 2 feedback"

The post provides details on the new RSS-related features. More feedback sought.

If you have previous IE 7 Betas installed you need to know this (from the IE7 FAQs)

"Upgrading Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3
If you want to reinstall Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3 (or install a newer version) you must first remove any existing Internet Explorer 7 beta versions on your system. You cannot install Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3 over previously installed Internet Explorer 7 betas. To uninstall previous versions of Internet Explorer 7 refer to the uninstall directions below."

The IE team blog has more on this.

Update:

Max Stevens, Lead PM on the IE team shows some of the UX improvements made for this release.

--MissM
Courtesy of:Alex Barnett blog : IE7 Beta 3 (more RSS goodness)

Microsoft kills the WinFS dream

The decision to drop WinFS is over a week old, now, and there has been plenty written about it. I offer this link to a short, definitive article on the subject.

I'm disappointed, very much so. For the last week I have been reading books and articles on file systems in an attempt to become fluent in them. In addition, I have studied relational databases. I think I finally understand just how ambitious WinFS was (is?) and how much it would do for those of us who work with large datasets, whether our own or those belonging to our employers. Without WinFS, Vista is just another Microsoft operating system.

Microsoft did a horrible job of pitching WinFS and without specialized knowledge the general public never could understand just how much it might have changed the way we do things. I believe I understand that now. That understanding fuels my disappointment.

I don't think MS pulled WinFS lightly. After all; they had touted it as a "pillar" of Vista and I have no doubt at all it would have been just that. Every time I look at my collection of "how-to" documents I think of how easy it would have been to find things I needed to know, had I been using WinFS. I really do hope they continue to develop it and offer it sometime in the future.

Jack

Office 2007 Ship Date Pushed Back

This one I don't really understand. I've talked to a bunch of beta testers and even worked for 4.5 hours on the beta here. I found bugs as have many of the testers, but to all of us they've seemed trivial; at least by appearance. It might be that there are simply too many of them and the degree of "badness" has nothing at all to do with it.

To me, Office 2007 (as I know it) is not a compelling product. However; I know some Office power users who find it very much one. It is a matter of outlook, I think, combined with what you work on and how.

One of my MS reseller friends (no jokes about my consorting with the dark side, please) is toting a laptop around which he lets potential clients use as a trial. He is finding workers at SMBs almost universally find something new in it that they think they will use, so perhaps I ought to go take another look at the beta.

Jack

Rocketboom

Its Rocketboom day! This is wild, starlings flock to a red cedar tree, hundreds of birds at least. Its amazing how the poor tree suffers...
Rocketboom Birds!

(I meant to post this when it was brand new and fresh, but its still relevant) and in case you don't understand, or get, just why net neutrality is so important, and an issue to pay attention too, another Rocketboom.
Rocketboom Save the Internet
-MissM

Western Digital Settle Hard Drive Capacity Lawsuit

Gizmodo says:
Take note, Apple. Western Digital is actually settling a class-action lawsuit that was filed against them. They are giving out free software to consumers who filed a lawsuit claiming the hard drives actually had less space that promised. This software is available for anyone who has purchased a Western Digital hard drive from March 22, 2001 to February 15, 2006. It isn’t just some run-of-the-mill software either, the software retail value is roughly $30 per copy.

The lawsuit stemmed because Western Digital decided to interpret one gigabyte as 1 billion bytes, while actual operating systems like Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X interpret one gigabyte by the correct number of 1.07 billion bytes. This 7-percent shortfall would be like losing 5.6GB of storage space on an 80GB hard drive. If you too have been victimized by Western Digital, then you can claim your free correction software here. – Travis Hudson

Western Digital Settles Capacity Dispute [Sydney Morning Herald]
--MissM
Western Digital Settle Hard Drive Capacity Lawsuit - Gizmodo

5 Ways To Make Me Laugh At Your Web 2.0 Company — Business Logs

A couple shows ago, Jack and Greg had a discussion about Ajax, that I found informative from a programming perspective. When I ran across this article and thought of it as a twofer, related to show content, and a great commentary on buzzwords and clueless executives. The first one made me LOL, you have to click on to read the rest of the suggestions.... (hint, it includes a drinking game! How can you possibly pass that up????)

5 Ways To Make Me Laugh At Your Web 2.0 Company
Written Jun. 28, 2006 in Best Practices + Web 2.0

In this fast-paced and synergistic world, buzzwords get the play. Non-technical people start companies and press ridiculous deadlines to their engineers, Web 1.0 burnouts start new companies that are just rehashes of the idea they couldn't make work in 1999, and the technology you use is more important than the value you provide. Hell, VCs are getting sick of their clients making it big, so they're starting half-assed "Web 2.0" companies of their own which are off the map 1 month after beta.

In all this craziness I have to wonder what some people are thinking. I can't tell you how many ugly designs and worthless "applications" I've seen come across my browser pixels the past 5 months, but what I can divulge is the precise 5-step plan for making me laugh at you and your company. Here we go:
1. Tout your technologies like you know WTF they are.
This one is for all the CEOs who can't touch type, you know who you are. I can't tell you how embarrassingly funny it is to read blog entries or About pages where technological terms are thrown around and mushed up like cow shit in a tornado. Oh, so you use Ruby on Rails and Ajax? Sweet! Who developed the RoR framework? Is it a framework or a programming language? What's Ajax used for, slidey effects? Nope, guess again. Go take this quiz and see how well you do, and while you're at it, stop telling your engineers when your beta release date is before you have the specs worked out, because you're an idiot and they're quitting next week.
The rest :5 Ways To Make Me Laugh At Your Web 2.0 Company — Business Logs
Kudos to the author, Mike Rundle.
--MissM

Microsoft Removes WGA 'Phone Home' Component

Eweek has the story about the updated WGA. I thought it was just because I uninstalled it, that I got the notification, yesterday. :)
Eweek:
Microsoft has removed the controversial "phone home" notifications component from its WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) anti-piracy tool.

The software maker June 27 announced the release of an updated WGA Notifications package that will be delivered to millions of Windows XP users via Automatic Updates with one major change.

In the pilot phase, a PC that had installed WGA Notifications checked a server-side configuration setting upon each login, to determine if WGA Notifications should run or not.

This daily configuration file check has been removed in the updated WGA Notifications package released June 27, according to a Microsoft statement sent to eWEEK.

The company said that the Validation component of the tool will still check periodically to determine whether the version of Windows is genuine.

More info:Microsoft Removes WGA 'Phone Home' Component
--MissM
P.S. Oh yeah! There's a link to a Microsoft KB article, included and when I try to get there, anymore, I get an expired validation for the security AND (this is the part that bugs me the most) I have to login with my passport account?!?!?!?? Has anybody else run into this?? Its wrong to make people sign in to be informed of the flaws of the Operating System...
HMMMPH!

Sony unveils Flash-based UMPC

Here we go! Sony's Vaio UX ultra-mobile PC line has just grown by one model. They've removed the 30 GB hard drive from one model and dropped in 16 GB of flash memory. This article is just a teaser and, frankly, I'd wait for reviews before I got too excited, if I were you. Even so; I think this points the way toward the future of UMPCs.

I have a bet with a friend. If he wins, I have to build him an SMP desktop machine. If I win, he's going to give me some wireless networking gear he has laying about.

My bet is that there will be a minimum of 35 UMPC brands and models to choose from by 1 September, this year. I don't think I can lose. Should I be right, prices will fall (though not to the level Microsoft envisioned when they drew up the concept) and availability will increase. Not on the machines will become more available, but applications tweaked or designed outright for the devices.

Apple is even said to be working on a tablet and a companion UMPC. Everyone is going to want in to this market. Not because it will be such a huge outlet. It won't. UMPCs will always be a niche product. But as the concept matures, they seem more and more useful to me and I think a lot of mobile workers, students and those in other, similar, situations will jump at the chance for a machine with the same battery life as a bare-bones notebook that is smaller, lighter and still meets their needs.

Jack

PCs getting more reliable, says Gartner

After sitting down and thinking about it for a little while, I realized my experiences back up Gartner's report, straight on down the line. We'll probably talk about this on the show and I'm willing to bet the other cast members have experienced about the same thing.

I can't comment on Gartner's numbers, but they do not seem out of line with experience, either. Our machines DO last longer.

Jack

Border patrol for Internet Explorer

This one had completely slipped under my radar.

The idea of running a browser in a virtual environment isn't new. In fact; it's a core quality of IE 7, which I guess means the idea is mainstream, if Microsoft is doing it.

My idea is that this is a decent product, but too late and over-priced, to boot. $49.95 a year is a bit much, considering I can get about the same thing by switching over to the beta of IE 7. No matter how one views it, this is proof there are more people thinking about the security of IE than Microsofties, security researchers and journalists.

Jack

More Linux updates

Here's the latest. Something went wrong with the Zinf install on Ubuntu. Program runs but won't play anything. So had to uninstall it. Ubuntu will play MP3's, with the right packages so, not a big deal. As for White Box Linux? Finally got that to do MP3's, had to install Real player, I know "groan", LOL. At least Real player for Linux comes with an executable installer and it worked the first time. Never could get Zinf to run on White box. AS for Arklinux? I had to take it off the office computer. It was just taking too much attention to keep it going. Don't blame the Arklinux folks. I'm a geek and a CLWEA, LOL.

Claria Says to Uninstall its Adware

Can the zebra change his stripes? We'll have to see.

Claria, formerly Gator, has long been a primary object of scorn, and even hatred, for their spyware, popup ads, etc. etc. Now they've promised to exit the adware business completely, instead concentrating on a portal which will deliver contextual ads to it's users.

I'll be watching this one closely, though I'm going to have to have a lot of assurances before I'll be visiting their site using anything but a sacrificial machine.

Jack

OpenDocument Gains Ground in Belgium, India

Open Document Format is truly picking up steam. I expect this to continue, but not in the landslide fashion many others predict. It will be a slow and steady growth.

Microsoft wants their XML format to be a standard, as well. It won't happen unless MS takes steps to commit their copyrights irrevocably to the public, all of the public and at NO charge. RAND (Reasonable And Non-Discriminatory) licensing won't cut it with the standards organizations. They show no indication of giving ground on this point, though they may, eventually, come around. In order to get in on the rush, they can't wait too long.

By the way; Given my druthers, I'd choose the MS formula over ODF. It's a bit more capable, in my opinion. But there's no way I'll go back to Microsoft Office as my primary productivity tool kit. The price is simply too high for me.

Jack

Microsoft Axes WinFS, Cancels Beta 2

It's been a couple years since MS took WinFS out of Vista and voiced their intention to offer it as an add-on sometime after Vista's debut. I found that very disappointing and with the cancellation of the program Friday, I find myself even less enthusiastic about Vista. More and more; it seems to me as if we are going to end up with an expensive operating system that offers nothing but eye-candy and the chance to go through a series of service packs to fix things that weren't right from the start.

That doesn't seem like a good reason to take up Vista, does it?

Jack

New Java beta includes a database

The next revision of Sun's Java will have The Apache Foundation's Geronimo database incorporated. The link above will take you to a quick and easy read that will tell you a lot about where Java is headed.

No one posits Java as a replacement for AJAX or .NET, but it does have it's place and many developers prefer to work in it whenever it is suitable. Choosing the tools to do a given program in is as much dependent upon what the programmer knows as the suitability of the tools chosen. Java sees a tremendous market share in custom applications developed within and for an organization. The addition of a database can only strengthen this position.

Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 06-25-06

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 06-25-06. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.
This week was Geek Meet 2006 up here in Anchorage Alaska. Where will Geek Meet 2007 be? Boston, Atlanta?
When May, June? You tell us where and when you want us to gather next year.
Pictures at: http://geekmeet.oncomputers.info/gm2k6/friday.htm More will be posted as we get them from other people.
AlaskaJoe

MSRC Blog : Exploit code posted on the recent vulnerability addressed by MS06-025

Hi everyone, Stephen Toulouse here. We've see that detailed exploit code has been published on the Internet for the vulnerability addressed by Microsoft security bulletin MS06-025. So per the usual when something like this happens so quickly after release we wanted to highlight that fact, and let you know that we're not currently aware of any active attacks utilizing this exploit code at this time. But the MSRC is monitoring this situation to keep customers informed and to provide customer guidance as necessary.

We have confirmed that the exploit code does not affect users who have installed the update detailed in MS06-025 on their computers. So we continue to recommend that customers apply the that update. In addition, We've posted a security advisory regarding this issue to provide additional guidance. The security advisory can be found at the following location:

* http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/921923.mspx
We'll certainly keep an eye out on this issue and keep you posted if we see anything further.

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

Published Saturday, June 24, 2006 1:57 AM by MSRCTEAM

--MissM
MSRC Blog! : Exploit code posted on the recent vulnerability addressed by MS06-025

Geek Meet in Alaska or.....

What I would be doing if I was there.

The site that gives me all my geocaches:
Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site
I found this while looking at Alaska caches
GSA EarthCaching
"The most exciting way to learn about the Earth and its processes is to get into the outdoors and experience it first-hand. Visiting an Earthcache is a great outdoor activity the whole family can enjoy."

This is my new favorite thing to do, for all the reasons the reporter states in the video at Youtube. She gets some of the words wrong, but I thought it was informative. One specifically, Cache in, Trash Out, CITO is the cleaning up the area acronym. And to include the Texas contingent, GeoWoodstock4 was in Dallas, a couple weeks ago. The link to geowoodstocking4.com has expired, so don't click on it.



And there's a podcast, which is fantastic! and vidcast on geocaching. :)

This is the last update! ;) I had to find Joe's house in Google earth, and there's (a, no 2, no 3, wait! there's a 4th two blocks east from the third!) 3 caches in the woods, in the park, just down the street, if you're there, you know which park I mean ;) Oh man! I'm so jealous! There's 30+ caches within 3 miles, as the satellite measures, of Joe's house!


Have a great Geek Meet!!
--MissM
(P.S. I'm having trouble connecting to blogger, hope this only posts once.)

The amorality of Web 2.0

The link will take you to "Rough Type", Nicholas Carr's blog.

While I'm not one to point out philosophy or philosophical observation I think this particular piece should be required reading for anyone who mouths the phrase "web 2.0". I must warn you it is somewhat long, but it's packed with things to think about; important things.

Jack

BTX Now has 24% Adoption Rate

It's mostly OEMs using BTX components, but some hobbiest builders do, as well. There are enough variations on the theme that one can build a very attractive small machine for nearly any need.

I am presently considering having several picoBTX systems built for a client. They will use significantly less real estate in the cubicles without sacrificing anything in terms of performance. The one thing the really small machines lack is a way to quietly cool them. They end up being among the noisier PCs because with so little internal air space, one has to blow the cooling air a bit harder than in a larger case.

Jack

How to disable WGA notification ..

In a follow up to Jack's post below, another way to disable WGA phoning home.
From Suzi Turner at ZDNet blogs:

Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) anti-piracy tool has angered a lot of people and rightfully so in my opinion. Fellow ZDNet bloggers have explained the details of the software along their concerns. Ed Bott wrote Microsoft presses the Stupid button and lists the stupid mistakes, starting with "it should never have been included with Critical Updates". I agree with that and all his points.

There are many more excellent links, I'll give you a hint and say that the process is called WGAtray.exe, but there are many good links, in the article, including one from My Digital Life "15 ways to disable and remove the WGA notifications." Go check it out, but first my caveat and a recommendation...
Like Jack, I've not tried it, but I have downloaded Autoruns from Sysinternals that it recommends, and I also have installed Process Analyzer from Sysinternals, which is excellent, and I have high hopes for Autoruns.
--MissM

� How to disable WGA notification

Firewall Leak Tester

Here's an interesting site for those who want to test their firewalls. It's free and very comprehensive. Yes, I know about Steve Gibson's firewall test and I use it. But I went ahead at this site because I thought there might be some difference in the returned results. Indeed, there was and I swiftly fixed it.

In addition; they offer download of a tool which prevents Windows Genuine Advantage from calling home to MS at every boot. Check it out. Hopefully, I will be able to report on the tool's efficacy by Sunday's show. Time is tight, though and I'm struggling hard to clear the decks enough to allow testing it.

Jack

Encryption project has teen feeling pretty secure

Here's a fun story. A change from the alarmist tripe I usually post.

It seems a young man has devised a reasonably impressive hardware encryption device for computer use. It has it's own processor and RAM so encryption is as transparent to the user as possible, which would take the pain out of encrypting every bit of data on the hard drive. Combine that with strong passwords and some other authentication factor (such as biometrics) and one needn't worry about a laptop being stolen or even a desktop in place where the attacker has physical access to the machine.

This makes real sense. Encryption software can produce strong output, but the software itself may be a vector of attack for a cracker or spy. It also loads the cpu to a degree many users might find unacceptable. A hardware device equipped with it's own specially configured processor and a bit of RAM could handle a lot of data without the user ever noticing. I am told a custom ARM derivative running at 400 MHz could do 1024 bit encryption invisibly until the file size reaches some (high) threshold, at which point you might have to wait a second or two more to read your file or email. That level of encryption is effectively unbreakable on today's machines and will remain so for quite a while. In fact; when I recommend an encryption level to a client, I almost never recommend over 256 bit.

The young man is receiving some well deserved attention and summer job offers. He deserves it.

Jack

Understanding HDCP

It's High definition Digital Content Protection, if you didn't already know. If you didn't, don't feel bad. It hasn't gotten near the press it needs. It's hardware protection for content and it means things like no matter what software you use, there is NO WAY to play a DVD on a machine equipped with it. And, should you manage, the system can phone a central keyholding authority and revoke ALL certificates on the machine, meaning no more playback of any protected content - ever!

The content owners are winning. And not only are they protecting their own rights (as they should) they are removing all your fair use rights. Ain't life grand?

The system is quite vulnerable, owing to 56 bit keys and the fact that the handshaking between devices is unencrypted and can be snooped upon to the degree where the system can be spoofed to see an HDCP compliant device where none exists. But doing so would definitely make a felon of you, even if you are simply implementing your fair use to back up content, because circumvention of such systems violates our beloved DMCA.

The article linked to above, by Jake Carroll, is must read for anyone who cares about fair use of digital content. It's a bit long and fairly dense, but everything is stated in such a way that you needn't be an uber geek to understand.

Jack

'Critical' Microsoft fix breaks some Net connections | CNET News.com

"Problems occur only with dial-up connections that use a terminal window, or dial-up scripting, Microsoft said. This type of connection may stop responding after applying the patch, the software maker said."
I guess if your using this type of dial up connection you can't read this. :( Microsoft is working on a fix!

IBM overclocks chip to 500GHz

I will be the first to admit this is just a curiosity. After all; they did have to cool the thing to just a few degrees above absolute zero, so it's not useful at home. At least not until I learn to type with my mittens on.

Still, it ran at 350 GHz at room temperature, so there is hope for higher chip speeds yet with the technology we have in hand.

Jack

Opera 9 is OUT!!!

The latest version of the excellent Opera web browser is out. I've been using it for about an hour on an XP Home machine and it seems fine. There are a few puzzling changes from the beta, but they seem to be all for the better and I'm a happy camper.

The link is to an Opera blog, which is a good place to find out what Opera offers and what you can expect. Remember; there are no ads in the free download any more. It's a safe and very serviceable alternative and just different enough that you may find it suits you better than Firefox.

Jack

Microsoft offers guidance on Excel bug

It's definitely a critical bug, though one does either have to visit a malicious web site or open a malicious attachment. MS will probably patch it in the next patch cycle, or even sooner. If you're an Excel user, read the Microsoft guidance linked to through this article. There are several offered to mitigate your risk.

Jack

Rumor: Microsoft Developing iPod Killer

In the last two months at least 6 of our listeners have told me this was going to happen and I pretty much let it slide as Microsoft had quit talking to the content providers (record labels). I guess I was wrong.

There is enough fact floating about to make this more than a rumor. Microsoft IS talking to content providers and there have indeed been secret demonstrations of the devices and the service. It's just a matter of time, now, and we will get to see how the MS device and service stack up to Apple's offerings in the arena of public opinion and sales.

Jack

Hackers use Google Pages to host Trojan horse

Apparently this has been fixed. Google is not saying much. Still, if someone like Google, who devote a significant percentage of resources to security, can get hacked in this manner, you can get some sort of feel for just how perilous the security environment is.

Jack

Linux Update again

Thanks to MissM. Link to original post is in title. Somehow I managed to get Zinf installed on Ubuntu. I'm still not sure exactly how, LOL. I followed the instructions on the site she posted. Somehow it worked. Thanks again MissM.

Corsair set to make Power Supply Units

This is news, though it doesn't seem like it at first glance. As the article points out, Zalman has been doing this for a while now.

We need more high quality, high peformance power supplies. As our systems become ever more sophisticated and require larger capacity power supplies and a power stream that adheres more closely to the necessary standards, the "toss in one of these" mentality by which many of us have been working is outmoded. Small variations in the power stream that your Pentium III would never have noticed will destabilize any of the current dual-core systems. For this reason alone, it is entirely within the scope of probability that the day of the serviceable yet inexpensive power supply is fast going away. We will have to pay a bit more - not a lot - to ensure the stability of our systems.

Jack

Langa Letter: XP's No-Reformat, Nondestructive Total-Rebuild Option | June 19, 2006

I've been subscribed as a plus user to Fred Langa's newsletter, for over a year. He uses the subscriptions to sponsor children all over the world and posts frequent updates of the children. But, his job is a columnist for Information Week, and this weeks column includes a non-destructive reinstall of XP!! I had to post this, because I've never heard of this trick before, its excellent, and the full article includes screen shots, and caveats about the messages on the screen from Microsoft. Reading the article, I can see several places where I'd go "OH NO! its erasing everything!!" We've all been there, when we hit enter just before we think about it. :) Anyway, back to the article that will hopefully save you several hair pulling (IF you have any ;) ) episodes. To quote the introduction to the article:

It's one of those software design decisions that makes you scratch your head and wonder, "What were they thinking?"

The "it" in this case is XP's most powerful rebuild/repair option, and yet Microsoft chose to hide it behind seeming dead ends, red herrings, and a recycled interface that makes it hard to find and (at first) somewhat confusing to use.

But it's worth exploring because this option lets you completely and nondestructively rebuild, repair, or refresh an existing XP installation while leaving already-installed software alone (no reinstallation needed!). It also leaves user accounts, names, and passwords untouched and takes only a fraction of the time a full, from-scratch reinstall does. And unlike a traditional full reinstall, this option doesn't leave you with two copies of XP on your hard drive. Instead, you end up with just the original installation, but repaired, refreshed, and ready to go.

We've saved this technique for last in our discussion of the various XP repair/rebuild options because the fixes we've previously discussed are like first aid--the things you try first. For instance, see this discussion on removing limitations on XP's Recovery Console, turning it into a more complete repair tool; or this discussion on the Recovery Console's little-known "Rebuild" command that can cure many boot-related problems. (There's also lots more on the Recovery Console here.

But when the Recovery Console techniques don't work, and you're facing the prospects of a total reformat/reinstall, stop! Try the no-reformat reinstall technique we're about to illustrate, and you just may get your XP setup running again in a fraction of the time and with a fraction of the hassle of a grand mal wipe-and-restore.

Go read the rest of the article with screenshots.
--MissM
InformationWeek | Windows XP Management | Langa Letter: XP's No-Reformat, Nondestructive Total-Rebuild Option | June 19, 2006

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 06-18-06

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 06-18-06. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.
Remember we will have a live Digital Video camera running for next weeks Geek Meet 2006. Join us live to see some of the people you listen to every Sunday.
If your going to be in the Anchorage Alaska area please join us.
Where should we have Geek Meet 2007?

Ever Wonder what liquid nitrogen does when poured into a pool?

CollegeHumor Movie: Ever wonder what happens when you dump a bucket of liquid nitrogen into a swimming pool?

--MissM

RIAA SUING AGAIN

How far will the RIAA go? Now you can't let people see you dancing to music on the Internet.
Next we won't be able to listen to our music and talk to someone at the same time.
AlaskaJoe

Model jet plane tech will help cool HP servers - Engadget

Since heat seems to be the current challenge in computer engineering. The lower wattage CPUs are addressing part of it. We've discussed liquid cooling, and now an HP VP, who is a model jet plane enthusiast has used his hobby to optimize fans. This allows them to maximize MIPS/cubic inch? (I just made that up.)
Engadget's article has more info:

Not content with just making its servers bulletproof, HP also wanted to pack more of them into a given space than anyone else on the market, but to do that, the company had to find a way to dissipate the massive amounts of heat generated by super-dense server clusters.
[snip]
HP found a rather unusual solution to the problem courtesy of one of its executive's pursuits outside of work: VP Rob Noblett's model jet airplane hobby. With the help of engineer Wade Vinson, Noblett realized that the electric-ducted fans he and fellow hobbyists had been using to achieve high speeds more safely could probably be modified to provide the air movement HP was seeking to cool the high-powered servers on its drawing board. After re-engineering the fans to optimize them for cooling instead of thrust, engineers were able build a model called the Active Cool Fan that is both smaller and more energy efficient than traditional fans, even though it's said to force out air as fast as a leaf blower.

I'm not sure how this would be applicable to the home market, blade servers are inherently more secured in place than a laptop, say, or a desktop in the mini form factor. ;)
--MissM

Model jet plane tech will help cool HP servers - Engadget
update: Some details about the cooling fan from ZDNet.com | HP's super cool computer fans, for instance:
1. At the highest speed, the fan reaches 166 miles per hour (Is this to scale, or real life, I wonder ;) ).
2. The Active Cool Fan design consumes one-third less power and is about half as quiet as traditional server fans. Very neat stuff.

Vista Security Features

Here's a one page summary of Vista's security features that I'm sure you'll find both informative and painless to grasp. It gives me hope that Vista really will be a major security upgrade for Windows users.

I was just a bit dismayed that at the end of the article the writer discusses the fact that there are already more security enhancements and compatibility features planned for Vista Service Pack 1. I don't know whether to be grateful for Microsoft's forward thinking or dismayed that they've already realized they will have to modify or enhance it after release.

Jack

Partition Logic

This looks pretty good. I've just gotten done trying it and my first impression is that it's grand.

It's a bootable CD that gives all the functions of Partition Magic and Norton Ghost. It's free software and the download is quick. Give it a whirl. I'm still testing, but I think it's just fine.

Jack

Official Google Blog: Finding government info

Hmmmm, its been a while since I blogged about Google. lol
I found this interesting, cause I can never remember the county website address, or the online traffic info available in North Carolina. I anticipate using this service a lot.

Want to find those IRS forms to get in your taxes on time? Need to figure out where to send your DMV fees, or find the phone number for your local parks and rec department? Google U.S. Government Search launches today -- it's a site on which you can 1) search across a huge index of U.S. Federal, state and local government websites via a single search box, and 2) stay up to date through personalized content feeds from government agencies and press outlets. Off you go.

For easy bookmarking, go to http://usgov.google.com.

--MissM
Official Google Blog: Finding government info

Potential Patch Problem with MS06-025

I wanted to give everybody a warning about this, just in case you have issues, of course, if dialup is affected, I'm not sure how you'll see this. ;)
To quote SANS Internet Storm Center:

Published: 2006-06-15,
Last Updated: 2006-06-15 18:59:11 UTC by Lorna Hutcheson (Version: 1)

We have received some reports of a potential issue with MS06-025. Here is a snippet of what appears to be the problem as it was report to us:

"We received couple of calls that users are
not able to dial up after applying MS06-025 (KB911280).

I verified this on a test machine and it looks like it breaks dial up.

We have some scripts that need to be run in order to authenticate the user
properly after the dial up connection is established.

It looks like the patch prevents scripts from running at all. Even when I
turned on the terminal window (in interactive logon and scripting) I can't
log in manually at all. After the connection is established I can see the
Username prompt in the terminal window but I can't enter any data.

Uninstalling the patch fixes this."

Microsoft has confirmed they are getting some reports of this and have established a case number. If you are having similar problems, call Microsoft for free support, 1-(866) PC-SAFETY, and reference case number SOX060615700008.

--MissM
Potential Patch Problem with MS06-025 (NEW)

Intel "Santa Rosa" Desktop Platform Detailed

The next generation of Intel PC chips (as opposed to server parts) is code named "Merom". Daily Tech has a good, short review of what we can expect from them, both in desktop, small form factor PCs and notebooks/tablets.

This one is easy to understand and an almost mandatory read if you want to know what Intel thinks we will be using in 6 months.

Jack

Direct X 10 will be Vista only

We have suspected this all along. Vista's display system is different enough that it cannot be back-ported to XP without inordinate effort (something on the order of a service pack). Microsoft probably is not intending on supporting XP long enough to make this worth the effort and the new display foundation is just one more reason for folks to upgrade.

Jack

What users hate most about Web sites

Okay. We've been saying this over and over. Fixing just these five things will make your site much more usable.

This is a quick and concise read and if you ever thought of coding up a site on your own, you need to print this out and put it where you can see it as you work.

Jack

Microsoft presses the Stupid button

The link is to Ed Bott's blog on ZDNet. I think it boils down the Windows Genuine Advantage problem nicely. There are two links to David Berlind's blog posts as well, and these need to be written to get the full impact of Bott's arguments.

Jack

Why people hate Sony

Over the years I have had a lot of Sony products, ranging from various iterations of the Walkman to the satellite box that controls our TV viewing. I will not have another, period.

My anger is over the rootkit/DRM Sony foisted upon us a short while ago. The arrogance and complete disregard for the well-being of the consumer shown by the company's actions and statements surrounding that fiasco convinced me Sony was not my friend.

The link above will take you to a commentary at The Inquirer, illustrating even more reasons not to care for Sony. Aside from PlayStations, they don't sell anything I can't get somewhere else and I can frankly do without a gaming console from someone who considers my safety and well-being such a low priority.

Jack

Is DC the power to solve heat problems?

Tech Republic has an article about using DC power throughout the data center. It's a new idea that has polarized argument across the server industry. Some companies are actually putting money into the idea and others dismiss it out of hand.

Jack

Google Browser Sync

Since more have become familiar with the benefits of firefox ;)
I thought that everybody would find this useful. From what I heard on ChuckChat, you encrypt it locally (reading the FAQ, its a PIN and it doesn't say how many characters there are). I haven't installed it myself, I use a third party google toolbar, something about the UI as I recall (it maybe the blogger button, now that I think about it)....

Google Browser Sync for Firefox is an extension that continuously synchronizes your browser settings – including bookmarks, history, persistent cookies, and saved passwords – across your computers. It also allows you to restore open tabs and windows across different machines and browser sessions. For more info, please visit our FAQ.

--MissM
Google Browser Sync

How to install ANYTHING in Ubuntu!

A handy reference for newbie Ubuntu users, or maybe an "Hey, this looks easy, I think I'll try it" moment. This seemed like a good starting point and asked some questions that puzzled me. There are also screenshots too which I found informative.

Having problems installing something on your new Ubuntu operating system? "Where's the EXE?", "Where do I need to extract this to?", "How do I run it?", "Where did it go?" - have you been thinking questions like these? Don't worry, installing software, themes and other things on Ubuntu is actually very easy! This guide will help you understand with screenshots, instructional videos and to-the-point language.

--MissM
How to install ANYTHING in Ubuntu!

Microsoft's Calling Home Problem: It's a Matter of Informed Consent

This is the most detailed article on this subject that I've read to date. This situation is more and more alarming. We find that beyond the calling home every day, this software is beta. It is beta software that can't be uninstalled.

IMHO this is spyware. What it does goes beyond what most people believe that Microsoft needs to do in order to check that it is a genuine copy. The fact that the information sent and the scope of the phone home behavior was not fully and cleary disclosed to the end user makes Microsoft untrustworthy.

Personally, I don't think both shoes have dropped yet. I may be wrong, but I'm guessing that there is more to come.

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 06-11-06

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 06-11-06. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.

Schneier on Security: Hacking Computers Over USB

Security guru (at least that's what I'd call him) Bruce Schneier posts an article about the attack potential from stray usb devices, the part that I found of most concern was an except of this article:

We figured we would try something different by baiting the same employees that were on high alert. We gathered all the worthless vendor giveaway thumb drives collected over the years and imprinted them with our own special piece of software. I had one of my guys write a Trojan that, when run, would collect passwords, logins and machine-specific information from the user's computer, and then email the findings back to us.

The next hurdle we had was getting the USB drives in the hands of the credit union's internal users. I made my way to the credit union at about 6 a.m. to make sure no employees saw us. I then proceeded to scatter the drives in the parking lot, smoking areas, and other areas employees frequented.

Once I seeded the USB drives, I decided to grab some coffee and watch the employees show up for work. Surveillance of the facility was worth the time involved. It was really amusing to watch the reaction of the employees who found a USB drive. You know they plugged them into their computers the minute they got to their desks.

I immediately called my guy that wrote the Trojan and asked if anything was received at his end. Slowly but surely info was being mailed back to him. I would have loved to be on the inside of the building watching as people started plugging the USB drives in, scouring through the planted image files, then unknowingly running our piece of software.

Go read the whole thing, some excellent advice in the article by Schneier.
--MissM

Schneier on Security: Hacking Computers Over USB

Hands on: Google Spreadsheets is more powerful than you think

The small print under the headline reads; It's no Excel killer, but Google's online spreadsheet will surprise you with what it can do.

This is a 4 page report in some detail about using Google's online spreadsheet and it's worth it. If ever you thought Google was just playing at delivering some office application functionality online in order to deliver ads, this will change your mind. Yes, it is not capable of everything Excel can do. So what? It is a serious application. You may need more power than it provides at times, but for most of what we use spreadsheets for, this is good enough.

More and more we hear that the rivalry between Google and Microsoft will hinge on file formats and other esoteric criteria. Now, here is a fully-fledged application injected into the mix. Things are definitely going to get interesting.

Jack

Microsoft to ease up on piracy check-ins

Now that the bright light of publicity has shone on the Windows Genuine Advantage program, Microsoft is backing away from it. First, they'll go to bi-weekly reporting, then discontinue it entirely.

There is a discontinuity in all this. If the WGA tool is as benign as the company says it is, why are then intending to discontinue it? If it is not, why haven't researchers found it before? It's just a feeling, but I'll wager there is more to this than we have been told and it is not necessarily bad doings by Microsoft. I am wondering if someone hasn't figured out how to either spoof WGA into accepting counterfeit copies or to attack a system running XP with the WGA software installed. Hopefully, we will find out soon.

Jack

No fix for 'critical' hole in Windows 98, ME | CNET News.com

"Microsoft will not fix a serious flaw in Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition because a patch could break other applications"
Well for you diehards that can't live without your Windoiws9X. It's time to join the 21st century.
AlaskaJoe

Windows 98, 98SE and ME: Information about Support Lifecycle and MS06-015

In this TechNet blog entry, Christopher Budd writes that it is not feasible to repair certain vulnerabilities in Windows Explorer as found in Windows 98, 98SE and Millennium Edition (ME). Windows Explorer in the NT derivatives, Windows 2000 and XP, is able to be repaired to cope with the vulnerabilities in question. Hence, Microsoft is urging folks to upgrade, rather than stick with these old operating systems.

Jack

Crave Talk: Is Nintendo the apple of Apple's eye?

It's a rumor and not much more. A very interesting rumor, to be sure, but only that. Idle speculation is another term that applies. The "logic" in the article linked to above is definitely weak enough to be ignored and tantalizing to the point of some folks wanting it to be true.

Jack

Turn your $60 router into a $600 router - Lifehacker

This is a great idea, I have heard there were some Linux hacks for the firmware on some Linusys Wireless Routers. Here is a "How To:" on how to upgrade your firmware and then tweak your router.
Please be careful you can make a nice blue and black paper weight flashing your router's firmware. However if you do it right, these are very nice tweaks.
AlaskaJoe

Intel pledges 60 per cent price cuts

The implication is that we should hold off buying new machines until the price cuts take effect. (Maybe the cuts will be drastic enough to offset part of the expected tariff for Vista.)

Actually, this is part of Intel's counter to AMD's recent gains in market share. The prospect impresses me, but evidently the folks at the stock market missed the announcement as Intel's stock price fell 3 sessions running.

Jack

Super Battery

Longer life, vastly shorter recharge times and they might not wear out. What's not to like? It's a simple idea utilizing carbon nanotubes. Check out the link above. It sounds marvelous and, though it really is rocket science, it is nowhere near as remote as most of this sort of technology is. We might see it relatively soon.

Jack

RIAA can fine you if you install Kazaa

No comment. I couldn't equal this one if I tried.

Jack

Bumper crop of Microsoft patches on the way

"Microsoft plans to release on Tuesday a dozen security bulletins with fixes for flaws." Make sure you do your Windows Updates this coming Tuesday!
AlaskaJoe

Linux UMPC Updated

It's not just Microsoft who is interested in Ultra-Mobile PCs (UMPCs) though they are certainly the largest force moving them toward the marketplace.

XYZ has a review of Pepper Pad's Linux powered UMPC. It looks very attractive and is far and away the lowest priced device in that market segment. And the list of functions, along with equipment, is impressive enough to have me wanting one.

I wonder if they'll give me one for review? I'm surely going to ask.

Check it out at the link above.

Jack

Seagate announces hybrid, encrypted 2.5" drives

It is happening. The surplus and thus low price of NAND flash memory is encouraging new storage products, just as we had predicted. No, I'm not bragging. It was really sort of a no-brainer.

There are going to be a LOT of new products incorporating flash memory. This is just one use for it. Look for a bunch of others coming out that we probably hadn't thought of.

Jack

For Dell, industry standard now includes Linux

The upshot is that 25% of Dell's enterprise business is now running Linux.

Even as Linux grows, it loses market share to Windows servers, running either Apache or Microsoft's web server. The figures are somewhat skewed by Go Daddy's recent move to all Windows operation. Without that factored in, Windows is still taking share.

The reason? There are not enough Linux techs to go around. An organization can find technicians qualified and able to run Windows well and with reasonable security quite easily. Linux techs are harder to find. I, personally, have seen 4 or 5 organizations move away from Linux to Windows or Solaris because of the technician problem within the last 12 months. Neither the economic or quality advantages of Linux matter if an organization cannot find someone to run the systems for them.

Jack

Vista Sheds Yet Another Feature

The latest feature to be stripped out of Microsoft's upcoming Vista operating system is PC to PC synchronization.

Microsoft cites quality concerns, while the scuttlebutt says it is because a large part of the code would need re-writing to be secure. Whichever it is, Microsoft has a problem.

Technically oriented observers have been down on the delays and continuously shrinking feature list for quite a while now. After all the fuss, even the man or woman on the street, who generally could care less about operating systems, are now starting to remark upon Microsoft's "failure" to produce a viable product. It is very plain that it will take a LOT of doing for MS to overcome it's ever more sullied reputation.

Jack

Microsoft product phones home every day

I feel like humming Darth Vader's theme -- you know -- the evil empire.

Just when I think I like Microsoft, they pull something like this. Even better, once you install WGA you can't uninstall it. So there it goes reporting back to MS each day without telling you what it is reporting or how often -- until they got caught that is.

Six Hosting Companies Most Reliable Hoster in May

Sometimes you just stumble upon a good story. I had gone to Netcraft to see what it was reporting for some hosted domains I manage and I saw this headline. I'm pleased to see that many of the hosts are ones that I and my friends use and recommend. In fact, Rackspace is on of the hosts that On Computers uses and they ranked a very respectable second.

The six-way tie is a first for the reliability survey, as three and even four providers have shared the top position in the past. The showing reflects a strong month for hosting reliability, as the winners each had just 0.01 percent of their DNS responses fail, just a hair short of a perfect showing. All six companies have finished atop the survey at least once previously.

What is also neat is that among the top hosts this month. all use Linux and FreeBSD. Want to know who they are? You'll have to read the article to find out.

Now if Blogger were only as realiable. Then again the price is right. (Blogger has been out to sluggish the past 24 hours so if you don't see us posting much it is because there have been serious technical difficulties.) Fortunately the actual blog at blogspot.com seems to have remained up.

Australian IT - Microsoft takes on net nasties (double click | David Frith, JUNE 06, 2006)

I'd seen this a week or so ago, and was too busy to post it. But, I thought it was hysterical. How many of us have been here???

MICROSOFT executives love telling stories against each other. Here's one that platforms vice-president Jim Allchin told at a recent Windows Vista reviewers conference about chief executive Steve Ballmer.

It seems Steve was at a friend's wedding reception when the bride's father complained that his PC had slowed to a crawl and would Steve mind taking a look.

Allchin says Ballmer, the world's 13th wealthiest man with a fortune of about $18 billion, spent almost two days trying to rid the PC of worms, viruses, spyware, malware and severe fragmentation without success.

He lumped the thing back to Microsoft's headquarters and turned it over to a team of top engineers, who spent several days on the machine, finding it infected with more than 100 pieces of malware, some of which were nearly impossible to eradicate.

If misery loves company, Ballmer has a lot of it. :)
--MissM

Australian IT - Microsoft takes on net nasties (double click | David Frith, JUNE 06, 2006)

Slashdot | The Worst Bill You've Never Heard Of

Slashdot | The Worst Bill You've Never Heard Of
I have enough license for my computer to run, why do I need another one to use it?

More Linux updates

Hope you guys ain't getting tired of this. :-). Both Ubuntu and Arklinux had updates last week. Ubuntu I was able to do an upgrade while running it. Pretty cool. It went fine. Only had to re-enable MP3's. So, a nice "attaboy" for the Ubuntu folks. Arklinux I re-installed. So far so good. Thanks Arklinux folks.

Google Spreadsheets Sneak Peek

For a company that professes to be only mildly interested in offering an office suite online, Google sure is accumulating a bunch of components, aren't they? First was Writely, an online word processor that allows collaborative document generation and editing. Now it's a spreadsheet that handles Microsoft file formats and allows up to 10 collaborators at a time to work on the document.

I'm done speculating on all this, but it does walk like a duck, quacks like a duck and for all I can tell.............

Jack

Dell to become a bank

Don't mind the headlines. Without the hysteria it just means Dell is going to start acting like a car company and financing the purchase of what they build. It could be a good deal for all concerned, especially if Dell uses lower interest loans on entry level machines to open computing to those who might otherwise not be able to afford it.

There is potential for profit and the scheme might even help improve customer service. After all; you don't want a frustrated customer defaulting on a loan upon which you hold the note.

Jack

New Microsoft E-Mail Client Gets Ads

This is the first revenue generating part of Windows Live announced, if I'm not mistaken. The article posits it as an eventual replacement for Outlook Express, which makes a lot of sense.

Jack