Another Linux Update

Well finally got around to updating Blag Linux. Had to Download the CD to do it but, the CD did let me update instead of having to clean install. All seems well.

What Is OpenDocument?

Here's a good view of what Open Document Format actually is and what it is not. For any of you who don't quite get the difference between true standards, like ODF and de-facto standards, such as Microsoft's .doc format, this is the one you want to read.

It's well written and clear as can be. An easy and very informative read.

Jack

Spyware disguises itself as Firefox extension

I saw one of these in my hotmail account the other day and deleted it. After all, spam with an attachment always raises my suspicions. If you are careful about clicking on files in e-mails you are safe. If you aren't and you use Firefox, you better check to make sure you aren't infected with this latest nasty.

Microsoft to push IE 7 as important security upgrade

When Internet Explorer is ready, Microsoft will push it as a "high priority" security update.

This means that Microsoft is going to send it to those who have automatic updates turned on and they will recieve the download w/o user intervention.
Users WILL be given the option to install the new browser, unlike when "Windows Genuine Advantage" was offered.

It is a boldly honest move by Microsoft because they are admitting IE 6 (or any other version, for that matter) is unsafe enough that users are at risk with it. No matter how you view the delivery method or even Microsoft itself, you have to recognize this.

Of course; MS is betting that IE 7 offers enough of an enhancement in security to justify such a "push" installation. Expert opinions are divided on whether it is, though no one I respect has written it is not safer than v6. And you have to remember that any reviews to date are made on code that is being tested and not considered ready for unlimited distribution. Should there be early discovery of glaring vulnerabilities, it will give Microsoft as bad a black eye as it has ever had. If things work out well for the users, I'm not sure MS will get the appropriate credit from anyone but those of us who follow security matters more closely than most. This is because over the years people have formed such a gloomy picture of Microsoft security in their minds that many are unwilling to accept any upward recognition of security in MS' products.

Jack

Firefox 1.5.0.5 Final Released today

Firefox 1.5.0.5 is a security update that is part of our ongoing program to provide a safe Internet experience for our customers. We recommend that all users upgrade to this latest version.
Release Notes

In Firefox, I went to Help | Check for updates first, and it didn't show up, so check out the link to get the latest final version.
There are "several security issues." Though the security issues haven't been updated, when I checked.
--MissM


read more | digg story

Trojan piggybacks on Firefox | Tech News on ZDNet

"A new Trojan horse making the rounds has been installing itself as a Firefox extension, according to security company McAfee." Is this one of the Anti-Virus companies we trust?
Remember we sell "NOD32 The Anti-Virus that WORKS!"

Attack code puts Windows PCs at risk | Tech News on ZDNet

"Two new pieces of computer code that could spawn attacks on Microsoft Windows PCs have been released onto the Internet, security companies have warned."
Let the games begin! The big question is: Will we have to wait until next Patch Tuesday?
AlaskaJoe

What is RSS good for?

Since I sense general resistance to this RSS thing that I simply adore! I thought that I'd post this for those of you who just haven't realized how wonderful it is. :)
Dave Winer spells it out:

When people ask me what RSS is good for, I start with "automated web surfing." It gets you more news for the time you put into using the Internet. If you don't want more news then RSS is probably not for you. But if there are subjects that you are intensely interested in, and if the people covering the topics also offer the information in RSS, then your computer (or a web site) can make web surfing a richer and perhaps more productive experience.

I could write about this (and have), but it would be widely flamed about, by the same people who control the conversation on Google.

Bonus link: Jo Twist wrote an excellent What Is RSS piece for the BBC.

Rex Hammock has a better search term for getting useful info about RSS.

--MissM
Scripting News: 7/25/2006
h/t to Rex Hammock (See link above).

AMD + ATI = slow down!

From the not-so-fast department:

This interesting article from Ars outlines some reasons why the AMD/ATI deal may not be so done.

As someone who has happily mixed AMD with nVidia, first in chipsets and now in chipsets and graphics, I'm presonally hoping this deal doesn't make it is. There are too many negatives and too few positives except perhaps for some bankers.

Gates spoof on Letterman

I found this hysterical, and thought y'all would enjoy it. Yeah, I know its a month old, but the joke is timeless. And we've all been there. (Some more than others ;) )


--MissM

The Real Reason Why Students Are Not Studying Programming

“The industry can take young, green people, put them through the mill and spit them out”

Hacked Ad Seen on MySpace Served Spyware to a Million - Security Fix

I mentioned, in the chat during the show yesterday, WAY TOO MANY people being caught by a 6 [or so] month old fixed exploit. I found the link to this article about the exploit:

An online banner advertisement that ran on MySpace.com and other sites over the past week used a Windows security flaw to infect more than a million users with spyware when people merely browsed the sites with unpatched versions of Windows, according to data collected by iDefense, a Verisign company.

Michael La Pilla, an iDefense "malcode" analyst, said he first spotted the attack Sunday while browsing MySpace on a Linux-based machine. When he browsed a page headed with an ad for DeckOutYourDeck.com, his browser asked him whether he wanted to open a file called exp.wmf. Microsoft released a patch in January to fix a serious security flaw in the way Windows renders WMF (Windows Metafile) images, and online criminal groups have been using the flaw to install adware, keystroke loggers and all manner of invasive software for the past seven months.

--MissM
Hacked Ad Seen on MySpace Served Spyware to a Million - Security Fix

tip o' the hat to Schneier on Security for the article.

In marriage of 'CPUs and GPUs,' ATI snapped-up by AMD. Is NVidia next? |

To quote the beginning of the article:
In another one of the worst kept secrets in the technology industry, AMD has shelled out $5.4B for Canada-based video and graphics solution provider ATI Technologies. According to the aforelinked Reuters news story:

Talk of a tie-up between the two companies first emerged in May. Over the weekend, the rumors intensified until it was almost considered a done deal on Sunday…Many industry analysts have said it made little financial or strategic sense for AMD to buy ATI outright. But AMD, the No. 2 supplier of processors, said it will use the purchase of Canada-based ATI to expand its product mix and its market share as it battles No. 1 Intel.

This morning, in a before-the-bell, in a press conference giving by the two company's executives, ATI president David Orton referred to the deal as a marriage of CPUs (central processing units from AMD) and GPUs (graphics processing units from ATI).

The reporter, David Berlind, also recorded the conference, it is available to download, details and the rest of the post are at the link below.
--MissM
In marriage of 'CPUs and GPUs,' ATI snapped-up by AMD. Is NVidia next? | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 07-23-06

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 07-23-06. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.

Ubuntu and Wireless

Well, got Ubuntu on my Toshiba lappy. The Netgear MA 521 works fine. Kudos to the Ubuntu folks and thanks Jack too. So, I've now got a Linux only computer. If you are considering taking the plunge, go for it!

Tax Free Holidays:

Tax Free Holidays: Several states have announced "tax free holidays", where sales taxes are waived on some items purchased on those days. It is definitely a hot deal for people planning on shopping at local stores.

States which have announced tax free days as of today:
US State Dates Tax Free Items
Alabama August 4-6 Clothes under $100 School supplies under $50 Computers & software under $750 only certain participating towns
Connecticut August 20-26 Clothes under $300 per item
Florida July 22-30 Clothes $50 or less Books $50 or less School supplies $10 or less Not valid within theme parks or entertainment complexes
Georgia August 3-6 Clothes $100 or less Shoes $100 or less Personal computers or related accessories $1500 or less School supplies $20 or less Energy-efficient products $1500 or less
Iowa August 4-5 Clothes and footwear $100 or less per item
Maryland August 23-27 Most clothes and footwear $100 or less per item
Missouri August 5-7 Clothes $100 or less Footwear $100 or less School supplies $50 or less Personoal computers $3500 or less Computer peripherals $3500 or less Computer software $350 or less
New Mexico August 4-6 Clothes $100 or less Footwear $100 or less Computers $1000 or less Computer peripherals $500 or less School Supplies of any value
North Carolina August 4-6 Clothes $100 or less per item Footwear $100 or less per item School Supplies $100 or less per item Recreation Equipment $50 or less per item Computers $3500 or less Computer supplies $250 or less
South Carolina August 4-6 Clothes Clothing Accessories Footwear School supplies Computers (purchased as a whole, not individual computer peripherals) Printers & Printer Supplies Computer Software Some bath and linen products
Tennessee August 4-6 Clothes $100 or less per item School Supplies $100 or less per item Computers $1500 or less
Texas August 4-6 Clothes and Footwear $100 or less
Virginia August 4-6 Clothes $100 or less per item Footwear $100 or less per item School Supplies $20 or less per item
I hope some of you can save some money on taxes this year.
Thank you Terry Blout for this.

Cool and Illegal Wireless Hotspot Hacks

You may have heard of some of these, or maybe not. Here is how the bad guys do it. If you use WiFi, in public or at home, you need ot read this.

Security Watch from PC Magazine - Microsoft Comes Up One Patch Short

Looks like Microsoft missed another one! :( This one comes in a Power Point file and was sent via GMail. The subject line contains Chinese characters.
Does anyone need to be told if you can't read the subject, don't open it?
AlaskaJoe

Hacking Digital Rights Management

"Like a creeping fog, DRM smothers more and more media in its clammy embrace, but the sun still shines down on isolated patches of the landscape."

This is a very nice summary of the cat and mouse game. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I'm glad that DRM gets cracked. The reason? Because while major works will always be preserved and moved to new formats, lesser, but still worthwhile works will not. If the DRM is not cracked these works may be lost. I also like the fact that it shows that encumbering us with DRM only hurts the legitimate consumer.

Google Accessible Search

I have several friends who are, as Google refers to them, "visually challenged". This new Google search is supposed to rate Web pages by how usable they are. Give it a try and share your comments here.

Survey Finds Consumers Balk at Updating Malware Protection

Anyone who services other people's computers knows this is true. Still, I was blown away by the figures.

Read it and weep,

Jack

How Vonage Funds Spyware

I remember a couple mentions in chat about Skype not charging for land line calls in the U.S. and concern about Vonage's continued success. Apparentlly they are doing just fine. According to Ben Edelman, they paid Direct Revenue $31, 570 in one month in 2005, for "Spyware-Delivered Pop-Up Ads." Ben has done a very comprehensive job of documenting Vonage's use of spyware ads. We can't only blame the spyware companies, but also the companies who support spyware, with their advertising dollars. His article begins:

I ought to be a Vonage enthusiast. I support Vonage's efforts to protect network neutrality. I applaud their flexible voice over IP service and their efforts to compete with incumbent phone companies. I'm even a VoIP customer (albeit using a competitor's service).

But instead of praising Vonage, I have to criticize them -- not for their core business (which seems robust) or for their customer service (which others have repeatedly criticized), but for their reckless advertising practices. Vonage spends huge amounts on advertising -- more than $20 million per month. (source) Unfortunately, among this spending is widespread and substantial spyware-delivered advertising.

For years, my manual and automated testing have documented Vonage ads appearing in all the major spyware programs. Now that Vonage has completed its IPO -- itself promoted as a way to raise more money to buy more advertising [Do WE know anybody that bought Vonage stock?]-- this page presents twelve recent examples of Vonage ads appearing in spyware.

see the chart and the rest of the report, its disturbing. And makes me grateful for firefox blocking popups!!
--MissM
How Vonage Funds Spyware

NTSB Probes Laptop Batteries in Jet Fire

Recently, there were articles and pics of a laptop exploding into flames at a conference in Japan. (It was a Dell, but the brand is not important-really.) The preliminary results of the investigation point to the battery itself as the culprit, which is why I say the laptop brand doesn't matter in this.

The link above will take you to an article in which Lithium ion batteries caused a fire when they were being shipped. They weren't even in use!

Obviously, our favorite battery technologies have some safety problems. Research is ongoing. But what happens when a laptop goes incindiary in a crowded aircraft passenger compartment? Aircraft fire fighting systems are not geared to a fire of this type, according to everything I have read. (And, no, I don't understand that, either.) Are we going to have to give up our favorite electronic devices on board aircraft? This report indicates that just having them on the aircraft, whether in the passenger compartment or in the cargo hold, might imperil the aircraft and (more importantly) the people inside.

The number of fires attributed to this type of battery is reassuringly small, but the potential for a real disaster is certainly there.

In checking this out, I've found out that not all battery research is about extending charge life and such. A decent fraction of it is dedicated to safer batteries. I didn't find news of any breakthroughs, but they could easily be making incremental progress and I missed it.

Jack

'Invisible' Rootkit Heralds Trouble Ahead

Legitimate researchers discovered this technique a month or so ago, but released very few details, for rather obvious reasons. Coders in Russia and elsewhere seem to have run with the ball and developed code that they released into the wild.

These rootkits (and there are already a couple, each with a variation or two) run inside normal processes, such as device drivers, and so are very, very hard to detect. I suspect detection is possible and those of us who do tech are going to have to scramble to keep up with the situation as it changes; not least finding and learning to use tools which can detect and remove these dangerous programs.

Jack

Tiny wireless memory chip debuts

From BBC:

A chip the size of a grain of rice that can store 100 pages of text and swaps data via wireless has been developed by Hewlett-Packard.

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 07-16-06

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 07-16-06. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.

Blender 2.42 Has Been Released

The Blender Foundation has released a new version of the popular free software animation suite. It has major new features and is worth checking out.

Blender has a different user interface and it takes some getting used to. Should you stick with it, you will be rewarded with access to a wonderful toolkit capable of turning out animations on a professional scale.

Jack

340,282,366,920,938,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 new web addresses created by internet chiefs . . . so we won’t run out of space soon, then

A humorous and informative look at IPv6 and why we need it.

Jack

A few more words on PC power supplies

I've been telling you that power supplies from years past are often not good enough for today's motherboards and chipsets. I've been talking to techs and white box builders about it and they agree in the main with my observations.

PC power supplies have adhered to a standard deviation in voltage on every circuit of plus or minus 5%. That was perfectly adequate for the parts we had then. Some of the higher priced, brand name units performed in the neighborhood of plus or minus 3.5%. Now, it seems that the most modern processors and chipsets require a little better. Plus or minus 3% is the figure I heard the most, with a few saying 2.5% was needed.

A machine will run without damage with the looser specification power supplies. Some few will be unstable, though, and the techs I spoke to make a point of swapping the power supply early in the diagnostic process.

The good news is that making these more tightly spec'd power supplies is within the reach of every manufacturer and some of them are already doing it. The cost added by this is minimal. You will end up paying more for the increased capacity today's systems require than you will for the tighter output specs. A lot more.

Until the manufacturers wise up and start posting the tighter specs, stick with the really well known name brands, such as Antec and Solar. There are others, but I just can't think of them off-hand.

Jack

Microsoft shutters Windows private folders

Well, I did download the software, so I have a copy around here, somewhere. But private folders is gone within a week of it's debut. I never even had a chance to start checking it out.

Corporate IT types had a coronary over the thought of their users having encrypted folders on company machines. The dustup was severe enough to convince MS to withdraw the product, either pending a rethink or permanently. (I note that Download.com or SnapFiles.com has similar software available for any Windows users, but evidently this being an "official" MS product had more effect on users decision to download it and install it on their work machines.)

Jack

Dell abandons mail-in rebates

They're going to phase them out gradually, keeping them as long as they can, no doubt. Dell swears this isn't going to change the net price we pay for their products, just simplify the purchase process.

It is long overdue.

Jack

Microsoft Live CRM lashed

I have to say that my limited experience with Salesforce.com is why I think Microsoft isn't going to make it in the hosted CRM field any time soon. First off; they're not using software built for the purpose. They are using a modified version of their regular CRM software. It's a bad idea and almost certainly will add tremendous complications and time to the development and proving processes. Second off; they are late to the party and in order to get anyone as customers who aren't already firmly locked-in to MS products, they are going to have to demonstrate that they are at least as functional and reliable as the established players.

Salesforce.com works, after a fashion. They still have problems related to their basic concepts that are being dealt with, and then there are the problems related to their rapid growth. Microsoft is starting in a hole, so to speak, and that tells me it is going to take them quite a while to get it right enough to stop the cursing on the customer end.

The one place where Microsoft might have a head start is in fail-over, which has caused Salesforce.com no end of complaints. Microsoft is good at redundency. So are others, but MS is definitely in the big leagues here. The biggest complaints Salesforce.com has had have to do with service interruptions due to bungled handovers between machines in trouble and those expected to take up the load at those times. They've made tremendous strides here, even according to their critics and users. If I had to bet, though, I'd put my money on MS having less interruptions of service simply because they do that sort of thing so well.

It will be interesting to watch this unfold. Start an office pool on when MS can have it up and running for all comers. Everyone picks a year and the winner gets the pot. Okay. I'm being cruel. But the fact is that it will take quite a while for them to get up a head of steam and no one should expect different. No matter what Mr. Ballmer says in between bouts of tossing furniture.

Jack

bit-tech.net | Intel's Core 2 Duo processors

I was first introduced to this site via TWIT and they promoted the complete review of the new Intel Processors, and here it is! Enjoy. :)

Today, Intel has officially unveiled the eagerly-anticipated Core 2 Duo product line up, based on the Conroe processor. Earlier in the year, we had the chance to have a look at an engineering sample Core 2 Duo E6700 in a system built by Intel. While today is not the day when Intel's new Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors will be available to buy, it is the day that we are finally allowed to publish our own independent benchmarks on systems built and configured by ourselves.

Intel is releasing a total of five different processors today, the first in a breed of new desktop processors based on the Core architecture - we will talk about what makes Core tick in due course. Rather than raw speed, Intel has changed its stance on processor design with clear roots shining through from the excellent Pentium M architecture, and the even more impressive Yonah architecture that we looked at in May.

It has lots of pictures and specifications. Comparisons between Intel and AMD, fascinating! I can hardly wait for round two. Go check out the article.
--MissM

bit-tech.net | Intel's Core 2 Duo processors

Dimension manufacturing centre makes things fast

What this is is a sort of inkjet printer that uses ABS plastic to "print" prototype parts. Things like this have been promised for decades and are only now just becoming fact.

Feed in a CAD file and some materials and some time later you open the door and remove your part. It's probably not quite that simple, but even so, this is a huge leap forward. At various times in my life, I have been involved in what we used to call "rapid prototyping" and there was nothing really rapid about it, except perhaps the pace of the cursing.

It's just cool. And it's only $18 grand!! MissM? It's almost my birthday time.

Jack

OLPC: the technology scam of the century?

Waleed al-Shobakky, with whom I maintain a lively correspondence, pointed this blog out to me. Waleed is Egyptian and we have long discussed the One Laptop per Child initiative and other efforts to bring computing to less developed regions of the world.

One need not agree with this blog's conclusions against the OLpC project and it's goals to see that there are a LOT more potential problems than those who have not delved deeply into the project have been told. While this does not change my support for the OLpC project, it does dampen my optimism, significantly.

Jack

Netscape Demonstrates How Not to Do Web 2.0

Netscape is getting a lot of flak, this morning. It seems they've redone their home page. What was once a fairly dense set of links and descriptions that transmitted a vast amount of information and options in a very small space is now all spread out and less than informative.

While I expect some folks will like it, the new page leaves me cold. I found it hard to get to what I wanted and when a dialup user complains about a site being unresponsive, you KNOW SOMETHING IS WRONG!

Check it out.

Jack

Application UI goes back to basics

Y'all have heard me moan on this subject repeatedly over the years. I'm always telling you how I use a text editor instead of a word processor. They're quicker for most chores and posting to the web, with it's own formatting, is easier and functions better with no formatting. In other words; plain text. Same thing for email. Plus, the files are smaller for sending and storing.

Whether Windows or Linux, I keep a text editor open all the time. In Windows, I prefer Edit Pad Lite, though there are scores of others if that one doesn't suit you and I use Crimson Editor for programming. In Linux I use GEdit, KEdit, Jed or XJed. They're easy to get around in, the user interface encourages quick use for those little scraps of information and they take nothing as far as system resources go. It has been a couple months since I opened a word processor of any kind, and that was only to demonstrate to someone how to do something.

I like my computing experiences to be simple. The less navigation I have to do the more time and energy I have to devote to whatever it is I'm doing, whether work or play. Yes, I'm aware of the duality of my stance. Simplifying the interface to the most complex system most of us will ever deal with seems almost counter-productive, at least until you reap the benefits. Given that the necessary tools are at hand, less really is more.

Jack

Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 - updated!

Microsoft is offering Virtual PC 2004 for free. Grab it at the link above.

For those of you who aren't familiar with VPC04, it's Microsoft's virtualization toolkit for Windows. Reviewers say it's pretty good stuff. I intend getting my copy very soon, as soon as I'm done downloading the 1.1 GIGABYTES of updates to my various systems over dialup!

I think this is one you really need to get, if only to have it around. Support for Vista (as much as that is possible) is included.

Previously, the server version of Microsoft's virtualization framework was also made available as a free download. Grab it here.

I will also remind you that VM Ware is available for free, as well. Get that, too, burn it to CD and tuck it away, if you can resist experimenting.

Jack

Analysts see Java EE dying in an SOA world

The idea is not that the Java programming language is fading. That's simply not the case. Java will be around and will be an enterprise standard for the foreseeable future.

For those of you that aren't familiar with it, the Java language is part of a much larger, more complex and more capable whole called the "Enterprise Edition", with added functionality and such that might be needed in web applications. They are included in the hope that programmers won't continually have to "reinvent the wheel" during enterprise development cycles.

The analyst's point is that things have gotten so big and complex that developers are now looking at more agile solutions, such as the Ruby scripting language and the excellent Rails development platform. It's an interesting idea and seems to be backed up by Ruby on Rails' growth as a platform of choice. Decide for yourself after reading this.

Jack

F-Secure : News from the Lab

From F-secure's weblog, a new type of phishing attack with a "man-in-the-middle attack"

The first ever case of using a man-in-the-middle attack against an online bank was reported by Brian Krebs of Security Fix on Tuesday.

The security industry has long predicted this type of man-in-the-middle attack; it was only a matter of time. The attack targeted Citibank's Citibusiness service and was designed to spoof the token key hardware device used by the bank's customers. The phishing site checked the logon credentials with the real site before rendering the results to the phishing victim. Enter an invalid password, and you got an invalid logon page. A man-in-the-middle attack checks everything done at the phishing site against the original, so everything should look and feel more genuine.

Exactly the same kind of attacks can be used to target other types of two-factor authentication, including one-time password sheets.

This is one of several references to this new type of attack that I've seen this morning, and I thought it was important enough to let y'all know.
--MissM

F-Secure : News from the Lab

Can Zoho's Web 2.0 Office Beat Microsoft?

Beating Microsoft is beside the point. They just put that in the headlines so they'll get attention. Any real conflict with MS will be rather far in the future. Right now, the only question that needs asking is whether or not any of the new crop of web applications will do us, the users, any good.

Anyway; here's an ExtremeTech review of a web application productivity suite. Some of you might want to check it out. It's well written and decently informative.

Jack

Magnetic memory chips come to market

We're not going to see this new type of memory in our PCs, or even our servers, but it has potential in embedded usage and several other types of installation.

It's expensive, but it is just the ticket in some uses.

Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 07-09-06

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 07-09-06. You can listen LIVE every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.

Google search helps dig up malware

It's a new use for Google and evidently the ability to look within executable files is also new. The author points out both the bad guy's use of this feature and how we can use it.

I've been trying to educate myself in how malware of various sites works and in the couple hours since I read this article have tried it myself. It works. I have a whole new world of stuff to learn about!

Jack

'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