OneCare Deletes Users' Outlook Files

Ruh roh! Windows Live OneCare service deletes the outlook.pst file?!?!?!!?
Just a warning, and the first paragraph of the article in BetaNews:

A rash of users of Microsoft's new Windows Live OneCare service, launched last January 30, have been reporting on Microsoft's support forums that virus scans performed by the service have resulted in the deletion of their OUTLOOK.PST files - the local, centralized repositories of e-mail, scheduling, and collaboration data used by Outlook.

go read the rest of the article:BetaNews | OneCare Deletes Users' Outlook Files
--MissM

Why Apple's 'consumer' Macs are enterprise-worthy

The sub-header reads; "Not everyone needs a Mac Pro; sometimes a mini might do."

With the coming of Vista and it's increased costs both for licensing, software, hardware and retraining, some of the businesses I have dealings with are indeed looking toward Macs. Make no mistake about it; they WILL move away from Windows. The question is to what.

The learning curve for Linux is perceived to be too steep. The perception is more drastic than the reality, here, but there is no doubt that it will take a while to get used to the new regime.

Macs have MS Office if events prove you must have that. The OS is tied to the hardware, which is seen as an advantage for business because there is only one basic flavor of it, not the dozens of Linux distributions or the 3-4 versions of Vista that need choosing between. Macs are seen as "intuitive" and so with less of a learning curve. (I don't find that true and in fact dumped the Mac OS X when the learning curve proved too steep. I went to Linux on the Mac.) Java on the Mac is good enough that one can run one's Java software with little or no modification.

In the end; the cost of switching to Macs looks not much worse than the cost of switching to Vista. Upgrades are more manageable, as well. There is not much reason not to.

Jack

RSS in 7 minutes

RSS is da bomb! Its the ONLY way I could possibly read as many websites as I do. It turbocharges your web browsing, really!
--MissM

Learn Ubuntu Linux with freely available e-book - Lifehacker

At LifeHacker I found the following post:
Tech-book aggregator eBookSpyder has the complete text of the Ubuntu Linux Bible available for download as a PDF.

As you might expect from the title, the 931-page book covers everything you need to know about installing, configuring and using Ubuntu. It teaches you groups, graphics, gaming, spreadsheets, e-mail and much more. It's an impressively comprehensive guide--highly recommended for anyone interested in Ubuntu. Indeed, if you find the e-book useful, why not support the author and buy the hardcopy version? Either way, you'll need a password to unlock the PDF: It's 'ebookspyder.net' (without the apostrophes, of course). — Rick Broida
Ubuntu Linux Bible [eBookSpyder]
--MissM
Learn Ubuntu Linux with freely available e-book - Lifehacker

Dissection of a Rootkit The Dissection of a Rootkit

Here is a decent, short article about rootkits at EWeek.com. The author takes a realistic and pessimistic view of defenses available now for dealing with rootkits. It's somewhat scary.

The best part of the article is the links to two PDFs on the subject. One is text, the other is a slide show to go with it. I recommend these for anyone who still doesn't get what rootkits are and how dangerous they are.

Jack

Patch Your FireFox! Mozilla Foundation Security Advisory 2007-09

This is a critical flaw, introduced with a patch for another security problem that was issued in the middle of last December. It's very important you patch this right away. Evidently a lot of folks think so, too, as the Mozilla servers are apparently almost swamped, as of 11:30 a.m. US Central time.

Some notices of this flaw state that disabling javascript will protect against this privilege escalation flaw. The Mozilla Foundation states this is not true. There is no workaround. You must update your Firefox, Sea Monkey or Thunderbird installation.

Jack

Anti-Virus Comparisons

This is an independent site (at least they claim to be and to all appearances are) which compares anti-virus and anti-malware applications.

I've resisted posting stuff like this because all the sites I have seen comparisons at are allied with security companies and so at least appear to have an agenda. Hopefully, this site can give objective results.


Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 03-04-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 03-04-07. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

One little bit more on DTX form factor computers

I was just assured by one of my contacts that DTX motherboards and cases with power supplies will be available within the next couple weeks. Now, I'm going to lie back and see if the really smart early-adopters I know, like MissM, invest in it and what kind of experiences they have. I think all will be well and my next computer may very well be a DTX unit, though I am not aware of any OEMs making computers using this form factor, yet.

Jack

Firmware rootkits are the latest threat

Like we really need some new security issues to worry about, right? This is one that we have to be aware of and follow as it develops because we are vulnerable on this score. So start your keeping up with the news with this link at ZDNet.

Jack

Restoring Vista functionality once in reduced functionality mode

ZDNet UK has a series of images that will tell you just how to restore functionality, and so access to your files, should Vista lock you out.

Jack

"Links from the Gregg Zone!"

1) It just amazes the heck out of me how interesting it can be cruising around the net looking for something. One day last week I found in my pocket, a 1983 penny without a copper coating. Thinking it might be worth something I started looking into it on Google. It seems if you have a 1983 copper penny it may be worth a bunch, but not zinc, only worth a penny, no surprise. But, as the radio guy Paul Harvey says; “Now for the rest of the story”. I found out that people are now hording pennies not the copper ones, the newer zinc ones, seems the melt down value is at .8 cents, and they are speculating it will go up. Arizona is the main pusher to abolish the penny, because they will make tons of money on copper, if the nickel replaces the penny, HUH!! Here’s the site check it out. armchairpresident.com I found out how to melt down three pre 1982 penny’s and five post 1982 penny’s and make brass. This site will tell you how to do it. matse1.mse.uiuc.edu . Here is a site that mathematically, in a very scientific way, breaks down everything involved to determine if a penny is worth picking up, pointless but interesting. everything2.comSaved the best for last, just shows how it can pay off researching the mundane stuff in your life, I thought it was pointless to look at my pocket change since they converted everything in 1964, and 1982 this site tells you the ten top most valuable modern coins. Ranging from a real stunner a 1969 penny worth over $35,000.00, a 2005 nickel worth $1,400.00, and 2004 quarter @ $600.00, there’s more but, you get the idea. coins.about.com

2) This is a pretty neat site, for novices like me it is an on line computer encyclopedia site, any term, or subject related to computers, explained. I still have no idea what they are talking about half the time, but it is a start. Makes me at least feel like I have a place to look up those terms you guy’s insist on confusing me with. whatis.techtarget.com

3) For any Art Bell fans that may be out there I decided I would start putting up some of the related links I run across, I like on line movies, I guess because they are free, any way here is a link to William Hennery’s “Star Gates of the Gods” about 40 min. video.google.com

The Truth About Switching to a Mac

I just had to post this one. Stripped of all the hype, this person's reasons for switching to a Mac are, well, boring, mundane and featureless. That's really what switching from Windows to anything is all about. Sure, there are some hitches. There are some benefits, too. In the end, while I'm happy I'm not using Windows for much, I have to be honest and say that not all that much has changed, either.

And here I expected it to change my luck, my life and my bowling average.

Jack

My Vista Upgrade

I know there are folks who post here who don't think upgrading an OS is a good idea. They go clean install every time. Hear me out on this and it might make you think about at least trying an upgrade.
My main computer in my office was running XP pro. I've had a generic host process crash problems, at start up, for years I could not pin down. It would also knock out the sound card for some reason. I changed almost all the hardware and uninstalled just about every program I have at one time or another. I'd be OK for a day or two and then problem would be back. When vista came out I wanted to try it on at least one computer. Figured why not this one? First Vista install scanner would not work. So, I gave up quick and uninstalled, New scanner driver just came out. So, I tried again. I did have to jump trough a bunch of hoops but, scanner does work now. I had to use the original CD for scanner and Vista got the driver off that. Yes, had to reinstall many programs anyway but, not all. Most important my crash problem seems gone. Done about two dozen reboots and all is well.
My point? I always try an upgrade for an OS. If it does not work well, so be it. I've only lost the time the upgrade took. comments?

Adobe to take Photoshop online | News.com

I know a lot of people that use Photoshop to do image editing, for fun and profit. And I thought that the idea of Photoshop on the web is another interesting step to hosted applications. As the News.com article says:

Hoping to get a jump on Google and other competitors, Adobe Systems plans to release a hosted version of its popular Photoshop image-editing application within six months, the company's chief executive said Tuesday.

The online service is part of a larger move to introduce ad-supported online services to complement its existing products and broaden the company reach into the consumer market, Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen told CNET News.com. Chizen said Adobe laid the foundation for a hosted Photoshop product with Adobe Remix, a Web-based video-editing tool it offers through the PhotoBucket media-sharing site.

Like Adobe Remix, the hosted Photoshop service is set to be free and marketed as an entry-level version of Adobe's more sophisticated image-editing tools, including Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Chizen envisions revenue from the Photoshop service coming from online advertising.

It looks like Google is inspiring?, motivating? others to offer hosted products. And is this a Picasa killer? Or a free trial, in order to get you hooked by Photoshop for people who have been intimidated by it. I'm curious to know what our photoshop gurus think of the product, and how Adobe handles the new online product, when its released in 6 months, or so.

Adobe to take Photoshop online | News.com
--MissM
[h/t BuzzOutLoud]

Ontrack reveals RAID data recovery secrets

Because of the interest expressed in the chat, I thought that this article on data recovery secrets would be a good read.

Kroll Ontrack, purveyors of data recovery, give a glimmer of hope to those with wrecked RAIDs in Tom's Hardware Guide's 7-page explanation detailing their step-by-step process, including preventative measures, proper handling tips, different types and levels of damage, and an overview of various Ontrack recovery methods.They stress the obvious solution to make a habit of defragging and backing up your data, however if it weren't for the irresponsible / lazy demographic, Ontrack would be counting their food stamps. They also encourage potential data-loss victims to stay calm, as freak-out sessions oftentimes yield impulsive and regretful decisions for data that might be recoverable. "In 2005, Kroll Ontrack processed 50,000 recovery cases. Ontrack was able to complete 40% of incoming orders successfully right away. The remaining 60% had to be taken to the clean room, where 75% of data recoveries were successful." The stats sound promising if you're in need of a serious data resurrection, and as long as you're willing to cough up a good chunk of your savings.

Ontrack reveals RAID data recovery secrets - Engadget

--MissM
image courtesy of Garner products degausser :)

Serious Security Vulnerability in Office 2007

The flaw is in Publisher, so it does not affect all Office users, but most. It allows remote control and execution of arbitrary code, so it is important. If you have Publisher or a reader for Publisher files installed, check the link above out.

Jack

KDE vs. Gnome

When I first started using Linux in 1998, there really were only two choices for the graphic desktop; KDE and Gnome. I chose KDE and stuck to that religiously for a long time. Now, I find myself using Gnome on my primary machine, XFCE on the machine I am using to post this, IceWM on another. Here in my home, KDE is not in sight unless my wife is using Linux. She still prefers KDE. We figure because KDE can be made to work more or less like the Windows desktop, it is easier for new users coming from Windows than some others. That is really the only reason she uses it; she can get around using much of the moves she already has and doesn't have to learn too many new ones.

Linus isn't enamored with Gnome and will tell you why in this post. I just wish everyone would get along. I like it because once I have it I don't really see the desktop at all, much less the window manager. That is how it should be, in my opinion. Others, who use their desktops differently than I do, disagree, and I have to honor that. In the end; it's all about the user and what she/he wants to do, isn't it?

Anyway; this short article contains the crux of the arguments for and against Gnome and KDE.

Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 02-25-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 02-25-07. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

"Links from the Gregg Zone!"

1) This week I thought I would start off with a couple of links for those who still read and buy books. The first is my favorite site to buy books, they may not always have what you are looking for but if they do the price is right, and shipping is $3.50 for as many as you buy, one book or a hundred same shipping. I have seen books discounted as much as 90%, they are new books not used. A fairly large selection, for C2C fans, before you consider buying a guests book search here, edwardrhamilton.com.

2) For on line e-books especially if you do a lot of research on anything, I the best I have found is Questa if you sign up for the news letter they seem to offer extra free trials, if you only have one small project the free trial will get you through, you can browse the new books for free, they have well over a million titles, and a lot of tools to keep your research in order.

3) Looking for something out of print, rare, or if you have a book you think might be worth putting on ebay and you want to check the value try this one, they do price comparisons, so you can see a range of what’s out there. bookfinder.com

4) While not book related, this site is pretty good for a how to do anything, I found this one just goofing around but I really liked it. Cruising around the site, small animals caught my eye, top of the list how to trim your Chinchilla’s toe nails; I knew I had found something for me. I don’t have a Chinchilla, but like the fact the site is a little off the wall. There is also a section for how to in computers the drop down offers six categories, I clicked on hardware there were over 670 articles. They are posted by people visiting the site, which is nice due to a lack of product pushing. Although the site does have advertising it is manageable. ehow.com Here is another similar one by Wikipidia wikihow.com/Main-Page

Another reason to run SETI@HOME

A geek's wife had her laptop stolen and he used SETI to track it down. Who needs laptop tracking now? Just install seti@home and use it to possibly cure cancer, listen for intelligent life, or a multitude of other useful projects that use distributed computing.

One of the computers on which Melin installed SETI @ Home is his wife's laptop, which was stolen from the couple's Minneapolis home Jan. 1.

Annoyed — and alarmed that someone could delete the screenplays and novels that his wife, Melinda Kimberly, was writing — Melin monitored the SETI @ Home database to see if the stolen laptop would "talk" to the Berkeley servers. Indeed, the laptop checked in three times within a week, and Melin sent the IP addresses to the Minneapolis Police Department.

Missing laptop found in ET hunt - Tech News & Reviews - MSNBC.com
[h/t Stuffleufagus]
--MissM

OCZ cools memory with heat pipes

I'm not sure why I find this so remarkable. After all; this is the sort of thing I expect of these folks. Still, the link is to a short blurb at The Inquirer and I urge you to follow the link from there to see the picture OCZ has posted. They even maintain the warranty on this memory when you get enthusiastic about upping the voltage!

Curious.
Jack

Radio Forgets to Pay the User First

I was sitting here mulling over what I may put in my letter to FCC Chairman Martin to discourage the XM-Sirius merger when I stumbled upon this piece by Tim O'Reilly. I'm still not clear on the satrad and Web 2.0 connection, but I really appreciate his take on "paying the user first".

In a world where you get increasing returns from network effects, putting users second, or third, or fourth, in the hierarchy of your concerns is a losing proposition.

That certainly is a problem I see with many businesses, high tech or not. Like this proposed merger, it is all about creating value for investors and not for creating reasons for customers to pay their hard earned money for a product that is useful. So it is with XM and Sirius. We customers only stand to have less choice, higher prices, and obsolete equipment in the face of this merger.

ESR gives up on Fedora

I thought to post this because a number of Eric S. Raymond's complaints regarding Fedora are mine as well. Not the ideological ones. Just the important ones; those based on function and attitude toward that. Fedora (and indeed all distributions based on the Red Hat RPM package management system) have disappointed me for years. I would rather use Slackware and handle most all of the dependency problems that arise myself, by hand, than entrust them to RPM and have to sort out the mess that system makes of things at times. I do, in fact, do just that at times. The rest of the time I used distros descended from Debian, like Ubuntu, and which use the apt-get package management or it's descendants.

While I am quite sure the ideological arguments are important and I DO read and digest them, function concerns me the most. It is on function that I made the decisions I made and ESR seems to have followed my path, at least in part.

Jack

Dell gives desktop Linux its "full attention"

Here's Dell's response to what was mentioned a couple posts down in this blog. Turns out the top 5 requests were for Linux or open source software or, at least, the option of buying a computer without an operating system!

The ball is in Dell's court, now. I wonder if anyone in Redmond is paying attention? And wouldn't you like to know what the response from Microsoft is? I would.

Jack

Vista users get the 64-bit blues

This article comes from Australia, but except for the mailing cost appears to apply to the US as well.

The good news is that 64 bit Vista is not for the faint-hearted. If you want a lot of frustration, order up a copy. Otherwise stick with the 32- bit version.

On a another subject, but one that didn't deserve it's own post, have you seen the Vista "Wow" campaign? The consensus seems to be that the ads are pretty lame and unbelievable. I saw a great tag-line based on it the other day:

Vista: we put the "ow" in "Wow".

Vista security overhaul questioned

Yeah; I know the last thing this blog needs is yet another article that trashes Vista security posted. Yet I thought this one had merit because it puts most of the problems known to exist in one short and succinct article. Plus, it relies in large part on Joanna Rutkowska and Mark Russinovich for sources. Those two are among the greatest experts on Windows security.

They don't agree. Russinovich takes the position that Vista's User Account Control (UAC) is a big step in the right direction. There is no real detail in the article, but at least most of the objections and their counters are in one place.

Jack

Top 10 things Dell customers want from the company

Dell has a site where you can actually vote on stuff like this. The ones I like the best are the "no extra software" option, pre-installed Linux and Mac OS X, changes to the Dell sales pages and letting buyers design their own laptops. That last is the least likely, after the licensing of the Mac OS X.

Interesting and quick read.

Jack

D-Wave demonstrates quantum computer... or a black box in a fridge

We've been hearing about quantum computers for a long, long time. This is the first one demonstrated. While not having the optimum configuration, it is still light-years ahead of what we have now.

Encryption of any sort will not be safe from these machines, unless we encrypt on quantum computers and even then the safety of encryption is not clear at all. So, while I am wowed by the "gee-whiz" factor, I am also afraid of devices like this in the hands of governments and other uncool types. That will happen, too.

Jack

Google should make a Linux

Okay; I know this is goofy. But it is true that Linux is the only viable desktop competitor to Microsoft's operating systems. Apple keeps the Mac far too locked down to sell to the majority of the populace, who want to use almost any software they can get to run on their computer and all sorts of weird peripheral devices. (Vibrating sex toys that respond to events in chat? They exist, powered by the USB port.) I'd be happy with being able to run any printer or scanner, but others are not.

Linux, on the other hand, supports all sorts of stuff, has an absolutely huge range of free software available and will handle Java very well, which is of paramount importance. So if Google got behind it, it might sell well. I do not really care about whether or not Windows dominance is lost. All I want to see is enough competition to stop MS or Apple or anyone else dictating to me what I have to see on and do with my computer.

C'mon Google!!

Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 02-18-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 02-18-07. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

"Links from the Gregg Zone!"

To start off the week I thought I would offer a couple of those over the top sites I talked about.
1) How about some people, who do not eat, I mean anything, for years, like up to fifty years, no food, some cases no water for years. Living on sunlight, and air, this diet is defiantly not for me. I ran across this article in a news paper from India about “The Buddha Boy” there are a lot of stories about him here is a link to one from the B.B.C.

bbc.co.uk

it made me curious so I started looking for more info. Here are a couple more I found on the subject:

breatharian.info
inlightimes.com

2) Here is one not for the squeamish, this guy is going to go for a power boat speed boat record using human fat for fuel, ass fat to be specific, ass fat, that’s right fat from his ass.

geekologie.com
calorielab.com

3) On a little milder note I’m sure most of you know about Craigslist, but if you don’t you need to check it out,

craigslist.org

if it is in your city make sure you scan the free ads. Here is a link to the movie trailer about the new movie out about the Craigslist company and founder

video.google.com

Netflix has the full movie, I just ordered it, I’ll try to remember to let you know more about how it was next week.

Ballmer hints at tougher Vista antipiracy crackdown

Read it and weep. Not that Microsoft does not have the right to deal with pirated software in almost any manner they feel they need to. They do. But what it boils down to is that we, the legitimate users, get treated as potential criminals as well. I worry about false positives in the software intended to detect illegitimate copies penalizing my clients and myself.

All these copy protection measures are of little help in fighting piracy, when all is said and done. Why? Because they can be and already have been defeated in a way MS can not currently detect. Copy protection is an arms race and the defenders always lose.

Jack

Toolmonger | Test to Destruction: Crimp Terminals

I believe that we might have what I would call "tool geeks" that read the blog, and I thought this would appeal to all of you, like it did to me. And is a twofer moment, because I get to reinforce my belief that quality does count.
This was an article that proved it. I can relate to quality making a real difference in RJ-45 connectors and crimpers and the time it takes to get it right. When one has to get 8 wires into the teeny weeny chute of the RJ-45 connector, getting it right the first time, makes a huge difference.
Complete, with pictures!, demonstration comparing 3 crimp terminals, and their strength.
Do YOU have any tools that have made an improvement in your life? Let us know in the comments, please!!
I feel bad that she hasn't had any comments to approve :/ I thought that her assurance that it would get moderated in a timely way would motivate SOMEbody. ;-)

Toolmonger | Test to Destruction: Crimp Terminals
[h/t Makezine]
--MissM

Change Your Router Password NOW!

Yes, you heard me. Change it now! Are you still using that default? Well, here's an article that will scare the pants off of you if you are.

Once again, Javascript, which half the Web runs on, is the vehicle for attack.

Web Worker Daily | Daylight Savings Update Central

I got the latest XP updates yesterday. One of the updates, that will affect those of us in the United States, fixes automatic daylight savings time changes recently passed by Congress. The link below includes links to the fixes for Max OS X (Tiger and Panther), XP, Exchange, Outlook 2000-2003, Palm OS, Blackberry, etc., etc. It seems like a very comprehensive list, so I wanted to pass it on. If you use Outlook Calendar, every article I read about this update suggests verifying the times with anyone you have appointments with, during the first 3 weeks (or until the previous time change would have taken place). One advantage of Vista and Office 07 coming out so late, is they are updated with the new DST dates. :)

--MissM

Web Worker Daily| Daylight Savings Update Central

The Futility of DRM

The link above will take you to a Doom9 forum thread. If you read it, you will find all the details of cracking HD-DVD and Blu-Ray DRM. Those DRM systems took 5 years and billions of dollars of development. (That is NOT an overstatement!) and yet they were broken in a few weeks at almost no cost.

Someone, somewhere in the content provider industries is going to realize one day that DRM isn't working. No matter how you feel about the owner's of intellectual properties rights to protect that content (and I think they do have that right) it has got to become obvious to them soon that DRM as it exists now does not work. They cannot rely on legal protection, either, as a business model based on suing one's customers or legally coercing them is bound to fail.

Something has got to change and to enable that, some new business model is going to have to be devised.

Jack

Vulnerability in Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Could Allow Remote Code Execution (932135)

Affected Software:

•	Windows Live OneCare
•	Microsoft Antigen for Exchange 9.x
•	Microsoft Antigen for SMTP Gateway 9.x
•	Microsoft Windows Defender
•	Microsoft Windows Defender x64 Edition
•	Microsoft Windows Defender in Windows Vista
•	Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server
•	Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint

Affected Components:

•	Microsoft Malware Protection Engine

If you are using any of these applications, read the advisory linked to above. This is a critical vulnerability. As of the time of this post, there is no patch or workaround. I expect at least some information on ameliorating these faults to surface soon, but a patch may take a while.

Jack

Vista Not Playing Nice with Gamers

Vista is built on DirectX 10 and the larger Windows Graphics Foundation (WGF). While intended to be totally backward compatible with DirectX 9, apparently DX 10 is not. I do not find that surprising, really, considering the complexity of any display system and one intended to do so much is probably just that much more liable to contain bugs and conflicts.

All of this reflects on the graphics chipset maker's efforts to deliver good drivers. It's a very difficult and complex chore at the best of times and made even more difficult (and perhaps temporarily impossible) by having to work around bugs in the OS and display system code.

Contrary to the opinions of some (loudly voiced) "authorities" there is no evidence it cannot all be made to work. Obviously it is going to take time, though. How long I do not know and am not willing to speculate. A month or two should see very substantial progress. Beyond that, I have no notion.

Microsoft claims to have done extensive research, testing well over 1000 games. They say most work on Vista. It would be nice if they would share their results with us, but I expect they refrain from doing that so as not to embarrass the game companies. The same goes for their silence on which applications from other companies are truly Vista compatible or ready.

This is the time to lean back, work on our XP machines and thank the powers that there are early adopters who go through all these travails ahead of us. It's not time to upgrade yet, obviously.

Jack

YouTube - Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us

YouTube - Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us




Since my last video post got a good response, that just encourages me ;)
Enjoy!
--MissM

Windows Vista Tips and Tricks :: the How-To Geek

Some tips that might help anybody who has installed Vista, the ones that I thought might appeal to anybody .
Security

* Block Third-Party Cookies in IE7
* Blocking Spam from International Senders in Windows Vista Mail
* Disable User Account Control (UAC) the Easy Way on Windows Vista
* Enable Ctrl+Alt+Delete for Vista Logon Screen
* Enable or Disable UAC From the Windows Vista Command Line
* Make User Account Control (UAC) Stop Blacking Out the Screen in Windows Vista
* Make Windows Vista Log On Automatically
* Using Password Phrases For Better Security
Go to the page below for links to all the goodies.

Windows Vista :: the How-To Geek
[h/t MajorNelson's blog]

--MissM

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 02-11-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 02-11-07. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Dim Vista

Forbes.com savages Microsoft Vista. Agree with the article or not, it is this type of thing that is going to be influential in corporate circles. They also take a roundhouse swing at Office 2007 here.

There is nothing new in this post that I can see. I put it up because this sort of coverage will have tremendous influence on a lot of prospective purchasers and because those of us who support Vista will be seeing this sort of failure and corporate attitude soon enough.

Jack

"Links from the Gregg Zone!"

1) To start this week three on the lighter side links, one a little scary, one just funny, and one kind of cute.Ordering a pizza in the future, if things keep going in the direction we are going http://www.aclu.org/pizza/images/screen.swf Telemarketer revenge, very funny, how to turn the tables on the telemarketer, http://howtoprankatelemarketer.ytmnd.com/ Baby rappers, warning you might want to avoid this if you don’t like cute!! http://www.ladyskylar.com/swffiles/madeapoop.swf
2) For Art Bell fans, a link to Larry King interviewing Art about his U.F.O. sighting, he presents Larry with the gift of one of Art’s Parts. You will need to wait for the intro finish, or the sound overlaps, need to scroll down to the interview link.http://hem.bredband.net/b251920/A-Revolutionary-Act.htm
3) Anyone out there following those U.F.O. reports over O’Hare airport in Chicago? This is a very interesting site http://www.alienvideo.net/chicago-ohare-airport-ufo.php Seems Dan Aykroyd may have obtained some video. Scroll down, some of the better pictures of the object. Scroll down a very interesting bit of leaked video from one of the news broadcasting stations, two broadcasters talking before the show goes live. Scroll down a link to an interview with one of the employees for united, describing what he saw..

Next Tuesday == Windows update alert!

From the Microsoft Security Response Center Blog, a hint at what updates will be available next week, a brief list was posted on the blog. I've excerpted the basic info below:
*Five Microsoft Security Bulletins affecting Microsoft Windows.
*Two Microsoft Security Bulletins affecting Microsoft Office.
*One Microsoft Security Bulletin affecting Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Visual Studio.
*One Microsoft Security Bulletin affecting Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office.
*One Microsoft Security Bulletin affecting Step-by-Step Interactive Training.
*One Microsoft Security Bulletin affecting Microsoft Data Access Components.
*One Microsoft Security Bulletin affecting Windows Live OneCare, Microsoft Antigen, Microsoft Windows Defender, Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server and Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint.
And, of course.... "These updates may require a restart."
The updates are set to be released at 10am PT 02/13/2007.
Welcome to the Microsoft Security Response Center Blog! : February 2007 Advance Notification

--MissM
P.S. Has anybody tried Yahoo's pipes? It looks interesting when you can get to the actual site. But, I've been too busy to try it. Maybe that's what Gail, Jack and Joe are doing??? :)

Amazing weather phenomenon

This is too excellent to not post:



[h/t Random Good Stuff]

--MissM

Update: Its Youtube Day! Installing Vista. Tooooo Funny

Thoughts on Comments re; NVidia Driver Mess

As those of you who listened to this week's show know, I sided with NVidia in this. I know just how hard it is to accomodate the DRM in Vista and DirectX 10. I've spent over 50 hours reading the specs and documentation on just how things have to be.

So I found it rather strange that NVidia fanboys have taken such exception. I have deleted comments containing foul language regarding this and received over 50 emails, not one actually reflecting my position on this matter. I don't really appreciate being cursed, though I can live with it. The threats against me I can live without and ask those who are so incensed at me to download the show and hear exactly what I had to say before leaping to conclusions because I posted a news item. That item does not reflect my position at all.

Jack

Turbocharging the Tablet Computer

XP powered tablet PCs were neat. But the platform seems to come of age with Vista. Great strides have been made. This little 2 page mini-review will do more to tell you how much progress has been made in the platform itself than it will about the 5 machines discussed. It's definitely worth a look.

Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 02-04-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 02-04-07. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Geek Meet 2007

Geek Meet 2007 will be held the weekend of May 4-7, 2007 in Boston MA.

Geek Meet will take place at the Residence Inn by Marriott, located in Norwood, MA (just a short ride into Boston). For more details on the hotel, please visit http://www.marriott.com/BOSBW. We have negotiated a group rate of $129.00 a night for a studio suite, and $189.00 a night for a two bedroom suite. Reservations must be made by 4/4/07. To make a reservation, you can contact the hotel directly at 781-278-9595 and mention that you are with the Computer Geek Meet group.

While in Boston, we are talking about walking the Freedom Trail. For more information on the Freedom Trail, please visit http://www.thefreedomtrail.org.

Some other ideas we are floating are a harbor cruise.

Are you planning on coming to Geek Meet? Do you have any ideas on what you want to do? Send us an email at geekmeet07@oncomputers.info and let us know.

"Links from the Gregg Zone!"

Joe is playing around with the new Vista O.S. these days so I thought I’d look around and see if I could dig up some interesting sites that might be related.

a) http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7080932 This is a N.P.R. interview with Bill Gates on the release.

b) http://www.winmatrix.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10995 This is a site with some tips and shortcuts.

c) http://www.neowin.net/index.php?act=view&id=36266 Another tip site, with some additional stuff.

d) http://www.technewsworld.com/story/50236.html This site compares Linux, and Vista, thought it had an interesting take on why Linux is not used more in the market place.

e)http://youtube.com/results?search_query=microsoft+vista&search=Search At the time I captured the link 574 video clips dealing with vista, would suggest staying to 3 stars and up, unless the clip has had less than 100 views, or sounds interesting.

f) http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=221

2) I thought I would offer some fun but educational kid’s sites that I have come across. I have found some of the more complicated subjects I get interested in, are easier for me to grasp if I search for sites aimed at students. It has proven to be a useful tactic for me when I’m trying to understand something I know very little about. I usually I start at the high school level; college level is about the same as a book, or even more complex. I hate to admit it, but on occasion I have even started at the lower grades, but that’s life in the Gregg zone.

a)http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi

b)http://bensguide.gpo.gov/

c)http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/

d)http://www.firstpeople.us/

e)http://www.doi.gov/kids/

f)http://www.sonomalibrary.org/homework/uskids.html

g)http://www.win.org/library/matls/govdocs/kids.htm

h)http://www.census.gov/mso/www/educate/kidspage.htm

i)http://www.whitehouse.gov/kids/whlife/index.html

J)http://www.kids.gov/

These are mostly about government because that was the area I was looking into when I thought about highlighting them, if anyone thinks this is a good idea, would like more like this, but on other subjects let me know, and I will start saving them as I find them.

3) I decided to write a little something about www.ebay.com , ebay can be a very interesting pastime. It is pretty amazing the items that you can find there. I learned if you want to buy something it is worth looking to see if it is at ebay. I was going to set up a second monitor in my living room to go with my HP media center, to do this I needed a 25 foot vga monitor extension cable, looking at the normal sites on the internet I found it ranging from $45.00 to $65.00, on ebay I found the same cable, same brand everything, new sealed for $12.50. The most recent example was one have been an interest in for a week or two, the Satellite on T.V. on Your P.C. soft ware, (see below), when looking at sites on the internet I found prices ranging from $19.95 to $199.00, Price range at ebay from $1.74 to $14.95. While I am sure there is a vast difference in the soft ware qualities, and I intend to do a lot more investigation I just wanted to point out the difference on price.

Now for a few little tricks; if you are looking for a particular item especially a collectable, try looking for it in the search engine, but try various misspellings. The angle here is that if someone misspelled the item in the title line, very few people will find it, unless they spell it the same way, hence no bidding competition. I’ve seen things that should sell for a hundred or more going for four or five dollars. You can enter several misspellings in the area that will email you about a new listing, patience can payoff, you can even find something to buy, only with the idea of reselling it. If you have a specific area of interest and would like to see lots of related items, but looking for deals. Try typing in a general search topic like civil war, as opposed to civil war badges, buttons, etc. However the trick here is to do it at a very odd time, say from 2:00am to 5:00am. A person who does not properly select a good end time for their auction, say, entering am instead of pm will lose most of the late action. At those odd times there are very few people bidding, your only real competition will be the advance bidders, using a service, or the ones who guessed the end price.

If you are interested in more tips on ebay let me know I’ll do another segment, maybe dealing with selling, or some of the very strange things out there. Like how to buy the stuff confiscated at air port security checks, Fiji mermaids, and some other interesting stories related to ebay.

4) I’m really looking for some input in this particular area, it seems there is a awful lot of stuff out there on this subject, and I’m extremely interested, but I’m really limited in my knowledge as to how these things work. What I am looking into is the Free Satellite T.V. on your P.C. downloadable software. The promises run up to 3200 T.V. stations world wide, allot of them in high def., plus thousands of radio stations. I have found many sites, selling lots of different packages; prices range from $1.74 at ebay up to one I saw for $199.00 quite a spread.

My understanding is (and I may be totally off base) the main differences between the programs is in the format for sorting, and locating what you are looking for, a T.V. guide with 3200 stations would be ridiculous, some of the download sites show screen pictures breaking things down by country etc. some show nothing, I would guess they leave you lost and confused. I’m sure there must also be differences in resolution, audio quality, and maybe stuff like recording, searching, etc., but I would think the actual part of the software that captures the signal off the internet would be basically the same.

The idea of telling my cable company to take a hike, really appeals to me, everything I have read says it is 100% legal, some of the software review sites say that some of the programs work extremely well, while the majority are a waste of money. I need to know how to sort it out. The idea of being able to hook all of my televisions up to the computer, and watch T.V. from different countries all over the world for free is amazing to me, please let me know what you think about this.

Here is some of the sites I looked at a google search will turn up many more:

http://www.articlesbase.com/entertainment-articles/pc-satellite-tv--review-of-satellite-tv-for-pc-2006-software-32339.html

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=95214

http://www.tvshowdirect.com/google/?gclid=CMHW4v3w_4kCFQUgggodCCHIRg

http://www.tvonpcelite.com/index.htm

Shrinkwrap Licenses: An Epidemic Of Lawsuits Waiting To Happen

Cory Doctorow takes a look at the shrink wrap license. Sometimes it is just plain funny, but other times it is just plain sad.

The worst offenders are people who sell you movies and music. They're closely seconded by people who sell you software, or provide services over the Internet. There's supposed to be a trade-off to this -- you're getting a discount in exchange for signing onto an abusive agreement. But just try and find the software -- discounted or full-price -- that doesn't come with one of these 'agreements.'

And of course he has an especially kind word for the Vista EULA!

AlaskaJoe and his Vista adventure!

Well after the show Sunday I started to reinstall Vista. I was hoping to install it on a SATA drive in the computer. (it has 2 SATA drives and an IDE.)
I tried to do a repair install booting from the DVD, That didn't go past the DVD Key. Next I booted to the version of Vista I had working. (I know all of the talk about you can't dual boot XP and Vista. (I have them on their own drive and at POST I hit Esc and go to the boot loader and pick the HD I want to boot XP or Vista :)
Now I have both of my 19" LCD monitors, my USB thumb drives work. I am a happy camper :) I also got Office Enterprise 2007 installed. I didn't have any prolems installing my two network printers. (One is a Laser connected to my server 2003's print server, and the other is a network all-in-one HP and it connects via IP.) I can NOT scan from my all-in-one, HP has drivers listed, then when you go to their page it says they don’t have Vista drivers and are working on it.

Now to install the rest of my apps like, Gaim, FireFox. NeoTrace
I was able to run the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor., it said everything on my computer would run, in Device manager under Other devices I still have 2 Unknown devices, my RAID controller and my web cam all are not working. The problem is how do I find the right drivers when it says Unknown device?

A friend just told me about how to fo a clean install of Vista from the UpGrade DVD. (See the BLOG from 01-30-07.) It’s so easy I can’t believe it. I was going to start my third try at a (clean) install of Vista today, however this box is running good now and I’m to lazy to start over. I will do the clean install the next time.

I NEVER do UpGrades to an OS, that always brings the garbage along from the old OS, I was disappointed Microsoft made Vista so you had to have XP installed before you could UpGrade. You used to be able to just insert your Win98SE CD when it looks to see if you had a previous version of Windows.

To be continued!

NVidiaClassAction.org

We have commented on NVidia's problems making video drivers for Microsoft Vista only to note it happening. I am pretty understanding on this count because I think I understand the difficulties of accomodating DirectX, especially version 10, and the crushing DRM for high-def content Vista requires. Still, there is no doubt they are late and are not making anything like satisfactory progress. The "Vista compatibility" they tout is less than full.

Now, some users have decided to take real issue with NVidia and at the link above they are collecting evidence for consideration in beginning a class-action lawsuit against NVidia in the US. I post this only for your consideration because I know some of our listeners are angry at the situation.

Jack

Free Operating System For Blind: Adriane Knoppix

We have known that Linux and applications that run on it could accomodate a visually impaired person well. Now, Klaus Knopper, the head of the Knoppix Linux distribution project and his wife, Adriane, who is visually impaired, are about to release a Live CD of a distribution meant for the blind. It's a cool idea and about time, too.

Jack

BSOD Through the Ages

Just a quick set of screen shots at Wired.com that will bring back memories and a couple that will get you chuckling for sure.

Jack

BBspot - Windows Vista Upgrade Decision Flowchart

Just in case you haven't upgraded to Vista yet (you haven't yet??? I'm shocked, I tell you. Shocked!), I found a really handy upgrade decision flowchart that is available as a pdf or jpg file at the link below, but just to give you a peek at the jpg, I've included it here.

With the launch of Windows Vista, many people are wondering if they should upgrade their computers to the new operating system. Here at BBspot we're dedicated to offering sound technical advice to businesses and home users, so we've created the Windows Vista Upgrade Decision Flowchart. Use this chart to help you decide if an upgrade is right for you.

BBspot - Windows Vista Upgrade Decision Flowchart
[h/t TechMeme]

And a step by step guide to using an upgrade version of Vista to do a clean install. Read that?? Step by step!



--MissM

Workaround Discovered For "Clean Install" With Vista Upgrade DVDs

"Workaround Discovered For 'Clean Install' With Vista Upgrade DVDs"
I am working on my BLOG about installing (or I should say UpGrading ) to Vista and a friend IM me and asked if I have seen that there is a work a round to the UpGrade DVD.
Well I will add that to my BLOG and start over AGAIN tomorrow for the 3rd time to Install Vista on my computer. For those of you that don't know what I have waiting for Vista: Processor AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+, 2200 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s) Total Physical Memory 3,070.94 MB Motherboard ASUS A8N-SLi Deluxe 2 SATA drives and an IDE for a total of 976GB of storage.
To be continued! :)
AlaskaJoe

Free Linux Driver Development!

Here's the deal; you fork over the information along with an email contact for one of your engineers who can answer questions and the Linux kernel folks will write an open source Linux driver for your device. It's an effort to discourage proprietary "binary only" drivers without compromising too many of the corporate "secrets" these companies are trying to protect. The code will be completely open, but the little secrets and tidbits learned along the way can be kept out of public sight.

Seeing as the over 1500 Linux kernel developers are top-notch engineers, the companies get to save money and still get the highest quality drivers in their name for their products. What's not to like, right?

Some companies will reject it out of hand. NVidia comes to mind, here. But surely some will take advantage of this and we who use Linux will benefit in a big way.

Jack

First boot up of Microsoft® Windows Vista™ from HP/Compaq

Vista Initial Boot Experience from HP/Compaq
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
All HP desktop PCs and notebooks sold with the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system
Situation: Two issues have been identified with the customers initial boot of Vista:
1) The length of time required for initial boot of Vista.
(Affects notebooks only)
2) The occasional appearance of blank, black or blue screens, during which the system doesn’t appear to be working (although it is continuing to boot). The primary concern is that some customers might interrupt the boot process when experiencing blank screens, then contact the retailer, HP or Microsoft.
(Affects both notebooks and desktop PCs)
Subsequent boots will consume the standard amount of time.

Solution: Every HP notebook shipped during the last week of December includes a message to the customer concerning these two issues on a “Read this first” card. The card is placed on the keyboard and will be seen prior to initial boot. It is printed in bold text:

Every HP desktop PC shipped includes a message to the customer concerning these two issues on the Quick Set-up Poster. The poster is the first item seen when the box is opened, and the message is printed clearly and prominently in bold red text as shown right.

“Please be patient while the computer starts for the first time. It may take up to 30 minutes, and you may see blank screens. Do not turn off your computer during this process.”

This is from a 7 page PDF I received from HP as a tech. If anyone needs the complete document please email me and ask. I can't posted it here because Blogger treats a PDF the same as a PodCast.

AlaskaKoe

Blog Comment Apology

I'm sorry dear readers. Much to my dismay I just discovered that blog comments going back to June were not being moderated. This seems to be due to the fact that the e-mail address we had set up to notify administrators of new comments to be moderated was sending the notices into a black-hole. I certainly wasn't getting them. I had wondered why people had stopped leaving comments. So to fix this problem, as of this morning, I'm having comments for moderation being sent to me.

I also apologize for losing some legitimate comments. I accidentally pushed the wrong button, and once deleted, a comment is gone. This is unlikely to happen now that I will be seeing comments on a daily basis.

If you have given up on commenting here because your comments weren't being posted, please give it another try. I usually check my e-mail more than once a day so your comments will be posted in a more timely manner that they have been these past 7 months. I wish we could skip the moderation completely, but more than half the comments in our queue were clearly comment spam, so that is not a option. We are also still using captchas because that helps cut down on the volume of automated comment spam.

I do not moderate comments based on contrasting opinions, but rather based on whether the comment is spam, crude, inflammatory (as in personal attack), or lewd. We try to maintain a certain level of decorum. Sadly, I have to take or leave a comment in it's entirety so if you do, for example, use some of George Carlin's famous 7 words, your comment will be rejected. But I want to stress that differing opinions are welcome.

Some comment spam is a little tricky, especially when I don't have the original post in front of me, so if I do let a comment spam slip through, please feel free to let me know.

Thanks for your understanding and for accepting my sincere apologies.

Vista - Microsoft's Ultimate Disadvantage

Would you pay $170 extra to get Windows Vista Ultimate instead of Windows Vista Premium on that new desktop or laptop? That's if it is even offered. Only time will, tell but if this article is a harbinger of things to come, Ultimate will ultimately be a very minor player in the Windows Vista panoply.

No More Clean Installs Using Upgrade Discs With Windows Vista

Alaska Joe found this out the hard way with the Vista CD from his action pack.

Which would you do? Go through the hassle and possible failure of the upgrade install, or buy a full version? Either way Microsoft is making out like a bandit.

First the numerous and confusing Vista versions and now this! I feel like MS is at war with its honest customers, because of course real pirates will find ways around all of this. This keeping the honest people honest business is getting tiresome. Just what is activation and WGA for anyway?

FFII opposes Fasttrack adoption of Microsoft OOXML format as ISO standard

I guess this is ISO standard week, as there are several other stories I'm following on the subject, as well, and may have to post.

The Microsoft OOXML format really can't be a standard and the reasons are all laid out in this press release. Redmond is trying to sneak it in through the back door. Hopefully, cooler and more discerning heads will prevail. This is an important action because there are still undisclosed legal liabilities attached to OOXML that might well prevent an independant implementation completely, or cripple one. Either way results in Microsoft being able to preserve their customer lock-in to formats and approval as an international standard would make this legal.

Jack

PDF to become an open, ISO standard

PDF and Adobe, its maker, are victims of their own success. Really.

The Portable Document Format (that is what PDF means) has been free for use for ages and anyone was allowed to write software using it, as long as they adhered to the standard set by Adobe. For a long time, only niche products did this and Adobe continued to make a bundle from sales of their own software which generated and manipulated PDFs.

Then Open Office included a simplified, one button feature to save a document as a .PDF, and all of a sudden, everyone was doing it. Everyone being Microsoft, principally, who put it into Office 2007 betas. Adobe protested, but MS was playing exactly by the rules Adobe had set and Adobe ended up looking cheap and mean. So, they have done what they probably ought to have done a long time ago; released the specification to become a standard. PDF is a de-facto standard, anyway, more widely used than anyone would have imagined until the last couple years, when it really took off.

The smart bet will be that the ISO will approve .PDF as a standard relatively quickly. Adobe has had all the footwork done and the specification laid out in great and usable detail for years, so the process will be smooth. We all benefit, though Adobe will see real competition for their Acrobat software, which is extremely large (bloated) expensive and hard to use.

They might even be forced to cut the price.

Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 01-28-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 01-28-07. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Links from the Gregg Zone!

1) If you liked last weeks Sky Car you should love this one, “The Space Elevator”. First envisioned by Arthur C. Clark in his Sci-Fi novel “The Foundations of Paradise”, that’s the guy who suggested a network of synchronistic orbital satellites to form a communication network in 1945, before I was born, at the time they said that was impossible.

Well it seems thanks to the development of nano tubes we may see the space elevator before the Sky Car. NASA is working on development now offering X-Prizes for technological ideas, and prototypes. They say it can be built in ten years from the start date. One of the things I found most interesting was that the orbital speed of the platform is sufficient to send craft to the Moon; and Mars without any engine for propulsion, only needing power for guidance and life support.

Here is the link to PBS’s Nova site with video aired on Jan. 9, 2007 of the X-Prize competition, an explanation of how the elevator works, and some great links for further information, I would suggest reading the Q&A, and checking out the nano tube link in the links section. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3401/02.html

2) When I discovered this site I felt like a kid walking past a candy store finding a $100.00 bill lying on the side walk, it was that kind of a rush for me. It’s a large site over 40 gigs so it takes some time to load, but your patience will be rewarded. I am a fan of science fiction, old radio shows, and Art Bell, and this site has it all, there must be over two thousand mp3 downloads here. http://www.gmms.ca/coast/ there is a link at the very top of the page for a screen reader or text version I think it is a little easier to navigate that version. There might be some kind of legal issue involved as the subscriber oriented Coast site archives the last ninety days, and it seems everything here is at least that old. If you are looking for a more recent show, read on about cjob.

Here is a partial listing of what is there: Art Bell well over a thousand shows, Zero Hour, Bradbury 13, Buck Rogers, Dream Land, Hogland at Joshua Tree, Tales from the Morgue, Bad Apples, Magicians Nephew, Horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian, Voyage of the Dawn Threader, Cinnamon Bear, Destination Venus, Doctor Who, Douglas Adams, Flash Gorden, Journey Into Space, Mindwebs, Mysterious Theater, Space Force One, Space Patrol, Star Trek, Star Wars, Twilight Zone, UFO Interviews, and there is a lot of misc. also.

As far as Art Bell shows go, the easiest way to find a particular show is by using the guest list at the coast to coast site, once you find the name of the guest, there will be a listing of the dates they were on the radio, then, you can search the gmms site for that date. The gmms site has many listings for shows, some are repeated more than once, some have the commercials edited out some not, so you might want to play around with different donators.

There is also a link for “cjob” on the right side of the gmms page this will give you recent coast to coast shows, I have not used it yet so I’m not sure how it works. It seems you need to know the date of the show, and while they don’t have a detailed listing of show guests here that info will be available at the coast site. Zach in Chat just e-mailed me saying cjob will play one hour at a time, just use the drop down arrows enter the date and hour, and you are good to go, he says it works great.

Here is another link to a different site with the same type of material, a little different and not as extensive but useful, http://coast.sytes.net/ . The site is Sangi’s Secret Archive. Being smaller it loads faster, so if you don’t have broad band you might try this first. They also include some information on some of downloads, such as good, poor, edited for commercials, that sort of thing. Always on the alert for more sites, if you have something to pass on please let me know.

A late add on, I just found this it is a site for coast to coast listeners, has links and times for every radio station on the net, comes in handy when the local radio station has trouble, you want to listen to a rebroadcast at a station that repeats, or you are out of range and experiencing fade out. http://themaxfiles.info/component/option,com_weblinks/catid,96/Itemid,4/

3) This is a site that is a little above my pay grade, my computer expertise is rather limited a very well known fact to those who are always helping me out of my current predicament (stop chuckling Joe). Any way I do use Google a lot, when I found this it got me to read it, I’m still not sure weather it bothers me or not, if you think I should be concerned, worried, or take some action about it I would like to hear from you. Any way I thought some of you might be interested so take a look and see what you think http://www.benedelman.org/news/022205-1.html

Metisse

Here is a somewhat new direction in desktop design, function and layout. No matter what you think of it, Metisse is showing that people other than those at Apple are thinking of the desktop in terms other than eye-candy. (Are you listening, Microsoft?) It's worth checking out.

It is my fondest hope (well, after the one about the date with Julia Roberts, anyway) that we get some new directions in desktop design. Looks like I am getting my wish, though how long things will take is not clear at all.

Now to get to work on Julia.

Jack

Experts: Vendors need to reach DRM consensus

Elizabeth Montalbano has a nice short piece on the IDG News web site that sums up the state of DRM. There is little new in the piece, but the whole thing is here, in one place.

More and more, companies like Apple and Microsoft are under fire for the lack of interoperability inherent in their business plans. Norway has just declared such lock-in illegal. Other European nations are following.

Something has to change.

Jack

Microsoft announces extended support for XP

This is good news for all of us with older or lower powered computers with Windows XP Home or MCE installed. Those computers will never see Vista because they can't run it to it's full potential. So this will keep our older or lower powered hardware running for another 7 years. I consider 4 to 5 years at least a reasonable life for a computer before it either breaks down or becomes so obsolete in that it is no longer no capable of ordinary tasks with then current applications.

The definitive dual-booting guide: Linux, Vista and XP step-by-step

This looks like good directions for dual-booting, with XP and Linux, then Vista with Linux installed first and Linux with Vista installed first.

I'm betting there is going to be a lot of dual-boot Vista setups, as those who have to support it put it on machines where it won't get in their way most of the time. I, personally, am not going to dual-boot again, ever, I hope. I'll dedicate a machine to Vista. I don't have too much problem with that. But not everyone feels the same way, so here is the information you need if you're so inclined.

Jack

Memory Support and Windows Operating Systems

I upgraded the RAM in my main computer from 2GB to 3GB. I stopped at 3GB even though my Mobo could hold 4GB because I was told WindowsXP had a 3GB limit. I found this Microsoft web page.
"The virtual address space of processes and applications is still limited to 2 GB, unless the /3GB switch is used in the Boot.ini file."
I did see an improvement in the speed of my computer when I installed the 3rd GB. Time to reboot to see what happens.
Well I'm back after a reboot and to my surprise and delight my computer booted. I think a little faster from login, and as soon as I got all of my normal programs running (Outlook, Thurnderbird, mIRC, Tack Manager, Gaim, and Firefox, oh and Weather Watcher.) Things happen faster now, this will be fun.
This is only if you have more than 2GB or memory.
AlaskaJoe

Security Oriented Web Sites

During last Sunday's show, Earl asked in our chat if I would catalog the security web sites I routinely check when looking at security issues. It is not a tremendously long list, but here they are.

For specific information on virus, worm and other malware removal, either do a Google on the name of it or go to the AV maker of your choice's site and see about information on how to accomplish that or removal tools.

Internet Storm Center

I check this one almost daily, and anytime there is a problem. You can glean a tremendous amount of information in a very short read, with links to help getting more information about problems and/or workarounds and fixes.

F-Secure

F-Secure Company web log

Both F-Secure's front page and the blog are interesting and likely to have the most details posted first of all the security companies, even if another team made the actual discovery. I don't know how they do this, but I think they maintain dedicated posting personnel all the time. At any rate, you can often enough get a 45 minute jump on other sites at these two that it is worth checking them first when trouble is in the wind.

Security Focus

More than simple security information, which clutters up the site a bit. Still, a very, very good resource for all things related to the well-being of your computer. They also have a bugtraq archive that is very useful, here.

Websence Security Labs

Loads of different threat information here. Some of it I consider a bit on the alarmist side in terms of it's presentation, but opinions vary on this and you should decide for yourself. No matter how it strikes you, there is a lot of good information here.

EEye Digital Security

EEye Tracker page for Zero-Day exploits

I watch both these pages as frequently as I can spare the time. They contain a lot of information and I have often used them in warning clients who might otherwise dismiss warnings by me as the result of my well-known paranoia.

Institute for Security and Open Methodologies

This is a place to learn about security. It will take a bit of time to wade through some of it, but there is a load of information here that cannot be found in any other single place. There are also security testing tools, some with detailed information on how to use the and interpret the results.

Malware.com

While nothing more than a handly listing of vulnerabilities and the code that exploits them, links to more information are provided for each entry. This is a very good place to go to get to some information on a problem in a hurrry, with little searching.

Ben Edelman's Site

We interviewed Ben in the past. He is one of the few definitive sources on adware/spyware infections. Ben is doing other things a lot more now, so he updates the site much less often than in the past. There is a good archive, though, and new articles do appear every couple months.

Vista Service Pack 1 is coming

APC reckons Service Pack 1 for Vista will be out in the second half of 2007 and that it will include a lot of features that did not make it into the version to be released in a week from now.

The conventional wisdom has long held that it is not wise to move to a new Microsoft operating system until after SP1 in order to miss many of the issues that come with new code. But in this case it looks to me as if SP1 is intended as a rush job to make up for original features cut before RTM. I could be wrong about this. 11 months is how long it took for XP SP1 to debut and that would put the Vista SP1 release in December, 2007. But it sounds to me more like the release is planned for the summer and will contain mostly dumped features and not necessarily fixes for issues that have arisen since release.

I am not confident of Microsoft's ability to get Vista "right" and restored to it's originally planned glory for a while. Certainly not within a year.

Jack

Freebies @ PC Tools Software

PC Tools Software (makers of Spyware Doctor, among other applications) is now giving away Anti-Virus and personal firewall products. It is probably a good idea to check these out. We all know users who run with less than optimal protection because they do not have the purchase price of the necessaries. I will be downloading all I can and testing them and I suggest you do too. We can share our conclusions.

Jack

Teacher convicted due to porn pop-ups on infected computer

Is this a miscarriage of justice? A substitute school teacher in Connecticut has been found guilty of exposing children to porn when pop-ups appear on infected school computer. She could face up to 40 years in prison.

Direct link to the source of me finding out about this miscarriage of justice: SunbeltBLOG
This story needs to get more attention, as an educational effort if nothing else. I believe that most people [excluding present company, of course ;) ] don't have a clue about spyware, malware and popups. Its pretty apparent the forensic police "expert" certainly doesn't. Follow the link to get the entire story, along with updates. A Connecticut Board of Education member's blog [Region 19 BOE Gazette: Pornography in the Classroom; Justice Perverted], adds to the righteous indignation of fellow geeks, over this conviction.
--MissM

read more | digg story

On Computers Radio Show Podcast 01-21-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 01-21-07. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

"Links from the Gregg Zone!"

Hi everyone:

It seems I’m the new kid on the block around here, so I thought I should introduce myself. My name is Gregg a long time friend of Joe’s who you all know as AlaskaJoe; we go back close to forty years now. We met in southern California, driving taxi cabs back in the early seventies, he has been as close as my brother ever since We, along with a couple of other long time friends get together every morning for coffee, thanks to this marvelous age we live in, and the graces of skype. Anyway he ask me to do a spot for his show, web, and blog pages about web surfing. Since it is a favorite pass time of mine, and I seem to a have an ability to find some different and interesting material out there, it sounded like it might be fun, so I’m going to give it a shot, and see what happens.

Here’s a short bio, to let you know a little more about me, I’m single, I live in Las Vegas, Nevada, just turned a new decade last year (now officially old). While my computer expertise is limited (some would say severely), I am getting better. I have a wide variety of interests; and a fondness for the unusual; my interests include science, new technology, anything related to human consciousness, where we came from as well as where we might be going to, metaphysic’s, world events past and present, those edgy web site’s that border on political extremes, those site’s that are almost unbelievable (but could be), and the totally absurd ones. I very much like web based movies, video clips, and audio. In the mainstream I like reading, radio (mostly talk), I have lost interest in almost all television, with the exception of, Nova, 60 Min., History, Food, Discovery, Animal Planet, and a few of the Pundit type political shows, however usually the commercials drive me away before I completely watch anything. I also seem to have a new and developing interest in Netflix movies, mostly non-mainstream stuff, documentaries, foreign, lectures, film noir, sci-fi, and the missed classics, I have been finding allot of movie leads on the net, looking and searching genre such as cult classics, film noir, and particular subject matters that interest me.

I’m not at all sure how this will develop, and would welcome any suggestions you may have. In the beginning I have decided that I will try and highlight about three to five sites a week, these I will attempt to spread over subjects as varied as I can, from totally believable to the almost over the top. I am sure there will be a very small group interested in them all, however if you find one or two to spark your interest I will feel satisfied. I would also like very much to hear from you, about subjects that I might be interested in.

So here we go:

1) Where is my flying car? This is something that was promised to me ever since I was a little kid, you know the Jetsons, those futuristic prediction guru’s, year after year said I would have one, the science shows and magazines, showed me blueprints, and artist depictions, Disneyland had models, or how about Mel Gibson’s taxi cab in the movie “The Fifth Element” was that cool or what. Well it may be closer than you think, at least there is hope. Take a look at this http://www.moller.com/ well worth clicking around the site, they are very serious, unfortunately it looks like it will be made in China.


2) When I see a story in the news I always wonder just how it may be changed due to the interpretation of the news room here in the states. It is kind of interesting to read the story as presented to the local people where it originated. This is the best site I have found to do that http://www.world-newspapers.com/ . Here you can just click on any country (there are over two hundred of them), then find a newspaper from the city you are looking for, and read the story from the perspective of that culture. There are also links to tons of magazines some free and some subscriber type, they are broken down into various interest categories. So if you happen to hear a story about several people injured by armed dacoits at Phulbariya-8 in Katmandu yesterday you can check it out, just go to site, look under Asia, click on Nepal, click on Himalayan Times, and there you go.


3) Here are a couple of links related to something I believe we all need to be following very closely, I wrote a blog on the radio’s blog page about it you can read that here http://oncomputerstips.blogspot.com/2006/12/death-of-internet.html , I also wrote a follow up with more links as a prelude to this weeks show during which Joe said he was going to devote some time to this issue. We all need to get involved in protecting our rights in this regard. If we do not speak up money, and power will very much change the landscape of the internet we all love so much. http://www.freepress.net/news/18562 , http://www.savetheinternet.com/


4) This is one of my current favorite sites it is taking up way to much of my time at the moment. The site has lots, probably hundreds of lectures, lots of video and audio, dealing with science; any subject you can think of, interviews with Nobel Prize Winners, the latest new research going on, advances that are expected in the near and distant future.

I was watching a documentary “Genghis Blues” excellent movie, but Richard Feynman the physicist was in the movie so being curious I wanted to know more about him, and started looking around found this site that has many videos from his lectures on light that he did in New Zealand in the 1970’s. Any way that’s how I got hooked http://www.vega.org.uk/


5) To wrap it up for this week I’m going to say a few words about Netflix, I have to begin by saying, that I was never a fan of the usual movies. But Netflix was always sending these offers for a two week free trial, and there were two or three movies I was curious about so I thought I would just watch those and cancel the whole thing out, “just here for the free stuff”, that kind of deal.

Well I was very pleasantly surprised by what was available. I like documentaries, non-fiction, and the edgy stuff. While looking around at the site I found a series on human consciousness, 5 DVD’s covering interviews with twenty different scientists all from different fields, talking about how they viewed the subject, and what part of the brain, body, or neither they considered our consciousness to come from. It was from a 2003 symposium, and allot of it was way over my head, but it was on a subject that has always interested me. That got me started; I branched into foreign films, and a few other areas. Then I started searching for the obscure movies that did not make the award shows, those that some how never made it into the main stream. I started looking on the internet for lists on film noir, cult film, foreign films, stuff that other people liked enough to list on the net. Now I’m hooked it is so much better than driving to the video store, always worrying about paying for something I won’t like, the money, the gas, the time, the hassle. With Netflix I have been getting fifteen to twenty movies a month, I have been watching movies I never would have considered at the store and found some real treasures. And I go to the mail box every day anyway, so there is no hassle at all. http://www.netflix.com


Well that’s it for the first week anyway looking forward to hearing any thing and everything, from anybody. Suggestions on sites, movies, rants, raves, good or bad, ideas, complaints, you name it. Gregg

Get ready to set your clocks forward, I think...

To quote webexhibits.org :

Date change in 2007

On August 8, 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This Act changed the time change dates for Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. Beginning in 2007, DST will begin on the second Sunday in March and end the first Sunday in November. The Secretary of Energy will report the impact of this change to Congress. Congress retains the right to resume the 2005 Daylight Saving Time schedule once the Department of Energy study is complete.

ps. I got there from http://www.time.gov ( the official US time site )

Is your flash drive fast enough for Vista’s ReadyBoost?

Ed Bott's blog post on the subject is enlightening, but a bit late, seeing as I already went out and bought a 2 GB flash drive from SanDisk that simply does not measure up, making less than half it's advertised speed on several tests. (Having used a special discount coupon, I cannot return the device, either, and am taking things up directly with the maker. More on this as it happens.

Be sure to follow the first link in the post by Bott, which will take you to a post by George Ou with more information on the same subject.

And watch out when buying flash memory devices. I sure wish I had.

Jack

Windows Vista Team Blog : Multiple announcments about Vista Pricing

Yesterday, the upgrades within versions of Vista were announced on the Vista Blog.

Good news arrives today on several Windows Vista-related fronts, my friends ... read on.

Windows Anytime Upgrade

Today we're announcing further detail on how Windows Anytime Upgrade works. Come 30 January, Windows Anytime Upgrade will allow customers to purchase and download a digital key to upgrade to a more feature-rich edition of Windows Vista. The user will then complete the upgrade process by inserting the Windows Vista DVD that came with their PC or with their retail purchase of Windows Vista. The program will be available in the US, Canada, Europe and Japan.

Manufacturer's suggested retail prices (MSRP) to upgrade from a more basic version of Windows Vista are:

* Home Basic --> Home Premium: $79
* Home Basic --> Ultimate: $199
* Home Premium --> Ultimate: $159
* Business --> Ultimate: $139

We've designed Windows Anytime Upgrade as a measure of convenience for our customers and hope it proves to be a way for you to more easily advance to a more fully-featured edition of Windows Vista.

Windows Family Discount

Also, today we're announcing news that makes it easier and more economical for those of you with multiple systems at home -- like many of you who read this blog -- to upgrade to Windows Vista. If you have need for fewer than 5 licenses for home use, you can upgrade all of your home systems by taking advantage of the Windows Vista Family Discount. (Volume licensing is the way to go if you have need for more than 5 licenses.) This program will also begin at our retail availability launch on 30 January.

The Windows Vista Family Discount was in part inspired by feedback from tech enthusiasts like you who told us that previously it was less than convenient to upgrade every node on their home networks.

We heard you loud and clear in planning the Windows Vista Family Discount. Here's how it works:

* Buy a retail copy of Windows Vista Ultimate (full or upgrade version)
* Between 30 January – 30 June, order up to two copies of Windows Vista Home Premium online
* Pay only $49.99 for each copy of Windows Vista Home Premium
* Valid in North America (US and Canada)

I'm very impressed that they are handling family licensing this way, it seems very fair. I was checking out the Vista Page, and you can only upgrade from XP (although I'm confident the majority of smart people with do a clean install). That appears to be more of a hardware issue, than anything else. Although Vista will scale down to utilize the available hardware (or so it is said...) they are certainly giving people a pretty obvious warning that this requires significant computer resources. I've downloaded the Vista Upgrade Advisor, and we'll see what that says about my system. I hope to remember to post it, when I do.

Mr. Linguini mentioned Bitlocker to me, and I read a review by Paul Thurott on the Ultimate Extras, of which BitLocker is a part.
--MissM

Windows Vista Team Blog : Multiple announcments about Vista Pricing

Attack code out for 'critical' Windows flaw

Computer code that exploits a security vulnerability in Windows has been published on the Internet, making it more urgent for users of the operating system to patch.
Microsoft provided a fix for the flaw last week with security bulletin MS07-004. At the time, the company warned that it had already seen limited cyberattacks exploiting the vulnerability.

The Twilight Years of Cap'n Crunch

John Draper has had a huge effect on tech, for a lot of different reasons, some slightly unsavory, all a direct result of his brilliance. This Wall Street Journal will let you know what he has been up to, his difficulties and triumphs.

Jack

Persistent zombie attacks target Symantec corporate software

Symantec first dismissed the threat, but worm attacks that exploit a known security hole in the company's corporate antivirus tool are proving to be persistent.

I'm just SHOCKED!
Who would have ever though Symantec would ever let a worm get in?
AlaskaJoe

McAfee Avert® Labs Technical White Papers

Go ahead; scare yourself to death!

Actually, these white papers by McAfee personel and hirelings are not anywhere near as filled with hype as they could be. Most are fairly straight-forward and level-headed. Really! If you want a decent overview of the most prevalent security threats, you could do a lot worse than these. I read two and thought them informative and lacking in either hype or product promotion. They also are not overly long - an under-appreciated trait in this area.

Enjoy,

Jack

Could invisibility beat encryption?

Can you hide files in plain sight? Apparently you can, using this software from PCMesh.

The article points out that this is much weaker than stout encryption, but that may not be the point, if all you want to do is hide your wife and your love letters from the kids, or some other lightweight security chore. This is probably worth checking out, for a number of users.

Personally, I will stick with encryption for the little bit of use I have for such techniques. I can spare the time it takes and I like the certaintly that 2048 bit encryption will not be realistically breakable any time soon. I only have just over 59 megabytes encrypted, which eases the burden considerably. I really don't have that much to hide.

Even so; this is an interesting development and if it interests you, the article has a link to the company's page.

Jack

On the importance of backward compatibility

Ian Murdock, he of DebIAN Linux and the Linux Standards Base project, has an interesting entry in his web log on backwards compatibility. It is short and definitely worth your time. In it, he contrasts the positions of Microsoft and Apple to this important issue and places Linux squarely with MS on it. That's okay, because Microsoft has the right idea on this one.

This one is worth the few minutes of your time it will take.

Jack

On the importance of backward compatibility

Ian Murdock of DebIAN Linux and the Linux Standards Base project writes about backward compatibility. It's a short essay and extremely illuminating, especially where it contrasts policies in place at Microsoft and Apple.

This one is definitely worth your time.

Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 01-14-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 01-14-07. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.