10 reasons why the Black Hats have us outgunned

This is realistic and so a bit depressing. However; it's told with just a bit of humor, is relatively short and well written. Well worth your time.

Jack

FBI Unveils Movable Feast with 'Operation Bot Roast' - Security Fix

The Security Fix column at the Washington Post is an excellent column, and today's details an FBI investigation about botnets. The article begins:

The FBI said today it has identified more than 1 million personal
computers that have been infected with computer worms enabling the attackers to control PCs for criminal purposes such as sending spam, spreading spyware and attacking Web sites.

The FBI used details it gleaned from an ongoing investigation called "Operation Bot Roast" to highlight a few recent arrests of individuals accused of running botnets and to raise public awareness about the problem, which the agency called "a growing threat to national security, the national information infrastructure and the economy."

go read the rest of the article and let us know what you think in comments.
--MissM

FBI Unveils Movable Feast with 'Operation Bot Roast' - Security Fix

Larholm.com | Safari for Windows, 0 day exploit in 2 hours

As Aaron poster earlier, Safari browser was announced Monday early, and available for download later in the day. But, it only took 2 hours to find an exploit, as the article below explains.

I downloaded and installed Safari for Windows 2 hours ago, when I started writing this, and I now have a fully functional command execution vulnerability, triggered without user interaction simply by visiting a web site. I will not sell this one to ZDI or iDefense but instead release it here, as I have done lately with a number of 0day vulnerabilities. This place is where you get my latest research [link below or in title]:)

Larholm.com - Me, myself and I � Safari for Windows, 0 day exploit in 2 hours

--MissM
[h/t GeekBrief.tv ]

Quick First Review of the Dell Ubuntu Notebook Computer Inspiron E1505N

"Quick First Review" does not really reveal much. No faults and a happy camper on first impressions. I just thought to post this for those who are curious.

My pal George got his Inspiron 1505N the other day. Much to my frustration, he did not unpack it before reporting to the hospital to have his appendix out. Best wishes, George, but my patience is wearing thin and I'm about to break into your house to try the thing out and satisfy my curiosity. (Just kidding.)

Jack

Four Critical Fixes Coming for Windows, IE, Mail

eweek writes:
Microsoft will send out six security bulletins, four of them for problems rated "critical," the company's highest severity rating, on Patch Tuesday, June 12. All four of the most serious vulnerabilities, in Windows and in IE, can lead to systems getting hijacked.

Three of the critical problems are in Windows; one is in Internet Explorer, one is in Outlook Express and Windows Mail, and there is one "important" fix for Visio. Also, a moderate bug has been found in Windows.

Four Critical Fixes Coming for Windows, IE, Mail
--MissM

Safari for Windows

I don't know if this belongs in the "heck" freezes over category, but Apple has released its Safari browser for Windows.

Any takers?

Vista not playing well with IPv6

This has been known for a while, but not widely because it is far from being a problem for everyone. I'm not actually sure how many folks it affects at all. I post this because if you know about it you might be able to solve some otherwise baffling network problems.

Jack

Mac vs. PC cost analysis: How does it all add up?

The "math" in this Computer World article is suspect, in my opinion.

I'd buy a Mac in a heartbeat if I had that sort of money. But I'd run Linux on it. If I left the Mac OS X on it, I'd have to purchase a LOT of software to meet all my needs. There just isn't a lot of freeware or free/open source software (FOSS) for the Mac and the proprietary stuff I would have to purchse is expensive. That's where the big difference lies for me. With the PC and Windows, I can use FOSS to fill out my software needs. With Linux, all my needs are met with FOSS. But with the Mac OS X, I would have to buy a lot of additional software.

Even with all that, this is an interesting comparison. Just don't trust other people's numbers too far.

Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 06-10-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 06-10-07. 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.

The Gregg Zone !!

1) First up this week I have just run across a computer thing that has me concerned. They are called web beacons, and I’m hoping to generate some discussion on the radio show Sunday about them. I use some yahoo services and when I ran across articles talking about these web beacons I started asking questions, and not liking the answers, at least so far. You might want to “opt out” on these if you yahoo.

http://www.rense.com

http://antivirus.about.com

2) Next up, how about alchemy. This is an interesting site, to read about alchemy, mostly PDF files; it was interesting to me to read the papers originally written a very long time ago. Translated into language of our time, I have to wonder would some one vocalize such concepts, with the limited vocabulary of those days. It would be necessary to express complex ideas in terms of that day. While I’m sure we do a very good job with verbatim translation of the words. I’m not so sure we do well with the innuendo’s and slang of the time, it is difficult enough for me to follow today’s vernacular when there are regional, national, racial, terms and phrases that elude me entirely. For instance I was captivated for a while reading the “Golden chain of Homer” the parallels kept popping into my brain. How would someone of that time describe concepts of modern science? Somehow even if the subject was expressed well for the language of the day, and contained great detail, I fear the translators would favor views that supported their beliefs, they did not have the equipment to run an experiment, therefore they must have meant something else. Anyway if you have ever wondered about alchemy this might be worth checking out. http://www.hermetics.org

3) Just for fun have you ever played at the “Where’s George” site they will track a bill what ever denomination you want, if you get a stamped bill you can see where it has been, or at least where it was recorded by some one like me, I usually go there and write a short note, where I got it. I got one the other day here in Alaska, on the site I found it was last recorded in Vancouver Washington. Where someone had went out on the town with Drake, Larson, and Kristi, to “spend a lot of where’s George bills” it traveled 1,534 miles in 77 days 6 hours and 38 minutes, or 20 miles a day. I can keep a log of various bills. I was doing this when I was in Las Vegas, and found it interesting. http://www.wheresgeorge.com

Symantec tests bot-killer

Here is what seems like a good idea. It's NOT ANTI-VIRUS. It's software that examines the behavior of executables and deals with them if it thinks they're bot controlling software.

It's a free and open beta if you want to give it a shot.

Jack

Anatomy of the Linux kernel

Ever wonder how an operating system kernel works? Just what it does and how it does it? How about the Linux kernel in particular?

This page at the IBM Developer Works site will tell you a lot, in language anyone can understand, without being "dumbed down". Quite an accomplishment, that. It's not a tremendously long read. Just one extended page, and it has some diagrams that will help you understand things.

I recommend this one highly.
Jack

Kaspersky, Grisoft, F-Secure fail VB100 security test

I post this mostly for those who are running AVG, which is Grisoft's anti-virus. It might be time for a change.

Jack

courant.com | Amero Granted New Trial

I had mentioned this travesty of justice before, and this week was supposed to be sentencing, which could have been up to 40 years. As a result of a state police forensics examination AFTER the guilty verdict, the judge ruled that a new trial was in order. I've posted the highlights of an article pointed to by the Sunbelt Blog.

NEW LONDON -- A Superior Court judge Wednesday granted a new trial for Julie Amero, 40, a Norwich substitute teacher whose faulty computer spewed pornographic images in her seventh grade classroom. [snip]

But today, Smith [the prosecuting attorney] said state would take no position on Dow's motion for a new trial, making it unlikely she will be tried again. Smith also acknowledged that erroneous information about the computer was presented during trial.

--MissM

courant.com | Amero Granted New Trial

Spyware skirmishes: Spy versus antispy

Yet another sordid tale of legislation, litigation and speculation over personal computer security. This one has the possibility of wide repercussions. An interesting read at CNet.

Jack

Inkjet images don't just fade; they can vanish

The link will take you to a New York Times article on CNet.

We've wondered aloud on the show about the longevity of CDR and RW as well as DVDR and RW media burned at home, but the subject of printed documents and photos has not come up, that I can recall. Here is a hint at the life expectency of photos printed on ink-jet printers. There isn't a lot of data here, because not a lot of reliable data exists. However; there is a rating system detailed here that may guide you when buying a new printer. Plus, there are web links that may take you to more data as it develops.

Jack

HP says no to Intel's Turbo Memory

A couple of listeners have gently chided me over my insistence that flash memory technology is really limited in how much of a performance boost you can get out of it. Now, HP agrees with me. (I will not say that I told you so, but I did tell you so, didn't I?)

Everyone else will jump on the bandwagon because they can, while it appears HP alone will take a realistic and pro-consumer stance on this.

Jack

Web, computer "widgets" offer branding opportunities

Don't you just love how we are hit (and hit hard) by web advertising at every turn?

While some of the widgets offered may indeed be desireable, at least to some, all this seems to me to be another way for advertisers to clutter up my desktop, load my system and generally degrade my computing experience.

We will have to see how this comes out, but I have little hope.

Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 06-03-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 06-03-07. 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.

APOD: 2007 June 3 - Shuttle Plume Shadow Points to Moon

This picture was too pretty to not post :)
Good morning. Join us (info here) to listen and chat live!

--MissM
APOD: 2007 June 3 - Shuttle Plume Shadow Points to Moon

P.S. posting the url of the picture never works, or I'm too impatient :P

The Gregg Zone !!

1) First up this week online calculators; this is where I started with personal calculators, for travel expenses, tax returns, currency, mortgage, investment returns and finances, http://www.btimes.co.za/This is where I wound up, a site I found for online calculators that is very extensive. Want to calculate carbon decay? How about calculating how much water to use on your corn crop, based on time and temperature charts for your county? This site has calculator links for everything 28,880 of them, by 4,415 contributing individuals, and businesses. http://www.martindalecenter.com

Here is another site with some interesting decision making tools, like memory tools and tricks, time management, problem solving, etc. Mostly free, but you can spend money if you want. I liked the tools here quite a lot, and will be back to try and find some new ways to teach this old dog some new tricks. http://www.mindtools.com/

2) The rest of today is about savants, this line of interest was rekindled in me due to seeing a kid on Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show”. An amazing six year old kid playing the piano, not only could he play, and remember over 200 songs. But, what I found almost as amazing as his piano skills; was the interview part of the show. I thought his language and understanding skills, were almost as impressive. In the interview part of the show he was more like a high school age kid or young adult, than a six year old kid. I have two sites here for you, this first one is about his Leno appearance http://www.accesshollywood.com, and this second one is a link to Ethan’s web page, where you can not only find his repertoire, complete with videos for a lot of them, but also his history, event schedule, and other tidbits you might find interesting.. http://ethansmusicsite.com/

3) Watching the Leno show sparked memory of a B.B.C. documentary I had seen quite a while back. I remembered how impressed I was with the subject matter, which I thought was some how related to this kid playing the piano, I was driven to do a search on the net. Google rules!! This is a very cool program. The movie is about a young boy savant, but he is different because, he is not impaired like most other savants, and he is far more rounded in his abilities. The movie is about B.B.C. taking him to several universities here in the states for testing, he does some impossible math, including reciting pi out to 25,000 decimals, stops at the correct place without assistance, and he does it without a single error it took him 5 ½ hours. While on trip with B.B.C. he learned a new language in one week (Icelandic one of the most difficult). In a previous interview somewhere, he had said he could learn a language in seven days, so the B.B.C challenged him to do it in route, while on the trip he learned the new language in one week (Icelandic one of the most difficult). I suppose I could draw a thousand parallels to implications with the Leno show. For instance, pay close attention to the kid hit in the head playing stick ball in New York, after getting hit; he gets up, and suddenly has a remarkable (to say the least) ability, if you give him a date, any date, he can tell you not only what day of the week it falls on, but if since his accident he can also tell you the weather in his town. Here is the B.B.C. movie link, “The Boy, With the Incredible Brain” (48 min.) http://video.google.com Now my question to you, would be… should you chose to try and answer, is this; Given that incredible stunt in Las Vegas on the B.B.C. trip (intuition over memory), a three year old boy is playing a piano without lessons (and at six he’s on Leno), a kid hit in the head can do past weather reports, even though he never read them. A boy of two is able to read, and memorize the first several volumes of the encyclopedia; he knows the alphabet, and how to read, without being taught, in the video he sits down and plays a piano as an adult without lessons (interested? See next link). What I want to know is where does the information come from? Can I learn to do this; is it possible for me to do this also, after all the kid from New York was an acquired savant, so can I also acquire it? Answer: Yes!!!! See the last link entry.

4) The next link is for “Tim Peak the Real Rain Man”; they speak for them selves, just amazing stuff. http://www.youtube.com/The link is for a 5 part google movie, but a google search on rain man will bring up a lot more.

5) Just in case you want to be a “savant for a day” I have a links for that, first a link to a New York Times article on how it is done, and what to expect, here’s that. http://www.nytimes.com Now for a place to visit where you can experiment with the process http://www.transcranial-magnetic-stimulation.com/

The Ultimate Reset Button

A stylish, emphatic and dramatic way to deal with "Bill's Revenge." What more can I say?

Jack

Yoggie Pico offers a Linux-based firewall inside a USB key

I guess this is more than just a gadget, but it's tempting to dismiss it as one. I'd really like to see some tests, but the idea is interesting and if it works as advertised it might be the cure for some folks. Besides a firewall, there are other security apps that make network access away from home safer.

Give it a look. I think you too will like what you see.
Jack

Apple plugs two QuickTime holes

The link will take you to the appropriate download page. You know who you are.

Jack

Review: Vista, XP Users Equally At Peril To Viruses, Exploits

The link is to part 1 of a 3 part article that concludes Vista is only marginally safer than XP. This is one to follow.

Jack

Microsoft Announces Surface

Major Nelson's Blog was the first video I saw of Surface, and its impressive. Major Nelson writes:

That’s the big rumor that was burning through the web today. Todd over at the Seattle PI has a write up on the official announcement tonight, and more importantly…videos (like the one above) that demonstrate the concept. Here are more stories on Surface from Google News.
--MissM

P.S. There's a woot-off goin' on!! (You can tell cause of the flashing lights, check out the forum for a list of what they've had and woot trackers) :)

Google acquires 'sandbox' technology for secure browsing

Here's something really interesting, though there is no real indication where it will lead. Even so; another skilled and sizeable player in the war against malware is welcome. This short article announcing Google's entry into security matters is interesting and has links to the software they just acquired that still work.

Jack

In the Overkill Dept; Panasonic premieres 12.2 megapixel compact

This really is overkill. There is no other word to describe it. I know there are some folks who really do need very high resolutions but the rest of us simply don't need it. I have to regard this sort of camera as a reflection on how cheap disk storage is, and little more.

Gail has been educating me on cameras of late and I may change my tune, but for now, I have to regard this as an unnecessary luxury.

Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 05-27-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 05-27-07. 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.
This is just a 2 hour show, we lost our internet connection at the start of the show today.

The Gregg Zone !!

1) This is a copy of an email I got today, thought it might be an interesting subject to talk a moment about it, in regard to how the internet is changing the way things are done in a post-connected world, we can Donate to a charity not with money, but a min. of time to click.

Subject: free food for animal shelters
Hi, all you animal lovers. This is pretty simple... Please tell at least ten friends to tell ten today! The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of getting free food donated every day to abused and neglected animals.
It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on the purple box "fund food for animals" for free. This doesn't cost you a thing.
Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising.
Here's the web site! Pass it along to all the people you know.

_www.theanimalrescuesite.com_ (http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/)

AGAIN, PLEASE TELL AT LEAST 10 FRIENDS!!!

Thanks,

2) I kind of like subjects that go against the status-quo, because they stretch my perception. This is about one of those; http://michaelnetzer.com/ this site has the audio with no commercials, and a pretty decent review of Art Bell’s interview with Neil Adams about the Expanding Earth Theory. If you are not familiar with this theory, which not only counters continental drift, but also the very formation of the universe. You really should check it out. It sure made a lot of sense to me. I would also suggest running a youtube search, and check out some of the video’s.

3) This is a site that was suggested to me by Jack, he seems to understand the kind of stuff I like to cruse. This is pretty neat site for those who have an interest scientific side of things, they have open sourcing publication of science papers. It is interesting to see how ideas are presented, and some insight into the process. http://www.plos.org/

Remove Spyware Free - Best Anti-spyware

I have used counter spy to fix other people's computers when I had tried everything else but reformatting (its a control issue :P), and it WORKED! I've been a fan of Sunbelt Software for several years. Their CEO has a blog (I've referred to many times), and they have a presence on Second Life, where they are giving away Counter Spy to 10 lucky people a day! Back on topic (cough cough)... So they've offered a competitive upgrade price of 9.95 for any anti-malware tool (paid OR free)! So I wanted to pass it on.

--MissM
I apologize if this sounds like an ad, but I've been really impressed with the whole organization and their products and wanted to introduce y'all to Sunbelt Software. :)

Remove Spyware Free - Best Anti-spyware

Closing the book on Apple's Mac mini

Appleinsider is saying the Mac Mini is due for EOL. Make up your own mind. They make a convincing case.

Jack

With its fifth security update for 2007, Apple patches 17 flaws

Another massive patch fest for Apple. You'll hear a lot of bad-mouthing of Apple for this, which I don't quite get. Everyone needs to patch as vulnerabilities are found. At least Apple is apparently keeping up with things.

The link will take you to fairly detailed information at CNet.

Jack

Chris Pirillo stars in Life 2.0

Chris Pirillo is an ex Tech TVer who co-hosted and hosted Call For Help. He's been broadcasting video of his computer desk all the time, for a few weeks now. Its fascinating to me to watch his mini-shows, he incorporates the chat room, video, his wife ;) I thought the following might be of interest to anybody wanting to talk to the hosts live. Maybe, we could talk them into it? Whaddya say?? Chris highlights what he labels Radio Station 2.0, the next level in Conference Calling Services:

It just occurred to me: all of these conference calling services are a nanometer away from reinventing the way call-in radio shows are done.

There are hundreds (if not thousands) of services that will allow you to hold conference calls - some are free, some aren’t. Some are better suited for private calls, some aren’t. There’s a conference calling solution for everybody. Well, almost everybody.
[snip]
Last night, we did a little conference calling experiment. They assigned me a conference ID to share with the world, then asked me to instruct the callers to press 9 to “raise their hands.” When these callers indicated that they wanted to talk, Erik (from Gaboogie) took them into a private conversation to find out what they wanted to know.
[snip (you will have to click on the url to read what is .....)]
Boom. Evolutionarily revolutionary. Conference calling is about to get VERY hot…

Conference Calling Services: Radio Stations 2.0? ~ Chris Pirillo

--MissM
OT : My shared google reader items

Unsecure Passwords on Gaim/Pidgin

I've been blindly using GAIM for quite a while now and I was completely unaware of the issues detailed in this post on OS News.com. What's worse is that I have been recommending it and I know a LOT of people have taken it up on my recommendation. Especially on Windows.

While this problem applies to both Windows and Linux, it is worse on Windows. I think I shall quit using GAIM on Windows, but continue to do so on Linux. The post puts things in what I think is a clear perspective and I recommend it. It also has the advantage of being short and to the point, with links to further information.

Jack

One of the best HDD utilities is free

I carry a whole bunch of these tools with me whenever I go to work on a computer. You never know when you will need them, after all. As the article says; these are among the best. Get your copies now and squirrel them away against future need. And while we're talking about the excellent Seagate/Maxtor tools, I'll remind you to get tools for a lot of different maker's products, as well as those not tied to any one brand and put those where you can find them, too.

Jack

Michigan man arrested for using cafe's free WiFi from his car

A Michigan man is being prosecuted for using a cafe's free WiFi... from his car. Sam Peterson was arrested under a Michigan law barring access to anyone else's network without authorization, according to Michigan TV station WOOD. Since the cafe's WiFi network was reserved for customers, and Peterson never came into the cafe, he was essentially piggybacking off of the open network without authorization.
[snip]
Coincidentally, the cafe owner that Peterson was leeching WiFi off of didn't even realize that what Peterson was doing was a crime at the time. Neither did the police officer. "I had a feeling a law was being broken, but I didn't know exactly what," Sparta police chief Andrew Milanowski told the TV station.

The article goes on to detail several arrests made in Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Washington. The point is to be aware of local laws, and whether you want to share your wireless connection openly, or not.
Michigan man arrested for using cafe's free WiFi from his car
--MissM

Internet pioneer to oversee its redesign under government contract

I guess it's nice that the powers that be are looking to the future, but I have to wonder if anything will come of it. The inertia of the millions upon millions who are currently using the Internet mean that moving to any kind of changed system will be tough. I guess this is one to watch, but I don't have my hopes set too high.

Jack

First OpenOffice virus emerges

Every article about this says something about how they must be dancing in the halls at Microsoft. Somehow, I doubt it. This is basically a proof-of-concept, written in Sun's "Star Basic" language, so the risk is very, very low. Still, it is likely a portent of things to come, and this runs on Linux, Windows and the Mac. There are enough Open Office users now that this sort of thing will come up more and more.

Jack

Dell Linux Machines Coming 24 May

Here's the details. They don't differ much from what we've said on the show.

Jack

Microsoft reveals new anti-Linux weapon

Seeing as there has been all sorts of angry or gloom-and-doom press about Microsoft's latest broadside against Linux, I thought I would post this, which I found fairly funny.

Enjoy,
Jack

Cheetah's GPSMirror detects red-light / speed cameras - Engadget

In the chat yesterday a few people mentioned looking for new GPSs, and then I read the following at engadget:

Cheetah has introduced a GPSMirror that can detect just about anything you'd need to know about whilst cruising down the highway. Sporting a SiRF Star III GPS receiver, anti-glare coating, and the ability to divulge alerts via voice, visuals, or frighteningly loud sounds, this rear view mirror replacement purportedly keeps you informed of upcoming speed cameras [in North Carolina, speed and red light cameras were deemed unconstitutional because of the percentage of the proceeds that went to education. In Charlotte, the receipts were split 50/50 with the picture takers, but because of the lottery, the percentage of receipts has to be higher. So, the city had to give the short fall to the board of education and it was too expensive for the city. :)] of all varieties, radar / laser detectors, and accident zones. Additionally, the device can even display your speed from behind the mirrored glass in case the speedometer in your '72 Beetle has been pleasantly perched on zero for the past decade. The unit supposedly plays nice with your current radar / laser detector, and can relay data via its aural abilities to slow you down. Speedsters can pick up the GPSMirror now for £199.99 ($395), and thanks to the PC-based interface and internet database downloads, there are no monthly fees for its handy services.

--MissM
Cheetah's GPSMirror detects red-light / speed cameras - Engadget

More Firefox Bloat? Say It Ain't So, Mozilla

This is the sort of thing I was talking about on the show. In fact; it seems as if about half of the blog discussions link back to this story. Despite that, the subject is a growing concern. Also at the same site is this slightly lame list of alternatives which is suspiciously short on truly viable ones that can be used on Windows.

Anyway; I wanted you to see where I started with the subject.

Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 05-20-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 05-20-07. 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 are in any way, for or against what is happening on our planet, no matter what your politics or religion, or for that matter lack of any of them. No matter the depth of your apathy you should check out this YouTube flick, a twelve year old girl from Canada addresses the United Nations, about 7 min. http://youtube.com/

2) If you like to search around the net you might like this site, they claim to list almost a thousand search engines world wide, and adding more daily. Don’t know why, but it seems you can find stuff on these other engines that does not show up on google, although I suspect that they are in the google search, just on page three million and six or something, but that may have a new solution in the works. I will be asking for more discussion about this subject on this week’s show, if the engines use different criteria to complete the search, and if that might create an advantage to widen one’s searching tools, using different engine. Also about Google’s new web history, see next link for more. http://www.escapeartist.com/

3) Another item on searching I ran across an article linked here, about Google going universal. http://apnews.excite.com The article is about changes in their search engines. A lot of the changes seem to be a result of Google’s acquisition of YouTube and sound pretty interesting to me. Another thing I found when I was at the Google site looking for more info. They have a program called web history, at least for me this is going to be great, it keeps track of every web site you go to, has a search bar there just for your history breaks everything down into categories like video clips, web sites, images, etc. for a test I just searched maps, it instantly came up with the 89 maps I have looked at since I have been here. I always seem to be loosing a site that I like, no more. You might like to check this out also. Here is a link to the announcement of the new service from 4-19-07 http://googleblog.blogspot.com/

4) An offering for the Art Bell crowd found on one of the above search engines, a site that I have not seen before using Google, in reference to the last referral. This is a link to that area 51 call that got knocked off the air. Says the mp3 takes fifteen min. to load, took about ten sec. for me, if you do listen to it be sure to listen through the silences to the end. It is only about five min. http://www.metatech.org/ Here is one more A B type site I found interesting, lots of A B type material here with links. http://www.ancientx.com

Windows Home Server versus Linux or BSD

The link is to a blog entry by George Ou on ZDNet. I'm not much interested in the blog this time as I am by the list of features to be part of Windows Home Server. Read it and see why I think this is the most interesting and exciting product by Microsoft in a looooong time.

Jack

People Will Click On Anything

I can't make a comment on this one. It's a very short read and you should read it, if only for laughs.

Jack

Boing Boing: HOWTO Beat the stock market: buy customer service

Cory Doctorow highlights a link that concludes one can profit in the stock market by investing in companies that get 80% or above on a customer satisfaction survey. My initial thought was that this was PROOF that customer service pays off!! A point that needs way more attention!
From Boing Boing:

A study in the Journal of Marketing concludes that you can beat the market consistently by buying stock in companies with high customer satisfaction ratings:

"Using a back-tested paper portfolio and an actual case, the study's authors found that companies at the top 20% of the the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) outperformed the the stock market, generating a 40% return. Over time, the portfolio outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 93%, the S&P 500 by 201%, and NASDAQ by 335%. "

Boing Boing: HOWTO Beat the stock market: buy customer service
--MissM
[picture credit]

Vista Sideshow products start to trickle out

Okay; No sly digs at MS because it seems like even they got caught flat-footed by Vista's release. I promise. :)

Here is a short article on some products aimed directly at Vista users. I think the remote controls look great and I have some interest in the tablet, as well.

There will be a lot more of this sort of companion product in the coming months. Manufacturers held back, for some reason, and are only now starting to appear. I'm sure I'll be posting a lot of this sort of thing as time goes on and I look forward to it.

Jack

Defeating UAC with a two-stage malware attack

Ryan Naraine's blog entry on ZDNet explains the essentials of the attach that bypasses Vista's User Account Control (UAC). This is a theoretical attack at this time, but by all accounts it appears to be viable. It's worth checking out, even if you're not a security fanatic.

Everyone knew at least some of Vista's security features would be compromised eventually. Even Microsoft was under no illusions on that score. At least this one, while major, is able to be countered with patches. And I still think Vista is at the least marginally more secure than any version of Windows before it. Only time will tell if I am right or wrong.

Jack

Re: calculating time remaining moving, deleteing, copying files verry slow

The link is to a forum post at Microsoft's TechNet about how moving, deleting or otherwise manipulating large files seems to take forever on Vista machines. I don't know if this applies to all Vista machines or just some, but it certainly did apply to mine and is one of the most aggravating things about Vista, in my opinion. The thread is one of the longest seen lately on TechNet.

Microsoft has little or nothing to say on the subject (depending on your interpretation and opinion of their statements) and the idea of a fix has not been mentioned. At least not yet.

Jack

Reminder: Monday is Wiretap the Internet Day | Wired Blogs

May 14th [today] is the official deadline for cable modem companies, DSL providers, broadband over powerline, satellite internet companies and some universities to finish wiring up their networks with FBI-friendly surveillance gear, to comply with the FCC's expanded interpretation of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act.
[snip]
Now that speed and efficiency is coming to internet surveillance. While CALEA is all about phones, the Justice Department began lobbying the FCC in 2002 to reinterpret the law as applying to the internet as well. The commission obliged, and last June a divided federal appeals court upheld the expansion 2-1. (The dissenting judge called the FCC's position "gobbledygook." But he was outnumbered.)

Reminder: Monday is Wiretap the Internet Day | Wired Blogs

On Computers Radio Show Podcast 05-13-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 05-13-07. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.

"Links from the Gregg Zone!"

1) Okay, here we go this is one of my favorite mysteries of all time. I have been looking into this since before I got my first computer; let’s see now that’s about fifteen years? Give or take two or three, anyway I first ran across this subject a very long time ago, and still look into it occasionally to see if anything new has cropped up. As of today they still have no answer, it all began in 1795, yes that would be well over two hundred years ago. There have been six people loose their lives, several family fortunes (some very big ones) lost. A U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt, movie star Errol Flynn try and fail, several large companies formed and broken, and countless engineers fail in their endeavors to solve the mystery. If you are not familiar with this one you really should check it out, it is going on right now to this day. That latest link I found is current, Feb. 2007
I am referring to Oak Island in Nova Scotia, they have dug and drilled over two hundred and thirty feet, through oak platforms, iron plates, stone floors, caverns, spruce platforms, layers of coconut fibers (nearest coconut tree 1500 miles away, remember 1795). There are elaborate tunnels that flood the shaft built into the system, it is said that it is an engineering masterpiece. No one even knows what is there, if anything, the original thought was Captain Kidd the pirate buried his treasure here, that changed when they found stone tablets over a hundred feet down that originated in Egypt (traced by geologic composition of the rock) with Coptic (speculation more than one translation) writing on them, speculation goes from treasure, to libraries (they found sheepskin with writing) even to the Holy Grail, Ark of the Covenant, and Knights Templar. The possible connection I’m offering is even further out there than that. This is really one of the most interesting treasure stories ever. I have put up two links, just because I think it deserves some extra attention. You can watch some video here; there are several, plus some info. http://www.oakislandtreasure.co.uk/ This is the latest one I found I guess they are turning it into a tourist attraction, complete with lectures and guided tours, wish I lived in the Northeast.
2) I think there may be a connection between this event, The Shag Harbor U.F.O. Incident, and the Oak Island story. They are both within a few miles geographically, both under ground (or water), both unsolved, both seem to require a technology unavailable to the time, and place. It would be an interesting angle for the Art Bell types to research. This is one of the best documented in the field usually rated in the top five, the link is for a YouTube video series by Discovery Science five in all about ten min. each. If you want to read more just google Shag Harbor U.F.O. Incident, there is a lot out there. http://www.youtube.com/
3) This one is just for fun a Japanese candid camera type show; I liked it, but consider the source. http://www.youtube.com/

You can see some of the pictures from GeekMeet2007 at http://GeekMeet.OnComputers.info

Extending OpenOffice.org: Must-have OpenOffice.org extensions

Thanks to John B. for this one.

While still new in development terms, these are handy extensions for Open Office users. I've already installed and am using Tabbed Windows extension and while I have to say it is almost crude, it is also incredibly handy to have.

Enjoy,
Jack

One in 10 web pages laced with malware - Google

The link is to a 9 page PDF file which details the Google research that led to the headline above. I found it disturbing, though, oddly enough, not at all surprising. And I guess I'm pretty proud of my security management here at the "ottershouse" LAN because we have not been infected or affected by this.

Those of us who code or maintain web pages are going to have to clean up our acts, but the real need is for browser tools and security applications to combat this and protect the user base who are not technically apt enough to protect themselves.

Along with everything else I do, I think I am going to have to collect a software suite so "my" users can surf with some confidence. There are a lot of tools available and I will share what I find with you as it works out.

Jack

Experts scramble to quash IPv6 flaw

Sheesh!! IPv6 is not even widely deployed, yet, and they have found a serious flaw with it. A VERY SERIOUS FLAW!!

Those of us using IPv6 protocols in networks need to watch for patches. The rest of us will get them as they are available. I mostly posted this because I found it disturbing that the best effort of a huge number of engineers could be so fatally compromised so easily.

Jack

Clearing swap and hibernation files properly

The link will take you to a pretty good article on cleaning up your machine, from a privacy standpoint. Thomas C. Greene writes well and though the article is just a bit long, he confers a LOT of very good information.

This isn't for the tinfoil hat brigades. It's for real people who might have information on their machine they would rather have control over.

Jack

Malware Update with Windows Update

The link is to a Symantec Security Response Team page.

It seems that the mechanism used in Windows Update and especially automatic updates can be compromised. In fact; it already has been. Microsoft will have to fix this and I'm sure they will. I hope this time it happens soon.

At the heart of this is the same old problem with ActiveX controls. Microsoft is frankly silly to persist in using ActiveX for anything, as it is repeatedly compromised and in fact the presence of ActiveX is in this case, as in many others, compromising an otherwise splendid service. I doubt they'll wake up and really change this, though, as they have failed to do so for years on end.

Jack

iPods can make pacemakers malfunction

The small study referenced here used only iPods, but when I think about it I have to wonder about all sorts of other personal electric devices. Some more study needs to be done, to state the obvious.

Please note that I resisted the temptation to state how I always knew iPods were evil.

Jack

Update: Microsoft goes all-critical to patch 19 bugs

Okay; I'm posting this Thursday night and Patch Tuesday is past. Still, I think you all ought to see this.

Also, there have been sporadic reports of issues with some of the patches. Use care when applying this set. Check forum and newsgroup posts for possible problems. Also, check the Microsoft Knowledge Base numbers associated with patches.

I had a couple, related to a rather obscure BIOS/hardware configuration that is probably not worth mentioning here.


Caveat emptor
Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 05-06-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 05-06-07. 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.
This was the Geek Meet 2007 show, you can see video of us all by listening to the 45K Windows Media feed. You can find that link at http://OnComputers.info

Complaints: AT&T DSL Downgrades Email, That You Pay For, To Include Ads - Consumerist

w0w that's crap. And makes me reconsider my future broadband options....
Consumerist has a jpg of the actual letter, but the summary of it is:

AT&T DSL subscribers who use their ISP email will now have the pleasure of seeing ads in their email service. That they pay for. Did we say that already?

We're not sure whether this means ads will simply appear in the email interface or be inserted at the bottom of emails but reader Crayonshinobi is not happy.

Of the announcement that landed in his inbox this morning, he says, "I'm finding it ridiculous that all of our pay services now have to come bundled with advertising...and it was really slimily written too...until now, as a DSL subscriber, I received the non-ad supported webmail service, so by placing ads in my webmail, you've just removed services from me in effect...Thankfully, I use firefox with adblock...so if there are ads...I won't be seeing them anyway."

Complaints: AT&T DSL Downgrades Email, That You Pay For, To Include Ads - Consumerist
--MissM

"Links from the Gregg Zone!"

1) Well to start it off for geek meet weekend I am updating the electric car news, I really think the electric car will be the transportation mode of the future. This site is about the electric mini. Talk about performance, top speed 150 mph, and can out accelerate a Porsche 911 Carerra. This has to be the most interesting direction I have read about lately. They have a electric motor on each wheel, this means there is no loss of power due to transmission to the wheels, they are recovering all energy usually lost in braking, by eliminating mechanical brakes altogether, an added bonus ABS becomes a given. There is a small gasoline engine that can be used to recharge the system while driving, so while you get four hours of electric only around town, by using the engine to recharge the batteries while driving your range is unlimited, at 65-80 miles per gallon. The main thing to remember here is this is a proto-type, when the technology hits the general market over all performance should be improved. http://www.worldcarfans.com/

2) Since it is “Geek Meet 07” I thought I might look for something with a certain level of “Geekness” however I was not sure where to start, so though maybe I should do a little research into the term geek. That’s when I found this site, a wordsmith’s delight, when I put in the word geek it found reference to the word in 34 online dictionaries with links. I thought that was pretty good. http://www.onelook.com/ I am somewhat fascinated by the way words evolve forming new meanings almost unrelated to their initial origin. The invention of the computer has probably been responsible for more new words, and redefinitions of old words than anything that preceded it. Words like widget, hacker, hack, gizmo, the list is very long indeed. The word geek is kind of like the word bad, used to mean bad, then meant good, now just leaves me confused unless the context of use helps me out. Getting old is often a pain in the neck, beats the alternative of dying young, but often leaves one sort of confused about the process. At any rate I thought for anyone not familiar with the origins of the word “geek” you might be interested.

3) Okay this may not be “out there” to everyone, but it was to me I was looking around for info on the H.A.A.R.P. project. (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program.). When I found a reference to what was called the fungus wars. I said the what?! That, is what led me to discover what is the largest, and oldest living organism on the planet, in my mind, what would have been my guess was the General Sherman Giant Sequoia Tree in California, here is a tree link http://www.nps.gov/ well a sixty foot diameter tree just pales in comparison to a mushroom measured in square miles, that’s right, miles, 3.4 square miles to be precise, or 1,665 football fields. If that’s not strange enough for you on another page I read that the fungus has over 3,600 different sexes, I thought people were confused, this I can’t even imagine. Age estimate well over ten thousand years, any way here is the link for anyone who might be interested. http://botit.botany.wisc.edu

4) This site is for that part of the group that likes to question stuff; I believe that in order to have an opinion on a subject it is necessary to investigate it from as many different points of view as possible. I like to read about some pretty off the wall subjects, I come from the basic premise that anything is possible, but that does not mean I believe anything written has any basis in fact. Some subjects just need to be considered on the fringe, where that line is drawn is different for everyone. This site has been interesting to me for sometime ever since I heard an interview with Dr. Michael Shermer, he’s with the Skeptics Society and Magazine. http://www.skeptic.com/ There are quite a few sites of this type, this one is better than most, but some are even more out to lunch that the people they are attempting to debunk. When the numbers get large enough it becomes difficult to argue effectively. If a person sees an elephant in the desert it might be a mirage, ten people maybe what they drank with lunch, 50 people maybe the pot luck dinner was tainted, but when a thousand, or a hundred thousand see the elephant, do you really need a dead elephant to say it probably exists. Some of the debunkers just do not believe in a thing so strongly they make less sense than the believers. We all need varied information to make decisions about what we are willing to accept. I know I accept much more as possible than most, but I also readily admit that the majority of what I believe to be fact is most likely wrong, to quote Mark Twain, “It ain’t the things you don’t know that get you into trouble, it’s the things you know for sure, that just ain’t so”

5) Okay one more then, this is a news story that kind of got me. Sir Paul McCartney, Elton John, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, and a few others are going to try and turn the aliens on to rock and roll music, by blasting it into space aimed at local targets like the Moon and Mars. Yes I know the boys listed in this group are already space cadets, and if any one on earth is actually an alien they are most likely represented here. I just thought it interesting how far these things can go, I mean like farm aid for other planets, they say it will be as big as Woodstock. I suspect this will make the news soon if they manage to get it off the ground, they say they are scheduled for this coming year in New York, Berlin, Tokyo, China, Russia, and London. Even Prince William is going to be there as an interested party, and what a party it should be. http://www.wayodd.com/

We are doing the show from GeekMeet07 in Boston, MA We wish you were here!

Its Friday!! My interesting links

Since most of the people who post here are at GEEK MEET! I thought I'd share my shared links from Google reader. Enjoy





--MissM

MacBook and MacBook Pro Battery Update

For the last year or so, perhaps a little bit more, there have been rumors of battery problems with some MacBooks and MacBook Pros from Apple. As the issue did not rise to any real prominence, I figured there probably were not many units affected.

I guess I was wrong, as Apple has issued a support advisory on the subject, which you can access by clicking the link above.

Please note this is NOT the Sony exploding battery issue or anything like that.

The problem seems to have been in the OS X software, and not in hardware, though evidently some batteries could have been damaged and Apple will replace those, regardless of warranty status. They have a software fix available which supposedly takes care of all issues, as long as the battery is still good. Get it, or find out about your replacement options at the link above.

Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 04-29-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 04-29-07. 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.

Remember Geek Meet 2007 is next week in Boston MA. Join us if you can http://GeekMeet.OnComputers.info

"Links from the Gregg Zone!"

1) I got an email from a friend the other day with an attachment; the attachment was a picture of a church sign which appeared to be in front of a small town church. The message on the sign said “GOD HATES PEOPLE FROM SIN CITY, STAYING IN ALASKA”. Well other than being right on the point when it comes to my personal situation, and seemingly very coincidental, I have seen so many weird signs, especially on shows like Letterman, and Leno I did not think to much about it, until the confession from my friend Tony (who is insisting I give him credit for anything I use that he sends me, here is said acknowledgement). This link is to a site that will let you put anything you want on your choice of church signs. This can be a lot of fun if you have a mischievous side to your personality; I have purposefully refrained from offering any suggestions here as it could only get me into trouble. http://www.churchsigngenerator.com
2) For the A-B crowd this week I thought I would offer a link to the Fortean Times, one night last week c2c had a guest who had written a book on Mr. Fort, a Ripley type writer and researcher from England’s past. During the show the guest mentioned the Fortean Times Magazine, I was wondering if it was still around, so I started looking around the net, not only is it still around, they have a online issue. Very interesting reading, and some good links here, check it out http://www.forteantimes.com/
3) Wow!! Tony again two sites in the same week, thanks to Tony for this interesting story from a BBC story released 4-24-07. Kryptonite is no longer just the stuff of fiction feared by caped super heroes. It seems when it was discovered in Jadar (a Serbian mine), they could not identify the substance, and sent it to a specialist for identification. The people doing the research were shocked to find a reference to a substance containing same chemical make up, not in a scientific journal, but in the fictional story of Superman. Link to the BBC story http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6584229.stm
4) If you have not heard about the Honey Bee problem, you must not be much of a news hound, hives are disappearing world wide. The quote being tossed about is from Albert Einstein “Without the Honey Bee mankind would be wiped off the face of the planet in four years.” I have been reading up on it, here are a few of the links I found.
A decent general article with out the scary side: http://msucares.com/news/print/agnews/an07/070405.html
A biblical sign of end times: http://rapturealert.blogspot.com/search/label/colony%20collapse%20disorder
Caused by Mobile Phones: http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/wildlife/article2449968.ece
Caused by Genetically Engineered BT corn crops: http://theantidote.wordpress.com/2007/03/30/genetically-engineered-bee-killer/
Viral disease http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070423113425.htm
Parasites

'Evil twin' Wi-Fi access points proliferate

This is a widespread problem and growing, as the article makes clear. I have actually run into it, once, without recognizing it for what it was. I'm kind of ashamed of that, but no one can catch everything.

Jack

A Directory of RSS Aggregators

Because I know how committed to RSS y'all are (rofl, I amuse myself)... I thought a list of the features of many, many RSS aggregators or readers. :)

A Directory of RSS Aggregators

MissM

Compression Comparison Guide Rev. 2.0 Parts 1 & 2

This article at Tech ARP on compression schemes and utilities is a little bit long, but very interesting and somewhat surprising. My favorite Windows compression utility, FilZip is not tested, unfortunately. The results of this test have me thinking of switching to another, though I give up the ability to deal with a couple of the less common compression schemes.

Enjoy,
Jack

The Alky Project

The link above will take you to the blog of one Cody Brocious, who heads up this project. It's goals are to create a wrapper for Windows executables that will allow (among other things) DirectX 10 graphics to run on Intel Macs, Linux and, most importantly, Windows XP. If they do indeed succeed, Microsoft's strategy to entice upgrades to Vista by not allowing the newest games to run on XP is in at least some danger.

If Cody has indeed reverse-engineered DirectX 10's Geometry Shader (probably the key component) it is a great accomplishment. They have formed a company, I guess to monetize the work. You can view their site here.

It's an interesting project. We will have to see how they do.

Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 04-22-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 04-22-07. 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.

Remember Geek Meet 2007 is in two weeks in Boston MA. May 4-6 http://GeekMeet.OnComputers.info

Links from the Gregg Zone!

1) For my first offering this week I’m going to put up some thing I stumbled on earlier this month by accident. I was at a site I put up earlier looking at pictures, when I spotted something I thought I would make my desk top picture for a while (I change them often, easily bored I guess), anyway I was at http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/ the Astronomy Picture of the Day site. Looking thru the archives saw one titled The View from Everest; it’s a very cool panoramic picture from the top of Mt. Everest. You can scroll the view by using the right, left arrows. I found the view I wanted right clicked, and then save as desktop background. When I saw what was on the desk top I was pleasantly surprised, the entire panorama was squeezed on to the desk top with very good resolution. The well rounded mountains in the distance were extremely sharp peaks with clouds surrounding them like mist, a very surreal picture, I like it a lot. It is an instant conversation starter when I ask people if they can guess where it was taken. Then go to the site and show them the original.

2) The second one for the week for any one interested in science, and pictures. Ever wondered what a volcanic neck and dyke might look like, a hint Devils Tower from the Close Encounters movie is a volcanic neck. Or how about the difference between Lenticular clouds and Cirrus and Alto-Cumulus clouds, there are lots of pictures of different natural formations from the Lithosphere, Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, and Bio-sphere, all with a brief explanation about how it was formed, and links to more pictures of similar formations. http://www.regolith.com/

3) For the Art Bell types how about some pictures of the front, and rear gates at area 51, this site does not seem to be done by a professional, pretty basic picture presentation, but interesting to me because of the amateur feel of the site. There is some information there; I was taken by links to government acts about security. While they explained about trespassing, and photographs, they did not cover the use of deadly force which I had always heard about; I would be interested to read how they can justify killing people who stumble into the area, especially in the days when they said it did not exist. I heard about a guy searching for hidden government sites using Google Maps, and investigating the blocked out areas. Be interested to hear from anyone who might know more about this. Anyway here are the sites. http://www.lazygranch.com (front gate). http://www.lazygranch.com/(back gate)..

4) Last but certainly not lest, this has to be the best Space News site I have found they put up stories daily, usually only hours or minutes old. Lots of links to interesting space related sites. Well worth checking out this one if you are space oriented http://spacefellowship.com/

YouTube - Get down with your feeds!

YouTube - Get down with your feeds!

--MissM

Ziggurat Con - The World's First War Zone Game Convention? | Gamegrene.com

I hope/think we have some gamers that read this blog?? I wondered if anybody could contribute prizes or supplies to Ziggurat Con, the very first D&D convention/game day! Its June 9th, so you have to hurry, all the contact info is at the link, but I wanted to highlight the need:

Miss Joy Brown, an employee with KBR who works with MWR (the army’s Morale Welfare & Recreation Department) has graciously allowed service members to use part of the Community Activity Center to hold the Game Day. The Ping Pong room will be set up for RPGs (Role-Playing Games, not to be confused with the rocket propelled grenades which share the same acronym), and the DVD Movie room will be playing Anime Movies all day in support of the event.

"Miss Brown has expressed her support of the soldiers who are planning this event, and who keep her in the loop," said Amberson. "In many events, MWR does the running around, trying to get supplies and support; however, in this case, it is the service members themselves who are contacting the publishers and manufacturers. This makes it a real event for the service members, by the service members."

The largest problem with running a Con in Iraq, of course, is that there are no local stores or game publishers, and few game books on the post. Even dice are in short supply, with many soldiers breaking the unwritten taboo held by many gamers and (gasp!) sharing dice. Thankfully, many game publishers have also lent their support, and have agreed to supply game products to help the Con along. aethereal FORGE, Sovereign Press, Final Redoubt Press, Goodman Games, Paizo Publishing and Steve Jackson Games are among those that have thrown in their support for the convention. But Amberson indicated that the soldiers could definitely use more.

"This convention is currently in drastic need of prizes and giveaways for the troops," he said. "Everything donated will go directly to the troops, or to MWR to use as loaner books for the soldiers."

For more information, contact SPC David Amberson at the following address: david.amberson (at) iraq.centcom.mil

Ziggurat Con - The World's First War Zone Game Convention? | Gamegrene.com
--MissM

Michael Dell's Linux choice? Ubuntu

Another tip of the [proverbial] hat to Curtis for this one.

I'm not sure why people are surprised that Michael Dell is running a Linux box. Dell is in a spot of a slump and their prospective clients are clamoring for Linux on Dell's products. So he's bound to be checking things out. Any good CEO would, and he is surely that.

I hope Ubuntu is one of the distributions Dell chooses, if indeed they advance past selling "Linux compatible" machines and actually choose one or more flavors of Linux. And for those of you who are not inclined toward Ubuntu, don't worry. You'll be guaranteed the hardware for your favorite distro to use.

Jack

Home Users: Windows XP Returns | Direct2Dell - Dell's Blog

This is a great example of the right ways to have a two way conversation with the customer. Dell has a "digg style" site called IdeaStorm that allows customers to vote on suggestions. The most recent change made as a result of IdeaStorm was giving the option to have XP or XP Pro installed (in the U.S. only) instead of Vista. Very interesting development both for Dell and Microsoft, but in different directions...

Home Users: Windows XP Returns | Direct2Dell - Dell's Blog
--MissM
my shared google reader items:

Open Source alternatives to Adobe Creative Suite

Many thanks to our listener and friend, Curtis, for this one.

With the list price of Adobe's Creative Suite 3 (CS3) at $2499 USD (yes, that's correct, though upgrades from previous versions are much less) there is a need for alternatives. Admittedly, these won't give you 100% of CS3's functions, but they come reasonably close and you ought to be able to find workarounds for any additional ones you need. I can do a few additional steps in order to save all that dough. I imagine a lot of you feel the same.

This blog lists a lot of alternatives, both for Windows and Linux, and some for Macs, too. Enjoy all that money you save. Send me some.

Jack

Babel Linux distro is all spin and costs a bob or two

It had to happen sooner or later. A Linux distribution that is all about fleecing the user. As the article says; it's easy enough to get everything Babel Linux offers for free. So steer clear unless you simply cannot resist.

Jack

Savenetradio.org

This is important to everybody that listens to ANYthing on the internet. They want to increase the royalties on all music played on the internet, PER listener.

From the About page:

At the request of the Recording Industry Association of America, the CRB ignored the fact that Internet radio royalties were already double what satellite radio pays, and multiplied the royalties even further. The 2005 royalty rate was 7/100 of a penny per song streamed; the 2010 rate will be 19/100 of a penny per song streamed. And for small webcasters that were able to calculate royalties as a percentage of revenue in 2005 – that option was quashed by the CRB, so small webcasters’ royalties will grow exponentially!

We like our free radio (ask Joe how many listeners contribute), but the RIAA is trying to contro, or stifle, every outlet for their product monopoly.
We can't afford this. If you like to listen to music on the internet click on the link and sign the petition. I don't believe we would be affected, but you never know. The place that I like to listen to online music is Pandora, its excellent!

--MissM

Savenetradio.org

SANS isc:Update on Microsoft DNS vulnerability

From The Internet Storm Center
"We received a couple of e-mails over the weekend asking us why this vulnerability was significant. Most public DNS servers should not be listening on the RPC ports, after all. Indeed, networks obliging to basic secure perimeter design would only allow port 53 UDP/TCP to the authorative DNS servers, and definitely not the additional RPC ports required for exploitation."
SANS Internet Storm Center; Cooperative Network Security Community - Internet Security - isc
--MissM

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 04-15-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 04-15-07. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.

Remember GeekMeet 2007 is May 4-6 in Boston MA Join us!

Microsoft: Word 2007 crashes are a feature, not bug

This one speaks for itself. Read it and weep!

Jack

Links from the Gregg Zone!

1) To start off this time I thought you might have heard this story as a lot of people thought it was just an urban myth, it has been around for a while about a guy who attached thirty-five helium filled weather balloons to a lawn chair and took off to 20,000 feet over LAX. Well I found the site if you are interested, even has the cb radio audio between him, his wife, the air port, and police. News reports, maps, and anything else you might want to check into. http://www.markbarry.com/

2) Sparked by the first site I decided to check into the availability of flight using this principle, it occurred to me that with somebody making news doing this, it seemed that if he did not copy somebody else, somebody would copy him. What I found was the Cloud Hopper, a personal balloon system on a back pack. Fly around, land, and then you just pack it on to the back-pack and walk out. Wish I was a little younger, I’d like to try it, its not a scary kind of I don’t want to, it’s more the hiking out. The guy at this site really makes it sound like a lot of fun, check it out http://www.cloudhopper.org/

3) Well I suppose since this is a computer tech show, I should try to put up some of the show related stuff, when I run across it, even if I have very little understanding of just what it is, or how it works. This site qualifies for that line of thought. It seems there is a group of folks out there who like to build stuff for their computers on the cheap, and at the same time do their little bit to save the land fills. I found this interesting as I remember doing the can and string bit when I was a kid. http://www.turnpoint.net

4) We had a sick Joe in the house this week at the time of this writing we still do not have a definitive answer to the cause, however during the process of dealing with the issue I ran across a site that might be of value to some of you out there. Joe was convinced that there might have a correlation between one of his new prescriptions, the timing was just to close. I was worried about a possible interaction with one of his other medications, so I did a search on the net. I came up with this, a site where you just type in the name of all your drugs in one list and it searches for any problems, and/or interactions, they also give advice in a general way. http://www.drugs.com/

Interesting things found while surfing the internets

1. NASA was able to estimate the size of a Black Hole based on Chandra Exploratory's view of the galaxy. This is very impressive AND it gives me an option to put a picture on this post. ;) More pictures of NGC 1365.

2. Mark Russinovich, formerly of Sysinternals and rootkit detection fame, now working at Microsoft, wrote recently about botnets, and the logical progression of email vulnerabilities. I found it pretty scary myself, and wanted to alert the readers of the blog. Mark writes:

Botnets by Email

I make no effort to hide my email address, which means that I know the instant a new email-based virus, phishing attack, or penny-stock-pumping scam launches when my inbox floods. Most such emails are easy to distinguish from legitimate emails because of their lack of personalization, poor grammar, or low-quality images that attempt to foil spam filters. On occasion, however, I get a message that causes me to examine it a little more closely in order to make sure it’s junk. I also look out for ones that might trick unsophisticated users.

BotNet exploration

3. From BoingBoing, I see a job that might interest some. Cory Doctorow writes:

The Free Software Foundation, a nonprofit that manages the GPL copyleft license and promotes the use of free software, is hiring a new campaigns manager. This looks like a sweet gig!

"The Campaigns Manager implements the FSF communications strategy and works as part of a team to develop and implement issue campaigns and community resources, acting as a spokesperson on matters of software freedom. The Campaigns Manager handles writing, editing, speaking, and research related to these activist and program efforts; coordinates the GNU Chief Webmaster and the other webmaster volunteers to develop FSF and GNU web sites; plans and implements proposals to increase fundraising; and serves as a main point of contact between the Foundation and the free software community."

Details

--MissM

E-Eye Zero Day Tracker

It's time to check for "zero day" vulnerabilities again.

It's no coincidence that we just had Patch Tuesday and these things pop up. Some security researchers intentionally release them then.

Anyway; this is not a particularly bad report. There are things there of which you need to be aware, but none of them are overly alarming.

Jack

Want the old Office ‘Classic Menus’ back in Office 2007?

I can't figure out if this is some sort of karmic extortion or just plain sad. But after paying all that money for whatever version of Office 2007, you can pay $29.95 to Addintools of Hai Nan, China for an application that reverses all the "ribbon" menu changes MS has made and gives you more conventional menus back.

Anyway; the link above will take you to something of a mini-review. It seems to work and I know more than one person who will welcome this.

Jack

AVG Anti-Rootkit Free

I have not tested this application at all. Still, the AVG folks are reliable and don't ever seem to release untested or overly buggy stuff, so it's probably worth downloading and testing.

Rootkits are, after all, a growing menace. They often go undetected by anti-virus or other anti-malware applications because their signatures have not appeared in the wild before and so are not included in the application's signature database, against which it compares executable code to detect virii, etc. This application may be just what we need for anti-rootkit protection.

Jack

Dreaming in the "Cloud" with the XIOS web operating system

XIOS is an "operating system that runs in a web browser". I'm not entirely sure what that means, as one still has to have a "native" OS on one's machine to support the browser itself.

Nevertheless, this is an interesting concept though, as the article points out, it's hard to see where XIOS fits in the scheme of things. I thought you might like to see this Ars Technica mini review of it.

Jack

Experts: Microsoft should consider change in patching process

I agree with this article.

The recent .ANI vulnerability had been known to MS since last December. I don't understand why they did not produce a patch sooner. They have the resources to move faster. Of that I am sure. Yet they don't. So, a lot of people were affected by something they could have patched in the normal course of events, if only they had pried open their wallet and invested in enough staff to get on the problem in a timely manner.

Jack

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 04-08-07

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 04-08-07. 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.

Remember GeekMeet 2007 is in Boston this year. If you are coming send an email to GeekMeet07@OnComputers.info

Testing shared Google reader posts

--MissM

"Links from the Gregg Zone!"

1) One of the things I like most about cruising around the internet is
bumping into things I really know nothing or very little about. Some times good, sometimes not so good, or in this case a little scary. I personally have never heard of Codex Alimentarius, nor was I particularly worried when I googled their main site it looked innocent enough, the only thought I had was the site seemed very well set up. Then I looked at the site I have listed here, watched the video, clicked around some and found some strange and seriously worrisome information, want to follow my tracks click on the
Article- Nutricide: The killing camps of Codex Alimentarius link under news, then the download full pdf file. Reads like a James Bond spy novel complete with Nazi world domination plots to control the world food supply. I have not decided what I believe about this whole thing, but if even a little is true it is scary. http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/index.php

2) I'm always looking for another useless time wasting pastime, I kind
of like collecting something, and I kind of miss the chase when nothing is available. I'm camped out at Joe's house for a while need to think about what I can take home with me, on the plane, weight and all. So I have started something new I have decided to start collecting one dollar bill origami. Here is a link for the first one I found, a bow tie, if you know of any more please let me know.
http://www.metacafe.com


3) I thought I would do a quick up date on the pet food recall as it
seems to be lingering in the news, while looking for an update I ran into this site. This is the place to check in if you are concerned about any thing like this regarding your pets. Here they even have copies of the notification papers to vets, what to look for in the way of symptoms, treatment, and other recalls not getting the media attention, also info on the legal end of the issue if you were damaged by the problem.
http://www.avma.org/default.asp

4) I have been reminded several times that this is Easter Sunday I
thought I would post a site for Easter eggs. That is the tech type, for those not familiar with them in the context of software (get that Cadbury Bunny out of your head!), an Easter Egg is a hidden feature or novelty that the programmers have put in their software. In general, it is any hidden, entertaining thing that a creator hides in their creation only for their own personal reasons. This can be anything from a hidden list of the developers, to hidden commands, to jokes, to funny animations. You'd be surprised just how many things contain Easter Eggs. This site has 10,357 so far 61 new ones in the last two weeks. You can even add new ones you may find, have fun http://www.eeggs.com/ .

5) Just a quickie for the Art Bell types. For those who know about the
Princeton Egg's, the site has changed some since I was there. For those who are not familiar you might check it out. It is an experiment in global consciousness set up by Princeton University back in 1998 using random generators it has been running continually for almost ten years now. Seem to have recorded most of the major events, 9-11, the tsunami, major earthquakes and more, days and hours before the event happens. The site is broken down into two areas, 1) Scientific work, and 2) The Aesthetic View, very interesting site, the dot shows coherence, that's new green good, red duck, and run. http://noosphere.princeton.edu/index.html

UK firm claims 100 per cent no-spam guarantee

UK firm ClearMyMail guarantees they will stop all spam with sophisticated filtering techniques. It's a bold claim, but tempting enough that I am wondering if they sell the service to Americans.

Along the same notion, a UK man who successfully sued a spammer over a single email message has set up a site here encouraging people to sue spammers. They're interesting and, frankly, I have wondered if I should not get involved with suing spammers as a nice way to increase my income.

Jack

eXtreme Power Supply Calculator

Extreme Outer Vision has cobbled a database of various hardware bits into a power usage calculator that you can use to make a pretty decent estimate of how much power a given system will take.

Something like this is long overdue, in my less than humble opinion, and according to friends and other journalists, the results obtainable from this are much more accurate than one might think, which probably means they've done their homework. With systems taking more and more power as time goes by, a tool like this will tell you how big a power supply you will need on that new 32 core system.

Enjoy,
Jack