Core 2 Extreme Quad Performance

ExtremeTech has gotten hold of one of the very first Intel quad core processors. The specs of the E670 are impressive, as are the results ET got out of it.

The article is filled with good information. Quad cores are almost here. Enjoy.

Jack

ATI's Linux drivers do not totally suck, shock

It's a tale about installing drivers for video under Linux. A cautionary tale, at that, and a series of reasons why average users probably won't cleave to Linux at home for a while, yet.

Jack

Project Vampire is about to Fly..

This is Rahul Sood's blog entry in which (toward the end) he announces the purchase of VooDoo PC by HP. He definitely likes to tell a story and I thought you would find it interesting. I did.

Jack

Friday fun! Check out the HD images of a sunken airship

This is cool, and just for fun, to try to start the weekend off right.
MercuryNews.com | 09/27/2006 | Scientists unveil high-definition images of huge airship sunk in 1935
--MissM

Symantec Lashes Out at Microsoft for Barring Vista Code Access

After a stretch of acting like a good corporate citizen by doing such things as promising not to sue over implementation of some web standards on which they hold patents, Microsoft is acting like, well, Microsoft. If Symantec's allegations are true, and even MS acknowleges they are, their behavior is back in anti-trust territory.

Dominance of a market should carry responsibility and not allow shennanigans like this.

Jack

Epos intros cheap handwriting recognition

Handwriting recognition is essential to some people's vision of future computing. It sure is to mine. This short article at The Inquirer will tell you about one such technology. The company, Epos, does not build anything, instead seeking to license the technology to others. I think they have a winner, here, and would love to have a sample.

There are others. I have a friend who programs for Electronic Arts, the game maker, here in the Dallas/Fort Worth, TX area. He tells me that within EA exists a very good pen recognition program that could be developed into a winning product, though he says the company probably won't do that. This is simply an offshoot of what they do for a living and is not seen as a product.

Further; rumor has it that Wacom, the tablet input people, will soon have a new tablet that has enough memory to be used without a PC for dozens of pages of dense text, then uploaded to the computer via encrypted BlueTooth or unencrypted USB/Firewire, depending on your preference. Combined with good handwriting recognition, this could be a killer app for a lot of people, myself included.

Interesting times, eh?

Jack

LivePC Engine and BetaGarage

Everyone knows about LiveCDs by now. At least I think they do. Well, here is a system based on VMWare's excellent technology that allows one to run different virtual machines for any purpose. They have Haiku, Linux and other virtual installations for download now and it seems as if developers are working hard to make more. There is even a "Christian" edition of Ubuntu GNU/Linux and a child safe desktop.

It is worth checking out. This is one possible shape of the personal computing future.

Jack

Microsoft fixes urgent VML problem

Go get it now boys and girls.

Langa Blog: Microsoft Releases IE Security Patch Early

Courtesy of Fred Langa's Blog, MS released a patch for the VML exploit documented by all of us (that post anyway :P ). This is the first I've seen of it, and wanted to post the update, ASAP. Go get it! Now!

Langa Blog: Microsoft Releases IE Security Patch Early
The Internet Explorer patch to fix a Vector Markup Language (VML) security hole (which we blogged this morning, saying that Microsoft may release it early) has now been released. Get the update here. Learn more about it here.

GO HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE LANGALIST E-NEWSLETTER!
--MissM

"IE for Linux" hack offers one more reason not to boot Windows

My neighbor, who is a fervent Windows and IE user quipped that this is what happens when sick minds are not occupied properly.

According to all reports, it works. You can run IE in many versions on your Linux machine, provided only that you have the wine libraries and common runtimes installed. So, you would not have to boot to Windows to see how your web site looks in IE or to access web apps that rely on ActiveX.

I will try it soon and report.

Jack

Spyware, Bots, Rootkits Flooding Through Unpatched IE Hole

Yet another IE hole. This one is gaping and the workarounds I have seen are not particularly impressive. MS will have to patch quickly, and it will not be in time, as so many machines are already infected.

Also, there is now an exploit that takes advantage of legitimate features in Adobe's Acrobat Reader which requires no user interaction, other than opening what appears to be a legitimate PDF file.

It's not safe out there and it is getting worse. I'll bet the Mac users are in such a smug state right now that they can hardly stand it.

Jack

On Computers Radio Show Podcast 09-24-06

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 09-24-06. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.

NTI Offers One Day Free Download of New USB Storage Partitioning, Encryption Software

Thought we'd get you this over the weekend so you could (hopefully) post it on Monday to alert everyone NTI is launching the new NTI Ninja USB device protection software with a free 1-day download...yes FREE!!!

You want a review copy? Hey we can get you the software early (ok one lousy
day but hey???) Let us know if you need anything else -- A

Free Tuesday

NTI Offers One Day Free Download of New USB Storage Partitioning, Encryption Software


Starting at midnight tonight, NewTech Infosystems (NTI) will be making their new Ninja software - a USB data storage and protection software solution - available
free on their web site, www.ntius.com . Unlike most fixed
partition USB software, NTI Ninja allows users to adjust the size of their public and private partitions on their portable storage device. In addition, the software provides users with complete storage area anti-tamper encryption and password protection.

The new software was developed to meet the dramatic increase in today's mobile workforce, the increased use of USB storage devices and the need to protect content and data from being stolen or compromised on the small, portable devices.

To kickoff Ninja protection, the company will make the software available free at the firm's website tomorrow (September 26). After that -- the software that works with Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP operating systems - will have a suggested retail price of $24.95.

NTI Ninja allows users to adjust the size of their private and public workspaces on virtually any USB flash or hard drive device to meet their specific storage requirements.

To ensure private and sensitive information is not compromised even if the device is lost or stolen, NTI Ninja includes core encryption and password protection.


The password protection and encryption application complies with the Advanced
Encryption Standard (AES), the government- and corporate-grade encryption standard.
The 128-bit AES encryption prevents brute force password protection of the user's
private storage areas while providing free, easy access to the public storage
space on the USB device. Individuals can use the software on USB flash and hard
drives as well as SD cards, cell and smartphones, iPods and MP3 Players.

Users can reformat the storage device at any time to meet changing requirements.


For your free copy of NTI Ninja download it tomorrow (September 26) at www.ntius.com
. After that…$24.95!