Thoughts and links from the crew of the On Computers Radio Show as we wander the Web.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Userful Multi-Station Software
Now, a company called "Userful" has software to manage things easily and reliably. No more custom setups.
Think about this for a minute. Not all, and in fact most users probably don't actually need an entire PC. This is ever more true when the desktop computers available to us are growing in power and capacity as fast as they are. Got 3 kids? Why do they each need a computer? Build one killer machine and implement Userful's stuff and you will probably end up saving money, trouble and stop that terrible hair loss that affects us older guys.
Give it a look.
Jack
The Gregg Zone !!
1) Are you or have you been interested in Seti? Been involved with the “Seti at home project”? Maybe you were involved in the star-dust at home project helping to sort out the dust p
2) This site is something I found after watching a program on T.V., the show was called “The Boy Who Sees with Sound”, I think it was on the science channel; anyway it was about human echolocation. This was something I had heard about some time ago, but it had dropped off my radar because of time, and other interests. When I saw the program on the tube it raised my curiosity to the point of a google search. You can see the 25 min. video here, and also learn more about what has to be one of the most interesting subjects I have seen in a while. Being sighted all my life makes it very difficult to imagine learning a technique involving the
3) The internet can help you keep in touch with some very interesting directions our society is headed in. A case in point the other day I ran across something called cultured meat, this term refers to growing meat in the lab. Evidently you could in theory feed an entire nation from only two cells. Eliminating most of the undesirable by-products produced by the raising meat, freeing agricultural land to feed people directly, rather than using an animal to turn the suns energy into food. No methane, no anti-biotic related problems, and much less transportation of support goods to keep the herds, the list of that type of advantage is very long indeed. And then one must consider the lack of need to kill, or mistreat animals. I can see several hours of future reading on the many issues this line of research brings to mind, from technical advancements to the ethics of cloning, creation, and the relationship to the animal consciousness groups. http://www.reuters.com .
4) Okay here we go full speed ahead, if you thought those sites were a little tame how about building your own replicater, yea that cool little dumb waiter kind of machine from star trek, that made what ever you ordered. I read a preliminary
Friday, July 13, 2007
Java flaw poses widespread security threat
Jack
Cell Phone Spying Service Leaking Data? - Security Fix
drat, they aren't the same size...
Wow this is scary, especially if you have a blackberry or windows mobile "smart" phones (sorry, couldn't help myself on the quotation marks lol)
The Washington Post Security Column elaborates on the issue:
"Last week, the geek news world was abuzz with news of a spying service that lets people intercept text messages, call logs, e-mails and other information from BlackBerry and Windows Mobile-equipped smart phones. But it appears the privacy threat is even bigger: According to evidence unearthed by at least one security researcher, the company that offers the intercept service has left its database freely viewable to anyone with a Web browser. "
Go read the rest of the details...
Cell Phone Spying Service Leaking Data? - Security Fix
--MissM
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Microsoft facing US$1.15bn Xbox 360 repair bill
The new warranty policy is not going to completely compensate (as an example) a user who has had to return their unit multiple times and been without it during those periods. I have to wonder if this increase in warranty coverage will be seen as sufficient by consumer protection agencies and lawyers. I predict there will be litigators flocking around this one and hearings in front of various consumer agencies.
Jack
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Mac OS X with 100 bugs: Still safer than Windows?
I send my clients and friends a little security newsletter from time to time to remind them of best practices and keep track of threats they need to know about. In it, I am still recommending the Mac OS X as safer than Windows.
Jack
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Firefox and IE together brew up security trouble | Tech news blog - CNET News.com
UPDATE: Blame them both.
That's the latest update from security researchers who initially laid the blame on Microsoft's Internet Explorer for the latest zero-day exploit that also can afflict those using the Firefox Web browser.
Users could face a "highly critical" risk if they have both IE and Firefox version 2.0, or later, loaded on their computer. The trouble begins when browsing a malicious site while using IE and it registers a "firefoxurl://" URI (uniform resource identifier) handler, which allows the browser to interact with specific resources on the Web. As a result, users may find their systems remotely compromised.
[snip]
"Firefox is the current attack vector, but Internet Explorer is to blame for not escaping...characters when passing on the input to the command line," said Larholm, in response to a reader's comments. "I agree that Firefox could have registered its URL handler with pure DDE (dynamic data exchange, the protocol for information exchange) instead and thereby have avoided the possibility of a command-line argument injection, but IE should still be able to safely launch external applications."
Firefox and IE together brew up security trouble | Tech news blog - CNET News.com
Some of my normal buttons are missing (dang link button won't work, or I'd post to Jack's post, yeah that's how its supposed to be done, check to see if its been posted before posting.:P) while I create this, but the link above has all the info.
--MissM
Critical Firefox security flaw discovered
This flaw looks like a real gem. No doubt the Mozilla folks are hot on the heels of this one. It will no doubt be repaired soon.
The original Secunia advisory is here for those of you with a masochistic bent.
Jack
Zone Alarm free for Vista out
Monday, July 09, 2007
Vista SP1 beta 1 to launch in mid-July | All about Microsoft | ZDNet.com
Lets see what this Service pack does for Vista.
AlaskaJoe
Microsoft readying Vista's first service pack beta for July release? - Engadget
Interestingly enough, "various unnamed sources" have purportedly stated that Microsoft is actually prepping Vista's very first service pack beta (aw, how cute) for a "mid-July release." To be precise, word on the street is pointing towards July 16th, but the final version of Vista SP1 isn't slated to land until "sometime in November."
Ok it really validates both versions of the rumor :)
Microsoft readying Vista's first service pack beta for July release? - Engadget
--MissM
Sunday, July 08, 2007
OnComputers Radio show Podcast 07-08-07
Links from the Gregg Zone!
1) To start off this round I thought I would put up a site that can help you sort out some of the crazier stuff we get sent to us. I have gotten so many emails, chain letters with the most unbelievable stuff, the example am using is a recent email I got about a mule attacking a mountain lion. The best way to check these out is either at snoops here is the link to the mule story. http://www.snopes.com Another good place to investigate these would be at About.com they had five versions of the letter, snoops had two, but included an interesting history. Here’s the about link. http://urbanlegends.about.com
2) This is for the people out there who like to use herbs, this is the best herb site I have found, lots of information with out the sales pitch I play here a lot and have not seen an ad for anything. If this is an area of interest to you will be glad you checked this out. http://www.henriettesherbal.com
3) Being here in
4) And to close it out for the week a little shot for the c2c group. If you are a fan I know you are familiar with this guest Dr. Turi, he was pretty accurate with his predictions. If you have not visited his site it has some interesting reading. http://www.drturi.com