Archive for October, 2008

Microsoft Releases RPC Patch Out of Cycle

Today Microsoft released a very important patch. It’s very rare that they deviate from their standard patch schedule and this patch was apparently one of those rare cases. The problem is reported to affect file sharing through the Windows Server service using a flaw in their implementation of RPC. Windows systems from Windows 2000 to Vista and even Server 2008 are vulnerable. If you are unfortunate enough to to be running Windows, please patch right away. I’m not a doom-and-gloom kind of guy, but when discussing RPC zero-day vulnerabilities, all I have to mention is “Blaster worm”. The update can be found via Windows Update.

Tags:
Filed under News : Comments (2) : Oct 23rd, 2008

Tweaking Vista to be ‘Great’?

Recently OSnews linked to an article on tweaking Windows Vista to be “great” from PC Magazine. Now, Windows tweaking tips are all fine and dandy, but this article struck me as odd. The tagline of the article goes like this:

Windows Vista is everyone’s favorite tech punching bag, and not without reason. But the reviled operating system has some amazing potential and with some tweaks and a few utilities, you can do what Redmond didn’t: make Vista great.

Hmm, sounds a little funny to me, but let’s move on. An even more surprising comment comes in the second second paragraph of the article:

Surprisingly, most of Vista’s annoyances are fixable. If you’re willing to roll up your sleeves and do some tweaking, you can turn Vista into a pretty great OS.

Wait, let’s back this fanboy train up. What just happened here? This seems awful reminiscent of comments I’ve read from Linux users of the days of old. We used to hear something like, “Linux is very powerful as long as you’re willing to learn it”. Windows fans for years have been scoffing Linux saying that it’s either too difficult or has annoyances that have to be overcome before using it, and that’s why you should continue to use Windows. So, when did this happen? Are we really reading articles from PC magazines about how Windows could be great if you know how to tweak it? And why hasn’t Apple (or some Linux distro) jumped all over this? 

The main reason that I would have for choosing a proprietary, commercial operating system over an open one would be so that I don’t have to tweak it to make it “great”! Of course, we all know (or will soon find out) that nothing comes to us for free. We either pay for the software by literally purchasing the license and/or support, or we spend the time to learn a community-supported operating system and “spend” our money that way. Given articles like this that PC Magazine thinks you need to tweak Vista to make it “great”, it amazes me that Microsoft is still a real contender in the operating system market.

Tags: ,
Filed under Tech Trends : Comments (0) : Oct 22nd, 2008

Googles Do It Too

Silver bullet syndrome has struck again. This time in the form of Google Android fans. Apple has taken a lot of flack from the media and blogosphere lately over its attempts to control what applications can be installed on its devices. Of course, this all comes just before the release of the Google Android-based phone. For months we’ve been listening and reading about how the Android will be an answer to the iPhone after all this controversy. It would seem, however, that Google either hasn’t learned from or drinks the same Kool-aid as Apple. The Register points out that Google states very clearly in the terms and conditions that Google has the capability to remotely remove applications from the phones:

Google may discover a product that violates the developer distribution agreement … in such an instance, Google retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion.

[ad#ad-1]

Okay, so Google was a bit more open about its policies. I’ll give them that. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter if you walk in to a bank with a gun in plain sight or steal the money secretly over the web: you’re still guilty of the crime. I’m tired of hearing about the Android as the answer to everyones woes. Please don’t take this as an anti-Google entry.. I am simply becoming tiresome of people claiming the Android as the iPhone but without the limitations. Just like the Apple iPhone, yes the Google Android is less than completely open. I’m sorry to those who thought the grass was going to be greener on the other side.

Tags: , , ,
Filed under Tech Trends : Comments (1) : Oct 16th, 2008

FTC Shuts Down Spammers

E-mail administrators around the world are rejoicing after a large spam-sending organization was caught and shut down today. The Federal Trade Commission was able to make a federal court freeze funds of the group known as HerbalKing which at once point was said to be responsible for approximately one-third of spam. Spam has been estimated as being 90% of all e-mail traffic. While the freeze probably will not actually affect spam traffic as a whole, it is definitely the largest of its kind.

Most spam, including the messages sent by HerbalKing are sent using groups of computers containing malware called botnets. It’s likely that after HerbalKing is shut down that another spam group will take over this botnet and use it to send spam, but it could be a sign progress on the anti-spam front from law enforcement.

Tags:
Filed under News : Comments (0) : Oct 14th, 2008

Windows 7 Name Announced

Microsoft has officially announced that the next version of its operating system originally codenamed ‘Windows 7′ will indeed be called Windows 7 once released. Microsoft has used a variety of ways to name its operating systems over the years, including version numbers. They’ve used version numbers such as Windows 3.1, years the OS was released such as Windows 98 or 2000, or other names such as ‘XP’ or ‘Vista’. They’ve even used a combination such as in Windows NT 4. Incrementing versions from NT 4 until version 7 is a bit confusing since Windows 2000 was version 5.0 and XP 5.1 or 5.2. Microsoft has stated simplicity as one of the core reasons for the decision. My personal favorite was in one of the comments on the blog entry: “Windows Vista NT” – to remind us it’s not the old Vista.

Tags: ,
Filed under News : Comments (0) : Oct 14th, 2008

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »