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*HOT* Tech News And Downloads, I Would Read This Thread And Post Any Good Info
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AfterDawn Addict
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6. March 2007 @ 08:50 |
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Music Service Lets Customers Set Prices
By Ed Oswald, BetaNews
March 6, 2007, 12:04 PM
Amie Street has signed a deal with Nettwerk Music Group that will bring several major bands to a music service without DRM, and where popularity determines the price. But the first order of business appears to be obtaining more bandwidth.
Attempts by BetaNews to connect to Amie Street resulted in waiting times for page loads of one minute or more - and in some cases not at all. Much of the issues could be likely attributed to its Nettwerk announcement.
The agreement will bring DRM-free music from several major acts, a large portion of them in the electronic genre. The first album to be made available through the agreement with Nettwerk is the Barenaked Ladies' Barenaked Ladies Are Men.
Amie Street has been around since last July, however up until recently it had only dealt with independent acts. With the addition of material from labels, the visibility of the site is likely to increase dramatically.
Over the next several months, the entire Nettwerk catalog will be uploaded, which includes acts like Avril Lavigne, BT, Dieselboy, Gabriel & Dresden, Junior Jack, Paul Van Dyk, Sarah McLachlan, and Tiesto, among others.
Pricing of each song is directly determined by its popularity on the service. All tracks start out at free, and rise to a top price of 98 cents. Thus, less popular tracks would be cheaper, and popular ones more expensive. Amie Street keeps 30 percent of the final price, while the remainder goes to the artist or label. Unlike other services, purchased songs have no copyright protection.
"The price increases work based on a market penetration equation. Right now it takes a little under 100 buys for a song to get to 98 cents. We are talking with many different record labels of all sizes and are excited about bringing on their content in the future," an Aime Street spokesperson told BetaNews. "Yet some of the best selling songs on Amie Street have come from unsigned artists and we will continue to improve on being the best discovery engine for new music."
DRM is becoming an increasingly divisive issue in the music industry, especially since Apple CEO Steve Jobs came out against it a month ago in an open letter on the Apple Web site.
Labels like EMI have been reported to be considering moving their catalog to DRM-less MP3, and many executives reportedly think the current structure is too restrictive. However, not much movement has been seen in getting rid of copyright protection.
http://www.betanews.com/article/Music_Se...ices/1173200684
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AfterDawn Addict
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6. March 2007 @ 10:03 |
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Quote:
Switching Your Systems to the New DST
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 2007-03-06 15:40:56 UTC, submitted by editingwhiz
If you live in the United States, you are probably affected by a law passed by Congress in 2005 which turned the daylight savings system upside-down. Computers are, obviously, affected by this as well. Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols explains how to update your Linux computers to the new DST rules: "To make sure your Linux system knows when DST is, this year and ever on, you need to update your zoneinfo file, or replace it with one that contains the new rules." In addition, even though Apple has provided a fix for Mac OS X, this fix does not work for Macs running 10.3.9 or lower. Apple does provide a fix. This is where a freeware utility also comes into play.
Switching your Linux systems to the new DST
"Spring forward; Fall back," That's the way the saying goes. Some years I get it backwards, but I eventually catch on. I've never had to worry about my PCs getting it wrong before, though. Now, with the recent changes in the Daylight Savings Time (DST) rules, I do.
Fortunately, there are ways to make sure that both my Linux computers and I get the new rules right.
Spread the word:
digg this story
Until now, most of us in the U.S. would set our clocks forward an hour in April and back an hour in October. However, in 2005, Congress passed the Energy Policy Act, which amended the Uniform Time Act of 1966. This turned our old, reliable Daylight Savings Time completely inside-out. The change goes into effect this year.
From now on, instead of DST starting on the first Sunday in April, it starts on the second Sunday of March. (This year, that's March 11.) Come Fall, Daylight Savings will end on the first Sunday in November -- November 4, this year -- instead of the last Sunday of October.
That means one big mess for many pre-2005 programs and operating systems, which have the old April/October DST rules hardwired into them.
Now, unlike Windows, Linux and the rest of the Unix operating system family don't have Daylight Savings Time innately. Instead, they use an entirely different way of telling time.
Most Linux systems have two clocks. The hardware clock, a.k.a. the "CMOS clock," is present in most x86-based systems. The CMOS, a battery-backed time clock located on the motherboard, runs 24/7. The system clock, on the other hand, starts when you boot up your system. This is the clock used by most internal Linux programs and Linux applications.
By default, the system clock takes its cue from the CMOS. A far better way to set up the system clock, if you have an Internet connection (and who doesn't?), is to use a program like ntpd. This program uses the NTP (network time protocol) to obtain the correct time from an NTS (network time server).
Some older Linux and Unix systems required you to use a program called ntpdate to actually set the time manually. Now, that functionality is included in the ntpd package.
The system clock, no matter how you update it, doesn't keep time the way most of us do. For Linux, the universe began at midnight UTC (a.k.a. Coordinated Universal Time), or 12:00 a.m. on Jan. 1, 1970. The system clock tells time by counting the number of seconds since the Linux "universe" began. This method of telling time is referred to as the Unix Epoch.
(As an aside, since most computers store the Epoch's number of seconds as a 32-bit signed integer, the "End of Time" will come at 03:14:07 UTC on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2038. That, however, is a problem for another day.)
Notice something missing? In all this talk of timekeeping, there's no mention of DST -- or of time zones, for that matter. That's because Linux doesn't track those with its time programs. Instead, Linux stores its time zone and DST information in the specific file, /usr/share/zoneinfo. Older Linux systems may store the information in the file, /usr/lib/zoneinfo, instead. The local time zone and DST are both determined by a symbolic link to /etc/localtime.
To make sure your Linux system knows when DST is, this year and ever on, you need to update your zoneinfo file, or replace it with one that contains the new rules.
If you've been keeping your system updated, most modern Linuxes will have automatically updated your computer with the correct DST information. If you haven't updated your computer for a while with the latest patches, do it now.
Some (but not all) Linux and Unix distributions give instructions on how to use their update tools to set your system up with the new DST. The ones we're aware of at this time are AIX, Debian Testing, Debian Unstable, FreeBSD, Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise, Red Hat Linux, and Solaris.
Once you've done that, it's time to check to see if you have the right DST settings. How do you make sure? Unfortunately, you can't just look at your zoneinfo files; they're not human-readable.
Instead, you need to use the zdump command from a shell interface. Zdump prints the current time in each zonename named on the command line. For our purposes, you'll need to run the following command:
zdump -v /etc/localtime | grep 2007
If you don't get any result from the zdump command, your system may need you to specify your time zone information.
For example,
$ zdump -v /etc/localtime EST5EDT | grep 2007
is what you would use for the U.S. Eastern time zone. If you're in the Central time zone, use CST6CDT; in the Mountain time zone use MST7MDT; and in the Pacific time zone, use PST8PDT.
If your system is set up properly, it will return a display that starts with two lines containing "Sun Mar 11". If, instead, you see a pair of lines with "Sun Apr 1" within them, you'll need to do a manual update.
This will take a little time at your shell interface, but it's not difficult.
First, use your Web browser to check for the most up-to-date time zone and DST information files at the site:
ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/
When I checked on it, on March 5, the most current data file was tzdata2007c.tar.gz.
Next, if you don't have a directory you already use for temporary files and downloads, set one up. A good name for such a directory in this case might be tzdata. You can make this directory, and then move to it with the following commands:
$ mkdir tzdata
$ cd txdata
Now, download it to your system with at FTP utility. If nothing else, you almost certainly have a copy of wget. Run:
$ wget ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/tzdata2007c.tar.gz
Once you have the file in hand, decompress it with an archive utility such as tar:
$ tar -xzvf tzdata2007c.tar.gz
Now that you have the chronological information you need, it's time to put it in the proper format. You can either switch to the root user, or use the sudo command, to run the following:
# zic -d zoneinfo northamerica
# cd zoneinfo
# cp -r * /usr/share/zoneinfo/
Zic will transform the data into the form Linux needs; and the other commands will copy the new information to the proper directory. If you're using an older version of Linux, you may need to place the file in that directory like so:
# cp -r * /usr/lib/zoneinfo/
All done? Now, let's check to make sure we're set up properly with the new DST by going back and using our zdump routine again:
zdump -v /etc/localtime | grep 2007
All set? Great! I told you it wasn't too hard.
The final touch is to make sure all your daemon services know about the DST change. Many important background applications, like sendmail, postfix, and BIND named, only load /etc/localtime -- that is, they only check the date and time -- when they're starting up. Rather than track such applications down, the best thing to do is to simply reboot the system. That way, all the services will start fresh, with the correct DST time information safely locked into your CMOS clock.
At this point, your PC should be fine until either Congress changes the DST rules again, or we reach the Epoch. Here's hoping that it will be the Epoch, and not another government mandated time change.
Hey, look on the bright side: at least it's not Y2K!
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS6300294422.html
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AfterDawn Addict
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6. March 2007 @ 10:28 |
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Hollywood reports record revenues
p2pnet.net news:- Hollywood is practically in its death throes, according to MPAA boss Dan Glickman.
His employers, Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, Sony, NBC Universal and Disney, are beset on all sides by counterfeiters, file sharers and Montreal-based crooks with camcorders, he cries at every opportunity, painting tragic pictures of out-of-work support workers and revenue losses in the billions of dollars.
So just how terrible is it?
Well actually, things aren't too bad at all. In fact, they're pretty darned good and ironically, it's the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) which says so.
In its annual theatrical market statistics report, global film audiences, "boosted the worldwide box office to an all-time high of $25.8 billion, compared to 23.3 billion in 2005," an 11% increase, crows Hollywood's MPAA delightedly.
The US box office, "rebounded in 2006 to finish the year at $9.49 billion in revenues compared to $8.99 billion in 2005 - a 5.5% increase from the previous year, with 1.45 billion movie tickets sold in the U.S., ending a three-year downward trend in ticket sales," it says.
In 2006, 63 films grossed more than $50 million at the box office, a 12.5% increase from the previous year, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man?s Chest exceeded the $400 million mark.
And far from seeing a drop in the number of movies produced because of hard times, Hollywood output, "has been steadily growing over the last several years with total releases topping another all time high of 607 in 2006, compared to 549 in 2005, an 11% increase," says the MPAA, adding:
"Movies continue to be the overwhelming choice for entertainment drawing more people to movie theaters than theme parks and the major professional sports leagues combined."
Don't trouble to stay tuned.
Slashdot Slashdot it!
Also See:
crooks with camcorders - Hollywood muscles Canada, March 6, 2007
The Toronto Star - Canada has most positive image worldwide: Survey, March 5, 2007
http://p2pnet.net/story/11552
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 6. March 2007 @ 10:29
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Senior Member
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7. March 2007 @ 15:55 |
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Wine titan Ernest Gallo dead at 97
Ernest Gallo, with his brother Julio, took a debt-ridden family vineyard and turned their name into a worldwide wine icon. Family wealth was estimated at $1.2 billion. He died Tuesday at age 97.
By JOHN HOLLAND, J.N. SBRANTI and TIM MORAN
BEE STAFF WRITERS
Last Updated: March 7, 2007, 02:22:35 PM PST
Ernest Gallo, who with his brother Julio built their Modesto winery into an international powerhouse, died Tuesday. He was 97.
Gallo died early in the afternoon of natural causes, surrounded by family at his Modesto home, company spokeswoman Susan Hensley said.
The brothers founded E.&J. Gallo Winery as Prohibition ended in 1933, using $5,900 and a winemaking pamphlet from the Modesto Public Library to produce their first batch in a shed at Ninth and D streets. The winery grew to become the world's largest by volume, a title since taken by Constellation Brands of New York. Gallo remains second, selling an estimated 75 million cases a year worldwide under about 100 labels.
"My brother Julio and I worked to improve the quality of wines from California and to put fine wine on American dinner tables at a price people could afford," Gallo told The Bee on the occasion of his 90th birthday in 1999. "We also worked to improve the reputation of California wines here and overseas."
The Gallo fortune stood at an estimated $1.2 billion a year ago, Forbes magazine reported. He was involved well into his 90s in the company, which is family-owned.
Industry and community leaders Tuesday recalled Gallo's charitable spirit as well as his impact on the wine business.
"We've really lost a giant," said Bette Belle Smith, a longtime colleague in Modesto-area causes. "He was part of the landscape, a very vital part of our landscape. What an impact he made on this community, this era."
The Gallo family provided a $10 million endowment for the Gallo Center for the Arts, set to open in downtown Modesto this fall, and supported health care, education and other causes.
The winery long was known for its low-priced jug wines from the valley, but it added premium brands, notably the Gallo of Sonoma line, in the past few decades.
"Mr. Gallo and his brother were true pioneers," said Robert Koch, president of The Wine Institute. "They built their company from scratch, and in turn were instrumental in building the American wine industry. It's a wonderful American success story."
In a statement, Gov. Schwarzenegger said, "Ernest's entrepreneurial spirit and extraordinary innovation made him instrumental in establishing California as a world leader in winemaking."
Julio Gallo, who died in a Jeep accident in 1993, oversaw the vineyards and winemaking. Ernest Gallo handled sales with tenacity, visiting stores unannounced to see if the wine was getting good display.
Although reluctant to discuss the company in detail with the media, Ernest Gallo was a pioneer of wine advertising on television. He also led the way in establishing national and global sales forces.
Until as late as last year, Gallo would drop in occasionally at the office he kept at winery headquarters off Yosemite Boulevard, Hensley said.
The operations will be closed Friday in his honor, said a letter to employees from Joseph Gallo, his son and chief executive officer at the company.
"My father always enjoyed walking through the buildings, meeting with people, asking questions, overcoming challenges, problem solving and seeing the commitment of all of us to grow, produce and market the highest-quality wines in the world," he wrote.
Gallo employs 4,600 people, about 3,000 of them in Modesto and the rest in Livingston, Fresno, Sonoma County and elsewhere. The Modesto complex no longer crushes grapes, but does blend, bottle and age wine. It also has a bottle plant and research center.
Gallo's death came less than a month after another brother, Joseph Gallo, died at 87. Joseph Gallo had been estranged from Ernest and Julio because of a legal dispute that arose in the 1980s over Joseph's use of the family name on cheese he produced in Atwater and his claim to a share in the winery. Joseph Gallo lost in court on both issues.
"Ernest lived a long, very active life with many great accomplishments," said Mike Gallo, son of the elder Joseph Gallo. "I'm sure his family is very proud of him, and they should be. He had an impact on the wine industry and the whole state. He was a dynamo."
The son of Italian immigrants, Ernest Gallo was born March 18, 1909, in Jackson, a year before Julio. The family lived for a time in Antioch and Escalon before moving to Modesto in 1924.
Ernest Gallo worked in the Maze Boulevard vineyard owned by his parents, Joe and Susie Gallo, while attending Modesto High School. The grapes were sold in Chicago for home winemaking, which was allowed during Prohibition. Gallo showed his salesman's skills early, traveling to the Midwest at 17 to complete a deal.
He graduated from Modesto High in 1927 and earned a degree from Modesto Junior College.
He married Amelia Franzia, daughter of the founders of Franzia Winery near Ripon, in 1931. Amelia Gallo died in 1993.
Gallo Winery arose amid tragedy. In June 1933, Joe Gallo, despondent over business troubles, shot and killed his wife and then himself.
The Gallo brothers inherited the debt-ridden vineyard and, later in 1933, started the winery with working capital borrowed from Ernest Gallo's mother-in-law, Teresa Franzia.
The Gallos sold their first batch ? 177,847 gallons of blended red table wine ? for 50 cents a gallon to a Chicago distributor, turning a profit. Theirs was one of hundreds of wineries launched at the end of Prohibition, and one of the few to survive.
Ernest Gallo recognized early on that the California wine industry's practice of selling bulk wine to East Coast bottlers had to change. The state's wineries at the time were wholesalers and had little control over quality or how the final product was marketed.
The Gallos worked to improve their wine, introducing filtering techniques, using stainless steel tanks and blending wines to gain consistent quality.
"Gallo pioneered the improvement of the varieties of grapes being planted," Ernest Gallo said in the 1999 interview, conducted in writing in keeping with his publicity-shy nature. "Another important step was our development of scientific methods for quality control so that consumers could count on every bottle of wine being sound and enjoyable when they bought it. This continues at a very high level. These things contributed to the development of American wines that rival any in the world."
Gallo trained an army of salespeople to convince grocery stores that they should make room on their shelves for his bottles at a time when wine was not popular.
He would inspect store displays in small towns throughout the country, critiquing the way Gallo wines were presented and peppering store managers with questions.
Gallo's size made it a dominant player, but it was reined in somewhat via an antitrust complaint from the Federal Trade Commission. The company signed an agreement that restricted its relationships with its distributors for 10 years.
Gallo also drew complaints at times from California grape growers, who said the prices the winery paid were too low. And the company was hit by a national boycott by the United Farm Workers union in the 1970s.
Through it all, the winery grew and prospered, thanks in part to Gallo's knack for anticipating public whims.
The company sold sweet dessert wines in the 1930s and 1940s to a consumer market reacquainting itself with wine. Jug wines abounded in the 1950s and 1960s. Sweet carbonated apple wine came along in the 1960s and 1970s, followed by Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers in the 1980s.
Gallo has made a big splash in Sonoma County in the past decade with its higher-end Gallo of Sonoma wines. It also bought several well-regarded wineries, such as Louis M. Martini in the Napa Valley, and imported wines from Italy, Australia and elsewhere.
The Gallos built a vertically integrated company, including vast vineyards, the bottle plant, an art department to design bottles and labels, and a plant to make screw tops.
The hard-driving personality that helped make his wines so successful also made Gallo a difficult taskmaster. The winery developed a reputation for hiring promising young marketing graduates from the top universities, riding them hard for a few years and burning them out.
Many went on to become executives at other beverage companies, and they admit that the Gallo experience was a valuable crash course in marketing. The winery's training program is sometimes referred to as "Gallo University" within the industry.
Some pointed out that Gallo didn't ask them to work any harder than he did. It's just that very few could keep the pace he set for himself.
Gallo was a vigorous defender of the wine industry against what it calls "the neo-Prohibitionist movement."
Yet he also donated $3 million to establish the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California at San Francisco to seek a solution to alcohol abuse. The clinic does research on the genetic, biochemical and neurobiological aspects of alcohol abuse.
Over the decades, Gallo was honored many times. In 1964, he won winemaking's highest honor, the American Society of Enologists Merit Award for outstanding leadership in the wine industry. He also won the Gold Vine Award from the Brotherhood of the Knights of the Vine wine fraternity and the 1983 Distinguished Service Award from The Wine Spectator.
In recent years, the winery has been lauded for its upscale wines. It was named Winery of the Year in 1996 and 1998 by the San Francisco International Wine Competition and has garnered top awards in competitions in France, England and Italy. The Los Angeles County Fair wine competition named Gallo the Winery of the Century.
Today, E.&J. Gallo Winery employs children and grandchildren of the founders in key positions. Ernest Gallo assured that it will remain family-owned "as a result of the estate planning steps he took during his lifetime," his son Joseph said.
"My father's passion for the wine industry was matched only by his passion for life and for his family," he said. "He adored his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and he believed his family was his greatest legacy and success. My father died knowing that he had lived life to its fullest."
THE ENTIRE FIRST SECTION OF THE MODESTO BEE WAS DEVOTED TO THIS STORY...14 COMPLETE PAGES...He was the last G1 of the Gallo Family...Family Members are ranked according to how far away they were from Ernest & Julio...G2...G3...G4...The Gallo Family put Modesto on the Map...The only thing that will probably ever top this...in Modesto...will be when George Lucas passes away...
George Lucas is by far...Modesto most Famous and Beloved Son...
I KNOW THIS IS NOT TECH NEWS...It was just an impressive amount of a Major Newspaper devoted to one story...
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AfterDawn Addict
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9. March 2007 @ 15:22 |
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Five Things You Can't Discuss about Linux
Posted by CmdrTaco on Friday March 09, @10:08AM
from the but-what-if-i-wanna dept.
Linux
gondwannabe writes "Here are Five Things You Aren't Allowed to Discuss About Linux. With considerable chutzpa, an insightful Rob Enderle takes on what he considers five dogmas in the OSS community and explains why they're wrong. Examples: Linux is secure, "communes" actually work in the long haul, and that Linux is "pro-developer."
:: Rob Enderle ::
The Real Truth about Technology and IT
The Five Things You Aren?t Allowed to Discuss About Linux
Posted by Rob Enderle on Monday 26 February 2007 at 7:44 pm
I started writing about Linux not because I thought it interesting, fascinating, or even because I liked to code (I don?t).
I started writing about Linux because I was told I couldn?t and the more people told me I couldn?t, and particularly when they said ?or else,? the more the Linux dirty laundry became attractive to me. In short, if anyone bothers to look at the sequence of events, they will see that the Linux community pushed me down this path. Granted I didn?t fight much, but I have this thing about cover-ups. I believe they can lead to disasters both within a company and across a nation; here in the U.S. this last point, whether it be Global Warming or Iraq, would seem self evident.
So this time I?d like to talk about the five things you can?t talk about without being attacked by OSS supporters. I?ll take the heat, and as always, I?m not suggesting you stop deployment of Linux, I?m just suggesting you intelligently cover your backside.
One: Is Linux a Myth?
This strikes me as both the most obvious and the least talked about. We talk about Linux like an operating system when we compare it against Windows, we talk about it as a company when we compare it against Microsoft, and when we describe its attributes it almost seems super-human or god like.
Linux isn?t a thing, and it sure isn?t a god. When we compare an operating system to another we should be comparing the specific distribution, which is a thing. When we compare it to Microsoft we need a company to do that; Red Hat, Novell and now Oracle provide us with a framework so that we can intelligently compare one to another and assess the differences.
The reason Linux has been abstracted into a concept is so it doesn?t have to compete on merit. It can be anything, in concept, it needs to be to win a deal. But we live in the real world where there needs to be a real product and a real support structure behind it. If we are actually doing an evaluation we have to evaluate what we are actually going to end up using and it isn?t generic ?Linux.?
This isn?t to say Linux can?t or doesn?t win in real comparisons, only that the majority I?ve seen weren?t real comparisons. As a ex-auditor I care less about who wins than I care about the process that determines the winner. I?ve seen too many instances where decisions were made on products, including proprietary products, based on what appears to be graft. One CIO even won a Mercedes Benz for making the ?right choice? ? we?ll talk about that in a future post.
Presenting the products and companies in abstract was actually rather brilliant, however, I can?t find a Steve Jobs-like person I can congratulated for this excellent work. It just seems to have happened that way naturally, but, if you are going to be successful, your justification needs to be solid and for that you?ll need the specifics.
Linux is a grown up product; it isn?t for everything or everyone though. Do your assessment with a real product against real metrics. SuSe and Red Hat are both capable enough to compete without cheating.
Two: Is Linux Secure?
I already said there is no ?Linux,? so how can I now treat it like a thing? The easy path here would be to present the different security models for the different distributions but, for this purpose, I?m going to leave Linux in abstract and talk about the unique security problem it represents. I?m not saying Windows is more secure either; I?m saying the products are so different from each other that comparisons may not actually make much sense, which is why there are reports supporting both sides of this. So, let?s start by saying nothing is secure enough if people are involved.
Long before IT stopped being just ?it,? security had three aspects: Physical Safety, Possession Protection, and Intelligence. The way security was breached in all cases was physical; people came in and did harm, stole, or deployed ?spies.? They didn?t need viruses or hacks, they just pitted their intelligence against yours and, if they won, you lost and, in the case of harm, that loss could be terminal.
We know that crooks generally are crooks because they didn?t do well in school, not because they graduated from the top of their class at MIT (though clearly this ?rule? has been broken from time to time). We also know that the most successful kind of attack to get ?intelligence? is a phishing attack, and what brought this into the news recently was HP?s pretexting problem.
Linux is surrounded by people who generally don?t even use real names and often ?exaggerate? what they do for a living. Wonder over on Groklaw and you?ll see a lot of legal experts, a few months back I corresponded with one. His legal ?expertise? came for a class on contracts, and I?m not kidding, he took in high school. PJ, the woman who allegedly heads up this legal resource, is currently ducking service from SCO and lord knows what she is covering up (and I don?t think it is that she works for IBM; they aren?t that stupid).
We also know that when someone gets access to information it generally isn?t reported anyplace, primarily because, at least until we figure the Quantum thing out, the activity itself doesn?t prevent subsequent use by anyone else. For instance, after the Cold War ended, we were amazed at how much of what we had the Russians had copied. What drove our suspicions was the similarity in what resulted, and the fact we also had spies looking at their stuff.
Linux exists in an environment where there is broad collaboration, but no effort to validate the collaborators so the opportunity for traditional, old style, data breach is immeasurable.
We know that pretexting is wide-spread, how much easier (and harder to catch and convict) if the person doing the pretexting doesn?t even have to come up with a real fake identity?
If you are using Linux and haven?t done a physical security audit in a while and specifically looked at who is collaborating with whom, I would say it is likely well past time.
By the way, this is true whether you are using Linux or not; we generally are not focusing enough on physical security right now, particularly in home and branch offices. But that is for another time; a good resource is ?Security Dreamer,? which focuses on the topic of physical security in general; the author, Steve Hunt, is one of the best in the business.
If you are using UNIX, Linux, Windows or Apple, you need to ensure they are secure. OSs aren?t security products; none of them are secure enough.
Three: Do Communes Work?
If you step back and look at Linux from a distance it actually looks like this idea of community works, there is progress, and UNIX has been taking it in the shorts. But, when you get close, you see a political nightmare that can make the bureaucracy at IBM and Microsoft seem simple and almost streamlined by comparison.
Let?s take the GPL; this is like watching a government working. This is the license that defines how you will use the product and what you will ?pay? for it. Right now they can?t even agree if they need a new one, and the two sides have, as they seem more than willing to do, degraded into name-calling. This has gotten to the point where Linus Torvalds, one of the nicest guys, has been called some rather nasty things, not by Microsoft, but by other Linux users.
The reason Communes do not work is a few do the work of many and aren?t compensated for it. In general, the few are increasingly upset that others are benefiting from their efforts and the many get upset when they see things done they didn?t want done.
The GPL 3.0 is a good example; a few are doing the work of many, and the end result is clearly, on my reading, anti-business. In fact, a committee had been put together with some of the largest and most powerful supporters of Linux, and because the framers disagreed with what the committee recommended, it was disbanded and the recommendations, apparently, will be disregarded.
Sounds like a government doesn?t it? Everyone, and I mean everyone, who uses Linux will be impacted by the license. You?d better read it, and you?d darned well better make sure it is what you want it to be. There is one word for people that let any group or company unilaterally write a contract they have to live under, yet I?ve seen that word applied to the people who don?t participate in communal efforts (and yes, voting is a communal effort, given how few participate in that, there should be no surprise we are in the mess we are in).
Now, if you wanted to participate but were blocked from participating, don?t you think that speaks directly to whether an effort is, in fact, communal? Could I now argue that Linux is simply another name for OSF? Really, look at the language in GPL 3. If you have intellectual property to protect, your attorneys should have a major cow with regard to what is in that puppy. But they should read it regardless. Now there is a question of whether Linux will adopt it, but if you use a Linux based product, this is a question you should help answer.
If you are going to use Linux, you should get involved, even though the Free Software Foundation may not listen.
Four: Is Linux Pro-Developer, or Pro-You?
Maybe if you live in a Third World country and like to work for peanuts. Linux throws off very little cash; much of the revenue that comes from it is tied to services and hardware, and these services are generally, though not always, discounted below what they would be for a ?proprietary? product. The applications that go on top of the platform are also discounted, many of them being ?free? as well. Now Google is proving every day that the advertising model works and it can be very lucrative, but it may not work for you if you are an inside IT resource (though selling ads for you HR internal website would be a creative way to get more income for your department).
Employees often are valued based on the cost of what they work with. The higher the cost, the easier it is to justify an employee?s salary. More important, if a product is expensive, the focus is often on the cost of the product, but if the product is free, the focus is on the cost of the employees.
Let?s move out of industry where the example is clearer. If you are a Ferrari mechanic you make substantially more (I worked as a Jaguar mechanic while in college) than if you are a Chevy Mechanic. You may not be able to find work (not a lot of Ferrari dealerships), but you?ll make a lot more money. Companies typically don?t reduce salaries; they either get rid of the expensive people or outsource or both.
When I first started writing about Linux, I heard from over a thousand people that they disagreed, some rather violently, with what they thought I had written. For many, once they realized I?d actually not said what the excerpts they had read had implied, they actually entered into very real discussions.
Over the last two years the vast majority of them have lost their jobs due to outsourcing after their companies moved to Linux from UNIX. While I don?t have enough to do more than suggest there is a cause and effect here, I can say that the use of Linux neither protected their job nor made them more valuable to their employer; in fact it seemed to have done the opposite.
Recently, outsourcing has slowed; I think this is because companies finally realized that sending a critical part of the firm to the Third World made execution all but impossible. However, have you noticed that Sun has started to come back?
While we were all distracted by the whole Microsoft vs. Linux BS, the real fight wasn?t between Windows and a Linux distribution; it was between Linux and HP-UX, Solaris, and AIX instead. IBM and HP did both, and are complex companies which conceal the impact of the move, but Sun is simple and arguably the strongest UNIX firm. As companies bring IT back from the Third World, UNIX appears to be coming back as well, and I think that is partially because developers understand that it is a vastly more financially beneficial platform. I also think CIOs are starting to remember that being in the software development business carries with it too much risk, and that depending on vendors like Sun, EMC, HP, and IBM provides a more sure result.
In any case, if we accept (and OSF in particular would not agree to this) that financial success is the primary measure of a successful platform, Linux has done very poorly historically against the alternatives, and both UNIX and mainframes seem to be coming back as a result.
By the way, Google is a really good example of how to use Linux and make tons of money doing so, so I?m not saying it is anti-business, as I mentioned above; it is FSF that appears doing that. I?m not sure Linux is pro-anything, though it is clearly positioned most often against Microsoft.
Products have implications that go beyond code; they have implications for organizational structure, for salaries, and for best use. Before you advocate anything new, you may want to think a bit on the secondary impacts; the grass may be greener, but it may be wise to also watch where you step. (I have three dogs, and they suggested I mention this).
Is Linux is ?Open??
How can anything be ?Open? if honest discussion isn?t allowed?
If you think a Microsoft product sucks you can say that to great detail without having to be afraid of your job, apparently even if you work for Microsoft (which I kind of find surprising). But if you suggest that Linux isn?t ready for the desktop ? which I do often because it isn?t ? you?ll have folks coming after your job and, sometimes, suggesting you won?t be long for this world. Some of the mail has been rather nasty (though I do admit it has moderated of late).
No product is perfect for everything. What made Windows good for the desktop is largely what makes Linux a better product for some servers, and the opposite is true. I think that Microsoft made a huge strategic mistake when it merged the workstation/server code base with the desktop code base. They optimized for them and forgot about the customer. I could say that then, and I can say that now without any concern for my safety.
As an analyst I actually had to quit my job to have the same freedom of speech with Linux. According to The Register, there is actually some kind of a strike team that comes after me every time I say something positive on Microsoft or negative on Linux. And I?m not alone: Laura DiDio at Yankee gets sexual harassed, and Dan Lyons over at Forbes is attacked regularly, although he does have supporters as well.
Let?s take indemnification; this should be a topic every company should suddenly be looking very closely at. Microsoft just got nailed with a whopping $1.53 Billion, that?s with a ?B?, judgment for the use of a common music standard. They did this because they indemnified Dell and Gateway, the companies initially targeted. If they had used Linux instead of Windows, it would be Dell and Gateway hit with some fraction of this judgment (and even a fraction of $1.52B is a big number). So where is the coverage? Don?t you think it should be a hot topic right now, so where is the chatter?
There are at least two sides to everything. What I?ve observed with OSS in general and Linux in particular (and this applies to Apple as well) is there is a distinct effort to make sure only the popular side can speak.
I think the thing that bothers me the most about Linux is IT advocacy. IT shouldn?t be an advocate of any product, because it needs to make determinations between them. Whether it is Microsoft, Apple, or Linux, once IT takes a side it is no longer capable of properly assessing a solution based on the needs of the business. And that is the job.
IT needs to ensure, not prevent, discussion so that the best product, company, or service is chosen, and when they can?t do that, they should find other jobs.
When only one side is heard, you don?t have ?Open,? and you sure as heck don?t have ?Free? as in Freedom, which, to me is more important than ?Free? as in ?Free Beer.? If, to get ?Free? Software, we give up ?Free? Speech the cost, at least to me, is way the heck too high.
Wrapping Up:
I stopped at 5 things but there are clearly more we could chat about.
Like why don?t we talk about Apple vs. Linux? In the last trial I participated on for the desktop, Windows won, Linux missed by a mile but Apple only by a hair (and Apple will be pulling that hair next month).
Does the Free Software Foundation own Linux? They appear to be trying to rename it.
Who?s side is Steve Ballmer or Richard Stallman on? (I would argue it is Stallman and the GPL 3.0 do more to kill Linux than anthing Microsoft could conceive of, and that Ballmer?s statements generally benefit, though unintentionally, Linux).
When I was growing up a popular T-Shirt Slogan was ?Question Authority.? Take a look around, what are people afraid to ask questions about, what isn?t being discussed that should be? I believe in preventing mistakes, not constantly finding creative ways to blame someone else. Ask questions, get answers.
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/rob/?p=9
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AfterDawn Addict
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10. March 2007 @ 06:15 |
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Daylight Saving Time Help and Support Center
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst
Select your operating system
Microsoft Windows Vista, all versions
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 with Service Pack 2
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 with Service Pack 2
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2002 with Service Pack 2
Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition with Service Pack 2
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition with Service Pack 4
I do not want to update my Windows operating system
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst
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AfterDawn Addict
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10. March 2007 @ 06:34 |
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Quote:
Seven ways to keep your search history private
tsearch The greatest threat to your privacy may not come from cookies, spyware or Web sites tracking and analyzing your Web surfing habits.
Instead, it may come from search engines, which collect and store records of your searches. Search engines track your search terms, the sites you visit as a result of your searches, the times you conduct your searches and your IP address. This makes it possible to figure out who you are, what your likes and dislikes are, and what you do online.
Search records can be subpoenaed by the federal government and used in any way the government sees fit. And the records can also be inadvertently released to the public, for all the world to see. For example, in August 2006, AOL LLC accidentally published the search histories of 650,000 users, and that data soon spread throughout the Internet.
Does this mean that you give up your privacy every time you visit a search engine? Not if you're smart about it. Follow these seven tips, and you'll go a long way toward keeping your search history private, no matter which search engine you use. Seven ways to keep your search history private Linked by shanmuga Friday, 9th March 2007 1:17AM
Seven ways to keep your search history private
Here's how you can make sure that you keep your searches to yourself
March 08, 2007 (Computerworld) -- The greatest threat to your privacy may not come from cookies, spyware or Web sites tracking and analyzing your Web surfing habits.
Instead, it may come from search engines, which collect and store records of your searches. Search engines track your search terms, the sites you visit as a result of your searches, the times you conduct your searches and your IP address. This makes it possible to figure out who you are, what your likes and dislikes are, and what you do online.
Search records can be subpoenaed by the federal government and used in any way the government sees fit. And the records can also be inadvertently released to the public, for all the world to see. For example, in August 2006, AOL LLC accidentally published the search histories of 650,000 users, and that data soon spread throughout the Internet.
Does this mean that you give up your privacy every time you visit a search engine? Not if you're smart about it. Follow these seven tips, and you'll go a long way toward keeping your search history private, no matter which search engine you use.
Tip No. 1: Don't log into search engines or their tools
If you log into a search engine, you make it easy for that search engine to build a comprehensive profile about you, because they know your identity as you search. You may think that you never log into search engines, but there's a good chance that you do, possibly without thinking about it. Long gone are the days when a search engine was only a search engine. Today, they're entire ecosystems of sites and services. Google, for example, offers dozens of services, including Gmail, online office software, blogging services and more. For most of them, you need to log in if you want to use them.
For privacy's sake, never do searches when you're logged into any of a search engine's services, such as its mail service. So, for example, when you're logged into Gmail, don't search the Internet.
As a practical matter, this may be difficult to do, so another option is to use one browser such as Firefox for a service like Gmail, and another such as Internet Explorer for doing Google searches. That way, it will be much harder for the search engine to correlate your identity with your searches. For maximum safety, use an "anonymizing" service or software such as Tor for the browser that you use to search with. (For details about surfing anonymously, see the next article in this series.)
If you don't like the idea of using two browsers, set up different profiles in your browser -- one for using mail, another for services from a search engine and another for doing actual searches. Again, this will make it harder for the search engine to correlate your searches with your identity.
Firefox lets you create separate profiles, but Internet Explorer doesn't. In Firefox, use the Profile Manager to create separate profiles. To do it, open a command prompt and navigate to the directory in which Firefox is installed. (Depending on your version, it may be in C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox.) Type Firefox.exe -ProfileManager and press Enter. The Profile Manager, as shown in the nearby figure, appears. Click Create Profile and follow the wizard to create your profile. Create as many profiles as you like, then use different profiles for searching and using mail and other search engine services. For more details about creating and using profiles, see the Firefox help page How to Manage Profiles.
Creating a profile with Firefox's Profile Manager
Creating a profile with Firefox's Profile Manager
(Click image to see larger view)
Tip No. 2: Keep yourself safe from Google
If you're like most people, you do all or most of your searching from one search engine -- Google. This means you're particularly vulnerable, because Google will have a record of all your searches. Even if you don't log into Google, it can track your searches because it uses cookies to track you from session to session.
You could, of course, delete all your cookies before you visit Google. But that's problematic, because cookies can be quite useful. They can, for example, log you into some sites automatically or save your preferences on how you use sites.
A simpler solution is to block only Google from placing cookies on your PC. How you do it varies from browser to browser. In Internet Explorer 7, for example, choose Tools-->Internet Options, click the Privacy tab, then click the Sites button. In the "Address of Web site" box, type in www.google.com, and click Block. From now on, when you visit Google, it won't be allowed to place a cookie on your hard disk, and it won't be able to track your searches.
Blocking Google from placing cookies on your hard disk
In Firefox 2, select Tools-->Options, select the Privacy tab, and click Exceptions. Then type www.google.com into the "Address of Web site" box and click Block. (If you use another search engine, by the way, you can use this same technique to keep its cookies off your hard disk as well.)
Note that because Google won't be placing cookies on your hard disk, you may not be able to use various Google services, such as Gmail.
If you're a Firefox user, you can also use the CustomizeFirefox extension that among other things, "anonymizes" you when you use Google so that your searches can't be tracked.
Google has numerous services you can sign up for, including RSS readers called Google Reader and Google Groups, which let you read newsgroups and other discussion groups. The more Google services like this that you sign up for, the more information Google knows about you. In addition to your searches, it will know what blogs and newsgroups you read, for example. This makes it that much easier for the search giant to create a profile about you. So either don't sign up for those services or else create separate Google accounts for each of them, so that the search engine can't correlate all your interests.
Also, think carefully before turning on Google's Search History feature. Search History lets you revisit all your searches and shows what you've searched for every day. When you use Search History, Google stores a record of all your searches on its servers. If you're worried that that search history may fall into the wrong hands, or be subpoenaed by the government, simply don't use the service.
Tip No. 3: Regularly change your IP address
Search engines can correlate all your searches by tracking the IP address you're using and then using that to link together all the searches you perform on their sites. There's a simple way to get around this; regularly change your IP address.
Broadband providers assign you a dynamic IP address for using the Internet. That dynamic IP address typically stays assigned to your PC for a very long time. To get a new IP address -- turn your cable modem or DSL modem off, leave it off for a few minutes and then turn it on again. Doing that clears your old IP address and gives you a new one.
If you're one of the few people who have a static IP address, for example, at work, you won't be able to use this technique. Instead, you'll have to turn to anonymous surfing with software like Tor, which we'll cover in the next article in this series.
Tip No. 4: Use ixquick
Here's the easiest way to make sure that information about your searches can't be used to build a personal profile about you: Use a search engine that doesn't retain a history of your searches. That's what ixquick promises. It says it deletes all information about your searches within 48 hours, so the information simply isn't around for anyone to use. If the government subpoenas the data, there's nothing for them to get.
ixquick claims that it deletes information about your searches, so that the information isn't available to anyone.
ixquick claims that it delete information about your searches, so that the information isn't available to anyone.
(Click image to see larger view)
Tip No. 5: Don't include personal information in your searches
We've all "Googled" ourselves at times, just to see what's out there on the Web about us. But every time you use personal information in a search, such as your name, address and so on, you make it easy for a search engine to know who you are and then correlate searches with your name. Worse, it can lead to identity theft if you search for information such as your Social Security number and someone gets hold of your search records. So try to avoid including personal information about yourself in your searches.
Tip No. 6: Do sensitive searches from a public hot spot
If you absolutely must do a search about personal information or do a search that is sensitive for some other reason, don't do it at home or at work. Instead, go to a public hot spot and do the search from there. Make sure to use a hot spot that doesn't require you to log in, or else your privacy can be compromised.
Tip No. 7: Avoid using your Internet service provider's search engine
Your service provider knows your IP address, which means that it can track all the Web sites you visit. That's bad enough for your privacy, but if you also use its search engine, it will be able to correlate your IP address to your searches and build an even more comprehensive profile about you. That profile may be available to anyone with a subpoena. So don't use a service provider's search engine, such as http://search.comcast.net/.
Preston Gralla is a contributing editor for Computerworld, and the author of more than 35 books, including Windows Vista in a Nutshell.
GO HERE FOR MORE INFO
http://www.computerworld.com/action/arti...&intsrc=kc_feat
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AfterDawn Addict
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10. March 2007 @ 06:50 |
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Winfixer' mystery slowly unravels
California attorney claims he uncovered a fraud that thus far has escaped law enforcement
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/0...winfixer_1.html
A California attorney claims he has unraveled part of the mystery behind a questionable software program and is prepared to go to court.
Attorney Joseph M. Bochner filed a class-action civil suit last September in California Superior Court in Santa Clara County against two men the suit alleges are behind Winfixer, a purported security software. The lawsuit names Marc J. Cohen of Florida, and was amended last week to add James Reno of Ohio as an additional defendant, Bochner said. It seeks compensation and a halt to the distribution of Winfixer, among other remedies.
The suit was filed on behalf of Beatrice Ochoa, a mother of two who paid US$39.95 for Winfixer after it badgered her with repeated pop-up warnings that her computer had security threats. The program eventually rendered her computer's hard drive unusable, Bochner said. The suit counts another 100 anonymous victims.
"All of these people are being defrauded and they're just ordinary folks," Bochner said. "They buy a computer, they surf the Internet, they're not doing anything unreasonable and suddenly they're defrauded."
Indecision over whether Winfixer is a legitimate product may be the reason it still pervades the Internet. Winfixer has been a moving target for security experts, at times going by the names ErrorSafe, WinAntiSpyware, WinAntiVirus, SystemDoctor and DriveCleaner.
Security software from vendors such as Sophos PLC and Symantec Corp. will detect it, but give users the option of whether they want to remove it. Sophos calls it "adware" that hypes security threats and then implores users to buy the software.
Microsoft Corp., however, pulled no punches last month when Winfixer ads began show up on its instant-messaging program, calling it "malware," a shorter term for "malicious software." Experts have also seen it install itself on computers via security vulnerabilities in browsers or OSes.
However, the lawsuit could face hurdles in court. Web sites are frequently registered under false names or under stolen identifies and the real owners can be difficult to trace, said Sandi Hardmeier, a computer security authority who writes about Winfixer on her blog "Spyware Sucks."
Proving the link to the alleged perpetrators, their connections to Winfixer all the way through to the effects on Ochoa's computer will be very difficult, she said.
"Forensics is everything," she said.
Bochner acknowledges it's hard work to track down fraudsters who use the Internet's anonymity to commit crimes, but the criminals are real people who can be located. Bochner said he has compelling documentation to link the defendants named in the suit to Winfixer.
By researching IP (Internet Protocol) addresses that hosted the versions of Winfixer and their owners, Bochner alleges he has uncovered a fraud based in the U.S. that has escaped law enforcement scrutiny.
Reno ran a Web hosting company called ByteHosting Internet Service LLC with a postal address in Amelia, Ohio. Bochner said at one time, a support number for Winfixer support also rang through to ByteHosting, which led in part to Reno being added to the suit.
Reno, along with other co-defendants and ByteHosting, was sued by Symantec Corp. in 2004 for allegedly creating pop-up ads that told consumers their Symantec software was about to expire. The ads then directed users to fake software that looked similar to Symantec products. Court records show Reno and Symantec reached a confidential settlement in December 2004.
Cohen was named for his connections with vipfares.com, a now-defunct travel Web site, Bochner said. At one time, the Winfixer software would hijack the user's browser and suddenly show vipfares.com, he said.
Efforts to reach Cohen and Reno for comment were unsuccessful on Wednesday and Thursday. However, Cohen's attorney, Judy Silverstein, appeared on a San Francisco TV news program on Feb. 26 regarding Winfixer and her client.
Silverstein said, "His [Cohen's] position is he's done nothing wrong. He's done nothing improper or illegal, and he's had no ownership interested in those Web sites."
Bochner said he has turned over some of his research to law enforcement agencies such as the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Secret Service along with California authorities.
While researching IP addresses that linked to Winfixer, Bochner said he suddenly came upon a database detailing sales of Winfixer and the other versions of the programs.
The multi-gigabyte database -- apparently left unsecured and open to the Internet -- contained names, addresses, credit-card numbers, transaction amounts and the version of Winfixer that was sold, he said. For example, on Jan. 20, 2006, the data showed 2,351 sales to users worldwide, with an average transaction amount of $40, Bochner said.
The database covers transactions made from January 2005 through January 2006. One of the records shows a transaction made by someone who lives across the street from his law office, Bochner said. The data, while incomplete, allows a view of the fraud ring's broad reach and scope, he said.
"I think this is far larger than anyone has ever expected," Bochner said. "It's not inconceivable that these people have made $150 million or more over the last few years."
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AfterDawn Addict
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10. March 2007 @ 07:37 |
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It's baaaaack: WGA reappears on XP by design, Microsoft says
Although users can tell Windows XP to ignore updates to Microsoft's antipiracy technology, Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) Notifications will be offered again the next time the component is upgraded, the company said today. WGA Notifications, which was updated last month, cannot be permanently removed from the Windows Update list as a potential download, said David Lazar, director of Microsoft's Genuine Windows program, in an e-mail interview. That's true, even if Automatic Updates (AU) is set to the most restrictive posture of checking for updates but letting the user choose whether to download and install them -- and the Hide update option is selected. "When there is a new release, such as there was Feb. 21, the update will be offered," said Lazar. "If you refuse the installation, and tell AU not to notify again, it will not be offered again until the next new release, generally 90-120 days. This is a standard approach with AU, not a new policy." Some users must have missed the memo; several have posted messages on official Microsoft newsgroups commenting on the reappearance of WGA Notifications.
It's baaaaack: WGA reappears on XP by design, Microsoft says
The antipiracy tool reappears whenever its component is upgraded
March 09, 2007 (Computerworld) -- Although users can tell Windows XP to ignore updates to Microsoft's antipiracy technology, Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) Notifications will be offered again the next time the component is upgraded, the company said today.
WGA Notifications, which was updated last month, cannot be permanently removed from the Windows Update list as a potential download, said David Lazar, director of Microsoft's Genuine Windows program, in an e-mail interview. That's true, even if Automatic Updates (AU) is set to the most restrictive posture of checking for updates but letting the user choose whether to download and install them -- and the Hide update option is selected.
"When there is a new release, such as there was Feb. 21, the update will be offered," said Lazar. "If you refuse the installation, and tell AU not to notify again, it will not be offered again until the next new release, generally 90-120 days. This is a standard approach with AU, not a new policy."
Some users must have missed the memo; several have posted messages on official Microsoft newsgroups commenting on the reappearance of WGA Notifications.
WGA Notifications flags counterfeit copies and displays on-screen messages to that effect at log-on and while the system is running. In Windows XP, it's a separate download -- another piece actually conducts the validation process -- but in Vista, it's baked into that operating system's Software Protection Platform and cannot be declined.
Notifications specifically, and the WGA process in general, has drawn fire from users and analysts for a variety of reasons, including a fear that the technology may incorrectly identify a legitimate copy of Windows as bogus. Sometimes, through no fault of the user, the wrong product activation key can be used to unlock a legitimate copy of Windows XP.
Complaints about WGA have prompted Microsoft to make several changes since last June. Then, the company reduced the frequency with which the program "phones home" to Microsoft servers as it checks for phony copies.
Previously, Microsoft said it plans to upgrade WGA Notifications every three to four months. The reappearance of the tool on the Windows Update list is part of that.
Once installed, WGA Notifications cannot be removed through Windows XP's Add or Remove Programs Control panel, although the utility shows up there. That, added Lazar, has been the case since last summer; before June, users were able to eliminate Notifications. "The uninstall instructions were provided for the prerelease (pre-June 2006) versions only," Lazar clarified. "The GA versions were not meant to be uninstallable."
Current information on WGA Notifications is available on Microsoft's support site.
http://computerworld.com/action/article....7&intsrc=kc_top
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janrocks
Suspended permanently
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10. March 2007 @ 07:37 |
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ireland.. good linux articles which need a few points adding.
I looked at ntpd for auto setting time and date automatically, and found that on most distros it's disabled by default due to a few undefined security issues. As my hardware clock runs slow it would be nice to have it auto update every so often, but not a serious issue. Not one worth getting involved with the security side of any holes and bugs.
Now for the really serious matter..
I was for a long time a member of the Free Software Foundation. I ended my subscription last year after a few events which not only did I not agree with, but the fact that as a member I was not informed of the proposed changes to the GPL, let alone consulted on them. I had to find them out for myself, leading me to do some investigating into the deeper issues, and making a decision based on my findings, and my feelings about the direction the foundation was taking.
As they seemed to be moving in a direction which is incompatable with my view of free software, namely that if somebody writes something that works, as long as they provide the source they are quite allowed to charge for complied easy install binaries and they can charge whatever they want for it, the stance is not acceptable.
Obviously there are some things a developer will want to keep to themselves sometimes, and in which situation I can quite understand them not releasing everything..especially source code (so long as it is totally original work) Why should people be forced to release original source into a world where anybody (including commercial..read for sale$$$) can access it and use it for any purpose they see fit.
There is a basic right to keep what is yours, yet the changes in the GPL seek to strip this right by insisting that EVERY piece of software released MUST have full source available, nay.. included with it...
As a self styled "open source paramilitary" while I honestly believe that by working together we can make things better, I also believe there is a choice. A choice to use or not use, and a choice whether to contribute to the effort of developing better software or just to be an end user... But that choice should be YOURS, and not decided by the FSF or anybody else who claims to speak for you.
Personally I like open source software, but it isn't the be-all and end-all of it.. I have non-open software on my systems, it's useful and I'm not likely to want to modify it as it works. If I need to modify the way an application works and it is closed source I have a choice.. find an open-source alternative, or write my own.. where is the argument? If I write an alternative application again the choice of whether to release my source code and to charge $$ or not is mine..not the FSF..
Sorry.. I have pretty strong feelings on the subject of being dictated to by people who don't ask me what I think.. That's why I don't like M$.. and the same kinda goes for apple..and the cartel...
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AfterDawn Addict
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10. March 2007 @ 08:45 |
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Meet PirateShare.net
p2pnet.net news:- It's simple. 50Mb upload limit. No waiting. No download limits.
That's what nsane promises for PirateShare.net, a proxy protected file hosting service.
On the forum, "Starting in Sweden all the uploaded files are transfered through a proxy and are placed on hidden FTP servers that are donated and operated by people who frankly don't give a shit about copyrights," he says.
"On top of that, we're hosted by PRQ Inet which many of you may know is the home of the ThePirateBay (a really popular torrent site). For the combined result of us not having to enforce a copyright policy and all you little pirates having a file host you can use to share your warez goodies with your friends."
What's it all about? - p2pnet asked nsane. Here's his response:
We opened the site because we we're tired of 1) all the file hosts acting like little bitches when the copyright goon squads started knockin and 2) all the download limits they implemented to literally force ads and premium memberships down their users throats. So a while back when I was working on a much simpler proxy system we use on our homepage and trying to download 'some huge imaging software' off a RapidShare link I got hit with a 'You've reached your download limit please wait an hour' message. I was like 'WTF, I actually have to wait a whole freakin hour to download the next archive?!'
That's when it hit me. I thought to myself 'I have friends with lots of HDD space online, a server at PRQ Inet (managed by TPB's Anakata himself) and a basic proxy system already setup. Why not make a file host that uses all 3 resources and lets everyone share files completely unrestricted?'
So I sat on it for a few weeks trying different layout ideas and whatnot. Then I came across a post in one of our internal forums about 'where was nsane productions going now?', or something. So I responded with a few of my ideas (including the one above) and within 20 minutes I had 5-6 responses going 'Hell yeah, a ProxyShare would be awesome!'
Now here we are, a mere month from idea to final product, and that's pretty much it.
I basically busted my ass for 3 weeks straight between this, college, work and taxes. Now it's Friday and I'm getting tired of my monitor's company, so I'm going to get ready and hit some parties tonight (or a bar atleast)! :)
Stay tuned.
http://p2pnet.net/story/11602
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AfterDawn Addict
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11. March 2007 @ 08:18 |
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SIW (System Info) 1.67 (Build 625)
Author: Gabriel Topala
Date: 2007-03-10
Size: 1.5 Mb
License: Freeware
Requires: Win All
SIW is a system information tool, that gathers detailed information about your system properties and settings. It includes detailed specs for CPU, Network, TCP/IP, Memory, Hardware, Users, Network Shares, and more, as well as real-time monitors for CPU, Memory and network traffic. SIW also displays currently active network connections, installed codecs, connected MS SQL and Oracle database servers (if any) and more. A standalone tool that does not require installation.
DOWNLOAD HERE
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4387.html
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AfterDawn Addict
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11. March 2007 @ 08:22 |
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FREE,Baku 2.1.2626.23713
Author: Pmcc
Date: 2007-03-11
Size: 563 Kb
License: Freeware
Requires: Win All
Baku allows you to search for system registry errors and unneeded files that can be safelly removed.
Features
Deletes empty folders, 'History' folder contents, 'Recent documents' folder contents, 'Temp' folder contents, temporary internet files, cookies.
Searches Windows log files, shortcuts to missing files and folders and user specified file types.
Registry scan removes unused and obsolete keys, including ActiveX/COM, Application Paths, Fonts, Help files, Icon files, Sound files, Uninstall Programs and Windows Installer.
The registry is automatically backed up before any changes are made.
Implements the Department of Defense clearing and sanitizing standard DOD 5220.22-M, to give you confidence that once deleted, your file data is gone forever.
Limitations: Requires Microsoft .Net framework 2.0 or better.
DOWNLOAD HERE
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download5449.html
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AfterDawn Addict
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11. March 2007 @ 08:48 |
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The Right Operating System for You
Vista or XP? Windows, Mac, or Linux? How about all of the above? With improved virtualization technology, you might not have to settle for just one OS.
Scott Spanbauer, PC World
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 01:00 AM PST
Illustration: John Mattos
Once, you were either a Mac person or a Windows user. Or maybe you were a Unix geek. Whichever your poison, you likely had only one operating system in your life. Thanks to the ubiquity of the Intel processor and the hard work of untold legions of software developers, however, those days are over. Now, Apple's machines can run Windows XP. Windows Vista is available on brand-new computers, but you can also boot the same PC with an Ubuntu Linux disc that you downloaded and burned for free. And if you like Ubuntu, you can install it alongside Windows in a few clicks.
Drastic improvements in virtualization software, along with hardware advancements and standardization on x86 CPUs, allow any operating system to play host to virtual versions of other OSs.
Every machine still needs a primary operating system, but mixing and matching them is now much easier. My home office contains a mix of Macs running OS X and PCs running Windows XP, Windows Vista, Ubuntu, and OpenSuSE Linux. And my next system will likely be a Mac with three or more of those OSs installed--maybe even running--at the same time. If you can afford Apple's hardware, that's the choice I'd recommend. Why? Check out our operating systems comparison chart below (click the icon) for a breakdown of the major contenders' strengths and weaknesses, and read on for a look at the state of each OS.
Extolling Windows XP
Click to view full-size image.
Windows Vista's long gestation and protracted birth pangs are over at last, thank heavens. Vista's running nicely on my fairly modern desktop system, and I've enjoyed using its updated interface and utilities for everyday work and recreation. But before we get to the new kid, a few words about good old Windows XP.
Despite its reputation for swiss-cheese security, XP quickly became a very successful OS. Before XP (and its admirable predecessor, Windows 2000), Microsoft operating systems crashed, died, and blue-screened weekly or even daily. Though crashes still occur, they're far less frequent than in previous Windows versions, and some XP users (including me) have PCs that rarely see so much as a hiccup.
XP has been the biggest-selling operating system in the universe for almost half a decade now, so it's where most of the action is. Whatever you long to do with a PC--accounting, blogging, photography, engineering, aimless wandering on the Internet--the necessary hardware and software will work under Windows XP.
Of course, to keep that copy of XP running smoothly, you'll have to work to keep the wolves at bay. While Service Pack 2, Windows Security Center, and Internet Explorer 7 have closed a lot of holes, XP is sure to attract hackers and malware writers for years to come. Your firewall, antivirus software, and spyware protection remain as important as ever.
According to Forrester Research, 40 percent of business Windows customers will transition to Vista within the next year, and consumer adoption will expand gradually from 12 million users in the first year to 73 million after four years. Microsoft will continue to roll out Windows XP security fixes for at least five years after it releases Service Pack 3, currently slated for the first half of 2008. So relax. There's no rush.
Vista Sightings
Click to view full-size image.
Windows Vista does deliver improvements in security (though you'll still need a third-party firewall unless you're up for some complex configuration tasks), plus several improved utilities and new features. It's the look, though, that makes Vista a desirable upgrade for most people. Vista's Aero environment displays windows, icons, and other desktop elements with more colors, shading, and shadowing, as well as--for the first time--transparency. Buttons glow like red or blue LEDs when you hover over them. Translucent window frames, menus, and title bars remind you of other applications buried a layer or two deep, and the Flip 3D task switcher is clearly inspired by Apple's Exposé, which displays cleverly arranged thumbnails of all your running applications.
Cribbing more directly from Apple, the gadget-populated Windows Sidebar is a variation on OS X's Dashboard widgets. However, the redesigned Media Player, Control Panel, mail, and photo previewing interfaces are evidence that many of Vista's changes are only skin deep. Drilling down through a new menu structure often reveals the very same dialog boxes that were present in Windows XP.
Gamers should eventually see great dividends by switching to Vista. DirectX 10 promises to accelerate games eightfold, and it won't be available under Windows XP. And Vista's Windows Presentation Foundation makes it easier for software developers to produce graphics-hardware-accelerated applications.
Vista's many innovations come at a cost, however. Recent PC World Test Center trials demonstrated that although Vista performs just fine on the Microsoft-recommended hardware, Windows XP runs the same applications significantly faster (see "Lab Tests: Vista's Fast If You Have the Hardware"). So unless you can tolerate a downgrade in performance, you may want to upgrade your PC right along with your operating system. Nevertheless, on a reasonably equipped machine, Windows Vista provides fast search results for files, documents, e-mail messages, and Web sites.
Hello, PC? I'm Mac
Click to view full-size image.
Or maybe you're ready for an even bigger switch. The simple, clean lines of MacBooks and Mac Pro desktops hint that using a computer could be straightforward--easy, even. Mac OS X offers the same promise. Although Apple's operating system and Windows generally let you do all the same kinds of things, the Mac interface just seems to have fewer layers, levels, and cryptic settings.
It's nearly enough to make a 20-year Windows user jump ship. But that's not necessary, of course. Apple's Boot Camp allows Intel-based Macs to boot Windows and other x86 operating systems, such as Linux. Now, both übergeeks and regular folks who enjoy OS X's simplicity but still need to run applications in Windows XP, Vista, or Linux can run all of these operating systems on one computer.
Apple still won't allow OS X to run on non-Mac systems, making Apple hardware the only way to run all OSs on one machine. And with the addition of inexpensive or free virtualization software from Parallels and VMWare, Macs can run those operating systems simultaneously. Parallels' software even provides a unique, somewhat eerie feature, "Coherence," that runs virtualized Windows applications side by side with OS X programs. Parallels got a bit of a jump on VMWare, whose first OS X product, code-named Fusion, is due this summer. At press time, both companies were working to add 3D acceleration to their products, which could finally make serious gaming on a virtualized OS a reality.
But the big Mac OS news arrives this spring when Apple releases OS X 10.5, aka Leopard. The update promises a modest but desirable collection of new features, including Time Machine, a new automatic backup system that lets let you flip back and forth through previous versions of your files. Leopard also adds support for stationery and an integrated to-do list in Mail; an expansion of the Spotlight search tool to locate files on other Macs on your network; an Exposé-like virtual desktop feature called Spaces; and some as-yet-unannounced (killer, we hope) features.
Linux: Last but Not Least
Click to view full-size image.
Distributions like the increasingly popular Ubuntu are going a long way to change Linux's reputation for being difficult and complex to install and configure. Ubuntu's bootable DesktopCD lets you see how you'll like Linux (and a bit about how Linux will like your PC) without installing anything to the hard disk. A few more clicks will make room for Ubuntu and set it up on your hard drive, alongside Windows. (See "Windows and Ubuntu on One PC" for more.) Once the OS is in place, a couple of simple applications let you choose from and install hundreds of free programs, including productivity, multimedia, and development tools.
Another popular distribution, Novell's OpenSuSE, provides configuration utilities and libraries of applications that are nearly as easy to navigate as Ubuntu's. Both Linux distributions deliver frequent bug fixes and automatic updates.
And visually-minded Linux fans can choose from dozens of user interfaces, chief among them KDE and Gnome. Both interfaces are evolving steadily, borrowing good ideas from each other and from Apple and Microsoft as well.
With its minimal hardware requirements and solid security, Linux can serve as a bulletproof primary OS. And with painless dual-booting and virtualization options, including several free and open-source apps and the kernel-based Xen software, you can easily try out the latest in Linux without having to give up your current operating system.
Scott Spanbauer is a PC World contributing editor and writes the Internet Tips column.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,129284-page,1/article.html
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AfterDawn Addict
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11. March 2007 @ 15:41 |
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EU Commissioner criticizes iPod-iTunes tie-in
By Eric Bangeman | Published: March 11, 2007 - 03:52PM CT
European pressure on Apple to open up its iPod-iTunes ecosystem is growing, as EU Commissioner for Consumer Protection Meglena Kuneva has spoken out against the tie-in between the iPod and Apple's iTunes Store. Speaking on the topic of DRM, Commissioner Kuneva says in comments reported in German-language magazine Focus that she believes consumers shouldn't be locked into the iPod by music they purchase from Apple's iTunes Store.
"Do you find it reasonable that a CD will play in all CD players, but an iTunes song will only play on an iPod?" asked Kuneva. "It doesn't to me. Something must change."
Kuneva also said that the industry needs competitive pricing and uniform sales contracts, in addition to a "cooling-off" period during which consumers could "return" downloaded music. She plays to discuss these initiatives in Brussels later this week.
Europe and the closed ecosystem
Apple has come under increasing of criticism in Europe over the past year or so over its music-hardware ecosystem. Pressure has been increasing from Norway and a few EU member countries for Apple to open up its DRM so that consumers would be able to play iTunes music on any device of their choosing.
Early in 2006, the Consumer Council of Norway filed a complaint with the country's Consumer Ombudsman, accusing Apple of violating Norway's Marketing Control Act. At issue was Apple's FairPlay DRM, which locks consumers into the iPod and iTunes, as well as the lack of a cooling-off period and the company's disavowal of any responsibility for damage that may be caused to users' computers by iTunes.
The Norwegian Ombudsman ordered Apple to change its terms and conditions for the Norwegian version of the iTunes Store, and other Scandinavian countries began investigations of their own. Apple has engaged in dialogue with the countries, but no changes have been made.
Just a couple of months ago, Germany and France joined the Scandinavian countries in asking Apple to open up FairPlay to allow other digital audio players to play iTunes tracks.
Harmonizing consumer protection laws
Lurking in the background is a wholesale EU effort to rewrite the Union's consumer-protection laws. The laws vary between member countries, and the EU would like to standardize them. One issue being discussed is whether the cooling-off period should apply to digital content, with the European Commission looking at the possibility of using the lack of interoperability between the iPod, Zune, and other digital audio players as a way to force online music sellers to accept "returns."
Kuneva appears intent on going a step further and forcing Apple to open up its ecosystem, a move that would make the consumer groups pressing for a change happy.
Apple Chairman and CEO Steve Jobs has said that his company would make everybody happy by selling DRM-free music if only the record labels would agree to it.
Color some Europeans unimpressed: a spokesperson for the Norwegian Consumer said that while Jobs' comments were welcome, they don't address the underlying problem of interoperability. It's going to take concerted government action or a truly unlikely change of heart on the part of the music industry to accomplish that.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/200...nes-tie-in.html
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AfterDawn Addict
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11. March 2007 @ 15:43 |
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Meet cGrid, the real-time P2P punisher
By Jacqui Cheng | Published: March 11, 2007 - 06:46PM CT
There's a tool in the war on piracy that's picking up steam, and its proponents are thrilled with what it can do. Dubbed "cGrid," the application is powerful and daunting to those caught in its snares, for it can boot users off the network in real-time if it suspects that they are engaging in P2P file sharing, or even if they are using so-called darknets. As you might expect, the entertainment industry loves it.
cGrid was a hot topic of conversation at last Thursday's House of Representatives Judiciary Committee hearing, where the problem of piracy on US college campuses was the focus. It's not hard to see why: colleges are being accused of being too lax on piracy and taking too much time to act on reports of file sharing. cGrid's developer Red Lambda hopes that the current imbroglio between the RIAA and America's colleges will turn into a business opportunity.
cGrid's developers describe it as "the industry's most advanced P2P and file-sharing mitigation technology." It uses undisclosed techniques to monitor and record traffic at the packet-level and also uses proprietary behavioral analysis to determine whether individual users are participating in illegal file sharing. It monitors local networks and keeps historical logs on users according to their MAC addresses. In this way, cGrid can also monitor private file sharing such as that done with invitation-only FTP servers and other normally closed "networks."
The software provides detailed usage reports to administrators which can then be used to discipline students who have had multiple infractions. However, one of the most distinct features of the software is its ability to instantly kick users off of the network for engaging in suspicious behavior.
Red Lambda says that cGrid monitors "a large variety of different P2P clients, in addition to other avenues of file-sharing including Windows file sharing, FTP, IM, and others," and that cGrid does not perform content inspection but instead focuses on the behavior of the protocols being monitored. But the company does not expand on how it differentiates between legitimate uses of those technologies and illegal ones, raising questions of its effectiveness in an academic setting where students may be using P2P and other services potentially flagged by the system for legitimate, academic reasons.
cGrid is lauded by the RIAA and MPAA because of its ability to automatically determine usage patterns and remove offenders' Internet access on the spot, without the lag of involving bureaucracy. The University of Florida, where the cGrid was first developed under the name "Icarus," itself reports that it has been monitoring its dorm networks since 2003 with some success.
While students have been finding ways around the service (as discussed, perhaps not too wisely, on Facebook), UF's interim CIO Marc Hoit told Gainesville.com that the university has seen a dramatic reduction in downloading. Instantly kicking students off the network for suspected infractions seems to work, too: "The first and second warnings are sufficient" in scaring students straight about piracy, Hoit said.
Red Lambda's CEO Greg Marchwinski testified at last Thursday's hearing, saying "I think the Congressmen in this committee are losing their patience." Red Lambda would undoubtedly love for Congress to mandate universities to install such a solution, with its $1 million price tag for installation and $250,000 yearly operation costs.
Will cGrid become a member of the campus cops? The executive vice president of the Association of American Universities, John Vaughn, testified that the cost of such a system is prohibitively expensive, and that universities and colleges were already making an effort to curb piracy in other ways. There are other concerns about cGrid as well, including infringing upon student privacy and stifling the creativity of students who might be working on cutting-edge projects.
But the low recidivism of students caught by cGrid may make all of that moot, at least for some college administrators who would rather get the piracy monkey off their back. According to the University of Florida, only 10% of students identified by the system as engaging in unauthorized activity were caught a second time, and only 10 percent of those students were caught a third time.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/200...p-punisher.html
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 11. March 2007 @ 15:43
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Senior Member
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11. March 2007 @ 21:24 |
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Ireland, hardrive crashed a couple of weeks ago and trying to regain some lost material, you had posted a program I think it was called something like Fastone, I could be wrong but its the closest I can think of, its a capture and paste type program when ordinarraly you would'nt be able to.
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. March 2007 @ 17:35 |
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Microsoft quietly patches Windows Live OneCare to fix Outlook problems
Microsoft is not going to patch the latest version of its Windows Live OneCare service on March 13 to remedy Outlook compatibility issues, as a number of news and blog sites are reporting.
The reason? Microsoft already issued the required OneCare patch with no fanfare on March 11.
As noted by various Microsoft watchers, the OneCare-Outlook problems are not new. A number of customers have been reporting "OneCare ate my e-mail" problems since late January.
On March 12, I asked a Microsoft Windows Live spokeswoman whether Microsoft was still intending, as at least one official had stated in a recent posting on a OneCare user group thread, that Microsoft planned to issue a fix for OneCare-Outlook compatibility problems on March 13.
Her response:
"On Sunday March 11, the Windows Live OneCare team released a new anti-malware engine that will fix the issue of OneCare erroneously quarantining certain Outlook .pst or Outlook Express .dbx files when infected files were detected within them. Windows Live OneCare customers whose PCs are connected to the Internet will automatically get this fix. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused our customers.
"Again, OneCare will automatically update for this fix and customers will not need to take action to update themselves, but any customers who wish to manually confirm that they have received the most recent anti-malware engine can do so via the following steps:
1. Click ?Change OneCare Settings? in the Main OneCare user interface
2. Click the ?Logging? Tab
3. Click the ?Create support log? button
4. Scroll down to the ?Virus and Spyware Versions:? section and check your AM Engine version number. If the text says the numbers ?2306? after the 1.1. number ? such as AM Engine:(1.1. 2306 .0) ? your engine has been updated already. If ?2306? does not appear, your engine may still need updating. To update, ensure your computer is connected to the Internet, then click the ?Check for updates? link in the main OneCare user interface and OneCare will download and install the fix.
"For customers whose Outlook .pst and Outlook Express .dbx files had been quarantined prior to this fix and engine update, we continue to recommend the following steps to recover their email:
1. Close Outlook or Outlook Express
2. Click Change OneCare Settings in the Main OneCare user interface
3. Click on the Viruses & Spyware Tab
4. And then click on the Quarantine button and then select the pst or dbx file and then click on Restore."
Anyone out there tried out the OneCare Outlook patch?
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=316
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. March 2007 @ 17:41 |
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FREE WIN CONTIG..........
WinContig is an easy-to-use stand-alone defragmentation tool that doesn't create any installation directories or Registry entries on your computer. Its purpose is to quick defrag files without the need to defrag the whole disk. Its defragmentation and analysis engine is based on the standard Microsoft defragmentation API. In addition, WinContig allows you to group files into profiles, and also it accepts a number of optional command-line switches that you can use to control how the program operates. WinContig is an application designed for Windows 2000/XP operating systems. NOTE: WinContig has been tested only on NTFS file system. .....(free).....GO THERE!
DOWNLOAD HERE
http://wincontig.mdtzone.it/index_EN.htm
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. March 2007 @ 18:55 |
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All,
I am beginning to see more and more customers in my store complaining of the error message cited in the Subject line of this email. If you?re running Windows XP and have not received this error message then there?s nothing to worry about, at the moment. But for those of you who have, please follow the link below to a website set up by Microsoft to allow you to patch your computer to resolve this issue. Note: I know the website appears quite technical, but all you have to do is drill down about 2/3s of the way through the email and you?ll see the link Microsoft provided in order to patch this problem, under the heading ?Resolution?. (Hotfix Information)
Please follow this link to get you started: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925922/en-us
Don
How to configure system failure and recovery options in Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307973/
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AfterDawn Addict
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13. March 2007 @ 05:31 |
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Ultimate Boot CD 4.0
Author: UltimateBootCD.Com
Date: 2007-03-12
Size: 87.7 Mb
License: Freeware
Requires: Win All
You need the Ultimate Boot CD if you want to:
Run floppy-based diagnostic tools from CDROM drives. More and more PCs are shipped without floppy drives these days, and it is such a royal pain when you need to run diagnostic tools on them.
Free yourself from the slow loading speed of the floppy drive. Even if you do have a floppy drive, it is still much much faster to run your diagnostic tools from the CDROM drive, rather than wait for the tool to load from the floppy drive.
Consolidate as many diagnostic tools as possible into one bootable CD. Wouldn't you like to avoid digging into the dusty box to look for the right floppy disk, but simply run them all from a single CD? Then the Ultimate Boot CD is for you!
This will create an ISO image which you can use to create a bootable CD with your favorite CD burning software.
download here
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4981.html
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AfterDawn Addict
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16. March 2007 @ 08:27 |
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FREE ON LINE SCAN,Panda has released NanoScan
Free online antivirus to combat viruses, spyware and other Internet threats. Panda ActiveScan.
* Scans, disinfects and eliminates over 185,000 viruses, worms and Trojans from all system devices, hard disks, compressed file and all your email.
* Detects spyware. 84 percent of malware installed on computers worldwide is spyware. Do you know if your PC is spyware free?
* Detects the following types of malware:
o Dialers, Hacking tools, Rootkits (New), Jokes, Security risks.
It´s quick, easy and fast.
Click on Scan your PC. A new browser window will open with Panda ActiveScan. If this is the first time you scanned your PC, you´ll have to download the ActiveX controls (8 MB). The time it takes to download these can vary between 15 minutes, for a 56 Kbps modem, and 30 seconds, with a 1.5 Mbps connection.
GO HERE
http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/ActiveScan.htm
Panda Looks to Speed Antivirus Scans
By Ed Oswald, BetaNews
March 16, 2007, 11:12 AM
Panda has released NanoScan, an online virus scanning service that is able to perform a full sweep of a computer in less than one minute. The speed is a vast improvement over current virus scanners, which take as much as an hour or more to complete.
The company isn't giving specifics on how the software works, only saying that it will require a small 400KB ActiveX download. No software is installed on the user's computer, and is hosted on Panda's servers. This would ensure that the signature files were continually up-to-date.
Hosting the signature file online solves a problem that the company said will eventually require a new way to combat virus and malware writers.
"Panda had foreseen that digital vandals and Internet criminals would eventually win the day simply by overwhelming systems with signature files too large to be of practical use, unless something radically new and different were done," the company said in a statement.
Around 600,000 threats will be detectable through the service, with more added daily through the company's 'Anti-Malware Collective Intelligence' platform. The system uses detection of new threats worldwide as a way to keep its anti-virus signature files continuously up-to-date.
This system works hand-in-hand with its TruPrevent technology, the company said, which detects malicious code without the need for it to be in the antivirus softwares signature file.
In beta, the scanner is available for use free of charge from nanoscan.com. It was not immediately clear if the company will charge for the final version.
As for the claims to scan a computer in less than a minute, they seemed to be true: a BetaNews test of the service resulted in a 45 second scan time.
http://www.betanews.com/article/Panda_Lo...cans/1174057582
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AfterDawn Addict
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16. March 2007 @ 09:26 |
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Debbie beats the RIAA. Again.
p2pnet.net news:- Oklahoma mother Debbie Foster has beaten the Big 4 music cartel's RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America).
For the second time.
The RIAA, "acted in bad faith in bringing the lawsuit against Debbie Foster," said her lawyer, Marilyn D. Barringer-Thomson, and the Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG enforcer abandoned the case.
Foster, however, didn't do the same and became the "prevailing party" under the Copyright Act, meaning she was entitled to her "reasonable" attorneys' fees. These were $55,000 (and counting), and the judge ruled she can also supplement her request.
Hand over the relevant documents, the RIAA was asked by Barringer-Thomson a year ago. But its out-source lawyer, Holmes Robert & Owens' Richard Gabriel (right), refused to do so. That's now over, however. He's been given an order by the judge:
Deliver the documents to Barringer-Thomson by March 26.
"The order requires the RIAA to produce the attorneys' time sheets, billing statements, billing records, and costs and expense records," says Recording Industry vs The People, going on:
"The Court reviewed authorities holding that an opponent's attorneys fees are a relevant factor in determining the reasonableness of attorneys fees, quoting a United States Supreme Court case which held that 'a party cannot litigate tenaciously and then be heard to complain about the time necessarily spent by his opponent in response'."
"Will this cause the RIAA to rethink its litigation strategy?" - wondered Ars Technica's Eric Bangeman.
"Probably. The industry cartel will have to tread carefully with any secondary infringement claims now that there is case law that owning an Internet account used for infringement does not automatically make the owner liable for said infringement. Attorney Ray Beckerman told Ars that he believes there are huge implications from this opinion. 'It sends a message to the RIAA... that there are consequences to this 'driftnet' litigation strategy,' Beckerman said."
"If the RIAA's going to go around bringing cases against people, it's going to have to pay the price when it loses," he told p2pnet.
Slashdot Slashdot it!
Also See:
acted in bad faith - RIAA times out in p2p case, February 27, 2007
Recording Industry vs The People - RIAA Ordered To Turn Over Its Attorneys Billing Records in Capitol v. Foster, 15, 2007
Ars Technica - Victim of RIAA "driftnet" awarded attorneys' fees, February 7, 2007
http://p2pnet.net/story/11672
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AfterDawn Addict
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16. March 2007 @ 16:08 |
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LEGO Digital Designer for Windows 1.6.680
Author: LEGO Group
Date: 2007-03-16
Size: 16.9 Mb
License: Freeware
Requires: Win All
As far back as 1999, a group of visionary LEGO product developers and engineers started thinking about letting people design their own LEGO products. They imagined people of all ages, anywhere in the world, being able create any design they could dream up ? using an intuitive, free tool for digital design.
The first milestone was achieved in July 2003, when version 1.0 of LEGO Digital Designer was released. In February 2004, an online 3D Gallery went live, allowing designers to share their ideas via the Internet. By 2005, thousands of LEGO Factory enthusiasts were designing, sharing and ordering their own custom models ? and the one-millionth copy of LEGO Digital Designer was downloaded on 25 September that year.
Now at version 1.6, LEGO Digital Designer is quite simply the best virtual building system out there ? with its ?Click-Stick? method of 3D modeling winning praise from children, parents, teachers and design enthusiasts everywhere. And, as the virtual design platform behind a growing number of LEGO products, LEGO Digital Designer is here to stay. A host of improvements and new features are already in development, including an improved user interface, new connectivity, more life-like building, Technic compatibility and improved train building and animation. So stay tuned ? with LEGO Digital Designer, the future is yours.
[b]If you haven?t tried LEGO Digital Designer yourself, download a copy today![/b]
DOWNLOAD HERE ITS FREE
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download5566.html
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AfterDawn Addict
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16. March 2007 @ 16:11 |
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IPCheck Server Monitor 5.4.0.787
Author: Paessler AG
Date: 2007-03-16
Size: 26.3 Mb
License: Freeware
Requires: Win All
Network and Server Uptime/Downtime Monitor - monitors a network using various protocols (e.g. ping, http/https, smtp, FTP, pop3, dns,snmp ) and notifies the staff in various ways as soon as an outage occurs. By design IPCheck Server Monitor fills the gap between the small freeware tools that do not monitor thoroughly enough and the expensive management suites that are often very complicated to set up. ** Today almost any business relies more or less on its computer network. From a small company's local area network for 5 employees to the global network infrastructure of large companies operating world wide with hundreds of computers - if any part of the network is offline the company looses money. This is even more true for web based businesses: if the website is offline the company does not make any money. But the goal of network monitoring is not only to detect a system failure when it happens. To detect problems before they get serious makes it necessary to monitor many systems of your network on various levels. IPCheck Server Monitor monitors your network and will let you know when something serious is happening as quickly as possible.
Free for personal and non-commercial use and limited to three basic sensors as well as a minimum interval of 15 minutes. For pricing information please The Authors Site.
DOWNLOAD HERE
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download2911.html
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