Archive for February, 2007
Internet connection through cellular service
The Internet has become an indispensable daily resource for many of us and we need a way to keep connected when we travel. Wireless service is widespread but there are still times when another way of connecting is desirable. Cellular service is one possibility (if expensive). If you want to be as mobile as possible, [...]
Vista firewall gets thumbs down
One of the security improvements in Vista was supposed to be an upgraded firewall that monitored outgoing traffic as well as incoming. Although the Vista firewall can monitor outgoing traffic, it does not do so in its default setting. Further, configuring the settings for outgoing traffic is quite technical and complicated. Three different [...]
Connectors, I’ve got connectors
Not too long ago I bought a new desktop computer. The back has a dazzling array of connectors. Many have to do with the newer types of video display. Things have certainly gotten more complicated than they used to be. Some help with deciphering all the new video connectors is at ExtremeTech.
Big problems upgrading to Windows Vista over XP
Over at ExtremeTech, Joel Durham relates big problems when he tried an in-place upgrade to Vista over an existing XP system. He says:
If you read our forums, you’ve seen many cries of foul over problems that our readers have had performing in-place upgrades from XP to Vista. It seems that the process simply fails for [...]
Google: Can we talk?
It could be that the search engine of the future will be voice-driven. InformationWeek reports a largely unnoticed patent that was awarded to Google:
The patent in question, number 7,027,987, was awarded to Google on April 11, 2006 for a Voice Interface For A Search Engine. It’s described in the patent as “a system [which] [...]
More on DRM and Vista
The debate continues about Vista’s stringent digital rights management implementation called Content Protection Policy (CPP). Earlier I posted about Peter Gutmann’s alarming analysis of the consequences of CPP and also some response from Microsoft. Now the security expert Bruce Schneier has weighed in against CPP. In fact, he says don’t get Vista, period. He puts [...]
The best free software
PC Magazine has done another of its periodic listings of the best free software. I’m always amazed (and gratified) at how much free stuff there is. I have written a few very simple programs myself and I know how much work has to be put into anything that is offered to the general public. Here’s [...]
New approaches to defending against malware
It’s been clear for some time that the reactive method of malware defense that relies on a database of known bad actors was insufficient for today’s problems. The method of targeting what something does rather than the details of what it is has much to offer and may well be the basis for future [...]
Constants for scripting special folders
I received an email through this blog from someone who asked a question about the special folder constants that are used in scripting. Unfortunately, the return email address that was given is to a non-existent domain so I could not answer. However, the question spurred me to do something I have been putting off for [...]
How the hacking community works
Curious about the inner workings of the world of hackers? (Or of crackers if you are a stickler for terms.) InformationWeek takes a look at the underground activity in this article. Here’s an excerpt:
Hacking isn’t a kid’s game anymore. It’s big business. Online black markets are flush with stolen credit card data, driver’s license [...]
Online Video
It is not a personal interest of mine but video now has a big presence on the Web. Broadband connections, big hard drives, and fast processors have made these very large files feasible for the Web. Some are even predicting that text may become a secondary or even tertiary component of Web sites. The YouTube [...]
