It’s finally dead. The Netscape browser. The one that started it all. Microsoft drove many knives through its heart long ago but its shadow lingered on in the caves of AOL. Now AOL has withdrawn the feeding tubes and shut the life-support system. RIP Netscape, Internet Explorer never meant to me what you once did.
The nature of the blog format is that much of its content is ephemeral. Events quickly render the postings obsolete or irrelevant. This is true in spades for a blog devoted to the fast-moving world of technology. Thus most of my scribblings quickly lose whatever interest that they may have initially had and are soon consigned to oblivion among their 1200+ brethren. However, there are a precious few that I feel are worth excavating from obscurity and noting as we mark the end of the year.
If you know a phone number and want the name and address of the owner, there are a number of possible sites. Sullr.com is one that also provides a map to go with the information.
Via Neat Net Tricks.
It has always struck me how much of what I see on the Web reads like some 14-year-old wrote it. There’s a good reason; a 14-year-old did write it. A study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project says 59% of teens have created Web content, according to a report at TechCrunch.
Many PC owners now have home networks. Being able to connect several computers together is great but networks bring a new set of problems. The command line comes with a variety of tools for checking networks and it is worthwhile for even average PC users to know how to use some of them. Three commands that everybody can use are “ipconfig”, “netstat”, and “ping”. I give some details about these commands at this link.
Elsewhere it may be different but in the part of the world where I live not much work will get done for the next few days as we celebrate Christmas and the New Year. Any posting I do will be erratic for the next week. In the meantime, happy holidays to all who observe them!
Maybe it’s really “management-speak” as Raymond Chen calls it but it certainly reminds me of other examples of Microsoft-speak. I’m referring to a recent blog by Chen where he posts:
This is the entire text of an actual piece of email I received from a high-level manager in response to some feedback I sent.
Thanks.
There is a lot of norming around any of these mechanisms as well as a certain amount of ability to hold ones ground in these interactions in addition to the admin of the rule being good enough as discussed.
Bob (not the manager’s actual name)
Chen is a high-level Microsoft programmer but he is also a lucid and entertaining writer. His blog topics range from really technical programming points to amusing anecdotes.
I don’t know how good the test procedure was, but a report mentioned at Ars Technica throws more doubt on the efficacy of anti-virus programs:
The current state of software, security, and virus protection is a mixed bag. Amidst questions of Vista’s security prowess over Windows XP, a new report set to be released by German computer magazine c’t next month says the accuracy of antivirus software is waning. Particularly when it comes to detecting new, unfamiliar attacks, the 17 software packages tested dropped in average effectiveness by nearly 50 percent in 2007.
I keep singing the same song: PC users who think that an anti-virus program is all the protection that they need had better reconsider. The malware writers are becoming quite adept at circumventing conventional reactive anti-virus programs.
The never-ending parade of security holes marches on. On view this week are problems in the ubiquitous Adobe Flash player. Computerworld reports on the problem. You can download the updated Flash player here.
Autoruns is a free utility for controlling and monitoring startup processes that I have mentioned before. It has gotten another update and can be downloaded here. Here’s a partial description:
This utility, which has the most comprehensive knowledge of auto-starting locations of any startup monitor, shows you what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login, and shows you the entries in the order Windows processes them. These programs include ones in your startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys. You can configure Autoruns to show other locations, including Explorer shell extensions, toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications, auto-start services, and much more. Autoruns goes way beyond the MSConfig utility bundled with Windows Me and XP.
It’s a great utility for the more experienced user but is probably a bit overwhelming for the typical home user.