Category: Computers, Science & Technology

The Ipod from Apple has 70% of the personal digital media market locked up. Will a new offering from Microsoft make a dent in this market?

Microsoft Ipod-Killer?

Microsoft has the money and the “clout,” but will they pull it off? They plan on having an “iTunes-like” site to provide content for their new device as well.

“The new player, which Microsoft Corp. has been touting to record companies in the last few weeks, will let users download music and videos over the air, according to one source, a feature which would give it an edge over the iPod. Microsoft Corp. has also been showing a new media software, developing an application akin to Apple Computer Inc.’s iPod/iTunes integrated ecosystem, according to another source. Record companies are expected to be receiving prototypes to test in the coming weeks, said the first source. The sources said Microsoft will be throwing significant marketing dollars behind the launch.”

A “gentleman” has decided to release sample code at the rate of one-per-day for every major browser this month! Sigh. THIS we REALLY don’t need! I suppose he is trying to make a point… but you just KNOW that folks are going to impliment these exploits to make life even more painful than it already is on the net! There has to be a better way!

A Browser Flaw a Day Keeps Hackers at Play

“A well-known hacker has stockpiled browser exploits and plans to release one flaw a day for the month of July to highlight the types of vulnerabilities affecting the world’s most widely used Web browsers. HD Moore, co-founder of the Metasploit Framework, has launched a new project called MoBB (Month of Browser Bugs) with daily releases of proof-of-concept code for flaws in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera and Konqueror. ‘We will publish a new browser hack, every day, for the entire month of July. The hacks we publish are carefully chosen to demonstrate a concept without disclosing a direct path to remote code execution,’ Moore said in a blog entry announcing the project.”

Ack! A “Month of Browser Bugs,” indeed! In case you haven’t already read it, I would suggest my article on, “How be Be Safe on the Web!,” available at the link below:

Dr. Bill’s “How to Stay Safe on the Web”, or, “It is Good to be Paranoid!”

After swearing up-and-down that they weren’t gonna, they didn’t need’ta, and they were gonna take their ball and bat and go home… Microsoft has grudgingly agreed to support OpenDocument in their new (and delayed) Office product!

Microsoft Bows to Pressure to Interoperate with ODF

“Microsoft is giving in to the unrelenting pressure to be more open, particularly with regard to its Office Open XML file format and interoperability with the Open Document Format alternative. The company will announce July 6 that it has set up an open-source project to create a series of tools that allow translation between the OpenXML format and the ODF format, and which will be developed with partners. The Open XML Translator project, as it is known, will be posted on SourceForge, the open-source software development Web site.”

Wow! Microsoft using SourceForge… is the world ending?

A new study and recommendation by the network security form, Sophos suggests that the best way for home users to enjoy real network security and freedom from malware is to use a Mac! I would argue that the same thing could be accomplished by using a Linux box, but I guess that they were looking at only “supported” (by a company) systems. Linux is supported by the Open Source community, and you can also buy support from most major Linux vendors, but I digress. The important point here is that to truly avoid malware, simply avoid using Windows. Big surprise!

Sophos: because of malware home users should switch to Macs

“Sophos has published new research into the past six months of cyber crime. The Sophos Security Threat Management Report Update reveals that while there has been a vast drop in new viruses and worms, this has been over-compensated by increases in other types of malware, as cyber criminals turn their attention to stealing information and money. Most interestingly, new Trojans now outweigh viruses and worms by 4:1, compared to 2:1 in the first half of 2005. In addition, the continued dominance of Windows-based threats has prompted Sophos to suggest that many home users should consider switching to Apple Macs, to shield themselves from the malware onslaught.”

What is “FreeDOS” you say? Well, as it’s name implies, it is a free and Open Source version of the old, venerable DOS that we all used to love/hate! Microsoft long ago threw in the towel on DOS, but there are some old “die-hards” out there that still run it. FreeDOS has provided a free and open version for us “old fogies” to use when necessary… but there was a rumor of late that FreeDOS has died unceremoniously and was no more! Au contraire!

Free DOS Lives!

It seems not only that the project is continuing, they are getting ready to release the “1.0” version, a milestone in most Open Source projects! Hooray for FreeDOS!

FreeDOS Website

Writing a blog is fun, but it can be time consuming, and, as they say, “Time is money!” So, the question comes around at some point, “How can I monetize my blog?” For those of you that don’t use the current “buzzwords”… “monetize” is to “make money from” your efforts. No matter how open and free spirited you are, if you can make some money from your tireless blogging… well, why not?

In my case, because I wanted to make sure that if I did, it wouldn’t be so intrusive and “take over” my blog. It needed to “fit in” to my blog’s style and look-and-feel. So, I signed up for Google Adsense, and starting playing around with several packages for WordPress that would integrate Adsense into my blog.

I had mixed results. It turns out that the best way (for me anyway) is to use the old fashioned “code hacking” approach and insert the Adsense code directly into my WordPress Blog code. Here’s an article that shows you how to do it:

Adsense in WordPress

So, I hope you find the Adsense ads tasteful, and not too distracting, and if you see something that you are interested in, and want to click on it for more info… well, reset assured in the knowledge that you will be helping the Doctor pay for the cost of running the blog! Thanks!

By the way, you may notice that on the right sidebar I have a disclaimer that says, “The Computer Curmudgeon web site is not directly affiliated with any advertisers.” This is true. Don’t tell them that, “the Doctor sent ya,” because the Google ads are context based, and I have no idea what will come up based on the context of an article!

“Computer experts from the University of Cambridge claim not only to have breached the Great Firewall of China, but have found a way to use the firewall to launch denial-of-service attacks against specific Internet Protocol addresses in the country.”

Academics break the Great Firewall of China

Very cool! China wants, of course, to deny free access to ideas that their government does not approve of. Now, academics have broken their firewall and made it possible for folks to access world-wide information.

Ya gotta give M$ credit! When they want something to work right, be fast, and impressive, they have enough sense to use Linux and Apache!

Office “Live” Demo Was Hosted on Linux/Apache

A guy tested the site and found it was being hosted by an web hosting firm in Sweden on Linux and Apache!

“Intrigued, I decided to check out the site that’s hosting the Office 2007 demo: I looked up “runaware.com” on WhoIs and found that it is operating from Sweden, and is not a Microsoft-owned site after all. Then I used NetCraft to see what the runaware.com site is running and guess what? It’s a Linux+Apache environment!”

Very cool!

There may yet be justice! The evil (more evil than Microsoft, and that is going some!) SCO is set to lose big time. Hopefully, they will shrivel up and die as they should have done year’s ago. (No, I have no mercy for them.)

Judge Tosses Out Most of SCO’s Anti-Linux Lawsuit Against IBM

“A U.S. magistrate struck down most of The SCO Group’s (SCOX) claims of copyright infringement in the battle over source code in the freely distributed Linux operating system. Dealing a setback to the Utah company’s $5 billion lawsuit against IBM Corp., (IBM) Magistrate Brooke Wells dismissed 182 of SCO’s 294 legal claims in an order signed Wednesday and obtained Friday by The Associated Press. IBM was accused of dumping confidential Unix code into Linux, but Wells ruled SCO had produced virtually no proof of the allegation.” (Emphasis mine.)

The world’s second richest man, Warren Buffett – who’s now worth $44 billion – will start giving away 85% of his wealth in July – most of it to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation!

Warren Buffett gives away his fortune

“Buffett has pledged to gradually give 85% of his Berkshire stock to five foundations. A dominant five-sixths of the shares will go to the world’s largest philanthropic organization, the $30 billion Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, whose principals are close friends of Buffett’s (a connection that began in 1991, when a mutual friend introduced Buffett and Bill Gates). The Gateses credit Buffett, says Bill, with having ‘inspired’ their thinking about giving money back to society. Their foundation’s activities, internationally famous, are focused on world health — fighting such diseases as malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis — and on improving U.S. libraries and high schools.”

Wow. Gotta give Buffett credit! The great thing about being rich, and having made it yourself… you know how you did it, and you can do it again if need be! Kudos to Mr. Buffett! I trust his contributions will be well used!