Dr. Bill | The Computer Curmudgeon

If you have ever been a pet owner that had an old faithful pet, that just got so sick and pitiful that it had to be, as the saying goes, “put down,” then you will understand the anxiety of current Microsoft Windows 95, 98 and ME owners! This July 11th is it! Microsoft will no longer support those operating systems… if you call, they will laugh! They will no longer post security fixes. In short, you should bury these old dogs before July!

It Time to Leave Win9x Behind

“You can’t say you weren’t warned. This July, years after it should have happened, Microsoft will end all meaningful support for Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition and Windows ME. Here is the key quote from the announcement: ‘…critical security updates for Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows ME will end on July 11, 2006. No other security updates will follow after this date.'”

It is time to “move on” to more modern OSs… is it time for you to consider Linux? Or, will you still support the Evil Empire?

“Virus researchers at Kaspersky Lab have found proof-of-concept code for a cross-platform virus capable of infecting both Windows and Linux systems. In an alert posted to Viruslist, Kaspersky said the sample virus has been given a dual name—Virus.Linux.Bi.a/ Virus.Win32.Bi.a—and highlighted the way attackers are targeting multiple platforms in malware attacks.”

Windows and Linux Virus

The bad guys that write virii are BAD DEWDS! Sigh!

Two VERY interesting things caught my eye today… and air powered car (that my wife, Belinda, saw in Dr. Mercola’s Blog,) and an air and gravity powered aircraft! Dewd! Now we are talking! The “air powered car” is $3.00 per 100 mile trip tank of compressed air, and the “gravity plane” gathers it’s own fuel while it flies! What will they think of next! Check out the animation of the plane for an explanation:

Gravity Plane Animation

Car that Runs on Air

Gartner has done a study that shows that only 50% of all current corporate PCs are ready for Vista’s “Aero” interface.

50% are “Vista Ready”

“Whereas today’s mainstream processors and hard drives offer plenty of performance and capacity to keep up with the new OS—now scheduled to arrive for large businesses in November and consumers in January 2007—IT managers and their counterparts, in addition to consumers buying PCs, should take care to specify at least 1GB of memory. If they aim to tap Vista’s Aero user interface, they will need a recent graphics processor, a new report by Gartner said.”

This one makes it easy for “phishers” to fool you into thinking you are on one site, when you are really on another. Again, folks, why aren’t you using Mozilla Firefox? You CAN’T trust Windows Internet Explorer!

Windows Internet Explorer Spoofing Test Page

“Hai Nam Luke has discovered a vulnerability in Internet Explorer, which can be exploited by malicious people to conduct phishing attacks.” The test on the page linked above will demonstrate why this attack is so bad… if you still have Internet Explorer!

Well, the rumors were true… the next version of OSX will allow booting into Windows as well.

Apple Runs Windows

“Apple Computer, the maker of the iPod, yesterday announced a new program which allows its computers to run Microsoft’s Windows operating system. The surprise move – which some analysts imagined could never happen – is seen as an attempt by Apple to capitalise on the phenomenal success of its iPod digital music player, which has sold more than 40m units around the world. The new software, called Boot Camp, lets customers run the Windows system alongside existing Apple programs. ‘Apple has no desire or plan to sell or support Windows,’ said Phil Schiller, a senior vice-president at Apple. ‘But many customers have expressed their interest to run Windows on Apple’s superior hardware.'”

Most of my Blog entries are short and to the point, providing links to other sites for detailed information on the topic. However, this entry may be a bit longer than usual. Why? Because this topic is what I believe is one of the “next big things” on the Internet, and in society at large as well. What is that topic? IPTV! What is “IPTV?” It is television delivered by Internet connection… or “Internet Protocol.” (IP) Just as Podcasting started as a “grassroots” effort by some highly geeky individuals that love technology, so IPTV, or VODcasting (Video on Demand), has started among those “geeky few” that are interested in the technology. In fact, it is based on similar technologies as Podcasting, such as RSS feeds (Really Simple Syndication.)

More RSS feeds of weekly video programs are being made available, and more excellent free software is being developed to allow users to easily connect to the feeds of these VODcasts. I, personally, listen every week to Patrick Norton and Robert Heron on “DL.TV” (Digital Life TV) talk about tech issues in a similar manner as the old “Screen Savers” show on TechTV, before G4 bought the network and destroyed it! Other great shows on many topics are available as well.

Here’s a link to Ziff-Davis’ “Digital Life TV:”

DL.TV

I wanted to use this posting to tell you about two great software platforms that you can get for free! One is the “Democracy Player.” Why “Democracy?” Because almost anyone with a strong enough desire can create TV content and serve it out via an RSS feed! This is the great “democratization” of video content! No longer are a “special” few able to program only a few channels of content! Now, we can all provide content to people that have interests similar to us! The “Democracy Player” is available free from here:

Democracy Player

Another great player is called FireAnt… it is also Open Source and free as well. FireAnt delivers a rich media experience through a simple to use, unified viewer that lets you watch all types of content without having to worry about which format it is (Quicktime, Windows Media, Real, Flash, MP3, and more!) This is a slicker, somewhat cooler looking player. And, they make it very easy for content providers to provide content via a “one click” subscription process. Check it out!

FireAnt Player

Watch this trend! You will be hearing WAY more in days to come about “VODcasting,” and “IPTV!”