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News for
Tuesday October 31th 2006.
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New Windows exploit could disable firewall.
Source:
TGDaily
Redmond (WA) - Security researchers have discovered a new Windows flaw
that could allow hackers to crash the built-in firewall. By sending
malformed DNS packets to vulnerable machines, hackers could disable and
eventually bypass the operating system firewall. So far only Windows XP
computers with the Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) service turned on are
affected by the attack.
Internet Connection Sharing is a service inherited from the early days of
networking when hardware routers were rare and expensive. The service allows
one computer to share an Internet connection with several internal
computers. ICS creates an internal DHCP and DNS server to give IP addresses
and domain name information to the internal network.
Expect this one (hopefully) to be addressed in the November patch Tuesday
from Microsoft.
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USBCELL batteries feature built-in USB plug.
Source:
Engadget
This revolutionary rechargeable battery can charge from any USB port
without the need for any recharging devices, cradles or cables. Simply pop
the lid to reveal a built in connector and charger, plug into any powered
USB port on your desktop, laptop, keyboard or games console, to charge the
battery.
USBCELL can be used exactly like a normal battery meaning there is now no
need to purchase huge packs of alkaline batteries, or invest in or carry a
clunky charger. Billions of USB ports are readily available in homes and
workplaces around the world meaning you never need to run out of power and
making the USBCELL extremely cost-effective and convenient for all
battery-powered devices. Currently available in the AA format, the USBCELL
will shortly comprise a full range of standard formats, phone and camera
batteries.
Until now the battery industry, although reaching record levels of sales,
has failed to keep pace with the exciting developments and device
portability in the rest of the consumer electronics industry. No longer -
USBCELL brings truly portable power for devices.
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WirelessHD group plans to replace cables
using 60GHz band.
Source:
Engadget
Six of the world's largest consumer electronics companies have joined
with startup SiBEAM to form the WirelessHD interest group. They expect to
complete the WiHD spec by spring of next year, using the unlicensed 60GHz
frequency to stream digital information at multi-gigabit rates. The
advantages of using SiBEAM's solution is that such chips can use higher
power levels without overlapping other frequencies, yet are limited to a
short range and won't penetrate walls. With the backing of LG, Matsushita
(Panasonic), NEC, Sony and Toshiba, this standard could easily overtake
WiFi- and UWB-based
solutions others are
working on.
If this new standard becomes a standard can you imagine the
possibilities? No more wires inside your PC to reduce airflow - actually you
could simply place all your hard drives in a separate case next to your
system with no physical connection. No need to install the hard drives
inside the main chassis any longer. Last but not least all the computers in
your office/room could share hard drives.
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News for
Monday October 30th 2006.
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Desktop CPU Comparison Guide Rev. 3.0
Source:
TechARP
Adrian Rojak sent me a note that his CPU comparison guide has been updated
as of 10/31/2006. If you are in the market for a new computer this is a
superb article to learn all the various flavors of CPU's from both the AMD
and Intel camp. Thanks Adrian!
There are so many CPU models that it has become quite impossible to keep
up with the different models or even remember their specifications!
Therefore, we decided to compile this guide to provide an easy reference for
those who are interested in comparing the specifications of the various
desktop CPUs in the market, as well as those already obsolescent or
obsolete.
Currently covering over 570 desktop CPUs, this comprehensive comparison will
allow you to easily compare up to 18 different specifications for each and
every CPU!
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Windows Media Player 11 final released.
Source:
Microsoft
Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP offers great new ways to store and
enjoy all your digital media. It's easier than ever to access all of your
music, videos, pictures, and recorded TV on your computer. Play it, view it,
organize it, or sync it to a portable device for enjoying on the go, or
share with devices around your home—all from one place.
Windows Media Player 11 is designed to work with all versions of Windows XP
with Service Pack 2, including Windows XP Home Edition N and Windows XP
Professional N.
Download it
HERE.
I'm going to wait to see what Paul Thurrott and/or Steve Gibson report on
Windows Media 11 before installing. This whole
DRM enforcement in Windows Vista and Media Player 11 make me nervous. If
you pay for music it should be your right to play back the media on as many
devices as you own (Ipod, PC, XBOX...etc) - IMHO. I do not want any
company telling me "Yes you paid for song X but you can only play it twice
or only on one device!".
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Windows Weekly with Paul Thurrott - Vista
build 6000.
Source:
Twit.TV
On this episode Paul and I converse about Build 6000, Vista Express
Upgrades, the Motion Desktop, Windows Media Player 11, and product
nightmares with Dell and Apple.
Another very educational podcast (released 10/27) is now available on
Twit.TV where Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte discuss all the week's top
technology news. The Windows Weekly and the Security Now RSS/podcasts are
highly recommended to anyone who wants to keep up with the current and
future changes in the technology field.
Download Windows weekly for October 30th 2006
HERE
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Security Now - Episode 23 "MojoPac".
Source:
GRC/Security Now!
MojoPac software lets you put
your entire Windows configuration on a thumbdrive or portable disk and take
it with you anywhere. It works surprisingly well, but there are some
caveats. Steve Gibson reviews.
The idea of being mobile with Windows installed on your thumb drive is
very appealing - especially for system builders, administrators and anyone
who wants to be able to take windows on the "road".
Download the MP3 podcast
HERE
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Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Update Due October
31.
Source:
Dailytech
Microsoft's Fall Dashboard Update for the Xbox 360 is going to be
released tomorrow according to Engadget. Microsoft posted a complete list on
its Xbox website today outlining 84 updates/fixes to be addressed with the
update.
Some noteworthy additions with the Fall Dashboard Update include:
- HD 1080p video mode support over VGA and component cables.
- Xbox 360 HD DVD Player support.
- Stream WMV video from a Windows PC running Windows Media Player 11, Zune
software, or Windows Media Connect.
- Play video from storage devices such as USB flash drives, Xbox 360 Memory
Units, etc.
- Play video from CD or DVD data discs.
- Set up automatic downloads of newly released Xbox Live Arcade trial games.
- Support for upcoming release of XNA Game Studio Express (separate download
and subscription required.)
- Stream music, pictures and video from a Zune device.
- Optionally disable notifications from Xbox Live while watching DVD movies.
As noted in the link that Microsoft is getting fired
up for the pending release of Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Wii gaming consoles.
Personally I'm not rooting for any particular platform (yet) but enjoy watch
these three heavy-weights cut prices and offer more features to compete with
each other. It's even gotten to the point where these companies are prepared
to operate at a loss in order to compete price-wise.
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Microsoft Junk E-mail Reporting Tool.
Source:
Microsoft
The Junk E-mail Reporting Tool submits e-mail to Microsoft when you
explicitly choose to do so. If you receive a junk e-mail and want to report
it to us for analysis, first select the e-mail in Outlook and then click the
junk e-mail button on your tool bar. You will see a pop-up window asking
whether you want to report the selected e-mail to Microsoft and its
affiliates. When you click “Yes” to confirm that you’d like to report the
selected e-mail as junk e-mail, the junk e-mail will be deleted from your
Inbox and sent to FrontBridge, a Microsoft company, for analysis to help us
improve the effectiveness of our junk e-mail filtering technologies.
Microsoft has released a free utility to help report cases of SPAM. This
simple plug-in integrates with Outlook and allows the user to delete and
report the SPAM incident to Frontbridge (Microsoft owned) company which I'm
guessing generates the Junk-Email filter updates for Outlook.
Download it
HERE
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Microsoft Defender final released.
Source:
Microsoft
Windows Defender is a free program that helps protect your
computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by
spyware and other unwanted software. It features Real-Time Protection, a
monitoring system that recommends actions against spyware when it's detected
and minimizes interruptions and helps you stay productive. Now with 2 free
support incidents for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.
Somewhat old news (about a week old) but good news
regardless...Microsoft's free antisypyware program is now available in final
release. It seems as if Windows Defender has been in beta for at least a
year or more. The final Windows Defender release is tagged at version 1.1.
Update: Paul Thurrott confirmed Windows Defender has been in beta for 2
years!
Can't beat a free product - download it
HERE
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Windows Vista background problem to be fixed
in RTM
Source:
Shell Blog
There has been a lot of attention in the last few weeks about the
discrepancy in the desktop background appearance between the control panel
and Windows Photo Gallery. This is something that we have been tracking
internally for quite a while, so I thought I would clue in everyone on the
issue here and how we are addressing it for RTM.
<SNIP>
With the end of Vista rapidly approaching and more and more attention on
this issue coming from outside Microsoft, the dev team was working around
the clock to come up with a feasible solution.
At this point in time, any solution had to have zero risk, which means it
would need to have already been through rigorous testing. Creating a new
scaler – even copying an existing scaler from somewhere else – would never
be tested in time. They determined that there was a high-quality scaling
algorithm that was available in the low-level code, on a code path that was
already used for scaling BMPs. Unfortunately it only worked for 24 bit
images, while the JPEGs were decoded as 32 bit images like PNGs and other
compressed images. The 32 bit images, like icons, are not filtered when
scaled.
Unbelievable how this bug was missed right up until the last minute or
the Vista development team was far too busy dealing with more urgent bugs.
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Gartner: Enterprises Should Update To IE7.
Source:
Information Week
A trio of analysts say Microsoft's revamped Web browser may harbor
security vulnerabilities, but it's enough of an improvement that
organizations should upgrade from older editions.
Ok - it doesn't take a trio of analysts to tell you to upgrade to
Internet Explorer 7.0 - regardless which browser you primarily use (Firefox,
Opera) you should update your system with IE 7.0. The new browser from
Microsoft incorporates several security changes which will provide a more
secure baseline since IE is so tightly integrated into the OS.
Top
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Firefox 2: 2 Million Downloads in a Day
Source:
Betanews
Mozilla said that downloads for the second version of its Firefox browser
reached two million in the first 24 hours, or more than 30 downloads per
second. The rate of downloads compare to one million in the first 24 hours
with the first version of Firefox, and 1.5 million with Firefox 1.5. The
latest version of Firefox adds enhancements such as a phishing filter, a
retooled user interface, and performance improvements.
Firefox is indeed giving Microsoft's IE a run for the features and look.
Looks to show users are looking for a strong contender to the leader with 2
million downloads in one day.
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Ubuntu 6.10 OS Released.
Source:
Ubuntu
The Ubuntu developers are moving very quickly to bring you the absolute
latest and greatest software the Open Source Community has to offer. With
the Ubuntu 6.10 release comes a whole host of excellent new features.
Improvements have been made all around such as faster system boot up times,
faster GNOME start up times, improvements to the user interface, a shiny new
optimized kernel, GNOME 2.16, and much, much more.
One of the top Linux-based operating systems and it's free!!
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Dell recommends 2 GB of memory for Vista.
Source:
TG Daily
Chicago (IL) - After Samsung, Dell is the second major company that tells
its customers that Vista may need more system memory than what Microsoft is
listing in its system requirements. According to a report in the Seattle
Post Intelligencer (SPI), chief executive officer Kevin Rollins promoted an
upgrade to 2 GB.
You may be used to the procedure of doubling your system memory every few
years or so, when a new operating system is introduced. We have seen this
tradition with Windows 95, when the memory went from 4 to 8 MB in the
mainstream or more recently with Windows XP when most users went from 128 MB
to 256 MB. Windows Vista won't make an exception, even if you are already
running your XP with a comfortable 1 GB of RAM.
If you are in the market for a solid multimedia or gaming computer I
would hold off on making any purchases until DirectX 10.0 hardware is
available for purchase (not just paper launch). One of Vista's core
enhancements is the new DirectX 10.0 API and currently there are NO (as of
10/30/2006) video cards on the market to support.
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Another IE 7 pop-up security flaw discovered.
Source:
CNET
Security researchers on Monday warned of a vulnerability in Internet
Explorer 7 that could allow malicious attackers to alter content in a
legitimate Web site's pop-up window.
The browser flaw could affect users visiting a trusted site by opening a
pop-up window containing the altered content of a malicious Web site. This
is the second IE 7 flaw that has been discovered since Microsoft released
the browser two weeks ago. Last week, a security flaw was discovered in IE 7
that could spoof the address of a pop-up window.
The two IE 7 flaws, if used in conjunction with each other, can easily dupe
all but the most security-minded users, said Thomas Kristensen, chief
technology officer of security company Secunia, which discovered the flaws.
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AMD Completes ATI Acquisition and Creates
Processing Powerhouse.
Source:
AMD
AMD plans to create a new class of x86 processor that integrates the
central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) at the
silicon level with a broad set of design initiatives collectively codenamed
“Fusion.” AMD intends to design Fusion processors to provide step-function
increases in performance-per-watt relative to today’s CPU-only
architectures, and to provide the best customer experience in a world
increasingly reliant upon 3D graphics, digital media and high-performance
computing.
With Fusion processors, AMD will continue to promote an open platform and
encourage companies throughout the ecosystem to create innovative new
co-processing solutions aimed at further optimizing specific workloads.
AMD-powered Fusion platforms will continue to fully support high-end
discrete graphics, physics accelerators, and other PCI Express-based
solutions to meet the ever-increasing needs of the most demanding enthusiast
end-users.
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Seagate Security Looks to Lock Up Laptops.
Source:
Internetnews
The hard disk drive (HDD) maker today unveiled DriveTrust, a new package
of security software that includes such safeguards as file and full disk
encryption, as well as multi-factor user authentication.
Security experts often say that the best kind of security is a multi-layered
approach that includes several safety features to lock down data.
The logic behind this is that if a hacker or perpetrator get past one line
of defense, a second steps up to protect the assets on a computer.
With DriveTrust, Seagate is applying that multi-layer approach, said Scott
Shimomura, senior product manager at Seagate.
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