Commerce, Dave's Muse, Information, Media, Microsoft, Operating Systems, Security, Services, Software, Technical

Microsoft Urges Users to Uninstall Netscape 8 (as if that were surprising)

Microsoft Corp. is urging Windows XP users to uninstall the new Netscape 8 webbrowser because it can conflict with Microsoft Internet Explorer. Not surprisingly, Microsoft is claiming that the problem is with Netscape, rather than their own browser that invades the operating system like kudzu.

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Todd Cochrane
Commerce, Dave's Muse, Information, Media, Microsoft, Operating Systems, Security, Services, Software, Technical

Nokia Announces Linux-based Portable Internet Device

Nokia Announces Linux-based Portable Internet Device Nokia announced that its is developing a portable Internet device based on the open-source Linux operating system. Designed to take advantage of the wide distribution of accessible Wi-Fi networks, the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet features a widescreen display and an on-screen keyboard, a la a PDA on steroids. The device will also be able to connect to Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones as an alternative network connection source.

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Todd Cochrane
Commerce, Crime, Dave's Muse, Fair Use, Media, Operating Systems, Security, Services, Software, Technical

FTC Kicks Off Operation Spam Zombies

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 35 government partners from more than 20 countries are targeting illegal spammers who take remote control of unwitting users' computers to serve as spam transmission zombies. By hijacking home and business computers, spam can be routed through them, thereby hiding the true source of the spam and making the enforcement of antispam laws more difficult.

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Todd Cochrane
Commerce, Crime, Dave's Muse, Information, Operating Systems, Security, Software, Technical

Hyper-Threading Vulnerability

Hyper-Threading technology, built into some Intel Pentium 4 central processing unit (CPU) microprocessors can be exploited by crackers and allow access to security keys. A description of the timing attack was presented Friday by a Colin Percival, a computer science researcher, at the BSDCan 2005 conference. Intel's Hyper-Threading (HT) algorithm enables Pentium CPUs to maximize the efficiency of the processing system. According to Intel's website, with HT technology "desktop users can experience greater system responsiveness and performance when multitasking. At home, users can encode audio and video at the same time, or run a virus scan in the background while continuing to play their favorite game. In the office, HT Technology enables IT managers to deploy PC services such as encryption, compression or backup technologies while minimizing the impact on PC user productivity. In addition, multitasking business workers can experience greater system responsiveness, enabling increased productivity. In summary, the Pentium 4 processor supporting HT Technology delivers a new level of performance and PC responsiveness for consumers and business professionals."

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Todd Cochrane
Operating Systems

Cars by Microsoft that don’t crash

Oh I am sure you all are chuckling over that one. Seems Microsoft is pushing automakers to make their cars smarter through software. Makes sense to me but what is that going to add to the bottom line of a…

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Todd Cochrane
Operating Systems

Ballmer <3's Open Source

Hmm. The implications here could be very interesting. All I know is that I never really thought I’d hear “Microsoft” and “Linux” in the same breath. Unless, of course, someone was talking about how Microsoft doesn’t support it. Microsoft will…

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Todd Cochrane
Operating Systems

Microsoft Releases 64 Bit Windows XP

Microsoft Corp. said Thursday that it has released a number of 64-bit operating systems to manufacturing, including Windows XP Professional, in time for a scheduled release in late April. Specifically, Microsoft said that Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard x64 Edition,…

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Todd Cochrane