Month: January 2007

Good for us! Google is building a data center right here in North Carolina! Hooray! I would love for us to become known as the “data state” as opposed to the “cigarette state!”

Google to build data center in N.C.

“RALEIGH, N.C. – Search engine giant Google Inc. plans to spend $600 million to build a data center in North Carolina, state officials and the company said Friday. The so-called ‘server farm’ will eventually employ 210 people in a region hit hard in recent years by layoffs in the furniture and textile industries. ‘This company will provide hundreds of good-paying, knowledge-based jobs that North Carolinas citizens want,’ Gov. Mike Easley said in a statement. ‘It will help reinvigorate an area hard hit by the loss of furniture and textile jobs with 21st century opportunities.’ The state will give the company $4.8 million as part of a total incentives package that could reach more than $100 million.”

So, Excel has a problem… Microsoft issues a security patch… then, they come back behind that and “patch” the patch! Why? Because if you install the patch… you then can’t open some of your own Excel files! Way to go, M$!

Microsoft Patches Buggy Excel Patch

Microsoft has re-released an update issued in its January 2007 patch batch to correct a glitch in the way Excel 2000 processes information. The company announced that the ‘targeted re-release’ was necessary to correct the bug, which occurs in the way Excel 2000 processes the phonetic information embedded in files created using Excel in the Korean, Chinese or Japanese executable mode. ‘After you install [the patch], you can no longer open some files that you created by using any version of Excel,’ the company warned. The patch was shipped Jan. 9 as part of the MS07-002 bulletin that provided fixes for a total of five Microsoft Excel vulnerabilities. The update is rated ‘critical,’ Microsoft’s highest severity rating.

The timely news of storms in Europe is being used to spread a worm across the net.

Storm Worm Hits Computers Around the World

“Computer virus writers started to use raging European storms on Friday to attack thousands of computers in an unusual real-time assault, head of research at Finnish data security firm F-Secure told Reuters. The virus, which the company named ‘Storm Worm,’ is sent to hundreds of thousands of e-mail addresses globally, with the e-mail’s subject line saying ‘230 dead as storm batters Europe.’ The attached file contains the so-called malware that can infiltrate computer systems. ‘What makes this exceptional is the timely nature of the attack,’ Mikko Hypponen, head of research at F-Secure said. Hypponen said thousands of computers around the world, most in private use, had been affected. He said most users would not notice the malware, or trojan, which creates a back door to the computer that can be exploited later to steal data or to use the computer to post spam.”

I had a chance to use the latest version of Knoppix today… and it worked great! And, I was very impressed by how pretty it was! Check it out!

Knoppix 5.1.1: Now with eye candy

“The new year has brought a new release of the Knoppix live CD. Along with the usual updates to application software, the most noticeable change in version 5.1.1 is the inclusion of the Beryl 3-D desktop with the Emerald theming engine. Since support for Beryl is still experimental, the 3-D desktop is provided in Knoppix as an option. To enable it, you have to use the knoppix desktop=beryl cheat code on boot. Considering the current status of Beryl, the new 3-D desktop works surprisingly well; it starts without any problems on a lowly Acer TravelMate 243 laptop with an Intel 82855 GM integrated graphics controller, and it feels snappy and is a joy to use. While some may consider the inclusion of Beryl in Knoppix a gimmick, it provides a great introduction to the whole 3-D desktop idea. Installing Beryl can be a tricky and time-consuming business, so the ability to try the fancy 3-D desktop with zero effort is a boon for all users looking for some Linux eye candy.”

ALSO, it has Frozen Bubble! What more do you need? (By the way, I used it at work to rescue some data… “it” being Knoppix… NOT Frozen Bubble, of course!)

The Good News: There have been 100 Million downloads of IE7!

The Bad News: The New IE7 Browser is losing ground!

Despite 100 Million IE 7 Installs, Microsoft’s Browser Still Loses Ground

Although Microsoft recently touted the 100 millionth installation of Internet Explorer 7, Web measurement firms said that the new browser is simply being swapped out for older editions and hasn’t had an impact on Firefox’s continued climb. ‘[As of] January 8th, we had the 100 millionth IE7 installation,’ said Tony Chor, an IE group program manager, in an entry on the team’s blog. “Even more important than installations is usage. According to WebSideStory (the company we use to measure browser usage), as of this week, over 25% of all visitors to sites in the U.S. were using IE7, making IE7 the second most used browser after IE6. “