Day: September 30, 2011

Oops! M$ may have had a Freudian slip of sorts! It seems that a Microsoft Security Essentials anti-virus update identifies good ol’ Google Chrome as a virus and removes it!

Faulty Microsoft AV update nukes Chrome browser

Summary: Microsoft has confirmed that its security tools erroneously removed the Google Chrome browser from Windows machines, marking it as a variant of the notorious Zeus (Zbot) malware family.

UPDATE: Microsoft has confirmed that this was caused by a faulty anti-virus definition update that affected about 3,000 Windows users.

Here’s Microsoft’s statement:

‘On September 30th, 2011, an incorrect detection for PWS:Win32/Zbot was identified and as a result, Google Chrome was inadvertently blocked and in some cases removed from customers PCs. We have already fixed the issue — we released an updated signature (1.113.672.0) at 9:57 am PDT — but approximately 3,000 customers were impacted.’

A Microsoft spokesperson says affected users should manually update Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) with the latest signatures.

‘To do this, simply launch MSE, go to the update tab and click the Update button, and then reinstall Google Chrome. We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused our customers,’ the spokesperson said.

Yeah, right!

I pretty much buy all my computer’y stuff from TigerDirect! A few exceptions… but they always have good prices and great service! So, I was pleased when I had the chance to ad them as an advertiser on the Blog and Netcast… very cool! Click on the ad at the right and save beau coups on laptops! Dewd! Brand new laptops from $259.99? Awesome! Anyway, I am stoked that they are here… click away!

What is your favorite, “I use it everyday” computer utility? One of mine is DropBox! If you have never downloaded it and set it up, click this abbreviated link: https://db.tt/TXuyPie

Dewd! It is awesome! Storage “in the Cloud!” Once you start using it on all your PCs… you will never want to go back from a time when your most used files aren’t always available at your fingertips!

They will be selling out, just as the original Kindle did. If you want one, get in line now!

Amazon’s $199 Fire sparks supply, margin questions

“(Reuters) – The rock-bottom price of the new Kindle Fire tablet computer is raising questions about Amazon.com Inc’s ability to keep up with demand and the device’s effect on the company’s already razor-thin profit margins.

Amazon’s billionaire Chief Executive Jeff Bezos unveiled the Fire on Wednesday at a lower-than-expected price of $199.

Bezos said Amazon is making ‘millions’ of the tablets, without being more specific. However, he urged customers to pre-order the device early.

‘When Bezos quipped that people should get their pre-orders in quick, that wasn’t just a sales pitch,’ said Brian Blair, an analyst at Wedge Partners. ‘That was him warning this will sell out.’

When the first Kindle came out in 2007, Amazon hadn’t made enough and the e-reader sold out in less than a week. That meant the company missed out on sales and got the device into fewer customers’ hands, limiting quick adoption.

‘I hope they learned their lesson from the last time,’ said Vinita Jakhanwal, an analyst at IHS iSuppli, which tracks electronic component supply chains.

Amazon spokeswomen didn’t respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

Amazon has lined up about four to five million screens for the Fire in the fourth quarter, which is a ‘fairly significant’ amount, Jakhanwal added.

The technology that is being used for the Fire’s screen has been around for at least a year and already has been produced in high volume, reducing the chances of supply shortages, Jakhanwal said.

One of the components that was in shorter supply in the first half of 2011 was the 10-inch screen, mostly because of Apple Inc’s blockbuster-selling iPad, according to Bradley Gastwirth of technology research firm ABR Investment Strategy.”