Category: Computers, Science & Technology

This guy’s mother was always having problems with Spyware, Adware, and other Malware… so he put her on to Ubuntu Linux. Now, she has no problems…

Yo Mamma Likes Ubuntu

“Actually, my mom loves Ubuntu. My mother is like most parents these days – they buy a computer at Best Buy or Walmart and they take it home, plug it in and start using the web. The computer they bought usually has Windows on it and some form of AOL. After about 8 months of using the computer is becomes “slow” so they begin asking around for help. Usually some “helpful” person tells them that their computer is “just too old” and so rather than fixing the whatever is wrong, they need to buy a new computer. My mom now owns 3 laptops and two desktops (one I’ve been using for a couple of years) – none of which are older than 5 years. Sound like your parents? This is great for computer manufacturers that make money off selling new computers to people. It’s not great for my mom who’s got 5 computers that all are in terrible shape but could be working perfectly, if they just were set up correctly. Tired of this trend, I decided to install Ubuntu on my mom’s new laptop. The only problem I had was with the network card – both Toshiba and RadioShack had the wrong drivers for it. Good job, guys. Once I nailed down that issue, though, Ubuntu worked perfectly. I sent the laptop home with my mom and she’s been chugging along nicely with it since. No slowdowns. No viruses. No spyware. No… ahem… AOL. It works so well, I’m now installing it on her other “broken” computers and am amazed at how they scream along, booting in no time, and just working the way they’re supposed to.”

Talk about screw-ups! Last time it was Zune that wasn’t compatible with Windows… now it is Vista that is not compatible with Microsoft’s own database server… SQL Server! Ouch!

Vista flaw could haunt Microsoft

“The latest evidence that Microsoft has lost its Midas Touch? Its bid for a bigger piece of the $14 billion database business, a sector now ruled by Oracle and IBM. Until now, Microsoft has been doing what it does best to attract corporate customers: It has tied its SQL Server database management software to programs running on Windows desktops. But now Microsoft has a problem. Vista, its long-awaited update to the Windows operating system, can’t run the current version of SQL Server. The company is working on a SQL upgrade that is compatible with Vista – called SQL Server 2005 Express Service Pack 2 – but it’s in beta and can be licensed only for testing purposes. Microsoft hasn’t set a release date for the new SQL program. So companies looking to install Vista, which went on sale to corporate customers Nov. 30, are going to have to get their database management software someplace else.”

Weird, cool, and slightly disturbing. That’s my impressions of the LXP project. I get the “why” of it. Make Linux accessible to mind-numbed Microsoft addicts. Do I see lawsuits in somebody’s future? Hummmmm…

The LXP Project

“LXP is a desktop environment identical to Windows XP. LXP is a collection of different pieces of GNU software (icewm, xfe, idesk, etc.) modified in order to look and feel identical to Windows XP. LXP has its own icewm themes and utility pack.”

Do you agree with his choices?

Peter Coffee’s 25 Killer Apps of All Time

1976: Electric Pencil
1978: WordStar
1979: VisiCalc
1981: dBase II
1982: AutoCAD
1983: Lotus 1-2-3
1983: Turbo Pascal
1984: MacWrite/MacPaint
1984: MultiMate
1985: Excel for Macintosh
1985: Aldus PageMaker
1986: Cross-network E-mail
1987: Excel for Windows
1987: dBase Mac
1988: Mathematica 1.0
1989: Word for Windows
1990: Windows 3.0
1990: Adobe Photoshop
1991: Microsoft Visual Basic
1994: Netscape Navigator 1.0
1995: Internet Explorer 1.0
1996: Palm HotSync
2001: Mac OS X
2001: Apple iTunes
2004: Mozilla Firefox 1.0

“Microsoft’s security response center has confirmed that a second zero-day vulnerability in its Word software program is being targeted by unknown attackers. The latest flaw comes just days after the software maker issued a security advisory to warn customers against opening Word documents from untrusted sources. The two vulnerabilities are entirely unrelated. The flaws were discovered during actual code execution attacks against select targets and highlight the Redmond, Wash., vendor’s struggle to cope with gaping holes in one of its most widely used products. According to a US-CERT advisory, the latest bug is a memory corruption issue that occurs when a Word file is rigged with malformed data structures. No other details were made available. Microsoft has not yet issued a formal prepatch advisory but, in a blog entry, Security Program Manager Scott Deacon listed affected software versions as Word 2000, Word 2002, Word 2003 and the Word Viewer 2003. He said Microsoft Word 2007 is not affected by the second vulnerability. ‘From the initial reports and investigation we can confirm that the vulnerability is being exploited on a very, very limited and targeted basis,’ Deacon added.”

Double Trouble: Microsoft Confirms Another Word Zero-Day Flaw

There you go… yet another reason to go to OpenOffice.org! ‘Nuff said.

Microsoft has been getting slammed again with exploits… and they are pushing to get a lot of important updates out next Tuesday… so get ready to update via Windows Update!

Microsoft to Ship 6 Security Bulletins, 2 Critical

“Microsoft reported on Dec. 7 that it will ship six individual security bulletins as part of its monthly Patch Tuesday update next week, with at least two of the fixes aimed at addressing critical issues in its products. In a preview of the patch release scheduled for Dec. 12, Microsoft said it would release five bulletins targeting vulnerabilities in its Windows operating system, at least one of which will address a flaw ranked by the company as critical, its most severe security rating. The sixth bulletin released by the company will attempt to close a critical hole in its Visual Studio development package.”

Have you downloaded the new beta of Paint.NET? Dewd! You have to check it out! I have seen full blown, purchased software products that aren’t this cool and polished! And, it is FREE! If you have the older version installed it will uninstall that, then install the new version. This is still just a beta release, but I must say, I like where they are going with it! They have a very active community forum, and they are responding to bug reports and suggestions really well! Keep up the great work, guys! More about this project on the Podcast when I record it this Saturday… in response to an e-mail question I received. This is WAY more than just a photo editor!

Get Paint.NET

I am a long-time TechTV fan! I remember watching James Kim do “lab-rat” segments on TechTV. He was such a nice, personable guy on the air. Apparently he was in real-life as well. He and his family were missing since shortly after Thanksgiving. His family was found with their car, but he had left the car to go try and get help. With the snow, and other poor weather conditions, he just didn’t make it.

Searchers Find Body Of Missing SF Man

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Kim family. This is really a shame. It is nice that the “tech community” pulled together in concern and interest in this story… and I am so grateful that his family is safe… I just wish the news had been better for James himself. James was 35.

That’s what it looks like from here. SCO’s evil lawsuit to try and destroy Linux has been beaten on over and over recently. Now, it looks like Novell may have the last word.

Another Day, Another Knockout Punch Aimed at SCO

“Last week saw the end of most of The SCO Group’s claims that IBM contributed Unix code to Linux. ‘Now, Novell has filed a motion that undercuts all of SCO’s contract claims against IBM, based on a ‘silver bullet’ clause in the original sale of Unix to SCO. In its latest legal move against SCO, Novell on Dec. 1 filed for partial summary judgment against SCO in its own case. In this motion, Novell is asking the U.S. District Court to rule that the Unix APA (Asset Purchase Agreement), which sold Unix from Novell to SCO, gave Novell the right to waive SCO’s contract claims. Novell had long claimed that it never sold Unix’s IP (intellectual property) rights to SCO. This new motion, however, isn’t connection with those claims. In the APA, Novell has what Mark Radcliffe, co-chair of the Technology and Sourcing Practice Group at the law firm DLA Piper, called, when Novell first made these claims, a ‘silver bullet’ provision under the APA to block SCO’s actions under these licenses. ‘This provision permits Novell to amend, supplement, modify or waive provisions of the Unix licenses sold to SCO,’ Radcliffe said. ‘Novell also retained the unusual right to require SCO to follow its directions to amend, supplement, modify or waive these licenses and, if SCO does not comply, Novell can do so on SCO’s behalf.'”

Ba-da-bing – Ba-da-boom! SCO is history! I love it!

DON’T OPEN THAT WORD DOC! That’s what Microsoft is saying. Yep, you read that right. Microsoft is saying NOT to use Word! Yep… if ever there was a time to switch to OpenOffice.org, that time is NOW!

Microsoft Issues Word Zero-Day Attack Alert

“Microsoft on Dec. 5 warned that an unpatched vulnerability in its Word software program is being used in targeted, zero-day attacks.

A security advisory from the Redmond, Wash., company said the flaw can be exploited if a user simply opens a rigged Word document. Affected software versions include Microsoft Word 2000, Microsoft Word 2002, Microsoft Office Word 2003, Microsoft Word Viewer 2003, Microsoft Word 2004 for Mac and Microsoft Word 2004 v. X for Mac. The Microsoft Works 2004, 2005 and 2006 suites are also affected because they include Microsoft Word. There are no pre-patch workarounds available. Microsoft suggests that users ‘not open or save Word files,’ even from trusted sources. ‘As a best practice, users should always exercise extreme caution when opening unsolicited attachments from both known and unknown sources,’ the company said. Users who have installed and are using the Office Document Open Confirmation Tool for Office 2000 will be prompted with Open, Save or Cancel before a file is opened. This offers a minor warning mechanism for Word users. The high-risk alert comes exactly one week before the company’s scheduled December Patch Tuesday, but there is no word yet from Microsoft on the timing of its fix for Word.” (Emphasis mine.)

The “fix” is simple: OpenOffice.org. Download from the link below:

OpenOffice.org