Category: TechNews Bytes

Even though hackers have fallen from above-the-flap news, that doesn’t mean that technology security and information security is any less important, and that recent hack and crack attempts are any less damaing or difficult to investigate and prosecute than they ever have been before. At the same time, the FBI is just getting wind of exactly how serious the threat of hackers and computer intrusion is to the rest of the world, as they’re just starting to acknowledge that hack attempts and malware planted on people’s machines are responsible for an array of damage like identity theft, bank fraud, and more.

Even though the FBI has just recently apparently gotten wise to the events of the past several years doesn’t mean you should be in the dark about it either. If this is news to you, read on:

[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,122889,tk,dn100705X,00.asp ]

Looking to satisfy both notions that most computer users have that Microsoft should take responsibility for the lack of security in the Windows operating system as well as the complaints from technology professionals and writers that Microsoft has yet to really emphasize or put a true focus on security, Microsoft has made the announcement that it will be shipping a true antimalware product that’s fully rounded to detect and protect against viruses and spyware and trojan horses in 2006 and will be in beta by the end of the year.

The product is apparently targeted at corporate environments, but I doubt that Microsoft will keep it from the public that’s very much aching for a comprehensive suite that’s built into Windows like this product reportedly will, when it’s released. Check out the news:

[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,122905,tk,dn100705X,00.asp ]

California has stepped up to the plate, making phishing an actual and particular crime, allowing victims of phishing scams seek damages from those who may have scammed them or taken their personal information. The Anti-Phishing Act of 2005 garnered wide support from IT industry groups as well as consumer advocates, and was signed into law last Friday. While the law, like most of its type, will probably do very little to actually fight phishing and reduce the number of phishing attempts, it very well may serve its purpose if its held up in court and a victim is allowed to collect from the scammer that managed to collect their personal information. Read more about it at PC World:

[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,122818,tk,dn100405X,00.asp ]

Yikes. We know there’s an OS X 10.4 build out there available on the underbelly of the net that will work on x86 systems, ie, on your average PC, but the geek community has been working on it and tweaking it and studying it for a while now and it’s been completely free if you can get your hands on it and discouraged in the first place. No one has really tried for personal or financial gain from the project, aside from perhaps the know-how required to implement it or the status of having done it…until now.

The site OSX86 Project [ http://osx86project.org/ ] has a photo from a shopfront in Bangkok where apparently copies of Mac OS X 10.4 for x86 systems are being sold at retail for about 6 Euros, or approximately 7 bucks American. They even dare to call the product a “retail version.” That’s just ridiculous. OSX86 Project is furious, and I imagine that Apple has already dispatched the lawyers, as they rightfully should. Read all about it:

[ http://osx86project.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=2 ]

GoogleRumors.com (isn’t it amazing that there’s an entire site and community devoted to the “what’s google up to now” rumormill? Wow…) is reporting that Google is planning to unveil a calendaring product, or perhaps a web 2.0 style application that will give you comprehensive calendaring functionality through the web using your Google account. We don’t know what to expect yet, but we do know that the website calendar.google.com points at the Google homepage right now, which is different and unusual unless they were about to do something with the domain.

Reading some of the comments, a lot of people think this is going to be some downloadable offering that will have to stand up against everything from Outlook to Palm Desktop to iCal, and I think that’s probably the stupidest thought, not to mention the foolhardiest thing Google could do with this. Web 2.0 is obviously the way to go for mobile and accessable application delivery in the future ,so why would Google go through the trouble of competing with everyone from Apple to Microsoft when they could forge into new ground? Right now, I can’t think of many comprehensive online calendaring services that allow you the opportunity to log in and manage a calendar through the web, and the ones I can think of (Corporate Time, .Mac, etc) are either tied to a desktop app or for-fee services. It only makes sense that they would integrate the service with GMail to offer a more complete package, and maybe even with Desktop Search and whatnot, and potentially offer the capabilities at some point to synch with other calendaring applications like Outlook and iCal so you can take your calendar on the go, not just where you have access to Outlook/Exchange or your Mac.

I just got a bit incensed that people just weren’t using their heads when I read the comment; sometimes people just don’t think before they speak. But regardless, on to the link!

[ http://www.googlerumors.com/2005/09/30/google-calendar-may-be-days-away-from-launch/ ]

And guess what? TechTVForever.net is already up there! Isn’t that sweet?

Ahem. Seriously. The ability to only search blogs is kind of interesting, and I think it’s a step towards affirming blogging as a legitimate and valuable source of information and news. I find that some of the best unfiltered and personal on-the-ground information and reporting comes from blogs, especially in situations like the wake of hurricane Katrina, and personal experiences from journalists working on the ground in Iraq; and now Google if the first (again) to give us a tool to help us search all of that information! Read more about it:

[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,122549,tk,dn091405X,00.asp ]

Try it out!
[ http://www.google.com/blogsearch/ ]

Everyone knows how horrifically difficult it is to cancel your subscription once you’ve signed on with AOL; in fact to the point that many people just don’t bother, or set aside time in their schedules for the repetative “no, I want to cancel” they have to keep saying to the AOL rep on the phone when they call to cancel. It’s pretty sad, in my opinion, but it was a fact of life if you were an AOL subscriber, and it’s a testiment to how badly AOL is doing in the face of other ISPs offering similar or better services for less money, and in the face of ever father-reaching broadband internet access.

Even so, Eliot Spitzer, the Attorney General for New York (bless that man) put his nose into the fray after recieving over 300 complaints from AOL users mad that they were getting the short end when they tried to cancel, or their cancellation requests were outright denied. Spitzer, the friend of the consumer that he is, prodded AOL about their customer retention practices, and out of it comes a settlement where AOL promises to go easier on customers who want to cancel their service. Wonderful news. Read all about it:

[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,122306,tk,dn082505X,00.asp< ?a> ]

Now I’ll preface this with the fact that I haven’t tried Google Talk. I realize it’s just another Jabber client, and I can connect to it using any Jabber-capable client, but the Mac in the office can’t use the voice-calling features that I think are cool (actually, the only version available is the Windows 2000/XP version, Mac and Linux users are waved to their favorite Jabber-capable client) and at home I can’t think of many reasons to use it over my trusty IM client.

This is the problem though inherent with Google Talk. There’s no one on it, and no real compelling reason to switch to it aside from the fact that it’s cool and it’s Google, but that’s not really enough, and since I don’t know anyone on it, I’m probably not going to switch until there are people I know. Granted it takes time, but it looks like there isn’t much of a flood to move, and no features that absolutely make me want to move. And Wired News reviewer Simon Burns agrees with me, and sees some of the same flaws in the new project that I do. His article is a more in-depth than mine, but it’s definitely worth a read. Here’s to Google Talk’s success, but they’ll have to make the service really compelling in order to get more users.

[ http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,68642,00.html]

Uh oh! Looks like no sooner than Windows Vista Beta 1 go live over MSDN and to developers and other beta testers did it wind up available on the p2p circuit, and as soon as it was available on the p2p circuit the viruses appeared. Not that this is really significant news, because I’m sure many of the security holes and problems that are present in the current beta of Vista will be plugged and patched up between now and the final release, but it’s still amusing to see how quickly the exploits and viruses have come across for Microsoft’s new operating system. Read the details:

[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,122125,tk,dn080505X,00.asp ]

UPDATE: 5:23PM EST //
Looks like Microsoft has decided to pull the scripting shell, code named “Monad,” that led to the ease with which these viruses were created and used. It’s kind of amusing that, rather than make a more secure product, or lock down their scripting environment, they instead choose to pull yet another feature from Vista. I’m thinking this definitely makes the list of features pulled from the new OS longer than the list of new features that’ll be in it. Anyway, PC World has the updated scoop:

[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,122145,tk,dn080805X,00.asp ]

124.9 miles. That’s ridiculous-it’s something like the distance between Baltimore, MD and Philadelphia, PA. That’s the current record for a direct unamplified wifi connection, held by team iFiber-Redwire, achieved this past week at the Defcon hacker convention in Las Vegas. From a mountain in Nevada to a mound in Utah, the team managed to get signal apparently good enough to do remote desktop and run shell commands, completely shattering a whole assortment of previous records. Definitely an accomplishment, and apparently their equipment said that it could have supported up to 300 miles. Crazy.

Regardless, the team is confident their record will stand a while, and plans to let other teams give it a whirl next year, and I’m sure we’ll have someone go for it. In the meantime, read all about this amazing accomplishment:
[ http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,68395,00.html ]

Finally some good news from the halls of government. Everyone admits that landfills and dumps are beginning to overflow with old technology like computers, monitors, cellphones, and printers, and while recycling and reuse programs are growing, they are still for the large part hard to find, difficult to access, and not nearly as widespread as they should be. Hopefully with this upcoming legislation, that trend might change. Business leaders and electronics retailers are hailing the rules in stead of a patchwork of 50 state regulations that may differ significantly. All in all, this could mean that there may be a convenient place for you to take your old computer where it can be sanitized, reused if it’s new enough, or disposed of properly if it can’t be used.

Good news, definitely.
[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,122044,tk,dn080105X,00.asp ]