23 February 2007
Microsoft's Patent Infringements
Alcatel-Lucent has won their patent case against Microsoft regarding the unlicensed use of the MP3 format with Microsoft being ordered to pay 1.52 million USD. Alcatel-Lucent has stated that is will ask for a larger judgment against MS by asking that the 2006 sales values of computers be factored into the calculation. The $1.52 million was derived by taking 0.5 % of all computers sold with Windows from mid 2003 to 2005.
Alcatel-Lucent has also brought patent lawsuits against MS relating to their use of color graphics, computer interface technologies and video-file. Alcatel-Lucent has stated that anyone who implements the standard could also be sued. This includes companies like Apple, Creative Technology and Real Networks.
It sounds remotely similar to Steve Balmer's attacks against Linux to sue them for unknown patent infringements. It seems that Alcatel-Lucent attacked first using Bell Labs technology as the attack against MS. Bell Labs also being the creator of Unix, it seems plausible that Alcatel-Lucent felt some connection to Linux since it is part of the same family and came to the support by exposing and suing MS for infringements that had MS not threatened Linux would have been forgiven.
Alcatel-Lucent has also brought patent lawsuits against MS relating to their use of color graphics, computer interface technologies and video-file. Alcatel-Lucent has stated that anyone who implements the standard could also be sued. This includes companies like Apple, Creative Technology and Real Networks.
It sounds remotely similar to Steve Balmer's attacks against Linux to sue them for unknown patent infringements. It seems that Alcatel-Lucent attacked first using Bell Labs technology as the attack against MS. Bell Labs also being the creator of Unix, it seems plausible that Alcatel-Lucent felt some connection to Linux since it is part of the same family and came to the support by exposing and suing MS for infringements that had MS not threatened Linux would have been forgiven.
Labels: computer, linux, microsoft, mp3, os
22 February 2007
Users Want Linux and OS Software From Dell
Dell has recently launched the IdeaStorm Web site where users can give input into their decision-making process. Since Friday's launch 66000 users have suggested that Dell should offer Fedora, OpenSuse and Ubuntu as free pre-install options. Along with this about 40000 users said OpenOffice should also be a pre-install option along with MS Works and Office. Most of the suggestions were that Windows should not be the default option and that Linux and free software should be supplied.
Visit the site to see the results for yourself or contribute your own opinions.
Visit the site to see the results for yourself or contribute your own opinions.
Labels: computer, linux, microsoft, novell, office, openoffice, os, suse, vista, windows
21 February 2007
False News Virus
An email is circulating claiming news about the heart attack of the Australian prime minister. Of course it is completely bogus, but the reality of it is the Trojan horse that it leads recipients to.
Along with a the Trojan, a web server is also installed to allow access to the machine whenever it is online. Websense analysts claim that the attackers are using a control panel that enables them to see a list of all infected machines, their IP addresses, ports and the countries the computer is from.
The email is mostly circulating in Australia and links to a page that appears to come from The Australian. The link actually leads to a page that downloads the Trojan before redirecting the user's browser to The Australian's site.
Along with a the Trojan, a web server is also installed to allow access to the machine whenever it is online. Websense analysts claim that the attackers are using a control panel that enables them to see a list of all infected machines, their IP addresses, ports and the countries the computer is from.
The email is mostly circulating in Australia and links to a page that appears to come from The Australian. The link actually leads to a page that downloads the Trojan before redirecting the user's browser to The Australian's site.
19 February 2007
Express Update Option Delayed
Most computers bought after October 26 are eligible for a free or discounted upgrade to Vista as part of an 'Express Upgrade' plan. With the release of Vista at the end of January, one would think that these customer would have their upgraded copy by now, but many are facing 6 to 8 week waits.
Dell originally claimed to have problems shipping due to customer demand and server problems, but now is saying that it will start shipping at the end of the month on a first come first serve basis and that from that date it could take 6 - 8 weeks.
HP is also saying that the first upgrades will be sent later in the month and shipping notifications are telling customers to expect upgrades in April.
The questions is why the wait. Unofficially, the reason is compatibility. Manufacturers are testing which systems will support it and if there are stable drivers for the system. This seems logical as responsibility for supporting the systems lies in the manufacturer's hands and the amount of bad press that can come out about a company issuing upgrades that don't work on their systems is something these companies don't need.
From a Microsoft standpoint, this could be a good thing, impatient users may get tired of waiting and just buy the upgrade in stores canceling their discounted express upgrade. On the other hand, some users may become upset by this and with their computer's manufacturer causing them to choose a different manufacturer or even consider a completely different OS altogether.
Dell originally claimed to have problems shipping due to customer demand and server problems, but now is saying that it will start shipping at the end of the month on a first come first serve basis and that from that date it could take 6 - 8 weeks.
HP is also saying that the first upgrades will be sent later in the month and shipping notifications are telling customers to expect upgrades in April.
The questions is why the wait. Unofficially, the reason is compatibility. Manufacturers are testing which systems will support it and if there are stable drivers for the system. This seems logical as responsibility for supporting the systems lies in the manufacturer's hands and the amount of bad press that can come out about a company issuing upgrades that don't work on their systems is something these companies don't need.
From a Microsoft standpoint, this could be a good thing, impatient users may get tired of waiting and just buy the upgrade in stores canceling their discounted express upgrade. On the other hand, some users may become upset by this and with their computer's manufacturer causing them to choose a different manufacturer or even consider a completely different OS altogether.
Labels: microsoft, vista, windows
14 February 2007
Virus for Valentine's
Predictably there is a new virus running about on email. The Valentine's virus, which contains the Dref-AB worm, has various subject lines but all contain a file similar to:
flash postcard.exe
greeting postcard.exe
greeting card.exe
postcard.exe
Like most viruses and worms lately, this one as well downloads other malicious programs from the Internet some of which can attach your computer to a zombie network or take control of the computer/files or use it to send spam, which is probably the least upsetting of the choices, but still definitely something you want to avoid.
flash postcard.exe
greeting postcard.exe
greeting card.exe
postcard.exe
Like most viruses and worms lately, this one as well downloads other malicious programs from the Internet some of which can attach your computer to a zombie network or take control of the computer/files or use it to send spam, which is probably the least upsetting of the choices, but still definitely something you want to avoid.
RIAA Writes to ISPs for Your Freedom
Brought to you by the same people who are suing people right and left with little or no evidence, the RIAA has written a letter to ISPs asking them to store customer IP logs for six months. The RIAA is saying that it can use this evidence to help release people from guilt. The problem with this statement is that people in the States are considered innocent and it's the responsibility of the RIAA to prove them guilty not innocent. The underlying meaning here is that they RIAA wants this data to prove that people are sharing or downloading material. Currently the evidence that is being presented by the RIAA is very limited and their attack relies more on scare tactics than on fact.
Also in the letter the RIAA asks ISPs to send people suspected of infringement information from the RIAA rather than information about their rights from 3rd party organizations and legal groups.
The RIAA continues to try to reduce people's freedoms every chance they get. The claim to be protecting the music industry and artists, but the question is how much of that money that the RIAA extorts from people goes to the artists. I'm willing to suggest that they see none of it and the RIAA is abusing the legal process in order to make more money suing people who are not even liable for the actions committed (if they were actually committed).
For complete information on this and the letter itself read here.
Also in the letter the RIAA asks ISPs to send people suspected of infringement information from the RIAA rather than information about their rights from 3rd party organizations and legal groups.
The RIAA continues to try to reduce people's freedoms every chance they get. The claim to be protecting the music industry and artists, but the question is how much of that money that the RIAA extorts from people goes to the artists. I'm willing to suggest that they see none of it and the RIAA is abusing the legal process in order to make more money suing people who are not even liable for the actions committed (if they were actually committed).
For complete information on this and the letter itself read here.
12 February 2007
Gamers Facing Problems in Vista
It seems that gamers are having trouble with Vista being compatible with some popular games. One gamer lists Need 4 Speed Carbon, Hitman Blood Money, Splinter Cell Double Agent, Worms Mayhem and Company of Heroes as games that don't work on their Vista box. The problems include errors on startup and corrupt shadows and graphics. Another person says that it's just machines with Nvidia video cards while ATI video cards don't have the problem. He goes on to state that the problem is the instability of Nvidia drivers and that he's sure that they will release a stable driver soon.
Another discussion looks at a more positive side focusing on the games that are compatable and what has to be changed to make them compatable. The list includes Deus Ex, CS:S, FEAR and WoW among others. What is troubling is that this discussion mentions that some of the games don't work without running them as an administrator.
Administrator accounts should be only used for administering the system and not used for normal access to the system and gaming. It leaves the system open for security issues. It also leaves the possibility that some unaware or otherwise cretinous user may leave their computer constantly logged into an admin account. I'm sure most of us know of one such cretin who will not use a normal login no matter how much they are told of the dangers related to it. They usually are the ones who insist they don't need a firewall for their Internet connections as well.
There is also a lot of comments that the problems are exaggerated, which I agree with, but for those with NVidia cards there may be problems until they finish working on their driver for Vista which is currently only a beta release and not certified to work perfectly. One important reason to wait for all of the software and hardware to become compatible with Vista. For gamers there are currently no games written for DirectX10 anyway so they have no real need to upgrade to Vista just yet.
Another discussion looks at a more positive side focusing on the games that are compatable and what has to be changed to make them compatable. The list includes Deus Ex, CS:S, FEAR and WoW among others. What is troubling is that this discussion mentions that some of the games don't work without running them as an administrator.
Administrator accounts should be only used for administering the system and not used for normal access to the system and gaming. It leaves the system open for security issues. It also leaves the possibility that some unaware or otherwise cretinous user may leave their computer constantly logged into an admin account. I'm sure most of us know of one such cretin who will not use a normal login no matter how much they are told of the dangers related to it. They usually are the ones who insist they don't need a firewall for their Internet connections as well.
There is also a lot of comments that the problems are exaggerated, which I agree with, but for those with NVidia cards there may be problems until they finish working on their driver for Vista which is currently only a beta release and not certified to work perfectly. One important reason to wait for all of the software and hardware to become compatible with Vista. For gamers there are currently no games written for DirectX10 anyway so they have no real need to upgrade to Vista just yet.
Labels: ati, game, microsoft, nvidia, os, vista
09 February 2007
A Russian principal is currently on trial and could face 5 years in prison for purchasing computers which turned out to have a pirated version of Windows. The result of this has been Mikhail Gorbachev personally writing a letter to Microsoft asking them to drop charges. This was refused by Microsoft who said it that they "were sure the Russian courts would make a fair decision."
The fair decision that has been made was to arrest the software purchase who more than likely had no certified version of Windows as an option to purchase and was fully confident that he was purchasing a legal version.
In a small ray of hope, Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked that investigators search for the distributors rather than users of pirated software.
In order to escape from the threat of being arrested for piracy many schools in the region and throughout Russia are now considering Linux. Microsoft's decision to stay out of the issue has resulted in the possible loss of an entire country's school computers. It has as well caused waves to further dirty the reputation of Microsoft to give people an impression that Microsoft cares nothing about people and helping (something the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was setup to do), but only about making a profit with their software. When purchasing your next system you may want to consider this and remember that there are other choices.
John Pallatto has also responded to this incident with his opinion.
The fair decision that has been made was to arrest the software purchase who more than likely had no certified version of Windows as an option to purchase and was fully confident that he was purchasing a legal version.
In a small ray of hope, Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked that investigators search for the distributors rather than users of pirated software.
In order to escape from the threat of being arrested for piracy many schools in the region and throughout Russia are now considering Linux. Microsoft's decision to stay out of the issue has resulted in the possible loss of an entire country's school computers. It has as well caused waves to further dirty the reputation of Microsoft to give people an impression that Microsoft cares nothing about people and helping (something the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was setup to do), but only about making a profit with their software. When purchasing your next system you may want to consider this and remember that there are other choices.
John Pallatto has also responded to this incident with his opinion.
Labels: linux, microsoft, os, windows
07 February 2007
Steve Jobs Makes Statements Against DRM
In a not so surprise move, Steve Jobs has called for the abolishment of DRMs in music. He states that lack of DRMs would be the best option for consumers buying music as they could play music on any music player from any store. Currently Apple, Sony and Microsoft all have different DRMs on the music sold in their stores that prevent music from being played on other players. Jobs says Apple would only choose DRM-free music if the music companies would allow Apple to sell the music without requiring a DRM.
DRMs haven't worked to stop piracy according to Jobs and he doubts that they will work in the future. He also points out that online music is the only music sold with DRMs. CDs are sold without protection which allows the content to be pirated.
Jobs has asked people and groups concerned about DRMs in music to make their interest and concern known to the music industry. He points out that most of the concern is coming from Europe and two of the four big music companies are European owned, Universal is completely owned by Vivendi (France), EMI is British and Sony BMG is half owned by Bertelsmann (Germany).
To learn more about DRM, I suggest going to StopDRMNow.org or Wikipedia.
DRMs haven't worked to stop piracy according to Jobs and he doubts that they will work in the future. He also points out that online music is the only music sold with DRMs. CDs are sold without protection which allows the content to be pirated.
Jobs has asked people and groups concerned about DRMs in music to make their interest and concern known to the music industry. He points out that most of the concern is coming from Europe and two of the four big music companies are European owned, Universal is completely owned by Vivendi (France), EMI is British and Sony BMG is half owned by Bertelsmann (Germany).
To learn more about DRM, I suggest going to StopDRMNow.org or Wikipedia.
Labels: Apple, drm, mp3, Steve Jobs
03 February 2007
Vista's First Post-Release Flaw
There's a lot of new around of the 'first' flaw in Vista since its official release. The speech recognition feature makes it possible for a website to include audio that features Vista commands to delete files or run programs or any other unprivileged commands such as copy, delete, and shutdown to name a few.
To be accomplished users have to have already configured the speech recognition and have it activated as well as have a live microphone and speakers. For those who are using speech recognition, this seems to be a very probable situation as most people using the feature would want to continue to use it while on the web and so would not have their microphone turned off, but listening for the next command.
From a security point of view, it could cause a security risk if the command is able to run an installer without user intervention or if it is able to email files to someone. Without this ability, it just becomes a major annoyance and risk that can cause people to lose files, have files moved, their system restarted and at a basic level controlled from an outsider. The outsider under a normal situation would have no view of the system and this would all be visible to the user, who may or may not have time to react to the situation.
To be accomplished users have to have already configured the speech recognition and have it activated as well as have a live microphone and speakers. For those who are using speech recognition, this seems to be a very probable situation as most people using the feature would want to continue to use it while on the web and so would not have their microphone turned off, but listening for the next command.
From a security point of view, it could cause a security risk if the command is able to run an installer without user intervention or if it is able to email files to someone. Without this ability, it just becomes a major annoyance and risk that can cause people to lose files, have files moved, their system restarted and at a basic level controlled from an outsider. The outsider under a normal situation would have no view of the system and this would all be visible to the user, who may or may not have time to react to the situation.
Labels: internet, microsoft, os, security, vista, vulnerability, windows
02 February 2007
Encryption - Double-Edged Sword
MI5's former head, Stella Rimington, has made statements that encryption helps terrorists work secretly and "has made it more difficult for intelligence services to access the information".
While I agree that this is true, encryption does allow people to transmit secret messages that no one can read. There is another side of the coin too though, to name a few of the advantages, it allows banks to keep account data safe, companies can transmit secure information via VPN and other Internet means and governments can communicate with their interests in other countries (i.e. embassies).
There is always a trade-off, higher security can cost more freedom and in this case it can cause a loss of security in the business sector. Is it really a good idea for intelligence services to be able to decrypt business and banking information?
While I agree that this is true, encryption does allow people to transmit secret messages that no one can read. There is another side of the coin too though, to name a few of the advantages, it allows banks to keep account data safe, companies can transmit secure information via VPN and other Internet means and governments can communicate with their interests in other countries (i.e. embassies).
There is always a trade-off, higher security can cost more freedom and in this case it can cause a loss of security in the business sector. Is it really a good idea for intelligence services to be able to decrypt business and banking information?
Labels: encryption, security
