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Security flaw in Adobe Player

Mike — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:00:32 +0000

Yesterday, Adobe released an important security warning concerning its Adobe Player product. It is a security hole that apparently allows a malicious party to seize control of your computer. The warning pertains to versions 10.1.82.76 and earlier for these operating systems: Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, and Android.

Also involved in the warning is the Adobe Reader 9.3.4 and earlier for Windows, Mac, and Unix, as well as Adobe Acrobat 9.3.4 and earlier for Windows and Mac. While making the warning, Adobe said it wasn’t aware that any actual exploits have occurred as of yet.

Fixes for these problems are expected by the end of the month and into October, and Windows offers this advice in the meantime.

Is Dell in contempt?

Mike — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 20:04:28 +0000

Dell may be a computer giant, but according to a filing by Advanced Internet Technologies, they are defying a court order which compels them to turn over documents in regards to allegations that they provide faulty computers.

The filing alleges, among other things, that Dell executives conspired to make the problem seem less severe than it really was to shareholders and customers following complaints surrounding the OptiPlex line of computers. Advanced Internet Technologies is suing over what it says is damages following the failure of 2,000 OptiPlex computers that AIT leased to its end customers.

AIT claims it’s lost around $38 million because of the computers’ failure, and the lawsuit has been brewing for several years now. The filing further alleges that Dell has established a pattern of refusing to provide documents, but Dell says that it will soon be filing a response, and that it takes its obligation to provide discovery seriously.

WoW users revolt and win

Mike — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 21:44:47 +0000

Blizzard, the maker of the wildly famous World of Warcraft RPG, raised the ire of users worldwide this week when they announced that real names would have to be used on their forums. This change, the company said, was being made to reduce “trolling.” The problem is that users revolted and let their anger be known.

The company has listened, and just three days after announcing the change, they have now announced that they will no longer go through with the edict requiring real names.

The fear appears to have been that a requirement mandating the use of real names would discourage free speech. Whatever the reasoning, the users spoke, and Blizzard has listened, showing that the company seems to believe in the saying that the customer is always right.

Let the gamers post on, protected by their clever handles and nicknames. For now at least, their true identities remain protected.

Get ready for Office 2010

Mike — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:08:26 +0000

It had to happen sooner or later: Microsoft is preparing to release Office 2010. It, along with several other updated packages, have been “released for manufacturing,” which is Microsoft’s way of saying that the product is done and ready to be duplicated.

The target release date is in June, which means in about two months, people will be able to get their hands on the very latest Office package, which includes infamous Microsoft software products such as Word and PowerPoint. Microsoft is already accepting pre-orders, and is promising those who purchase Office 2007 will be able to upgrade to 2010.

Perhaps the most shocking development is that Microsoft will permit computer makers to place a special “light” and free version of the Office package on new computers. Another surprising development is that there will be browser-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

Kindle is now Mac-friendly

Mike — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:46:05 +0000

If you have a Mac, and want to read e-books, you have a new tool to do accomplish that task. Kindle for Mac is now available, allowing you not only to read Kindle books on your Mac, but sync with your Kindle device so that you can easily
start reading at the point you left off on your Kindle unit.

As long as you have OS X 10.5, you can download the program from Amazon’s Web site, and enjoy Kindle books directly on your computer.

This comes as welcome news, especially considering that the iPad is coming out in less than a month, and of course a Kindle app for that is pretty much certain.

Snow Leopard Guest Account Deletes Data

Nina — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:34:56 +0000

“Ooops! All of your computer data was just deleted. Sorry about your luck!” – This is not the official Apple response to Snow Leopard users, but it could be. In the latest Snow Leopard bad news, users are reporting that login to ‘Guest Account’ is causing mass file deletion. Even accidental login to the Snow Leopard’s ‘Guest Account’ will cause files to evaporate off your machine. The bug has not been officially addressed by Apple and users are warned to stay away from this feature until a fix is available.

The ‘Guest Account’ is separate from your main profile login. However, the bug in the operating system is causing main profile files to be deleted. It is important to stay away from this option or completely disable it. A visitor to your home may not know about the bug and could accidentally trigger a complete meltdown.

Some Snow Leopard users are reporting the file deletion bug after upgrading their machine to OS X 10.6.

Snow Leopard bug reports have been flooding the internet. Loyal Mac users have been complaining that Snow Leopard has messed up their favorite software. A lot of things are wrong, and some software is no longer syncing. It could be just growing pains, but upgrading your machine could be costing you more than trouble is worth.

Google Earth To Track People In Real Time

Nina — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:42:04 +0000

Georgia Tech students and researchers have devised a new method of Google Earth real-time tracking. While fascinating, the new technology allows people to track cars, clouds, the weather, traffic and… people. The new and improved Google Earth would have the capabilities of tracking real time development anywhere in the world, using live video feeds (sometimes from many angles) to find the position and motion of various objects. The behavioral simulations would be used to produce real-time animations for Google Earth or Microsoft Virtual Earth. Fascinating, yes. Scary too! Web users are terrified of this technology as they worry about privacy issues. This would be the real-time equivalent of “Big Brother is watching”. Even if “Big Brother” is some scary stalker that is using new technology to track you down.

This technology is not implement into Google Earth just yet, but it could be. From the Georgia Tech research video, you can see an augmented virtual Earth including; the pickup of a soccer game in the park which is short a player, how traffic is on the highway, and how fast the wind is blowing the clouds across the sky.

But what about privacy? While this technology could be combined with Amber Alerts and help other crimes from being solved, it would also track innocent bystanders who are not aware that they are being watched by a stranger. If it ever does, the project will have to go through a lot of red tape before it shows up in commercial software and devices.

You can view the animation video at Augmenting Aerial Earth Maps with Dynamic Information, tin foil hat not included.

World’s first 2TB 7200 RPM hard drive ships

Nich — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 04:47:25 +0000

Can you really have too much disk space? Probably not is what Hitachi would say as they release the world’s first 2TB hard drive to spin at 7200 RPM today. The 3.5″ 2TB Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 goes on sale immediately, although Hitachi has not revealed the pricing or updated their store yet. Seeing that 1TB hard drives are going for ~$100, this 2TB disk can’t be so far off.