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December 31, 2007
My last Vista post of the year
The year end stats are in via Slashdot and Vista doesn't do well:
(So how come Vista's being adopted so much more slowly than XP was back in the day? It might relate in part to deficiencies in Vista. But I also bet it stems in part from the fact that XP with SP2 is...well, far from perfect, but all that many people need. Back in 2001, the Windows world was more fractured, and XP was a much more modern OS than either the aging Windows 98 or the botched job that was Windows ME.)
What a shock.
Posted by Peter at 06:37 PM | Comments (0)
December 30, 2007
Not quite the way I'd put it but very true
Well the phraseology is a tad sacriligious for me but the idea expressed by Jeff Jarvis in this post is very true.
Posted by Peter at 09:09 PM | Comments (0)
Homebrew for Wii
Homebrew is a word that invokes my grandfather and many other old Sicilian men during prohibition, but in the PC sense it means something else entirely:
...until now Nintendo has managed to isolate Wii hardware such as the extra horsepower of the console and wireless connectivity from hackers. But the walls are coming down. Some hackers from Germany have just showed off their fully hacked Wii at the 24th Annual Chaos Communication Congress. Nothing fancy is running yet, all they've achieved so far is a proof of concept that they've bypassed the Wii's protection with some encryption codes they swiped from the Wii's memory. Apparently a bootable Linux DVD is on the way, and we can't wait to see what homebrew coders manage to pull off with that Wiimote pointed where it belongs.
Basically game systems have plenty more power than is used, they are pretty much full blown pc's that are used as dedicated devices. Homebrewers are people who unlock that potential.
The downside is that as you allow a game system to act like a PC it will function like a pc and be just as hackable.
Posted by Peter at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)
December 29, 2007
Now this is just sick
The murder of former prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's may or may not be used by the barbarians of Al-Queda and their allies, but it is already being used by Malware operators:
Surfers searching for video footage of the suicide attack that killed Bhutto and at least 21 others on Thursday are liable to find malware posing as video clips that attempts to trick users into running malign ActiveX controls. The malicious downloaded file is detected by Symantec as the Emcodec-Trojan.
There is low and there is low.
Posted by Peter at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)
December 28, 2007
I guess a third of the computers in the world are vulnerable
Slashdot links to a report saying that over 36% of the computers in the world have limewire on them. This doesn't even count other P2P's.
If filling up that iPod is worth the risks of P2P to you then so be it. Each time your system gets re-infected we will work very hard to re-clean it for a very reasonable fee. And you can be very happy that for the price of saving .99 per song you are helping the economy by through your repeated purchase of virus cleaning services.
Posted by Peter at 01:29 AM | Comments (0)
December 26, 2007
The realities of the day and fewer (happier) returns
Today as the day after Christmas is traditionally the start of the busiest week in the call center business (unless you count the Butterball Hotline at Thanksgiving).
Yesterday I actually had off but since 2 ipods and a Sony Walkman mp3 came into the house along with an external hard drive I ended up doing my share of tech support anyways. (Did you know the new pods had a volume control lock? I set one for the kids but they already bypassed it. Time to contact the Ingemi company for those volume control earbuds.)
Speaking of realities the YouTube revolution continues. It is worth noting that it took under 24 hours for this years Doctor Who Christmas special to be posted on YouTube. Since it won't be shown in America for at least another year, expect quite a few visits to that site to watch it.
It is also the busiest return day in the country. Here are a few tips that might prevent a return to the store of that new electronic device:
#1. Reset
Most devices have a reset sequence of some type, give that a shot first. Since everything is basically a computer these days a reset is a reboot.
#2 Driver first USB 2nd.
Also remember that with USB devices the drivers/software need to be installed before they are connected. If you do it the other way around and it fails, uninstall and reinstall.
#3 Read that Fine Manual
Yes manuals are boring (except for my our internal quick zune guide which I wrote but I digress and with apologies to my friend old Robin who is a technical writer) but they are written for a reason and the technical writer is doing his or her best to help you fix something. If the manual is a pdf and almost all are these days you can even jump to the particular thing you are doing. 10 min with a manual is a better use of your time than 30 min in a line not counting driving time and $3 a gal gas.
#4. Compatibility
Double check the compatibility of that device you have purchased/recieved. If it is not compatible then return it. If you decide that Aunt May bought it for you and you MUST try to make it work so be it but be prepared to be wasting your time fitting square pegs into round holes.
Posted by Peter at 08:33 AM | Comments (0)
Kwanzza and Boxing day
Today marks the begining of Kwanzza the newest of the December Celebrations now in its 41st year and going strong.
It is also the 2nd day of Christmas Celebrated as Boxing Day (St. Stephen's day) particularly in countries of the old British Empire.
To all our customers who celebrate them we wish a happy Boxing Day and Kwanzaa a Merry 2nd day of Christmas and short lines at the mall returning stuff.
Of course that electronic stuff you have might not actually be defective, and you may be able to avoid the line by calling us to get it working. We are here 24/7 to do so.
Posted by Peter at 08:25 AM | Comments (0)
December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas
Today is Christmas Day the first of the twelve days of Christmas and a national holiday.
HiWired as always will be open 24/7 for all your PC needs.
To all of us to all of you a very Merry Christmas.
And to all of you who don't Celebrate Christmas, have a nice day.
(BTW its amazing the IPODS the kids got for Christmas both have hard drivers larger than the PC that they will be using it on.)
And in case anyone is interested I got this this this this and this. Exactly what a wanted!
Posted by Peter at 09:48 AM | Comments (0)
December 24, 2007
Time to unplug the wireless
As many people will be traveling during this season there is one bit of good computer advice that can pay real dividends.
Unplug that wireless modem you have, remember that an unpluged network can't be hacked and if you are off somewhere nobody is going to be there to notice.
Remember hackers don't take Christmas Eve off.
Posted by Peter at 08:02 PM | Comments (0)
December 23, 2007
Not quite a flash of greatness
The Register (via slashdot) tells us about adobe flash vulnerabilities that might make a very grumpy Christmas for users.
The security bugs reside in Flash applets, the ubiquitous building blocks for movies and graphics that animate sites across the web. Also known as SWF files, they are vulnerable to attacks in which malicious strings are injected into the legitimate code through a technique known as cross-site scripting, or XSS. Currently there are no patches for the vulnerabilities, which are found in sites operated by financial institutions, government agencies and other organizations.The vulnerabilities are laid out in the book Hacking Exposed Web 2.0: Web 2.0 Security Secrets and Solutions. It is due to hit store shelves soon, but is already in the hands of many security professionals. The book's authors, who work for penetration testing firm iSEC Partners as well as for Google, say a web search reveals more than 500,000 vulnerable applets on major corporate, government and media sites.
At the speed that the internet moves the question is will the "secrets" exposed in this book be obsolete by the time it hits stores?
Posted by Peter at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)
Wii will Wii will gouge you?
Free enterprise is a great thing but via slashdot we find it does have its drawbacks:
"In the past year, none of the 12 [Slackers locations] have sold any Wiis except for a one-time promotional deal, where we did force customers to buy a game with it," the employee told Ars Technica. "The real crime is that we get Wii shipments regularly. In fact, right now we have about 20, but none of them make it to the store front. They all get put on the store's eBay site at a minimum $499.99 buying price."Our source then told us that the price has since been lowered to $399.99, (they weren't moving at $499) and sure enough, there are three Wiis available through Slackers' eBay storefront at $399.99. Looking back in the store's history, one can find other Wii sales in its feedback, with the auction advertising "NEW WITH GAME." The game of course being the bundled Wii Sports.
Unless there is a contract preventing them from doing so, these business have a perfect right to sell things any way they want. Likewise Nintendo has a perfect right to decide that they don't want to ship them new games or systems anymore if they don't respect their price points. As a customer you have a perfect right to either pay the higher price or tell this or any such retailer to take a flying leap.
Contrary to Cartman's belief system Nintendo Wii is a luxury, not a necessity.
I should point out that Slackers has put out the following denial that says in part:
Does Slackers’ sell Wii systems on eBay? Yes. This holiday season, Slackers has sold a total of 5 Wii systems on eBay at a price of $399.99, while a couple units remain in stock. Why do we sell the Wii systems on eBay? Like all small retailers we are trying to improve our profile on the web. We have a website and an eBay store site. By offering even a small quantity of a hot system like the Wii on-line drives many hits to our sites. As for the price, Mr. Kuchera claims we are “scalping.” At the price Slackers offers on-line, when you factor our cost for the unit and shipping, and after eBay and PayPal take their cut, Slackers makes less than $75 per unit we sell on-line. For this holiday season, we made a whopping $375 from the eBay sales – that’s it. We gave away 2 systems at a cost of $500, and on every other system, we either broke even or lost money. Slackers does not make money on the sale of Wii systems.
Read both stories, we report you can decide.
Posted by Peter at 07:33 AM | Comments (0)
Another reason to say Happy Hollidays UGH
If you knew me personally you would know that I hate the phrase Happy Holidays. I like calling days what they are. Christmas is Christmas Hanukkah is Hanukkah, Boxing day is Boxing day, etc, etc etc...
However for those Seinfeld, fans in who are customers of ours I would be remiss to not point out that today is Festivus.
Since one of the Festivus traditions is the airing of grievances consider my first paragraph in the spirit of the season.
If you celebrate Festivus complete with very high strength-to-weight ratio pole then we wish you a joyous festivus, if you don't then as we always say, have a nice day.
Posted by Peter at 07:20 AM | Comments (0)
December 22, 2007
Bad timing
If you are trying to push a game system this isn't the thing you want to have just before Christmas:
Xbox Live has been down for (deleted)hours, and doesn't seem any closer to getting back online. Anyone able to get on? Or are you still having issues? Shout it out in comments, we feel your pain.
Well my kids Wii was working today but he doesn't play online, just surfs.
Posted by Peter at 08:39 PM | Comments (0)
December 21, 2007
Online gift report
Well the last days of shipping have arrived and its time to rate the online companies.
AMAZON.COM
By any objective standard they were golden. Every item I ordered came with free shipping the final order showing up today. The online tracking system allowed me to track all the orders in transit. Being the cheap guy that I am there wasn't any thought of two day or standard shipping.In fairness I also made it a point to only order items that shipped directly from Amazon.com rather than third party suppliers.
My wife also ordered from Amazon.com.uk for an item for me. All of her orders showed up in plenty of time.
US Mint:
All the orders needed for the US mint arrived with plenty of time to spare, but the cut-off date for guaranteed by Christmas shipping was before Amazon's Nevertheless the mint provided what I wanted with a minimum of fuss. I would highly recommend them as a source for any item.
British Royal Mint:
Here we crash and burn. My initial order was in the middle of the year and came promptly. After some issues with an order last year I placed a small order in October. I've received two notices telling me that items will be showing up late, at least 30 days later. This places my Christmas order around late January or February. Now there are 12 days to Christmas but this is just bad form. (A real shame since the British have some really cool coins).If you are thinking royal mint for Christmas make sure you order in June. This makes two out of three years that my Christmas gives from them will be late.
Bottom line AMAZON AMAZON AMAZON!
Posted by Peter at 03:38 PM | Comments (0)
More vista more vista
The San Jose Mercury News comments on Vista the good and the badFirst the good, things are getting better:
...compatibility is getting better. At launch, there were 1.5 million devices compatible with Vista, he said. That was three times the number for Windows XP's launch, and now the number is 2.4 million devices. Of the top 100 Windows applications, 98 work fine on Vista now.
Sales are up but that is a red herring since with some exceptions Vista is all you can get. Speed issues persist:
Karp says he's among those who won't go back to XP and would rather fix problems. He notes you can speed Vista up by going into the control panel menu and turning off the "view thumbnails" feature, which presents a mini view of an open file as you hover over it with the mouse. Or you can make sure that your machine has enough main memory to run Vista.
In other words he'd rather spend more money on memory to get the same speed and/or turn off Vista features. If you are going to do that why buy Vista in the first place? Maybe due to security:
In the first six months, Vista had 12 security vulnerabilities reported, compared with 36 in the first six months for Windows XP. One problem is that, under antitrust rulings, Microsoft has to keep antivirus protection separate from the operating system. It sells its OneCare protection and backup service for $50 a year, when it really should be included in the operating system. Imagine. They sell a vulnerable operating system for as much as $400 and then get to sell you the antivirus software and other protections on top of that.
The anti-trust point is well made but the number of vulnerabilities found number doesn't wash since Vista as a new OS had to be learned and examined by those who want to attack it.
The bottom line is its a mixed bag. The fact that the service pack is still months away is a black mark against it but as the old saying goes, what can't be cured must be endured. So I guess we will endure it.
Posted by Peter at 09:13 AM | Comments (0)
December 19, 2007
And you thought Gas was a lot
Via Slashdot we see that Staples and HP are getting some heat over very expensive ink:
A Boston man has filed a class-action lawsuit accusing hardware maker HP and office supply retailer Staples of colluding to inflate the price of printer ink cartridges in violation of federal antitrust law. According to the suit, HP allegedly paid Staples $100 million to refrain from selling inexpensive third-party ink cartridges, although the suit doesn't make it clear how plaintiff Ranjit Bedi arrived at that figure.For most printer companies, ink is the bread and butter of their business. The price of ink for HP ink-jet printers can be as much as $8,000 per gallon (emphasis mine) , a figure that makes gas-pump price gouging look tame. HP is currently the dominant company in the printing market, and a considerable portion of the company's profits come from ink.
We may be in Boston but it wasn't us, cross my heart. I must confess I hadn't heard of the use of Microchips to prevent 3rd party ink use but with the amount of money at stake we can be sure that manufacturers will fight to keep it, meanwhile consider a few things that might save you a buck or two on ink:
1. Print Preview is your friend:
Remember that print preview is there to keep you from having to make multiple attempts to get it right. Use this tool you'll save money on both ink and paper.
2. Draft quality is your friend.
If you don't need the higher quality don't use it, if a draft copy will do then by all means use a draft quality copy.
3. Web sites and FTP sites are your friends.
Remember that if you can store a shared document or announcement online you can always communicate that via a link sent via e-mail to a central site. This also has the advantage of something that can be edited if plans change.
4. Wait till the ink is actually out before replacing the cartridges.
It a good idea to have an extra set of cartridges available but don't run to replace them at the first "ink warning" message. That message might not be what it seems.
5. Pencils and Pens are your friend.
Remember that a printer is not vital for everything that is necessary for communication. Of course if your handwriting is as bad as mine you may think differently but a handwritten note conveys that personal style that the printed page does not.
Of course it is your money to spend and it up to you to spend it any way you want. Also remember that this advice is how to save on ink not that printing is evil.
Oh and full disclosure; HiWired has a relationship with Office Max, a competator of Staples.
Posted by Peter at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)
December 18, 2007
The most sure sign
The internet can be the canary in the coal mine, it can settle trivial arguments, it can spread comedy and embarrassment via video and can drive public opinion.
But one thing it does better than anyone else is to act as a barometer of free speech, you might argue that one country is freer than another but how a country treats the internet is a sure way to determine if it is truly free or no. Case in point; Iran:
Iranian police have closed down 24 Internet cafes and other coffee shops in as many hours, detaining 23 people, as part of a broad crackdown on immoral behaviour in the Islamic state, official media said on Sunday.The action in Tehran province was the latest move in a campaign against fashion and other practices deemed incompatible with Islamic values, including women flouting strict dress codes and barber shops offering men Western hair styles.
"Using immoral computer games, storing obscene photos ... and the presence of women wearing improper hijab were among the reasons why they have been closed down," Colonel Nader Sarkari, a provincial police commander, said.
Case in Point Syria :
Syrian users of Facebook said on Friday the authorities had blocked access to the social network Web site as part of a crackdown on political activism on the Internet."Facebook helped further civil society in Syria and form civic groups outside government control. This is why it has been banned," women's rights advocate Dania al-Sharif told Reuters.
"They cut off communications between us and the outside world. We are used to this behavior from our government," said Mais al-Sharbaji, who set up a Facebook group for amateur Syrian photographers.
Yes Bob I know the above story is a month old.
Case in point; China:
Zhou Shuguang, aka "Zola," reports that he is home safe in Changsha after being detained in Shenyang, interrogated, made to write detailed reports on everybody he met and everything since arriving in Shenyang to blog about the Yilishen "ant-farmer" protests,
That last one via the free speech dvia who I haven't linked to lately for some reason.
So when you decide to make that download or go on about something in a user group or even send a letter to the editor online, be grateful that you are doing it here.
Posted by Peter at 07:39 AM | Comments (0)
December 17, 2007
Hey I saw a Zune I saw a Zune!
Today during my lunch hour I was wandering through the office and saw a n Amazing sight. A tech who actually had a ZUNE!
My surprise in seeing it was only matched by his surprise that I knew what it was. I asked what he thought of it and we agreed that the Zune was a good device that suffers from horrible software that comes with it.
His Zune was gen 1. He mentioned that he saw the Gen 2 Zune and the quality level of the software and hardware is closer. Unfortunately this is apparently because (in his opinion) the device's quality has gone down.
Oh well.
Posted by Peter at 04:54 PM | Comments (0)
December 16, 2007
You gotta laugh unless you are Microsoft
This blog entry (via Glenn) just has me smiling ear to ear:
Review: Windows XPI have finally decided to take the plunge. Last night I upgraded my Vista desktop machine to Windows XP, and this afternoon I will be doing the same to my laptop.
He then goes on to review the "New" Xp system that he had replace his old vista system and comes to this final conclusion:
ConclusionTo be honest there is only one conclusion to be made; Microsoft has really outdone themselves in delivering a brand new operating system that really excels in all the areas where Vista was sub-optimal. From my testing, discussions with friends and colleagues, and a review of the material out there on the web there seems to be no doubt whatsoever that that upgrade to XP is well worth the money. Microsoft can really pat themselves on the back for a job well done, delivering an operating system which is much faster and far more reliable than its predecessor. Anyone who thinks there are problems in the Microsoft Windows team need only point to this fantastic release and scoff loudly.
Well done Microsoft!
If I wasn't so busy I'd be splitting my sides. Seriously I noticed while I was still doing some in person shopping several stores offering Dell PCS in house. I asked the people there if they were selling any of the dell xp systems. They said not with great regret saying that they would be able to sell a ton of XP systems.
It remains to be seen if this will continue. My next system will very likely be a vista one, but once i have it I will almost certainly restore this system to the XP that it came with.
Posted by Peter at 04:10 PM | Comments (0)
December 15, 2007
a 5th Amendment right to an encrypted password?
Via Glenn at the Volokh conspiracy we see what might be the biggest computer news of the year, at least in the US:
Now here's where it gets interesting. Two weeks later a government forensic analyst started to analyze the machine. He created a "mirror" copy of the hard drive and then looked at the mirror to see what it contained. But it turned out that the part of the hard drive that was designated "drive Z" was encrypted with the popular software program PGP, and no one — no one, presumably, except for Boucher — knew the password. The government tried to guess the password and failed, so the grand jury issued a subpoena to Boucher ordering him to disclose the password to drive Z. Boucher's counsel them moved to block the subpoena, arguing that he had a Fifth Amendment privilege not to comply. The government responded that it would be happy to just have Boucher enter in the password without the government ever seeing it. The Court thus addressed only whether Boucher had a Fifth Amendment privilege not to enter in the password.Judge Niedermeier ruled that Boucher did have such a privilege and quashed the subpoena. According to Judge Niedermeier, entering in the password would be testimonial.
Lets get the actual meat and potatoes from the ruling:
Since the government is trying to compel the production of the password itself, the foregone conclusion doctrine cannot apply. The password is not a physical thing. If Boucher knows the password, it only exists in his mind. This information is unlike a document, to which the foregone conclusion doctrine usually applies, and unlike any physical evidence the government could already know of. It is pure testimonial production rather than physical evidence having testimonial aspects. Compelling Boucher to produce the password compels him to display the contents of his mind to incriminate himself. Doe III did not deal with production of a suspect's thoughts and memories but only previously created documents. The foregone conclusion doctrine does not apply to the production of non-physical evidence, existing only in a suspect's mind where the act of production can be used against him.
Among the 5th Amendment rights granted is the right to not testify against oneself. If this ruling stands then only the very stupid computer user who is acting illegally will keep data on a non-encrypted drive.
This will really put a damper on file sharing suits and could have interesting results in domestic terror cases.
The big question is this: If I'm the government to I require a software company to have and provide a backdoor to get into such files? Does a company have a right to refuse such a request?
It will make some interesting law.
Posted by Peter at 09:55 AM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2007
Willie sutton would be proud
Well via Glenn ZDnet reports on the efforts of the underground cyber economy and its not an encouraging word for law enforcement:
As director of antivirus research for F-Secure, you might expect Mikko Hypponen to overplay the seriousness of the situation. But according to the Finnish company, during 2007 the number of samples of malicious code on its database doubled, having taken 20 years to reach the size it was at the beginning of this year..There seems to be some serious evidence then for the idea of an evolution from hacking and virus writing for fun to creating malicious code for profit. Security experts are increasingly pointing to the existence of a "black" or "shadow" cyber-economy, where malware services are sold online using the same kinds of development methods and guarantees given by legitimate software vendors
As I have said over and over again it is financial gain and not being a pain that drives virus'. That drives our business too but it can be a big issue
Posted by Peter at 05:49 PM | Comments (0)
December 13, 2007
Damn that net for its free shipping!
Looks like this the last chance for free shipping for the readers of Paris from Amazon:
The court gave Amazon 10 days to start charging for the delivery of books, which should at least allow the company to maintain the offer through the end-of-year gift-giving season. After that, it must pay a fine of €1,000 (US$1,470) per day that it continues to offer free delivery. It must also pay €100,000 in compensation to the booksellers' union.Retail prices, particularly of books, are tightly regulated in France.
The only way to stop the net is to Lawyer it to death.
Posted by Peter at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)
December 12, 2007
I give up
Well I went to local stores to find the last couple of things for Christmas but low and behold I couldn't find those last few things. And if that isn't enough I ended up finding it online.
In the end only some gift certificates for restaurants and lottery tickets were all I purchased locally.
I might still go local to grab s stocking stuffer or two but I think my storefront days at Christmas are pretty much over.
Posted by Peter at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)
December 10, 2007
Glenn has a Zune
Looks like Microsoft got smart and Gave Glenn Reynolds a Zune.
a Microsoft guy asked me why I had never written about the Zune. I explained that I generally just blog about things I buy, and I hadn't bought one. He responded with horror to the thought that I'd never been sent a sample.
Remember it wasn't too long ago that I didn't get a single good word on the Zune when I asked for feedback. If Microsoft had provided it to him 6 months ago my kids might have gotten that for Christmas instead of, well I CAN'T link, you never know if they are reading.
Posted by Peter at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)
December 09, 2007
PC Floozy? Nope a real cyber Gold Digger
This would be really funny if the phishing part of it wasn't so dangerous:
Those entering online dating forums risk having more than their hearts stolen.A program that can mimic online flirtation and then extract personal information from its unsuspecting conversation partners is making the rounds in Russian chat forums, according to security software firm PC Tools.
The artificial intelligence of CyberLover's automated chats is good enough that victims have a tough time distinguishing the "bot" from a real potential suitor, PC Tools said. The software can work quickly too, establishing up to 10 relationships in 30 minutes, PC Tools said. It compiles a report on every person it meets complete with name, contact information, and photos.
10 relationships in 30 min sounds like the ultimate in speed dating but this is a really nasty phishing scheme for people who are likely already lonely and looking for someone to talk to.
Remember that a bot is designed to fool you beware and be wary online. Via Glenn who sees all and knows all eventually.
Posted by Peter at 02:31 PM | Comments (0)
Didn't Wii see this last year?
You might remember the Wii was in very high demand last year. My kids didn't get one until long after Christmas. Well it looks like you can't keep a good game system down, or at least not in stock:
During the same CNN article a couple of analysts give their respective views on the shortage: Gartner analyst Van Baker believes the shortage keeps the Nintendo buzz high, whilst giving consumers that much vaunted “must have” feeling about the product."There's enough inventory out there that people don't quit shopping for them. They may have to go to three or four different locations before they find one, but ultimately they do," Baker said.
Meanwhile Brian O’Rouke, analyst for research firm In-Stat sits on the other side of the conspiracy fence;"They outsource their manufacturing. And qualifying contract manufacturers is a fairly time-consuming process," he said. It takes Nintendo five months to increase production from the time it makes the decision to do so, Harrison says.
Via Slashdot. I'm sure it's unique gameplay and lower price doesn't hurt demand either.
Posted by Peter at 01:58 PM | Comments (0)
December 08, 2007
Well you know that was coming soner or later
Well it looks like some librarian has finally had enough:
Linda O'Connor has blocked the site on the school's computers and stuck up signs all around the library saying "Just say no to Wikipedia". The motto was the same one that Nancy Reagan used for her campaign against drugs.
Why such an extreme stance?
It all started when a teacher researching Martin Luther King Jr. found white supremacist information in the civil right's leader's entry. Then a student researching the Vietnam War found Wikipedia's casualty count had been lowered by someone who wanted kids to think that the war was a walk in the park.
Wikipedia may worry about accuracy. Lucky for these guys that's not a worry.
Posted by Peter at 09:49 PM | Comments (0)
December 07, 2007
The end of the Apple myth
You might remember last month I said the following:
the supposed invulnerability of the Mac has more to do with the number of users than the OS itself. This first trojan has a limited and easily defined victim profile but it is just the beginning. Once malware authors figure out how few Mac users assume that they can't be hit and surf accordingly the flood gates will open.
Looks like the Financial times agrees:
“Over the past two years, we had found one or two pieces of malware targeting Macs,” said Patrik Runald, an F-Secure security researcher. “Since October, we’ve found 100-150 variants.”The rising security threat could present a challenge to Apple, which has long touted the security advantages of its platform over those of Microsoft, whose software is a perennial target for hackers.
“As Apple’s platform becomes more visible, it will increasingly come under the gun,” said Roger Kay, an analyst at Endpoint Technologies.
Watch for a whole lot more of this, the days of Apple users sneering at PC virus and the myth of Apple's immunity to virus' has now gone the way of the Dodo.
Posted by Peter at 12:01 AM | Comments (0)
December 06, 2007
A new headache for tax software
This year Washington Poloticts are creating a new headache for makers of tax preparation software:
The central problem is reprogramming I.R.S. computers. The agency’s protocol calls for seven weeks to analyze changes in tax law, write the software code and test it, as well as notify all the tax professionals and others affected. Officials fear that a rush to make the changes in less time could result in error.Richard Spires, deputy I.R.S. commissioner, warns of a significant backlog in processing returns, as well as confusion for the taxpayer.
If the federal software is not ready that has to roll over to the various tax software companies. Now a private company being more effcient might be preparing for many different possibilities, last minute tax changes might not be so odd, also the fact that this legislation has been sitting for a while may be an advantage as alternate software/patches can be prepared. The big pain is will it be burned and in stores or will it be an annual patch that is downloaded each year and when that patch will be ready. How much will the congress slow things down? We will see.
Posted by Peter at 08:07 AM | Comments (0)
December 05, 2007
Its time for Hanukkah
At sundown last night the Jewish feast of Hanukkah began.
For those of you who don't want to bother going through our archives info on the holiday is available here here here and here.
This year Hanukkah runs through the 12th of December. We at HiWired wish all of our customers who celebrate it a happy and healthy Hanukkah.
Posted by Peter at 09:54 AM | Comments (0)
The identity theft motherlode
If you are somebody looking to to commit identify theft this is the stuff of dreams:
A security flaw in Passport Canada's website has allowed easy access to the personal information - including social insurance numbers, dates of birth and driver's licence numbers - of people applying for new passports.The breach was discovered last week by an Ontario man completing his own passport application. He found he could easily view the applications of others by altering one character in the Internet address displayed by his Web browser.
Why do I get the feeling that a smart thief may have already found this out but kept quiet about it?
Posted by Peter at 07:32 AM | Comments (0)
Why pirate an empty ship?
Microsoft's service pack 1 for vista will apparently close a security holes allowing unlicensed copies of the software to run.
Although, unlike previous Windows versions, Vista is not available as an activation-free version, a number of more or less effective methods were quickly found to run Vista without activation. However, this is soon to end. According to Microsoft, Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista closes two vulnerabilities which previously enabled operation of Vista without a license
The piracy rate for Windows Vista is less than half that of Windows XP, according to Microsoft. The vendor made the claim as it revealed plans to further curtail piracy when it launches the first service pack for Vista.
Of course that might not be as big an issue as it sounds at least not now:
I don't think that is due to better security issues. I think it is for the same reason that counterfeiters tend to make phony $100 bills rather than phony $5's.
I actually was able to recommend Vista to a customer two days ago. Of course they did have ME....
Posted by Peter at 07:10 AM | Comments (0)
December 03, 2007
pushed files are pushed files
As you all know I've raved against p2p sites for years, but I haven't had much to say about Myspace.
Lately I've had a spate of customers with issues after connecting to Myspace, I suspect it is due to files being accepted from strangers in chat or suspect links.
You have to remember when online that people are not always what they appear, this is a point I've had to drill into my youngest but it is a point well taken.
Just because a site isn't a peer to peer doesn't mean every file pushed to you is ok. Be careful of pushed files, and that is true for yahoo chat, aol chat or any program where you are dealing with people that you actually don't know.
Posted by Peter at 10:01 PM | Comments (0)
December 02, 2007
Don't forget the old classics
As Christmas approaches various online games might be choices that you will be considering. As this Wikipedia list shows there are literally dozens of such games available in all kinds of genres from World War 2 to Star Trek/Star Wars to Super Heroes to the World of Warcraft and of course the granddaddy of all role players Dungeons and Dragons.
Lets give a quick rundown on some that you should consider before buying:
#1. Does your system have the oomph?
Many of these games require a system with a very good graphics card and a fair amount of processor speed. It is also not uncommon for updates to the program to lead to system updates. Make sure you have a good enough system to play before you buy.
#2 Does your ISP have enough oomph?
Remember that online games are designed to be played in real time. Make sure your ISP and your router are good enough so that your gameplay can be worthwhile AND your other pcs won't slow to a crawl on the net while playing.
#3 Don't forget the fees
Many such games require monthly fees to continue, remember you will be paying for this game every month. Make sure you budget that time.
#4 Do you have the time?
Any old D&D player like myself knows that any RPG is a time eater. In the old days you would have to make time to get together to play, these days you have to just log on. Make sure your child or spouse has the free time to play. Real Life has to trump the game.
That last point is the big one, there is a big difference between enjoying gameplay and obsessive gameplay. Make sure your potential player has the ability to do the one without the other and make sure YOU don't mind the time spent.
Remember a membership in your local game center is always a good 2nd choice if you don't want this in your house. See our podcast on the subject for more info.
Posted by Peter at 03:12 PM | Comments (0)
December 01, 2007
Wow what a deal!
Today when I booted up the family PC to put us the Anniversary blog post I was greeted with a Java Balloon saying the following:
Update Java now and get Open Office Free!
Hey sounds like a great deal, after all Open Office is a first rate Office Suite that does all the Microsoft Office does. We've mentioned it more that once around here.
The deal would be a lot more impressive if Open Office wasn't already free to use.
Posted by Peter at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)
Has it really been 3 years?
Three years ago a gentleman gave us a call to help out with a problem he had with his outlook e-mail on his Blackberry.
Tens of thousands of customers later we continue to provide support to people all over America and around the world.
Its really been something watching this company grow since that very first call. A lot of good people worked very hard to get us to this point.
But without you the customer it never would have happened and all of us would be doing something else for a living. You are the reason we are still here and growing stronger.
On behalf of all of us at HiWired and all of us who were here when we were still LightFrog (I still think that was a cool name) thank you very much for your support and for the job. We will do our best to continue to be worthy of your support in the next year and God willing for many years to come.
Posted by Peter at 08:45 AM | Comments (0)
Windows Vista on YouTube
Today I visit YouTube and see a Windows Vista advertisement video. Curious to see the comments left on this video I click on the link and interestingly the comments and the ability to rate the video have been disabled. I can only imagine such a decision only if you think the feedback will be damaging to the unaware crowd.
Who can blame them with all the negative feedback already on the web.
Posted by Hector at 12:56 AM | Comments (0)