Curiosity Killed the Cat

A recent survey reported on by CNET Security writer Lance Whitney, asked the question: “Hey, Why do people respond to Spam?” The response from almost a third of the consumers admitted to responding to a message they suspected to be spam. They also reported that about 80 percent doubted their computers were at risk of ever being infected malware that might be capable of causing other damage without their knowledge. The study is based on interviews with 800 computer users in the U.S. and Canada who said they were not "security experts" and who used e-mail addresses not managed by an IT department.

The results are pretty scary and I hope that bringing this to your attention will remind you to be careful of the dangers you face when viewing and responding to unsolicited and unknown email senders. If you are interested in reading the 60-page survey, it is available at no cost on the MAAWG Web site, www.MAAWG.org. Look for the paper entitled: "A Look at Consumers' Awareness of Email Security and Practices or 'Of Course I Never Reply to Spam, Except Sometimes'"

About the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG)

The Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) is where the messaging industry comes together to work against spam, viruses, denial-of-service attacks and other online exploitation. MAAWG (www.MAAWG.org) represents almost one billion mailboxes from some of the largest network operators worldwide. It is the only organization addressing messaging abuse holistically by systematically engaging all aspects of the problem, including technology, industry collaboration and public policy. MAAWG leverages the depth and experience of its global membership to tackle abuse on existing networks and new emerging services. Headquartered in San Francisco, Calif., MAAWG is an open forum driven by market needs and supported by major network operators and messaging providers.

Backstage with Microsoft Office 2010

Microsoft has put together a few videos on this site to demonstrate some of the new features of Microsoft Office 2010. Currently there are only three interviews but they plan on producing more so come back often to see what they have added.

First Take: Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview | The Download Blog - Download.com

I was a Microsoft regional meeting back in May when I first saw some of the capabilities of this new version of Microsoft Office and I was very impressed with what I saw then. This article outlines some of the highpoints of the new capabilities of Office 2010 which are quite significant. This product won’t be available until sometime next year. If you are doing a lot of collaborative work or have many different devices that you use for production editing, make extensive use of video in your PowerPoint Presentations or graphics in your publications you will find many things that you will want to use in this new version of Office.

First Take: Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview | The Download Blog - Download.com

NBC Sports among the initial group of media producers to focus on the Silverlight 3 platform

Microsoft is releasing Silverlight 3 Platform including support with Visual Studio Pro Edition and  Expression software programming environments. Microsoft will be offering a Visual Studio Pro and Expression bundle for $999. Included with Expression is a rapid prototyping product called Sketchflow. Expression 3 is due out in 30 days and will include Expression Blend, Expression Web design, Expression Encoder (video encoding) and Expression Designer (illustration design).

NBC Sports used Silverlight in the 2008 Olympics is announcing its intent on using Silverlight for online video delivery across all of its sporting programs.

"As we look forward to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver as well as other major championships in 2010, we will be using Silverlight as the preferred technology to deliver the best in next-generation online high-definition video experiences," said NBC's Perkins Miller, senior vice president for digital media, in a statement released by Microsoft. NBC has used Silverlight and Microsoft Internet Information Services Smooth Streaming for its "Live and Wimbledon" video presentation.

The new Silverlight product will support offline content as well as online, 3D and hardware graphics acceleration. Microsoft says that it has made great inroads with its Silverlight 2 version and states that it is installed on 1 out of 3 PC’s. Adobe has the majority share of this market though. We’ll have to see how well Microsoft does with this next version.

How to shop for your first Digital SLR | Digital Cameras & Camcorders | ZDNet.com

Rachel King wrote a nice article on how to purchase your first DSLR camera. They are good points to follow and I hardily concur. So if you are ready to make the leap consider the seven considerations she outlined here:

How to shop for your first Digital SLR | Digital Cameras & Camcorders | ZDNet.com

'Critical' DirectX patch in Microsoft security updates | Tech News on ZDNet

Microsoft delivering the update to correct the much publicized DirectX vulnerability. They will be delivering six security updates on Patch Tuesday next week. See more info at:

'Critical' DirectX patch in Microsoft security updates | Tech News on ZDNet

Introducing the Google Chrome OS

Google published their announcement, “Introducing the Google Chrome OS, this morning with a brief on the why and how of this new product.

Billed as a natural extension of the Google Chrome Browser. They are looking at initially targeting the Netbook phenomenon to place a lightweight operating system on these entry level PC’s. Their planned release is the second half of 2010, about a year away. Their reason for announcing this project now is apparently to help provide momentum from the consumer sector while they are talking to Netbook manufacturers.

Google Chrome OS is supposed to run on both X86 as well as ARM chips. Google’s description of the general architecture is as follows:

The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.

Google Chrome OS is not Android and is a totally project from Android. This operating system is being designed ground up for people who spend all their time on the web and want their computers to run as quickly as possible with these web based applications. It will be interesting to see how this project progresses.

Is this operating system for you? On devices that are used 100% of the time for web access then this might be a product that will work for you. However, most of us aren’t so focused on internet only access. Even though I spend 90% of my work day touching the internet in one way or another, 90% of the actual application usage are applications that require more from the computer. Now of course I am on business person but most of us have not shunned the locally run applications from our systems and most likely never do so for everything that we do. This OS may have a place on Netbooks that will be used to acquire and send email, be used as a phone connection to talk to friends, family and business associates, and even interact with web based SAAS products. But, for a daily production system I can’t see it fitting the bill. Sure, I’m just speculating, but it seems like the right conclusion to come to.

More Windows 7 pricing leaks…

There are several reports discussing sightings of Microsoft upgrade pricing and also several listing the Windows 7 Family Pack/Home Premium Upgrade as well. While this is all still speculation, there is no officially released pricing as of yet, there appears to be some really aggressive pricing for these upgrades.

Ed Bott reported in his Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report column today that there have been several sightings and even showed a screen capture of one of them:

He also went on to report that Expercom listed in their catalog pricing for the anytime upgrades for several products.

• UPG WINDOWS ANYTIME/W7 STARTER TO HOME PREMIUM UPGRADE Microsoft - Model 4WC-00040 $81.95
• UPG WINDOWS ANYTIME/W7 HOME PREMIUM TO PROFESSIONAL UPGRADE Microsoft - Model 7KC-00040 $90.95
• UPG WINDOWS ANYTIME/W7 HOME PRE TO ULTIMATE UPGRADE Microsoft - Model 39C-00040 $137.95

This all seems like good news to me. I’m looking forward to seeing the real pricing pretty soon as our sources start to pass it along. So add me on as another source for the rumor mongering.

Google’s Chrome OS: An ice cube's chance in Hell of succeeding | Windows - InfoWorld

Some other views from around the internet:

Find out what InfoWorld's Randall Kennedy thinks of the newly announced Google OS. |

InfoWorld's Robert X. Cringely wonders if Chrome OS will be a geeks-only thing.

Venture Beat's Dean Takahashi and Anthony Ha write

Another IE/ActiveX bug!

It is always important to keep abreast of current risk vulnerabilities. This article has quite a few pointers for more information on  this new ActiveX Control exploit. Click here to go to the Microsoft article on how to protect yourself.

Computerworld Security reports that this bug was reported 18 months ago to Microsoft and they are now scrambling to fix this problem.

In the security advisory it issued yesterday, Microsoft credited a pair of researchers -- Ryan Smith and Alex Wheeler -- with reporting the bug. Smith and Wheeler once worked together at IBM's ISS X-Force, although Wheeler now is at Texas-based 3Com's TippingPoint DVLabs.

The way to protect yourself is to switch browsers. A lot of you are already using browsers like Firefox, Opera, Chrome or Safari.

Microsoft has promised to patch Windows and IE but hasn’t committed to a delivery date as of yet. Its next regularly-scheduled security updates will be released on July 14.

Google Apps that finally moved out of Beta

Not really big news  since most of considered these products already part of the mainstream applications. The Beta tag has been lifted for the Google App suite of applications - which include Calendar, Docs and Talk - which include Calendar, Docs and Talk.  This action has been done just as another marketing ploy. Hey, I am even reporting on it. If you like these products and are using them you are not going to see any difference with this move…

Lenovo - Notebook and laptop computers - ThinkPad T Series - Features

We have always been big enthusiasts with Lenovo’s notebook products. Here is a great information page that will let you move through the features that can be found in the  different T-series notebook products.

You see some great videos that will help you understand the differences as well.

Lenovo - Notebook and laptop computers - ThinkPad T Series - Features

Beatles to star in 'Rock Band' | Tech News on ZDNet

This is good news for you Beatles lovers, a new version of Rock Band will be available in September, more than enough time for the Xmas season. Funny how this was a discussion we had around the fire on July 4th and now here it is… So there you go Jen.

Beatles to star in 'Rock Band' | Tech News on ZDNet

Sony to enter the netbook market soon…

The new Sony Vaio W will be based on the 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 processor just like its competition but Sony plans on differentiating itself by offering a larger touchpad and a higher resolution screen. Typical netbooks in the 10 inch screen arena sport  1024x600 pixel screen but the Sony units will have a display resolution of 1366x768, providing a significantly larger desktop area to work in. This will mean less scrolling on applications  and websites and potential better experience in the long run.

Along with the higher resolution comes a higher price tag.The estimated cost will be around 500 dollars. The Units will begin shipping in August and will initially be available in the U.K., France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain and Russia and be available form Sony's online shop. There has been no

The proposed Sony specs on release: Windows XP Home, 1GB RAM, 160GB  Hard Drive, only 2 USB ports, 802.11a/b/g wireless LAN and Bluetooth, Camera and a Memory Card Reader. The Battery Life is estimated at 3.5 hours on the low side for money.

I love Sony products primarily because their systems usually have much better screen displays, and as usual, you will be paying for that feature as well. If you need better resolution on your netbook, then this product might be the answer.However, the price tag may be the deciding factor to keep it out of the booming netbook market. I sure hope it will be available in something other than pink!

Olympus: 12 megapixels is enough | Tech News on ZDNet

Great article discussing the new metrics on compact camera design. You will have some greater insight into what to look for when purchasing your next digital camera.

Olympus: 12 megapixels is enough | Tech News on ZDNet

Microsoft pulls plug on Xbox support | Tech News on ZDNet

We always say the a product reaches its end of life when it is no longer supported. The original Xbox has finally reached the end of its road. Don’t fret though, if you haven’t replaced it with the Xbox 360 now might be the time to do it. As an all around entertainment device the Xbox 360 certainly provides many different entertainment options to your TV set. 

"On March 2, 2009, service repairs for Original Xbox video game systems for which the Warranty has expired will no longer be available," reads Microsoft's official support site. "Any other technical support, documents, and content, however, will continue to be available to all our customers. Although Microsoft is ending repair services for the Original Xbox, an upgrade program and support will be maintained for Original Xbox consoles that are still under Warranty."

There is no need to cry though. The Xbox had a good run with over 25 million units sold.

Microsoft pulls plug on Xbox support | Tech News on ZDNet

Dirty little secrets of the keyboard revealed | Tech News on ZDNet

Don’t read this if you are about to eat lunch at your desk… In fact if you are then you are probably contributing to the problem. I am regularly dumping the collections out of keyboard on the weekly basis. It’s pretty disgusting. The comparison to the toilet seat caught my attention. Take a quick read of this article and get out the Purell and Lysol.

Dirty little secrets of the keyboard revealed | Tech News on ZDNet

"Windows 7 is the same as Ubuntu" | Education IT | ZDNet.com

The author makes several good points about how the younger generation is becoming operating system independent. But, as he comments, if you are a Windows Application dependent person, then you will definitely see some benefits from the new operating system. 

"Windows 7 is the same as Ubuntu" | Education IT | ZDNet.com

OneNote Cut and Paste Features

I have created a simple video showing the cut and paste features of OneNote and show how the search function works on text vs. an image file containing text.

The little known Office Application that I couldn’t live without… OneNote.

If you ever look at my task bar an hour into a business workday, you would see no less than ten applications running but the one that seems to gain the most attention thru out the day is OneNote. If you are a student or someone that does a lot of research, this program should be one of the main tools in your software arsenal. This program is one of the hardest to describe applications in the office program group yet one of the easiest to use. Microsoft describes it as an electronic notebook, but is so much more than that. If you have ever seen a college wire bound notebook that has multiple tabs built into it this is the first recognizable visual that you can use. It is so much more than that though. Not only can you type into it, you can also save images, hyperlinks, sound files from meetings and drawings that you may create on your touch screen or drawing tablet. In this review segment I just want to limit myself to discussing the basic structure of the notebooks so that you can understand how they might be used for you with your OneNote Notebooks.

OneNote can be purchased separately or is part of the suite in Office Home and Student, Office Ultimate Suite or Enterprise Editions. If you are a college student this package is available for a substantial discount and if you have a tablet PC, take a look, it may have been part of the package!

The key to understanding this package is understanding its hierarchical structure. In real life you would start with a physical notebook. The same concept works here as well. When you have the system create a notebook for you, you are creating a file folder to hold your information on the system. You can put this folder on any drive. The reason this is important is because you can place a notebook that is shared by multiple people if you place the notebook in a shared data location, like your server, NAS drive or like me, I placed one in a cloud drive on my Jungle Disk network drive that is now available to me from all my computers both at home and at work. There is no realistic limits to the number of separate notebooks, however, the more you have the harder it is to remember where to go when you want to add more information. The system is able to search through all of your active notebooks using keyword searches.

The next notebook level is called a section. The section is just like the physical tabs that you find in college ring binders. This allows you separate topics of information from each other. Each section can have subsections to further consolidate information and each subsection can further be divided into subsections. If you wish to create a subsection that contains other subsections you will need to first create a section group. A subsection group can contain both regular sections as well other section groups. Use your imagination to come up with a structure that works for you. You also have the ability to create a password for a section to protect it from unauthorized access. 

The next level is the individual pages that your create in your sections. You can have as many pages as you want to within a section. The last level is the subpage which allows you to separate pages but keep them grouped together. This too has now realistic limit as well.

It is easy to move sections and pages from one area to another so don’t be worried about structure too much, it can be a living ever changing structure. I know mine is. I’ll write more on this OneNote  functions and the many uses that you can apply to it in future posts. The main thing I wanted to do is make you aware of this wonderful often over looked product from Microsoft.