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http://neasteflorin.stumbleupon.com/review/8603475/

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 05:26:44 -0700

What Next For The Google Phone?
The past two days have seen literally hundreds of rumors swirling about a proposed 'Google Phone' with hypesters seeking to make it out to be a competitor to Apple's iPhone and detractors poo-pooing the very notion.

The rumors were kicked off by an interview with Spanish news site noticias.com where Isabel Aguilera, the top director for Google in Spain and Portugal, said that Google engineers had been working on a mobile phone. The original article is here (in Spanish).

Google corporate is refusing to be drawn. "Mobile is an important area for Google and we remain focused on creating applications and establishing and growing partnerships with industry leaders to develop innovative services for users worldwide. However, we have nothing further to announce."

Rumors
Other rumors have the phone as a blackberry-like device running Java that offers VoIP; a Google/Samsung partnership on a keyless phone called the 'Switch'; and a Google/Orange partnership. More realistic rumors point to recent Google acquisitions of several mobile application companies (Android, Reqwireless and Skia) and it is here where the rumors suddenly start to make sense.

First off - there is absolutely no chance that Google will make and sell a piece of consumer hardware - at least not anytime soon. It is even unlikely that Google would enter into a partnership that didn't have an obvious down-the-road benefit for it in terms of adoption of Google software.

Second - Google doesn't really want to directly drive the adoption of a particular wireless device - instead it wants all wireless devices to make use of Google software and provide exposure to Google advertising whenever possible.

That leaves us with three scenarios.

Scenario One: Google is developing a relatively agnostic, open, mobile device platform. One that will be easy to convert to new devices and that will provide a Google-flavored and Google-driven suite of tools (GoogleTalk, GoogleMaps, Google Desktop, etc.). Unlikely to be a specific Google Phone in this scenario but maybe a lot of phones shipping with Google logos on them.

Scenario Two: Google is developing a full blown mobile device OS that will go head-to-head with Windows Mobile - and will include Scenario One above as one part of the bigger OS. Just faintly possible that Google would partner with a big mobile device company to make a 'google phone' just in order to drive adoption.

Scenario Three: Google is playing around with multiple scenarios in order to figure out how best to deliver its current product set on a range of mobile devices in a way that drives maximum adoption. The result would be mobile versions of Google's current set of products and services - that would hopefully be easy to install on a range of mobile devices. Again - no Google phone.

If we were betting on this we would say that Scenario one is most likely - say 55%. Scenario three is next most likely - say 35%. That leaves a 'perhaps' as part of the remaining 20% for whether we will ever see a Google phone.

Google GMail to hit 3.5 GB Storage Space
Anticipation is brewing for Google's big April 1st (April Fools) announcement this year and since GMail was first launched on April 1st, some are expecting Google to make some big changes.

It appears however that Google has already made some tweaks to GMail, in the form of storage space.

Google has updated the GMail code to calculate 5 years into the future, stopping at 3.47 GB.

Niraj Sanghvi made the find:

The Gmail login page updated to reflect new targets for the amount of space each account gets. The counter on that page is always counting up, and you can actually see what it is counting to.

With the new update, here's the new space targets and how many days until that much space is hit by the counter on the page:

2800MB: Already reached
2835MB: In 18.22 days
2980MB: In 384 days
3125MB: In 749 days
3270MB: In 1114 days

http://neasteflorin.stumbleupon.com/review/8603389/

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 05:19:06 -0700

Vista Hack Served Directly by Microsoft

With a combination of the slmgr.vbs -rearm command and resetting the SkipRearm Registry Key, users could prolong the initial grace period of Windows Vista for up to a year, or even indefinitely. This
is by no means a crack, and the word is still out on if this workaround is legal or not, but Microsoft has qualified the SkipRearm loophole as a hack without commenting on the legality of the Windows Vista activation bypass.

"Recently, it has been reported that an activation hack for Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system has been identified," David Lazar, the director of the company's Genuine Windows program, told ComputerWorld. "Although these reports are purely speculative at the moment, we are actively monitoring attempts to steal Microsoft intellectual property."

This is a very big deal, because if you take into consideration Lazar's words, then this means that the Windows Vista SkipRearm activation workaround is a hack served directly by Microsoft. The fact of the matter is that the Redmond Company has documented the SkipRearm technique on the Microsoft Windows Vista TechCenter.

So, why is Microsoft sabotaging its own products? The answer is that it isn't. In fact, Microsoft has introduced SkipRearm as a way to mitigate the restrictions imposed by Volume Licensing 2.0 in corporate environment. SkipRearm is intimately connected with the Sysprep Process. "There is no limit to the number of times Sysprep can run on a computer. However, the clock for Windows Product Activation begins its countdown the first time Windows starts. You can use the sysprep /generalize command to reset Windows Product Activation a maximum of three times. After the third time you run the sysprep /generalize command, the clock can no longer be reset," revealed Microsoft.

Every time a user will run the sysprep /generalize command, it will reset the activation clock. According to the "How Sysprep Works" article also on Microsoft Windows Vista TechCenter, the SkipRearm setting in the Microsoft-Windows-Security-Licensing-SLC component can be used to bypass resetting the activation clock.

"If you anticipate running Sysprep multiple times on a single computer, you must use the SkipRearm setting in the Microsoft-Windows-Security-Licensing-SLC component to postpone resetting the activation clock. Because you can reset the activation clock only three times, if you run Sysprep multiple times on a computer, you might run out of activation clock resets. Microsoft recommends that you use the SkipRearm setting if you plan on running Sysprep multiple times on a computer," reads a fragment of the "How Sysprep Works" documentation.

NASA Outlines Asteroid Deflection Program

An anonymous reader submitted a link to an International Herald Tribune story about NASA's answer to the movie 'Armageddon'. Specifically, they've outlined a plan to deflect a planet-killer asteroid. "In 1998, Congress gave NASA's Spaceguard Survey program a mandate of 'discovering, tracking, cataloging and characterizing' 90 percent of the near-Earth objects larger than one kilometer (3,200 feet) wide by 2008. An object that size would probably destroy civilization. The consensus at the conference was that the initial survey is doing fairly well although it will probably not quite meet the 2008 goal." With this tracking system in place, scientists are hopeful an interventions could be staged before any grim choices have to be made. Assuming they have the money and manpower needed.

http://neasteflorin.stumbleupon.com/review/8296388/

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 10:10:58 -0800

Windows Vista Ultimate, Enterprise, Business, Home Premium and Home Basic have all been cracked and are available as free downloads from peer-to-peer networks or for sums lower
than $10 on street-shops. Sounds like a bargain, right?

But the fact of the matter is that the saying "the best things in life are free" simply does not apply to software, and certainly not to Windows Vista. November 30, 2006 when the business version of operating system was made available to Microsoft's Software Assurance customers via volume licensing marked the start of the Windows Vista Crack fiesta.

Initially, spoofed KMS servers emerged on the Internet designed to provide a workaround for activating Windows Vista Enterprise. Microsoft confirmed and then took action against the Vista Frankenbuild crack by updating the Windows Genuine Advantage mechanism in order to render inoperable copies of the operating system activated with RC files. Following what the Genuine Advantage team has affectionately nick-named the Frankenbuild monster, Microsoft acknowledged the existence of the 2099 Crack.

Since early January, the 2099 Crack, also known as the Time Crack, TimerCrack, TimerStop or TimerStopper is still active. Microsoft is working on a WGA update but it is still unknown when the workaround will be tackled.

And there are other examples and options for illegally circumventing the Windows Vista activation process. And they are all free, or come with the promise of no charge at all, when in fact the reality offers a different perspective altogether.

The main hidden cost of Free is the fact that users will be transformed into victims. It is an invisible price tag that does take its toll. Just because there is no monetary value associated with the Windows Vista cracks or that there is no financial transaction doesn't mean that users deploying such workarounds won't be paying through their teeth.

The bottom line is that Windows Vista is not immune to malware. Not even by far. In fact, malicious code already in existence can successfully compromise Windows Vista. And attacks are no longer destructive. Cracks camouflaging malicious code are part of a strategy of social engineering designed to get users to download and execute files on their machines, effectively handing over their computers.

There are two different vectors of attack. First off, cracks represent a security risk due to the fact that the architecture of the operating system is malformed, cutting Windows Vista from the Microsoft updates. In a manner similar to its predecessors, Windows Vista is not foolproof and will require security updates. An unpatched operating system, even Windows Vista, is vulnerable to exploits.

In this regard, recently hackers have made available a crack cocktail (goes well with the Windows Vista crack fiesta), a combination of the Key Management Server and Frankenbuild workarounds. The main advice that comes with the crack is not to install any Microsoft security updates. Vista copies activated with this workaround will perpetually be vulnerable.

Another avenue of attacks is represented by the cracks themselves. Toward the end of January, security company DriveSentry warned that no less than half of the free downloads for Windows Vista were crawling with malware. Free did you say? Where?

Free Windows Vista is not only worthless to users but comes with a price tag that is larger than the actual value of the genuine operating system. Losing confidential information, having your data hijacked and consuming bandwidth to fuel DoS attacks

http://neasteflorin.stumbleupon.com/review/8075421/

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 10:17:40 -0800

http://neasteflorin.stumbleupon.com/review/7717445/

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 04:14:30 -0800

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4suTsIIBWo
In case you missed it, here is Bill Gates on the daily show. He talks about Windows Vista, jetpacks, IPTV, robots, and other topics. He's no Steve Jobs, but I know you want to see this.

http://neasteflorin.stumbleupon.com/review/6235666/

Sun, 29 Oct 2006 04:58:03 -0800

http://neasteflorin.stumbleupon.com/review/6100696/

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 06:12:46 -0700

Post YouTube, is Metacafe the Next Big Thing?

Now that Google has puchased YouTube, what's an online video pundit to do? Talk to the next most popular site on the Web, I guess. Have you heard of Metacafe?

http://neasteflorin.stumbleupon.com/review/6100691/

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 06:12:27 -0700

IPods Carry Worm to Windows Computers - Washington Post

AXcess News IPods Carry Worm to Windows Computers
Washington Post - Oct 18, 2006
By Brian Krebs. For more than a month, some iPod music players have spread a computer worm to Windows computers and external drives connected to those computers, leaving them vulnerable to attacks from hackers.
Windows virus that landed on some new video iPods now fixed USA Today
Apple admits selling iPods infected with computer virus Independent
CIO Today - The Japan Times - CNET News.com - Inquirer

http://neasteflorin.stumbleupon.com/review/5575942/

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 22:55:30 -0700

Funny computer quotes - Absolutely hilarious
"If brute force doesn't solve your problems, then you aren't using enough."

"Life would be so much easier if we only had the source code."

"Unix is user-friendly. It's just very selective about who its friends are."

"COBOL programmers understand why women hate periods."

"Programming is like sex, one mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life." -- Michael Sinz

"There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't."

"640K ought to be enough for anybody." - This is not humorous by itself; but in the context it's a classic by Bill Gates in 1981

"Microsoft: "You've got questions. We've got dancing paperclips."

"Microsoft is not the answer. Microsoft is the question. NO is the answer." - Erik Naggum

"Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus. Computers are from hell."

"Windows95: It's like upgrading from Reagan to Bush.

"People say Microsoft paid 14M$ for using the Rolling Stones song 'Start me up' in their commercials. This is wrong. Microsoft payed 14M$ only for a part of the song. For instance, they didn't use the line 'You'll make a grown man cry'."

"I'm not anti-social; I'm just not user friendly"

"A printer consists of three main parts: the case, the jammed paper tray and the blinking red light"

"The best accelerator available for a Mac is one that causes it to go at 9.81 m/s2."

"A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history - with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila"

"1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d"

"To go forward, you must backup."

"I would love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code"

"A Windows user spends 1/3 of his life sleeping, 1/3 working, 1/3
waiting."

"My software never has bugs. It just develops random features."

"Better to be a geek than an idiot."

"Windows isn't a virus, viruses do something."

"Geek's favorite pickup line: Hey, does this rag smell like chloroform? "
"Be nice to geeks when you're in school, you might end-up working for one when you grow-up."
"Difference between a virus and windows ? Viruses rarely fail."

"Evolution is God's way of issuing upgrades."

"The only problem with troubleshooting is that sometimes trouble shoots back."

"It's a little-known fact that the Y1K problem caused the Dark Ages."

"The box said 'Required Windows 95 or better'. So, I installed LINUX."

"Computer are like air conditioners: they stop working when you open windows."
"once upon a midnight dreary, while i pron surfed, weak and weary,
over many a strange and spurious site of 'hot xxx galore'.
While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour,
" 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, "give me back my free hardcore!"
quoth the server, 404."

"Mac users swear by their Mac,
PC users swear at their PC."

"Like car accidents, most hardware problems are due to driver error."

"Dating a girl is just like writing software. Everything's going to work just fine in the testing lab (dating), but as soon as you have contract with a customer (marriage), then your program (life) is going to be facing new situations you never expected. You'll be forced to patch the code (admit you're wrong) and then the code (wife) will just end up all bloated and unmaintainable in the end."

"Real men don't use backups, they post their stuff on a public ftp server and let the rest of the world make copies." - Linus Torvalds

"There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those that understand trinary, those that don't, and those that confuse it with binary."

"If you give someone a program, you will frustrate them for a day; if you teach them how to program, you will frustrate them for a lifetime."

"It is easier to change the specification to fit the program than vice versa."

"I had a fortune cookie the other day and it said: 'Outlook not so good'. I said: 'Sure, but Microsoft ships it anyway'."

"The nice thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from."

"The term reboot comes from the middle age (before computers). Horses who stopped in mid-stride required a boot to the rear to start again. Thus the term to rear-boot, later abbreviated into reboot."

"Programmers are tools for converting caffeine into code."

"The great thing about Object Oriented code is that it can make small, simple problems look like large, complex ones."

"Hacking is like sex. You get in, you get out, and hope that you didn't leave something that can be traced back to you."