If you are like me, an expatriate who does not want the hassle of installing a broadband Internet in a rented room, this video will thrill you. However, bear in mind that it is illegal in some countries such as Singapore to use third party Wi-Fi connection without consent. You have been warned.
The video by Infinite Solutions shows you a method of boosting Wi-Fi signal by two bars. If you have a 3G phone, you just need to wind an LAN cable (Ethernet cable or CAT5 cable) around the phone. The mobile phone has a better ability to grab a weak signal than most Wi-Fi antenna in an electromagnetic noisy environment such as your room or house full of electrical appliances.
F-Secure Security Labs has a video in YouTube showing the outbreak of a Trojan with the name Small.DAM (Storm-Worm). It is a Trojan that arrives on the system as attachment file to spam emails.
The WorldMap Live shown in the video is a map view of the report sent by the F-Secure security products on detection of the Trojan. F-Secure security products such as Internet Security 2007 sends back the IP address of the infected computer. The WorldMap Live software then calculates the geographical location of the computer and fills up the world map.
In the video, you will notice most PC users schedule to scan for infections at midnight when you see the most detections.
The WorldMap Live is available for internal use only. The public viewable version is much less impressive. Want to protect your PC? Read my previous article on the trends of security threats in year 2007.
An operating system (OS) is a computer program that manages the hardware and software resources of a computer. The definition has evolved over the years to become a platform for all kinds of computing activities. This is what Second Life, the virtual community claims to be in the future.
We all know that the claim of “New Kind of OS” is not going to be in the same form as the OS we use today. It is more about managing Internet users’ activities than controlling hardware resources. It is a platform for human interaction rather than for software collaboration. In other words, it is one level higher than what we currently see as operating system.
Second Life has been around for three and a half years. It has more than 3 million users who create avatars of themselves and move about the virtual world, chatting with others, buying land, building homes and businesses. Recently, Sweden announced to set up virtual embassy in Second Life to spread information about the Scandinavian country and attract more young visitors.
Are these enough to justify businesses to have a presence in Second Life?
Sophos, a security vendor has released a 18-page report on potential security threat coming this year. Last year was a year of rapid changing nature of threat. Sophos summarizes the trends as follow:
- Malware authors are continuing to turn their backs on large-scale attacks.
- Explosive growth of web-based downloaders to spy on users.
- Trojans outnumbering Windows viruses and worms 4:1.
- New mass-mailing worm, Stratio had over 1000 unique variants in November.
- Email containing infected attachments down to 1 in 337.
- Most spams are continuing to be relayed by poorly protected US computers.
The outlook of security threat in 2007 is largely dim with 66% of businesses thinking of a worse year. Even with the launch of Windows Vista end of the month, users are advised not to rely solely on Vista’s security improvements. Why? Windows is the targeted platform for attack and will continue to be the case in the near future.
I am sure you are familiar with terms like “wireless”, “hotspot” and “Wi-Fi”. If you know a bit technical details, you might know “802.11a”, “802.11b/g” and “channels”. Yes, you are right! 802.11n is just another amendment to the 802.11 standard for wireless local area networks (LANs) for better throughput and range.
Intel has begun shipping 802.11n compatible wireless networking module, a key component of next generation Centrino due in April with a code name Santa Rosa. Wireless Wi-Fi Link 4965AGN will consume less power according to Channel Register UK, yielding an extra hour of battery life to notebook users. The module has a data throughput of 270Mbps, half of the maximum data rate.
Surprisingly, the module is based on the draft specifications of 802.11n. The latest draft approved on 19 January this year is version 1.10. The official time line for 802.11n shows final IEEE publish date of October 2008. The final working group approval is scheduled on July 2008.
The Intelligent Enterprise Readers’ Choice Awards is an industry benchmark on how technology products are perceived and valued by users. It serves as good hints on which product to recommend to your customers.
There are 37 categories ranging from Business Intelligence Suite, ERP Software to DBMS. You won’t be surprised the most category winners are IBM and Microsoft on a tie with nine titles. The complete list is published on Intelligent Enterprise web site.
Few relatively unknown companies manage to get a title. If we concentrate only on the winners, they are WebTrends, SAS, NCR Teradata, Fair Isaac and BMC.
- WebTrends - Best Web Analytics Winner
- SAS - Best Data Mining or Statistical Analysis Winner
- NCR Teradata - Best Data Warehouse/BI Appliance Winner
- Fair Isaac - Best Business Rules Engine Winner
- BMC - Best Application Change Management Software Winner
Let’s look at each of them and get a brief idea of what they are offering.
If you are still clueless about the question, you need not worry after the introduction of Windows Anytime Upgrade. With the customer upgrade system for Vista in place, switching between Vista editions is just a change of activation key plus maybe a small download.
As of today, there will be five versions of Vista - Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate. If you look at the differences between the editions, it is obvious that most of the features in the higher editions aren’t needed in everyday computing. Microsoft is noble to let us start off with a basic version and then gradually upgrade as needed.
How does it work? One way it will work is the DVD or the PC that you buy comes with a complete set of Vista OS files. Features from higher editions will be automatically disabled by the OS upon checking the activation key. This approach exposes Vista to cracker’s attacks.
The other way, most probably Microsoft preferred way, is the upgrade software only get authorized by Microsoft server to download additional OS files unique to the edition you purchase.
Oracle Critical Patch Update or CPU is a collection of patches for multiple security vulnerabilities across all Oracle product lines. The details of the CPU have been announced prior to the actual release of the patches for the first time ever starting this year. The CPU is scheduled to release every quarterly, on January, April, July and October each year.
Oracle makes two efforts to ease the patching process - Pre-Release Announcement and CVSS Risk Matrix. The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a vendor agnostic, industry open standard designed to convey vulnerability severity and help determine urgency and priority of response.
The ability to score information system vulnerabilities is extremely important to the professional computing world. CVSS provides the foundation for a standard process for stakeholders to prioritize their actions and respond to the threat vulnerabilities present. Vulnerabilities with a CVSS base score of 0.0 represent problems that are not exploitable in a default database environment. The higher the base score the greater the severity of the vulnerability.
The brand new online TV brought by Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, the father of Skype and Kazaa respectively has a final name. Yesterday it was The Venice Project today it is Joost. I first came about knowing Joost back in December last year when it was still a private project. Apart from the final name, the official website now has a FAQ, a mailing list and a beta program.
Joost is a new way of watching TV on the internet, which uses new and established technologies to provide the best of both the internet and TV worlds. We’re in the process of making it as TV-like as we can, with programs, channels and adverts.
Apparently, the user needs to download an application that serves as the usual TV box. In other words, it is not web-based service like YouTube. Mac and Linux users have to wait a little longer to try out the product. Windows users can sign up for a beta test now. If you are not lucky enough to evaluate the beta, other beta testers might give you a hand by inviting you just like Gmail before.
Continue reading ‘Joost: The Venice Project Reaches Maturity’
During Bill Gate’s keynote at CES 2007, there was a show of hottest new PCs built for Windows Vista. These PCs are not just ready for Vista they are built for Vista. As part of the “Wow” campaign, Microsoft has unveiled details of these PCs on the updated Windows Vista website.
Among them are HP TouchSmart PC, Toshiba Portege R400 and OQO model 02, representing desktop, laptop and ultra mobile PC market segment. Let’s look at each of them in iTechNote way.
HP TouchSmart PC is built to serve as a family’s social hub. With large 19-inch touch screen and space saving design, nobody in your family should complain it is difficult to use. HP chooses Windows Vista Home Premium to power the device. A family’s social hub essentially acts like a BBS in the old days but now in a family.