Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Something to keep you going

I'm going to be out of town over the next few days, so here is a miscellany of items culled from various IT blogs to keep you going. See you next Tuesday.
Sneak peeks at 8 emerging technologies: From transparent aluminum to billion-year memory chips to household pest-eating robo-furniture, these are some of latest technology trends that promise to affect our lives.
Windows 7 is being released fully this week. But the big elephant in the room is: Will operating systems even matter in the future? Larry Dignan at ZD News ponders the alternatives.
Mitigate the 7 Deadly Sins associated with Windows 7. Lust, gluttony, greed, anger, envy, pride, and sloth - with Microsoft's new OS, you'll find every deadly sin. Here's how to minimize the toll each sin takes.
In Word 2007, you have probably noticed that the default formating for a new document is Calibri, line spacing is expanded, and space is added automatically after a paragraph. The How-to Geek shows you how to change the default document format into a style of your own.
Modern gadget flops - they promised so much yet delivered so little.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

More on security

Mozilla has now unblocked a Microsoft add-on thought to pose a danger due to a software vulnerability, but a second add-on remains blocked, the organization said on Sunday. (See post yesterday, and today's item at PC World.)
Tens of millions of U.S. computers are loaded with scam security software that their owners may have paid for but which only makes the machines more vulnerable, according to a new Symantec report on cybercrime and reported in The Washington Post. Cyberthieves are increasingly planting fake security alerts that pop up when computer users access a legitimate website. The "alert" warns them of a virus and offers security software, sometimes for free and sometimes for a fee.
Meanwhile, if you are confused about what security you need for your computer, Gizmo has come up with an online Wizard designed to help you select the best free security software for your PC, based on the version of Windows that you use, your technical computer skills and your general level of security risk.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Firefox blocks unwanted Microsoft intrusion

This week is definitely a case of 'you win some, you lose some' for Microsoft. On the win side, Windows 7 (see following post). On the lose side, a real nasty. If you use Firefox browser, in the last couple of days you have probably noticed a pop-up window saying that Firefox is blocking some software installed by Microsoft. The thing is, Microsoft installed the code secretly back in February, and it is making not only Firefox but its own browser, Internet Explorer, vulnerable to attacks. The blogosphere is livid, and this PC World article explains why.

What will Windows 7 deliver?

This week ushers in the new golden age for Microsoft, or no doubt that's what the company would like to have us believe. Behind us will be all the bad news that accompanied the Vista operating system, and we can now sail into the sunset with Windows 7, which is perfect in every way. But if you are wondering what Windows 7 is all about, and will it really make a difference, one of the best articles explaining the difference between it and Vista is this one by Rob Pegorora of The Washington Post.