Technology Gadgets Food Toys Fun and Games

Link: http://rwmj.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/why-the-windows-registry-sucks-technically/

I couldn't agree more - this is a rant by a programmer who is thoroughly sick of it. It's time to get a new system going Microsoft...

Link: http://www.android-x86.org/

If you've been wanting to try out Google's Android OS - now you can just grab the ISO. I imagine that network card support is next to none so be advised, if anything newest chipsets only will be supported.

Link: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-Manual-Will-Be-Available-with-Ubuntu-10-04-131201.shtml

Gods what a concept .... Though it leaves me wondering, is it really needed? I guess if Ubuntu wants to continue to push into the Noob territory.

One good thing for sure.... In the Ubuntu Forums and elsewhere we can now tell users to RTFM

That RTFM link there is also for noobs. You're welcome.

This has been a public service announcement. Contents are sold by weight and not by volume, some settling may have occurred during shipment.

Link: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/6804/week-in-geek-the-create-shortcuts-to-nearly-anything-edition/

A goodly list of desktop shortcuts that do cool things that you never knew you could shortcut - like
turn the desktop icons on or off.... or turn off the monitor.

Pretty much all of these shortcuts work in Windows 7 or Vista, but some of them also work in XP.

Link: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/cheap_and_nasty_how_build_open_source_server

NAS - for those of you who don't know what that stands for it's Network Attached Storage - and a Free version based on Linux has advantages ... like for one it's free, and secondly the hardware you need to run it on is a lot lighter.

Build yourself a big 'ol network drive for free with that old desktop or laptop and get you some experience with Linux in the process.

We’ll show you what hardware you’ll need for a FreeNAS server, how to install and configure your server, and then help you choose between FreeNAS and WHS.

Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10401524-265.html

What do we know about Googles new OS? - Well, you'll only be able to get it on new netbooks- its a cloud based os that only supports SSD Storage, it's Linux based, comes with a bunch of gooogle apps and is intended to be a very thin client for net applications.

More on the OS from Google themselves HERE

Link: http://windows7news.com/2009/10/22/how-to-clean-install-from-windows-7-upgrade-media/

This has been the case before but in the past you had to have an older version CD to verify you qualified for the upgrade. So - you could save money - buy the upgrade - and use it to do a clean install.

Of course Microsoft was keen to chime in and scold users cause this is an "illegal" use of the software. (cough)

I don't know if this loophole will stay open, so if you want to take advantage of it - might as well grab your copy soon.

Link: http://www.ghacks.net/2009/10/27/completely-remove-windows-live-messenger-from-the-computer-system/#more-17790

Lots of us don't use or like Windows Messenger or Live - in fact we don't like it either, cus there it is just bloating up and crapping up your Windows install for no reason.

So - use one of these three apps to rip the bad boy out and end up with no registry residue.

Link: http://lunduke.com/?p=815

A nice preview of what appears to be the top distro of Linux....

Ubuntu 9.10 is as close to perfection as any version of Linux I have ever seen.

A little background: Back in May I wrote an article titled “The Perfect Linux Distro” where I laid out what I would view as, well, the perfect Linux distro.

And, while Ubuntu 9.10 certainly doesn’t implement everything I’d dreamed of in that article, they hit some of the key points. Let’s take a few minutes and go over the good and bad.

Link: http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m107/timjbart/thanksmicrosoft.jpg

I always get a kick outa good Microsoft errors - this is no exception

Link: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=1375

Surprisingly it just might be, read up for info-

After careful consideration, I finally decided to go ahead with the upgrade, taking careful notes and snapping lots of screen shots along the way. The XP-to-7 odyssey was an interesting one, with surprising results and several lessons I can share with anyone contemplating a similar adventure.

Some other nuggets in the article as well - not too shabby.

Link: http://www.ghacks.net/2009/09/24/how-to-create-a-bootable-usb-ubuntu-drive/

I was looking for this one because I got a 4 gig micro SD card for an older MP3 player and the darn player will only recognize 2 gigs max.

And this super tiny micro SD card came with an absolutely tiny USB adapter.

So..... (if I don't immediately lose it) I built a Portable OS about the size of a dime - and there's plenty of room to spare....

Link: http://www.linuxinsight.com/how-to-flash-motherboard-bios-from-linux-no-dos-windows-no-floppy-drive.html

This incredibly handy site sent in from Osh....

I had to upgrade the BIOS in one of the wife's laptops. Of course, it's an Ubuntu box, and the BIOS upgrade from Dell is Windows or floppy only. Riiiiight, there's floppy on this laptop... LOL Anyway, I didn't trust wine to do it, but found this site instead. Worked like a charm!!

Link: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/08/first-look-windows7

It's getting pretty rave reviews from the many many beta testers.. I sure hope it is because no one wants another Vista. I don't care what OS you favor - at some time you're gonna be working on a Windows rig.

Good news, everyone! If you’ve been stuck in a time loop using Windows XP, which is nearing eight years old, or Windows Vista, which is just annoying, you can finally break free: Windows 7 is almost here. Microsoft delivers a slickly designed, vastly improved OS that will warp you to the world of today. This upgrade is big, and it’s hugely recommended for Microsoft users.

Wired takes you on a tour through the bigger "cool" features.

And get a load of the trippy wallpapers.

Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10299051-83.html

How long did that take? - For the moment you can activate Windows 7 without any license at all. Probably won't last forever.

Microsoft only just released final code for Windows 7 to manufacturers and the company is already facing a security risk.

The Windows Genuine Advantage antipiracy system in the Windows 7 Ultimate release to manufacturers (RTM) has reportedly been compromised by some Chinese hackers, according to a variety of Chinese forums, and first reported by Neowin.com.This means the user can fully activate the software offline without connecting to Microsoft's activation server.

Link: http://SuperGamer.org

(found this via Mookie)

"The world's first dual-layer live DVD. SuperGamer is a games-oriented Linux desktop operating system. It has all the normal Linux desktop applications, such as the Firefox browser, OpenOffice.org, etc., but also has a great many native-to-Linux games added, as well as some demos of proprietary games. This SuperGamer version will work on both 32-bit and 64-bit PCs and fills a full dual-layer DVD. It includes support for Ethernet, wireless and dial-up Internet connections. It can run in 'live' mode directly from the DVD and can be optionally installed to hard drive. A few key includes are 2.6.27.24 kernel, Azureus, GParted, Limewire, GIMP, K9copy, KOffice, OpenOffice.org 3, Hardinfo

Sounds pretty awesome - it might inspire me to buy some DL dvd's - though if you don't have a DL burner don't sweat it.... you can also order it.

Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10290818-56.html

3 Drivers and several thousand lines of code to be sent from Redmond to Tuxville with love.

Wow, next thing you know cats will be laying down with gods and stuff.

Link: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/17/linux_kernel_exploit/

It's not an end of the world thing - but interesting for sure, A flaw in the basic design that is probably not going to be addressed soon (if ever) is allowing some very Windows like funny business.

Linux developers "tried to protect against it and what this exploit shows is that even with all the protections turned to super max, it's still possible for an attacker to figure out ways around this system," said Bas Alberts, senior security researcher at Immunity. "The interesting angle here is the actual thing that made it exploitable, the whole class of vulnerabilities, which is a very serious thing."

Link: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/

Yeah, not the most original of names - but seeing it's mostly browser based I figure it works.

Aimed at Netbooks, based on Linux and Cloud computing - If they pull off everything they plan to this will be a portable OS to reckon with.

And - of course will get you by the Microsoft tax.

Wired has a writeup of the new OS too - HERE.

we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

Link: http://www.betanews.com/article/Vistas-dead-Microsoft-kills-an-OS-and-no-one-cares/1246553472

The Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program is a promotion under which customers who buy a PC equipped with Vista Premium, Business, or Ultimate between now and October will be eligible for a free upgrade when Windows 7 ships.

You've only got until October though... Still, it ain't too bad a deal - specially since Vista is such a dog, and MS is planning on quietly forgetting they ever released Vista.

Link: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1271200/linux-support-usb

Beating all other Os'es to the punch - way to go Linux!

Link: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/28/windows_kernel_safe_unlinking/

It's way overdue -

The safeguard is called safe unlinking, and it's been dropped into a part of the Windows 7 kernel that allocates and deallocates chunks of memory. Safe unlinking performs a series of checks before entries are removed to make sure attackers aren't trying to exploit the operating system using what's known as a pool overrun.

That's one step in the right direction. I don't know overall if it will make a huge difference in exploits, but it will keep a certain class of script kiddie out of the loop.

Link: http://www.rootsecure.net/?p=link&l=23724

Well, not really - yes, Microsoft just opened up the download for RC1 - and yes you can run it for a year.... but there are limitations...

Windows will notify you that the expiration process is beginning and two weeks later your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. The RC will expire June 1, 2010, and the bi-hourly shutdowns will begin on March 1, 2010. You’ll need to rebuild your test PC to replace the OS and reinstall all your programs and data.

So it's not really a year at all. Typical MS FUD.

Link: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/975/1051975/xp-mode-windows-scam

Don't expect to be playing Neverwinter Nights on XP mode - or much else - this excellent article by the Register confirms Virtualization mode XP is like running todays stuff on Win 95.

Link: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/28/microsoft_windows_retires_autorun/

Um, it was a bad idea from day one - and finally MS gets around to admitting it.

Beginning with Release Candidate 1 of Windows 7, the operating system will no longer display AutoRun when most removable media is connected. Up to now, the feature has automatically opened a window each time a drive is connected that presents a list of tasks the user can instruct Windows to carry out. Malware purveyors have long manipulated the feature to display options that say things like "open folder to view files" but install malware when clicked instead.

super - now I know you can disable it - but hey, why not add a button for noobs that says something like " don't offer this again" pertaining to all drives.... ?

Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10229686-56.html

Microsoft has wrapped up work on the second service pack update to Windows Vista, the company announced late Tuesday.

The update provides, among other things support for Bluetooth 2.1, an updated Windows search technology and the ability to natively record data to Blu-ray discs.

What stuff will break on this one? Who knows - on Service Packs I usually wait until they have the initial bugs worked out before installing.

Link: http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/pc/windows-7-hack-cannot-be-fixed--594245

Ah, well - it wouldn't be Windows without a massive pwnage flaw would it?

Researchers at a recent hackers' conference have shown how it's possible to take control of a Windows 7 machine during its boot sequence.

Demonstrating the code at the recent Hack In The Box event in Dubai, security researchers Vipin Kumar and Nitin Kumar used a piece of code called VBootkit 2.0 to take full control of a Windows 7 machine during the booting up process.

Gives the floor over to the Linux heads - Mac folks not invited as most of you don't even use the right click button

Tho I'll accept BeOs comments.

Link: http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=2598

Want your Win XP stuff to work with Windows 7? No problem - we'll just include an emulator that is basically Win XP running on top of Windows 7.

mmmhmmm, yeah emulators were always known for their speed and stability. I remember getting Win 95 to work (mostly) on an Atari - booting up tho did take a while... ( overnight )

On Friday, bloggers Paul Thurrott and Rafael Rivera posted about a new technology Microsoft is readying for Windows 7 users that is designed to allow them to run legacy Windows XP apps via PC virtualization technology. (This is the rumored “secret feature” Microsoft was working on for Windows 7 that some have called “Virtualized XP.”)

Link: http://blogs.zdnet.com/gadgetreviews/?p=3163

Ever want to run an entire Linux install as a Windows application? With free application Portable Ubuntu you can — and you can have it tag along with you on a flash drive.

Portable Ubuntu lets you seamlessly run Linux apps on your Windows desktop as a stand-alone package that runs a popular version of the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution. The package can edit Windows folders and files and it’s persistent

This is pretty cool - great to take with you for system fixes, good for privacy, awesome for file edits, and it's uber geeky.

Oh and The default root password is 123456.

Link: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/537/1051537/microsoft-updates-wga

MS has updated the WGA for XP to disable more of the XP Pro hacks and cracks some folks are using.... So if your bogus copy of XP Pro just died you know why.

Course one does wonder why now? Isn't Win 7 sposed to come out soon ? Wait, I just might have answered my own question.

Link: http://www.hardocp.com/news.html?news=MzgzNTAsLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdCwsLDE=

Rollout starts March 20 - be aware, if you have a website or work with 'em you should have tested against IE8 a long time ago - if not then I'd suggest learning about the meta tag that tells IE8 to render in compatibility mode.

I don't think IE8 will become mandatory for a while - kinda like the deal with IE7... tho I have no timetable.

Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10190909-56.html

This only took what ? 14 years..... I'm sure that stuff like Windows Update will still require IE to function. Oh and WGA ... and oh well, the idea was nice.

Link: http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/windows-7-to-loosen-quicktime-grip-552193

Putting another nail in the coffin of Quicktime. Can't come soon enough for me. Apple has gotten quite like Microsoft with Quicktime these last few years. Forcing Itunes and Safari on you - buggy with security issues every month - nag ads....

I used to really like Quicktime before all that.

Link: http://i.gizmodo.com/5129919/our-first-windows-7-bsod?skyline=true&s=x

Is pretty much the same - though it tells you the offending DLL it provides no more useful info. Come on - isn't it time that BSOD's actually reported something useful?

Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10140093-75.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

After the download servers totally crashed on Microsoft's end ( You'd think they'd have been better prepared eh? ) They have resumed downloads and for 2 weeks there will be no limitation to how many people can download. Every Download gets a Cd key. The trial period still expires in August .. so that hasn't changed.

Oh, and I found this little primer on burning a DVD of Win 7.