Beginning Thursday Dec. 4th, we will be making the WindowsVista and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 Beta available to everyone through a Customer Preview Program (CPP). The CPP will launch on TechNet and be available to anyone interested in trying out this service pack. The CPP is intended for technology enthusiasts, developers, and IT Pros who would like to test Service Pack 2 in their environments and with their applications prior to final release. For most customers, our best advice would be to wait until the final release prior to installing this service pack.
Yes you heard right, you can get into the Beta of Vista SP2 and not have to wait till April. Some things to remember:
It is a Beta
It will Have Bugs
It is for people who want to test it out
It should only be installed for people who need to test it out
Some of the changes that they are going to incorporate into Sp2 are support for new types of hardware and emerging standards that will grow in importance in the coming months. The complete list of changes can be found here. I will be testing this out sometime this weekend to give it a full thorough check out. I will give a report later on this month possibly first part on January I would like to give it a complete test. To test it out yourself, check out this link for directions on how to download it.
On F-secure blog they talk about this rogue antispyware.
OK, so let’s say the user (by some stroke of luckless chance, or courtesy of a trojan downloader) ends up with the demo installer of Rogue:W32/VirusRemover2008.C on their hands and it runs
[via F-Secure]
According to them, they have many different version of this rogue antispyware. They have de, dk, es, fr, it, no, nl, and no, which are all attempting for you to buy this no so Virusremover2008 software. They talk about how it tells you have a 9 infected viruses and that you need to remove them, but in truth, they use a text file to create this lie. Check out all the details for further information.
Technorati released today they are going to Lay off 6 people and I will quote:
Unfortunately, this means sacrifices. Technorati’s management team members are taking pay cuts ranging from 15-25% and employees are taking 10% cut. This also includes the reallocation of staff. We’re laying off six employees today – including two executives — and there are two additional departures we won’t replace. These are high performers who have worked long hours to get us where we are now. They’re also friends, and we’re very sad to see them go. We simply need a leaner and reconfigured mix to get us through 2009.
They will also be taking pay cuts all through the company. So the recession is hitting them also. I am sure CEO Richard Jalichandra has the company interest in mind. According to Techchunch, they have added these recent layoffs ticker. You can also search my blog for other layoffs that have happened or will happen.
According to reports from ABC News, Citibank is having a hard time and might need to be assisted by the government.
The company has seen its shares lose 60 percent of their value in the past week, reflecting a crisis of confidence among skittish investors. They are worried all the risky debt on Citigroup’s balance sheet will turn into losses as the economy worsens and the markets stay turbulent — losses that could be nearly impossible to reverse.
Although this is somewhat expected, I don’t think we can afford to pay the debt of a bank. We are all having to deal with this recession. I don’t know how they can afford to pay for Citigroup and expect this to help bolster the economy. I guess only time will tell!!!
I read a report from Cnet about USB devices spreading Virus and I will quote:
The bad guys are intentionally developing new flavors of malware designed to propagate through USB devices,” said Gunter Ollmann, chief security strategist for IBM’s ISS security division. “They are today’s floppy drives.”
An infected computer can spread a virus to a clean USB thumb drive that is inserted. That USB drive will then be spreading the virus onto other computers if the operating system on those machines has an AutoRun-type feature enabled. The AutoRun function in Windows launches installers and other programs automatically when a flash drive or CD is inserted. The Mac has an equivalent function, according to Ollmann.
In order to disable “autorun“, which in Vista is called Autoplay. In order to disable Autoplay from starting when you insert media into your computer here is how you do it:
You will need to be Logged in as Administrator before this can be done:
Next click start and type “Autoplay” without quotes. It will bring up a screen but all you have to worry about is this:
You will need to make sure there is no check mark for “Use AutoPlay for all media and Devices”. Click save and close.
Once that is done, you will have no more Autoruns from USB devices. If you want to disable Autorun in XP, I’d suggest reading some of these articles for XP.
These are just a few and are really nice to articles but there are others out there that might be more to your liking. I suggest searching Google for them. I hope this helps you out!!!
I recently bought a Cricket Broadband USB for 40$ a month. I tried to get the system to activate it automatically but that kept on failing. Finally called the tech support and found out this little tip. So here is how you manually activate it:
Once your are to the Quicklink Mobile Menu you will want to hit Control-D:
It will bring up this:
The Password to get into manually activate your Broadband USB card is six zeros no more no less!!
Once your enter the password your will get this screen:
Activation Code : Same from above Six Zero’s
Phone Number : The Phone number that is your broadband card
The IMSI (Min) Code : You will find that in the Indirect Dealer Copy. It will be the one telling you another number. In mine it said this:
“In order to program your phone, you will also need the following number (###)###-#### (MIN)”
Enter that number in there without any special characters it would be ########## and then press enter. Close out the Quicklink Mobile menu and reload it. Then click Connect and you should be ready to go!!!
According to there website It can do this: * Progressive scan Blu-ray Disc player 1080p capability for higher definition video content
* Full HD 1080p, DVD up-conversion up to 1080p (480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p), 24p, 60p video frame rate
* Multi-channel audio content (supports more advanced Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD)
* BD-ROM, DVD-ROM, DVD, DVD-R/-RW, DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R DL, DVD+R DL, CD-ROM, CD, CD-R/-RW
* 16:9 / 4:3 picture select
* On-screen graphical user interface
* Slow motion function (2x – 4x – 8x)
* RW/FF play function (2x – 4x – 8x – 16x)
* VFD display
The price of the unit at Memorex is 269.99$. I think this is a great buy if all you need is a blue ray player. Cheaper than buying a PS3. Although if you want to buy a PlayStation 3 to play games and also watch movies on it that is still a good deal. So why buy this player, this will not play games and keep your happy.
After 5th season there will be no more weekly shows of Atlantis. According to Gateworld:
Atlantis remains an extremely strong performer in DVR-delayed viewing, though, often building as much as 25 to 30 percent on its premiere night audience.
I kept saying Atlantis should of been on Hulu, just like every other show they would have a more solid audience and more viewers to count. The only reason Eureka and others got more ratings was because they could watch the latest shows on Scifi or Even Hulu. Unlike Stargate Atlantis on Hulu, they only have small clips. In order to build a fanbase, you need to build around the most current way to show the show off. Granted it still did rather well with ratings and all but it could of done better by putting it on HULU. There are sites out there that would like to Save Atlantis and I agree with them. I would love to see more seasons of Atlantis, and see it on HULU.
We found your resume at _________________ and we would like to propose you a
position of Personal Shopping Assistant.
Imagine having an exciting job with incredible salary (up to $100,000/year) that
lets you use your creativity while being paid to shop. Welcome to the world of
personal shopping!
As we know shopping is the world’s favorite leisure activity, but in our busy
society an increasing number of people need to hire someone to do their
shopping. Thus personal shoppers are more in demand than ever before.
There are absolutely NO START-UP FEES and NO FEES for being employed at this
position. As long as you live in the USA, and you have a credit card or any
other line of credit, have 1 or 2 free hours during the day – you are eligible
for this job!
This is what you will have to do in short:
• Purchase the requested goods using your credit card.
• Send us receipts.
• Wait for us to issue a credit to your credit card in the amount of purchase
plus shipping fee plus your commission which comprises 10%.
• Ship out the goods.
• You are finished, come back for a new list of goods.
If you are interested in Personal Shopping Assistant position please fill in the
form below and send it to: Open2usa.job.dep@gmail.com
Our manager will contact you within two working days.
————————————————FORM————————————-
Full name ______________________
Residence country _____________________
Age _____________________
Contact phone ______________________
Availability time _______________________
————————————————FORM————————————-
This letter confirms your resume has been duly processed and your skills
completely meet our requirements for Personal Shopping Assistant Vacancy.
Thank You,
John Walker
I wanted to bring this up because of two things that I saw first off that made this look like a scam. One is they want to “CREDIT” your credit card and two they use a GMAIL account. I am going to say this is looking more and more like a scam. If anyone else has any other ideas about this just leave your comment. I don’t see how this can be real. I am thinking once they have your credit card information, they’ll start using it.
From what I’ve seen so far. There seems to be a new rash of email going around with the heading that makes it look and feel like either UPS or Fedex. Saying that you have an undelivered package from them and to either print the order confirmation or to click a link. I will say this once, if you get this delete it. Fedex and UPS will never hide the link and tell you have an package waiting in the email. They will leave a note your door. You must ask yourself how Fedex/UPS found out your email address to tell you have a package waiting? They don’t and they won’t, just a fact.
I’ve been doing some research on what might be good to use in case, I was away from my home network. I was thinking how safe am I at Starbucks or other places that I might doing my web. So I did a little looking around to see which one I liked and I came to the conclusions that only one I need right now is:
The nice thing about this was the simple installation of the software and how easy it was to set it up. This service is in beta but seems to be really well done with regards to the end users. When you install this software and want to connect it uses the OpenVPN software with there configurations. OpenVPN, is a open sourced SSL VPN solution and is free to use. The way this this free is of Ad Supported banners. Now it is cheaper than paying monthly for a VPN service. The ones I’ve found so far are these few:
There is of course others out that but these are just a few that I saw that looks like the cheapest there is. Others I’ve seen cost 40 to 50 dollars a month. If you have any other ones that are free or cheap let me know. I don’t think we need to pay a lot just to have security on an open network. I’m certain that they’re more out there but will keep looking for more later on. I did my initial research and will come back and find more.
*Update Feb 8, 2009*
As of recent a friend emailed me saying telling me to check the site out again and I did. Not sure when they went out of Beta because I’ve not been using Always VPN lately due to my Broadband Cricket Prepay Internet. I just checked and yes they are charging here’s the break down:
5GB – USD 8.50
10GB – USD 15.00
20GB – USD 26.00
40GB – USD 33.00
80GB – USD 47.00
So I must ask why they didn’t just keep the 5 GB limit with the Advertising, I do not know but I did want to let people know that it is no longer free and no longer in Beta. I went from Always to OpenVPN which still works despite the fact they are using Always VPN back client. It’s open source so it will probably change to something else sooner or later. If you see it changes let me know, I will update more when I find out more!!
WindowsVista® Home Premium (32- and 64-bit)(default)
Windows Vista® Ultimate (32- and 64-bit)
Intel® Core™2 Duo Or Quad and Extreme Processors (12MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Intel® PM45 + ICH9M-E Chipset up to 4 GB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 (Also Comes with CrossfireX Enabled)
Dual Harddrive In Raid 0 Config or you can have a single hard drive
5400 RPM – Up to 1TB (2 x 500GB)
7200 RPM – Up to 640GB (2 x 320GB)
So I saw this and had to tell people this is a sweet laptop for people who like to go and play games in a large group. You would be able to play for hours on end, all you would need is an power cord. I would love one of these to try out. If you want to go check it out or buy it. Here’s the Alienware M17x-2857DSB 17-Inch Laptop (Black).
According to Computer World, dated Oct 31, 2008 and I’ll quote:
“Over the next couple of months, we’ll be rolling out another infrastructure update to the Windows Update agent (client code),” said an unidentified Microsoft employee on the Windows Update team’s official blog. “This update makes it possible for users to install more than 80 updates at the same time.”
Now if your like me and have several computers who need to be updated at a given schedule, you sometimes worry about these updates that come along that might just break your system. I have been using a program call Offline Updater, which does what Autopatcher does really nicely. So why is Microsoft sending out this patch? Two reasons, one they want you to be able to update your operating System without hurting your system integrity.
Now lets talk about the integrity of having to reboot your system. You see, every time you reboot the system, it causes the system hardware some strain. It is something like having starting up a car, sooner or later you will have the starter go out, because of to much start up.
Second reason for this is, basically the update software needs to be update yet again for any security flaws or features that might be exploitable. I am sure there are some and Microsoft probably knows about that we do not. So that is the second reason, which it is the most obvious reason yet to push out another revision of the Windows update.
What about stopping the update from effecting your system. The only way that I know of is to prevent Windows from checking for updates. Which is simple:
Windows XP Version:
[Category View and Classic View]
<Start> / Control Panel / Security / Click Windows Updates
<Orb> / Control Panel/ Security Center/ Windows Update / click “change Settings”
With both ways, you will be able to control four ways to handle Windows updating and they are:
Automatic - Will download all necessary updates and install them without your permission or knowledge. Note some of the updates will automatically reboot your system. Most commonly they are set to do this every day in the 12am to 4 am period of time. So when you wake up you would see an log in screen.
Download updates but let me choice which ones to install and when - This is most commonly used by people who don’t want to bother having to check manually. It will check and download, then it will let you know.
Check for updates but don’t Download them- This is like the previous one but this will only tell you. The rest of the decision is in your hands not the computer. This is good for people who have limited system resources, like Hard drive space. It still reminds you like the previous one but won’t download any updates.
Never check for updates- This is used for people who don’t want to be bothered with updates and have a way to update manually. This is commonly used by businesses who have several systems on and don’t want to risk an update causing trouble or weigh down the companies internet by downloading updates un-necessarily. This option is not to be messed with because it leaves your system with quite a lot of vulnerabilities. You do this one if you have a set schedule to update each and everyone system. (Extremely Dangerous to do)
With what I talked about, I am hoping you find this useful and to share your discoveries with other people who might want to be able to change how Windows updates are handled on other systems. If you have comments or questions, please post them in the comment section and someone will be more than glad to help you out.
Having been looking at one of my old clocks that would automatically change for Daylight Savings Time, I’ve had to keep reminding myself that it is an hour off. Starting tonight at 2 PM, it will be right. So I thought I would help people keep there computer clocks up to date by suggesting some good programs to us to keep your system having the right time. So people know what dates are being affected according to the Greenwichmeantime they say this:
Beginning in 2007, Daylight Saving Time is extended one month and the schedule for the states of the United States that adopt daylight saving time will be:
2 a.m. on the Second Sunday in March
to
2 a.m. on the First Sunday of November.
So that saying goes it “Fallback, SpringForward“ So now here are some great programs to better help you get your computer clock up to snuff:
Worldtimeclock Atomic Clock Sync Program – It is a free program for you to use with your Windows. Although you have to make sure your selected the right timezone once it is installed all you will need in an internet connection to sync your windows time with the atomic clock.
PC Atomic Sync – It is an atomic clock synchronizer with some useful features (time offset, synchronize periods, etc.). The main idea of the program is to synchronize your PC’s clock in the most reliable and resource-saving way.
These programs will help keep your system from having the wrong time. Don’t forget to install the Microsoft updates(Window XP and Server 2003) to fix your operating system with the new Daylight Savings Time dates.
In an email he sent to the readers of his publication, Jason Calicanis talks about having to lay off around 10% of people from Mahalo. Here’s the quote:
We’ve laid off a just under 10% of our full-time staff, cut our overhead by doing smart things like renting desks (we have six desks/offices available fyi), and reorganized our editorial department to focus on freelance positions over in-house editors. The net result
of the effort is we are giving Mahalo another year of “dry powder” (or runway) to complete our mission.
This is not to be unexpected after all the talk about the recession coming our way. It does however emphasizes the need for companies to consider there profit margins and accounting strategy.
Mahalo was launched in May 2007 as an Alpha test. That is to say only a select number of people were able to access the site and create feedback to the development of the site. As of January of 2008 it is in what we call the Beta test phase. Which means more people are testing it out and find out it’s flaws to report back about where they need to improve. Mahalo’s directory employs human editors to review websites and search engine results.
Saying that Mahalo is in Beta still doesn’t lessen the fact that they are worried about there revenue model and expect a drastic decrease in revenue over the next 2 years due to the Recession still hanging over our heads. This is where it comes to pure talent and understanding that most people in the business has to worry being laid off for example Merck Laid off 13% of it’s workforce. Most people know the dread and fear of having the possibility of a Layoff hanging over your head and it is bound to affect even the most stubborn person and independent person. It is going to come at a time like Christmas or the first a year and you will have to scrounge around and try to find another job. It’s tough and I’ve got a list that will help you :5 ways to improve your chance of getting hired.
With this list you will be able to get a better grip of the future and maybe create a better future in the process.
Mahalo is still in it’s infancy and will still need time to grow and mature and with this recession looming over everyone’s head they will have quite a time making heads or tails of the future. So why try to create the future if you don’t know what will happen? That comes with the territory of blogging and website that are 2.0. It’s a hit or miss when it comes to people finding the best content and sometimes finds the worst content. This is where you as a reader have to choice what to listen to and who to listen too. I don’t say that will be easy but it is essential in finding what you need at the time you need it.
If we don’t do anything, this will be the last you will see of some of these big name sites. We need to gather around them and show our support, by reading there content and providing feedback if there is something that needs to be change. That is your power to help these websites become the best they can. So go comment on your favorite website, tell them something you think they can do to better the content. So why aren’t you doing that now?
Categories: SP2 Beta, Vista, WIndows, Windows Vista | 
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