Microsoft is busy…plus worms and Twitter

Updating the Windows 7 release schedule

Microsoft has been doing an admirable job of suppressing leaks about its Windows 7 release plans. But someone in Redmond needs to do a better job of teaching its own employees when not to hit the Publish button on web pages.

Microsoft's "I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person" ad tries to kick Apple where it hurts

Microsoft’s latest salvo in the Mac vs. PC ad war seems to have hit a nerve with Apple fans.

Microsoft exits the encyclopedia biz, kills Encarta

Microsoft Encarta is a digital encyclopedia that used to come on a CD-ROM, and eventually graduated to a web-based service. But in the age of Wikipedia, where even the Encyclopedia Brittanica allows users to suggest edits, it looks like Microsoft either can't or choose not to compete. The company is pulling the plug on Encarta later this year.

'60 Minutes': What's next for the Conficker worm?

The following is a transcript of a "60 Minutes" report on Internet viruses that aired Sunday.

Nine Ways to Use Twitter

Disregard the hype and the haters; Twitter is a powerful platform with plenty of practical uses.

Today’s Computer News Roundup

I am back in Tucson from my week-long stay in Vegas.  Had a very good time with Elisa, and later, Susan, in spite of a cold and sinus infection.  Still recovering from that, but improving daily.  Happy to be home and getting back to normal.  Here is today’s news:

Two security holes patched in Firefox 3.0.8

Mozilla published a critical security upgrade for Firefox Friday evening. Version 3.0.8 for Windows, Mac, and Linux fixes two security holes listed as "critical."

Conficker worm might originate in China

There's been a lot of fuss about theConficker worm. However, there is a $250,000 question: the origin of the virus. This is the amount Microsoft is putting up as a reward for any information leading to an arrest related to the case. Folks at BKIS, a Vietnamese security firm that makes the BKAV antivirus software, announced Monday that they found clues that the virus may have originated from China. Previously, there were rumors that it might have been from Russia or Europe.

Facebook changes to address user complaints

Facebook users haven't exactly been reticent about their dislike for Facebook's recent redesign. And Facebook staff want you to know they're listening.

Microsoft, NASA put universe back on the Web

Microsoft and NASA, announced plans to make planetary images and data available via the Internet. The two organizations will jointly develop the technology and infrastructure necessary to make NASA content--including high-resolution scientific images and data from Mars and the moon--explorable on Microsoft's online virtual telescope for exploring the universe, called WorldWide Telescope.

Convert your PDFs to MS Word

There are several well-regarded, free ways to take advantage of the Print function to transform just about any file to a PDF. PrimoPDF and doPDF sit at the top of the list, but what about reverse engineering that conversion? Converting in the other direction, from a PDF to a Microsoft Word-compatible format like DOC or RTF is trickier.

Microsoft Releases Internet Explorer V.8

Sorry about not doing a blog post lately but am currently in Las Vegas with my Italian daughter Elisa…and finding free Wi-Fi in Vegas is about as easy as finding a slot machine that hits jackpots.  Found one at Denny’s (Wi-Fi, that is) way way out on Sahara Blvd.  Will be back in Tucson next weekend and will continue my traditional blog updates then.  Until then, I hope you find these stories of use:

Hands-on with IE 8: A giant step for Microsoft

Setting aside the issue of speed for a moment, some of the features in Internet Explorer bring it up to what we've come to expect from a browser, and some of them forge ahead. Many of these are borrowed from other browsers, and at least in the case of Firefox, the features can be imported using extensions.

IE8 focuses on usability

The ultimate improvement in browser performance is not making a page load faster but making it unnecessary to load the page at all. That's the guiding principle behind some of the most interesting interface changes in Internet Explorer 8

Why You Want Windows 7

I've been using Windows 7 for months, first as a pre-beta and now as the remarkably stable Beta 1. It's an encouraging update. No wackiness. When I use it, I don't find myself wondering, "Who moved my cheese?" It's sensible and smart—often in hidden and surprising ways. It also seems to be allergic to blue-screen crashes.

All flash drives not created equal | Storage Bits | ZDNet.com

Low-priced SATA flash drives are tempting. But beware: some of them test at an abysmal 2 random writes per second!

Safari hole exploited in seconds at security conference

The security expert who won $10,000 hacking a MacBook Air in less than two minutes last year won $5,000 on Wednesday by exploiting a hole in Safari in 10 seconds or so.

Windows 7, iPhone, and Better Tweeting

Windows 7 build 7057 - Performance that blasts past XP, Vista and previous builds

After I carried out the performance test on Widows 7 build 7048 I commented that I thought some of the results were all over the place. However, on looking at this latest build, I’ve no doubt that not only will Windows 7 will be fast. In fact it will blow away all previous Windows OSes, including the sainted Windows XP.

Microsoft Details New Changes to Windows 7 - News and Analysis by PC Magazine

Just weeks after releasing a lengthy list of 36 improvements it plans to make to the release candidate (RC) of Windows 7, Microsoft on Friday unveiled 28 more changes it plans to make before upgrading the operating system from beta to Release Candidate.

iPhone OS 3.0: What you need to know

Apple on Tuesday unveiled the next version of the operating system that powers the iPhone, dubbed version 3.0, at an invite-only event at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. It will be available for developers beginning today, and to everyone else "this summer." It's a free upgrade for iPhone users

Home Networking in 5 Easy Steps - Reviews by PC Magazine

Building a home network? First question: Why would you want to? Only ten years ago you could have answered that question easily: "I'm an incurable geek." But nowadays there are so many products and services being offered for home networks that it's really a question of "why wouldn't you want to?"

How to kick iTunes' lock-in media formats squarely in the fruit

If you're not tied to using an iPod as your primary portable media player, or if you're just playing songs on your PC, avoid iTunes entirely. There's any number of alternative media players and managers you can use.

14 Tricks for Making 140 Character Twitter Tweets

If you Twitter, you might want to read this.

New Tools and Free Software

Google Voice: A push to rewire your phone service | Webware - CNET

Google Voice, the new version of the GrandCentral technology Google acquired in July 2007, has the potential to make the search giant a middleman in an important part of people's lives, telephone communications. With the service, people can pick a new phone number from Google Voice; when others call it, Google can ring all the actual phones a person uses and handle voice mail.  This could become huge.

20+ tools for price watching and protecting

In the U.S., tax season is well upon us. And with the recession in full tilt, you may be--smartly--biding your time to make a purchase. Fear not though, there are tools aplenty to help you keep an eye on the price of something, and swoop in to get it when it goes on sale or the manufacturer offers a rebate.

Four PC Blu-ray Drives Reviewed and Tested

To Blu-ray or not to Blu-ray? When it comes to adding a Blu-ray drive to the PC, that question is getting asked more today than a few months ago. With projections of Blu-ray disc sales of over 100 million units this year, Blu-ray has certainly arrived.

Recover Files 2 (Windows)

Recover Files is an award winning program that can undelete / recover deleted files after they have been deleted. Recover Files is a professional file recovery software that allows it's user to recover accidentally deleted files.

Gadwin PrintScreen 4.4 (Windows) - Free Downloads on ZDNet

Gadwin PrintScreen allows much more flexibility with that Print Screen button at the top of your keyboard. Free

A Virtual Cornucopia of Tech News

Is Windows 7 reliable enough to release now? | Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report

Ed Bott: I installed Windows 7 build 7048 on a Dell XPS 420 one week ago, and after a few hours of road testing decided to begin using it as my main production system. So how is it working out?.

Federal CIO on leave following FBI sting at DC offices

The U.S. Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra, appointed by President Obama last week, has been placed on leave, following an FBI raid yesterday at the District of Columbia’s IT offices...even though he has not been linked yet int the big DC bribery investigation.

Facebook Challenges Twitter to Celebrity Deathmatch!

Blame Shaquille O'Neal. Facebook's sudden, desperate move to help celebrities, sports personalities, and big brands transform their somewhat static Facebook pages into full-blown profiles is, I think, almost a direct response to the blast of excitement created by relative Twitter newbie and basketball icon Shaquille O'Neal.

How to Delete Accounts from Any Website

Sadly, not all Web sites and social networks are created equal when it comes to breaking up. With some, it takes only a couple of clicks to say good-bye. If you stop paying, that goes a long way toward ending it with a few sites. Others make you jump through more hoops than a tiger at the circus.

Kindle, schmindle...I've got your $350 e-book reader right here

With all the buzz about Amazon's new Kindle 2, you'd think this revamped e-book reader was the most advanced piece of technology this side of designer babies. After all, for $359, you get a color screen, Wi-Fi and full-function Web browsing, video playback, 60GB of storage, and a reasonably usable keyboard. Oh wait, you don't get any of that stuff. No, that's what $350 can get you if invested in even a low-end Netbook, such as the new 10-inch Acer Aspire One. Not only is there a wide range of PC software available for buying and displaying e-books (and tons of free content as well), when you're done with all that highbrow readin', pop open a Web browser and rot your brain with some Hulu videos.

Gadwin PrintScreen 4.4 (Windows) - Free Downloads on ZDNet

Gadwin PrintScreen allows much more flexibility with that Print Screen button at the top of your keyboard. Free

Windows and Firefox News

Microsoft wants to 'rescue' apps for Windows 7

The rule of thumb is that if a program runs in Vista, it will run in Windows 7. Conversely, in general, programs that won't run in Vista also won't work with Windows 7. At least in a few cases, though, even applications that didn't run in Vista will run in Windows 7. That's because of some work that Microsoft has done to "rescue" certain types of programs that were rendered incompatible by the move to Vista.

A sneak peek at the Windows 7 Release Candidate

This build is not the long-awaited Release Candidate, but it does include a slew of bug fixes, design changes, and interface tweaks checked in as part of the march toward an RC, much of it based on feedback from beta testers. What you see in this build is not experimental; given the development process for Windows 7, it is a near-certainty that the changes you see here will make it into the final product.

Microsoft plugs remote execution, spoofing holes in Windows

Microsoft on Tuesday issued patches for critical holes in all supported versions of Windows that could allow an attacker to take over a system by executing code remotely if the user viewed a maliciously crafted image file.

Extreme PCs and "Homebrewing": Rest in Peace

In the glory days, everyone had lots of disposable income, and those of us who called ourselves “PC Enthusiasts” thought nothing of doing complete hardware refreshes every six months to keep up with the technology.  Those days are probably now over.

Electric car network coming to Arizona

Alternative energy company Ecotality said on Friday that it will supply charging stations in Arizona as part of the planned roll-out of plug-in electric cars from Nissan next year. Nissan North America has committed to making its electric vehicles available to municipal or private organizations in the Tucson, Ariz., area, Ecotality said. Nissan's all-electric sedan is scheduled to be available in certain areas of the U.S. next year.

Beta Beat: Firefox 3.1 Beta 3 Available for Download

If you're eager to stay on the cutting edge of Firefox, head over to Mozilla to grab the newly released Firefox 3.1 Beta 3. As we mentioned last week, the next beta will be upped to Firefox 3.5

Which Windows is Best? Plus More

Windows 7 vs. Vista vs. XP performance shootout - which is best?

How does the latest leaked build of Windows 7 (7048) compare to the beta 1 (build 7000), Vista SP1 and XP SP3 in terms of performance? According to my Hardware 2.0 inbox, this is a question that you want answered. Let’s see if I can answer it for those of you who are interested!

Is IE8 the end of the line for Internet Explorer?

IE8 is the last version of the Internet Explorer Web browser. At least, that's what I'm hearing through the grapevine. It seems that Microsoft is preparing to throw in the towel on its Internet Explorer engine once and for all.

Firefox, too, revamping new-tab behavior

Opening a new tab in a Web browser shows a lot of prime but empty real estate, and now the programmers behind Firefox are following their peers at Safari and Chrome in trying to make it more useful.

Web Browser Speed Dating

When did the story stop being about the Internet and start being about Web browsers?

PMA 2009's photo finish

Despite the economy, tons of new photo products debuted, partly because planning takes place 6 to 12 months out. So it's likely that the first real signs of contraction will appear with the fall product lines. And, in fact, at least one manufacturer has already changed its dSLR release plans in preparation for tough times.

Olympus: 12 megapixels is enough for most folks | Underexposed - CNET News

Olympus has declared an end to the megapixel race. "Twelve megapixels is, I think, enough for covering most applications most customers need," said Akira Watanabe, manager of Olympus Imaging's SLR planning department, in an interview here at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA). "We have no intention to compete in the megapixel wars for E-System," Olympus' line of SLR cameras, he said. Instead, Olympus will focus on other characteristics such as dynamic range, color reproduction, and a better ISO range for low-light shooting, he said.

Today’s Really Good Stuff

Hackers update Conficker worm, evade countermeasures

Computers infected with the Conficker worm are being updated with a new variant that sidesteps an industry effort to sever the link between the worm and its hacker controllers, according to researchers at Symantec. The new version, dubbed Conficker.c, represents the first set of "orders" that researchers have witnessed being sent to infected systems, said Vincent Weafer, vice president of Symantec Corp.'s security response group. The update shows that the hackers want to defend their collection of compromised PCs, Weafer argued.

The Google OS is coming by year's end

It's not news that Microsoft will get Windows 7 out as fast as possible this year. Vista has been a complete dog, so Microsoft will rush to deliver what is essentially a cleaned-up, lightweight version. What is news is that Google will have its own contender for desktop operating system king: Android.

Dreaming of cutting the subscription TV cord

The economy is in the toilet, and I know I'm not the only person in America who is looking for ways to cut costs. Top on my list in 2009 is finding a way to eliminate my $100 a month cable TV bill. Up until very recently, the idea of cutting off subscription TV would have meant skimping on a whole lot of good quality entertainment. I must admit, I don't watch a lot of TV. But I watch enough that I would be very sad if I had to give up HBO's "Flight of the Conchords" or NBC's "30 Rock." But thanks to that wonderful communications network known as the Internet and the fact that big Hollywood studios and TV networks have finally realized that digital distribution is actually a good thing, cable cord cutters, like me, won't have to sacrifice that much or anything at all, depending on what movies and TV programs we like to watch.

How Vista mistakes guided changes to Windows development

About a year ago on its Redmond, Washington, campus, a member of Microsoft's Windows Vista team met with a group of journalists to face some tough questions about the OS. At the time, it was clear Vista was not going to be the great success Microsoft had predicted, as many of the company's critical business customers were beginning to reveal they would wait for the next release of Microsoft's client OS instead of upgrading corporate desktops to Vista.

Trackle gives you web alerts for virtually anything

Sometimes you just don't want to sit in front of a browser window and hit reload. Maybe you're waiting for plane ticket prices to drop, or maybe you want to be the first person to apply for fresh jobs on Craiglist. Trackle is one way to get alerts via email or SMS for practically anything on the web. You can Trackle stocks, product prices, and even people.

Seattle Paper to Go Net Only?

Seattle paper may shift to online-only

Hearst Corp, one of the largest U.S. publishers, has offered some of its Seattle Post-Intelligencer (P-I) staff work in an online-only version of the paper, amidst speculation that the newspaper's print edition may be shutting down, according to media reports.

Facebook vs. Twitter: How will you stream your world?

The future will be streamed. And streamed some more.

Will iTunes kill the CD?

We're getting close to the day when a major artist or group releases a download-only album. Maybe it'll be the next Rolling Stones or Sufjan Stevens album. That'll be a dark day

Pretec unveils 666x Compact Flash Cards

Pretec creator of the highest capacity CompactFlash card in the world (100GB) and the fastest CF card in the world (433X), continues today its record breaking history in the field of speed and capacity by unveiling the extraordinary 666X CF card, the world’s fastest CF card.

Downloads: DeskHedron Adds 3D Virtual Desktop Eye-Candy to Windows

Free application DeskHedron brings multiple virtual desktops to Windows, complete with an impressive spinning 3D animation that switches between your desktops.

Bug Patches and Other Good Stuff

Mozilla patches eight Firefox bugs, six critical

Mozilla this week patched eight security vulnerabilities in Firefox, half of them critical memory corruption flaws in the browser's layout and JavaScript engines. Oracle White Paper - Nucleus Report: Who's ready for SMB? - read this white paper. Firefox 3.0.7, the second security update this year to the open-source browser, fixes about the same number of bugs that Mozilla patched a month ago.

Coming on Patch Tuesday: 3 Windows bulletins, 1 critical

Microsoft today outlined plans to ship three security bulletins for software vulnerabilities in the Windows operating system. One of the three bulletins will carry a “critical” rating, meaning that it will cover flaws that could be exploited to launch remote code execution attacks.

3 Free Anti-Spam Programs Reviewed

We pulled three, free-for-personal-use anti-spam programs off the Web and gave them a specific challenge: Beat Microsoft Outlook's own anti-spam prowess.

Advanced iTunes 8 Management - Solutions by PC Magazine

Inexpensive iPods, music-playing cell phones, and—heck—even PCs have essentially replaced the traditional stereo system. Power up your iTunes 8 organization, navigation, and maintenance skills with the following tips:

YouTube - Hudson River Plane Landing (US Airways 1549) Animation with Audio

SHere is an animation of the US Airway crash complete with audio between plane and tower. Very interesting and well done

Highlights from the Big Photo Show in Las Vegas

PMA 2009 - Digital camera news from the 2009 PMA show

Want to know what to expect in cameras and camera gear over the next 6 months? It's all on display at this year's Photo Marketing Association show, and CNET's there to bring it all home to you.

Microsoft may let Windows 7 users turn browser off

Microsoft has included in recent Windows 7 test versions an option to turn off the Internet Explorer 8 Web browser, according to testers who have used the recent builds.

Microsoft's Biggest Enemy Now: Apple, Linux, or Itself?

In a meeting with financial analysts last week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer laid out who he thinks are the biggest threats today to Windows on the client side. Surprisingly, Apple wasn't number one. It wasn't number two or three either.

Skype 4.0 for Windows delivers truer video, sound

Skype 4.0 became available for free on Tuesday to Windows users. The free desktop VoIP communicator is a worthy final version that brings some key enhancements with video and audio bandwidth.

Whimsy: Entire State Of Maryland Roped Into Online Prank War

This video is hilarious. This is payback for a prank one fellow pulled on the other at Yankee Stadium. There is a link to that one also. Don't miss this.

Near Future Not Good for PC Business

Gartner: PC sales to see worst fall in history

The global PC industry will suffer its 'sharpest decline in history' in 2009, as overall demand for PCs falls by 11.9 percent compared with 2008, according to analysts at Gartner. The new low beats the previous record decline of just 3.2 percent, which took place in 2001. According to a statement from Gartner, both emerging and mature markets are forecast "to suffer unprecedented market slowdowns".

Microsoft's Massive List of Improvements to Windows 7

Microsoft on Thursday released a lengthy list of 36 improvements it plans to make to the release candidate (RC) for Windows 7, though the company did not provide any details on when that RC might actually be available.

Gazelle: The browser that thinks like an OS |Fatal Exception

Interesting article about Microsoft's newest Web browser now in development. The operating system is now losing its importance. The Web is becoming more important and more relevant than the operating system. Is this the future?

The Post-Chronicle Wiki: Imaging a New Media Frontier in San Francisco

The question is no longer, "Is the traditional newspaper model viable?" or even "How can we tweak it to keep it alive?" No, nothing short of a complete overhaul will be enough to keep traditional print media relevant. Or at least that's what some media professionals in San Francisco are saying.   The days of newspapers printed on paper are ending.

Foxmarks becomes Xmarks, does site discovery

Now known as just Xmarks, the tool layers in site discovery features. The Xmarks plug-in shows you sites similar to the one you're on, based on what other users have bookmarked and where they've filed those bookmarks. The plug-in also gives you additional information in search results, letting you see site popularity and user ratings on your search hits.

A Google Computer Coming?

The Google Computer: Android Desktop Edition - Columns by PC Magazine

If cranky columnist John C. Dvorak is right (and I'm thinking he is), the world of desktop computing is about to take a big left turn. The company in the driver seat? Google. Dvorak outlines how Microsoft cannot kill Google the way it previously torpedoed Netscape and then lays out a simple plan for Google to introduce a new Android OS-based Google PC. If this happens, Microsoft will have a real problem on its hands. You must read this fascinating column.

White House ditches YouTube after privacy complaints

Responding to complaints by privacy activists, the White House has quietly abandoned YouTube as the provider of the embedded videos on the president's official home page. With the release of the latest weekly video address, the White House has shifted to a Flash-based video solution using Akamai's content delivery network.

5 Reasons Why I Bought a Kindle 2 - Opinions by ExtremeTech

Until the release of this version of the Kindle, I hadn't been particularly interested in buying one. Frankly, I thought the first Kindle was ugly and a rather stupid idea. I chuckled and snorted with derision when Amazon first announced it, sure that it would be just another e-book bomb like so many before it. But oddly enough, the Kindle turned out to be a reasonable success with around 500,000 estimated sales last year.

How to: Keep your laptop from being stolen

A laptop is stolen every 53 seconds, and approximately 97 percent are never recovered, according to the FBI. Worse, one out of every 10 laptops will be stolen within the first 12 months of purchase.

CCleaner 2.16.83 Free Download

Remove unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space.

Special Windows 7 Edition

I took some time off from my busy baseball schedule to put together another blog…this one on Windows 7.  Have been enjoying the Arizona sun (in the high 80’s lately), to take in some major league baseball Spring Training games as well as some University of Arizona baseball games.

The Rockies and the Diamondbacks both train here in Tucson.  Saw the Dodgers yesterday and the White Sox on Thursday.  I also have tickets for upcoming games with the Giants and A’s, and hope to take in the Mariners also.  It is fun-in-the-sun here in Tucson and Spring Training games are inexpensive.  I had a box seat on Thursday, five rows from the field between home and first and it cost me all of $16.

But, if you love the game of baseball, the college game is great fun to watch.  The crowds are smaller, but the student cheering section is fun to listen to.  And, you can’t beat the price of a ticket…$3 a game for us seniors.  But, I still hate the sound of aluminum bats.

Anyway, here are today’s news stories about the new Microsoft operating system that holds so much promise:

 

Microsoft: Here are some of the Win 7 changes coming in the next build

In a February 26 post to the Engineering Windows 7 blog, Microsoft itemized some of the changes that it is making to Windows 7 that will be part of the Release Candidate (RC) test build that is widely expected in April.

Is Jumping from XP to Windows 7 too Complicated?

When Windows 7 is released later this year or in early 2010, many PC users who upgrade will be coming from Windows XP. Unlike Vista users, they can't do an "in-place upgrade," in which the new OS overwrites the old one, preserving their installed applications, preferences, and data. Instead, they'll have to do a clean install, which means they have to back up their data, install Win 7 (either deleting or XP or installing as a separate environment), reinstall their apps, restore their data, and re-create their preferences.

10 Things Windows 7 Must Do To Succeed

I recently attended a briefing where Microsoft explained some of the new features in Windows 7 to reviewers from different publications. At the end of the meeting, the MS folks asked the half-dozen of us present what it will take for the new OS to be a success.

Netbook Smackdown: XP, Windows 7, and Ubuntu Face Off

What’s the best OS for use on the new ultra-portable netbook systems? I used a Samsung NC10 netbook and three operating systems to try to find out the answer. The Samsung NC10 is a pretty standard netbook--1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, and a really nice 10.2-inch WSVGA screen. The NC10 comes with Windows XP Home as the preinstalled OS.

Software: Turn Windows XP Into a Fake Windows 7

Bored of Windows XP and antsy for Windows 7? With a couple of quick downloads you can get the look and feel of Microsoft's next OS, no clean install necessary.