Has Microsoft Changed it’s Update Policies?
In a break from tradition, a recent Microsoft updated removed, or deprecated, code in older Windows platforms that had to do with the Indeo Video Codec. Microsoft chose to disable the utilization of this codec instead of patching it to fix some recently discovered security vulnerabilities.
Last year, Microsoft took a similar measure regarding a flaw that was discovered in its Windows 2000 Server’s implementation of TCP/IP, but in that case, Microsoft simply chose to do nothing, which leaves these systems vulnerable.
Recent Posts
- Home Networking Tutorial
- List of all Home Networking articles
Home Networking
Featured Articles
More Thoughts About Passwords
I really should have knocked on wood when I wrote about passwords last week. I was practicing what I preached and knew that I was safe. But sure enough, my old Yahoo email account was just hijacked. I stopped using this account after I signed up for Gmail, and it had some really old contacts in it. At one point a while back, and after not logging in for over a year, Yahoo sent me an email saying that the account was going to be deactivated. So I logged back in, deleted old messages, contacts, etc, and moved on. But apparently, those old contacts were not actually deleted. They must have remained somehow linked to the old account, and available to anyone ...
Passwords – How Safe is Your Online Information?
Your online security is only as good as your password. You probably make regular visits to dozens of sites that require passwords, so keeping track of them can be a chore. Dealing with so many passwords causes people to do some very unwise things. They might write them down, or store them on a computer file, or even use the same password for everything. All of these defeat the purpose of passwords and can result in compromising your important data. Recently, an anonymous user posted 10,000 usernames and passwords that had been lifted from Windows Live Hotmail accounts. An online internet security company analyzed these passwords and found some very distressing trends. The most common password was '123456' The second most common password ...
Laptop, Notebook or Netbook
In 2008, more notebook style PCs were sold than desktop PCs, and with the introduction of netbook PCs, this should be the case for 2009. Currently, netbooks account for almost 6% of the total PC market and some analysts project that sales will remain strong throughout the holiday season. However, after that is anyone's guess. The netbook's small, inconvenient size and lack of capabilities may be a limiting factor to continued sales growth. But what's the difference between a laptop PC and a notebook PC? And what is a netbook? There doesn't appear to be any official descriptions, so I've come up with my own: Laptop - A portable PC with all the capabilities and power of a desktop, but small enough ...
Digital Lifestyle
The Year of the E-Reader The first commercially successful E-book reader (E-Reader) was launched in 2007. The Amazon Kindle sold out in just over 5 hours and had only limited availability for the next 5 months. The market continues to be strong, and this holiday season looks to be very successful for these devices.
Online Safety
More Thoughts About Passwords I really should have knocked on wood when I wrote about passwords last week. I was practicing what I preached and knew that I was safe. But sure enough, my old Yahoo email account was just hijacked.
What's New
Wi-Fi Direct Takes on Bluetooth The Wi-Fi Alliance formally announced a new Wi-Fi protocol called “Wi-Fi Direct.” This new protocol will allow devices to communicate directly with each other without the need for a dedicated Access Point.
Typically, Wi-Fi works in what is known as Infrastructure mode, where each device communicates through an Access Point to other devices. Bluetooth technology eliminates [...]
Home Networking and Internet
CAT5 Explained CAT5 (Category 5) is an ethernet network cable standard that describes the physical charateristics of the wiring used to carry data along digital networks. CAT5 cable is made up of 4 twisted pairs of unshielded wires encased in a polyethelyne sheath. A completed cable will have a RJ-45 plug at each end.
The outer sheath of CAT5 cable is generally blue, but can be any color, “CAT5″ will be printed on the outer sheathing to indicate its certification. Each separate wire inside is also sheathed in plastic with a standard color scheme.
Operating Systems
Will You Upgrade to Windows 7? With the release date now set for October 22, you might want to start thinking about a move to the new version of Windows. Although some industry tech-types claim that Windows 7 is simply a re-tooled Vista, others claim that there is enough substance in the new version to justify the upgrade. The overall look and feel of Win7 matches Vista, but I feel that there have been enough changes and improvements to the core group of applicaitons and utilities to favor an upgrade.
How To
Move Your iTunes Library to an External Hard Drive If you made a resolution to get more organized for the new year, and made specific plans to get your ever-growing music collection under control, you probably will be getting a larger hard drive or maybe an external drive for your music. The process can take a couple of hours, depending on the size of your collection.
What is...
Firewire vs USB To the end user, Firewire (also known as an IEEE 1394 interface) and USB appear to perform the same function. Firewire and USB share a number of characteristics but differ in some important ways. They are both a method of transferring data between devices and PCs, whereas firewire has the additional capability of connecting 2 or more devices together without the intervention of a PC. This capability is known as “Peer-to-Peer.” Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0) uses a “Master-Slave” architecture in which the computer dictates the data flow. This adds additional system overhead resulting in slower data rates.
