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Adobe Stakes New Claim To Rich Web Apps With Release Of Air

Adobe and its partners announced a number of Air applications for consumers and businesses, including Nasdaq Instant Market Replay and Business Objects' BI Desktop.

Adobe took another shot in the emerging competition for rich Internet applications on Monday by releasing the first version of Adobe Integrated Runtime or Air and the third iteration of the Flex development framework, which is used to create Flash and Air applications.
Rich Internet apps, or RIAs, could be loosely defined as software with engaging user interfaces that typically bridge the connectivity of the Web with a graphical richness and custom user interface that used to be reserved for client software.
"With Air, we're making that leap between the Web and the desktop," Kevin Lynch, Adobe's chief technology officer, told InformationWeek. "This is about enabling Web apps to work the way people expect them to work."
Air, a cross-operating system platform that was code-named Apollo, attempts to bridge the gap between the Web and the desktop by allowing developers to create Internet-connected applications that aren't restricted by the form and functionality of Web browsers. More...

Microsoft will shortly make available the test version of Internet Explorer 8, which is set for final release in the first half of this year.

The Web site ActiveWin on Monday published the contents of a beta invitation, which said Microsoft is nearing a launch date for Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1, which will be available for download and testing.
According to the Internet Explorer blog, the next version of Microsoft's Web browser is set for release in the first half of the year.
Microsoft executives are expected to reveal further details about the browser's features at the software maker's upcoming Mix conference in Las Vegas next week.
Last year at Mix, Microsoft outlined some of the features planned for IE 8, including standards compliance and tools to ease Web development.

 

IN PRISON...you spend the majority of your time in an 8x10 cell.
AT WORK...you spend most of your time in a 6x8 cubicle.

IN PRISON...you get three meals a day.
AT WORK...you only get a break for one meal and you have to pay for it.

IN PRISON...you get time off for good behavior.
AT WORK...you get rewarded for good behavior with more work.

IN PRISON...a guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.
AT WORK...you must carry around a security card and unlock and open all the doors yourself.

IN PRISON...you can watch TV and play games.
AT WORK...you get fired for watching TV and playing games.

IN PRISON...you get your own toilet.
AT WORK...you have to share.

IN PRISON...they allow your family and friends to visit.
AT WORK...you cannot even speak to your family and friends.

IN PRISON...all expenses are paid by taxpayers with no work required
AT WORK...you get to pay all the expenses to go to work and then they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners.

IN PRISON...you spend most of your life looking through bars from the inside wanting to get out.
AT WORK...you spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars.

IN PRISON...there are wardens who are often sadistic.
AT WORK...the wardens are called managers.

Product review: Windows Server 2008 is the host with the most, and the perfect guest

Microsoft's slimmer and stronger server OS, bolstered by virtualization, networking, and security advances, is an upgrade that IT can't refuse, a 200-pound gorilla that eats commercial Linux

A standing complaint about Windows Server is its resource footprint. Those in IT just take as rote that it requires lots of memory, lots of CPU, and lots of disk to put any substantial services on the air with Windows Server 2003. I think it's safe to say that the typical x86 rack server's characteristics reflect the requirements of Windows Server. Microsoft's big OS has always been designed under the presumption that it will have a full physical server to itself.
In Windows Server 2008, Microsoft delivers a 64-bit server OS with a smaller minimum resource footprint than Windows Vista. It varies by edition; Windows Server 2008 Datacenter doesn't focus so much on shedding the pounds, but it, too, picks up the speed benefits from the slimmer Server Core, which was created to be a practically weightless virtualized guest OS. IT shops are likely to use Windows Server 2008 the same way they use Windows Server 2003 now, only now they can run lots of independent virtual Windows Servers that scale in features and footprint across a broad range of options. More...

Microsoft has increased: storage on Windows Live Skydrive to 5GB, up by a multiple of five from its previous limit of 1GB (the 1GB having doubled the original 500mb in October).

The more notable point is that Microsoft continues to grow its online storage offering when Google simply hasn’t launched the fabled Platypus online storage solution despite years of speculation and rumors. This is one space where Microsoft has the upper hand, and a 4gb storage jump will further increase the appeal of the product.

On top of the extra storage, Windows Live Skydrive has dropped the beta tag, and is now available in the following additional countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Turkey.

The Cult of the Dead Cow hacking group has released a free tool that turns Google into a point-and-click vulnerability scanner.

Cult of the Dead Cow, or cDc, an old-school hacking crew famous for its anti-censorship stance, has shipped a new tool that turns the Google search engine into an easy-to-use vulnerability scanner.
Taking its cue from Johnny Long's Google Dorks—search queries that reveal sensitive information—cDc's new Goolag Scan pushes the envelope even more, offering a stand-alone Windows GUI-based application to power the searchers.
The open-source program comes with about 1,500 custom Google search queries embedded by default to run searches for vulnerable Web applications, misconfigured Web servers with open backdoors, sensitive user names and passwords, and other documents accidentally exposed on the Internet.
"It's no big secret that the Web is the platform," said Oxblood Ruffin, a spokesperson for the hacker think tank. "This platform pretty much sucks from a security perspective. Goolag Scanner provides one more tool for Web site owners to patch up their online properties.
"We've seen some pretty scary holes through random tests with the scanner in North America, Europe and the Middle East. If I were a government, a large corporation, or anyone with a large Web site, I'd be downloading this beast and aiming it at my site yesterday. The vulnerabilities are that serious," Ruffin said.
The utility ships as a .Net program that can be manually configured to power Google queries for specific servers or for an entire set of domains.
For example, a business can ask Goolag Scan to search for vulnerable servers or "files containing juicy information" on all its Web sites, turning the scanner into a useful auditing tool.

Microsoft Corp. today released a list of known programs that experience some sort of "loss of functionality" with Windows Vista SP1.
The list of 11 products -- divided into categories of "blocked from starting," "do not run" and "loss of functionality (minor or major)" -- is based on reported issues and is "not comprehensive," the company said. Many of the affected programs offer newer versions or upgrades that will make the software compatible (linked below where applicable).

As of press time, the products are:

Blocked from Starting

• BitDefender AV or Internet Security, version 10
• Fujitsu Shock Sensor 2.1.0.0
• Jiangmin KV Antivirus 10
• Jiangmin KV Antivirus 2008
• Trend Micro Internet Security 2008
• ZoneAlarm Security Suite 7.1

Do Not Run

• Iron Speed Designer 5.0.1
• Xheo Licensing 3.1
• FreeAllegiance 2.1

Loss of Functionality

• NYT Reader
• Rising Personal Firewall 2007
• Novell ZCM Agent 10.01

As Vista SP1 was released to manufacturing and IT professionals this month, the list may grow -- especially after the update goes live for consumers in March.

Windows Vista SP1, which began rolling out via Automatic Update, has left some users' machines unbootable. The update loops forever on "Configuring updates: Stage 3 of 3 0%
complete. Do not turn off your computer." "Shutting down"... restart and loop. Echostorm notes having found traces of what sounds like the same bug in early beta releases of SP1. It's unclear how many users are affected. So far there is no word on a fix from Microsoft.

http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/showpost.aspx?postid=2848906&siteid=17

Windows Vista, whether the source setup files and after installation system files, took up a lot of hard disk drive space. Just try to imagine from the fact that Windows XP fits into a CD (maximum 700 MB), while Windows Vista requires a DVD (max 4.7 GB). Windows Vista is fat and obese, but that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to ’slim’ down the Vista to make it uses less disk space and reclaim some storage for larger and larger media and date files. The tips below suggests several not system critical files that can be safely deleted and removed from the system without causing instability.

More...

Project Dakota is a easy way to update Windows XP.
It is a CD that contains all the updates found on the Windows Update Website, including Service Pack 2, with a small standalone programs that run the updates in the order specified by Microsoft according to the order set by Microsoft.
It also includes common programs found on most computers such as Adobe reader, Spybot S&D and Quicktime.

http://www.theatticnetwork.net/dakota.php

There's a growing revolt among Microsoft TechNet & MSDN subscribers who are frustrated that they can't yet get Vista SP1 and test their software on it. This can't be good news for anyone hoping that SP1 will have better compatibility. While SP1 has been released to manufacturing, and pirate copies are easy to find, Microsoft is withholding it from subscribers until early March. According to the article, some frustrated users are upset enough that they plan to abandon TechNet entirely and turn to piracy.According to the Technet blog, they have pushed up the date to before the end of February, though no exact date is mentioned.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=printArticleBasic&articleId=9061838
http://www.google.com/search?q=vista+sp1+tpb
http://blogs.technet.com/technetplussubscriptions/archive/2008/02/11/technet-plus-sp1-availability-update.aspx

You may have seen reports of Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1 floating on the net by now. I stumbled a couple of links and torrents on several discussion boards but most of them are either RC1 (Refresh 1), Fakes or just plain old Trojans. Surely, a lot of people doesn’t want to wait several days to get a hold of their own copy and install it on there system.
For couple of days, the only people who can get a valid Vista Service Pack 1 are some beta testers and people who have an MSDN accounts. Luckily, several people made this available to the general public, so you don’t need to wait until March to get a hold of Vista Service Pack 1. You have two ways on getting the Service Pack.

More...

Officially, only a few thousand lucky Microsoft Windows beta testers have their hands on Windows Vista SP1 today. However, somebody leaked the script used by the beta testers to enable their systems to install Vista SP1, so now you can download it (or create it) and use it to get your own copy of Vista SP1 beta via Windows Update.

Overview of the Process

The process includes the following steps:

1. 1. Download or create a script that adds two registry keys to your Windows Vista system. If you don't want to download the script, the folks at Softpedia provide the script code in plain text so you can see what it does. Copy the text and save it to a command file (.cmd) with Notepad or another text editor.
2. 2. Open a command prompt with administrative privileges on a system you use for Windows Vista testing (remember, you're going to install a beta of a service pack, so be smart and don't risk breaking your everyday system). To do this, right-click the command prompt shortcut (by default, it's in Accessories), select Run as Administrator, and provide the needed credentials.
3. 3. Run the script you downloaded or created in Step 1.
4. 4. Run Windows Update and install the KB935509 update.
5. 5. Reboot.
6. 6. Run Windows Update again and install the KB937287 update.
7. 7. Reboot.
8. 8. Run Windows Update again and install the KB938371 update.
9. 9. Reboot.
10. 10. Run Windows Update again and install the Vista SP1 beta. Keep in mind that according to some users at My Digital Life, you might need to wait an hour or so before the Vista SP1 beta shows up in your list of available updates.

You Can Get Vista SP1 Beta Now, But Should You?

After working with (and being worked over by) Windows Vista betas during the writing of Maximum PC Microsoft Windows Vista Exposed and other Vista books I have contributed to, I'm not personally keen on spending time with another Windows Vista beta. Users around the web report wildly different impressions - some report better performance, but others report a mixed bag of results. As with any beta, your mileage may vary. And keep in mind that just in case you're tempted to forget you're running a beta, installing the SP1 beta puts a removable evaluation version number stamp on your desktop.

a subscribers-only report in the Wall Street Journal says that Yahoo's board has decided to reject Microsoft's takeover offer. The NYTimes offers the only other independent reporting so far confirming this claim. The report says that Yahoo will formally reject the offer in a letter on Monday, since they believe it "massively undervalues" the company. Microsoft offered $31 per share, a 62% premium on the stock price at the time, for Yahoo; but the latter believes that no offer below $40 per share is tenable.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/technology/09cnd-yahoo.html?_r=1&ex=1360299600&en=0a10211874f4e291&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

YouTube Hack! Get the Youtube direct download link without using any website or windows application.

1. Go to the Youtube video that you want to download. and Right Click to the vacant space->View source

2. Press CTRL+F, and type "watch_fullscreen?"

3.  Copy the next String starting from "Video_id=...." up to "title" only, no more "=" character at the end.

Example:

video_id=8ZEzNQ-CoV0&l=375&t=OEgsToPDskJn0I7mio7H8261dbG7AW5c&sk=9CjRopcFAKzQ8Pb8lNLXwwC&fs=1&title

4. Direct Download link:

http://www.youtube.com/get_video? + COPIED string

http://www.youtube.com/get_video?video_id=8ZEzNQ-CoV0&l=375&t=OEgsToPDskJn0I7mio7H8261dbG7AW5c&sk=9CjRopcFAKzQ8Pb8lNLXwwC&fs=1&title

Enjoy!

Any blogs or articles that will use this guide/hack, Please give credit to this BlogSite, Example:

"SOURCE: unlockforus.blogspot.com" or

"Thanks to http://unlockforus.blogspot.com"

Microsoft loves Aurora's in Windows Vista. They hide an amazing boot screen that can easily be enabled. And they provide a tool for 3D benchmarks that uses aurora animation.

Windows Aurora? Enjoy!

1. 3D benchmarks
a. In the start menu search box, type "winsat aurora"

2. Hidden Aurora Boot Screen  

a. Type msconfig into the start menu search box, and press enter.

b. Go to the Boot Tab and check the "No GUI boot" checkbox option.

Choose OK and reboot your computer. Now, you will see the Aurora boot screen while starting.

A wave of bugs in the plug-in technology used by Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer browser has some security experts, including those at US-CERT, recommending that users disable all ActiveX controls.
The U. S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, put it bluntly in advisories posted in the last two days: "US-CERT encourages users to disable ActiveX controls as described in the Securing Your Web Browser document," the organization recommended.
US-CERT's advice was prompted by multiple vulnerabilities in high-profile ActiveX components used by members of Facebook and MySpace and by users of Yahoo Inc.'s music services.
Three new vulnerabilities in the photo uploader software used by both Facebook and MySpace were disclosed yesterday by researcher Elezar Broad, who on Monday also posted sample attack code for a pair of critical bugs in Yahoo's Music Jukebox. Last week, Broad had pinned the Facebook and MySpace ActiveX controls with two other flaws. All five of the Facebook/MySpace vulnerabilities originated with an ActiveX control developed by Aurigma Inc.
As the number of vulnerabilities mounted, security professionals began ringing the alarm. On Monday, for instance, Symantec analysts urged users to "use caution when browsing the Web" and told IT administrators to disable the relevant ActiveX controls by setting several "kill bits" in the Windows registry.

US-CERT, however, offered up more aggressive advice as it recommended users move IE's security level to the "High" setting, which completely disables all ActiveX controls. Setting IE's security level to 'High' disables all ActiveX controls. To get here, select Internet Options from the Tools menu, then click on the Security tab. Click Internet at the top for the zone, then move the slider up to the maximum.
"That's the easiest way to protect yourself," agreed Oliver Friedrichs, director of Symantec Corp.'s security response group. "But it can also have an adverse impact on your browsing experience." A compromise, said Friedrichs, would be to disable "only those plug-ins that pose a current and imminent threat," such as the flawed ActiveX controls used by Facebook, MySpace and Yahoo.
Disabling individual ActiveX controls, however, requires editing the Windows registry. That's too scary for most home users to contemplate, but business users are another matter. "That approach is hard to argue against in the enterprise," said Friedrichs, who noted that there are tools available that let corporate IT administrators push registry changes -- including new keys that disable specific ActiveX controls -- to all users.

The SANS Institute's Internet Storm Center acknowledged that setting kill bits is beyond the ken of most users; one of its researchers came up with a graphical interface-based tool that sets and clears the kill bits of six ActiveX controls that have been tagged with bugs in the past week. The free tool can be downloaded at the ISC's Web site. The SANS Institute's free 'kill bit' tool provides checkbox-simple settings to disable half a dozen ActiveX controls. It's much easier than monkeying with the Windows registry.

More...

Submited in a comment today. The project looks great. So, we are giving it its own place:
Welcome to the .NET Mass Downloader project. While it’s great that Microsoft has released the .NET Reference Source Code, you can only get it one file at a time while you’re debugging. If you’d like to batch download it for reading or to populate the cache, you’d have to write a program that instantiated and called each method in the Framework Class Library. Fortunately, .NET Mass Downloader comes to the rescue!

http://www.codeplex.com/NetMassDownloader

Microsoft is planning to bring the sexy, uh, the scripting back to Visual Basic.
In a talk entitled “Bringing Scripting (Back) to Visual Basic” at the Lang.Net conference here Jan. 31, Paul Vick, Microsoft’s principal architect for Visual Basic said now that his team has shipped Visual Basic 2008, “We found ourselves looking back a lot.”

More...

This news is hitting the internet pretty rapidly. Microsoft have offered to buy Yahoo! for $44.6 billion! This move is to try and bolster Microsoft's position in the online services market in its continuing battle with Google. In some aspects, this move can be seen as a shock, but in others, it isn't, after all, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger users have been able to talk to each other for quite some time now. It will be interesting to see how this plays out and what it offers. I'm sure there will be many more discussions on this to come.