Java, BlackBerry Desktop Get Security Bug Fixes

Sun Microsystems and Research In Motion have issued critical bug fixes for security issues with their products.
The patches were issued separately on Tuesday, with Sun releasing version 6 Update 17 of its Java Runtime Environment and BlackBerry updating its BlackBerry Desktop Software, used to sync data between the BlackBerry and a PC.
Both updates include fixes for critical security bugs that could be abused by attackers to run unauthorized software on a victim's computer, although none of the flaws appear to have been publicly known before Tuesday.
Sun patched 12 Java bugs in total, including flaws that could be exploited to crash a computer or allow untrusted applications to run as though they were trusted.
Sun estimates that there are about 800 million Java desktop users worldwide, so Sun's updates are important. Hackers have increasingly turned to third party software such as Java as Microsoft has made it harder to attack the core Windows operating system.
There is just one BlackBerry bug fix. The problem lies in a Lotus Notes DLL that is included by default in all BlackBerry Desktop 5.0 and earlier installations. RIM warned that the flaw could be used to run unauthorized software on a victim's PC.
As with the worst of the Java bugs, an attacker could take advantage of the BlackBerry bug by first tricking the victim to visit a specially crafted Web page.

Will New Internet Domain Names Change the Web?

Finally, the World Wide Web will live up to its name. The decision by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) that Web sites written in Russian, Chinese, Arabic, and other non-ASCII character sets will be able to have their Internet domain names displayed in their own languages truly makes the Web a global worldwide network. For the past 40 years (the Internet turned 40 this week) the Internet and the Web have been the exclusive domain of English language addresses. For non-English-speaking countries, it has been the real-world equivalent to forcing them to use English language stationary. No longer will entire countries be forced to use Latin-based characters and their Web addresses and e-mail addresses will now be as recognizable as their telephone book. The move is being heralded by ICANN as the biggest technical change to the Internet since its birth.

A Truly Worldwide Wed

For that reason many around the world are cheering the move as a way of opening up Internet access to more people.
"The net result will be an expansion of the Internet in terms of resources and users. Small local businesses are likely to benefit as their Internet and e-mail address can now be in their own local language," according to a writer for Asia Times Online.
The Korea Herald pointedly quoted ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom as saying the new Internet names are "very important not only for more than half of the current [Internet] users but also for half of the Internet users to come."
More than 50 percent of the current total of 1.6 billion Internet users speak languages that aren't Latin-based, according to widely used estimates.

World Wide Web of Babel

Yet on the other hand, the new names carry risks for new security concerns and general user confusion. Some fear the Web might grow increasingly fragmented into areas easily accessible only to those conversant in local languages.
There are certainly lots of languages in the world, a problem mythologized in the Biblical tale of the fall of the Tower of Babel, in which God punished people by scattering them across the face of the Earth and splitting the human language into many different tongues.
Google, the world's leading search engine, now does support searches conducted with the use of Korean and Arabic character sets, for instance.
But ICANN's actions, although well intended, also raise nuts-and-bolts questions that are yet to be answered.
How will you be able to type the domain names of international Web sites when your keyboard doesn't support their character sets?
It would be logistically just about impossible for a PC maker to supply a keyboard supporting the Western "ABC" alphabet, along with the disparate character sets used in all of these tongues, for example: Japanese, Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Cyrillic, and the Central and European languages.
It's true that you can download fonts used in these languages, along with "virtual keyboard layouts" that spare you the need to buy separate physical keyboards.
But things can get very dicey here. For instance, Russian keyboards are reportedly slightly different on Windows and Mac PCs.
And to handle the virtual keyboards with much efficiency, you need to put special stickers on your keys. Just how many virtual keyboards and sets of stickers is anyone supposed to have on hand in the house or office?
It looks as though we could see the development of a whole new class of Web domains that most people won't be able to get to easily -- even though they might be able to find those Web sites with a search engine.
Certainly language translation services and technology may be the biggest winners with today's news. I predict both will flourish along with an international land grab for variations of the word "sex" dot-com.

Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala

Distrowatch: http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=ubuntu
Homepage: http://www.ubuntu.com/
Wiki: https://help.ubuntu.com/9.10/index.html (Currently not implemented as still in Alpha stage)
Forums: http://ubuntuforums.org/
Download Location: Torrent – http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/karmic/alpha-4/karmic-desktop-amd64.iso.torrent This release is being tested on a laptop:
eMachines
AMD Mobile Athlon 64bit 3000+ (1.8Gb)
1Gb RAM
Ati Mobility Radeon 9600 (128Mb)
Broadcom Wireless Network Card (Using ZyDAS USB2 wireless as Broadcom B43 drivers not available as standard)
1280X800 Widescreen Monitor
US keyboard
Download and Install
I chose to download the iso via torrent using Deluge on Ubuntu 9.04.
Once downloaded I Md5sum checked the iso and used Brasero to burn the iso at 4X speed.
Reboot and choose “Install Ubuntu” as I have a spare testing partition (Ext4 35Gb).
I went through the familiar install routine of keyboard, timezone, name, password etc and chose my already formatted partition and clicked to install.
Touchpad not fully functional during install
First problem noticed – My touchpad mouse has no tap to click enabled. I had to use the Left Mouse Button at the bottom. As far as I know that always worked before during installs. This was remedied once I booted to the desktop via the System > Preferences > Mouse configure application, and I just need to click the checkbox to enable tapping.
Install and reboot was very fast
The install process was very fast, as an impatient distro-tester, Ubuntu installs always got me a bit on edge, but this install was fast. Obviously the main install of any distro is the transfer of the “usr” (Unix System Resources) files which is usally about 90% of the entire install. I haven’t checked if this Alpha 4 release is missing any major apps yet, but I was impressed with the speed.

First Boot
I was greeted with a new Login Box, so Ubu KK continues with the image changes which happen each release. I get to the desktop and…… Yes! That awful brown isn’t there, I have noticed that oranges, reds and blacks are getting darker and that (shiddy – for want of a better word) brown is getting darker too. I know we can change the theme and the wallpaper, but it’s that “first impressions” thing. Anybody I have shown Ubuntu to has always commented on the awful brown theme, but there you go. 

Usual Ubuntu first boot “happenings”
There is a new “Palimpsest Disk Utility” on the top panel. It popped up to tell me one of my discs are failing. This is an 80Gb laptop hardrive, with a 10Gb Ext3 partition with Backtrack3 installed, then two 35Gb Ext4’s for Ubu JJ and KK and 1Gb Swap. I regularly run the disc-checker and no other distro has complained, so I don’t know what the problem is.

Restricted Drivers/Hardware
No Restricted Hardware Drivers Manager popped up to let me know that my Broadcom B43 wireless is strictly prohibited and punishable by death. Ok, joking, but I just think the no wireless firmware/drivers thing is just stupid now, especially as Gnome comes with Mono and its proprietary Microsoft code. Luckily for Atheros users we now have ath5/9k as even the use of Hal by Madwifi’s ath_pci was a shootable offense.
Clicky Explore Time
So time to go hunting new apps and seeing how fast this new release is. It’s fast. Yup, rich said “Ubuntu-Is-Fast”. I know, I surprised myself! Well, granted this is the 64bit edition and I am using Ext4 which should help, but the menus, apps (even Firefox!) open quickly, it all has a smooth feel to it as well. This is still the “first impressions” stage, and I have known Ubuntu to do a Windows and start to slow down after a week or so of use, but it still feels snappy. Talking of Firefox, remember when you had to manually install Flash? Well, I went to Youtube and got
a cool Flash pop-up offering me Gnome Flash, Gnash Flash and Adobe Flash. So, better the devil you know, I went for Adobe Flash which incidentally arrived with some baggage, 14 extra packages to be exact.

Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala 64bit Alpha 4 – Distro Test Stage 2 – Post Install Changes
Network Manager Vs Wicd
I dislike Network Manager and Nmapplet, and remove it as soon as it has served its purpose, which just happens to be so that I can replace it with Wicd! It helps to get me to its Nemesis
Network Manager for me has always caused problems, forums are full of support threads asking how to get it to connect with wireless Wep/Wpa etc. I guess it improves each release, and i didn’t have any problems connecting this time round, but I just hate having to keep removing the “autoconnects” as I use different Essids on my laptop and like to choose each time. As it happens, on Wicd I can manually choose any Essid for autoconnection, but that’s my choice. NM seems to just take over and do it anyway.
Wicked Theme from Hp !!
Did you notice the theme in my screenshots? I was looking around for a dark theme with blue in it, and I stumbled across the Default theme that is used on Hp machines that come with Ubuntu preinstalled, and is called Glassy-Bleu. It has to be the best looking Gnome theme i have seen for a long time. Probably as sexy as Dreamlinux’s Mac Style themes, but that would be like comparing apples and bananas, different fruit altogether, but very tasty!.

Theme can be found here: http://hpmini.archive.canonical.com
How to get and install the galssy-bleu theme:
wget http://hpmini.archive.canonical.com/mie/dists/hardy-hpmini/universe/binary-lpia/glassy-bleu-theme_21_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i ./glassy-bleu-theme_21_all.deb
Thanks to K Hendrick on Ubuntu Forums for posting THIS link.

Ubuntu One
I opened the Ubuntu One Link on the Places tab on the top panel, and opened it to find a couple of directories “My Files” and “Shared with me”, there is also a “Connect” button, but when I pressed Connect, nothing happened. I checked out the Ubuntu One documentation, and used my Launchpad account to login but nothing happened, it just kept returning to the login page, so I suppose I will be reorting my problem as they say on the ubuntu one page:

We’re currently in Beta mode and working quickly to provide a great experience. Please report any problems!,

Final Impression
I’m still using it. I installed Gftp, Thunderbird and Deluge as I wasn’t all that keen on Transmission. But that’s the beauty of Linux and having access to Ubuntu/Debian repositories. There is always an alternative application.
I have used the desktop every day for general forum, website and admin tasks and it has held up nicely. This is Alpha 4 however and things are “expected” to break so that you can report any bugs, but after several updates and a bit of tweaking, the only thing that has a bug is the shutdown process. It tends to just hang, so for the moment I hard shutdown by holding the power button down. No biggie, it’ll probably fix itself after a few more updates.
I am noticing a speed difference this time round. However……………….. Firefox is still buggy as hell when running Flash intensive sites such as Youtube. I’m just so glad that I am using an AMD processor and not having the nightmare time that many Intel users are having now.
I was/am impressed with Ubuntu 9.04 and this latest offering 9.10 is very very promising indeed. I know that there is still a while to go for the October release, but I have a feeling this is going to be quite a robust release even though it has a few new additions.

Get the Most Out of Black Friday Bargains

The words "Black Friday"--referring to the big shopping day that comes right after Thanksgiving--can trigger different emotions in people: excitement, fear, anxiety, or just plain indifference. But with our shopping tips and some planning, this year's bargain bonanza should be a breeze.

Prepare Your Shopping List

First, you need to know what to look for. According to Dealnews.com's CEO Dan de Grandpre, this year's best deals will be found on low-end netbooks, 15- or 16-inch laptops, Blu-ray players, HDTVs of various sizes, external hard drives, and name-brand LCD monitors.
Be aware of trade-offs, however: Bargain products likely won't have the specs and performance of more expensive models. Though de Grandpre predicts that some 15- or 16-inch laptops will hit stores for under $300, don't count on such a machine having a powerful processor or a lot of memory. If you're just looking for a secondary computer, however, that kind of price would amount to a great deal.
Black Friday and the holidays are the time to buy a new TV. De Grandpre advises shoppers to look for budget 46- to 47-inch 1080p LCD sets on Black Friday; prices are about 25 percent lower than a year ago. For a discounted high-end set, however, wait until a few weeks before Christmas. Retailers generally don't put higher-end products on sale during Black Friday because they know customers are looking for the cheapest products possible.

The Web Is Your Friend

Getting up at 4 a.m. and waiting in line is no longer your only option for the big day, as many sales will be found online. But be aware that the best deals might be in the weeks leading up to Black Friday or just afterward on Cyber Monday.
To get an inside scoop on when these deals will hit stores, visit dedicated Web sites such as BlackFriday.info, GottaDeal.com, FatWallet.com, and Dealnews.com, and visit frequently up until the big day. Many of these sites have newsletters or RSS feeds you can subscribe to.
BFads.net archives Black Friday ads back to 2004 and organizes them by store. It's a great tool for seeing historically how much certain products have dropped in price. You can use that information as a guideline for this year's sales.
With all these sites, however, use some caution. So-called "leaked" Black Friday ads that sometimes show up on them may be inaccurate or in­­complete, so don't jump the gun on those purported bargains.

How to Tackle the Mall

If you decide to brave the brick-and- mortar stores, go to sleep early on Thanksgiving night so you can hit the stores first thing in the morning. Double up with a family member or friend to divide and conquer larger stores and communicate via text messages on what deals are where. Look for unannounced discounts; in previous years, stores haven't advertised every product that's on sale.
Final word: Resist the temptation to sweep something up just because the vendor says it's a good deal. It doesn't matter how much you saved on a dud. Know what you want, do your research, and you'll survive the experience stress-free. And have a cool new toy or two.

Might Google Overdo?

As Google Inc.'s earnings and optimism continue to rise, analysts are cautioning the Internet giant to beware of taking costly missteps with its bankroll and its focus.
Google late last week reported that its third-quarter profit was the company's best since its founding 11 years ago. And unlike some other major tech companies, the dismal economy didn't prevent revenue growth, as sales increased by 7% from the same period last year.
With those positive numbers came news that Google plans to hire a few thousand people and to spend some of its capital on promising start-up companies. Those plans come less than a year after Google had announced plans to lay off 100 recruiters, and shutter engineering offices in Texas, Norway, and Sweden.

Industry analysts are split on whether Google's strengthening financial position is a bellwether for the rest of the technology industry. But nearly all of them cautioned that Google should maintain its focus, which they note can be a tough task for a company with coffers full of money and opportunities around every corner.
"Google is strong right now, very strong," said Dan Olds, principal analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group. "With revenue up and a huge war chest, they can make just about any move they want. This becomes even more significant in an environment where acquisition prices are at rock-bottom due to the economy. Google is a rich, fat kid in a candy store having a going-out-of-business sale'."
Olds said it can be confusing and risky to be the rich kid in such a store.
"For Google, there aren't any real constraints," he added. "They can go in any direction they want, which is dangerous. They could squander their energy trying to go in too many different directions."
Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the Enderle Group, contended that a company with cash on hand in buyer's market can be in a dangerous position. That pertains even to very successful companies like Google, he added.
"Google could generate a substantial amount of complexity over a very short period of time and run the risk of creating a company that is unmanageable," he added. "Yes, there are bargains to be had, but Google needs to show they can make past acquisitions, like YouTube, profitable. There's the feeling of throwing [stuff] against the wall in the hopes that something will stick and the result will be beneficial."
On the other hand, IDC analyst Caroline Dangson says Google needs to prove that it can be successful outside of its Internet search business . One way to do that is by acquiring companies that are creating innovative technologies that Google is not, she added.
Ezra Gottheil, an analyst at Technology Business Research Inc., said Google has shown strong discipline in the past, so it will likely avoid spreading itself too thin.
"They're practiced in acquisition," he added. "They're not about to neglect their main business. They've become more disciplined, which is helpful. In the past year, they've eliminated a number of unproductive products and initiatives, including Notebook -- a Web-based clipping file, which I miss -- and television advertising. When the market slowed down, they started to act more like a business."
Google, said Gottheil, has a lot of money and opportunity to play with, but execs there know that they need to have a plan and keep to it as well.

A Game in the Life of Windows 7

Back from the store on a storm-drizzled thursday , i'm installing the 64-bit versions of the windows 7 domestic premium upgrade as i conformation this--not without a sense of irony--on a macbook pro running snow leopard. i've had the windows 7 disentangle candidate on my desktop (build 7100) since last may. i've been using this latest-gen 15-inch macbook pro for the past month. evenly it goes for those of us who gauge our geek-fluency in proportion to our collection of computer genotypes.

Despite the sense one has of déjà vu watching the installer beam "expanding windows files , " and "setup is starting services , " on through to "completing installation , " i'm veritably a little excited. it's here. no supplementary fitful waiting or wondering if the glitch you're experiencing , e.g. "internet explorer has stopped responding , " is beta-related. the primal words are benignant , kinder than i'd expected. that's good news for all , considering how long it's been since we've had a version of windows to crow regarding or this broadly acclaimed in the stipulation.



Just navigating around , the interface seems supplementary responsive. don't confidence me--see our performance tests for the science--but that's the sense you have fissure control panel and fiddling in the device manager , copying files and running driver updates and antivirus utility installs. i calm have mixed feelings regarding aero's default visual settings. it's fair , but the fade animations introduce an singular sense of delay fissure or switching between windows. you may rotate this off under "visual effects" in the performance settings without disabling the rest of aero's 3d finery.

Why domestic premium? speaking as a guy who uses windows to game wholly , i won't miss windows xp rage , or demesne combine , or automatic backups in the "professional" version. i can't say i care regarding bitlocker drive encryption or the option to skirmish up on my french , thai , or latvian (of 35 language alternatives) in the "ultimate" version. if you need whatsoever of those matters , whack yourself out , but if you're a gamer , domestic premium covers the essentials.

A few matters calm bug me--longstanding standard windows gripes overlooked (or maybe simply grudgingly tolerated) by reviewers. i started to install aol's immediate messenger , for specimen , and changed my intellect before clicking the "install" button , yet there's now a folder called aim6 under program files (x86) with an empty "install" text file. ill-will the way sloppy (intentionally or otherwise) applications leave this sort of detritus behind? i execute. care to wager what a registry glare on 'aim' or 'aol' turns up? can't these organizations be bothered to clean up after themselves after 15 years of 'program files' and the registry?

There's calm a jot of tomfoolery going on during game installs , too. installing a steam game , i clicked the box to put a shortcut on the institute menu , expecting i'd see one under windows 7's games box as desirably. the game box? you recognise , the one-stop shortcut shop off the institute menu designed to design perusing tree-like menus cluttered with nested folders and application links? instead , i attain a shortcut under 'steam' on the institute menu and zilch in the games glower. i thought the point of these os upgrades was to un-clutter.

Anyway. i'm off to put this object through its paces and blow out my half-terabye tough drive installing things on the shelf , simply to see. matters may be looking down for pc gaming , but who may say where we'll be in a year or three? if windows 7 carries wayward at the rate it's been pre-selling , maybe it'll finally ignite publishers from their console-soused stupor to confer this grand platform the help it deserves.

http://it-crater.blogspot.com/2009/10/game-in-life-of-windows-7.html

How to Upgrade From XP to Windows 7

You had good understanding to stick with xp and skip the vista experience completely.felonious but now that the folks at microsoft hold created a new operating system that's worth moving to , felonious they haven't made the upgrade easy , felonious because you hold to perform a clean install of the os.felonious here are the issues you need to be conscious of , felonious and how to handle them.felonious then read the main article , felonious "how to upgrade to windows 7" for supplementary data on the process.

Hardware: your hardware can not be up to the task of running windows 7--and level provided it is , felonious your drivers won't labor.felonious un­­fortunately , felonious a simple upgrade install is out of the catechize , felonious too; microsoft requires that you xp users perform a clean install.

It's a good idea for anyone contemplating the upgrade to gallop the windows 7 upgrade advisor first; for xp users , felonious this step is absolutely imperative.

Upgrading your motherboard's firmware also becomes supplementary important; clog your system manufacturer's web site to see provided an upgrade is available.


Windows 7 can't implement xp drivers: clog the windows 7 compatibility center , felonious which was serene in its "coming soon" phase at the time of this writing.felonious in the meantime , felonious the vista version of the compatibility center--look for a connect on the page--can second , felonious since vista drivers labor in xp , felonious but the suitable isn't perfect.felonious some vista drivers download as felonious.exe files that gallop completely in vista.

Not all xp applications labor in vista , felonious or in windows 7 , felonious either.felonious again , felonious the compatibility centres can recite you what works , felonious what doesn't , felonious and where you can download the essential patches.

Windows xp mode: windows 7's xp style could be the resolution to your application compatibility problems.felonious this style runs xp in a virtual machine inside 7 , felonious though the user interface is supplementary integrated than in most virtual machines.felonious for instance , felonious xp and 7 applications appear together on the same desktop.

But xp style can not labor on your pc.felonious it requires a cpu with virtualization capabilities.felonious browse to the microsoft's page of directions on how to find out if your cpu has this feature and , felonious provided it does , felonious how to whirl it on.felonious xp style doesn't ship with windows 7 , felonious but it's available as a release download.felonious it also comes with a full version of xp.

One xp-to-7 issue is simply something to be conscious of: these two versions of windows store your data files in dissimilar locations.felonious the xp folder c: documents and settings is now c:users.felonious application data is now the abbreviated appdata.felonious local settingsapplication data is now appdatalocal.felonious and your music , felonious pictures , felonious and videos folders now sit be­­side my documents rather than inside it.

The windows 7 installation program moves all of your obsolete folders to a folder called c:windows.obsolete.felonious you can need to remember , felonious as you try to earn your new program installations together with your obsolete data , felonious that the outlook.pst dossier that is now in c:windows.olddocuments and settingsyourlogonlocal settingsapplication datamicrosoftoutlook belongs in the new location c:usersyourlogonappdatalocalmicrosoftoutlook.

http://it-crater.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-to-upgrade-from-xp-to-windows-7.html