I’m sure it’s not the biggest challenge facing Vista, but it is a small example of people finding utility from and an affinity for Microsoft’s older Windows versions. What do you think, is it an anthem for XP’s enduring quality or a swan song for an operating system on the precipice of extinction? I’ve included the video below.

]]> http://www.skermanet.com/?feed=rss2&p=322 0 http://www.skermanet.com/?p=320 http://www.skermanet.com/?p=320#comments Sun, 29 Aug 2010 01:58:49 +0000 admin http://www.skermanet.com/?p=320 “At most businesses, IT is not core. I’m not in the IT business to make money, I’m here to enable (my company) to win,” said Bob Rudy, vice president and CIO for semiconductor designer Avago Technologies in San Jose.

Now, they can let those people continue to use Outlook but allow IT managers to move completely away from Exchange servers. “We’ve made it pretty easy to exchange your Exchange server for Google,” Girouard said.

Google’s eye is squarely on Microsoft’s cozy position in the enterprise when it comes to products such as Google Apps. Around 1.75 million businesses are using Google Apps, Girouard said, although he declined to clarify how many of those businesses are Premier Edition customers.

Google has developed a way to help companies move onto Google Apps–and away from Microsoft’s Exchange e-mail software–without forcing a migration to the Gmail user interface.

(Credit:
Tom Krazit/CNET News)

However, there apparently is a sizable enough number of workers that refuse to move off Outlook, meaning that IT directors who want to sign up with Google were forced to maintain a Microsoft Exchange server to placate those folks while moving everybody else to Gmail. An alternative where Outlook users are connected to Gmail through IMAP got the job done, but at the expense of a severe performance hit, said Chris Vander Mey, a senior product manager with Google.

Google is trying to expand its presence inside the world’s corporate IT departments with products like Google Apps, which the company says offers a cheaper and more reliable alternative to traditional IT software companies. Quoting data from Forrester, Google’s David Girouard, president of Enterprise products, said companies who chose to use Google’s hosted Gmail service save about $17 per user per month as compared to companies that build and host their own e-mail servers.

The plug-in only works for Outlook users on Windows;
Mac users on Entourage will have to wait.

CIOs invited by Google to a press event in San Francisco were naturally bullish on Google’s version of cloud computing, and downplayed any concerns about security, reliability or the loss of a competitive advantage when it comes to giving up control of their IT.

Google's Dave Girouard discusses how Google is making a play for more and more business customers for Google Apps.

Microsoft’s Outlook has been the dominant e-mail client within the business world for years, and Google’s new Apps Sync for Outlook plug-in acknowledges that some business workers just aren’t ready to give up that familiar interface, even if their CIOs are anxious to get everybody onto Google’s version of the cloud. Businesses who have already signed up for Google Apps Premier Edition–as well as Education Edition customers–will be able to roll out this plug-in across their networks and allow Outlook messages, contacts, and calendar appointments to sync with Google Apps.

Together, Kaminsky and the vendors set a date of July 8 in which they would collectively announce and roll out the patches. In the meantime, additional steps were taken, such as notifying US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team) and CERTs in other nations, to minimize the possibility of criminals using the July 8 announcement to cause DNS havoc.

(Credit:
Declan McCullagh / CNET News)

Kaminsky said he will release more details in time for Black Hat 2008, to be held August 7 and 8 in Las Vegas.

What he did next is remarkable: he waited. Instead of selling the vulnerability to a company like TippingPoint through its program Zero Day Initiative, wherein the company would then handle the vendor contact and resolution, Kaminsky took the responsible step of contacting the most affected vendors himself. He discussed with them how best to address the flaw that resides at the most fundamental level of how the DNS currently works.

On Tuesday, security researcher Dan Kaminsky of IO Active calmly explained in a conference call with security reporters how he first stumbled upon a pervasive flaw deep within the Domain Name System (DNS), a series of servers used to translate common Internet names to IP addresses. Kaminsky said he wasn’t even looking for a security vulnerability. What he found, however, could explain how criminal hackers have been able to redirect DNS queries recently.

In the meantime he’s set a high standard for responsible vulnerability disclosure.

DNS servers translate a popular name such as CNET.com into its numeric IP address. There are 13 principal servers and many subservers located throughout the world to speed the process of IP resolution. Usually a DNS look-up query is assigned a random translation ID, but Kaminsky observed that when a vulnerable DNS server is able to perform recursive DNS queries, it was possible to guess the transaction ID and redirect the result.

DNS queries currently offer a transaction ID that is one of 65,000 possible values. The ID is supposed to be there on every legitimate response. But Kaminsky and others noticed that some weren’t particularly random. What has been discovered is that 65,000 is just not enough, said Kaminsky.

At Tuesday’s press conference, Kaminsky refused to provide details about the flaw, preferring to give additional vendors and administrators affected at least 30 days to create or implement the patches.

Dan Kaminsky at DefCon in 2006

Every query has a transaction ID between 0 and 65,000, and the reply must contain the transaction ID. Thus, it may be possible to guess these transaction ID values in advance and insert a malicious server as the authoritative DNS server for a popular bank or e-commerce site.

The IP protocol has a system for sending small messages and there are various headers. He said think of the source port in this case as a return address on an envelope; it’s extra data in addition to the message you are sending. He said you can sign your name on the letter itself. You can also sign your name on the envelope as well. The patch does something similar with the translation IDs.

After applying the patch, Kaminsky said, the transaction ID would now contain the correct transaction ID plus the correct source port, a random identifier located at a different layer in the IP packet. He said when discussing remediation of the flaw the only place they could go for additional randomness within the current infrastructure was the source port. This would increase the size of the translation ID from, say, 16 bits to 32 bits, he said.

This option will be available on XPS 630, 720 H2C, and M1730 systems. After June 26th, Windows XP will no longer be offered on currently available Inspiron laptops and desktops.

After June 26 you have the option to purchase
Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate with a downgrade service to Windows XP Professional.

Per the Microsoft Windows Life-Cycle policy, Direct OEM and Retail License Availability for Windows XP will End-Of-Life (EOL) on June 30, 2008. To meet Microsoft’s June 30 last-day-to-ship OEM Windows XP deadline, we are able to offer the opportunity to purchase a Dell desktop with an OEM Windows XP license until June 26 at 5:59 AM CT.

Just when you thought it was the end of the line for Windows XP (well, except for netbooks, individual system builders, etc.), mega PC-maker Dell has granted the operating system a reprieve, moving back the deadline (”extended by popular demand”) for ordering one of a handful of XP systems until Thursday, June 26. Originally, Dell said the last day to order a system with an OEM copy of XP preinstalled was going to be June 18 but now says:

LAS VEGAS–Verizon Communications is boosting speeds for its Fios fiber-to-the-home service, the company plans to announce Wednesday.

Verizon will also upgrade its mid-tier offering increasing speeds from 15Mbps/2Mbps to 20Mbps/5Mbps. And the low-end service will increase from 5Mbps/2Mbps to 10Mbps/2Mbps.

Verizon had already been offering these speeds in certain markets such as Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York. But now the service will be expanded to Verizon’s entire Fios customer base, which is spread throughout its 16-state territory. Previously Fios in these states, such as Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, topped out at 30Mbps/15Mbps and 15Mbps/15Mbps.

“The appetite for bandwidth shows no sign of slowing down,” Strigl said in a statement. “Neither will we. We’ve already had successful trials of the 100-megabit home, which will be a reality faster than anybody thinks.”

The company’s COO Denny Strigl is expected to announce the speed upgrades during his keynote speech at the NxtComm trade show here. The upgrades come as Verizon customers use more bandwidth intensive applications such as video downloading and photo sharing.

Just looking at technology-related companies, federal agencies have successfully brought fraud and related charges against executives of Adelphia, Amkor, Anicom, Apple, AremisSoft, Brocade, Cendant, Comverse, Computer Associates, Dynegy, Enron, Enterasys, Homestore, Imclone, Impath, Integrated Silicon Solution, Juniper, KLA-Tencor, Monster, Network Associates (McAfee), Prudential Securities, Qwest, Refco, Tyco, U.S. Wireless, and WorldCom.

In any case, whether you’re an investor, an employee, or a customer of any company involved in a fraud investigation, like it or not, know it or not, you’re paying a corporate fraud tax.

It’s hard to quantify the carnage, but it’s clearly material on a company by company basis, and over a trillion dollars in aggregate if you include loss of market capitalization.

There are also recent allegations against former Broadcom and AOL Time Warner executives, plus ongoing international investigations into Nortel’s ex-CEO and CFO, Samsung’s chairman, and executives of Siemens AG.

Corporate fraud didn’t start with Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom and it didn’t end with them, either. Fraud is rampant in the technology industry. What most employees, investors, and consumers don’t realize is how much it costs them.

Excuse me for stating the obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people think there’s some magic pile of dough somewhere that pays for companies to comply with investigations, contest charges, and remedy issues. In fact, the costs are born primarily by the corporation. That means it comes right out of shareholders’ and employees’ pockets. Consumers also pay, albeit indirectly.

Whenever I write about fraud at technology companies, I get the sense that there’s ambivalence among the IT audience. Frankly, I think that’s sad. I’m outraged. In fact, the risk is so high that I no longer invest in individual company’s stock, only in ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds).

Then there’s the unquantifiable cost of management distraction.

And yes, we’re talking about costs that materially impact earnings, balance sheets, and cash flow. We’re talking about internal and outside lawyers, accountants, consultants, crisis PR, D&O (directors and officers) insurance, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, exit packages, and even recruiting costs to replace executives.

The Corporate Fraud Task Force claims more than 1,300 corporate fraud convictions since its inception less than six years ago. That includes more than 200 CEOs and presidents, 50 CFOs, and 120 vice presidents. That’s a lot of fraud.

Of course, the biggest cost is in terms of loss of market capitalization.

“If one of your friends did something on the Web, and you don’t know about it, did it actually happen?” Morin asked jokingly. But on a more serious note, Facebook Connect could be a formidable threat to social aggregators like FriendFeed if it’s deployed widely across the Web. But sites like FriendFeed simply rely on RSS (Really Simple Syndication). Facebook Connect requires active partnerships. That’s why Morin’s talk was such an important sales pitch for the company: the developer-heavy audience was full of the people whom Morin and his colleagues need to convert.

As for privacy, something that has been a big topic for critics of data-portability projects, Morin said Facebook Connect will provide a benefit rather than a drawback. “What we’re trying to do here,” he said, “is putting the user fully in control. On Facebook, users have a robust set of privacy settings. With Facebook Connect, those privacy settings can transfer directly to your site. We think that’s really powerful.”

(Credit:
Facebook)

Demonstrating the integration of Facebook Connect using an internally created sample site called “The Run Around” (it logs workouts) as well as a smattering of examples from partners like Red Bull, Digg, Six Apart, and CBS (which publishes CNET News), Morin emphasized that it’s an extremely simple process for developers.

Fewer went up when Morin then asked the crowd how many had used Facebook Connect, the company’s new data-portability initiative. It’s live now, he said.

The Run Around, an app created by Facebook to test its Facebook Connect project.

Facebook unveiled Facebook Connect in May amid a flurry of other companies’ data-portability announcements, like Google’s Friend Connect and MySpace’s Data Availability, which has partners like Yahoo and eBay. A few Facebook Connect partners have rolled out already, and others have announced concrete plans–like blog network Gawker Media, which says that commenters will soon be able to use their Facebook log-in credentials.

LONDON–A lot of hands in the audience went up at the Future of Web Apps conference when Facebook senior platform manager Dave Morin kicked off his talk at the conference with the question “How many people have built something on Facebook Platform before?”

Your brain lies to you, says the NY Times in an Op-ed piece about the upcoming elections. For me, the article illuminates some of the implications of the social-media world where information flies at you from every direction. You don’t know what’s true or false and odds are you can’t handle the volume of information in a manner that lets you process it effectively.

With time, this misremembering only gets worse. A false statement from a noncredible source that is at first not believed can gain credibility during the months it takes to reprocess memories from short-term hippocampal storage to longer-term cortical storage. As the source is forgotten, the message and its implications gain strength.

I find myself following my Twitter list and posting my own inanities having little to no idea if there are implications or if what anyone posts is actually true. This requires a level of diligence that the brain isn’t necessarily prepared to deal with as well as a level of attention that goes beyond being a communications utility and into a part-time job.

Personally, this Twitter thing was fun for a while but it has become a burden.

Basically you hear or learn something, the brain processes it multiple times and by the time its fully part of your brain you’ve forgotten where it came from.

In the wake of Nottenburg’s resignation, according to The Wall Street Journal, Motorola Labs will be directed by Dan Moloney, who leads the company’s home and networks mobility business.

In April, Motorola posted a quarterly loss of $194 million. Weeks earlier, under pressure from investors such as Icahn, the struggling company announced that it would split into two publicly traded companies, one handling handsets and accessories, and the other taking on wireless broadband networks and enterprise-level communications services.

Nottenburg’s departure, announced on Thursday to employees in an internal memo, according to Motorola spokeswoman Jennifer Erickson, follows the replacements of CEO Ed Zander in January, acting CFO Tom Meredith in February, and mobile-devices head Stu Reed and marketing head Casey Keller in March, along with treasurer Steve Strobel and EMEA mobile-devices head Mike Fenger.

The doors of the cell phone maker’s executive offices seem to have been revolving nonstop since activist investor Carl Icahn, who took a leading role in the Microsoft-Yahoo merger fracas late this week, began his successful pursuit of Motorola board seats.

The latest executive to leave Motorola: Rich Nottenburg, chief strategy and technology officer.

“(Nottenburg) left to return to the New York area to be with his family and pursue other opportunities,” Erickson told Reuters.

Is mobile Linux’s game to lose?

A quick look at the Nuvi 8xx source code indicates that the devices run a 2.6.17.7 Linux kernel on a Marvell “Monahans” processor, likely either the Marvell PXA-300 or -310. The kernel seems configured to use 64MB of RAM, and to be patched with Steven Rostedt’s real-time patches.

The devices are based on GNOME Mobile, and continue to suggest that while Linux may not have won much on the traditional desktop, it may well rule the next generation of web-top and embedded devices.

LinuxDevices has uncovered an impressive fact about Garmin’s Nuvi (8xx and 5xxx series) GPS devices:

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