Monday, December 24, 2007

The 15 Biggest Tech Disappointments of 2007

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140583-page,1-c,techindustrytrends/article.html

#15. Box Unpopuli: Amazon Unbox


#14. Screwed up to the Max: Municipal WiMax


#13. Web 2 Woe: Social Networks


#12. Just Another Oxymoron: Internet Security


#11. Singing an Old Familiar Zune: Microsoft Zune


#10. Is Anyone Listening?: Wireless Carriers


#9. Sorry, We Already Gave: Office 2007


#8. Needs To Change Its Spots: Apple "Leopard" OS 10.5


#7. Cannot be Completed as Dialed: Voice Over IP


#6. Un-Neutral: The Broadband Industry


#5. The Great, The Bad, The Ugly: Apple iPhone

  • 3G will be faster, but wifi is a plus.
  • Apple found a cheaper supplier. I have no sympathy for those who want to be on the bleeding edge.
  • People hacked their phones, again, no sympathy, warranty is voided.
  • Not sure, but I am thinking Apple will have many more problems once they open it to 3rd party apps.

#4. In a Sorry State: Yahoo


#3. The Anti-Social Network: Facebook Beacon


#2. What Is It Good For: The High-Def Format War

#1. No Wow, No How: Windows Vista

  • Ok, so my mother-in-law loaded an old XP printer driver that caused the printer to not work. There was NO WAY to get rid of the driver or to reinstall it. We had to use the system restore DVD. Is this an improvement???
  • Maybe someone has to figure-out the hard way that repeated prompts are not good!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Don't Trust the "Peek Squad"

Do you ever use the Geek Squad or drop-off your computer for repairs? How much do you trust the people who are doing the repairs?

In a recent news report, the Geek Squad found child pornography on a computer that was sent for repairs and the customer was turned over to the police. While a crime was committed in this case, don't assume that any of your data is safe when letting someone else look at your computer. Computer repair shops have been noted to steal all types of media (music, movies, photos, etc.) from computers entrusted to them and are known to some in cyberspace as the Peek Squad.

In this age of Identity Theft, anyone with physical access to your computer can easily log onto your online bank accounts or other financial institutions. If you use your web browser to store account ID and password information, a user can easily open your browser and log onto your web sites. The user can also download browser password-cracking tools so they can copy all of your ID and password information, even if you use a master password in Firefox to protect your password list.

A good way of combating this is to use an external password manager that integrates with your web browser. The password list is encrypted and protected by use of a master password. Password-cracking tools for the external password managers may be available, but are more difficult to find than the tools for cracking the web browser password managers. The external password managers automate form entry on multiple web browsers, similar to web browser password form automation. After installing the external password manager, it is recommended to disable web browser password functionality as it will now be available with the external tool. As an added benefit, an external password manager can also provide anti-keylogging and anti-phishing control.

Ensure you use solid password creation practices, making your passwords harder to crack. If you need to encrypt sensitive data, third-party encryption tools can also be used.


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References

The "Peek Squad"
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/07/computer_repair_1.html
http://consumerist.com/consumer/geek-squad/were-always-looking-for-porn-on-customers-computers-techies-confirm-257309.php

Web Browser Password Manager Concerns
http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1882

Web Browser Password Recovery Tools
http://www.majorgeeks.com/SpotIE_Password_Recovery_d5662.html
http://www.tech-faq.com/internet-explorer-stored-password-recovery.shtml
http://www.darknet.org.uk/2006/06/firemaster-21-a-firefox-master-password-recovery-tool/

External Password Manager and Automation Tools
http://www.roboform.com/ (Windows)
http://1password.com (Mac)

How to Disable Web Browser Password Caching
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/229940 (IE)
http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/options

Anti-Keylogging and Anti-Phishing Control
http://www.roboform.com/anti-keylogger.html
http://www.roboform.com/anti-phish.html

Password Tips
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/computer-repair-cracking-passwords.html
http://www.firefoxtutor.com/61/securing-firefox-passwords/

Encryption Tools
http://na.pgpstore.com/product.aspx?sku=3118544
http://sectools.org/crypto.html

Monday, December 17, 2007

Microsoft may become the New Apple

A comparison between Microsoft Media Player 11 and Apple iTunes:


MicrosoftApple
Music SoftwareMedia Player 11iTunes
Runs onWindows onlyOS X & Windows
Download ServicesMultiple PartnersApple iTunes Store
Media PlayersMultiple PartnersApple iPod

According to Paul Thurrot, Windows Media Player 11 "is a microcosm of the wider Windows world. There's a lot of hand-holding, multiple wizards to wade through, and some silly how-to videos to fumble with when you connect a new device for the first time (assuming you use the device's install CD)...the WMA-based world is getting better, but it's nowhere near the effortless sophistication of the iPod." (SuperSite for Windows http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/wmp11.asp).

It actually appears that Microsoft wants to become the next Apple, case in point is the Zune. Don't be surprised if Microsoft cuts partner support on Media Player in the future, just as they have for any other 3rd party products that become merged into Windows. Microsoft already states that 3rd party DRM-enabled content cannot be exported from Media Player into the Zune software (http://www.zune.net/en-US/products/zunesoftware/default.htm).

The previous comparison can now be shown as this:



MicrosoftApple
Music SoftwareZune SoftwareiTunes
Runs onWindows onlyOS X & Windows
Download ServicesZune MarketplaceApple iTunes Store
Media PlayersMicrosoft ZuneApple iPod

The latest Zune players are noted in the press to be a very competitive offering. If the Zune takes off, don't be surprised if you have to go back to the OS-level to copy your media files to/from your non-Zune media player. Windows Media Player will either go back to becoming only a media player or will not be updated for new third party media player support. The Zune Software will become Microsoft's flagship product for media player integration, but only for its own players. In turn, Microsoft will have a closed solution just like Apple with iTunes/iPod.


Posted to Internet Revolution, 12/17/2007