Another *ware!

Anthony has just received a book through the post called Crimeware.

Small note: The star refers to the old DOS wildcard. A star can represent any number of characters. So *ware can represent malware, nastyware, adware, hateware, etc

Posted by Tim Smith on May 16, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

We must not think of the things we could do with, but only of the things that we can't do without.

This is one of my favourite quotes from Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome (download or read online at Manybooks.net) as George, Harris and J are deciding what to pack for their holiday. It seems to be increasingly relevant when it comes to the software already installed on computers or included in driver downloads.

For example, I had to download a driver for an hp scanner the other day and was amazed to discover that the download was 120MB in size. It's not just the driver but all the extra software that want to helpful that goes with it.

Lifehacker ran an interesting article on the subject asking readers what programs they would never install.

It might be a slightly negative approach but too many 'good ideas' about what to include with software just drain performance, or take ages to download.

Posted by Tim Smith on May 16, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Commercial games now released as freeware

Gaming is no longer the very expensive business it once was if you are willing to stick with slightly older graphics. Given the cost of high end graphics cards and computers this is often an advantage.

In fact there is even no need to go rooting through the bargain bins in games shops (though I strong recommend the No One Lives Forever series) as plenty of games are available at no cost.

Wikipedia has a useful list of commercial games released as freeware. Good selections of older games can also be found at Abandonia and Home of the Underdogs. Older DOS games may also benefit from the use of DOSBox, see their site for a list of supported games.

Posted by Tim Smith on May 15, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Microsoft antiphising advice

It's hard to know at what point repeating advice about phishing does more harm than good as it becomes background noise but there are some useful tips to be found on the Microsoft antiphishing site.

Always double check links in emails before clicking on them. In fact I would go further than that to say never left-click on a link in an email. It is much better to right click on the link and copy the address to the clipboard first. Look at it for suspicious content. Otherwise enter the address of the site by hand using the address you always do. Why risk clicking on a link that purports to be from a bank if you already know the address.

Instant Messaging is also risky now. For example I managed to rickroll someone by changing the text displayed for the link to something other than the link itself. We had all just assumed that the Instant Messages were plain text and the software automatically created the links when it detected an URL. In fact the messages are HTML so it is possible to have a different link to the text that is displayed. I also got caught out by clicking on a link that installed a Trojan.

Posted by Tim Smith on May 15, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Parental controls on media players

The good thing about Parental Advisory labels is that they warn about inappropriate content on music albums. The bad thing about them is that they make the album all the more attractive!

There are family safety settings built into the Microsoft Zune player, assuming both you and said child have Windows Live IDs. The controls can also be used to block premium content, effectively blocking all purchases from the Marketplace.

Full instructions can be found on the Microsoft web site.

Posted by Tim Smith on May 14, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Maybe XP SP3 problems are not Microsoft's fault

Well that's what they seem to be suggesting according to this article. It claims that some of the endless reboot problems are actually caused by manufacturers not installing Windows properly.

The problem happens on some AMD systems because they had Intel drivers installed. More technical details from Microsoft.

Posted by Tim Smith on May 13, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Service Pack 3 not so smooth all round

We are reading reports that there are some sporadic problems when installing XP Service Pack 3 on computers. There have been reports of problems with AMD systems.

I know this is no relief for anyone with a damaged system but it is really important to take a complete backup before making a radical change like a Service Pack.

Find out more here

Posted by Tim Smith on May 13, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Windows is not alone in being vulnerable

The most spirited discussions I read on our forums are the debates over the relative security of Linux/Mac OS compared to Windows.

Things really get heated when someone makes the claim that *nix (read Linux and Max OS) based operating systems never get viruses or vulnerabilities.

This just isn't true, as the steady trickle of updates to my Ubuntu installation proves. I'm not passing judgement on the severity of the possibility of the computer being hacked, but the vulnerabilities do exist and need to be countered.

The comments following this blog post ( Word up to Linux fan boys: Multiple Linux flaws show that Linux also has kernel issues ) reflect my experience.

Continue reading "Windows is not alone in being vulnerable"

Posted by Tim Smith on May 12, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Game of the week: Roller Coaster

Some of the best recent Flash games have been those that have stuck rigidly to the laws of physics. Roller Coaster is a good example of that. In fact, it's been produced by Cambridge University as a cross between a simulation and a game.

You start with an incline, and the aim on each level is to move the supports up and down to create the curve of a roller coaster track. You need to strike a balance between providing maximum enjoyment and not making your riders ill.

It's all done with g-forces: they need to be high enough that the riders aren't bored, but make the curves too steep and you'll injure or even kill the rider.

Posted by Anthony Dhanendran on May 12, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

OpenOffice 3 Beta: First thoughts

OpenOffice is a very impressive office suite, especially when you consider that it's free. It has had one or two rough edges compared to Microsoft Office, but there's rarely been anything I can't do with it*.

So I've been intrigued by the release of the beta of OpenOffice 3. Apart from anything else it can now open Office 2007 files. It also works natively in Mac OSX.

The icons have also been given a makeover. I hesitate to criticise a program on something like this but it can make a difference, and I've noticed that both Ubuntu and Suse have got their own icon sets that look better. Sad to say though it does make a difference for many people.

OpenOffice are still at pains to remind everyone that this is a beta and not suitable for day to day use or important documents. I've not had any problems so far thankfully.

OpenOffice 3 Beta can be downloaded from the OpenOffice website.

*Well there was once, I tried to get a simple Function I created in Excel to work and it refused all my efforts to do so. Having tried it again in OO3 it now works - much excitement.

Posted by Tim Smith on May 9, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)