According to Ollie Whitehouse, a security researcher for Symantec, a feature that is supposed to protect a normal user from running harmful software may act as a Trojan for malware and viruses.

Now from this and previous posts you'd probably think I'm anti-Vista. I'm not against the new OS, I'm against bad software. All operating systems go through a period where all the bugs and kinks are worked out, Vista is no different.

What concerns me most though is that this is the second security vulnerability reported within the past few weeks. In addition I looked at an advert in the newspaper for BestBuy and CompUSA. All the systems they are advertising come with Vista pre-loaded. Now it may be possible to get a non Vista system at these stores, I haven't checked into that yet. However the general population doesn't know that the brand new computer they just bought may not be able to run the software that they want it to, as well as put their sensitive data at risk.

I guess if you need a new computer & you don't want the security risks of Vista, you'll have to pony up some more money and buy a full version of XP. Hopefully you'd be able to find someone to wipe the hard drive and install XP.

As technical savvy as I am, I wouldn't want to tackle that job.

Read more about the newest Vista bug


Here Endeth the Lesson

Now I may have missed something but I was under the impression one of the selling points of Windows Vista, Microsoft's newest incarnation of its operating system, was it's security suite.

A privilege escalation bug was discovered by eEye Digital Security. The bug, similar to a buffer overflow problem allows users to elevate their privileges from normal user to whatever virus wrecking havoc level of user that they want.

The security flaw was found on January 9th, and reported to Microsoft on the 19th. Vista was released for retail at the end of January. Of course even if Microsoft admitted their was a security flaw, it was probably too late to change it in the copies that were shipped out.

A spokesman for Microsoft said that they are investigating the vulnerability.

Here Endeth the Lesson

The phenomenon that is MySpace is nothing new.
Humans are extremely social creatures. I'm certain that back when my ancestors were Cro-Magnons there were social groups devoted to cave paintings. Course there was probably a social network that hated cave paintings as well. As we progressed we developed more complex social groups, from Catholicism to the Freemasons.

So is it any surprise that we would transplant our social natures into the virtual world? As we go about our lives we want to be a part of something more. As a community we have more power than we would as individuals.

I've been looking into Second Life recently because the concept of creating a virtual world has always been intriguing to me. I love the books by William Gibson and Neal Stephenson; and if you think the Wachowski Brothers came up with all the stuff in the Matrix on their own, you need schooling in a subject I like to call Neuromancer 101.

I'm getting off topic though..

What I'd like to create in Second Life would take a team of developers, so it looks like I need to work on creating some social networks of my own.

Here Endeth the Lesson

I had to laugh at the new Mac commercial.

If you haven't seen it yet, check it out.
You need QuickTime installed to watch this ad.


Here Endeth the Lesson

According to a recent article from EETimes.com the cost of flash memory is set to plummet this year due to manufacturers flooding the market in 2006.

Joseph Unsworth, an analyst with Gartner Inc. (Stamford, Conn.) stated "Technically, you still have to buy it from vendors. It's certainly more affordable." In one scenario, the analyst said he heard of a 256-Mbit, USB-based flash drive that sells for $35 each--with a $35 rebate from the manufacturer. "In Asia, entry-level MP3 players with 1 Gbyte of storage can go as low as $25"

I'll believe it when I see it.

I did a little research on Newegg, Circuit City and Best Buy and found that while 256-Mbit flash memory was a downright steal, the higher cards were still somewhat expensive.

A SanDisk 1Gb Ultra® II CompactFlash® Card was retailing for $19.99. This is a pretty cool deal. However the SanDisk 2Gb Ultra® II CompactFlash® Card was retailing for $79.99.

Huh?

Now there may be some hidden perks of the 2Gb card that I'm not aware of (maybe read and write speed), but wouldn't it make more sense to use 2-1Gb cards instead of 1-2Gb card?

The SanDisk 4Gb Ultra® II CompactFlash® Card is retailing for $139.99. The SanDisk 8Gb Ultra® II CompactFlash® Card is retailing for $279.99.

All of these prices are after rebates, etc.

I really don't understand the pricing of these cards.

Hopefully Mr. Unsworth is correct and the prices of these cards drop significantly. My thoughts are that the 8Gb card should be retailing around $160.00.

For more on the EETimes article:


Here Endeth the Lesson