An article on the New York Times explains how a group or person was able to get malicious code inserted on the New York Times and gave readers the impression that a program was scanning their computer
New York Times Malicious Ad Code Inserted
THE NYTimes article explains that this attack via online ad systems have already hit companies like FoxNews.com and the The San Francisco Chronicle.
As you can see in the below letter from Publicis owned Starcom this is obvioulsy being taken very seriously and security is being tightened up around the ad insertion procedures… Publicis-Starcom_Media-Partners_Letter (PDF)
I just came across Windows 7 Professional at £149.98 on Amazon whereas across the channel in France Windows 7 Professionnel E costs € 284,90
According to xe.com today this gives you:
149.98 GBP = 172.710 EUR
So currently on Amazon France and Amazon UK the difference between the same flavour of Windows 7 is €284,9 - €172.710 = €112.19 (over £97 difference)
What is interesting is that the Windows 7 Ultimate version is also available on Amazon.com at £159.85, so for 10 pounds more you get the Ultimate version! The Ultimate version doesn’t appear in many other places at the moment and not on the French Amazon site either but having a Vista Ultimate version on my Dell I was wondering why Ultimate had been left out of the previous offers. In France there was a 49.9 Euros offer between July 15th and August 15th on the Home version. I guess this is also a time specific offer but I must admit I still find it is a very hefty price after having paid so much for the really dissapointing Windows Vista Ultimate and actually having re-installed Windows XP because Vista was so bad.
I then installed the RC of Windows 7 on my Dell XPS as you can read. Windows 7 is great so far but I’m concerned at the moment that Windows seems to be selling the full product as an alternative to the upgrade because they haven’t been able to come up with an appropriate solution for upgrading from Vista Ultimate to the European version of the Windows 7 Ultimate. This may explain the difference in pricing at the moment between the US and the UK. A kind of “sorry you are going to have to do a clean install which will waste a lot of your time, instead of an upgrade like in the US”…
My question is why should I pay pretty much the same price as I paid for Vista for a new version when the previous one was so bad I didn’t even use it!
Note: When you check the Microsoft stores these differences are also visible:
In the US, Windows 7 Ultimate is available for $319.99
In France, Windows 7 Ultimate is available for €299.99 (eq. $430 xe.com on 23/08/09)
In the UK, Windows 7 Ultimate is available for £199.99 (eq. $330 xe.com on 23/08/09)
So much for the talk about the US prices being higher than in Europe for once! They are as usual higher in Europe than in the US, even though there won’t even be a simple upgrade option and you have to backup then do a clean install then transfer data over. Granted this is the best solution in the long term but not having the upgrade option is a pain…
I had a problem the other day trying to get a Windows 7 operating system, that is in English to work with a French keyboard. Of course, I hadn’t set it up myself, but was asked to change the system after the fact. It initially had an English QWERTY keyboard and then my friend started to use a French AZERTY keyboard.
So first, check the list of values below, and then choose the one you want to change to. The English code which could be for the UK, 00000809 or for the US it would be 00000809, and say would befor example changed to a French standard keyboard, the value of which would be 0000040c as you can see in the list below.
Click in the far bottom left hand corner on the blue ‘Start’ circle and in the Search for Programs and Files area type “regedit”. Regedit is a powerful tool and could severely damage your computer if you mess about with it so make sure you are careful and know what you are doing…
Once regedit is launched you need to click in the left hand column on “HKEY_USERS”, then “.DEFAULT” etc. as the path below:
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Keyboard Layout\Preload
Once you click on “Preload” you will see values appear in the right hand preview pane. Below (Default) you should see an item called “1″ when you select and right click on this you should see the option “Modify…”.
By clicking on this you can change the value to the one you need. Just to check you should see that the current keyboard value is in the list below and corresponds to the one you want to change from. Then, leaving the “value name” as it is, update the “value data” accordingly with the new value selected from the table below and that fits the type of keyboard you are using.
00000402 Bulgarian
0000041a Croatian
00000405 Czech
00000406 Danish
00000413 Dutch (Standard)
00000813 Dutch (Belgian)
00000409 English (United States)
00000809 English (United Kingdom)
00001009 English (Canadian)
00001409 English (New Zealand)
00000c09 English (Australian)
0000040b Finnish
0000040c French (Standard)
0000080c French (Belgian)
0000100c French (Swiss)
00000c0c French (Canadian)
00000407 German (Standard)
00000807 German (Swiss)
00000c07 German (Austrian)
00000408 Greek
0000040e Hungarian
0000040f Icelandic
00001809 English (Irish)
00000410 Italian (Standard)
00000810 Italian (Swiss)
00000414 Norwegian (Bokmal)
00000814 Norwegian (Nynorsk)
00000415 Polish
00000816 Portuguese (Standard)
00000416 Portuguese (Brazilian)
00000418 Romanian
00000419 Russian
0000041b Slovak
00000424 Slovenian
0000080a Spanish (Mexican)
0000040a Spanish (Traditional Sort)
00000c0a Spanish (Modern Sort)
0000041d Swedish
0000041f Turkish
Please make sure that you know what you are doing before using this method as getting it wrong with regedit could have really bad side effects… There are no value checks that the normal Windows interface uses to check you have entered data that will work.
In order for this to take effect you will need to restart your computer or you can simply log-off and log-on again.
From what I have understood the values in HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Keyboard Layout\Substitutes are to provide a user with the ability to switch between 2 languages at login as opposed to a screen that does not display any other options at login. So if you have an external keyboard that is different to say the keyboard on your laptop this would be were you could enter in order of priority the 2 language values. This should then provide you with a option in the top left hand corner of your Windows 7 login screen with the option to switch between langauges/keyboards.
The importance of experience architects in creating or updating a web site is often underestimated. There is a general tendency to fudge the initial user experience phase (sitemaps, personas with their specific user journeys and wireframes) or even skip it and jump straight to concept designs that are then fleshed out to ‘wow’ the client. The whole rationale that consists in understanding what functionalities and services are required on the site and structure them in a coherent manner, hopefully even test them before designing commences, is omitted. Defining the main functionalities of a site, then having an experience architect (who worked on that first phase) to sketch it out and analyse it should precede the functional specifications but most of all the design phase. Designers that have extensive web design knowledge as well as experience architecture knowledge are few and far between so you are unlikely to obtain the optimum result by starting with the design.
Card Sorting
The initial phases, when analysing the structure and organisation of an existing site in view of updating it ‘can’ benefit from card sorting. This consists of taking the different sections and seeing how users sort the different sections / areas into groups. It can help you understand how users would expect these different areas to be organised and therefore, where they would expect to find them. Different logical taxonomies may appear following the analysis as different user groups may sort cards in different ways. There are also 2 different types of card sorting, ‘open’ where no structure is predefined and ‘closed’ where participants are asked to place the cards in a pre-defined structure. Card sorting is not recommended to simply test a current site but should be considered as part of the process involved in defining the structure of a site that is being created or updated / redesigned. It can also help when adding or updating a new area to a site. As Nielsen explains more users are required in card sorting than in usability testing though. A fair amount of analysis is required to obtain useful findings.
Sitemap, user journeys, wireframes
By creating the recommended set of ’sitemap / user journeys / wireframes’ you are capable of seeing black on white the optimum route a person will take. The organization and categorization of content blocks should be logical but can be modified to optimise the user journey outcome. A site should usually provide several optimised user journeys for the different types of target users / personas that have been identified.
Simplify the site and structure
Generation Y as opposed to generation X and the baby boomers are more net fluent and savvy online, capable of delving through content until they find the information they feel relevant and trustworthy. Their experience and knowledge provides near instantaneous gut feeling about a site. Uncluttered, simple pages with straightforward navigation principles just feel good. A pleasant experience on a web site that easily allows you to find what you are looking for is memorable simply because it is unfortunately a rare experience. This new generation and generations to come are a primary targets, neglecting them is not an option.
Simplify the design and content
Simple ways of communicating, avoiding the ‘noise’ traditional designers want to apply in order to personalise or own their design can complicate things. Twitter, like SMS are two extremely simple ways of communicating, their restrictions simplify the communication.
Now is this to say that design is just powder in your eyes? Well, when applied by talented designers that know their target audience, how to play and innovate with the chosen medium and how to further optimise the previously crafted user journey, then obviously no.
A friend of mine works at the “Musée des Arts Décos” in Paris, we discussed this concept when applied to modern decorative art. I was comparing the concept to artists capable of choosing specific material(s) and their ability to amplify the user experience and overall design through the selection of specific material(s). The technology but also the interfaces mechanisms of web sites are in this perspective key elements that a great designer will know and use to further his / her design.
Accessibility, standards, usability and web 2.0
Web applications are becoming more and more complex to the extent that they are starting to compete with desktop applications (ex. Google Maps and Mail, Flickr etc.). The interaction provided as well as both usability and accessibility when relying on standards are far better. Although the ‘web 2.0′ term is often used as a buzz word (see Zelman’s web 3.0 article) the term has undoubtedly helped spread the idea of more savvy websites, thought through and help improve user experience.
Well here I am, writing about how great the Windows 7 RC1 operating system is, directly from my Dell XPS M1210 64 bit version. Although I went through a fair amount of trial and error and one complete re-install I’m happy to say nearly all the core elements are recognised and no more yellow triangles with exclamation marks in the device manager.
The 2 most difficult where the Ricoh car reader and the Logitech QuickCam / webcam drivers.
The Ricoh card reader came up as a “base system device” issue. I solved this by downloading the driver from this site then installing the application that installs the x64 drivers.
The Logitech came up as an unrecognised USB device driver issue and Windows 7 OS itself allowed me to download the solution R151795 from the Dell site. When you try to install it this fails, you then just need to point the device manager system to the folder where this solution/drivers were extracted, so that it can install the drivers. This does not however install the software that you usually get from Logitech since it only picks up the drivers, which means other software can use it, but you won’t have the Logitech suite you usually get (personally doesn’t bother me but may be a problem for others)!
For an antivirus/firewall solution the latest ESET Smart security 4 works just fine on the 64 bit Windows 7 operating system.
For codecs I highly recommend either switching to VideoLan (but this is not yet available in a 64 bit version) or/and as I did, install the great Windows 7 codec package from Shark that can be downloaded here and 64 bit components to take advantage of your 64 bit Windows Media player for example here.
I’m also running the Office 2007 suite and even though it’s a pity that Windows itself hasn’t got at least a beta version in 64 bit out yet, it works fine and just installed the SP2 for Office 2007.
At the moment it seems easiest to use Internet Explorer 8 (not the 64 bit version) or another 32 bit browser like Chrome, to be able to view Flash content as there is still no 64 bit version of Flash player. For example the release candidate of Minefield, Firefox’s codename for the 64 bit version of their browser doesn’t have a Flash plug-in.
The main idea is that you can try drivers that are indicated as being for the specific hardware you have if they are supposed to work on Vista 64 bit, or wait untill another user explains that they have found what you need, if you don’t want to risk having to reinstall Windows 7 again…
Hope this helps other XPS M1210 owners out
Update: Windows Update just informed of 3 downloads for the Ricoh Host Contoller (Memory stick, SD/MMC and xD Picture card) released in July, October and November 2008 along with the opportunity to download Silverlight!
You should also know:
- When the final version of Windows 7 comes out you will not be able to upgrade to it so you will have to do a clean installation
- You can upgrade from Vista 32 bit to Windows 7 32 bit but you cannot upgrade from Vista 32 bit to Windows 64 bit. You cannot upgrade from any version of Windows XP to Windows 7 you’ll need to do a clean install. I would recommend a clean installation though ONLY after having backed up all your data as you will erase everything on your hard disk and I would recommend backing up your data even if you upgrade as you never know what can happen.
- The Windows 7 RC will stop working on June 1, 2010
Developers of iPhone Apps were told by Apple this Thursday that:
“If your app submission is not compatible with iPhone OS 3.0, it will not be approved.”
As explained on techradar all application submissions will need to be compatible with iPhone 3.0 OS. I’m guessing this means quite a few applications may need to be upgraded, and some nice news for iPhone App developers and probably some extra revenue in some cases unless they were nicely coded to begin with…?
TestFreaks have written an interesting article about the different unknown areas of Vista that may provide you with essential opportunities to further the operating system for you.
Some nice functions covered are for example:
- Managing Your Documents
- Personalizing Your Folders
- Teaching Your Computer to Listen
- Protecting Files
- Organizing Your Music
- Internet TV
While you are waiting for the next version of Windows, don’t forget to take advantage of Vista.
So if you were to list the functions you would like in a USB drive what would it be?
Here is my list:
1) Small and not bulky, not heavy, easy to transport, can fit in your pocket
2) Large capacity, at the moment that would be 128 Go
3) High speed read and write capacity ( > 30MB read and > 20MB wite per second)
4) Biometric user authentication (fingerprint)
5) Hardware based data encryption
6) Backup via Internet of data (incremental backup, versioning) when connected
7) Shock proof, water, temperature and magnetic protection, with a lifetime warranty
8 ) Nice sleek but simple design (maybe titanium for extra protection and light weight) without a cap or with a cap that is attached and can’t be lost, fall off.
9) The ability to run an OS or software from the drive and or use as a memory booster
10) Maybe a short range beacon type system or even a GPS system that can be activated if it is lost, to quickly find it
11) For the paranoid a wipe or even remote wipe system, should the key really be lost and if it has confidential information on it. I guess this would need a small battery power source that triggers ths should it be tampered with or to allow for the GPS function if not connected to a computer.
12) It could serve as an RSA type system that randomly generates a number. This number when combined with a user id completes a login identification process
Edit: I was just checking out the comment from Steve below concerning the 64 Gig USB Key from Kingston and came across an advert for the “IronKey”. It seems that quite a few of the items from the above wish list can be found in the IronKey USB key coined as being the “world’s most secure USB key”. Looks pretty impressive take a look.
Quick note to say that there seems to be a twitter security issue based upon cross site scripting. Initially it was thought to be a virus but this post on NetworkWorld seems to indicate that it is in effect a cross site scripting hack . This basically means that should it be an XSS hack, Twitter are not high up there with their security standards. It won’t look good if what seems to be a phishing hack is possible on their site!
Update: the script used to infect all the Twitter users was crafted by a 17 year old from Brooklyn who claims to have been bored and was highlighting the vulnerability while promoting his own site! Twitter have “closed the hole” as per Geoff’s comment below.
So Google was one of the first large companies to actually use cloud computing extensively and now, as usual in the English language, there is a move to talk about ‘the cloud’, dropping the more geeky ‘computing’ part! Like other buzzwords, take web 2.0 or SaaS (Software as a Service) not everybody has the same definition. It is highly likely that some people will say that ‘could computing’ and ‘the cloud’ are two different things.
Seamless access to hardware and software: the Supercomputer
The main idea with ‘the cloud’, from an IT perspective, is to seamlessly supply extra resources to providers of IT services and by ricochet to end users of these services. Even though it is not a behemoth word like sustainability that continues to suck in so many different meanings, cloud computing is likely to evolve and cover more and more services. Hey it could even end up being synonymous with the Matrix type concept from the film!
In the case of IT infrastructure, people are interested in outsourcing their hardware needs which can be covered by what is called HaaS (Hardware as a Service). One of the most well known services of this type is Amazon’s Elastic Computer Cloud or EC2.
Does this remind you of passive terminals that connect to supercomputer?! It is not a coincidence that equipment like Netbooks are so successful in the current context of more and more key services, instantly available on the internet. Cloud Computing can help provide further such important services to people. The Cloud services currently available and Netbooks are however far more complex than the mainframe and passive terminal model.
HaaS and SaaS
The Cloud services provided can be viewed as building blocks. Both HaaS (Amazon’s and Google’s server farms) and SaaS type applications (like Google Docs, Salesforce.com and Sliderocket) are purchased without needing to worry about the risks involved in evaluating growing usage. In this sense cloud computing is also referred to as “on demand computing” where you just purchase the system and someone else worries about your evolving needs.
Utility Computing & Server Virtualization
If you are aware of solutions like VMWare that allow you to run several virtual instances of a server on a physical server, then you will quickly see the similarity with cloud computing whereby clusters of servers can provide hundreds of instances of virtual servers. Google’s need to ‘crunch’ huge quantities of data, which requires highly knowledgeable people in cloud computing or grid computing. Like Amazon, Google is now offering the public some of the cloud computing services that used to be restricted to their own projects and internal service requirements.
The ability for companies to tap in to this cloud of both services and hardware (data centers) in the same way you would just turn on the tap or the light, provides powerful and efficient “on demand” services and resources a bit like a utility grid hence the idea of utility computing.
The Cloud is in its infancy but is already proving to be an extremely efficient solution for small to large companies and even the general public though services like Google Aps etc. Could computing is also likely to take on many new meanings along the way
Take a look at the following video where numerous tech celebs explain what Cloud Computing is (audio is a bit shoddy though):
Tim O’Reilly, Dan Farber, Matt Mullenweg, Jay Cross, Brian Solis, Kevin Marks, Steve Gillmor, Jeremy Tanner, Maggie Fox, Tom McGovern, Sam Lawrence, Stowe Boyd, David Tebbutt, Dave McClure, Chris Carfi, Vamshi Krishna and Rod Boothby are asked “what is Could Computing?”.
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