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More Personal Details Lost In The UK

December 20, 2007 by Mr Butterscotch

Ruth Kelly (current UK Secretary of State for Transport) has had to apologise recently – for yet another data loss fiasco. This time, details of three million candidates for the driving theory test have gone missing.

Names, addresses and phone numbers (but not financial data) were kept on the computer hard drive that went missing in the US in May. The question should be asked of course why it took so long for this to come out and arguably why the data was in the US anyway. Did the Driving Standards Agency really need to use a US based contractor?

Of course, what makes this more shocking is that it is the second time in a month that ministers have apologised for data loss after Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs lost discs containing 25 million (can you believe it) people’s details.

Shockingly, the government has decided that the data was low risk and so people are not going to be notified individually. This is because bank account details, National Insurance numbers and date of birth were not included.

For my mind, this really is two mistakes too many. Government ministers should start to lose their jobs. If you were meant to be responsible in your role for hugely important data, would you not receive harsh punishment (up to and including job loss) for such an error?

The fact that a minister reportedly was aware of this issue since June only aggravates me even more. Frankly, this is disgraceful and I expect more from a government that I voted for most recently. I’ll say to them though, there’s nothing like giving the competition ammunition now is there?

Filed Under: Security, Software Features

The Gap Between Generations

October 8, 2007 by Mr Butterscotch

One of the things that came up recently in conversations with my older relatives was exactly what I did for a living. This has changed from something extremely technical (working for an Affiliate Network) to something slightly less technical though nonetheless highly skilled – working as a marketing and PR exec for a nutritional supplements company.

I have a variety of tasks that I perform day to day, including looking after the website we run as well as creating ads and press releases. Said relatives understand some of this, however other parts of it just completely are beyond their understanding. Which is what brings me to the eponymous title.

I’ve ran a few blogs and been contributing to others for a very long time. My folks are aware I do this, and I’ve shown them the backend of blogger for instance, so they can see exactly how I put content on the web. It still eludes them though, as there is no way they’d be able to do the same for themselves.

My mother was lucky enough recently to win an Ipod. It wasn’t a huge video Ipod but just a nice little Ipod Shuffle. However, I still had to come along, install Itunes, put some songs on there and even show them the play button. To the best of my knowledge, play has remained the equilateral triangle on its side for the best part of thirty years now. Seems strange that they have to ask me which one it is then!

Being unfamiliar with technical gadgetry is one thing I suppose, given how fast things can and have moved recently. However, I suppose this all points to a gap between generations in the form of the amount of information and new technology we have to adapt to every day.

Let’s look at a quick straw-poll list I’ve gathered:

  • MP3 (and players)
    DVD (including writers)
    GPS
    New types of fuel
    Computers (both new and old)
    Various versions of Windows
    Games consoles
    Sky TV/Cable
    Internet
    Mobile phones
  • The Internet perhaps points to the greatest change of all. Younger generations keep in touch faster, play together more (WOW and Live to name just two), get news faster, listen to Podcasts and much much more. They are far more adept at picking up the stuff they want to know about, as well as letting other people know about it. It’s no surprise then that families sometimes have concerns!

    Of course, in this ‘information age’ there has been a great deal of change in how we do things. This governs work (imagine not having access to the net to work – well I couldn’t do at least part of my job as outlined above) or even a powerful computer – to create the high-res for print ads I make would take all day! Play has changed too. We’re now well into consoles that can create almost real worlds for us to play in, define as our own and change, as we’d like.

    It’s not all doom and gloom however. One of the things I’d always recommend is ensuring we try to follow at least some of the tenets of Web 2.0 – and part of that is making it an accessible experience for all. Everyone should be invited to this seemingly smaller, smarter and generally better world. Let this be an exclusive world – exclusively for everyone. When we achieve this, all of the modern technology we have will truly come into its’ own.

    Filed Under: Computers, Consoles, Cool Stuff, NextGen, Online Gaming, Software, Software Features

    Vista Performance Improvement with these Updates

    October 4, 2007 by Jaren

    While waiting for SP1 or the Tuesday Patch on October 9, though I’m waiting for the SP1 for quite some time, I’m starting to think if it would do me any good to wait for it. Microsoft has wordlessly release four updates for Windows Vista which will improve the performance and reliability. Although these “hotfixes” are not yet available on Windows Update. But You can download them and install them on your own.

    Here’s the Detailed List of the Windows Vista(KB941649) update improvements:

    • It extends the battery life for mobile devices.
    • It improves the stability of portable computers and of desktop computers that use an uninterruptable power supply (UPS).
    • It improves the reliability of Windows Vista when you open the menu of a startup application.
    • It improves the stability of Internet Explorer when you open a Web page.
    • It improves the stability of wireless network services.
    • It shortens the startup time of Windows Vista by using a better timing structure.
    • It shortens the recovery time after Windows Vista experiences a period of inactivity.
    • It shortens the recovery time when you try to exit the Photos screen saver.
    • It improves the stability of Windows PowerShell.
    • A compatibility issue that affects some third-party antivirus software applications.
    • A reliability issue that occurs when a Windows Vista-based computer uses certain network driver configurations.

    And While Your at it, I downloaded this Hotfoxes, better check it out too:
    1. Update for Windows Vista (KB941651)

    • This is a reliability update. Install this update to improve the reliability of Windows Media Player 11 for Windows Vista in certain scenarios.

    2. KB941600

    • Cumulative update rollup for USB core components in Windows Vista

    3. KB941229

    • Several issues that are related to the Media Center Extensibility Platform.
    • An issue that affects digital cable card components when you use Scientific Atlanta cable cards.
    • Interaction issues that occur between Media Center PC and Microsoft Xbox 360 when Xbox 360 is used as a Media Center Extender.
    • Autolaunch issues that occur with video CD (VCD) media.

    Filed Under: Computers, Gadzooki News, News, PC, Software, Software Features, Tech News, Windows

    Fly Using Google Earth

    September 27, 2007 by Jaren

    This is really cool, Using Google Earth you can practice flying by turning it into a flight simulator. I tried it and it works! I spent my whole day cruising and enjoying this cool hidden Flight Simulator.

    To enter the flight simulator mode, press Ctrl + Alt + A (Command/Open Apple Key + Option + A on the Mac). Once you have entered flight simulator mode for the first time, you can re-enter the mode by choosing Tools > Enter Flight Simulator. To leave flight simulator mode, click Exit Flight Simulator in the top right corner or press Ctrl + Alt + A (Command/Open Apple Key+ Option + A on the Mac).

    Now you can use your keyboard to control navigation and other stuff that you would in a flight simulator game. You can even use a mouse or joystick. It won’t let hook up my Xbox 360 controller, Google Earth can’t recognize my Xbox 360 Contoller. I’ll try sometime this week if I can have a workaround it and a critical plus it that the Xbox 360 controller won’t let you map it’s button setting manually. To disable or enable mouse controls, left click (single click on a Mac). Once mouse controls are active, the pointer shape changes to a cross on your screen.

    Download Google Earth and try it. For the list of command here’s the Flight Simulator Cheat Sheet

    Filed Under: Cheat Codes, Cool Stuff, Games, Google, Mac, Software, Software Features, Windows

    Scariness: Windows Updates Sans Users’ Permission

    September 13, 2007 by DummyGeekGurl

    If there’s anything Windows users need to fear right now, it would be that Windows is actually updating itself without the user’s permission, and even if the user has opted not to have Windows updates.

    In case it hasn’t sunk in, I’m telling you again, Windows, whether Vista or XP, is imposing updates onto your system without your permission. [Read more…]

    Filed Under: Microsoft, Software Features, Windows

    Google Talk: what now?

    July 26, 2007 by Jeff

    While not very uncommon in the Google universe where products and services are in a perpetual state of beta, Google Talk sticks out like a sore thumb in contrast to the adoption and improvements other products have seen, such as Gmail (where frankly, the only thing missing is IMAP support and I’ll be a happy boy) and Google, the one search service to rule them all in the Web 2.0 world, that not so long ago implemented “integrated search results” where links, images and video all appear in the same search results page without having to go to Google Image Search and Google Video separately.

    Google has made enough truckloads of money to cover acres and acres of land and sometimes I find myself asking if that has somehow made it into their heads, thinking dipping a foot and single-handedly stomping the competition at the already-saturated instant messaging market should be a piece of cake. What was it exactly that Google missed? Like every other one of their services, they did the obvious by using the existing accounts without having to require users to sign up independently for Gtalk, and thanks to Gmail, these days a Google account is about as ubiquitous as having a social security number. Later on Gtalk even got integrated into Gmail, but that didn’t help much. Gtalk also implemented making calls over the internet right from the beginning, hot in the heels of Skype and Yahoo doing the same thing. There was also lovin’ for the influential open-source community, in the form of Jabber support and libjingle. On paper, it seemed like the perfect plan to dethrone AIM, the mothership of all IM clients.

    For one, we’re now seeing the results of the sticky situation that was choosing an IM client people faced back in the day. Actually there was no “choosing” to begin with; I was 11 when I first discovered the joy of IM, and I was on a crusade for the use of MSN Messenger, fought tooth and nail against Yahoo Pager, because I didn’t like the dated interface and weird-looking smileys (seriously). IM is no fun when you’re all by yourself and alas, I had to give in to the obsessed Yahoo crowd I was around with. Fast forward 11 years and here I am, still around the same set of people, still on Yahoo Messenger. I doubt that’s going to change soon – not for me, not for the MSN users in the U.S., not for ICQ/AIM users of the rest of the world.

    Oh and another thing, the Gtalk interface is too spartan. People like their IM clients pink and fluffy and bloated with features that are never really put into everyday use (think of Live Messenger and AIM Triton).

    Right when Gtalk seemed like a doomed project, best left for logging chat transcripts you want to keep records of, the big surprise: last this week we see Google getting ready to snap up the 700MHz band opened up in the U.S., up against Verizon and the others. Why would they want this, and what would Google do with it? TWiT 106 raises a very interesting and not-so-far fetched possibility: the “Google phone” rumors might actually be a set of applications designed to make over-the-internet calls. Now let me add to the conspiracy: remember GrandCentral acquisition just a few weeks back? The writing’s on the wall: the acquisitions and bids for more is extending Google’s hold into the communications market, and the instrument of doom: Gtalk. Hah!

    My premonition: GrandCentral’s technology integrated into a wifi-enabled device, iPhone-looking with a button on the main screen labeled “Gtalk”. User pushes Gtalk button and makes a call – over the internet via the exclusive Google-owned spectrum untarnished by all other web traffic from the unregulated internet pipes. Lovely. When that day comes, we’ll all say goodbye to unreasonable air time rates.

    Filed Under: Editorial, Google, Software Features, VoIP

    Your first step towards online security awareness

    July 20, 2007 by Jeff

    It seemed only yesterday when I first received my first phishing email: one fine and dandy Tuesday afternoon, I saw in my self-hosted mailbox what purported to be “PayPal” sent me a very lengthy (it was very lengthy, I tell thee!) email to verify my (at least the email said so) latest online purchase. The message was fancy in HTML, complete with the logo, pale blue PayPal-style border and all that jazz, with a confirmation link at the bottom. It took me a few minutes to realize, and thankfully I did, that I actually used my Gmail account to register for PayPal instead! (I would also like to point out that Gmail with its community-driven spam mail filtering system catches more malicious messages than any man-is-an-island, self-hosted solutions. Go Web 2.0 and community!)

    Finally, an online test that’s worth spending some time on: McAfee SiteAdvisor has set up a 10-item quiz that test your mad, l33t phish-catching skillz with screen captures that range from funny grammar to poorly-recreated company logos and spotting the badges of certifying third-party body.

    For a 10-item quiz, I certainly took a longer time and zapped more brain neurons to complete this one. Sometimes the hoaxes are not immediately identifiable until you actually read the miles-long texts (even bordering to what looks like a magazine article bleeding with already-proof-read draft with red pen marks all over).

    Phishing is not all FUD. It is a real threat that has cost millions in the offline world. Read all about phishing here. Also thanks to my friend Arbet for tipping me in.

    How did you fare? Here are my results:

    Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

    Filed Under: Reviews, Software Features

    Taking portable browsing to the next level

    July 19, 2007 by Jeff

    This would be the first of Fire Eye’d Boy’s software picks for the power users. No better way to start than with my favourite killer duo: Portable Firefox with Google Browser Sync

    The first piece of the puzzle is Portable Firefox; if you’ve been living under a rock, Firefox is the alternative to that blue “e” you’re so familiar with, only with a bajillion more ways to make it work the way you want it to. The “Portable” part of the name is just that – it’s a version that extracts (like a ZIP file), say, to a USB thumb drive, that you can run from there without having to install the vanilla version on every PC you use. In our little experiment, we’ll put it in a folder in the network, say, \\FileServer01\User\PortableApps\FirefoxPortable.

    Image credits to www.versiontracker.com

    The other piece is a wonderful little Firefox add-on: Google Browser Sync. What it does is put all of your cookies and saved passwords, even bookmarks, browsing history and opened tabs and windows – up in the “cloud” (that’s tech-speak for a remote server, or servers) where you can access them from anywhere, given that this add-on sized at roughly the tenth of a megabyte (that’s 115 KB for those with OCD) is installed. Launch our FirefoxPortable.exe (why .exe, you say? Honestly now, how many all-Mac network environments are out there?) from the FirefoxPortable folder and browse to the download page. After restarting Firefox, signing in with a Google account is necessary (who doesn’t have one these days?)

    Image credits to moz.sillydog.org

    How is it in real-life use? In our little experiment, Google Browser Sync complements Portable Firefox such that you can take your Firefox from anywhere in the network (which is already an excellent thing on its own). When I get home, I jump onto Firefox on the Mac (yes, the system is OS-independent) and it takes all the bookmarks and passwords I entered while I was in the office, all without having to recreate my Blogroll RSS lists and re-entering my passwords each time.

    Image credits to www.tinyscreenfuls.com

    If this works for you, or if you know of any other Firefox add-ons that take portability even more notches higher, hit me up with a comment.

    Filed Under: Mac, Software, Software Features, Windows

    The Real Deal With Safari’s Font Rendering

    June 13, 2007 by J. Angelo Racoma

    The word is out. The next major release of Apple’s web browser Safari–version 3–is upcoming, and a public beta has been made available for download. And an even bigger news is that there is now a version available for Windows! I think we had this coming. Ever since Apple switched over to the dark side (Intel, that is!), theoretically most (if not all) of their software can be run on Intel-compatible PCs.

    I’m actually surprised it took Apple this long to release Apple for Windows. I’m of the opinion that the next software wars will not be fought on the desktop, but online–on the browser. And while the browser used doesn’t matter as much as the applications/sites it’s being used on, it still pays to have a hold over part of the market.

    At any rate, much has been said about the high points and low points of Safari, particularly the Windows port. Ia recently reviewed it here, and gave it a dismal 0.5 rating (meaning it’s more or less neutral, leaning a bit to the positive side). There have been a lot more reviews on the blogosphere, but here’s one thing in common that I see: Windows users are very bothered by the on-screen font rendering.

    People say it’s horrible. It’s blurry and it’s not crisp at all. The typeface also looks fatter than usual, and occupies more space than it should.

    mac-vs-windows-typeface.png
    Image from joelonsoftware.com.

    Okay, coming from the tech agnostic (really?) camp, meaning one who uses Windows and OS X side by side on a day-to-day basis (sometimes simultaneously navigating both laptops with both hands), I can say the difference is there, but it shouldn’t be such a big deal. For one, I’ve always known the Mac to render typefaces beautifully and as if faithful to the written/printed word. Windows, meanwhile, has focused more on the screen.

    Joel Spolsky writes an excellent analysis here. He writes that this difference stemmed from Apple’s roots in desktop publishing. Microsoft’s approach is more pragmatic, though.

    The difference originates from Apple’s legacy in desktop publishing and graphic design. The nice thing about the Apple algorithm is that you can lay out a page of text for print, and on screen, you get a nice approximation of the finished product. This is especially significant when you consider how dark a block of text looks. Microsoft’s mechanism of hammering fonts into pixels means that they don’t really mind using thinner lines to eliminate blurry edges, even though this makes the entire paragraph lighter than it would be in print.

    But in the end, it’s psychology that will be the real deal breaker. Joel sums it up here.

    … Apple users liked Apple’s system, while Windows users liked Microsoft’s system. This is not just standard fanboyism; it reflects the fact that when you ask people to choose a style or design that they prefer, unless they are trained, they will generally choose the one that looks most familiar. In most matters of taste, when you do preference surveys, you’ll find that most people don’t really know what to choose, and will opt for the one that seems most familiar. This goes for anything from silverware (people pick out the patterns that match the silverware they had growing up) to typefaces to graphic design: unless people are trained to know what to look for, they’re going to pick the one that is most familiar.

    It’s not a question of which is better. It’s a matter of which you are used to, and which you would rather stick with. So this means Safari’s font rendering is not weird and wrong. It’s meant to be that way; there is a reason.

    Now I was thinking designers and web publishers would have one reason to celebrate–they no longer need to buy new hardware (Macs) just to test browser compatibility. I for one, have found Safari to be helpful in weeding out inconsistencies in coding and design work (e.g,. missing/misplaced closing DIV tags. Damn those DIV tags).

    Filed Under: Editorial, Mac, Software, Software Features, Windows

    A Walk Through Netscape Navigator 9

    June 7, 2007 by Sophia Lucero

    Netscape Navigator 9

    Before Netscape.com turned into a social voting website (read: Digg clone), before Firefox graduated from the Mozilla Application Suite and became the darling of net geeks and casual surfers alike, before Internet Explorer emerged victorious from the First Browser War using the classic Microsoft tactic, and before people understood the value of a web browser, there was Netscape.

    It was actually called the Mosaic Netscape browser then, since the company started out as the Mosaic Communications Corporation. Netscape—both the company and the browser—has gone through ups and downs but today it stands tall, having released version 9 of the classic browser this June 5th.

    Here are some highlights of the latest version of Netscape Navigator:

    [Read more…]

    Filed Under: Gadzooki News, Software, Software Features, The Web

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