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Monday, April 30, 2007

New High Tech Passport



The NY Times reviews the new U.S. e-passport today (if you didn't want one, apparently you're too late). It mostly focuses on how ugly the pastiche of American iconography is, but it mentions the new embedded RFID chip holding all of your biographical info and "a digital image of the passport photograph, which will facilitate the use of face recognition technology at ports-of-entry," according to the State Department's website.

While the gold bars and circle marking your passport as a magical "e-passport" are on the front cover, the chip is embedded somewhere on the back page. To alleviate fears of skimming the chip's info, it only works within four inches of a reader—the cover contains shielding material—and the passports use Basic Access Control, which requires a printed PIN to read the chip, which seems like a pretty good idea.

That said, no one can skim my plain paper passport, which is thankfully good for another seven years.

Search Engine War!

Searching the Web on a mobile phone has been a lot like getting online via dial-up modem circa 1995: slow, tedious and not terribly useful. Typing on tiny buttons, squinting at a list of links and clicking through to a page that won’t display properly is enough to test anyone’s patience.

But that is beginning to change. Google, Microsoft and Yahoo have all trained their sights on cellphones, which they see as the next great battleground in the Internet search wars. They have thrown tens of millions of dollars and armies of programmers at the problem, seeking to develop tools that people on the move can actually use.

In recent months, the three search giants have introduced a new breed of search services that emphasize quick answers to urgent questions: Where is the best local pizzeria? How did the Yankees do against the A’s? What’s the fastest way to get to the airport?

The services are beginning to carry small ads related to searches like those that have turned desktop Internet search into a gold mine.

“The biggest growth areas are clearly going to be in the mobile space,” Eric E. Schmidt, chief executive of Google, said when asked about new opportunities at a conference here this week. In case his point wasn’t clear, Mr. Schmidt drove it home: “Mobile, mobile, mobile.”

The new offerings from the search companies are just the beginning. Search services that pinpoint a phone’s location using the Global Positioning System or that accept voice commands are coming out of the labs. Google has gone so far as to build a prototype phone with its own software inside, according to one person who has seen it.

But between the search giants and phone users stand some powerful gatekeepers — cellphone carriers like Cingular, Sprint and Verizon. On the PC, Web surfers can easily go to the search engine of their choice, but this takes longer on a cellphone. Carriers have the ability to dictate which search engine is easy to access and which is not through placement in their phones’ menus.

“Search will be even more of a choke point on the mobile device than on the PC because navigation is so hard,” said Marco Boerries, the senior vice president in charge of Yahoo’s wireless efforts.

After spending billions of dollars building wireless networks, building relationships with consumers and subsidizing the cost of phones, the last thing carriers want is to miss out on profits from the mobile search business. By and large, they have been eyeing the major search engines with a bit of foreboding.

“In the U.S., the carriers have complete authority over what happens on the phone,” said Sam Jadallah, a venture capitalist who has invested in mobile phone technology start-ups. For the nation’s wireless carriers, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft “are much bigger threats than they are partners,” he added.

The tension between the two sides is reflected in the scarcity of major alliances between carriers and big-name search companies. Among the big American cellphone operators, only Sprint has a wide-ranging partnership with a top search provider, Microsoft. Most other large carriers are working with small technology companies that offer generic search services, which the carriers can stamp with their own brand.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Zero G Flight

The zero gravity flight is in a modified jet that creates the experience of microgravity during 25-second plunges over the Atlantic Ocean which should come close for a few seconds.

The jet's interior is padded to protect the weightless fliers and equipped with cameras to record their adventure. Normally, the plane conducts 10 to 15 plunges for its passengers who pay $3,750 for the ride.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Whos got the Golden Ticket?


Ok, so about 3/4 of the population has an iPod. Who in their right mind would pay the excessive amount of money for this thing? Lets put this into some sort of perspective. A Normal plain ole iPod will run you what, $250? These puppies right here will set you back a decent amount. A 30GB, 24ct, iPod will cost you a mere $600, and the 80GB, 24ct, anyone want to guess? A whopping $800, Can anyone tell me who would spend this money on something so absurd?

Walking on water

This actually made me bust out alittle chuckle while i was sitting in the office. So why not share it. Link

Friday, April 20, 2007

DELL offers XP again! YAY

Like most computer makers, Dell switched nearly entirely to Vista-based systems following Microsoft's mainstream launch of the operating system in January. However, the company said its customers have been asking for XP as part of its IdeaStorm project, which asks customers to help the company come up with product ideas.

"We heard you loud and clear on bringing the Windows XP option back to our Dell consumer PC offerings," Dell said on its Ideas in Action page. Users get to vote on various suggestions, and the notion of bringing back XP got 10,000 "points," making it among the most popular requests but well below top picks such as adding Linux or OpenOffice.org to its PCs.

Windows XP systems became scarce, but not impossible to find, after Vista arrived. For example, Hewlett-Packard said it would continue selling XP on some machines aimed at small and midsize businesses, while CompUSA still stocks a couple of business-oriented XP systems in its retail stores. Lenovo has also continued shipping XP on many of its business systems.

Starting immediately, Dell said, it is adding XP Home and Professional as options on four Inspiron laptop models and two Dimension desktops.

Earlier this month, Dell added XP back as an option for small-business customers, but at the time, it said it would not add it back for home users.

"Dell does not have plans to launch Windows XP for home users as the preference, and demand is for the 'latest and greatest' technology, which includes Windows Vista," Tom West, director of small-business marketing at Dell, said in a blog posting at the time.

Analysts say Dell's move is not a good sign for Windows Vista.

"That there is remaining demand from some segment of (the) consumer market points to the inability of Vista to resonate with consumers," IDC analyst Richard Shim said.

There was an initial bump for Vista sales right after its launch, Shim said, but some of that may have been from consumers who delayed purchasing a PC late last year. Sales in the later part of the first quarter were less strong, he said. The overall response to Vista will become clearer throughout the year, he said.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Firewall Check List

It’s fairly easy to misconfigure your firewall if you don’t have strong technology expertise among your staff. Though with Linux (and BSD) deployed it does indeed get’s easier to protect your computers hooked to internet, it is still something you should seriously care about.

1. If you have a network and don’t have it firewalled, get it done as soon as possible.

2. Use a firewall device or software to provide your firewall service. Don’t use some other device that may provide some hint of security. The capability can be built into a server or a router or something else, but make sure what you are getting is a firewall.

3. Protect each individual device in your network, or that might be used on your network, with device level security tools.

4. Make sure you properly “wall off” applications from unintended external and internal use.

5. Think of security is an ongoing process, not something you do once and can forget about. Make sure you are installing patches for your network as they are made available. Consider investing in an annual security assessment from a reputable IT consultant or solution provider.

6. Look to an IT consultant, or solution provider, to help you with your implementation. They have the expertise to guide you through the process and ensure that you are able to protect yourself and balance that with making sure you have the ability to run your business.
For desktop users: some Linux distributions do not have firewall installed by default, or activated, so make sure that there is one. For example openSUSE uses iptables as it’s firewall application with Yast Firewall frontend which makes it easier to manage your firewall settings.

No matter which OS you are using on your servers (and desktops/notebooks) the above list is to be followed if you want to be sure that you are safe and secure 99.99% (0.01% - there is a always a key to any lock.

Vacuum Shoes



Ever want to walk around the house and do some house cleaning at the same time? Well now you can, with these shoes. Although they are still in a concept stage. Look for these hot kicks on the market soon!

IT security firm trusts open source inside and out

In 1996, entrepreneur Richard Campbell started a company to help other entrepreneurs in East Asia become Internet service providers. His "ISP in a box" concept worked with Slackware as its base. The more experienced Campbell became with open source, a concept he originally discovered in college, the more he began to appreciate tools like Snort, a GPLed network intrusion detection system. "I became a strong proponent of it," Campbell says, and shortly after that he founded the Atlanta Snort Users Group.

Campbell had so much confidence in Linux and Snort that he decided to launch a new company called Securiant. As its flagship product, Campbell created a network appliance that runs on a custom Linux kernel with a big suite of open source security applications, including Squid, Snort, Dan's Guardian, Nessus, Shorewall, and Argus. The SpiderISA appliance plugs into the network and provides up-to-the-minute information about vulnerabilities, necessary patches, and intrusion attempts..... Article

Gspace: Unlimited Online Storage!

One thing that's made Google's free Gmail online messaging service popular is its multiple gigabytes of storage space. There are several tools that let you use the more than 2GB of space as a virtual Internet drive, the most popular being GmailFS. If you'd prefer to use software that's independent of your base operating system, try Gspace instead. It's a Firefox extension that's easy to install and use.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Check your eyes!


Take a good ole look at this picture. Now take about 8 steps backwards and see whats up.

(pay attention to which side the faces are on)

Novell's regret in Microsoft deal

If Novell's chief executive has any regrets about slipping between the sheets with Microsoft, it's around Microsoft's push for IP protection.

Ron Hovsepian's alliance with Microsoft, announced last November, saw Microsoft agree to sell SuSE Enterprise Linux (SLES) coupons, while the companies worked on interoperability between SLES and Windows on virtualization, directories and file formats between Office and Open Office. Coupons apply specifically to SLES running as a virtual guest in a host Windows operating system or vice versa.

However, it was Novell's tacit recognition of the existence of intellectual property in Linux - by accepting Microsoft's promise not to prosecute developers whose open source code is used by Novell - that really rankled the community.

According to Hovsepian in eWeek, the IP covenant was a Microsoft - not a Novell - idea, and the companies' original proposal did not include a covenant not to sue. "That was one of the business things [Microsoft] wanted out of it," Hovsepian said.

And you can see why. It put Microsoft's chief executive Steve Ballmer back on form in the weeks following the deal, claiming Linux infringes Microsoft IP and that Microsoft wanted to "get the appropriate economic return for our shareholders from our innovation." Novell agreed to pay Microsoft $40m in protection.

Which brings us onto Hovsepian's only genuine - public at least - regret: his delay in responding to a storm of community criticism through an open letter. Hovsepian believes a timelier letter would have cleared up concerns.

That letter said Novell's agreement with Microsoft was "in no way an acknowledgment that Linux infringes upon any Microsoft intellectual property." Rather than clarify, though, Hovsepian's letter left people baffled over why Novell signed the covenant, given both companies held diametrically opposed views

Red Hat in the agencies.

Red Hat has sealed a potentially lucrative marketing and technology deal that could see its open source and Linux software land in more government and defense locations.

The company is partnering with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), an $8.3bn systems and solutions provider that lists NATO and the Department of Homeland Security (DHC) among its roster of clients.

Red Hat and SAIC have agreed to partner on development of technology and marketing to promote Red Hat and open source code to defense, federal and commercial users.

SAIC expects to bring its experience in systems integration, software development, database architecture and management of large projects to Red Hat Linux and middleware deployments. Red Hat said it expects the deal will help speed-up the move to open source by the US military, intelligence community, homeland security and other federal agencies.

IRS warns late tax filers of scam sites

The IRS issued an alert late today, warning of a "new tax scam... that lures taxpayers into filing tax information on a site masquerading as a member of the Free File Alliance".

Stay well away: the only place for US taxpayers to access the Free File program is through the official IRS.gov website.

According to the IRS, the latest twist on tax scams involves tax preparation websites that masquerade as members of the Free File Alliance, a partnership of 19 tax software firms and the IRS.

The IRS is investigating allegations that the unnammed websites "accepted tax information from taxpayers, changed the taxpayers’ bank account numbers to their own and then filed the return through a legitimate Free File partner".

Hi, im Linux

If you are a linux user, you will definatly enjoy these videos. And if your not, then take this as a learning experience. Video

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Social Security: Is Early Retirement the Way to Go?

Social Security is perhaps one of the most interesting results of the New Deal during the great depression. Some believe that its nothing more than a very bad retirement savings program, whereas others believe that it's a safety net to keep seniors from living in poverty. Regardless about how you feel about it, you will have to pay into it whether you like it or not, and you will get money out upon retirement. Social Security is essentially a system which redistributes wealth from those who are workers to those who are retired. The Social Security Administration takes 11.2% of your income and places it in the Social Security Trust fund and then when you reach age 62 or age 67, you can retire and receive monthly payments from the Social Security Administration. Social Security also provides a disability benefit and a death benefit.

Social Security is really not a very good deal for most people mathematically. People should focus on making it the best deal they can though. Retirees have the option of taking their money at age 62 or age 67. If you take it early at age 62, you will start getting paid immediately, but have a reduced benefit for the rest of your life. If you take the full retirement at age 67, you will receive a higher payment.

Before making a decision as to whether you should take early retirement or not, we have to make sure we're taking early retirement for the right reasons. Never take out early retirement because you absolutely need the money. If this is the case, your lower social security payment is going to haunt you for the rest of your life and you will be forced to live on next to nothing until your death. Take the time, and work for an extra five years, it's not going to kill you. This way you won't have to eat beans and rice throughout all of your retirement.

Assuming your finances are in order, now we can determine whether or not it makes sense to take early retirement or not. The Social Security website offers a calculator which will help you determine which option is best. There is really only one factor to determine whether or not if it's the best option. How long do you think you are going to live? Let's say we assume we are going to live until 82, and can receive a Social Security payment of $9000 at early retirement, or a payment of $1200 at age 67. We would receive a total of $360,000 at regular retirement and a $324,000 at early retirement. You will want to use the social security calculator or call a social security representative toll free at 1-800-772-1213, which will help you determine which is the best option for you based on your income and life expectancy.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Windows XP GONE as of 2008

Microsoft will stop selling Windows XP to PC makers such as Dell, Lenovo and Hewlett-Packard by January 31, a company representative confirmed Thursday. The software maker will stop selling XP to system builders, the smaller custom PC makers, a year later, the representative said.

"This has been the practice at Microsoft for some time, and this process provides a gradual transition away from a previous version of an OS, from full availability, to availability only through a distributor, and finally availability via downgrade rights," the Microsoft representative said in an e-mail.

Windows Vista, the successor to XP, became broadly available at the end of January. Microsoft has worked hard to promote Vista as a safer, easier to use, better connected and more entertaining version of Windows than any of its predecessors. However, there s still a lack of Vista-compatible applications and hardware drivers, hurdles for broad adoption.

Despite those words of caution, many PC shoppers already have no choice beyond Vista. PC makers have already moved almost everything they sell to consumers--and some businesses--over to Vista, both in stores and online.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Verizon Wireless Gets its Mitts on BlackBerry 8830 World Phone



Being a Verizon customer, I'm always complaining about their lack of phones, but it looks like the boys in red just got first dibs on RIM's BlackBerry 8830 (aka the Cyclone), which is a CDMA/GSM hybrid. In other words, it'll work here in the States and overseas on GSM networks. It's Verizon's second phone with that super feature. Personally, I think Verizon needs more "hybrid" models like that.

The 8830 looks like the 8800 and will pack a QVGA screen, microSD slot, and 3G EV-DO support. The bad news is that there's no camera. Even though I don't take a lot of cell phone pics, that's a deal-killer for me. Otherwise, corporate types should fair well with this baby in their pocket

Zune 2.0 Details Leaked


So we knew the red (and pink and orange) Zunes were coming, but surprise surprise, the red Zune will include some interesting sports content to cater to the sports nuts out there, or so the rumor hounds at Crunchgear say. Supposedly you will be able to select your favorite team and the Zune will be able to download games as podcasts, which could be handy if you miss a game or don't live in the area of your favorite team and miss all of the regional broadcasts on TV.

There are definite perks to something like this, especially for sports fans, but there are all kinds of problems that could be associated. Is it full games or just highlights? I don't see myself wanting to actually download a three hour baseball game and then proceed to watch it on a Zune screen. The jury is still out, but I'll try to give it a shot as soon as I can, given these rumors are correct.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Home-loan demand soars

U.S. mortgage applications skyrocketed during the first week of 2007 as interest rates fell for the first time in five weeks, lending support to the view that the housing market is stabilizing, an industry trade group said Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and purchasing loans, jumped 16.6 percent to 671.1 for the week ended Jan. 5.

However, the monthly average shows a decline in the volume of applications for home loans, with the four-week moving average down 2 percent.

Borrowing costs on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, excluding fees, averaged 6.13 percent, down 0.09 percentage point from the previous week. Interest rates were above year-ago levels of 6.08 percent.

The MBA's seasonally adjusted purchase index, widely considered a timely gauge of U.S. home sales, soared 16.2 percent to 472.8, its highest since the week ended Jan. 20, 2006 when it reached 473.7. The index was also above its year-ago level of 457.4.

The group's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications surged 17.3 percent to 1,923.8. A year earlier the index stood at 1,497.5.

The refinance share of applications increased to 48.4 percent from 48.1 the previous week.

Fixed 15-year mortgage rates averaged 5.85 percent, down from 5.93 percent. Rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) decreased to 5.79 percent from 5.84 percent.

The ARM share of activity decreased to 20.1 percent from 20.4 percent the previous week, its lowest since July 2003.

The MBA's survey covers about 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential loans. Respondents include mortgage banks, commercial banks and thrifts.

Information About Investment Property

Any property that is purchased with the intent of gaining a return is considered investment property. Investment property can be an apartment building, a duplex, a single-family dwelling, vacant land, commercial property -- basically any type of real estate. The term investment property usually describes property that the owner does not occupy, but in some cases, the owner may occupy a portion of it.

Purchasing investment property can be a lucrative venture, whether one simply hopes to purchase a home or plans to make a business out of such investments. One strategy for beginners is to purchase an investment property such as a duplex, or other multiple family dwelling, and live in one unit while renting out the other(s). This way, monies collected from the renter or renters covers the note, leaving the owner without a mortgage payment. Eventually the property is paid off, and the purchaser continues collecting the rent for a profit.

The owner may also purchase another investment property, using the equity in the first property to finance the purchase. Equity simply means the fair market value of the property minus the amount still owed, including any liens. It is common to borrow against the equity in a property. Rates for such loans are fairly competitive because the property acts as collateral to secure the loan. The less risk there is in lending, the better the rates are.

Valuable Information About Liquidation

Liquidation is the process of taking a business real assets and turning them into cash, either to pay off debt or to reap a personal profit. Liquidation may be done either voluntarily by a company or individual, or in response to a declaration of bankruptcy as a way of repaying a portion of debtors.

Compulsory liquidation is ordered by a court, and the laws vary in different countries. Usually a court-appointed receiver takes over to analyze the company s assets and determine the best way to handle them. Originally, recovered cash from a compulsory liquidation was distributed evenly amongst debtors. Now certain debtors may take precedence over others, depending on the terms of the loans.

Voluntary liquidation may be done for a number of reasons. Some companies elect to undergo liquidation while their assets still outweigh their liabilities, if they believe their business will continue to degrade. By selling off assets early, these corporations may pay off debtors and still give a final dividend to shareholders.

A corporation with liabilities outweighing assets may also undergo voluntary liquidation, expecting a compulsory liquidation should they fail to pay off a significant portion of their debt. This type of voluntary liquidation is considered an appropriate response to an insolvent situation.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Inspector Lists Computers With Atomic Secrets as Missing

WASHINGTON, March 30 — The office in charge of protecting American technical secrets about nuclear weapons from foreign spies is missing 20 desktop computers, at least 14 of which have been used for classified information, the Energy Department inspector general reported on Friday.

This is the 13th time in a little over four years that an audit has found that the department, whose national laboratories and factories do most of the work in designing and building nuclear warheads, has lost control over computers used in working on the bombs.

Aside from the computers it cannot find, the department is also using computers not listed in its inventory, and one computer listed as destroyed was in fact being used, the audit said.

“Problems with the control and accountability of desktop and laptop computers have plagued the department for a number of years,” the report said.

In January, Linton F. Brooks was fired as the administrator of the National Nuclear Security Agency, the Energy Department agency in charge of bombs, because of security problems. The agency was created in the 1990s because of security scandals.

When the most recent audit began, the Counterintelligence Directorate was unable to find 141 desktop computers. In some cases, documents were found indicating that the computers had been taken out of service.

Previous incidents of wayward computers have also involved nuclear weapons information. But the office involved in this breach has a special responsibility, tracking and countering efforts to steal bomb information. Its computers would have material on what the department knew about foreign operatives and efforts to steal sensitive information.

The report includes a response from the security agency that generally agrees with the findings. But the inspector general, Gregory H. Friedman, noted in his report that “the comments did not include planned corrective actions with target completion dates.”

A spokesman for the department, Craig Stevens, said Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman “recognizes that we need to manage this place better.”

The counterintelligence office was recently merged with the intelligence office to improve operations, Mr. Stevens said.