This article provides a nice, quick overview of some of the security features that will be available in the new, soon-to-be-released version of Adobe Flash.
Popular web browser plugins like Flash Player or Java are a prime target of malware and hackers. The core reasons are simple: Lack of centralized updating and little to no protection of the underlying system if the plugin has been compromised.
Here’s are some interesting deletion programs for security conscious PC users …
Every now and then you may want to make sure that files that you delete on a PC cannot be recovered anymore by other users. This may be important if you are passing on the PC to another user, working on a multi-user PC or system that others may have access to. It may even be a good precautionary method before you are passing borders with your notebook or mobile device.
Back in the dial-up days, this sort of thing used to be pretty common … but apparently cache browsers can still come in handy in the wireless age.
When you search Google you always have the option to open a linked website directly, or to open a cached page of the selected page instead. Opening the cached version may help you if the website that you want to open is not available temporarily or permanently.
Given the recent shutdown of Megaupload, it wouldn’t be surprising if more BT sites that offer copyright material start closing their doors … I just hope that the BT sites that focus on sharing non-copyright stuff don’t get caught up in the trend.
Users of the popular Bittorrent indexing website BTJunkie who try to access the site’s content in a web browser are not seeing the usual site layout, but a goodbye message instead. The message states that the site operators have decided to close down the service voluntarily after more than seven years of operation.
My wife will be interested in this; she uses Skype to save on long distance calls to her family in Japan …
Microsoft today has released an update for the popular voice over IP, messaging and video calling software Skype. Skype 5.8 for Windows is currently only available on the Skype homepage and not via the program’s update checker. Existing Skype users who click on Help > Check for Updates are receiving notifications that they are running the latest version. It is likely that the updater is going to pick up the new version later today.
I dunno, an entertainment boycott sounds pretty effective to me, and even the alternative solution that this author suggests is basically a partial boycott.
I just read about Operation Black March on Reddit which suggests to boycott all media, and in particular film, music, books and magazine companies, in the whole month of March. The operation aims to be a counter-movement against the lobbying of media companies that try to censor the Internet and act openly against the freedom of speech. With SOPA, PIPA and ACTA only the beginning, it could get a lot worse before it gets better.
Why is it that so many social media sites, online email sites and blog sites seem to be changing their policies lately? Are they just bored, or is this a new fad?
Users of Google’s blog hosting service Blogger may notice quite a significant change in the coming weeks. Instead of being able to access blogs hosted on Blogger directly, they may now be redirected to a country specific domain. A user visiting a blog from Australia for instance will be redirected to blogspot.com.au automatically whenever a blogspot blog is accessed.
It always creeps me out when an advertiser seems to know a little bit too much about me … stuff like that usually sends me running in the opposite direction.
Last week Google announced changes to its privacy policy that, on the face of it seem perfectly reasonable. In essence they want to treat all the different Google services you use as a single big account and share the data. What this ultimately means though is that the company will know absolutely huge volumes of information about you.
SNMP compatibility is one of the most common features that network administrators look for when selecting network devices. Due to its low cost, widespread availability and ease of use, SNMP has become largely accepted as the industry standard for managing both large and small network applications. The popularity of SNMP as a management tool for both wide area networks and local networks has compelled network engineers to insist that each element in the network infrastructure provides support for SNMP in order to ensure compatibility with SNMP based network management programs.
