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PATH: BS | Technology | Computers | Software Windows Vista Slows Down When You Play Music Posted by Pile (13642 views) [E-Mail link] It's no secret many users have complained that Vista is slower than XP but now users are reporting an unusual "feature" of Microsoft's new Vista version of Windows: apparently when you play music on your computer, your Internet/network performance is severely degraded! READ MORE | 6 comments since 2008-08-19 09:09:12 | Comment on this Article Will The New Spore Game Be Bundled With Duke Nukem Forever? Posted by Pile (11412 views) [E-Mail link] [Biotech] Will Wright, developer of The Sims series gives another demo of the upcoming evolution-type sim game, "Spore" that has been promoted as coming now for no less than three years. Maxis' response? It's in ALPHA stage. What? Originally the game was going to be released in 2007. Now they're talking about 2009. Here's a collection of recent videos on the game's progress. READ MORE | No comments | Comment on this Article Symantec: Our Software Screwed Up Your PC? Here's Another Copy! Posted by Pile (11529 views) [E-Mail link] One month after tens of thousands of PCs in China were disabled by a bug in its Norton antivirus software, Symantec has offered to compensate the owners. However, the compensation – more copies of the software that caused the problem – has sparked outrage. Imagine that. At this point, even if you reject the local Geek Squad's invitation to watch the Star Wars Trilogy at their parents' house, they still wouldn't recommend using Symantec security products. READ MORE | 5 comments since 2008-08-19 01:59:44 | Comment on this Article Windows Vista Protection System Doesn't Offer Much Protection Posted by Pile (14115 views) [E-Mail link] Microsoft Windows latest version, Vista, supposedly provides a "much more secure" environment to make using your computer safer. In Vista, MS has created a new scheme where Microsoft-approved applications are "protected" and cannot be altered or tampered with by other applications. You might think this is a nice security feature, but many feel this was done mainly as a way to integrate DRM (digital rights management) to keep people from playing songs and movies without proper rights. In any case, Microsoft is playing Vista up as a big, more secure version of Windows. There's only one problem... Hackers have already figured out how to circumvent Microsoft's security, and they can make their own malware run in protected mode so software like Antivirus programs can't remove it. Oh Goody! Microsoft's new feature can actually make it even harder to remove bad software from your system. READ MORE Unpatched Microsoft Security Hole Being Exploited Online Posted by Pile (12807 views) [E-Mail link] Reason # 45,234,101 to switch to Firefox: Yet another major vulnerability in Windows which affects Internet Explorer and Outlook. Users can become infected by merely visiting the wrong web site -- no interaction necessary, or under Outlook, viewing a message. Beware! READ MORE Cats and Dogs Protect Web Sites From Spammers Posted by Pile (27774 views) [E-Mail link] [Eureka!] If you've been online for any length of time you know that many web sites now have a system called CAPTCHA which is a "human recognition system" that tries to stop automated programs from posting messages online. This is usually done by tossing up an annoying image with distorted numbers and letters and asking a user to repeat the phrase. Sometimes even humans can't read the stupid images. Enter Microsoft with their Asirra project. They're working on a new human-detection technology which also has the added benefit of promoting animal adoption. In combination with Petfinder, they display images of animals and ask the user to identify the difference between cats and dogs. This system is apparently much harder to defeat than regular CAPTCHA, and you could end up with a fuzzy new companion in the process! READ MORE | 1 comment since 2008-08-18 16:18:40 | Comment on this Article MPAA Caught Pirating Software Posted by Pile (24063 views) [E-Mail link] The Chairman of the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America). You remember the MPAA right? This is the high-and-mighty organization that is in charge of convincing and threatening people with legal action if they violate copyright or licensing terms of movies and music. It turns out the MPAA blog is run by a piece of software called "Forest Blog" - a Freeware blog, and one of the few things the author asks is that if you use the software in a commercial environment, pay about $40 for the registration, and don't remove the links to the author's original site. Of course, the MPAA apparently installed the software, didn't register and removed the links and credits from it before they let their executives use the blog software to rant and rave about the evils of piracy. To make matters worse, the MPAA ignored the author's initial requests to legitimize the software, until it became public, then they pulled the site and sent him a letter saying the blog they installed was a "proof of concept" and didn't have its own domain, so therefore it wasn't an issue. Even though then, they didn't pay for the software! READ MORE | No comments | Comment on this Article Microsoft Windows Vista May Destroy iPods Posted by Pile (18518 views) [E-Mail link] If you have an iPod, Apple is now recommending that upgrading to Microsoft's new Windows Vista may be a big mistake -- aside from the previous rants about the software nerfing your XP license, not allowing downgrades and other issues, the latest is, according to Apple, Vista could destroy your iPod! READ MORE | 11 comments since 2008-08-18 18:06:44 | Comment on this Article Adobe PDF "features" Leave Users Vulnerable Posted by Pile (10687 views) [E-Mail link] [Faulty Products] A British security researcher has figured out a way to manipulate legitimate features in Adobe PDF files to open back doors for computer attacks. David Kierznowski, a penetration testing expert specializing in Web application testing, has released proof-of-concept code and rigged PDF files to demonstrate how the Adobe Reader program could be used to launch attacks without any user action. READ MORE Microsoft Dares Hacker Community To Expose Vista Posted by Pile (10642 views) [E-Mail link] After suffering embarrassing security exploits over the past several years, Microsoft Corp. is trying a new tactic: inviting some of the world's best-known computer experts to try to poke holes in Vista, the next generation of its Windows operating system. I'm not sure this means much, considering Microsoft has already issued several security patches to vista over the last six months, and it's still probably a year or more away from release. Chances are it'll take the hacker community about six seconds to divulge vulnerabilities. Our guess here at BSAlert is that Microsoft is asking the tech community at large to help it solve it's own security problems. READ MORE | 1 comment since 2008-08-19 02:22:31 | Comment on this Article 10 Articles displayed. Show More Articles.

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