new computer

Dude, I'm gettin' a Dell! I have a Dell at home and at work, but my work pc is getting upgraded next week. I can't wait to have two screamin' processors making it feasible for me to open and work in some of the memory hoggin' applications that I run (especially during the first of the month - chart & stat time). I know it'll have Office 2007 on it as well, and I know it's layed out much differently than Office 2003, so I'll probably be reporting on that as well...

I'm a chic who doesn't need diamond rings, flowers, or chocolate - just buy me electronics!

Looking forward to getting my new PC & maybe this means I'll have my job for a while longer since they only upgrade once every 5-7 years.

coffee table pc...

Microsoft, as you know, is developing a coffee table computer called Surface. I was reading about the gadget and many are saying they've never seen anything like it. One thing you can count on with having a home computer and all the accompanying peripherals is a ton of cables and connections, but with the Surface, there are no peripheral cables; not even a mouse, keyboard or trackball. The pointer is literally the user's pointer - their finger and peripherals like digital cameras and the like are connected merely by placing the device on the surface of the Surface. Hmph, interesting. I need to see the price tag on this before I get excited about adding it as part of my home furniture - anyone out there know how much this thing will cost?

Microsoft Surface

I first saw this advertised when I was in Spartanburg, SC earlier this month. It's the Microsoft Surface Table PC. What? At first glance, it looks cool, but then you have to think, how much does something like this cost? I wonder...

If you're thinking about getting one of these one day, check out this video...

3rd Zero-Day MS Word Bug in 9 Days

Just a couple of days ago, a hole was found in WMP (see post), and there have been 3 "zero-day" MS Word Bugs reported within the last 9 days. Microsoft "spokespersons" have had a busy week, to say the least, explaining all this to the media. The new unpatched bug was reported Wednesday, and exploit proof-of-concept code has been posted on a Web site.

Here's an excerpt from www.informationweek.com (to read the full story, please click the Post Title above.

By Gregg Keizer
InformationWeek
Dec 14, 2006 01:55 PM

Microsoft Thursday said it was investigating yet another Word vulnerability, the third in the last nine days, while security researchers warned that exploit code to take advantage of it was already spotted in the wild.

The new unpatched bug, or "zero-day" vulnerability, was reported Wednesday by eEye Digital Security, which warned users that exploit proof-of-concept code had been publicly posted on the milw0rm.com Web site.

"Because details are at a minimum for the other two active zero-day vulnerabilities originally reported by Microsoft, it is presumed that this disclosed vulnerability is actually a third and separate vulnerability," the eEye alert read.

A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that the company's security team was looking into the new problem.

"Microsoft is investigating new public reports of a possible vulnerability in Microsoft Word [and] will continue to investigate the public reports to help provide additional guidance for customers as necessary," the spokesperson said in an e-mail. "Upon completion of this investigation, Microsoft will take appropriate action, [which] may include providing a security update through our monthly release process or providing an out-of-cycle security update, depending on customer needs."

According to eEye, Word 2000, 2002, and 2003 are affected, as is Word Viewer 2003. A successful exploit of the bug could let an attacker seize control of the PC.

Security Hole in Windows Media Player

A critical security hole has been discovered in Windows Media Player versions 9 and 10. It seems that all a hacker must do is post and .asx file on a webpage and lure visitors to the page since .asx files run automatically. One way to avoid this happening to you is to disable Windows Media Player from auto-opening .asx files. The safest way to do this is Open Windows Explorer and go to Tools, Folder Options, File Types, then set "ASX" to something other than Windows Media Player which is the default player. Click the title link of this post for more from research.eeye.com.

Google Has Some Competition and so does Microsoft

Looks like Microsoft will compete with Google to control the Earth - at least the maps and imagery of the Earth. So far, the cities available include San Jose, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Seattle. Although both systems maps seem a bit outdated, I've used Google Earth, and it helps me in my inspection business to identify landmarks when I'm plotting my route. It's a handy tool and Microsoft is going to have to do some overtime to play catch-up.

Windows Live Writer

Windows Live Writer
I just heard about Microsoft Live Writer beta and will be downloading it to try it on for size. Microsoft Live Writer is a free, downloadable desktop application that's supposed to make editing most any type of blog easier. The software lets you apply different formatting, upload pictures, and more. I will let you know the low-down on this piece of software as soon as I can download, install and play with it a little. I have blogs on LiveJournal and Blogger, so it's going to be interesting to see how this software interfaces with those apps.