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If you are using SlingPlayer on Mac OS X, you might have noticed that it expires today. Get the latests SlingPlayer for Mac OS X from Sling Media Website.
SlingPlayer for Mac OS X Public Beta3
Sling Player for Windows v1.4 is also available and supported under Windows Vista.
UPDATE:
Internet Explorer 7 is back in Microsoft Update.
I was reinstalling Windows XP on one computer this early in the morning. One thing I noticed that Internet Explorer 7 was conspicuously absent from the Microsoft Update.
This is interesting since I did see Internet Explorer 7 in Microsoft Update on Tuesday night (01.29.2007). Does this have anything to do with the launch of Windows Vista? Will Internet Explorer 7 become Windows Vista exclusive?
Maybe this is just a little glitch on Microsoft servers. Maybe I’m just too paranoid.
After a five long years of development, Windows Vista finally ships to consumers. Many have been using various incarnations of Windows Vista, from early beta to Release Candidate to the RTM version. I had a chance to play with Windows Vista back in its “Longhorn” day. Windows Vista has gone through so much transformations since its first conception. Windows Vista was such a mess during its Beta days, but with Microsoft managed to make it into a “pretty mess”. Aero and Glass are the eye candy of Windows Vista, but users will be left wanting more. To be fair, Windows Vista is an improvement over Windows XP, especially in its security model.
Is Windows Vista Secure?
Theoretically, Windows Vista has a much improved security model compared to its predecessors. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to draw any conclusions until Windows Vista actually being used by “regular” consumers. Those who are technically proficient can protect themselves from most of exploits and vulnerabilities in Windows Vista. In a few months we all will find out if Windows Vista security model do work.
There are much to discuss about Windows Vista, and I’ll be writing a lot more about it.
Read an opinion about Windows Vista here:
http://vondiggity.wordpress.com/2007/01/29/windows-vista/
Windows Vista is set to launch tonight at midnight. Bill Gates is scheduled to appear on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” tonight. Windows enthusiasts are going to Windows Vista Ultimate Celebration. Windows Vista is finally released, more than five years after the release of Windows XP (10.25.2001).
In this part of an ongoing report, we are taking a look at multimedia experience on Windows Vista Business and Ultimate Editions. By comparisons Windows Vista Business to Ultimate is Windows XP Professional to Windows XP Professional with Media Center. Windows XP Professional with Media Center doesn’t really exist.
For reference:
Windows XP Media Center Edition is succeded by Windows Vista Home Premium.
Windows XP Home Edition is succeded by Windows Vista Home Basic.
Windows Vista Business lacks the Media Center functionality such as DVD playback. To add DVD playback, softwares like WinDVD and PowerDVD are needed. I installed Intervideo’s WinDVD 8 Platinum on machine running Windows Vista Business. WinDVD 8 requires DirectX 9.0c End-User Runtime and some specific version of .Net Framework. WinDVD 8 Platinum works without any problems so far. After the installations of WinDVD 8 (or any other Vista compatible DVD playback software), Windows Media Player supports DVD playback also.
I have also installed iTunes 7.0.2 and QuickTime 7.1.3 on Windows Vista Business. I have not encountered any major problems with both softwares. In addition to that, Apple Software Update works just fine.
DivX 6.5 is not officially supported under Windows Vista yet, but it is working without any major hick-ups.
As of midnight Tuesday (01.30.2007) Windows Vista goes on sale to the public. It will be available in multiple versions. Windows Vista can be purchased as a stand alone new/upgrade in retail and OEM package, and preinstalled in many PC computer.
A few weeks ago I wrote about LogMeIn Client support on Mac OS X. It has been working for the past 3 weeks without any problems. During a chat on Leo Laporte’s Radio Show chat, someone mentioned that he was not able to use LogMeIn Client on Mac OS X using Mozilla Firefox 2. I mentioned that I had been accessing LogMeIn Client using Safari and it had been working fine. A few minutes later, he informed me that he’s still having the same problem using Safari. I then found out that I was having the same problem.
The problem:
The remote access screen turns black when connecting to the remote computer.
The solution:
Do not open the remote connection in new window.
I will post a much more comprehensive instructions with some screen captures. Please check back.
Apple releases “Security Update 2007-001” to address QuickTime 7.1.3 vulnerability.
http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798
The update is available for QuickTime 7.1.3 on Mac OS X v10.3.9, Mac OS X Server v10.3.9, Mac OS X v10.4.8, Mac OS X Server v10.4.8, Windows XP/2000.
Security Update 2007-001 (Mac OS X 10.4.8 Universal) – 4.9MB
Security Update 2007-001 (Mac OS X 10.3.9) – 2.4MB
From Apple Support:
Security Update 2007-001 is recommended for all users and improves QuickTime security.
Description: A buffer overflow exists in QuickTime’s handling of RTSP URLs. By enticing a user to access a maliciously-crafted RTSP URL, an attacker can trigger the buffer overflow, which may lead to arbitrary code execution. A QTL file that triggers this issue has been published on the Month of Apple Bugs web site (MOAB-01-01-2007). This update addresses the issue by performing additional validation of RTSP URLs.
The update can be obtained through Apple Software Updates (Mac OS X and Windows XP/2000) or Apple Support Downloads page.
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/
Continue reading “Apple Releases “Security Update 2007-001””
A friend of mine was reinstalling one of his Windows machine just for the heck of it. For some reason, “Lord Ahriman” from the band “Dark Funeral” came up in our conversations. Google pointed us to “Lord Ahriman” MySpace page and both of us were looking at the page on our own computers. I was using my PowerBook G4 and he was using Internet Explorer on his newly installed Windows OS.
After a while Internet Explorer quit unexpectedly in the middle of Microsoft Update. Naturally, he restarted the computer. Right after that the Windows started acting weird. The “Start Menu” no longer functional, and we couldn’t go to Mozilla homepage.
Upon a brief inspection, we found a suspicious process named “ntsock.exe” running on his system. It turned out to be a spyware. He quickly downloaded AVG Anti-Spyware and managed to remove the spyware. The “Start Menu” finally worked normally, but the system was still unstable. Upon further inspections, we found yet another suspicious process named “username.exe“. It seems to be another piece of spyware.
We’re not really sure how we got the spywares in the first place. By the process of elimination, we concluded that the spywares were delivered through MySpace. It was a spyware drive-by on MySpace.
Anti-Spywares (free versions) for Windows
Spybot: Search & Destroy – http://spybot.info/
Lavasoft: Ad-Aware Personal Edition SE – http://www.lavasoft.com/
SpywareBlaster – http://spywareblaster.info/
Microsoft Defender – http://www.microsoft.com/defender/
AVG Anti-Spyware Free – http://free.grisoft.com/