Little things usually cause people to make very drastic decisions, sometimes not because they want to, but mainly because they are driven by disgust. Take my experience with Windows Vista for instance. I just got a new computer that came preloaded with Windows Vista 64-bit Home Edition “Premium”. So far, so good. Of course, since the computer came with no productivity software, I had to shell out a few hundred bucks to buy those and install them. As a consultant, you have to know what you are supporting, so the Windows platform is a necessity especially since many business environments have the “Home” edition of Microsoft’s Operating System. I have been using Linux as my main desktop for some time now, and I recently installed Linux Mint 64-bit with OpenOffice 3, Evolution Mail, and about 75 other pieces of software for CRM, project management, network penetration testing, file encryption etc for $0. Naturally, I was probably a little testy with the Operating Sytem than most “regular” users – the ill-advised decision to remove the ability to disable your network adapter with a single right-click, for example, or the contant request for validation even to do relatively minor things.
Windows
Reduce Stress with Faster Computer Boots
Have you ever found yourself talking to your computer urging it to “come on already”? If I had my way, working with a slow computer should be a form of torture. It does not help either that our newer computers are sometimes as slow as our lovely Pentium IIs with the never ending hourglass that … Read more
Brace Up for SBS 2008
The Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2008 offers a lot of good things for the small business owner: solid Windows Server 2008 Operating System, Exchange Server 2007, Remote Access, email for mobile devices, seamless integration with Forefront Security for Exchange Server protection technologies and more. However, because it is inherently different from the previous versions, there is going to be a somewhat steep learning curve.
Web Filtering for Kids
I have been encouraging many friends with kids to try the Linux Operating System mainly because of one major advantage over the other Operating Systems – free software for kids.
Take the Debian distribution with over 25,000 applications for example. There are all kinds of games and educational software that comes bundled with these distributions that it adds up in terms of savings when you consider that a computer game for a Windows Operating Sytem averages about $20.
But the challenge we had was how to protect the children from the dangers of the internet now that everyone pretty much has broadband connection. That is when we ran into some problems. There were not a whole lot of click and install web filters as is available in the Windows market.
So I started searching and spent the most of two days poring through very tedious instructions for what I thought should be a simple solution. I am not a code writer, but I am very comfortable with the Linux command line interface so editing some scripts was not the problem.
I kept thinking, this should not be this difficult. I especially did not want to go through the whole process of installing a full blown filtering application like ClarkConnect, Untangle or Astaro. So I kept searching and I am glad I did.
I finally found a solution so simple it was exhausting just thinking about it. Unfortunately, in my excitement, I failed to note the web site of the author but I will try to locate that document again and give the author full credit.
DHS Releases Conficker/Downadup Computer Worm Detection Tool
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Monday the release of a DHS-developed detection tool that can be used by the federal government, commercial vendors, state and local governments, and critical infrastructure owners and operators to scan their networks for the Conficker/Downadup computer worm. According to the DHS The department’s United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team … Read more
The Conficker Worm and Countermeasures
On November 6, 2008, security researchers at Microsoft Corp. warned of a significant increase in the exploits of a Windows bug that it supposedly patched with an emergency fix in October 2008. This confirmed earlier reports by Symantec Corp. The new attacks, dubbed “Conficker.a” by Microsoft and “Downadup” by Symantec, and other names, exploits a vulnerability in the … Read more