The – Page 5 – Paul's Tech Talk

Windows 7 will sport Direct X 10 Compliance!

PaulDecember 3, 20081 Reply

The new feature is called WARP10, for “Windows Advanced Rasterization Platform,” and it’s essentially a DX10-compliant, software-only rasterizer that was written by Microsoft; it runs directly on the CPU. In a situation where a DX10 app needs to run but can’t find DX10-compliant hardware, it will run on WARP10, albeit very, very slowly. Ultimately, you can think of WARP10 as a “software DX10 GPU” that will exist as a fallback in Windows.

[via Arstechnica]

[ad#ad2-left-1]This will make Windows 7 work more smoothly with Windows XP and Vista games. This looks to be like having more compatibility with the older games. When Vista came out they were complaining about not being able to play games on Vista. Vista has been really updated with being able to play games. People are starting to play games on a Vista machine. This is also a step for Windows 7 to be one that Microsoft, being that they are trying to get the next O/s to look like an Angel probably. What I expect is Microsoft will advertise about Windows 7 will be gamer friendly. This is a move on Microsoft to get gamers on board with this release and to try to get people to forget about Vista.

[ad#ad2-right]Having said that here’s some things that will be most likely be Advertised with Windows 7 when it comes out. Microsoft will want it to be game friendly, User Account Control to be less obtrusive, and program compatibility. These the main points to get people to start buying Microsoft’s products. Microsoft should be worried because of Apples comments about how you should use an Anti-virus for Macintosh’s. This is definitely worrying Microsoft. It means Microsoft has an competitor that Hackers are trying to exploit. I would be willing to guess that Microsoft is worried people are switching to Apple products. These are just guesses but I am quite certain Microsoft is really worried. What do you think, do you think it will happen?

Stop botnets in its tracks With a Firewall!

PaulNovember 30, 20083 Replies

According to PC World and I’ll quote:

According to FireEye chief scientist Stuart Staniford, detection rates are so poor that, on average, only around 40 percent of security software can detect binaries during the period of greatest infectivity and danger, namely the first few days after a particular variant starts being used by botnet builders.

[via PC World]

[ad#ad2-left]Now let’s talk about this, having been seeing recent surges of people getting infected. I’ve come to the conclusion that companies like AVG and other Anti-Virus companies are keeping up. Now true if all you have is an Anti-virus and nothing else that greatly increases your likely hood of getting a virus.

In a recent virus storm, We have people finding my site because of a Good Firewall. No if he didn’t have anything but Windows firewall then it would of gotten through and you would not of known about it. So let’s talk about how to prevent botnet attacks. This is relatively easy and if you follow some common rules. You to could be less likely to be infected. I will say this most people don’t do these common tips and they should do them.

[ad#digg-right]So what should you do to help prevent from getting a Virus or Malware. This is really simple, you want to find an Anti-virus Software that you like, and Firewall that you like also. You’ll also want to download the tools to better help you in case you do get infected. Some of these tools I recommend are Hijackthis, Spybot Search and Destroy, Hitman Pro, and Ad-aware 2007 Edition (FREE). Then Go buy a Sandisk USB memory Stick and put those on there for later use!! You will always want to keep a backup of those just in case you get infected.

[ad#ad2-right]Make sure you update Windows regularly. Having seen this time and time again, if you don’t keep windows updated then you lose the battle. If you have a system that needs updating, I suggest downloading the Clone to Autopatcher. This little program will download the files needed to update your system without having to be online. Although, you can have windows update automatically every month but that might not update the recommended updates only the ones that are hot. It doesn’t matter which way you prefer to update, as long as you do to update regularly, Like every 2nd Tuesday of the Month.

One last tip you should also keep your Firewall and Anti-virus updated. There is a little program that will do that, it’s call AppSnap. If you follow all these recommendations you will greatly reduce your chances of getting a virus on your system.

Some good CyberMonday Sites to look at for 2008!

PaulNovember 28, 2008

I was just getting done with that story about the Walmart Stampede, and thought I would encourage people to check these good sites for people to check out for great deals. I have been looking through sites combing for some great sites to find the best deals and here they are:

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Dealio — Dealio will not only show you sneak peaks at Cyber Monday ads, but we will also send you directly to the store so that you can purchase the often limited inventory Cyber Monday deals before they disappear. Best of all, there is no need to hop from site to site – Dealio has all your Cyber Monday shopping covered.

CyberMonday — Shop hot holiday deals from more than 500 merchants. All of Shop.org’s proceeds from CyberMonday.com support the Ray Greenly Scholarship Fund.

Cybermonday Mahalo Deals — This Mahalo page collects links to websites offering information and discounted merchandise for Cyber Monday.

Best Cyber Monday Sales –Well, I finally put together a list of the top retailers throughout the country with links directly to their Cyber Monday deals.

Shopzilla — The company’s mission is to enable shoppers to quickly and easily find compare and buy anything, sold by virtually anyone, anywhere. Each month, Shopzilla connects millions of consumers with thousands of stores.

These are just a few that I could find and wanted to let people decide where they would like to go!!

Black Friday gets way out of hand!!! (No JOKE)

PaulNovember 28, 2008

OK, Black Friday has officially gotten out of hand. A 34-year-old WalMart employee was trying to hold back the crowds at a Long Island store this morning at 5am, when they took the doors off their hinges and stormed the store. The man fell down and was trampled by over 200 people as he gasped for air. It’s sad and despicable, and it’s equally the fault of the dehumanized shoppers and the WalMart store it happened at.
[via Gizmodo]

[ad#ad2-right]This is a sad day when people are more interested in deals then someone getting stampeded by other people. This happened in the Long Island Wal-mart. I much prefer CyberMonday, where you don’t have to worry about someone getting killed. I feel sorry for the people involved they now have to deal with there conscience. I hope this teaches Wal-mart to do something different next year. Next year they should have them enter one at a time in a line, every 2 seconds or so!!

Microsoft issues Vista patches out of Monthly Patch Cycle!

PaulNovember 26, 20083 Replies

Microsoft issues Out of cycle patch for Vista. These patches are as Followed:
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Kb957321

An update rollup is available for the Microsoft Windows Imaging Component (WIC) in Windows Vista or in Windows Server 2008. This update rollup resolves the problems that are documented in the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

954708 An update to add support for the serialization of complex Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) data types in the Windows Imaging Component

945060 There may be inconsistencies in the Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) and Exchangeable Image File (EXIF) values for an image file in Windows Vista and in Windows XP

KB959108

The Windows Portable Device (WPD) API collects and transfers Software Quality Metrics (SQM) data to Microsoft servers. The SQM data is collected only on an opt-in basis through the Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program. An update is available that disables the collection and transfer of SQL data to Microsoft servers.

This update affects Windows Vista-based computers, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1)-based computers, and Windows Server 2008-based computers that are in the Microsoft Windows Media Player Customer Experience Improvement Program.

KB959130

On a Windows Vista-based computer or on a Windows Server 2008-based computer, you install a third-party Web browser. You set the third-party Web browser as the default Web browser. Then, you run the Connect to the Internet Wizard. However, if you select the Browse the Internet now option, Windows Internet Explorer starts instead of the third-party Web browser that you set as the default Web browser.

[ad#ad2-right]This seems to be not so important. All of these are not really security related but it does surprise me that Microsoft wanted to release these out of Cycle. If your planning on using your Vista laptop during the holidays you might want to update your vista machine before you go. I don’t think there is going to be any major issues with this but if there is, you can always remove these updates later.