//beconfused » software

WordPress 2.51 with important security fix

Mr. Dew — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:20:42 +0000

WordPress 2.51 is out, with upgrades like:

Performance improvements for the Dashboard, Write Post, and Edit Comments pages.
Better performance for those who have many categories
Media Uploader fixes
An upgrade to TinyMCE 3.0.7
Widget Administration fixes
Various usability improvements
Layout fixes for IE

It includes a number of bug fixes, performance enhancements, and one very important security fix. We recommend everyone update immediately, particularly if your blog has open registration. The vulnerability is not public but it will be shortly.

[Source: WordPress]

Everyone should upgrade! Especially with one security fix. (Although I don’t allow open registration.) WordPress 2.5 has quite a bit of admin issues. I hope this upgrade would solve them. This blog has been upgraded already, yours should too.

Windows Update updates silently without permission

Mr. Dew — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:30:54 +0000

A recent case of Microsoft updating Windows Vista and Windows XP has got quite a heated discussion on the internet. Apparently, Microsoft gives an option for users to choose not to update Windows automatically. However, there are several updates that seem to have some sort of a stealth ability and sneak through those options to update. And that really is a bad idea.

The Windows Update Program Manager has explained that the updates are pertaining to updating the Windows Update software only:

any user who chooses to use Windows Update either expected updates to be installed or to at least be notified that updates were available. Had we failed to update the service automatically, users would not have been able to successfully check for updates and, in turn, users would not have had updates installed automatically or received expected notifications. That result would not only fail to meet customer expectations but even worse, that result would lead users to believe that they were secure even though there was no installation and/or notification of upgrades. To avoid creating such a false impression, the Windows Update client is configured to automatically check for updates anytime a system uses the WU service, independent of the selected settings for handling updates (for example, Ã¢Â€Âœcheck for updates but let me choose whether to download or install themÃ¢Â€Â). This has been the case since we introduced the automatic update feature in Windows XP. In fact, WU has auto-updated itself many times in the past.

Some users’ computers are set to download for do not install them automatically. However Windows Update went ahead to install it anyway. The files updated are as follows:

wuapi.dll
wuapp.exe
wuauclt.exe
wuaueng.dll
wucltux.dll
wudriver.dll
wups.dll
wups2.dll
wuwebv.dll

This time Microsoft is in trouble with many techies beings rather upset. If you really do not want Windows Update to update itself, make sure you disable the download completely.

The option to download but not install is a good idea. It should have been a lot more clear. And allowing Windows Update to install itself without consent it just double standards and I’m sure no administrator is going to like that at all.

FileZilla 3 has been released

Mr. Dew — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:04:57 +0000

The great people at FileZilla has updated their website, their software, their logo and the facelift is just worth a mention.

I use FileZilla pretty often and it’s always good to see my favorite tools get a facelift. The new client looks pretty good in Windows Vista too. Now they just have to put in a 256 pixel icon to make their icon look prettier on my desktop!

FileZilla is officially released, so go and download it now!

Windows Live Messenger 8.5 released!

Mr. Dew — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:32:06 +0000

Yay, who doesn’t like new software – Windows Live Messenger 8.5 is released through the Windows Live Suite. Windows Live Suite is Microsoft’s new unified installer. You can select what you want to install through their webpage. Here is a screenshot:

(Windows Live Messenger 8.5 screenshot.)

Windows Live Suite products include:

Mail: Multiple e-mail accounts on your desktop
Messenger: Connect, share, and make every conversation count
Photo Gallery (Beta): Organize and share photos and videos
Writer: Easily publish rich content to your blog
Toolbar: Search from any Web page
OneCare Family Safety: Help protect your kids online

I only installed Windows Live Messenger, Photo Gallery and Writer. I’m just not interested in the others I guess. I kinda got it for the sake of Live Messenger actually, love the sleek new interface.

Make sure that you do not have Live Messenger or Internet Explorer running when you do the installation. Mine fails as Live Messenger is running.

Download Windows Live Suite now.

[NOTE: The above link is a public beta. It is not clearly labeled and I misunderstood it. Windows Live Suite Public Beta includes the Windows Live Messenger 8.5 Beta 2 it seems. However, no where in the product seems to suggest that this is a beta.]

What the – Symantec thinks OneCare pricing is ‘monopolistic’

Mr. Dew — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 02:22:38 +0000

Symantec thinks Microsoft’s security suite is showing signs of monopolistic pricing? Haha, Symantec, you’re so funny, it’s just your anti-virus software being too expensive.

Remember the time when you disappointed me with your ugly yellow interface, your resource hogging tools. You have the most confusing set of products, your Antivirus software is cross-bundled in numerous of your flagship titles. Now you micmic the Windows Live OneCare idea and offer everything in one simple suite you call Norton 360 and you’re calling their price ‘monopolistic’.

Symantec CEO: Microsoft security ware pricing ‘monopolistic’

Symantec Chairman and CEO John Thompson blamed Microsoft on Tuesday for the current pricing competition his company faces in the consumer security market, suggesting Microsoft’s pricing scheme for its first entry into the space is “monopolistic.”

Speaking at the offices of the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York, Thompson said Microsoft’s decision last year to offer Windows Live OneCare, a service that combines firewall, antivirus and backup capabilities, for $49.95 per year for three PCs “clearly recast prior expectations for consumer security technology.”

“I don’t want to say it was monopolistic, but it looked that way to some of us,” Thompson said.

Symantec released Norton 360, its competitor to Windows Live OneCare, last March, but the product — at $79.99 for three PCs — costs more than Windows Live OneCare but has the benefit of more features and Symantec’s experience in security going for it.

Using competitive pricing to try to get a leg up in a market where a company is weak is a common practice, and Symantec is no stranger to such pricing storms, Thompson said. “We have seen a continued focus on price competition in some markets and some channels,” he said.

Source: InfoWorld

I am using Windows Vista and many of the virus that is made prior to Windows Vista aren’t working too. Assuming that only 10% of the virus are still working, should I just be paying for 10% of the cost your anti-virus software? With Microsoft plugging Vista bugs and holes in an almost weekly basis, the need of an anti-virus software, in my opinion, has clearly depleted.

OneCare at US$50 per year is not cheap too. And from a consumer viewpoint, I’m all for lower prices. The funny thing is that Mr. Thompson said himself that ‘using competitive pricing to try to get a leg up in a market where a company is weak is a common practice’. If OneCare is really not good enough, it is only justifiable that they have to charge cheaper since the consumer is getting a more inferior product in Mr. Thompson’s point of view.

You know what? It’s really just because the competitor is Microsoft.

[Declaration: I am a OneCare perpectual beta tester and I have not try Norton 360.]

Take a look at this year’s killer application – MS Paint

Mr. Dew — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 04:56:02 +0000

Take a look at this year’s killer application – MS Paint.

MS Paint by freeloveforum

Well, let’s be a little fair to Microsoft alright. MS Paint is never intended to be a designer tool and is intended as a tool to kill your boredom and a psychotherapy aid. I mean, don’t you remember the time when you actually paint the whole screen in blue and try to paint a red color all over the blue till you don’t even see a bit of another color?

List of useful free software that I use before

Mr. Dew — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 13:44:14 +0000

Not A Blind Date did a feature on 94 of the Best Free Software Applications that are Better than Purchased Software which is cool by the way but I can’t help to wonder what comparison are they making with.

They went on to place AVG in their list as the best anti-virus software. It’s probably the best free anti-virus software but it’s just not the best in the field. Best Image Editor is given to GIMP too when Photoshop is clearly superior.

And there is the Best Md5 Checksum Creator/Checker, since when someone is trying to sell a MD5 checker? Best Office Suite goes to OpenOffice, I don’t think the author check out Office 2007.

The list has nothing to do with recommending a free software that’s better than the paid counterpart. But some free software is actually worth noting.

I would recommend some of the free software:

7-zip if you want to open RAR and ZIP file. You can’t create RAR files with it though.
Google’s Picasa excels in photo organizing. I think it’s better than the Windows Vista one.
NotePad++ for HTMLÃ‚Â editor.Ã‚Â It’sÃ‚Â quickÃ‚Â andÃ‚Â easyÃ‚Â toÃ‚Â use.
Ã‚ÂµTorrent is quick, simple and not at all resource hogging!
YamiPod is great when you want to add songs into your iPod without iTunes installed.
Audacity does its job well in editing audio files.
Scribus is a free layout and publishing software. Think of it as a free and open source Adobe InDesign, however you can’t get too serious with this tool.
Filezilla does its FTP job well. It doesn’t have the prettiest interface but it just works!
Free Download Manager is my favorite free download manager.
I personally prefer Opera to Firefox or Internet Explorer. All 3 browsers are good though, use what you’re familiar with and don’t bother switching but keep your software to the latest version!
Blender is does an acceptable job in 3D modelling. Of course it can’t compete with the bigger boys but it’s free.
Combined Community Codec Pack is a great codec pack.
Windows Live Messenger is good for keeping up with your pals.
Eraser cleans your files completely. It’ll overwrite the sectors till its unretrievable.
If you want to die early but need a free Office program, check out OpenOffice. It’s the best free software.
AVG antivirus software protects your computer. It has a free one and one that you have to pay for.
Inkscape is a vector editing program. Not as powerful as Illustrator but it remains my favorite tool to use for vector edits. It’s quick and easy.
Try Paint.NET if you hate GIMP.
I prefer Foxit Reader for reading PDFÃ‚Â overÃ‚Â AdobeÃ‚Â Reader. I love the quicker loading in my slow computer.

The software list above is what I have used before, perhaps you can take a look and you may just find the right tool for you too. Some are open source, some aren’t but they’re all free.

Some thoughts on open source and freeware

Mr. Dew — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 04:29:25 +0000

I was just thinking the other day that if one day everything becomes open-source and free, what would become of programmers? Are they going to earn a living or what? If one day everything becomes open source, there is a good chance that you have to pay for your opensource software.

Open source does not mean it is free and freeware doesn’t mean it’s open source. Perhaps one day we may just have to pay for all the open source products which isn’t what most people wish for. Most people just want free software anyway, they don’t care if it’s open source, it’s just that open source sounded like it’s free.

The current situation of commercial close source products and the free open source seem to be in quite a balance. Free alternatives remain while the commercial sectors are still charging and all.

And I’m tired of all the ‘Lite’, ‘Express’ or non-Pro versions that remained free. If only every big software company can make one of their non-flagship products free, kinda like giving back to the society and at the same time create more competition and drive advancements in software.

On a side note – this looks a little strange to me.

Microsoft and opensource? Hmmmp…

Something good in Windows Vista – Clocks

Mr. Dew — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 13:45:02 +0000

One of my favorite improvements in Windows Vista is the bloody clock at the bottom right corner of your task bar or notification bar – whatever people call it (my friend calls it the blue bar).

On clicking on the digital clock at the blue bar you get this (picture):

In Windows XP, I double click on the clock quite often and it’ll launch this control panel thingy and all I want is too check a calendar. There was a couple of occasions that I click on some other month and I click okay. Of course, I set my clock to another day. With the new clock in Windows Vista, it shows a calendar that you can flip months and years and it will not change the date at all. But if it’s your intention to change the date, you can of course. The new feature does make a hell lot more sense, doesn’t it?

I love the additional clocks setting too (picture):

You can reveal more clocks if you’re travelling or something. I don’t travel much – if at all in fact. I set my other clock to Greenwich Mean Time, it’s useful when I check out logs and see server notices as it’s all reported in GMT. Another good time zone to set is Pacific Standard Time (PST) but I didn’t bother with that since Singapore time (similar to Australian Western Standard Time) is +800 hours and PST is just -800 hours. The analog clock would essentially look the same.

Have fun with clocks.

Upgrade to WordPress 2.1.2

Mr. Dew — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 02:00:32 +0000

WordPress users should upgrade to 2.1.2 as soon as possible.

If you downloaded WordPress 2.1.1 within the past 3-4 days, your files may include a security exploit that was added by a cracker, and you should upgrade all of your files to 2.1.2 immediately.

Although not all downloads of 2.1.1 were affected, weÃ¢??re declaring the entire version dangerous and have released a new version 2.1.2 that includes minor updates and entirely verified files. We are also taking lots of measures to ensure something like this canÃ¢??t happen again, not the least of which is minutely external verification of the download package so weÃ¢??ll know immediately if something goes wrong for any reason.

Source: WordPress blog

I’ll bring the site down for 5 minutes to upgrade. Seriously, an auto update feature should be implemented. Maybe get a prompt that there is an update you can you just click one button to just update. Your five minutes started one minute ago.

Download WordPress 2.1.2.

[Upgrade completed on 10:10 am.]

WordPress 2.1.1 released

Mr. Dew — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 14:13:39 +0000

It’s been released, all WordPress users should make some effort to get it updated.

Version 2.1.1 includes about 30 bug fixes, mostly minor things around encoding, XML-RPC, the object cache, and HTML code.

You can download WordPress here. WordPress is the software I used for blogging, I used it since version 1.2 I think, it’s improved a lot since then.

Free Adobe Photoshop – or so she thinks

Mr. Dew — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 04:37:22 +0000

It is late morning when I answered a call on my phone. I’m usually unkeen to answer calls on my cellphone, it usually means work, but this time it means school.

I enquired about a computing school. And one of the questions I post was regarding software licenses. It just came to my mind and I asked, “So what if the school requires Adobe Photoshop or some 3D Studio Max like programs?” She didn’t have the answer and promises to get back to me.

She did, “As for the software license questions, you don’t have to worry about it. We won’t be providing Microsoft Office but you can get Adobe Photoshop and those software online.”

“Where may I get those? Are they academic licenses?” I questioned.

“Oh, they told me that you can download for free.”

“Free? You mean Photoshop? Is it a trial version?” I was a little shocked, a little amused.

“Not the trial, Photoshop is free online, you can download on Adobe’s website,” she declared.

Review: WordPress 2.1

Mr. Dew — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 07:51:26 +0000

I am always slow in adopting web applications because they’re such a pain to upload and upgrade. It’s not like your usual computer applications where you just click and it’ll install and upgrade; you’ve got to be careful not to overwrite your files when upgrading.

But when WordPress 2.1 is officially released, I upgraded it within an hour. There are some admin interface upgrades, it now has a more Ajaxy interface and seems to load faster than before.

What that makes me really happy is how easy uploading images actually gotten. I organized my images files in /images/2007/01/image.jpg manually in the past. I upload it with an FTP client (Filezilla) and link it manually. The builtin image uploading tool makes blogging so much more enjoyable for me.

The Users page is updated too, it is currently still a little buggy but I can live with it. I can add users easily. It’s very useful for a multiuser web site. The other feature that I really like is how links can now be assigned categories. Categories are not just for posts now.

Version 2.1 also introduce privacy options which would be helpful for people who don’t wish their friends find their blog. It tells the search engine not to index. I don’t really use that feature but it’s still worth a mention.

My only wish is that tags can be supported in WordPress together with categories. Most of my plugins still work in WordPress 2.1.

I don’t face any problems after the upgrade. But I did do my usual back ups before attempting to upgrade, you should too. Now, WordPress 2.1 is powering this blog nicely.

Blog Stats

There are currently 1,137 post and 4,194 comments, contained within 266 categories. Akismet has protected your site from 54,493 spam comments.

Still running well with more than a thousand posts in the database.

Launched: Windows Vista

Mr. Dew — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 07:04:23 +0000

Windows Vista is kinda launched already and you can already find the PCs available at Harvey Norman or Courts stores in Singapore. I was talking to the salesman just yesterday and he was saying that it’s very good and advanced. Not sure what he meant but never mind.

It’s great that Microsoft finally releases Windows Vista, I had enough of Windows XP and I think it’s time for people to upgrade soon. I’ll probably upgrade on April when I buy a new computer and I’ll give my father my current computer. I’m thinking of installing Ubuntu for him. I wonder if it’s friendly enough for beginners.

You can find out more about Windows Vista or see the product comparison here.

[By the way, my image is purple due to Photoshop's auto coloring tools. I automate some stuff with Photoshop and I'm too lazy to adjust back the colors.]

Choosing from the many Windows Vista editions

Mr. Dew — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 08:02:02 +0000

The problem with Windows Vista is the confusing editions. There is just too many editions. Windows should really just have two editions maximum – the Home Premium one and the Ultimate one. Or perhaps just have one – that worked well for Apple.

Hi, I’d like to buy a copy of Vista.

Which one would you like?

(The Joy of Tech – The many editions of Windows Vista. The original watermark says joyoftech.com.)

Wordpress 2.1 released, upgrading //beconfused now

Mr. Dew — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 01:57:59 +0000

With an improved editor, image uploader, security features, and more. Nice polish added to already great blogging software.

A list of features:

* Autosaving posts
* Lossless XML import and export
* Editor now includes a spellchecker
* Allows you to mark your blog as private blog
* Allows you to choose any page to be your front page (my favorite feature!)
* Links are just redone. Now with category and cooler looks.
* Image upload manager (my second favorite feature!)

I used to upload with FileZilla and it’s really quite overkill. I mean, all I wanted to do is to upload a photograph and I do it through FileZilla because I didn’t like the way WordPress used to place my images. Download WordPress 2.1. I’m upgrading all the blogs to 2.1 now. It’s pretty stable since the beta actually so there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.

Microsoft’s Center for Digital Amnesia Awareness

Mr. Dew — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 19:44:34 +0000

Microsoft’s latest viral market attempt. It’s pretty interesting. It seems like viral marketing is getting more popular these days. I like.

_(The center for digital amnesia awareness.)_

Visit StopDigitalAmnesia.com

BitTorrent marries uTorrent, dowry exchanged

Mr. Dew — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 00:45:47 +0000

_(uTorrent logo.)_

BitTorrent merges with uTorrent, uTorrent community felt sold out. I don’t have a good feeling about this. uTorrent is one of the lightest weight BitTorrent clients around as opposed to the resource-eating BitTorrent written by Bram Cohen. No offense to Cohen, he written the greatest P2P protocol and is amazingly good with the idea of course. Strigeus manages to make uTorrent so lightweight that I uninstalled all my testing BitTorrent client ’cause I found THE BitTorrent client that I decide I would stick with.

This is Bram Cohen, the creator of the BitTorrent protocol, and Ludvig (Ludde) Strigeus, the writer of Ã‚ÂµTorrent.

Together, we are pleased to announce that BitTorrent, Inc. and Ã‚ÂµTorrent AB have decided to join forces. BitTorrent has acquired Ã‚ÂµTorrent as it recognized the merits of Ã‚ÂµTorrent’s exceptionally well-written codebase and robust user community. Bringing together Ã‚ÂµTorrent’s efficient implementation and compelling UI with BitTorrent’s expertise in networking protocols will significantly benefit the community with what we envision will be the best BitTorrent client.

What does this mean for the Ã‚ÂµTorrent community? Not much, at least not at first. The intention is to maintain the website as it is, and keep the forums and community active. Moving forward behind the scenes, we will continue to develop Ã‚ÂµTorrent and will be using the codebase in other applications, especially ones where a fast, lightweight implementation is more suitable, such as embedded systems on TVs, cell phones, and other non-PC platforms.

The existent Ã‚ÂµTorrent and BitTorrent communities are immensely valuable to us, which is why we are announcing this here first to make sure you’re all the first to know about the news. The plan is to continue to foster the health and growth of the community that has been critical to the success of Ã‚ÂµTorrent. Thank you in advance for your support.

Bram and Ludde

BitTorrent Inc. has just bought (merged with) the popular BitTorrent client, uTorrent for an undisclosed sum. Both CEOs are available for discussion on IRC.

I just hope that uTorrent would just get better at what and not worse and that is by adding essential features and not bloating up the whole software. Software company mergers always tend to result in a bloated software somehow, this hopefully would be an exception.

Review: The Prestige (2006)

Mr. Dew — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 23:57:43 +0000

I just watched The Prestige and the movie is amazing. The Nolan brothers (director and writer) really shone in that film.

(The Prestige 128 x 128.)

The Prestige is about 2 rival magicians (performed by Hugh Jackman and Christopher Bale), when one manages to perform an amazing trick, the other struggles to find the secrets as to how the trick is done. The struggle to find out secrets are costly and that is pretty much all I can tell you without review much of the suspense.

Every great magic trick consists of three acts. The first act is called “The Pledge”; The magician shows you something ordinary, but of course… it probably isn’t. The second act is called “The Turn”; The magician makes his ordinary some thing do something extraordinary. Now if you’re looking for the secret… you won’t find it, that’s why there’s a third act called, “The Prestige”; this is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you’ve never seen before.

I like the way the story plot jumps around to reveal itself. The Prestige is, to a certain extend, made to reveal itself in the form of the magic trick. I kinda felt it follows the Pledge-Turn-Prestige path which makes the show rather interesting. It’s great to discuss about it after your movie with your friends too.

And look! I even make a The Prestige Live Messenger display picture. I really enjoyed the film and it deserves 5 stars out of a total 5 for being such an excellent movie. It’s probably not in the theatres already since I forgot to release this post. Get the DVD soon perhaps?

On a side note, take a look at Windows Live Messenger:

(Look you can create so many types of display pictures, so confusing.)

Okay… So you can make a lot of different display pictures, but this is just too much right? All the Kiwee, Meegos and Quebles… I have no idea what they are at all. And you can click on the tile on top or the link below. Aren’t they repeating information too much? It’s a waste of space and doesn’t look pleasing at all. Perhaps Microsoft can remove those links at the bottom. I’m using the Aussie Windows Live Messenger by the way.

Windows Vista box design looks awesome

Mr. Dew — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 17:10:46 +0000

Wow, these boxing actually looks good. I wouldn’t guess it’s from Microsoft. It makes a purchase of the operating system a lot more worth it.

_(The new Windows Vista and Office 2007 box packaging.)_

You can have the most kick-ass product but with a bad packaging, it’s just spoils the experience. Microsoft is learning about packaging. I love the one for Windows Vista Ultimate edition. Really cool packaging with an unfortunately somewhat boring name. [via Windows Vista Team blog]