People who know me are often treated to the occasional rant about how difficult I find it to believe that people still use any form of MS Windows. After all it costs a small fortune, doesn't come with any bundled software; needs constant vigilence to avoid malware and, in my opinion at least, a high level of technical competence to run efficiently. Compared to many of the Linux distributions (distros) XP is and was something of a lumbering beast.
Still with the release of Windows 7 I have had to eat my words a little and concede that the latest offering from the Redmond boys and girls is certainly a well constructed little beastie and any system admin will tell you that after more than a decade in the wild XP is rock solid if only because after ten years all the bugs have been reported. But its still a hard experience for the pocket, especially if you plan on having multiple computers.
As an aside I almost find myself siding with Microsoft when it comes to dodgy copies of their OS. In recent months 15% of my customers have had illegal copies of Windows and while I do not condone (nor supply) illegal copies of their software, I can understand what happens in the real world when you have the number 1 product and want to sell it for £70 a go. For many a reason to find copies of the OS on bittorrent sites and for me another reason to leave Microsoft and make the short trip to the land of open source/GNU software.
What prompted today's Victor Meldrew style rant was this: I have XP and Ubuntu on my PC with the Windows partition there mainly for use in diagnosing problems from clients, its not used a great deal but today I booted up thinking that it would need some updating and boy was I right about that!
AVG was first past the post with an update but since I had not used it in a while it also attempted to do a full scan at the same time. Ouch!
Windows update fired up a few seconds later and began to download various files and a java platform decided that it needed updating and immediately started.
Meanwhile XP was threatening to restart because something - by now I was not sure what - had finished updating. It took repeated clicks to stop it shutting down in the middle of an update of the java platform.
Once all this had been completed AVG wanted to do a full scan and Windows having downloaded files wanted to install them. Despite having a dual core processor and a gig of RAM on my rig the amount of processor cycles being used meant I could do nothing else! XP has always wanted a lot of cycles to run and while Vista may have got the "skunk eye" when it came to being a resources hog, on anything less than a couple of gigs, XP moves with all the speed of a pensioner on a bus as well maybe not on the first install but install a 10 or 15 applications and watch that speed plummet.
At this point I can hear some pro-Windows people shouting "Yeah, well Linux is too complicated and it can't do games, see!" On the latter point with the exception of some games written for Linux and Cedega Linux they are right. But having been in the PC repairs for some years now I know that the average user out is not running a water cooled gaming behemoth and worried about frame rates on Call of Duty. Fact of the matter is, if you want decent gaming forget the PC and opt for a PS3 or Xbox360. On being complicated, while that may have been true of the distros three or four years back, the latest versions of LinuxMint, Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, Fedora etc are all simple to operate and can be picked up by the average user in a few minutes. Click the Firefox icon and you are off. After all, realistically, how much time does the casual user spend outside the browser enviroment. While we are not yet a cloud computing/web 2.0 community, the browser is king. But if a user needs more; DVD playing, office suites and a ferocious amount of free software are there for taking. You never need to defrag or no need for Anti-virus. I have run various distros for years and while occasionally there are hardware issues there is usually an OS that will suit most systems, from a 386 (but don't expect too much) to the latest quad core super machines. Install is usually painless but if you are worried myself and lots of people like me will usually do the work for you and usually it will not cost an arm or a leg to do it.
In the meantime, XP has been consigned to the cupboard of its partition and Ubuntu is up and running at speed and happily. If you fancy checking one out, Google for Linux and burn your own or if you are in the Hastings and St Leonards, drop me an email and I'll sort out a disc for you. Just pop it in, have a look, it won't install until you want it to, but will load into memory and give you a feel for what Linux is all about. Give it a try I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Saturday 29 May 2010
Sunday 18 April 2010
Digital Economy Bill Are Your Prepared?
Just a little dire warning to PC users, the Digital Economy Bill proposes to place a burden of responsibility on the person owning the Internet connection – you have to prove it wasn't you who pirated that film, otherwise you risk being disconnected. On that basis, you might want to have a good look at your AV, the status of any wireless connection and the exact state of your PC. Don't assume your are safe because you have AVG/Norton or similar on the system, especially if you are updating once a week or less. Get the system fully checked out. A pro can check out ports open on your machine and look around for anything odd which could mean a possible pirate is using your connection. Your might want to make sure your wireless connection is WPA2 compliance and you are not broadcasting your SSID. A good hacker will find your connection regardless, but you can at least make it tough enough so that they go and find another sucker instead.
Anyone with multiple PCs and children might want to see what is on the machine as well. While many people refer to having their PCs "hacked" the reality is the majority of problems happen when someone decides to download a file from www.put_virus_on_my-PC.ru or similar dodgy site.
Given that this could become the cash cow for some legal firm next year (Letters demanding recompense in the £500 have been received and £700 have been suggested) a few quid hiring the services of someone to give your PC a clean bill of health could be a real saver. If you are on a tight budget try my guide (details below) or spend some time on the net understanding how your PC works.
Email me on ron.cook@gmail.com for my "Help Yourself" PDF price £1 (Paypal, cheque or postal order) I also do PC protection in the Hastings area.)
Anyone with multiple PCs and children might want to see what is on the machine as well. While many people refer to having their PCs "hacked" the reality is the majority of problems happen when someone decides to download a file from www.put_virus_on_my-PC.ru or similar dodgy site.
Given that this could become the cash cow for some legal firm next year (Letters demanding recompense in the £500 have been received and £700 have been suggested) a few quid hiring the services of someone to give your PC a clean bill of health could be a real saver. If you are on a tight budget try my guide (details below) or spend some time on the net understanding how your PC works.
Email me on ron.cook@gmail.com for my "Help Yourself" PDF price £1 (Paypal, cheque or postal order) I also do PC protection in the Hastings area.)
Saturday 10 April 2010
The Internet is Middle-aged - explains a lot.
From the first email to the first YouTube video: a definitive internet history. What links a broken laser pointer, a coffee pot and the elephant enclosure at San Diego Zoo? In late 1971 Ray Tomlinson, an engineer working on a time-sharing system called Tenex, combined two programs named Cpynet and SNDMSG in order to send the first ever network email. It had been possible to send email from one user to another on a single computer for nearly 10 years but Tomlinson was the first to use the primitive Arpanet to send text from one computer to another.
While the same principles are used to send emails across the world today, the very first email (the contents of which Tomlinson says he has long forgotten) was sent between two computers sitting right next to each other. At the same time, Tomlinson also devised the format of modern emails, with the @ symbol dividing the user name from the name of the host computer (although he did not invent the symbol itsel). And why did he do it? "Mostly because it seemed like a neat idea."
Full article at http://ping.fm/tVRil
While the same principles are used to send emails across the world today, the very first email (the contents of which Tomlinson says he has long forgotten) was sent between two computers sitting right next to each other. At the same time, Tomlinson also devised the format of modern emails, with the @ symbol dividing the user name from the name of the host computer (although he did not invent the symbol itsel). And why did he do it? "Mostly because it seemed like a neat idea."
Full article at http://ping.fm/tVRil
Sunday 4 April 2010
Thursday 1 April 2010
It is the biggest shakeup in the Ordnance Survey's 260-year history: from tomorrow you can download maps as detailed as 1:10,000 scale, or collect a list of locations appearing on maps at the 1:50,000 scale, or a conversion system for postcodes to grid references – free for personal or commercial use. Charles Arthur, The Guardian. Full article at http://ping.fm/PAV6G
Monday 29 March 2010
April Fools Day is Thursday. Its is a popular day for pranksters and web sites to publish bogus news but its also the time when less fun motivated people like to try their hand at launching trojans (malware which waits for a certain condition) to launch. These attacks usually target Windows users While the chances of anything happening are remote, just to be on the safe side make sure of the following:
* Make sure all Windows Updates have been installed.
* Update your virus definitions and run a full system scan.
* Ensure you have a firewall protecting your system/network.
* Keep an eye out for any suspicious activity over the next few days.
Chances are all will be well, but keep your eyes open for anything suspicious, think before you click!
* Make sure all Windows Updates have been installed.
* Update your virus definitions and run a full system scan.
* Ensure you have a firewall protecting your system/network.
* Keep an eye out for any suspicious activity over the next few days.
Chances are all will be well, but keep your eyes open for anything suspicious, think before you click!
Sunday 28 March 2010
Tuesday 16 March 2010
Microsoft previews Internet Explorer 9 - and it promises to add new technologies that may make it one of the most advanced browsers out there. No, really.
Among the elements that Microsoft is touting are SVGcapability, background compiled Javascript for greater speed, and HTML5 integration, so enter the ability to play Youtube videos and the like without flash. Could be handy!
Full article at http://ping.fm/SjJND
Among the elements that Microsoft is touting are SVGcapability, background compiled Javascript for greater speed, and HTML5 integration, so enter the ability to play Youtube videos and the like without flash. Could be handy!
Full article at http://ping.fm/SjJND
Saturday 6 March 2010
Friday 5 March 2010
Ever watch the news reports about Iraq and the Middle East and thought that its easy to fool and confuse relatively primitive and unsophisticated Iraqis and Iranians? Time to add Joe Average in the US of Ignorance to the list.... Mainly down below what Robin Williams once described as the "Manson/Nixon" line the good ol' boys have been cleaning their M16s and dusting off Dixie in response to the Obama administrations social initiatives.
While it may all feel very Bo and Luke Duke, their Hazard County rednecks are logging onto the net and getting their conspiracy theories right from the headless horse's mouth and the Internet is right at the heart of all the conspiracies theories and dire warnings of disaster which Abner and Leroy are finding so appealling. And of course since this is the land of a hundred million guns and a place where hunters can own armour piercing bullets for hunting the protests are not a polite march on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and a signed petition.
A recent news report claimed a 250% rise in 'patriot' groups with a rise in in anti-government extremist groups and armed militias. All this driven by increasing worries about the economy and the increasing propagation of conspiracy theories by parts of the mass media such as Fox News.
The Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC),a prominent civil rights group in their report entitled "Rage on the Right", say the rise in right wing is "a cause for grave concern" given their propensity to use violence. They reported that "...patriot groups have been fuelled by anger over the changing demographics of the country, the soaring public debt, the troubled economy and an array of initiatives by President Obama that have been branded "socialist" or even "fascist" by his political opponents," (Nice to know the good ol' boys are egalitarian in the paranoia, at least!)
Since the installation of Barack Obama, right wing extremists have murdered six law enforcement officers. One man (For UK bloggers read insane gun toting nutjob who would probably be locked up in a civilised country) told police he had learned on white supremacist websites that a genocide was under way against whites and then murdered two black people and planned to kill as many Jews as possible on the day after Obama's inauguration. Of course Obama's government can't win, if they respond to these lunatics they are accused of pursuing their left wing agenda, which in the states usually means taking guns away and possibly allowing ill people to use hospital even if they don't have money! If they do nothing they are tacitly endorsing the situation.
The truth is that like "foreign" countries the USA also has its contingent of ignorant, easily led natives more than willing to believe anything they their instinct tell them to be true and in the 21st century the internet can feed this sort of information far faster and with much more content than ever before. The current climate appeals to the apocalypse maybe gang and you can bet that even as I type this survivalists are sharing stories of the best way to cache food and shoot black people in a way that suits Youtube video formats.
For Barack its likely to be a hard struggle to wins the hearts of minds of people whose politcal views are still enshrouded in the values and attitudes 19th Century.
While it may all feel very Bo and Luke Duke, their Hazard County rednecks are logging onto the net and getting their conspiracy theories right from the headless horse's mouth and the Internet is right at the heart of all the conspiracies theories and dire warnings of disaster which Abner and Leroy are finding so appealling. And of course since this is the land of a hundred million guns and a place where hunters can own armour piercing bullets for hunting the protests are not a polite march on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and a signed petition.
A recent news report claimed a 250% rise in 'patriot' groups with a rise in in anti-government extremist groups and armed militias. All this driven by increasing worries about the economy and the increasing propagation of conspiracy theories by parts of the mass media such as Fox News.
The Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC),a prominent civil rights group in their report entitled "Rage on the Right", say the rise in right wing is "a cause for grave concern" given their propensity to use violence. They reported that "...patriot groups have been fuelled by anger over the changing demographics of the country, the soaring public debt, the troubled economy and an array of initiatives by President Obama that have been branded "socialist" or even "fascist" by his political opponents," (Nice to know the good ol' boys are egalitarian in the paranoia, at least!)
Since the installation of Barack Obama, right wing extremists have murdered six law enforcement officers. One man (For UK bloggers read insane gun toting nutjob who would probably be locked up in a civilised country) told police he had learned on white supremacist websites that a genocide was under way against whites and then murdered two black people and planned to kill as many Jews as possible on the day after Obama's inauguration. Of course Obama's government can't win, if they respond to these lunatics they are accused of pursuing their left wing agenda, which in the states usually means taking guns away and possibly allowing ill people to use hospital even if they don't have money! If they do nothing they are tacitly endorsing the situation.
The truth is that like "foreign" countries the USA also has its contingent of ignorant, easily led natives more than willing to believe anything they their instinct tell them to be true and in the 21st century the internet can feed this sort of information far faster and with much more content than ever before. The current climate appeals to the apocalypse maybe gang and you can bet that even as I type this survivalists are sharing stories of the best way to cache food and shoot black people in a way that suits Youtube video formats.
For Barack its likely to be a hard struggle to wins the hearts of minds of people whose politcal views are still enshrouded in the values and attitudes 19th Century.
Tuesday 2 March 2010
Think you've been given the chance to sign up as an iPad tester via Facebook? Not a chance mate! Its a nasty little scam which will end up with you being sign to a premium rate mobile service. This warning is coming from Sophos, the Internet security people.
According to Sophos here is how the scam is worked: Here's how it works. 1) You are invited to "Become a Fan" of the page; 2) "Invite your friends" to also become fans of the page, and take part in the "special promotion" 3) "Claim" or "Apply" for your prize.
Some of the pages pretend to have thousands of positive comments from other Facebook users claiming that the offer is genuine, Sophos notes. And it's also running on Twitter - so beware there of people or accounts offering "Free Apple iPad!" or similar. Bit of a clue here is that Apple haven't actually started to sell the Ipad and won't until April.
When the victim applies for the prize they are typically taken to an online quiz, and their mobile phone number is requested so they can be sent the results. Doing that will sign you up for a premium rate service, costing you in the region of £8 every week. The scammers who created the fake iPad Facebook pages are undoubtedly skimming off some of this money by bringing new unwitting subscribers to the cellphone service.
If something looks too good to be true then generally it is. This has been a public service information blog. :-)
Here's a Youtube video on the subject.
According to Sophos here is how the scam is worked: Here's how it works. 1) You are invited to "Become a Fan" of the page; 2) "Invite your friends" to also become fans of the page, and take part in the "special promotion" 3) "Claim" or "Apply" for your prize.
Some of the pages pretend to have thousands of positive comments from other Facebook users claiming that the offer is genuine, Sophos notes. And it's also running on Twitter - so beware there of people or accounts offering "Free Apple iPad!" or similar. Bit of a clue here is that Apple haven't actually started to sell the Ipad and won't until April.
When the victim applies for the prize they are typically taken to an online quiz, and their mobile phone number is requested so they can be sent the results. Doing that will sign you up for a premium rate service, costing you in the region of £8 every week. The scammers who created the fake iPad Facebook pages are undoubtedly skimming off some of this money by bringing new unwitting subscribers to the cellphone service.
If something looks too good to be true then generally it is. This has been a public service information blog. :-)
Here's a Youtube video on the subject.
Tuesday 23 February 2010
Sunday 21 February 2010
Google acquisition of video compression outfit On2 http://ping.fm/5plu7
Technologies. On Friday, according to brief statements from the two companies, On2 shareholders voted to approve a deal valued at approximately $124.6 million.
Technologies. On Friday, according to brief statements from the two companies, On2 shareholders voted to approve a deal valued at approximately $124.6 million.
Wednesday 17 February 2010
Mozilla addon malware detected
Missed this earlier but this month but Mozilla announced that two experimental Firefox add-ons, Master Filer and the Sothink Web Video Downloader version 4, infected victim PCs with Trojans when installed. These have no been removed from the addon library that Mozilla run for Firefox.
The Master Filer instals the Bifrose Trojan. The Sothink Web Video Downloader version 4 came with LdPinch Trojan, and had been downloaded. The nasties managed to sneak by Mozillas malware scanners and Mozilla now say they will be using different scanning software.
If you have installed either of these addon, removing them will not deal with the malware, you'll need an antivirus scan and disinfection. Be careful out there folks!
The Master Filer instals the Bifrose Trojan. The Sothink Web Video Downloader version 4 came with LdPinch Trojan, and had been downloaded. The nasties managed to sneak by Mozillas malware scanners and Mozilla now say they will be using different scanning software.
If you have installed either of these addon, removing them will not deal with the malware, you'll need an antivirus scan and disinfection. Be careful out there folks!
Monday 15 February 2010
Gone phishing!
Scams tricking gullible users into handing over personal details for naughty piccies have moved over onto social networks.
92% of phishing scam recorded in January 2010 were on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Once scammers have grabbed personal credentials, surfers are redirected to sites scareware scams rather than smut.
Scareware scams more commonly rely on finding search engine results such as the death of an athlete. These results are altered so that surfers looking for videos of this tragedy are instead redirected to anti-virus scan scam portals, which warn of non-existent malware risks in a bid to try and scare the user into buying software which can often be loaded with malware and tojans.
Symantec's reported a high volume of Haiti Earthquake-related spam and phishing in January 2010, as unscrupulous fraudsters tried to lure people.
You have been warned!
92% of phishing scam recorded in January 2010 were on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Once scammers have grabbed personal credentials, surfers are redirected to sites scareware scams rather than smut.
Scareware scams more commonly rely on finding search engine results such as the death of an athlete. These results are altered so that surfers looking for videos of this tragedy are instead redirected to anti-virus scan scam portals, which warn of non-existent malware risks in a bid to try and scare the user into buying software which can often be loaded with malware and tojans.
Symantec's reported a high volume of Haiti Earthquake-related spam and phishing in January 2010, as unscrupulous fraudsters tried to lure people.
You have been warned!
Wi fi SIM
http://ping.fm/V69sK Another attempt to add value to the diminutive GSM SIM sees Sagem Orga squeezing an entire Wi-Fi hotspot into a SIM card - we're just not sure why. SIMFi, as the product has been named, is a normal SIM card usable in any handset, but it also packs 802.11 Wi-Fi that can enable any 3G handset to operate as a hotspot sharing its connectivity with nearby Wi-Fi-enabled devices - assuming a network operator decides to deploy it.
http://ping.fm/cw3eo
http://ping.fm/cw3eo
Sunday 14 February 2010
Saturday 13 February 2010
Opera 10 and Unite, your PC as a server
Opera Unite: some first thoughts...
The company Opera unveiled today what it was referring to when it boasted about technology that essentially turns every computer running the Opera browser into a full-fledged Web server. Its called Unite and on first sight is looking very good.
Opera Unite can be used to share documents, music, photos, videos, or use it to run websites or even chat rooms without third-party requirements. The ability to put documents from your own rig onto the web turns every machine into a webserver and opens a new chapter in how the internet works. We await developments with interest and will be feeding back on Opera and Unit as soon as we can.
Good article here http://ping.fm/eW9Dl
The company Opera unveiled today what it was referring to when it boasted about technology that essentially turns every computer running the Opera browser into a full-fledged Web server. Its called Unite and on first sight is looking very good.
Opera Unite can be used to share documents, music, photos, videos, or use it to run websites or even chat rooms without third-party requirements. The ability to put documents from your own rig onto the web turns every machine into a webserver and opens a new chapter in how the internet works. We await developments with interest and will be feeding back on Opera and Unit as soon as we can.
Good article here http://ping.fm/eW9Dl
Opera web server
Unite put your pc on the net! http://ping.fm/zctqw
Unite is a simple idea with huge potential. It puts a web server inside your browser, and you can use that server to deliver almost anything. For now Unite offers file sharing, media streaming and photo sharing together with sticky notes and chat, but it could deliver any kind of content you might imagine.
Unite is a simple idea with huge potential. It puts a web server inside your browser, and you can use that server to deliver almost anything. For now Unite offers file sharing, media streaming and photo sharing together with sticky notes and chat, but it could deliver any kind of content you might imagine.
Friday 12 February 2010
Microsoft's Yahoo! pact closer to clearance
Who's number two?
By Gavin Clarke in San Francisco
Posted in Business, 13th February 2010 00:40 GMT http://ping.fm/ksHoD
Microsoft's plan to become a credible number two to Google in online search could be a step closer.
Reuters has reported that Microsoft is expected to secure approval for its 10-year search pact with Yahoo!, as a European Union deadline to approve or reject the deal approaches on February 19. A source quoted by Reuters said: "I expect clearance without any concessions next Friday."
The companies' agreement was announced in July 2009. Senior vice president for Microsoft's online audience business Yusuf Mehdi said last week that as soon as Microsoft closed and implemented the Yahoo! deal, Microsoft will have achieved a milestone. "For advertisers, we are a credible No. 2."
Microsoft in January continued its US search market share gains, with Bing again inching up to hit 11.3 per cent - half a percentage point higher than December. Google, meanwhile, saw its market share fall by 0.3 per cent to 65.4 per cent.
By Gavin Clarke in San Francisco
Posted in Business, 13th February 2010 00:40 GMT http://ping.fm/ksHoD
Microsoft's plan to become a credible number two to Google in online search could be a step closer.
Reuters has reported that Microsoft is expected to secure approval for its 10-year search pact with Yahoo!, as a European Union deadline to approve or reject the deal approaches on February 19. A source quoted by Reuters said: "I expect clearance without any concessions next Friday."
The companies' agreement was announced in July 2009. Senior vice president for Microsoft's online audience business Yusuf Mehdi said last week that as soon as Microsoft closed and implemented the Yahoo! deal, Microsoft will have achieved a milestone. "For advertisers, we are a credible No. 2."
Microsoft in January continued its US search market share gains, with Bing again inching up to hit 11.3 per cent - half a percentage point higher than December. Google, meanwhile, saw its market share fall by 0.3 per cent to 65.4 per cent.
Thursday 11 February 2010
loggers told they have violated terms without further explanation, as years of archives are wiped off the internet. Guardian online article. http://ping.fm/WaL5h
Wednesday 10 February 2010
Monday 8 February 2010
Sunday 7 February 2010
Interesting discovery from "The Register" today
By Cade Metz in San Francisco http://ping.fm/l4DrM
Posted in HPC, 8th February 2010 05:02 GMT
Sometime in the middle of October, Google silently launched a new net domain - a barely-disguised doppelgänger to the familiar google.com - and according to the latest stats from the site watchers at Alexa, this mystery domain is now visited by nearly 3 per cent of all net users, making it the 44st most visited domain on the interwebs. In other words, it's bigger than AOL, Apple.com, or the BBC.
Over the past few months, those keeping a close eye on their PC's net traffic have noticed seemingly random connections to this mystery domain. In some cases, the connections arise even before an application is launched, and since the domain name appears - at first glance - to be little more than a hodgepodge of characters, some netizens have blocked it, under the assumption it serves up malware.
But on closer inspection, the domain is obviously Google's, chosen with a mathematician's wink at the search giant's famously misspelled name. This mystery domain is 1e100.net. "1e100" would be scientific notation for 10 100, a one followed by 100 zeros, also known as a googol.
As pointed out by Sebastian Stadil, founder of the Silicon Valley Cloud Computing Group, 1e100.net translates to "Google Network" - the ever-growing Google private infrastructure that spans nearly forty custom-built data centers worldwide. According to a recent company presentation, Google intends to expand this private interweb to between one million and 10 million servers, spanning “100s to 1000s” of global locations.
Whois records show that Google registered 1e100.net on September 24, and according to data from Alexa, traffic began hitting the domain around the middle of October."
So no need to panic if you see this domain and no need to block, but it would have been nice to have been told :-(
By Cade Metz in San Francisco http://ping.fm/l4DrM
Posted in HPC, 8th February 2010 05:02 GMT
Sometime in the middle of October, Google silently launched a new net domain - a barely-disguised doppelgänger to the familiar google.com - and according to the latest stats from the site watchers at Alexa, this mystery domain is now visited by nearly 3 per cent of all net users, making it the 44st most visited domain on the interwebs. In other words, it's bigger than AOL, Apple.com, or the BBC.
Over the past few months, those keeping a close eye on their PC's net traffic have noticed seemingly random connections to this mystery domain. In some cases, the connections arise even before an application is launched, and since the domain name appears - at first glance - to be little more than a hodgepodge of characters, some netizens have blocked it, under the assumption it serves up malware.
But on closer inspection, the domain is obviously Google's, chosen with a mathematician's wink at the search giant's famously misspelled name. This mystery domain is 1e100.net. "1e100" would be scientific notation for 10 100, a one followed by 100 zeros, also known as a googol.
As pointed out by Sebastian Stadil, founder of the Silicon Valley Cloud Computing Group, 1e100.net translates to "Google Network" - the ever-growing Google private infrastructure that spans nearly forty custom-built data centers worldwide. According to a recent company presentation, Google intends to expand this private interweb to between one million and 10 million servers, spanning “100s to 1000s” of global locations.
Whois records show that Google registered 1e100.net on September 24, and according to data from Alexa, traffic began hitting the domain around the middle of October."
So no need to panic if you see this domain and no need to block, but it would have been nice to have been told :-(
By Chris Crum
It's been a pretty big week for Facebook. Not only is there a lot of talk about Facebook's potential for becoming the top news source on the web, but the company celebrated its sixth birthday, is passing the 400 million user mark, and began rolling out some new design changes. In addition, the company is said to be rewriting its messaging feature and preparing to launch a webmail product, but first things first.
Full article at http://ping.fm/uSjIu
It's been a pretty big week for Facebook. Not only is there a lot of talk about Facebook's potential for becoming the top news source on the web, but the company celebrated its sixth birthday, is passing the 400 million user mark, and began rolling out some new design changes. In addition, the company is said to be rewriting its messaging feature and preparing to launch a webmail product, but first things first.
Full article at http://ping.fm/uSjIu
Thursday 4 February 2010
http://ping.fm/mg6C9
NASA's plans to send a manned mission to the moon and launch the US into a bold new era of space exploration are likely to remain on the ground today when Barack Obama unveils his budget.
NASA's plans to send a manned mission to the moon and launch the US into a bold new era of space exploration are likely to remain on the ground today when Barack Obama unveils his budget.
http://ping.fm/80QtQ
Cyber-warfare attacks on military infrastructure, government and communications systems, and financial markets pose a rapidly growing but little understood threat to international security and could become a decisive weapon of choice in future conflicts between states.
Cyber-warfare attacks on military infrastructure, government and communications systems, and financial markets pose a rapidly growing but little understood threat to international security and could become a decisive weapon of choice in future conflicts between states.
Tuesday 2 February 2010
Fake Google appears in China
http://www.goojje.com/ Full article here http://ping.fm/EI1i2 Google's line on this is the concerns about possible theft of their search engine algorithms.
Interesting to note the above in connection with the ruling from China on Baidu http://ping.fm/j9wGW for full article.
http://www.goojje.com/ Full article here http://ping.fm/EI1i2 Google's line on this is the concerns about possible theft of their search engine algorithms.
Interesting to note the above in connection with the ruling from China on Baidu http://ping.fm/j9wGW for full article.
Monday 1 February 2010
Be interested in hearing how other people react to this: A convicted murderer has been using Facebook to let the world know what he was up to! The Facebook con is called Colin Gunn, 42, is serving 35 years for conspiracy to murder Joan and John Stirland. Gun has had a Facebook profile for at least two months. The page was regularly updated leading to suspicion that he was using a mobile phone rather than getting friends to update it for him. On the site Gunn declared: “Good news from seeing the security governor, he said he had no problem with me blogging. I’ve provided him with all of the up-to-date laws on it. Unlike the security at HMP Whitemoor, it does not concern them here,” This quote from the Sunday Times.The profile also included threatening messages. This had lead to speculation that Gunn could be accessing other social networks and his former from jail.
Sunday 31 January 2010
The dimensions of the little baby are are 4" x 4.5" x 1.05". Could be the answer for someone who wants a PC but is pushed for space. Read the full article here http://ping.fm/UJCHz
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