Build your own Database Driven Website using PHP & MySQL - Third Edition [Tutorials]:
"Kevin Yank began developing for the Web in 1995 and is a highly respected technical author. He wrote 'Build your own Database Driven Website using PHP and MySQL', a practical step-by-step guide published by SitePoint.com, and he's editor of the SitePoint Tech Times, a bi-weekly newsletter for technically-minded Web developers. Kev believes that any good Webmaster should have seen at least one episode of MacGyver. "
These articles are aimed at intermediate or advanced Web designers looking to make the leap into server-side programming. You'll be expected to be comfortable with simple HTML, as I'll make use of it without much in the way of explanation. No knowledge of JavaScript is assumed or required, but if you do know JavaScript, you'll find it will make learning PHP a breeze.
By the end of the series, you can expect to have a grasp of what's involved in setting up and building a database-driven Website. If you follow the examples, you'll also learn the basics of PHP (a server-side scripting language that gives you easy access to a database, and a lot more) and Structured Query Language (SQL — the standard language for interacting with relational databases) as supported by MySQL, one of the most popular free database engines available today. Most importantly, you'll come away with everything you need to get started on your very own database-driven site in no time!
What's in this Series?
This series comprises the following 4 chapters. Read them in order from beginning to end to gain a complete understanding of the subject, or skip around if you need a refresher on a particular topic.
Chapter 1: Installation
Chapter 2: Getting Started with MySQL
Chapter 3: Getting Started with PHP
Chapter 4: Publishing MySQL Data on the Web
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/php-mysql-tutorial
Friday, October 22, 2004
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Working with HTML Using the FrontPage 2003 Object Model
Working with HTML Using the FrontPage 2003 Object Model:
"Summary: Learn how to use the Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Visual Basic for Applications object model to programmatically add or modify the HTML in a Web page. (11 printed pages)"
html/odc_fpWorkingWithHTMLProgrammatically.asp
"Summary: Learn how to use the Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Visual Basic for Applications object model to programmatically add or modify the HTML in a Web page. (11 printed pages)"
Introduction
Understanding the FrontPage Object Model
Troubleshooting
Conclusion
html/odc_fpWorkingWithHTMLProgrammatically.asp
Friday, October 15, 2004
Crypto-Gram Newsletter
Crypto-Gram Newsletter
http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-0410.html
In this issue:
- New Blog, and Changes to Crypto-Gram
- Keeping Network Outages Secret
- RFID Passports
- Disrupting Air Travel with Arabic Writing
- Crypto-Gram Reprints
- News
- Counterpane News
- The Legacy of DES
- The Doghouse: Lexar JumpDrives
- License Plate "Guns" and Privacy
- Aerial Surveillance to Detect Building Code Violations
- Terror Threat Alerts
- Academic Freedom and Security
- Comments from Readers
http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-0410.html
Thursday, October 14, 2004
How To Do Radio
How To Do Radio
Radio Journalism 101
Want to work in Radio and need help getting started?
Want to suggest a story for NPR?
The Poynter Institute of Journalism site advertises itself as "Everything you need to be a better journalist". Highlights include an excellent and comprehensive High School Journalism Guide, and Nelson, an excellent search engine that searches by Newspapers, Print/TV, Beats or Journalism Organizations.
The Radiocollege.org site has excellent articles and suggestions on how to get your career off the ground, learn more about what you are doing or even find a school of Journalism to attend. Looking for scholarship money? There are quite a few organizations that offer such opportunities.
At AIRMedia.org you can join an organization made up of dedicated professionals who make a living (!!!) doing the kinds of stories public radio is known for.
Want to report for the BBC? They have a huge site dedicated to training and development.
The Minidisc Community Portal features links, forums, mailing lists, cool uses, etc.
Transom.org Tools editor Jeff Towne has gone through the transom discussion boards and created a list of FAQs.
NPR Technical Advisor Flawn Williams answers all your audio questions in our Ask The Engineer section. Caution: some of this may be redundant or you may find slightly differing opinions. You should read for similarities, not difference of opinion.
Will Satellite, 'Podcasting' Bring a Renaissance to Radio Journalism?
Will Satellite, 'Podcasting' Bring a Renaissance to Radio Journalism?
Build your own radio station
While satellite radio will always have limited appeal due to the monthly charge, podcasting offers a free way for you to create your own radio station on the fly each day, listening when you want. Satellite radio services have been loathe to allow people to record their programs due to copyright concerns. XM Radio threatened legal action against the maker of TimeTrax software, which lets users record satellite shows on MP3s.
But Reuters reported that XM is planning its own TiVo-like devices soon that will allow users to pause and rewind live satellite broadcasts. Plus XM has a deal for streaming its programming onto the next generation of TiVo television recorders.
Still, podcasting goes much further, giving listeners full control over what they listen to, depending on the available RSS feeds. Basically, you need a portable MP3 player -- not necessarily an iPod -- Apple's free iTunes software, and the new iPodder software. The latter is an open source application, birthed by Adam Curry, the former MTV VJ, blogger and serial entrepreneur now based in Amsterdam.
Curry runs the iPodder site, which includes a nascent directory of podcasting feeds with everything from music to news to audiobooks. So far, the selection is weighted to technology radio shows, and it sometimes seems as if a small group of people are just listening to each other.
"So this morning, here in my hotel room, I listened to the latest edition of Adam Curry's Daily Source Code, Dave Winer's Morning Coffee Notes about the open-sourcing of Frontier, and a conversation between Adam and Dave about all the above, iPodder, Trade Secrets Radio and much more," wrote Doc Searls in his Weblog about his new fascination with podcasting.
But Curry is optimistic that podcasting will catch on with a much wider audience. He thinks MP3 player manufacturers will be able to build iPodder functionality right into their devices. "Mass appeal is likely, since the installed base of MP3 players is huge," he said. "Most of them have gigabytes of empty disk space and users are apparently really enjoying this new use for their players."
Beyond the smaller productions, there are now more polished podcasts from public radio station WGBH as well as KOMO 1000 AM news in Seattle. KOMO is the first commercial news station to take the leap into podcasting. The station's assistant director of news and programming, Stan Orchard, told me that his station has always been on the cutting edge with technology, launching a Web site in 1994 and an RSS feed last year. Podcasting was an easy addition.
"For the user it's easy-squeasy," Orchard said via e-mail. "They just install iPodder or some other such program and type in our podcast feed URL. That's it. As for setting it up at this end...all it takes is a RSS feed which we already had. We just had to tweak it a bit. Then we had to crank out some stories. Again, we were already doing that for the Web site so it wasn't much [work]."
One of the challenges for KOMO was getting the radio reporters to think a little differently, according to Orchard. Now they have to consider three formats while producing a story: the radio broadcast, the MP3 podcast and a written story for the Web site.
While podcasting is only in its embryonic stage, people are already looking beyond time-shifted radio on portable MP3 players. NPR's Mitchell, for one, thinks that ubiquitous wireless Net connections could bring on-demand radio to a variety of devices, cutting out the computer as content server.
"The next big thing is...I think eventually you'll be able to wirelessly download something, stick on some headphones, and sit with your iPod or phone and listen to a program," Mitchell said. "I think you'll eventually be able to do that. Handheld devices will keep shrinking. You can already download and listen to shows online."
Plus, Mitchell notes just how cheap radio production has become. Now a college student can spend about $1,000 on audio equipment, maybe $2,000 on an Apple laptop, and with the right training, start reporting stories and put them online. "I don't have to burn CDs unless someone wants to purchase it," Mitchell says. "It's extremely cost effective. All the barriers are coming down. It's becoming extremely decentralized."
For the independent radio producer, the biggest barrier might be getting heard above the noise of so many like-minded folks online. Adam Curry says that skill, experience and talent will still set people apart. "There will be a lot of crap, and just like Weblogs, we'll also have our superstars," he said. "And everyone can have their 15 minutes [of fame]."
http://ojr.org/ojr/glaser/1097614994.phpTest Web pages in multiple browser versions
Until recently, having multiple versions of IE for Windows installed on a single computer has been problematic because of the tight integration of IE with the Windows operating system. Conventional wisdom was that you couldn't have more than one version of IE installed in a given copy of Windows.
As a result, many Web builders resorted to using several separate Windows computers for testing, each with a different version of IE installed. The only other option was to create multiple virtual machines on one hardware box using emulation software such as VMware.
And now a solution
In response to the Eolas lawsuit, Microsoft is circulating a developer's preview of a version of IE without the features that are covered by the Eolas patent. One of the most interesting things about the test version of IE is that it can coexist with a standard version of IE. (Read about the changes in IE as a result of the Eolas suit.)
Joe Maddalone, of Insert Title Web Designs, is credited with realizing which file (iexplore.exe.local) makes it possible to run more than one copy of IE and sharing that discovery with the rest of us. Another enterprising Web builder, Ryan Parman of Skyzyx.com, has packaged the iexplore.exe.local file with the core browser files for each of several versions of IE. These stand-alone versions of IE are available from his download page.
To install one of the stand-alone IE versions, you simply extract the files from the ZIP archive and place them in a separate directory on your Windows test system. (Almost any directory except the main IE directory will do.) To launch the stand-alone old browser, open the directory and double-click the iexplore.exe file.
http://builder.com.com/5100-6371_14-5157896.html?tag=nl.e601
As a result, many Web builders resorted to using several separate Windows computers for testing, each with a different version of IE installed. The only other option was to create multiple virtual machines on one hardware box using emulation software such as VMware.
And now a solution
In response to the Eolas lawsuit, Microsoft is circulating a developer's preview of a version of IE without the features that are covered by the Eolas patent. One of the most interesting things about the test version of IE is that it can coexist with a standard version of IE. (Read about the changes in IE as a result of the Eolas suit.)
Joe Maddalone, of Insert Title Web Designs, is credited with realizing which file (iexplore.exe.local) makes it possible to run more than one copy of IE and sharing that discovery with the rest of us. Another enterprising Web builder, Ryan Parman of Skyzyx.com, has packaged the iexplore.exe.local file with the core browser files for each of several versions of IE. These stand-alone versions of IE are available from his download page.
To install one of the stand-alone IE versions, you simply extract the files from the ZIP archive and place them in a separate directory on your Windows test system. (Almost any directory except the main IE directory will do.) To launch the stand-alone old browser, open the directory and double-click the iexplore.exe file.
http://builder.com.com/5100-6371_14-5157896.html?tag=nl.e601
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Microsoft warns of 22 new security flaws | Tech News on ZDNet
Microsoft warns of 22 new security flaws | Tech News on ZDNet:
"Microsoft on Tuesday published 10 software security advisories, warning Windows users and corporate administrators of 22 new flaws that affect the company's products. "
The advisories, and patches published with the bulletins, range from an "important" flaw affecting only Microsoft Windows NT Server to a collection of eight security holes, including three rated "critical," that leave Internet Explorer open to attack. Microsoft's highest severity rating for software flaws is its "critical" ranking, while "important" is considered slightly less severe.
One flaw, in Microsoft Excel, even affects Apple Computer's Mac OS X.
The abundance of flaws could leave corporate PCs vulnerable to attack if administrators are not able to patch quickly. A similar situation occurred in April, when Microsoft published seven advisories detailing 20 flaws. While one security hole stood out among those 20--and led to the widespread Sasser worm--there are no standouts in the current gaggle of goofs.
"Our challenge is trying to guess what the criminals are going to attack," said Stephen Toulouse, security program manager for Microsoft's security response team. "The guidance we are giving in general is to treat the critical ones first."
A single computer would not be vulnerable to all the flaws, Toulouse added.
Oliver Friedrichs, senior director of Symantec's security response center, said three vulnerabilities could lead to a Sasser-like worm, but the danger is lessened by the fact that the vulnerable services are not started by default on most versions of Windows. These flaws are related to three network protocols that are not generally activated on Windows computers: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP), and Network Dynamic Data Exchange (NetDDE).
"Blaster and Sasser targeted core system vulnerabilities, where if you didn't have the patch you were vulnerable," Friedrichs said. "The key thing here is that these are not (generally) enabled by default.The question is how large is the deployment of vulnerable systems."
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5406550.html
"Microsoft on Tuesday published 10 software security advisories, warning Windows users and corporate administrators of 22 new flaws that affect the company's products. "
The advisories, and patches published with the bulletins, range from an "important" flaw affecting only Microsoft Windows NT Server to a collection of eight security holes, including three rated "critical," that leave Internet Explorer open to attack. Microsoft's highest severity rating for software flaws is its "critical" ranking, while "important" is considered slightly less severe.
One flaw, in Microsoft Excel, even affects Apple Computer's Mac OS X.
The abundance of flaws could leave corporate PCs vulnerable to attack if administrators are not able to patch quickly. A similar situation occurred in April, when Microsoft published seven advisories detailing 20 flaws. While one security hole stood out among those 20--and led to the widespread Sasser worm--there are no standouts in the current gaggle of goofs.
"Our challenge is trying to guess what the criminals are going to attack," said Stephen Toulouse, security program manager for Microsoft's security response team. "The guidance we are giving in general is to treat the critical ones first."
A single computer would not be vulnerable to all the flaws, Toulouse added.
Oliver Friedrichs, senior director of Symantec's security response center, said three vulnerabilities could lead to a Sasser-like worm, but the danger is lessened by the fact that the vulnerable services are not started by default on most versions of Windows. These flaws are related to three network protocols that are not generally activated on Windows computers: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP), and Network Dynamic Data Exchange (NetDDE).
"Blaster and Sasser targeted core system vulnerabilities, where if you didn't have the patch you were vulnerable," Friedrichs said. "The key thing here is that these are not (generally) enabled by default.The question is how large is the deployment of vulnerable systems."
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5406550.html
Saturday, October 09, 2004
Trojan pretends to do good | Tech News on ZDNet
Trojan pretends to do good | Tech News on ZDNet:
"Security company Symantec is warning Internet users of a Trojan horse that removes adware but alters the settings in computers.
While Downloader.Lunii eliminates a variety of adware programs--often known as spyware--the Trojan also tries to maliciously change the security settings of Windows PCs and then downloads files from unknown Web sites, Symantec said.
'It's common that a Trojan will try to change as much security as possible,' said Nigel Beighton, Symantec's director of enterprise strategy. 'They often try to change Microsoft, Symantec and McAfee software.'
Symantec classified Lunii as a low-risk Trojan."
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5400982.html?tag=adnews
"Security company Symantec is warning Internet users of a Trojan horse that removes adware but alters the settings in computers.
While Downloader.Lunii eliminates a variety of adware programs--often known as spyware--the Trojan also tries to maliciously change the security settings of Windows PCs and then downloads files from unknown Web sites, Symantec said.
'It's common that a Trojan will try to change as much security as possible,' said Nigel Beighton, Symantec's director of enterprise strategy. 'They often try to change Microsoft, Symantec and McAfee software.'
Symantec classified Lunii as a low-risk Trojan."
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5400982.html?tag=adnews
Microsoft to tune up Media Center PC
Microsoft to tune up Media Center PC:
"For the first time, Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition is supporting multiple tuners, meaning that consumers will be able to watch one channel while recording another or record two stations at once, CNET News.com has learned. The feature is one of several improvements Microsoft has made with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, an update that the company plans to announce next week. "
At the same time, Microsoft is also allowing computer makers to create Media Center PCs that lack the TV recording feature altogether, a move that will allow computer makers to offer PCs with the operating system for less than $800. It's all part of an effort by Microsoft to position Media Center as a more mainstream consumer OS.
Without an all-new version of Windows until Longhorn in 2006, Microsoft is hoping that an improved Media Center OS can help reignite interest in the 3-year-old Windows XP operating system. The launch of the updated Media Center, along with several new companion products, will form a key part of Microsoft's fall marketing blitz designed to sell consumers on the benefits of XP.
The entertainment-oriented Media Center OS is similar to other flavors of Microsoft's flagship Windows XP, but adds a second interface that can play movies, music, digital pictures or television and be controlled via remote control. In its first two incarnations, Media Center has attracted only a niche of the PC market, largely those interested in recording TV shows onto their hard drives.
Microsoft has thus far been largely mum about the new version of Media Center OS, though details have begun to trickle out. As previously reported, the new version has several new features designed to address current shortcomings, such as the ability to burn CDs and DVDs from within the remote-controlled interface.…
http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-22_11-5398938.html?tag=nl.e103
"For the first time, Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition is supporting multiple tuners, meaning that consumers will be able to watch one channel while recording another or record two stations at once, CNET News.com has learned. The feature is one of several improvements Microsoft has made with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, an update that the company plans to announce next week. "
At the same time, Microsoft is also allowing computer makers to create Media Center PCs that lack the TV recording feature altogether, a move that will allow computer makers to offer PCs with the operating system for less than $800. It's all part of an effort by Microsoft to position Media Center as a more mainstream consumer OS.
Without an all-new version of Windows until Longhorn in 2006, Microsoft is hoping that an improved Media Center OS can help reignite interest in the 3-year-old Windows XP operating system. The launch of the updated Media Center, along with several new companion products, will form a key part of Microsoft's fall marketing blitz designed to sell consumers on the benefits of XP.
The entertainment-oriented Media Center OS is similar to other flavors of Microsoft's flagship Windows XP, but adds a second interface that can play movies, music, digital pictures or television and be controlled via remote control. In its first two incarnations, Media Center has attracted only a niche of the PC market, largely those interested in recording TV shows onto their hard drives.
Microsoft has thus far been largely mum about the new version of Media Center OS, though details have begun to trickle out. As previously reported, the new version has several new features designed to address current shortcomings, such as the ability to burn CDs and DVDs from within the remote-controlled interface.…
http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-22_11-5398938.html?tag=nl.e103
Microsoft Fixes Vexing XP SP2 Incompatibility
Microsoft Fixes Vexing XP SP2 Incompatibility
Numerous applications, including some of Microsoft's own, have encountered compatibility problems with Windows XP SP2 (Service Pack 2). But one application in particular wreaked an inordinate amount of havoc until Microsoft created a removal tool, and now a patch, for it.
Numerous applications, including some of Microsoft's own, have encountered compatibility problems with Windows XP SP2 (Service Pack 2). But one application in particular wreaked an inordinate amount of havoc until Microsoft created a removal tool, and now a patch, for it.
That application—which many industry watchers consider to fall more into the adware/spware category—was Total Velocity Software's TV Media application. TV Media hides on users' PCs and displays commercials.
A number of users with TV Media lurking on their PCs who attempted to load SP2 were hit immediately with the dreaded blue screen of death.
Microsoft posted a Knowledge Base article on its Web site in September that outlined the TV Media-SP2 problems. Microsoft posted a downloadable TV Media removal tool around the same time.
The company posted a patch Tuesday that it characterized as a "critical update," which is designed to head off the TV Media problem at the pass.
The TV Media problems were not discovered during SP2 beta testing, said Matt Fingerhut, PSS senior director of consumer technical support. But once Microsoft began rolling out the final SP2 version, TV Media in particular—and spyware in general—started botching SP2 installations.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?
kbid=885523&product=windowsxpsp2
Microsoft began advising customers a few weeks ago to
scan for and remove all spyware from their PCs before attempting to install SP2.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1667872,00.asp
Friday, October 08, 2004
37signals: An Introduction to Using Patterns in Web Design
37signals: An Introduction to Using Patterns in Web Design:
"The biggest challenge for web designers is the unthinkably huge number of possible ways to solve any given problem. We usually don't think of this because we have our habits and traditions to fall back on, but there are literally billions of possible pixel combinations for each page we make."
"The biggest challenge for web designers is the unthinkably huge number of possible ways to solve any given problem. We usually don't think of this because we have our habits and traditions to fall back on, but there are literally billions of possible pixel combinations for each page we make."
There is a better way to manage this vast complexity than by making big decisions up front and hoping for the best. To make better sites — sites that are functional, beautiful, and "usable" — we have to break our design problems up into small independent chunks based on the real issues within our requirements. Christopher Alexander, who came up with this stuff, calls these chunks patterns.
http://37signals.com/papers/introtopatterns/
A Search Engine For Java Code
A Search Engine For Java Code:
"Can't find that last bit of Java code to complete your project? IBM is developing a search engine it claims will let Java developers find even the briefest code examples in a fraction of the time it now takes. "
"Can't find that last bit of Java code to complete your project? IBM is developing a search engine it claims will let Java developers find even the briefest code examples in a fraction of the time it now takes. "
Code-named "Prospector , http://snobol.cs.berkeley.edu/prospector-bin/search.py," the engine seeks out code examples that use any or all of J2SE 1.4, Eclipse 3.0, and Eclipse GEF (Graphical Editing Framework) code. IBM is working with the U.C. Berkeley Computer Science Department to fund the venture with a fraction of its $1 billion annual developer budget.
The search engine is currently in beta testing with plans for completion by the end of the year.
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3417991
Web Analytics: A User's Guide, Part 1
Web Analytics: A User's Guide, Part 1:
"Web analytics is an umbrella term that refers to the tracking of many different indicators: total site usage, which products are selling (and which aren't), trends in usage, type of visitors (age, income, location), where visitors come from, and other factors. Web analytics data guides site managers as they improve their site, and their bottom line.
Running a Web site without such data is like steering a ship without reliable indicators of wind level and sun position: there's no way to find your direction.
Inherent in Web analytics are two key concepts: First, that a site manager examines her data on a regular basis, perhaps weekly or even daily. Second, that a site manager changes her site based on that data, then continues to track that data over time to watch the effect of those decisions. If the new data indicates the change was profitable, stick with it; if not, try a different direction.
The central idea is to trust the data more than your preconceived notions of shopper opinion, or what other sites are doing, or the ego of the CEO. In short, the numbers don't lie. And only by truly following the numbers can a site's revenue be maximized. "
http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions/customer_relations/article.php/3416791
"Web analytics is an umbrella term that refers to the tracking of many different indicators: total site usage, which products are selling (and which aren't), trends in usage, type of visitors (age, income, location), where visitors come from, and other factors. Web analytics data guides site managers as they improve their site, and their bottom line.
Running a Web site without such data is like steering a ship without reliable indicators of wind level and sun position: there's no way to find your direction.
Inherent in Web analytics are two key concepts: First, that a site manager examines her data on a regular basis, perhaps weekly or even daily. Second, that a site manager changes her site based on that data, then continues to track that data over time to watch the effect of those decisions. If the new data indicates the change was profitable, stick with it; if not, try a different direction.
The central idea is to trust the data more than your preconceived notions of shopper opinion, or what other sites are doing, or the ego of the CEO. In short, the numbers don't lie. And only by truly following the numbers can a site's revenue be maximized. "
http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions/customer_relations/article.php/3416791
Thursday, October 07, 2004
The Search Engine Report - Number 95
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Video-Editing Power For Non-Pros by PC Magazine
Video-Editing Power For Non-Pros by PC Magazine:
"While earlier consumer-level packages shunned advanced concepts such as multitrack editing and chroma key capabilities, software developers have recognized that many early adopters are ready for more powerful software—but aren't ready or willing to tackle the $500-and-up packages intended for videographers. The newest entries in this upper-entry-level segment are Adobe Premiere Elements and Pinnacle Studio Plus 9.
To compare these programs, PC Magazine created a 12-minute video project that included a variety of transitions and effects, including slow motion, chroma key, and picture-in-picture (PiP). Studio Plus won two of three trials, producing our DVD in 35 minutes 13 seconds, compared to 50:22 for Premiere Elements; and rendering to a Windows Media file in 31:36, compared to 38:12 for Premiere Elements. That better performance, combined with the program's polish and versatility, make Pinnacle Studio Plus 9 our PC Magazine's Choice among consumer video-editing products."
http://www.pcmag.com/print_article/0,1761,a=135822,00.asp
"While earlier consumer-level packages shunned advanced concepts such as multitrack editing and chroma key capabilities, software developers have recognized that many early adopters are ready for more powerful software—but aren't ready or willing to tackle the $500-and-up packages intended for videographers. The newest entries in this upper-entry-level segment are Adobe Premiere Elements and Pinnacle Studio Plus 9.
To compare these programs, PC Magazine created a 12-minute video project that included a variety of transitions and effects, including slow motion, chroma key, and picture-in-picture (PiP). Studio Plus won two of three trials, producing our DVD in 35 minutes 13 seconds, compared to 50:22 for Premiere Elements; and rendering to a Windows Media file in 31:36, compared to 38:12 for Premiere Elements. That better performance, combined with the program's polish and versatility, make Pinnacle Studio Plus 9 our PC Magazine's Choice among consumer video-editing products."
http://www.pcmag.com/print_article/0,1761,a=135822,00.asp
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
WinXPnews Open Control Panel Applets from the Run Box
WinXPnews Open Control Panel Applets from the Run Box :
"Open Control Panel Applets from the Run Box
Are you a keyboard whiz who prefers typing commands to navigating through a bunch of windows with the mouse? Here are the commands for opening some popular Control Panel applets (just type them in the Run box): "
http://www.winxpnews.com/control_panel_applets.cfm
"Open Control Panel Applets from the Run Box
Are you a keyboard whiz who prefers typing commands to navigating through a bunch of windows with the mouse? Here are the commands for opening some popular Control Panel applets (just type them in the Run box): "
http://www.winxpnews.com/control_panel_applets.cfm
New Phishing System Takes Advantage of JPEG Bug
New Phishing System Takes Advantage of JPEG Bug:
"Symantec Corp.'s Threat Analyst Team has discovered an exploit in the wild that utilizes the recently announced JPEG vulnerability in Microsoft Corp.'s GDI+ library to install a new and sophisticated phishing system.
eWEEK.com spoke with Oliver Friedrichs, senior manager of Symantec Security Response, who said the infected image is not able to attack a system from within Internet Explorer or Outlook, but only from within Windows Explorer, the file system browsing utility. Therefore, an attacker would likely need to entice a user to view the file from within the file system. Perhaps for this reason, Symantec says the spread of the attack is limited for now."
This was the most feared scenario for this vulnerability. Because of the nature of this particular attack, as a heap-based integer underflow vulnerability, implementations of the attack are likely to be specific to the application, perhaps even versions of the application, in which the image is viewed. Friedrichs says that it may not be possible to exploit the vulnerability from within Outlook or Outlook Express.
Once the user views the infected JPEG image, named ducky.jpg, the exploit code launches and downloads a file named ll.exe from the site maybeyes.biz. This file is saved as y.exe in the c:\ directory and executed. y.exe then downloads a second file from maybeyes.biz, upd.exe, and saves it as divxencoder.exe in the %SYSTEMROOT% directory (usually c:\windows) and executes it. This file then injects a DLL file embedded in it into Windows explorer.exe.
The DLL, now infecting Windows Explorer, contacts a different system on the same provider network as maybeyes.biz and downloads from it an XML-based template file. This file describes the phishing spam message to be sent from the infected system and the e-mail addresses to which it should be sent. Analysis on the DLL is not complete.…
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1664909,00.asp?kc=ewnws100404dtx1k0000599
"Symantec Corp.'s Threat Analyst Team has discovered an exploit in the wild that utilizes the recently announced JPEG vulnerability in Microsoft Corp.'s GDI+ library to install a new and sophisticated phishing system.
eWEEK.com spoke with Oliver Friedrichs, senior manager of Symantec Security Response, who said the infected image is not able to attack a system from within Internet Explorer or Outlook, but only from within Windows Explorer, the file system browsing utility. Therefore, an attacker would likely need to entice a user to view the file from within the file system. Perhaps for this reason, Symantec says the spread of the attack is limited for now."
This was the most feared scenario for this vulnerability. Because of the nature of this particular attack, as a heap-based integer underflow vulnerability, implementations of the attack are likely to be specific to the application, perhaps even versions of the application, in which the image is viewed. Friedrichs says that it may not be possible to exploit the vulnerability from within Outlook or Outlook Express.
Once the user views the infected JPEG image, named ducky.jpg, the exploit code launches and downloads a file named ll.exe from the site maybeyes.biz. This file is saved as y.exe in the c:\ directory and executed. y.exe then downloads a second file from maybeyes.biz, upd.exe, and saves it as divxencoder.exe in the %SYSTEMROOT% directory (usually c:\windows) and executes it. This file then injects a DLL file embedded in it into Windows explorer.exe.
The DLL, now infecting Windows Explorer, contacts a different system on the same provider network as maybeyes.biz and downloads from it an XML-based template file. This file describes the phishing spam message to be sent from the infected system and the e-mail addresses to which it should be sent. Analysis on the DLL is not complete.…
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1664909,00.asp?kc=ewnws100404dtx1k0000599
Monday, October 04, 2004
Skype for Pocket PC
Skype for Pocket PC is free and simple software that enables you to make free calls anywhere in the world with your handheld. Created by the people who brought you KaZaA, Skype uses innovative P2P (peer-to-peer) technology to connect you with other users. It is quick and easy to install and offers several features, including SkypeOut calling from Skype to regular and mobile phones worldwide, free conference calling, and secure file transfer. Skype calls have better sound quality than your regular phone and are highly secure with end-to-end encryption.
http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/Remote-PC-Access/3000-7240-10319519.html?tag=list
Skype for Pocket PC is free and simple software that enables you to make free calls anywhere in the world with your handheld. Created by the people who brought you KaZaA, Skype uses innovative P2P (peer-to-peer) technology to connect you with other users. It is quick and easy to install and offers several features, including SkypeOut calling from Skype to regular and mobile phones worldwide, free conference calling, and secure file transfer. Skype calls have better sound quality than your regular phone and are highly secure with end-to-end encryption.
| Publisher: | Skype |
| Date added: | September 16, 2004 |
| License: | Free |
| Minimum requirements: | 400 MHz XScale processor,WiFi-enabled |
| Uninstaller included?: | No |
http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/Remote-PC-Access/3000-7240-10319519.html?tag=list
Zombie armies behind cyberscrime sprees | Tech News on ZDNet
Zombie armies behind cyberscrime sprees Tech News on ZDNet:
"Security experts are beginning to see a pattern in cybercrimes.
According to communications firm Energis, online crime appears to be occurring in cyclical patterns related to the creation of botnets--zombie armies of PCs that have been taken control of without the owners' knowledge.
'When you see the creation of zombie networks, you can almost see the life cycle of a spam and virus attack,' said Malcom Seagrave, head of security strategy for Energis. 'It's the same with DDoS [denial-of-service] attacks and those who steal data.'
'It's almost predictable. We can't prove it, but we think they are related. They are well-organized and they are beating the security industry.'
Seagrave said combined threats, such as keystroke-logging Trojans embedded in spam, were causing serious damage to company networks.
'Some of their methods, we just can't work out,' he said. 'But the most important way to stop this is user education.' "
"Security experts are beginning to see a pattern in cybercrimes.
According to communications firm Energis, online crime appears to be occurring in cyclical patterns related to the creation of botnets--zombie armies of PCs that have been taken control of without the owners' knowledge.
'When you see the creation of zombie networks, you can almost see the life cycle of a spam and virus attack,' said Malcom Seagrave, head of security strategy for Energis. 'It's the same with DDoS [denial-of-service] attacks and those who steal data.'
'It's almost predictable. We can't prove it, but we think they are related. They are well-organized and they are beating the security industry.'
Seagrave said combined threats, such as keystroke-logging Trojans embedded in spam, were causing serious damage to company networks.
'Some of their methods, we just can't work out,' he said. 'But the most important way to stop this is user education.' "
Botnets are readily available for hire on the Internet. According to anti-spam campaigner Steve Linford of Spamhaus, botnets are first set up for spammers to hire and then sold on--often for DDoS attacks--when they have been blocked by anti-spam firms.
Seagrave said he thought that online retailers needed to beef up their security in time for Christmas: "You'll almost certainly see a DDoS attack coming before Christmas. Retailers will have to be wary as you can expect a growth in attacks this year."
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5392694.html?tag=adnews
Saturday, October 02, 2004
MSN Ends Hotmail's Free Outlook Access
MSN Ends Hotmail's Free Outlook Access:
"Citing a rise in spam abuse, Microsoft Corp.'s MSN division has ended free access to its Hotmail Web-based e-mail service through the Outlook and Outlook Express clients.
MSN had offered its 187 million active Hotmail users the ability to read and send e-mail through the e-mail clients rather than a Web interface using a protocol called Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning, or WebDAV."
But as of Monday, news users wanting to make use of WebDAV will have to pay for the service, said Brooke Richardson, product manager for MSN's communications services. MSN plans to transition current WebDAV users to subscription plans in the next few months as well.
"We really wanted to try and keep it available to customers for free," Richardson said. "[But] in the last few months we were seeing spammers going more and more after this particular protocol."
WebDAV-based spam abuse has risen following anti-spam measures over the past year, such as enforcing a 100-message daily cap and requiring the solving of proofs to open accounts, Richardson said. The latest move targets spammers who are writing automated scripts for WebDAV to send the daily maximum amount of e-mails from multiple Hotmail accounts.
Hotmail users now will have to sign up for one of two MSN Hotmail subscriptions to gain Outlook access—either MSN Hotmail Plus for $19.95 a year or MSN Premium for $99.95 a year, Richardson said.
WebDAV is a set of HTTP extensions that allows for the reading and writing of documents through the Web. MSN Hotmail was one the few Web-based e-mail services to offer free downloading of e-mail to clients, and between 5 percent and 7 percent of users signed up for it, Richardson said.
Most other services, such as Yahoo Inc.'s Mail, include it in premium offerings and use POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3).…
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1652391,00.asp
"Citing a rise in spam abuse, Microsoft Corp.'s MSN division has ended free access to its Hotmail Web-based e-mail service through the Outlook and Outlook Express clients.
MSN had offered its 187 million active Hotmail users the ability to read and send e-mail through the e-mail clients rather than a Web interface using a protocol called Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning, or WebDAV."
But as of Monday, news users wanting to make use of WebDAV will have to pay for the service, said Brooke Richardson, product manager for MSN's communications services. MSN plans to transition current WebDAV users to subscription plans in the next few months as well.
"We really wanted to try and keep it available to customers for free," Richardson said. "[But] in the last few months we were seeing spammers going more and more after this particular protocol."
WebDAV-based spam abuse has risen following anti-spam measures over the past year, such as enforcing a 100-message daily cap and requiring the solving of proofs to open accounts, Richardson said. The latest move targets spammers who are writing automated scripts for WebDAV to send the daily maximum amount of e-mails from multiple Hotmail accounts.
Hotmail users now will have to sign up for one of two MSN Hotmail subscriptions to gain Outlook access—either MSN Hotmail Plus for $19.95 a year or MSN Premium for $99.95 a year, Richardson said.
WebDAV is a set of HTTP extensions that allows for the reading and writing of documents through the Web. MSN Hotmail was one the few Web-based e-mail services to offer free downloading of e-mail to clients, and between 5 percent and 7 percent of users signed up for it, Richardson said.
Most other services, such as Yahoo Inc.'s Mail, include it in premium offerings and use POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3).…
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1652391,00.asp
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
