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Archive for March, 2012

How to move your blog from Posterous to WordPress, or Tumblr

posterousPosterous has been acquired by Twitter. Reading their FAQ it becomes apparent the developers plan to spend their future working on Twitter, and not Posterous.

Given its uncertain future, now would be a good time to begin planning your move away from Posterous, to another blogging platform like WordPress or Tumblr. Unfortunately, Posterous has never taken strides to make moving easy.

Can I export my Space’s to WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger, or another service?
Over the coming weeks we’ll provide you with specific instructions for exporting your content to other services.

What are your current options?

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Was it smart to remove the start button in Windows 8 Consumer Preview?

windows-8-logoIt’s painfully obvious Windows 8 new Metro apps are not designed for multi-monitors, or large monitors. However, it’s a necessary evil for a unified operating system designed to work on 10-11” touch enabled tablets, as well as desktops.

What’s not so obvious, is the reason for killing the start button on the desktop. Building Windows 8 blog attempts to explain the reasoning. After some tweaking, the new Metro styled start screen can be attractive and functional. It just shouldn’t be so hard to find. Even after you’ve found it in the bottom left corner, try finding any corner on the center screen of a triple monitor setup. While they may make you more efficient, you shouldn’t be forced to learn a bunch of keyboard shortcuts to do basic Windows tasks.

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All your device are belong to us – device hacking dangers

PacMan-SequoiaAvi Rubin is Professor of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University. He offers a TEDx talk in which he discusses hacking of devices. Would you be surprised if?

  • A defibrillator pacemaker could induce fibrillation wirelessly (Dick Cheney would be more fun at parties)? Or the device could be disabled remotely?
  • The brakes on your car could be engaged, or disabled through your car radio?
  • Your car could be located via GPS, remotely have the doors unlocked, anti-theft bypassed, and started (so it’s warm, or cool when stolen)?
  • Your car could be used for covert surveillance? E.G. use GPS to track vehicle on a map, stream audio from the in-cabin microphone. Without knowledge.

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Unexpected Success of 4S Kills Siri on the “New iPad”

It’s not called the iPad 3, or the iPad HD. Simply the “new iPad”. While we could get into another discussion about this solidifying Apple’s intention as a “post PC” company, it also illustrates the complexity of today’s cloud based infrastructure.

The new iPad runs on essentially the same hardware as the iPhone 4S. There’s no technical reason the iPad can’t run Siri. Leaving only one explanation. Unexpected success of the iPhone 4S killed Siri on the new iPad. Despite it’s 500,000 square foot size, there is likely little room for expansion at Apple’s new North Carolia data center. Showcasing how even a billon dollar investment can be too little in today’s cloud based era. Also illustrating how difficult is to scale such large infrastructure. You simply don’t build another 500,000 square foot data center over night to meet demand.

apple-nc-dc

It’s not unrealistic to assume that Apple scaled their new data center to support both the new iPhone 4S, and the new iPad. However, iPhone 4S sales exceeded their wildest expectations, leaving them no choice but to limit Siri functionality on the Pad to dictation.

Secunia PSI 3.0 Beta – Now with Autopatching

secunia-psiAccording to Secunia, 78% of vulnerabilities on Windows systems, are from non-Microsoft programs. These 3rd party programs have become a favorite target of hackers, and keeping all the software on your system can be quite a challenge. Enter Secunia PSI…

Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI) Beta is a free security scanner that identifies vulnerabilities in non-Microsoft (third-party) programs which can expose PCs to attacks

Secunia is a critical piece of software in any consumers efforts to prevent malware. In its latest beta version (3.0) Secunia offers a greatly simplified interface, and one major new feature, auto-updating. Their stated goal, ““Would your grandparents, or mum or dad, be able to use it easily?” Did they go too far, or maybe not far enough?

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Windows to Go–Consumer Preview Edition

windows-to-goWindows 8 has a new feature called Windows to Go that allows an installation of Windows 8 to boot from a USB drive, or external hard drive. Potential uses are many. Corporate networks might require you to boot from a Windows to Go USB key before connecting to their network. Universities could hand out USB keys with installations tailored to specific majors. Perhaps someday you may just unplug your USB key and take it home, rather than taking an entire notebook. It could also prove useful for malware removal. However, maybe the most attractive use today, is to boot Windows 8 Consumer Preview on your current hardware, without the need to dual-boot, or upgrade an existing installation of Windows.

Windows to Go has safety and security features to prevent data theft, and exposure of the hosts OS. The system will shut down in 60 seconds if the USB drive is removed. Any drives on the host system must be mounted before they are accessible to Windows to Go.

The first time Windows to Go boots on a system it installs the drivers unique to that hardware. Subsequent boots are faster, and go straight to Windows 8. System performance on USB 2.0 or 3.0 is quite good. A great way to test Windows 8 using a ‘Live USB’, and leave your current system untouched.

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No Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows 8

Officially, Microsoft Security Essentials “is not compatible with Windows 8”. Unofficially, it’s been renamed Windows Defender. If you’ve used Microsoft Security Essentials, the new Windows Defender bundled with Windows 8 will have a very familiar look and feel.

Windows-Defender

Microsoft Security Essentials has gained a lot of momentum in recent years as a terrific, and free antivirus solution. Some would argue one of the best antivirus solutions at any price. It’s reputation is deserved. It is light on system resources, runs silent, and has good detection and removal. Windows Defender on the other hand was primarily an antispyware application. A remnant of the pop-up ad era, and what remained of the Giant antispyware acquisition. Installing Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) even disables Windows Defender.

So why would Microsoft chose to confuse customers by dropping the Microsoft Security Essentials name in Windows 8? It’s a business decision. Bundling full antivirus protection with Windows 8 is a bold move on Microsoft’s part. One that obviously caught the eye of in-house legal hawks, and angered the antivirus industry. Microsoft recently ended its anti-trust oversight, and while it may be bolder, it’s not stupid. Windows Defender has been bundled since Windows Vista. While Microsoft Security Essentials would technically be a new bundled application, Microsoft can claim Windows Defender has been bundled for years. Windows Defender may not have the reputation of MSE, but that will be changing.

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