ETC Blog, The Tech Resource
Intel’s walled garden plan to put control of ALL code in it’s hands
Ok folks. Here it comes. MS and Intel(Wintel is NOT dead) wants to have everything signed by it so that there's no more bad or malicious code. Of course this would put an end to the open source movement and several other industries in the software arena(which MS...
Verizon on it’s way to being sold?
Given the fact that verizon's total debt nearly matches it's market cap(not it's actual income which is lower) I'm betting Verizon either sells off all it's landlines AND fios lines and then buys out voda here in the us or they get bought out themselves. They...
Anandtech Begins a Major Upgrade Project
They are jumping right into virtualization. Their biggest concern is they are hitting the limits of their colos power envelope before they start getting charged. They are going to reduce their server footprint by about half and hopefully save some power as well....
Is Astaro Heading in the Wrong Direction?
I've been using Astaro since they were at version 4. I've noticed a disturbing trend. V4 was, in my opinion, the best version they have ever released. Version 5 was badly bug ridden upon released necessitating at least 2 updates before it was running decently. I...
How to Make sure you Aren’t Framed by Facebook
Yet another reason to not use Facebook. In their latest non-security decision others can now tag you as being somewhere even if you don't want them to...or if you aren't even there. Like this is a good idea. Here's how to turn it off(other than not using faceobok...
Major Server Donation: Step 1 Server 1
What are the needs that this server can address? At this time the church's website is hosted by powweb on their free package for non profits. Unfortunately their e-mail services are horrendously unreliable. We have a business class internet connection with a static...
What to do with a major server donation
You can read about the donation here. I have three IBM x335's on the way with dual p-4 xeon 2.8 ghz cpu's, dual 36 gig 10k rpm SCSI drives with hardware raid 1, 4 gigs of ram, all the cables needed including ILO, and rails. All for the cost of shipping. Why am I...
Why AVG Remains my reccomendation for businesses
Virus Bulletin : News - A third of anti-malware products fail to secure Vista Business Edition, Virus Bulletin reveals. If you look at the linked graphic you'll see AVG proudly near the top with Symantec and Macafee much lower. Microsoft Security Essentials isn't...
Patch now!
Microsoft has released the fix for the LNK issue. this coming Tuesday is going to be a monster patch day with a total of 37 issues fixed in 14 patches.
Even the Iphone isn’t immune from Apple’s Arrogance
It's either that or incompetence. At this point I'm not sure which it is. How To Prevent iOS From Automatically Loading PDFs [Vulnerability].
Fix for LNK Hole Coming on Monday
Normally I advocate caution in major patches. This hole however is so important that i am going to immediately patch and then workaround any issues this is going to cause. Again on mOnday htis patch gets released. PATCH IMMEDIATLY!!! Read the previous advisories I...
This is Why I Always Bang the Backup Drum
I had my server setup as best as i could. I had a RAID 1 mirror on both of my drives. Not only that I had shadow copies being made on the array. Finally I had everything being backed up to an external hard drive. Last night my server started acting funny. Putting...
Sometimes Virtualization ISN’T the Answer
After some internal testing and research i can honestly say that virtualization may not be the best solution except for larger deployments. For the same money(or less) than either upgrading one server to be able to host multiple vm's or the purchase of a new server...
Windows Security Issues Causing Increasingly Diffulcult Malware Removals
This is the primary reason Unix folks remove the computer, make an image for forensics, and then rebuild from a known good source. Windows folks have yet to figure this one out. I take the same philosophy towards malware that Unix admins do..nuke the box...because...
Third LNK Vulnerability Update
Steve Gibson talks about this issue in a very understandable manner. Look at my previous post at the bottom..aka update 3.
Second LNK Vulnerability Update
Well the vulnerabilities threat profile has expanded: http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/?p=00001994.html If the .lnk is inside a document windows will execute the code. Again..i hope this fizzles..if it doesn't I want folks to be aware. Well the vulnerabilities threat...
.LNK Zero Day Update
https://etc-md.com/?p=2421 The podcast software crashed so I was able to make a written update to the post with the help of Arstechnica.com. Go checkout the updated post.
New Zero Day problem with all versions of windows(High Potential for Mass Infections..Stay Alert)*UPDATED*
I am going to provide you with the summary from Ars Technica as it's the clearest explanation of the problem I have seen: The attack uses specially crafted shortcut (.lnk) files, which trick Windows into running code of an attacker's choosing. Any Windows application...
Cloud Computing is NOT immune to Microsoft and other vendor style lock-in
This is very good reading. IF you decide to go with a cloud solution the big question is..are you in control of your data or are you at the total mercy of the cloud vendor? This has significant ramifications for your business if the cloud vendor either fails to...
Power Management: Can Windows Mange power better now? Are new low power CPUs better?
5-10 years ago the answer was...yes to the first question as the second one didn't apply. As I have been watching the evolution of hardware over the years things of course are more complex. In a nutshell going with a low power server(or maybe a desktop CPU for...
Apple Continues to Show Microsoft type Arrogance
Of course it does. As long as folks accept lame excuses for their constant failings and don't walk away from Apple with their wallets Apple has no reason to care. DailyTech - Apple to Customers: Here's a Free Case, Live With iPhone 4 or Get Out.
The New York Times Goes Nuts, Says The Government Should Regulate Google’s Search Algorithm (GOOG)
I totally agree with SFGATE on this one..and the reasons given for opposition are totally accurate and standing within Constitutional principles. The New York Times Goes Nuts, Says The Government Should Regulate Google's Search Algorithm (GOOG).
Possible Security flaw May Compromise Many Websites
It's a long time issue in non internet applications but it was thought the latency of internet communications would protect users from this issue. While I'm not sure this is either a large issue now or even if it's going to be one it is one I will be tracking to see...
Widnows 2k(both server and desktop) and XP sp2 are now “dead”
If you are running 32-bit xp you can install service pack3 and continue with support. If you are running 64-bit XP this operating system is now "dead". No more patches of any kind. All versions of Windows 2000 are also now End Of Life. You need to move to Windows...
You need to get XP SP3 installed quickly.
If you are running xp 64 bit you are stuck at sp2 and your installation expires in less than a week. Time for a move to 7. You have less than one week to update Windows XP. Here’s how! - Microsoft SMB Community Blog - By Eric Ligman - Site Home - MSDN Blogs.