Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – August 1, 2009

Time is running out to get the Windows 7 Release Candidate – It has been a real boon for support pros that Microsoft has given us a chance to try out the next version of Windows before it is released to the market. Now that a firm launch date has been announced, your days to participate are numbered.

Researchers find insecure BIOS ‘rootkit’ pre-loaded in laptops – A popular laptop theft-recovery service that ships on notebooks made by HP, Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba, Gateway, Asus and Panasonic is actually a dangerous BIOS rootkit that can be hijacked and controlled by malicious hackers.

SMobile Exaggerates Cell Phone Security Threat for Fun and Profit – I have never–I mean never–met someone who owns or has ever owned a cell phone infected with a mobile virus or mobile malware. Yet, to read this release, is to believe that mobile threats are everywhere and you need to get protection–now. Mobile expert Jamie Lendino sets the record straight.

GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out – One cannot venture far into the mysterious land of computers and “digital assistants” before one realizes that they have entered a land of acronyms; and that computer geeks speak these weird things like they are actual words. Let’s call this place “Techland”.

A guide to common Microsoft software versions – Windows 7 will be build 6.1.7600.16385. SQL Server 2008 SP1 with Cumulative Rollup 3 applied has a build number of 10.00.2723. Who cares, right? Well, as time goes on, you’ll probably run across a situation in which you need to know something deeper than just the service pack you’re running.

Hot Image Your PC’s Hard Drive with DriveImage XML – You don’t need a complicated boot CD or expensive software to create a restorable system disk image for your PC: free utility DriveImage XML can save a full, working snapshot of your Windows hard drive while you work on it. (That’s hot.)

Ending DNS abuse with European open source – A collection of European Internet insiders have announced OpenDNSSEC, a project aimed at managing the security of domain names on the Internet. The group notes that DNS caches are no longer secure, and a white paper says the automated checks will make the creation of secure zones automatic, combining DNS records and digital signatures.

Intel Sees No First-Time PC Buyers for Netbooks – Netbooks, so far, have sold most frequently to people who already own one or two PCs, Maloney said, but added that 7- to 11-year-old children are still a “massive underserved demographic.”

‘MonkeyFist’ Launches Dynamic CSRF Web Attacks – Researchers release tool that automates cross-site request forgery attacks.

Researcher Uncovers Massive, Sophisticated Trojan Targeting Top Businesses – Trojan may already have infected hundreds of thousands of PCs, botnet expert says.

Rogueware On A Roll: 640,000 New Variants Of Fake AV In Q3 – PandaLabs researchers say fake antivirus distributors are ramping up production of new versions of their rogueware to evade detection.

First Lady’s Safe House Location Leaked Via P2P – P2P leak was also responsible for loss of sensitive nuclear data reported yesterday.

Security Breaches Cost Companies Customers – Cost of data loss is higher than some companies think, Ponemon study says.

Off Topic:

Mosquitoes deliver malaria ‘vaccine’ through bites – In a daring experiment in Europe, scientists used mosquitoes as flying needles to deliver a “vaccine” of live malaria parasites through their bites. The results were astounding: Everyone in the vaccine group acquired immunity to malaria; everyone in a non-vaccinated comparison group did not, and developed malaria when exposed to the parasites later.

First-Ever Asteroid Tracked From Space to Earth – For the first time, scientists were able to track an asteroid from space to the ground and recover pieces of it. The bits are unlike anything ever found on Earth.

Schizophrenia Health Center: Delusional Disorder – Delusional disorder, previously called paranoid disorder, is a type of serious mental illness called a “psychosis” in which a person cannot tell what is real from what is imagined. The main feature of this disorder is the presence of delusions, which are unshakable beliefs in something untrue.

The Experience of “Being In Love” Is Not The Same For Everyone – Research has shown that love comes in several different forms or styles (see, Lee and Regan). For the most part, people experience love as a blend of two or three of the styles listed below. Essentially, people have different notions of what it means to “be in love.”

The man who could have been richer than Bill Gates – Who was Gary Kildall? Could he have been richer than Bill Gates? He was the one that wrote the software that made the personal computer industry possible. But, he turned down a deal that would have changed everything because he was satisfied. He died in a brawl.

Today’s Free Downloads:

CCleaner – CCleaner is the number-one tool for cleaning your Windows PC. Keep your privacy online and offline, and make your computer faster and more secure. Over 300 million downloads!

ThreatFire Antivirus Free Edition – Once installed, ThreatFire is difficult to remove from your startup routine without uninstalling it. The absence of on-demand virus scanning means that this app is best used in conjunction with a program that offers on-demand virus detection and removal.

WinTricks 5.0r – WinTricks is one of the largest and most up-to-date programs for Windows tips, tricks, and secrets available today. WinTricks includes tips/tricks for all versions of Windows, plus the Registry, Desktop, AOL, Laptop, and Internet. You will find that this program is easy to navigate and it has complete instructions on all of our Tips, Tricks, and Secrets.

AuthorPOINT Lite is a free PowerPoint to Flash converter. This freeware PPT to Flash conversion tool is very easy-to-use and can convert both .ppt and .pps to .swf Flash. authorPOINT Lite converts and uploads presentations to authorSTREAM and WiZiQ, the online services that retain PowerPoint effects on the Web like PowerPoint animations, rehearsed timings, sounds and gif images.

Install Pad – Downloading the latest versions of your favorite programs is a tiring task, especially on a fresh installation of Windows. Navigating through the mess of websites and download links is frustrating, waiting for the installers to download is boring, and running each one separately is annoying.

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