Protecting Yourself in a Cyberwar World
A tip of the hat to Brian C. for bringing this post from the Electronic Frontier Foundation to my attention: "'Zero-day' exploit sales should be key point in cybersecurity debate".While VUPEN might be...
View ArticleAnother Sharepoint Alternative
I commented a few years ago that "Sharepoint alternative" seems to be a popular search term for visitors to this site. So, when another one is brought to my attention, I feel compelled to mention it,...
View ArticleAnother Happy Linux User
I received an email from a reader, 'mcinsand', who has "been an exclusive FOSS user at home since 2004, after spending a year finding out that WinXPSP2 was simply unacceptable." When I pointed him to...
View ArticleOpera 12: Not Ready For Prime Time
Since I have frequently recommended the Opera browser, I feel obliged to warn our loyal readers: if you're inclined to upgrade to Opera 12.00, don't. The new version of Opera is quite buggy. Wait for...
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Death to Javascript: CNN Edition
Some weeks back I wrote "Death to Javascript", in which I related the problem my wife has reported, of web pages that tie up her computer. She's been seeing this more and more often lately. But today...
View ArticleTime to Check Your DNS
If you're using Windows (update: or OS X), you should run this quick test to see if you've been infected by the DNSChanger malware. If you've been infected, you might not have noticed -- but you'll...
View ArticleThe Cloud of Lowered Expectations
You've probably heard that Amazon Web Services suffered a major outage on June 29th, which brought down Netflix, Pinterest, Instagram, and hundreds of other Internet-based services. This was apparently...
View ArticleThunderbird: "Pining for the fjords"
Kudos to The Register for the best quip about the -- termination? downsizing? hobbling? -- of the Thunderbird project: "This bird's not dead, it's just pining for the fjords."* Mozilla has announced...
View ArticleOpenDNS vs. The Real World
Sometimes I wonder why I keep trying to use OpenDNS. In theory it's a great idea. In practice, I keep tripping over stumbling blocks. Like today's.The short story: yesterday we switched to a new...
View ArticleQuelitu 12.04
Update 2: I've been informed that the Quelitu installation instructions have been revised to allow for my, shall I say, "peculiar" test environment. I will be re-installing and re-reviewing later this...
View ArticleThe 256MB World
Occasionally I get quizzical comments from people wondering about my obsession with Linux systems that run in 256 MB of RAM, when all "modern" desktops have 1 or 2 GB or more and multi-core...
View ArticleBuilding a Computer Lab for Free
Thanks to our friends the Millers for sharing another success story of recycled computers: How One Teacher Built a Computer Lab for Free:The problem? An underfunded school needed computers for the...
View ArticleOn The Road
I am travelling until 28 September, and will not be in a position to post updates to this page. And doubtless on the 28th I'll have a two-week backlog of email to clear. Please check back in October,...
View ArticleDeli(cate) Linux
My thanks to "LM" for informing me of a new lightweight Linux, Deli(cate) Linux, that replaces the now-defunct DeLi Linux for ultra-lightweight computers. According to their web site:DeLi(cate) is a...
View ArticleStill Alive and Well: Damn Small Linux
Well, that "two-week backlog" of email turned out to be a four-week backlog of work; and it didn't help that I was gone for a week in late October, too. But I'm back, and resuming activity on this...
View Article"Which Linux Distro is Best?"
My thanks to Howard Fosdick at OS News for sharing this item: Which Linux Distro is Best?He understands what too many people do not: that when you ask the question "best", you have to ask "best for...
View ArticleDisabling Secure Boot
If you've bought a new PC lately, it probably came equipped with something called "Secure Boot." Secure Boot is basically a feature which prevents you from running anything but Windows on the PC....
View Article"Steve Ballmer's Nightmare"
I'm not sure how much credence to give to a web site called "Business Insider," but I thought this item was interesting enough to pass on: "Steve Ballmer's Nightmare is Coming True".Almost one year ago...
View ArticleTo Do, or Not To Do: Revisited
Two years ago, looking for a Linux "to do list" manager that met my needs, I settled on Korganizer. It worked well, until the upgrade to KDE 4. I find the new Korganizer is more clumsy to use, presents...
View ArticleOpen Source Active Directory
Thanks to Groklaw, I learn of this milestone:The Samba Team is proud to announce the release of Samba 4.0, a major new release of the award-winning Free Software file, print and authentication server...
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