Internet

For a short time Saturday morning, Google search results erroneously reported that all Web sites were infected with malware. 

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9127101

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Enterprise-Applications/Human-Error-Caused-Google-Glitch

http://blogs.computerworld.com/google_search_snafu_fixed_explained

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Enterprise-Applications/Human-error-at-Google-sends-the-wrong-message/

http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=213000216

Gmail now supports offline use.  Accessing the offline mail is faster than accessing the mail on the server, because it is stored on the PC.  If there is a lot of mail in the mailbox, Gmail may not make all of it available offline.  Contacts cannot be editing offline.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126953

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126949

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Messaging-and-Collaboration/Google-Finally-Enables-Offline-Access-For-Gmail

http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/google/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212902996

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2339892,00.asp

Cox Communications is the #3 provider of high-speed Internet access, and plans to manage its network traffic when the network is busy by slowing traffic that is not time sensitive, such as file transfers, and giving higher priority to traffic that is time sensitive, such as Web pages, voice calls, and streaming videos.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Enterprise-Networking/Coxs-Network-Neutrality-Plan-Draws-Fire

Google released tools that can help users determine their network connection speed and see if their ISP is blocking traffic like downloads.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126997

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Web-Services-Web-20-and-SOA/Google-Fans-Net-Neutrality-Flames-With-Web-Measurement-Lab

http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/google/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212903340

 

Software

Internet Explorer’s market share dropped to 67.6% in Jan.  Firefox is up to 21.5%, and Apple Safari is up to 8.3%.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9127119

Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1 was made available for download for Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003 and 2008.  A version for Windows 7 is still in work.  Microsoft warned testers that it may not be possible to uninstall IE8 on Windows XP SP3.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126818

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126794

http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/browsers/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212903177

http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/browsers/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212902602

Microsoft will not release a second beta test version of Windows 7.  A release candidate will be the next build available for testers.  No date was announced.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10153384-56.html

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9127071

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2339936,00.asp

The release candidate for Windows Vista Service Pack 2 was made available for testers.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126992

While many new PCs have 64-bit processors, the switch to 64-bit software is very slow.  A 64-bit operating system and 64-bit applications should improve performance, but applications need to be optimized for 64-bit or performance may be worse than a 32-bit version.  There isn’t much demand for a 64-bit transition, and developers see 32-bit as good enough.

http://www.cio.com/article/478352/From_Bit_to_Bit_Why_Software_Development_Is_Lagging_Hardware_Improvements

 

Hardware

The 6 biggest drive makers published specifications for a whole disk encryption standard for all hard drives and solid-state drives.  A password will be required to access the drive.  Some vendors, including Seagate, Fujitsu, and Hitachi, have already implemented the standard on some drives.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126869

 

Business

While the number of IT jobs in the U.S. is shrinking, some companies are still hiring people with the right skills.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9127077

The U.S. House voted not to delay the transition from analog to digital TV.  They are expected to look at the issue again. 

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090129/ap_on_hi_te/digital_tv_transition_14

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Government-IT/DTV-Delay-Fails-in-House-Vote

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9127042

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9127083

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/White-House-Expects-DTV-Delay-Until-June

http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/TV_theater/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=213000131

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Government-IT/Lawmakers-Plot-New-Vote-on-DTV-Delay

http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/TV_theater/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=213000159

 

Reviews

Internet Explorer 8 Released Candidate 1 is faster and more stable than the earlier beta version.  A new internal IE7 compatibility list allows IE 8 to act like IE7 when you visit a Web site that is known to work better in IE7.  InPrivate Filtering prevents Web sites from collecting information about you.  JavaScript is still much slower than other major browsers (Firefox, etc.).

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126784

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126940

Weekly magazine summary published by Scott Byrd.  If you find a link that is to the wrong article, check the Web site to see if I have already fixed the link there. 

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Internet

There are now more than 1 billion Internet users worldwide.41% are from Asia, 28% in North America, and 18% in Europe.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2339592,00.asp

Forbes named Seattle the most-wired city because of widespread high-speed Internet access and many wireless hot spots.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/pcworld/20090123/tc_pcworld/seattlenamedmostwiredcitybyforbes

The presidential inauguration had extensive online coverage, with live streaming video feeds on many sites.  The top 40 Web sites slowed down as much as 60% as the inauguration traffic used up the Internet’s bandwidth.  Some users had difficulty getting the streaming to work, and the video quality was poor.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090121/ap_on_hi_te/inauguration_online_6

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126380

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126362

http://blogs.computerworld.com/obamas_inauguration_web

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126348

http://www.cio.com/article/477265/Obama_Inauguration_Drives_Record_Web_Usage

http://www.cio.com/article/477357/Web_Users_All_a_Twitter_During_Inauguration

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126502

CNN asked users to upload their photos of President Obama taking the oath of office, so Microsoft can use Photosynth technology to merge all the photos into a 3D experience.

http://www.cio.com/article/477176/Microsoft_CNN_to_Make_Historians_Out_of_Inaugural_Attendees

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126685

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2339215,00.asp

In Dec., Facebook had 222 million unique visitors, compared to 125 million for MySpace.  In the U.S., MySpace is the leader, with 75.9 million visitors a month, and 55 million for Facebook.  2/3 of MySpace users are in the U.S. but only 1/4 of Facebook users are.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126720

This year, anyone can file their federal taxes online, for free.  In the past, there was a cap on income to qualify for free filing.  Last year, 60% of returns were filed electronically, but only 5 million people used the free services.  More people used the Web-based versions of TurboTax and TaxCut than the PC-based versions.  The IRS has a goal of 80% of returns filed electronically.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126182

 

Security

The Downadup worm has infected at least 6% of Windows PCs, and the infection percentage is probably much higher.  The worm can use the Windows Autorun feature to spread via USB drives.  Instructions for disabling Autorun are available.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126482

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126478

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2339346,00.asp

http://blogs.computerworld.com/test_your_defenses_against_malicious_usb_flash_drives

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126691

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126603

 

Software

The first release candidate of Internet Explorer 8 is expected to be released Jan. 26.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126684

Microsoft is expected to delay the release of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 a month, with a release candidate expected in March and production release in May or June.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126470

Antivirus vendors have only had to make minor changes to their products to make them work with Windows 7.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2339504,00.asp

The beta test version of Windows 7 will be available for download until Feb. 10; an extension from Jan 24.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/cnet/20090124/tc_cnet/83011080531014958875

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126739

http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212902415

About 80% of netbooks are delivered with Windows XP, rather than Linux.  While 20% is a high share for Linux, most users are still sticking with Windows on mini-laptops.

http://www.appscout.com/2009/01/windows_beating_linux_on_netbo.php

Citrix and Intel are working on a virtual machine hypervisor for PCs that would allow virtual machines to run directly on the hardware, without a host operating system.   Virtual machines should get better performance than a VM running in a product like VMWare Workstation or Virtual PC.  The hypervisor will be based on the Xen virtualization software, and should be available in the second half 2009.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126464

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Virtualization/Intel-Citrix-Collaborating-on-Desktop-Virtualization/

http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/virtualization/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212902089

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2339317,00.asp

 

Hardware

Tests show that access to the memory becomes a bottleneck as more CPU cores are added.  Going from 2 cores to 4 results in better performance, but going from 4 to 8 cores did not improve performance, and going to 16 cores decreased performance.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126603

Users of Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 hard drives are reporting that their drives are locking up or failing.  A firmware bug is responsible. Seagate is offering free data recovery for failed drives if necessary.  No data is lost with the failure; the drive is just not accessible.  A new firmware fix was released after an earlier fix was released and pulled after it also caused drives to fail.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126280

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126360

http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/storage/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212901822

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126580

http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/systems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212902034

 

Business

Microsoft will reduce headcount by 2,000-3,000 over the next 18 months, with 5,000 cuts and a few thousand added jobs.  1,400 were laid off immediately.  The Flight Simulator developer team was included in the 1,400.  Merit raises were also eliminated for fiscal year 2010.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126579

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/Microsoft-Results-Disappoint-5000-Job-Cuts-Coming

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2339397,00.asp

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126623

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126598

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2339520,00.asp

Congress is working to delay the transition from analog TV to digital until June 12, to give more time for allocation of money for coupons for converter boxes.  6.5 million households are not ready.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090123/ap_on_hi_te/tec_digital_tv_transition_1

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Government-IT/House-Senate-Near-DTV-Delay-Bill

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2339487,00.asp

 

Reviews

A dedicated Windows user switched to Ubuntu Linux for 2 weeks.  Ubuntu worked fairly well once it was set up, but the Ubuntu installation had problems, and application installation upgrades were very poor.  Wireless worked well, but connecting to PCs on the home network did not work well.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126042

 

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