^^^ Look up: Streaming audio from the TC website

Last week I implemented streaming audio directly from the Technology Corner website. Although you'll get better audio quality listening to the podcast via Itunes or some other podcast aggregator, the audio is now just a click away.

On the left above this section, you'll see a Macromedia Flash player object. If you haven't downloaded the Flash player, you'll need to do that. Once you have the player, clicking the play button will launch the program audio. Please note that the streaming audio won't be present until after I record and upload the program. That usually happens on Sunday morning.

Another zero-day exploit hits Microsoft Internet Explorer

After an uncomfortably long delay, Microsoft released an out-of-cycle patch to address a flaw that exposed Internet Explorer users to having their computers taken over silently by Internet creeps. The flaw is the kind of thing that is used by those who run "free" porn sites. While you're looking at the pictures, the website is busy downloading bad applications to your computer. You don't visit porn sites? OK, but if you ever type a URL incorrectly, you might also be exposed to the danger. Shady dealers buy domain names such as "micorsoft.com" and some of those "typo sites" are loaded with exploits. It's nasty stuff.

Late this week, I spoke with RescueCom CEO David Milman. His company provides support for business and home users throughout the United States. I asked him about this exploit in particular and we also talked about other measures that computer users should take to safeguard their machines.

The interview will be part of this week's podcast.

Everything should work this well

Remember the Mars Rovers? "Opportunity", a robot about the size of a golf cart, has been wandering around Mars for 1000 days. Scientists would have been happy with 9 months of service and that's what Opportunity was designed to provide. It's been running for 10 times that period and is now standing at Victoria Crater, the Martian equivalent of the Grand Canyon.

The second rover, "Spirit", is also still going strong. They are working on opposite sides of the planet to collect data about rock formations, soil, and atmosphere. Peering into Victoria Crater has geologists excited because the depth gives a vision into the planet's past.

In 1000 days, the rovers have logged less than a total of 10 miles. At a maximum speed of 44 yards per day, Opportunity has traveled a little less than 6 miles and Spirit has traveled a bit less than 4.

The most recent problem scientists solved was a software update. Tasks were assigned by days. Days were numbered. The counter in the software had enough space for 3 digits because few expected the rovers to run for more than 100 days and even the most optimistic figured 300 days would be the best they could expect. With the rovers now passing 1000 days in service, the counter had to be expanded.

Remember when applications used to be small and simple?

ThumbsPlus used to be a utility application designed to help users organize and view their digital images, but the growth of digital camera usage and new features extends the application beyond what I would call a "utility". The program is large, complex, and often patched. Version 7 was released not many months ago and already there have been three patches.

Each of those patches contains many features. For example ...

Changes in build 2222:

• Renaming a file in a zip folder now works properly.
• Fixed a bug that could cause a hang or crash in image filtering.
• Keywords were not being exported.
• Fixed crop by value/add borders preview for %, inches and cm.
• Sorted the drop-down lists of previous selections in "Move To" and "Copy To" dialogs.

Changes in build 2225:

• Fixed remote mapped drives not showing when browsing for folders.
• Fixed handling of batch sets with periods in the set name.
• Fixed problem with grayed-out Which Files | Selected and Which Files | By Mask after some right-click operations on the location tree.
• Unsorted the drop-down lists of previous selections in "Move" and "Copy" dialogs. This caused too many problems!
• Fixed problems with very long database connection strings. This fixed an issue connecting to PostgreSQL and, in some cases, MySQL.
• Fixed problem recognizing SUBST drives.
• Fixed crash or hang on import.
• Fixed some problems with very long file and path names (256-260 chars).
• Made ActiveUsers table compatible with more databases.
• Fixed crash using IPTC template sets.
• Improved performance of Add Keywords | Regenerate.
• Fixed crash when loading JPEG files with invalid IPTC data.
• Fixed slide show problem when WAV or MP3 files are in the file list.

Changes in build 2228:

• The installer now checks if ThumbsPlus is running and prompts the user.
• Fixed file list performance problem for folders with thousands of files.
• JPEG options are now properly used when converting from 48 or 16-bit images.
• Changing an image to grayscale now removes any color profile.
• Fixed saving and restoring raw file loading definitions (Options | File Loading | Raw).
• Increased the maximum number of recent databases to 32.
• Fixed problem with opening files by association (i.e., from Windows Explorer).
• Fixed a problem where a slide show would end after deleting two files.
• Improved appearance of the Startup window on Windows 98/ME.
• Fixed pasting rectangular selections on Windows 98/ME.
• Fixed a crash when auto-generating keywords for a zero-length file.
• Changed maximum database error length to be able to report more information.
• Fixed memory leak when loading CMYK files.
• Fixed problem with Find by Query and Find Similar for some databases (notably DB2).
• Fixed PNG and TGA loading to handle image heights greater than 32767.
• Fixed an import/export bug that would cause a crash when importing user fields.
• Fixed problem with the slide show when the first file in the thumbnail view was a sound file.
• Fixed pasting elliptical selections.
• Rather than reporting an error, ThumbsPlus will now move files one by one when moving a folder to a location where it already exists.
• Fixed Help for Options | Viewing | Editing.
• Updated Zip file processing so that Zip files can be processed concurrently by multiple threads. Also improved speed and recovery of Zip file errors.
• Fixed problem on forced move (SHIFT+drag) from Zip files.
• Fixed problem removing files with spaces in their names from Zip files.
• Fixed problem printing text on some image size / page size combinations.
• Fixed problem copying keywords and user fields with some databases (DB2).
• Fixed possible crashes when changing between databases with different numbers of user fields.
• Eliminated spurious error messages generated when a TIF files are set to load using a plug-in (i.e., Digicam) but are not compatible with it.
• Improved support for the following databases: DB2, PostgreSQL, Firebird, ASA.

Just looking through these bugs reveals how complex and how complicated even simple utilities have become. Build 2222 fixed a problem so that the application could rename a file that's inside another application. Build 2225 fixed problems with database connections and fixed problems with file names longer than 256 characters. And the latest build (2228) deals with memory leaks involving CMYK (professional printing) file and addresses images that are more than 30 times the height of the highest-resolution monitor.

Nerdly News

Microsoft will lose money on Zune

Would an Ipod by any other name smell as sweet? Do Ipods have any odor at all? Will Microsoft be able to put a dent in Apple's market share for portable music players. Nobody else has been able to do it even though some of the devices sold by other companies have more features at a lower price. But now the 300-pound canary is about to take flight. Is the cat worried? Am I asking too many rhetorical questions?

Microsoft's MP3 player Zune will cost $249.99 (to the math deficient, that's $250) when it goes on sale in mid November. Microsoft is expected to lose money on each sale. No, they won't "make it up in volume," but the company will soon open an on-line music store to sell individual tracks for 99 cents (aka 1 dollar).

Zune will allow people to share music over WiFi, which is something Apple doesn't yet offer. Jupiter research says, though, that this is important to about 11% of consumers. Zune also has a built-in FM radio and Microsoft's music subscription service offers access to 2,000,000 songs for $15 ($14.99) per month.

The Zune will be able to play video and comes with a 30GB hard drive. That's enough for 5000 or so selections, depending on selection length and quality.

“I do not accept personal responsibility for what happened.”

Those are the words of Patricia Dunn, the now former chair of Hewlett Packard. Dunn was fired/resigned for her part in unethical (at best) or (possibly) illegal actions in attempting to find the source of information leaks. On the other hand, Mark Hurd, who replaced Dunn, says “There is no excuse for this aberration. It happened, and it will never happen again.”

The California Attorney General is considering filing suit against HP. Congress is investigating. Ten witnesses called by Congress, including HP's chief legal beagle Ann O. Baskins cited their protection against self-incrimination as provided by the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify. Baskins, whose handwritten notes from a meeting in June 2005 showed she was aware of the use of “pretexts to extract info” has resigned. “Pretext” is a fancy word for “lie”. The “pretexter” claims to be someone else in an attempt to get information from a company.

Is this a disaster for Baskins? Only if you consider a $3.6 million golden parachute a disaster. That was what might be called a parting gift from HP. The winks and nods were not visible. Maybe someday I will understand why those who do things that drag their companies into the mud are rewarded with multi-million-dollar prizes when they resign under fire.

Annoying legal disclaimer

My attorney says I really need to say this: The TechByter website is for informational purposes only. I assume no responsibility for its accuracy, although I do my best. The information is subject to change without notice. Any actions you take based on information from the radio program, the podcast, or from this website are entirely at your own risk. Products and services are mentioned for informational purposes only and their various trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. TechByter cannot provide technical support for products or services mentioned.