TechBlog

Today is a very important day for Microsoft: it’s the first day that Windows XP can no longer be bundled on new PCs and it’s also the first anniversary of the release of Windows 7. Either Microsoft planned for these dates to coincide, or we just have a big coincidence on our hands. Due to Vista’s performance issues on cheap netbooks, Microsoft had to extend the Windows XP installation deadline for its OEM partners. Back in 2008, Microsoft told OEMs that October 22, 2010 would be the last day they could sell computers that come with Windows XP. ...

(Reuters) – Google Inc said its “Street View” cars around the world accidentally collected more personal data than previously disclosed, and that it was changing its privacy practices. Regulators in some of the more than 30 countries where the cars operated are looking into the issue. Google’s Street View cars, which are well known for crisscrossing the globe and taking panoramic pictures of the city’s streets, collected the data. The company displays the pictures in its online street maps. ...

The author of this article seems to think Linux in the desktop is dead, with so many missed opportunities, especially during the failure of Windows Vista, they will never break into the market now that Win 7 is so successful. In some ways I agree, but personally, I never thought Linux even had a chance with the average user on a home system. Being in IT, like most peeps in my field, I have become the “help desk” for family and friends; I really do not think the average user is ready for it. Add in the lack of applications and games that are available, it really did not stand a chance. I design and write software, the development costs these days are huge, and the money peeps want a good ROI to out weigh the risks, developing from scratch or even porting an existing app is just too risky. ...

Rules were made to be broken; that whole 55 MPH thing happens to be my favorite. Western Digital had larger aspirations; the kinds that considered milestones. Reaching the 750GB per platter mark is definitely in the milestone category and that is what Western Digital is releasing today. On the surface 750GB per platter doesn’t really sound all that impressive unless you are really into the whole storage technology scene. Those on the outside will be more excited to hear about the milestone this way; 3TB hard drives that upon launch cost just a little over 200 USD. Do I have your attention now? ...

After the news that the new MacBook Airs do not ship with Flash pre-installed (which is news considering Flash has been part of Mac OS X for a very long time), we now have news that Apple is also taking what appears to be the first steps towards removing Apple’s own Java runtime from Mac OS X. The wording is a tiny little bit ambiguous, but it would seem like Apple is preparing to ditch Java as a standard part of Mac OS X. In the ‘new and noteworthy’ section of the release notes for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 3, they note the deprecation of Java. ...

Windows 7 turns one year old and obviously Microsoft felt the need to once again brag with the performance of its latest operating system. And it can really brag as Windows 7 has sold 240 million licenses to date and is, hands down, the fastest selling OS in history. In September no less than 93% of all consumer PCs come pre-loaded with Windows 7, while on October 1st the OS’ global market share was measured at 17%, putting it on second place behind the immortal Windows XP. ...

Escom LLC has sold the controversial domain name Sex.com for $13 million, according to The Register. Documents filed in a California court say that the domain was sold to Clover Holdings, a stealthy offshore firm, after winning an auction that included eleven other bidders. Domain name broker Sedo was the exclusive brokerage firm representing the domain, and it will likely take a nice percent of the sale price, although the actual figures are unknown. ...

Last mail I got from 12Seconds.com: Dear 12ers, Tonight at 8:15PM PST we will shut down 12seconds.tv. No videos can be recorded after 5PM PST. If you have not yet downloaded your videos, go to 12seconds.tv and use the awesome 12seconds video export tool and save your memories. The tool will be available until 5:15 PM PST, so be sure to export your videos before then. Is this the last time you will hear from us? ...

Facebook has proposed a solution to a recent security flaw that allowed apps to transmit personal data that involves encrypting the relevant string of numbers, according to a post on its Developer Blog on Thursday. The new set of parameters would allow developers to apply encryption within the next few weeks, preventing data that identifies application users from leaking to places it shouldn’t be. Facebook’s security flaw works something like this: when a Facebook user loads a particular kind of application (one that uses iframes) and authorizes the application to access their profile, the URL of the iframe then carries the user’s UID, a number that can link the account to actions on other websites. ...

Follow up from: Panda security launches Panda Antivirus The number of Mac OS vulnerabilities has quintupled in less than a year. In 2009, 34 vulnerabilities were detected for Mac OS. So far in 2010, this number has risen to 175 vulnerabilities. Furthermore, the platform can also be affected by 170,000 macro viruses for Windows and there are 5,000 classified strains of malware that specifically target Apple systems, according to Panda Security. ...