| The XP version could block incoming attacks, but the Vista edition watches traffic both in and out of your system, which can help stop malicious programs from stealing data or spewing spam e-mails." In fact, Vista's firewall can monitor and selectively block both inbound and outbound network connections. Strangely, the firewall control panel, part of the Windows Security Center, does not let you set up outbound filtering. |
| Just days after having to stand idly by while the Romanian president talked up how unauthorized copies of Microsoft software helped build that country's IT industry, Bill Gates has another critical issue to decide concerning such "piracy." Over in Russia, Microsoft has apparently been pressing charges against a Russian school headteacher, Alexander Ponosov, who Microsoft accuses of running "pirated" software on school computers. |
| The main man behind Linux has fixed for a bug that was stopping a "computer virus" from working. It just alters files on both Linux and Windows, a trick that has been demonstrated previously. And careful analysis of the "concept code" revealed a bug in the Linux kernel, which Linus promptly fixed. In theory, the code could enable someone to create a cross-platform computer virus - one that infects both Linux and Windows. |
| YouOS, a four-person startup in Silicon Valley, has just debuted a beta of their technology, which they call a?Web operating system? and which they conceive as the online counterpart to Microsoft?s Windows. They?re just four fun-loving techies who like to invent stuff and think they have come up with a better way to do things on the Web.?People will use it when they want to collaborate or they want to access data when they?re away from their computer. They work out of their homes. |
| Now, the ESRB, which rates video games, has re-rated another game from a Take-Two subsidiary, boosting the rating of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion from "Teen" to "Mature". The ESRB says that not only did the game's developer under-represent the degree of violence in the game, but also failed to disclose the inclusion of a topless woman in the game, even though, again, it was inaccessible without a third-party mod. |
| Not only does software piracy probably not hurt their economy, it doesn't necessarily hurt the software companies, like Microsoft. Companies using Windows, legitimately or not, are more likely to buy the software in the future, buy other Microsoft products, and help hold competitors at bay. While Microsoft has talked a tough game, taking a hardline anti-piracy stance, they've actually been pretty good about not being too aggressive, knowing that they could drive users to rival platforms. |
| We've written a lot about what movie theaters need to do to compete these days is improve the theater-going experience, rather than complain about piracy or shrinking release windows. This idea really isn't new, going back to the 1960s for Smell-o-vision, or the scratch-n-sniff cards that accompanied the "Odorama" version of John Water's 1982 film Polyester, and it's hard to see how the idea's got any more appeal these days. |
| Along with the new version of the service, Real will also let people link directly to particular songs and albums within it , so if a blogger is writing about a song, they could link to it within Rhapsody so readers could easily listen to it. It's been pretty questionable just how successful music subscription services have been , so obviously Real wants to tempt people to see what Rhapsody's all about in hopes they'll like what they see. |