mikedaddy blog

Good article over at Network World about Patents Microsoft has claimed to hold. I’ve blogged about the silliness of patents like this in the past. People at the patent offices must be not tech savvy. I would NEVER have let such vague patents be allowed through. Check some of them out: The Microsoft/Android war: Which patents are at stake?

The Gates Foundation is funding a highschool. A $46 million high school dazzling with the latest technology – from interactive digital textbooks and computerized tablets to electronic play diagrams for the basketball team – will be built by the Philadelphia School District in partnership with the Microsoft Corp., officials announced today. Read More : Microsoft to design city high school

Well, maybe I’ll stop using MSN if this really goes through, that or Microsoft releases a client for linux. October 15th is the deadline. Microsoft is changing its MSN instant messaging service to lock out users of third-party software that uses the service as well as users of older versions of Microsoft’s own Messenger client, the company says. Users must upgrade to newer versions of MSN or Windows Messenger by October 15 or they will no longer be able to log on, says Sean Sundwall, a Microsoft spokesperson.

Time to patch your XP and 2000 installations. By Kevin Poulsen, SecurityFocus Aug 11 2003 3:13PMA malicious worm that exploits last month’s RPC DCOM vulnerability struck the Internet Monday afternoon, targeting unpatched Windows 2000 and Windows XP machines. The worm, dubbed “Blaster” and “LovSan” by security and anti-virus companies, attacks vulnerable machines over TCP port 135, then spawns a shell and initiates a TFTP file transfer to retrieve the worm’s code.

Awesome program to show your windows and office keys in any current windows OS. Tried it on XP and it worked great. The Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder is a freeware utility that retrieves your Product Key (cd key) used to install windows from your registry. It has the options to copy the key to clipboard, save it to a text file, or print it for safekeeping. It works on Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Office 97, and Office XP.

An article about Microsoft launching a new security Certification. And some harsh words from Continental towards the ‘linux guys’ whom apparently are all hackers! Acknowledging that vendors and IT professionals have to step into the breach to make computing more secure, Microsoft Tuesday launched two new security certifications and again pledged to make software patches easier to apply. Scott Charney, Microsoft’s chief security strategist, said Tuesday that he is working to adapt the company’s corporate culture to make patch application more uniform and rational.