Software utilities

Aaagh! What is up with Microsoft? Do they perhaps need a technical equivalent of a shrink? No sooner did they withdraw their billion-dollar takeover bid for Yahoo, and now they go ahead and change their minds. On Sunday afternoon, they announced that they’re putting in a fresh bid for Yahoo, but apparently this time, it’s not for all of Yahoo’s assets, just some (whatever that means).

How is Microsoft to be taken seriously with the back-and-forths? I wouldn’t. Especially as they were the ones that pulled out of the negotiating table in the first place.

Maybe it’s best for different parts of Yahoo to be owned by more than one company, anyway. It might be healthier that way. I hear Google are working on a deal with Yahoo (for Yahoo to utilise Google search ads on their network).

In other news, did you know that a fifth of Americans, over 20 million of them, have never used email? Ever?

I find that amazing.

Maybe it’s ignorant of me as I’m so used to using the web / emailing, but I do find the findings intriguing especially coming from a developed country, an apparent super power.

My immediate hunch was that age plays a factor in this. And I was right. According to the survey, half of those surveyed were over 65 years old. Education also comes into play with 56% not having gone beyond high-school level. (It’d be interesting to find out the breakdown of the other 50%.)

There were other findings such as 30% of Americans never having created a document on a computer before.

I expect that a lot of this isn’t necessarily down to age and education. Some people who’ve never touched a computer or have never been online might simply be scared of the unknown.

The era of all for free is almost finally dead.

Dozens of programs are issued free of charge, but you must accept advertising, which rewards (and pays) the author of the Software.

MSN Messenger and the Banner
Microsoft MSN Messenger works like this, but using a particular technique you can block and completely remove Banner Ads.

You need to edit the HOSTS file of Windows.
Go to the folder:

C: \ Windows \ System32 \ Drivers \ Etc.

and edit the file.

Add the following line at the end of the file:

127.0.0.1 rad.msn.com

The address rad.msn.com corresponds to an address that sends banners to MSN Messenger. With this technique, we determine that this address must be resolved with the IP 127.0.0.1 which corresponds to the localhost IP. The result is that MSN Messenger, unaware of this, trying to connect to its servers, will look for the banner in our computer, but not finding any active service, will not receive any banner, thus leaving the ads space empty.

Ethics and problems of this solution
Although it is not an illegal move, it could be wrong. We use a useful service but at no cost; a little advertising is a way to repay the activity of those who built the software and therefore in future we can expect improved versions. Commercial television has always adopted this model.

Any problem stems instead from the fact that this address may vary over time, and then at some point the banner could reappear. Following a thorough investigation, however, it could again be traced back at once and added to file HOSTS to restore the situation.

A more effective solution might be to activate a firewall and block outbound packages that have as destination the IP addresses of advertising servers to obtain the same effect.

Ole Billy Boy Gates has said that Windows 7 won’t be as bad as Windows Vista. (You’ve got to give it to the lil guy. At least he’s admitting it was crap).

I didn’t know Windows made computerized crystal balls too, though. If so, I want one….just so I can smash it on the floor Greek-wedding style. How does Billy Boy know MicroSoft(intheHead) Windows 7 won’t be as bad as Vista? I mean, there’s a first time for everything, isn’t there? I bet they had the same high hopes for baby Vista before it was born (until it came out with hair not quite the same colour as its dad’s).

Gates is apparently all excited about it as it’ll need ‘lower power, take less memory’ and ‘be more efficient’. I say: don’t count your 7.1’s before you 7’s, my friend.

I managed to totally avoid Windows Vista. I tend to take my time on version releases before using them. I’ve seen enough teething problems, sweaty palms and trauma in people’s eyes over sudden system/software failures – so I wait them out for as long as I can. Windows Vista will be one of those operating systems that I DEFINITELY won’t be on my deathbed wishing I’d used. I have no regrets whatsoever. None. Nada.

So, will I use Windows 7 when it comes sashaying along? Well…it depends on whether it’ll turn out to be Vista’s 1st cousin …or a very distant one. It would need to take the best of Vista (‘cos I’m sure Vista wasn’t entirely crappy) and add more jelly babies to it. I would need to see more people cart-wheeling down the street with flowers behind their ears, kitted out in pink ‘I Heart Windows 7’ t-shirts, to be convinced that Win 7 is worth buying (into).

Until then, I’ll just sit tight.

TV shows? Now watch them on Messenger TV. The project has just been launched through the creativity of the Italian team of Microsoft, which has united in a single instrument the two main activities of most web users: online videos and Windows Live Messenger chats. With the new TV, more than 12.5 million Italian Msn users, can experience a more “social” web tv on-demand, based exclusively on high-quality video. The range of content available includes the entire catalog of clips from MSN Video, the free video channel of the MSN portal.

For the occasion Microsoft has close some strategical partnerships.

Some time ago, I forgot my memory stick in an internet café. I was half-way home when I realised, but I ran back anyway in the hopes that, by some miracle, it’d still be there, that it would have grown sharp teeth and barked at anyone who tried to take it.

Did I find it? Erm, no.

I have now come to the conclusion that it’s my memory stick’s fault it got stolen. Because it wasn’t a MacBook. If it was a MacBook and someone stole it, I’d have much better luck getting my Mac back.

Let me explain:

In New York, there was a woman whose Macbook got stolen last month after thieves broke into her apartment. It wasn’t just her Macbook though – about $5000 worth of electrical equipment got stolen, too, including another Macbook, two iPods, two flat-screen DVD’s and game consoles.

The police had no luck tracing the thieves. However, Apple have this clever little feature on their Macs (called ‘Back to My Mac’) that allows you to access your Mac remotely (using another Mac).

The woman was able to tap into her stolen book remotely, activate its camera, take pictures of one of the thieves who was using it at the time and forward the pics on to the police. The two guys were subsequently caught and arrested and most of the items were recovered.

Turns out the guys were friends of friends who had shown up at a party the woman had held several weeks before the robbery.

Though ‘Back to My Mac’ wasn’t invented for the purposes of catching thieves (how could Apple have known?), it sure came in handy, didn’t it?! Very!

(p.s: I bet the woman won’t have another house party for some time to come).