12-9-04
Flaws in Browsers of all Flavors
Secunia is reporting browser security issues have been discovered in most browser for users of multiple platforms. The browsers effected are: Firefox, Internet Explorer, Konqueror, Mozilla, Netscape, Opera, and Safari. The flaw allows spoofing of pop-ups from legitimate sites. That is why we do not include pop-up ads here at Multiple Platforms.com/. CNET is also carrying a story regarding this issue if you don’t like the geek speak at Secunia. GNOME Desktop Repaire
Gentoo and SuSE Linux have patches available for the flaw that exist in the GNOME desktop identified early this week by Secunia according to a report in CNET. These are the same vulnerabilities we notified you of yesterday; the open source community knows how to respond to security issues, quickly.
Free Stuff: Card Reader
This freebie comes from PC Connection via Free After Rebate.com, a 3 port USB 2.0 hub and a 9 in 1 card reader for the cost of shipping only. This is a nice addition to your peripherals if you are looking for a card reader as the three USB 2.0 ports are an addition anyone can use.
Apple Tip of the Day: Use Expose Within an Application
Today the tip is located at the Apple Pro Tip of the Week site and involves using Expose within an application, the trick is to use F10 to utilize the power of this application.
PC Tip of the Day: Customize Your Mouse and Pointer
Following up on this weeks theme of customizing your PC for you, visit Microsoft’s Support site to learn the tricks you can use to make your mouse and pointer more user friendly.
What is an I/O Port?
According to Wikipedia, “Nearly all processor families use the same assembly instructions for both memory access and hardware I/O (see memory-mapped I/O for details). However, Intel microprocessors have assembly instructions (IN and OUT) that are used specifically for hardware I/O. These instructions figure out which hardware device to communicate with using the concept of an I/O port or machine port. These ports are numbered based on which hardware device they refer to.
Intel microprocessors generally allow one octet (byte) to be sent or received during each instruction. The hardware device decides how to interpret data sent to it and what data to send to the processor. For example, a common use is to ask a hardware device which byte (in a data transfer) it will be sending next.”
Multipleplatforms.com 
