Tech News Blog
2.3.05
Spam Expected To Increase
Security experts are predicting a new wave of spam will be arriving in your inbox soon courtesy of a new cracker technique. According to CNET, the crackers have created a Trojan that turns a PC into a “zombie” which then sends spam through the computers’ ISP and this helps them avoid spam filters. Some experts fear this latest threat could cripple the “e-mail infrastructure” if the Trojan isn’t tamed quickly.

SBC Global Email Change
MacFixIt has a report that effects Multiple Platforms users that have SBC Global email accounts. According to the story, SBC Global is blocking port 25, the outgoing mail port, for people using the company’s dynamic IP service. To learn more about this issue visit MacFixIt for the link to directions on how to turn off port blocking.

Apple Releases iPhoto Update
Apple has released an update for iPhoto 5 (5.0.1) and some Macs are not recognizing the availability of the update; to learn how to force Software Update to download the fix you can surf to MacOSX Hints. Make sure you follow the directions, and replace the receipt file when you are finished.

Open Source Updates
Secunia has issued the following bulletins for the open source world: Gentoo (1, 2, 3), Fedora, Mandrake, and Debian.

Apple and PC Tip of the Day: Opening a RTF File
Apple-heads can open a .rtf file on the desktop using Text Edit, just right or control-click on the file and the choose Text Edit using the Open With option.
PC people can use applications like WordPad and Notepad by right clicking on the file and selecting the appropriate tool with the Open With choice.

What is an RTF?
According to Wikipedia, an RTF is, “RTF (usually referred to as such) stands for Rich Text Format, a document file format developed by Microsoft at least as early as 1987 for cross-platform document interchange that most text processing programs are able to read and write. RTF uses the ANSI, PC-8, Macintosh, or IBM® PC character set to control the representation and formatting of a document, both on the screen and in print. With the RTF Specification, documents created under different operating systems and with different software applications can be transferred between those operating systems and applications. The simple example of an RTF file:
{\rtf
Hello!\par
This is some {\b bold} text.\par}
will show as:
Hello!
This is some bold text.
A backslash \ starts a control code. The \par control code indicates a new paragraph, and \b switches to a bold typeface. Braces {} define a group; the example uses a group to limit the scope of the \b control code. Everything else will be treated as clear text, i.e., the text to be formatted. A valid RTF document is a group starting with the \rtf control code.
This syntax is similar to that of TeX. By using the control codes in file, a document with specific font, fontsize, or color of the texts, or tables with different border styles can be easily created, explaining its popularity among programmers.
The RTF format is the default rich text format for Mac OS X's default editor TextEdit and Microsoft Windows' default editor WordPad.”

Tech News Blog
2.2.05
Review of Windows X64
PC World has a review of the 64-bit operating system that is the future for PC’s. Perhaps the best news from this story is that the OS is compatible with 32-bit applications, thus easing the transition to the new technology. The 64-bit operating systems will improve security for the PC owner and speed up processing, so this positive review is welcome news.

Printer Malfunction After Apple Update
If your printer is not working after you installed Security Update 2005-001, the recent update from Apple, you are not alone according to MacFixIt; some Mac-heads have solved this issue by deleting and then re-installing the printer using the Printer Setup Utility that you can access through the Utilities tools found in your Applications folder.

Secunia Reports RealPlayer Flaw
Secunia is reporting on a ‘less critical’ flaw found in RealPlayer 10.x and they are recommending that you: “Don't open untrusted ".rm" files and restrict ".rm" files from being opened automatically from within browsers.”

Find Hidden Treasure
I have been receiving letters from a company that claims I had a sum of money owed to me by my state’s government and all I needed to do to collect the money was contact them and agree to a 10% finders fee. I kept intending to investigate the claim myself, as there was reason to believe the claim based on a retirement fund change made more than ten years ago. After a quick web search, I found two sites that help you locate missing funds and property at no charge and they are state sponsored or co-operative efforts of several states. I found them through an article from the L.A. Times. The web site for the states’ co-operative effort is here and Californians can visit the State Controllers Office web site. The claims that I am owed money by the state are true, and I am in the process of re-claiming my money and I get to keep the 10% the company was seeking. Isn’t it amazing what a Google search and ten-minutes of time can save you!

More Reasons to Live In A Multiple Platforms World
While pursing my refund from the state in the story above, I could not complete and download the form necessary using my Mac. I was using the browser by Omni and thinking that might be the problem, I switched to the Safari browser; but still could not complete the operation. That does not stop a Multiple Platforms person though; I turned to my PC and completed the transaction without a hitch. This again emphasizes the beauty of Living in a Multiple Platforms World although it does not excuse my state from not accepting the fact that we are not all using PCs. To hear more about Living in a Multiple Platforms World, please check out my podcast by clicking on the podcast icon below.

Open Source Updates
Secunia released these updates for open source users: Mandrake (1, 2, 3), Gentoo (1, 2, 3), Redhat (1, 2, 3, 4), Debian (1, 2), and Fedora.

Apple and PC Tip of the Day: Open mp3
To open an mp3 file on your desktop with your Apple computer, just double-click on the file’s icon and by default, iTunes will launch and play the mp3. If you want to use another media player, control-click or right click on the icon to choose another player using the Open With option.
PC people can open an mp3 file on their desktop by right-clicking and selecting Play with Media Player (your default option) or choose open with and select another player like iTunes for Windows. Double-clicking on the file icon will also launch the default media player for Windows users.

What is an mp3?
Today’s word is a repeat from the previous week but is for the benefit of the new visitors and in support of the tip of the day. Wikipedia supplies this definition for mp3, “MP3 (or, more precisely, MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer 3) is an audio compression algorithm capable of greatly reducing the amount of data required to reproduce audio, while sounding like a faithful reproduction of the original uncompressed audio to most listeners.”

Tech News Blog
2.1.05
Security Firm Reports Mozilla and Firefox Flaw
Secunia has released a ‘moderately critical’ security bulletin regarding the Mozilla, Firefox, and Thunderbird applications. According to Secunia, the issues effect versions of Firefox before Firefox 1.0 and all Mozilla releases prior to 1.7.5. If you are using the latest versions of any of the above products, you are not at risk.

iPod Problems Post-Security Update
MacFixIt is reporting a new issue regarding a conflict between iPod and iTunes after installation of the latest Apple update, Security Upgrade2005-001. In some cases, iTunes crashes after connecting an iPod and in other instances the computer does not recognize the iPod. In both occurrences, you should use the Repair Disk Permissions function found in Disk Utilities. In fact, you should always repair permissions before and after installing the update.

Must Have Open Source Applications
Newsforge has an article on must have application for those small businesses operating in the open source world. The backbone of the operation is OpenOffice.org and for a recovery tool Knoppix is the best choice according to this article.

Open Source Updates
Secunia released update bulletins for these open source systems: Gentoo, Fedora, and Mandrake.

Apple, Open Source, and PC Tip of the Day: Podcast Software
Apple users that want to start automatically receiving podcasts have many choices including iPodderX, NetNewsWire, and PlayPod. I have tried all of the aforementioned products for Mac-heads; they are all good products and you can find links to these and more applications at Wikipedia. On the PC side, Doppler and Podfeeder are among the choices. Multiple Platforms and open source people can try iPodder, or Jäger. After you download and install any of the above programs, you will subscribe to a list of podcasts that you are interested in, and whenever a new podcast file release is detected, your computer will automatically download and save it to be enjoyed at your convenience.

What is a Podcast?
Wikipedia has this explanation for a podcast, “Podcasting involves the recording of internet radio or similar internet audio programs. These recordings are then made available for download to portable digital audio device. One can then listen to the podcast Internet radio program while you are away from your computer or at a different time than the original program was broadcast.
The term podcasting plays upon the terms broadcasting and webcasting and is derived from the name of the iPod portable music player, the playback device of choice of many early podcast listeners (though podcasting is not directly associated with Apple's iPod device or iTunes jukebox software.) Podcasting is similar to the use of digital video recorders (DVRs) such as TiVo, which let you record and store TV programs for later viewing.”

Tech News Blog
1.31.05
Windows Flaw Squashed
CNET is reporting that the major flaw discovered in MySQL database has stopped spreading after the servers responsible for the infection were isolated. The worm is called MySQL bot or SpoolCLL and cannot infect other computers without access to the servers according to security experts interviewed by CNET.

Problems With Latest Apple Update
Reports of problems with the latest update from Apple continue to trickle into MacFixIt, and some visitors are experiencing problems launching various applications after installation of the update. If you are experiencing problems after installing the update, please visit MacFixIt to learn about the suggestions for a work-around.

Free Tool For Multiple Platforms Users
MacWorld has a link to a free OS X kernel extension that allows you to use a Windows keyboard with your Mac. The program is also handy even if you are not yet a Multiple Platforms user, as it allows you to reconfigure the keyboard in a number of ways.

Look For Podcast Tomorrow
Please visit this website tomorrow afternoon for the latest edition of “Life in a Multiple Platforms World”. Hear the latest tech news and the topic of the week for all of us trying to survive in this Multiple Platforms world.

Open Source Updates
Secunia has released updates bulletins for these open source systems: Gentoo (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) and Fedora.

Apple and PC Tip of the Day: Open PDF
A file format that is available for Multiple Platforms users is the Portable Document Format, most commonly referred to as a PDF. However, this file format is only universal if you have the reader available to view the document. It you do not have Adobe’s Free Acrobat Reader visit their website to download a free copy.

What is a PDF file?
This week we will start looking at Multiple Platforms files in support of the how-to tips and today Wikipedia has this explanation for PDF, “Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format developed by Adobe Systems for representing documents in a manner that is independent of the original application software, hardware, and operating system used to create those documents. A PDF file can describe documents containing any combination of text, graphics, and images in a device independent and resolution independent format. These documents can be one page or thousands of pages, very simple or extremely complex with a rich use of fonts, graphics, color, and images. PDF is an open standard, and anyone may
write applications that can read or write PDFs royalty free.
Free readers for many platforms are available for download from the Adobe website, and there are several free open source readers, including Xpdf for POSIX-like systems with the X Window System; GPdf, a derivative of Xpdf for GNOME; GSPdf and ViewPDF, for GNUstep; and front-ends for many platforms to Ghostscript.”