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#21
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ping Mike and Noel
Did you expect problems downloading it then Harry?
As for M$, I'd have prefered a leg or a wing if I still et the stuff. Shane webster72n wrote: "Shane" wrote in message ... I daresay you know about this, but I only just saw it (on El Reg) - the IE9 preview? Not XP compatible! Anyway I just downloaded it. I'll boot Win7 shortly and try it. After all I don't use IE8 there. I took this very partial forerunner for a brief test drive on my Vista machine after downloading it without any problems, but also no earth moving surprises. Most of it seems to be designed for developers. But it is by far not the finished product either. MS promised to keep me abreast as they go. Harry. Shane Mike M wrote: I am a little (albeit very little) surprised that you appear to be running Vista/Win7 still, Mike. I don't use Vista, in truth I loath it, although I do have it installed as an option on a laptop and two PCs (everything here multi-boots) and probably gets booted once a month or even bi-monthly and then primarily only to patch. Win 7 is something different again, it works and there are a number of features that I like so it is the os of choice on one of my PCs (XPP being the os of choice on this PC). Whilst I have both 64 and 32 bit installed I stick with 32 bit as I have some hardware for which only 32 bit drivers are available (video capture used for digitizing VCR tapes, and my flat bed and film scanners). I think that probably the biggest downside for me (or rather my elder daughter) is the limited support for scsi, she has an older Nikon film scanner that connects via scsi. This means that she has to use her laptop (which runs XPP) to access the scanner as she fortunately got a pcmcia/scsi connector with the scanner when she bought it, You mention memory, I've got Win 7 HP running here on a five year old Tosh laptop I recently bought on eBay and it runs sweetly on 1.25GB of RAM. The big bugbear is that there appear to be no WDDM Win 7 drivers for the Intel 855 graphics chip so am having to use XP drivers (installed via a small hack) the downside of which is that you can't change screen brightness whilst the os is running although you can change it then reboot for the change to take effect - as if I'm going to be doing that. Mike, Been a while! As to locking down IE other than for WU, IE fortunately isn't required for updates when running Vista or Win 7 so on those OSs if wanted IE can be locked down/crippled so as to be inoperable. Yes. That's good. Though I rarely run either now they're final releases. I wasn't when you posted this, but have put Win7 back now out of the same kind of curiosity that leads me to install a Linux distro from time to time (though I think I have really learnt my lesson this time around and never will again!). I won't be running Win7 until I get a new PC (correction: *build* a new PC) as I don't think it is worth splashing out on more RAM, especially as I already replaced the mobo, and that I expect to go multicore next time too. As for so very, very many of those M$ (I do, these days, think they are about money and nothing but - except for the guy at the top who also likes a rant) want to upgrade to Vista/Win7, it means a lot more here than just shelling out for the exorbitantly-priced OS. I am a little (albeit very little) surprised that you appear to be running Vista/Win7 still, Mike. As for running Opera due to the current Firefox potential vulnerability, no way. I have a low opinion of those running Opera and wouldn't give them the satisfaction of further promoting their product by using it. No, I don't like Opera. The Opera fanbois seem like the Ubuntu fanbois, blind to a multitude of dysfunctionalities. Oh well, I could launch into my analysis of the implications of their Apple-like blinkered, philistine pig-ignorance and enjoy myself greatly in doing so, but I'm all corruscated out of late. Opera seems to be safe, probably because no-one can be bothered to compromise it, so I keep it available as a last-ditch stand-by (and uninstall it when I trust FF again). However, the main source of the implications of unfixed FF vulnerability seems to be Secunia - and having been running the PSI on various installations for quite some time now can confirm that it regularly gives false positives (just on my preferred software) and continues to flag vulnerable earlier versions even after they have been updated, to the extent that I don't trust Secunia as much as I did. And if memory serves, like Opera, Secunia is Finnish, so perhaps there's an unconscious bias there. Interestingly, to myself at least, I don't think I've ever suffered as a result of a browser vulnerability but that could be because of the limited number of sites I visit and that I block lots of the adserving sites with my hosts file since many exploits tend to use poisoned ads. Indeed. And that is part of why I dislike Opera: using that, suddenly I see ads I haven't seen in many years (and to digress a little - the colour scheme options are a trifle limited! I don't know why they bother including them. You'd think it was meant for Windows 95 in that respect!). As to a third party firewall being able to prevent spyware sending out your info to a third party my view is that once the spyware is on your PC all is lost until the system is either flattened and restored from a backup or rebuilt. For most users removing spyware that has somehow got installed doesn't guarantee a 100% clean system unless one knows it very well. So no, I see little benefit in adding to the firewall in the OS since those who are most likely to need it are the very same that will probably grant access or egress to all requests from the firewall. Hopefully I'd be aware of the presence of spyware on my systems before it got a chance to call up its friends, send them invites to come and play and send its masters copies of my back details. In many ways I agree with you Mike. But I'll trot out my trusty ol' anecdote of how I found out about spyware, back in 2000. I installed ZoneAlarm and PKZip on a recommendation, then I got a request to let tsadbot access the net. I denied it and googled tsadbot. On further research I found Ad-aware, bought it (with the lifetime of updates they eventually reneged on) and recommended it far and wide. Maybe only 1 in 100, or 1 in 1000 (or - probably - worse!) would be like me, but still that's much better than nothing. True, today the rogues are likely to have opened a backdoor or installed a rootkit. What I'd suggest the benefit would be is the promotion of security awareness that would reduce the likelihood of the compromise happening at all. I remember back in Crediton when I was working on the Bonnie in my workshop, open to passers by on a sunny day. I didn't think kids had any appreciation of old Brit bikes any more, but one group came nosing around, most behaving like they tend to, finding there was nothing there they cared about and wandering off after a minute or two looking for something to smash. But one kid was interested and knowledgable and it was really encouraging. There are still *some* out there. Probably always will be. Anyway, there remain plenty of modules in trusted apps for phoning home that are not necessary and better blocked than not, but that users won't likely find out about without the 3rd party firewall. There are enough of them in Windows alone! It is probably getting off topic a little to suggest that in this increasingly intrusive, CCTV-saturated, database state, people should be encouraged to look at what supposedly benign software is sending details about their sessions back to some company in it for the money. It is far more realistic than to ask them to read the EULAs anyway. |
#22
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ping Mike and Noel
"Shane" facetious'r'.us wrote in message ... Did you expect problems downloading it then Harry? No, but with the test drive, Shane. Just wanted to let everyone know, there are no problems in running this precursor. I'm taking the leg or wing myself. H. As for M$, I'd have prefered a leg or a wing if I still et the stuff. Shane webster72n wrote: "Shane" wrote in message ... I daresay you know about this, but I only just saw it (on El Reg) - the IE9 preview? Not XP compatible! Anyway I just downloaded it. I'll boot Win7 shortly and try it. After all I don't use IE8 there. I took this very partial forerunner for a brief test drive on my Vista machine after downloading it without any problems, but also no earth moving surprises. Most of it seems to be designed for developers. But it is by far not the finished product either. MS promised to keep me abreast as they go. Harry. Shane Mike M wrote: I am a little (albeit very little) surprised that you appear to be running Vista/Win7 still, Mike. I don't use Vista, in truth I loath it, although I do have it installed as an option on a laptop and two PCs (everything here multi-boots) and probably gets booted once a month or even bi-monthly and then primarily only to patch. Win 7 is something different again, it works and there are a number of features that I like so it is the os of choice on one of my PCs (XPP being the os of choice on this PC). Whilst I have both 64 and 32 bit installed I stick with 32 bit as I have some hardware for which only 32 bit drivers are available (video capture used for digitizing VCR tapes, and my flat bed and film scanners). I think that probably the biggest downside for me (or rather my elder daughter) is the limited support for scsi, she has an older Nikon film scanner that connects via scsi. This means that she has to use her laptop (which runs XPP) to access the scanner as she fortunately got a pcmcia/scsi connector with the scanner when she bought it, You mention memory, I've got Win 7 HP running here on a five year old Tosh laptop I recently bought on eBay and it runs sweetly on 1.25GB of RAM. The big bugbear is that there appear to be no WDDM Win 7 drivers for the Intel 855 graphics chip so am having to use XP drivers (installed via a small hack) the downside of which is that you can't change screen brightness whilst the os is running although you can change it then reboot for the change to take effect - as if I'm going to be doing that. Mike, Been a while! As to locking down IE other than for WU, IE fortunately isn't required for updates when running Vista or Win 7 so on those OSs if wanted IE can be locked down/crippled so as to be inoperable. Yes. That's good. Though I rarely run either now they're final releases. I wasn't when you posted this, but have put Win7 back now out of the same kind of curiosity that leads me to install a Linux distro from time to time (though I think I have really learnt my lesson this time around and never will again!). I won't be running Win7 until I get a new PC (correction: *build* a new PC) as I don't think it is worth splashing out on more RAM, especially as I already replaced the mobo, and that I expect to go multicore next time too. As for so very, very many of those M$ (I do, these days, think they are about money and nothing but - except for the guy at the top who also likes a rant) want to upgrade to Vista/Win7, it means a lot more here than just shelling out for the exorbitantly-priced OS. I am a little (albeit very little) surprised that you appear to be running Vista/Win7 still, Mike. As for running Opera due to the current Firefox potential vulnerability, no way. I have a low opinion of those running Opera and wouldn't give them the satisfaction of further promoting their product by using it. No, I don't like Opera. The Opera fanbois seem like the Ubuntu fanbois, blind to a multitude of dysfunctionalities. Oh well, I could launch into my analysis of the implications of their Apple-like blinkered, philistine pig-ignorance and enjoy myself greatly in doing so, but I'm all corruscated out of late. Opera seems to be safe, probably because no-one can be bothered to compromise it, so I keep it available as a last-ditch stand-by (and uninstall it when I trust FF again). However, the main source of the implications of unfixed FF vulnerability seems to be Secunia - and having been running the PSI on various installations for quite some time now can confirm that it regularly gives false positives (just on my preferred software) and continues to flag vulnerable earlier versions even after they have been updated, to the extent that I don't trust Secunia as much as I did. And if memory serves, like Opera, Secunia is Finnish, so perhaps there's an unconscious bias there. Interestingly, to myself at least, I don't think I've ever suffered as a result of a browser vulnerability but that could be because of the limited number of sites I visit and that I block lots of the adserving sites with my hosts file since many exploits tend to use poisoned ads. Indeed. And that is part of why I dislike Opera: using that, suddenly I see ads I haven't seen in many years (and to digress a little - the colour scheme options are a trifle limited! I don't know why they bother including them. You'd think it was meant for Windows 95 in that respect!). As to a third party firewall being able to prevent spyware sending out your info to a third party my view is that once the spyware is on your PC all is lost until the system is either flattened and restored from a backup or rebuilt. For most users removing spyware that has somehow got installed doesn't guarantee a 100% clean system unless one knows it very well. So no, I see little benefit in adding to the firewall in the OS since those who are most likely to need it are the very same that will probably grant access or egress to all requests from the firewall. Hopefully I'd be aware of the presence of spyware on my systems before it got a chance to call up its friends, send them invites to come and play and send its masters copies of my back details. In many ways I agree with you Mike. But I'll trot out my trusty ol' anecdote of how I found out about spyware, back in 2000. I installed ZoneAlarm and PKZip on a recommendation, then I got a request to let tsadbot access the net. I denied it and googled tsadbot. On further research I found Ad-aware, bought it (with the lifetime of updates they eventually reneged on) and recommended it far and wide. Maybe only 1 in 100, or 1 in 1000 (or - probably - worse!) would be like me, but still that's much better than nothing. True, today the rogues are likely to have opened a backdoor or installed a rootkit. What I'd suggest the benefit would be is the promotion of security awareness that would reduce the likelihood of the compromise happening at all. I remember back in Crediton when I was working on the Bonnie in my workshop, open to passers by on a sunny day. I didn't think kids had any appreciation of old Brit bikes any more, but one group came nosing around, most behaving like they tend to, finding there was nothing there they cared about and wandering off after a minute or two looking for something to smash. But one kid was interested and knowledgable and it was really encouraging. There are still *some* out there. Probably always will be. Anyway, there remain plenty of modules in trusted apps for phoning home that are not necessary and better blocked than not, but that users won't likely find out about without the 3rd party firewall. There are enough of them in Windows alone! It is probably getting off topic a little to suggest that in this increasingly intrusive, CCTV-saturated, database state, people should be encouraged to look at what supposedly benign software is sending details about their sessions back to some company in it for the money. It is far more realistic than to ask them to read the EULAs anyway. |
#23
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ping Mike and Noel
Yes, I recall you mentioning this before. Personally I'd bin it if it can
only do WEP. It came into this world hopelessly outdated, like a baby with a quiff! :-) Shane Joan Archer wrote: It was an Addon ADSL Wireless Router Integrated 4 port 10/100Mbps switch hub. The problem with it was it could only do WEP encryptment and I couldn't even get that to work on my set up, even the so called technician who installed the set up couldn't get my network secure. Mind you in the 4 years I had it running there was only ever one person who logged on who shouldn't and she lived over the road from me and was very apologetic when I told her g "Shane" wrote in message ... Joan Archer wrote: What router would that be Joan? |
#24
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ping Mike and Noel
FF again). However, the main source of the implications of unfixed FF vulnerability seems to be Secunia - and having been running the PSI on various installations for quite some time now can confirm that it regularly gives false positives (just on my preferred software) and continues to flag vulnerable earlier versions even after they have been updated, to the extent that I don't trust Secunia as much as I did. And if memory serves, like Opera, Secunia is Finnish, so perhaps there's an unconscious bias there. So, Mozilla have owned up to the vulnerability then! http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03...urity_updates/ Shane |
#25
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ping Mike and Noel
Mike,
Just to fill you in: my Be connection is remaining 'up' now. I haven't done anything (beyond verifying that the DNS servers remained the way I set them i.e. OpenDNS and *only* OpenDNS servers) but for the last few days the connection has stayed viable no matter how long I've left it unused. And just to reinterate (I'm sure I mentioned it before) every time this has been a problem I've run the quiet line test and it has been absolutely silent. Shane |
#26
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ping Mike and Noel
Shane,
Odd, however I have to reiterate yet again that your chosen DNS server/s has absolutely nothing to do with any stability/instability issues you might have had with your connection. You can have a perfectly stable line and no DNS server selected. All that is required is knowledge of the gateway and the IP addresses of any site to which you wish to connect. Naturally having DNS servers configured makes life a lot easier g but aren't required for a stable connection. Of course, having broken, crippled or misconfigured DNS servers leads to poor performance, lots of hangs and erratic speeds but the connection between your PC to the exchange and then to your ISP's should nevertheless remain as steady as a rock. That is until you perhaps switch on the microwave or the streetlights come on or other users that to use their systems and cross-talk in the cable bundle between you and the exchange builds up. If you think or know that your line is suffering from repeated disconnections you might want to have a look at the private Be forum as Be announced this week that they intend trialling SRA and are inviting customers to sign up to participate in the tests. [SRA = Seamless Rate Adaptation] Mike Shane facetious'r'.us wrote: Mike, Just to fill you in: my Be connection is remaining 'up' now. I haven't done anything (beyond verifying that the DNS servers remained the way I set them i.e. OpenDNS and *only* OpenDNS servers) but for the last few days the connection has stayed viable no matter how long I've left it unused. And just to reinterate (I'm sure I mentioned it before) every time this has been a problem I've run the quiet line test and it has been absolutely silent. Shane |
#27
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ping Mike and Noel
Mike,
Since this was aired here. I hadn't posted it here as I was waiting for some activity - of some description - it seeming a bit pointless if no-one is going to see it. However, as I have now reached the conclusion, for the benefit of other readers: yes, you were right, Mike, it appears to have had nothing to do with DNS servers. The router has been upstairs, at the main telecom jack, for a week and has remained active the entire time. Also rather than ditching Be I have swallowed my pride and simply switched tariffs. Basically instead of paying £13 p.m. with no traffic limit, now I'm paying £7.50 p.m. with a 40GB limit - which I will never exceed or even approach. Big Monkey Man Mike M wrote: Shane, Odd, however I have to reiterate yet again that your chosen DNS server/s has absolutely nothing to do with any stability/instability issues you might have had with your connection. You can have a perfectly stable line and no DNS server selected. All that is required is knowledge of the gateway and the IP addresses of any site to which you wish to connect. Naturally having DNS servers configured makes life a lot easier g but aren't required for a stable connection. Of course, having broken, crippled or misconfigured DNS servers leads to poor performance, lots of hangs and erratic speeds but the connection between your PC to the exchange and then to your ISP's should nevertheless remain as steady as a rock. That is until you perhaps switch on the microwave or the streetlights come on or other users that to use their systems and cross-talk in the cable bundle between you and the exchange builds up. If you think or know that your line is suffering from repeated disconnections you might want to have a look at the private Be forum as Be announced this week that they intend trialling SRA and are inviting customers to sign up to participate in the tests. [SRA = Seamless Rate Adaptation] Mike Shane facetious'r'.us wrote: Mike, Just to fill you in: my Be connection is remaining 'up' now. I haven't done anything (beyond verifying that the DNS servers remained the way I set them i.e. OpenDNS and *only* OpenDNS servers) but for the last few days the connection has stayed viable no matter how long I've left it unused. And just to reinterate (I'm sure I mentioned it before) every time this has been a problem I've run the quiet line test and it has been absolutely silent. Shane |
#28
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ping Mike and Noel
Shane,
I'm so pleased to read that you seem to have tamed your connection. I was convinced your problem was somewhere between your router and the exchange with an internal wiring problem being the more likely rather than one with your ISP or the DNS servers you are using. I agree with you about the idiocy of Be There launching a new product Be Value with exactly the same name as one of their existing offerings, especially so given their failure to let customers know of the new cheaper option albeit one with download limits. Sadly Be are not alone in this respect, such bad habits seem endemic amongst service companies, not just ISPs but also electricity and gas suppliers as well. I've seen hints of further changes with Be Value from the end of the month but haven't a clue as to what these may be but it could be no more than that may just be the date when they intend implementing the Be Value download limit (currently not enabled). -- Mike Big Monkey Man wrote: Mike, Since this was aired here. I hadn't posted it here as I was waiting for some activity - of some description - it seeming a bit pointless if no-one is going to see it. However, as I have now reached the conclusion, for the benefit of other readers: yes, you were right, Mike, it appears to have had nothing to do with DNS servers. The router has been upstairs, at the main telecom jack, for a week and has remained active the entire time. Also rather than ditching Be I have swallowed my pride and simply switched tariffs. Basically instead of paying £13 p.m. with no traffic limit, now I'm paying £7.50 p.m. with a 40GB limit - which I will never exceed or even approach. |
#29
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ping Mike and Noel
Mike,
suppliers as well. I've seen hints of further changes with Be Value from the end of the month but haven't a clue as to what these may be but it could be no more than that may just be the date when they intend implementing the Be Value download limit (currently not enabled). Yes, that was the impression I got, that the download limit comes into operation a month or two from now. So, even the mitigating argument that pre-existing Be Value customers were getting unlimited downloads - regardless of whether or not that counted as value, which it obviously wouldn't to the majority whatever the tariff - it only applied to those who'd got Be Value shortly before the new tariff came out anyway. Though possibly there are users who will renew their earlier Be Value contract with no inkling of the new, close to half price deal. Shane Shane, I'm so pleased to read that you seem to have tamed your connection. I was convinced your problem was somewhere between your router and the exchange with an internal wiring problem being the more likely rather than one with your ISP or the DNS servers you are using. I agree with you about the idiocy of Be There launching a new product Be Value with exactly the same name as one of their existing offerings, especially so given their failure to let customers know of the new cheaper option albeit one with download limits. Sadly Be are not alone in this respect, such bad habits seem endemic amongst service companies, not just ISPs but also electricity and gas suppliers as well. I've seen hints of further changes with Be Value from the end of the month but haven't a clue as to what these may be but it could be no more than that may just be the date when they intend implementing the Be Value download limit (currently not enabled). Mike, Since this was aired here. I hadn't posted it here as I was waiting for some activity - of some description - it seeming a bit pointless if no-one is going to see it. However, as I have now reached the conclusion, for the benefit of other readers: yes, you were right, Mike, it appears to have had nothing to do with DNS servers. The router has been upstairs, at the main telecom jack, for a week and has remained active the entire time. Also rather than ditching Be I have swallowed my pride and simply switched tariffs. Basically instead of paying £13 p.m. with no traffic limit, now I'm paying £7.50 p.m. with a 40GB limit - which I will never exceed or even approach. |
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