Practical Technology

for practical people.

June 7, 2011
by sjvn01
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Is the iCloud the end of the Linux & Windows desktop?

I think a cloud-based operating system, like Google’ Chrome OS, has a bright future. But, when I look at Apple’s Lion, which will only be available as an upgrade by a 4GB download, and iCloud plans I begin to wonder just how much any fat-client operating system-Linux, Mac OS X, or Windows-have if Apple and Google have their way.

As Jobs put it, the PC centric data model is broken. And, so the digital hub will move from being the PC to the iCloud and the Mac will be “demoted.”

What did he mean by that? My fellow ZDNet writer, Andrew Nusca, put it well, “Mac vs. PC vs. Linux argument from the early days of consumer computing has lost a great deal of its luster in recent years with the development of cloud computing on the open web.” The operating system wars are far from over though. Nusca continued, “Concept of platform wars is quickly making up for lost ground with the development of cloud computing in the closed mobile space.”

I’ve always thought that thin-client computing has its place in technology. That’s one reason why I think Google’s Chrome OS has a real shot in dethroning the Window desktop in the office. By making the iCloud the center of everything, instead of the Mac, Apple is trying to wean consumers away from the fat-client PC model that’s served us so well since the day the first IBM PC rolled off the assembly line.

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June 7, 2011
by sjvn01
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If you don’t use it, lose it.

After decades in the technology business I can still make dumb mistakes. In my recent mis-step, I received a message from a Yahoo Group with a name that looked like someone had dropped a cat on a keyboard. What the heck?

My mistake wasn’t that someone had added me to a Yahoo group , or rather that wasn’t my real mistake. I discovered, much to my surprise, that the default on Yahoo accounts is to allow Yahoo groups administrators to add you to their groups without your permission.

To get rid of this problem, head to Yahoo Group E-Mail Preferences and switch “Allow Direct Adds” to “No.” It’s not just Yahoo though; Google Groups does the same thing. The default option is “Allow group managers to directly add me to their groups.” I don’t think so! To change this, go to Google Groups Manage your Membership and click the box for “Do not allow group managers to directly add me to their groups.”

Now back to my real mistake. I went to the Yahoo Group site to unsubscribe from it. Guess what happened? That’s right: It grabbed my password and all my friends in my Yahoo Mail address list started getting spam.

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June 7, 2011
by sjvn01
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Understanding Wireless Connectivity Options for Businesses

It used to be so easy. You either connected with Wi-Fi, or you looked for a place to plug in an Ethernet cable. That was then. This is now.

Today, your laptop, netbook, smartphone, or tablet may give you as many as four different wireless choices. What’s a user to do? Let’s take a look at the different technologies and what they bring to you.

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June 6, 2011
by sjvn01
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Do Security Right and Tick Off your Customers

LastPass had a fine idea. Like other security companies, such as 1Password and RoboForm, they’d enable users stuck with dozens, if not hundreds, of passwords to use one master password to rule them all.

OK, so that is putting all your password power in one ring and that, as Sauron found out in The Lord of the Rings can be a mistake. But, if you guard that one password with a lot of encryption—or keep it surrounded by orcs and a balrog—it should be fine. Right? Right??

Alas, a while back, LastPass’ system administrators noticed something odd going on on one of their servers. They were afraid that hackers might have cracked their system and be on their way to grab master passwords.

That wouldn’t do, so they shut down the one suspect server. That was a good idea. They then let everyone know that there had been a possible security breech by a blog message. That wasn’t such a bright idea. So, they decided on what sounded like a great idea: Now that the one server was off-line they would have everyone reset their passwords. Whoops.

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June 6, 2011
by sjvn01
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Likewise moves into storage networks with Active Directory

It used to be so easy. They’d ask you, “Where’s my data?” And, you could point to the servers. Then along came multiple storage virtual storage layers, then Storage Area Networks (SAN)s and Network Attached Storage (NAS) and more recently the cloud. What’s a network administrator to do? Likewise Software has a plan.

Likewise, which has long supported multi-platform-Linux, Unix, and Windows-file and print systems with Active Directory (AD). I’ve used their products myself and they work well. Now, they’re launching a new service, Likewise Storage Services, which brings Network File System (NFS) support to their Common Internet File System (CIFS) that’s commonly used on Windows networks.

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June 6, 2011
by sjvn01
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Syria’s Internet is back up… for now

On June 3, 2011, Syria turned off its people’s Internet connectivity. Syria’s dictatorship had had enough of its citizens’ self-reporting on the government’s attacks on them. But, then Syria turned the Internet back on. What happened?

As Renesys, an Internet analytics firm, reported, only those sites that belonged to the Syrian government, and not all of them, were still on the net after the shutdown hit on Friday. In particular, “The networks that are not reachable include, substantially, all of the prefixes reserved for SyriaTel’s 3G mobile data networks, and smaller downstream ISPs including Sawa, INET, and Runnet.” In short, the people’s Internet was blocked.

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