Practical Technology

for practical people.

February 16, 2010
by sjvn01
0 comments

Replace IE6 with anything but IE 8

I can’t stand IE (Internet Explorer) 6. I’m in good company. Most people hate it. Even Microsoft can’t find a kind word to say for the 8+ year old Web browser. While I’ve liked IE8 at first as a possible replacement, as I’ve continued to use it, I’ve found it’s more trouble than it’s worth.

First, though, as for why you should dump IE6, it’s hopelessly outdated. Even though IE6 still has an amazing 20% of the market, it tends to be the most insecure of all the popular Web browsers and more and more companies like Google are planning on dropping support for it.

So why not IE8? Here’s why.

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February 15, 2010
by sjvn01
1 Comment

Mobile Linux Unification

While Microsoft is finally buying a clue and incorporating its Zune media playing and Xbox game capability into its new Windows Mobile, mobile Linux is making its own improvements. First, Intel and Nokia are merging their mobile Linux distributions into a single operating system: MeeGo. At the same time, Adobe and Google has partnered up to bring Adobe Flash to Android.

MeeGo has great promise. I always liked Intel’s Moblin and merging it with Nokia’s Maemo is a smart move. As Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, which has served as midwife to this move observed: it helps “create “one open-source uber-platform for the next generation of computing devices: tablets, pocketable computers, netbooks, automotive IVI (In-Vehicle Infotainment) and more.” And, “With MeeGo you have the world’s largest chip manufacturer and the world’s largest mobile handset manufacturer joining forces to create an incredible opportunity for developers who want to reach millions of users with innovative technology.”

All true, but what I think is more important is that it’s a move towards unity to mobile Linux distributions. One of the big reasons why Unix, Linux’s ancestor, was never successful in becoming a major operating system except in servers was that there were always half-a-dozen or more competiting systems that were always competiting with each other. While SunOS was battling with AIX, which was slugging it out with HP/UX, which was having it out with SCO OpenServer, etc. etc., Microsoft Windows was left free to mop up on the desktop.

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February 11, 2010
by sjvn01
3 Comments

The Five most popular corporate open-source programs

We all know that lots of companies use open-source software. Trying to get a handle on what open-source programs they use can be a little harder. That’s why OpenLogic, an open-source software support company’s recent report on both their growth and what programs businesses are asking for help with is interesting.

In general, OpenLogic is continuing to grow while many other businesses are stuck in the doldrums of the bad economic times. According to the company, “OpenLogic’s new customer growth was strong as bookings increased 86% over 2008.” While, “renewal bookings grew by 40% over 2008.”

These aren’t little customers either. “OpenLogic’s sales remain strong with large, Global 2000 companies representing 60% of OpenLogic’s customer base.” And, “while financial services and technology/telecommunications remain OpenLogic’s top industries, government was the fastest growing sector. OpenLogic also saw strong growth in healthcare, manufacturing and media sectors.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m impressed. In 2009, OpenLogic actually saw significant growth. About the only other companies that come to mind that saw a serious increase in business last year was Apple and Red Hat.

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February 11, 2010
by sjvn01
1 Comment

Fixing the XP Patch Blue Screen of Death

I so didn’t need this. I’m a long way from my home office and I helped some family members to update their Windows XP PCs with February’s massive set of Windows patches. Since they fixed a lot of serious bugs in these patches-including the one Google blames China for and the 17-year old security hole — I figured this was a must patch job. What could go wrong? Lots.

One of the XP PCs started having BSODs (Blue Screen of Death) even before it could properly boot up. Two others booted up just fine, but then Windows Explorer started locking up. I needed this like a hole in the head.

It turns out I wasn’t the only one seeing BSODs in the aftermath of this XP fix. Many others are seeing the same kind of XP lock-ups. So, if after you patch your XP system, and you then reboot to see a message like the one below:

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

Technical Information:

STOP: 0x00000050 (0x80097004, 0x00000001, 0x80515103, 0x00000000).

Congratulations and welcome to the party. You’re in good company.

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February 10, 2010
by sjvn01
0 comments

Paranoia and Chinese High-tech Espionage

It appears that some parts of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) government wants to snoop on Western governments and countries. Since then, I discovered that at least two news bureaus in China have had some of their e-mail accounts hacked. This only furthers my fears that China is engaged in wide-spread high-tech spying that may even go so far as exporting hardware that comes with built-in security holes.

Am I being paranoid? My buddy David Coursey thinks I may be “a tad over the top.” As he points out, of the major PC manufacturers, only Lenovo is based in mainland China

Coursey also wrote: “Can you imagine the firestorm that would break out if it could be proven that computers were bugged?” Sure. Gigantic.

But, that presumes that those parts of the Chinese government that want to spy on the West care about Western public opinion. I doubt they do.

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February 10, 2010
by sjvn01
0 comments

Never reboot again with Ksplice

If you use Linux, you don’t reboot very often. In my case, the only time I reboot is when I upgrade a system. But suppose, just suppose you didn’t have to do that. Suppose you could even make major updates and never have to reboot your system? You don’t have to imagine it anymore. Ksplice delivers the goods.

That may not sound like much to those of you who are used to Windows and it’s ‘improvement’ to having to be only rebooted every month or so. For IT departments though it’s another story. If a desktop has to be rebooted every now again, so what? But, if it’s a server or several hundred servers than it’s another matter entirely.

Ksplice can’t promise zero downtime, nothing on God’s Earth can do that. But, what they can do is seamlessly merge most major upgrades into CentOS, RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) Debian or Ubuntu servers without missing a beat.

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