Dun dun duh. Looks like Microsofts’ Genuine Office Validation server is at it again…..here is the story from slashdot.org:

Trouble With MS Genuine Office Validation

Posted by kdawson on Friday September 28, @12:04PM
from the no-add-ons-for-you dept.

Julie188 writes “Here’s another little gotcha with Microsoft license validation, discovered by security and PowerShell expert Tyson Kopczynski. The Microsoft Office 2007 add-on site refuses to download legitimate add-ons for Office 2007 when a legitimate — but not yet activated — additional Microsoft product is installed on the computer. In Kopczynski’s case, the product was Visio. He writes: ‘Let’s back this license train up and look at why this picture is wrong: 1. I have a valid copy of Office 2007. 2. The Visio installation only failed the validation because I haven’t activated it. 3. Microsoft has presented me with a page to buy Office, which I have a valid copy of… Dear Microsoft, When used incorrectly and in direct conflict of something that you are promoting, DRM sucks! By making the usage of your software a hassle, you risk further pushing more users of your applications to other solutions.”

 2 years letdown

Sony has also fixed that weird Square Button issue, where they had to make it very stiff to keep the screen size at such a high resolution, but come on. It’s like the graphics vs gameplay thing; you can have a system that looks amazing, but forget about playing it. That’s what Sony, and more specifically, Ken Kutaragi were saying with the PSP. But I guess all is better now that the PSP Slim’s face buttons are back to a point that we’ve attained with the NES.

In the end, Sony has fixed a lot with the PSP Slim. With the original system, you had to deal with its shortcomings in order to discover its beauty. But with the new version, a user needs a lot less patience to uncover that beauty. UMD’s are more than justified at this point, the system can last longer than five minutes, and the long load times will be a thing of the past.

But still, the PSP’s image is based on the original model, just as people continually talk about the N-Gage’s side-talking problem, even when the QD model fixed that. The PSP may always be that system that died in two seconds, took forever to load, and had that funky Square Button.

News Source: Videolamer

What another Microsoft Post?

(from slashdot.org)

IT: Microsoft ‘Stealth Update’ Proving Problematic

Posted by Zonk on Thursday September 27, @10:41AM
from the we’re-all-learning-together dept.

DaMan writes “According to the site WindowsSecrets, the stealth Update that Microsoft released back in August isn’t quite as harmless as the company claims. The site’s research has shown that when users try to do a repair to XP subsequent to the update, bad things happen. ‘After using the repair option from an XP CD-ROM, Windows Update now downloads and installs the new 7.0.600.381 executable files. Some WU executables aren’t registered with the operating system, preventing Windows Update from working as intended. This, in turn, prevents Microsoft’s 80 latest patches from installing — even if the patches successfully downloaded to the PC.’ ZDNet’s Hardware 2.0 has independently confirmed that this update adversely affects repaired XP installations: ‘This issue highlights why it is vitally important that Microsoft doesn’t release undocumented updates on the sly. Even the best tested update can have unpleasant side-effects, but if patches are documented properly and released in such a way that users (especially IT professionals) know they exist, it offers a necessary starting point for troubleshooting.'”

 Darn Microsoft…. I wish they would do what ZDnet is asking.

OH NO! This cannot be good. (From Slashdot.org)

Space Rope Trick Experiment Goes Awry

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday September 26, @11:28AM
from the harder-than-lassoing-cattle dept.

Tjeerd writes “An experiment that envisaged sending a parcel from space to Earth on a 30-kilometre tether fell short of its goal yesterday when the long fibre rope did not fully unwind, Russian Mission Control said. It was intended to deliver a spherical capsule, called Fotino, attached to the end of the tether back to Earth — a relatively simple and cheap technology that could be used in the future to retrieve bulkier cargoes from space.””

Wow this is not good: from slashdot.org:

Daniel Lyons of Forbes Admits Being Snowed by SCO

Posted by Zonk on Thursday September 20, @06:01PM
from the very-glad-this-is-over dept.

certain death writes “Daniel Lyons of Forbes Magazine has admitted to being snowed by SCO, regarding their lawsuit over Linux and SCO code. He specifically mentions Groklaw’s role in the case, and regrets his early articles giving the company the benefit of the doubt. ‘I still thought it would be foolish to predict how this lawsuit (or any lawsuit) would play out. I even wrote an article called “Revenge of the Nerds,” which poked fun at the pack of amateur sleuths who were following the case on a Web site called Groklaw and who claimed to know for sure that SCO was going to lose. Turns out those amateur sleuths were right. Now some of them are writing to me asking how I’d like my crow cooked, and where I’d like it delivered. Others in that highly partisan crowd have suggested that I wanted SCO to win, and even that I was paid off by SCO or Microsoft. Of course that’s not true. I’ve told these folks it’s not true. Hasn’t stopped them. The truth, as is often the case, is far less exciting than the conspiracy theorists would like to believe. It is simply this: I got it wrong. The nerds got it right.'”

 [+] court, media, caldera, linux, nerdsnotgeeks (tagging beta

Wow! What is the Iphone doing now?(from engadget.com)

Here is the story:

iPhone trumps HTC Touch, N95 in usability study

Posted Sep 24th 2007 10:35PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Cellphones

We’ve given you your chance to choose a champion amongst the iPhone, HTC Touch and LG Prada, and while the latter wasn’t included at LG’s request, the other two were recently pit against Nokia’s N95 in a study of usability. The test was reportedly conducted by Perceptive Sciences, a Texas-based usability consulting firm, and relied on data from just ten individuals who had “never used any of the three devices.” The group was asked to “perform a series of tasks on each handset with quantifiable results, such as the time needed to find and use the on / off switch,” and when all was said and done, the iPhone managed to snag the gold. Of course, we wouldn’t take these results to be the bonafide truth, but if you’re interested in seeing what all the mobiles (and guinea pigs) went through before a winner was chosen, head on over to the read link.

[Via iLounge]

From Engadget.

Here is the story of the smallest camcorder in the world. I would think that a price tag of over $200
would not be so great for such a small video camera. As I have heard, the camcorder can hold about 33 hours of video, plus the resolution is one of those low to lower resolution cameras. I have also heard that One (1) charge can hold up to 2 hours of video. The smallest Camcorder can be charged in a usb outlet and is small enough to fit into a pack of juicy fruit gum wrapper. So from what I have heard, I would give it a 2/5 on the technology and a 3/5 on the style. Posted below is the picture of the Camcorder with Juicy Fruit wrapper right beside it.

Micro camcorder dubbed the ‘world’s smallest’

Posted Sep 24th 2007 12:29PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Digital Cameras

There’s no shortage of “world’s smallest camcorders,” but Spy Gadget’s Micro Camcorder is definitely one of the most diminutive that we’ve seen. Designed to actually slip inside an empty pack of gum, this device features a “one touch record button,” captures video at a less-than-stellar 15fps, holds footage on a microSD card, and can be recharged via USB. Reportedly, users can capture up to 33-hours of low-res video on a 1GB card, and two hours of that can be captured on a single charge. ‘Course, whether or not this all is worth the stiff $295 asking price is certainly debatable.

[Via The Raw Feed]

This is stupid although free phone calls are great….(from slashdot)

Free Phone Calls… If Advertisers Can Eavesdrop

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday September 24, @11:10AM
from the why-are-my-ads-all-about-boobs dept.

Dekortage writes “Today, Pudding Media is introducing an Internet phone service similar to Skype’s online service, but without any toll charges. The catch: they are eavesdropping on phone calls with voice recognition software to monitor calls, then push conversation-relevant the ads to the subscriber’s computer screen. Interestingly, during tests, “conversations [were] actually changing based on what was on the screen,” said the president. “Our ability to influence the conversation was remarkable.””

It probably will be ok..

What? Is Microsoft no longer the laughing stock of Security? (From Slashdot.org):

IT: Microsoft No Longer a ‘Laughingstock’ of Security?

Journal written by Toreo asesino (951231) and posted by Zonk on Friday September 21, @10:51AM
from the set-the-bar-high-guys dept.

Toreo asesino writes “In a Q&A with Scott Charney, the vice president of Trustworthy Computing at Microsoft, Charney suggests that security in Microsoft products has moved on from being the ‘laughing stock’ of the IT industry to something more respectable. He largely attributes this to the new Security Development Lifecycle implemented in development practices nearly six years ago. ‘The challenge is really quite often in dealing with unrealistic expectations. We still have vulnerabilities in our code, and we’ll never reduce them to zero. So sometimes we will have a vulnerability and people say to me, “So the [Security Development Lifecycle (SDL)] is a failure right?” No it isn’t. It was our aspirational goal that the SDL will get rid of every bug.'”

Here is the craziest thing I ever heard. (from slashdot.org)

Your Rights Online: Don’t Take Notes In the Bookstore

Posted by kdawson on Thursday September 20, @09:28AM
from the and-no-umpcs-either dept.

mikesd81 writes “The Harvard Crimson reports that the Harvard Coop asked Jarret A. Zafran to leave the store after writing down the prices of six books required for a junior Social Studies tutorial. The apparent new policy could be a response to Crimsonreading.org, an online database that allows students to find the books they need for each course at discounted prices from several online booksellers. The Coop claims the ISBN identification numbers in books are their intellectual property. Crimson Reading disagrees. ‘We don’t think the Coop owns copyright on this information that should be available to students,’ said Tom D. Hadfield, co-creator of the site. The student paper reports that an unnamed intellectual property lawyer agreed with Crimson Reading’s position.”

That is really crazy isn’t it?