Computer Tips -Tech Info

Desktoplinux.com has a story on a new application directory for KDE. The directory can be found here and lists all applications that are native to KDE, (or QT). There are ratings for how well integrated into KDE the app is, links to the homepages for each application. (Some may need help with a homepage where […]

Somewhere along the line, there was a review up of Mandriva 2006 where the reviewer mentioned extremely slow performance in KDE, but on loading GNome instead, things were just fine. I’ve seen some slow KDE performance on the laptop that I upgraded and thought I’d pass along some of what I’ve done to help the […]

InnoDB (and MyISAM) has been the backend MySQL engine up until now, but Oracle’s purchase of InnoDB could threaten that. MySQL has wasted little time in search for replacement options. InnoDB is open source, but there is the threat that Oracle could work a change in the license and make it an “unattractive choice” for […]

There’s a local Denial of Service vulnerability in the linux kernel’s ptrace function according to secunia.com. It reportedly is present in kernel’s prior to 2.6.14.2 and is listed as a non-critical vulnerability. (However any security vulnerability should be treated seriously.) 2.6.14.2 is safe and fixes the vulnerability. The vuln was reported “by the vendor”, in […]

The 3.5 release of the KDE (linux) desktop environment has come today. Among other things, konqueror is now the second browser to pass the ACID2, CSS rendering test (ahead of Internet Explorer and Firefox). Konqueror also sports a new adblock feature. There are new applications in the kde-edu cluster of apps as well. This is […]

Incidents.org has the story on an “in the wild” exploit for MS-053 vulnerability. The patch is out, so if you haven’t already – go ahead with the patching. The vulnerability is entitled “Vulnerabilities in Graphics Rendering Engine Could Allow Code Execution (896424)”. The exploit causes 100% cpu utilitzation on visiting a page with a specially […]

This is a great lead from Spyware Confidential. There is a relatively new site out and about called eulascan.com. They allow user submitted comments on EULA’s (End User License Agreements). Of course, EULA’s are the terms and conditions that pop up on installing software and (these days) appear on the packaging of everything from software […]

For those of you using adsense for your sites outside of the U.S. I’ve just read that adsense firefox referrals are now available internationally. This is coming from the official Google adsense blog. The referral program was opened up in the last month offering site/content owners to add referral links into their content alongside the […]

If you’ve always wanted your own astromech, it won’t be too much longer to wait. A voice activated R2-D2 will be available next year from Hammacher Schlemmer. It runs on 4 AA and 4 D cell batteries and will sell for ~$120. According to the article it responds to voice commands, can run in “sentry […]

The OTHER Sony-BMG DRM (Digital Rights Management) software is in the news again today. freedom-to-tinker which did great research into the security flaws that the UNINSTALL process for both XCP and MediaMax had is back to give more disturbing news. What’s interesting here is that even declining the EULA for the software is no protection […]