For today I made a little teaser video of gPoly to show the progress. As you can see the adding and editing of the polygons it getting there, so it seems I can move to the export functionality soon. Enjoy!

Security tips related to safety using Facebook can be found in the following links:

Sophos's - Best Practices for Facebook security
http://www.sophos.com/security/best-practice/facebook/

QUOTE: ID fraudsters target Facebook and other social networking sites to harvest information about you. Here's how we recommend you set your Facebook privacy options to protect against online identity theft.

* Adjust Facebook privacy settings to help protect your identity
* Read the Facebook Guide to Privacy
* Think carefully about who you allow to become your friend
* Show "limited friends" a cut-down version of your profile
* Disable options, then open them one by one

Facebook - Guide to Privacy
http://www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation.php

F-Secure has issued their Security Forecast for 2010 and a partial list of key predications are noted below:

F-Secure - Security Forecast for 2010
http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00001835.html

QUOTE: Here are our predictions for 2010 based on this year's threat analysis.

  •  Windows 7 will gain market share during 2010. Windows XP will drop below 50% market share overall and will thus reduce the amount of "low hanging fruit." This will improve Internet security in affluent countries ...

  •  Web search results leading to "location based attacks" using geo-location IP address techniques will increase. They will be localized in terms of language, current news events, and even regional banks that they target.

  •  There will be more attacks against online banks with tailor-made trojans.

  •  There will be more iPhone attacks, possibly also proof-of-concept attacks on Android and Maemo. We could also see a 0-day vulnerability used in a large scale exploit.

  •  At least one large-scale DDoS attack against a nation-state is likely.

  •  There will be more attacks on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Linkedln, etc.

  •  There will be significant data base compromises that lead to tailored attacks. Cyber-criminals now have the resources to analyze, plan, and carry out mass-targeted attacks.

Please keep Windows and AV software updated as dangerous threats continue to circulate.  Ransomeware encrypts files on the PC and holds the user hostage until they pay a fee ($89 in this case).  Avoid any use of "Data Doctor 2010" and use a cleaning tool from a legitimate AV vendor instead if you become infected

Data Doctor 2010 will make you sick
http://sunbeltblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/data-doctor-2010-will-make-you-sick.html

QUOTE: new piece of  today, an encryption trojan. It encrypts the files on your hard drive very rapidly if you’re unfortunate enough to be victimized by it. It arrives through drive by downloads from malicious web sites. It’s also packaged with other malware. The victim receives a message that the system is shutting down due to "Unrecognized disk driver command. The system is then re-booted to safe mode and a message is displayed: "Windows has recovered from a serious error. Some files can be corrupted. Disk checking is strongly recommended."

One of the ISC handlers shares some worthwhile training on the importance of security training. It's important to teach children safety as the Internet is a dangerous environment when it comes to email, web links, and malware. Some facts and quiz are shared. Knowledge of security principles is just as important as security software safeguards.

ISC Security Awareness education for Youth
http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=7783
http://www.isek.iastate.edu/fll/

QUOTE: A few weeks ago it was my pleasure to talk to a group of young people who were participating in a program through Iowa State University School of Engineering.  This program is designed to get children interested in and excited about science, technology and engineering.

I explained to them the dangers of illegal download activity, clicking on links in emails, messages and websites, etc.   They asked what could be done to improve the condition of the virtual world.  I told them how we often times joke about creating a "test" and that everyone would have to pass the test and receive a driver's license before they were allowed on the Internet - the World Wide Superhighway.  The group took this to the next level and created a test.

Please be careful with all PDF files, keep AV protection updated, and look for future Adobe releases which will address this issue. I usually keep JS off unless it's required to fill out a PDF form.

Adobe PDF Reader - Zero Day attack circulating
http://www.adobe.com/support/security/advisories/apsa09-07.html
http://www.avertlabs.com/research/blog/index.php/2009/12/16/another-adobe-reader-zero-day-take-care/

QUOTE: Adobe has confirmed a critical vulnerability in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.2 and earlier versions that could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. There are reports that this vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild. Adobe recommends customers follow the mitigation guidance below until a patch is available

HOW TO DISABLE JAVASCRIPT IN ADOBE READER

Customers can mitigate the issue by disabling JavaScript in Adobe Reader and Acrobat using the instructions below:

1. Launch Acrobat or Adobe Reader.
2. Select Edit>Preferences
3. Select the JavaScript Category
4. Uncheck the 'Enable Acrobat JavaScript' option
5. Click OK

A few weeks ago I posted about some issues I’ve had with Team Build on TFS 2010 beta 2 (http://msmvps.com/blogs/molausson/archive/2009/11/23/issue-with-team-build-2010-beta-2-on-some-localized-machines-value-cannot-be-null-parameter-name-path1.aspx). A fix for this and a few other issues has been released and it works great on my configurations.

Here’s the isses this fix resolved:

• Fixes an intermittent race condition that prevents WIT data from making it to the Warehouse
• Fixed an issue where the iteration backlog for each build workbook is based on the root iteration and not on the individual iterations
• Fixes an issue where in the Regional Options, the Decimal Symbol is defined to something other than “.” (For example ”,”.)
• Fixed an issue that prevents saving multiple work-items in excel or project when connected to TFS 2010 server from a 2008 client.

Get the patch here:

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/KB977226

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=69a2c15c-ac7a-4aab-b470-c51254ec9ff6&displaylang=en

This is the 'baking' weekend where I make some of the traditional treats of the season.

Mind you some of those "traditional" treats get a new twist or interpretation than how we've traditionally done it.

http://www.minibee62.com/MINI-Cutters-p/cutters.htm
http://ubermini.com/32501.html?*session*id*key*=*session*id*val*

Doesn't everyone make Gingerbread cookies in the shape of Mini Coopers?

And I even found a new cookie cutter that we ordered tonight.  This one is in the shape of a convertible:

http://www.minibee62.com/PhotoGallery.asp?ProductCode=Cutters

We didn't have that one so we just ordered it tonight so that next year my Sister will have a cookie specifically shaped like her car.

The just happened to someone -- http://www.tech-archive.net/Archive/Windows/microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs/2009-03/msg01633.html

You have a SBS 2008. You go to change the update settings in the console on the box and the console crashes.  Why is it doing this? 

There should be three specific groups in the WSUS console to deal with the updates.  If you remove one, it will make the console crash.

Russ - SBITS.Biz wrote:

FYI: Do not delete Computer Groups SBS2008 WSUS 3.0
Windows SBS Console Crashes when running reports
(And Daily Weekly Reports have Stopped)

I ran into This last week and I though I'd post it.
Running a report I get a Crash/Error

With Error
Problem Signature 09: N3CTRYE2KN3C34SGL4ZQYRBFTE4M13NB
In log
C:\Program Files\Windows Small Business Server\Logs\console.log
there is a "NullReferenceException"

The problem was I deleted a computer group in WSUS 3.0
I deleted the Group "Update Service Excluded Computers"

(Since I felt it didn't matter since there were no computers in that group.)
Well WRONG it does matter Make sure you have all Groups.

Unassigned Computers
Update Service Excluded Computers
Update Services Client Computers
Update Services Server Computers

Note "Update Service Excluded computer" and it should NOT be "Update
Services Excluded computer" which 'Services' is plural

If any groups are not in the list or the names are not exact same, the report will crash.

Russ

So I was asked in the comments...

Seit Freitag ist die neue Version 7 der Unified Communications-Lösung SwyxWare verfügbar. Die aktuelle Version unterstützt nun auch Windows 7 und Windows Server 2008.

Wer Swyx nicht kennt: Kurz gesagt, eine absolut geniale Telefonielösung für mittlere und große Unternehmen. Ich beschäftige mich seit 2004 mit SwyxWare und bin noch immer vom Funktionsumfang und den Leistungsmerkmalen begeistert.

Weitere Informationen:

• SwyxWare 7 Produktseite
• SwyxWare 7 Produktbroschüre (pdf)
• SwyxWare 7 Pressemitteilung
• Pressemitteilung: Weltklimagipfel telefoniert mit SwyxWare

Viele Grüße
Dieter

--
Dieter Rauscher
MVP Forefront

Time for another gPoly status update, today I have made some good progress on the tool again. The first part I have finished is the display of the GeoTIFF background image, this code seems to be quite optimal now, so that even with big images you can pan and zoom without too much delay. What I still have to do is verify the accuracy of the geo position, I think I need to render some reference information (of which I know the position) over it to do this. Another related feature on the todo list is the ability to make images georeferenced when they are not yet.

Today I also worked quite a bit on the user interface, especially the part that allows you to manipulate the layers in the project. Each layer can hold a background image or a set of features (polygons, lines, etc). Below is the screenshot of the current status.

My last post (and yes, it's been a loooooong time between updates) noted the problem of the device-level encryption support differences in the various models of the iPhone hardware and OS updates. I had started writing an updated post on this, but it got lost in the ether, and I then got to a point where I haven't been doing much updating on this blog, and quite frankly I forgot about it.

That changed yesterday when I implemented a service to auto-tweet blog posts from my various blogs and, not being entirely familiar with how the service worked, it posted the most recent post on each blog that I selected. As a result, it looks like I tweeted about the old post on this topic yesterday, and that tweet got retweeted by several folks, who apparently thought this was new news.

OK, my bad for implementing a solution without fully understanding how it worked.

So while there is not a *fix* for this issue coming from Apple (according to the information I've been able to uncover), the problem is actually not as prevalent as initially surmised, at least in terms of the numbers of users who will actually be affected.

Here's the issue: In Exchange 2007, there is an option to require users who connect through Exchange ActiveSync to have a device that support device-level encryption. This is a good thing form a security point of view, especially if you have users who will be accessing sensitive e-mail from the corporate Exchange server from their iPhone (I'm ignoring the entire tangent of whether you can really assume that anything in e-mail can be truly secure), having device-level encryption adds another layer of protection on that data should the device get compromised in some way. This setting is a mailbox-level setting and not a server-level setting, meaning that the decision to enable this requirement can be done on an individual level.

The initial concern I heard in the SMB space when this news first came out (and all the facts weren't fully available when I made my initial post) was how this would impact iPhone users connecting to SBS servers. Well, there was good news, as it turns out:

1. The issue didn't impact Exchange 2003 at all, and since the vast majority of iPhone users connecting to SBS servers are connecting to SBS 2003, no problem.
2. The default settings for Exchange 2007 in SBS 2008 does NOT require device-level encryption for mobile device connections.

So, every one of the customers I had with iPhones and SBS servers were fine. And the vast majority of iPhone and SBS users were also not impacted.

Does that mean that this isn't an issue? No, it doesn't. For companies who have enacted corporate security policies to require device-level encryption for Exchange connectivity, the users who have iPhones will either have to stick with iPhone OS 3.0 (which "faked out" the Exchange server by reporting that device-level encryption was actually in place) , get an iPhone 3Gs with iPhone OS 3.1 which does fully support the device-level encryption standard, or work with the corporate security folks to negotiate an exception for that user/device and have the IT admin change the device security policy for that user's mailbox in Exchange 2007 (which can be done without impacting the security requirements for any other mailboxes on the system).

Hopefully that will clear the air a little from the confusion I inadvertently caused yesterday. And get me back to updating this particular blog on a more regular basis.

Early January 2010 I will be doing two new online video tutorials, check out the details on the FSDeveloper website. Just like last time they will be given on the FSDeveloper LiveStream channel. And afterwards they will be made available on the FSDeveloper Wiki as well of course.

Este artículo le permite restablecer los componentes de Windows Update.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058/es

No se puede cambiar el fondo de escritorio, temas u otras opciones de personalización en Windows 7 Starter o Home Basic.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/978081/es

Lembre-se tem MUITO mais vídeos no site New Efficiency no Brasil!

Vídeo sobre Windows XP Mode.

Amigos, acaba de ser lançado o site New Efficiency no Brasil. Sendo que eu criei 2 vídeos para ele!

Aguardo os comentários sobre os meus vídeos e o site.

Aqui o vídeo de Compatibilidade de Aplicações do Windows 7.