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Weak point against Vista

First rule of demonstrative writing – lead off with an undeniable example of the point you’re trying to make. Case in point – Dan Lyons’ article in NewsWeek on “ A Gloomy Vista for Microsoft ”, meant to be a piece defining how bad Vista is. “Last year I was meeting with the CEO of a PC company who offered...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Sat, Oct 11 2008
Filed under: Filed under: Miscellany - not security, Windows Vista, What my wife knows
My MP3 player demands to administer my system

Thanks to the excellent http://www.woot.com , I upgraded to a new MP3 player - this one, the Sansa e250 from SanDisk , has a little screen and shows video at an almost completely unacceptably small resolution. But I don't mind that, I didn't really buy it for the video. I don't mind the big...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Tue, Aug 26 2008
Filed under: Filed under: General Security, Programmer Hubris, Windows Vista, What my wife knows
FTP - Untrustworthy? I Don't Think So!

Lately, as if writers all draw from the same shrinking paddling-pool of ideas, I've noticed a batch of stories about how unsafe, unsecure and untrustworthy is FTP. SC Magazine says so. First it was an article in the print version of SC Magazine , sadly not repeated online, titled "2 Minutes...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Tue, Jul 29 2008
Filed under: Filed under: General Security, FTP, What my wife knows, Alun's code
Vistafy Me.

I have a little time over the next couple of weeks to devote to developing WFTPD a little further. This is a good thing, as it's way past time that I brought it into Vista's world. I've been very proud that over the last several years, I have never had to re-write my code in order to make...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Fri, Jul 11 2008
Filed under: Filed under: FTP, Windows Vista, What my wife knows, Alun's code, Windows Server 2008
The difference between liking and hating UAC?

Totally unscientifically, I have carried out a poll of people who like UAC (okay, a few security geeks like myself), and those who hate UAC - mostly my wife. Something struck me as both a surprising common factor, and also a rather obvious explanation of why the two opinions are so polarised. [Note for...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Tue, Jun 10 2008
Filed under: Filed under: General Security, Windows Vista, What my wife knows, UAC
UAC - The Emperor's New Clothes

I heard a complaint the other day about UAC - User Account Control - that was new to me. Let's face it, as a Security MVP, I hear a lot of complaints about UAC - not least from my wife, who isn't happy with the idea that she can be logged on as an administrator, but she isn't really an administrator...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Thu, Apr 24 2008
Filed under: Filed under: General Security, Things I Learned At Microsoft, Windows Vista, What my wife knows, Windows Server 2008
Retro-bundling - another suck of the Apple

I thought I was done blogging about Apple Software Update, having removed QuickTime from my system completely, and sworn never to install it again or watch another QT or MOV file. But nooo, someone had to spoil it by telling me what Apple Software Update did next . If you're unfortunate enough to...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Fri, Mar 21 2008
Filed under: Filed under: Programmer Hubris, Miscellany - not security, What my wife knows
Get Well Scotty McLeod

I could have titled this "adversity shows how small our world truly is". I had no idea that so many of my friends, acquaintances, MVPs and Microsoft staff are also friends with Scotty McLeod - until he got hit by a train last week. He is recovering, and I hope to see him sitting up and arguing...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Fri, Feb 1 2008
Filed under: Filed under: Miscellany - not security, What my wife knows
Why you don't run as root

[... or administrator, or whatever] I like Roger Grimes, he's a nice guy, and he generally makes me think about what he has to say. That's a good thing, because otherwise he'd either be part of the same choir as me, or he'd be the sort of guy whose ideas I dismiss with a wave of the paw...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Fri, Jan 11 2008
Filed under: Filed under: General Security, Things I Learned At Microsoft, Windows Vista, What my wife knows, Windows Server 2008, UAC
How broken is the banking system?

My kid and I love watching Top Gear - me, because it's nice to see him interested in a very traditional British TV programme (in the US, you can find it on BBC America), and him, because he just loves cars - particularly high-performance ones. So I have to admit to having a little chuckle as I find...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Mon, Jan 7 2008
Filed under: Filed under: General Security, Credit Cards, What my wife knows
Removing Apple Mobile Device Support

As mentioned before, I'm not a fan of Appple 's, particularly because they tend to impose crap on me that I'm not interested in having. I've been trying to figure out how to remove iTunes , iPod and Aple Mobile Device Support on and off now for the past month, since it was accidentally...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Mon, Dec 17 2007
Filed under: Filed under: General Security, Programmer Hubris, Miscellany - not security, What my wife knows
I didn't want iTunes - now I've got iPod, too?

So, in my last post " Can the EU get me QuickTime N? ", I noted that my installation of QuickTime (because I had a .MOV file I want to see) led to Apple Software Update offering me "iTunes + QuickTime 7.5", despite my removing iTunes every time I find it creeping its way onto my computer...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Tue, Nov 27 2007
Filed under: Filed under: General Security, Programmer Hubris, What my wife knows
Can the EU get me QuickTime N?

So, a long time ago, in a continent not so far away, the European Union required Microsoft to ship a version of Windows without Media Player , called Windows XP N. Now, here's a follow-up to my previous articles: Programmer Hubris Part 1 - He's Just Not That Into You Programmer Hubris Part 2...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Tue, Nov 27 2007
Filed under: Filed under: General Security, Programmer Hubris, What my wife knows
What I need for Christmas

At one point, I mentioned to my wife that I could do with a leaf blower. Then I figured out how I could take the shop vac and turn it into a leaf blower. Now I could do with a leaf blower and a shop vac.

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Mon, Nov 26 2007
Filed under: Filed under: Miscellany - not security, What my wife knows
How many people do you represent?

In my earlier discussion on why 100% utilisation is not maximum efficiency , I alluded to the fact that a rejected customer, or a customer with a bad experience, will tell other potential customers that you never get to see. This reminded me that there are a myriad of connections that we have to other...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Fri, Nov 23 2007
Filed under: Filed under: Things I Learned At Microsoft, Miscellany - not security, What my wife knows
Autism Screening at 18 months and 2 years

I'm excited by the news that the American Academy of Pediatricians is recommending that all children be screened at their regular 18 month and 24 month checkups for autism . As regular readers will know, my son was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, at age five, having been in a special education...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Thu, Nov 22 2007
Filed under: Filed under: Miscellany - not security, What my wife knows, Autism
Thanksgiving - five years

Regular readers of my blog will know that Thanksgiving is a special time for me. Five years ago, I was giving thanks that a relatively routine surgery discovered and removed a cancerous growth - a tumor. Last week, I visited the doctor to find out the results of my latest check-up. Normal. I've never...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Mon, Nov 19 2007
Filed under: Filed under: Miscellany - not security, What my wife knows
How to pass a Disaster Recovery test

Last week I went to a party hosted by MVP, all-round good guy and host of SBSMigration.com , Jeff Middleton . Jeff hails from New Orleans, so while he is well known for "swing migration" techniques that allow you to move your domain from and to different versions of Windows (often, a small...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Mon, Oct 15 2007
Filed under: Filed under: General Security, What my wife knows
Why complain about UAC prompts?

Jesper's article in TechNet Magazine on the purpose and future of UAC in Windows Vista and beyond reminded me that there's a whole slew of behaviours more annoying than UAC's prompting (which, as Jesper points out, is only the most visible portion of a system-wide and company-wide approach...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Mon, Sep 3 2007
Filed under: Filed under: General Security, Programmer Hubris, Miscellany - not security, Windows Vista, What my wife knows
Tip of the month: don't get your security advice from Computer Shopper

Obviously, I read Computer Shopper , or I wouldn't have come across this as their " Computer Cures Tip Of The Month ", but here's something that gets my goat every time I see it: "I'd also advise he configure his router to stop broadcasting the SSID altogether." ... That's...

Posted to Tales from the Crypto by Alun Jones on Sat, Jul 21 2007
Filed under: Filed under: General Security, What my wife knows

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