Todd's Tech Blog

Two nights in a row!

2005-10-04T02:24:00Z

Wow, I'm getting better! I hope I don't get burned out...

Seriously back this time... Maybe

2005-10-03T01:46:00Z

Hi All, I'm back... sorta. I'm changing the focus of this blog from a tech oriented blog to a personal blog. Which means I'll still talk about tech a lot, but I also want the freedom to talk about whatever else I feel like. Just wanted to give you guys a heads up, so you'll know what to expect and can unsubscribe if you want :-). I'm also not going to promise to post regularly, but I will post often. A lot more often that I have been (hehe... sorry about that...). Anyway, I'm back... in some capacity anyway. Hope you enjoy the ride!

Blogging from Flickr

2005-08-12T21:32:00Z

Hill Side, originally uploaded by tcrichard.

I usually use w.bloggar, but I'm playing around with posting some of my photos directly from Flickr. Having a bit of trouble with formatting, so I'm running a few test pictures to see if I can get things working happily.

Flickr Photos

2005-08-12T21:26:00Z

Another from Newport Beach...
Originally uploaded by tcrichard.

I put some pictures up on Flickr (http://flickr.com/tcrichard for my pics)and this was one of my favorites. It was from a trip to Newport, Oregon we took over the July 4th holiday.

I'm also looking to get rid of my Sony DSC-T1 BECAUSE I ABSOLUTELY HATE IT!!! Any suggestions for new digital cameras? At or below $400, please. Also, if anyone wants to buy a Sony DSC-T1, I'll give you a deal on it ;-)

My girlfriend's blog

2005-08-12T03:00:00Z

My girlfriend got a blog! http://rescue3debbie.blogspot.com! That picture of me isn't very good, btw...

My New Toys...

2005-08-12T02:54:00Z

So today my new Dell Axim V50x was delivered. Yes, a beautiful, crisp 640x480 display, Bluetooth, Wifi... a 624 XScale processor as well as a 1 gig flash disk drive... I'm very excited :-) And scheduled for arrival tomorrow is my Audiovox SMT 5600. Woo hoo! The problem with all of these things is that they were delieved to my dorm in Nebraska... and I'm in Washington state. Till Tuesday:( And of course the mailroom will be closed when I get in, so I won't have my toys till Wednesday. I guess I'll just have to learn some patience.

2005-08-10T03:19:00Z

Well, it's that time of the month again... Today Microsoft released six security bulletins (three of them critical). Find more info here, and be sure to head over to WindowsUpdate or make sure AU is on. And for those of you playing along at home, our favorite server is vulnerable to all of these problems. Sigh...

2005-08-08T02:04:00Z

There is no virus for Windows Vista!!!!! This is one piece of news that really got me riled up. What happened is someone determined some commands in Monad (Microsoft's Unix-like command line console - although calling it Unix-like doesn't really give it enough credit) could create havoc and published a report about them on the web. Somehow this translated to there being a virus affecting Windows Vista beta 1 running crazy on the internet. Just to make this clear, WINDOWS VISTA WILL NOT INCLUDE MONAD. Also, Microsoft didn't pull Monad from Windows Vista because of this. Monad will be in development for quite a bit longer than Windows Vista. It may show up in Windows Longhorn R2 release scheduled for a 2009 release but it may not even be done then. So anyway, enough of my rant...:)

Heading back to school...

2005-08-08T01:52:00Z

Woo hoo, I can't wait to get back to school... only 9 days! I'll be in Seattle early next week and fly from there to Nebraska (where I go to school) on the 16th. I'm really looking forward to this year for many many reasons. I think this is gonna be a great year.

I'm Baaaaaaaaaack!

2005-08-07T04:35:00Z

Well after a rather lengthy recess, I'm back. Seriously this time. I mean it! I was going post this earlier but our power was out all night. Anyway, I'll talk more tomorrow (Sunday)...

Vista?

2005-07-23T15:02:00Z

I posted a poll over at ActiveWin.com on the retail name for Longhorn - Windows Vista. So far people don't seem to like the name much, but maybe it will change. Anyway, click here to vote! And yes, I know the ads are annoying but they are totally out of my control, so sorry...

The downside of beta testing...

2005-07-20T15:30:00Z

Sorry for blocking out some of the text - I'm under NDA and it IS an early build, so they should get a bit of slack I guess (it's not a Microsoft product, btw). That said, it's pretty crappy to give out beta software that most of your testers cannot uninstall. Seams like that should be on the checklist of things to check before sending out beta code to thousands of testers...

Three new security bulletins

2005-07-14T00:44:00Z

I know, I'm a day late :-)

Vulnerability in JView Profiler Could Allow Remote Code Execution (MS05-037)
Severity Rating: Critical
Affects:

Windows 2000 SP4
Windows XP SP1, SP2, x64 Edition
Windows Server 2003, SP1, Itanium-based systems, SP1 for Itanium-based systems, x64 Edition
Windows 98, 98 SE, and Windows ME

Click here for more info, download links

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Vulnerability in Microsoft Color Management Module Could Allow Remote Code Execution (MS05-036)
Severity Rating: Critical
Affects:

Windows 2000 SP4
Windows XP SP1, SP2, x64 Edition
Windows Server 2003, SP1, Itanium-based systems, SP1 for Itanium-based systems, x64 Edition
Windows 98, 98 SE, and Windows ME

Click here for more info, download links

-----

Vulnerability in Microsoft Word Could Allow Remote Code Execution (MS05-035)
Severity Rating: Critical
Affects:

Office 2000 SP3 (Word 2000)
Office XP SP3 (Word 2002)
Microsoft Works Suite 2000-2004

Not Affected:

Office 2003
Office Word 2003 Viewer

Click here for more info, download links

Sorry for my absence!

2005-07-12T03:41:00Z

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. But in any case I'm back. One of the big reasons for my absence was because I've been focusing very hard on getting ActiveWin.com's Longhorn section finished. A number of us have put a ton of work into it, knowing that all this info will be out of date in 6 months. But oh well. Look for frequent updates... we're already planning a "refresh" to be released around beta 2... or so... :-). So without further ado, check out ActiveWin.com's very newly released Longhorn section! Also, I promise more frequent updates over here... didn't mean to neglect you guys.

D...i...a...l... u...p...

2005-07-03T02:26:00Z

Well, we're here in beautiful Newport, Oregon. I like it a lot so far, except for the lack of wifi or even broadband in the rooms. I'm on dial-up now, but will probably use this chance to cut the cord and live life. And watch a bunch of Channel 9 videos I have sitting on my hard drive that I haven't had a chance to watch yet. Anyway, enjoy the weekend!! Happy Fourth!

Happy Canada Day!

2005-07-02T00:35:00Z

Today Americ'a little sister to the north celebrates its independence. I was up in Victoria, B.C. two years ago today, and it was very cool to see fireworks over the harbor and party with the locals (except for the fact the fireworks were set to Candian pop music). I know how much I love celebrating my Independence Day, so I'm sure most Candians enjoy celebrating theirs, too. We're heading out early tomorrow on a road trip for the holiday weekend. Not sure about an internet connection at the hotel, so I'll wish you all a happy Fourth of July now. Travel safely! Wear your seatbelt! Don't drink and drive! Watch out for the terrorists!

MBSA 2.0 Released!

2005-07-02T00:05:00Z

Susan Bradley notes that Microsoft has released MBSA 2.0 today! Woo hoo! I thought this wouldn't be out till the middle of this month, but it's here today. Here is more information on MBSA in general, and here's more info on MBSA 2.0. And here's the download.

Sandra Day O'Connor to Retire

2005-07-01T14:42:00Z

Looks like it will be an ugly summer trying to get a senatorial confirmation for at least one new judge.

A new Microsoft Security Advisory

2005-07-01T14:33:00Z

I guess this one was released last night. This latest affects all systems running IE 6 and could result in an attacker obtaining full control of an affected system. Says Microsoft, “A COM object, javaprxy.dll, when instantiated in Internet Explorer can cause Internet Explorer to unexpectedly exit. We are investigating a potentially exploitable condition.“ Between now and when a fix is released, Microsoft recommends running a firewall, anti-virus software, making sure your system is up-to-date as far as patches go, and to turn your Internet and local intranet security zone to high. Buying a Mac wouldn't be a bad idea either :-p

Out with the old...

2005-06-30T22:18:00Z

Well, that was quick. Microsoft has cut downloads of the recently obsolete SUS and will only be offering content through it till July 2006. Those moving from SUS to WSUS might want to check out this page. This page may be helpful for people looking to get started with WSUS.