Author Archives: NeoSmart Technologies

WordPress-in-the-Name Issues

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The inevitable has happened, WordPress has gotten too big for its supporters’ boots. Copyright issues have always (respectfully) existed, but now it’s witch-hunt time. As always, these things are rarely directly-sponsored by the actual copyright holders but rather by a gang of loyal zealots errr fans. They tend to cause unwarranted panic and anger, and normally carry things far overboard — certainly more than their creators intended.

This time it’s WordPress bloggers on the rampage, and by the looks of it, they’e making a far bigger deal out of things than they need to. According to Lorelle, at the moment just anyone that has the term “WordPress” in their domain name (not title) needs to get rid of it. Immediately.

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Internet Explorer 7 RTM Released

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Internet Explorer 7 has gone gold! Microsoft has just made available the (long-rumored) RTM build 5730 of Internet Explorer 7, or else Yahoo! has got its hands on it some other way. According to our sources, Yahoo! has the latest (RTM) version of IE7 up on its website, complete in all its RTM glory – but with all that Yahoo! bloatware bundled along for the ride.

Curious. Microsoft makes available the latest version of its much-anticipated web browser – but only gives it Yahoo!, it’s direct competitor, for bundling with Yahoo! search and services… Just doesn’t seem right to us.

Maybe we’re not reading it the right way, but we don’t like this any more than you do, so we’ve taken the liberty of “depackaging” the bloatware: for our reader that are interested, here’re several download links to the actual Internet Explorer 7 RTM installer without the Yahoo! bloat:

Torrent (please have mercy on our bandwidth!)
Direct Download (only if you really have to!)

At the moment Internet Explorer 7.0.5730.11 is only available to users of Windows 2000, XP, MCE, and 2003. It is unclear whether or not it will be made available as a hotfix/update to Windows Vista RC1/RC2; but it is not possible to install this package on Vista — no matter how hard you try. This is the real deal, Internet Explorer 7 RTM is finally here, let the reviews pour forth!

[digg story]

EasyBCD 1.5: Multi/Dual-Boot Vista, Linux, Mac OS X, & BSD!

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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Important! Upgrade immediately and read the docs to make it work!!!

We’ve done it! NeoSmart Technologies has built a better mousetrap, and it’s a beauty. EasyBCD 1.5 is the first and only application to allow users of Microsoft’s new OS complete compatibility with any other OS they might be using! It doesn’t make a difference if it’s Mac OS X or Linux, BSD or Unix; EasyBCD 1.5 means you can boot into it! For too long have Vista’s beta testers been locked-in to Windows simply because nothing else can be easily booted into, but not anymore!

Windows Vista’s new bootmanager is a double-edged sword. It’s one of the most powerful booting scripts in existence, and a far cry from the very limiting boot.ini of legacy Windows operating systems. But at the same time, Microsoft shows its disregard for other simultaneously installed operating systems. It overwrites the MBR without a second thought, and doesn’t provide any means for users of alternate operating systems and boot managers to use their old system. That’s where EasyBCD 1.5 comes in!

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Vista & Longhorn Server’s “Improved” Security

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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“Windows Vista is the most secure Windows ever!” — or so Microsoft claims. That’s not much of a boast however, I mean, if an operating system doesn’t get more secure as it progresses and evolves, there is certainly something fishy going on. So we weren’t too impressed by those claims in particular. But that doesn’t mean Vista isn’t actually secure (especially when compared to the competition). In fact, Windows Vista’s end-user security is down-right excellent, as we reviewed it back when RC1 came out.

“So what’s the problem?” Windows “Longhorn” Server is!

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YouTube Today, Digg Tomorrow?

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So YouTube is gone. Google “snapped it up” as everyone is calling one of Google’s biggest all-stock buy-outs to date. It wouldn’t surprise us if 2006 became known as the “Year of the Mergers” with all of the big corporate buy-outs, merges, and transfers. But as always, yesterday’s today’s news makes people ask “What next?”

If we had to guess, we’d say Digg. All the tell-tale signs of Digg scrambling for the last dollar are there, and just like YouTube, it has a pattern. But in order to talk about Digg, you have to take a look at YouTube first.

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Zune, Microsoft, & DRM: What’s all the Fuss About?

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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Someone help us out here. Since when does a bit of news about ‘crippled’ wi-fi activity and slightly-restricted file-sharing on a device make us lose all self-respect and denounce the product as hopeless?

Are we the only ones that how that every single MP3/Audio player to date has been successfully stripped of its firmware, souped-up, then published as a how-to on the web? But all that is besides the point: there is no evidence right now that indicates the need for anything as drastic.

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An Argument for Full Disclosure

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NeoSmart Technologies is a big proponent of Full Disclosure when dealing with security vulnerabilities. Many coders and general online denizens think that’s not a very nice thing to do – that it creates more harm than it helps; but if you look at the alternatives it becomes obvious that not only is Full Disclosure not an extreme view/course of action but rather the only real middle ground there is for dealing with 0-day flaws.

When a person, group, or company discovers a security flaw in a product or service, they have a range of means to communicate this flaw to the outside world. On one side of the scale, most companies explicitly ask that such discoveries be treated with the utmost confidence and not spoken of until they have released a patch. Then you have Full Disclosure wherein the finders reveal any and all associated information, exploits, fixes, and workarounds. At the the very other end are the self-beneficiaries that attempt to sell or else use the exploits for their own self-aggrandizement.

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IntelliPoint, IntelliType, and DigitalPersona Officially on Windows Vista!

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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For the millions out there have viewed and used NeoSmart Technologies guide to getting IntelliPoint and IntelliType on Windows Vista there’s finally hope. And for those that have complained about Microsoft’s DigitalPersona fingerprint reader not working on Vista, it finally does. This week Microsoft released two “mini-betas” for these programs, and they actually work.

NeoSmart Technologies had the opportunity to test both of these driver installer + configuration utilities, and so far, we haven’t run into anything serious with either. It never made sense that Microsoft’s most popular line of hardware shouldn’t be supported this far in, but now it officially is.

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Apple’s Two Choices

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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Apple Computer Corp.Ever since Apple Computer Corporation [[AAPL]] decided to switch to the Intel platform, the online world’s been abuzz. Besides the hackers that put OS X on the normal PC, and those that put Windows on the iMac (which NeoSmart Technologies was proudly a leading factor in), it caused quite a stir in the business world. It meant that Apple was once again radically changing its business model to appeal to a bigger number of people.

Not even six months later, Apple had written and released their dual-booting platform to allow users to put Windows on their iMacs and/or MacBooks with much excitement and to general applause. And along the way it raised a very important question: Does Apple primarily sell the hardware or the software?

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Windows Vista and Firewire: The Missing Drivers

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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Firewire was first introduced by Apple Computers Corporation back in the (very) late 90s. It was ahead of its time by leaps and bounds, with peak transfer rates of up to 400mbps, something literally unheard of and unimaginable in the world of serial & parallel ports and the occasional “fast” 11mbps USB 1.0 interface.

When Apple introduced it with its DV-camcorders and demanding portable media players with in-built support on Mac OS (before NeXtOS); Windows, Linux, and the rest of the gang were quick to catch on with pre-packaged Firewire driver support. But apparently not Vista.

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