There seems to be a ton of attention for Microsoft’s latest product, so I thought I’d throw in my 2ยข. Microsoft’s Origami project produced their latest attempt to reinvent the mobile PC, now dubbed the “Ultra Mobile PC.” (which BTW is something Intel has been working on for some time) They should’ve just called it the Tablet Mini, but I digress. What’s new about Origami is a 2-fingered touch-screen interface, otherwise it’s just another tablet. (not to mention it’s slower, has a low-res screen and is generally less of a PC than the tablets of 3-4 years ago) Perhaps this will change once the first commercial products are released. The real key to making this work will be cheap CPUs with decent mobile performance. (something you’re not likely to find in a sub $1000 product) On the other hand, the small form factor, light (approx. 2 lbs) weight and lower price could be what many tablet users have been waiting for. If the hardware vendors can extend the battery life, this product might actually get off the ground.
Category Archives: Tech
Bush agenda crippling NASA, forecasters
CNN.com – NASA satellites feel budget crunch – Mar 6, 2006
The Bush administration’s agenda of returning manned missions to the moon is draining critical funding from NASA’s earth science programs. According to the article above, this could cause the loss of data critical to weather forecasting and early warning systems. Many of the satellites being used currently are old and in need of replacement, and some are quite literally on the brink of failure. I wish I could see the logic behind another manned mission to the moon. While there is certainly more to be learned, I can’t help but feel this program is a knee-jerk reaction to the Chinese Space program. I’m also reminded of the Katrina disaster when I see politicians changing NASA’s mission with little to no regard for the consequences.
Safari vulnerability reveals design flaws in OS X
heise online – Apple Safari Browser Automatically Executes Shell Scripts
With the switch to Intel, Apple is suddenly finding itself the target of added scrutiny by security researchers. This latest flaw is actually 2 separate features that are, IMO design flaws that should never have made it into the production version of the OS. Apple, much like Microsoft decided their browser should automatically open certain “safe” file types. Problem is, there is no such thing as a safe file type. The second issue results from 2 features: Apple’s decision to allow the OS to automatically execute scripts, and binary metafiles that are created when you change the extension of a file. (OS X does this so that it still knows what the file is.) Michael Lehn (a Ph.D student at the University of Ulm in Germany) figured out that if you changed the extension of a script on a Mac to .jpg (or something else the browser would try to render) and then edited it to remove the shell definition, the file would be downloaded and automatically executed. There’s a reason this doesn’t happen on BSD. Apple’s OS team really needs to look harder at the implications of its design decisions.