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Texas Judge Says Microsoft Can't Sell Word

Paul Lilly — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:30:20 -0500

A Texas Judge on Tuesday ordered Microsoft to stop "selling or importing to the United States any Microsoft Word products that have the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX, or .DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML." The injunction is the result of a complaint filed by Toronto-based i4i alleging Microsoft of violating its 1998 patent (No. 5,787,449) on a method for reading XML.

"We are disappointed by the court's ruling," Microsoft spokesman Kevin Kutz said in a statement. "We believe the evidence clearly demonstrated that we do not infringe and that the i4i patent is invalid. We will appeal the verdict."

The Judge also ordered Microsoft pay i4i $240 million in damages plus court costs and interest. All tallied, the fine is estimated to be more than $290 million.

As it currently stands, the ruling, which applies to Word 2003 and Word 2007, takes effect in 60 days.

"Web 2.0" to Become the Millionth U.S. Word

Paul Lilly — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:10:04 -0500

It's official - the Global Language Monitor, which analyzes and tracks trends in language, has dubbed "Web 2.0" as the one millionth word. To qualify, potential words must appear 25,000 times in searches and be widely accepted. Web 2.0 fit that criteria, beating out Jai Ho, Noob, Slumdog, and Cloud Computing (among others) as the millionth English word or phrase.

The list has some linguists up in arms, who dismissed the whole thing as nothing more than a publicity stunt.

"I think it's pure fraud. I'ts not bad science. It's nonsense," Geoffrey Nunberg, a linguistics professor at the University of California at Berkeley, told reporters.

His and other similar opinions didn't seem to phase Paul JJ Payack, president of the Global Language Monitor, who insisted that his method has merit.

"If you want to count the stars in the sky, you have to define what a star is first and then count," Payack said. "Our criteria is quite plain and if you follow those criteria you can count words. Most academics say what we are doing is very valuable."

Word up.

August's Patch Tuesday Brings Lots of Security Updates Your Way

Mark Edward Soper — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:17:16 -0500

It's a super-sized Patch Tuesday this month, and here's what to expect Windows Update to be sending you in the next day or so (if not already). Follow the links if you prefer to install the updates immediately.

Critical updates include:

A fix for a remote code execution vulnerability in Windows Image Color Management affects users running Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows 2000 SP4 (Windows Vista users can breathe easy on this one).
A fix for a sextet of vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer 5.01, 6, and 7 affects users of Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008.
A fix for a remote code execution vulnerability in the ActiveX control for Microsoft Access's snapshot viewer affects Office 2000 SP3, Office XP SP3, and Office 2003 SP2 and SP3 (Office 2007 users, you ducked this one).
A fix for a quartet of privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Excel. Versions from Office 2000 SP3 all the way through Office 2007 as well as viewers, Share Point Server, and compatibility packs are affected.
A fix for a trio of privately reported remote code execution vulnerabilities in PowerPoint and PowerPoint Viewer affects PowerPoint XP, PowerPoint 2003, PowerPoint 2007, PowerPoint Viewer 2007, as well as Microsoft Office 2004 and 2008 for MacOS.
A fix for five privately reported major vulnerabilities in handling image files in some versions of Office affects Office 2000, Office XP, Office 2003 SP2, Project 2002 SP1, MS Office Converter Pack, and MS Works 8.

Important Updates include:

A fix for a vulnerability in IPSec VPN rules affects all versions of Windows Vista, Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008.
A fix for remote code vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows Event System affects Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows XP SP2 and SP3, all Windows XP 64-bit editions, Windows Server 2003 SP1 and SP2 (all editions), Windows Vista and Vista SP1, and all editions of Windows Server 2008.
A fix for a vulnerability in both Outlook Express and Windows Mail affects Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Server 2008.
A fix for an information disclosure vulnerability in Windows Messenger 4.7 (affects Windows XP SP2, SP3, 64-bit; Windows Server 2003 SP1, SP2, 32-bit, 64-bit, Itanium) and Windows Messenger 5.1 (affects Windows 2000 SP4; Windows XP SP2 and SP3; Windows Server 2003 32-bit, 64-bit, Itanium).
A fix for a remote code execution vulnerability in Microsoft Word versions for Office XP SP3 and Office 2003 SP2/SP3.

What Else Does Patch Tuesday Bring You?

As usual, you'll get a new version of the MS Windows Malicious Software tool and a new Windows Mail junk e-mail filter. This month, Patch Tuesday's also bringing you updates for Windows Home Server, daylight savings time updates for current Windows versions, and other fixes for various Windows versions. For details, see the New non-security contents section of KB894199.

Stay safe out there!

Where Are the 'Missing' Microsoft Users in Iowa?

Mark Soper — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 00:08:08 -0500

In the class action lawsuit Comes vs Microsoft Corporation, Iowa's users of Microsoft products such as Windows, MS-DOS, Office, Excel, Word, Works Suite or Home Essentials 97 or 98 products are the clear winners. So where are they?

945,000 Microsoft Users MIA So Far

Des Moines' WHO-TV reported last week that only 55,000 users of the estimated 1 million Iowa users eligible for cash or vouchers have signed up so far. The deadline is December 14th, so there's still time, but with back-to-school sales, football, the World Series, and Thanksgiving all demanding their cut of Iowans' attention between now and then, some users might miss out.

How Much Can Iowans Get?

The proposed settlement (a hearing on August 31st will decide if it's fair) will provide Iowans who purchased and used the listed software between May 18, 1994 and June 30, 2006 cash (for individual licenses) or vouchers for hardware and software (for enterprise and government licenses; state and local governments using listed products from July 1, 2002 and June 30, 2006 are eligible). Vouchers can be applied to software and hardware purchased made after April 25, 2007.

Show Me the Money!

Amounts range from $29 for each Microsoft Office license to as low as $10 for each Microsoft Word license. A user with one license each for Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Windows, and Microsoft Word would receive $64. A company or individual with multiple installations of eligible products could receive hundreds of dollars in cash or vouchers, depending upon how the product was licensed, so it's worth staking a claim.

Getting Your Share

If you're an Iowan, stake your claim online, but don't forget your product ID numbers if you're claiming more than $100. Enterprise and government users, and individuals claiming more than $200 need to download, fill out, and mail back claim forms.

April 2004 - The Ultimate Do-It-Yourself Guide!

The Maximum PC Staff — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 00:00:00 -0600

In the PDF archive of the April 2004 issue, you can find:

28 Ingenious Projects You Can Start and Finish Today
Use your PDA as a Universal Remote
Notebook Shootout
Six Hot New Digital Cameras
How To: Make Microsoft Word Work for You!
Ask the Doctor
Rig of the Month
The Watchdog
And a whole lot more!

Click the big giant cover image to the right to download the PDF archive today!