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Karmic Koala Causes Anger and Frustration amongst Early Adopters

Pulkit Chandna — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:56:09 -0600

Exactly a week after the much anticipated launch of Windows 7, Canonical rolled out Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala). Although it may not have been as keenly awaited as Windows 7, Karmic Koala's launch was special for a particular demographic that romances Linux, and especially its subset that dotes on Ubuntu. But early adopters of the latest Ubuntu release are having a torrid time.

Excited users have been rewarded with a plethora of problems in exchange of their bravura and enthusiasm. Karmic Koala's poor handling of graphics drivers - blank and flickering screens are quite common - and its failure to install the latest 2.6.31 Linux kernel figure prominently on the list of flaws. Also, the latest version of Ubuntu is not too good at spotting hard drives, according to initial reports.

According to a poll on Ubuntuforums.org, more than one-third of about 1,500 people polled so far have encountered some major flaws. Users upgrading to 9.10 are experiencing more issues than those opting for a fresh install.

Image Credit: EeePc.Itrunslinux.com

How To: Reclaim Digsby

Andy Salisbury — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:09:11 -0500

As some of you may or may not know, Digsby has recently come under fire for hijacking your CPU cycles while you’re away from your machine in the interest of making a quick buck. In reality, Digsby is as free as the air you’re breathing, and you can reclaim the handy IM program in a matter of minutes.

So here are the facts: Digsby’s installer comes with a pile of bloatware (Weatherbug, Yahoo Toolbar, etc.) that’s all very avoidable. Instead of hiding checkboxes somewhere in the installer, you’re simply met with “Accept” and “Decline” buttons. After a few windows filled with offers, the installer shows you exactly what you’re putting on your PC. If you decline everything, only Digsby will be installed.

It also comes with a research module that will use your computer’s recourses while you’re away. According to Digsby’s blog, “The module turns on after your computer has been completely idle for 5 minutes (no mouse or keyboard movement). It then turns off the instant you move your mouse or the press a key on the keyboard. We did this so it would have absolutely no effect on your computer’s performance and only uses processing power while your computer is not being used.”

This is where they’ve come under fire – but fear not. This, just like the bloatware, is extremely avoidable. By simply navigating to your menu and going to Help > Support Digsby, there’s a button near the bottom that allows you to disable this (pictured above).

So if you’re interested in keeping your favorite all-in-one IM program and not hopping on the hate bandagon, just do this. The Internet is angry enough as is.

Image Credit: Digsby

Mozilla Fesses Up to a Critical Vulnerability in Firefox 3.5

Pulkit Chandna — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:21:58 -0500

Mozilla has confirmed the presence of a critical vulnerability in Firefox 3.5. The vulnerability is nestled in the browser’s Just-in-time (JIT) JavaScript compiler – part of the new TraceMonkey engine – and can be used to execute malicious code. Hackers may lure gullible Firefox 3.5 users to websites containing code meant to exploit the flaw. While Mozilla burns the midnight lamp in finding a solution, you can simply disable the JIT. However, it must be noted that disabling the JIT will have an adverse effect on JavaScript performance.

Image Credit: FavBrowser

Freeware Files: Five Apps for Diagnosing PC Problems!

David Murphy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:30:00 -0500

Brrzap! Not all hardware failures start that way, but there's a good chance they'll end up sounding like that as a result of you chucking an unruly piece of hardware through the nearest exit of your dwelling. Before you hulk up next time, know that there are ways to get a little bit more information about the status of your components. Applications that assess the health of your system's various parts serve a twofold purpose. You can deduce that equipment on your system might be going kaput or is otherwise screwed up in some fashion. Armed with that knowledge, you can then attempt to make an effective repair. If there is no way to repair your parts, you'll at least get an advanced notice that disaster is about to strike and that a trip to the electronics store might be in your soon-to-immediate future.

In this week's freeware roundup, I'm going to give you a list of applications that will help you assess your system's CPU, hard drives, optical drives, network connections, and memory. Don't delay in installing these applications--every second wasted puts you but one step closer to a catastrophic meltdown--or, at the very least, an unexpected failure in a critical piece of your PC. And nobody wants to be left hanging one the one day you really, really, really need to access the Internet, for example.

Core Temp

What it does: As the name suggests, Core Temp is a quick and easy way to check out the temperature of your CPU as determined by the processor's internal probes. If you're a familiar face at Maximum PC, you've surely heard the gang wax about the wonders of the SpeedFan utility. Temperature-wise, the two programs conduct similar readings. The reason I lean to Core Temp, however, is that SpeedFan will sometimes offset the actual temperate of your CPU (depending on the processor) by a hearty 15 degrees. Core Temp gets the reading right the first time, every time--a perfect tool for novice users that don't know about SpeedFan's important little quirk.

Download it here!

NetStress

What it does: Although you can use innumerable online tools to give you a decent gauge of your current bandwidth, NetStress is an offline tool that will help you isolate network peculiarities within your internal setup. To gain the most use out of the program, set up your network and run the throughput benchmarking features at a time when you feel your setup is at peak efficiency. Record the numbers. Later, if you start to detect slowdowns or other strange goings-on, re-run the benchmarking application and see how your numbers stack up. Just like Sherlock Holmes, you can begin to isolate the problem to an errant network cable, problematic PC, or router based on the results of your tests!

Download it here!

Nero DiscSpeed

What it does: Curious to know if you're getting maximum performance out of your optical drive? That's where Nero DiscSpeed comes into the picture. Although this program is no longer being updated in favor of a new paid-for application (grr), it's still a great way to analyze your drive's read and write speeds. For example, it's one of the best ways to figure out if your 52X burner is actually performing at 40X for some unknown reason--measurements like that aren't really the kind of thing that an average user can estimate by how the reading or writing process "feels." Get the real seek times, transfer rates, and other measurements with this helpful application.

Download it here!

HDDScan

What it does: This free application gives you a host of options for checking on the health of your hard drives. Pull up the drive's S.M.A.R.T. diagnostic information if you're just interested in a quick scan. If any statistic looks out-of-place or otherwise dangerous, the program will alert you via colored icons on the side of each piece of information. From there, you can conduct more thorough evaluations by using the application to run offline S.M.A.R.T. testing of any drive in your system, even those connected to your PC via USB or FireWire. If you're concerned about your system's airflow, the program will even display real-time temperature readings from your drives as icons on the lower-right hand side of Windows' taskbar.

Download it here!

Memtest86

What it does: It's an oldie, but a goodie. I have yet to find a more thorough or easier-to-use method for evaluating the health of your system's memory. Even Maximum PC itself agrees with me on this one. In fact, it's well worth your time to click that link and read about how you can use Memtest86 to your greatest advantage. If you're experience blue screens that have seemingly come out of nowhere and they match the qualifications of a typical memory issue (either the PFN_LIST_CORRUPT or PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA error messages), run Memtest86 as soon as you can to help you pinpoint the problem.

Download it here!

Know of any other unique programs for measuring the health of your PC? Need some help analyzing the results of what you've found? PC on fire? Hit up David Murphy @Acererak with your freeware recommendations, applications questions, and pleas for water.

Four Security Bulletins Coming This Patch Tuesday

Pulkit Chandna — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:47:19 -0500

Be informed, dear readers, Microsoft’s next installment of security bulletins is going to be on September 9 – Patch Tuesday. Microsoft revealed in the security bulletin advance notification for September that it will release four security bulletins on the following Patch Tuesday. All four of them merit immediate attention as they have been rated critical. The security bulletins will all fix vulnerabilities pertaining to remote code execution. The Patch Tuesday in August also carried quite a few security bulletins related to remote code execution including a patch for the “MS Access Snapshot Viewer ActiveX control," which hackers had begun to exploit using a malicious toolkit.

Image Credit: Security4All

Microsoft Eventually Readies Xbox Live Arcade DRM Fix

Pulkit Chandna — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:15:48 -0500

Microsoft has once again furnished proof of the abysmal levels of concern it has for Xbox 360 owners and their plethora of console related woes. It took MS a whole year to come up with a fix for the flawed Xbox Live Arcade DRM.

Gamers who upgraded their console or replaced it – for obvious reasons – could not play the arcade titles, they had previously bought, while offline. They had to be online to play the games. But MS has eventually made amends and fixed the flawed DRM in form of an online tool. Is Xbox 360 the most flawed gadget of the past gazillion years? A ‘yes’ would not be taken as an exaggeration if you have endured a “Red Ring of Death.”

Image Credit: Gamer Gene