Though the fellows sounding the warning today are the best in the business, it didn’t take a lot of know-how to develop a proof-of-concept that the new User Access Control panel can be disabled by VBScript.

Windows 7 is still in the public beta process, and will be for some months to come. The purpose of true beta testing is to isolate and identify serious problems (we should know). So it’s to any researcher’s credit that a potentially threatening problem be brought into the open prior to Microsoft finalizing the code for everyday use.

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Morgantown, WV, Jan 26, 2009 — Warren has uploaded ISO files for RC2 of SimplyMEPIS 8.0 to the MEPIS pools. The files for 32 and 64 bit processors are SimplyMEPIS-CD_7.9.95-rc2_32.iso and SimplyMEPIS-CD_7.9.95-rc2_64.iso.

For RC2, the kernel has been updated to upstream version, 2.6.27.12. Kvm 83 is available from the MEPIS pool to better match the virtualization configuration of the MEPIS kernel. Grub has been updated to fix a “stage 2″ error that was encountered in some rare circumstances. The MEPIS Assistants were updated to work with virtio drivers. Bind9 was updated to 9.6.0-P1 to support NSEC3 for DNSsec.

SimplyMEPIS developer, Warren Woodford, reports, “I apologize to anyone who was expecting 8.0 to be final by now. It’s taking longer than I had hoped but I think we are very close to a final release. MEPIS is based on Debian Stable and our delays also gives time for Lenny to become final. The changes from the developers at Debian have been coming very quickly. At this rate they will finish Lenny soon.”

ISO images of new MEPIS pre-releases are published to the ‘testing’ subdirectory at the MEPIS Subscriber’s Site and at MEPIS public mirrors. To support the ongoing development of MEPIS, community users are encouraged to go to the MEPIS store at http://www.mepis.org and become MEPIS subscribers.

The computer worm responsible for the biggest attack in years has infected at least one out of every 16 PCs worldwide, a security company said today, and it may have managed to compromise as many as nearly one in three.

According to Panda Security, almost 6% of the Windows systems scanned with its antivirus technology were found to be infected with “Downadup,” a worm that began aggressive attacks just over a week ago. Panda was one of the first security firms to sound an alarm over Downadup when it raised its security threat level on Jan. 12 as reports of attacks mounted.

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God bless local news. Annie Schubert was expecting a “bread and butter” Dell running Windows for school. But when she fired up her accidental Ubuntu machine, confusion was only the beginning of her problems. You see, Annie was ready to enroll in online classes at Madison Area Technical College (emphasis mine), so she bought a Dell laptop with Ubuntu pre-loaded. MATC lists as its requirements Microsoft Word and internet access, so when her Verizon DSL install CD wouldn’t work and the word “Microsoft” was nowhere to be found, she called Dell. There, a gracious callcenter support drone told her that Ubuntu was just fine for everything she needed to do (true, I would say) and that it’s just perfect for college students. Annie agreed.

No where should it say in order to get a higher education you must be a windows user, Baldy

Wisconsin Girl Cancels Online College Courses Thanks To A Mind Blown By Her Ubuntu Dell

Here is a short list of the temps in areas that I have friends as of 7:30 this morning. All temps are in fahrenheit.

Quad Cities -25

Regina Canada -27

Dallas Texas 30

Lake Charles,LA 36

Okay this is the end of the “boy ti’s cold outside” reports I promise.

Yes I am one of the many folks that are in the middle of this cold wave and just how cold is it I was asked last night will this morning I decided to see just how cold it was. The temp is -25 degrees with a wind chill of a toasty -45 degrees. Ouch that is chilly even by midwest standards. but I had to give it a test. I decided to head out side and with a glass of water in my hand I hit the deck out in front. Like many of you have seen I proceeded to toss the water into the air, well it worked folks, it turned to ice as it fell and was pure snow and ice as it hit the ground. Cold enough for you yet? I hope that you are all warm and enjoying a nice cup of coffee/tea/cocoa whatever and as you read this shiver once for me and my neighbors because the high today will be -10 with a wind chill of -20. Have a nice day folks

AP – Ricardo Montalban, the Mexican-born actor who became a star in splashy MGM musicals and later as the wish-fulfilling Mr. Roarke in TV’s “Fantasy Island,” died Wednesday morning at his home, his family said. He was 88.

A man who even when selling cars made it sound like the best thing in the world to have, and a actor who really became the character he was playing, he will be missed, Baldy

Ricardo Montalban dies at age 88 (AP)

Oh how I love to see the Feds fighting amongst them selves, Baldy.

Ars Technica reports that the FTC is getting ready to take a hard look at gaming DRM, setting up a town hall meeting to be held on March 25th. They’re currently recruiting panelists, and they say the meeting will, in part, “address the need to improve disclosures to consumers about DRM limitations.”

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Yikes looks like Obama has made another mistake in his choice of Cabinet members, Baldy.

The Recording Industry of America’s favorite courtroom lawyer, Tom Perrelli, who has sued individual file swappers in multiple federal courts, is President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for the third in line at the Justice Department. CNet’s Declan McCullagh explores the background of the man who won the RIAA’s lucrative business for his DC law firm: “An article on his law firm’s Web site says that Perrelli represented SoundExchange before the Copyright Royalty Board — and obtained a 250 percent increase in the royalty rate for music played over the Internet by companies like AOL and Yahoo,” not to mention Pandora and Radio Paradise. NewYorkCountryLawyer adds.

Now as a traveler to Canada on many trips this article has me thinking and also requestiing my personal information after reading this, Baldy.

The oversize white envelope bore the blue logo of the Department of Homeland Security. Inside, I found 20 photocopies of the government’s records on my international travels. Every overseas trip I’ve taken since 2001 was noted.

I had requested the files after I had heard that the government tracks “passenger activity.” Starting in the mid-1990s, many airlines handed over passenger records. Since 2002, the government has mandated that the commercial airlines deliver this information routinely and electronically.

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