Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 is coming soon

In the first sign that Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 with service pack1 [or Windows Server 2008 R2 with service pack 1] is coming out very shortly, Microsoft has released a “blocker” tool, in case you don’t want to have it automatically installed by Windows Update.

Some companies and individuals may wish to block the installation until the new version can be tested against inhouse applications or other reasons.

Note: Windows 7 RTM and Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM and older versions of Windows are not supported.

If you are a company using a Windows domain, you can download the blocker tool at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36512.

If you just want to block your own computer, copy and paste below into a text editor and save it with a .REG extension.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Setup\10.0]
"DoNotAllowIE10"=dword:00000001

Note: Leave the blank line after the first and before the third line and add a blank line at the end.

This fix will permanently block Internet Explorer 10 from being installed from Windows Update only. This will not stop Internet Explorer 9 from being installed, manually installing Internet Explorer 10, or installing by other means.

To unblock, you can either manually install Internet Explorer 10 or change the 00000001 to 00000000.

Internet Explorer 10 will only be release as an update to Windows 7 with service pack1 [or Windows Server 2008 R2 with service pack 1].  Of course Internet Explorer 10 is part of Windows 8.

As usual, use this information at your own risk.

Update 2013/02/26: Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 has been released. https://ebraiter.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/internet-explorer-10-for-windows-7-released-today/

App stores need quality – not quantity

Apple’s AppStore(TM) has just over 780,000 applications online [as of the fall of 2012] according to a web site plus another 276,000 that aren’t available anymore for download for whatever reason.

Of those available, nearly 20% are game related and about 10% are education related. According to the web site this site, business related applications account for just 6.25% of the total. Books are at 7% [books are an application?].

As well, almost a thousand applications are submitted a day.

According to another site, of the just over a million applications created, almost two thirds were not downloaded or barely. The same site reports that most applications reviewed were awarded 3 stars or less [a combined 77%].

A further site reported that as many as 375,000 have never had a download.

Why am I mentioning all this?

Just to show that quantity in the number of [true] applications – whether it is the AppStore, Google’s Play, Windows Store, or Blackberry’s store – isn’t what should be looked at for a benchmark.

Instead, look at the quality. For example, 77% of AppStore applications had reviews of 3 stars or less. That isn’t good. Unsure what the other stores percentage is but I would not be surprised if they had similar results.

So when you go to the AppStore [for example], how do you go through 130,000 applications to find a game [assuming you wanted something different]?

Good bye Ms. Penny

Well today is the day – the slow death of the Canadian penny.

As of today, any pennies that the government retrieves will probably be melted down. Banks themselves will cease to distribute them. [Of course a question is what is done when someone cashes in a cheque that includes pennies.]

With billions in circulation [as well as hording], and the penny costs more to make than the face cost, the Canadian government decided last year to kill the penny.

It started mid-last year when the last of the pennies were made and then the “presses” stopped. [If I am not mistaken, the last batch will be kept out of circulation for various purposes.]

The savings to the government is [I believe] under $15 million a year. Doesn’t sound like much but that’s about 150 million pennies plus the cost to manufacture and distribute.

Now what does it mean to the consumer.

If you are paying by anything but cash, you will still be paying the full amount. So if your new car’s final bill is $18,721.97 – that’s what you will pay by cheque, credit card, debit card, etc.

Now if you pay by cash, it depends on what the final bill is after tax.

If your final bill ends in 1 or 2 [i.e. $3.21, $76.92], the bill rounds down to 0 [i.e. $3.20, $76.92 respectively].

If your final bill ends in 3 or 4 [i.e. $8.33, $121.74], the bill rounds up to 5 [i.e. $8.35, $121.75 respectively].

If your bill ends in 0 or 5, there is no change in what you pay.

If your final bill ends in 6 or 7 [i.e. $3.26, $76.97], the bill rounds down to 5 [i.e. $3.25, $76.95 respectively].

If your final bill ends in 8 or 9 [i.e. $8.38, $121.79], the bill rounds up to 0 [i.e. $8.40, $121.80 respectively].

So if you bought that car by cash [assuming, law enforcement doesn’t take notice], your final bill is $18,722.00.

Now according to The Canadian Mint, they call it a “guideline”. So, theoretically a store my charge you $8.75 if your bill [after tax] was $8.71. But this will hopefully be unlikely. The rounding is just guidelines. Businesses do not have to follow The Canadian Mint guidelines.

The guidelines from The Canadian Mint, “that has been used successfully by other countries “, were basically duplicated from other countries that killed their own penny, 1 pesos, etc.

[PS – I wonder how many US pennies are in circulation.]

Update: Funny cartoon at http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/editorial-cartoons/7911923.bin?size=620×400

Update: Roughly only 20% use cash to pay for purchases.

Lenovo to buy Blackberry/RIM? I doubt it

There was a story that came out whether Lenovo would buy Blackberry/RIM. If any Chinese controlled company ever bought Blackberry/RIM you would see many governments – not just the US – would drop their Blackberries in favor of something else.

[Of course what to choose from: iPhones have limited enterprise support, Androids attract malware, Windows Phones aren’t popular (but at least has enterprise support) – but I digress.]

Blackberries still have the most secure network and the last thing any government wants is the Chinese from having the option to snoop around once they have the “keys” to get in.

That said, I don’t think the Canadian government would allow the sale anyways. They [obviously] also use Blackberries for government purposes.

If Lenovo actually did buy Blackberry, the sales and usage would drop like flies.

Remember how a few governments in the world with questionable human and civil rights were complaining to RIM [then] that if they didn’t get access to their citizen’s Blackberries they would drop Blackberries? Well, theoretically the Chinese not only could spy on their own citizens but anyone in the world who uses a Blackberry without any legal “check”.

NY Times hack starts the blame game

The New York Times reported recently that its own networks have been “persistently attacked” by Chinese hackers, and that they infiltrated computer systems and acquired passwords for its reporters and other employees.

Security experts were brought in to help “expelled the hackers” and “kept them from breaking back in.”

The Times believes that the timing of the attacks coincided with an investigation it carried out in late October 2011, where the investigation found that the Chinese Prime Minister had accumulated “several billion dollars through business dealings.”

The Times went after Symantec after the newspaper found that most of the malware floating around on its network wasn’t even detected by Symantec’s software that it uses on its network. “Over the course of three months, attackers installed 45 pieces of custom malware.”

Symantec responded that anti-virus software is not enough in this day and age and push the blame back on the Times.

In my opinion, the Times shouldn’t rely on just one security vendor. So Symantec provided the client based security. What about the perimeter security? Even if they used Symantec it is STILL the Times’ fault. No company should have to rely on a single security vender.  You need [properly] two vendors for firewall security – handling filtering as well. Even if crap gets by one, hopefully the other one will detect it.

Second, no AV/AM software is perfect. I had one friend who was running something on her system [unsure what it was] and Symantec didn’t detect it. Likewise, Microsoft Security Essentials didn’t detect someone else I know had some trojans and a rootkit. No AV/AM software is fullproof. It is nearly impossible to be so.

Third, why did it take the Times that many months to actually complain about it? Did they request Symantec’s assistance? I think most security vendors would definitely assist in the clean-up – if asked.

Finally, you have to wonder how so many Times employee accounts here hacked. Too simple passwords like Password or 12345678?