Facebook for…

Some informal statistics… Correct as of Fri, 5 Nov 2010 09:52:28 PM

In descending order:

Facebook for iPhone
1,522,835 People Like This

Facebook for BlackBerry® smartphone
1,446,284 People Like This

Facebook for the T-Mobile Sidekick
57,983 People Like This

Facebook for HP webOS
45,734 People Like This

Facebook for Android
39,162 People Like This

Sorry but there is no Facebook for Windows Mobile/Windows Phone info.

Why Sentosa, Singapore is not world-class even after a decade of trying…

I visit Sentosa every so often to have family time away from the city. But sadly, even after decade of pumping in millions and with the current Integrated Resorts (IR) construction of Resort World Sentosa (RWS) and Universal, the place is still not world-class.

1. The Staff
   - We spotted so many staff smoking everywhere during their breaks. Some drivers even smoke while driving (when the bus is empty).
   - The drivers have no initiative to dry up the wet benches on the tram rides after the rain and expect passengers to sit on it.
   - I lost count the number of foul-faced staff… and we are supposed to have “island fun”.
2. The infrastructure
   - Mosquitoes galore. I can consider myself a mosquito magnet (which is lucky as my family don’t get bitten as much). There is regular fogging but don’t they understand that mosquitoes can fly away and come back again ? If childcare centre can afford mosquito traps, I wonder why don’t the hotels install them?
   - Tram rides are infrequent. Leading to tourists waiting for a long time and ended up feeding the mosquitoes. I saw some just gave up and walked the long route themselves under the hot sun.
3. The business
   - Charging $0.20 for a cup of ice when customers needed just a couple of cubes to cool off a hot cup of Milo for the kids at Koufu Sentosa Palawan Beach.

But I must commend that staff at Baits (Din Tai Fung) are fantastic but then they are ranked as one of the World’s Top Ten Best Restaurants by the New York Times.

How backward can one IT event registration be ?!?!

When I received the following email (in italics) I was shocked.

How backward can one IT event registration be ?!?! Print, Sign, Fax/Scan ?!?! You got to be kidding me.

Why can’t they do a simple online form ? Didn’t they hear about free Online Registration tools or Google Spreadsheets ?

---

Thank you for pre-registering with us for our Data Center Summit 2010. We are delighted to extend you a Complimentary Event Pass.

To confirm and reserve your seat, please take some time to complete the attached guest registration form, in the following manner –

Using MS Excel, fill in all required personal details (e.g. Name, Designation etc)
Print out the form; Input signatures and company stamp where applicable
Attach your business card at the allocated slot (Optional)
Fax or scan/e-mail the completed form to me. (ATTN: XXXXXX XXXXXX)

Please complete the form and return it to me by Tuesday, 31st August.

Do not hesitate to reach me directly, should you require further clarification on completing the registration form.

Thank You and Best Regards,

XXXXXX X. XXXXXX
Audience R&D Executive and
Project Manager for Data Centre Summit 2010

Google Service Infinite Refresh Loop (Self Inflicted DDOS)

Sorry for the bad quality video.

See it here.

This bug is demoed today (6th May 2010) to the Singapore Security Meetup Group.

This is an old bug which is not fixed because Google probably do not know about it…

HOW IT WORKS (the gist of it):
1) Go to http://ABCXYZ.google.com [Yes, it is a legitimate Google URL]
2) Google redirects you to their SSO System aka Gaia for authentication.
3) Login using your Google Account.
4) Gaia then redirects you to http://ABCXYZ.google.com (which is obviously wrong in the first place).
5) which then redirects you back to Gaia. But you have already autenticated! Go back you fool !
6) Repeat 4) Ad Infinitum.

How you (or any Google account user) can be exploited to DDOS Google?

Hackers can spam you with the interesting Google URL (which you need to click) or better still I can embed it in a javascript or IFRAME and you (or any Google account user) will DDOS Google SSO System without knowing (since you may have already logged into Google!).

Read more about Gaia (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/technology/20google.html)

8th Nov : Correction. Google has closed this flaw already.

Stardocks Fences

My Stardock Fences got a bit screwy on several PCs and had to reinstall them. It keeps complaining that it expired on 1 Nov 2009 and is going into reduced functionality mode.

Then I saw the EULA during installation as follows:

Fences 1.00 CTP [January 2009]
——————————–

Windows Vista with the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
are required to run Fences.

Fences requires the .NET Framework 2.0 or later be installed.
This comes with Windows Vista, but can be downloaded via Windows Update
or http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856EACB-4362-4B0D-8EDD-AAB15C5E04F5
for Windows XP machines.

Obligatory Bits
—————

Developed and Published by:
Stardock Corporation
15090 N Beck Road – Suite 300
Plymouth, MI 48170 USA
http://www.stardock.com

Stardock is a registered trademark of Stardock Systems, Inc.

(c) Copyright Stardock Corporation 1999-2009.

All trademarked names mentioned in this document and SOFTWARE
are used for editorial purposes only, with no intention of
infringing upon the trademarks.

No part of this publication may be reproduced without written
permission from Stardock Corporation.

All rights reserved.

There are 2 mistakes with the EULA.

Firstly, the Fences 1.00 CTP was not in January 2009. CNet Downloads mentions:

Date added: October 06, 2009

Secondly, what good is a EULA when you cannot even reproduce it without written permission ? A EULA is not exactly a book or a publication right ?

 

No means NO! Apple

It is one of those days when you boot up your PC and pop comes a nice dialog from Apple…

No. I don’t have an iPhone (which is not value for money, under-featured, lousy battery life and “commodity’ among fashionistas).

No. I don’t want iTunes as I don’t even use an iPod (which is not value for money, under-featured, lousy battery life and “commodity’ among fashionistas).

No. I don’t need Safari (YAWB – Yet Another Wannabe Browser). MSIE and FireFox more than covers all that I need. MSIE and Opera covers my mobile nicely… thanks !

“Incredible, amazing, awesome” yah right…

Details

iPhone Configuration Utility lets you easily create, maintain, encrypt, and install configuration profiles, track and install provisioning profiles and authorized applications, and capture device information including console logs.

Configuration profiles are XML files that contain device security policies, VPN configuration information, Wi-Fi settings, APN settings, Exchange account settings, mail settings, and certificates that permit iPhone and iPod touch to work with your enterprise systems. For instructions on how to use iPhone Configuration Utility, see the iPhone and iPod touch Enterprise Deployment Guide, available for downloading at http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/enterprise/

---

Safari is the fastest and most innovative web browser for Mac and PC.

Now, with Safari 4, you can choose your favorite sites from a stunning wall of graphical previews with Top Sites. Flip through websites as easily as you flip through albums in iTunes with Cover Flow. Easily retrieve sites you’ve seen before with Full History Search.

---

QuickTime 7.6.4 includes changes that increase reliability, improve compatibility and enhance security. This release is recommended for all QuickTime 7 users.

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3661.

For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.

Important Notice to QuickTime 6 Pro Users
Installing QuickTime 7 or later will disable the QuickTime Pro functionality in prior versions of QuickTime, such as QuickTime 6. If you are a QuickTime 6 Pro user and you proceed with this installation, you will need to purchase a QuickTime 7 Pro registration code in order to regain QuickTime Pro functionality. After installation, visit the Apple Online Store to purchase a QuickTime 7 Pro registration code.

---

iTunes 9.0.1 provides a number of important bug fixes, including:
• Resolves issues browsing the iTunes Store.
• Addresses a performance issue where iTunes may become unresponsive.
• Fixes a problem where iTunes may unexpectedly quit.
• Fixes a problem syncing Podcasts in playlists to iPod or iPhone.
• Fixes a problem sorting albums with multiple discs.
• Improves application syncing for iPod touch and iPhone.
• Genius is now automatically updated to show Genius Mixes.

iTunes 9 comes with many new features and improvements, including:
• An improved look and feel, including a new Column Browser for easily browsing your artists or albums, movies, TV shows, and more.
• iTunes Store has a brand new look, with improved navigation for quick and easy exploration.
• iTunes LP and iTunes Extras create unique experiences that feature exclusive interviews, videos, photos, and more — available with select album and movie purchases on the iTunes Store.
• Home Sharing helps you manage your family’s iTunes collection between computers in your home. iTunes can automatically transfer new purchases, or you can choose just the items you want.
• Genius Mixes are created for you by iTunes and play songs from your library that go great together.
• iPod and iPhone syncing now allows you to organize your iPhone and iPod touch home screens directly in iTunes. Syncing is now also more flexible, allowing you to sync individual artists, genres, or TV show and Podcast episodes.
• iTunes U items are now organized into their own section in your iTunes library.
• Sync with iPod nano (5th generation), iPod classic (Fall 2009), and iPod touch (Fall 2009).
• iTunes 9 also includes many other improvements, such as HE-AAC encoding and playback, more flexibility with Smart Playlists rules, simpler organization of your media files inside an iTunes Media folder, and more.

Bye Bye Adobe Acrobat… Welcome Foxit Reader !!!

For the longest time I watch Adobe Acrobat bloat like…… The Blob !

I cannot imagine that it has bloated to 221.0 MB worth of crap just reading PDF files.

Even with Adobe Acrobat SpeedLauncher (C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader\reader_sl.exe) which is secretly loaded on windows startup, it still sucks.

Opening a PDF files becomes a royal pain.

Worst still there are these constant security patches (which happens more than product updates) making Acrobat a prime target for malware and hijacks.

See Research: 80% of Web users running unpatched versions of Flash/Acrobat [August 25th, 2009]

with 83.5% also running a vulnerable version of Acrobat.

The company has also criticized Adobe by insisting that their update mechanism “does not meet the requirements of a system that is used by 99% of users on the Internet and is highly targeted by criminals“

Zoomed-in view

Adobe Acrobat has 55 reported vulnerabilities.

Foxit Reader has 5 reported vulnerabilities.

according to http://www.securityfocus.com/bid

Foxit wins my security concerns hands down by a factor of 11 !!!

Compared to Acrobat’s 221MB bloat, Foxit Reader weighs in at only 9.67MB.

Foxit wins in software size hands down by a factor of 22.8 !!!

So head over to Foxit and grab Foxit Reader and say bye bye to Adobe Acrobat.

Psst… Foxit also has Tab Viewing feature ! Cool !

Stardock Fences Time Bomb Duh !

Today the Stardock Fences popped up a dialog on my PCs… (I am a PC ! Not a laptop/notebook/desktop)

Windows 7

Windows XP

I thought… no big deal… Beta Preview anyway…

But when I tried to check for updates.

And it said…

Hmm… So what’s up ? Is there any updated version after v0.98.1970 BETA or not ?

Even the download site says…

[Fences v0.98 Community-Preview Beta - FREE
Use the download button to get your copy of Fences.
(Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 is a pre-requisite for installation.)
This release is a beta / community preview, and will expire on November 1, 2009.
Fences is free and will remain free ; we hope to have a Pro version with even more features available later this year.]

My beef is that now is 1st Sep 2009 and NOT even near 1st November 2009, so why the reduced functionality mode ?

Is there anyone with such problems ?

Adobe Download Manager is proof that Adobe is on the downhill of technology

As with any geek, I have lots of PCs to play with. One of my main problems with having so many is the updates I need to do to keep the security up to date.

But with Adobe Flash, it is really painful and stupid.

Firstly, I have to install the Adobe Download Manager (ADM) on all my PCs to upgrade my Flash plug-in in MSIE. Why ?!

Secondly, for FireFox, I have to download the plug-in and install separately. Why ?!?!

Thirdly, ADM is really such a crap piece of software. It has a simple function and does it really badly. Terrible !

Congrats ! You have downloaded 105.9% of the plug-in !

Huh ? More than 100% downloaded ?!?! What is the extra 5.9% did it download ? Virus ? Crap ?

Wait ! The progress bar stretches so much that I cannot even see what the hell it is downloading !!!

Ok. Ok… I cancel the download and clicked on the “Resume Adobe Downloads” icon on the desktop…

Guess what ?

Oh why ?!?! ALL my other applications can access the Internet with no problems…

OMG ! How long does it take to download 1.87MB worth of binary correctly ?

And why must users be forced to use the terrible Adobe Download Manager ?

Why can’t Adobe just plainly link it to

http://fpdownload.adobe.com/get/flashplayer/current/install_flash_player_ax.exe ???

Even then, it still sucks…

I am on 1Mbps broadband and it takes more than 30 mins to download 1.87MB from Adobe… Are they running on 28.8kbps modem currently?

OH MY GOODNESS !!! ADOBE is DOOMED !!!!

Java JDK JRE and Bing

Yup ! Java 6 Update 15 is out…

Couple of good things…

“This release is Windows 7 support-ready and includes support for Internet Explorer 8, Windows Server 2008 SP2, and Windows Vista SP2. New features include the G1 garbage collector, plus performance and security enhancements.”

Yes, Sun is indeed up to speed on the latest on Windows. I am running Windows 7 (non-RTMed version) and I am already pleased with the experience. MSIE 8 is far better than MSIE 7 but I am not throwing my FireFox away yet… choice is good.

Secondly, the new JDK/JRE comes updated with a BING offer.

But strangely, Sun did not manage to rebundle the latest JDK with their other products like JavaFX SDK, Java EE and NetBeans 6.7.

I have no doubt it will be in due time…

By the way, test your JAVA runtime via browser here. Always run the latest versions of the plug-ins where possible to take advantage of the “security enhancements”. Cheers !