Costco has 24” Samsung monitors for sale for $400. A good value. Samsung 245BW

A bigger or dual monitor can greatly improve productivity.

Microsoft will be releasing 5 critical updates April 8th. Be sure to update your workstations.

www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms08-apr.mspx

iFrame attacks are spreading to more prominent websites.  Among the sites infected are USA Today, Target, and Wal-Mart.  The most recent attack targets search engine results; the results are manipulated so that users are likely to visit sites that have been infected with malware.

www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9073098&source=rss_topic17

Identity Theft is goal of more sophisticated malware.

www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/03/28/advanced_tactic_targeted_grocer/?page=full

April fools emails attempt to install malware.  http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=4222

Comcast is aggressively pushing Cable internet services for business. They are planning on announcing a 16MB down/ 2MB up service for about $100/Month in Visalia. Currently 8MB down 1MB up is about the same price.

Password Management tools: As more services are online, managing all those logons becomes an issue. You should use different secure passwords, which can become a nightmare. Many of our clients either keep a list – often in a spreadsheet or other unsecured document, or use the same password for everything, or store it in a cookie. Here are some tools that will manage all those logons, and secure your password list with a single password. They can log you on automatically to secure web sites in many cases. This also simplifies changing passwords when an employee leaves.

www.aespasswordmanager.com – multiuser capability, about $30 per user

www.sowsoft.com/password-manager.htm multiuser, $199/5 users, $350/10 users.

www.roboform.com – full featured. Enterprise version also available for 100+ users.

http://keepass.info  Good choice for single user, and free.

www.ewallet.com  Single user, commercial product.

http://passwordsafe.sourceforge.net Free, open source.

www.manageengine.co.uk/products/password_manager web based enterprise pw manager

www.passlet.com web based, in beta

The built in Windows password remember feature is completely insecure. Firefox also has a password manager which can be hacked fairly easily. Here’s how to reveal hidden passwords in Firefox and Windows: www.megaleecher.net/Reveal_Hidden_Passwords_Behind_Asterisk

Windows XP SP3 will be out soon, possibly later this month. It incorporates all the fixes to date, and some of the newer networking features that are part of Vista. Be sure to back up before updating.

Features and FAQ: www.winsupersite.com/faq/xp_sp3.asp

Official site: www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=60807C3A-8969-4DDF-BEB2-8BFAC9ED416B&displaylang=en

XP Home will still be available on very low cost PC’s (under $400 notebooks) until 2010 or the release of Windows 7 (the version after Vista), but XP will be unavailable as planned starting this July for all others.

www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9075062&intsrc=hm_list

One option for continuing to use XP where needed is to put it on a virtual machine within Vista.

http://lifehacker.com/software/windows/geek-to-live--run-windows-xp-inside-vista-with-virtual-pc-238071.php

The Microsoft Partner program has changed, now requiring that you pass a test to be eligible for the Action Pack. This also applies to the Partner Accounting Network (MPAN). The action pack is a very attractive deal for those who qualify. It is a $300 annual subscription which provides a 10 user license and copies of software for most of the Microsoft products, including MS Office and Windows servers.  Accounting firms and computer consultants are eligible.

https://partner.microsoft.com/US/program/managemembership/actionpack/40044196

www.crn.com/software/201201924

Cell phone driving law takes effect this July. Hands free talking allowed.

www.dmv.ca.gov/cellularphonelaws

Great books on business management

www.cioinsight.com/c/a/Books/Management-Books/1

http://personalmba.com/recommended-business-books

Livestation – TV news via the internet. Interesting technology. www.livestation.com

More ways to find TV content online http://mashable.com/2007/06/18/33-ways-to-watch-free-tv-online.  

If you have not noticed, you can download previous TV episodes on DirecTV with an internet enabled receiver: www.directv.com/dod/dod.html

Chris Pereira will be leaving us, to take a job closer to home in Bakersfield.  In order to best serve our current clients, we will not be taking any new clients till we hire another network technician.

Tim Torian

Torian, Group, Inc.

http://www.toriangroup.com