Tech Traps For The Average User / NEW NET issues list

The pervasiveness of computers in everyday life, and especially the globally connected internet, leads to both minor and major problems for the average computer user.

This week's NEW NET issues list highlights some of those dangers. When Sam Surfer hops onto the internet to check out the Super Bowl website prior to Super Bowl XLI, the last thing he's expecting is that a trojan will be waiting for him there and will install itself on his computer through a security hole in the Windows operating system. The happy consumer who just bought both a brand new shiny Windows Vista laptop and that pink iPod they've been wanting for a long time is not expecting Vista to give their iPod major headaches. In a third scenario, the happy-go-lucky non-geek who decided to give Gmail a try is not expecting to automatically be signed up for personalized search on Google which will result in Google tracking lots of info about them in order to give more relevant search results.

All three of these situations were in the news over the past week, illustrating how the tangled web we weave is becoming more tangled each day for that 'average user.' And it will only get more tangled as time goes by and the web becomes an even more essential part of our daily lives.

Stay tuned to NEW NET and myDigitechnician as we help you avoid getting caught in dangerous places on that tech web!

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Below is the final list of issues for the TUESDAY, 06 February 02007, NEW NET (Northeast Wisconsin Network for Economy and Technology) 6:45 - 9:00 pm weekly gathering upstairs at Tom's Drive In, 501 N Westhill Blvd, Appleton, Wisconsin, USA.

Top Three Tech Issues in The Past Seven Days

1. Super Bowl Site Trojans – The Trojan on the Super Bowl website as well as a Center for Disease Control (CDC) and several other sites attempted to install keylogger software on site visitors’ computers with unpatched Windows, including a patch just released last month. The danger to Windows computers is increasing daily when just surfing sites once considered ‘safe’.
2. Vista / iPods / QuickBooks – Millions across the world own iPods and use them with Windows, expecting the two will co-exist peacefully. Now they find out Vista could cause problems for their iPod. And it appears Vista owners who use QuickBooks may be required to update to Quickbooks 2007. Problems with a new OS are to be expected, but these two seem a bit much.
3. Google & Personal Search – Personalized search is sometimes predicted to be the next big improvement in internet search. Google is making a move in personalized search that seems to go against their ‘do no evil’ mantra. They are automatically signing up new Google account holders (like for Gmail) with personalized search, making it a hard to find opt-out option.

The ‘net

1. Zoho Notebook Takes Aim At Microsoft OneNote http://www.informationweek.com/software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197002841
2. Zoho's Cool Web-Based Note Taker http://blogs.pcworld.com/techlog/archives/003667.html
3. BarCampMadison? Yahoo tests Local mashups http://gigaom.com/2007/02/02/yahoo-beta-testing-local-mashups/
4. Top 10 Picks From DEMO 2007 (Luke, look at Whisher) http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/demo07_top_10_picks.php
5. Edit your images online with Picnik http://lifehacker.com/software/images/edit-your-images-online-with-picnik-233575.php
6. Yahoo's mission quest http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/01/technology/pluggedin_lashinsky_yahoo.fortune/
7. Bandwidth hogs exist, but the light users are key, says report http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070131-8748.html
8. CircleUp Gets Answers From Your Friends http://www.mercextra.com/blogs/takahashi/2007/02/01/demo-circleup-gets-answers-from-your-friends/#more-56
9. Do You Play Tag Online? http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,128724-c,internetnetworking/article.html
10. Startups pursue social Web surfing http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/personal_technology/16608881.htm
11. MapQuest Launches New Gasoline Price Info Portal http://www.resourceshelf.com/2007/01/31/mapquest-launches-new-gas-prices-portal-for-us/
12. February 2007 Web Server Survey http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2007/02/02/february_2007_web_server_survey.html
13. Are User-Generated Web Sites Breaking The Search Engines’ Algorithms? http://blogs.mediapost.com/search_insider/?p=457
14. Go to iFilm for Super Bowl Commercials http://www.ifilm.com
15. eBooks want to be free. What about audiobooks? http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/2007/02/books_want_to_b.html

Security, Privacy & Digital Controls

1. Super Bowl Site Trojan Aims to Nab Passwords http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2007/02/official_superbowl_site_pushin.html
2. Who Watches The Watchers In Surveillance Society? http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20070205/tc_cmp/197003126
3. A Real ID revolt http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070205-8770.html

Mobile Computing & Communicating

1. Free upload for any MIDI file < style=""> http://www.thomasscott.net/freeload/tone.html
2. Seagate Touts Pocket-Sized Mobile Storage http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2088945,00.asp
3. iPhone Lawsuit On Hold http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197002550
4. Broadcom puts WiFi, Bluetooth and FM radio on a chip http://www.techworld.com/mobility/news/index.cfm?newsID=7935&pagtype=samechan

Open Source

1. Novell may be stripped of Linux distribution rights http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/9179/53/
2. Free ODF converter for Word now available http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070202-8764.html
3. Peugeot Citroën revs up 20,000 Suse Linux desktops http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070130/tc_infoworld/85567

SkyNet

1. Google can't use "Gmail" name in Europe http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct=us/0-0&amp;fp=45c0f7185e6fb1a5&ei=ueLARZ6ZOaCcHenX0YcI&url=http%3A//arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070131-8741.html&cid=0&sig2=dzp2CHSlC0Wu9beWbb7_kg
2. Google moves to shake up software, take on Microsoft http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2007/01/29/google_moves_to_shake_up_software_take_on_microsoft/
3. Google Ramps Up Personalized Search http://searchengineland.com/070202-224617.php
4. Google Flatlines Again http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/02/google-flatlines-again/
5. Google put pressure on legislators to stay quiet http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/wcnc-020207-jmn-google.429a68fa.html
6. Google Launches Maps For Windows Mobile http://searchengineland.com/070202-085625.php
7. Google Apps for Your Domain about to be paid-for service http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9684223-2.html
8. Google Releases New Link Reporting Tools http://searchengineland.com/070205-165836.php

General Technology

1. Reader feedback: Windows Vista woes http://www.tgdaily.com/2007/02/02/windows_vista_reader_feedback/
2. Finally, Vista Makes Its Debut. Now What? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16934083/site/newsweek/page/1/
3. P.A. Semi releases power-efficient dual-core 64-bit CPU http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,128754-c,cpus/article.html
4. Vista & QuickBooks: Backwards Compatibility Strategies http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=220

Leisure & Entertainment

1. Apple: Vista May Corrupt iPods http://www.crn.com/sections/digconnect/digconnect.jhtml?articleId=197003009
2. Apple offers iTunes fix for Vista users http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/apple-offers-itunes-fix-for-vista-users/9451
3. Sony looks for a game machine surge http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070202-8759.html
4. A Million Penguins: Publisher launches its first "wiki" novel http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070201/wr_nm/penguin_wiki_dc
5. GooTube Slammed By Viacom Takedown Demand http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/02/gootube-slammed-by-viacom-takedown-demand/
6. Jack Thompson Faces Florida Supreme Court Disciplinary Hearing http://gamepolitics.com/2007/02/03/jack-thompson-faces-florida-bar-disciplinary-hearing/

Economy and Technology

1. SEO: StumbleUpon's New Webmaster Friendly Referral Page http://searchengineland.com/070131-073500.php
2. IP's Brave New World: Lawyers in Second Life http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1170237755271

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