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CyberArtisans Web Developers Newsletter )
Keeping you up to date on the web September 2010
In this issue
  • Security in XP's Dotage
  • Tablet computers
  • Asian domain scam

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    Welcome to the September 2010 issue of the CyberArtisans newsletter!

    Each issue we try to present information that will be useful to you as a website owner and as a user of the web. If these newsletters are useful, please forward this to a friend. To unsubscribe, follow the directions at the bottom of this email.
    		Security in XP's Dotage

    To read the sales literature you would think that Windows XP is a security disaster looking for a place to happen and the only salvation is to buy a new computer with Windows 7. Now don't get me wrong, I think Windows 7 is an excellent system, but I've yet to be convinced that XP is a security hell-hole. I've lost track of the number of years I've had it installed but I can't remember a single virus/spyware attack that required more than a second scan of the anti-virus utility.

    Since I suspect I'm not alone in liking my XP system and being reluctant to run out to buy a new computer, I thought it would be useful to discuss some simple ways to beef up the security of an XP system with just a little effort.

    A little intelligent risk assessment is a good place to start. For example, do you:

    1. Store confidential information on your system?
    2. Keep your credit cards and banks account details on your system (you'd be surprised at how many people still do this in unprotected files...)?
    3. Access your bank, credit card, and investment accounts from your home system?
    4. Not install Windows updates?
    5. Visit websites that are more likely to harbor malware, such as illegal music download sites, hacker sites or "adult" sites?

    This is continued in my latest blog. Sorry, it was just too long to include all of it in an email.

    		Tablet computers

    The iPad has been out since January, Blackberry just announced their PlayBook, Samsung announced its Galaxy Tab earlier this month, Toshiba announced they will produce the Folio 100 by the end of the year (although they haven't decided whether to release it in the US), Dell announced the Inspiron Duo, which will have a hardware keyboard that slides out from somewhere, and there are more (and will be even more).

    Clearly Apple opened up a new market niche. Tablets aren't new – we own a Compaq 1000 that was first produced in 2003 – but until the iPad they only served a fairly narrow market. You will see them on carts in hospitals because nurses can enter data or look up information easily while moving from patient to patient, but until the iPad they were not a consumer product. What makes the difference?

    Well for one thing, the old tablets were heavy and slow. They didn't have the glitzy graphics that the iPad sports and they didn't have the CPU and display power to handle complex web apps or programs without bogging down. It took a combination of good technology, good design, and good marketing to make the tablet attractive to consumers.

    It's going to be fascinating to see who wins and who loses in this market. Everyone is bringing out a tablet but we know from past experience that only a few will really take off. The iPad already has established itself. Many are doubtful that Windows, even Windows 7, is flexible enough to make a tablet fly, which means that a lot of the tablets may be also-rans unless Microsoft comes up with some tablet-specific upgrades.

    But Blackerry's new QNX Neutrino operating system for its tablet has an interesting pedigree. It's predecessors have been used in cars, medical devices, nuclear power plants, and the army's unmanned Crusher tank. We'll see if that pedigree equates to a great consumer product.

    We've played with the iPad and were very impressed. Next we want to get our hands on a Blackberry PlayBook. Stay tuned.

    		Asian domain scam

    Have you ever received an email that begins like this:

    We are the department of registration service in China. we have something need to confirm with you. We formally received an application on August 9, 2010, One company which self-styled "kaltry Investment Ltd" are applying to register "<yourdomain>" as brand name and domain names as below:
    • <yourdomain>.asia
    • <yourdomain>.cn
    • <yourdomain>.com.cn
    • <yourdomain>.com.hk
    • <yourdomain>.com.tw
    • <yourdomain>.hk
    • <yourdomain>.in
    • <yourdomain>.tw

    If so, don't respond. This is a scam that makes money for the scammers by scaring you. Here's how it works:

    They tell you that someone is trying to register <yourdomain> with multiple country extensions belonging to various Asian countries. First of all, this is probably not true, but it doesn't really matter if it is or not.

    Their intent is to panic you into feeling that you have to "protect" your domain by registering all the possible variations they list. They make money, of course, by collecting the fees for registering all these domains. The problem with this is:

    1. They fail to note that there are over 200 country extensions, so registering 7 or 8 doesn't really protect you.
    2. It's fairly unlikely that there will be people trying to register your domain name in an Asian country.
    3. And even if they did, it's a different domain (because of the different country extension) and confusion is unlikely – someone looking for <yourdomain>.cn will be looking for a Chinese language site and will be very unlikely to confuse your site with the site they are searching for.

    So when you get that email imploring you to protect yourself, just smile, say "Nice try!" and ditch it.

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