Cross Game

Apple demos the power of HTML5, CSS3 and Javascript and how it can be use on your website. You have to download Safari in order to see the demo (may be that’s the catch) but I have to admit, as a web developer…this is pretty cool stuff.

The categories available for demo are: Video, Typography, Gallery, Transitions, Audio, 360 and VR.

(from http://www.apple.com/html5/)

It all started when a neurosurgeon watched his 3-year-old daughter pick up and immediately start using an iPod Touch. If a toddler can use this, he thought, surely neurosurgeons can.

So, after months of planning, May 3 marks the first day of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons first paperless annual meeting in Philadelphia this week. Each of the roughly 3,000 medical attendees will receive a free iPod Touch in place of what used to be a 165-page program book and briefcase-size bag.

Perhaps better still, the iPods, each of which comes with a slender, nylon pouch, are theirs to keep, according to AASN Exhibits Manager Ken J. Schott, who replied to my query using a BlackBerry.

Read full story at http://news.cnet.com/8301-27083_3-20004017-247.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Today a upgraded one of my clients DNN site from DNN 5.0.2 to DNN 5.2.3. The reason fro this upgrade was a strange bug on the HTML module that was making characters (á, é, í, ó, ú and other Spanish characters) show up as “?”

Yeah, very weird. So after doing some research and posting the problem under the DNN Forum, it was advise that I upgrade the site.

I first installed a clean DNN 5.2.3 installation and tested to see if the HTML module actually was fixed to handle the issue above. Since everything seem to be working fine, I proceeded with the upgrade.

This are the steps I took to accomplished. (Have some trouble at first so I leaving some breadcrumbs for future users).  These instructions are simply a guide. There are many out there. Please follow careful and don’t scream at me if they don’t work for you. They did for me.

1. PLEASE DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP
   Backup your files/database before upgrading to a new version
2. Download the Upgrade package from DNN website
3. Unzip and copy the contents (Folders and Files) to override your existing DNN application
4. Rename your old “web.config” file to something like “web.config.backup“
5. Rename the “release.config” file to “web.config” file
6. With both files open “web.config” and “web.config.backup” copy from “web.config.backup” the following sections
   • <connectionStrings>
     bla bla bla bla bla
     </connectionStrings>
   • <add key=”SiteSqlServer” value=”Data Source=SERVERIP;Initial Catalog=DBNAME;User ID=USERID;Password=PASSWORD” />
7. Note: I left this setting <add key=”AutoUpgrade” value=”true” /> unchanged. So my login information for Admin and Host was not working until I copied this settings from the “web.config.backup”
   <machineKey validationKey=”bla bla bla bla bla” decryptionKey=”bla bla bla bla bla” decryption=”bla bla bla bla bla” validation=”bla bla bla bla bla” />
8. Finally, simply browse to localhost/DotNetNuke_Community (or whatever you have used for your url) in your web browser. The application will automatically execute the necessary database scripts and provide feedback in the browser

This work fine with me. My skin, content and data remained unchanged. But most importantly…it fixed the “?” issue. I hope it helps someone else out there.

Laptops are all the rage these days, but they’re easily stolen, even from places you think are safe, like work. Even if you just lose a laptop, you probably don’t want anyone to have easy access to all your data just by pressing the power button.

That’s why the first step (definitely not the last, but the first step to protecting your laptop) is to put strong password protection on your user accounts. Most people think this is a pain, but it’s easy to set up and a small price to pay in inconvenience to keep your data safe.

Windows

Go to Control Panel and choose User Accounts.

Choose the Advanced tab.

Check the box that says Require users to press Ctrl-Alt-Delete.

Press OK.

If that’s not how your Windows machine looks, try this from the User Accounts screen:

Click Change the way users log on or off.

Uncheck the welcome screen option.

This forces a user to enter a username and password when they log in.

Now go back to the Control Panel and open Display Options. Click the Screen Saver tab.

Check the option that makes the screen saver ask for a password.

Then press OK.

Finally go back to the Control Panel and this time choose Power Options.

Select the Advanced tab. And make sure you check the box by Prompt for password when the computer resumes from standby.

Press OK.

Mac

Go to System Preferences and choose Security.

Check Disable automatic log-in.

Check Require password to wake this computer from sleep or screen saver.

Now you need to take other action like logging out of accounts, encrypting data, and so on. But you’re on the right track to a safer laptop setup. Just in case.

Orignally posted by Tom Merrit for cnet.com

The kind of technology we adopt says much about the kind of society that we are: what we value, how we talk to each other, and more. This articles brings some light into the subject.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10320382-16.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

A widely endorsed report calls into question the methodologies of studies that show no link between cell phone use and brain tumors. (Credit: L. Lloyd Morgan, et al)

A collaborative of international electromagnetic radiation (EMR) watchdogs, including Powerwatch and the EMR Policy Institute, sent a paper to government leaders and media Tuesday detailing several design flaws in a major but oft-delayed telecom-funded Interphone study.

Now consumers get to wonder yet again whether the message behind the paper, “Cellphones and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons for Concern, Science, Spin and the Truth Behind Interphone,” is legitimate or the result of overzealous conspiracy theorists.

The paper’s main conclusions are: There is a “significant” risk of brain tumors from cell phone use; EMR exposure limits that have been used by governments and supported by industry are based on the false premise that EMR has no biological effects except for heating; and design flaws of the Interphone study including selection bias, insufficient latency time to expect a tumor diagnosis, unrealistic definition of what makes a “regular” cell phone user, exclusion of children and young adults from the study, exclusion of many types of brain tumors, and exclusion of people who had died or were too ill to be interviewed as the result of brain tumors.

Read full article at:  http://news.cnet.com/8301-27083_3-10318075-247.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

A study commissioned by Web security company AVG Technologies and the Chief Marketing Officers Council (CMO) points out an interesting contradiction between people’s concerns and actions regarding security risks on social networking sites.

The summary report says that “while the majority of social networking users are afflicted by web-borne security problems, less than one third are taking actions to protect themselves online.”

Unfortunately, the data provided to the media as of Tuesday afternoon says very little about the study’s methodology, lacks the actual questions asked, and in some cases lacks the actual percentages of responses. It did, however, say that the data is based on “responses from a random sampling of more than 250 consumers.” It was conducted online during second quarter of 2009. The report didn’t specify how they developed a random sampling–a difficult task for Web-based surveys. In addition to the small sample size, it’s not clear how they derived the sample and whether it was truly representative of the population they were studying.

Read full article at http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-10318034-238.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

September 17 will mark the 222nd anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. To celebrate, ParentalRight.org have planned a major push in their campaign to amend the Constitution with the inclusion of fundamental parental rights.

Here is a copy of their email news letter on how to get involved.

——————————————————————————-

We would urge as many of you as possible to begin now to ramp up for our Constitution Week efforts. Parental Rights may seem less pressing, but they are every bit as important as fighting socialism. Here are some things you can do to get ready:

1.   Help with our membership drive (see right). It takes money to continue the kind of efforts we have successfully carried out this summer. By donating just $25 or more, you can become a member and support our ongoing efforts. Encourage all your friends to join as well!

2.   Gear up for the phone call blitz. Yes, we will be calling Senators and Congressmen that week. Invite your friends to join our email network now, so that when the word goes out to start calling, they will be ready to receive it and act!

3.   Take our lobbyist training seminars. We know most of you will be at home that week, but some of you may be coming to Washington, D.C. If so, join us for lobby training on Friday, Sept. 11 and/or for our Capitol Lobbying Day on Wednesday, Sept. 16. We’d be glad to try to get you an appointment with your representatives that afternoon. Just email us!

4.   Join our Get-Out-the-Calls campaign. If you or your organization can, help us encourage your friends to call both houses of Congress. Just as on Election Day it is important not only to vote, but to get your friends to vote, so during Constitution Week it is important not only to call, but to get as many people calling with us as we can! For more info or to volunteer, please email Eric Lansing.

5.   Write to your local paper. Submit Op-Eds or Letters to the Editor that may be run that week.

6.   Contact or call in to local talk shows. Continue to engage national t.v. and radio hosts as well. (A more focused national media campaign of this sort will be coming soon, but for now we want the word to be everywhere, so call who you watch or listen to.)

7.   Post fliers on local bulletin boards or deliver them door-to-door. Let people know the importance of the Amendment and urge them to join in the call campaign.

When we asked you to call before, we shut down the phones at Ambassador Susan Rice’s U.N. office in June. It will take a lot more calls to shut down the Capitol switchboard, but with a few weeks’ notice, maybe we can do that as well!

Our Constitution is beset on every side. Let’s celebrate Constitution Week this year by letting Congress know we still value our founding document, and we want to preserve it as the vital protector of rights that it has been since 1787!

Read full article here http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Spyware-Manually-%28Windows%29

Of course you’re not personally responsible for bringing down Twitter, but if your computer isn’t equipped with up-to-date anti-malware software and the latest version of your operating system, you could unwittingly be part of the problem.

Twitter has confirmed that its outage Thursday morning and subsequent intermittent problems was due to an “ongoing denial of service attack.” Facebook also “encountered network issues related to an apparent distributed denial of service attack, that resulted in degraded service for some users,” according to a company spokesperson.

Read full story at http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-10304823-238.html