Enterprise Software Directory - Best of the Web

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If someone you don’t know from Facebook sends you a “crush” don’t download anything.

Tel Aviv-based software producer, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. says  “secret crush” software lurking within the social networking site has been sending adware to members without their knowing about it.

Facebook allows members to contact one another by sending out messages, called crushes. But some users have been asked to download an application after opening the message and that’s where the problem lies. Users have been fooled into opening the adware and installing it on their computers because Facebook allows plugins on the site. If this happens to you, just say no.

Source [Market Watch]

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
1 Comment »

 Information Week runs them down.

• WSO2, Oxygen for web services.
• Medsphere Vs. Shreeve: Open source gone awry.
• Apache Tomcat takes the lead.
• Spring takes hold.
• Acacia subsidiary sues Linux distributor.
• Citrix (NSDQ: CTXS) buys XenSource for $500 million.
• Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) negotiates Linux vendor deals.
• GPLv3 comes out.
• SCO rebuffed in claims its intellectual property was given to Linux.
• Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) claims Linux infringes its patents.

There has been a great deal of wheeling and dealing going on in this sector with some big money exchanging hands, but it is the involvement of the largest commercial software company in the world, Microsoft, that has really set the media wires alight. And rightly so.

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
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The Enigma Software Group Inc, has released the newest version of SpyHunter 3.0, which has the following capabilities:

• Removes spyware, adware, keyloggers, cookies, spyware registry keys, toolbars, internal popup programs, memory resident spyware.
• Database of more than 47,000 spyware and adware files.
• Free updates for new spyware parasites.
• Fastest scanner on the marketplace (timed vs other products)
• Rollback Capabilities, to undo the spyware you removed.
• Easy to use interface.

The new release is priced at around $26

Source [WWPI]

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
2 Comments »

Remembering your login information, especially if you frequent a number of websites, can be tricky. Here are some applications that can help. They all store your passwords and they also protect them from key-logging spyware, phishing and other scams.

• Revelation2.0 will find out your password for you, this clever application is free.

• Password Revealer, this is free to try, but will eventually cost you around $20.

• Deskperience 1.3 costs around $15.

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
No Comments »

Software piracy is so prevalent these days that it may even be creeping into schools–with or without the knowledge of teachers and school administrators. Dr. Steve Yuen provides some strategies schools should pursue to discourage software piracy:

• Education, education, and education. Provide copyright workshops and classes for administrators, teachers, parents, and students so they understand the copyright law as applies to software and consequence of illegal use of software. Hopefully, this will develop a sense of ethical responsibility for everyone in schools.
• Establish a clear software policy and make the policy known to administrators, teachers, parents, and students.
• Develop a software code of ethics. Students and all school personnel must fully aware of the software policy. They must sign and agree to abide by the policy.
• Appoint a software manager or a committee for keeping records on purchase and software use.
• Install system protection software that prevents system modification and software installation on school computers.
• Keep a software log. The log should include records of a program’s date of purchase, license agreement, user, and machine ID.
• Perform regular audits. Compare the software installed on a machine against purchasing records.

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
No Comments »

This new Trojan is very sneaky. It works around Google, replacing the company’s AdSense text ads with other ads from a potentially malicious provider.

The trojan hurts readers as well as web publishers. The former are exposed to malware, while the latter lose revenue from their sites. Google issued an email in which the company declared that it is taking the threat seriously, removing accounts manually and utilizing automated processes.

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
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New to the marketplace is a great little package that offers the user some really great benefits. Avidemux has many of the features as you would expect from a “bought” package, but with the added bonus of being able to try it out to see if it suits your own style of work. The great thing about free software is that if it’s not suitable, or you just don’t like it, you have only lost a bit of time.

Avidemux features:

• New iPod Profile
• New Glyph Editor
• OCR support for TS Subtitles
• Support for Nellymoser Codec
• Support for writing MKV and FLV files
• JACK support for Linux
• DirectX Support (Win 32)
• Jog Shuttle control (GTK+)
• Supports file types, AVI, MPEG/VOB/TS, MP4, ASF, OGM, MKV and FLV.
• Supports Video and Audio formats, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 ASP, H.264/AVC, DV, HuffYUV, MP3, AAC, AC-3 and Vorbis.

This is great a package at a great price.

Source [Softzilla]

Tags: Bits & Bytes, Enterprise Software by david
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Ever wished for the old version of software you’ve upgraded? Try Oldversion.com, which archives downloadable previous versions of software.

Source [Chris Pirillo]

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
No Comments »

Manhunt 2, the game at the center of a censorship war, is once again the center of attention as hackers have managed to unlock some extra scenes that show some serious violence.

The game’s publisher had locked the scenes to upgrade Manhunt 2’s rating from “Adults Only”–which games stores refuse to stock–to a “Mature” rating.

In Manhunt 2, the player takes on the role of a lunatic who has escaped from the asylum and begins a long and violent killing spree.Common Sense Media, a non-profit organization based in San Francisco, has asked the Federal Trade Commission to have a look into the ratings process, which is funded by the games industry. Manhunt 2, the original and the revised edition are both banned in the UK, but Rockstar, the game’s developer, is appealing that ban.

Source [AP]

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
No Comments »

You don’t need a lawyer to write a will anymore, thanks to online services such as LegalZoom.

For $70 and the time it takes you to fill out a questionnaire, LegalZoom will produce a will within a week. Beats the $800-$1,000 a lawyer would charge you for estate planning.

Other options include Quicken WillMaker Plus , which you can download online or get on CD, and Living Trusts on the Web.

A recent poll found that only around 50 per cent of people earning over $75,000 per year have a will.

Source [The Ledger]

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
No Comments »

Well not exactly, but the company will be announcing the new operating system for the Google phone. We don’t know the exact details of the phone but it will definitely have easy access toGoogle products such as maps, YouTube and gmail. What else they will be adding is going to be a surprise .

Google has been looking to the far eastern electronics sector  to find a suitable manufacturer for its branded phone, these include HTC of Taiwan and the Korean based LG Electronics. There seems to be the possibility that the mobile operating system is going to be open, which will allow outside software developers to produce their own applications.

It is anticipated that the Google phone will be available by June 2008.
Source [Tech Tree]

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
1 Comment »

A new piece of software that should make it easier to swap media files is being developed by the Swedish outfit, Pirate Bay, the largest ad-supported website in the world that uses Bit Torrent software. Bit torrent software makes it easy for people to search for free downloads, anything from Xbox games to the latest movies. Bit Torrent, which wishes to align itself with media corporations who are trying to clamp down on file sharing has been looking for ways to prevent the transfers.Pirate Bay says its new software will be ready early in 2008, so then the fun and games will begin.

Source [Reuters]

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
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ViaSpace has been awarded a contract to develop suicide bomb recognition software. The software will be able to detect suicide bombers by detecting the bomb itself, rather than rely on face-recognition technology.

Obviously the company will not be able to divulge anything about the software or how it will be applied, but it is believed that it the software will interface with high speed interference engines and detect an explosive device no matter how it is being delivered.

Source [CNN]

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
2 Comments »

Imagine that you’re on vacation having a great time when you decide to have a go on the slot machines in the local casino, after a few minutes you strike it lucky and win enough money to make your retirement very happy indeed; this would be the greatest day of your life, yes?

Well, maybe not if you were playing the slots at the Sandia Resort and Casino in New Mexico.

Gary Hoffman from Albuquerque was enjoying his retirement with a well-earned break at the resort when he decided to have a go on the slots. After a while his luck was in, he had won nearly $1.6 million, how great is that? Naturally he wanted to celebrate, after all being retired and winning that amount of cash, frankly he would be set up for the rest of his life.

But his celebrations were too premature as he was shocked to find out that he was not the winner of $1.6 million, in fact he had won nothing at all, why? It was a software error. Naturally you would want to sue, unfortunately for him the casino is owned by a North American tribe, and as such cannot be sued in the State of New Mexico, if it is just a dispute over contracts, just typical!

Source [Software Integrity]

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
3 Comments »

The first half of this year saw terrific sales in software, but not just any old software, illegal software.

The Business Softwar Alliance says it prevented more than 36,000 illegal software products from being sold on a select number of online auction sites in the first six months of 2007. But this is just the tip of the iceberg, says a BSA spokesman.

If you buy counterfeit software from these sources, you risk infecting your computers with trojans, spyware and viruses. The BSA estimates that about 50 percent of such software is infected.As the old saw has it: If something looks far too good to be true,  it probably is. With the amount of threats out there on the net, it’s not a good idea to give these people a helping hand by installing it directly onto your computer. Buy your software from a reputable source.

Source [Computing]

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
4 Comments »

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has announced it will take its case against the Pirate Bay to the World Intellectual Property Organisation in order to get back the ifpo.com domain. Last week the domain, which the recording industry group hadn’t used since March, was taken over by Pirate Bay, the world most prevalent Bit Torrent tracker.

WIPO introduced new dispute resolution procedures in 2002 to account for cybersquatting. The procedure involves a review by WIPO-appointed, independent panelists in order to enforce ICANN’s Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy. If the panel decides that the domain was acquired or used in bad faith, then it can order the domain to be transferred to the party that registered the complaint. (For curious readers, a number of past cases and related decisions can be found on WIPO’s website.)

Given WIPO and ICANN’s definition of “bad faith”—which says that the domain cannot be used to cause confusion with the “Complainant’s mark”—there’s a decent chance of The Pirate Bay eventually losing control of the domain. But if Pirate Bay can fight back and prove somehow that it has no commercial interests or intent to confuse visitors with the “real” IFPI site, it might have a chance at succeeding.

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
2 Comments »

CEO Chris DeWolfe made the announcement yesterday.

“We are going to create a sandbox for two million beta users and our developers,” DeWolfe said. “The idea there is to make sure the applications are safe and secure and pass a certain level of value to get on the site. We expect the majority of these applications will make it onto MySpace.”

Within the next few weeks it will develop a catalogue of all the widgets that developers already have built on MySpace, he added. Up until now, widgets developed for MySpace have directed users back to the site of the developer who built them. Going forward, MySpace will provide a control page for developers to “essentially own, DeWolfe added.

Tags: Bits & Bytes by Rachel Sawyer
2 Comments »

Now you would be forgiven in thinking that all producers of software would think their software is the coolest. But when a big name puts this title on a site, people notice.

Launched on Monday, the Cool Software site looks a lot like Digg, the social networking site for news. As with Digg, users vote for their favorite software, which is great because other users can see at a glance which products are getting top marks. This will save potential buyers time and trouble.

Source [Bizmology]

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
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There has been some serious concerns regarding how much power software uses, obviously the software itself does not use power, but how the software affects the smooth running of the machine is important, especially when a machine is on 24/7/365, like those in data centres for example.

Data centres have been flagged before about how much power they use and as more come on line, use more powerful equipment, so the power usage increases too. Yet companies like eBay and Google are ever expanding their real world presence, this means larger buildings and more computers.

It makes no difference how the energy is produced, the power usage increases year by year, and this is of serious concern to many people. However could software hold the key to reducing the power used by these companies? Yes it can and there is work in the pipeline that could produce a greener software that helps the machines that run it, it should therefore reduce the power used by computers and in particular the huge data centres that will just keep growing and popping up everywhere and anywhere that they are going to be needed.

It has been said that the green software dream is just that a dream and not a reality, we shall have to wait and see what is just around the corner.

Source [Reg Developer]

Tags: Bits & Bytes, Technology Trends by david
3 Comments »

Sending a sms while driving has different consequences according to where you are driving at the time, but one thing is for sure it has to be more dangerous than making a call or anything else. For some people writing a message is hard enough without having to concentrate on driving and what is going on all around you. This is why if a driver is caught texting the penalty can be severe.

But as one door closes another door opens, and this new door is being created by a new partnership between software giant Microsoft and voice recognition specialists Nuance. They have been working on a great new idea that if successful could change the outlook on sending a sms while being on the road.

Using voice recognition the software translates the driver’s voice into text, we have seen this working on Vista, but hopefully this works better than that! More than sms, the software is said to be able to even write an email, so this does look very promising.

Ford is the first car maker to make this available in their models in the States which should be happening around the early part of next year.

This is a great feature and will help people get around the actual holding of the phone, but they do say it is the distraction that is the problem and not the action, so this may not be the end of this.

Source [Tech]

Tags: Bits & Bytes, Microsoft by david
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Software projects that are commissioned by the UK government have not had a very press, and rightly so. They have either not worked properly, went seriously over budget or in some case both! Which is why whenever a government department declares that they are going to bring in some new software to do a certain job, everyone expects it to fail or mess up and frequently it does. Yet the UK government spends more on software than any other country in Europe, over $12 billion per year.

So imaging that if the UK government or any other government come to think of it, decided to scrape their software plans, tore up the contracts and went open source! Everything would be so different, the government would save billions which could be spent on other more worthwhile projects and any problems could be easily and speedily sorted by the original coders or if they were not available someone new to the project. What a great experience that would be for a young up and coming programmer.

The fact is the government are already aware of the open source, because it was mentioned in a report some time ago as a viable alternative to paying for software, especially when it does not do the job. Its one thing paying over the top for something, but when it doesn’t work, well that just pushes the boundaries.

Source [New Statesman]

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
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The software industry in China has turned over almost $48 billion in the past eight months, a massive 22.9 per cent increase from last year.

China has rapidly become the market that major manufacturers want to enter–not only because of the huge population of new consumers–but also because the rates of pay are low compared to those in Europe and the States. This helps keeps  production costs low.

Yet the software industry is still lagging behind the international market. China’s market share for software development is still only around6 per cent of the global market, probably because it’s new business-oriented culture hasn’t filtered to all areas of the nation. However, the workforce is gaining experience very fast.  And workers are getting a taste for earning good money, which will only increase the skills market and enable companies to invest here more and more in the future.

Source [Hindu]

Tags: Bits & Bytes, Human Resources by david
2 Comments »

Computer maker Acer lost a court case in France brought by a man who boughtan Acer laptop loaded with Microsoft Windows XP and other software, including  Microsoft works, power DVD and Norton.

Antoine Gutzwiller said he wanted the 600 euro Acer laptop only, not the OS or the other software loaded into the machine.  But Acer had no laptops clear of software. Further, the company charged Gutzwiller for the software bundle he didn’t want.

The court found in Gutzwiller’s favour, and ordered Acer to refund to him the full cost of the software, which the court worked out at EUR311.85. So the EUR600 laptop end up costing less than EUR300. Not a bad deal.

Source [Channel Register]

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
1 Comment »

Adobe, famous for Photoshop and PDF, will launch a new Technical Communication Suite being aimed at the technical writing sector. The suite will enable technical writers to improve their skills and the way that they work when creating technical documents.

The suite will allow users how to add media to documents. The suite supports Adobe Flash Player-compatible video, SWF, MP3 and AVI files as well as Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format), XML and Darwin Information Typing Architecture.

Users can choose among three suites:

1. Captivate 3, can be used to produce software simulations
2. Acrobat 3D version 8, can make brilliant 3 D type documents without CAD software
3. Framemaker 8, which is an authoring tool, can be used to produce drawings and complex images

It’s a very good kit for a somewhat limited user base.

Source [PC Mag]

Tags: Bits & Bytes, Technology Trends by david
No Comments »

You can buy anything on eBay these days, including all the tools you need to hack into virtually any website. These tools can include Trojans, keyloggers, and even step-by-step guides on how to hack sites and collect personal information.

And these items are sold cheap and sometimes given away.

It doesn’t take a great deal of technical knowledge to activate and use this software which means that whoever manages to get hold of it can effectively become a hacker overnight,. Imagine the chaos that could be let loose by thousands of perpetually disgruntled people turned into hackers instantly.

eBay says that, although it is difficult to police the site, the ads were taken down soon after the company found out about it.

Source [PC World]

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
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It may not have been out all that long but it looks like Apple is preparing yet another software update for the iPhone.

Naturally there are going to some issues with a new product, especially something as sophisticated as the iPhone, so nobody should be alarmed or even surprised. In fact, there would probably be even more to worry about if there were no updates at all.

This will be the third update, and is presumed to have something to do with the wi fi and the iTunes music store, no real technical reason has been issued and probably never will  either.

Problems with hacks and unlocking software have been publicized over the past couple of months, but when the 1.1.1. update takes place these are supposed to be attacked and rendered useless, which will put all the unlocking software to the test.

Source [iPhonic]

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
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The market is full of applications that can convert your documents into PDF files and there are even some that are free to use, which naturally we like! But working it the other way, converting PDF files into a DOC file, well that is just a different matter.

But there is a neat piece of software that will do just that and in fact it will also create a RTF file too if you really wanted to.

You can choose to either convert the entire PDF file or just the relevant section, which could be really useful especially as some PDF files are quite lengthy and contain many images etc, so you can change the conversion to text only.

The great thing about this piece of software is that it comes as a free version, which will enable you to convert a couple of pages at a time. But there is a full version that will allow unlimited conversions and full features.

As with many of these applications, the set up and usage is very simple so it is possible to get started straight away, instead of hunting around looking to find specific features. By the way the document conversation can take as much a ten seconds a page so it is well worth using selective text options.

Source [Tech Tree]

Tags: Bits & Bytes by david
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The great thing about the iPod and iTunes is the ease of use, anyone can download their own unique collection of tracks and movies, even both whatever you want to your PC and then simply synchronise this with your iPod, nothing could have been simpler. Even for those who love to use a Linux based operating system could do this by using some specially developed software, everyone was happy. But it appears that the guys over at Apple were not happy and so have done something about it.

Apple has simply locked down the database files on the latest batch of iPods, the nano, classic and touch. What this means is that at the moment it is impossible to transfer any data between an iPod and a Linux OS on your computer, which is pretty disappointing, this means either changing the operating system or going with the music on your iPod, not much of choice in any circumstances. The reason for this could be that Apple want to see their users having a complete Apple system, hardware and software or it could be down to security, whatever the reason there will be some disappointed people out there.

No doubt though that somebody, somewhere in the world is working on a piece of software that will do the job, and maybe it will just work!

Source [Download Squad]

Tags: Bits & Bytes, Technology Trends by david
1 Comment »

Eli El, 40 of Blue Island, Illinois has become the 12th person to be sent to jail under the Operation known as Safehaven, he was given thirty months prison and a three year supervision order, for participating in an organized online software distribution business.

He had pleaded guilty to just one offence, that of participating in the distribution of around 20,000 pieces of copyrighted material, through online communities. It was the underground community Warez that was the main vehicle for the operation, which is an online community of groups as well as individuals.

The purpose of using the community was to make available copyrighted software, as well as video games, DVD’s and music files before they were actually available in the stores both online and in retail stores.

Other members of the organised group worked as distributors, and worked on the actual software itself by getting through the many copyright protections that are now on place, once this had been done it was just a matter of copying and selling on to their customers.

Operation Safehaven as been ongoing for nearly fifteen months and is being run by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the ICE Cyber crime Center.

Source [Web Services]

Tags: Bits & Bytes, Technology Trends by david
No Comments »

Yeah right, would normally be the response to a heading like that, but times are changing and it is probably all down to Google who have been offering a suite of software for some time now. So in order for Microsoft and as it happens all the other software players, they need to offer something and it would appear that this is what Microsoft are doing.

The corner stone of this software giveaway would appear to be photo sharing, email programme and some software, which is supposed to help people who keep web logs.

Yet it was only last month or so, it was Google who introduced a product called Star Office, so Windows live as Microsoft calls it.

At the end of the day the products that Goggle, Microsoft and anyone else offers for free ok, but the software is going to be available else ware for free too, so these companies who have made so much money out of us over the years are not really giving anything away, because there are plenty of open source applications out that are just as good.

Granted that these products may have bugs etc, but what software doesn’t?

Source [Big Mouth Media]

Tags: Bits & Bytes, Microsoft by david
1 Comment »

The children of today have so much technology available to them that learning is easier than ever before. As a parent, you should consider buying educational software for your children. This is a great way for them to get on the right learning path from an early age. And as you probably know, an early start is very important when it comes to success at a later date. [Read more →]

Tags: Bits & Bytes by chris
2 Comments »

This has been going around for some time, in fact the camps are so divided that it is risky even talking about it, but this software does appear to do the job and unlock to iPhone enabling the user to make use of all of the wonderful features the iPhone has, all SIM free.

Now there is some video evidence that back up the claims that this software can do exactly what it says on the box, and if you are impressed with it, you could sign up and be a reseller for the product.

How does it work? You take the iPhone down to your local dealer, where they will load up your phone directly. The success depends on whether or not the IMEI can be unlocked; if so then the process will start and within a few minutes the phone is unlocked. It’s a pretty simple and painless operation, which virtually anyone can see through to the end without any further assistance.

As soon as the software starts to run, a disclaimer window pops up, after you have clicked ok and then clicked onto the Unlock Apple Icon then your almost done, there will be some cleaning up, but sure enough within a few minutes and that will be it.

Naturally there may be a few teething problems, but should any errors turn up, these can be easily got around by doing a phone restore, this will not have any effect on the downloaded software, enjoy!

Source [Gizmodo]

Tags: Bits & Bytes, Technology Trends by david
No Comments »

Did you recently install new software on your computer? Is it giving you a hard time? If so, you are not alone. Generally speaking, there are two ways that software can make things hard on you. First off, you can have a difficult time learning how to use the software; which is quite common to say the least. On top of this, you may have done something wrong during the installation process. If this is the case, dealing with the problem may be a bit more extensive. [Read more →]

Tags: Bits & Bytes by chris
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There are some rather strange concepts around on the subject of the humble but very serious computer virus and its cousin the malware applications.

Some say rather cynically that a world without the threat of viruses would be fantastic for all the computer users out there, but on the flip side of the coin, would be a disaster for all of those lovely software firms who make so much money from the sale of products and service which are supposed to keep our computers safe from the threat.

In fact there is software on sale which contradict each other, for instance you can get tools which will slow your machine or system down, but turn the page on the company catalogue there is software that can speed you machine up, these are just an example.

The problem with this, mirrors the problems in the world today, if the US opened up the borders they would be letting in all sorts of undesirables, the same applies to our computers, we would all like to think that there is good in everyone, but this is just not the case. If you have money taken out of your bank account, it hurts and it hurts when your machine is infected, it’s a violation and there are few people who wouldn’t pay to keep their property safe.

Source [Chris Pirillo]