Tech Talk RealAudio Archives July 2001

Sponsored by Stratford University Saturdays at Noon EST on WMAL NewsTalk Radio Turn the dial to AM630 or listen on the Internet at ListenLive It's everything you always wanted to know about computers and information technology, but were afraid to ask.

David Burd and Dr. Richard Shurtz, President of Stratford University, host Tech Talk, a program about computers and information technology.      Links to selected programs are below. All programs are archived in RealAudio format. Just click on the RealAudio link below the date to listen. Older shows are archives as transcript summaries. You can listen live over the Internet by clicking ListenLive during show time. July 28, 2001 show July 21, 2001 show July 14, 2001 show July 7, 2001 show

Show

Selected Topics

July 28, 2001 RealAudio 0:47hr Not archived top

Tauzin-Dingell Internet Access Bill (HR1542) Discussed previously on June 16th. Topic reviewed again by popular demand.. Selected Corporate and Organization positions Favored by Baby Bells -- Verizon, SBC Communications, BellSouth, Qwest (Connect USA) Opposed by AT&T, Worldcom, Cable Companies, DSL Providers, Internet Service Providers (Voices for Choices) Opposed by Internet Society (Press Release) Opposed by Tech Talk Removes restrictions that encourage competition with other DSL providers like Covad. Allows Baby Bells to end run the restrictions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 using the Internet access excuse. While it may speed the introduction of DSL in the short run, it stifles price competition in the long run. This telecom law shakeup was made possible by the retirement of Thomas Bliley, chairman of the House Commerce Committee. Checkout the political money trail Viruses and Hackers Stratford Website Hacked last week Site down Wednesday morning with the front page devoted to the hacker's message. ValueWeb security breach. Back online now with improved firewalls and patches installed Hacker was very considerate.  No files deleted. W32/SirCam@MM Worm Takes US by storm Discussed last week The intensity of the attack was reviewed this week High Risk Worm that send random files to address book entries. Deletes all files after October 16, 2001 if date is in European format. Fix contained in the latest virus scan dat files. Not an epidemic because corporate virus scanners are in place. Status of Richard’s Computer Project Project has been discussed on two previous shows Look for project summary here and for parts list here. Hardware Assembly Parts arrived from Mwave Direct Richard assembled the computer hardware in less than an hour Bad floppy drive cable and missing sound card cable were the only problems Software Installation Installation on Windows98, Second Edition, took about an hour Installation of MS Office to about 30 minutes Installation games, games, and more games took three hours. Richard's performance report (CPU temperature, game performance, system crashes) How to Avoid Spam E-mail Based on a CNET study using 12 new e-mail accounts Riskiest risk behaviors (Message boards, AOL chat rooms, online lottery) Medium risk behaviors (Registering new domain, e-mail on own website) Lowest risk behaviors (Online shopping, Free e-mail accounts, Software registration, e-mail newsletters, product registration) AOL News AOL taking advantage of Microsoft’s legal weakness AOL offers $35 to gain use of the desktop Hope to stave off reduction in the number of Internet users Dell PC News PC Box makers are barely making any money Dell is faring the best because of lower production costs Dell planning to move into build-to-order switch, storage, and LAN marketplace. Cisco lookout.  Routers and switches are becoming a commodity and prices will drop Many Questions Including a few from Victoria Jones, about printers and monitors Link to address Victoria's paper jam problem with HP LaserJet II Stratford News Dr. Fred Ricci, Dean of the Graduate School Stratford Master’s Programs and the Wireless Conference in France Wireless Telecommunications Entrepreneurial Business Enterprise Management Management If interested in the Master Degree, please e-mail masters@stratford.edu Master Degree Seminar Wednesday, August 8th from 11AM-1PM and from 4-6PM. Next Start, August 6th, 2001 Next Open House Open House, Tuesday, August 21th Dueling Seminar between Cindy Williams, Hospitality The IT Department

July 21, 2001 RealAudio 0:40hr Not archived top

Association of IT Professionals, Washington DC Chapter AITP is an excellent organization for networking within the IT industry Current AITP Website Future AITP Website (not fully functional) Dick Davies is chapter president Lisa Travis, a Stratford Networking student, arranged for the presentation by RRS. Bugs and Vulnerabilities W32/SirCam@MM Symantec Virus Alert McAfee Virus Alert High Risk Worm The e-mail message can appear as follows: Subject: [filename (random)] Body: " Hi! How are you?" "I send you this file in order to have your advice" or "I hope you can help me with this file that I send" or "I hope you like the file that I sendo you" or "This is the file with the information that you ask for." The virus searches for .GIF, .JPG, .JPEG, .MPEG, .MOV, .MPG, .PDF, .PNG, .PS, and .ZIP files in the MY DOCUMENTS folder and attempts to send copies of these documents to e-mail recipients found in the Windows Address Book and addresses found in cached files. When run, the document will be saved to the C:\RECYCLED folder and then opened while the virus copies itself to C:\RECYCLED\SirC32.exe folder to conceal its presence and creates a registry key value to load itself whenever .EXE files are executed. Fix contained in the latest virus scan dat files. IDA Code Red Worm (NIPC Advisory 01-015) Large-scale victimized web servers scanning for Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) vulnerabilities. Upon successful infection, the worm will proceed to use the time thread and connect to the www.whitehouse.gov domain. This attack consists of the infected systems simultaneously sending 100 connections to port 80 of www.whitehouse.gov ( 198.137.240.91). Continuing Threats to Home Users (CERT Advisory CA-2001-20) Worms continue to propagate for DDOS attacks Advisory provides directions for protecting your home system. DefCon Hacker Convention DefCon Nine was held July 13th through 15th, in Las Vegas, Nevada DefCon is an annual computer underground party for hackers held in Las Vegas, Nevada. It has been held every summer for the past eight years.  Over those years it has grown in size, and attracted people from all over the planet Last year over 4,200 people showed up.  This years theme: “By 2002, 19 million people will have the skills to mount a cyber attack” Selected DefCon Speakers and Topics “Attacking control, routing, and tunneling protocols” by FX “Grabbing User Credentials via W2k ODBC Libraries” by Thor “TCP/IP Intelligent Agents: The Future of Electronic Warfare and Defense” by Mark Grimes “Writing BackDoors” by ph0tek “A Perl script that tracks Denial of Service attacks across Cisco backbones” by Raven Alder “Securing Cisco Routers” by Robert Muncy “Designing Small Payloads for Buffer Overloads” by Andes Ingerborn “Gateway Cryptography:  Hacking Impossible Tunnels Through Improbable Networks” by Dan Kaminsky "eBooks security – Theory and Practice" by Dmitry Sklyarov Russian Hacker Arrested Leaving DefCon Dimitri Sklyarov arrested by FBI while checking out of hotel Dimitri presented session on “eBook Security: Theory and Practice” Wrote “Advanced eBook Processor Program Cracks the Adobe eBook security New FBI tactics to lure hackers to US to attend meetings and conferences Status of Richard’s Computer Building Project Parts have been order and should be in by Tuesday Everything has been posted to the web BzBoyz.com has bad reviews --- look, but don’t buy! We will report on our success with Mwave.com Bought a great sound card from TigerDirect for only shipping cost. Stratford News State Commission of Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) approved three Masters Degrees for Stratford Wireless Telecommunications Entrepreneurial Business Enterprise Management Management Approved the name change from Stratford University to Stratford University Awaiting receipt of the paper work before posting to the web. Next Start, August 6th, 2001 Next Open House, Tuesday, August 21st Alumni Association Picnic is Saturday, July 21st Dennis Wenk, Alumni Association President, discussed the event Graduates can join Alumni Association by e-mailing Dennis.

July 14, 2001 RealAudio 0:43hr Not archived top

Internet2 Report (A Look into the Future) Internet2 Website High speed network connecting 185 universities, launched in 1996 Uses two fiber optic backbones MCIWorldCom’s Very-High Performance Bandwidth Network (vBNS) Abilene, a 10,000 backbone build specifically for Internet2 Minimum connection speed is 155MBps Currently has 3 million users (compared to several hundred million on the public Net) Testing Ipv6 with its Quality of Service and next generation of routers (Cisco). Selected Internet2 Projects Realtime weather maps Gemini Observatory NanoManipulator National tele-Immersion Initiative Remote surgical procedures Microsoft News Microsoft agrees to let competitive products on the desktop, as a concession to the antitrust lawsuit. New Mexico Drop Out of Microsoft suit Government seeks to speed Microsoft case to get judgment prior to release Windows XP Napster News US District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel demanded 100% compliance with prior rulings before Napster can resume service. Napster has been down since July 2 and there is no date set for its return The day after the ruling, Napster settles suit with Metallica and Dr. Dre. The outlook is bleak for Napster, as other companies move into the audio arena. Internet Audio Format Battle Heats Up Microsoft aligns with Pressplay’s online music subscription service Pressplay will use Windows Media Technology Pressplay is a joint venture between Vivendi Universal and Universal Music Group and Sony AOL Time Warner backs MusicNet Music Net is owned by Bertelsmann’s BMG Entertainment and EMI Recorded Music MusicNet is aligned with RealNetworks and Napster Dual standards will divide music industry and that is not good for the consumer. Miscellaneous Topics for Discussion A Bold New Economy Deserves Bold New Recession Another Editorial from SatireWire Intel AMD Price War Good for Consumers But bad for the bottom line Advertising Click Through Rates Plummeting Advertising Trying to convert to other measures AMD Athlon Over Clocking Pros and Cons You must connect the L1 Bridges to permit over clocking Secret Codes on AMD Chips AXIA, AVIA, AYHJA Codes indicate chip quality and over clock potential 1.2 MHz chips can be pushed as high as 1.53 MHz 1.4 MHz chips can be pushed as high as 1.7MHz AMD caters to the over clockers underworld Get a big heat sink and fan. Monitor temperature with sensor. Forget about the warranty AthlonOC or OverClockerZStore are two of many overclocking website. Evaluate processor speed results with WCPUID Shareware program (Download from Zdnet) Building Your Own Computer Select you CPU Select your Form Factor (ATX, or microATX) Select your Memory type and then your motherboard Motherboard Combos are a great way for the beginner to get started MultiWave Direct www.BzBoyz.com (look at this site, but don't buy. Bad reviews) Motherboard Ratings Motherboards.org for excellent reviews TomsHardware Guide for excellent advice Other sites we use on occasion Tiger Direct for some great sale items MegaHaus for Hard Drives Use Google to search the web for specific components Consolidate orders to minimize shipping and handling Building a computer will not necessarily save money. It will give you valuable knowledge. Parts for Richard’s Computer Project Mid-Tower Case ATX Form Factor, 300W Power Supply Four 5.25” External Bays, One 3.5” External Bay, Two 3.5” Internal Bays Price: $17.00 from computer show Motherboard Combo MSI K7T Turbo Motherboard (Heat Sink/Fan for CPU Included) AMD Athlon Thunderbird CPU (1000MHz with 266MHz Front Side Bus) Kingston 256MB PC133 SDRAM Combo Price, including assembly and test: $244.00 from MWave Direct Drives Mitsumi FX4820T 48X EIDE Internal CDROM ($36.00 from MWave Direct) Mitsumi 1.44MB Floppy Drive ($14.50 MWave.com) Quantum 30GB Ultra ATA66-100 7200RPM Hard Drive ($119.00 from MWave Direct) Video and Sound Cards ATI Rage Fury Pro (32 MB RAM, Video input ports) AGP Video Card ($89.00 from Best Buy) Creative Labs CT-5808 128-Voice 3D PCI Sound Card (Free with rebate from TigerDirect) Cables 18" IDE Ultra ATA66/100 Data Cable For Hard Drive ($5.00 from MWave Direct) 24" IDE Data Cable for CD ($2.00 from MWave Direct) 18” Data Cable for Floppy Drive ($2.00 from MWave Direct) Shipping and Handling ($19.34 from MWave.com) Items Richard is using from current computer PCI Network Interface Card Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, Power Cord Stratford University News Open House with Dueling Seminars The Deuling Seminar Contestants Craig Scheuerman, Chef Instructor in Culinary Arts Program Cindy Williams, Hotel and Event Management Program Coordinator Conspiring to win the Dueling Seminar Contest with Dr. RRS Open House this Tuesday, July 17th 6:30 to 8:30PM 800-444-0804 for reservations Next Class Start August 6, 2001 Woodbridge and Falls Church locations Make an appointment to visit the school

July 7, 2001 RealAudio 0:45hr Not archived top

Inventor of the World Wide Web and First Browser (Nexus) Tim Berners-Lee, programmer Began in 1980 while Tim was doing a six-month stint as software engineer at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland Tim Berners-Lee devised a piece of software called Enquire, short for Enquire Within Upon Everything, a Victorian-era encyclopedia Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau created the first browser using a NeXT Computer in 1990 Released first version of text browser to the world in 1991 Browser was first called WorldWideWeb, but later renamed Nexus Berners-Lee moved to MIT and founded the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in October 1994 W3C promotes universal access, semantic web, web of trust Selected W3C formalized standards and recommendations HyperText Markup Language -- HTML Cascading Style Sheets -- CSS Extensible Markup Language -- XML Document Object Model -- DOM Synchronized MultiMedia Integration Language -- SMIL Accessibility Standards Inventor of Graphical Browser (Mosaic) Mark Andreessen and Eric Bina Part-time programmers at National Center of Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at University of Illinois Development of Graphical Browser began June 1993 First Beta Release September 1993 Version 1 Final Release November 1993 Ultimately licensed to Spyglass for commercial release The First Commercial Browser (Netscape Navigator) Company formed mid-1994 Netscape founded by James Clark (founder of Silicon Graphics) and Mark Andreessen Initially called Mosaic Communications Changed to Netscape Communications to avoid litigation with University of Illinois Version 1, Final Release December 1994 The Second Commercial Browser (Internet Explorer) Version 1 Final Release, August 1995 MS was playing catch-up with Netscape Internet Explorer is now number one with 85% of the browser market Opera, The Third Commercial Browser (Opera) Hakon Wium Lie, Chief Opera Technologist and developer of Cascading Style Sheets for formatting web pages Version 2.1, First Commercial Release, in 1996 Features of current Version 4.0 Fastest web browser available Available on multiple platforms (BeOS, EPOC, Linux/Solaris, Mac, OS/2, Windows) Strict compliance with W3C standards Excellent accessibility features including Style Controls and Keyboard Shortcuts Free (with Advertising) or $39 without ads. World Wide Winner of Awards Microsoft News Microsoft Faces Tougher Battle in Europe Antitrust Rulings by European Commission XP and .Net Vulnerable in Wake of Ruling Linux Developer Writing Open Source Version of .Net Ximian, developer of Gnome, the Windows interface for Linux Microsoft Cracks Down on Sharing Windows XP Home users will not be able to make a second copy of software Each one is registered and tagged over the web Items of Interest Google Zeitgeist – Search Patterns, Trends, and Surprises according to Google Oracle looks to India for programmers Plans to invest $50M within 12 to 18 months No downturn in India OS X boost Apples’ security focus OS X vulnerabilities are surfaces all over the web Same flaws as FreeBSD, the Unix flavor upon which it is based Women Taking Over the Web As Top Surfers In Asia 36% are women In US and Canada, slightly more than 50% are women In Australia, 48% are women Computer Services Only Sweet Spot in IT Job Report Overall 114, 000 jobs lost in June 4.5 unemployment rate Services up 18,000 jobs or 0.5% IBM to spend $1 Billion on Linux in 2001 A major effort to support open source software and undermine MS position IBM says that MS is arrogant about open source, especially when it comes to Internet standards and .Net Stratford News Next Start is August 6 Next Open House is July 17th

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