A major security flaw in WMF files means your computer could be infected with viruses, spyware or other malicious programs just by viewing a Web page or an e-mail message or an Instant Message that contains one of the contaminated images. The problem has existed for years, but it was discovered and was publicly announced in late December 2005.

Microsoft has finally released a official patch for the Windows WMF (Windows Meta File) Graphics Rendering Engine vulnerability that left millions of PCs open to viruses, spyware.

Microsoft originally planned to release the update on Tuesday, January 10, 2006 as part of its regular monthly release of security bulletins, once testing for quality and application compatibility was complete. However, testing has been completed earlier than anticipated and the update is ready for release. In addition, Microsoft is releasing the update early in response to strong customer sentiment that the release should be made available as soon as possible.

Microsoft did not release a WMF patch for Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, or Windows Millennium Edition.

Download WMF patch for Microsoft Windows XP SP2 (may require WGA)windowsxp-kb912919-x86-enu.exe
Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 EditionMicrosoft Windows Server 2003

The WMF vulnerability applies to all versions of Windows from 98 onward, Microsoft XP Pro, Microsoft XP Home, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition.

Microsoft will also release an updated version of its malicious-code-removal tool on Tuesday as part of its monthly security updates.

Security Update for Windows XP (KB912919)
Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-001
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Microsoft to bring powerful Unix-like shell scripting for Windows. Microsoft Windows Vista will sport this new command line shell scripting called Monad.

To start using Monad, install Monad shell along with the .Net Framework 2.0 from the Microsoft Download Center and get started with scripting. Monad is not a superset of the XP cmd shell. You can execute traditional commands as well, but built-in commands all behave different.

Monad shell will also provide powerful text manipulation capabilities for Vista which were earlier only possible through other programs. Tools like Cygwin are popular among Unix Software Developers who are moving to Windows since they provide bash, ksh style of scripting in Windows.

Download Windows Monad Shell Documentation


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Google wants to make installation of softwares as easy as possible. At CES 2006, Google for the first time named a set of preferred software, security and Web service providers that will be part of its recommended Google PC setup.

The Google Pack(pack.google.com) includes the Google-toolbar, Google-desktop(which includes the Sidebar and the deskbar), the Picasa photo-management and sharing service, Google Alert, Google Talk, the Google Video Player, and a new Google Pack screensaver that lets users turn photos stored on their PCs into a screensaver displaying favorite pictures as a slide show.

Every Software included in Google Pack is not free - Google Pack includes a complimentary special edition of Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2005 with a 6-month trial subscription to protection. Other software that the Google software pack includes is the Firefox browser,Acrobat Reader 7.0, LavaSoft Adaware, the Real Player, and Trillium, an IM application.

When observes closely, every software bundled in Google Pack has a competing Microsoft Product. Google even considered including the Sun OpenOffice suite in Google Pack that would compete directly with Microsoft's Office software suite but the programs were excluded at last minute because Google didn't want to risk including this as it might be difficult to install or interfere with previously installed software applications.

Package Includes:

Mozilla Firefox - Internet Explorer

Google Desktop - Microsoft Windows Desktop Search

Google Earth - Microsoft Virtual Earth (Live Local)

Google Talk - MSN Messenger

Google Toolbar - MSN IE Toolbar

Picasa - Microsoft Windows Vista Photo Gallery

Lavasoft Ad-Aware SE Personal - Microsoft Windows Defender (Microsoft Antispyware)

Adobe Reader 7 - Microsoft upcoming Metro Format

GalleryPlayer HD Images - Microsoft Office Online Gallery

Norton AntiVirus 2005 SE - Microsoft Onecare

RealPlayer - Microsoft Windows Media Player, Apple iTunes, QuickTime - Google Video Player will be available soon

Trillian - Trillian Free client can connect with AIM, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo! In order to connect to Google Talk or any other service that supports the Jabber/XMPP protocol, you'll need to purchase Trillian Pro.

Software can be downloaded via the Google-Updater application, and will "auto Update" updates to programs to ensure that you have the latest version. The Google keynote address ended a week of speculation that Google might unveil a low-cost PC that doesn't run Microsoft's Windows operating system and could be sold at Wal-Mart.

Google Pack | Google Software Download
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Inside Googleplex, Google's headquarter - Shot during Google Dance 2005, annual summer party in Google.

A Glimpse inside Google - Googlers at work & play

Google Recruiting Video - Take a sneak peek inside Google and listen to some female Google engineers what life is really like at Google

Bob Woodruff tours Google's campus, speaks with some of its employees.

John Battelle visits Google New York officeGoogle Dance 2005 - Another video of Google Dance 2005

Partner Services and Operations - Short documentary with people in Google's Partner Services and Operations (PSO) group.

The world according to Google - From the BBC a look at Google with interviews with Google staff

Pictures of London GooglePlex office

More Google Office Pictures - Google Cafetaria, Eric Schmidt's office, Lobby,

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At a recent press conference, Adobe chief executive officer said "2005 was another remarkable year for Adobe".

As part of the celebration, every Adobe employee were given a 1GB Apple iPod Shuffle engraved with the words "Adobe 2005: Thanks for a Record Year!". Early last year, all Apple employees were given a 1GB iPod shuffle. Steve Jobs announced the gesture during a company meeting following Apple's blockbuster earnings report.Looks like Adobe liked Apple's idea.

Source: Q4 Earnings

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Windows IE logs the address of every website visited into index.dat. Since it is a protected file it cannot be deleted instead you may use CCleaner.

CCleaner automatically removes unused files that is occuping the Harddisk space from your PC freeing up valuable hard disk space. CCleaner also remove the form user/password, browse history and the IE index.dat files which are not deleted even when historical information is purged via the normal browser procedures.

CCleaner provides secure file deletion and Windows HotFix Uninstaller cleaning.

CCleaner also helps to erases cookies, history, and cached data from both Internet Explorer and Firefox. CCleaner removes things like temp, backup and log files, the list of recently viewed documents, and empty Recycle Bin as well.

CCleaner scan and remove extraneous or orphaned Registry entries which is building registry file(the bigger the registry file the more time it takes to startup the windows) , including file extensions, ActiveX Controls, uninstallers, shared DLLs, fonts, help files, application paths, icons, and invalid shortcuts.

CCleaner also cleans temporary files created from a number of applications, including Media Player, eMule, Firefox, Kazaa, Google Toolbar, Netscape, Office XP, Nero, Adobe Acrobat, WinRAR, WinAce, and WinZip.

Download CCleaner | CCleaner Features
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