Microsoft acknowledges IE attacks

If you're still using Internet 6 or 7, then take a look at the article linked below. Microsoft has confirmed that hackers are exploiting a vulnerability in those versions. "A user needs to be lured to navigate to a malicious Web site or a compromised legitimate Web site to be affected ... [but] no further user interaction is needed," according to Chengyun Chu, of the Microsoft Security Response Center's engineering team.

I found IE 7 to be substandard. But version 8 has proven to be pretty good. So make it a point to get your firm's PC's updated as soon as possible.

Credit where credit is due:
Microsoft confirms attack via ComputerWorld

Making Testing Cheaper

Testing is expensive. Of course, unless your code is perfect, then not testing is even more expensive. One of the barriers to entry is, naturally, the creation of the testing environment. Ideally, you want it to be robust enough to handle thorough testing, but you don't want to break the bank on it.

Well, here's an interesting idea ...
Why not rent the environment? Get cheap virtual machine space from any one of a variety of vendors and use that as your test bed. The space will be far more reliable than anything you'd maintain on your own and it's fairly easy to scale its capacity back when circumstances allow.

Contact me if you'd like to learn more about this concept.

I didn't come up with this idea on my own ...
The Cloud's Next Big Thing

Microsoft issues patch for PowerPoint vulnerabilities

Microsoft released a security patch today that addresses fourteen vulnerabilities in PowerPoint. Eleven of those flaws were rated as critical. At the same time, the company stopped support for PowerPoint 4.0 in PowerPoint 2000, which they had already done for later versions of the software.

Although the patch addresses a large number of vulnerabilities, it is still a single patch available via Microsoft's update service. It affects all Windows versions of PowerPoint. The patch for the Mac OS will be released next month, even though the vulnerability does not target the Mac.

Here is more information about this release from ComputerWorld.

Wireless gaining ground in Healthcare

Wireless technologies have become almost ubiquitous in our society. Just about every commercial enterprise has fairly mature wireless connectivity for its staff and authorized guests. Healthcare is one glaring exception. Some are seeing that change, however.

In article published today at ComputerWorld, the chief academic officer at Scripps Health, Dr. Eric Topol, expressed his optimism that wireless will finally make some significant headway in the healthcare arena.

Topol cited three reasons for the increasing interest in wireless technologies: bandwidth improvements that enable the transmission of images and other rich medical data, an influx of applications from software vendors, and what he called the "grand success" of recent efforts to improve the quality of patient care through wireless projects.

I agree with Dr. Topol's optimism. However, he left out one critically important driver in this potential market development. The Federal Government is pouring billions into healthcare IT. While those dollars are nominally earmarked for Electronic Medical Records, it is a significant infusion of resources into the market. As more facilities take greater advantage of technology advances, wireless networking will have to keep up. Productivity, convenience and usability will demand it.

Credit where credit is due:
Has the time come for wireless IT in health care?, by Matt Hamblen