A roundup of computer security-related posts that I think you should be aware of:
* McAfee Avert Labs Blog reports of an Adobe PDF exploit spreading in the wild. Given the fact that PDF is almost a standard document format, be careful in opening PDFs. Affected Adobe apps are Adobe Reader 8.1.1 and earlier versions; and Adobe Acrobat Professional, 3D, and Standard 8.1.1 and earlier versions. Temporary mitigating measure includes not opening PDF files coming from the Internet. Users are advised to upgrade their Adobe PDF apps.
Techie part: the exploit allows for a JavaScript embedded in a PDF file to download a Trojan. Of course, you have to open the PDF file first.
Really techie part: vulnerability reports by Securiteam (with suggested workaround) and iDefense.
* And this month being the season for love (yeah, right), expect to get a lot of spam exploiting Valentines Day. TrendLabs Malware Blog warns people that the most prolific worm of 2007 (and most prolly 2008), Storm, is exploiting this event. These spam emails contain links to Web sites. DO NOT CLICK ON THOSE LINKS, of course.
Showing posts with label adobe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adobe. Show all posts
Feb 12, 2008
Aug 21, 2007
[World Domination] Adobe doesn't heart open source
Well, it seems that Adobe doesn't heart open source.
In a blog post, a senior Adobe executive has hinted on most Adobe products staying proprietary and at the same time hitting on open-source alternatives on the company's products.
Money quote:
And yes, the blog post smacks of marketing, using a customer as case study.
So open-source and free software users should stick with Gimp. But don't tell the Adobe executive he has not warned you.
(Via CNet)
In a blog post, a senior Adobe executive has hinted on most Adobe products staying proprietary and at the same time hitting on open-source alternatives on the company's products.
Money quote:
And obviously, I have thought about whether open source has a place in Adobe's creative products strategy. But what designers need is tightly-integrated workflows and high reliability right out of the box so the really important question to ask is what's the impact to the user. Yes, clearly it's cheaper, but does it really save money in the end?
xxx
Don't get me wrong, open source software can be a perfect solution. It's just not right for everything. Or for everyone - like many creative professionals who are on deadline and prefer to innovate vs. integrate.
And yes, the blog post smacks of marketing, using a customer as case study.
So open-source and free software users should stick with Gimp. But don't tell the Adobe executive he has not warned you.
(Via CNet)
Mar 1, 2007
[Adobe] Photoshop Online?
It all started with a breaking news alert from CNET's Webware blog that hit most email inboxes or RSS readers across the blogosphere. What could warrant such attention - nothing less than the surprising announcement by Adobe of their plans to launch a free online version of their Photoshop product.While it's somewhat of a long term plan given this is projected to happen within the next 6 months, what is also interest about the move is that it is being done as a preemptive measure against any possible plans of Google to move into the online photo editing field. Although none of us have seen any definite indicators that Google plans to do this, the trend set by their move to Web 2.0 applications like their Google Docs & Spreadsheets product along with other online office productivity tools in the market like Gliffy, which is an online flowcharting tool, and a variety of other tools including online photo editing tools.
I'm all for more online applications - open source and Web 2.0 models are always a great thing for us users, although we definitely need to figure out a way of reducing the latency of these online applications to improve the user experience. While the promised online Photoshop product will definitely not have all the functions of its offline big brother, expectations are bound to be high for what Adobe will bring to the table. It's not entirely a new venture for them given another online product they recently launched called Remix, which is a video editing tool partnered with photo and video hosting site PhotoBucket, which is a scaled down version of their Premiere Elements tool.
Keep your fingers crossed - let's see what they come up with in six months time. If not, I guess there's always GIMP as a free Photoshop alternative.
Related Links: Photo linked from JesseBarker's photostream.
Sep 13, 2006
[The Web] Technical Support
In line with recent frustrations with my company's IT Department, I thought it might be interesting to try a few related searches in the area to see what comes up on Google.
I tried the generic search query [technical support] just to see what I'd get, and the results were actually pretty interesting. Here are the sites I received in response to my search in the order they appeared at the time of this article:
Now given that Google's results are based around the PageRank system, which determines the relvance of a search result based on the number of links to that page by other pages of equally high link ranking, this makes the search results the most relevant based on what people are linking to.
Given my search, this can lead you to interpret the results in several ways. Since most people are linking to the Microsoft Technical Support page, it means that Microsoft Products are the most linked to because (1) they have the most number of users, (2) they have the most issues or (3) most support sites refer you back to them in order to resolve your problems. I'll not pass judgement over the results just yet - but it does make you think, right? It certainly amuses me, hahaha!
What is also interesting is the other products on the list. Given these same possible explanations for why they appear so highly in the search results, it makes you consider just how many people are utilizing products from these developers like Cisco and Netscape.
Netscape surprised me a lot since they don't have majority market share in the browser market, and yet they're highly ranked. A lower market share would eliminate explanation #1, so that leads me to think they have a lot of issues? If it's a question of users, why doesn't Mozilla Firefox come up this high on the search results list rather than Netscape? The amusement continues...
Having Apple and Dell on the list makes sense from a user support perspective because of the loyal following for Mac products and of course the iPod line. Dell is number one PC manufacturer in the US so naturally they'd trigger a lot of support links as well. The same logic follows for Eudora as an alternative email client to MS Outlook, Symantic because of their anti-virus software (Norton) and Adobe because of their large product suite.
The point of this article - a short lesson on what your search results might actually mean. While we normally see search engines as a means to an end, just something we pass through before we get to the real information that we want, looking at Google search results can also reveal a lot about our behavior in this technically-driven world. Our search results reflect what we're linking to, hence what we're reading and what we tend to look for. It might be because of sheer number of users or in this case, the sheer number of potential problems.
Think about it.
I tried the generic search query [technical support] just to see what I'd get, and the results were actually pretty interesting. Here are the sites I received in response to my search in the order they appeared at the time of this article:
- Microsoft Technical Support (http://support.microsoft.com/)
- Technical Support & Documentation - Cisco Systems (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/support/index.html)
- Home Page >> Netscape.com (http://www.netscape.com/FAQ/)
- Apple - Support (http://www.apple.com/support/)
- Dell Support (http://support.dell.com/)
- QUALCOMM's Eudora Technical Support (http://www.eudora.com/techsupport/)
- Support - Semantic Corp. (http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/)
- Adobe - Support (http://www.adobe.com/support/)
- HelpOnThe.Net: Tech Support Guy (http://www.techguy.org/)
- BNA TEchnical Support (http://www.bna.com/contact/techsupport.htm)
Now given that Google's results are based around the PageRank system, which determines the relvance of a search result based on the number of links to that page by other pages of equally high link ranking, this makes the search results the most relevant based on what people are linking to.
Given my search, this can lead you to interpret the results in several ways. Since most people are linking to the Microsoft Technical Support page, it means that Microsoft Products are the most linked to because (1) they have the most number of users, (2) they have the most issues or (3) most support sites refer you back to them in order to resolve your problems. I'll not pass judgement over the results just yet - but it does make you think, right? It certainly amuses me, hahaha!
What is also interesting is the other products on the list. Given these same possible explanations for why they appear so highly in the search results, it makes you consider just how many people are utilizing products from these developers like Cisco and Netscape.
Netscape surprised me a lot since they don't have majority market share in the browser market, and yet they're highly ranked. A lower market share would eliminate explanation #1, so that leads me to think they have a lot of issues? If it's a question of users, why doesn't Mozilla Firefox come up this high on the search results list rather than Netscape? The amusement continues...
Having Apple and Dell on the list makes sense from a user support perspective because of the loyal following for Mac products and of course the iPod line. Dell is number one PC manufacturer in the US so naturally they'd trigger a lot of support links as well. The same logic follows for Eudora as an alternative email client to MS Outlook, Symantic because of their anti-virus software (Norton) and Adobe because of their large product suite.
The point of this article - a short lesson on what your search results might actually mean. While we normally see search engines as a means to an end, just something we pass through before we get to the real information that we want, looking at Google search results can also reveal a lot about our behavior in this technically-driven world. Our search results reflect what we're linking to, hence what we're reading and what we tend to look for. It might be because of sheer number of users or in this case, the sheer number of potential problems.
Think about it.
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