How eWEEK Spent My Summer Vacation

Google Blasted for Gmail, Google Apps Outages, Clint Boulton
Whoa, Gmail went down while I was on vacation? OMG! Thank you, Google! I wondered why there was less junk coming into my Gmail account last week. What a relief to get less mail on my iPhone while vacationing.

Microsoft executives can snicker about the fallibility of cloud services and harp on the importance of desktop software. Microsoft managers also can boast about data center investments and the reliability of their services. But reliability means Microsofties got e-mail on their vacations. I hope they enjoyed the extra 30 hours of work during the week off. Google gave some of us Gmail users a break. To whom should I send the thank-you card?

Microsoft Prepares Patch Tuesday Program for Security Vendors, Brian Prince
I file this one in the better-late-than-never department. In October, Microsoft will launch the Active Protections Program, which will provide "select" security vendors with advance patch information—and presumably patch access—ahead of the updates' release, which regularly is the second Tuesday of every month. What a great idea, but why didn't Microsoft do this sooner?

GOT A TIP OR RUMOR?

Here's the problem: Malware writers use the patches as blueprints for reverse-engineering exploits. It's good to see Microsoft's billions of dollars in research benefiting somebody—eh, right? Malware typically appears within hours of a patch's release. Informed security vendors could issue updates to their customers ahead of time. At the least, security software heuristics could scan for a certain kind of behavior.

There is always going to be a lag between patches' release and their installation, either manually, by Windows Update or by Windows Server Update Services. That between time is when Windows PCs would be most vulnerable to exploitation.

I have to ask, couldn't Microsoft come up with a better name for the program? "Active Protections" could easily be a condom distribution program.

Microsoft Patch Tuesday Targets 26 Application Flaws, Brian Prince
Twenty-six? Crap, I spat out coffee on my keyboard again. Really, 26? Need there be another reason for Microsoft to launch that new security disclosure program in October? September would be even better, methinks.

Has anyone else noticed just how consistently Microsoft releases application security patches, pretty much every month? Last time I checked, the majority of zero-day exploits targeted applications. Gasp, could it be that Microsoft really has hardened Windows security? Better security one place means the hackers go somewhere else. As enterprises fortified the network perimeter, attacks shifted more to the operating system. As Windows security improves, attacks increase against applications.

Application-layer attacks aren't new; they've been on the rise as more applications connect to the Internet or hacks use the Web browser as a big, unsecured truck loading bay for driving past perimeter security. Funny, Microsoft is quick to count security vulnerabilities as a measure of improved Windows or Windows Server security. But who at Microsoft keeps count of Excel, Word or PowerPoint exploits?

Developers Herald VS 2008, .NET SP1, Darryl Taft
Herald? What, did the angels descend from Heaven to proclaim the service pack's release to manufacturing? All bow down to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who throws chairs at the wicked and yells "Developers! Developers! Developers!" to the faithful.

Yes, Google Is a Media Company, Clint Boulton
I don't know about that. I agree with Clint that Google is a platform company. But I view Google as more of a media aggregator because it generates no real content, but leeches off the good work of others. Google makes money through search, search keywords and advertising off of everybody else's content.

Google is a parasite. Yes, its business model is symbiotic-parasitical. Content providers benefit from search, which provides easy access to their stuff. Google profits from the access and the keywords it sells around the content. But Google creates none of the content. Google doesn't own the information from which it makes nearly all its revenue. Google is the middleman of the information, which it takes for free—and usually without asking. At least Microsoft produces software and makes money off the licensing. Microsoft owns what it sells, but not Google.

Linux to Outsell Windows in Mobile Internet Device Market, Eric Brown
How could I possibly disagree? Microsoft hasn't got much to offer MID manufacturers. There's Windows Vista, which won't run on the devices. Whoops. That leaves Windows XP Home or Windows Mobile 6.1, neither of which is an attractive option. Ssssh, Windows Mobile has run aground. But that's a topic for another blog. Intel and Nokia are pushing Linux on MIDs, which is perhaps endorsement enough. As for Windows? Linux vendors would like to wash it away.

Microsoft Site CodePlex Turns 2, Darryl Taft
Bwhahaha, so begins CodePlex's "terrible twos." Those open-source developers could get mighty cranky as they mature in their .NET development.

What to See at Microsoft PDC, Darryl Taft
Active Protections isn't the only thing coming in October. The Professional Developers Conference opens Oct. 27 in Los Angeles. Yes, I will be there, and Darryl, too. Some of the sessions are better named than most Microsoft products. Session "A Lap Around 'Oslo'" is simply classic.

I suppose that this year's PDC will be Windows 7's coming out party. It would be absolutely criminal for Microsoft to hold PDC and not to invite its flagship operating system. Seven will dazzle with multitouch capabilities, Vista's core features and so on—or to use a Steve Ballmer euphemism, "Blah, blah, blah."

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