Guys Upstairs - Tech

I know I’m not the only one who has not hopped on the Vista bandwagon - I’m happily using Windows XP SP3. Well, for those of you who have been anxiously awaiting a beta of the upcoming Windows 7, an ISO has been leaked so you don’t even have to wait until mid-January as previously expected. The final release of Windows 7 will not occur until late 2009 or early 2010.

The ISO is for the Windows 7 M1 (7000) build and contains enhanced memory usage as well as access to previously hidden features such as an iconized task bar. ZDNet has given their seal of approval on this release, stating

This beta is of excellent quality. This is the kind of code that you could roll out and live with. Even the pre-betas were solid, but finally this beta feels like it’s “done.” This beta exceeds the quality of any other Microsoft OS beta that I’ve handled.

To download the Windows 7 Beta1 full ISO image, download the following torrent to download the content in any BT client:

7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD.iso.torrent
Demonoid Link:
Windows_7_Beta_1_7000_0_081212_1400_iso_o-Demonoid.com-o.torrent
Mininova Link:
7000 [mininova].torrent

The Beta will expire July 1, 2009.

[Download Squad] and [My Digital Life]

The Nintendo Wii will soon be offering a video service in order to establish a new revenue stream. Nintendo will be partnering up with the ad agency Dentsu to offer cartoons and other entertainment programs. In order to differentiate it from existing content delivery services the two companies will be be offering programs created specifically for the new service. While this may help set it apart from competitors, they should still offer existing programs akin to Hulu in order to please everyone. The service will start early next year in Japan and will not be seen overseas until late in the year.

Nintendo has already raked in more cash than it knows what to do with, so why do they need a new revenue stream? Hopefully it’s in order to fund more R&D to creating more creative and innovative ideas.

[Yahoo]

A Vietnamese security firm has demonstrated that laptop facial recognition software is not as secure as it may seem. BKIS, a Vietnamese Internetwork Security Center that makes antivirus software and has recently unveiled vulnerabilities in Windows Media Encoder 9 as well as Google Chrome.

Dong Ngo of CNET participated in a demonstration in which he first used a Lenovo Y430 running Vista and established himself as a legitimate user. Lenovo’s Veriface III software scanned his face for various points so that it would be able to recognize his face from various angles. The actual logon after the setup took less than a second. Within 5 minutes of starting up a Skype video chat with a BKIS technician, the technician was able to produce a “rather unflattering” picture printed on letter paper. The printout was able to log into the computer without any problems. Asus and Toshiba are also vulnerable to this problem.

The picture does not need to be high resolution, but needs to be processed such that certain key points and contrast levels are adjusted to match what the recognition algorithm expects. These vulnerabilities may be hard to overcome, so if you want to keep your laptop secure stick with username and password or fingerprint recognition.

[CNET]