Microsoft Office 2010 Beta 2 Leaks, Public Beta Expected in November

After Microsoft announced yesterday that Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 will be sent to testers this week, more exciting news comes from the Office 2010 section. Microsoft has announced that an Office 2010 public beta will be available sometime in November.
Office 2010 has be noted as a “hybridization” of applications. It’s available on your PC, in a web browser *Office Web Apps”, and in Windows Mobile as Office Mobile. Currently, only the Office Web Apps are available; but to a select group.
According to the Wzor website, Office 2010 build 14.0.4514.1009 will be the build Microsoft will officially release as Beta 2 to attendees of the Tech-Ed Conference in Berlin, November 6, 2009.
Among things, this build features a new installation procedure, which requires you to enter a unique installation product key. Bad news for pirates.

D-Roll

Modern gadgets apart from being stylish are getting smaller day-by-day. And the latest creation to catch our eye is the ‘next gen laptop design’ by Hao Hua. Dubbed “D-roll” or “digital roll,” the new device works like a regular laptop, but rolls up to be a side bag or even a backpack for easy transportation. Designed like an artist’s tube, the D-roll Laptop features a roll up OLED screen and a slide out keyboard, together with a mouse and a detachable webcam that can be worn on your wrist when not attached to the system. The mouse and web camera can also be used as the end caps for the laptop case, while the straps double as ports to plug in your USB devices.

Delete Files in C:\Windows\Installer

I was shocked when found out free space in my C drive is only 94MB left. At first I thought it was because of a virus attack so I did run virus scan on my computer but got negative result. So I run disk space analyzer and here is the result.

As you can see, 7GB space has been occupied by Installer folder in my C drive. But is it safe to remove all those files from my system?
The answer is Yes! But in the future, you might having trouble when want to remove installed programs completely. This is because, C:\Windows\Installer contains a copy of changed system info when you install a program using the Windows installer. With this file, your system can restore back to its original condition when you remove the program using the Add/Remove Programs.
But in my situation, I don’t care with the problem or trouble or anything because what I want is the free space in my C drive. So what I did was,

1. I downloaded and installed Windows Installer CleanUp Utility.

2. Go to Start > Run and type,

“C:\Program Files\Windows Installer Clean Up\msizap.exe”

3. Click Ok.
Then I wait until Windows Installer CleanUp Utility finished doing its job. And here is the result,

I have 4GB of free space available in my C drive. Yay!

Warning! The command that I give here might corrupt your system and requires to reinstall or repair.

Microsoft’s U.K. Domain was Hacked!

Looks like the official Microsoft U.K. Domain was attacked and defaced by a hacker identified as rEmOtEr. Microsoft confirmed that the hack has been successful.

rEmOtEr altered a webpage in the Microsoft.co.uk domain with two images and multiple references to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The U.K. branch of the Redmond company managed to fix the problem, and the functionality of the website is back to normal parameters. The webpagehacked dealt with Microsoft events and can be found here. In the adjacent image you can see how the hacker defaced the page, courtesy of Zone-H.

Roger Halbheer, chief security advisor for Microsoft in Europe, the Middle East and Africa admitted that the hack was successful and revealed that the whole event was unfortunate. According to Microsoft, no sensitive information was compromised in the attack. This is a clear indication that the hack was done for show, rather than to actually cause any harm. Another argument that supports such a scenario is the fact that rEmOtEr took time to document the hack in two separate video fragments. You will be able to watch for yourselves the live hacking via the two “remoter_vs_microsoft.avi” files.
The hack was possible mainly because of the fact that the database was allowed to return error messages explained Halbheer, as cited by InfoWorld. The attack was possible through a technique referred to as SQL injection. This fact is also confirmed by the hacker in the two videos that were made available. Via Structured Query Language injection rEmOtEr was able to gain access to the database. In the video fragments you will be able to see how easy the hacker obtains both usernames and passwords for the database. Working his way from error message to error message, rEmOtEr finally could switch from SQL queries with an unexpected form to direct instructions to the database.

Hack into a Windows PC; with Winlockpwn.

A security consultant based in New Zealand has released a tool that can unlock Windows computers in seconds without the need for a password.
Adam Boileau first demonstrated the hack, which affects Windows XP computers but has not yet been tested with Windows Vista, at a security conference in Sydney in 2006, but Microsoft has yet to develop a fix.
Interviewed in ITRadio's Risky Business podcast, Boileau said the tool, released to the public today, could "unlock locked Windows machines or login without a password ... merely by plugging in your Firewire cable and running a command".
Boileau, a consultant with Immunity Inc., said he did not release the tool publicly in 2006 because "Microsoft was a little cagey about exactly whether Firewire memory access was a real security issue or not and we didn't want to cause any real trouble".
But now that a couple of years have passed and the issue has not resolved, Boileau decided to release the tool on his website.
To use the tool, hackers must connect a Linux-based computer to a Firewire port on the target machine. The machine is then tricked into allowing the attacking computer to have read and write access to its memory.
With full access to the memory, the tool can then modify Windows' password protection code, which is stored there, and render it ineffective.
Older desktop computers do not come equipped with Firewire ports, which are needed for the hack to work, but many recent models do. Most laptops made in the last few years include Firewire ports.
Paul Ducklin, head of technology for security firm Sophos, said the security hole found by Boileau was not a vulnerability or bug in the traditional sense, because the ability to use the Firewire port to access a computer's memory was actually a feature of Firewire.
"If you have a Firewire port, disable it when you aren't using it," Ducklin said.
"That way, if someone does plug into your port unexpectedly, your side of the Firewire link is dead, so they can't interact with your PC, legitimately or otherwise."
Ducklin also advised people to be careful when giving others physical access to their computer.
"I know people who'd think three times about asking passing strangers to take their photo in front of the Opera House in case they did a runner with the camera, yet who are much more casual with their laptop PC, as long as it's software-locked, even though the hardware alone is worth five times as much as the camera," he said.

Microsoft to Buy Yahoo Search and Then Facebook

Rumours from silicon valley this week point towards Microsoft purchasing Yahoo Search and then using $20 billion to get hold of Facebook. Microsoft picking up the Yahoo search business.

Word is that this deal will be done this week. While this is not surprising, it does bring to question the motives and plans of Microsoft.Techmeme is buzzing about the latest Microsoft Yahoo talks that has Microsoft buying the Yahoo Search business only. Here is Microsoft’s and Yahoo official statements.

Why would such a complicated transaction (just Yahoo search with all the headaches and all) be in the cards for Microsoft? After the failed bid for $40 plus billion for all of Yahoo, Microsoft’s intentions are clear. Buy the search business from Yahoo and take that team and go spend at least 20 billion for Facebook. Integrating the search team at Yahoo with Facebook puts a formidable army to take on Google.

A little bit of humour

Jumeirah Group IT