Month: May 2015

Windows and OS X are malware, claims Richard Stallman

Enrico

Linux GNU firebrand Richard Stallman says Windows and Apple’s OS X are malware, Amazon is Orwellian, and anyone who trusts the internet-of-things is an ass. In a column for The Guardian Stallman preaches to the non-technical masses about the evils of proprietary software and vendor lock-in, and how closed-door coding facilitates clandestine deals with nation state spy agencies. “What kinds of programs constitute malware? Operating systems, first of all,” Stallman testifies. “Apple systems are malware too: MacOS snoops and shackles; iOS snoops, shackles, censors apps and has a backdoor. “Even…

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Future Decoded 2015 – your future starts today!‏

Enrico

Join us at Future Decoded, a unique experience from Microsoft that brings together some of the world’s technical experts to explore the opportunities that will define your success in the 21st Century. Following last year’s inaugural event, we’re back with an even greater line up of industry superstars to inspire you. Register your interest now to attend deep dive technical sessions, share learnings and network with tons of other developers and IT Professionals. There has never been a more exciting time to work in the tech industry.                            

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Office apps for Android phones are now available

Enrico

There is no denying that Android is the world’s most popular mobile phone operating system with Google saying last year that on any given thirty-day rolling period there are more than a billion users of the OS. So when you are working to get your productivity software into the hands of a billion users, you can’t ignore the OS. Microsoft has already released and today they are taking it one step further with Office apps for the phone as well. If you want to try these apps out, you will…

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Enable your device for development

Enrico

Important  Currently you cannot enable devices installed with Windows 10 Insider Preview with the System Setting Developer Mode controls as outlined in this article. This feature is not currently supported, but will be enabled in a future release of Windows 10. So you don’t need to follow the steps in the future approach in this article. But you must follow the links directly below to enable your specific Windows 10 device. Windows 10 Phone: Register your phone to enable developer mode using the existing Windows Phone 8.1 tools Windows 10…

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Microsoft study shows that tech is shortening your attention span

Enrico

Think the abundance of technology in your life is making it harder to concentrate for long periods? Microsoft might just have some evidence to support your theory. It recently published a study (conducted using both surveys and EEG scans) suggesting that the average attention span has fallen precipitously since the start of the century. While people could focus on a task for 12 seconds back in 2000, that figure dropped to 8 seconds in 2013 — about one second less than a goldfish. Reportedly, a lot of that reduction stems…

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Microsoft offers IT guidance to prepare for Windows as a Service

Enrico

  When Windows 10 arrives this summer (and Windows Server 2016 next year), Microsoft is going to be making some noticeable changes to how and when it delivers security fixes, hotfixes and rollups. What can IT pros do now to prepare for the new Windows world order? Company officials provided some potentially controversial suggestions and guidance during Microsoft’s Ignite conference in Chicago. In a session entitled “Getting Ready for Windows 10: Servicing Windows Client and Server in a Managed Environment Today” (Video and slides available here; a good summary from…

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Microsoft’s New Edge Browser Is A Windows-Only Play For Now

Enrico

Microsoft has no immediate plans to let its new browser out of Windows 10. The software giant indicated today that it has no current intention of shipping Edge, formerly known as ‘Project Spartan’, on other platforms. I confirmed the strategy with Microsoft after the announcement. It might sound odd, but that Microsoft is not working to release Edge on other platforms is notable. The company has pursued an aggressive cross-platform strategy in recent years, shipping even its crown jewels on rival platforms. Microsoft is waging a double war: Rebuild Windows…

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Microsoft backtracks on free Windows 10 update for pirates

Enrico

The confusion has revolved around Microsoft’s offer to give free Windows 10 updates to people running Windows 7 and 8.1. In a statement last March, Windows chief Terry Myerson was reported to have said that the offer would extend to pirated copies, too. Microsoft quickly began issuing vague clarifications, while still implying that there would be a way to upgrade at no cost, even if pirates would be required to pay eventually. Now, we’re finally getting a full clarification: there’s no free upgrade at all. Pirates just have to pay.…

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Web.config: encryption and decryption

Enrico

Introduction In this article I will explain how to encrypt or decrypt connection Strings in web.config file using asp.net. Description In Previous posts I explained lot of articles regarding Asp.net, Gridview, SQL Server, Ajax, JavaScript etc. In many of articles I used connection Strings section in web.config file to store database connection. The connection Strings section contains sensitive information of database connections including username and password of database. Is it secured to store the sensitive information of database connections in plain text files called web.config and machine.config files? If we…

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Windows 10 to Come in at Least Seven Packages Targeting Consumers, Education, Enterprise and Mobile

Enrico

While Windows 10 is designed to run across phones, tablets, PCs and more, Microsoft confirmed Wednesday that it plans to package up the software slightly differently for separate markets. Windows 10 will be released in at least seven different flavors if you count the versions offered for home, education, enterprise, internet-of-things devices as well as standard and enterprise editions of Windows 10 for phones and small tablets. To be clear, apps created for Windows 10 will run on all the flavors, with some tailoring needed to make apps work across…

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