DiskDigger - free data recovery made easy

What is DiskDigger?

DiskDigger can recover files from any type of media that your computer can read. This includes USB flash drives, memory cards (SD, CompactFlash, Memory Stick, etc), and of course your hard drive. The types of files that it recovers include photos, videos, music, documents, and many other formats.

DiskDigger can even scan reformatted or badly formatted disks (disks to which Windows can't assign a drive letter), and even disks with bad sectors. It bypasses the Windows file system drivers and scans your disk directly. It has its own built-in support for the following file systems: FAT12 (floppy disks), FAT16 (older memory cards), FAT32 (newer memory cards and hard disks), NTFS (newer hard disks), and exFAT (Microsoft's new successor to FAT32).

DiskDigger is also very compact and portable. The entire program is a single executable file that you can run from anywhere. There's nothing to "install," and the program doesn't leave any trace of having been run.

You may find DiskDigger useful if…

• you deleted one or more photos from a memory card by accident, and want them restored.
• you deleted one or more photos from a memory card on purpose, but now want them restored.
• you deleted some documents from your USB flash drive, and want to recover them.
• you came across an old hard drive of yours (or someone else's) that's been reformatted, and would like to see what its previous contents were.
• you've "securely wiped" your media, and want to make sure that your media has actually been wiped correctly.
• you're just curious about what old deleted files are still present on your memory cards or hard drives.

DiskDigger is also a work in progress. This means that new features will be added very frequently, including support for more file formats, more configuration options, etc., so check back for updates.

How does it work?

DiskDigger has two modes of operation which you can select when scanning your media for deleted files:

• Scan the file system for deleted files (dig deep). This scans the file system that is present on your media, searching for deleted file entries. Supported file systems are FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS. The advantages of this are:
      - Very fast
      - Recovers all file types
      - Recovers file names
  And the disadvantages are:
      - Doesn't support all possible file systems (see above for supported file systems)
      - Doesn't scan entire disk (only scans what the file system is aware of)
• Scan the disk surface for traces of lost files (dig deeper). This thoroughly scans every sector of your media, searching for traces of known file types. The advantages of this are:
      - Scans entire disk
      - Goes underneath the file system, therefore independent of file system
  And the disadvantages are:
      - Slower (sometimes much slower) than the first method
      - Doesn't recover file names or fragmented files
      - Only supports certain file types
      - Finds 'existing' files as well as deleted files

What isn't DiskDigger?

It's not magic. It can't recover any arbitrary file from any amount of time in the past. When trying to recover lost files, you should be realistic. In a real-world situation, you'll have a good chance of recovering your files only if they were deleted very recently. The more you keep using your disk to work with new files, the slimmer your chance of recovering deleted files. Of course it's always worth a try.

It is not a "repair" utility. It cannot repair a broken memory card or disk. DiskDigger is a strictly "read-only" tool, and never changes the contents of the media you scan. It will, of course, scan unformatted (or badly formatted) media, but it won't attempt to fix the formatting of the media.

Features:

• DiskDigger scans for many different types of files, including photos, videos, music files, and documents, and displays what it finds as it scans in real time.
• You can preview most of the files found by DiskDigger without having to save them to a different location first. More than that, you can preview files while DiskDigger continues scanning!
• DiskDigger scans any type of media that is readable by your computer, including USB flash drives, memory cards (SD, CompactFlash, Memory Stick, etc), and your hard drive(s).
• It can undelete files from all types of FAT partitions (including the new exFAT file system), as well as NTFS.
• It can go underneath the file system to scan for traces and remnants of lost files.
• DiskDigger does everything in memory, meaning that it never writes any temporary files to your disk or other media (unless you choose to save files that it recovers).
• Since DiskDigger is a completely self-contained program, it leaves no trace on the computer where it is run. It does not save any settings to the registry. There is nothing to "install," and the entire program is a single executable file.
• For advanced users, DiskDigger allows scanning disk image files.

How to Use

I hope that using DiskDigger should be intuitive enough for most people to use without a written guide (if it's not, let me know how I can make it better). However, if necessary, you can check out this excellent step-by-step guide from TechRepublic.

Feedback

Suggestions? Comments? Questions? Send them here!

Generating Website Statistics With Piwik, An Open-Source, Google Analytics-Like Web Analytics Tool

This guide explains how you can install and use Piwik for generating website analytics. The reports generated by Piwik are similar to the ones generated by Google Analytics.
Piwik is an Open-Source (GPL) tool that you can download and host on your own servers which means you are in full control over your data. In addition to that, Piwik's functionality can be extended by plugins.

I do not issue any guarantee that this will work for you!

from
http://www.howtoforge.com/generating-website-statistics-with-piwik-an-open-source-google-analytics-like-web-analytics-tool

Creating A Bootable Ubuntu USB Thumbdrive From Windows With uSbuntu Live Creator

uSbuntu Live Creator is a free software for Windows that allows you to create a bootable USB stick with Ubuntu 8.10 on it. This software also offers a new option for virtualization to run Ubuntu directly into Windows and without any setup or installation - this is done by using a portable version of VirtualBox. uSbuntu Live Creator not only supports Ubuntu 8.10, but also Kubuntu 8.10 and Xubuntu 8.10.

I do not issue any guarantee that this will work for you!

from
http://www.howtoforge.com/creating-a-bootable-ubuntu-usb-thumbdrive-from-windows-with-usbuntu-live-creator

Due ricercatori svelano le vulnerabilità dei protocolli di rete

Le tecnologie di rete utilizzate per veicolare il traffico attraverso le dorsali Internet sarebbero vulnerabili ad attacchi su larga scala. E' quanto hanno dichiarato due ricercatori, Enno Rey e Daniel Mendel, che hanno rilasciato anche un particolare software con l'intento di illustrare nella pratica le varie problematiche di sicurezza messe a nudo.

"Intendiamo mostrare come sia possibile condurre attacchi che una volta erano considerati come effettuabili solamente in via teorica quando, in realtà, sono davvero molto concreti", ha dichiarato Rey. "Riteniamo che i modelli implementati in alcune tecnologie ancora oggi ampiamente utilizzate siano ormai superati. E' bene quindi che si acquisisca consapevolezza di come le tecnologie impiegate quotidianamente non siano così sicure come si è soliti ritenere".

Oggetto dello studio di Rey e Mendel sono risultati, in particolare, i protocolli BGP e MPLS. Il Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) è usato per connettere tra loro più router che appartengono a sistemi distinti. Il protocollo poggia sull'impiego e sulla gestione di una tabella di reti IP: lo scopo è quello di rendere disponibili informazioni sulla raggiungibilità delle varie reti. Già in passato Anton Kapela e Alex Pilosov avevano pubblicamente mostrato come sia possibile sfruttare alcune debolezze del protocollo BGP per spiare il traffico di rete ed, eventualmente, reindirizzarlo altrove (ved. queste notizie). Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) è una tecnologia che consente di instradare flussi di traffico tra origine e destinazione attraverso l'uso di identificativi tra coppie di router adiacenti ed operazioni semplici sulle etichette stesse.

Lo strumento software messo a punto da Rey e Mendel rende semplice la modifica dei dati in transito. L'attacco può avere successo perché, ad esempio, MPLS non dispone di alcun meccanismo per proteggere l'integrità degli header che suggeriscono la destinazione ossia dove il pacchetto dati deve essere "recapitato". Nel caso di BGP, secondo quanto dichiarato dai due ricercatori, risulta molto semplice violare il sistema di protezione ancora basato su MD5: in questo modo è possibile aggiungere informazioni, in modo non autorizzato, all'interno delle tabelle di routing.

Rey e Mendel suggeriscono di implementare, prima possibile, adeguati meccanismi di cifratura dei dati in transito.

link: http://www.ilsoftware.it/articoli.asp?id=5175

Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite

Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite è costituita da una serie di soluzioni di messaggistica e collaborazione ospitate da Microsoft, ovvero
- Exchange Online
- SharePoint Online
- Office Live Meeting e
- Office Communications Online (in arrivo)

Questi servizi online sono progettati per garantire alla tua azienda elevata disponibilità, una protezione completa e una gestione IT semplificata. La tua azienda può beneficiare di tecnologie sempre aggiornate che vengono distribuite rapidamente, ottimizzando in tal modo le preziose risorse IT e riducendo l'esigenza di investimenti per le infrastrutture.

Perché scegliere Business Productivity Online Standard Suite?

Per i clienti che necessitano di più servizi autonomi, Business Productivity Online Standard Suite rappresenta la scelta ottimale poiché fornisce più servizi aggregati a un prezzo scontato.
Exchange Online offre 5 GB di memorizzazione della cassetta postale con la licenza standard, configurabile fino a 25 GB per cassetta postale.

link al sito ufficiale: http://www.microsoft.com/online/it-it/business-productivity.mspx

Backup Basics and Online Backup Reviews

An online backup is a service which allows users to backup and restore computer data over the internet to an external location. This article attempts to give an overview of online backup and its important elements.

An online backup is a service which allows users to backup and restore computer data over the internet to an external location. Usually, the user needs to install client software, which allows him to select the data to backup, the frequency of the backup (schedule) and also to restore data from the server when needed. Typically, the client software compresses and encrypts the data before transferring it over the internet to the remote location. Online is often referred to as 'remote backup', 'internet backup', 'offsite backup' or 'IP backup'.

History

The first online backup software providers arised in the late 90s. However, the service became more and more adopted early in the 21st century. An important trend that influenced the rise of the online backup market is the increasing bandwiths. Since online backup services transfer lots of data over the internet, the upload-speed is the bottleneck. 2006 and 2007 showed a tremendous rise in the number of online backup service providers. These years, also Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) entered the market and online backup is often referred to as BaaS (Backup-as-a-Service).

Why using online backup?

Online backup is positioned in the market as 'hassle-free'-backup. The client software makes sure that the backup runs automatically (typically once a day), and status reports are sent by email. The service eliminates any kind of human interaction. Alternatives like burning CDs, DVDs or tapes need to be handles by humans, which is time-intensive and therefore cost-intensive. Online backup saves time, resulting in a lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

http://www.backupreview.info/category/basics/

Online Backup Company "Carbonite" loses customers’ data

The danger of storing your data in the cloud, part n. VC-backed online backup and storage provider Carbonite has lost data of 7,500+ customers who relied on the company to keep their files safe, The Boston Globe unveiled over the weekend.

(note: see updates below, at this point we can't be sure anymore if any data was actually lost or not)

The newspaper gets the information from a lawsuit that was filed by the Boston company last week, alleging that two of its service providers sold it over $3 million worth of defective hardware, linking this to the loss of their customer's data and as a result, bringing "substantial damage" to its business and reputation.

Carbonite is seeking unspecified damages against Promise Technology, which it is suing for unfair and deceptive business practices, fraud and breach of contract, as well as system integrator and IT consultancy firm Interactive Digital Systems (for breach of warranty). The latter company advised and implemented Promise Technology solutions, which were supposed to monitor multiple computer hard drives in order to assure that they were functioning properly.

I think it would be too easy to point to Carbonite for the loss of data if in fact there were serious errors with the software that were unable to be fixed by Promise engineers - something an executive at Promise Technology categorically denies - but the real victims of course are the customers, who will most likely think twice before trusting a cloud-based storage and backup provider with their files from this point forward. I also think it's worth pointing out Carbonite has been caught red-handed earlier this year astroturfing Amazon reviews, as reported by David Pogue of The New York Times.

Update: Carbonite CEO David Friend weighs in:

"The failures of the Promise equipment occurred primarily during 2007. We stopped buying the Promise servers and switched suppliers. We allege that the Promise servers had defective firmware and were not reliable enough for Carbonite's use. We are demanding that Promise compensate us for the cost of replacing their defective products. As for the 7,500 affected customers, their backups were restarted automatically and immediately on our new servers."

Update 2: Friend checked in again to state that no data was lost in the event, but a commentor says otherwise (anyone else affected who would like to weigh in?):

"I actually am one of those customers and I truly lost data (I had a hard drive lock up right when this happened). It was backing up my personal home PC and I lost over a year's worth of pictures. The CEO called me personally, and they gave me free service for awhile, but I definitely have multiple layers of backup now."

This isn't the first data loss horror story we've covered here, and it won't be the last either.

On a sidenote, I'd change my homepage a bit for a while until things cool down if I were Carbonite.

from: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/23/online-backup-company-carbonite-loses-customers-data-blames-and-sues-suppliers/

AMD Notebook Processor Solutions

Compare and purchase AMD Notebook Processors with the latest features and functionality that have been tested to ensure the best possible end-user experience.
Use the checkboxes in each row to select up to five processors for a side-by-side comparison. After you have made your selections, click Compare Selected Items link below.
http://products.amd.com/en-us/NotebookCPUResult.aspx

Example: 2100 Core Speed (MHz)
http://products.amd.com/en-us/NotebookCPUSideBySide.aspx?id=432&id=471&id=379

AMD Turion™ X2 Ultra Dual-Core and AMD Turion™ X2 Dual-Core Mobile Processors for Notebook PCs
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_12651_15667,00.html

Rilasciato Zend Server: "web application server" per PHP

Dopo alcuni mesi di "beta testing", Zend Server raggiunge la sua veste finale (release 4.0.1), sia per ciò che riguarda la versione commerciale che per quanto concerne la "Community Edition" (CE) gratuita.

Zend Server è un "web application server" concepito per ottimizzare l'esecuzione e la gestione di applicazioni PHP, soprattutto negli ambienti ove è indispensabile fidare su un elevato livello di affidabilità e sicurezza, puntando molto anche sulle prestazioni.

Il nuovo prodotto di Zend, azienda che ha il suo "quartier generale" a Cupertino, in California, svolge una duplice funzione: innanzi tutto mette a disposizione degli sviluppatori un ambiente completo e consistente da impiegare durante la realizzazione, la messa a punto ed il testing delle applicazioni PHP; offre inoltre una solida piattaforma installabile sulle macchine server utilizzate "in produzione" per supportare tutti gli script PHP.

Zend Server integra una serie di strumenti che permettono di monitorare le applicazioni PHP segnalando eventuali problemi. La piattaforma è capace di installarsi automaticamente su web server come Apache ed IIS senza richiedere interventi da parte dell'amministratore. Il software, inoltre, offre il supporto diretto per i principali database tra i quali MySQL, Oracle, IBM DB2 e Microsoft SQL Server.

Secondo quanto dichiarato da Eldad Maniv, uno dei responsabili di Zend, la soluzione appena rilasciata consentirebbe di ottenere notevoli benefici in termini di performance e di sicurezza. Zend Server viene configurato con le impostazioni più sicure per la gestione degli script PHP; tuttavia le impostazioni possono essere liberamente modificare attraverso una comoda interfaccia grafica, senza la necessità di dover mai metter mano ad esempio al file php.ini.

"Cache, cache, cache" è ciò che la maggior parte degli esperti risponde se chiedete loro quali possano essere i metodi per velocizzare le applicazioni PHP. In questo senso, Zend Server compie gli sforzi maggiori grazie alle molte funzionalità legate al caching che sono state adottate. Il caching operato da Zend Server si concretizza sia a livello bytecode (Optimizer+) che a livello HTTP (Zend Page Cache).

La versione free ("Community Edition") di Zend Server può essere utilizzata senza limitazioni. Rispetto alla versione a pagamento del prodotto, tuttavia, è sprovvista del meccanismo di caching delle pagine, del sistema per il monitoraggio delle applicazioni PHP, del modulo diagnostico per i problemi eventualmente rilevati, dello strumento che consente l'aggiornamento automatico del pacchetto nonché dell'accesso al supporto tecnico Zend. Mentre sulla versione commerciale di Zend Server possono essere automaticamente applicati gli aggiornamenti via a via resi disponibili (ad esempio le nuove release di PHP o delle varie estensioni), la "Community Edition" non consente di fruire di questa interessante possibilità.

Zend Server è disponibile nelle versioni per Windows e per Linux. Per quanto riguarda Mac OS X al momento è disponibile solo la versione "release candidate", non definitiva, della "Community Edition". Il download di Zend Server può essere effettuato facendo riferimento a questa pagina.

How to uninstall anything: free apps that get the job done

Description: this article presents three handy free programs designed to remove installed applications from your system: Appremover, PC Decrapifier, and Revo Uninstraller. All three are portable (or, in the case of Revo, have a portable version available).

1- Appremover: uninstalls security applications

Have you ever uninstalled a security application only to discover that related files/folders/registry entries still remain on your computer? For some reason (I cannot put my finger on) this is actually not uncommon when uninstalling various antivirus and security apps. I remember uninstalling Norton AV many (many) years ago only to find traces of it all over my PC; at the time I used a free "Remove Norton" type app that did the job of really removing it completely. Appremover is similar, except it is not simply Norton specific and uninstalls a wide range of security programs.

2- PC Decrapifier: uninstalls many pre-installed trialware/shareware/crapware programs that come pre-installed on PC - in batch.

This one came out a couple of years ago and has become an indispensable part of my repertoire of tools whenever I work on a brand new computer (or, occasionally, when I work on Friends' computers). PC Decrapifier supports a database of trialware programs and/or programs that come pre-installed on many brand name PCs. This database is constantly being updated, so always update or get the latest version of this program from its website when you need to use it.

One thing to note, however, is that there may be some programs on the list that you *may* not want to uninstall, so make sure that you browse the list of apps it found on your computer and uncheck anything you would like to keep before you run. Be especially careful if you've bought a license for a program whose trial version typically comes installed on new PCs (e.g. Adobe Reader,

PC Decrapifier is free for personal use, for commercial use you need to purchase a license. Paid version includes

3- Revo Uninstaller: to say that this one is a replacement for Microsoft's inbuilt Add/Remove is an understatement; it's Add/Remove's distant cousin who discovered a cure for cancer and now spends his time securing medical supplies to needy kids in the third world (when its not writing a freeware blog, that is ;) ).

Freewaregenius 5-Star PickWhat do you do if a program does not have an installer in Add/Remove? Look for an installer in it's "Start Menu" entries first thing, then look in the program folder for an executable that looks like an uninstaller (something like uninstall.exe or unwise.exe). If you don't find one then point Revo to the app (in hunter mode) and select uninstall; it will remove the program and all associated files from the hard drive and will most likely clean all traces of it in the registry (I've done this on occasion with good results). Note: Revo will also uninstall .NET Framework, Java.

Revo's attraction is its combination of form and function; where form is concerned, the program looks pretty and will let you filter your list by typing something in, will let you sort by the date column (or any other column) in detail view, and will display your list of installed programs as icons, which looks really good.

But the function part is even better; Revo will look for and clean all traces of the program on the hard drive and in the registry. It offers 3 uninstall modes (safe, moderate, and advanced), whereby the user can set the level of aggressiveness that Revo will use when looking for traces. I always use "Moderate" scan, and can report that in over a year of usage it has always performed admirably; consistently finding and cleaning up leftover files and registry items and never removing any entries it shouldn't have or otherwise causing any problems. I will recommend, however, that you always take a look at the list of registry entries slated for deletion, especially if uninstalling an app that has a very similar name to another app on your machine (e.g. app 1 is named "file split and merge", whilst app 2 is named "split and merge files" or "Bob's file split and merge").

http://www.freewaregenius.com/2009/04/13/how-to-uninstall-anything-free-apps-that-get-the-job-done/

Xmarks 3.0 - The evolution of Foxmarks

You have successfully upgraded to Xmarks 3.0 from an older Foxmarks client. Please read on to learn more about our name change from Foxmarks to Xmarks, and the new features available to you.

Foxmarks is changing our name to Xmarks

Bookmark sync plus a whole lot more

• The evolution of Foxmarks
  We're changing our name to better reflect our support for all major browsers and our new Web Discovery features. Think of it as a two-letter shortening ;-)
• Same great bookmark sync and backup
  Xmarks seamlessly syncs and backs up your bookmarks with all the same features you love from Foxmarks. Don't worry, we're hard at work making browser sync better, faster, and more comprehensive.
• Full compatibility with other Foxmarks versions
  Xmarks syncs perfectly with your existing Foxmarks account and Foxmarks add-ons for Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari.
• Thanks for your patience!
  You'll notice that Foxmarks.com is still a separate site. In the coming weeks we'll be fully rebranding the Foxmarks site to Xmarks.

http://www.xmarks.com/

Intel(R) Core™2 Duo Mobile Processor

Intel Processor Spec Finder
Intel(R) Centrino Core™2 Duo Mobile Processor

http://processorfinder.intel.com/List.aspx?ParentRadio=All&ProcFam=2643&SearchKey=

Microsoft Data Access Components

Microsoft Data Access Components (commonly abbreviated MDAC; also known as Windows DAC) is a framework of interrelated Microsoft technologies that allows programmers a uniform and comprehensive way of developing applications that can access almost any data store.
Its components include: ActiveX Data Objects (ADO), OLE DB, and Open Database Connectivity (ODBC). There have been several deprecated components as well, such as the Microsoft Jet Database Engine, MSDASQL (the OLE DB provider for ODBC), and Remote Data Services (RDS). Some components have also become obsolete, such as the former Data Access Objects API and Remote Data Objects.

The first version of MDAC was released in August 1996. At that time Microsoft stated MDAC was more a concept than a stand-alone program and had no widespread distribution method. Later Microsoft released upgrades to MDAC as web-based redistributable packages. Eventually, later versions were integrated with Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer, and in MDAC 2.8 SP1 they ceased offering MDAC as a redistributable package.

Throughout its history MDAC has been the subject of several security flaws, which led to attacks such as an escalated privileges attack, although the vulnerabilities were generally fixed in later versions and fairly promptly. The current version is 2.8 service pack 2, but the product has had many different versions and many of its components have been deprecated and replaced by newer Microsoft technologies. MDAC is now known as Windows DAC in Windows Vista.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Data_Access_Components

Official link: MDAC Utility: Component Checker
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8F0A8DF6-4A21-4B43-BF53-14332EF092C9&displaylang=en

Microsoft Document Explorer

Interagire da codice con Microsoft Document Explorer
a cura di Alessandro Del Sole (requisiti: conoscenza intermedia di Visual Studio 2005 e .NET Framework)

Premessa
Microsoft Document Explorer (DExplore.exe) è l'applicazione a corredo di Visual Studio (sin dalla versione .NET 2002) che consente di visualizzare la documentazione installata sul proprio computer, ossia il cosiddetto insieme delle guide integrate di Visual Studio, nel formato compilato .HxS, secondo lo standard Microsoft Help 2.x. Detto insieme contiene sia la libreria MSDN sia la documentazione aggiuntiva a complemento di altre applicazioni Microsoft o di altri produttori.
Grazie a Document Explorer è possibile avere a disposizione, in un'unica istanza di questo browser, tutta la documentazione installata, senza dover aprire decine di finestre separate, e la possibilità di ricerche su internet.

Quello che forse è meno noto, è che si può interagire con Document Explorer anche tramite codice, dall'interno delle proprie applicazioni, in maniera similare a quanto avviene col servizio di Windows che consente di visualizzare i file della guida compilati in formato .chm (hh.exe). In questo secondo caso, però, si utilizzano alcune funzioni API. Per lavorare con Document Explorer esistono invece diverse possibilità, prevalentemente legate al .NET Framework.
E' possibile, infatti, richiamare Document Explorer secondo le seguenti modalità:

1.  tramite gli assembly di Visual Studio, secondo il concetto di Visual Studio Extensibility, secondo cui è possibile lavorare con Document Explorer solo con Visual Studio in esecuzione;
2.  tramite la libreria dei tipi VsHelp80.Olb, grazie alla quale non è necessario avere Visual Studio in esecuzione;
3.  tramite un progetto macro;
4.  tramite un oggetto VSPackage.

In questo articolo analizzeremo i primi tre punti, mentre tralasceremo l'ultimo, poiché questo richiede conoscenze avanzate della programmazione orientata all'ambiente di sviluppo e degli assembly che mantengono il funzionamento dell'IDE. Per ulteriori approfondimenti sul punto 4, potete scaricare il Visual Studio 2005 SDK e studiare la relativa documentazione.

In considerazione di quanto appena detto, ho predisposto tre sorgenti: un progetto in grado di interagire con Document Explorer mantenendo attivo Visual Studio (chiamato ProgrammingDExplore), un progetto per l'interazione con Document Explorer senza istanze di Visual Studio attive (chiamato ExploitDExplore) e un modulo macro, chiamato HelpModule.vb, per quanto riguarda il punto 3 che precede. Per proseguire nella lettura dell'articolo, pertanto, è consigliabile scaricare i sorgenti di esempio disponibili nell'area download di VB-T&T.

In realtà, l'argomento Document Explorer mi serve più che altro come scusa per illustrarvi tecniche diverse di programmazione, come la creazione di macro via codice e la comprensione degli assembly gestiti che stanno dietro all'IDE di Visual Studio 2005.

L'utilità
A cosa serve interagire con Document Explorer? Poniamo il caso che abbiate sviluppato e distribuito la documentazione compilata a corredo del vostro applicativo in formato .HxS. Ricordando che questo tipo di formato si preferisce qualora realizziate applicazioni o componenti dedicati all'utilizzo in Visual Studio, potreste avere la necessità di implementare il menu "?" per visualizzare tale documentazione. Affinché il vostro utente sia in grado di visualizzare tale documentazione, voi dovete essere in grado di aprirla in Document Explorer da codice.

Scopo di questo articolo, oltre a quello relativo al caso pratico appena detto, è anche quello di illustrarvi alcune tecniche di programmazione un po' più raffinate, che possano farvi capire alcuni concetti di funzionamento dell'IDE di Visual Studio 2005.

from: http://www.visual-basic.it/articoli/adsInteragireDExplore.htm

The best free antivirus: a comparison

Description: this posting will discuss which of the following three programs deserves the title of "best freeware antivirus program": Avira Antivir, Avast, or AVG.

My conclusion: all three are very worthy contenders that can hold their own or surpass any heavyweight for-pay antivirus; however Anitvir and Avast are definitely in the first tier, while AVG is a close second tier.

There's been a vigorous debate going on in the little "cbox" message box (in the sidebar) over which freeware antivirus program is best. This posting will explore this issue more closely. The objective is to go beyond the ubiquitous "I have used program x for y years now and it has kept me completely virus free" to a more substantial comparison.

from: http://www.freewaregenius.com/2009/04/07/the-best-free-antivirus-a-comparison/

Canon Eos 50D: innovazione reale

Quando venne lanciata la Eos 40D, nell'agosto del 2007, in molti si chiesero quali furono le effettive innovazioni rispetto al modello precedente Eos 30D. Canon aveva aspettato più di un anno per rinnovare il segmento prosumer e la scelta di adottare il live view divise gli appassionati della casa bianco rossa tra i delusi e gli entusiasti.

A distanza di 12 mesi dal lancio della Eos 40D ecco sui banchi dei negozianti l'evoluzione della specie, ovvero la Canon Eos 50D, che promette un balzo in avanti dal punto di vista tecnologico. Il mondo reflex digitale odierno si è fatto più attento agli aspetti di contenimento del rumore, resa alle alte sensibilità e capacità di riprodurre sfumature colore aumentando la resa cromatica, aspetti tenuti in considerazione da tutti i produttori, Canon compresa.

Nelle prossime pagine analizzeremo una delle novità più importanti, rintracciabili a livello del sensore CMOS APS-C da 15,1 Mp. Anticipiamo come Canon abbia concentrato i propri sforzi nella realizzazione di un sensore "gapless", studiato per minimizzare gli spazi tra un fotodiodo e l'altro, ovvero gli elementi sensibili che formano il sensore stesso. Processore di immagine DiGiC IV, nove punti di messa a fuoco e una velocità di scatto di 6,3 fps sono solo alcune delle ulteriori caratteristiche della nuova prosumer Canon che andremo a scoprire lungo questa recensione.

fonte: http://www.hwupgrade.it/articoli/fotografia-digitale/2177/canon-eos-50d-innovazione-reale_index.html

Odiogo: from text to podcast

Here is how it works:
Odiogo downloads the latest articles from the registered RSS feed. It extracts the relevant text from the page (only the white zones in the screenshot below) and converts it into a high quality spoken-word MP3 file that can be listened to on an iPod, MP3 player, phone or the PC.

It's that simple and powerful! Not convinced yet? Click the Play button to listen to this article.

Visit the link

http://www.odiogo.com/demo.php

Architettura Nehalem anche per le cpu Xeon

Nel mese di Novembre 2007 Intel ha presentato i primi processori della famiglia Nehalem, nome in codice che definisce una specifica architettura adottata per la costruzione dei propri processori che il produttore americano adotterà in tutte le proprie soluzioni per sistemi desktop, notebook e server. Le prime versoni di processore della famiglia Nehalem che Intel ha presentato in commercio sono quelle Core i7, destinate a sistemi desktop top di gamma. Nella giornata odierna Intel presenta ufficialmente le prime cpu Nehalem destinate a sistemi workstation e server sino a 2 Socket: la gamma di cpu Xeon 5500 comprende una lunga serie di nuovi modelli che vengono da Intel specificamente proposti per alcune tipologie di utilizzo.

Processore	Clock	Cache L3	QPI	TDP	Core	Mem	HT	Turbo	Prezzo
Xeon W5580	3,20 GHz	8 MB	6,4 GT/s	130W	4	1333	si	si	1.600 USD
Xeon W3570	3,20 GHz	8 MB	6,4 GT/s	130W	4	1066	si	si	999 USD
Xeon W3540	2,93 GHz	8 MB	4,8 GT/s	130W	4	1066	si	si	562 USD
Xeon W3520	2,66 GHz	8 MB	4,8 GT/s	130W	4	1066	si	si	284 USD
Xeon X5570	2,93 GHz	8 MB	6,4 GT/s	95W	4	1333	si	si	1.386 USD
Xeon X5560	2,8 GHz	8 MB	6,4 GT/s	95W	4	1333	si	si	1.172 USD
Xeon X5550	2,66 GHz	8 MB	6,4 GT/s	95W	4	1333	si	si	958 USD
Xeon E5540	2,53 GHz	8 MB	5,86 GT/s	80W	4	1066	si	si	744 USD
Xeon E5530	2,4 GHz	8 MB	5,86 GT/s	80W	4	1066	si	si	530 USD
Xeon E5520	2,26 GHz	8 MB	5,86 GT/s	80W	4	1066	si	si	373 USD
Xeon L5520	2,26 GHz	8 MB	5,86 GT/s	60W	4	1066	si	si	530 USD
Xeon E5506	2,13 GHz	4 MB	4,8 GT/s	80W	4	800	no	no	266 USD
Xeon L5506	2,13 GHz	4 MB	4,8 GT/s	60W	4	800	no	no	422 USD
Xeon E5504	2 GHz	8 MB	4,8 GT/s	80W	4	800	no	no	224 USD
Xeon E5502	1,86 GHz	4 MB	4,8 GT/s	80W	2	800	no	no	188 USD
Xeon L5518	2,13 GHz	8 MB	5,86 GT/s	60W	4	1066	si	si	530 USD
Xeon L5508	2 GHz	8 MB	5,86 GT/s	38W	2	1066	si	si	423 USD

I processori Xeon 5500 presentano, nelle differenti versioni disponibili in commercio, caratteristiche tecniche particolari che si adattano a specifici ambiti di impiego. Intel propone le versioni con TDP sino a 95 Watt per l'utilizzo in sistemi server, mentre le cpu con TDP massimo di 130 Watt sono indicate specificamente a sistemi workstation a motivo dei più elevati requisiti per la dissipazione termica. Sono disponibili anche versioni con valori di TDP più contenuti, sino a giungere ai 38 Watt del modello Xeon L5508 con frequenza di clock di 2 GHz, dotato tuttavia di architettura dual core. I processori della serie Xeon 3500 si affiancano a quelli Xeon 5500, proponendosi specificamente per architetture workstation a singolo Socket.

Ritroviamo per questi processori le stesse specifiche tecniche rese familiari dalle cpu Core i7: la cache di terzo livello o L3 è in quantitativo massimo di 8 Mbytes, con versioni di processore dotate di una quantità dimezzata così da proporre soluzioni per tutte le fasce di prezzo. Varia anche la frequenza di clock del bus Quick Path Interconnect, che può raggiungere quale massimo i 6,4 Gigatransfer al secondo nelle cpu con frequenza di clock più elevata. A seconda del processore sono disponibili le tecnologie HyperThreading e quella Turbo Mode, il cui funzionamento verrà illustrato nelle pagine seguenti.

A quali chipset vengono abbinati questi processori? Le soluzioni Xeon 5500 possono sfruttare i chipset della serie Intel 5520 e 5500, mentre per le soluzioni Xeon 3500 la compatibilità è estesa anche alle schede madri basate su chipset X58. Le soluzioni Xeon 5500 hanno quale limite massimo di memoria installabile 144 Gbytes; per i sistemi Xeon 3500 questo valore scende a 24 Gbytes, più che adeguato considerandone l'utilizzo in workstation a singolo socket.

Intel propone 4 versioni di processore Xeon 5500 specificamente indirizzate ai sistemi embedded e delle telecomunicazioni, caratterizzate per questo motivo da un valore di consumo particolarmente contenuto. Ci riferiamo ai modelli X5540, X5504, L5518 e L5508, con quest'ultima versione capace di contenere il TDP entro i 38 Watt. Per questi processori Intel ha già dichiarato un supporto esteso di ben 7 anni quale ciclo di vita del prodotto.

L'attenzione di Intel per i processori Xeon serie 5500 è notevole: il produttore americano definisce il lancio odierno come il più importante, nell'ambito delle proprie soluzioni server, che sia avvenuto nel corso degli ultimi 15 anni, cioè da quando è stato presentato il processore Pentium Pro.

Quella Nehalem è, come noto, un'architettura completamente nuova. Ogni anno Intel presenta una nuova generazione di processori, che possono implementare un'architettura completamente nuova oppure essere costruiti utilizzando una nuova tecnologia produttiva più sofisticata rispetto a quanto in precedenza disponibile. Prendendo come riferimento le cpu Nehalem, a queste corrisponde una fase Tock, cioè quella di una nuova generazione di microarchitettura completamente differente rispetto alla precedente. Lo stesso era accaduto nel 2006 con il debutto delle cpu della famiglia Merom, che hanno poi preso il nome commerciale di Core 2 Duo e Core 2 Quad a seconda delle versioni; in quel caso il cambio architetturale è avvenuto in sostituzione delle cpu Pentium D.

Le fasi Tick indicano l'utilizzo di un nuovo processo produttivo: le cpu Nehalem sono costruite con tecnologia a 45 nanometri, la stessa adottata dalle cpu della famiglia Penryn (Core 2 Duo e Core 2 Quad) disponibili in commercio. Alla fase Tick corrisponde tipicamente anche un refresh dell'architettura, con l'implementazione di alcune funzionalità complessivamente considerate minori; ad esempio, con le cpu Penryn ha debuttato la tecnologia produttiva a 45 nanometri e contestualmente sono state introdotte le istruzioni SSE4 non presenti nelle soluzioni della famiglia Merom. L'evoluzione a 32 nanometri di tecnologia produttiva delle cpu Nehalem è nota con il nome di Westmere; i processori di questa famiglia debutteranno non prima della fine del 2009, quantomeno nella loro declinazione per sistemi desktop.

Dop aver evidenziato quali modelli compongano la famiglia di processori Intel Xeon 5500 e mostrato come l'architettura Nehalem si posiziona a confronto con le altre soluzioni sviluppate da Intel, vediamo quali siano le principali caratteristiche architetturali delle nuove proposte Intel per sistemi server e workstation a due Socket.

from: http://www.hwupgrade.it/articoli/cpu/2172/intel-xeon-5500-architettura-delle-cpu-nehalem-per-server_index.html

Fwd: Mailing List Sicurezza n°3

/************** Mailing List Sicurezza - English version below - *****************/

Gentile cliente,

riportiamo di seguito l'elenco dei più recenti aggiornamenti, release e consigli per la messa in sicurezza delle applicazioni web maggiormente diffuse.
N.B. Qualora vengano utilizzate applicazioni non presenti in elenco, consigliamo di verificarne lo stato di aggiornamento presso i siti dei relativi produttori.

Per maggiori informazioni su questa comunicazione, consulti il seguente link http://vademecum.aruba.it/start/sic/default.asp

****************************************************************************************************

**JOOMLA!**
Rilasciata in data 28/03/09 la versione 1.5.10 del popolare cms.
Questa nuova versione corregge alcuni bug tra cui due problemi di sicurezza XSS e CSRF presenti nell'applicazione amministrativa.
Gli utilizzatori delle versioni precedenti, sono invitati ad aggiornare le loro installazioni prima possibile.
Disponibile per il Download nella versione italiana
ITA < http://download.joomla.it/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=212&&Itemid=2 >
Sito ufficiale
ENG < http://www.joomla.org/download.html >

**WORDPRESS**
Rilasciata a febbraio la versione di WordPress 2.7.1 in italiano. Si tratta di una versione di mantenimento che corregge 68 ticket per la stragrande maggioranza di correzione di piccoli bachi.
Disponibile per il download nella versione italiana
ITA < http://www.wordpress-it.it/wordpress-in-italiano/ >
e dal sito ufficiale ENG < http://wordpress.org/download/ >

Agli utenti della versione 2.7, che utilizzeranno lo strumento di update automatico, raccomandiamo di leggere questo articolo prima di effettuare l'update !
http://www.wordpress-it.it/2008/12/05/utenti-aruba-linux-aggiornamento-automatico-worpdpress-27/

**XOOPS**
Rilasciata il 15/03/09 l'ultima versione di xoops, 2.3.3, che include i bug fixes della Security Release e comprende altri importanti aggiornamenti.
Prima di effettuare l'upgrade, si consiglia sempre di effettuare un Backup del proprio sito.
Disponibile per il download nella versione del sito ufficiale
ENG < http://www.xoops.org/modules/core/ >

**DRUPAL**
Rilasciate in data 25/02 le versioni 6.10 e 5.16
Gli utilizzatori di siti Drupal versione 5.x e 6.x sono caldamente consigliati di aggiornare le loro installazioni a queste ultime versioni.
Download disponibile dal sito ufficiale
ENG < http://drupal.org/ >
Aggiornamenti sicurezza
ENG < http://drupal.org/security >

**COPPERMINE**
Rilasciata in data 04/03/09, la security release 1.4.21 dell'applicativo coppermine.
Si consiglia vivamente gli utilizzatori delle versioni precedenti, di aggiornare le loro installazioni il prima possibile.
Maggiori informazioni sul sito ufficiale
ENG < http://coppermine-gallery.net/ >

===================================
Aruba S.p.A.
Customer Service - Aruba.it
http://www.aruba.it
http://assistenza.aruba.it
Tel: +39.0575.0505
Fax: +39.0575.862000
===================================



/**************** ENGLISH VERSION - SECURITY MAILING LIST *******************/

Dear Customer,

Here below we indicate the recent updates, releases and hints on how to protect the more common web applications.
N.B. If you use an application that is not listed, we recommend that you check what update it has on the websites of the relevant producers.
For further information about this communication, you can consult the following link. http://vademecum.aruba.it/start/sic/default.asp

**JOOMLA!**
Released on the 28/03/09 the version 1.5.10, it corrects some bugs among which two security failures, XSS e CSRF , which are on the administrative application.
For all users of the previous versions we suggest to update their installattions as soon as possible.
Available for download in the Italian version
ITA http://download.joomla.it/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=212&&Itemid=2
Official website
ENG < http://www.joomla.org/download.html >

**WORDPRESS**
Released on February the italian version 2.7.1 WordPress. It is a maintainance version which corrects 68 tickets for the vast majority of little bugs.
Available for download in the Italian version
ITA < http://www.wordpress-it.it/wordpress-in-italiano/ >
Official website
ENG < http://wordpress.org/download/ >
For the users of the version 2.7, which are going to use the automatic update, we advise to read carefully this article before performing the!
http://www.wordpress-it.it/2008/12/05/utenti-aruba-linux-aggiornamento-automatico-worpdpress-27/

**XOOPS**
Released on  15/03/the last version of Xoops, 2.3.3, which includes the bug fixes of the Security Release and other important updates.
Before performing the upgrade, we always suggest to realize a backup of own website.
Available for download in the official website
ENG < http://www.xoops.org/modules/core/ >

**DRUPAL**
Released on 25/02 the versions 6.10 and 5.16
For all users of Drupal Websites with  version 5.x and 6.x we suggest to update their installations to these last versions.
Available for download in the official website
ENG < http://drupal.org/ >
Security updates
ENG < http://drupal.org/security >

**COPPERMINE**
Released on 04/03/09, the security release 1.4.21 of coppermine application.
We advise the users of the previous version to update their installations as soon as possible.
More information on the official website
ENG < http://coppermine-gallery.net/ >

==================================
Aruba S.p.A.
Customer Service - Aruba.it
http://www.aruba.it
http://support.aruba.it
Tel: +39.0575.0505
Fax: +39.0575.862000
===================================

Excellent guide comparing Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, and Plone

Idealware is providing online a report on open source content management systems by comparing Wordpress, Joomla!, Drupal, and Plone.  This 60-page independent Idealware report in PDF format provides both an introduction to the topic and a very detailed comparison of the four systems. The report also includes their new directory of the consultants and firms who help nonprofit create websites and implement these Content Management Systems.

The analysis in this report is excellent and provides my favorite type of comparison between content management systems, fair and balanced.  The report doesn't try to rank for you which open source CMS is number one but instead intends to provide you the information you need to determine which CMS is best for you and your project.

This guide even has a small section giving other CMS options besides the four mentioned open source content management systems.  If you're a mid-sized to large organization that prefers propriety software over open source software, the report even makes a small mention of well known CMS such as Hot Banana, Ektron, CommonSpot and Sitecore.  This report clearly shows that the authors understand the type of analysis needed for site owners to pick the best CMS for their organization.  This report is current and does not rely on past perceptions of a particular CMS.

The Idealware report comparing WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Plone is available for a free download after providing some basic registration information.

from: http://cmsreport.com/blog/2009/excellent-guide-comparing-wordpress-joomla-drupal-and-plone

PCI Express Technology

Formerly known as 3GIO, PCI Express is the open standards- based successor to PCI and its variants for server- and client-system I/O interconnects. Unlike PCI and PCI-X, which are based on 32- and 64-bit parallel buses, PCI Express uses high-speed serial link technology similar to that found in Gigabit1 Ethernet, Serial ATA (SATA), and Serial-Attached SCSI (SAS). PCI Express reflects an industry trend to replace legacy shared parallel buses with high-speed point-to-point serial buses.

The new bus technology is expected to allow the PCI Express transmission rates to keep pace with processor and I/O advances for the next 10 years or more. Systems with PCI Express will begin appearing around the middle of 2004.

PCI Express has the following advantages over PCI:

Serial technology providing scalable performance.
High bandwidth—Initially, 5-80 gigabits per second (Gbps) peak theoretical bandwidth, depending on the implementation.
Point-to-point link dedicated to each device, instead of the PCI shared bus.
Opportunities for lower latency (or delay) in server architectures, because PCI Express provides a more direct connection to the chip set Northbridge (see Note 2) than PCI-X.
Small connectors and, in many cases, easier implementation for system designers.
Advanced features—Quality of service (QoS) via isochronous channels for guaranteed bandwidth delivery when required, advanced power management, and native hot plug/hot swap support.

PCI Express will replace the PCI, PCI-X, and AGP parallel buses gradually over the next decade. It will initially replace buses that need the additional performance or features. For instance, PCI Express will initially be deployed as a replacement for the AGP8X graphics bus in client systems, providing high bandwidth and support for multimedia traffic. It will also coexist with and ultimately replace the PCI-X bus in server systems.

In this white paper, we begin with a review of the PCI bus and its variants (PCI-X and AGP) in client and server systems. The paper continues with a discussion of PCI Express technology, including its strengths, advanced features, and form factors. We conclude with its impact on computer system architectures.

PCI Express Technology - Dell [2004]
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/vectors/en/2004_pciexpress?c=us&l=en&s=corp


PCI Express Basics
These are the most common PCI Express slots: the large one incorporates 16 lanes, while the small one is a single lane connector for simple expansion cards.

Unlike PCI and PCI-X, PCI Express is based on a serial protocol. This means that the interface can get by with a very limited number of wires. In exchange, these are clocked much faster than the parallel busses in order to obtain a high bandwidth. Additionally, that bandwidth can be easily multiplied by merging several PCI Express lanes. The specification provides for five different slot types: x16, x8, x4, x2 and x1, where the "x" is pronounced as "by"; for example, the widest PCIe variant is called "by sixteen".

DMTF Releases OVF 1.0 Standard

PORTLAND, Ore. - March 23, 2009 - The Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF), the industry organization bringing the IT industry together to collaborate on systems management standards development, validation, promotion and adoption, today announced the release of version 1.0 of its Open Virtualization Format (OVF) standard. The updated standard extends DMTF's mission to enable interoperability through the creation of systems management standards for virtualized environments.

"The goal of standards development is to enable Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to offer improved products that manage a broader range of their customers' preferred technology platforms," said Cameron Haight, Research Vice President with Gartner. "This is because standards, when designed appropriately, not only prevent ISVs from having to create multiple versions of the same product for each possible environment, but they allow vendors to focus their scare development resources upon delivering higher value features."

As part of the DMTF Virtualization Management Initiative (VMAN), OVF simplifies interoperability, security and virtual machine lifecycle management by describing an open, secure, portable, efficient and extensible format for the packaging and distribution of one or more virtual appliances and applications. This enables software developers to ship pre-configured, ready-to-deploy solutions, allowing end-users to distribute applications into their environments with minimal effort. The standard can also serve as a building block for cloud computing.

Key benefits of the OVF standard include:

• Portable virtual machine (VM) packaging
• Optimization for secure distribution
• Simplified installation and deployment
• Support for both single VM and multi-VM configurations
• Vendor and platform independent
• Extensible
• Localizable

"OVF is the first standard to enable interoperability within virtualized environments, offering customers virtualization platform independence and flexibility," said Winston Bumpus, DMTF president. "The delivery of the 1.0 standard is an indication of DMTF's continued commitment to driving standardization of IT management systems."

DMTF standards on our public web site are available to the industry at no charge. The OVF specification can be downloaded here along with sample demonstrations of the technology from DMTF member companies.

To accompany OVF, DMTF has completed a white paper describing the basic components of the standard and its reason for development. DMTF is committed to promoting the adoption of its management standards. The OVF white paper serves as an educational resource for implementers seeking interoperable solutions for their virtual systems.

About DMTF
DMTF enables more effective management of millions of IT systems worldwide by bringing the IT industry together to collaborate on the development, validation and promotion of systems management standards. The group spans the industry with 160 member companies and organizations, and more than 4,000 active participants crossing 43 countries. The DMTF board of directors is led by 16 innovative, industry-leading technology companies. They include Advanced Micro Devices (AMD); Broadcom Corporation; CA; Dell; EMC; Fujitsu; HP; Hitachi, Ltd.; IBM; Intel Corporation; Microsoft Corporation; Novell; Oracle; Sun Microsystems, Inc.; Symantec and VMware. With this deep and broad reach, DMTF creates standards that enable interoperable IT management. DMTF management standards are critical to enabling management interoperability among multi-vendor systems, tools and solutions within the enterprise. Information about DMTF technologies and activities can be found at http://www.dmtf.org.