IT Forum

(article excerpt courtesy of The Associated Press and Yahoo News) 

Chris Pirillo leaned away from his webcam and pointed to his printer/scanner/fax machine, which stopped scanning and faxing after he installed Microsoft Corp.’s new Windows Vista operating system.

“I can’t live in Vista if the software that I use in my life for productivity does not work,” said Pirillo, in the third minute of a 52-minute video he posted on YouTube.

Nearly six months after it launched, gripes over what doesn’t work with Vista continue, eclipsing positive buzz over the program’s improved desktop search, graphics and security.

To keep reading, click here.

APconnections today announced that the capabilities of its AirEqualizer power-over-Ethernet wireless access point (AP) are expanding. The AirEqualizer now not only effectively controls network congestion and eliminates AP brownouts and lockups, but also serves as a proven 802.11 network hidden node solution.

With the advent of this technology, AirEqualizer users worldwide have seen the near instantaneous drop in problems associated with hidden nodes, leading to significant improvements in QoS and customer satisfaction.

“As we began to grow our client base, we discovered hidden node collisions were causing customer slowdowns. The more customers we put on, the more complaints we received,” said Chris McKay, director of British Columbia’s Airspeed Wireless. “Once the AirEqualizer was setup and configured to run optimally on our busiest site, the complaints immediately dropped off. We now have over 20 AirEqualizers in place at all of our WIPOP’s and very rarely get calls from upset customers. We give the AirEqualizer three thumbs up. It has saved our business and our sanity!”

Through the equalizing technology found in APconnections’ NetEqualizer bandwidth shaping products, AirEqualizer allows organizations to control network congestion at the AP. This ensures high-quality connectivity for voice over IP (VoIP) and other priority users, thereby dramatically reducing help desk and service calls, without the need for any manual tuning.

“We run a VoIP service over our wireless data network in Gunnison, Colorado and can’t afford to have customers with lower powered radio signals get crowded out of the RF spectrum,” said Jason Swenson, president of Internet Colorado. “With the unique QoS provided by the AirEqualizer, we have been blessed with the ability to run our network using less expensive 802.11-based equipment while maintaining first rate QoS.”

In addition to the equalizing technology, AirEqualizer comes with standard commercial AP features, including authentication, billing, re-direction, routing, and firewall protection.

Fortinet this week announced the top 10 most reported high-risk threats for June 2007. The report, compiled from all FortiGate multi-threat security systems in production worldwide, is a service of the Fortinet Global Security Research Team.

The June top 10 highlights the following:

• The Top 10 remains fairly consistent, with Grew.A, Bagle.GT, Sober.AA, Stration.JQ and ANI07.A keeping similar relative positions.
• New to the top ten is Sality.Q coming in at the bottom to fill the void left by the departure of the BankFraud.E phishing attack from the Top 10.
• ANI07.A, a mainly web-based exploit, is more notable this month since the vulnerability has been patched yet continues to maintain last month’s pace.

To see the list of top 10 threats, click here.