Google Chrome (BETA) for Windows

Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier.

Google Chrome

One box for everything
Type in the address bar and get suggestions for both search and web pages.

Thumbnails of your top sites
Access your favorite pages instantly with lightning speed from any new tab.

Shortcuts for your apps
Get desktop shortcuts to launch your favorite web applications.

[ Source: Google Chrome ]

Windows Live Messenger 9 Beta

The next upgrade of Windows Live Messenger has been leaked from a “private” beta for 5,000 users (surprising?) and is available for downloading—at least until Microsoft decides too many people are hitting their servers. The beta of Live Messenger 9 shows off some decently cool features, including the ability to log on from multiple locations without annoying warning messages, setting up “signature sounds” that broadcast to those you’re chatting, spam reporting, and a generally less-cluttered interface. The full version isn’t due out until late 2008 or early 2009, so more additions are sure to come. Windows Live Messenger 9 beta is a free download (while it lasts) and works on Windows XP and Vista.

[ Windows Live Messenger 9 ] [ Source: Lifehacker ]

Download Free Camtasia Studio with Serial Key!

What’s almost as good as stuffing your belly with a healthy Thanksgiving dinner? Free downloads! And Techsmith is offering a deal that will make your screencasting wishes come true.

The company is offering its popular Camtasia Studio software up as a free download. The screencasting software currently sells for $300. But there is one small catch. The most recent version of Camtasia Studio is Camtasia 5, while the version available for free download is Camtasia 3. That means a few of the newer features will not be available. Nonetheless, it’s free and upgradable to version 5 for half price if you choose.

To get started, grab your copy here, and request a registration key from Techsmith. Sorry, this is only available for PC users.

[ Source: Download Squad ]

USB Devices Can Crack Windows

Vulnerabilities in USB drivers for Windows could allow an attacker to take control of locked workstations using a specially programmed Universal Serial Bus device, according to an executive from SPI Dynamics, which discovered the security hole.

The buffer-overflow vulnerabilities could enable an attacker to circumvent Windows security and gain administrative access to a user’s machine.

[ Source: eWeek.com ]

Howto Easily run an Xserver under Windows

Sometimes, you need to connect from Windows to a Unix or Linux system just to run a specific software. For example, if you want to run some Linux open source program under windows and you have a Linux machine in your network or accessible from the Internet, there is an easy way to do it: Xming.

The installation is pretty forward. Once installed, the easiest way to use is to run it straight away. You have an X icon on your windows desktop, run it.

Then you need a remote terminal connection software, the best open source is Putty. t is an executable, just download it and lunch it. Depending from the remote terminal service that is running on your server, configure Putty to use it. I suggest OpenSSH. You have also to configure the X11 Forwarding setting in Putty to forward the X session to your windows machine IP address. Done.

1. Get Putty and Xming. Note, both of these applications are “portable” and can be copied to a thumbdrive and run on any machine you may have access to.
2. Launch Xming and select the style you wish to display the X server output.
   Hint: Select Multiple Windows and your X applications will look like they were launched from Windows. Leave Display number set to 0
3. Click Next. Select Start No Client and click Next.
4. On Server Options, check the box title Disable Server Control. Leaving the box unchecked can give you an “unspecified protocol error” later down the road.
5. Click Next and save your configuration. This will create a quick way to launch Xming later.
6. Once you see the X in the systray you can launch Putty. Enter the address of the machine you are trying to connect to. Be sure to select SSH as the protocol.
7. Now connect. With luck you will be asked to log in. Enter your credentials.
8. Now to actually forward the ports. There is an option in Putty for this but it never seems to work for me.. so I type:
   DISPLAY=your.windows.ip.address:0.0
   export DISPLAY
9. Done.

To test it, type:

xclock &

and the analog clock should be appear. Try

mozilla-firefox &

and your web browser should appear. Looking for your email? Try

evolution &

When you’re done, type exit in Putty and it all goes away!

You won’t be able to see your desktop, so you’ll have to know the names of the apps you want to run. To see the desktop requires XDMCP, which is easy to set up but is NOT secure.

Is Your Computer Connecting To Websites Without Your Knowledge

If you are worried that some programs on your PC are secretly making connections to websites in the background, here’s a quick tip that uses a simple DOS command to detect and prevent such suspicious activity:

1. Type cmd in your Windows Run box.
2. Type “netstat -b 5 > activity.txt” and press enter. After say 2 minutes, press Ctrl+C.
3. Type “activity.txt” on the command line to open the log file in notepad (or your default text editor).

The file activity.txt will have a log of all process that made a connection to the Internet in the last two minutes. It will also show which process connected to which website in this time. And not just the web browsers (like iexplore.exe or opera.exe), the log will also show your IM clients, download managers, email programs or any software that requires a net connection.

Scroll though the activity.txt file and look for any process names or website addresses that you are not aware of. If you track one , go to the task manager (or Process Explorer) to find the location of the executable on your computer and eliminate it.

Note: If you’re using Vista, use -a instead of -b.

[ Source: Digital Inspiration ]